Soon to Be Classics

Isn't it fantastic that book reviews can come from so many places? Publishers, avid readers, friends, father-in-laws, librarian bloggers, and a few months back Real Simple Family magazine even threw their hat in the ring.  In a piece called, "Soon to Be Classic Kids' Books," Christopher Healy called out a handful of new books that he thinks "are destined to be read out loud, or under the covers with a flashlight, for years to come."  Given LP Reads' familiarity with a few of the titles, we'd have to agree that he has compiled a list worth checking out.  Top of our list, is Art and Max by David Weisner.

When books include a dash of meta-anything, the result is so often thought provoking, and in this case, just plain fun.  This simple book will leave you pondering the creation of art while your children will be lost in the playful and fantastically rendered pictures.  Healy summarizes,

When Art the iguana asks Max the lizard to paint him, Max takes the request literally, covering his friend in artistic styles from Seurat-like pointillism to the line drawing.  It's fast-paced slapstick but also a celebration of art itself.

Another book Healy recommends is The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood (and we'd add in the sequel The Loud Book).

One family we know who read the book months back is still entertaining themselves thinking of their own kinds of quiet.

Additional titles from the article include Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce; City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems (illustrated by John Muth -- an amazing combination); Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Scott Magoon; Supposing... by Alastair Reid; The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz; and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger.

We hope that one of these titles will be a resounding hit in at least one Moraga home this holiday season.

Gift Ideas from Orinda Books

Wondering what books would be the best for the young (or old) ones on your list this year?  Be sure to stop in to Orinda Books to hear from some experts!  On December 1st at 2 p.m., they will host a book sharing talk with Dandy Conway from Random House Children's Books, Wendy Pearl of Penguin Books, and Ron Shoop of Random House. There will be refreshments, a raffle, and lots of great book finds.  See you there!

The Phantom is 50 and the Back-Seat Book Club

LP Reads is very excited to host our first guest blogger.  Thank you Kana Ryan for your contribution. 

When looking for a new book to read, I often look to some of my favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Lamott, Anna Quindlen and Jane Hamilton, just to name a few. As parents, we can help our kids make connections to authors as yet another way to encourage and excite them about reading. A couple of years ago I took my son to see Rick Riordan speak. He was on tour to launch the first book in his new series The Lost Hero – Heroes of Olympus. It was a pleasure to hear him talk about how he got the ideas for his books and to watch my son’s excitement at getting the author’s autograph on his well-loved book, The Lightning Thief. Most authors these days have websites and if they are touring their schedule will be posted there.

As another way to connect young readers to books by great authors, NPR just started the Back-Seat Book Club, a book club for kids. Each month they pick a new book, encourage kid readers to send in questions and then host a discussion with the author. 

For November, NPR picked The Phantom Tollbooth by author Norton Juster and illustrator Jules Feiffer. The timing is perfect because this year The Phantom Tollbooth is celebrating its 50 year anniversary! 

If you like The Phantom Tollbooth, perhaps you and your child will find yourselves interested in more books by Norton Juster – hint, hint “The Odious Ogre” or more books illustrated by Jules Feiffer. Who knows where your curiosity will take you -- as Milo learns -- enjoy the journey!

Who Knew? Loan Your Kindle Books

A while back, I learned from a tech-savvy friend that you can lend books that you have downloaded to your Kindle.  "Wow, who would have known?" was my first thought.  My second thought was, "Maybe everyone but me."

In the event that you too fall into the "didn't know" category about this novel little lending tidbit, here's how you do it:

• Click on the "Manage Your Kindle" tab in the Kindle Store.
• A list of the titles you have purchased will come up.
• Click on the "action" button to see if the title you have selected is lending approved.
• Lend away by entering the recipient's email address.

The publishers decide on the terms of the loan.  For example, our 39 Clues books appear to be loanable once for 14 days.

Perhaps we could all be sharing our Kindle books as well as our title suggestions.  If you'd like to borrow 39 Clues Book number 2, 4, 5, 8, or 9, send an email to lpreads @ gmail.com and we'll get it right over to you.  If you'd like to loan any of your books, please leave the title and your email address in the comments.

With the holidays coming, this could be a good time to give a Kindle a try.  Prices have just gone down to $79 for the entry level model.  Be sure to click through to Amazon using the link to the right!