Still A Dreamer

You can Kindle all you want, but I think I will always want a book in my hand. And the joy of reading with a book in hand is never more important than for a child.

I subscribe to an e-mailed newsletter from the biggest children’s bookstore in NYC, Books of Wonder. Each week, into my Inbox comes a colorful announcement of the latest books for children across all genres, and photos of authors and illustrators who will be doing book visits and signings. I don’t subscribe to many things like this because I am already overwhelmed with work-related e-mails, but I always look forward to their newsletter. The Books of Wonder e-mails keep me in touch with children’s books, where I continue to devote time to writing and illustrating, whet my appetite for something new, and keep me apprised of what’s selling in picture books. middle grade, YA and more.

This Friday, something even more exciting arrived, a video … a video of a young girl perusing the shelves of the bookstore, running her fingers along the spines of the books. (This so reminds me of Liesel in Ilsa Hermann’s library in The Book Thief and makes it even more meaningful, but that’s for another post.) When the girl picks up a book, we hear the sounds of the subject, a train whistle from a locomotive story, the whinnying of a horse, cackling from the Oz books, and all with Strauss in the background. It’s brilliant.

I believe you’ll enjoy the YouTube video from Books of Wonder, and please visit their website for the latest that’s happening in children’s books, and/or to sign up for their newsletter: