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This issue's special- 30%
off!
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December 14, 2004
In this issue:
Stocking Stuffers by Papo
Yule Logs
Polar Bear Night
You're All My Favorites
Teacher Featured Books
The Polar Express
How to Write a Letter
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Greetings from Gaylene,
Happy Ho Ho Holidays! From now to the holiday break things will be
humming
along for everyone both at school and at home. I know you are busy, but
there is
always time for books, and we all need gift ideas, right? Read
on....
We have a literal drawer full of fun stocking stuffers, particularly if you
have
kids of your own. Papo is a company that makes knights, horses,
princes,
princesses, and all sorts of quality plastic figures that are very popular
with
our young customers. We have new items we have not carried before as well,
such
as farm animals (they are high quality and correct in color, unlike the bags
of
plastic animals that are all neon colors these days----no neon green sheep
for
me, thank you very much!) Great for imaginative play or a fun idea for
a gift
exchange at work! (I'll bet no one is expecting a pig or a pirate for
Christmas!) Prices range from $2.25 to $5.95. How about one for your
husband's
stocking to tell him he is still your knight in shining armor? (I know it
sounds
corny, but maybe he'll appreciate it.)
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Too busy to do as much baking as usual for the holidays? We have
the
answer... Yule Logs from the Watermark Cafe. We sampled one at our
last staff
meeting, and believe me, they are delicious! Chocolate cake rolled
around a
cream cheese filling, frosted in a chocolate ganache. Order now! They
are great
for parties or gifts, and we can deliver. Call 682 1181 to place your
order!
Yule be glad you did!
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"Polar Bear Night" is a sweet bedtime story for young children by
Lauren
Thompson with illustrations by Stephen Savage (Scholastic Press, ISBN
0439495245, $15.95) "The night is keen and cold. Snug inside her
warm den, a
polar bear cub wakes. Something in the moonlit stillness quietly
beckons. What
is it?" A magical journey begins under the starlight of the north
with calming
words about what home is to the little polar bear.
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"You're All My Favorites" by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram comes
ten years after
the publication of "Guess How Much I Love You," and again it
delivers affection
and reassurance (published by Candlewick Press, ISBN 076362442X, $15.99.)
Anyone
who is a parent will love this sweet story about a family of bears: a
mother
bear, a father bear, and three baby bears. It says, in a lovely way
that
children can relate to, "You are the most wonderful baby bears in the
whole wide
world." Each little bear questions if perhaps the other bears are
the favorites
because they are boys, or another baby bear wonders if he is special because
he
has no patch and the other two do. Typical sibling stuff! They
wonder who is
their parents' favorite, and which one do their parents like the most?
These
are land mine questions for parents to handle, but mother bear and father
bear
handle them like pros, "You're all my favorites," which most
parents in the
human world will agree to be true, no matter how hard it is for their
children
to understand. The illustrations are beautiful.
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Teacher Featured Book: The Tenth Anniversary Edition of
Guess How Much I Love You, written by Sam McBratney, illustrated by
Anita Jeram, includes the book and a storytime CD in a nice gift
package and
would be a wonderful Christmas gift, especially at 30 percent off!
Published
by Candlewick Press (ISBN 0763624357), the set is $20.00, $14.00 with
the 30
percent discount.
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Chris Van Allsburg's childhood home was Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is
also
the setting for
The Polar Express.
This Caldecott award winning artist and author began his artistic life as
a
sculptor, but his work always showed a sense of narrative and action, and
he
began to draw in the evenings at home. David Macaulay, an author and
artist,
saw Van Allsburg's drawings and thought they had much potential for
picture
books. I'm glad he did, because he encouraged Van Allsburg to send his
drawings
to editors. "The Polar Express" by Van Allsburg was a new book
when my children
were small, and it became our favorite family Christmas book. We still
put it
out every Christmas. The depth of the illustrations that seem to
pull
you into the page, and the beauty of the story have always made it very
special
at our house. When I heard that it was being made into a movie, I
was
skeptical. I know I sound old fashioned, but I think some things should be
left
as they are. I was afraid a new generation of children would remember
"The
Polar Express" as "that Christmas movie" and would never read
the book. I
decided to see for myself, and went to the movie to compare it to the
book. The
movie is amazing in many ways, and I would certainly recommend it (though
I'm no
movie critic)... but I will always like the book better. There is a
place in
the imagination that books fill in a way no movie can. And when you
take a
picture book and have to stretch it to an hour and a half, things get added
that
somehow don't seem to have a place in the story. Granted, Tom Hanks is
a
favorite of mine, and I loved the elves, but if you have to choose one or
the
other--the book or the movie....in my very biased opinion, buy the book!
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This time of year brings to mind so many traditions, such as Christmas
letters
we all get in annual cards from friends and relatives. My mother is a
letter
writer. She has always written daily letters to friends and relatives,
and at
Christmas she continues to hand write letters to countless friends and
relatives. There will be no duplicated letters from my Mom! My
word-processed
Christmas letters with a few handwritten personal sentences at the bottom
pale
by comparison! As a tribute to writing a real letter, I remembered a
chapter in
Garrison Keillor's
We Are Still Married, published in 1989. Keillor is a favorite
of mine,
and his chapter "How to Write a Letter" begs to be
shared:
"We shy persons need to write a letter now and then, or else we'll dry
up and
blow away. It's true. And I speak as one who loves to reach for the
phone,
dial the number, and talk... The telephone is to shyness what Hawaii is
to
February, it's a way out of the woods, and yet: a letter is
better.
Such a sweet gift--a piece of handmade writing, in an envelope that is not
a
bill, sitting in our friend's path when she trudges home from a long day
spent
among wahoos and savages, a day our words will help repair. They don't
need to
be immortal, just sincere. She can read them twice and again tomorrow...
We need to write, otherwise nobody will know who we are... So a shy person
sits
down and writes a letter. To be known by another person--to meet and talk
freely
on the page, to be close despite distance... to escape from anonymity and be
our
own sweet selves and express the music of our souls..."
It's hard not to include more, but I'm running out of space. One of my
New
Year's resolutions will be to try to go back to handwriting more
letters. I'm
afraid I may have lost the knack after all the e mailing I've transitioned
to in
the past decade. For now, in this e mail format, I want to say that I
sincerely
hope your holidays include some of those special moments that are remembered
years later.
The clock is ticking, and it's time for me to close, but I hope you each
have a
wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!
Until Later,
Gaylene
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