(Photo from XKCD) I’ve had a blog post in mind for a while about the difference between a service provider and a business partner and how it relates to publishing (the Amazon Bookscan announcement set me in motion), but it’s not quite fully formed yet, and it may never be. While that’s gestating, let me […]Read more "Playing in other sandboxes"

by Robyn Chapman, NY Editorial Assistant Blended families (families in which one or both parents have children from a previous relationship) are common in today’s world, if less common in today’s literature. The Nation Stepfamily Resource Center estimates that 23-30% of America’s children live in blended families. Chances are, a few of those children are […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Blending Families"

by Domenica Di Piazza, Editorial Director, TFCB With a background in French language and literature, I like to follow Things French. Recently, France applied to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for inclusion of French cuisine as a cultural practice and expression of intangible heritage on UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage Lists (basically a […]Read more "UNESCO and French Cuisine"

By Carol HinzEditorial Director, Millbrook Press After the major snowstorm we had over the weekend, I’m having a hard time focusing on spring the way I did last week. The very roof of the Metrodome couldn’t hold up under the weight of all that snow. But it would take more than one of the largest […]Read more "It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like . . . Oh, Never Mind"

“Do you know what happened 30 years ago today?” my husband asked me on Wednesday. He’d been listening to the news while I was in the shower. I thought for a moment. Historic event … thirty years ago.… Nothing. “December 8, 1980,” Jeff prompted. “The Dakota?” That did it. “Oh,” I said. “John Lennon.” Thirty […]Read more "The Walrus"

And you think an inkjet printer is tricky to run? As you might have heard, the Federal Reserve has been printing a lot of money. And as you might have also  heard, there was a tiny problem with a recent batch of hundred dollar bills. Some fraction of $1.1 billion worth of new US $100 […]Read more "Regret the error?"

Anyone who’s read Sally Walker’s Frozen Secrets will not be surprised by this video (but it will still be impressive). http://widget.newsinc.com/single.htm?WID=2&VID=23228630&freewheel=69016&sitesection=ndnsubssRead more "Antarctica is for strong stomachs"

by Robyn ChapmanNY Editorial AssistantDouble praise this week for Hamster and Cheese! Volume one of the Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye series (by Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue) just made the prestigious Children’s Book List 2010: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. This list is created annually by the New York Public Library. […]Read more "New Yorkers Love Guinea Pigs (Canadians Too!)"

by Carol HinzEditorial Director, Millbrook Press The ground is covered in snow and the temperatures here are in the teens. What am I talking about? Our Spring 2011 books, of course! Our first-ever online librarian preview takes place in a few short hours and we’ll be talking up lots of exciting new books for spring. […]Read more "It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Springtime"