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Tuesday – Friday 10:00 – 5:00
Saturday 10:00 – 4:00

Holiday 2011

Holiday Sampler

*More New Books Can Be Found In The Staff Favorites Section On 'The Shop' Page*

Picture Books

 

Chilly Milly Moo.   Fiona Ross. 
Candlewick, $15.99 
These cows have attitude!  A funny story, with lively artwork, about a cow who turns out to have a more unusual talent than plain old milk-making.

Good Night, World.  Willa Perlman,
pictures by Carolyn Fisher.  Simon & Schuster, $16.99. 
With a cadence reminiscent of bedtime reading classics, and vibrant swirls of art showcasing night falling on round the world terrains, this is an exceptional new take on a favorite picture book motif.


Mouse & Lion, Rand Burkert,
ill. By Nancy Ekholm Burkert.  Scholastic, $17.95. 
A beautiful version of the classic Aesop fable, with an African setting complete with indigenous striped grass mouse and baobab tree.

999 Tadpoles, Ken Kimura, ill. Yasunari Murakami. 
North South, $16.95. 
When the tadpole family grow into frogs, they outgrow their pond, but find a new home in a most humorous and unexpected  way.

RRRalph, Lois Ehlert.  S & S, $17.99. 
A silly encounter with a ‘talking’ (roof, rough,wolf) dog is enlivened by Ehlert’s trademark oversize bright and bold collages.

Scrawny Cat, Phyllis Root.  Candlewick, $16.99. 
A heart-tugging tale of a lost cat who acquires a new home and name when his boating adventure leads him to an island.
 

Non-Fiction and Legends

Ancient Egypt: Tales Of Gods and Pharaohs,
Marcia Williams.  Candlewick, $16.99. 
A wealth of information on mythology and early history brought to life in detailed comic style format, with light hearted touches supplied by a sacred Egyptian temple cat.

Drawing From Memory, Allen Say.  Scholastic, $17.99. 
A graphic novel is the perfect way to present an artist’s autobiography.  Say’s art, photos, vintage postcards and more immerse the reader in Japan in the 1940’s and 50’s, when Say left home as a high school student to apprentice with a famous cartoonist.

If You Lived Here:  Houses Of the World, Giles Laroche. 
Houghton Mifflin, $16.99.  
From a palazzo in Venice to a white washed stone village on a Greek Island, to a New England style attached barn and house – tour around the world and learn a bit about how environment influences architecture.  Laroche’s detailed cut-paper collages give each scene the 3-D feel of looking into a diorama.

The Mangrove Tree, Susan Roth 
See the Staff Favorites section on ‘The Shop’ page for more info and other suggestions.

Tales From India, Jamila Gavin.  Candlewick, $19.99. 
Hindu tales of creation and epic battles between good and evil, with sumptuous illustrations influenced by classical Indian art.

Novels

  

A Beautiful Friendship, David Weber.  Baen, $18.99. 
In this adventurous science-fiction novel Stephanie is disappointed when her scientist family moves to a distant frontier planet, until she realizes she has made ‘first-contact’ with an intelligent cat-like alien species.

Breadcrumbs, Anne Ursu. Walden Pond Press, $16.99.
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, this beautifully written novel focuses on the quest 11 year old Hazel undertakes to rescue her friend Jack from the ice-scape of an enchanted woods. At its most basic, this is a compelling tale about two imaginative, bookish preteens, and the social pressures pulling them apart. (Boys and girls don't play together anymore, and you're too old for make-believe anyway is Hazels' mother's well meaning consolation.) But there are many layers to this plot, and references from children's literary classics hidden within. The story resonates with themes about the power of belief as a positive force, the difficulty of overcoming sadness and depression, and ultimately the healing power of friendship. The illustrations are exquisite, a nice addition in a middle grade novel.

How To Save A Life, Sara Zarr. Little, Brown $17.99.
Told in their own voices, the stories of two teenage girls intertwine in this fluid, insightful novel, which challenges all sorts of assumptions. 17 year old Jill, grieving the loss of her father, and 19 year old Mandy, are thrown together when Jill's mother wants to adopt Mandy's unborn child. This is a page turner of a novel, with sparkling dialogue and memorable characters who are struggling between doing what's best for themselves or stepping back and doing what might be even better for someone else.

Island's End, Padma Venkatraman. Penguin, $16.99.
In the far-away Andaman Islands, Uido's family lives a simple life in tune with nature, untouched and largely unaware of the modern world surrounding them. When strangers do come by boat, the things they bring (cameras, matches, etc) seem like powerful magic. Uido must decide how best to preserve the tribe's ways from the allure of technology. A fascinating look at an island 'lost in time', where ancient knowledge helped save many in the disastrous 2004 tsunami.

Pie, Sarah Weeks.  Scholastic, $16.99.   
A sweet little mystery, in which much hinges on finding a world famous piecrust recipe, which Alice’s aunt has supposedly left to her cat!  Recipes are included for the many varieties of pie featured in the story.

Seriously, Norman!, Chris Raschka.  Scholastic, $17.95. 
Seriously, I don’t know how to describe this book – except to say it is wacky, funny, clever and unique.  Norman’s tutor instructs him to read the dictionary, which somehow leads to a number of eye-opening experiences, travel to Vienna and Singapore, and mix-ups with international arms smugglers.

Steampunk!, ed. Kelly Link & Gavin Grant. 
Candlewick, $22.99. 
“An anthology of fantastically rich and strange stories – in an alternate universe where romance and technology reign.”  Stories by 14 favorite YA authors including Holly Black, Garth Nix and M.T. Anderson.

Wildwood, Colin Meloy.  Harper, $17.99. 
Prue is forced to enter the Impassable Wilderness at the edge of Portland, Oregon, after her baby brother is abducted by a ‘murder of crows’.  She and companion Curtis are soon enmeshed in a Narnia-like struggle between good and evil, in this meaty adventure packed with unusual characters (a coyote army), intricate illustrations, and language worthy of being read aloud.

Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick. 
See the Staff Favorites section on The Shop page.