Literary Lights for Children

This past weekend, Cheryl, Margie and I had the pleasure of attending the Literary Lights for Children event at the Boston Public Library. This annual event honors five children's book authors and illustrators with an afternoon reception in the Bates Reading Hall at the BPL, with each honoree speaking to an audience of children and adults, after an introduction by a middle-school aged student of the Boston Public Schools. The receptions are beautifully decorated, with dainty cookies and lemonade and iced tea. And the authors, this year, as in other years, were terrifically inspiring.

Getting to hear words of wisdom from Sook Nyul Choi, Katherine Paterson, Brian Selznick, and Sarah Stewart (with accompanying illustration by her husband, David Small), was a treat.

I was especially transfixed hearing the inspiring life story of Sook Nyul Choi, growing up in occupied, and then communist, Korea. Her memories of books being forbidden when she was a child, and of her mother covering the windows, lighting a single candle, and reciting traditional poetry and stories to her at night until they all fell asleep, were amazing.

All of the honorees spoke so warmly about their love of books--actual physical books!--and their power to teach and inspire and comfort and befriend equally across the boundaries of all of life's circumstances.

A booksigning after the event left me laden with a pile of new books to add to my bedside table. My favorite takeaway from the event: a postcard from Sarah Stewart with a photo of her elaborate garden on the front, and her tips for aspiring writers on the back. Tip #1: Study Latin. Tip #5: Put your ambition into writing, never into making money.

Loved this event.

New Book Releases this Fall!

Hey all you children's booklovers! Here is a reminder of some of the highly anticipated book releases this fall:

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, sequel to The Hunger Games: NOW AVAILABLE

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo, author of Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie, and Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: NOW AVAILABLE

Big Frog Can't Fit In, new pop-up picture book by Mo Willems, coming October 6th.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney, coming OCTOBER 12th! Preorder now from The Blue Bunny.

US History Buff??

My son Ian just finished reading a book titled The First Shot written by Stanley Harris. This is a great book for anyone in 5th-7th that is going to be studying or is interested in American History, (which we are this year).. He LOVED it..

Eleven-year old Charles Miller goes back in time to the Battle of Lexington in 1775. His adventure begins when he is visited by Ben Sampson, also eleven, who lives in 1775. Charles meets Ben's fahter, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Sam Adams and Captain John Parker during a time of tension, danger and excitement as the Minuteman await the approaching Redcoats. Charles is a witness to the Battle as he solves one of the greatest mysteries of American history-who fired the shot that began the Battle of Lexington....The First Shot.

This book is available to order from The Blue Bunny, just give us a call.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

I've been reading lots of books all summer: adult, young adult, and middle grade, both fiction and non-fiction. I finally grabbed "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead from the shelf at The Blue Bunny, and put it at the top of my pile of bedside books. I had read so many reviews singing the praises of this intermediate level children's novel, I figured I'd better see what the fuss was about. And.... I really liked it! In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like it.

What I liked about it (without giving it away): it's interesting, thought-provoking, mind-boggling, sweet, funny, very entertaining, and just right in so many ways for middle-grade readers (I love this about it). It takes place in the seventies, and reminds me in some hard-to-grasp way of so many books I loved as a kid. The nuances of character Stead creates are just perfect, and the plot development is a wonder.

This book feels very real, yet surreal, and smart, and funny, and is full of many universal truths hidden in the fictional lives of these city kids in 1979. Check it out, and hang on for the ride!

Blue Bunny on the Road this Summer

Summer is winding down, and I'm taking stock of all the wonderful events we have had. One success story: Blue Bunny on the Road. We did two events at the Dedham Public Library (John Lechner booksigning of "The Clever Stick," and Hallie Durand booksigning of "Dessert First"), and two events at the Milton Public Library (Julie Hahnke booksigning of "The Grey Ghost," and Deb Kovacs and Catie Copley booksigning of "Catie Copley's Great Escape"). (See photo of Catie and Copley Plaza concierge Jim Carey).

We also took our popular Blue Bunny Storytime program on the road with 4 visits to the Dedham Community House Day Camp, 2 visits to Dedham's Early Childhood Education Center Summer Program, and a visit to the KinderCare DayCare and Preschool in Westwood. All were great fun and warmly received.

Welcome to Blue Bunny Tracks

Hello to all our Blue Bunny friends. Welcome to our new blog. Our staff will be posting recent news from the store, including information about upcoming events, and reviews of all the wonderful books we have been reading. We're glad you found us. And when you can, hop on down to our wonderful little store in Dedham Square, MA.