Right. Back to books.

Whew! I feel like I'm consuming a lot of media these days. But there are so many great stories being told!

I found out that a Judy Moody book is coming out this summer so I decided I had better read the book since I've been meaning to for so long. I read it on the Kindle app on my iPad, it was on sale for $0.99! I enjoyed it. It was cute story and Judy Moody is quite a character. If you like Judy Moody (by Megan McDonald), you might also like Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, Moxy Maxwell by Peggy Gifford & Valorie Fisher, and Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. All funny girls with unique perspectives.

I want to tell you about my new favorite book to read aloud. It just came from Junior Library Guild today and it's called Press Here by Herve Tullet.

This is an interactive book that seems almost magical. On the second page, the reader is asked to press a yellow dot. On the next page, a second yellow dot appears. Press the dot again and a third dot appears on the following page. Gently rubbing the dots changes their colors and shaking the book scrambles the dots. So far, I have read this book to kinder, 2nd, and 3rd classes and they all delighted in it equally. I can't wait to read it to the rest of the classes this week!

Another book I've been reading, well, listening to, is A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. This book is not yet in the Marshall Lane Library, I wanted to read it first because I'd heard that it's pretty dark and grim. I'm about half way through it and I'm finding that it's not so much grim as it is gruesome. This is in keeping with the original Grimm's fairytales, which were not actually meant for children. They were grown-up tales, some of them pretty horrific, that were sanitized or 'bowdlerized' for children. I tend to think this book would fit better in a middle school library. Though, if you are a 5th grader with a taste for blood, you can check it out from the public library. I would recommend reading it rather than listening to it. I don't care for the reader of the audiobook, I think the voice in my own head would sound better. Um, I think you know what I mean here.

Other stories I've been enjoying: Doctor Who. If you aren't watching this series (Saturdays on BBC America), you must start now! Last Saturday's episode was written by my favorite author Neil Gaiman, I may have mentioned him before in this blog. You may also have seen a picture of him signing a copy of the Graveyard Book on my Author Shrine in the library. If you are a Doctor Who fan and haven't read anything by Mr. Gaiman, you need to pick up a copy of The Graveyard Book or Coraline immediately! I've also been really enjoying Game of Thrones which is based on a series by George R. R. Martin and it's Totally Not For Children so I won't discuss it here. In comics, I'm still working my way through Sandman, Walking Dead, and Transmetropolitan. These titles are also Totally Not For Children, but I still check in with the Comix for Kids app to see if anything interesting pops up. I think I'm going to pick up Atomic Robo and see how that goes.

And finally, while I've been doing all this media consumption I've been working on a baby blanket for a dear friend's first baby. Here is a picture:

Lastly, you should follow Adam Rex (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, The True Meaning of Smekday) on Twitter. Today he tweeted a really funny poem about a smelly elephant in an elevator. Well, that's all I have to say for now. The library will be closing soon but the blog will continue on through the summer like it did last year. If there is anything you think I should read, tell me about it!