Febuary 2024 Issue #36
February 1, 2024
Happy February!
Welcome to issue #36 of The Simpsonian Muse. I am your scribe, Martha Seif Simpson, Author and Children's Librarian. As the header says, this monthly newsletter will feature:
- News – Mine as well as other interesting tidbits
- Views – A few photos from my world travels
- Stuff to Amuse – A mish-mash of activities, crafts, recipes, videos or whatever I am excited about sharing.
If you missed the previous newsletters, you can click the button on the left sidebar on my website to catch up or click here.
Thanks for joining me on this adventure. I hope you will find something to inform and entertain you.
~ NEWS ~
This month's headline is the news about the 2024 Sydney Taylor Book Awards!
The Winner and Honor books were broadcast at the Youth Media Awards press conference at LibLearnX on January 22 in Baltimore, MD. I was there, along with several Association of Jewish Libraries members, to cheer in person and wave our blue pom-poms. You can watch AJL president Michelle Margolis read the announcement here. STBA is the third presentation. Keep watching to see all the other awards.
Here's the ALA press release. The STBA books are at the end of the list.
Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators, and publishers who were recognized. And a special shout out to Joni Sussman at Kar-Ben Publishing, who won the Sydney Taylor Body of Work Award! Read the Association of Jewish Libraries press release, which also includes the Notable books.
As past chair, I was not a voting member of the 2024 STBA committee, but I got to watch the deliberations. Thank you to Chair Aviva Rosenberg (pictured above) and her diligent committee - Arielle Vishny, Nat Bension, Debra S. Gold, Dr. Annette Y. Goldsmith, Eytan Kessler, and Melanie Koss, for a job well done. Aviva was interviewed by Heidi Rabinowitz for the 2024 STBA Book of Life Podcast. Tune in to hear more about this year's STBA books.
The Winner and Honor book authors and illustrators were interviewed for the STBA Blog Tour, which takes place on February 5 - 9. Here's the schedule.
But wait, there's more!
Purim is next month on March 24th. Check my website for activities that go along with my book, Esther's Gragger: A Toyshop Tale of Purim
BOOK SHARE
For an annotated list of all the 2024 STBA books, as well as every book that was ever recognized by a Sydney Taylor committee, go to the official website and scroll down to All Past Winners. The list is searchable by title, author, publisher, and keyword. Many of the books were published by Kar-Ben, a testament to Joni Sussman's long and illustrious career.
CALENDAR TRIVIA
This year, I'm featuring the birth dates of authors and illustrators who create books for kids and teens. Here are some people and a sample of their books.
- February 1 – Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries)
- February 1 – Jerry Spinelli (Maniac Magee)
- February 2 – Judith Viorst (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day)
- February 4 – Russell Hoban (Bread and Jam for Frances)
- February 5 – David Weisner (Tuesday)
- February 8 – Donna Jo Napoli (The Witch's Circle)
- February 10 – Lucy Cousins (Maisy)
- February 10 – E. L. Konigsburg (From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler)
- February 10 – Mark Teague (illustrator - How Do Dinosaurs…)
- February 11 – Jane Yolen (author - How Do Dinosaurs…)
- February 12 – Judy Blume (Superfudge)
- February 12 – Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming)
- February 12 – David Small (So You Want to Be President?)
- February 13 – Simms Taback (Joseph Had a Little Overcoat)
- February 14 – Paul O. Zelinsky (Rapunzel)
- February 15 – Norman Bridwell (Clifford)
- February 23 – Walter Wick (I Spy)
- February 25 – Cynthia Voigt (Homecoming)
- February 27 – Uri Shulevitz (The Treasure)
- February 28 – Megan McDonald (Judy Moody)
Can you identify the 5 Caldecott winner/honor illustrators and the 4 Newbery winner/honor authors?
~ VIEWS ~
This month, I'm continuing to post photos from our 2023 Holland America vacation in Alaska. On June 7, the Noordam docked in Skagway, Alaska. This was the view from our stateroom. You can see where a rockslide happened. Our tour guide told us roads on that side were still closed.
John and I had booked an excursion to the Yukon, Canada. Our bus driver was a red-headed young man whose first comment to us was, "Yes, I am old enough to drive this bus." Andrew turned out to be an excellent driver and storyteller, as he guided the bus along the Klondike Highway – a road that replicated the route of the famous Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 (but was far easier to navigate on a paved road.)
We had a brief stop to take photos by Spirit Lake…
… before crossing the border into Yukon, Canada.
Our first long stop was in Fraser.
The big attraction there was the Suspension Bridge, which was built in 2005 and crosses over the Klondike River.
I wasn't brave enough to walk on the bridge, but other people on our bus did. John got about a quarter of the way before turning back (he's the fifth person from the bottom.)
We had a snack in this building before getting back on the bus.
Our next stop was at a tourist trap called Caribou Crossing Trading Post, where we had lunch of BBQ chicken.
Afterward, some people went for a sled dog ride. John and I looked at the kitschy shops and live animals, which included llamas and mountain goats.
On the way back to Skagway, we stopped at beautiful Emerald Lake. According to this article, the changing color is due to the reflection of white deposits of clay and calcium carbonate lining the shallow lake, which came from limestone gravel that eroded from the glaciers of the nearby mountain ranges 14,000 years ago.
We had another pit stop at the sleepy historic town of Carcross. Notice the train tracks, which more-or-less paralleled our route along the Klondike Highway.
Always on the lookout for wildlife, Andrew pulled over so we could watch this young bear eating dandelions, which apparently can cause bears to get quite drunk. This fellow was having a grand old time scarfing them down. And he really did look a bit tipsy!
Back in Alaska, we drove past the Sawtooth Range.
We returned to Skagway as the rain pulled in.
We had a little time to look around. Several people took the Red Onion Saloon Brothel Tour. Unfortunately, I didn't get my camera out in time to snap a photo of the painted ladies waving from the windows.
We walked back to the ship under this magnificent blue sky.
This excursion was definitely a highlight of our vacation.
For more information about Caribou Crossing, the Yukon Suspension Bridge, and other sites, look at this link to Southern Lakes Yukon.
Although we didn't have time to do this, the Skagway White Pass Railroad Summit Excursion & Train Tour also looked like fun.
And Valerie & Valise have a list of the 13 Best Things to Do in Skagway.
More from Alaska next month!
~ STUFF TO AMUSE ~
Now that the STBA news is out, I made a 2024 Sydney Taylor Book Award Word Search Puzzle that includes the names of all 21 Winner, Honor, and Notable authors and illustrators. Click the above link for the puzzle, and here for the Answer key. Enjoy!
That'll do it for this month.
Until next time, remember to enthuse your muse!
~ Martha