One of the best things about working here is sorting through the new titles we get in and discovering books I normally wouldn't be paying attention to. Lately, I've been quite tickled by the board books I've come across.

While we have the more typical board books that teach babies basic concepts and the familiar stories we grew up with, we also have fun and innovative titles.

In the tradition of Dorothy Kunhardt's Pat the Bunny series, Amelie Graux wrote and illustrated a couple of touch-and-feel books that give English, French, and Spanish translations of first words centering around certain themes like eating and sleeping. Every page is vibrant and colorful and is sure to captivate even the youngest readers while they learn different languages.

These next books by Sebestian Braun have been all the rage with us. Kids (and adults!) will enjoy flipping the pages and trying on the different masks they turn into! The titles in the series are: "Look at Me, I'm a Monster!", "Look at Me, I'm a Robot!", "Look at Me, I'm an Alien!", and "Look at Me, I'm a Clown!"

Here we are as an alien and robot!

So, if you're looking for fun books for your young ones, these board books are for you!

Happy Reading,
Earl

Being surrounded by books all day, I can't help but be inspired by them. I've wanted to be a writer since I was a young boy growing up in the Philippines. I often got in trouble because I would scribble on the pages of the Little Golden Books my grandmother bought me. I like to think that was just my subconscious trying to tell me what I should do with my life.

If you've caught the writing bug yourself, we definitely have fun stuff you need- and don't need! We have your traditional journals to scribble down your ideas in- as well as a handful of Ex Libris Anonymous' wonderful hand-made vintage ones. My favorites though are the mini-book and pencil sets that dispenses from a vending machine! Not very practical but they're quite interesting.

I'm a bit jealous of the Bookmaking Around the World classes for the kiddies (grades K to 2) starting up later this month. Fortunately, we have great titles for adults interested in creating their own books- "How to Make Books" and "Magic Books and Paper Toys" both by Esther K. Smith, just to name a few.

If you're looking for a great book to give to the aspiring writer in your life (or even for yourself), consider "Rocket Writes a Story" by Tad Hills. I think it's perfect for anyone regardless of how old they are.

I'm sure you'll find just the "write" stuff on your next visit here to get your creative juices flowing!

Happy Reading (and Happy Writing!),
Earl

Dearest Reader!

We hope this letter finds you well and wild-minded! As the weather turns and we turn to our writing desks and our reading chairs, a couple of are new books are reviving our love for books about LETTER-writing!

Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani: What starts as a class project penpalship between an Indian girl who has just emigrated to Queens and a boy living on a mountain in the Appalachians buds into an incredible best-friendship. This book is a great primer on activism, what it means to be American, and cross-cultural understanding--all written in letter form! A totally eye-opening look at two unfamiliar worlds for kids growing up in the NW! As a bonus, both of the correspondents are emerging creative writers exchanging artistic ideas by mail like real grown-up writers do!

Letters to Leo by Amy Hest: A totally darling book of letters from spunky fourth-grade budding writer and artist Annie Rossie to her new pup Leo. Annie has a marvelous sense of humor in merry moods and muddy ones. Annie confides in Leo re. normal school things like spelling bees and best friend spats, but also writes about the death of her mother, which Hest treats tenderly and thoughtfully. This book could spur some pretty cool writing prompts too! A good reminder that you can write letters to reveal things to yourself and that addressing them to a real reader is NOT NECESSARY! 

Thank You, Miss Doover by Robin Pulver: A riotous book about letter-writing conventions, creative communication, and the role of revision! Jack makes knee-slapping mistake after knee-slapping mistake in thanking his Great Aunt Gertie for a stationary set he was less than ecstatic to receive: "Dear Aunt Gertie, Thank you for the USEFUL gift. It's my own personal paper, in case you forgot. It's not my favorite gift, but I have used it a lot. Just ask my mom. Love, Jack."

The Jolly Postman by veteran children's book authors the Ahlbergs: This interactive "archive" of letters between nursery rhyme characters was my prize possession as a kid and a fledgling epistler! The book contains a series of real pullout letters! Very sophisticated. I made a whole series knockoffs, composing possible exchanges between my favorite storybook personalities! What might a Wild Thing have to say to Stellaluna!?

It's a bit early for Christmas considerations, but J.R.R. Tolkien's collection of Letters from Father Christmas to his own children is stunning, silly, and utterly special. Tolkien wrote and illustrated the book himself, adding a new letter each Christmas until his children were grown! Check out the regular version or the pop-out version, structured like The Jolly Postman.

Visit the store to check out kajillions of accessories to jumpstart creative correspondence--
things like our WORLD'S SMALLEST POSTAL SERVICE kit, cartoony stationary sets, letterpress greeting cards, and Japanese stickers!