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<\/a>Lola prepping for her THE MANY WORLDS\u00a0OF ALBIE BRIGHT catalog shoot.<\/p><\/div> Prepping the entries for BookPeople’s annual holiday catalog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n‘Tis the season to build the BookPeople holiday catalog book list. The catalog comes out in November and is BookPeople\u2019s biggest production. Featuring book essays by booksellers on each spread (paired with themed photos), the catalog offers a fun window into who we are.
\nWith only three spreads of our catalog dedicated to kids’ books (one for ages 0-7, one for ages 7-12, and one for ages 12+), I have to be strategic about my selections. There are always some shoo-ins, but I also carve out space to spotlight 2017 titles that aren\u2019t necessarily as obvious\u00a0or that haven\u2019t already been highlighted\u00a0through\u00a0in-store events or other promotions.
\nThe unusual books are often\u00a0the ones the booksellers love to get behind. I gave a staff presentation last week, and two oddball members of the animal kingdom totally stole the show. Unabashedly weird, Marvin Gardens (a not-dog with slimy skin that eats plastic and poops toxic waste) and Blob (the ugliest animal in the world) are wildly charming in their own unconventionally adorable ways. Blissfully unaware of his strangeness,\u00a0Marvin just wants to snack on trash, play fetch, and raise his babies in peace. Blob, on the other hand becomes defined by his ugliness, first hiding from it, then flaunting\u00a0it, then living in the shadow of his fleeting\u00a0fame. While Marvin is clearly Mother Nature\u2019s response to humans dumping excess plastic into the environment, Blob\u2019s evolution is more psychological, as the reflection in the mirror consumes his sense of self. Poignant, peculiar, and refreshingly funny, both of these books make the case\u2014albeit in totally different ways\u2014that the world is what we make of it.
\nHere are a few others\u00a0I am excited to put in readers\u2019 hands this year.
\nLooking for a book not everyone has seen? <\/strong>Try Express Delivery from Dinosaur World<\/em> from Chinese import publisher Candied Plums Press. Filled with stunning, intricate artwork, this beautifully designed book takes readers on a mesmerizing prehistoric adventure. With mazes, flaps, seek-and-finds, surreal references to major modern artists, and acetate pages to navigate with a flashlight, this is a book young explorers will adore.
\nWant a story filled with heart and gumption? <\/strong>Look no further than The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora<\/em>. Faced with a greedy developer\u2019s insidious plans to gentrify their neighborhood, Arturo Zamora overcomes his fears (and epic failures) to fight for his family, their legendary Cuban restaurant, and the future of the\u00a0community they\u00a0helped build. Oh, and he might just manage to fall in love along the way.
\nShopping for a voracious reader who wants something different? <\/strong>What about The Murderer\u2019s Ape? <\/em>To free a ship captain framed for murder, engineer Sally Jones (who happens to be a gorilla who can read and write) joins together with an accordion craftsman and a fado singer to unravel a sinister plot. Roaming\u00a0from the coasts of Portugal to the opulent court of an Indian maharaja, this quirky tale will charm readers looking for international intrigue, terrific characters, and classic adventure.
\nAre you a fantasy fanatic?<\/strong> Check out A Face Like Glass<\/em>. In a world where blank faces offer no glimpses into the soul, the power of expression is dearly bought. For a price, your appearance can be crafted to reveal, obfuscate, or even fabricate your truth. In that realm, a girl with a face of unfiltered feeling\u2014but no memories\u2014represents a danger sharper than poison. I’m a big fan of Frances Hardinge, and this extraordinary\u00a0fantasy is one of her most imaginative\u00a0yet.
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