As someone who occasionally needs to ask Warne for permission to use Potter images in my talks — and as a long-time member of the Beatrix Potter Society, which relies on close ties with Warne — I was a bit worried about our publishing this article. Given the harsh truths that Frasier reveals, what might it mean for that symbiotic relationship? But as soon as I read the piece in full it became clear that we had to publish it. Thank you, Caroline!

Emma Thompson’s new Peter Rabbit adventure next to Beatrix Potter’s original.

We wanted to post some Potter-related articles for you, but the most recent, “London Sketches” (November/December 2011 Horn Book Magazine), won’t be available online because while we DID get permission to reproduce the images in the article, we are only allowed to use them in the print version. (Note that you can buy the print issue via this page or look for it in your library.)

What we were able to put up is “Beatrix and Bertha,” my 2006 piece on the friendship between Beatrix Potter and Horn Book’s founder Bertha Mahony Miller. If you want even more and don’t mind doing some spelunking, there’s even more here on our archived site.

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Cindy:
Cinder (Feiwel, 2012), the first book in Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series. This futuristic Cinderella story is a mix of fairy tale, sci-fi, and romance — perfect for a wide female readership and certain to spark discussion and anticipation of future installments. Watch your back, Hunger Games, this series could be the next big thing. My second choice for mothers and daughters to read together would be Kekla Magoon’s 37 Things I Love (in no particular order) (Holt, 2012) for its honest first-person portrayal of a teenage girl’s coming of age as she deals with death, hope, love, and friendship.

Elissa:
Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming (Random/Schwartz and Wade, 2011). It’s suspenseful, informative, and accessible; readers will come away with a fresh view of the feisty, pioneering woman and the events leading up to — and following — her disappearance.

Kitty:
Libba Bray’s hilarious and sharply observant Beauty Queens (Scholastic, 2011). A planeload of beauty pageant contestants crashes on what looks like a deserted island. The scope of the plot is mind-boggling — the girls are ultimately pawns in a massive global conspiracy — but the quieter message about the power unleashed when teen girls think society isn’t watching will resonate across generations. Bray’s narration of the audiobook edition is a tour-de-force performance.

Katrina:
The mature topics in Girl in the Mirror (Persea, 2013) by Meg Kearney will appeal to older teens (and give mothers a jumping-off point for discussion), but it’s as much about mother-daughter bonds and connection to family — both adopted and birth in this case. Ideal for girls with adopted, single-parent, or other unconventional family backgrounds. Its verse narrative will likely be a new and exciting format for teens and moms to explore together.

Katie:
The women in Wren’s family manifest magical powers when they reach puberty. Wren uses hers to bring her boyfriend Danny back from the dead, but then meets (living) Gabriel, who’s drawn to her gift. Although romance takes center stage in Amy Garvey’s Cold Kiss (HarperTeen, 2011), Garvey weaves female familial relationships as intricately as Wren creates her spell. The complex dynamics between three generations of magical women (think a YA Practical Magic) add depth — and plenty for teen girls and their moms to discuss.

Martha:
How about A. S. King’s Ask the Passengers (Little, Brown, 2012)? Protagonist Astrid is taking a class in the Socratic method at her close-minded, small-town high school, and so she spends the year “asking questions and not rushing to answer them” — an illuminating time for her, and an ideal springboard for book discussion. Is she gay? Or just in love with one particular girl? Once she determines her identity, should she hide it, like her best friend? Astrid makes some pretty crucial choices in the book, and readers will be right there to see why, and how; through the interspersed airplane interludes (Astrid spends a lot of time looking up at the sky and sending questions and love to the passengers on airplanes) readers get glimpses into other lives, just as full of struggle and conflict and not-easy answers as Astrid’s life is. Finally, seeing as this is a mother/teen daughter read-together, Astrid’s relationship with her (nightmare of a) mother would certainly provoke discussion…

Roger:
I think Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity (Hyperion, 2012) would be an excellent choice; it’s the kind of YA book that makes a great adult crossover. While the story — a WWII thriller about two young women — is plenty exciting on its own, the narrative structure is tricky and would be fun to talk about.

Shara:
Pearl (called Bean) and her best friend Henry are comfortable with their respective familial dysfunctional in Pearl (Holt, 2011) by Jo Knowles, but the revelation of long-kept family secrets exposes the corrosive effect that silence can have on relationships. Homosexuality, friendship, and romance are just a few of the topics tackled by this dramatic novel.

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Developer Nosy Crow utilizes a choose-your-own-adventure narrative structure, which has recently become a trend in children’s digital applications, to encourage interactivity and nonlinear story exploration. As Red sets out to deliver a basket of goodies to Grandma, she encounters a hungry wolf and several forks in the road along the way. A combination of three paths (out of eight total) leads to the final destination, each path featuring a mini activity that Red must complete in order to obtain items that she will ultimately use to battle the Big Bad Wolf in the denouement at Grandma’s house. Each time you play, you can try a different combination of paths and activities, thus changing the final outcome. An easily navigable map in the upper right corner allows you to backtrack and try different paths if you don’t like the way things are going.

Mini activities include simple tasks such as picking flowers, collecting jars of water, and pouring honey, to name a few. Each activity employs an interactive element: tilting the device from side to side, blowing into the microphone, and dragging items here and there using the touch screen technology.

No matter which paths you take, the story concludes with a no-holds-barred, girl vs. canine showdown that ends with the inevitable butt-kicking of the maniacal Big Bad Wolf, wherein he gets his just deserts through a variety of humorously humiliating defeat sequences, while the victors, Red and Grandma, just get desserts — the only things devoured in this version of Little Red are the treats from the picnic basket.

Available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; $4.99. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

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- more picture books about outdoor play
- biographies of sports heroes
- heroines of historical fiction
- YA adventure stories on audio

Subscribers to the free monthly Notes from the Horn Book newsletter also receive its supplement Nonfiction Notes — sign up here. For more recommended books and author/illustrator interviews, see the newsletter archives.

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It was the little black velvet drawstring purse that caught my eye. The strip of antique-y eyelet cloth on which it sat was a quaint touch, to be sure, but the purse was what beckoned me. The purse, its mysterious contents, and cloth were secured with a black grosgrain ribbon around Holly Black’s newest book, Doll Bones (Simon/McElderry, May 2013), and the whole curious package was giving me a come-hither look from Katie’s inbox. I had to know what secrets the purse was keeping.

And then there was this…Katie warned me: “Don’t look in there. It’s creepy.” Just the invitation I needed.

here’s lookin’ at you

Promotional doll-eyeball lapel pins? Creep-tastic! I wore one for an hour or so, and no one noticed. Not a single person. So I ramped it up a notch and added the second one, then purposefully stood in front of my coworkers and made small talk. I thought the eyeballs would be good conversation starters, but after the initial laugh and question about where I got my accessories…awkward silence. Or they wanted to get back to work. Whatever. I know cool when I see it. And it looks right back at me…lifelessly.

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• Tiny, bad-tempered gnomes are ubiquitous in the illustrations and animations, but never mentioned in the text until they eat Hansel’s breadcrumb trail.
• After the children’s wicked stepmother takes them deep into the forest, she gets lost there herself and is never seen again — although her complaining can still be heard.
• Hansel shoots the witch with his slingshot, pitching her forward into her own cauldron, which propels her up the chimney and out of the house.
• A garden full of modern-day sweets (e.g., fizzy lemonade, gummies, and cotton candy) surrounds the witch’s house. The enchanted gummy animals are returned to their true forms after the witch’s defeat. A formerly-gummy swan offers to fly the children home.
• Hansel, much heavier after his ordeal, is magically restored to his previous skinny state.

The richly colored illustrations are pleasantly reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons and well suited to the story’s light tone. An impressive amount of animation is seamlessly integrated into the illustrations, humorously extending the story.

The main menu offers three options for experiencing the app. “Read to me” mode plays the narration without displaying the text. Interactivities on each screen are disabled while the narration plays; tapping a “sparkle” icon in the upper right-hand corner interrupts the narrator and skips straight to allowing users to access the interactive elements. In “read by myself” mode, the narration is off, and the text displays on a scrolling pane across the bottom of the screen. “Play around” mode forgoes the story entirely so that users may explore Hansel and Gretel’s world.

The navigation is well-designed and simple, with self-explanatory icons and a thumbnail chapter that’s accessible from any screen. The cheerful music and sound effects have separate on/off controls. English and Dutch language options are provided.

A caveat: as the Kirkus review points out, the characters of Gretel and the children’s father are “largely relegate[d] . . . to passive roles.” In the father’s case this passivity minimizes his complicity in the wicked stepmother’s machinations, rendering him innocent. In Gretel’s case, however, it makes her a mere tag-along to the story’s star, “clever” Hansel. (And another thing — we’re repeatedly told Hansel is clever, but his behavior isn’t consistent with this characterization.) Most of the app’s changes to the plot are innocuous, if unnecessary, but one change I find troubling is the revised denouement. Instead of Gretel saving the day by pushing the witch into her own oven, here Hansel defeats the witch alone. This version is more Hansel’s story than that of Hansel and Gretel.

More Epic Tales fairy tales narrated by Silvertongue are on the way.

Available for iPad and iPhone (requires iOS 5.1 or later); $3.99. Rated age 9 and up.

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The Edward Gorey House’s 2013 special exhibit “Edward Gorey’s Vinegar Works” opened for their 2013 season on April 18th. The exhibit covers the “three volumes of moral instruction” in Gorey’s Vinegar Works boxed set: The Insect God, The West Wing, and his best-known work, The Gashlycrumb Tinies.

Renowned author/illustrator Peter Sís will give the 2013 Barbara Elleman Research Library Lecture (titled “Walls and Bridges…Books With Wings”) on Saturday, May 4th, at the Carle Museum at 2:30 pm. This annual lecture series is “designed to feature the country’s preeminent scholars, book collectors, researchers, editors, authors, and illustrators in the field of children’s literature.” The event is free with museum admission and will be followed by a reception and book signing. A luncheon with Mr. Sís prior to the lecture is sold out, but the museum is accepting names for a waiting list; call 413-658-1126 to be added.

On Tuesday, May 7th, children’s literature critic and former Horn Book editor in chief Anita Silvey will host an in-store book fair at Porter Square Books. The event, a benefit for the Foundation for Children’s Books, begins at 6:00 pm.

Author Mac Barnett and illustrator Jon Klassen will discuss their Caldecott Honor book (and BGHB 2012 Picture Book Award winner) Extra Yarn at the Carle Museum on Saturday, May 11th. The event begins at 2:00 pm and will include a book signing; it’s free with museum admission.

Annual national Children’s Book Week takes place May 13th through May 19th. For a nationwide event schedule, Children’s Choice Book Award voting, and the gorgeous promotional poster (illustrated by Brian Selznick) and bookmark (illustrated by Grace Lin), see the official Book Week website.

On Monday, May 13th, YA author Sara Zarr will speak and sign books at the Brookline Public Library main branch at 3:00 pm. The free event celebrates her latest novel, The Lucy Variations.

Wellesley Booksmith’s baseball-themed “double header” book event at 4:00 pm on Tuesday, May 14th, will feature Matt Tavares (Becoming Babe Ruth) and David Kelly (The Ballpark Mysteries). Ballpark snacks will be provided, and kids who come dressed in baseball uniforms or memorabilia will be entered to win a baseball signed by the authors.

On Thursday, May 16th, Ayanna Coleman will moderate a panel on “Diversity on the Page, Behind the Pencil, and in the Office,” co-hosted by Charlesbridge and Children’s Book Council Diversity Committee. Panelists include author Mitali Perkins, illustrator London Ladd, and editors from Boston-based publishers Charlesbridge, Candlewick, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The event will be held at 6:00 at Charlesbridge’s Illustration Gallery in Watertown. The panel is free, but space is limited, so please pre-register online.

Barbara Elleman will lead a gallery tour of the exhibit “The Caldecott Medal: 75 Years of Distinguished Illustration” at the Carle Museum on Saturday, May 18th, at 8:00 pm. The exhibit features “high quality prints drawn from more than 30 Caldecott Medal books.” Following the tour, author Lawrence Webster will discuss and sign her book Under the North Light: The Life and Work of Maud and Miska Petersham, a biography of the Caldecott-winning couple. The tour and presentation are free with museum admission.

Illustrator Raúl Colón will give a lecture entitled “Art is a Mind Game” at the Carle Museum on Saturday, May 18th, at 12:00 pm. The lecture will be followed by a book signing and is free with museum admission.

Authors Cal Armistead, Scott Blagden, Jack D. Ferraiolo, and Joe Lawlor will present a panel called “So You Want to Write a Book…” for young writers in grades K–12 at Wellesley Booksmith on Saturday, May 18th, at 4:00 pm. Attendees can bring a single double-spaced page of original writing to receive feedback from one of the panelists. The panel is free; please RSVP to kidevents@wellesleybooks.com.

On Wednesday, May 29th, at 7:00 pm at the Brookline Booksmith, Michelle Tea will have a book launch event for her first YA novel, the “modern-day fairy tale” A Mermaid in Chelsea Creek. Ali Liebegott, author of adult book Cha-Ching!, will join her.

Attending or hosting another children’s lit–related event in the greater Boston area this month? Please let us know in the comments!

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With Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, & Raven (HarperCollins, March 2013), it seems Lauren Oliver anticipated this reader response. Published simultaneously with Requiem, the third book in the Delirium series, Delirium Stories revisits the world of Delirium with a focus on the internal experience of three secondary characters: Hana, Annabel, and Raven.

All three have stories inextricably linked to Lena’s, allowing the reader additional insight into some of the situations in Delirium and Pandemonium while also adding more flesh to the world. Hana, Lena’s best friend from Portland, tells of her seventeenth summer and her flirtation with danger, boys, and amor deliria nervosa — that most dangerous of all diseases, love. The story of Annabel, Lena’s mother, jumps between her youth and the early days of the cure and her present moment, imprisoned in Portland’s Ward Six. And Raven, the tale of the leader of the uncureds Lena finds in the Wilds, explains her beginnings and tells a part of Lena’s story from a very different point of view.

The three voices are much the same — first person, feminine, introspective, and emotional — but their accounts are interesting and they allow the reader to revel in the world of Delirium for a little while longer. This book is lovely but best enjoyed as a companion to the series. An excerpt from Requiem, a list of romantic literature banned in the world of Delirium, and a personality quiz are appended.

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I recently saw Oz, the Great and Powerful in IMAX 3-D. Having read mostly 2-2.5-star reviews, I wasn’t expecting much. But when their grandparents are willing and available to babysit your two small children (“Go, see a movie!”), it doesn’t have to be Citizen Kane you’re watching. And going in with low expectations can definitely work some magic.

The visual aspects of the movie are stunning (and I’m not just talking about the lead actors, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz, but, wow, what a pretty cast, and in IMAX, no less). Like the 1939 Wizard of Oz, the film starts off in black and white. Once we’re no longer in Kansas — courtesy of Dorothy’s tornado, impressive in 3-D — everything switches to color, and the 3-D imagery ramps up a notch (lots of flowers blossoming dramatically, butterflies fluttering around, even a lunging lion), Avatar-style.

James Franco, as the prophesied wizard, meets Mila Kunis, a lonely witch, and she falls instantly in love with him. When she finds out she’s not his main squeeze she spectacularly loses it, doing her best impersonation of her screechy-girlfriend self on That ’70s Show. It’s not the first time James Franco has toyed with a lady’s emotions; check him out in this hilariously unforgettable act of manipulation from Freaks & Geeks. (And his real-life mom, children’s book author/poet Betsy Franco, probably has stories of her own…)

There’s a big, convoluted plot, with echoes of and parallels to Baum’s Oz books, and then there’s some more visually dazzling stuff at the end. The point is, if you feel like spending two hours looking at nice-looking people in front of gorgeous fake scenery, you could do much worse than Oz, the Great and Powerful.

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On Monday, fellow Horn Booker Shara and I went to the Cambridge Public Library’s World Book Night kick-off celebration, which brought together three local-ish authors: Vanessa Diffenbaugh (The Language of Flowers), Lisa Genova (Still Alice, Left Neglected, and the forthcoming Love Anthony) and Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book, American Gods, Coraline, Sandman, etc., etc.). All three have books on this year’s World Book Night list. Being sadly badly versed in adult literature these days, I’m not familiar with Lisa’s or Vanessa’s books, but I look forward to reading them. The authors discussed their habits as readers, how they got started writing, and their creative processes. Some highlights of their conversation:

• Vanessa told of carrying a book of flower meanings by Kate Greenaway in her pocket for years, eventually composing a poem of paper strips strung together with actual flowers — an early precursor to her novel.
• Lisa left a career in neuroscience research to write fiction. Her former occupation informs her novels, which feature characters coping with neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and autism. An added perk? Her PhD gives her insider access to the latest research. (“Hello, this is Dr. Lisa Genova…”) During the writing of Still Alice, about a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, Lisa was in daily communication with twenty-four individuals affected by the disease.
• When asked what book he’d like to distribute for World Book Night, Neil said he would insist on speaking with the recipients about their personal tastes in order to recommend something specifically for each of them.
• The moderator asked the authors which books they wished they had written themselves. Lisa: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Vanessa: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Neil said that as a child he “wanted to be the person who had written The Lord of the Rings” but that actually writing it seemed like too much work. He fantasized about falling into a parallel world where Tolkien didn’t exist and taking credit for the novel himself; he carried it with him at all times in case this opportunity presented itself.
• All three authors said they don’t outline or plot books in advance; they only know “what happens” for a section of each book at a time. Vanessa quoted E. L. Doctorow: “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” Neil spoke about the joy of surprising yourself with your writing and offered an anecdote from the writing of Anansi Boys: the main character unexpectedly got into an elevator, and Neil knew that once he exited the elevator he would be murdered — and the novel would be over. It took Neil two months to find his way out of this predicament.
• An audience member asked Neil if people take his children’s books less seriously than his adult books. He joked that winning the Newbery made people take him quite seriously for about a year. He takes his writing for children as seriously as (if not more than) his writing for adults, because books have even more potential to change your life during childhood.

Lisa and Vanessa had a strong fan showing; the woman in line in front of me had planned her entire garden around The Language of Flowers, and at least one book club who had read Left Neglected was in attendance. But, like me, many attendees were there to see Neil Himself. Despite the long signing line, he was very gracious as I babbled at him when my turn came.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures (you can see a couple from Lisa here and here), but I did get this:

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