Tokyo based Meiji University has announced plans to open the world’s first manga library, in order to help promote serious study of the style. Upon its inception (”hopefully” by early 2015) the proposed institution will house over two million comic books, animation drawings, and other related industry items. For those that aren’t familiar with the word, manga is simply the Japanese word for comics. In the US and elsewhere it is often used as a catch-all term to refer to any comic created or originally published in Japan, though it is also considered to be a distinct artistic style and format and therefore other works may be referred to as manga despite not originating in Japan (such as “Amerimanga” or “Manwha“). Whereas in the US, comic books are more typically associated with costumed superheroes, manga is published in every genre, from horror to romance to science fiction to sports, just to name a few. Despite its broad range, manga can generally be divided into two categories based on target demographic, with shōnen manga designed to appeal to boys and shōjo manga aimed at girls. Due to its Japanese origins, most manga is printed front to back, so that the book is read from right to left (some manga series published for the US market are printed in the traditional manner, however, such as Astro Boy). Another distinguishing feature of manga are the artistic quirks; characters are often drawn with large eyes and small mouths and noses, and internal emotional states are displayed by using iconography such as beads of sweat on the forehead to indicate embarrassment or bulging, pulsing veins in the same area to express anger. For more extensive information, recommendations, and more eloquent explanations about the different types of manga, take a look at these posts by a former DCPL blogger on the subject (Manga Mania part 1, part 2, and part 3) To conclude, here are a few of my favorite manga. Some of the titles have been adapted into anime series that the DCPL catalog stocks on DVD, and I have linked them in parentheses. Enjoy!

Naruto (DVD): The quintessential ninja manga (though some might argue the seminal Dragonball series of comics are more deserving of that appellation).

One Piece: If pirate adventures are more your style, this is the series for you. And last but certainly not least, Ranma 1/2: An excellent example of the eclectic and varied nature of manga, Ranma 1/2 tells the tale of martial artists who fall into cursed springs and as a result upon contact with cold water take the form of whoever, or whatever, died in the spring they fell into (they revert back to normal when exposed to warm water). The martial arts action is tempered with a healthy dose of romantic comedy which makes for rousing entertainment for teenagers and adults alike.

Right now many adults are revisiting (and perhaps introducing their kids to) the 1963 classic Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, thanks largely to the new film adaptation of the book from director Spike Jonze. From the critics salivating over the new film to readers and scholars with fond memories of Sendak’s book, most fans agree that Where The Wild Things Are is impeccable in its celebration of childhood imagination and groundbreaking in its recognition of childhood angst and anger, even. But you can troll the web yourself for in-depth critical analysis of the book–I’ll try to steer clear of all of that.

In my day-to-day library work, I’m often stumbling onto old childhood favorites of mine, books that resonated for one reason or another. Here are a few of the ones that are truly special to me:

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe: I remember truly enjoying this book, not for the intriguing Cinderella-esque story alone but also because of Steptoe’s gorgeous and evocative illustrations. The thing that struck me most about the artwork was that it seemed to have so much richness and texture. The illustrations had this quality about them that made me want to reach out and touch the characters.

Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard: To this day, this book reminds me of my 4th grade teacher Miss Armstrong. She was a very sweet lady but my class sort of took her kindness for weakness. Miss Armstrong would have done well to have a raven-haired alter ego like Miss Viola Swamp, with scary make-up and even scarier temperament.

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats: As a kid growing up in Atlanta, where the snowy days are few and far between, it was a real treat reading about the travails of little Peter in the beautifully snow-covered city.

Also, I’ve found some great adult books that celebrate the works of some of the great authors of children’s literature:

The Art of Maurice Sendak by Selma G. Lanes: This book is a smorgasbord for Sendak fans that features essays on his life, his career and his body of work as an illustrator and author. My favorite things about this book so far are the pages (three foldout pages!) of his brilliant artwork and a facsimile of “Where The Wild Horses Are“, the prototype of what would become the aforementioned Sendak masterpiece.

The Art of Eric Carle: This incredible book reflects upon the life and the art of legendary (and one of my favorite) children’s author Eric Carle. Much like Carle’s stunning book illustrations and artwork, this book is multi-textured and very colorful, an insightful collage of autobiography, essays and tributes from his peers and admirers.

Do you remember your favorite books from childhood? What are the qualities that make these books truly special?

We are entering the second half of the college football season. There have been some surprises with some of the teams and some domination by others. The top three teams have stayed on top for the entire year.  To celebrate college football, I thought I would highlight some great football films and books celebrating this great past time. There are three films that I always want to watch when preparing or celebrating this pastime. They are:

Remember the Titans

Rudy

We are Marshall

Here are a few books celebrating college football:

About them Dawgs! Georgia football’s memorable teams and players

Dixieland Delight: a football season on the road in the Southeastern Conference

Bragging rights: a season inside the SEC, football’s toughest conference

The thought of it sounds delightful but the cost brings me down–quickly. The library has the perfect solution for a night of family fun: dinner and a movie.  Several libraries offer recent blockbuster films.  All you have to bring is the family and a blanket and/or lawn chairs to sit on and of course, dinner.  You can even wear your pajamas . The kids will eat it up. And you won’t have to shell out for tickets and popcorn. (Although you can bring your own if you like!)

Upcoming movies include Bedtime Stories at the Chamblee Library on Tuesday, October 13 from 5-7PM.   Covington offers Teen Movie Day on Monday, October 12 from 1PM-3PM and Family Movie Night on Monday October 19 from 6PM-7:30PM.  Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa will be playing at the Wesley Chapel-WCB Library also on Monday, October 19 from 6PM-8PM.  The Gresham Library will show the holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Tuesday November 24 from 6PM-6:30PM.  Check the online calendar for additional film screenings and more details.

Lately I’ve become a bit of a Brazil-o-phile. I know very little about Brazilian culture except for what I’ve seen in movies, read in books or listened to on radio and in my music collection. All I know is that Black Orpheus is one of my favorite films,  and that I could listen to the music of Bebel Gilberto and Ceu for hours upon hours. And now that Rio de Janeiro has been appointed the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics, I’m clamoring for a trip to Cidade Maravilhoso and for more information about Brazil in general.

It should come as no surprise that the Library has a wealth of information on this incredibly fascinating country. Here are some of the things I’ve been checking out so far:

Portuguese For Dummies: I figured that in learning about another culture, a great place to start is by getting acquainted with the language. Portuguese, particularly of the Brazilian variety, is a lovely yet complex language. But Portuguese for Dummies is a great introduction to the language. For me, it helps to see Portuguese grammar and Brazilian colloquialisms and makes learning less intimidating. Seeing Portuguese in print helps me tremendously by reminding me of its similarities to other Romance languages.

Pimsleur Language Programs Portuguese (Brazilian): Right now I’m on course 1A and it’s a great way to begin tuning the ear to the language. Pimsleur’s also great for learning just about any other language you can imagine…and at your own pace.

Brazil: Nothing helps you plan a vacation quite like a guidebook. DCPL has travel books by Fodor’s, Frommer’s and Lonely Planet. The one that I’m perusing right now is a Moon Handbook which, like most guidebooks, offers helpful lodging, dining and entertainment hints. But I really like the fact that this particular book has a nice little survival phrasebook in back and fascinating cultural tidbits throughout.

September is Celebrate Roald Dahl Month (well, according to the Roald Dahl website, at least) as September 13 marked what would have been his 93rd birthday. Dahl is known for his quirky and imaginative books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. A few of his books have been adapted into animated and live action films and love or hate these movie remakes, there is another one on its way.

Fantastic Mr. Fox has been made into a stop-motion animated feature film written and produced by my all-time favorite filmmaker, Wes Anderson of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums fame. The film enlists an all-star cast and I have to say, it looks pretty great. You can watch the trailer here. Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of my favorite Dahl books and it will definitely require a reread before the movie comes out.

By the way, here is an interesting fact that you may or may not know: Roald Dahl wrote the screenplays for both of Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and James Bond You Only Live Twice. You can read more fun facts in the Roald Dahl biography, D is for Dahl: A Gloriumptous A-Z Guide to the World of Roald Dahl.

While the movie adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is not due to be released for another two months, there are plenty of Wild related things to keep our anticipation at bay and ensure that we will be ready to experience Spike Jonze’s movie to its fullest. If it has been awhile since you’ve read Sendak’s 1964 Caldecott winning book, you can check it out at the Library which has copies in English, Spanish and Chinese. If you haven’t seen the original movie trailer yet, which is pretty awesome, you can do so here.  And lucky us! A new trailer was released a couple of weeks ago, giving us a little bit more insight as to how they’ve taken a 10 sentence book and turned it into a feature-length film.

There are numerous people out there blogging about pretty much everything Wild related, but one of the coolest sites I’ve found is Terrible Yellow Eyes. The blogger was so inspired by Where the Wild Things Are that he set up a site that pays tribute to the book and its author. Artists from all over the world send in their own artistic reproductions of the book and the site is updated frequently.

The movie has been an enormous undertaking which has spanned many years and has involved hundreds of people. Check out Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are blog, We Love You So, to learn how the movie came to be.

And don’t forget to pre-order your Where the Wild Things Are figurines!

Do you have any fun Where the Wild Things Are sites to share?

Francis “Frank” McCourt, an Irish-American high school teacher and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, died July 19 at the age of 73. He is best known as the author of Angela’s Ashes, a gripping memoir about his childhood growing up in both America and Ireland during the 1930s and 1940s. Angela’s Ashes was awarded the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, as well as the 1996 National Book Critics Circle Award (Biography) and the 1997 Boeke Prize. It’s success led to it’s adaptation as a feature film released in 1999 by Paramount Pictures. Along with Angela’s Ashes, McCourt has published two additional autobiographical works which continue chronicling his life after his move back to America. ‘Tis examines his experiences attempting to acclimate to life in New York City, his stint in the Army, and his attendance and eventual graduation from NYU and later Brooklyn College, while Teacher Man focuses mainly on his life as a teacher in NYC public high schools. In addition to his autobiographical works, McCourt has also written a children’s picture book entitled Angela and the Baby Jesus and appeared as the host of a travel DVD entitled The Historic Pubs of Dublin. For those interested in more information on Mr. McCourt, Time magazine has published an obituary replete with details of his life and work. Additionally, I have linked to a NY Times piece wherein several of his former students have written letters sharing their recollections of him and the affect he had on their lives.

“My dream was to have a Library of Congress catalog number, that’s all,” said McCourt, speaking of his modest hopes for the success of Angela’s Ashes. It went on to sell over 5 million copies. Sometimes dreams come true, and then some. E 184.I6 .M117 1996

The original plan was to blog about a perky little book that I’m reading called Against Happiness (it’s actually more life-affirming than it sounds) but the new Harry Potter movie opens today so I’m putting all grown-up high-seriousness aside to revisit J.K Rowling’s captivating tale of a boy wizard with an incredible destiny. If you’re trying to get re-acquainted with the characters and the saga to defeat the evil He Who Must Not Be Named then you should really stop by DCPL for your Harry Potter refresher materials.

Below are a few additional titles that may be of further interest to Potter fans:

A Charmed Life: The Spirituality of Potterworld: I’ve been tempted to read this book because it looks incredibly fascinating but I stopped short when I noticed the chapter called “The Mirror of Erised” and realized that I’d kind of forgotten what that was (it’s been a loooong time since I’ve read these books). But if you’re a true Potter scholar then this may be a great read for you.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide To The World Of  Harry Potter: Too pressed for time to bone up on the series? Here are some great options for you: 1) Just rent the DVDs, I guess. They’ll give you a taste of what all the fuss has been about. 2) You are never too busy for Pottermania! 3) Never mind option #2 and check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide from DCPL. This could be a decent stopgap while you’re waiting in the request queue for the Harry Potter novels to become available.

The Tales of Beedle The Bard: I kind of glossed over the bits about Beedle The Bard during the last book because  I was so anxious to see the showdown between Harry and Lord Blankedy-Blank. But apparently Hermione Granger and Professor Dumbledore (with the help of Ms. Rowling) have compiled Beedle The Bard’s classic wizarding fables into a lovely volume for us Muggles.

Have fun, Potter fans!

Okay, I know it’s only July, but I am ready for some football. I’m an avid football fan. I need to see the pig skin soar gracefully through the air. I need to see grown men crash into each other. I need to see the wonderful strut after a touchdown.

But the NFL and the colleges are going to make me wait.

So the next best thing is watching reruns on the NFL network (if you get it), reading about football, or watching movies about football. Or if you’re athletic you could actually play some football (I’m the opposite of athletic).

The library has a ton of great stuff to check out. I’m personally recommending these:

We are Marshall a movie based on an actual event where the majority of the football team and its supporters die in a plane crash. Great movie. Not kid friendly.

The Longest Yard the library has the 1974 version with Burt Reynolds and the 2005 version with Adam Sandler. Once again, not kid friendly.

To find a list of more football movies try SportsinMovies.com.

300 Pounds of Attitude: the Wildest Stories and Craziest Characters the NFL has Ever Seen by Jonathan Rand. The title says it all.

The Blind Side: The Evolution of the Game written by Michael Lewis.  This biography of Michael Oher is a worthwhile read, even if you don’t like football. Oher is not only an amazing athlete, but also a phenomenal individual.

And for those who know nothing about football, but would like to learn more…

Football for Dummies by Howie Long.  Long is a former player and commentator for FOX.