Original photo credit Jennifer ball/biography.com Despite his intense hatred of eBooks, Maurice Sendak has a special place in this blogger’s heart. “Where the Wild Things Are”, and “The Nutshell Library” (“Chicken Soup With Rice”, in particular) are two of my favorite books from childhood. Mr. Sendak passed away Tuesday from complications of a recent stroke. […]Read more "Maurice Sendak, Author of Where the Wild Things Are, Dead at 83"

Well, once again here I am with more to tell you about a holiday just after it happened! I think the foods of Cinco de Mayo are absolutely delicious, but until I worked on Marco’s Cinco de Mayo, I knew very little about the history behind the holiday. The event commemorated on Cinco de Mayo […]Read more "Cinco de Mayo"

Congratulations to Joan! She is the winner of our new Martial Arts Sports Zone series! Joan, please send your mailing address to publicityinfo@lernerbooks.com and we will get your new books in the mail. Attention all Beatles fans! This week one lucky Lerner fan will win Death of a Dreamer: The Assassination of John Lennon. New York, December 8, […]Read more "Free Book Friday!"

I just returned from the annual International Reading Association conference, and wow. In spite of so much negative media lately around testing and reports of low teacher morale, I have to note that when you meet with these educators face-to-face, those reports seem off-kilter.  What did I hear at IRA? Lots of talk about the […]Read more "The Word from IRA"

On any given spring weekend in New York the city comes alive with street fairs and conventions. Last weekend (April 28-29), Graphic Universe was right smack in the middle of one such festival. The annual Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) fest, taking place at the historic 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, was […]Read more "Graphic Universe Draws Interest at MoCCA 2012"

 Barnes & Noble and Microsoft are tag-teaming eBooks! An excerpt from the press release follows. Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced the formation of a strategic partnership in a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary, which will build upon the history of strong innovation in digital reading technologies from both […]Read more "Barnes & Noble and Microsoft: eBook Partners"

In reading PW Daily recently, I ran across the most amusing, yet fascinating, video about David Rees, a fellow who appears to make a living hand sharpening pencils. In our super techno age, his skills still matter, and he is quite articulate about his craft. Watch this video for more information, or check out his […]Read more "Artisanal Pencil Sharpening—No Joke!"

Congratulations to Jennifer! She is the winner of our new Summer Camp Science Mysteries series! Jennifer, please send your mailing address to publicityinfo@lernerbooks.com and we will get your new books in the mail…just in time for summer camp season! This week, one Lerner fan will win our new Martial Arts Sports Zone series! This action-packed, fun, […]Read more "Free Book Friday!"

So here’s something I really don’t get: Why do we so often hear literary/editorial types decrying the shorthand that’s sometimes known as Internet slang? This includes terms like LOL, BFFL, FTW, IRL … you get the idea. I’d also include emoticons in this category (think symbols such as 🙂 and O_o). As someone who’s passionate […]Read more "Today’s Random Thought"