Just One More Book!!

Knopf Books Associate Art Director Chip Kidd hits one out of the park with this TED Talk about children’s books and book design.

Much of what we become is shaped by the ideas we’re exposed to and the relationships of which we are a part. The stronger those foundations are from childhood, the better equipped we are to understand the people with whom we interact and the world around us. Childrens books are the tools that help us open the door to a childs natural curiosity, creativity and desire to connect, and are one of our strongest hopes for a great future.

It’s not entirely surprising we never published this video, here, given we did have our mind on other things at the time. We prepared a talk Mark delivered at TEDxOttawa on December 6, 2009. Here it is.

We’ve received a lot of email over the last few months about our long neglected website and podcast. Among other things, the audio files would no longer play. It turns out that was one of many other bigger problems with the site. It’s taken some time and there’s still more work to be done, however, I’m happy to report the site, audio files and feed are back in working order.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll continue to repair the site, add comments that were trapped in moderation limbo and fix an array of bizarre characters that appear in the posts and comments.

I’d be grateful if you could alert us to any problems you find with the site — things such as broken links, missing photos, bizarre characters, etc… Please leave a comment on this post (since you’re already here) and I’ll add it to the list and keep you posted.

Thanks, again, for your continued enthusiasm for our site and amazing children’s books. Some new video content is on its way.

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After a 14-month hiatus, we dust off Just One More Book to participate in the Canadian National Day of Podcasting, a virtual event intended to bring stale shows out of retirement for one-day in a festival-like reunion of online content creators.

In this episode, we highlight some of the chapter books we’ve read since parking JOMB last year.

Andrea’s picks

• Ribblestrop by Andy Mulligan
• After Hamelin by Bill Richardson
• Elijah Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Mark’s picks

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah (the first draft of the next book in the series) by Lee Edward Fodi

If Briefly.

December 1, 2010 has been designated as Canadian National Day of Dusting Off Old Podcasts.

JustOneMoreBook.com has been sitting dormant for 14 months now.

I miss it. Mark misses it. Lucy and Bayla miss it.

So, although we were completely unprepared and the audio itself is nothing to be proud of, it was huge fun to dust off that audio equipment,drink some delicious coffee in our cozy Wild Oat home, and chirp some off-the-cuff praise for a few children’s books.

Stay tuned for audio, December 1, 2010.

  

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We were saddened to learn about the death of incredible author Eva Ibbotson. We are dedicated fans of her books. In fact, her name comes up in our home almost daily.

As a result of Just One More Book!!, we had the privilege of interviewing Ms. Ibboton on her 83rd birthday on January 21, 2008. It was an early morning affair (5amET) in order to account for the time change and turned out to be the kind of interview that refused to be edited. So, it was released as it was later that day.

We had the good fortune of corresponding with Ms. Ibbotson a few times since the interview, and she left a voice mail message for Andrea wishing her a quick return to good health following her breast cancer diagnosis last year.

In honour of Ms. Ibbotson, we have decided to republish her interview. We’ve also made a transcript of the interview available.

Thank you for a library of fantastic books. We will always enjoy them.

On October 6, 2009, Andrea was diagnosed with breast cancer.

On October 3, 2010, she will run for the cure.

You can join Andrea in this effort to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation by sponsoring her here.

Many thanks,
Andrea, Mark, Lucy and Bayla

Wow! The last nine months have been surreal. Andrea has been nothing short of inspiring as she braved three surgeries, six rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation therapy (30 treatments in all). Through it all, we’ve been blown away by the concern and generosity of our online communities, particularly the people that we came to know and whom we apparently touched through Just One More Book.

Andrea harnessed that energy and generosity and turned it into a stunning five-minute lightning talk (called a JOLT!) at the recent PAB2010 conference. Her powerful and sincere presentation commanded a standing ovation which turned into a line of people waiting to give her a hug. There was nary a dry eye in the room.

Thank you to everyone in the JOMB community. You had a huge impact on our family. But don’t take my word for it. Watch the video to find out.

We’ve launched the website WeCanRebuildHer.com to document our journey to making Andrea a breast cancer survivor. The site will feature our views as the patient and supporter and carries the tagline Better than she was before… better, stronger, happier. A Breast Cancer Journal.

Besides being therapeutic for us, we hope the site proves to be a valuable resource for others who are affected by cancer.

Our first post is now live. It features audio from Andrea’s head shaving party which took place at our place on Sunday night. Twenty of our friends joined us for munchies, drinks, cake and to show support as we shaved Andrea’s head. We plan to post some video today or tomorrow.

Watch for us to blog and podcast our road-to-survivorship experiences and thoughts regularly at WeCanRebuildHer.com.

As surreal as it continues to be, we are making our way through this unexpected Breast Cancer Journey thanks to the support, good wishes and strong positive vibes of our generous friends, family and online/offline community.

Chemo is now underway and I believe Andrea is on the upswing of the first round. It’s an odd Christmas but we’re working towards many happy Christmas seasons to come.

We miss JOMB, the stories, authors, illustrators, listeners, the conversations. If you’d like to keep in touch, we’ve set up a Flickr photo journal here where you can check in on our progress and even leave us your thoughts.

Wishing each of you a very happy holiday season and a happy, healthy 2010 full of love, warmth and great memories.

Be well and be happy,
Andrea, Mark, Lucy and Bayla
xo

We just received an email from Richard Michelson with a link to a video taken November 8 at the 20th Annual Children’s Illustration Show at his gallery. The video features an incredible gathering of authors and illustrators sending get well soon wishes to Andrea. How cool is that?!

Thank you to everyone for participating and to Richard for organizing this.

Front Row: Heidi Stemple, Rebecca Guay, Jane Dyer, Jeanne Birdsall, Diane deGroat, Barbara Diamond Goldin, Nonny Hogrogian, Susan Yard Harris.
Second Row: Brooke Dyer, Shelley Rotner, Norton Juster, Jane Yolen, Lesléa Newman, Brian Karas, Barry Moser, Susan Pearson, Anna Alter, Alice Schertle.
Third Row: Wendell Minor, Jeff Mack, Rich Michelson, Kathy Brown, Nancy Sippel Carpenter, Jeannine Atkins, David Kherdian.
Back Row: Carol Weiss, Mo Willems, Scott Fischer, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Mordicai Gerstein, Paul Jacobs.

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The day after Andrea was diagnosed with breast cancer, Mark sent a personal email to every one of the 220 interview guests of Just One More Book!! asking each if they would leave a voice message on our hotline sending good wishes to Andrea. The plan was to create a CD of audio messages Andrea could listen to during recovery from surgery and during her chemotherapy treatments.

The messages started to pour in immediately (Henry Winkler responded first, within minutes). In all, 126 messages came from authors, illustrators, librarians and publishers from around the world (including England, Spain and Israel) and ranged from newcomers to celebrities.

Many of the messages were more than just good wishes. Some people recited poems or sang songs they wrote for Andrea. Some related their own experiences with cancer and others offered to speak on the phone anytime Andrea wanted someone to talk to. An overwhelming 75 minutes of audio! Plus, Andrea received a number of packages in the mail — handwritten cards with original artwork, t-shirts, books and other gifts. She even received two “bionic” candy apples.

In fact, we received so many messages that Mark realized he needed to create a summary audio clip for Andrea so she could get a quick hit of support and energy any time she needed it. The result is an audio collage called The Warrior Theme packaged over Sunshine and Starlight, a fantastic instrumental by Bjork Ostrom.

There are too many names to transcribe and link to from this post. Instead, listen carefully to everyone who contributed so far!