Time to up the bar. Years ago N.D. Wilson made what has to be the most ambitious book trailer created by an author I ever did see (it was for The Ashtown Burials and if you missed it you can watch it here and see what I mean). Now, after copious Florida research trips where he shot this footage, Wilson returns. Think the narrator on this is Morgan Freeman? Think again. It’s Wilson himself and this is a beautiful glimpse of the book. Tell me you don’t want to read it right now now now.

Boys of Blur | Official Trailer from Gorilla Poet Productions on Vimeo.

Thanks to Heather Wilson for the heads up.

In other book trailer news, Dan Santat released his picture book trailer for Beekle.  It’s sort of Santat by way of Shaun Tan.

I regret that I don’t remember where I was first alerted to this.  It’s just the cast members of the Harry Potter films talking about their favorite lines, but boy it’s fun.

In other news, I am shocked an appalled that I didn’t know about this Aaron Becker Caldecott thank you film until I was alerted to it by 100 Scope Notes.  This is brilliant!  But then, would you expect anything less?

Thanks to Travis Jonker for the link.

This next video is on the serious side of things.  There was a recent benefit at NYPL for something called an Ideas Box.  The concept is relatively simple.  Librarians Without Borders paired with UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) to create these little boxes that adapt into furniture and contain internet hook-ups, tablets, books, and more. Two videos give you a sense of what I’m talking about.  The first shows how you put them together.

The second shows their practical use:

And here’s the official explanation:

Since 2012, Libraries without Borders has partnered with UNHCR and creator Philippe Starck to create an innovate device that will deliver access to information for people emerging from humanitarian crises. Refugees have immediate pressing needs for food, shelter, health care and clothing. Once these priorities have been met, they need a way to forge social ties, rebuild an informed civil society, and develop resilience for the struggles that lay ahead. Too often, the tools needed for this vital work are lacking.  The Ideas Box fills this void, giving people who have been thrown into chaos the means to read, write, create and communicate. By providing access to the Internet, books, educational resources, theatre, and films, the Ideas Box empowers individuals and communities to begin to reconstruct what has been lost.