Posts filed under 'Authors and Books'
Save the date for the 2010 Book Club Café, to be held at Olbrich Gardens on Wednesday, May 26 at 7 p.m. We are pleased to welcome Michelle Wildgen, author of two novels set in Madison: You’re Not You and But Not For Long. Wildgen lives in Madison, and attended the University of Wisconsin and Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She also writes about food, is a senior editor of Tin House magazine, and editor of an anthology, Food & Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast. Her work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, and O, the Oprah Magazine, as well as numerous anthologies and journals. Please visit the author’s website for more information.
See more information about the Book Club Café, including previous Café authors.
March 12th, 2010
Alicia
In celebration of the launch of Porchlight’s Madison Cares Campaign, the Madison Public Library has joined forces with Porchlight for a community read of The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music by Steve Lopez.
The Soloist is the remarkable story of the bond between a journalist and a mentally ill, homeless, classically trained musician in Los Angeles. “The Soloist is a great read,” says Porchlight executive director Steve Schooler. “More importantly, the main characters - Nathaniel and Steve - help us understand the intertwined issues of homelessness and mental health and inspire us to care more about the people who live in our midst.”
The Soloist is available both as a book and as a major motion picture starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Community members can get involved by either reading or viewing The Soloist. Porchlight and Madison Public Library have developed an online Community Read Tool Kit that is available to all book clubs and individuals, and prepared book club kits with multiple copies of the book which are available for checkout from the library. Members of the community are invited to read the book, see the movie, and join a discussion—either at home with friends or at the library.
We will be holding seven book discussions at libraries around the city. Please join us for a conversation about this “unique yet universal” story.
- Saturday, April 17, 1:30 p.m. at the South Madison Branch
- Film screening with Porchlight-led discussion to follow on Friday, May 14, 6:30 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch - Register online or call 824-1780
- Tuesday, May 25, 7:00 p.m. at the Pinney Branch
- Wednesday, June 2, 6:30 p.m. at the Meadowridge Branch
- Wednesday, June 16, 7 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch
- Wednesday, July 14, 7 p.m. at the Central Library
- Wednesday, July 21, 6 p.m. at the Hawthorne Branch
Porchlight provides emergency shelter, food, employment services, counseling, and affordable transitional and permanent housing to homeless people in the Dane County area. Porchlight’s services are designed to foster independence and the transition into permanent housing and employment. For more information, visit their website.
March 12th, 2010
Tana
Apple Pie: Symbols of Americana in the permanent collection at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) features more than 80 paintings, photographs, prints, and objects that address American identity through imagery ranging from big cars and hamburger joints to cowboys and fields of corn. Books from the Madison Public Library - about art and the American spirit - are currently on display in the MMoCA Kids Learning Center, and available for families to use while viewing the display. The exhibit will be on display through Sunday, April 11.
Looking for more books about American art? Check out our Americana companion booklist for the exhibit. See more children’s programs at MMoCA.
March 9th, 2010
Alicia
Starting in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the term graphic novel was first coined as artists and writers began to create more and more sophisticated stories using the traditional comic book format. With the publication of Art Spiegelman’s Maus in 1985, the violent and disturbing subject of real-life war was first presented through the format of the graphic novel. In Spiegelman’s award-winning Maus, Spiegelman shares the stories told by his father Vladek Spiegelman about life in Poland during WWII. Since Spiegelman’s Maus, the genre has continued to make giant leaps beyond Archie jokes and superheroes to such complex issues as war and wartime, aging and disease, and GLBTQ issues amongst others.
Now available on Madison Public Library’s Don’t Miss Lists, check out our new Graphic Novel Biographies and Memoirs booklist featuring such titles as Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Joe Sacco’s Palestine, and David Small’s Stitches. While some of these graphic novels tell the story of such famous historical people as Emma Goldman, Martin Luther King, and Leo Trotsky, many of the books are firsthand accounts of the actual writer/artist at some pivotal point in their life story.
Ask your librarian where the Graphic Novels section is in your library today!
February 2nd, 2010
KathyB
Next week, we’ll be introducing two new e-newsletter booklists: Anime, Graphic Novels and Manga; and Art of the Picture Book. Both lists compliment Dane County Collection Grants from the Madison Community Foundation. Sign up to receive news about new additions to the collections, as well as upcoming events and items of interest.
Anime, Graphic Novels and Manga: Complimenting the Comics & Anime Collection, housed at the Alicia Ashman Branch, this newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the best new additions to the collection, hand picked by the librarian who selects graphic novels for the Madison Public Library. The first edition highlights noteworthy titles of 2009.
Art of the Picture Book: Complimenting the Art of the Picture Book Collection, housed at the Sequoya Branch, this newsletter highlights new additions to this collection of the finest in childrens’ book illustration.
If you are interested in receiving other email newsletters, please visit our Subscription Page to sign up for additional lists.
January 30th, 2010
Alicia
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, audiobooks and video for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Boston on Monday. Place holds on copies of the award-winning books available at the library:
For a complete list of winners and honors, visit the American Library Association press center.
*reviewed on MADreads.
January 19th, 2010
Molly
Meet award-winning author/illustrator team Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek at the Sequoya Branch Library on Sunday, January 24 at 1 p.m., where they will discuss writing and illustrating children’s picture books. Their most recent picture book, Birds (2009), delightfully bridges the gap between concept books and longer narrative stories for children, and was recently named a 2010 Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book. Henkes is the author of more than 25 books for children, including Caldecott Medal winner Kitten’s First Full Moon (2005) and several books featuring Lilly and other mouse characters, including Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse (1996) and Julius, the Baby of the World (1989). Dronzek is a painter whose work has been exhibited nationally and an award-winning children’s book illustrator who previously collaborated with her husband on Oh! (1999).
This is an adult event, but older children are welcome to listen. The event is the last in a series of author events in support of the Sequoya Endowment Campaign through the Madison Public Library Foundation with assistance from the Madison Community Foundation. Through the establishment of the Sequoya Branch Endowment, Madison Public Library Foundation will be able to give earnings on the endowment to the Sequoya Branch Library on an ongoing basis for programs and resources.
The Sequoya Branch is also a recipient of a three-year Madison Community Foundation library collection grant dedicated to the Art of the Picture Book. In addition to adding to Sequoya’s fine collection of picture books (including Caldecott and other medal winners and honor books), a series of programs celebrating picture book art and artists are scheduled for this winter.
Art of the Picture Book: Making pictures in the style of Denise Fleming.
Children ages 5 and up use paper-making techniques to create pictures.
- Sequoya Library, January 11, 3:30-5:30 p.m. - see pictures on Flickr
- Lakeview Library, January 22, 2-3 p.m. - call 246-4547 to register.
The Art of the Picture Book: Making pictures in the style of Eric Carle (two parts).
Kids age 5 and up will use paint to prepare papers (part one) that will be used to create the Eric Carle-style pictures (part two).
Sequoya Branch
Part One, February 13, 10-11 a.m. and Part Two, February 15, 3:30-4:30 p.m. - Call 266-6385 or register online beginning 1/30 for both parts.
Alicia Ashman Branch
Part One, March 30, 1-2 p.m. and Part Two, March 31, 1-2 p.m. - Call 824-1780 or register online beginning 3/16 to register for both parts.
January 16th, 2010
Tana
As the new year begins, and we settle in for the rest of the winter with “can’t-miss” books from the year before, there’s often a group of readers that goes overlooked. The cooks have their books, and the listeners have their audiobooks, but what about the children? Despair not, little library lovers! We’ve gathered the 2009 Best of Illustrated Children’s Book Lists into one place for you! Booklists from The New York Times, Nick Jr., Amazon.com, Publisher’s Weekly and more have selected their favorite picks; many titles appear on multiple lists.
Best of the best (number in parenthesis indicates number of lists on which the book appeared):
Looking for more great children’s books from 2009? Check out our picks for Caldecott Award contenders. See also the Charlotte Zolotow Award, given by the UW-Madison Cooperative Children’s Book Center.
January 13th, 2010
Alicia
at the Central Library! Launched in May 2004 by local poet Shoshauna Shy, Poetry Jumps off the Shelf takes poetry out of the libraries, bookstores and classrooms and into the public arena. A display featuring new postcards released this fall can be found on the first floor of the Central Library. Pick up a free postcard and send a poem to a friend!
This latest project titled “Lines in the Sand” features poems that reach across territorial, cultural and interpersonal boundaries. Paired with the abstract art of Sarah Spencer and produced on postcards, they made their debut at the first Lorine Niedecker Poetry Festival in Fort Atkinson and at the Harambee-South Madison Health & Family Center in October.
January 12th, 2010
Molly
Catch up on your holiday correspondence in the New Year with one-of-a-kind greeting cards. The library has many guides to get you started, from the very basic to pop-up cards. Our Greeting Cards with Panache booklist features titles like 1000 Handmade Greetings: Creative Cards and Clever Correspondence. Even in this current day and age, where we are all senders and receivers of voluminous emails, handmade greeting cards, stationery, and invitations never lose their charm or fail to touch the heart. This book is a delightful showcase of 1000 exciting and contemporary hand-designed greeting cards, with examples that feature a wide array of paper craft techniques, including: paper cutting, paper stencils, stamping, punching, stitchery, monoprints, screenprints, paper piecing, and more.
You also won’t want to miss 50 Nifty Beaded Cards, which includes straightforward techniques, such as sewing, gluing, or wiring beads into decorative cards. There are projects for all levels, from the very beginner to the more advanced.
January 11th, 2010
Molly
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