Reading Rainbow, one of my favorite shows as a child, is returning to teach a new generation about the magical journeys books can take you on, but will do so in a whole new medium. Originally a television program that aired on PBS from 1983 to 2006, Reading Rainbow will now be available as an app. LeVar Burton, the host of the television show, acquired the "Reading Rainbow" license last year for his new digital multimedia company, RRKidz. Burton recognized the changes occurring in the children's publishing industry; like the entire industry, things are moving more and more toward digital platforms and he saw a perfect opportunity to reinvent what he did for 25 years on Reading Rainbow: get kids excited about reading books through the use of technology. “We're still tying literature and the real world together, and where it meets is in the imagination of the reader, the child,” Burton said. “So I think we've really done a good job of translating in a bottom-up reinvention of what was once a television series (into) a new multidimensional interactive experience.” The app is intended for children ages 3-9 and currently features 150 books that are segmented onto different "islands", like 'Animal Kingdom', 'My Friends', and 'My Family'. Stories come alive through audio storytelling by celebrity actors and "light animations and activities to enhance the story." It also features customized reading recommendations, a reward program to motivate reading, a parental dashboard to... [more 'Reading Rainbow' Returns as an App]
Events
First Edition Cover Art of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis A rare inscribed first edition of C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be auctioned in London this Thursday, July 19. This copy is especially rare because the author inscribed it with his nickname, Jack, which only close friends and family called him. No other copy of the book with an inscription of Lewis's nickname has ever gone on sale. The inscription reads, "Nicholas Hardie, with love from Jack Lewis", and was given to the son of Colin Graham Hardie, one of Lewis's best friends. Lewis would often visit the Hardie household, Nicholas Hardie, now 66, remembers, and spent many evenings reading Dante aloud with his father. "He was a distinguished old man," Mr. Hardie said. "I remember being eight years old and my mother telling me I had to be on my best behavior because C.S. Lewis was coming around." It was on a Christmas visit for tea in 1950 when Lewis gave Mr. Hardie the copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Max Hasler, a modern first editions expert at Bloomsbury Auctions, said the book is "an exciting find" because "only a few books signed by C.S. Lewis have ever come to auction, and none of them have been signed 'Jack'". The book is valued to be worth up to almost $19,000. Rare first-edition Narnia book given to your boy by C.S. Lewis up for auction at 12,000 [more First Edition Narnia Book Inscribed by 'Jack' Lewis Goes to Auction]
Boston in Autumn (image by Rebecca Kennison via Wikipedia Creative Commons) There's still plenty of summer ahead, but it's the perfect time to plan a weekend getaway for the fall, when heat and summer holidays seem a distant memory. Where to head, you ask? New England is the place to be in autumn, and the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair is the perfect reason to plan a long weekend in the historic city. Just released details on this year's fair are below. The annual fall gathering for booklovers, the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair, will return to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston's beautiful Back Bay, November 16-18, 2012. The offerings are wide and diverse from over 120 dealers from the United States, England, Canada, France, Hungary, The Netherlands, and Argentina who will exhibit and sell rare, collectible and antiquarian books, illuminated manuscripts, autographs, maps, atlases, modern first editions, photographs, and fine and decorative prints. Seminars and events punctuate the weekend, including, The Annual Ticknor Society Roundtable, a panel discussion of collectors talking about their collections. More events will be announced, and folks can visit www.bostonbookfair.com for up to the minute details. Friday, November 16 5:00-9:00pm Tickets: $15.00 - Opening Night (tickets valid throughout the weekend) Saturday, November 17 12:00-7:00pm Tickets: $8.00 each day Sunday, November 18 12:00-5:00pm Tickets: $8.00 each day Hynes Convention Center 900... [more Autumn, Books & Boston? Yes, please!]
Last year the city of Troy, Michigan was facing a serious funding deficit and considered closing the town's public library. Funding to save the library could have been raised through a "minuscule" tax increase, but powerful anti-tax groups in the area joined together to oppose it. That's when Leo Burnett Detroit, a local advertising agency, decided to support the library by creating a reverse psychology campaign that promoted closure of the library and a subsequent book burning party. Residents of the town were outraged and the campaign ending up saving the library from closure. Watch below. via ilovelibraries.org [more Reverse Psychology Saved a Michigan Library]
Sketch leaf of piano exercises by Beethoven, once owned by Chopin (image via Sotheby's) André Meyer (1884-1974) assembled one of the most significant private collections devoted to music, which Sotheby's will be offering at auction in Paris on October 16 and 17. Comprised of manuscripts, printed music, paintings, furniture, sculpture, drawings, and musical instruments, Meyer's collection was acquired during the first half of the twentieth century. (He began collecting in 1899 when he was only 15 years old.) Meyer devoted his entire life to music as a critic, patron, and collector, and generously opened his library to anyone with interest. The most exciting piece in the collection is a sketch leaf of piano exercises by Ludwig van Beethoven that was once owned by Frédéric Chopin, a Beethoven enthusiast. Other exciting items include: the first collected edition of Johann Sebastian Bach's Six Partitas for Keyboard; a signed autograph manuscript of Arnold Schoenberg's String Quartet; a first edition of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Traité de l'Harmonie, Corrected & Annotated by Rameau prior to the 2nd Edition in 1726; a variety of portraits of composers, including Chopin, Schubert, and Schumann; and a piece of pearwood paneling that is decorated with musical trophies, circa 1730. The viewing will take place at Sotheby's Paris on October 12, 13, and 15. Sotheby's to offer the most important private collection of printed musical scores in private hands in Europe Collection Musicale An... [more Sotheby's to Offer André Meyer's Remarkable Collection of Musical Scores]
Shakespeare in O.P. (that's original pronunciation, FYI)! Below is a really interesting video that examines the original pronunciation of Shakespeare's plays in juxtaposition with our modern pronunciation, and explores how hearing the o.p. leads to a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the texts. Enjoy! [more Shakespeare Original Pronunciation (Video)]
Jane Austen's Gold Ring, via Sotheby's Sotheby's London will be auctioning a ring that belonged to Jane Austen on July 10. The lovely gold and turquoise ring has remained in the Austen family and its provenance is substantiated by an accompanying note from Jane's sister-in-law, Eleanor Austen. The note was written to Jane's niece Caroline in November of 1863 and read: My dear Caroline, The enclosed ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you! Austenites will be giddy over this piece, as it is very rare to come across any of Jane Austen's personal possessions (and extremely uncommon for something previously unknown to be 'discovered'Austen has had a longrunning rabid following). The most intriguing question regarding the ring is who gave it to Jane. (A question which prompts me to ask, why couldn't she have purchased it herself? But then perhaps my knowledge of Jane and her time is too superficial. Any insights much appreciated!) Dr. Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby's literature expert, has two possibilities in mind. The first is Tom Lefroy, Jane's "Irish friend", who she had a particular fondness for and who is theorized to have been the basis of Mr. Darcy's character. The second candidate is Jane's brother Henry. Dr. Heaton favors the latter theory because "the ring is in a box fashioned by a goldsmith in the City of London, and Henry worked as a banker ther... [more Jane Austen's Ring Up For Auction at Sotheby's]
'Observations in Midwifery' Percival Willughby Perceival Willughby's Observations in Midwifery, a rare book circa 1670, gives a unique look at seventeenth century midwifery&and it's not pretty. Willuhgby had been working as an obstetrician for 40 years when his 600+ page manuscript was written. In the book he recorded 200 cases with the intent to "inform the ignorant common midwives with such wayes as I have used with good successe ... shewing the wayes how to deliver any difficult birth, bee it naturall, or, unnaturall". Willughby was disturbed by the often horrific practices of contemporary midwivessuch as removing babies before labor had even begun or the use of a hooked stick in place of forcepsand went into grisly detail about the cases he observed and took part in. There are only two known complete copies of the manuscript in existence: one is in the Royal Society of Medicine and the other is waiting to go under the hammer at the Dominic Winter auction house in Cirencester. Chris Albury, of Dominic Winter, notes that the rare book is "not just of medical interest," but that it provides "an insight into 17th century society, in that it gives you details of these families and homes he is visiting, and their circumstances". Albury is less sure why the book was never published, as the author's intent to provide guidance and help others is so evident. The guide price of Observations in Midwifery is 20,000 to 30,000 and it will be sold July 26 as part of an auction of th... [more Yikes: Rare 17th Century Book on Midwifery Up for Auction]
Hunter S. Thompson In a nod to Independence Day, and the summertime, here's a gallery of some literary greats in their bathing suits. (At the moment I am wishing I was Hunter S. Thompson enjoying the beach rather than stewing in my apartment&) Enjoy the fireworks! [more Happy Fourth of July!]
The inaugural winners of the Andrew Carnegie Awards for Excellence in Literature were announced last Sunday at the American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference. There were two prizes awarded, one for fiction and one for nonfiction. The Carnegie Award for Fiction went to Anne Enright for The Forgotten Waltz, and the Nonfiction Award went to Robert K. Massie for Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. Many are familiar with the ALA's other prestigious awards, the Newbery and Caldecott, but those honors are awarded to children's and young adult books, respectively, and there was no prize for adult literature. The Carnegie Award now fills that void. The two winners were chosen by library professionals working in conjunction with adult readers. The selection process makes the Carnegie Award unique, as the majority of other major book awards are judged by writers and critics. “In many ways, librarians are the first book critics many readers come into contact with, and hence we are deeply thankful for their insight and guidance,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York and a former president of the New York Public Library. “The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction take that notion one step further and place the librarians' seal of approval on these wonderful books.” Both Enright and Massie will receive a medal and $5,000. Each finalist receives $1,500; both fiction and non-fiction finalists are listed after ... [more Inaugural Carnegie Award Winners Announced]