No excuses for the radio silence, just a fact. Life intervenes. Between my day job (which, as a teacher, means day-night-weekend…) and family stuff (Sandwich generation! Yeehaw!), I haven’t been able to get my typical book reviews done and boy have I missed it! But I’m back! While waiting for the dog to get groomed today, I took time for myself and read some of the scads of amazing new books that have been coming out — there are SO MANY!). I loved every one and so will you! Let’s go!
Two boxes I brought back from my childhood home– they’d been “lost” for years while my own children grew up– now I get to rediscover and share them with my teen boys!
Last week I had to head up to my mom’s house to do some cleaning out after a pipe bust in an old bedroom. In the process I brought home several boxes of picture books I’d had as a child. Of course there were timeless old classics like Mike Mulligan, Cat in the Hat, and One Morning in Maine, but also oodles and oodles of books that I’d completely forgotten about as well as a few little gems that I loved, but which are pretty obscure and I bet you have never heard of. So for our reviews today, indulge me in a little time travel. Yes, I generally focus on books published in the past couple years, but looking back at books from the 60s and 70s (I am the youngest, so many of my books were hand-me-downs) just might teach us a few lessons about how much the market has changed!
The new boookstore, “Booktenders,” on Route 1 in York, Maine, is a tiny gem — I’m thrilled to call it my home store!
My apologies for letting the ball drop on my April book reviews, but I’m back and so excited to share five new picture book reviews for May. I’m even more excited to share a wonderful new bookstore with you that JUST opened this weekend! Booktenders is owned by Rick and Michelle Clarke, and it’s going to make my book shopping a LOT easier! Although I’ll admit I’m guilty of abusing my Amazon Prime subscription, or stopping in at my local Barnes & Noble for a latte and a bestseller, I would much rather support an independent bookseller, where my money will not only go back into the local community, but where the owners know me and can give me recommendations — and vice versa! The owners let me know that they could definitely use a little help keeping up with the current picture book scene since their kids have mostly outgrown picture books (In my opinion, there’s no such thing as outgrowing picture books, but you know teenagers…). I’m happy to oblige, but for this month, let’s take a look at five current picture books these folks already have on the shelves!
How do you celebrate a “book birthday” when your book baby is overdue?
Most writers dream of the debut of their book like some little girls plan for their wedding day: party, champagne, excitement…a time just for them. However, when you are celebrating a book release during COVID-19, some of those plans have to get dropped. Not to mention that as a high school teacher teaching in a hybrid model, my life has been a little overwhelming all by itself. I do “zoom” for teaching and department meetings– the thought of zooming a book release party just did not excite me.
As it happens, my book release has also suffered from one more disappointment: a shipping delay. Whether a combination of printing issues, warehouse issues or the slow-down in the post office I do not know, but I have still not received my author copies (which means I don’t have one of those fun “unboxing videos” to show my excitement at seeing the book for the first time). In fact, even on my “book birthday,” I didn’t have a copy, nor did any of the bookstores I know, including the one where I planned to do a pre-order signing on the 10th. Amazon was saying “ships in 1-2 MONTHS.” I was heartbroken! This is a book for the holiday market– what would it mean if it were not available until two months from now?
So, release day was subdued. I posted some things on social media, but it was a bit like a baby’s due date when the baby is overdue. All you can do is anticipate. And pray for the postal service. I shared the cover image with my students at school, promising I would not be promoting my book in every class from now until the holidays. We did take-out for supper, and in my evening zoom session with the Speech & Debate team I coach, I did a dramatic online reading (using my proofs for the illustrations). Their support was great. We all oohed over the awesome illustrations by the great Joe Kulka (there are LESSONS in illustrating there, people!)
As my “debut week” progressed, I checked in with the independent bookstore who was processing my pre-orders, a lovely shop in Bangor, Maine called “The Briar Patch.” It’s about 3 hours north of me, near where my mother lives, and I had planned to visit her for the long weekend, but what if the books weren’t there by then? He told me the had spoken with the publisher and they had been shipped. They WOULD be there by Saturday the 10th. By Thursday, they had arrived, and Gibran, the owner, sent me a photo to prove it!
Finally, my signing day had come! But, since this bookstore is not open to browsing, they set me up with a card table in the back of the store, surrounded by boxes instead of adoring fans. I could have done a table on the street, but happily almost all of the books he’d ordered were pre-sold, so I was ok communing with the pre–order sheets and smiling about all the friends who had ordered copies. I had carefully researched signing pens and purchased a whole box of them months ago, but of course I forgot them, so a quick trip to Target got me both black and metallic– I hadn’t seen the book in person so I wasn’t sure where I would sign or what would look best against the paper. I decided on basic black.
And since we were visiting my mother, my husband and I had her watch our boys so we could go out to lunch afterward. Downtown Bangor has gotten much more fun and quirky since I was a kid– and with lots of good socially distanced outdoor dining choices! We decided on Paddy Murphy’s Pub — great atmosphere! Since this IS Maine, I had fried clams & chips instead of just fish & chips…and yes, I kept the book on the table the whole time!
To cap off the day, we ordered pizza from my favorite local place, Pat’s Pizza (they now have many locations in the state, but Orono was the first!). And my mom made an apple pie (she makes the best in the world!) so we could toast with pink champagne (the small glasses are ginger ale with cherry juice for my boys)! Not a traditional book release, but we found a way to make it special. Can’t wait to see what the next couple months will bring– now if only the postal service will get my books to Amazon and Barnes & Noble!!!
Many thanks to Gibran Graham of The Briar Patch for helping me with a plan for pre-orders. Friends from across the country were able to order in advance and he will ship them off tomorrow! More thanks for the day go to a fellow Melanie, who sells awesome cookie masks in her Etsy shop which you can find at MadeByMelanieUS!
Schreibenfreude 