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Return to Sender, by Julia Alvarez. 2010 Pura Belpre Award Winner. This should be required reading for anyone with a strong opinion on the immigration issue. I don’t know if it will change minds, but perhaps it will put a human face, as well as a different perspective, on the issue so that perhaps [...]
New York Times Bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima kicks off the release of her latest young adult fantasy novel on Sept. 28 at the Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St, Hudson). From 6 – 8 p.m. Chima will sign copies of Exiled Queen, second in her popular Seven Realms series from Disney/Hyperion. She will give a brief [...]
Sept. 25 through Oct. 2 is national Banned Books Week. Since 1982 libraries, schools and book stores around the nation have used the last week in September as a time to celebrate and protect freedom of speech. The goal of this week is to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature. [...]
On Sept. 25, Amanda Flower will bring her new mystery novel, Maid of Murder, to the Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St, Hudson) from 3 to 5 p.m. The first in a series of who-done-its, Maid of Murder is set in a small college town in Northeast Ohio, and features the unlikely but game sleuth, librarian [...]
The Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main St. in Hudson, will have an open house for book clubs and their members Sept. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. The book shop will offer refreshments, giveaways and recommendations for reading choices. There will be a Book Talk about new books for clubs at 7 p.m. Guests [...]
All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee. 2010 Caldecott Honor book. This book’s rhyming story is matched with classic-feeling illustrations. The action goes from a beach to a farm, to a market and home. There’s nice repetition with the phrases, and I can picture reading this as a bedtime story. Thought the [...]
The Lion and the Mouse, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. 2010 Caldecott Award. This is a beautifully illustrated, nearly wordless retelling of the classic fable about the lion and the mouse. A lion takes pity on a small mouse, which in turn saves his life later. The illustrations are lovely, very realistic, but the two main [...]
Gracias Thanks, by Pat Mora, with illustrations by John Parra. 2010 Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor book. I loved this book! Told in Spanish and English. From the start of the day to bedtime and dreamland, the little boy in the story finds many things to be thankful for. From ladybugs to ocean waves to family, [...]
Diego: Bigger than Life, by Carmen Bernier-Grand, with illustrations by David Diaz. 2010 Pura Belpre Honor Book and Illustrator Honor book. This book on Diego Riveras, well-known artist, is told through colorful illustrations and free verse, a series of chronological poems. The illustrations are colorful, stencil-like, almost abstract at times. It also includes a synopsis [...]
Book Fiesta, by Pat Mora, with illustrations by Rafael Lopez. 2010 Pura Belpre Illustrator Award. A charming book which celebrates both Spanish and reading. Text is in Spanish and English. The illustrations are bold and colorful; this would be a good story-hour book. I like how the backgrounds reflect the journeys the books are taking [...]