And last but not least . . .

Rounding out our Fall '10 offerings, here's your report on the newest licensed books and graphic novels from Stone Arch Books!


Last season, we introduced our partnership with Sports Illustrated Kids and launched our first graphic novels under the SI Kids brand. This season, we take it a step further and add full-color chapter books to the mix. The kids at Victory School all have extraordinary athletic ability, but they face ordinary struggles, learning that teamwork and fair play are just as important to them as they are to normal kids. Check out the awesome Victory School Superstars trailer, too:







We've also got six brand-new graphic novels from Sports Illustrated Kids. These books have been getting some great reviews. School Library Journal said they were "sure to fly off shelves." Nice!




Did you know that some of our ever-popular Graphic Revolve retellings of classic tales are also available in Spanish! Es verdad! English-language learners, bilingual kids, and Spanish-language learners will all appreciate these editions of some of our coolest graphic novels.




And we're granting wishes to librarians and kids everywhere by adding classic Arabian Nights tales (with absolutely breathtaking illustrations) to the Graphic Revolve set.




Ever wonder what certain monsters were like as kids? Find out in our brand-new Mighty Mighty Monsters series, set in Transylmania. Horror fans and kids who just love graphic novels will love this new series by Sean O'Reilly.






And speaking of awesome kids, we've added a new graphic novel in the Monster and Me series and the Princess Candy series, and two new graphic novels in the Incredible Rockhead series. (This time, Rockhead battles Scissorlegz and Papercutz.)





And for the new readers who love graphic novels, My First Graphic Novel is back with four new books, all set at school.






Finally, we have four new Batman books, four new Wonder Woman books, and four new Superman books in our DC Super Heroes set.




And that's our list!

If you missed my rundown of our newest books from Picture Window Books and our new novels from Stone Arch, check out those posts.

Here's my question for you, readers: What are we missing? As readers, authors, illustrators, librarians, teachers, parents—what would you like to see on this list? What do you want more of? Please let me know in the comments!

Are you ready for the Olympics?

Olympic fever is here! In only 15 short days, we will be watching and cheering for our favorites in figure skating, ice hockey, ski jumping, and the luge! Capitalize on the excitement by hosting your own Reading Olympics. Sports fanatics will be thrilled with all of the exciting new titles Stone Arch Books and Capstone have to offer . . . especially our new Sports Illustrated Series. Check out all of our sports books and Reading Olympics downloads.

Announcing a new contest!

It’s time for another exciting contest from Stone Arch Books! This time we are teaming up with Sports Illustrated Kids for our Create Your Own Sports Star Contest. The winning character will be in a Sports Illustrated Kids Graphic Novel. This contest encourages kids to use their imagination to describe the traits and characteristics of their sports star. To get inspired, they can read the first 6 books in the Sports Illustrated Kids Graphic Novel series.

To make the contest even more fun, we will post the top 5 finalists so that kids can vote on their favorite. Kids will decide who wins and becomes the ultimate sports star! The contest is open to students currently enrolled in public or private schools in grades 3 – 6. To view all contest details and to enter the contest, go to www.capstonekids.com.

Stay tuned for updates over the next few months.

Sports Illustrated Kids: Then and Now

It’s funny how things come full circle sometimes: When I was a kid, I was a huge sports fan (still am, actually). Maybe it was my love of the local sports teams, or certain players. Or my obsession with baseball card collecting. Or, maybe it was the simple fact that I loved to draw sports team logos in my notebooks at school (imagine that). Whatever the case, my appetite for sports was insatiable. So, it was no surprise that when my mom found out about the inception of Sports Illustrated Kids magazine, she signed me up for a subscription immediately. The premiere issue arrived in our mailbox around my birthday back in 1989, and I couldn’t have been more excited (Michael Jordan!!):



Now, 20 years later, Sports Illustrated Kids is still going strong and celebrating a big anniversary. And, though my subscription ended long ago, I happened to run into SI Kids again–at work.

For the past 6 months or so, I’ve been working with Sports Illustrated Kids to create a brand new and exciting way to deliver sports fiction to an ever-changing world of sports-hungry kids: sports graphic novels. Since Stone Arch Books specializes in graphic novels, it was no shock that SI Kids came knocking when they decided to branch out into additional markets, especially the school library market. The concept we came up with was a no-brainer: let’s create fast-paced stories about everyday kids in interesting sports situations and combine them with superhero comic-caliber artwork. Sprinkle in some character-driven “sports broadcast” narrative and some stats, and we had something that hasn’t been done before...in any market. These books are sure to appeal to the most reluctant readers, and keep them coming back for more. Six hot, new titles (with topics ranging from football to paintball) will be available soon. Check out the cover and a sample spread from Point-Blank Paintball:


As we move forward with this innovative series (more seasons are on the way), I’ve already learned something very interesting about the artists who illustrate our Sports Illustrated Kids Graphic Novels: many of them actually play the sports that they are illustrating! The best example is Gerardo Sandoval, who is currently working on our upcoming soccer title. He told me in an email that he plays soccer consistently, mostly as a goalkeeper. Even though we (Stone Arch and Sports Illustrated Kids) make extra sure that every sports detail is accurate, it’s nice to know that we can count on our illustrators to do their homework and produce the highest level of sports action for the printed page. I can’t imagine any better research than playing the sport in real life!

Look for Sports Illustrated Kids Graphic Novels in January–only from Stone Arch Books!


Bob Lentz
Art Director
Stone Arch Books

SAB + SIKIDS = awesome

Big news! We've signed a deal with Sports Illustrated Kids to publish graphic novels and chapter books. We're already at work on the first set of books, and it is shaping up to be action-packed and exciting. Here's the article on PW.com.