'Tis the Season!

Without my usual retail holiday work, the season has kind of snuck up on me this year. Luckily, the Random Acts of Reading blog gave me a gift-giving prompt this month.
Read how I responded to, "What book do you want to give this year? What book do you want to get?" here.
What book would you love to get this year? 

Random Acts of Reading guest post: backlist

I love the book blog prompts Erin at Random Acts of Reading gives us every month. For November, we got to think about older favorites for kids. No surprise that the other bloggers' contributions had me going, "Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! I knew she was a kindred spirit!"

See the whole fabulous list and sing a variation of that song from childhood: "Read new books, but read the oll-lld; Some are silver and the others GOLD."

The post is here. 

Speaking of picture books...

I participated in Random Acts of Reading's blogger panel again! They asked, "What children's book would you give out on World Book Night?" Tough question, especially given the fact that children's books cover such a wide age range. I went with a classic. You can check out the full post on Random House's Random Acts of Reading blog.

If you don't know the other book bloggers on the panel already, do visit their sites! Lots of great inspiration! There's Julie of Booking Mama, Heidi of YA Bibliophile, Kathy (aka BermudaOnion), Rene with Notes from the Bedside Table, and Alyson from Kid Lit Frenzy. 

The Memory Bank

The Memory Bank by Carolyn Coman, illustrated by Rob Shepperson

This is a magical, wondrous book for middle readers.

Like Hugo Cabret, some of the story is told through striking full-page illustrations. The pictures heartrendingly depict the tender love of Hope for her little sister Honey and both girls’ despair when their “truly awful” parents abandon Honey by the side of the road after she gets messy and laughs one too many times. Lyrical words (with sophisticated vocabulary) tell how Hope gets banished to the garage and gives into her sorrow by sleeping her life away so she can be closer to Honey in her dreams. Before things get too distressing, Hope is collected by a good-hearted, big man who is in charge of pick-ups and deliveries for the mysterious World Wide Memory Bank (WWMB). Suddenly Hope is surrounded by adults kinder than any she’s known, and by a world more fascinating than anything she ever dreamed.

As Hope explores the vault of dreams, the nursery for first memories, and the extraordinary safe deposit boxes for Eternal Memories, her awe doesn’t overpower her determination to find her sister. Her dreams (shown in pictures) focus on Honey, while illustrated segments wordlessly reveal Honey’s frolics with a rollicking band of wild children and a loving, carefree woman leading the gang.

The plot allows Hope to be a hero and a child: innocent, brave, and finally, safe and loved. I would have read and reread this book as a kid; something about it reminds me of Momo by Michael Ende. It is appropriate for a read-aloud to younger listeners (as young as kindergarten), but will be treasured and enjoyed by imaginative readers throughout their elementary years-- and maybe rediscovered with a gasp of wonder much later in life. This is definitely one to inscribe to someone special! Scholastic gave me a free advance reader's copy, but I'm buying myself a hardcover because I love it so much.

I know what I'll recommend for Christmas...

For girls ages 7-12, I just read the perfect gift book! Classic, sweet, inspiring, delightful, it's the kind of novel I would have read and reread as a girl, and it's just the kind of book I like to give as a special gift. It's Betty MacDonald's Nancy and Plum. Random House is republishing it for the fall with illustrations by Mary Grand Pre (of Harry Potter illustration fame).

I can't believe I hadn't read this!!! I am a big Mrs. Piggle -Wiggle fan, but I hadn't discovered Nancy and Plum until now.

The two loving, smart, imaginative sisters remind me of Meg and Jo March-- Nancy is 10 and a very capable seamstress and cook; Plum (Pamela) is 8 and a tomboy who dreams of becoming a cowgirl. They are orphans living with the dreadful Mrs. Monday and her horridly spoiled niece Marybelle at a boarding house for unwanted children. (Their rich bachelor Uncle John is quite oblivious.)

The book takes place over the course of a year, stretching from a Christmas Eve alone in the cheerless boarding house (and then locked out-- so the girls hunker down in the barn), through a year of little triumphs and disappointments, to a very happy, better-than-they-ever-imagined Christmas Eve in a loving home with dear Mr. and Mrs. Campbell.

Bibliophile bonus: the girls talk about their love for some of my favorite novels, including The Secret Garden, Sara Crewe (aka A Little Princess), Anne of Green Gables, and more!