Best Friends Fur-Ever

August 3, 2010

Bloomsbury USA

Ruth McNally Barshaw has another winner of an installment in her Ellie McDoodle series. With a missing parrot and an animal report to finish on time, Ellie has her hands full. The art is full of whimsy and witty details galore (check out the flip-book style animation in the upper right corner!)

Animal lovers and Ellie lovers have the perfect book for dog-days-of-summer reading.

Building a Bridge with Katherine Paterson

I love Katherine Paterson's writing because her books speak to all faiths, resonate with those who profess no faith at all, and are infused with her own Christian identity. She says this about the relationship between faith and art:

We live in a Post-Christian society. Therefore, not many of those writers will be Christians or adherents of any of the traditional faiths. Self-consciously Christian (or Jewish or Muslim) writing will be sectarian and tend to propaganda and therefore have very little to say to persons outside that particular faith community. The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress.

--Newbery medal winning author, Katherine Paterson

As someone who struggles to reconcile a Christian identity with a world view that occasionally contradicts, I find comfort in these words as I string together my own. Even more importantly, they provide sound guidance for how a person of any faith ought to live life.

The Pout Pout Fish in The Big Big Dark

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

August 17, 2010

Check out Debbie Diesen's newest Pout Pout Fish adventure!

This sequel doesn't disappoint, and, in addition to Debbie's creative rhymes, I love the rich color palette's trip to the deep end of the ocean.

Will Ms. Clam's pearl be found?

Will Mr. Fish overcome his fear of the dark?

Will the mysterious voice identify itself?

This story will have you on pinfish and sea nettles!