The Many Fetes of February

First, a few updates on the award winners...
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is already back with us, and with that shiny gold Newbery Medal gleaming from its cover. (Hooray!)

The Caldecott winner, The House in the Night, is reprinting and expected back on our shelves the first week of March.

This is such a great time of year for topical displays! Our winter display, full of snow and penguin books, is still
going strong. Head over here for a recap of some of our favorites and bestsellers. That post was so long, yet I didn't even mention the whimsical and imaginative Danny's First Snow by Leonid Gore, the bilingual gem about a mother and daughter, Tarde de Invierno: Winter Afternoon by Jorge Lujan, or the endearing biography of the man who photographed snowflakes, Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Martin, but as groundhog Phil predicted, our winter books will be sticking around for a little bit longer for your perusal.

We have Chinese New Year books, as diverse as What the Rat Told Me by Catherine Louis, Marie Sellier, and Fei Wang, Demi's Happy Happy New Year, and Grace Lin's Bringing In the New Year. (Psst! Grace Lin will be here on Valentine's Day!) And--of course!--there are dragon puppets! Grab these fiery creatures while you can and enjoy the celebrations as long as you like.

In preparation for Presidents Day and the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, come see our collection of picture book and chapter book levels of biographies of Lincoln and Washington. The Horn Book raved about The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming--and what higher praise do you need? We also can't go without mentioning how gorgeous (as usual) Kadir Nelson's paintings are in Doreen Rappaport's Abe's Honest Words.

February is also Black History Month! There are bountiful biographies, covering figures from Martin Luther King, Jr. to W. E. B. Du Bois. Coretta Scott features the poetry of Ntozake Shange and the paintings of Kadir Nelson. Even with Kadir in the running, The Negro Speaks of Rivers takes my vote for most breathtaking. E.B. Lewis's paintings complement Langston Hughes's poem, expanding the narrative without overpowering or changing the power of the words. We will try to feature more books from this topic as the month goes on and more books come, so check back here or pop in the store to see what else we have.

Katie is working on a grand Valentine's Day book and merchandise round-up, so I will save the pink and red goodies for her. I will just leave you with a few teasers of what to expect: Rob Scotton's cat, Splat, is back, and in love; teen love poems; and valentines that can really stick with you...