I love wordless books. I think they work for kids of all ages. The freedom to create your own story each time you “read” is liberating and fun. Every picture can be pored over to see new details.
I can happily add a new book to my list of favorites: The Chicken Thief by Beatrice Rodriguez.  This book is delightful in every way. Foxes and chickens don’t get along, as we all know, as do Chicken’s friends Bear, Rabbitt and Rooster. So, when a sly fox comes and steals Chicken, her friends leap to save her.
As Fox runs off with Chicken, the gang leaps to follow, with all the animal friends on Bear’s shoulders. The scene goes into nighttime with the friends tired and despairing. But what they can’t see is Fox cuddling a sleepy Chicken in a tree. The friends continue their dogged pursuit of Fox, always working together to save their friend.
One of my favorite pages is when Bear gets stuck in a foxhole, and we see Fox and Chicken snug in a different hole playing chess. Yes, these two are destined to be good friends. The art is touchingly soft without being cloying. When Bear turns himself into a boat to follow Fox on the ocean, it’s laugh-out-loud funny.
Finally, the friends meet up with Fox and Chicken in Fox’s house. Bear has club at the ready to clobber Fox, but when Chicken explains that Fox has become a friend, Bear heaves a sign of relief and all share a meal. An animal misunderstanding resolved!
This book deals with friendship in some really great ways that young children will understand and appreciate. Unlikely friendships are celebrated, the message of working together is dealt with nicely, and loyal friends are revered. And it all works. All the notes ring true and I’ve been happily handselling this book since it came in last week.

Gareth and I have just returned from a blissful two-week honeymoon — one week in Paris and one in London. I’ve got lots of blog fodder to share with you in coming posts, but for now let me just say that EVERYWHERE we went in our travels we saw people (of all ages!) reading — and very often reading BOOKS. On the plane. On trains. In parks. At cathedrals. Standing in line. Sitting on benches. EVERYWHERE.

I finally decided I ought to snap a few photos of readers, as it was weirdly reassuring to see so many of them.

These days I often feel inundated with speculations about the decline of reading and the demise of books, so it was heartwarming to head off on this trip and find myself face-to-face with so many people who are still connecting with the printed page. And with physical books too!

Of the several hundred readers we saw in our travels, how many of them were accessing their material of choice via eReaders? Surprisingly, just TWO.

We saw one Kindle in use on the flight to Paris and one iPad on the Tube in London. C’est tout.

I’m not drawing any conclusions from this, mind you, just sharing an observation.

Most of these photos were taken in parks where, of course, a backlit screen isn’t going to fare as well as traditional print material.


We were in London during election time, so that may have had something to do with the number of newspapers being read in the photo above.

Stay tuned for more posts about our book-related discoveries/experiences in Paris and London. (YES, we were honeymooning, but no, we couldn’t/wouldn’t completely leave literature behind!) Gareth will also be posting sketches on his blog, so there will soon be fun things to see there too.

Our April 1 column this year was a spoof of BEA programming — which caught a few of you by surprise when you sat down expecting to plan your trade show schedules. We cross our hearts that today’s post is the genuine article: a guide to children’s-book-related events and educational sessions at BookExpo America in New York City from Tuesday, May 25-Thursday, May 27.
First, a few handy links. After that, we’ll organize the events and programs in chronological order and expand on them a little. Finally, we’ll share a few tips for fellow booksellers and for authors about how to get the most out of a busy trade show.
The Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) registration site — Click on the link to register for the ABC Not-a-Dinner and (Mostly) Silent Auction (a ticketed event open to all), Speed Dating with Children’s Authors (free; advance registration strongly suggested; open to children’s booksellers and librarians only), and Tea with Children’s Authors ($10; advance registration required; open only to booksellers and librarians). For more detailed information on these programs, and to see ABC’s entire BEA agenda, click here.
The official BEA site — For a complete BookExpo overview, click here. Click on the following for more info about the Children’s Book & Author Breakfast (a ticketed event). To use the BEA’s Show Planner to organize all your commitments, click here. Autographing Schedule — Hundreds of authors and artists will be signing books at BEA, both at the signing table area and at publisher booths. Here’s the page that will lead you to the full line-up.
American Booksellers Association members get at least one free badge for BEA. Register for the ABA Day of Education, including sessions on Serving the Tween Reader; Small-, Medium-, and Large-Store Roundtables, and Children’s Bookselling Cafés. (Note: these sessions are aimed at booksellers, though librarians should also find the Tween Reader session useful.)
Here’s the schedule of events directly pertaining to children’s and YA books and bookselling:
Tuesday, May 25 — ABA Day of Education 10:00 am–4:00 pm
Tues., 10:15 – 11:45 am (NOTE: this is a time change, so make sure you’ve corrected your calendars) — Serving the Tween Reader: a look at issues and best practices for this challenging children’s category, Room 1E10. Join a panel of experts from in and outside the publishing community as we discuss the definition of “tween” and examine a key issues including how to navigate content, how to interface with parents and teachers, how to shelve books for this market, what role outside services like Common Sense are playing in this category, how publishers are approaching books for this audience, and in-store strategies for helping families navigate this challenging developmental period. Moderated by Kristen McLean, Executive Director of the ABC.
Tues. 2:30-4:00 pm   The Nuts & Bolts of Children’s Bookselling: Roundtable Discussions, Room 1E12. Join us for roundtable discussions about the day-to-day operational issues that we rarely get a chance to discuss in a conference environment, but which can make a big difference in our experience as booksellers. Topics will include the changing nature of events, prioritizing tasks, managing co-op, community networking and partnerships, digital books, and more. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Bring your questions, ideas, and problems. We’ll learn from each other and emerge with fresh ideas and best practices to take back to our stores. Presented in conjunction with the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC). Moderated by Elizabeth Bluemle and Josie Leavitt of The Flying Pig Bookstore.
Tues. 5:30-8:00 pm   The ABC Not a Dinner and (Mostly) Silent Auction, at The Edison Ballroom, 240 West 47th Street. (Ticketed event: general admission $79; ABC Bookseller discount $59)

This is one of the highlights of BEA: an evening filled with luminaries in the children’s literature world celebrating art and awards and independent bookselling, and vying for any number of fabulous original art pieces by the best in the field. Where else can you bid against Mo Willems for a David Small sketch? Or chat with Kate DiCamillo about the accuracy of dog cartoons? (These are examples from auctions past; this year’s bidding wars and author encounters will vary.) The coveted E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards are given out on this evening, and speakers are always smart, witty, and inspiring. For ABC bookstore members, the $59 ticket price is the lowest in years. It’s an event not to be missed! This year’s much-appreciated event sponsors are Random House, HarperCollins, and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
5:30 p.m. – Bar opens & (Mostly) Silent Auction Preview. 6:00 p.m. – Keynote program & live announcement of the 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Awards. • Master of Ceremonies: Michael Buckley, bestselling author of The Sisters Grimm series (Abrams) • Keynote Speaker: David Weisner, Caldecott-winning author of Flotsam (Clarion). 6:30-8:00 p.m. – (Mostly) Silent Auction
Wednesday, May 26
Wed., 8:00 am – 9:30 am — Children’s Book and Author Breakfast, Special Events Hall. Presented in cooperation with the Children’s Booksellers and Publishers Committee [A cooperative committee of the American Booksellers Association (ABA), Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC), and the Children’s Book Council (CBC)], this opening-day breakfast will feature Cory Doctorow, author of For the Win (Tor Teen); Mitali Perkins, author of Bamboo People (Charlesbridge); and Richard Peck, author of Three Quarters Dead (Penguin/Dial Books for Young Readers).  Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, and author of Helping Hand Books: Emily’s First Day at School (Sterling) will be the Master of Ceremonies.
Wed., 10:30 am – 12:00 noon — Speed Dating with Children’s Authors (for booksellers only), Room 1A10-1A12. (Free; advance registration strongly suggested) Get to know children’s book creators up close and personal! Each bookseller will get quick get-to-know-you chats with up-and-coming children’s authors and illustrators, moving from table to table to meet them all. After the Speed Dating, enjoy longer discussions with those who piqued your interest. Advance registration is recommended, as space will be limited! Participating “dates” include: Heather Brewer (Penguin), Bryan Collier (Little, Brown), Eireann Corrigan (Scholastic), Beth Fantaskey (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Adam Gidwitz (Penguin), Charlie Higson (Disney), Lauren Kate (Random House), Sean Kenney (Macmillan), Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster), Carolyn MacCullough (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Matt McElligott (Bloomsbury), Kate Millford (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Daniel Nayeri (Candlewick), Mitali Perkins (Charlesbridge), Diana Peterfreund (HarperCollins), Matthew Reinhart (Candlewick), Karen Gray Ruelle (Holiday House), Bob Shea (Disney), Nadja Spiegelman & Trade Loeffler (Toon Books), Jonathan Stroud (Disney), Iza Trapani (Charlesbridge), Maryrose Wood (HarperCollins). Presented in cooperation with the Children’s Booksellers and Publishers Committee (ABA/ABC/CBC).
Wed., 11:00 am – 12:00 noon — A New Look at Nonfiction for Kids, Room 1E14. With two kids’ nonfiction books on the National Book Award for Youth list this year, is younger nonfiction becoming the new hot category?  Nonfiction has always been an essential part of school and library collections – now that popularity is reaching the bookstore.  With perspectives from publishing, bookselling, writing, and the library world, this panel discusses why kids love nonfiction, why it’s becoming a larger part of the market today, and what you can expect in the coming years.  The panel will close with a discussion (open to the audience) about how to better sell kids nonfiction in the bookstore, followed by questions. Panelists include Steve Sheinkin, author (Which Way to the Wild West?; Rabbi Harvey Vs. the Wisdom Kid; King George: What Was His Problem?); Angela Carstensen, chair of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults; Elizabeth Bluemle, Flying Pig Bookstore owner and PW ShelfTalker blogger; and Laura Godwin, Editorial Director, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.
Wed., 11:00 am – 11:50 am — Author Stage — Paranormal Fiction for Teens: From Vampires to Werewolves to Zombies and Shape Shifters, Location: Downtown Stage. Host: Charlie Jane Anders, contributing editor, io9.com Authors: Richelle Mead, VAMPIRE ACADEMY #6 LAST SACRIFICE; Andrea Cremer, NIGHTSHADE; Holly Black, WHITE CAT and ZOMBIES vs UNICORNS.
Wed., 11:00 am – 11:50 am — Author Stage — YA Authors Crossing Over, Location: Midtown Stage. Host: Elissa Petruzzi, Romantic Times magazine. Authors: Melissa Marr, Wicked Lovely series and GRAVEMINDER; Jennifer Donnelly, REVOLUTION and THE WINTER ROSE; Stephanie Kuhnert, BALLADS OF SUBURBIA and I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE; Michele Jaffe, ROSEBUSH, BAD KITTY (young adult), STARGAZER, BAD GIRL (adult).
Wed., 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm — BEA (Young Adult) Editors’ Buzz, Room 1E15. Insightful and passionate, this intimate editorial exchange will provide you with an editor’s perspective on some of the fall’s new YA discoveries and potential breakouts. Program Chair: Jack Martin, Asst. Dir., Public Programs and Lifelong Learning, New York Public Library. Editors: Julie Strauss-Gabel, Associate Publisher at Dutton Children’s Books, with Ally Condie’s Matched; Jennifer Weis, Executive Editor at St. Martin’s Press, with Rebecca Maizel’s Infinite Days; Cindy Eagan, Editorial Dir. at Poppy, with Kody Keplinger’s The DUFF; Farrin Jacobs, Executive Editor at HarperTeen, with Sophie Jordan’s Firelight; Arthur Levine, Editorial Dir. of Arthur A. Levine Books, with Erin Bow’s Plain Kate.
Wed., 6:30 pm ’til the cows come home — Kidlit Drink Night hosted by Editor Cheryl Klein and NYPL Librarian/SLJ Fuse #8 Blogger Betsy Bird, at the Houndstooth Pub. In Cheryl’s words: “Booksellers, authors, agents, publishing people, teachers, librarians, and anyone else who loves children’s literature are all invited to a Kidlit Drink Night on Wednesday, May 26, at the Houndstooth Pub at 520 8th Ave. (at 37th St.). Betsy Bird (Fuse #8) and I have been hosting these for several years now, and they’re always a good time! We’ll have a private room in the basement starting at 6:30, so you can drop your bags at your hotel and then come by for a revivifying libation.”
Thursday, May 27
Thurs, 12:00-1:00 pm — ABC ANNUAL MEETING, Location 1E10. Join us for ABC’s annual meeting where we will review 2009, approve new Board members, and continue discussion of ABC’s ongoing conversation with ABA regarding the possible merger. We encourage participation. Open to all members of the ABC.
Thurs., 2:00PM – 3:00PM — BEA YA Authors’ Buzz, Location: Downtown Stage. Host: Jack Martin, Asst. Dir., Public Programs and Lifelong Learning, New York Public Library. Authors: Ally Condie, MATCHED; Rebecca Maizel, INFINITE DAYS; Kody Keplinger, THE DUFF; Sophie Jordan, FIRELIGHT; Erin Bow, PLAIN KATE.
Thurs., 3:00-4:00 pm — Tea with Children’s Authors,  Javits 1E11 ($10.00- Advance registration required; open to children’s booksellers and librarians only). Come join us for the second edition of this great new program which gives librarians and booksellers a chance to chat with some of the industry’s brightest stars in a more relaxed and casual environment. Each author will join a table of book enthusiasts for refreshments and an open-ended conversation about the author’s life and work. Each table will be moderated by an ABC bookseller. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and we will try our best to accommodate registrants’ preferences as space allows. Authors scheduled to appear: Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon & Schuster), Jan Brett (Putnam), Peter Brown (Little, Brown), Eoin Colfer (Disney), Doreen Cronin (HarperCollins), Jennifer Donnelly (Random House), Russell Freedman (Holiday House), Cornelia Funke (Little, Brown), Gordon Korman (Scholastic), Megan McDonald (Candlewick), Brandon Mull (Shadow Mountain), Richard Peck (Dial), Sara Pennypacker and Marla Frazee (Disney), Rick Riordan (Disney), Peter Sís (Macmillan), and Carmen Agra Deedy (Peachtree).
***
Newer booksellers, here’s a BEA tip: this is a good time to make appointments with publicists, to introduce them to your store and the kinds of events you do well. It’s also a great time to place backlist orders, since most publishers offer show specials (which are also available to booksellers unable to attend BEA; ask your reps for details), and to score free freight from many of the sideline vendors, who usually charge for shipping. So come to BEA with your business cards, store brochure, and prepared backlist orders! And don’t forget a few store checks in case you establish any new accounts with vendors at the show and need to pre-pay your first orders.
New and aspiring authors often ask us if it’s worth their while to attend BEA. The best place to solicit answers to that question is from other authors. The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) has wonderful, active discussion boards full of people who will share their collective wisdom with you. This organization is well worth the membership fee. One thing I will caution is that BEA is NOT the place to meet editors and publishers with the intent of showing them your work. These folks have a million meetings at BEA; their priorities for the show revolve around rights and promoting their fall books and authors. Attempts to hand them manuscripts or pitch ideas will not be well received, and you don’t want to alienate the very editors you’d like to work with. Save that ambition for writers’ conferences where there are times specifically set aside for submissions and pitches. At BEA, take the opportunity to become familiar with which houses are publishing what kinds of books, so you’ll know where yours might fit. Meet other writers. Drink in the intoxicating experience of being in a place with thousands of books and the people who most love them.
Finally, Kristen McLean of the ABC invites feedback on this year’s BEA. What is your reaction to the show moving its schedule to midweek? Have you attended BEA in the past, but aren’t this year? And if so, why? Has the change in format and timing affected your decision to come? How about bringing your staff? If you wanted to offer any feedback to the administration of BEA, what would it be?
P.S. And now that you’re all in a BEA mood, do go back and check out the spoof BEA schedule. Josie and I thought it was hilarious, if we do say so ourselves.

Children’s book professionals are raising some serious cash for flood-damaged Nashville through a creative auction organized by three enterprising writers: Victoria Schwab, Amanda Morgan, and Myra McEntire. Not content with the inadequate coverage of a natural disaster that has leveled neighborhoods—no excuse for the oversight even though the oil spill and car bomb were simultaneous stories—these three women have drawn attention and monetary relief to the problem by auctioning off valuable goods and services donated by industry folks, including publishers, editors, agents, authors and illustrators.
I’m a little late in discovering this amazing effort; the auction is already in its fifth round. Items in the current grouping (bidding goes for three days) include manuscript critiques from agents, editors, and one publisher; a book-marketing package including one piece of “marketing swag,” such as a postcard or bookmark; autographed books and totes and goodies; five days at a Montana ranch; three pieces of laundry handwashing done in Manhattan (!); an author Skype visit for a school or to talk about publishing; and—wait for it—a Dolly Parton clothespin doll. (I’m not linking to these examples individually because there are 16 items in this round, and each one deserves checking out. But I will start you off on Round 5, Item 1, and you can browse from there.)

This auction is an incredibly generous effort; the organizers have not only gathered the donations and partnered with a Tennessee Flood Relief organization (readers, you can donate directly if you’re not bidding on items), but have spent countless hours sorting out the organization of the rounds, answering emails, and smoothing out bumps in the process. Anyone who’s ever done this kind of thing knows the sheer amount of time it all takes.

As someone with a family member in Nashville affected by the flood, I am particularly appreciative of Do the Write Thing for Nashville. I love the children’s book world, and this is one of the reasons why: because people in our field are a helpful breed in general, and are better than most at making good on good intentions. Brava, DTWTN, and thank you.

Last week I blogged about Cynthia Lord coming for a store visit on Friday for her new picture book Hot Rod Hamster. She was well prepared. We were well prepared. The event was advertised heavily via email (we have a 1,600-person email list), through the schools’ lists, on our website, on an event flyer posted all over the store and available for customers to take with them, listed in all the local paper’s calendar listings and parenting calendars, really — I could go on.
We were expecting between 30-45 people at this event, based on the excitement of our customers about the book — we sold half our stock before the event even happened! — and about having a NEWBERY HONOR AUTHOR in our town. Everyone meant to come. I do not normally like to talk about under-attended events, but it happens to all us. It seems three things were working against us: (1) Friday afternoon is not a great day for a younger child event, (2) Mighty Mites sports had tournaments, and (3) several birthday parties reared their cupcaked heads.
Authors, I know, must feel horrible when an event is underattended. I know I do, and I resist the urge to apologize every minute about where the kids are. But it’s a fact of life that sometimes even the best advertised events will have less than a stellar turnout.
The upside to smaller events is trifold. The audience has a very personal experience and the kids who were there were delighted — calling out sounds and choosing their vehicles and engine parts and flags. They clearly loved the book already.
Elizabeth and I got to really to talk to Cynthia Lord, who is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She even brought clothes for my cousin’s child who lost everything in the Nashville flooding last week. Her presentation was informative and fun. And her choice of projecting the book on a screen, rather than holding it, is genius and it worked beautifully.
We love having authors visit the store. One of the things that’s always fun is giving them a gift of thanks afterward. It’s a rare thing when we find a gift — okay, Elizabeth found this one — that’s so absolutely perfect for the author we make her open it in front of us.
It’s hard to see, but here she is holding her brand new Critter Cruiser, a car for hamster to roll around the house in.
And lastly, the signed copies of Hot Rod Hamster and Rules have already been selling quite well.  It’s easy to despair when a great,
fun event isn’t as well attended as you’d like it to be, but booksellers need to remember that events last far beyond the actual presentation. Signed books will sell until there aren’t any left. Right after events, we leave a big display on the front table of signed books from our recent events.
Every day I hear customers say, “Oh, that event was last week?”  They realize they missed the event, and they buy the book.
We had a first during the event, because Children’s Literature New England was up the road, Peter Sis came to the event. It’s not every day that I’ve had an event where Peter Sis was in the audience. For a brief moment I felt my store was in a far larger city where this wouldn’t be such a wonderful shock.
Cynthia has already blogged about the event and I’m including a link to it so   folks can see two sides of the the same event.
And the great thing about this event is,  Cynthia and I have already made plans for her to come do an event with us when her book, Touch Blue, comes out in the fall.

Tomorrow, we’re very lucky to host Cynthia Lord for her book Hot Rod Hamster. Usually, for an event like this, we’d do several things.
– Promote the book through various means: calendar listings, ads,  social media, email list blasts, and in-store flyers.
– Have plenty of copies of the book on display and read it at story hour.
– Recommend it to parents and kids at the register.
– Get the room ready for little ones, with chairs and a snack table.
I thought we were on the ball, and then Cynthia Lord sent us a letter about two weeks ago, which I’ve copied below:
“We’re less than two weeks away now from my visit to Flying Pig, so I wanted to send you an email and say how excited I am to come and see you again. I’m really looking forward to being there. So my event is at 4:00 pm on 7th. Is it upstairs at the store?  I ask because if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like to use my projector and project the book onto a blank wall, instead of holding the book as I read it.  Because Hot Rod Hamster has choices in it, it’s easier for the kids to see those choices, if the pages are big. I have all my own equipment, so all I’d need is a small table for the projector and an outlet.  But I can certainly hold the book if that’s any problem at all.
Derek Anderson did a wonderful drawing page that kids have enjoyed at other events I’ve done. The kids draw Hamster a new race car. http://www.cynthialord.com/pdf/hrh-draw-sheet.pdf Would it be okay with you if I invite the kids to do this when I’m done reading?  If you like this idea, I can bring copies and crayons with me.
Scholastic also asked me to write a letter about the writing of Hot Rod Hamster that you’re welcome to copy, if you’d like to use it in any way.  http://www.cynthialord.com/pdf/schol-hrh-news.pdf
So I’ll come by around 3:30 that Friday to set up, but is there anything else you’d like from me?  I have a school visit the day before in White River Junction, and then I have booked a hotel room in South Burlington that night. So no pressure at all (because I know you’re very busy!) but I am offering that if there’s anything else you’d like me to do the night before (come to a book group, have a supper with teachers, etc,) or the day of my signing while I’m in your area, just ask.”
I was thrilled to get this letter. What an organized author who is extremely generous with her time. How great it is to know what she needs ahead of time. Yes, I have a table and an extension cord for her projector and will reconfigure the room for that kind of set up. Knowing this ahead of time saves me from scrambling the day of the event. I like to have the event room looking perfect before the event; I want authors to walk into a room that’s ready for them and looks great.
What a great idea to have the book on the projector.  This way everyone can see all the art and the author can just focus on her reading and not worry about holding the book up. Hot Rod Hamster begs to have kids shouting out choices and having fun, and to being able see the book projected on a screen will make it a very lively reading, not to mention making it seem a little bit like magic.
A drawing page from the book is a wonderful idea, too. Kids can color while others ask questions. Cynthia has clearly laid out how the event can be successful and heaps of fun.  She’s even offered to bring crayons! I can’t wait to see all these kids drawing a page from the book, after reading the book and meeting the author. What a wonderful experience for them.
I’ve never gotten a letter like this before from an author who was so clear about her needs, but I love it. Her tone is not demanding at all, it’s collaborative.  I can’t wait to meet Cynthia and to have a great event. I’ll post pictures from the event next Monday.  And honestly? I can’t wait to color a page from the book.

Maybe I’m behind the times, but I’ve just learned about 2D barcodes. I’ve been noticing these odd-looking barcodes on more and more books every day. At first I  wondered what these things were, I was busy shelving and not paying much attention, until today. I was shelving SuperFreakonomics and the 2D barcode finally caught my eye.
First you must have a “smart phone” and a free or 99 cent app to get the reader to work. I have an iPhone so I downloaded my app and took a picture of the barcode. I wasn’t expecting much, but then I was blown away. The photo of the barcode led me to a web page that was all about SuperFreakonomics. It was as exhilarating and it was creepy. Everything you’d want to know about the book was right there, in less than two seconds. Can’t bother to read the back of the book? Just download the barcode and you’ve got a multi-media bononza awaiting you on your phone.
Want to read the author’s blog? Just scroll down. Want to know where to buy the book, and compare prices with Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound and Powell’s, that’s just another click away. You can even take a quiz to find out if you’re a “SuperFreak.”  It’s like a toy version of the book. All the cool features of a promotional website, but you don’t have to be a computer to get there. It’s genius and it scares the heck out of me.
Lauren Conrad’s book, L.A. Candy, has very interactive content aimed at the adolescents the book is marketed for. There are video clips, hair and make-up pages, links to her other books, and of course, a buy the book page. Of course Amazon is listed first because these lists are always alphabetical. It sort of makes me wish the ABA had named Indiebound, All About Indies so it would show first on these lists and not after Borders, but I digress.
I think 2D barcodes are here to stay and I suspect we’ll see them on more and more books, especially books for Young Adults.  I think what’s seemingly a gadget right now, will be the wave of the future. I haven’t decided if being able to access all sorts of a book before you buy is a good thing, or if it will spoil the reader’s enjoyment of the book.
I’ll let everyone know once I’m done taking the SuperFreak quiz.

A lovely Canadian tourist couple came into the store the other day, and after browsing for a while, they bought a couple of books, among them a book group reading log we’ve had on the shelf for a good long while. I was delighted to see it leaving the store in the hands of an appreciative buyer — especially one who lives out of the country, which diminishes the possibility of returns by about 100%. (Doesn’t it seem as though the books you’re most happy to see leaving the store are always the ones that get returned?)
We chatted a little about her book group; she was getting the log as a gift for one of her reading companions. Suddenly, I remembered a brand-new reading-group log we’d just gotten in — one with a less handsome cover but a lot more oomph inside, most notably checklists of up-to-date literary prize winners. I suppose I was thinking the customer might want a reading log for herself, too; at least, that’s how I justify the following downward spiral of salesmanship:
“Oh!” I said. “If you like reading logs, you need to see the one we just got in. It’s jam-packed with features…” At this point, I started seeing the yellow flags alerting my inner Paco Underhill to the bad path I was heading down. I was committing a couple of errors here: 1) undermining a customer’s purchase; 2) pointing them toward a different, less expensive alternative.
Unable to stop myself, I leapt out from behind the counter and dashed to the Book Group Picks shelf where she’d found the other log. I could have pretended we were out of the new book, sure, and I certainly didn’t need to point out all of the cool features it had. But I am a book enthusiast first and a businesswoman second, and truthfully, in good conscience I couldn’t just let her leave the store without seeing all of the choices.
As surely as bread falls jelly-side down, she hesitantly asked if she could exchange the first book for the second. “Of course!” I said brightly, hiding my disappointment. To add insult to injury, the new book was $3 cheaper. Why didn’t I let her leave with a book I wanted to get rid of, that she was perfectly happy with? Now I had to run a credit through the machine, and since her card is from a Canadian bank, I racked up a few extra fees on both sides of that transaction. #SaleFail!
I comforted myself by not offering to giftwrap the book, and she didn’t ask, so at least I wasn’t out the price of the paper.
The bookseller in me is, of course, happy that she left my store with the best possible book, but I was kicking myself for the rest of the day for my idiocy. The spine of the older, less oomph-y, nonreturnable reading log sits spitefully on the shelf, a mute reminder of my failure.
In case you’re curious about the new reading log, there are actually two versions, adult and teen. Both are really terrific (although I wish their covers looked less “school assignment”-y) and are nicely and cleanly designed inside. Read, Remember, Recommend: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers and Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers, both by Rachelle Rogers Knight (Sourcebooks, $15.99, EAN 978-1402237188 and EAN 978-1402237195 respectively).
Booksellers, have any remarkable sales fails to share? Tell us. It’s cathartic. Kind of.

A quick post for a spring Friday. Picture a bouncing, running, thrilled-to-be-in-a-bookstore little boy, no more than three and a half, entering the store for the first time. He spies the transportation section and finds some great books to look at.
Then suddenly, he’s got to “go potty.” The urgency of this need means he’s up in a flash and practically sprinting with his mom to the back of the store where the bathroom is. Where’s the cute part, you might be asking? Well here it is: he left the bathroom, wiping his wet hands on his pants, and he asked his mom, “Where’d the truck book go?” “Oh, it’s in the front of the of the store,” his mom says. Pretty clear directions to those of us who were working that day.
All we heard was a panicked, sincere, “Where’s the front? Where’s the front?” He was spinning around frantically trying to find the front of the store. We tried not to chuckle. It’s easy to forget that you have to learn what front and back mean when you’re in a store. This little boy’s earnestness was so charming it was all we could not to scoop him up and carry him to the front. Of course he found the truck section again and was spent many minutes happily surrounded by the truck books that made him so happy.
This  story brings up two things to me. The first is young boys (and some girls) love a good truck book, and every store should keep a well-stocked section because they just work.
The second thing is: kids are cute!

Neither school vacation nor unexpected snowfall kept kids away from learning about salamanders with author Sarah Lamstein and naturalist Larry Clarfeld on Wednesday afternoon.

When Sarah told us about her new book, Big Night for Salamanders (illustrated by Carol Benioff, Boyds Mills Press, 9781932425987),  we thought it would be a perfect fit for Shelburne. We loved the book, which is both informative and poetic, and our town happens to host a pond that is one of our state’s most active destinations for the annual spring salamander migration. We couldn’t swing an event coinciding with this year’s actual Big Night, since there’s no way to predict exactly when it will happen. (The Big Night happens on a 40-degree, rainy spring night; all three conditions must be met before salamanders decide to leave their winter burrows and travel to vernal pools to lay their eggs.)

Since we wouldn’t be heading out to see salamanders in the wild, we thought it would be fun to find a nature organization that might bring salamanders to us. After a few phone calls and emails to organizations around the state, we discovered the North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier, Vermont, and a wonderful young man, Larry Clarfeld, from their Amphibian Monitoring Program.

You’d think Sarah and Larry had been doing these presentations together for years, it went so smoothly. They alternated sharing information with the kids, showing slides, reading the book, and teaching the children how to recognize and handle (both gently and sanitarily) delicate amphibians. Let me tell you, when a bunch of 6-13-year-old boys and girls willingly wash their hands without complaint, you’ve got some great presenters.

Sarah had brought some dried leaves, a pine branch, and a few toy spotted salamanders to illustrate their habitats and hiding tactics.The kids enthusiastically answered her questions, eager to share what they knew (and didn’t know) about amphibians. What I loved was that she had kids from kindergarten through 6th grade, and managed to engage all of them. (She also travels with her own portable microphone, which definitely helped with our Loft acoustics.)
This was one of those visits that made both parents and kids happy, and brought teacher attention to a great book and a great nature program. I think both author and naturalist will find their way into more classrooms; it was a perfect pairing.
Booksellers and librarians: what paired presentations have you tried and loved?