Notes from the Web: How to Dispose of a Dead Body, Legally- Edition

Here's a round up of some interesting quasi-educational things I've come across on the web this week.

We'll start off with Fuse 8's Video Sunday. Fuse 8 is a blog run by Betsy Bird, head of Children's Circulation for the New York Public Library. She features book reviews, news and notes from around the children's book world, and on Sundays: reading related videos. I had a chance to talk with Betsy the other week. In particular, we were laughing about this video from teacher extraordinaire, Colby Sharp, about his enthusiasm for books. That reminded me, I had a fun video she might be interested in... Long story short, we were the headliners this Sunday!

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Also featured, the book trailer for Adam Gidwitz forthcoming release In a Glass Grimmly 

And, as of last weekend... optioned for a live action feature film... A Tale Dark and Grimm!

Elena and I had a conversation about the latest I Survived book about Hurricane Katrina, which she loved. I mentioned she should read the I Survived Shark Attack. When she mentioned she had researched sharks in 3rd grade, it made me think of this video... 

When I came across this article, I immediately thought of the book Sarah is reading, Summer of the Gypsy Moths. While the cover may look nice a sweet, this story isn't your typical day at the beach. The morning after I finished it this summer I immediately looked up Sarah Pennypacker's schedule. I absolutely had to meet the genius who wrote a book that left me in such a state of tears that I literally had snot running out of my nose. 

It was 9:30 on a Thursday morning in August and wouldn't you know it, Sarah was signing at 11:00am in Chatham. Well, I didn't have anywhere to be until 2pm, so as long as the line didn't last more than 15 minutes, I would be able to make it back with almost a half an hour to spare. So, I lept out of bed, jumped in the car and zipped down to the Yellow Umbrella. 

As I walked up to the store with Gypsy Moths in my hand, the lady sitting outside by a table of books  commented, "Hey, I love that book!" And wouldn't you know it, it was Sarah. Since it was still early, we had a chance to chat for about 20 minutes. She ended up telling me about the book she's currently working on which she says, "Will be my biggest." 

So, without further ado, here's a fun article that's kind-of related to Summer of the Gypsy Moths. If you want to know why it's related, well, you'll just have to read the book, won't you? 

And just because we're talking about dead bodies, did you know there's a "body farm" in Tennessee? Basically, people donate their bodies after they pass on to be studied by forensic scientists. Fascinating stuff. 

And we'll round this week's notes off with a few more videos. To celebrate the next Diary of a Wimpy Kid release, here'a a video of the billboard commissioned to celebrate the series 5 year reign on the New York Times Bestsellers list.