One of the thousands of things I learned from my old boss Hy Sarick,( from my Children’s Book Store days) , is that you should always replace your light bulbs as soon as they go out. For those of you who have been to Tinlids, you know that that’s not such an easy task. Our ceilings are about 50 feet high, and the lights are those long fluorescent tubes that don’t even fit in my car. But Hy Sarick said “if someone comes into your store and sees those burnt out lights, they’ll think they’re in a dump. “ In fact the first time he came to see my store, I saw him look up. And then he pointed. Up . At the burnt-out light. And shook his head. I of course made some excuse about not having a ladder high enough, but the damage was done.

This week I called my fabulous landlord who sent Giovanni the electrician, and his son ( I can’t remember his name). Anyway, Giovanni is quite the character and will talk to me (actually to anyone , I’m sure) about any topic you can think of. So today, while his son was high up on the ladder, Giovanni was in the Science section, looking at a book on butterflies. As I walked by, he turned to me and said “you know, these are children’s books, but look at me – I’m reading this and I’m still learning something. I know a lot about butterflies already, but it’s never too late to learn more. Did you know the tent caterpillar can be very destructive? I don’t kill them though. I don’t kill anything because I’m a gardener and I figure if God put the spiders there, and the bees , well that means they have a job to do… “ Then he told me about his neighbor who was always spraying chemicals on his lawn to keep it green. And chemicals on his plum tree to keep the worms away… and he went on about this for a bit and talked about nature getting even.

I could have listened to Giovanni all day. First of all, he has the same Italian accent my dad had, so I felt l was related to him….. and secondly, he seemed so taken by the books. He was also really really passionate about electricityand told me all about ballasts and how well made they were - “we replace some ballasts that are 40 years old. Do you know how solid these ballasts are? Feel the weight of this. There’s copper wire in there and lots of good material that we should be re-using. But they sell them to China because we don’t have a good environmental program to support the re-cylcling of this material…..” he was so animated in everything he talked about, from his stories of Italy, to the environment , healthy food, and the future of China.

Like many days, I'm reminded today of how books bring us together. Giovanni dreams of writing his stories down, and especially his invention ideas, that no one has thought of yet.  But he's too busy .   He said to me “you can learn everything I’m talking about , from all these books you’re selling. “ Like I didn’t know this already. But I just smiled and thanked him. Until, just as he was leaving, he stopped, looked up and said “but really, you should always replace your lights right away. Or else the customers will think this is a dump”. True story. Next time I’ll video tape him to prove it.

This May I received an email that I looked at briefly and, since it didn’t seem to be as urgent as the 50 other emails I received that day, I saved it for later.  And then I somehow just kept ignoring it.  I don’t usually do this, so I’m not sure why this particular email just kept getting ignored!  But today, I finally opened it again, followed the link, read the article and thought I would post it here.  

 In light of all the recent threats of branch closures toToronto Public Library, I loved seeing these cool libraries.  I especially love number 5 ( the Netherland library), and the BiebBus Mobile Library which is in a shipping container!  

I wish we had a mayor who believed more in the importance of literacy and community and less in destroying these essential services that bring us together. 

Thanks to Larry Dignan for this link. And sorry for taking so long!

http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2011/05/30/the-10-coolest-libraries-for-kids/

'Great Graphic Wednesday' is a weekly blog posting. Check here every Wednesday for reviews of recommended graphic novels, by members of the Tinlids Graphic Novel Book Club.

Lost and Found Written and Illustrated by Shaun Tan

Details: Hardcover, colour illustrations. ISBN 9780545229241

Grade 6-adult

Summary (from the inside cover): A girl finds a bright spot in a dark world. A boy leads a strange, lost creature home. And a group of peaceful creatures cedes their home to cruel invaders. Shaun Tan, with his understated voice and brilliant draftsmanship, has proved that he has a unique imaginative window to our souls, and an unparalleled ability to share that opening with pictures and narratives that are as unexpected as they are deeply true. Originally published in Australia, these three beloved and acclaimed tales were never widely available in the U.S. Now for the first time, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and the John Marsden classic The Rabbits are presented in their entirety with additional new artwork and authors' notes. Together they tell a tale that will leave no reader unmoved, about how we lose and find what matters most to us.

Review: As soon as I picked this book up, my hand started moving up and down the exquisitely designed cover. The title is perfectly placed and the embossed words and illustration just beg to be touched. The image on the cover is the “thing” from The Lost Thing, one of the three stories in this collection. This is the story that Shaun Tan won an Oscar for last week (for Best Short Film Animated). Open the book and you’ll find gorgeous little pencil drawings on the end pages. And of course that’s just the beginning. Shaun Tan is such a genius with words and images. His first sentence “sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to” is accompanied by an illustration of a girl sitting up in bed staring at her bedspread. It’s like looking through a window at first, but then as the illustrations change, you feel like you’re right there with her. This story is about depression and hope, and unexpected things that sometimes seem to happen or appear out of nowhere.

The second story “The Lost Thing” is about this guy who finds this huge thing that seems to be lost. He feels sorry for it, so he takes it home, but eventually he has to take it somewhere else, because his parents don’t want it in their home. I was struck by how much compassion I actually felt for this object – like it was human. More proof of the author’s incredible talent.

The final story “The Rabbits” is about the conflict between two cultures and what happens when one culture takes over. Again the sparse text and powerful illustrations really capture the emotions and allow the reader to make their own connections and conclusions. These three stories contain so many timeless themes: depression, alienation, belonging, peace, culture, political issues, justice, environment and hope. I highly recommend this for grades 6 to adult.

I can’t wait to see what Shaun Tan does next!

Maria Martella is the owner of Tinlids Inc

To order www.tinlids.ca

Lost and Found ISBN 9780545229241

The Arrival ISBN 9780439895293

Tales from Outer Suburbia ISBN 9780771084027

My brother Jim Martella and I presented 4 sessions at the Reading for the Love of it Conference last week. Jim showed me how to create a prezi and this is what he put together for our session. No one wants to read a book if it isn't fun! These are the books we presented. To get to full screen, just click on the "MORE" button.

This week in our booth at the OLA Super Conference, we decided, once again, to give out buttons.  We wanted to have buttons that would be interactive, and spread the Tinlids name to as many librarians, teachers and lovers of children’s books as possible.  So we came up with 8 buttons that could answer the question “What kind of Book are you?”

The button choices:

I am a Mystery

I am a Horror Story

I am Poetry

I am a Complicated Plot

I am Loosely Based on a True Story

I am a Tear Jerker

I am Edgy

I am Supernatural

On Thursday and Friday we gave out over 500 buttons and it was fascinating to watch people try to decide which button described them best.  Here are some of my observations:

-          The most popular button was “I am loosely based on a true story”, followed by “I am a Complicated Plot” . Whenever someone couldn’t decide, it was usually between one of these two buttons.

-          The first button I wore was “I am a Horror Story”.  I got lots of comments like “Oh Maria, you’re not a horror story”  (some people would disagree)  or “you shouldn’t wear that button – people might be afraid to come into your booth” (really? )

-          Only 4 men chose “I am Poetry” – what’s that all about? Was it the colour? (pink).  But the men who did choose “I am Poetry” seemed really happy and grounded…..Most of the men chose “I am Edgy” – yep, you’re all tough guys…

-          The people who chose the mystery buttons seemed to be the quiet types… most of them didn’t hesitate, and walked away quickly… It made me feel like I should follow them… what were they up to??

-          “I am a tear jerker” - the ones who chose this were mostly women. They didn’t have any problem expressing themselves and letting me know how they felt. They seemed sweet and funny.   It wasn’t a popular one with the men. Scott said maybe it would be interpreted as“I’m a heartbreaker”, so it would seem arrogant.  Hmmmm. That was interesting.  The women just thought it meant “I’m expressive, or emotional, or I cry easily".

I really loved hearing friends choose for each other… “You are DEFINITELY a horror story!”  “Really?  No I can’t wear that” or “You’re SO not edgy”   And the sweetest children’s author (can you guess who?) said “Well I WANT to be edgy…”

99% of the people who chose the “I am Supernatural” button, were red-heads.  Seriously. Or goth girls.

I really loved all of the ideas teachers and librarians had for programming and writing activities.  The buttons suddenly morphed into the best tools for their language arts program.  So we decided we will be selling all 8 buttons as a package.  Check our website this week for ordering info. 

The first day of the show, I started out as a horror story, until I had enough coffee, and then I changed to “I am a Complicated Plot”, “I am Poetry” and by the end of the day I was wearing “I am Edgy”.  When I put on the Poetry button I did get some sweet remarks… “Yes, you ARE poetry!” But when I put on the “I am Supernatural” button, I seemed to be a magnet and suddenly I was getting hugs from people who never hugged me before!  Okay…. I’m just sayin’…. Who knows? I kept that one on for the rest of the day.

If you were at our booth and chose a button, thanks for getting involved.  It was lots of fun for us.

What button did you choose? Did it work any magic for you?

(For information on ordering a set of buttons, please click here.)

I’ve done hundreds of booktalks for groups of students, teachers and librarians during my bookselling career and I don’t think there has ever been a booktalk that hasn’t included at least one Groundwood title. What I love about this publisher’s books is that they aren’t “market-led”. They don’t publish books written to a formula. I think Patsy Aldana (publisher of Groundwood) makes some very brave and important choices in the books she chooses to publish. Groundwood books represent voices we would not otherwise hear. Isn’t it wonderful that a child living in a trailer in northern Saskatchewan can see themselves in a book (read Laura Croza’s picture book “I Know Here”). This is just one perfect example of the way our children learn about themselves and others.

So, it’s no surprise that on December 30, 2010 Patsy Aldana, publisher of Groundwood books, was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada. She has been such a strong promoter of literacy in Canada as well as internationally (she was also President of The International Board on Books for Young People IBBY).

I’d like to thank Patsy Aldana for providing us with so many amazing choices, and for reminding us about how much there is still to do in ensuring that every child becomes a reader.

Read the Globe and Mail article.

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie said "I did not know that people like me could exist in literature".  What happens when you only know one story about another person or country? 

I watched this video a few days ago, and since then, I've started to notice so many examples of what she is saying.  It's true that there is never a single story about anyone or any place.  When I really pay attention, I can see this every day - in the books I'm reading, in the news, in movies, in art and really just in every connection I make in the world around me.  It's especially obvious to me as I am surrounded every day by great children's literature, and people who care about the stories our children are exposed to.  What an important and inspiring video!

Lane Smith’s new picture book “It’s a Book” is perfect for discussing the impact on print in the digital age. The three main characters are a monkey, a jackass and a mouse. Monkey is reading a book, but Jackass just doesn't get it. He won't stop asking questions like "How do you scroll down?" "Where's your mouse?" "Can it text? Tweet? Wi-Fi?" Monkey’s response is always the same "It’s a book.” Finally, he lets Jackass look at it, but then he can't get it back! And when Jackass tries to reassure Monkey by saying he'll charge it up when he's done, Mouse speaks up - "It's a book, Jackass".

The above book trailer leaves out that last word, “Jackass.” I wish they had left it in, since that’s really the way the book ends. I love this book but I know not all customers will feel comfortable with that last word. As a bookseller, I try to give my customers as much info as possible to help them with their selection. So there you have it. Some of you might think the ending is rude or inappropriate, and feel the need to get out your markers. Others will leave the word in and perhaps have a discussion about it. It’s a book that’s fun to read and junior/intermediate students will enjoy the tongue-in-cheek humour.

Thoughts anyone?

Meet Isabella. She was our youngest customer this week and she thought Marthe Jocelyn’s board book “Eats” was so good, well, she kind of took it literally. 

      Lucky for Isabella, Marthe Jocelyn has written several exquisite books for babies and preschoolers. "Eats" also comes in picture book format and Marthe and Tom Slaughter (illustrator) have also created "Same Same" and "Over Under".  The illustrations are amazing, high quality design.  A great introduction to art and concepts.  And we're so lucky they are Canadian.  Marthe has also written many novels for older children.

This week Scott and I attended a Boys Book Club event at Central Commerce High School in downtown Toronto. Six different schools with groups of 10-20 grade 4-6 boys came to buy books for their school. We heard them arriving even before they got up to the gym. The excited boys ran up the stairs and burst into the book display area, quickly gravitating towards their favourite series and new books. But before they were allowed to start book-buying, they were given basketballs and spent 15 minutes throwing baskets and using up some of that physical energy. The best part of their playing was that there were approximately 10 students from Central Commerce high school who were there to join in with the kids and play ball with them. These teenage boys and girls providing such a positive and joyful role model for the younger boys. They were like rock stars (and they acted like they were!). It was delightful to see.

John Ball, (a phys ed teacher) also got the ball rolling by giving a short speech to the kids. He told them he was an avid reader and the number of books he reads each year is at least as tall as he is (6’). He gave them funny and useful tips for reading and ended with a call and response cheer “BOYS ROCK!!”.

After the warm-up, half of the boys came into the book-buying area, and the other half stayed in the gym to continue with games. After 45 minutes they would have a snack break and the groups would switch places. They were each given approximately $50 to purchase books for their school. Instead of actually giving the kids cash, they received fake money - one, two, five and ten dollar bills were given to each student and each amount was a different colour (just like real money). The fake money allowed them to keep track of how much they spent. I gave a very quick mini-book talk to highlight some of our books and then they were “let loose”.

The day was truly magical and I’m convinced I met a couple of future librarians that day.