Tag Archive for Scholastic Book Clubs

A Conversation with Liza Donnelly, Children’s Author/Illustrator and “New Yorker” Cartoonist

January 11, 2021 / / No comments

–

–

“People respond to my positive approach

and I love that.

People want hope, as do I.

It’s just as easy to be optimistic

as it is to be pessimistic.

It is a choice.”

— Liza Donnelly

 

–

Liza Donnelly and I go back more than 30 years, except she never actually knew it. As a copywriter and book club editor for Scholastic in the late 80s and early 90s, I loved Liza’s imaginative dinosaur books. I also followed her cartoons in The New Yorker. In fact, there’s a long line of acclaimed New Yorker cartoonists who went on the publish in children’s books (most notably, William Steig). Recently, Liza popped up again on Facebook, and I was thrilled to see her new work. Early during the pandemic, I grabbed this image by Liza and used it for my Facebook Cover art: 

–

 

Beautiful, right? I figured it was time to invite her over to my swank offices her at James Preller Dot Com. After a hasty cleaning — Where did all this old cheese come from? —  I opened the windows, lit some incense, and eagerly awaited Liza’s arrival. Here’s she is now . . .

 

 

Greetings, Liza. Is everything okay? You look a little drawn. Oh, wait, wrong image!

 

 

 

When I was a junior copywriter at Scholastic (working for a cool $11,500 a year), I wrote various book club kits: SeeSaw, Firefly, and Carnival. I especially liked your book, Dinosaur Day, which was the first in the series of seven books.

That’s great to know. That’s what I got paid in my first job at the American Museum of Natural History, probably around the same time! I enjoyed doing those books for Scholastic and was ready to have the Dinosaur series go forever…but alas it didn’t. The books now live on the internet however, and are e-books for kids. Thanks, Dinosaur Day was a favorite for me, too. I wanted it to be wordless but we ended up with minimal words.


I still remember, without having seen that book in decades, how the boy’s imaginal life connected to the objects in his room. I loved –- and still very much love –- that idea. The interior and exterior coming together, celebrating the imaginary journey.

That’s a great observation and I like how you put it, celebrating the imaginary journey. I wanted to show that the little boy was obsessed with Dinosaurs!

I knew you were a New Yorker cartoonist. So many of them got into children’s books, most notably William Steig, James Stevenson, others.

Yes! I was heavily influenced by Steig’s use of color in his books. I loved reading them to my daughters. My favorite was Brave Irene. Also Stevenson was great, a much different feel to his books. I was lucky to meet both men before years ago.

–

–

Stevenson seems a little forgotten these days. He was hugely popular on the book clubs, with favorites such as The Great Big Especially Beautiful Easter Egg (that kid running around with a mustache!) and What’s Under My Bed?  He also illustrated a number of Jack Prelutsky’s bestselling poetry collections (The New Kid on the Block, Something BIG Has Been Here, etc). It’s a wonderful honor for you to be a part of that tradition. When I found you on Facebook, I was immediately taken by your current work. The images you are putting out each day. Obviously, we’ve been living in uncharted times.

So true. I have found doing a cartoon a day and broadcasting it on Instagram as I draw (and talk about it) has been a wonderful way to connect with people. Also it helps me be connected with what is going on in the world because I do it every day in a rather public way.

–

–

On a personal level, I tend to go dark at times, which I attribute to my Irish background. I hold grudges and distrust the wealthy and I believe it’s a good idea to get rip-roaring drunk twice a year. Yet you seem intent on putting forward positive messages with your work.

That’s so funny you say that because I am also of Irish heritage, you undoubtedly noticed. I think the Irish may distrust the wealthy for sure and hold grudges (never heard that), and that they/we can go dark. I go dark all the time. But we also tend to be poetic and with the dark you have to notice the light. People respond to my positive approach and I love that. People want hope, as do I. It’s just as easy to be optimistic as it is to be pessimistic, it is a choice. That doesn’t mean I don’t notice how horrible things are in the world, I do.

I remember talking to my good friend, illustrator Jennifer Sattler, after Donald Trump was elected. We were like, How do we live in this new world? And she said that she heard someone’s podcast, she never could recall the source, where the speaker said, “Do what you’ve always done, but with new purpose.” That made a lot of sense to me.

That’s wonderful. I felt that way after 9/11. I was so distraught by the event that I was about to change careers and give up cartooning. Then I drew a cartoon about it and it was bought and run by The New Yorker (“Daddy, can I stop being worried now?) and I felt back on track. I decided to spend more time drawing about global politics than ever before. With Trump, it was not easy to figure out how to approach him because I don’t particularly enjoy ridiculing people.

 

 

In the meantime, you are still making books. What’s your most recent?

My most recent book was Women On Men, a collection of my cartoons and writing about women making fun (lovingly) of men. I also did two kids books for Holiday House in recent years. Interestingly, after I stopped with Scholastic in the 1990’s, I tried to sell these two ideas for books, and no one would buy them. I showed them to Holiday House after they sat in my drawer for ten years…and they bought both!

 

 

 

–

I am currently working on a new edition of my history of the women cartoonists of The New Yorker. It’s to be called Very Funny Ladies, due out this fall.




–

Thank you so much for your time, Liza. It’s really nice to connect with you after admiring your work for all these years. I very much appreciate what you are putting out into the world right now. How can people find you?

Thanks so much for reaching out! And for your kind words. I feel lucky to be able to do what I love, which is draw and connect with people. Folks can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @lizadonnelly.  Watch me draw every weekday at 5pm ET on Instagram and a new startup called HappsTV every day at 6pm ET: happy.tv/@liza . My website is lizadonnelly.com. A lot of my political cartoons and writing is found on Medium: lizadonnelly.medium.com And some writing and cartoons on The New Yorker website.

 

–

–


James Preller — um, that’s me, and so awkward in the 3rd person — is the author of the Jigsaw Jones mystery series, ages 6-8. Coming this Spring, look for my new middle-grade novel, Upstander. Thanks for stopping by. Onward and upward with the ARTS!

 

 

Category: Interviews & Appreciations / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

“What Level Is This Book?”

October 15, 2018 / / 2 comments

–

A number of Jigsaw Jones books have been offered through Scholastic Book Clubs. My niece, Jamie, sent along a snap:

–

 

As my many biographers are well aware, I began my career as a junior copywriter in 1985 at Scholastic for $11,500. My first job was writing the SeeSaw Book Club. 

I noticed those data points at the bottom right:

LEX: 360L-450L

GRL: 0

DRA: 34-38

I confess that I don’t know what any of those numbers mean. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not. Should I be aiming for a higher or lower “DRA”? Clearly, this is some kind of “important information” (yes, in quotes) about the level and age-appropriateness of the books. To help guide parents/teachers about the level of the product offered.

Heaven forfend if the book is too hard or too easy.

Honestly: I’m curious. How long have book clubs been incorporating this info into the kits (as we called them back in the day). Do you see this as good information? Bad information? Misleading?

From time to time, I’m lucky enough to sign books at festivals. And more and more I’m hearing that question from parents: “What level is this book?”

And I don’t know the answer.

I mean, I have an idea of the interest level; I have a notion of the difficulty. This series has been around for two decades. My sense is that now parents are looking for highly specific information. They’ve been taught to look for this info. 

Are we overthinking this?

Why, as a book lover, does this little group of numbers and letters make me want to cry a little bit?

Because often there’s a kid standing next to mom when she asks this question. A kid who maybe wants to read the book, or maybe not. What level is it? I sure don’t know the answer.

I can’t help but wonder if this is some new version of “Dick and Jane” readers, where everything is controlled and identified. The stages of reading. 

Note, also, that this information is not included on the book itself. This comes from Scholastic Corporate, evidently in response to a perceived a need, a way to better serve customers. Who want to know the answer to the question: “What level is this book?”

When did people start asking that? What brave new world is this?

I don’t mean to be snarky. I’m grateful to Scholastic for offering my books. I’m just curious what’s going on here. It might be a positive thing, I don’t know.

But here’s a thought:

–

–

Note: I am not familiar with Jillian Starr, a classroom teacher, or her work. This was just a meme floating around the interwebs. It seemed to be saying something important. A reminder.

Thoughts, ideas?

ADDENDUM . . .

After posting this piece, I came across Donalyn Miller’s post, “On the Level,” originally posted at the terrific Nerdy Book Club site. Here’s the opening two paragraphs, but please click on the link to Donalyn’s post for full effect:

While I was visiting an elementary school library in Chicago last spring, a group of third graders came into the library to return and check out books. The children wore index cards clipped to their shirts. On one side of the card was the child’s name. On the back, layers of sticky labels with the top label indicating the child’s current Lexile reading level. The poor librarian was required to check the reading level on the cards against the books the children wanted to check out. If a child picked a book that wasn’t on their level, she had to take it from them and tell them to get another one. Imagine what it feels like to hear you can’t read a book you want to read and must choose another one. Imagine your entire class witnesses this exchange. How do you feel about reading? How do you see yourself as a reader?

Again and again, I see reading level measures used to rank children, sort them into reading groups, identify at-risk readers, or generate grades. To what end? If we truly value a whole child model of education, children’s development of lifelong reading habits and skills should matter just as much as reading scores. Does our institutional zeal for reading levels have long-term negative consequences for young readers?

Category: Around the Web, Current Events / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Jigsaw Jones Update: 5 More Titles Coming Soon!

July 9, 2018 / / No comments

–

Question: So what’s new with Jigsaw Jones?

Answer: Funny you should ask! There’s actually a lot going on and I’m excited to tell you about it.

First, I handed in a manuscript last week for a new Jigsaw Jones title, The Case of the Hat Burglar. It centers around the school’s Lost & Found. We’ll see how my editor likes it (fingers crossed). I am not clear on the pub date for this or any of the following titles. Note to self: Find out!

As readers may know, I wrote many Jigsaw Jones titles over roughly a 15 year period. Those books were originally published by Scholastic. Over time, they slowly went out of print. It was sad. I regained the rights, and Macmillan quickly stepped up with a plan to republish the series. To date, I’ve written one all-new book, The Case from Outer Space. In addition, we’ve put out 8 “classroom classics.” Each book completely revised and reformatted (slightly larger trim size). 

Now I’ve been asked to revise and update 4 more titles (plus the aforementioned “all new” title). That will make 14 titles available in all. We’re making progress! Thank you, Macmillan. And thank you, Scholastic, for once more offering these books on your fabulous book clubs!

To recap:

ALL NEW!

The Case from Outer Space

 

COMING SOON!

The Case of the Hat Burglar

 

REVISED & UPDATED!

The Case of the Bicycle Bandit

The Case of the Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost

The Case of the Mummy Mystery

The Case of the Million-Dollar Idea

The Case of the Best Pet Ever

The Case of the Disappearing Dinosaur

The Case of the Smelly Sneaker

The Case of the Buried Treasure

     

     

 

COMING SOON!

The Case of the Golden Key

The Case of the Bear Scare

The Case of the Vanishing Painting

The Case of the Haunted Scarecrow

 

Joey and Danika visit Jigsaw’s house in THE CASE FROM OUTER SPACE. This wonderful illustration is by R.W. Alley.

 

I very much look forward to sharing these stories with a new generation of readers. With 11 million Jigsaw Jones books in print, this series is fairly well-known with experienced (read: older) teachers. I’ve learned that quite a few newer teachers are less familiar with Jigsaw and Mila and the gang. Hopefully you’ll check them out! Please know that I am eager to sign up school visits for next year. Openings still available. Just drop a line to jamespreller@aol.com. Thanks!

Category: Jigsaw Jones / Tags: , , , , ,

Fan Mail Wednesday #130: My First Book

November 30, 2011 / / No comments

Here’s one I loved . . .

Hi,


My mom dug out some of my old books from when I was a kid, and I got my old copy of Maxx Trax: Avalanche Rescue back.  I remember loving this book when I was a kid, I was really into the artwork.  I remember seeing another book in the Maxx Trax series at some point, but can’t remember what it was called.  How many books were in this series?  The art is really great, very eighties in its sensibility.  I was reading through the book and got the impression that the trucks were left behind after an armageddon, since there were no humans, and the trucks had to cross over a pile of abandoned cars, and the snow seemed to indicate a nuclear winter.  I was just curious about your take and inspirations for these books, I am an artist myself now, and appreciate the vehicle designs, and interested in the origins of one of my favorite books when I was a kid.

Thanks!
Eli

I replied:
–
Eli! Thanks so much for that letter. Maxx Trax: Avalanche Rescue was my first published book, back in 1986 when I was a mere pup, 25 years old — and that was the little book that launched this Incredible (Unstoppable! Unflappable!) Publishing Empire.
–
Thank you, thank you very much (in Elvis voice).
–
–
Actually, I have great fondness for that book. It’s been out-of-print for nearly two decades, but when it was first offered on Scholastic Book Clubs, they put it on the front cover of SeeSaw Book Club and it sold through the roof, eventually moving more than 1,000,000 copies. Crazy, I know. But because it was my first book, and worked in-house as a junior copywriter, I was paid a flat fee, no royalties, so I earned $2,500 on the deal. But I’m not bitter!
–
–
The book began with a Star Wars-inspired introduction, epic and overblown.
It’s a little embarrassing, but also, I think, the tone we were going for.
–
Even worse, when it came time for the sequel, Scholastic inexplicably fired the original illustrator, Joe Lapinski, who did such a pitch-perfect job on the original. He nailed it. But I suspect that Joe wanted more money for the next book, and corporate had other ideas.
–
–
–
The illustrations for the follow-up book, Maxx Trax: Monster Truck Adventure, featured a new, experimental technique: computer graphics, and it did not turn out very well. I remember when my editor told me about it. I was like, “Why didn’t you just rehire Lapinski? He was great.” Oh well. The technology was too new, too primitive. Think early Pac Man but in picture book form. I looked at that second book and my heart sank. I knew that no kid would go for it. And that was the end of the series. (Buy, hey, on the bright side: corporate saved money on the illustrator!)
–
–
Yeah, sure, a nuclear winter makes sense to me. I’m not sure if I understood the backstory in those words, exactly. Perhaps I didn’t even think about it that deeply. I just kind of accepted the circumstances as fact and told the story from there — a world seemingly without people, with trucks that communicate and perform . . . all sorts of . . . amazing . . . truck-ish type feats. With lasers!
–
–
Here’s the killer. When I visit schools, which I do fairly often, I’ll sometimes pull that book out. Students always ask about my first book. And every time, the boys see it and freak out. They want to buy it right there, right now. And I have to say, “Sorry, I’ve got two copies to my name, that’s it. The book is out of print. You can’t buy it anymore.” If I’ve learned anything about the children’s book business in the past 25 years, it’s that I know Maxx Trax would sell today. It’s so cool, so much fun, so right for boy readers. Trucks and adventure.
–
Quick, get Lapinski on the phone! Come on, Scholastic. Wake up, already. I’ve already got the title of the next — Maxx Trax: Tsunami Rescue!
–
The Dawn of Maxx Trax must rise again . . .
–
Seriously, Eli, thanks for writing. In every author’s heart there’s a special place for his first book. It was awfully kind of you to take the time to write to me. You’re a good soul. Good luck with your own artistic efforts — keep on believing in yourself, keep on feeding that brain of yours, and work hard. Send me a JPEG or something. I’d love to see what you’re up to.
–
My best,
–
JP
Category: Fan Mail / Tags: , , , , ,

Scholastic Book Clubs Criticized in The New York Times

February 10, 2009 / / 3 comments

The New York Times today, in an article by Motoko Rich, reports some criticism of Scholastic Book Clubs. Here’s the lead:

Scholastic Inc., the children’s publisher of favorites like the Harry Potter, Goosebumps and Clifford series, may be best known for its books, but a consumer watchdog group accuses the company of using its classroom book clubs to push video games, jewelry kits and toy cars.

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, an advocacy group based in Boston, said that it had reviewed monthly fliers distributed by Scholastic last year and found that one-third of the items sold in these brochures were either not books or books packaged with other items.

I worked on the book clubs from 1985-90, and this kind of thing has always been an issue. Back then, it was more centered on the types of books offered — media tie-ins (Voltron, Transformers, Care Bears) vs. “real” books. Poster sales have always been an issue.

A page from Lucky Book Club.

Of course, there are profits in the non-book items. But the company always has to be careful in striking a balance, because teachers are the gate-keepers: They either hand out the book clubs, or throw them in the trash. I think this kind of watchdog group plays a vital role, and I’m glad to see it. Moreover, many teachers don’t realize the kind of power they wield. Believe me, complaints and comments are taken very seriously. Teachers function as sales representatives for Scholastic; and if they — or you — are not happy with the product, they — or you — have the ability to effect positive change.

What do you think? Is this a tempest in a teapot, or a real issue?

For me, it’s an issue that touches home.  “Book-and-thing” publishing — most effectively pioneered, I believe, by Workman Press, has become a staple for Scholastic. Sometimes it’s value added, sometimes it’s simply a way to raise revenue (witness the 39 Clues marketing machine at work). New Jigsaw Jones titles are no longer sold in trade. I get the opportunity to write one when the clubs make that call — and they will sell it the best way they can. My latest title, which I’ve documented here, will be packaged with a “Spy Ear.” It’s a cool item, I think, and I weaved it directly into the story (at Scholastic’s request, and with my complete agreement). I’m excited about it, the creative process was fun, and I think everybody involved is trying to make a quality product that kids will read and enjoy. The book is very good, in my biased opinion, and could certainly stand alone; my only regret is that it will be available exclusively through the clubs, nowhere else. But on the other hand, I see how my series, something I’m very proud of, is in a way being turned into merchandise. But if not, does it go away completely? Is it “book and more” or “book as Other?” Where is the line?

At the same time, we live in the real world. Books are products, and they need to sell. The only difference here is the role of the teachers as gatekeepers, and Scholastic’s unique position in schools. It is the checks and balances of capitalism. Scholastic will only go as far as teachers, and parents, allow them to go.

Category: Current Events, Jigsaw Jones / Tags: , , , ,
 
Website Hosted by Web Instinct