In February I shared a lovely Book Lover’s Teapot and I found that the artist who made that one also makes another! How cool is that? You can buy this (or this other one) at this website:...

Curses For Sale (Ravens Pass) by Steven Brezenoff is a fun, easy read for young adults and older children. For me, it was reminiscent of the Goosebump series of my childhood. Scary danger just around the corner but the main characters usually do the right thing, even if it means having to face their fears or let go of something I want. This story follows that pattern–it is one in a series of four books, I believe, though I haven’t read any of the other books yet. I definitely will. You can read them all or you can read just one, you will enjoy the experience, at least with Curses For Sale, you will! This is the story of Jace who loves cars. He gets a little red toy car from a garage sale and it takes on a life of its own. Things start to “happen” and he soon, he and his best friend decide they must know where the car came from and how it became so extraordinary. And an adventure they have… I won’t spoil the fun but rather encourage you to pick up Curses For Sale (Ravens Pass) and I will get the other three in the series and see what else happens… at Raven’s Pass. =) *I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review of this...

Skinny Dipping in Daylight by Cory Basil is a book of poetry and prose, words dancing from one to the next, in a melodic sort of way. Cory Basil is as talented with his words as he is with his art. I do not want to give too much away but if I had to choose a favorite poem, it would be The Searcher. It is a poem of struggle to find out who you are and trying to answer the question what is the meaning of life? In a way, it is written in a stunted sort of way, like each line drops off like a cliff of sorts, which lends to the emotional fear, the unknowing, we all face day to day in life, with the big questions, anyways. Read the book to find out why I loved it, and then come back, we can discuss it. You can also visit the author’s site...

      Eep! by Joke van Leeuwen is really one of the best children’s books I’ve read in a long time. It started out with 3 words that just grabbed me, Warren likes birds. He is married to Tina. They seem to live a rather ordinary life, filled with repetition, doing the same old-same old, like most of us. We get into our habits, our comfortable routines. They have as well. Until one day Warren sees a new kind of baby bird, a part human bird. He brings her home and it is love at first site—they decide to keep her. She becomes their daughter in many senses and they just love her to pieces. They name her Birdy but since that isn’t easy for her to pronounce, they change it to Beedy, as she cheeps out things like a bird, rather than speaking fully. Beedy is more bird-like than she is like a human and Warren and Tina struggle to protect her and keep her safe. Tina struggles a little more than Warren and tries to force Beedy into shoes that don’t fit comfortably, both literally and figuratively. So, off Beedy flies… to explore the world, just like a bird. Along the way she meets Lottie, a lonely little girl and a well-meaning fireman–emergency responder. Warren and Tina are very sad when she leaves so they set off to find her, breaking all their normal routines, all their comfort zones. Off they go to find their little Beedy. True to her nature, Beedy flies away from everyone but she also returns, a different kind of migration. All of them end up in Getovertel — get-over-tel— a hotel of sorts where people go to get over things, to get through their issues. And then… You can read the book to find out the rest but it will be worth it. This was really an unexpected treasure of a book for me. I love love love birds and this story just resonated with me. It is written with silliness included, quirky little sketches and digressions—a book after my own heart. Birds, quirkiness and digressions. What more could you want from a children’s book? Here are some random screenshots from...

Today was National Read Aloud Day. It was also, as I mentioned, my dearest friend’s birthday. So, I read aloud to her–her favorite childhood book, Happy Birthday, Moon. An adorable, sweet story about a bear who wants to talk to the moon, to ask when its birthday is and thinks when his voice echoes back to him that it is the moon talking to him. It is super cute and worth a read or re-read. I also read aloud to her the first chapter of Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. This is one we read together years ago but we wanted to revisit it. It is a story of a boy and his paternal grandma, Ultima — La Grande – a curandera who comes to live with him and his family and teaches him so much about his culture, his family, himself and the world. It is an absolutely enchanting story. I’ll write another review, a proper one, when I finish re-reading it. =) Good food, good friends, good books, good fun. =) It was a lovely...