Maurice Sendak and...

Charles McGrath talks to Maurice Sendak about "Brundibar" and its production for The New York Times.

"Brundibar" is running until March 5 at the Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven and then it will move to New York's New Victory Theater. "Brundibar" "is based on Mr. Sendak's 2003 picture book of the same name, written with Mr. Kushner, which in turn was inspired by the original opera, by Hans Krasa, with a libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister, which was first performed in 1942 at a Jewish orphanage in Prague."

McGrath writes, "What gives the opera additional poignancy is that shortly before the first performance, Krasa, a Jew, was arrested and sent in an early transport to Theresienstadt, the 'model camp' that was in fact a way station for Auschwitz. Under Krasa's direction, 'Brundibar' was subsequently performed 55 times at Theresienstadt, with a cast of imprisoned children, for an audience that sometimes consisted of visitors sent by the Nazis, trying to demonstrate how humane they were. "

McGrath's interview with Sendak is wonderful. Sendak tells McGrath, "When he first heard about 'Brundibar'... he felt the dead crowding around him — especially the Sendaks who didn't make it to this country, as his parents had, and instead disappeared in Poland. At the same time, he knew the story was the perfect subject for him: 'This is an opera about children and how the hell do they survive.'"

Sendak talks about the Holocaust, the regret "Antique Roadshow" causes a family left with no heirlooms, and his new projects, including a pop-up book. Please do read the last line of the article in which Sendak considers a pop-up version of In the Night Kitchen. Pure brilliance.

...a Children's Book Meme

Stolen from Kate's Book Blog, I present you with a Children's Book Meme (The meme's author is Shelly, of Shelly's Book Shelf.)

I chose books that were my favorites as a child. There are many more today I like better than the ones I chose as favorites, but I wanted to keep with the spirit of the meme.

What are your three favorite children's series?

1. The Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton (I know, I know...).
2. The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
3. The Green Knowe series by L.M. Boston.

What are your three favorite non-series children's books?

1. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
2. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
3. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.

What are your three favorite children's book characters?

1. Laura (from the Little House books).
2. Pippi Longstocking (from Astrid Lindgren’s books).
3. Jo (from Little Women [until she destroys her novel when the Professor doesn't approve] and from Little Men).

Meme away, folks! I'd love to see your favorites as well.
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ETA: In browsing the blogs this evening, I've noticed Mental multivitamin has also posted this meme with her responses.

Controversial Books

Michelle Pauli talks to Elsie Aidinoff for the Guardian.

Elise Aidinoff's The Garden is being published in the U.K. this week. The Garden takes on the Adam and Eve story, but from Eve's point of view. As Pauli explains, in Aidinoff's The Garden, "God is a cantankerous, petulant, ego-maniac, while the serpent is Eve's wise and loving mentor. What's more, God, in his anxiety to see that 'all the parts work' in the first humans he has created, forces Adam to mate with Eve." Aidinoff claims nuclear scientists "inspired her portrayal of God as a punch-drunk genius."

Aidinoff has just completed her second novel ("it describes a woman's journey through an afterworld populated by every god, goddess and mythological creature that humans have ever believed in") and Pauli warns: "America's Christian fundamentalists - hold on to your hats."
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Anthony Browne and Marcus Oscarsson discuss The Koran and the Life of the Prophet Muhammad with its author, Kåre Bluitgen, for the Times.

The Koran and the Life of the Prophet Muhammed is an illustrated book for children, but the artists would only work for Bluitgen anonymously. The pictures, nonetheless, have inspired outrage and Bluitgen has received a death threat.

Bluitgen explains he meant no harm. He said, Browne and Oscarsson report, "'They are ordinary children’s illustrations. There are a lot of Muslims who don’t mind Muhammad being depicted'...'It’s bizarre. I write a book to promote understanding between cultures and now I see Danish embassies burning in the Middle East'...'All I can do is sit on the sidelines and watch.'"

The Kingdom Keepers

Are you sick of winter yet? I know I am. February is probably my least favorite month of the year. I'm ready for winter be over, but it isn't. At least February is short and March always holds the promise of spring even if there's a snowstorm or two.

To distract me from my February blues I read Ridley Pearson's The Kingdom Keepers over the past week. The Kingdom Keepers took me right out of the cold and into the warmth of a deserted Disney World in Orlando.

The novel's hero, Finn Whitman, is an Orlando teen who is hired to be a hologram projection that guide guests through the park. One of five such child guides, Finn begins waking up in the park as his hologram projection. He is told he must track down the other four child actors in order to stop Evil Forces at work in the park. It took me a chapter or two to really get into The Kingdom Keepers (it may have been the technology), but once I did I was hooked. Here's "the good" on the book:

• I, as many others, have always wondered about what happens at Disneyland (in my case) when everyone is gone. The Kingdom Keepers really gives you an idea about the inner workings of the park and takes you into areas not open to the public.
• The mystery at hand involves the most evil of Disney characters and results in many excellent chase scenes through Disney rides. The best scene takes place in "It's a Small World."
• Pearson's use of teen technology is particularly expert. The chat room scenes are excellent.
• Finn Whitman is a likeable character--a normal boy caught up in an abnormal situation. His mom is a riot too.

The Kingdom Keepers is marketed as Young Adult, but I'd say it is really upper Middle Grade. There's nothing in The Kingdom Keepers a smart 8-10-year-old couldn't handle emotionally or intellectually. A truly fun read. Enjoy!

Lynne Rae Perkins interview

Tracy Grant talks to Lynne Rae Perkins for the Washington Post "about moving between the worlds of art and words."

It's a very nice interview and Perkins seems very sensible about her writing. Grant asks, for example, "'When did you decide you wanted to write children's books?'" Perkins replies:

• "In college and grad school, I studied art. When I started out I thought I would do children's book illustrations. . . . I was showing my work to [an art director] who asked me if I also wrote. I went home and wrote down a story, and they published it! But I have no formal writing training. . . . Whatever I know comes from being a reader."

The interview concludes with the following question, "'What advice do you have for kids who want to be writers or illustrators?'" Perkins' advice?

• "I think that the most important thing for writers is to read and to pay attention to life. I didn't really start writing until I was in my mid-thirties. It's important to live life a little bit to be a writer."
• "[To be] an artist, just do it, and keep doing it."

Non-Fiction

Non-fiction is the order of the day in the Sunday reviews. (Usually I'd have these up on Saturday, but as blogger was down most of the evening....)

Sara Fanelli's My Map Book is the Times "Children's Book of the Week." Nicolette Jones, writes of My Map Book, "Using bright, flat colours and concentric circles à la Robert Delaunay, scribbles, tiny figures, lettering in irregular capitals, perspectives from both above and the side and incomplete layers of childlike colouring-in, this is a stylishly designed object. The dust jacket unfolds to make a poster with spaces to fill in, and invites you to make your own map on the back — an irresistible proposition." My Map Book was published in 1995 in the U.S.

Dennis Brindell Fradin's With a Little Luck: Surprising Stories Of Amazing Discoveries is the "KidsPost" Book of the Week in the Washington Post. Here's the gist: "This book will fill you in on the history of several discoveries, from the ichthyosaur to pulsars. The stories aren't just fascinating, they're inspiring -- because they show that when it comes to discoveries, curiosity, attentiveness and persistence often matter more than luck!"

**Also in today's Times, Jack Grimston talks to J.K. Rowling about her charity work with orphans in Eastern (I'd say Central) European countries. She's accepted an invitation to travel to the Czech Republic after her work in Romania.

Blogs Aplenty...

Blogs Galore!

Two newish blogs devoted to children's books have recently caught my attention.

• The first is Bec's Book Blog, which features reviews and news written by Becky Wojahn, a Reference and Education Librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. And, she's a writer. Great blog!
• The second is a new entry to the kidlit blogging world, Book Carousel. On Book Carousel, Catherine H. Ross posts reviews "to help adults quickly locate excellent children's picture books." A writer and book reviewer, Ross began her blog just this past month, but has already posted many excellent reviews.

Happy reading, everyone!

News and Dissentfrom the U.K.

Amanda Craig reviews Blood Fever by Charlie Higson for the Times and isn't all that impressed. (Blood Fever is the second title in the Young Bond series.) Craig writes of Blood Fever, "what is missing is a taut style, a plot that makes sense, a character that readers get involved with and a genuine sense of menace. At 372 pages, Blood Fever is too long, padded with unnecessary conversations and leaden clichés."

Recently, Robert McCrum reviewed Blood Fever favorably for the Guardian, as did Nicolette Jones for the (very same) Times.

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Also in the Times today, Nicolette Jones talks to Louise Rennison (of Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging fame).

Luna Lovegood cast

The BBC reports that Luna Lovegood has been cast for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Fourteen-year-old Evanna Lynch from "near Drogheda in Ireland" is the lucky young actress.

Based on her photograph I'd say she's a pretty good choice for the role.

Beware the Poet Laureate

Emily Wilson has written a companion piece to yesterday's article in the Guardian about the RLS top ten books for children initiative. Wilson takes on the list contributed by the Poet Laureate of the U.K., Andrew Motion. Here are some of her funnier contributions:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (1881): A rich young woman called Isabel Archer falls under the spell of Gilbert Osmond and his "friend" Madame Merle. Isabel marries Osmond - uh oh! - and she will never be happy again. The moral: stay away from older men with houses full of fine art and mysterious, older female friends. (If only Diana had read it!)
• Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667): Satan, disguised as a serpent, persuades Eve to eat some forbidden fruit ... sound familiar? Milton's poem of the greatest story ever told sets out Satan as the greatest villain ever. [Note to parents: no child will ever again complain about having been forced to read Ulysses.]
• The Waste Land by TS Eliot (1922): Question: is this poem - which includes lines such as "Jug jug jug jug jug jug" - incomprehensible nonsense, or the greatest poem ever written? To find out, you will need all your ancient Greek, along with any German and French you may have picked up along the way.

I love the "moral" of The Portrait of a Lady.