Kids bookstore Storyopolis heading toward adulthood

Someone's turning 14 this weekend, but that doesn't mean it's time for it to set aside childish things. Located in Studio City, Storyopolis has been going strong for more than a decade, and it will continue to host story times and play with stuffed animals after celebrating on Saturday.

The independent bookstore has been a favorite of children's book authors. "It's a tough job to be a bookseller," Cornelia Funke ("Inkheart") told the L.A. Times three years ago while helping the bookstore celebrate its 11th birthday.  "For me, it's always special to do something for an owner of a store who I know has worked hard to keep their business."

This year, the celebration focuses on "Mitzi's World." Author Deborah Raffin and artist Jane Wooster Scott will both be at the store at 1:00pm on Saturday to sign books.

There will also be food, drinks, games, and activities for kids -- it is a birthday party, after all.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Story time at Storyopolis. Credit: Ken Los Angeles Times

Spike Jonze to sign behind-the-scenes book on 'Wild Things' film Sunday

The movie "Where the Wild Things Are" has sparked bookish interest around LA. Dave Eggers' young-adult reworking of the tale, "The Wild Things," has been on our hardcover bestsellers list for two weeks. Will the enthusiasm continue for Spike Jonze? The film's director has a "Wild Things"-related book that he'll be signing at the independent bookstore Family on Sunday.

"Heads On and We Shoot" is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, with drafts of the screenplay, character sketches, random ephemera (like this on-set playlist) and photographs that reveal the puppetry workings and computer animation. The 240-page oversize book is unusually constructed -- it folds like an accordion -- and includes forwards by both Jonze and Eggers.

On Sunday, Jonze will be signing books and  answering questions. Things are set to get underway at 5 p.m. Be warned: Family is a tiny shop, barely big enough to hold one Wild Thing in full gear.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Spike Jonze on the set of his movie "Where the Wild Things Are." Credit: Warner Bros.

Wednesday is Maurice Sendak night at Cinefamily

As the opening date for the Spike Jonze film version of "Where the Wild Things Are" looms, one L.A. movie theater is turning its attention back to the author of the iconic children's book. On Wednesday, Cinefamily on Fairfax will hold a tribute to Maurice Sendak.

The Sendakian schedule includes the documentary "Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak," directed by Jonze and Lance Bangs. Bangs, who will be in attendance, will answer questions. Vintage animated adaptations of "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen" will be screened, along with short films made by Bangs and Jonze during the production of the new movie. Cinefamily promises the films "capture a sometimes melancholy but always wickedly funny Sendak as he reflects on his Depression-era childhood in the Brooklyn shtetl, a joyous day at the World's Fair, the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, his books 'In the Night Kitchen' and 'Higgledy Piggledy Pop!,' his two beloved Hermans (Melville, and his German shepherd namesake), and a long-buried secret."

As Cinefamily has strong familial ties to the independent bookstore Family just up the street, there might even be copies of Sendak's books for sale. Originally published in 1963, "Where the Wild Things Are" has won a Caldecott medal, been an American Library Assn. notable book and has stolen the hearts of generations of wild children. Tickets to the event are $12.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Maurice Sendak. Credit: Skirball Cultural Center

'Where the Wild Things Are' comes to Hollywood with Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers and others

Want to be one of the first to see "Where the Wild Things Are"? You can -- and hear Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, Catherine Keener and the young actor Max Records (yes, he plays Max) answer questions afterward -- if you go to the special Oct. 1 preview screening at the Arclight. Tickets have just gone on sale this afternoon.

The screening is to benefit the 826LA literary centers, founded by Eggers, who co-wrote the "Where the Wild Things Are" script with director Jonze.

Here in Hollywood, you'll get to see the movie and listen to the post-film Q&A for $75. A $200 VIP ticket will secure premium seating and a pass to the VIP after-party at Space Fifteen Twenty, which is a short distance up Cahuenga from the Arclight -- walking distance, even by Hollywood standards.

The after-party is hosted by a bevy of co-sponsors and will have drinks and things, from what we hear, and generally fabulous literary and film people wandering around.

If tickets here sell out, there will be separate screenings in all cities that are home to 826s: San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York and Ann Arbor, Mich.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Warner Bros.

A very hungry crayon

Eric Carle, whose hungry caterpillar served as the logo for the L.A. Times Festival of Books earlier this year, will be presented with a special crayon today in Massachusetts. In a public event at Amherst's Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Crayola will present the children's book author and artist with a 5-foot-tall crayon, in the color they've named Very Hungry Caterpillar Green.

It's the first such award in five years. The last recipient was Oprah Winfrey, who received a "The Color Purple" crayon, which was, not surprisingly, purple.

2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," a book that's both beautiful and -- with the holes the caterpillar "chews" through its pages -- delightfully surprising. It has sold  29 million copies in 45 languages. Creator Carle celebrates his 80th birthday this year.

Attendees will be treated to ice cream and cake and get their own caterpillar-green crayons today only, while supplies last.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Image: "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle. Credit: Eric Carle / Philomel Books

ALSO RELATED:

Talking with Eric Carle about his work

A caterpillar's birthday kickoff

Keeping up with the Festival of Books

The literary forefathers of 'Up'

 

What do Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World," J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan," L. Frank Baum's "Wizard of Oz" and Johanna Spyri's "Heidi" have in common? They're all progenitors -- grandparents? -- of the new movie "Up." As Jerry Griswold writes in our pages:

The title of the new Disney/Pixar movie "Up," as well as its signature image of a house floating beneath thousands of tethered balloons, reminds us how frequently the theme of Lightness appears in children's literature. From Mary Poppins to Peter Pan, from Tarzan swinging on vines to Harry Potter scooting on his broomstick, children's stories seem to feature the quick, the lithe and the aerial. Maybe that's not surprising. While adults seem earthbound, youngsters zoom by on skateboards or jump from heights as caped incarnations of Superman.

The mature, in fact, seem to suffer from the debilitating effects of kryptonite; they are victims of Heaviness. While children "play all day long" in J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan," presumably their parents go to work or attend meetings. Indeed, the tragic moment in "Peter Pan" occurs near the end when the ever-youthful Peter comes to invite Wendy on another adventure and is shocked to find a gray-haired lady in the shadows; she can no longer fly, Wendy sadly explains, because "I am old."

His essay includes a heap of literary predecessors to "Up," many of which deal with youth and the kryptonite of adulthood.

Lightness has been so deeply threaded through children's literature that it must have been picked up by those writing for adults. But the only book I can think of that explicitly deals with it is Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."  What are some others?

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Image: Disney / Pixar

Happy birthday, hungry caterpillar!

Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" celebrates its 40th birthday this week, and Google is pitching in with a caterpillar-themed logo today (above right). The L.A. Times Festival of Books is celebrating in its own way: This year's logo (above left) is a pupae reading a version of the caterpillar book (maybe its own memoir?).

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar," who eats his way through the book, leaving a trail of holes behind, has sold 29 million copies and has licensing deals, Newsweek reports, of $50 million annually. With the money, Carle established the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass.; its exhibits have celebrated works by Dorothy Kunhardt ("Pat the Bunny"), Arnold Lobel ("Frog and Toad") and Maurice Sendak ("Where the Wild Things Are").

Carle was born in New York in 1929 to German parents; the family moved back to Germany in 1935. Carle's father was conscripted and sent off to fight; Carle, Newsweek writes, "developed a special bond at school with his art teacher, Herr Krauss, who secretly showed him the works of Picasso, Matisse and Braque, all banned by Hitler." At the end of the war, Carle worked as a file clerk for American services in Germany; he had access to their well-stocked kitchen. Newsweek draws parallels between the young man who raided that larder and the caterpillar with the insatiable appetite.

As for Carle, he thinks of it differently. "It is a book about hope. If you're an insignificant caterpillar, you can grow up to be a big butterfly in the world," he told Newsweek. In a video on his website to celebrate the book's 40th anniversary, he says "growing up can be very difficult --  it's a big secret, it's a big challenge for children -- I like to help the children along." The video also includes film of Carle at work, creating his famous caterpillar for the camera.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today, the beloved Theodor Seuss Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) would have turned 105.

In remembrance of his birthday, thousands of schools, libraries and community centers across the country kick off their literacy programs, motivating children to read, as well as helping them master basic comprehension skills.

The National Education Assn. annually sponsors "Read Across America," now in its 12th year, commencing with their Project 236 (named for the number of words used in "The Cat in the Hat") Read-Aloud Day.

Students at Encino Elementary geared up for their "Reading Rocks!" challenge, with kindergarten students reading "Green Eggs and Ham," one of Dr. Seuss' most memorable books. They had even more reason to celebrate today; after eight years of red tape, the newly renovated, 1,600-sq.-ft. library reopened with more than 10,000 books to inspire and assist in reaching their reading goals.

Dr. Seuss published more than 60 books (translated into 15 languages), one of which celebrates its 50th birthday this year, coincidentally, "The Happy Birthday Book."

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go! -- "I Can Read with My Eyes Shut"

-- Liesl Bradner

Photo (top left): Theodor Geisel. Credit: Associated Press

Photo (lower right): Encino Elementary readers. Credit: Liesl Bradner

Neil Gaiman blogs and tweets the Newbery Medal

This morning, as the American Library Assn. prepared to announce its prizewinners, author Neil Gaiman was asleep in an L.A. hotel room. At least until a short time before 6 a.m. He blogs that the phone began ringing very early. The prize committee delivered the good, super-secret advance news: "The Graveyard Book" would be awarded the Newbery Medal.

You are on a speakerphone with at least 14 teachers and librarians and suchlike great, wise and good people, I thought. Do not start swearing like you did when you got the Hugo. This was a wise thing to think because otherwise huge, mighty and fourletter swears were gathering. I mean, that's what they're for. I think I said, You mean it's Monday?

Gaiman is a high-profile author who, as you can see, makes himself atypically available to online fans. Not only does he blog, he blogs about trying to not screw up. And he has continued to chronicle the morning's activities in 140-character bursts on Twitter.

More than 10,000 people follow Gaiman, who is on Twitter as "neilhimself." He provides a window into what it's like to be woken up to find out you've won the biggest award in children's literature. 

Around 8:30am: Thank you all for the  congratulations. (Beams joyfully.)  You can listen to the whole book for free at http://bit.ly/y8gk,  by the way.

Around 8:30am: argh. Interviews needed NOW with NYT, USA Today, PW and Washington Post. Am wet, not dressed and not packed or checked out. Right. Focus.

Around 9:30am: Right now in LAX EN ROUTE TO new york. 4 interviews down. God this is weird and wonderful.

Around 10:30am: On plane. Another 2 interviews done. Head spinning. Doors closed. Bye.

If you decide to follow Gaiman, like 10,000 others, realize that he will use swear words on Twitter. And if you see someone wandering around L.A. in the next couple of days who looks kind of like him, it might just be Neil himself -- he's heading back, he says, for a screening of "Coraline."

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo credit:  Kimberly Butler

The Lorax as early environmentalist

In today's book section, Erik Himmelsbach looks at "The Lorax," a candy-colored children's book by Dr. Seuss that also happens to be an environmental classic.

"'The Lorax' was very overt, very political," says William Dreyer, curator of the Art of Dr. Seuss Collection. "It was a statement on conservation and corporate responsibility....

"He embedded many sociopolitical messages throughout his career. His true genius lies in that it was done with such humor and finesse."

Was Dr. Seuss -- Theodor Geisel -- conscious of the political content of his work? Apparently so. In a 1960 essay he wrote:

"Children's reading and children's thinking are the rock-bottom base upon which the future of this country will rise. Or not rise. Books for children have a greater potential for good or evil than any other form of literature on earth."

"The Lorax" was published in 1971, nine years after Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" and three years after the first "Whole Earth Catalog." It was the early days of the environmental movement, and the book didn't reach massive appeal. But in the last five years, sales of the book have doubled; people who read the book as children remember its message and are reading it to kids of their own.

Read Himmelsbach's article here.

-- Carolyn Kellogg