Friday, April 4, 2008

Spring is here! Poetry Month, Horn Book May/June starred titles, Passover and more...

Temperatures are climbing slowly here in Cambridge and we're really ready for some springtime outdoor fun. We've got a few good ways to celebrate those brief moments between rain squalls in stock these days. Stomp Rockets are always ready for back yard gravity-defying feats. We've also got bunches of kites in all different shapes, sizes and varieties (tie die! lady bugs! SHARKS!). Or, if you prefer floating to flying, we have all the bubbles and bubble blowing necessities your heart desires.

April is Poetry Month!
Check out our window display and peruse the poetry section to stock up on themed reading material for the month. Some of our favorites:
The World's Greatest Poems by J. Patrick Lewis and Keith Graves
Flamingos on the Roof by Calef Brown
My Dog May be a Genius by Children's Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky, illustrations by James Stevenson
Other Goose: Recycled Rhymes for our Fragile Times by Barbara Wyn Klunder
Oops by Alan Katz, illustrated by Edward Koren
Also look into illustrated collections of classic poetry, Shel Silvertein's oeuvre, A. A. Milne and novels told in verse.


Roger Sutton, editor and chief at The Horn Book, posted their starred picks for the May/June issue on his blog Read Roger. We are especially excited about The London Eye Mystery by Sioban Dowd, which has been selling quite well in the chapter book room, as well as Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers. And, of course, We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson made the list as well. We praised this one last week as the most beautiful part of our baseball book collection. Check it out on our display table if you haven't seen it yet.

Get your children's Haggadahs - and all your other Passover needs - at Curious George. Once you've picked up your Passover bag of plagues, Read A Mat Passover placemat (with secret spot to hide the Afikomen), and bright, plastic Seder plate you'll want some books to really put you in the mood. We suggest Passover Around the World by Tami Lehman-Wilzig, The Matza Man (a variation on the Gingerbread Man) by Naomi Howland, and The Hungry Clothes and Other Jewish Folktales retold by Peninnah Schram and illustrated by Gianni DeConno. Keep the littlest ones occupied with DK's Ultimate Sticker Book of Passover.

The design team behind the Saturday morning cartoon Sushi Pack, Leo and Laura Espinosa, were featured in the Boston Globe March 30. The Cambridge designers have recently published a picture book Otis and Rae and the Grumbling Splunk with Boston house Houghton Mifflin. This candy-colored adventure story is now available at Curious George.

We'll leave you with a few picks from the new picture books. These should come in handy on a rainy afternoon in the near future:
Mary Had a Little Lamp by Jack Lechner, illustrated by Bob Staake. Staake's digital, geometric illustrations perfectly compliment this wacky modernization of a familiar nursery rhyme. For anyone who's ever been questioned for their attachment to an inanimate object, this is the book for you.
Sally Gets a Job by Steven Huneck. Sally is back in another introspective episode. This book, illustrated with Huneck's bold wood cuts, is riddled with verbal and visual puns. Little ones will love catching the jokes and Sally's heartwarming conclusion regarding the perfect job.
Ladybug Girl by David Soman, illustrated by Jackie Davis. Take one four-year-old girl. Dress her in bug wings, galoshes, and antennae headband. Add Bassett Hound and plenty of sass. Lulu overcomes her brother's image of her as "too little" and is empowered to do anything as "Ladybug Girl." The backyard setting is perfect for springtime.

Enjoy!

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