Some people are just really good sports...

To hear the full interview, click here.

     --Jason Kirk

As I mentioned a while back, the lovely, bespectacled Lisa Loeb recently stopped by our offices to chit chat and play us a few songs from her recent release Camp Lisa. We are thrilled to announce that we're the exclusive retailer for the digital version of Camp Lisa, which releases today. Hear what Lisa had to say about her own summer camp memories; dating advice; and yes, for all of you reality TV junkies, #1 Single. Has she found her Prince Charming? I couldn't resist asking. Listen and find out.

--Renata Sadunas

P.S. Here's the link to that book Lisa recommended. I already ordered my copy!

Makana recently dropped by the Amazon Music offices to chat with Chordstrike about his new album, and give us a lesson on the traditional Hawaiian art of slack key guitar. If you like music of any kind, I think you'll find the history of slack key fascinating, and Makana's talent humbling.

Makana was recently invited to compete live in Guitar Player's Guitar Superstar Competition: an honor bestowed to only 10 artists. The winner will be decided in San Francisco on September 13. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

--Renata Sadunas

You know and love her from the big screen, but more than just a lovely face on camera, Scarlett Johansson also has a powerfully evocative singing voice. On her first album of Tom Waits covers, Scarlett proves that she knows a thing or two about picking good music to showcase her voice while surrounding herself with talented musicians including TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as the one and only David Bowie.

Check out Chordstrike's latest new music interview to learn more about Scarlett Johansson's self-defined inner free bird, her baritone singing voice, her approach to covering venerable Tom Waits tunes, and the collaborative partners she worked with to foment a solid soundscape for her sultry vox.

--Lucas Hilbert

Esperanza Spalding is the freshest face in jazz today. Exhuberant and youthful, this 23 year-old stand-up bass player and vocalist is the youngest professor ever at the renowned Berklee College of Music. She recently stopped by Amazon for a performance and a chat before her stint at Seattle's Jazz Alley. Unfortunately, the Editor (read:me) in question had some technical difficulties with the recording, and it came out sounding like garbled fuzz. So, in lieu of that, check out Esperazna speaking for herself on the clip below, or watch her on the CBS Saturday Morning show tomorrow. If you are not a jazz fan, you will be soon after you see her perform.

--Renata Sadunas

My colleague Matt Wold and I recently caught up with the Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, and Cindy Wilson, collectively known as the B-52s, backstage at the Seattle leg of True Colors tour. Listen to what America's favorite party band had to say about their new album, Funplex; spontaneuous combustion; and selling herring off the back of a mule in Ireland. (Yes, you read that correctly.) The Bs haven't aged a bit, and were ebullient despite having just finished their high-octane set, which just goes to show that all of that fun does a body good. Conclusion: these Bs still have their sting.

--Renata Sadunas

In this week's roundup, we find some help for first-time school-goers, visit the intersection of kid lit and tattoos, and get some free Daniel Pinkwater:

"Back to school, for the first time." How do you help new preschoolers and kindergartners prepare for their first big day of capital-S School? The latest Horn Book newsletter has some great tips, including several recommendations for books that will help kids know what to expect--like Wow! School! and Kindergarten Rocks!. Read the newsletter for even more titles and ideas.

Tattoos, kids, tattoos involving kids' books, kids' books involving tattoos, etc. Can we all agree that tattoos have finally, irrevocably, resoundingly become mainstream? 100 Scope Notes compiles the "colliding worlds" story of tattoos and kid lit, with links to a kids' book about parental tattoos, cool librarian temp tattoos (e.g., "Literate 4 Life" and "Read or Die"), a beautiful Matilda tat, and more. I think this full-color Giving Tree tattoo was my favorite, just for sheer commitment to the bit:

Daniel Pinkwater's Yggyssey, serialized free online. If you followed the zany journey of Nedworth Wentworthstein in the Neddiad, you won't want to miss the Yggyssey--the Neddiad told from the point of view of Ned's friend, Iggy. Pinkwater is putting the Yggyssey online in serial form, with a new chapter every Monday. You can already read all the way up to Chapter 17 (how did I miss this?), and you can even download an mp3 of him reading the first chapter. (Found via Bookshelves of Doom.)

Science-fiction roundup for kids and teens. Amanda Craig of the London Times just pulled together an excellent roundup of the "dazzling results" of relatively recent SF efforts for children and teenagers--including the particularly creepy-sounding Unwind:

Unwind imagines a society in which parents who get fed up with their children can sign them up, secretly, to be “unwound” at 13: that is, taken away to have every part of them, from eyes to skin, donated to others. The decision to “abort retrospectively” is irrevocable, and when the clever, rebellious Connor discovers his fate, he plots his escape.

This is the kind of rare book that makes the hairs on your neck rise up. It is written with a sense of drama that should get it instantly snapped up for film, and it's satisfyingly unpredictable in that its characters change and realise things about each other in a credible way. Enforced organ donation isn't a new idea, but Unwind has the kind of anger that will appeal to teenagers.

(Found via Achockablog.)

New Fuse #8 podcast. Elizabeth Bird procrastinates funnily in another "children's literary" podcast, talking about the Bloodhound Gang's secret Newbery-winning writer, the Twilight backlash (and the Twilight backlash backlash), and the "WORLD PODCAST PREMIER" of The Effin G's song "Randolph Caldecott." She also has two fun "booktalks," on King George: What Was His Problem? and The Cabinet of Wonders (Book 1 of the Kronos Chronicles). --Paul

There's no shame in being smitten, so I'll admit it openly. Despite there being good reason to be turned off by Ingrid Michaelson's wider cultural associations, I just can't help myself. Sure, she's inextricably linked with Grey's Anatomy (slobber, drool, mawk) and the Gap (need I go on?), but nevertheless, I'm hooked.

Which is why I cut as much of my fawning as possible out of my interview with her. (Thank God for the fact that puppy-dog eyes don't come through in a podcast...)

Since we spoke, Michaelson has floated a new single, "Be OK," a track from her upcoming CD of the same name--a benefit project for Stand Up to Cancer--due October 14. Check it out.

     --Jason Kirk

On a recent Monday full of multitasking, our team was treated to a midday reprieve from computers with an acoustic performance from Adele, the latest UK import to bring her retro diva act stateside. Luckily for us, she kindly took time afterwards to record a podcast interview and here it is.

Speaking candidly about her romantic past that inspired the album including the day she wrote Chasing Pavements, as well as her favorite superpowers, Adele took us through it all. 

Enjoy this week's podcast from XL recording artist, Adele!

Cool off with "Water Babies." Check out a virtual art show from the Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton, a swimming-themed kid-lit art exhibition. It features illustrations from books as diverse as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Orlando (the Marmalade Cat): A Seaside Holiday--and it was "supposed to lower the temperature a few degrees for our visitors who weren't able to escape to the pool or to the Jersey shore on steamy days."

from The 'Trocious Twins, 1926, illustration by Nancy Parker. (Found via Menasha Kids.)

Summer Fart Watch, Part I. There aren't quite 50,000 fart-related videos on YouTube yet (amazing!), but we're getting there--thanks to a new web promotion for Kevin Bolger's debut children's novel, Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger:

Summer Fart Watch, Part II. Watch the Today Show next Friday to catch the newest title for Al's Book Club--a well-curated list of picks from Al Roker that includes some of my very favorite kid characters, from Molly Moon to the Sisters Grimm. Next Friday, Al will feature Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox.

What does that have to with farts? Check out the bus Eoin Colfer is currently touring the U.S. in:

You can also watch the trailer for Eoin Colfer's one-man show on YouTube.

A librarian defends Uncle Bobby's Wedding. A mom was unhappy her library was carrying Uncle Bobby's Wedding, a beginning reader book that includes a wedding between two gay guinea pigs. The story itself is interesting, but by far the best part is the librarian's long, reasoned response to the mom, which he then posted to his blog to help other librarians. (Found via Bookshelves of Doom, who of course was quick to identify the salient aspect of the story: "Guinea pigs! In tuxedos!")

"Beach Bag Books" podcast. The folks at the Horn Book have put together another excellent podcast, this time making some smart recommendations for kids' vacation reading. If you don't have time to listen to the whole podcast (or want help skipping to the books you're curious about), check out the list of books covered.

Tucking in your kids with an mp3. Seriously? Is this actually a trend?

Nearly a third of children ages 6 to 10 are regular users of digital audio players, according to market research firm the NPD Group. And thanks to entrepreneurs like Katz, they can now use them to listen to bedtime stories.

In March, the Audible.com founder launched Audible-Kids.com, where children can download books directly onto their digital audio players.

"I hear lots of people talking, saying that when they put their kids to bed, they put them down with an audiobook," Audio Publishers Association president Michele Cobb said.

Granted, uh, that's the head of a trade organization who's "hearing people talking." But it's intriguing. Although in the article, Susan Linn--whose book my mom just gave us, The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in Our Commercialized World--calls this "another gadget for outsourcing parenting." But I also know kids that age who love their iPods. So... are any kids and parents out there doing this? (Found via Ypulse Books.) --Paul