This week, I am reading "Heartbeat," by Sharon Creech.  Like her other books,"Love That Dog" and "Hate That Cat," this is a book written in verse--small poems that give snapshots of the life of the main character, 12-year-old Annie.  This is now the third book in verse by this author that I have read, and the style still feels fresh to me.  I enjoyed all of the poems, from the serious ones about Annie's grandfather losing his memory to the funny ones about her "alien" baby brother. 

I also read the French book "Bizarre, Bizarre" by Audren.  It's a cute, short chapter book about a little boy whose new teacher (from England) acts in an unorthodox way.  For homework one day, he tells the students to bring "une bizarrerie" (something strange) to class.  In a funny scene at the dinner table, Félix gets annoyed at his family for being too normal, because otherwise, he would have an easier time bringing something weird to school!  

Arabian Nights-An Amazing Production!

This weekend, I had the privilege of seeing "Arabian Nights" at the Central Square Theater. 

With the creative use of minimal props and a small number of actors, the audience was swept away on a magical journey.  It was an amazing reminder of the power of stories and the human imagination!

If you're interested, come by the ISB Library and pick up some of these fascinating tales to read with your family!

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Image by HelloImNik

This Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend another amazing workshop ("What's New in Children's Books"), this time sponsored by the Foundation for Children's Books.  The event took place at the lovely Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill.  For 4 hours, we heard from these great speakers: Julia Denos, an up and coming illustrator, David Yoo, a young adult author, and Grace Lin, a children's book author/illustrator.  We were also given a presentation of great new fall books by a school librarian, Christian Porter, and Terri Schmitz, who owns the Children's Book Shop in Brookline.   

The Lower School Library now has signed copies of the following books:

If you like fashion and movies, you'll love this book!

Julia Denos also illustrated "Letters to Leo," about a 4th grade girl, Annie, whose letters to her dog, Leo, help her cope with everything from the loss of her mother to her best friend moving away.

No matter if you're Chinese-American or not, this book will touch your heart.  And as an extra treat, you can enjoy the little drawings in the margins!

It's not Monday anymore, but I wanted to post anyway!

This weekend I went to a great author panel at the Cambridge Public Library.

I was able to meet some great children's book authors & illustrators, and our library now has signed copies of the following books:

Here's one of my favorite pictures from the book (I know you want to know why that skyscraper is wearing glasses!)

Once I got into this book, I couldn't put it down!  It's a great adventure story, and the illustrations are amazing!

Peter Reynolds is a local author/illustrator/entrepreneur extraordinaire, and I thought we needed to have a signed copy of one of his most famous books!

I have always been a comic book lover, so I guess it's not surprising that I have been on a comic book kick lately.  Here are two that I read and enjoyed this past week:

When Zita finds a big red button at the bottom of a crater, her friend Joseph warns her not to push it.  Not surprisingly, she does, and suddenly, fuzzy black tentacles appear and transport Joseph to another galaxy!  Zita has no choice but to follow him, and so, she soon finds herself on a strange new planet full of aliens (I enjoyed them all, especially the angry hooded chickens!).  Zita is determined to find Joseph, and on her way, assembles a motley crew of alien friends to help her out.  This comic was full of action and unforgettable characters--I really enjoyed it.  I also liked how one of the main characters struggled between his good and evil sides, rather than just being a regular hero.

I always loved the book "A Wrinkle in Time," so I was interested to hear that there was a graphic novel version coming out.  Considering how complex of a book "Wrinkle in Time" is, I think the graphic novel did a good job of conveying the ideas as well as the emotion of the book.  I will say that it took me a little while to get used to the blue-black color scheme, but after a while, I forgot about it and just got sucked into the story again.  I don't know how someone who had never read the novel would react to this adaptation, but I thought it was well-done!