Children’s Bookselling

New Atlantic booksellers name sales rep of the year; Children’s books exempt from CPSIA testing requirements; Shelf Awareness widget promotes consumer publication and giveaway

ABA member stores can place their orders for this year’s ABC Best Books for Children Catalog from now until September 1 via an online order form on BookWeb.org.

Today, ABA begins accepting orders for this year’s ABC Best Books for Children Catalog via an online order form on BookWeb.org.

As ABA begins formulating its educational programming for the coming year, member input is sought on possible topics for children’s booksellers.

The ABC Children’s Group at ABA is seeking indie booksellers’ title recommendations for the fall 2011 Best Books for Children Catalog, the premier consumer catalog for the children’s book industry, which will be available for distribution by all ABA member bookstores.

In a Day of Education session entitled “Turning Mind Share Into Market Share in the Children's Market,” Kristen McLean, a consultant to the ABC Children’s Group at ABA, asked booksellers the important question: “What is your Why?”

At the session “Selling Non-book in the Children's Department," ABA President Becky Anderson of Anderson's Bookshops in Naperville, Illinois, moderated a panel discussion with Beth Puffer of Bank Street Bookstore in New York City and Andrea Vuleta of Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop in La Verne, California, about their ordering tactics and top picks for toys and games.

Cynthia Compton of 4 Kids Books shared her secrets to creating events for children at ABA’s Day of Education, sponsored by the Ingram Content Group, at BEA.

Editors shared their upcoming Young Adult and Middle-Grade title picks at BEA’s Editors Buzz Forums.

On Tuesday, May 24, hundreds of booksellers, librarians, and publishers attended the Children’s Book & Author Breakfast, an annual highlight of BEA. This year’s breakfast featured a range of bestselling authors who share a love for reading and writing, and above all, a belief in the power of a book in a child’s hands.

The Digital Market and the YA Audience, a Day of Education panel discussion moderated by Kristin McLean, consultant to the ABC Children’s Group at ABA, will feature David Levithan, executive editorial director for Scholastic; Jacob Lewis, CEO of Figment; and Meghan Dietsche Goel, children’s book buyer at BookPeople in Austin, Texas.

Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera (Albert Whitman, 9780807530771) is incorrectly listed on the printed Summer Kids’ Indie Next List flier as being for ages 9 - 12. It should appear in the section for “Teen Readers.” An errata sheet is included in each bundle of fliers in the May Children’s White Box mailing.

There’s still time to make reservations for Speed Dating With Children’s Authors, ABA’s Celebration of Bookselling Author Awards Luncheon, the Tea With Children’s Authors, and the ABC Children’s Group Silent Auction and Reception at BEA.

All BEA attendees are invited to the ABC Children’s Group Silent Auction and Reception to benefit the new ABFFE Fund for Free Speech in Children’s Books. Tickets for the May 25th evening event are on sale now.

With BEA just a month away, the hotel exclusively for ABA member booksellers and several special events, including the Celebration of Bookselling Author Awards Luncheon, the Tea With Children’s Authors, and Speed Dating With Children’s Authors and Illustrators, are now almost booked to capacity.