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10/25/2017 0 Comments Forest Born by Shannon Hale
10/17/2017 0 Comments Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie How I Found: Like all lost things from childhood, they resurface, and I have an affinity for all children's books, classics in particular. Coming across another illustrated version of Peter Pan is something I can never just fly past. The story of the boy-who-never-grows up is one we all hold tight to because each of us is inclined to think happy thoughts, even when they need a little pixie dust. I am drawn to illustrated versions because it is like looking at the magic through the artist's eyes and new details are revealed in each interpretation. Why You Might Read: I recently pulled my copies off the shelves as bedtime stories for my children whose imaginations are ready for a more sustained story, and each night when the chapter begins, they are pulled in by both the words and the pictures. As their imaginations explode with the magic of an unforgettable tale, I am reminded of my own childhood, how we all have a Hook to defeat, and that time is but a grumpy crocodile who only haunts those who are fearful of it.
 How I Found: Amongst the piles of books given to an avid reader for her babies, this little bunny was hidden. Margaret Wise Brown is best remembered for Goodnight Moon and, secondarily, The Big Red Barn. Both vividly illustrated and unforgettably written, just reading the first line of these no doubt sets off the rest of the story photographed on your mind. But, Runaway Bunny is a different sort of story. One that reveals a mother's love despite our babes being ready to run as soon as they can crawl, but it is also a precursor to picture books without words that rely solely on the illustrations. Why You Might Read: Just like Brown's other books, the lyricism and pictures pull you in, but your little readers will love looking for little bunny in the pictures by Clement Hurd and the novel ways mother bunny invents to bring him home. Then, like all good mummy bunnies she gives him his good food, and he his satisfied to be still in mum's cozy home, for awhile.
10/3/2017 0 Comments Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
 How I Found: In honor of this year's banned book week, I spent some time with one of my all-time favorites, Fahrenheit 451. The irony of this book being banned and censored when the message is to bring books back to a culture that relies instead on technology and danger for entertainment makes it worth a yearly re-read. Not to mention how eerily closer and closer the similarities between the dystopia and our own society grow. From the decades-ago that I first read this book, until now, there have been leaps and bounds in the advances of technology matched with Bradbury's other frightening predictions for our future; the discomfort of reading this too-close-for-comfort book, may be just the wakeup call society is dialing for.
Why You Might Read: One can't help but hope that every reluctant or reticent reader has the opportunity to delve into this short novel that packs so much between its less than 200 pages. It will spark ideas never considered about the hows and why of reading that may just be the nudge needed toward starting their own reading fire. And, if you're among the bibliophiles of the world, read it for the first time or again. I have no doubt you'll appreciate its ability to add fuel to your fire even if your just coming back to it like an old friend met around a campfire. |
S.M.(M).LI am a reader who was brought to the world of books by being read to as a child, a wonderful librarian, scores of dedicated teachers, and the friends who still talk to me about books. This page is dedicated to all readers as a way to help you find books for you and yours as they were found by me. Let their pages turn your life into a world of magic, reality, and possibility. Archives
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