Genre Fiction

While logging on to MySpace tonight, one celeb blogging alert caught my eye: MTV reality queen Lauren Conrad updated her status to say “New York Times Bestseller….Yay!!”

Wait. What? Lauren “L.C.” Conrad’s L.A. Candy is a New York Times best seller? Surely she jests.

Conrad’s blogging went on: “A big THANK YOU to everyone who bought my book!! It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for 2 weeks and this week it’s #1….. YAY! This is such an honor!! I really appreciate everyone’s support and nice comments about the book. My next book should be released sometime in February and there will be another book tour. I will keep you all posted.”

I was in such disbelief that I simply had to go see for myself; I headed to scope out the current best sellers. I wonder which category hers is topping the charts in …

Hardback fiction? Nope, that’s Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

Trade fiction? No, that’s Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, and mass-market fiction is Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan.

Conrad’s book also wasn’t to be found on the nonfiction, advice, or children’s lists. In fact, L.A. Candy wasn’t even in the top five of any of these categories.

After much digging around on the New York Times’ site, I finally found the book listed somewhere - Children’s chapter books - and yes, it was in the number one position.

Well, Lauren, I suppose congrats and apologies (for my continued total disbelief) are in order. And after reading your MySpace messages, I also must commend your editor, who probably had to delete many an exclamation mark.

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s oldest and largest children and families’ literacy nonprofit organization, hosted The Gift of Reading Gala earlier this month in Washington, D.C., to raise awareness for their cause … and a phenomenal $430,000 to support their efforts to motivate children to read!

“Our annual Gift of Reading Gala is a way for Reading Is Fundamental to acknowledge those who have committed themselves to improving children’s literacy throughout this country,” commented Carol H. Rasco, CEO and President of RIF.

Also during the fund-raising gala, Macy*s was presented with the Legacy of Literacy award for their outstanding commitment to children’s literacy through continued support and commitment to helping all children discover the joy of reading.

Check out RIF’s Web site to find out how you can volunteer to help encourage the kids in your community to read.

Have a kid’s party coming up this summer that you are responsible for planning? Why not use it as an opportunity to encourage reading early on by incorporating some favorite story book characters?

For one of her oldest son’s early birthdays, my sister hosted a party featuring Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar. There was a craft project for the kids, a themed cake, and even a giant a paper cutout of the caterpillar with a picture of the birthday boy in each body segment, starting with one of him as an infant followed by one of him at each month.

Cake Wrecks, a blog about disastrous professionally-made confections, has a “Sunday Sweets” edition each week that features cake successes. Today, the blog included a themed “Sunday Sweets” about cakes honoring favorite childhood books. Blogger Jen found inspirations for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon and Guess How Much I Love You, Dr. Seuss’s One Fish Two Fish … and Fox in Socks, Golden Book’s Poky Little Puppy, Babar, and Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit.

Click on the picture here to check the rest out for inspiration to make your own - or, for the less creatively confident, print out one of the pictures and take it to your own local bakery.

Don’t forget to spread the theme across the whole party, too! Incorporate the character or characters into the decorations, gift bags, crafts, games, etc.: Play pin the tail on Babar. Make monster masks or rabbit ears. Give out Swedish fish - or even a small copy of the chosen book! Have fun with it, knowing that you’re encouraging reading while celebrating a birthday!

One of the other places that you can find me blogging and writing away is Living Without Meat, a vegan and animal rights site. So if I were to write anything about the Obama family’s new pet dog, I would have guessed that it would have been there. But I chose to forgo writing about Barack’s faux pas with promising to rescue a dog from a shelter then going to a breeder instead. This, however, I can not ignore.

Mascot Books, a small Virginia publisher that specializes in titles about school and professional sports mascots, is jumping on the “Bo” media bandwagon by publishing a children’s picture book about the Portuguese pup. As the narrator, “Bo” takes the reader on a tour of the White House and experiences presidential and Obama traditions including Michelle’s organic garden, the Easter egg roll, and a game of basketball with President Barack himself.

The book is expected to hit stores this week and will retail for $14.95.

Meghan McCain, the 24-year-old daughter of presidential one-time hopeful John McCain, has previously authored a children’s book titled My Dad, John McCain. But now she’s aiming for the big leagues - and big paychecks.

After a bidding bout between multiple publishing companies, Hyperion won the rights to Meghan’s next writing venture with their bid that is rumored to have a six-figured advance.

The book is set to be released in spring 2010 and, according to Hyperion, it will “explore what it means to be a progressive Republican in the party today,” and “delve into what it means to love the Republican Party, while not always fitting in.” Meghan’s new book will also “touch on topics ranging from what the party needs to do to attract others like her, to the importance of technology in reaching out to younger voters, to what needs to be done to keep young people passionate and involved in politics in the future.”

It’s time for your young ones to party it up and have a Spring Fling - Borders and Waldenbooks style.

The two book store chains, both of which are owned by Borders Group, will host “Spring Fling” parties for kids and their families April 11 at 2 p.m. in stores nationwide. Kids of all ages are invited to come decked out in their Easter finest to enjoy arts and crafts, storytime, singing and dancing, and a parade. During the events, Seattle’s Best Coffee cafes - located in most Borders superstores - will be offering free samples of beverages and baked goods including handmade soda, hot chocolate, and blackberry creme latte.

After the event, parents are encourage to upload any photos taken during the “Spring Fling” to Borders’ Facebook page.

Click on the invite image to find a store party near you.

Whether your kids are toddlers or teens they have a reading-related reason to celebrate next Friday, March 20.

For the older kids, Borders nationwide are hosting Twilight movie release parties, starting at 10 p.m. The night will include trivia, the Twilight movie awards (e.g. Best Bella-Edward Moment), a vampire-themed scavenger hunt around the store, and raffle prizes. Fans can get more info about the parties, as well as a voting ballot for the awards, online at Borders’ Twilight page.

If your kids - or your inner child - is too young for vampiric love stories, party in honor of Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar instead. This classic, award-winning, international best-selling children’s picture book celebrates its 40th anniversary on March 20. Since its publication in 1969, 29 million copies of the book have sold worldwide and it has been published in over 45 languages.

Whether you and your young readers prefer characters that drink blood or ones that eat fresh produce, there’s a reason to celebrate reading next weekend.

Riddle me this: what do Dolly Parton and the Rotary International service club have in common?

Give up? The country singer and the “Service Above Self” volunteer organization both have a passion for promoting reading. The two have joined up to encourage literacy among children by providing children with books from birth to age 5 through the Rotary club’s Imagination Library program. The program sends participating kids one age appropriate book a month, starting with The Little Engine That Could, and ending with the final title Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come. The goal is to spark the children’s interest in learning and encourage the families to spend time together reading.

“In today’s world, literacy is a basic requirement for success in life,” says Rotary Foundation Trustee John Germ. “For decades, Rotary clubs have supported literacy programs for children and adults, and this collaborative relationship will help lift our literacy effort to the next level by promoting early childhood reading.”

“Rotarians love kids as much as I do, so I truly believe we can do something extraordinary together to help even more children love to read and succeed,” says Parton of her Tennessee-based Dollywood Foundation’s partnering with the club.

If you would like to support the two foundations in their efforts, consider joining a local Rotary club. Membership dues will help pay for the related expenses including purchasing the books and shipping them to children in need.

There are about 10,400 Rotary clubs in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, which are all included in the partnership. Addtionally, there are more than 33,000 clubs in 200 countries worldwide.

eBay Foundation, a charitable organization founded by the popular auction site, and First Book, a nonprofit that gives new books to children in need, are holding reading parties in three cities - Austin, Texas; Veince, California; and Omaha, Nebraska - to celebrate the distribution of more than 300,000 Random House Children’s Books nationwide. eBay Foundation provide a grant of more than $300,000 to make these events possible.

“We salute eBay Foundation for their tremendous support of the fight to end illiteracy,” said Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book. “Thanks to the extraordinary commitment of the eBay Foundation, these children will experience the profound magic of books, and will have the chance to become readers for life.”

Likewise, eBay spoke highly of working with First Book: “We’re proud to partner with First Book to help children discover the joy of reading,” said Bill Barmeier, chairman of eBay Foundation and VP of Global Citizenship at eBay Inc. “This continues eBay Foundation’s long-standing tradition of connecting eBay employees with terrific causes in their local communities.”

Find out more, including the exact times and locations of the parties, from the First Book press release.

I had fun, but very different and interesting, trip to Barnes & Noble this weekend.

As I entered, I was greeted by a friendly mutt with the face of a Greyhound and the tail end of a collie. Frankie turned out to be an incredibly friendly - and well-behaved - rescue dog who was at the store supporting his shy friend Violet. Violet was a young beagle who had just been released from an animal testing facility. Violet had been destined to have a kidney removed and numerous experiments performed on her to study how she survived with only one kidney. However, Vi got a skin rash and was disqualified from the study. The lucky dog’s rash cleared up after she was rescued, and has never returned.

The dogs were at the bookstore representing two local beagle rescue groups - B.R.E.W. and Cascade. Reps from the groups were offering free gift wrapping, and seemed to be receiving a substantial amount of donations.

Next to the pups was Joe Kulka, a local children’s book author and illustrator. I stopped to say hello and look at his books. I picked up Wolf’s Coming!, despite the mean-looking wolf on the cover. I began reading. The first several pages feature all kinds of animals shouting “run,” “hide,” “Wolf’s coming!” I was prepared to lecture Mr. Kulka … until I turned another page: the animals were running and hiding because they had a surprise party planned for Wolf.

The book is wonderful. Buy it for all the kids in your life … and do it at Barnes & Noble, because you never know what you might see while you’re there!

Dear Santa:

With a low salary, in a bad economy, I’ve been unable to buy new books much this year. If you still have room in your bag for me these titles are all on my “buy when I have lots of spare cash” list. They’ve all gotten good reviews, and the authors are all ones whose work I’ve loved over the years.

* The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

* Knit Two or Comfort Foods by Kate Jacobs

* Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

* The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

* Belong to Me by Marisa De Los Santos

* Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger

* A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs

For the kids in my life, dear Santa, can you please bring some good children’s books, too? How about some of these:

* Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor - every little girl needs a copy of the original book from this collection.

* Christina Katerina and the Box by Patricia Lee Gauch - I’ve looked everywhere, Santa, but stores don’t stock this classic any more. Maybe you could help?

* Doris TheSaurus by Maria L. Corkern - you can see how cute it looks here, plus I think every kid should love synonyms and this book will help. Can you add my mom to the list for this one too, please? Because her name is Doris.

And, although I prefer fiction, some nonfiction books have been catching my eye lately, too.

* Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

* In Defense of Food or The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

* Thanking the Monkey by Karen Dawn

Thanks,

Sally

P.S. I’ve been really good this year; I promise.