Wednesday, January 11, 2012

JR. BOOK CLUB reads James & the Giant Peach

On Wednesday, Jan. 11, our Junior Book Club (for kids and parents together) got together to talk about this classic children’s book, and to make some edible art based on the story! We had a blast!!!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

January is a great time to read a BIOGRAPHY!

In the many years I've been working with children's books, one area I've been watching develop with great pleasure is that of non-fiction. The level of scholarship is impressive, the use of primary sources is becoming the norm, and the advances in modern printing methods have resulted in books that are not only very informative, but also very appealing. Within the non-fiction literature, biographies, in particular, have benefited from these changes. Even a confirmed fiction-lover like myself can't help but be intrigued by the story of a small child growing up with her famous-explorer father (Snow baby : The Arctic childhood of Admiral Robert E. Peary's daring daughter by Katherine Kirkpatrick)
or the backstory of the very first television (The boy who invented TV : the story of Philo Farnsworth by Kathleen Krull). I confess---I've even indulged in the guilty pleasure of reading about a celebrity or two (Daniel Radcliffe : film and stage star by Stephanie Watson; 100% official Justin Bieber : first step 2 forever, my story. by Justin Bieber.)
Whatever your or your children's interests, I'm sure you'll find something to like in our collection of biographies---come on in, and check some out!