Children & YA | Chapter 16

Weirdlandia

By Ed Tarkington

September 21, 2012

September 21, 2012 Colin Meloy, frontman and primary songwriter for the Decemberists, is best known for his darkly ironic sensibility and a penchant for the macabre. These characteristics are on ample display in The Wildwood Chronicles, Meloy’s auspicious venture into the world of children’s fantasy fiction, featuring illustrations by his wife, Carson Ellis. Under Wildwood continues the standard Meloy and Ellis established in the first volume for blending the traditional elements of fantasy fiction with a clever, witty juxtaposition of magical forests and coffee houses frequented by vegan pacifists on bicycles. Meloy and Ellis will appear at the Nashville Children’s Theater on October 1 at 6:15 p.m. This free event is part of the Salon@615 series.

The World is Not So Different Now

By Fernanda Moore

September 5, 2012

September 5, 2012 The beloved picture book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day established Judith Viorst as a world-famous children’s author, but the versatile author has also written non-fiction, humorous poetry, novels for adults (notably the wickedly funny Murdering Mr. Monti: A Merry Little Tale of Sex and Violence), and even a musical. Viorst, now eighty-one, will discuss her newest book for children, Lulu Walks the Dogs, at the twenty-fourth annual Southern Festival of Books, held October 12-14 at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. All events are free and open to the public.

Penning an Award Winner

By Tom Markham

August 30, 2012

August 30, 2012 Prolific children’s author and Nashville native Patricia McKissack has been honored for her picture book Never Forgotten. The PEN American Center recently awarded McKissack the PEN/Steven Kroll award, which, according to the PEN website, “acknowledge[s] the distinct literary contributions of picture book writers.”

Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends

August 30, 2012

“Brilliant color photographs of Tarra and Bella at home in the Elephant Sanctuary deftly illustrate this inspiring story of companionship, and an informative note about the Sanctuary provides a great resource for parents and teachers.”

— From the Publisher

The Dark Unwinding

August 30, 2012

“Katharine Tulman discovers a fantastic world where science seems like magic when she arrives at her uncle’s remote estate to have him committed to a lunatic asylum. But instead of a lunatic she is confronted with a genius inventor with his own set of child-like rules, a brooding apprentice and a mysterious young student of science, the dwindling family fortune and the hundreds of families her uncle is using it to support. Having Uncle Tulman sent to the asylum is no longer an easy choice. And that’s when Katharine Tulman begins seeing things that aren’t really there.”

— From sharoncameronbooks.com

Perfectly Unique: Praising God from Head To Foot

August 30, 2012

“In Perfectly Unique: Praising God from Head to Foot, author Annie F. Downs encourages young women to take a look at who they are through the way God created each part of them, and discover the practical ways they can use their lives to glorify God.”

— From the Publisher

“This gripping graphic novel tells the story of the 1891 Coal Creek War — one of the most significant yet overlooked labor and abolitionist uprisings in the history of the United States. … Austin Sauerbrei’s evocative black-and-white illustrations and masterful storytelling show the personal battles and motivations that led thousands of miners to repeatedly take up arms against the powerful companies, their militias, and politicians.”

~the publisher