Monday, March 23, 2009

Tidbits and Will Power

First of all, I've only gotten two votes so far for my three name choices for my posts about the books I edit. Please help me out and vote for one of the following:

1. Beyond the Book
2. An Editor's Story
3. Every Book a Star

If you vote, I'll enter you into a drawing for a Little, Brown Book for Young Readers of your choice! Voting will end at 5 pm EST next Sunday, March 29th.

***

Next Tuesday, March 31st, I will be on a panel at the New School on getting published, along with Ben Tomek, marketing associate, Reader’s Digest Children’s Publishing; and Anna Olswanger, literary agent, Liza Dawson Associates. It's only $5 (free for students, faculty, and alumni), so if you're in the NY area, come on out! More info here.


***

A few weeks ago I listened to a Radio Lab podcast about will power. It described an experiment done in the 1960s where Dr. Walter Mischel tested the will power and ability to delay gratification of hundreds of preschoolers, offering them a marshmallow now, or two if they waited 15 minutes. Listen to it here.

There had been highlights of an adorable Oreo cookie version on the blog, but it seems to have disappeared, and I'm unable to find it online--if anyone can find it, please let me know! It was cute, although short. There are several reenactments online, here are a few of the better ones:



This one is good, although the video of the experiment is sandwiched between a preacher's sermon:



I wonder how I would have fared when I was four...

15 comments:

Cuppa Jolie said...

I'm torn between the first and last, but I choose...Every Book a Star. :)

MotherReader said...

I'll vote for Beyond the Book.

Anna Alter said...

sorry I didn't get to vote yet, just got back in town and catching up on the blog! I like #1 the best, because I think it best describes what the posts will actually be about and has a nice ring to it.

those kids are SO cute.

Libby Koponen said...

Yes, # 1 -- and thank you again for telling me about the Radio Lab show.

I described the experiment and videos to one of the kids I babysit for -- NOT Adam, some may be thankful to know, I hope our readers aren't getting sick of hearing about him.

He said, immediately,
"I would wait!" and then asked to try it.

His strategy (all the kids who managed to wait had strategies) was to let his eyes unfocus -- he showed me beforehand how he was going to do that, and said it was something he had always had the ability to do. It was amazing to see him sitting there expressionless, looking like a Zombie,

When I peeked in during the experiment, though, he was staring at the marshmallow.

Thank you for telling me about this Marshmallow Experiment: I listened to the Radio Lab program twice and really enjoyed watching the re-enactments.

Libby

Anonymous said...

My vote is for Beyond the Book.

~Lindsey

Steve Emond said...

I like "Beyond the Book" in a funny kind of Behind the Music way, but I think "Every Book a Star" fits the tone of your writing and personality the best. So I vote for that. :)

Grace Lin said...

I vote for "Every Book a Star"--positive thinking at it's best!

Anonymous said...

Love BEYOND THE BOOK. Like another poster wrote above, I thought of the great VH1 program "BEHIND THE MUSIC" which is FINALLY coming back on air. Thank g-d. Loved that show. Going "Beyond" the author's story is exactly why I love reading editor's blogs.

Best of luck, Alvina and thanks for going there --- and beyond. {}

-Pamela Ross

laurasalas said...

I like Beyond the Book (or Behind the Book, inspired by Pamela's comment above).

I also like, instead of Editor's Story, The Editor's Epilogue. Where after the book, we get to hear all the behind the scenes stuff.

The content will be great no matter what the title:>)

JenWriter said...

I love #3: Every Book A Star.

I do think they are all great, but that one has a special spark to it.

tumbletell said...

i like "Every book a star" best.

-alissa

Boni Ashburn said...

My vote is definitely for Beyond The Book!

MotherReader said...

So, how helpful was the extra voting? ;^) Just to muck it up more, I like Behind the Book even better than Beyond the Book. Good Luck deciding!

Anonymous said...

Voting for "Beyond the Book"...

Joan

Rita said...

What a crazy coincidence!! Just yesterday I was listening to an audiobook (The Happiness Hypothesis) that discussed this same marshmallow experiment, and then I see this post (albeit belatedly) today!

I was one of the first two votes! And I'm glad to see what you chose. :)