Bedtime Stories: One for the grown-ups
If you're into non-stop action and sci-fi-y stories, but also appreciate a well-written novel, you ought to check out Lexicon by Max Barry. Two stories, set at two different points in time, dance...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Sabriel Day!
Happy May 11! Today has been "officially" dubbed as Sabriel Day by Garth Nix, author of the wonderful young adult fantasy series. Twenty years ago today, Sabriel was published. I was wrapping up high...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Relishing Immaturity
I have an aunt who always made an impression on me by her ability to be utterly silly, to make ridiculous jokes, and have fun at everyone's (including her own) expense. Now that I have my own child, I...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Beekle!
Beekle is downright adorable. He is a blobby, white little guy with a gold crown. He is an imaginary friend. Only, he hasn't been imagined by anyone. All his friends that live in the imaginary friend...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Teen Victorian Magic
Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray has done a fantastic job writing in a proper Victorian young lady's voice, with all the snarky little asides one might expect from a teenager trying, not always...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: The True Meaning of Smekday
It's been getting unseasonably warm here in Portland. In an effort to beat the heat (Oregonians don't much go in for AC) I took my son to see Home a newish CGI movie from Dreamworks. I was dubious, as...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm
Philip Pullman is a renowned children's and young adult author. He is known most notably for the His Dark Materials trilogy: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass. These books have...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Kraken!
The Kraken is a bizarre story of a man named Billy Harrow, who works for the Darwin Centre at the British Museum of Natural History. His particular specialty is the giant squid, Architeuthis dux, which...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: The Graveyard Book, the graphic novel
The Graveyard Book is a fantastic, if creepy, children's book by world-renowned author Neil Gaiman, known for such cult classics as The Sandman comics and Coraline. His stories are so full of fun...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Happy Birthday, Brian Selznick!
A great event for American children's literature occurred on this day in 1966. Illustrator and author Brian Selznick was born! Continue reading →
View ArticleBedtime Stories: The Universe of Douglas Adams
When I was a nerdy 12-year-old boy, my single greatest discovery was the four books that comprised the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. By the time I was fourteen, that trilogy had grown to...
View ArticleBedroom Design: Tile Floors in a Bedroom
Tile might not be the most obvious choice for flooring material in a bedroom, but there are those rare interiors when it’s the ideal choice. Tile can be ceramic, porcelain, stone, or terra cotta, and...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: A Boy and His Tiger
For me, the nearest and dearest, as a young boy and now, will always be Calvin and Hobbes. Made all the more enticing and yearned-for because of Watterson's refusal to license the characters for toys,...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: How to Grow Up and RULE THE WORLD
All kids need to have goals in life. Even if it's something small, like learning to tie your shoes or reading that long chapter book all on your own. That's all well and good for some, but that may not...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: The Night World
My son has very little interest in picture books anymore. It's all chapter books and graphic novels and comics. And since I no longer work in a children's library, my exposure to new picture books has...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: The Golden Pot
Nothim makes me happier than the arrival of fall. I love the change of the leaves, the milder temperatures, darkening evenings and the slow creep of Halloween onto the scene. Many years ago, I spent...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: The House in the Night
Carrying on with the themes of darkness and night we explored last week, today I bring you The House in the Night whose etched-looking black, white, and yellow illustrations won Beth Krommes a...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Spooky Read for Older Kids
Happy October, friends! Best time of year! I love looking for all the new spooky reads to keep the creepy feelings going all month long. Lucky for me, I didn't have to look hard for this one. I have...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Halloween is just a few days away! I don’t have much time left to share fabulous spooky stories with you! This one is something of a classic, though if you’re anything like me you have only been...
View ArticleBedtime Stories: To Hold the Bridge
If anyone has been reading these book reviews for any amount of time, you know that Garth Nix is one of my go-to young adult fantasy novelists. His Old Kingdom books (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen and now...
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