Yay for Julia, Cecil, and Grandma's Gloves!

We had a blast on Saturday making flowers, sipping lemonade, and -- best of all -- hanging out with both Cecil Castellucci and Julia Denos, creators of Grandma's Gloves. Here's the lovely ladies reading from their picture book:

If you weren't able to make it to this very special event, well... I'm sorry you missed such a great time! Fortunately, you can live vicariously through Cecil's sweet book trailer and her recap. (Definitely see Julia's touching post about her grandmothers and their impact on her GG illustrations, too!) Then you can come in and get a signed Grandma's Gloves of your own if you hurry -- they're going fast.

While you're here, be sure to check out some of Cecil's YA books in the chapter book room: Rose Sees Red, Beige, and Boyproof. For even MORE Cecil, look in the short story section for Geektastic: Tales from the Nerd Herd, an anthology she edited with Holly Black.

Book news is good news

In the past few weeks we've gotten back in a handful of titles we've been pining for - and it looks like plenty of other people were pining too!

In the world-o-Lego, the popular sticker book Lego Minifigurine is back in stock and selling like...Lego sticker books do! I got this for my nephew's 4th birthday and he and his brother stopped the mad wrapping tearing to look at every page. Lego folks know how to make their sticker books for sure. For the Star Wars uber-fan, Lego has brought back the Lego Star Wars Visual Dictionary, with Luke Skywalker figurine. We've had the regular LSWVD in stock, but that little Luke makes a big difference to your big (or little) SW fan. (Those nephews obsessed with the Lego sticker book? Their pop is even more obsessed with Star Wars, and I'm already planning his November birthday present from here).

Other spring picture book favorites have also reappeared on our shelves. The goofy Bear in Underwear by Todd Doodler is living a second life (more fruitful than Bree Tanner's) on our features table, complete with the squishy underpants on the cover. I personally find it bit bizarre that these animals happen upon a bag full of underpants. Doesn't anyone else want to know where these underpants came from? I can only hope for a prequel.

The staff favorite Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant has also come back in, providing colorful, reusable sticker joy to all. I love to give this book to anyone who loves Hello Kitty or Fancy Nancy, but may want to branch out from pink princess books. The tiny animals and conversation bubbles on every page are great for kids who pore over hidden picture books as well.

Another recent re-acquisition is my personal favorite of the year, A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Stead, a tale about a zookeeper with a cold being taken care of by his animal friends. Look for the penguin's red balloon on every page!

NEIBA book award winner announced!

NEIBA (New England Independent Booksellers' Association) has announced the winners of its annual book awards. To no one's real surprise, the children's book winner is City Dog, Country Frog, written by Mo Willems and illustrated by Jon Muth.

Both Willems (The Pigeon series, Knuffle Bunny, Piggie and Elephant series) and Muth (Zen Shorts, Zen Ties, The Three Questions) are wicked geniusy... so, of course, this collaboration by the two is incredible. Muth's warm watercolor illustrations complement Willems's endearing friendship tale perfectly. (Fun trivia fact: Muth also illustrated part of Neil Gaiman's epic comic series Sandman. I'm going to start a "Six Degrees of Neil Gaiman" game one of these days -- and I'll be the world champion.)

Congratulations to these two fabulous gentlemen!

Introducing Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Once in a while you find a book that feels like it’s written just for you; this is one of mine.

After reading Shiver (see "Thirsty for New Teen Fantasy?"), I thought I might expire from anticipation before Maggie Stiefvater's next Wolves of Mercy Falls book came out. I am still kicking thanks to Nikki Mutch at Scholastic, who went out of her way to send me an ARC several months ago and saved me from untimely death. (Thanks, Nikki!)

In Shiver, Grace meets Sam, who's an adorable musician -- at least when the temperature's above freezing. He spends the whole winter as a wolf in the woods around Mercy Falls, waiting for spring and his humanity to return. When it turns out each werewolf gets a limited (and unknown) number of years before being stuck as a wolf forever, Grace, Sam, and their friends make a desperate attempt to reverse the change.

In Linger, Grace's first encounter with the wolf pack comes back to haunt her. Meanwhile, tough-girl Isabel and newcomer Cole add two more narratives to Sam's and Grace's. Indie music, poetry, and a thousand paper cranes add just the right amount of sweetness to balance suspense. These are the most lovable, heart-wrenching werewolves since Remus Lupin. Like Grace, Sam, and Cole, I'm addicted to words and music, so I can't wait to get the playlists onto my mp3 player (to listen during subsequent reads).

Now what am I gonna do until the third book, Forever, comes out... um, forever from now?

T-minus 6 days and counting!

A reminder: This Saturday at 12pm we'll have a visit from author Cecil Castellucci and illustrator/CG alumna Julia Denos! They'll be reading and signing their brand-new picture book, Grandma's Gloves. Afterwards, we'll make paper flowers and sip lemonade.

Hope to see you there!

Put on your thinking caps!

Usually summertime is a great opportunity to crank out some workbook sheets to transition students from the previous grade to the next. And while vocabulary exercises and math problems are great practice, I think a great use of summertime freedom is to fill the gaps that aren't always covered in classrooms or workbooks. I studied philosophy in college and loved logic class, but I always felt that I could have used the information earlier. I remember doing syllogisms in geometry, but the idea of actually thinking logically to solve problems was never formally addressed when I was in school.

Recently, there have been a few books published that address not only problem solving and critical thinking, but major philosophical concepts, all in inventive formats. Each of these books were enjoyable reads. I myself learned a couple of tricks about the various topics they addressed. If you're looking for something to work on this summer with your 8+ year old, take a look at these books!


No Problem! by Ken Watanabe
Behaviors section upstairs & on display in the Chapter Book Room
$9.99

This book is broken up into three sections in which a character has a problem he or she wants to solve, and then the narrator explains different techniques for solving the problem. Tips include logic trees, weighted pro/con lists and matrices. This would be a great resource for the young autodidact, or a good one to read together as both parent and child will get a lot out of it.

Really, Really Big Questions! by Stephen Law

General Science section upstairs
$16.99

This is another book, like No Problem! that is not only really well-designed and fun to look at, but FULL of great information. Each page has a few questions, with a paragraph or more of an answer. The answers are not only well-written and easy to understand, but they summarize really well the main viewpoints held on major philosophical issues. Each answer offers readers enough to go on to formulate their own opinions.


Coming 12 October, 2010!
Really, Really Big Questions about Space and Time! by Mark Brake

A follow-up to the philosophically-inclined, aforementioned Really, Really Big Questions, is a space, time & science-oriented volume. This looks just as interesting as the first. From the publisher: "...an unusual and fun introduction to space science and astrophysics. It explores those massive, complicated, weird and often unanswered questions such as Does the Universe have a shape? What makes sunshine? Do stars explode? How do you build a time machine? and Do aliens look like me? Your head will spin – with knowledge!"

You're invited to a garden party!

I am so pleased to announce that our dear friend Julia Denos, illustrator extraordinaire and George alum, is coming to visit!

Her brand-new picture book, Grandma's Gloves, comes out on August 10. We're lucky enough to have both Julia AND author Cecil Castellucci as story time guests that Saturday, August 14 at 12pm! Ms. Castellucci and Julia will read and sign Grandma's Gloves; then we'll have a craft activity and refreshments. Stay tuned for more details.

If you're not yet familiar with Julia's work, I've gushed about it here several times before, so be sure to take a look at those posts (and her own amazing blog, The Cinnamon Rabbit) and prepare to be enchanted.

I'm also a huge fan of Cecil Castellucci's (and you should be, too!). She's the brilliant author of YA novels Boy Proof, Beige, The Queen of Cool, and the Plain Janes graphic novel series, as well as co-editor (with Holly Black) of the short story collection Geektastic: Tales from the Nerd Herd. Her characters range from "geektastic" in the best possible way to punk rock, but all of them feel like people you'd like to sit down for a coffee and a good chat -- or maybe some ice cream and a Star Wars marathon. Cecil herself seems like that kind of person from her writing and her blog, so I'm really excited to meet her! Natasha recently participated in a live video chat with her on Goodreads (and while you're viewing that, hop over to our store page and see what we're reading!).

Make sure to mark your calendar now, because this event is not to be missed.

Hot-off-the-press kid reviews

Just after I remarked to Hannah that our Kid Review board is equal parts series reviews (Twilight, The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter, Wimpy Kid) and "other stuff" reviews, we got a slew of fresh ones. Are kids missing book reports while they're on vacation? While those V.I.B.s are still heavily represented, The Wizard of Oz got reviewed twice in the last 24 hours -- not bad for a book in its 110th year! Voracious 7-year-old reader Piper wrote not one, but four reviews of her favorites. Here are some brand-new book recommendations from our young readers:

Title: The Wizard of Oz
Author: L. Frank Baum
Reviewed by: Jonah
Rating: 5 bananas
“It was an adventure with all those characters.”


Title: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Author: Roald Dahl
Reviewed by: Sophie
Rating: 5 bananas
“I thought it was an interesting book full of adventure!"


Title: The Titan’s Curse
Author: Rick Riordan
Reviewed by: Olivia
Rating: 5 bananas
“I love this book. I could read the whole series over and over. I always cry when Zoë Nightshade dies. This book is AMAZING!!”


Title: Ivy + Bean
Author: Annie Barrows
Reviewed by: Piper
Rating: 5 bananas
“It was a fantastic book. Everyone had great personality. I always can't wait for the next book to come out.”


Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Author: Jeff Kinney
Reviewed by: Sam
Rating: 5 bananas
“I liked Manny! He was so funny! Especially when he got every present for Christmas.”


Title: Nancy Drew series
Author: Carolyn Keene
Reviewed by: Piper
Rating: 5 bananas
“It is the best book ever. Everyone should read it.”


Title: Harry Potter series
Author: J.K. Rowling
Reviewed by: Julia
Rating: 5 bananas
“I loved Harry Potter because I think it is very creative and I love all the adventures Harry goes on and how magic is involved. I give it 5 bananas!”

Ready to learn monkey pose?

A reminder: Abbie Davies, founder of the My First Yoga program and author of My First Yoga: Animal Poses, will teach a yoga session and sign her book on Saturday at 12pm during our story time. Here's a little about the yoga curriculum Abbie's developed:

My First Yoga offers an engaging, exciting and innovative approach to youth’s yoga education. A series of age appropriate exercises and educational activities stretch both mind and body, providing students with the mental and physical tools necessary to lead healthy, balanced lives.

More info about the program, the My First Yoga email list, and an Animal Poses iPhone app are all available on the website!

See you Saturday!

Don't take our word for it...

Scene: It was a usual day at the George, and NPR was playing in surround sound in the offices and receiving vault. Volume controls were boosted when On Point featured summer reading picks for kids! We were really excited to hear some new titles as well as classics in the midst: from A Cricket in Times Square to The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda.

See their choices for yourself at: NPR On Point: Summer Reads for Kids.