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An open letter to the librarians of Texas

Dear Texas librarians,

Thank you for your wonderful hospitality last week at the Texas Library Association conference. It was my first TLA experience. What a pleasure it was to visit with you about Capstone and books in general! To know I was in the company of thousands of book lovers brought a simple joy and thrill that only fellow book lovers can appreciate.

I’m happy to hear that your students love Bloodlines, Jake Maddox, the Sports Illustrated Graphic Novels, and anything by Michael Dahl. And of course, it made me smile to know that the girls can’t get enough of Kylie Jean and Katie Woo. Lots of other book series came up, too, and it means a lot to know that you feel we understand kids and what they like.

My only TLA regret? That we didn’t have enough bags for each and every one of you. After all, everyone deserves to shout, “I’m bananas for reading!”

Sincerely,

Julie Gassman

This book bag had a huge following at the 2012 TLA. Everyone was asking for one,

but sadly, we ran out in the first few minutes every day.

Meet Bertie

This fall, we'll have a grubby, mischievous new addition to our title list . . . let me introduce you to Bertie, a boy who just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Between his horrible habits and his crazy ideas, Bertie's adventures are sure to keep you laughing from start to finish. From trying to catch his sister's chickenpox to his attempts to prove his school's janitor is really a vampire, there's no adventure to big (or too dirty) for Bertie to tackle.

Nap Time for Kitty...and Isla...and Momma

This ham above is my three-year-old, Isla. Like many three-year-olds, she no longer believes she needs a nap most weekends. But by 5 p.m. on the days she skips, the rest of the family strongly disagrees with her. My solution? I start by calling her "kitty". Then I invite her to her room, where I show her this irresistible cover:

And then together, we meow into a relaxed state. Before you know it, at least one of us is ready to nap . . . and sometimes it is even the right one!

2-For-None

Rarely does this 30+-year-old man find appropriate use for this type of tweenage SMS language. But today, my BFFs, is one heck of an exception! Samples of Capstone’s first-ever Free Comic Book Day comic arrived in the office, and they are — well, utterly PRICELESS!!


(Check out that cover!)

For the unacquainted, Free Comic Book Day takes place the first Saturday in May each year (5/5/12), and comic book shops nationwide give away special, limited-edition comics from today’s top publishers...for FREE!! A seriously great promotion of comics and reading and kids, and we’re proud to take part with our 2012 Silver entry....

THE ROCKHEAD & ZINC ALLOY 2-FOR-NONE

(Illustrated by the brilliant C.S. Jennings & Douglas Holgate)


(What? A Super-Pets pinup? You got that right!!)


(Total sweetness.)

Trust me.... On May 5 (22 days and counting), you gotta get out there and snag this super spectacular FREE-VIEW! I mean, two awesome adventures for the price of NONE? That’s a no-brainer, IMHO!

--Donnie Lemke
Managing Editor

(Formerly) Reluctant

I had mixed feelings when I read this blog post over at Jenn's Bookshelves. (Go read it if you haven't already.)

It's a huge honor for us to be known by kids as a tried-and-true publisher of books they actually want to read. That's the goal, after all. I'm so glad that John-John found his way to Capstone and the books we've created specifically for guys like him. And I'm glad he's no longer a reluctant reader.

But it really makes me sad that he says his friends don't like reading, and it makes me sad that even though he does, he's feeling let down by books that aren't accessible for some reason. And it makes me really sad that books are another place where guys who don't love sports or who are a bit "nerdy" can feel left out. Head over and leave some suggestions for John-John—if anyone can give him great recommendations, I feel pretty certain that the Capstone Connect readers can. And then let us know: what else could we be publishing? What other niches can we fill? What other readers could we create?

Have a good, book-filled weekend!

--Beth Brezenoff
Assistant Editorial Director