September and Spring

Hi everyone
After the wonderful rain last week, Spring seems to have come early to the Riverbend deck where the sun is shining and more than one or two people are basking in it as they read. Our Father's Day catalogue is a point of interest. It features not only books for dads but books dads can share with their kids. One suggestion is bound to please both. Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart have created the Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Mega Beasts, the final in their Encyclopedia Prehistorica series. Mega Beasts showcases more than 35 pop ups which will delight and amaze both young and old.

Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor with illustrations by Robin Preiss Glasser is a delightful, sparkly pink picture book which provides an entree (that's a fancy word for entry) into Nancy's world. Nancy is the fanciest member of her family. She has transformed her bedroom, dresses fancilly (lace trimmed socks do help her play football), speaks fancilly, fancies up her food (sprinkles, frilly toothpicks) and embarks on her most ambitious undertaking, teaching her family how to be fancy. Full of fun, fancy words and gestures this book was a number 1 New York Times bestseller. Nancy would expect nothing less!

Michael Morpurgo's new book Best Mate looks like compulsory reading for dog lovers. Rescued from drowning as a puppy, the greyhound pup becomes Patrick's best mate. When he is kidnapped by a greyhound trainer he becomes a champion who is much loved by Suzie, the trainer's step daughter who renames him Bright Eyes. Best Mate's story does not end here though. Cast aside, kidnapped, adopted or living rough on the street, this dog always finds a way to survive. A great story from a masterful storyteller.

Another great and intriguing story is that of Apache Girl Warrior by Tanya Landman. Siki is an orphan of the Black Mountain Apache. Her mother was killed by Mexicans three years ago and her father lost in an ambush the winter before that. When Siki witnesses the brutal murder of her little brother Tazhi, she vows to become an Apache warrior and avenge her brother's death. The author's motivation in writing the novel was to explore the likelihood of a Native American woman being allowed to bear arms as a warrior. Her research unearthed examples of female warriors and informed the writing of this powerful and thought provoking book.

The Stephenie Meyer books I blogged about last week are walking off the shelves. Have you met Edward and Bella yet?

Enjoy the week
Jane

Book Week Blogging

Hi everyone
I hope that you are all celebrating Book Week well. Congratulations to the winners of the Children's Book Council awards announced last Friday. The full list of winning and honour books in the four fiction categories and the Eve Pownall category for information books can be found on the CBCA website.

If you are school based, have you given any thought to continuing the focus on books and reading beyond Book Week and into National Literacy and Numeracy Week in September? Indigenous Literacy Day on Wednesday September 5th will be a big one for us here at Riverbend when we join over two hundred other booksellers and publishers around Australia in raising funds to address the literacy crisis in remote indigenous communities. We will be donating 5% of takings on the day to the cause and would encourage each of you to help in any way you can. We will have a collection box in the week leading up to the 5th for donations and on Indigenous Literacy Day everyone who buys a book will go into a draw for one of many book prizes which will be drawn on the hour. Please join us if you can. The web link above has many suggestions of ways in which you can be involved.

With a federal election looming, newspaper columnist Danny Katz and illustrator Mitch Vane have produced a timely and rather amusing picture book which explores the democratic process. Rory decides one lunch time that he wants to be the prime minister and sets about convincing his mates in the school yard of his worthiness. Soon the class is holding an election. Who will make a better prime minister, Rory or Debra-Jo Woo?
Let the campaign begin!

Have you discovered Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga (three books so far - Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse, five books planned)? The third in the series, Eclipse has topped the latest US Today bestseller list knocking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from its perch.
These are romances with a difference. In the first book fifteen year old Bella meets and falls in love with Edward who just happens to be a vampire. Set in Seattle, the stories chart not only the progress of Bella and Edward's impossible romance but also the threat posed by other (less friendly) vampires.
Read them with the lights blazing.

Enjoy the Book Week celebrations.
Cheers
Jane

Don't Leave Childhood Without...

Hi Everyone
Many of you will know this great little reference tool. Yesterday we received new stock and I once again enjoyed dipping into this comprehensive list of great books for children. Like all lists, it is out of date as soon as it is compiled but nonetheless this 2004 production is well worth owning. It is a great buying guide for school libraries, or gift for young mothers or a checklist to judge whether or not you've left childhood behind! At just $6.95 it's also very affordable.

Also back on the shelves this week is A Mama for Owen by Marion Dane Bauer with fabulous illustrations by John Butler. Owen is a baby hippo living an idyllic life on the banks of the Sabaki River in East Africa. Following the tsunami of 2004, Owen and his mother are washed out to sea and become separated. Luckily for Owen he meets Mzee and decides that Mzee may well become his newest best friend. Apparently based on a true story, both words and images will delight.

Previously by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman is a tonne of fun. Lots of intertextual references as we arrive home with Goldilocks who had previously been elsewhere and had previously run into a boy named Jack who had previously stolen a hen which lays golden eggs and so on. Who else has previously taken part? Previously I've given enough clues so you'll need to read the book and discover for yourselves.

How many of you are now looking for a Harry Potter alternative? According to its publishers, Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams may be just what you're looking for. Apparently, Barry Cunningham, the man who "discovered" J.K. Rowling chanced upon the audio version of this story and immediately recognised its potential. Fourteen year old Will Burrows and his father live in London. Both have a penchant for digging. When his father mysteriously disappears, Will and his friend Chester decide to investigate and soon find themselves deep underground where they unearth a dark and terrifying secret (and an underground colony.) This is the first in a promised series and may just satisfy those entering Potter withdrawal.

I started this week's installment with a book of lists and will now finish with another. When you've navigated your way through Don't Leave Childhood Without...you might like to turn your attentions to Peter Boxall's very impressive 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. You'll never again wonder what to read next.

Happy reading folks
Cheers
Jane