Rebecca Stead at Books Inc.

One of our favorite Middle Grade books of 2009 was ALSO the Newbery Award winner. That's right - WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead is a title that captured our imaginations and hearts, and we've been talking about it for months.

Well guess what? REBECCA STEAD WILL BE AT BOOKS INC. TONIGHT!!

Here's a reader review of the book:

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
"This is a book that has friendship, trust, and adventure. Sal, Miranda’s best friend, stops talking to her after he is beaten up by another boy. Miranda is then forced to try to make new friends. Meanwhile, Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes of what is to occur, before it happens. This is a wonderful page-turner tale, where at the end, everything comes full circle."
- review by Spencer, 5th grade

Upcoming kids events around the bay!

Nancy Farmer visits Books Inc. Mountain View
Thursday December 3, 7:00 pm
National Book Award winner, Printz Award honoree and multiple Newbery Honor winner Nancy Farmer will discuss ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED, the much-anticipated conclusion to the Norse adventures of the Sea of Trolls trilogy.

"Farmers richly imagined saga is filled with danger, action, delightful comedy, and sly jabs at contemporary issues, and she builds upon the series strong foundation while exploring new themes and questions." -- Booklist, starred review

12/3/09 - 7:00pm
Books Inc. Mountain View
301 Castro St, MV
(650) 428-1234

Storytime with Author/Illustrator Susan Gal
Saturday, December 5, 11:00 am
Author and illustrator Susan Gal will be on hand to introduce her wonderful new picture book NIGHT LIGHTS. From the porch light by the front door to the firelight (and firefly light!) of a backyard cookout to the candles on a cake, everything seems to glow in this warm and cozy book.

12/5/09 -- 11:00am
Books Inc. in Berkeley
1760 4th St.
(510) 525-7777


Launch Party with Edna Cabcabin Moran
Sunday, December 6, 2:00pm
Can you catch a coqui frog as he's sitting on a log? Can you hear him in the night with a croak so high and bright? Join illustrator Edna Cabcabin Moran on December 6th for the book launch of CAN YOU CATCH A COQUI FROG- just in time for your holiday gift-giving!

12/6/09 -- 2:00pm
Books Inc. in Alameda
1344 Park St.
(510) 522-2226

Our favorite Thanskgiving treat!

When Arthur is sent out to bring home the family's Thanksgiving turkey, he returns instead with Henrietta -- a 266-pound chicken hell-bent on destruction. This is an absurd and hilarious Thanksgiving story that is sure to make every member of the family crack up.

THE HOBOKEN CHICKEN EMERGENCY by Daniel Pinkwater is at this point a classic, and with good reason. The 30th anniversary edition with cute illustrations by Tony Auth is available at Books Inc. for only $4.99 - you can't beat that for per-laugh value!

If you're feeling nostalgic, check out the kid from Christmas Story trying to teach a ginormous chicken to slide in the 80's movie adaptation... THE BOOK IS BETTER, I promise. ;-)

Duck, Duck.... Kangaroo?

the wonderful world of words!

My favorite pick for holiday gift-giving, appealing for wordlovers of all ages, is the New York Review of Books Classics reissue of poet Alastair Reed's OUNCE DICE TRICE. NYRB are great curators and always choose wonderful old treasures to reissue, and this is no exception. Plus the books themselves are of such high quality that they will be sure to be loved for many more years to come.

Get ready, Friends and Family - this one is coming your way! :-)

What can words be, or rather, what can’t they be? Poet Alastair Reid introduces children and adults to the wondrous waywardness of words in Ounce Dice Trice, a delicious confection and a wildly unexpected exploration of sound and sense and nonsense that is like nothing else. Reid offers light words (willow, whirr, spinnaker) and heavy words (galoshes, mugwump, crumb), words on the move and odd words, words that read both ways and words that read the wrong way around (rezagrats), along with much else. Accompanied by Ben Shahn’s glorious drawings, Ounce Dice Trice is a book of endless delights, not to mention the only place where you can find the answer to the question: What is a gongoozler? Well, all I can say is quoz.

Caring for Dinos and Feeding Ghosts

Oh My Gosh, Stories!
with Laura Joy Rennert
Debut picture book author Laura Joy Rennert shows us everything we could ever want to know about BUYING, TRAINING & CARING FOR YOUR DINOSAUR at this ROAR-licious storytime!

Saturday, 10/24, 11am
Books Inc. in the Marina
2251 Chestnut St, SF
415-931-3633

Ying Chang Compestine
Share stories of ghostly horror with Ying Chang Compestine, the author of the new collection of spine-tingling tales from China, A BANQUET FOR HUNGRY GHOSTS.

Thursday, 10/29, 7pm
Books Inc. Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness, SF
415-776-1111


Halloween Storytime
Local author Ying Compestine is back, this time sharing spooky stories for the younger set. This creepy Halloween storytime is especially for kids who dare to be scared.

Saturday, 10/31, 2pm
Books Inc. in Alameda
1344 Park St
510-522-2226

Building your library...

Two recent picture book biographies will not only appeal to art & architecture fans, but might just inspire a young person to take a closer look at the world around them:

BUILDING ON NATURE: The Life of Antoni Gaudi by Rachel Rodriguez explores the childhood inspirations of the Catalonian architect and how they affected his work. Young Gaudi was fascinated by honeycombs, leaf patterns and other natural phenomena. It was these early interests that would become vaulting cathedral walls and strange curving chimneys, and readers will love to explore the buildings he created (even if only on the page). Julie Paschkis has done a stunning job incorporating the sinewy grace and movement that characterizes Art Nouveau style with child-friendly details. You'll feel like you are inside one of Gaudi's own creations!

EAST-WEST HOUSE: Noguchi's Childhood in Japan by Christy Hale focuses on the early years of architect Isamu Noguchi. Isamu was born to a Japanese father and a white American mother and raised partly in Japan, where he was bullied for being gaijin (a foreigner). Like Gaudi, young Isamu turned to the beauty of the natural world and made it an inspiration for his art. His mother was supportive of Isamu's artistic bent and allowed him, at age 8, to help design their home. It would be known as the East-West house, and would combine elements of traditional Japanese and Western design. And the book itself does the same - Hale's wonderful collages manage to evoke both traditional Japanese woodblock art and Midcentury American cool. Simply gorgeous.

Christy Hale will be launching her book EAST-WEST HOUSE at Books Inc. in Palo Alto this Saturday, 6pm-8pm