

But in the past the Disney connection was not emblazoned on the spine in that familiar font. They’ve published some great books and even won the Newbery with Avi’s CRISPIN : THE CROSS OF LEAD.

The fact that Hyperion Books is a division of the Disney Company is well-known and has never bothered me before. That Disney logo also appears on the title page. Then I set the book down for a moment and noticed this on the heel of the spine: I read the first couple chapters and was quite impressed by the exciting action and beautifully-written prose. This Oscar weekend actually started on Friday night when I stopped at my favorite bookstore and picked up a copy of Jonathan Stroud’s new book, HEROES OF THE VALLEY, an epic adventure/fantasy that draws on Scandanavian myth.

Don’t worry, we didn’t make it with Zevo. Can you guess how many Newbery-winning books have been filmed? How many children’s book authors have won Oscars? Some of the answers are below.and, here, have some chip dip while you’re reading. Today’s Sunday Brunch is all about children’s books and movies. The irony is that, for all our excitement, we were too young to have seen any of the movies.didn’t know the actors and actresses who were nominated.and could barely stay awake though all the boring categories (short subjects, documentaries) to see the big awards given out in the last few minutes of the ceremony. (If we were really daring, we’d make it with Zevo, which was some kind of low-calorie sour cream of the era.) And, since this was the late sixties/early seventies, we’re talking about French Onion dip made from one container of sour cream mixed with one pack of Lipton onion soup mix. dip! Chip dip was only for special occasions: New Year’s Eve.the occasional big family get-together.and Oscar Night. There was Pepsi and Fresca and potato chips - and not just chips, but also.

My brother and I used to study the checklist of Academy Award nominations on the back page of the local TV Guide and then devise a complex betting system involving pennies (five pennies were awarded if our favorite nominee won, four for our second favorite, etc.) so that the sound of the ceremony on television was always drowned out by the “plunk, plunk, plunk” of pennies dropping into the copper bowls (his red, mine blue) where we harbored our winnings. It was one of the few nights our parents let us stay up late. The Oscars were always a big deal at our house.
