@ Your Library
Happy Thanksgiving weekend! I hope your days can be filled with good food, great books, awesome family and friend time and if necessary local shopping. The library has regular hours on Friday and Saturday, open 10 am – 6pm on Friday and 10am – 3pm on Saturday.
We have some new picture books that had me smiling, laughing, oohing and aahing. Mother Winter by James Christopher Carroll is a beautifully illustrated poem about winter nights and their beauty. While The Snowman Waltz by Karen Konnerth had me laughing and reading in rhythm as snowmen and penguins collide. The Black Hole Debacle by Keri Claiborne Boyle is a fun story about passions and interests and black holes.
For a wonderful feeling of hygge, or winter coziness (as well as folktale and nursery rhyme fun) share Mr. Thatcher’s House by Kristin Wauson with a favorite young someone in your life. And don’t forget to play with your words by borrowing either A Parliament of Owls by Devin Scillian or Brainstorm by Rebecca Gardyn Levington. This one also serves as a great story starter with lots of awesome phrases and ideas to jumpstart any writing session.
I am also excited to share several new non-fiction titles from the junior room. The Adventures of Dr. Sloth by Suzi Eszterhas explores the work of Dr. Rebecca Cliffe among sloths in the Costa Rican jungle. The Lady and the Octopus by Danna Staaf looks at the life and discoveries Jeanne Willepreux-Power, the inventor of aquariums. The first looks a modern scientist still working in the field today, the second looks at a scientist studying sea animals in the nineteenth century.
Spies by David Long shares some of the most thrilling spy stories from around the world including Roald Dahl who went from spy to storytelling, Noor Inayat Khan, the first woman wireless operator and Henry Rée who went from teacher to factory saboteur and many more.
Kids Cook Gluten-Free by Kelli and Peter Bronski includes over 65 fun and easy recipes for gluten-free chefs or those wishing to cook for gluten-free kids.
It is fascinating to me to discover how books are named. And we don’t always know, but one word titles seem to be popular at the moment and we have two new books titled Duet. One is a non-fiction titles about a cultural and scientific partnership between the mockingbird and humans, written by Phillip Hoose, the author of two other wonderful bird books Moonbird and The Race to Save the Lord God Bird. The second, a novel by Elise Broach, features a bird, a boy and a musical mystery.
Finishing off today with three new juvenile fiction titles with Fenris and Mott by Greg Van Eekhout about a puppy found abandoned in a recycling bin and the girl who finds him. Katherine Applegate continues her wonderful animal tales with Odder about an orphaned otter pup, inspired by a real life story of a Monterey Bay Aquarium otter. And Margi Preus’ newest book is Windswept.
Noor Inayat Khan’s was an extraordinary pacifist and secret agent whose heroism as a spy in the Second World War posthumously earned her a George Cross. If you are interested in books that feature her best look her up in Wikipedia. There is even a beguiling and beautifully staged play about her now at the Southwark Playhouse in London and that is well worth seeing if you have the time. If you like wartime stories of heroic female spies don’t miss Sara Burlington in Beyond Enkription in The Burlington Files series of novels based on the life and times of ex-spook Bill Fairclough (MI6 codename JJ) aka Edward Burlington. Sara was his mother and we’ll guarantee you will loathe her and love her by the time you get to the end of this loosely fact based espionage thriller.