Children’s Bookselling

All ABA member booksellers are being encouraged to express their enthusiasm for the children’s books that they’re looking forward to handselling this fall by nominating those titles by July 16 to the Fall Kids’ Indie List.

ABA member stores can place their orders for this year’s ABC Best Books for Children Catalog from now until August 20 via an online order form on BookWeb.org.

This month, the cover of the Fall 2013 ABC Best Books for Children Catalog was chosen by members of the ABC Advisory Council.

Six panelists joined moderator Richard Buthod of Turtleback Books for the session “Common Core: Insight From Industry Touchpoints” at BEA: Melissa Jacobs-Israel from the New York City public school system; Cheryl Dickemper of The Booksource; Kenny Brechner of Devaney Doak & Garrett; Phoebe Yeh, then of HarperCollins Children’s Books; Becky Anderson of Anderson’s Bookshops; and Victoria Stapleton of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Members of the ABC Children’s Group at ABA participated in Illustrator Studio Tours, sponsored by the ABC Group and the Children’s Book Council, on Wednesday, May 29, at BEA. Illustrators including You Byun, Tad Hills, Paul Hoppe, Kate Yamasaki, and Betsy and Ted Lewin welcomed booksellers into their studios.

Macmillan’s Fierce Reads program for teen fiction is offering an authorless event kit to ABA member stores. Supplies are limited, so booksellers should act as soon as possible.

Joelle Charbonneau, an accomplished author of mysteries for adult readers, talks to BTW about The Testing, a dystopian thriller for young adults that explores the ramifications of some truly high-stakes tests in a post-apocalyptic world. The book is the number one pick on the Summer Kids’ Indie Next List flier, in stores now.

A Glen Ellyn, Illinois, school district has banned Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower from eighth grade classrooms, but parents, teachers, students, and the Kids’ Right to Read Project are asking the district to reconsider its decision.

The deadline for members of the ABC Children’s Group at ABA to register for the ABC/CBC Speed Dating Lunch With Children’s Authors and/or the ABC/CBC Tea With Children’s Authors and Illustrators has been extended to this Friday, May 17. Both events will be held on Friday, May 31, at BEA.

More than a million votes were cast by children and teens across the country at bookstores, libraries, and online to choose the winners of this year’s Children’s Choice Book Awards.

Here is a preview of the Summer 2013 Kids’ Indie Next List flier, arriving at stores in the upcoming Children’s White Box. The four-page, full-color flier features the top 10 titles for the spring publishing season and an additional 39 titles for children in different age groups.

This Friday, May 10, is the final chance for booksellers to sign up for several events exclusively for ABA members at BookExpo America.

On Tuesday, May 7, the Women’s National Book Association announced the winners of the 2013 WNBA Pannell Awards, given annually since 1983 to two bookstores that excel in contributing to their communities in ways that bring books and young people together.  This year’s winners are both from Michigan.

On Wednesday afternoon, May 29, at BEA, a group of lucky booksellers will tour the studios of children’s book illustrators for a behind-the-scenes peek into the creative lives of some of today’s top talent. The tour is open to ABC Group bookstore members only. There is no fee to participate, but space is limited. Registration for the tours will close on May 10.

Independent booksellers have spoken, and the cover design for Len Vlahos’ The Scar Boys has been revealed.