Saturday, April 30, 2016

Jen's Five Books Unfolding

Bird & Diz by Gary Golio (Candlewick, $19.99)
(1) Early this month, at the Kids' Literary Festival, Gary Golio came with his wife and fellow-author Susanna Reich, and illustrator E.B. Lewis, to present picture books of history and biography. The kids in the room, including mine, were a bit young for the discussion, so they hung out in the castle corner, popping up for the actual readings ... and for the presentation of Bird & Diz, Gary's colorful and expansive story of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie and their work in bebop and jazz.

Out the Window by Cybèle Young (Groundwood Books, $12.95)
(2) So after Gary and Susanna and E.B. Lewis unfolded Bird & Diz across the room and went back to their discussion, my small child quietly wandered off to the children's section. A few minutes later, just as quietly, he returned with a book in a box, sat back in his corner and proceeded to unfold this new book across the floor. (Not pictured, alas.) Out the Window is an accordion book that shows many many snippets of things passing outside a window...until you reach the end and turn to the reverse pages, where you can see everything that has happened from the OTHER SIDE.


And then I remembered that we have other unfolding books in the store!

Migrant: The Journey of a Mexican Worker by José Manuel Mateo, illustrated by Javier Martínez Pedro (Abrams Books, $17.95)
This detailed fanfold book follows the journey of a kid and his family from Mexico to the United States, through both narrative text and a single connected narrative illustration.

        

Life-Size Zoo by Toyofumi Fukuda (Seven Footer Press, $17.95)
Life-sized photographs of many animals! Or parts of animals. Some pages fold out, because some animals are REALLY big.

Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24.95)
Here is everything, explained in detail, using (approximately) the 1,000 most common words in English. As with Life-Size Zoo, Thing Explainer has mostly regular pages, with a few places that unfold for greater detail -- such as the Sky at Night, the Earth's Surface, and The Pieces Everything is Made Of (periodic table), and at the very back, a building called the Sky Toucher (a 4-page-spread). From the creator of the xkcd online comic.

Bonus: Here are two more fully concertina-style books, recently added to the bookstore's collection:
The Secret Garden, Unfolded, Retold in Pictures by Becca Stadtlander (Rock Point, $9.99)
Friendly Faces in the Yard: Baby's First Soft Book by Surya Sajnani (QEB Publishing, $12.95)

Jennifer Sheffield, April 2016

Friday, April 29, 2016

Five Board Books that Mariga Likes

A is for Andy by Andy Warhol (Mudpuppy Press, $12.99)

Pride and Prejudice by Jack and Holman Wang (Chronicle, $9.95)

So Many Stars by Andy Warhol (Mudpuppy Press, $12.99)

Rhymoceros by Janik Coat (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., $15.95)

Shapes by Xavier Deneux (Chronicle, $14.99)

Mariga Temple-West, April 2016

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Mt. Airy Kids' Literary Festival 2016 -- April 7-10

The 10th Annual Mt. Airy Kids' Literary Festival -- four days of authors, illustrators, games, parties, crafts, and more -- begins this Thursday, April 7!

Schedule and event information:
- Festival schedule on our website (and summarized below).
- Facebook festival page (though honestly I'm not sure I understand Facebook's new event system -- I keep getting recursive tabs when I try to click for more details).
- Event listings on Facebook, which include most (though not all) of the festival's individual events.

Blog posts with some attending authors and their books:
- Interview with Amy Ignatow, author of The Popularity Papers.
- Interview with Cordelia Jensen, author of young adult verse novel Skyscraping.
- Event writeup from last fall's YA author panel with I.W. Gregorio, author of None of the Above, and Randy Ribay, author of An Infinite Number Of Parallel Universes.

Blog posts with kids' books and other resources:
- Celebrating Multiracial Families and Friendships: A List of Books for Kids and Teens
- Great QUILTBAG (Queer, etc.) Books for Kids and Teens

Festival Schedule Summary:

Thursday, April 7


5:30pm - Young Writers Reading.
Authors ages 8-12 from the Abington Arts Center Writing Workshop will be presenting their first public reading.

7:00pm - Elizabeth Gold, author of The Mommy Group: Freaking Out, Finding Friends, and Surviving the Happiest Time of Our Lives.

Friday, April 8


6:00pm - Family Book Party in Honor of Autism Awareness Month.
Family Book Party with Kristin and Billy Arniotis, authors of I Have Autism and That's Okay, plus games, read alouds, and fun.
(All ages)

Saturday, April 9


10:00am - Beloved Book Characters Tea Party!
Bring your favorite book or plush toy, or come dressed as your favorite character! We'll share stories and have tea and special snacks.
(Ages 2+)

1:00pm - Reading with Laurie Wallmark, author of Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, plus Science Activities.
(Ages 6-12)

3:00pm - Great New Books and Series for Middle Grade Readers!
Discover some great new series books with Sarah L. Thomson, author of Secrets of the Seven: The Eureka Key, and Amy Ignatow, author of The Popularity Papers.
(Ages 8-12)

6:00pm - Beverly Cleary's 100th Birthday Party!
Beverly Cleary will be 100 years old next week! We'll celebrate with cake, games, and great memories. Come in costume if you want! Still have your favorite Cleary books from childhood? Bring them along! We'll also be making a video birthday card to send to our illustrious author!
(All ages)

Sunday, April 10


11:00am - Great Lives, Great Picture Books!
  • Gary Golio, author of Bird & Diz and Jimi Hendrix
  • Susanna Reich, author of Minette's Feast and Fab Four Friends
  • E.B. Lewis, multi-award-winning illustrator of more Big Blue Marble favorites than we can count, including The Other Side, Talkin' About Bessie, and All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom
(Ages 6+)

1:00pm - Books Are Great Tools for Exploring Our World.
Children's nonfiction authors take complex information and create fun, engaging books that invite children to explore.
  • Terry Catasús Jennings, author of Gopher to the Rescue! A Volcano Recovery Story
  • Jeanne Pettenati, author of Galileo’s Journal 1609-1610
  • Ellen Marcus, author of That Fish On Your Dish: A book for children with eco-conscious parents
(Ages 5+)

3:00pm - QUILTBAG Books YA Author Panel with I.W. Gregorio, author of None of the Above and a founder of the We Need Diverse Books movement; Randy Ribay, author of An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes; and Cordelia Jensen, author of Skyscraping.
(For teens and up)

Once again, you can find the full festival schedule on our website.

Looking forward to seeing you this weekend!