Crazy for Caldecott

What do the children's books Where the Wild Things Are, Make Way for Ducklings and The Little House have in common? They are all past recipients of the Caldecott Medal. This award is given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children which honors "the artist of the most distinguished picture books for children."

I recently returned from a trip to Chicago where I went to the Chicago Institute of Art. I was fortunate enough to see the exhibition "Picture Perfect: Art from Caldecott Award Books 2006-2009," on exhibit until November 2010. The artists' actual artwork is on display next to the finished book. I learned that the award was named for the 19th century English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott, who is credited as the first children's book illustrator. The first award was given in 1938 and continues to the present day. We have a wide selection of past and present Caldecott winners at Chevalier's, including this year's winner, "House in the Night," illustrated by Beth Krommes with stunning black and white woodblock prints.

Even if you don't have children, come in and reread some of your favorite childhood classics! There's bound to be a Caldecott winner or two among them.

-Sue

Book Signing with Isabel Kaplan

Isabel Kaplan will be signing copies of her new book Hancock Park on Sunday, June 28th, from 11:00 am - 1:00 p.m.

Isabel dishes the dirt on the children of Hollywood's elite—from Spago delivered to campus at lunch and shrinks who dole out psychotropic drugs as though they're candy to parent-free parties at the Four Seasons—the lives of Becky and her creator, Isabel Kaplan, are like no other, and yet strangely, just like everyone's.

Becky Miller lives in the best neighborhood, goes to school with the children of movie stars, and has her psychiatrist on speed dial. She may live in the City of Angels, but this sixteen-year-old's life is far from perfect.

By day, Becky navigates the halls of one of L.A.'s most elite schools, where the mean girls are a special breed of mean, and at night, she deals with sparring parents, a grandmother who is man-crazy, and a younger brother, Jack, who answers only to J-zizzy. As Becky's life comes crashing down around her, she struggles to put it back together and learn to grow up while trying to stay sane.

Book Signing with Harry Chandler

Harry Brant Chandler will be signing copies of his new book Dreamers in Dream City this Saturday, June 27th from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm.

Los Angeles and the metropolis that surrounds it is home to photographer Chandler—a fifth-generation Angeleno—and the fifty-four men and women he presents in compelling color portraits and biographies. Chandler contends—and every reader will certainly agree—that being in Dream City allowed these Dreamers to conjure bigger-than-life dreams and turn their every dream into a fantastic reality.

A member of the famed Chandler family of Los Angeles Times fame, Chandler left the newspaper world behind, ventured into films and electronic media, and found a way to blend all three.

In addition to classic photojournalistic techniques, Chandler melds the eye of a moviemaker, the captured reality of a classic artist behind a lens, the exponential potential of digital enhancement and the passion of a history lover to create his own take on his L.A., his Dream City.

Vote for Chevalier's!

Check us out! We've been nominated for Best Bookstore in Nickelodeon's Parents' Picks Awards! We need your help to win! You can vote for us once a day, every day, from now until July 15 at http://tinyurl.com/l3pknu.

Thanks for your support!

Norman's Debut Appearance in Book Form

Norman, here. I got an unexpected surprise this week when I received an advance copy of my friend Jeannine Stein's new book Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials. I have a project that is featured in the gallery section of the book -- page 112-113! It's the first time my artwork has been published in a book!

My contribution is an album I made as a keepsake of my 40th birthday. I used an old ledger as the front and back covers of my book, and vintage fabric for the binding. I used the birthday cards I received at my party as the pages inside the book. I thought it would be a fun way to keep the birthday cards and commemorate the occasion.

I was thrilled and honored to be a part of Jeannine's book. She is truly one of the most gifted artists I've ever known. I met her in the first art class I took in California, and we became instant friends. She's been a huge inspiration to me ever since. We'll be hosting her at the store for an author signing later this summer, so I'll post more about that once the details have been finalized.

The book sells for $24.99 and is available here at Chevalier's. If you'd like a copy, call the store at 323/465-1334 and I'll hold one for you! We can even ship it anywhere you'd like.

We Love Dogs (and Cats)!

We have a sign in our window that says "We love Dogs (& Cats)!" And we really mean it! We have a little jar of treats behind the counter just for our furry friends. Some dogs won't let their owners pass by the store without dragging them in!

These are photos of some of our favorite dog friends. And believe it or not, we actually do have a cat come into the store to visit. Her name is Baby, and she comes in with her harness and leash. We hope to have a photo of her soon to include in this gallery!

Book Signing with Heather Hach Hearne

Heather Hach will be signing copies of her new book Freaky Monday this coming Saturday, June 20th, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Heather Hach (rhymes with Bach) wrote the screenplay for the most recent Freaky Friday movie and the book for Legally Blonde: The Musical. Heather recently appeared as a judge on MTV's The Search for Elle Woods. Heather writes books and screenplays in West Hollywood where she lives with her husband, an animator, and her daughter, a toddler.

Come and meet Heather and join us for the fun!

Norman will be stepping out of the bookstore on Thursday, June 18th, to sing 3 songs at a Cabaret Vocalists Showcase!

The event takes place at the Hollywood Studio Bar & Grill, located at 6122 Sunset Blvd. (at Gower Gulch.) There's a $10 "entertainment cost", as well as dinner or a 2-drink minimum.

Dinner and cocktails start at 7pm, and the show starts at 8pm.

Elizabeth Aquino will be signing copies of A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Special Needs this Saturday, June 13th, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Refreshments for this event are being provided by the Larchmont Larder.

Art Nouveau Tile Cards in Limited Supply

Many of you are fans of the uniquely beautiful cards we sell that are based on actual art nouveau tiles, and we just received a large shipment of them!

Unfortunately, it will also be our last shipment of them. The U.S. distributor of this line of cards will no longer be carrying them, which means that when they're gone, they're gone. So stock up on them while you still can!

-Norman
(a.k.a. Card buyer for Chevalier's Books)

Chevalier's Staff Bios

Filis Winthrop, Co-owner
Filis "the Treasure" * Winthrop has been an owner of Chevalier's Books for 20 years, since Mr. Chevalier retired. She's the one with the white hair, exuberant personality and love of non-fiction, art and design books, and biographies. Filis, with her background as a high school English teacher (go L.A. High!), a docent at LACMA, and a world traveler, is also the reason Chevalier's is know for its classic section, travel books, and art and design books. Filis is also the resident opera expert. Her hometown is Minneapolis, but she has lived all over the place.
(* from Huell Howser's column -- he's one of Filis' many fans.)

Sue Otto, Co-owner
Sue "the Francophile" Otto has been an owner of the bookstore for 7 years. She is an expert on children's literature and her children's section is a hangout for neighborhood parents and their kids. She is also the woman behind the Book of the Month Club. Sue picks books for kids ages 1 month to 21+ every month as gifts from their grandparents, godparents, friends, and family. Sue's obsessions are Marie Antoinette, wolves and other animals, and anything French. Besides her other obsessions, Sue reads fiction and, on occasion, mysteries, and likes to listen to Amanda Overmyer CDs and country music. Her hometown is Saginaw, Michigan.

Norman Dixon, Manager
Norman "the not-anyMormon" Dixon has worked at Chevalier's for a little more than 6 years, and is well known in the neighborhood for his charm and charisma and his soaring, operatic falsetto. If you don't love Norman, you're a fool. Norman is in charge of all the book signings at the bookstore, as well as off-site events. He is also the greeting card buyer for the store. He has a predilection for memoirs, diet & fitness books (look how fit he is!), humor (think David Sedaris), and the author Tom Spanbauer. Dogs drag their owners into the store just to lick Norman's face. Norman is a singer/actor and is into cabaret, the group Pink Martini (over and over) and k.d. lang. He grew up in Orem, Utah.

Liz Newstat
Liz "the Nerd" Newstat worked as an editor and post producer in television for many, many, many years and finally crossed over from the dark side. Of all the Chevalier's people, she is the most eclectic, reading anything from fiction to cookbooks, poetry, science and math, the WSJ, baseball books, and how-to-wash-your-t-shirt tags. Shallow, but reads a lot. Very opinionated. Obsessed with Scandinavian mysteries. Favorite author: Henry Green. Liz likes almost any music (jazz, hip hop, rock, r&b) except what her colleagues like. Typical of a San Francisco native.

Alexandria Williams
Alex "Oxford Girl" Williams is a young genius and unfortunately can only work at Chevalier's on a very part-time basis. She graduated from Oxford -- yeah, the one in England -- and is a brilliant 22-year-old. Oddly enough, she loves sports books, especially basketball, and also C. S. Lewis. Ask her about travel books because she loves to travel. Also, given her age, she can make great recommendations for your kids. Her hometown is Riverside, California.

Heidi Jaworski
Heidi "The Retail Queen" Jaworski just became a U.S. citizen, though she moved here from Poland when she was just 5 years old. Bilingual and wild (but in a good way), she is a great addition to the bookstore. She likes Dean Koontz, she loves to cook, and she's just as funny as her comedian boyfriend. Her hometown is Buffalo, New York. (COLD!)

Booksigning Event with Lenny Kleinfeld

Join us this Saturday, June 6th, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. when author Lenny Kleinfeld will be signing Shooters and Chasers. Copies of the book are on sale now. Reserve your copy today!

Chevalier's featured in L.A. Times article about Mayor Villaraigosa

Chevalier's had a little bit of excitement this weekend when Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa came into the store with the woman he's dating. He was apparently being followed by photographers, and we ended up being featured in an article about him in the Times this morning! Here's a link to the article so you can check it out.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-villaraigosa2-2009jun02,0,312871.story




In other bookstore news, we had 2 very successful book signing events over the weekend! On Saturday we hosted auther Jerry Camarillo Dunn, Jr. who signed copies of his book My Favorite Place on Earth: Celebrated People Share Their Travel Discoveries.

Sunday's event was with authors Elizabeth Ford & Daniela Drake, who were signing copies of their book Smart Girls Marry Money: How Women Have Been Duped into the Romantic Dream -- and How They're paying for It.

Thank you to everyone who came out to support these events. As you'll see in the Times, you never know who might show up at one of our signings!

-nd