Saturday, December 5, 2009

Alphabooks or Christmas in Camelot

Alphabooks

Author: Julie Aigner Clark

Learning the alphabet has never been more fun than with these 26 mini board books. Real-life photos and illustrations of everyday objects help teach Baby about each letter, and every mini board book can be stored and carried in a colorfully decorated Alphabooks box.



Books about: Patton on Leadership or Organizational Culture and Leadership

Christmas in Camelot (Magic Tree House Series #29)

Author: Sal Murdocca

The Magic Tree House series has become a staple for inspiring kids to read. Christmas in Camelot is a very special Magic Tree House book. Here, author Mary Pope Osborne uses the literary skills for which she’s known to create a longer, more in-depth story featuring the characters kids have come to love. The result is magical: a fast-paced but detailed, easy-to-read story. Jack and Annie go on a quest to save Camelot, a quest that will prove to a beleaguered King Arthur that children and imagination really can make a difference.


From the Hardcover edition.



Friday, December 4, 2009

Ralph Mouse Collection or Olivia

Ralph Mouse Collection: The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, Ralph S. Mouse (Cleary Reissue Series)

Author: Beverly Cleary

All your favorite Ralph Mouse tales in one boxed set — just in time for the holiday season!

Children's Literature

A motorcycle riding mouse named Ralph will capture children's hearts and imaginations in the three books that make up this collection. Readers first meet young Ralph in his home at the Mountain View Inn, where he dreams of adventures beyond his tiny mouse hole. Ralph meets a young hotel guest named Keith with a toy motorcycle and exciting things start happening. Children who get attached to Ralph in the first book will be happy to follow him as he seeks adventures at camp and at school in the author's two follow-up books. Ralph is, at turns, resourceful and daring, curious and scared, and friendly but cautious; much like many of the readers of his tales. This collection, which includes The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, and Ralph S. Mouse, takes readers into a fantastic world, where it is easy to believe that an enterprising mouse can really ride a motorcycle. 2002, HarperTrophy/HarperCollins, $17.85. Ages 7 to 11. Reviewer: Jeanne K. Pettenati AGES: 7 8 9 10 11



Look this: Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings or How to Be a Working Actor

Olivia

Author: Ian Falconer

Have fun with Olivia:

  • dressing up
  • singing songs
  • building sand castles
  • napping (maybe)
  • dancing
  • painting on walls
  • and -- whew! -- going to sleep at last.

Publishers Weekly

Equal parts endearing and impetuous, Ian Falconer's acclaimed star, Olivia, appears in an unabridged board book version of the Caldecott Honor title. In our Best Books citation, PW wrote, "With a masterful use of black line, a minimum of details, a judicious use of the color red and a few choice words, Falconer invents an unforgettable porcine heroine."

Children's Literature

Olivia is a masterpiece of simplicity that portrays the complex, imaginative psyche of children. Olivia's boundless energy tests her mother's patience and her little brother's endurance, while wrapping herself into the reader's heart. Deciding what to wear takes a full page of choices, all executed in charcoal and gouache with highlights of red. With humor and honest emotions, Olivia is "every child" who accepts Degas, Jackson Pollock and Maria Callas as equals. Her bedroom walls reflect her Pollock phase, which causes Mom to say, "Time out!" When Olivia negotiates with her mother over the number of books to be read at bedtime, every parent smiles. Olivia is a Caldecott Honor Book that proves the maxim that "less is more." 2000, Antheneum, $16.00. Ages 4 up. Reviewer: Jan Lieberman

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3-From the articles of clothing strewn across the front endpapers of this droll account of Olivia's escapades, readers may surmise that this porcine heroine is no ordinary youngster. Olivia is constantly on the move, dreaming big dreams and meeting every challenge head-on. She doesn't just get dressed, she tries on every outfit in the closet. She doesn't just dance, she envisions herself as a prima ballerina bowing before an adoring audience. When her mother teaches her to build sand castles, Olivia creates a towering structure that closely resembles the Chrysler Building in New York City. When she views a Jackson Pollack painting in the museum, she immediately concludes that she can do better and proceeds to try her hand at painting a wall at home. Her efforts earn her time out and a bath. The text is brief, funny, and sometimes ironic in relation to the highly amusing illustrations. The only touches of color in the pictures, executed in charcoal and gouache, are the bright reds of the clothing or objects used by Olivia. There are often many renderings of the young pig on each large white background, effectively demonstrating her boundless energy. Even at day's end, she is still going strong, negotiating the number of books to be read at bedtime. For a lively storyhour featuring feisty females, pair this with Kevin Henkes's stories about Lilly.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT |

People Magazine

High energy piglet Olivia excels at all kinds of things, especially wearing people out. A charming tale sure to strike a chord with the grade school set.

The Christian Science Monitor - Karen Carden

Not only is this one terrific picture book, but it's Falconer's first...Illustrations are stunning, done in stark black and white with splashes of true red. Together, the words and pictures evoke smiles, giggles, and a rare but thrilling sense that this book may be absolutely perfect.

Time - Richard Corliss

Falsoner, whose work has appeared on New Yorker covers, has given her [Olivia} so much porcine panache that she would win over even the strictest parent. Most of the time.

Kirkus Reviews

Even before her story begins, readers are following Olivia as she leaves a trail of clothes that she has eschewed in favor of the outfit du jour for her auspicious entrance on the title page. Rarely have readers seen a pig with such joie de vivre and panache. The brief, declarative text is an unadorned introduction to a character who will gain instant recognition and quickly be taken to heart. The story very simply follows the irrepressible Olivia (along with her somewhat forbearing family) through a typical day from morning to night, with excursions to the beach and the art museum. A delicious irony is established between the spare, deadpan text and the ever-ebullient and excessive Olivia. "Olivia gets dressed. She has to try on everything," says the text. Thus begins a parade of 17 outfits and 17 poses on a double-page spread. While young readers will love picking their favorite among the 17, by far the funniest is Olivia in her pantyhose. Much of Olivia's personality is conveyed through her generous, expressive, and slightly quizzical mouth, as she ponders a Degas at the museum or suffers the indignity of a "time out" after re-creating a Jackson Pollock on her bedroom wall. Characterizations are deftly accomplished with minimal line. Illustrations are rendered in charcoal and gouache in black, white, velvety gray with lipstick-red accents. Flawless decisions in composition and page design, generous white space, and a few exaggerated perspectives add much to the book's distinction. Although the most visual weight is given to Olivia, just waiting on the sidelines is Olivia's little brother Ian. New fans of Falconer can only hope Ian will soon star in his own book.



Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Cajun Night before Christmas or Little House

Cajun Night Before Christmas

Author: Howard Jacobs

This Cajun Christmas classic is in full-color. Take the traditional story of jolly old St. Nicholas, dress him in muskrat from his head to his toes, pile his skiff high with toys, and hitch it to 8 friendly flying alligators.



Look this: Ghost Train to the Eastern Star or Streetwise Ireland Map Laminated Country Road Map of Ireland Folding Pocket Size Travel Map

Little House (9-Book Boxed Set)

Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder

The set includes: Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.

Little House in the Big Woods

Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.

Little House on the Prairie

Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

Farmer Boy

While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn to supper most days — no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.

On the Banks of Plum Creek

Laura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. The money for materials will come from their first wheat crop. Then, just before the wheat is ready toharvest, a strange glittering cloud fills the sky, blocking out the sun. Soon millions of grasshoppers cover the field and everything on the farm. In a week's time, there is no wheat crop left at all.

By the Shores of Silver Lake

Pa Ingalls heads west to the unsettled wilderness of the Dakota Territory. When Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and baby Grace join him, they become the first settlers in the town of De Smet. And Pa begins work on the first building in what will soon be a brand-new town on the shores of Silver Lake.

The Long Winter

The first terrible storm comes to the barren prairie in October. Then it snows almost without stopping until April. Snow has reached the rooftops, and no trains can get through with food or coal. The people of De Smet are starving, including Laura's family, who wonder how they're going to make it through this terrible winter. It is young Almanzo Wilder who finally understands what needs to be done. He must save the town, even if it means risking his own life.

Little Town on the Prairie

The long winter is over. With spring come socials, parties, and "Literaries." There is also work to be done. Laura spends many hours each day sewing shirts to help send Mary to a college for the blind. But in the evenings, Laura makes time for a new caller, Almanzo Wilder.

These Happy Golden Years

Laura is teaching school, and it's terrifying! Most of the students are taller than she is, and she must sleep away from home for the first time. Laura is miserable, but the money is needed to keep Mary in a college for the blind. And every Friday — no matter what the weather — Almanzo Wilder arrives to take Laura home to her family for the weekend. Laura and Almanzo are courting, and even though she's not yet sixteen, she knows that this is a time for new beginnings.

The First Four Years

Laura and Almanzo Wilder have just been married! Their life on a small prairie homestead begins with high hopes. But each year seems to bring unexpected disasters — storms, sickness, fire, and unpaid debts. These first four years call for courage, strength, and a great deal of determination. Always, though, there is love, especially for the newest member of the family — baby Rose.



Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Elmos 12 Days of Christmas or Love You Forever

Elmo's 12 Days of Christmas

Author: Sarah Albe

What does a Sesame Street Christmas celebrate? How about: Three French friends, two yummy cookies, a red monster up in a tree, and lots more! Sing and laugh along with this hilarious Sesame Street version of the favorite Christmas carol.



Love You Forever

Author: Robert Munsch

A young woman holds her newborn son
And looks at him lovingly.


Softly she sings to him:

"I'll love you forever

I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living

My baby you'll be."

So begins the story that has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Since publication in l986, Love You Forever has sold more than 15 million copies in paperback and the regular hardcover edition (as well as hundreds of thousands of copies in Spanish and French).

Firefly Books is proud to offer this sentimental favorite in a variety of editions and sizes:

We offer a trade paper and laminated hardcover edition in a 8" x 8" size.

In gift editions we carry:

a slipcased edition (8 1/2" x 8 1/4"), with a laminated box and a cloth binding on the book

and a 10" x 10" laminated hardcover with jacket.

And a Big Book Edition, 16" x 16" with a trade paper binding.

Boston Globe - David Maloof

The one book that has the most meaning to me.