Capstone Connect

Book Suggestions for Young Mothers

 I went to dinner with a friend last night and met some women who are young mothers (I talk to just about anyone anywhere…so be careful…it might just be you next time!). These women started talking about books for their young children. One woman specifically asked me to recommend some books for her 1, 3, and 4-year-old children. So I started my list with the classics from the Children’s Books Guide top 100. You can find it at http://childrensbooksguide.com/top-100. I love every one of these titles…well at least most of them. For some reason, The Story of Ferdinand has never appealed to me. Not sure why. They even include stories that “almost” made the list at the bottom. It’s a pretty amazing list.

Another source that I always use is my friend Isabel Baker’s catalog. She knows her books! Click on her catalog below and you will find her suggestions. The starred titles are what I watch for.

BUT! I want to suggest a few of my favorite Capstone titles for preschool children! For the one-year-old, I would suggest our board book, Duck Goes Potty by our very own Michael Dahl…a hilarious take on potty training. For the three-year-old I would recommend another book by Michael Dahl, Do Bears Buzz? It’s such a fun interactive book to read with preschoolers! And my last recommendation for the four-year-old is Hello, Goodbye, and a Very Little Lie by Christianne C. Jones, another very talented in-house author. All the books from these sets are good, but these are my favorites.

        

What would you recommend to someone if they asked you for books for their preschoolers?

Book Apocalypse?

I'm writing today about a very important issue that isn't given enough attention. I am a big proponent of e-books and other electronic content. I own a Kindle, and I've used most of the other tablets and e-readers. I certainly don't have a printed set of encyclopedias at home, but I do use the online version of Encyclopaedia Britannica all the time. So, when I heard the news that the Britannica has decided to quit printing physical encyclopedias, my rational brain said, "Oh, that makes sense. Most people aren't buying them. Yes, concentrate on your online verson." But my reptilian, id-brain said, in a small, scratchy voice: But what about the apocalypse? 

It could be because my husband was watching Doomsday Preppers the other day that my neurons put these two things together. I am personally not a doomsday prepper. I have no stockpile of food or water. I'm not even prepared enough for the CDC standards. But I do love my apocalypse entertainment. Night of the Living Dead is a favorite movie, and The Road is a favorite novel.

But if I had The Road on my Kindle rather than in hard copy as I do now, how would I read it when zombies have eaten the brains of the power company workers? A very rational discussion ensued in the comment section of a blog post I recently read on the rise of e-books. One commenter observed that, if civilization collapsed, you'd have more pressing matters than how to charge your e-reader.

Another person replied that, well, yes, for a bit. But when you take care of food, shelter, and water, then you're going to want some good old fashioned escapism. Really—if there were a time for escapism, I think the apocalypse would be it.

I imagine that the local library would be ransacked, especially titles about making solar panels from materials around your house or how to make your own urine potable. But beyond that, I worry about all the knowledge that's out there in electronic form that just, well, disappears. Like this wonderfully insightful blog post.

I will continue to hail the electronic revolution. Reason usually prevails, after all. But if I ever do decide to make an emergency kit, I don't think my Kindle will be a part of it. But my copy of The Road just might.

Gillia Olson, Managing Editor

Fiction Friday: Read Across America

Happy Read Across America Day! And happy birthday to Dr. Suess!

I came across the Reader's Oath on the National Education Association's web site. It is meant to inspire children to become lifelong readers. But I think it works for adults too. Too many of my friends and family have abandoned reading for pleasure as grown ups. They say they're too busy, but how can you be too busy for books? The idea is terribly sad to me. I just might send them this oath and try to get them reading again.

Reader's Oath 

I promise to read
Each day and each night.
I know it's the key
To growing up right.

I'll read to myself,
I'll read to a crowd.
It makes no difference
If silent or loud.

I'll read at my desk,
At home and at school,
On my bean bag or bed,
By the fire or pool.

Each book that I read
Puts smarts in my head,
'Cause brains grow more thoughts
The more they are fed.

So I take this oath
To make reading my way
Of feeding my brain
What it needs every day.

-Debra Angstead, Missouri-NEA

 

Have a great weekend filled with books!

Julie Gassman, Senior Editor

A Sparkly Kylie Jean Giveaway

 

It’s pink, it sparkles, it’s autographed, and it could be yours.

We have not one, but two Kylie Jean inspired cowboy hats to give away to two lucky readers! Plus, we’ll add in a complete set of the Kylie Jean series, eight books in all! Simply leave a comment on this post by Tuesday, Feb. 28 to enter our giveaway.

We recently sat down with author Marci Peschke to chat about the charming Kylie Jean series…

First of all, congratulations on recently winning the 2011 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for Blueberry Queen.
Thanks! I am very honored and excited to receive such an important award. I think it is great that the Moonbeam Award is given for positive books for children and Kylie Jean is such a positive girl.
 
Kylie Jean was an instant hit with readers. Reviewers lauded the books as “cheerful and fresh,” “delightful and charming,” and “a winner,” to quote just a few. What is it about this spunky Southern belle that resonates so much with readers?
I think it is her can-do spirit and her sense of fun. She always wants to try new things!
 
The inspiration for the books came from a very real Kylie Jean. Tell us a little bit about that.
The real Kylie Jean is my niece. She is a little southern belle and really does have a dog called Ugly Brother! Some of the things that happen in the books are inspired by things that happen to her, but most of them are made up. In the fall I was a guest author at the real Kylie Jean's school. She is in the third grade now. It made her an instant celebrity! She loves sharing the books with her friends and I have even included her best friends' names in some of the books. She says, "It's really fun to have an author for an aunt."
 
Kylie Jean’s adventures continue this spring with four new titles on dancing, football, singing, and spelling. How did you decide on these new adventures?
I took dance lessons as a girl, so dancing queen seemed like a theme many girls would relate to. Since I live in Texas and football is such a HUGE part of our culture I just had to write a football book! Singing queen was inspired by some little girls that I saw on the internet singing the national anthem. Most schools have spelling bees and being smart is important, so I thought an academic competition might make a nice story. I am always on the lookout for good ideas!
 
In addition to writing children’s books, you also work as a school librarian. How does your day job influence your writing? What do your students think about your success?
I love children's books! When I was a classroom teacher I had a class library of over 3000 books. The kids at my school love knowing a real author. They come into the library and ask if any of my books are available. Usually they are ALL checked out and I have several copies, so it’s pretty exciting for them.
 
Are you working on more Kylie Jean titles?      
Yes! I just finished Pirate Queen. Pirates are a passion of mine, so out of all of the books I have written, it’s my favorite Kylie Jean story. Arrgh!

Don't forget to leave a comment by Tuesday, Feb. 28 for a chance to win! Good luck!

 

Blockbuster Book Trailers

Last month School Library Journal announced its second annual Trailee Award winners at the American Library Association midwinter meeting. If you haven’t had a chance to check out these funny and adorable, and sometimes creepy and suspenseful, book trailers I recommend you take a look.

Book trailers have become an increasingly popular tool for librarians and teachers to use in their booktalk sessions with students. In fact, a survey of 100 school librarians found that 34% of librarians regularly use book trailers when booktalking, and another 38% sometimes use book trailers. The survey, conducted by Naomi Bates, a Texas high school librarian, also found that 99% of the librarians surveyed think trailers are an effective way to present books to students.

Teacher-librarian John Schumacher (aka Mr. Schu) determines a book trailer’s success by his students’ response:

“I know a book trailer has done its job when:

1. My students applaud at the end of the trailer.
2. Students run to the catalog to place a hold on the book.
3. At least two kids ask if we can watch it again.”

In addition to whetting students’ appetite, the Teach With Picture Books blog suggests book trailers are also great for teaching lessons in literary techniques, comparing and contrasting, and building critical thinking skills.

How are you using book trailers in your library or classroom? What do you think makes a great book trailer?

We’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, here are a few of our most recent book trailers:

 

  

  

  

Coming to a Library Near You

   

Batman and Superman – two of the most popular comic book figures in North America – are heading to a library near you.

Last week we announced an exciting new licensing agreement with DC Entertainment. Starting in the fall, we will publish reinforced library hard covers and paper-over-board editions of the extensive DC Comics comic book list. We’ll be adding backmatter to the titles (think author/illustrator bios, glossary, etc), making them even more perfect additions to the library or classroom.

The first season will include 24 titles for readers at all levels from these iconic series: 

• Tiny Titans - Join the world’s greatest super heroes as little kids! Tiny Titans is illustrated by the Eisner award-winning Art Baltazar, the same illustrator as our best-selling DC Super-Pets chapter books.

• DC Superfriends - Super Friends is a great series for younger readers to meet the heroes of the DC Universe—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and Aquaman are all here to save the day!

• Batman: Brave and the Bold - Based on the popular animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold follows Batman as he chases down the most powerful villains in the DC Universe.

• Superman Adventures - Based on the popular animated series, Superman Adventures is a great series to introduce The Man of Steel to younger readers.

• Batman Adventures - Also based on the hit animated series, Batman Adventures has more stories from the world’s favorite crime fighter! 

• Young Justice - Offer more complex stories to older readers with Young Justice. Sophisticated action and art follow four young superheroes learning how to work as a team.

Also coming next fall - more original Batman and Superman stories with two new chapter book series Dark Knight and Man of Steel. More on those original series in a future post!

Finding the Right Books

We’re lucky. We often hear from librarians, teachers, and parents about how one of our books changed a child’s life – giving him or her the confidence to pick up another book, and another, and another. We even receive emails and letters from kids themselves sharing their stories.
 
We recently received one such email from Susan Grigsby, a middle school teacher-librarian from Georgia who wrote to us about her experience of finding the right books for one special, hard-to-reach child. She met with one of her classes and spoke about reading and how she didn’t believe that anyone could not like to read, only that they haven’t found the right book. She shared with the class a selection of books by Michael Dahl and gave particular attention to the Library of Doom and Dragonblood series. One of the students chose three books from the series to read. A few days later, Susan received this letter from him:

Dear Mrs. Grigsby,
Thank you for helping me find some interesting books now I know that reading can be fun now!!! Now when I go in the library, I know what to pick out now. I found three fantasy books. When I go home I can read it to my little brother now and when he gets to middle school he'll want to read books a lot too. I'm learning a lot from the books I got from the library. Every one in my class loves their books!!! You lighten my life now it was dark when I hated reading. Like they say out with the old and in with the new!! For this I say thank you.
Sincerely,
Ryan

It’s always gratifying for us for us to hear such heart-warming and inspiring stories, bringing home the bigger picture of what we do each day. Thank you Susan for sharing your story with us and allowing us to share it with others!

Beverly Hills – swimmin’ pools, movie stars, & Tony Hawk

(Tony Hawk pops a Backside Ollie at DaGeDar Presents Stand Up For Skateparks, benefiting the Tony Hawk Foundation, 10/2/11, Beverly Hills, CA. Photo by J Grant Brittain. Copyright © Tony Hawk Foundation 2011.)

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Tony Hawk Stand Up for Skateparks benefit in Beverly Hills at the home of billionaire Ron Burkle. Let’s just say the experience was pretty surreal. It’s not every day that I’m at the home of a billionaire, in the midst of celebrities like Tony Hawk, Mark Wahlberg, Jamie Lee Curtis (who looks fabulous!), Jon Favreau, Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White, NBA All-Star Bill Walton, and even the famous skateboarding bulldog Tillman, to name just a few.

A crowd of 1,000 guests, consisting of celebrities, athletes, fans, and friends, gathered to show their support at the carnival-style, family-friendly event. Tony and top skaters and BMX athletes performed a Vert Demo on Hawk’s personal ramp, indie rockers the Black Keys played, and live and silent auctions took place, featuring one-of-a-kind items like a Tony Hawk Edition Customized Ford Explorer.

The benefit raised $755,000 for the Tony Hawk Foundation’s mission to build free public skateparks in low-income areas. The skateparks provide local, at-risk youth an opportunity to participate in a fun, safe, and healthy new activity. As we all know, physical activity is more important than ever with the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. To date, the Tony Hawk Foundation has helped fund 493 public skateparks, serving more than 3.5 million youth annually.

Kids attending the benefit, including youth from Canoga Park, California, one of L.A.’s most challenged communities, left with backpacks filled with tons of swag, including the first book from our Tony Hawk’s 900 Revolution series Drop In. We set up a coloring/draw your own comics station in our tent area. With all of the activities going on elsewhere, I was surprised that kids were completely content to camp out in our tent and just color and draw. Two adorable little girls stayed for nearly an hour! 

It was truly an exciting and rewarding experience to be a part of such a great cause. Here are a few more pics from the benefit:

(My fellow Capstone colleague Heather and I at our tent.)

(Youth from Canoga Park, CA join Tony Hawk on the Red Carpet. The Tony Hawk Foundation is supporting a skatepark project in Canoga Park. Photo by Jody Morris. Copyright © Tony Hawk Foundation 2011.)

(Tony Hawk and Jamie Lee Curtis. Photo by Jody Morris. Copyright © Tony Hawk Foundation 2011.)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

The leaves are turning red and orange in Minnesota, an indication that fall is officially here. But there’s one thing missing in the land of 10,000 lakes this fall: pro baseball. After two years of first-round blues against the Yankees, the Twins will be riding the pine during the playoffs. The Twins have certainly had a rough year full of injuries, experimentation, and heartache. But as they say, there’s always next year!

Even with the Twins out of the playoffs, I’m excited for what should be a pulse-pounding playoff schedule. The wild card spots came down to the last day in both divisions. The surging Cardinals overcame the struggling Braves, and the Rays rallied to beat out the Red Sox. Perennial favorites such as the Yankees and Phillies will be the teams to beat, but if we learned anything from the Giants and Rangers last year, the World Series is up for grabs!

The talk of playoff berths and magic numbers reminds me of working on the Sports Math set from Capstone Press that was published a few months ago. The set is one of many partnered with Sports Illustrated Kids. I’ve had the privilege of working with an editor from SIK to make awesome, action-packed sports books. The Sports Math set delves into the math inherent in baseball, basketball, football, and hockey.

Working on this set was a perfect match for me. I love sports—especially baseball—and I love math. Baseball is truly a game of numbers. From calculating ERA to finding the area of the pitcher’s mound, math is everywhere. The math concepts are reinforced by amazing Sports Illustrated images of star players doing what they do best. Between the math, the sport, and the cool SI images, this set was definitely one of my favorites!

For one example, let’s put the Pythagorean theorem to work on the baseball field. When a runner steals second base, the catcher has to make a long throw in a short time to get the runner out. How far does the ball have to travel?

If you know two sides of a right triangle (a triangle with a 90-degree angle), you can use the Pythagorean theorem to find the third side. The Pythagorean theorem states a² + b² = c². The hypotenuse, or longest side of the triangle, is represented by c. In our example, the distance the catcher throws the ball is the hypotenuse. The distance between home and first base is a (90 feet), and the distance between first base and second base is b (90 feet). Then we just plug in the numbers and do the math.

90² + 90² = c²

8,100 + 8,100 = c²

8,100 = c²

16,200 = c

c = 127.28 feet

The catcher has to throw the ball about 127 feet to throw out the runner. And that’s just one many examples of math in baseball.

Tony Wacholtz, Senior Editor

Yo Ho Ho!

Arrr there, mateys! Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day. So go ahead and slap on the ol' eye patch, and feel free to let out a growl.

While I can't offer you gold, here are treasures of a far more lasting kind. Kids of all ages will pillage and plunder these reads. 

Check out The Real World of Pirates. Aye, it's a whole set dedicated to everything pirate.

 

 

 

 

 

For all ye landlubbers out there, discover what's truth or legend in Pirates: Truth and Rumors.

 

 

 

 

 

Become a buccaneer with the You Choose title 
The Golden Age of Pirates.

 

 

 

 

 

Blimey! Pirate life wasn't all parrots and treasure maps. Find out what it was really like in The Crude, Unpleasant Age of Pirates: The Disgusting Details about the Life of Pirates.

 

 

 

 

For ye youngest lads and lassies, open up this treasure.

 

 

 

Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! Find your inner pirate and enjoy the day!

Jen Besel
Senior Editor