Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Book Recommendations — Children's





























These two titles—That's not my teddy . . . and That's not my train . . . —are part of series of books by author Fiona Watt and illustrator Rachel Wells. My young Test Readers have all enjoyed exploring the different textures in these books, and while there's not much of a story, the illustrations are bright and the descriptive words Watt uses are much more complicated than those found in a typical "touchy-feely" book—for example, "That's not my dinosaur. It's flippers are too slippery" and "That's my lion! His mane is so shaggy."

Those two lines—with variations depending on the book's subject and the page's texture—are the extent of the story in all books in the series, but my test readers have enjoyed the repetition of the words because it helps them to join in with reading the story.

Many of the books in the series are on "Buy 3, Get 1 Free" sale at Amazon right now. With such a variety of titles, you can probably find at least one or two that will appeal to any 0-2 year old readers you know.

Other titles in the series include:

That's not my bear . . .
That's not my bunny . . .
That's not my car . . .
That's not my dinosaur . . .
That's not my dolly . . .
That's not my dragon . . .
That's not my fairy . . .
That's not my kitten . . .
That's not my lion . . .
That's not my mermaid . . .
That's not my monster . . .
That's not my princess . . .
That's not my puppy . . .
That's not my robot . . .
That's not my snowman . . .
That's not my tractor . . .
That's not my truck . . .


Tuesday, September 26, 2006

James Maguire interview on "The Daily Show"



James Maguire is the author of American Bee—his account of several contestants who are preparing for the annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. If you enjoyed the documentary Spellbound or Stefan Fatsis's book Word Freak, you will probably enjoy this book too.

Monday, September 25, 2006

New t-shirt at Zazzle — Mark Twain

We have a new t-shirt at Zazzle. The quotation is a little hard to read in this image—"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Book Recommendations — Children's















Another wonderful book my Six Year Old Test Reader enjoyed this summer is Wolves by Emily Gravett. The story is very simple—a rabbit gets a book on wolves from the library, and in the course of reading the book, the wolf gradually emerges from the book and enjoys a rabbit snack (or perhaps not, if you believe the alternate ending.) The two levels of the story are brought to life in the illustrations—we see both the book the rabbit is reading and the growing presence of the wolf.

I liked the Guardian's summary of the book . . .
Gravett's engagingly self-deprecating wit comes through in the humour of her children's books. Wolves, which tells the tale of a rabbit who reads a book on wolves and gets a nasty surprise at the end (or not, if you read the alternative ending thoughtfully provided for "more sensitive readers"), is full of the sort of wordplay that will appeal to children at the top of the intended age group, while the drawings of the wolves contain just the right amount of storybook menace to send a delicious shiver up the spine of younger ones.
The book won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2005—a UK award for distinguished illustration in a book for children, and it was shortlisted for the 2005 Nestlé Children's Book Prize for the five and under category (the prize that was won by another book we've recommended—Lost and Found.)

In announcing the list of winners for the Kate Greenaway Medal, the organizers wrote that Wolves is a . . .
. . . real page-turner of a book. The style is spare, but at the same time there is so much in it, and the device whereby the book becomes the book within it is brilliantly employed. The illustrator’s style is totally unique, and the love and attention to detail here is obvious, even down to her having chewed the book herself to get the right effect.
In a review of the book, J. D. Biersdorfer from the New York Times noted . . .
What makes “Wolves” most entertaining, however, is its design. Gravett uses an eye-catching collage of hand-drawn sketches and photography to create a kind of a modern trompe l’oeil effect — complete with 3-D shadows and playful shifts in scale and perspective of the rabbit and the wolves he’s reading about. The bunny reads until he gets to the line “They also enjoy smaller mammals, like beavers, voles and ... rabbits.” A scarred book cover on the next page doesn’t leave much doubt about the harsh reality of the food chain, but for sensitive readers Gravett includes an alternate happy ending of interspecies friendship and shared jam sandwiches.
And no worries that our penguin theme is over—the Guardian hints that Gravett's next book will involve penquins:
In her light-filled attic studio with its stunning view across the rolling South Downs, drawings of penguins seem to fill every surface, evidence of work in progress on book number four.

Friday, September 22, 2006

New Arrival — Biography




















Another book we received last week is a new paperback printing of James MacGregor Burns' Pulitzer Prize-winning Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945. According to his entry on Wikipedia, Burns is
a presidential biographer, authority on leadership studies, Woodrow Wilson Professor (emeritus) of Political Science at Williams College, and scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. . . .

His key innovation in leadership theory was shifting away from studying the traits of great men and transactional management to focus on the interaction of leaders and led as collaborators working toward mutual benefit. He is best known for contributions to the Transformational, Aspirational and Visionary schools of leadership theory.
Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945 is the second volume in Burns' two-volume biography of FDR. The first volume is Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox 1882-1940. Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom was intially published in 1970, and the next year Burns won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for this work.

It In 2006, Robert Dallek in The Wall Street Journal named Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox as one of the top five presidential biographies. He wrote:
James MacGregor Burns's "Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox" stands out in a crowded field of FDR biographies. It is a compelling depiction of Roosevelt's mastery as a politician who revived the country's faith in itself during a time of trial. Like Donald's portrait of Lincoln, though, this is no hagiography. Burns is a tough-minded liberal who does not neglect Roosevelt's shortcomings, especially in a second volume, "Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom," which emphasizes the limits of FDR's vision during World War II. No one who has absorbed Burns's two volumes, however, can deny Roosevelt's greatness.
Also in The Wall Street Journal, Richard Norton Smith named Roosevelt: Soldier of Freedom as one of the top five biographies of FDR. He noted . . .
Long overshadowed by its companion volume, "The Lion and the Fox" (which covers FDR's life from 1882 to 1940 and is an invaluable guide through the labyrinth of his character), this gripping account of Roosevelt during World War II presents a would-be crusader adapting to events on a global scale. "I am waiting to be pushed into the situation," the president told associates in the spring of 1941. This strategy of no strategy was deceptive--there was nothing passive, after all, about the $7 billion lifeline to embattled Britain known as Lend-Lease. After Pearl Harbor, the original Great Communicator eased his countrymen through a string of early defeats, inspired mobilization on a staggering scale, refereed an administration often at war with itself and juggled utopian possibilities and crass realpolitik.
We have several copies available in stock for $9.95 plus shipping. Contact us by email to order, or use the link above to buy it from us through Amazon.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Jack London and Mark Twain t-shirts at Zazzle

Zazzle has partnered with a few big libraries and archives—including The Library of Congress, The Bancroft Library, and the Boston Public Library—to provide a way for these institutions to make some of their images available to the public in different ways—prints, posters, mugs, t-shirts.

Just browsing through some of the collections, I found t-shirts available with this sweet photo of Jack London from the Bancroft Library . . .









. . . and this one of Samuel Clemens—Mark Twain—as a very young man. (The image on Zazzle is just the photograph, but they don't allow anyone to copy the image from there, so this is a picture of the photograph in its case from the Bancroft Library site.) It's difficult to see, but he's holding a "printer's composing stick" with the letters "S", "A", and "M".

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Book Recommendations — Children's

The second illustrator from the Magic Pencil exhibit is Patrick Benson (I'm going through the artisits alphabetically). His illustrations are pen and ink drawings with watercolors, and they are usually quite detailed. The illustrations included in the exhibit were from The Minpins by Roald Dahl, The Lord Fish by Walter de la Mare, and The Sea-Thing Child by Russell Hoban.






























In 2000, Benson was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal—an annual UK award given to honor distinguished illustration in a book for children—for his illustrations in The Sea-Thing Child. In an article about the shortlisted books, the Guardian noted . . .
Benson's best work to date perfectly matches Russell Hoban's story. This 30-year-old classic evokes the beauty and terror of the sea and shore in superb paintings, and delightfully characterises the Sea-Thing as he grows in confidence. A powerful book that explores the fundamental growing experience of childhood.










The Minpins
was published shortly after Roald Dahl's death in 1990. Denis Woychuk reviewed the book in The New York Times, and he had this to say about the illustrations . . .
The birds are marvelous, Mr. Benson's illustrations bursting with magic.

Member tomsoya at Sur La Lune Fairy Tales wrote . . .
In Dahl’s last picture book he teamed up with illustrator Patrick Benson to produce a book that almost straddles genres; a contemporary tale that, whilst featuring deep dark forests, a throng of ‘little people’, a largely unseen ‘beast’ and a general feeling of foreboding, still manages to retain a modern, upbeat, quality largely due to Bensons twisting on the old cross-hatching style.











One of his books that wasn't in the exhibition was Owl Babies, which was written by Martin Waddell. In selecting a library of classics for 4-7 year olds, the Guardian noted . . .
Dealing in a really imaginative way with the idea of separation from the mum you really love, this is a wonderful book that makes you feel cosy just to think about it. Benson's illustrations have a wonderful expressive quality.
















In addition to illustrating many books, he has also written a few, including Little Penguin. One reviewer, Judith Sharman at Books for Keeps, wrote . . .
The children sat stroking the pages after we looked at this book together. Patrick Benson, so compelling as illustrator in the 'Hob' books, weaves magic again as he writes and illustrates a story about Pip, an Adelie penguin, learning that her small size doesn't mean she's any less important in the scheme of things. Exquisite illustrations, appealing layout, deceptively clever text which leads one almost imperceptibly from a tight very careful use of language into a flowing musical line - put together, these elements produce an unforgettable book that is surely a modern classic.
With this book and Lost and Found, we appear to be developing a bit of a penguin theme here at the Bookshop. I guess we just go for penguins.

(A great big "Howdy!" to anyone who knows that line without clicking the link—and a "Howdy!" even if you don't.)

Sunday, September 17, 2006

New Arrival — Photography
















Another new book we received this week is John Rosenthal's Regarding Manhattan. He's a writer and photographer, and he's also a commentator on NPR's "All Things Considered". Rosenthal took the beautiful black and white photos in this book over a twenty-five year period.

I had trouble tracking down editorial reviews of this book, but here are some excerpts from what others have said about it . . .
I stumbled across this today (thanks to Victor, the-smartest-guy-I-know)...New York Photos.

There's a wonderful book of photos taken by a Chapel Hill native, John Rosenthal, called Regarding Manhattan. My buddies, The Connells, used one of Rosenthal's pictures for the cover of their first record, Darker Days. Rosenthal's work is incredible.

Erica in City Photography at Designs on You.

Every song of lament is simultaneously a song of praise; we only mourn the passing of tings we cherish. And what the images in Regarding Manhattan teach us how to cherish is the overwhelming, sometimes dangerous, yet always enlivening disorder and multiplicity of pleasure, ambition, and desire embodied in this most American of cities.
—Alan Shapiro, from the Introduction

Photographers often set out to celebrate Manhattan, but end up exploiting it instead. John Rosenthal never falls into that trap. His patient images, by turns stark, poignant, and mysterious, are always respectful, never patronizing. He loves Manhattan too much for that.
—Sy Safransky

from the publisher's website.

We have several copies available in stock for $9.95 plus shipping. Contact us by email to order, or use the link above to buy it from us through Amazon.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Book Recommendations — Children's

A few years ago, a family member complained that she couldn’t find well-illustrated children’s books. Just a few months later, I happened to see a wonderful exhibit— the Magic Pencil—at the British Library in London. The exhibit was devoted to thirteen contemporary UK children’s book illustrators. Quentin Blake selected the illustrators for the exhibition, and he was the only illustrator with whom I was familiar before seeing the show. Since then, I’ve bought books by all of the featured illustrators, and I haven't been disappointed. Over the next few weeks, I thought I’d post links to work by each of them.

The first artist is Angela Barrett. She had two very different types of illustrations in the exhibition—some from Josephine Poole’s re-telling of Snow White that were dark and dreamlike paintings, and some from Candide or Optimism that were very detailed ink and paper drawings.

Snow White is out of print (but still available from some Marketplace sellers on Amazon.) Poole and Barrett, though, have also collaborated on a few other books, including Joan of Arc and Anne Frank.











Barrett also has a new book coming out in November—a new version of Beauty and the Beast with author Max Eilenberg. I've only seen one of the inside illustrations, but it's beautiful, and a striking contrast to the Disney version.

Friday, September 15, 2006

New t-shirt at Zazzle

We've added another t-shirt at Zazzle.









Click here to go directly to the product page for this shirt.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Book Recommendation — Children's









Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

I bought a copy of this book at an English language bookstore in Amsterdam this summer (that's just the kind of jet set life we live here at the Bookshop) because I was worried it was a UK book that wouldn't be available in the US. I am happy to report that it is available!

It's a very sweet, simple story of a boy and his penquin friend. Even better than the lovely story, though, are the beautiful illustrations.

It won the Gold Award for the 0-5 age group in the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 2005 competition—an award for UK authors of children's books. My six year old test reader [6TR] enjoyed it very much. He was particularly interested in the author's photo, which looks like it was taken when the author was a very expressive four year old. The 6TR has writerly aspirations of his own, so he was pleased to see that the writer was once a kid himself.

For some reason, Amazon lists the reading level of the book as 9-12, but ignore that advice. It's definitely a picture book that would be most appropriate for 3-6 year olds.

The author has his own website with more information on all of his work--illustrations, books, art, etc.

And if my recommendation isn't enough, here are a few others . . .

The scenario is unlikely, but Jeffers invests it with plausible life, telling the story in pictures of such spare beauty, there is space for the emotion to breathe. Suffused with a dream-like quality, this book will calm even the most overheated of bedtimes.

Sally Williams in The Independent

Oliver Jeffers makes impressive use of space in this affecting story of friendship. Set against the cool blue and white of the South Pole, Jeffers's illustrations capture feelings of loss and loneliness through the most delicate nuances of facial expression and subtle shifts in body language.

Julia Eccleshare in the Guardian

Through beautiful illustrations and a charming story line, this tale makes a poignant and richly enjoyable follow up to the author's award winning, How to Catch a Star.

Booktrusted.co.uk

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

New Arrival — Travel Writing

One of the new books we received this week is Bill Watkins' Scotland is Not for the Squeamish. It's part memoir part travelogue, and a great book for anyone interesting in reading about Scotland.

Watkins now lives in Minnesota, and Casey Selix reviewed the book for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In his review, he wrote . . .

If you want a total immersion in Scottish culture, "Scotland is Not for the Sqeamish" is the way to go. Watkins uses humor, history and his own stories — many true, some a wee stretched — to give context to the rogue country.

You can read the entire review at Bill Watkins' own website.

We have several copies available in stock for $9.95 plus shipping. Contact us by email to order, or use the link above to buy it from us through Amazon.


Tuesday, September 12, 2006

New t-shirt at Zazzle

Another new t-shirt at Zazzle . . .








Click here to go directly to the product page for this shirt.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

A great pirate book — ARRRGGGHHH!!!

If I hadn't heard Gideon Defoe interviewed on NPR, I'm not sure I would have found this book—The Pirates!: An Adventure with Scientists. I went for the two books in one edition, and I'm glad I did.











The humor may not be to everyone's taste, but you can read a nice long excerpt at the Vintage website to get a sense of Defoe's style. (I would have posted a small bit of it here, but we haven't received permission yet.)

You can read more about the author and listen to his NPR interview at the NPR website. (They also have the excerpt posted.)

There's a blog—Ham-stravaganza—devoted to the book

And, of course, some links to reviews . . .
If it's not clear enough by now, Defoe's Pirates is a hilarious read filled with some extremely clever writing. Not for nothing has Monty Python's Eric Idle blurbed it as "destined to become a classic of pirate comic fiction." You'll want to read this one.

Debra Hamel at The BiblioFiles
The tone is gently satiric and genuinely funny, tweaking storytelling conventions ("it was always raining in the London of themadays") that nevertheless make this a seaworthy little page-turner.

Ed Park at The Village Voice

Saturday, September 09, 2006

New t-shirt at Zazzle

We've just added a new t-shirt to our collection at Zazzle. Here's a quick peek . . .









Click here to go directly to the Zazzle page for this shirt.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Children's book of the day








Today's book recommendation is Arnie the Doughnut. Although it was published earlier this year, I've just gotten around to reading it, and both I and my six-year-old test case highly recommend it. The story is about Arnie, a doughnut who is surprised to discover that doughnuts are made to be eaten.

Other reviewers have said . . .
Arnie is one of the cleverest, funniest books I've seen in a long time. . . . As in all of Keller's books, there's an abundance of witty text and amusing illustrations.
Alice Cary, Bookpage

. . . you may be assured that Arnie's journey of self-discovery, disillusionment and survival makes gripping reading. And rereading. Keller's ideas froth and bubble well beyond the brim of her simple plot, and she has generously planted several books' worth of sight gags and witty asides in the margins and backgrounds of her dazzling acrylic-and-collage pages.

. . . Much of the joy of ''Arnie the Doughnut'' -- as with ''Scrambled States'' -- lies in unpacking such visual and verbal delights. Not all of these are lighthearted. ''Sometimes life feels like a big bonk on the head,'' a disconsolate Arnie says. He is right. It's seldom that you find such depth in a doughnut.

Lawrence Downes, The New York Times


Some of the funniest parts of this book are in the little asides spoken by the baked goods themselves.
Candace Schmidt, Kidspoint