Epistolary Novels

Ahhh, a new word for me, and it's appeared over and over this last week. I keep getting it turned over on my tongue and my mind: E-Pill-Is-Tory, E-Paw-Still-ary...blub.... Eh-PISS-Tuhl-Airy, right? Am I the only one that's never heard of this classification category?

So, an epistolary novel is one that is written in letters by either one character in a book or many. I finished Dying to Meet You and the author calls it a graphic epistolary novel. Hmmmm. I've read more than a few of those.

That means that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Shaffer and Barrows falls under this category. Jacklyn Moriarty's books (I particularly loved The Year of Secret Assignments does, too, but only if you include emails. Oh, and 47, Charing Cross and The Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantock----and what about the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series? To update the definitions to contemporary times, you'd have to add email, wouldn't you?

Whaddya think?

2/21/15: Diaries, emails, newspaper articles, texts....these are the stuff that epistolary is made of!

Here are some that I've read:

Adult Epstolary Novels:
Dear Lily  (Drew Davies) 2
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (Shaffer & Barrows) 5

Kid's Epistolary Novels:
Dying to Meet You (Book 1) (Kate Klise) 4
Same Sun Here (House & Vaswani) 4

Kid's Picture Books
Boxes for Katje (Candace Fleming) 5
Dear Vampa (Ross Collins) 4.5
First Year Letters (Julie Danneberg) 4
My Pen Pal, Santa (Melissa Stanton) 3
Seven for a Secret (Laurence Anholt) 4
Snail Mail: With Pull-Out Postcards (Sharon King-Chai) 5
Thea's Tree (Alison Jackson) 4

Kid's Picture Books still to review:
Ask Dr. K. Fisher about Weather - Llewellyn
Chain Letter (Babysitter's Club) - Martin
Day the Crayons Quit, The - Jeffers
Dear Annie - Caseley
Dear Peter Rabbit
Dear Polar Bear - Ablett
Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin - Tonatiuh
Diary of an Ant - Cronin
Diary of a Spider - Cronin
Diary of a Worm - Cronin
Gardener, The - Stewart
Help Me, Mr. Mutt!
I Wanna a New Room - Orloff
Kate on the Coast - Brisson
Love from Your Friend, Hannah - Skolsky
Love, Mouserella - Stein
Memoirs of a Goldfish - Scillian
Memoirs of a Hamster - Scillian
Quiet Place, The - Stewart
Small Dog's Big Life, A: Around the World with Owney - Kelly
With Love, the Little Red Hen

Kid's Chapter Books still to review:
Dying to Meet You (Book 2)
Dying to Meet You (Book 3) Till Death Do Us Bark - Klise
Dying to Meet You (Book 4)
Dying to Meet You (Book 5) Hollywood Dead Ahead
Letters to Leo - Hest
Naked Mole Rat Letters - Amato
Regarding the Bees - Klise
Regarding the Fountain - Klise

Other's I've heard of but have not yet read (with links to the Goodreads review):
Love, Rosie (Celia Ahern) Adult
My Most Excellent Year (Steve Kruger) YA
Letters from Skye (Jessica Brockmole) Adult HistFict
Address Unknown (Kathrine Kressmann Taylor) Adult HistFict
I'll Be Seeing You (Suzanne Palmieri-Hayes) Adult HistFict
The Tattooed Map (Barbara Hodgson) Adult
More Than Love Letters (Rosy Thornton) Adult Romance
The Lawgiver (Herman Wouk) Adult

Ancient Maya Civilization

NONFICTION NONFICTION NONFICTION NONFICTION NONFICTION

The Ancient Maya
by Lila Perl
Franklin Watts/Scholastic, 2005
Gr. 5+
PCPL 972.81016 P42a
Full of photos
This is the book that gave me the most historical data in the easiest form to digest and enjoy. Beginning my Maya unit each year with a reread of this book will refresh (and interest) me perfectly. Recommended.

The Maya: Activities and Crafts from a Mysterious Land
by Arlette N. Braman, 2003
Gr. 3-8
118 pages
John Wiley & Sons
PCPL Library, read 0709
972.81016 B7318m

This book is both full of information and loaded with activites and projects. Chapters and projects include:
Daily life: at work, at home, and at play (There's a great board game, Bul!, and an animal whistle that looks pretty complicated
Society: farmers, warriors, and kings (planting an aluminum pan herb field, making a jaguar shield and macaw headdress
Food: sacred food, fire food, and food of the gods (with recipes for corn cakes, chicken chili, and a chocolate drink
Art and Architecture: weaving, mask making, pottery, and building a temple/pyramid
Science, Math, and Writing: with math activities, personal glyph rubbing, making a code book, and a glyph amulet

A good glosssary and index are also included.

See the projects one girl created using this book

Mexico & Central America
A Fiesta of Cultures, Crafts, and Acctivities for Ages 8-12
by Mary C. Turck
See the separate review I wrote for this great activity/information book.


Your Travel Guide to Ancient Mayan Civilization
by Nancy Day, 2001
Gr. 4-8
96 pages
Runestone Press, Minneapolis
PCPL Library, read 0709
972.81016 D3329y
Excellent source.

Lots of information, presented as if you were to be a traveler to the civilization during the period of 600-800 AD. It doesn't mince the sacrificial aspects of the culture, and includes some facts kids would consider gross---and love----like cures for sickness: "If all else fails, have him remove one sandal, urinate in it and drink the urine." There's trivia that kids (and adults) would love, explanations of jewelry, tatooing, clothing (or lack thereof), their writing system, still existing pyramids and how they were used, games.... I read almost every word, and I am definitely a nonfiction skimmer, not reader.

Illustrations: Photographs of Mayan antiquities, including pyramids, carving, and reddish-orange paintings.

Mystery of The Maya
Peter Lourie, 2001
Gr. 4-7
48 pgs.
Boyds Mills Press
PCPL Library
972.75016 L934m

Peter Lourie accompanies American archeologist Ed Barnhart who is uncovering the ancient Maya city of Palenque, located in the Mexican state of Chiapas on the border of Guatemala. Filled with photographs of the site, flora, fauna, and contemporary Mayas who are helping with the excavation, his first person narrative is interesting, reading like a story. Here's a nonfiction to read from beginning to end, without skimming. Very interesting and informative.

FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow
by James Rollins
Gr. 5-8
402 pages
Fantasy/Adventure

See my review from July 2009.

Opening lines:"The man fled down the steep slope of the jungle mountain. His boots slipped in the muck of wet leaves and slick mud. Clinging branches and snagging thorns sought to catch him, but he ripped straight through them."

The Corn Grows Ripe
by Dorothy Rhoads, 1956
Gr. 4-7
90 pgs.
Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Dionisio, called Tigre (Jaguar), takes over the preparing, sowing, and harvesting of his family MILPA (cornfield) when his father gets hurt. This worked really well in my fourth-grade classroom. The setting is richly described and we get a close look at the culture of a primitive contemporary Maya village that still has ties to the "old ways" of the ancient Maya.

The Most Beautiful Place in the World
by Ann Cameron, 1988
Gr. 2-4
46 pages
Contemporary realistic fiction

A look at life in modern-day Guatemala. See my review from April 2009.

Beginning lines: "My name is Juan. I live in Guatemala, in the mountains. My town, San Pablo, has three huge volcanoes near it, and high cliffs all around it, and steep, bright green fields of corn and garlic and onions growing in the hills, and red coffee berries growing in the shade of the big trees in valleys."

The Bravest Flute
by Ann Grifalconi
The Story of Courage in the Mayan Tradition
Published 1994
Little Brown & Co.
My review can be found here.

I haven't found too many picture books out there (as yet) that are primarily about the Maya. This one is about a contemporary Maya village and gives some insight into the current traditions of the Maya.

FOLKTALES FOLKTALES FOLKTALES FOLKTALES FOLKTALES

How the Peacock Got its Feathers
Based on a Mayan Folktale
by Sandy Sepehri
Illustrated by Brian Demeter
Published Sept. 2006
Rourke Pub. (Vero Beach, FL)
32 pgs.
$28.50 ! ! ! (Library Bound? Small Press?)
PCPL has ONE COPY of it

Peahen has a beautiful voice, but wants the beauty of Chaac's (the rain god) feathers. So she steals them, and is punished by having to live with them permanently - and now only squacks instead of singing. Five highlighted vocabulary words and pronounciation of Mayan words in the glossary.

Illustrations are big, colorful, bold - not too detailed, but they appeal to my love of a "stained glass" look in art.

The Moon Over Star - Dianna Hutts Aston

Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Published 2008
32 pages
Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin)
$17.99
Rating: 4.5

Here's another picture book that incorporates a good story with great historical facts.

Mae (the future astronaut?) visits her grandparents' farm in STAR during the summer of 1969, and together they watch the Eagle take off and land on the moon, while listening to Walter Cronkite's voice on the news, and watching Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins take the first historic steps of the world's first moon mission. Dianna Aston and Jerry Pinkney make you feel THERE, with them. So many facts, so much imagination, dreaming, and reflection about the past and the future make this book a top read for this, the 40th anniversary of this first visit to the moon. 40 years!

President Obama read this book to second graders at a public school in Washington. There's a cool picture here. I would love to hear the discussion after he read it!

Magic Box - Katie Cleminson

Published: 2009
for: Ages 3-7
Hyperion Books for Children
Rating: 4
$15.99
Endpapers: Blue and red splatters washed across the top of page, musical score with rabbits instead of notes across the bottom.

This UK artist has created a simple story of an imaginative young girl. It's the glorious illustrations that I loved about this book. It's mostly black and white, with the exception of faint red shadings on Eva's shirt -- and bold splotches and droplets of oranges, reds, and blues sweeping across the background of each page.

For her birthday, Eva receives a box that contains Monty, a big white bear. But abracadabra, with a flick of a wand she creates floating rabbits, delicious food, and magical music to dance to.

Great fun!

37. Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow - James Rollins

Published: April, 2009
For: Grades 5-8
404 pgs.
Rating: 4
$16.00
Harper Collins

This is a rip-roarin' adventure that will be enjoyed by many middle schoolers....I can see Ilan, Natalie, Eli. Jacob just eating this story up in one big gulp, then waiting anxiously for its sequel, Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx, to come out sometime in 2010.

I must admit, the story didn't latch onto me (or I didn't latch onto the story....) until about a third of the way in. But once we left the present and entered the world of Calypsos millions of years ago, I was hooked. I love the way Rollins wove historical and scientific facts into the telling of this mile-a-minute adventure tale. Good vs. Evil. Very evil...... And Mayans, and Romans, and Neanderthals, and prehistoric animals and special forces that allow everyone to speak their own language, but "all world" language takes over so that all can understand each other.

I'm going to include a review written by a student. He did it much better than I can:

"Jake Ransom is your (above) average boy next door. When he fits two halves of a Mayan coin into a hole in a museum exhibit, he and his sister are transported into a mixed-up ancient world of Mayans, Chinese, Romans, Neanderthals, super-cool alchemic crystals and, of course, good and evil. Even though the place may hold clues to his archeologist parents’ mysterious disappearance, Jake needs to find a way out -- unless, that is, the T-Rexes, giant scorpions, or the Skull King don’t slaughter him first. Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow is an excellent book with strong, intriguing characters, especially Jake’s sister, Kady, who helps him get out of some extreme fixes. The awesome plot and subtle humor kept me reading it until I finished it in one sitting. The downside? We’ve got to wait a whole year till the sequel, Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx.".........by Christian, age 12 (from the 6/20/09 Saturday Breakfast Book Club, PW)

And if you read the book, here are a couple of cool websites to check out: Harper Collins website with games and a quiz
and James Ransom's website with a You Tube interview about the book

Midnight on the Moon and its companion book: Space - Mary Pope Osborne

#8 in the Magic Tree House series
Published 1996
70 pgs.
Still $3.99!
RL: 2.1, ages 6-9

Nonfiction partner: Space
Published 2002
Mary Pope Osborne & Will Osborne
144 pgs.
$4.99
RL 2.9, ages 6-9

I think there are at least 38 in The Magic Tree House series now, and up to perhaps number 19 in the resourse guides. So I decided that it was time to read at least one of them. I chose Midnight on the Moon, because I think I'm going to be teaching the moon, sun, and stars in science next year.

"The Universe is filled with wonders." Siblings Jack and Annie take a trip in their magic treehouse to the moon to try to find the fourth and final "M" to free Morgan le Fay from a spell.

The RESOURCE GUIDE: Space:
Includes chapter and mucho information on:
-ancient astronomy & astronomers (Copernicus, Galileo, Newton)
-the universe, galalzies, stars, the sun
-the solar system
-space travel
-moon history
-the space shuttles
--telescopes
--light years
--eclipses

Also includes a pretty decent index - perhaps a good tool for beginning teaching of how to use one.

This would be an excellent companion to a space unti for grades 2 - 4, I could see a class writing their own set about something they're studying after reading a novel and its companion. Or, a teacher could assigne book reports of one of the novels and its companion, students choosing whatever interested them. Lots and lots of teaching ideas here. Just distinguishing the difference for young readers between fiction and nonfiction could be taught VERY early.....

I've had fifth graders with reading difficulties come from fourth grade into fifth grade very excited about reading these books. (and now I've read one myself....that's a good thing). It was quite good, not boring and repetitive, and would probably keep a reluctant reader going, as well as a younger child who was reading at a more advanced level. Fits a lot of bills.

For more information, take a look at:
Mary Pope Osborne's Website
as well as
Random House's website, which includes activities for some of the books.

Redwoods - Jason Chin

Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan),2009
$16.95
36 pages
Five Stars *****
Front endpapers:Gray bark of tree on left, boy sitting on subway bend, looking at book on right
Back endpapers: Gray bark with author's note

I want to go to northern California RIGHT NOW.

A few years ago, on my journey across the country seeking out a new locale for myself, I stopped in many National Parks, traveling down lots of "Blue Highways", coast to coast. I've been down the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, driven across Texas, the Mojave Desert, Canada, and the midwest. I've traveled from Maine to Florida many times. And I must say that one of the most amazing, overpowering feelings I've ever had is while driving through the Redwood Forest. This book partially explains why.

With words of nonfiction and gorgeous illustrationss portraying a fictional story as well as an informational one, this book is completely entrancing. In other words, the textual part of the story is facts about the Redwood Forest. The visual part of the story is of a young boy discovering a book about the redwoods, and reading it on the subway. But as he reads, he actually goes to the forest, he checks out the cones, he climbs up to the crown, he discovers animals and other plants that live in the giant trees. We get a feel for their enormity - nothing in the world growns taller. Fascinating information given in an extremely interesting way. Pour over the lovely illustrations, where you certainly do see a story going on.

This is a fantastic book!

Some other websites/blogs with lots more information than I gave:
Jason Chin's Website for the book
Fuse #8 Production (School Library Journal)
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Crazy Hair - Neil Gaiman

Illustrator: Dave McKean
Published May, 2009
40 pgs.
$18.99
Harper Collins
For: Older kids - I can't wait to share it with my class.
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Indigo

The illustrations were really different, and I was prepard to not like them, but....I did! The hair iteself is wonderful, and all the detailed crevices and splashes of beautiful color, are, well, whimsical in a sophisticated way.

And the writing. Great rhyme and rhythm. IIt would make a great rock song. Let's put it to music! We hear all about what resides in this crazy, long hair. And we find out what happens when a young girl tries to comb it all out - she gets sucked in and begins to live there. Fun, fun, fun.

"This hair, you know,
Is all my own
Since I was two
My hair has grown.
Birds fly down
From everywhere
Nesting in my
crazy hair."

and

"Huge balloons
Come down to land.
People wave.
It's very grand.
They take off
From everywhere,
Drift across my crazy hair."

Every page I turn I love to read. Wonderful language, wonderful words.

Let's add some more scenes - what a great extension/writing/art project. More, more!

Other, more comprehensive reviews than mine:
Book Aunt (Kate Coombs)
Letter Rip (Letters to the authors and illlustrators)

36. Dying to Meet You (43 Old Cemetery Road: Book One) - Kate Klise

Illustrated by M. Sarah Klise (sisters)
Published: April, 2009
Harcourt/HMH
$15.00
160 pgs.
Quick read
Rating: 4
Front endpaper: house floorplans and "slice"
Back endpaper: Pictures and info on interior features

Meet I. B. Grumply (actually, Ignatius), Seymour Hope and his cat, Shadow, and Olive C. Spence. A grupmy, 60ish, has-been author, an abandoned 11 year-old boy, and an almost 200 year-old ghost are the protagonists in the story, set in Ghastly, Illinois, in a falling down old house on 43 Cemetery Road.

Grumply has rented the house for the summer, hoping that it will help loosen his writer's block so that he can write the 13th book in his children's "Ghost Tamer" series. He does not realize that the house comes with an abandoned 11 year-old and the house's original owner, the ghost of an unpublished writer of graphic epistolary novels. Through a series of letters we meet them, attend to some of the goings-on in the town, and watch as they build a relationship, then a family.

This is an entertaining, funny book that took no time at all to read, with all sorts of lighthearted nods to the dead and macabre, particularly with names that are tongue-in-cheek plays on words....the realtor, Anita Sale, the lawyer, E. Gadds; the book publisher, Paige Turner; M. Balm, the chief librarian; Barry A. Lyve, pet store owner.....to name a few.

35. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - Katherine Howe

For: Adults
Hyperion, 2009
371 pgs.
$25.99
Rating: 4 Liked it a lot
Endpapers: In cursive text, a recipe to end "man's mortal suffering." (understood more after reading the book)

"Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it isn't real." This is a quote in the book that I keep thinking of.

Harvard grad student Connie Goodwin is looking for her dissertation topic in American colonial studies. Her advisor, Manning Chilton, a prominent historian, is hounding her to get going. But Connie's hippie mother, Grace, has called from Santa Fe to see if Connie will spend the summer cleaning out her dead grandmother, Sophia's, old house in Marblehead so that it can be sold. Abandoned for over twenty years, the ancient place is overgrown, unelectrified, and fascinating. On her first night in the old house, she finds an old key in an ancient family Bible that contains the name Deliverance Dane. Trying to discover some background on this Puritan name, shy Connie meets a like-minded steeplejack named Sam, and together they start hunting for clues.

The story takes place in 1991 and during the time of the Salem witch trials. I think it was set in 1991 because the author wanted our protagonist to really research, hunting through documents, libraries, churches, graveyards, museums, for information instead of sitting down at a computer. It works. It's a great story that I didn't want to put down. Read it on the plane flight back and forth to PA last weekend, and the time flew.

SPOILER: My only tiny negative comment would be about the character development of Manning Chilton. You know right from the beginning what he's all about, and it would be nice to have had this introduced slowly....I like to not guess the ending or the culprit untilt the story advances a little more. Oh well. This was minor.

A wonderful summer read. Especially after The Lace Reader, which also takes place in the Salem area, an area I'm somewhat familiar with, which adds an extra bit of fun. Now I really want to go check out the older parts of Marblehead!

In Our Mothers' House - Patricia Polacco

Published: 2009
Philomel Young Readers/Penguin
$17.99
Rating: 5
48 pages
For: K-12
Endpapers; Azure

Told in the first person by the eldest of three adopted children, we watch her (she happens to be African American), Will (Asian American) and Millie (red-haired and freckled) grow up being raised by two mothers - Meema, a short, stout, pediatrician who loves to cook and sew and Marmee, a tall, thin organized fixer-upper who is a paramedic. Through 48 pages we watch the family grow, thrive, have fun, and love each other. It handles a neighbor-woman, unhappy with their relationship, lightly and well (because, unfortunately, the world has to deal with bigots and homophobes). This is a totally delightful story of a wonderful family and two mothers that will...and DO....do anything for their children.

Outstanding storytelling, setting, and illustrations, Patricia Polacco! You never disappoint!

A more comprehensive review than mine can be found at Library Voice (a Connecticut librarian)

34. Say Goodbye - Lisa Gardner

Audio Read by Ann Marie Lee & Lincoln Hoppe
Published Jul, 2008
11 Unabridged CD's
13 hrs. 12 min.
368 pgs.
Rating: 5

This was a VERY disturbing story, so I hesitated before giving it a five...but it was quite brilliantly written, though grizzly....gory....and unbelievably sad. Spiders. Pregnancy. Relationships. Child pornography and abduction. FBI agents and informants. Throw that all into the mountains of Georgia and you have the basis for this suspenseful thriller. Told in a number of voices, with an epilogue that makes you cheer out loud -- 20 minutes after shedding tears of sadness....well, you get my drift. What a drive I had while listening, down I-5 from San Francisco to Bakersfield, across 40 to Needles, down again to Blythe, then I-10 to Tucson, it literally flew by. FBI Agent Kimberly Quincy is pregnant and on a case with a GBI agent who becomes a good friend, trying to find prostitutes that have been disappearing over a series of months in the Atlanta area. We keep hearing other voices, receiveing tidbits of information here and there that finally all fit together. It's a fantastic puzzle, quite cleverly written. But it's about young boys who are abducted, abused, held hostile physically and emotionally, and it's about how one of those boys behaves after he's grown up. Abducted by the Burger Man (SPOILER HERE) he later becomes the Burger Man. We also learn a great deal about spiders, their habits, their markings, their personalities per se.

Wow.

The Travel Game - John Grandits

Illustrated by R. W. Alley
Published May, 2009
Ages 5-8
32 pgs.
$16.00
Rating: 3
Clarion/HMH
Pumpkin Endpapers

A young boy lives with his Polish-American family of tailors in Buffalo, New York. He helps around the shop, and his extended family lives upstairs. Whenever he doesn't want to take a nap, his aunt plays the "travel game" with him. They spin a globe, point to a new place, and look it up in their book 1001 Places from Around the World. As they look up the pictures they make up stories as if they were there themselves. Usually, Tad falls asleep as he imagines, but this time he wakes himself up, covers his sleeping aunt, and returns to the tailor shop to help work

We get facts about what they eat (a Polish-American meal) and the place they visit: Hong Kong. Fairly interesting. Cute illustrations. Lots of white, though. I like the illustrations.

Summer 09 California Quilt Shop Hop - 16 Shops!

Sixteen new shops, never seen by us before! Our major goal was LA, museums, and missions, so to get 16 shops into our six days was terrific. We had a wonderful trip.

Calimesa, CA - Busy Bee Quilt Shop
We discovered an easy strip purse, made with "Honey Bun" rolls and iron-on batting. Small shop in a cute storefront. Nice fabrics, samples, and ideas. (3)

Redlands, CA - Calico Horse
Very nice shop if you like Thimbleberries, country, darks. This isn't the direction I seem to be drawn to, so it was a quick stop. (2 for my taste, 4 for a country-lover)

Upland, CA - Ginger's Quilt Shop
Large shop right on the Montclair/Upland town line. Puzzles and quilt-y gifts. A huge variety of fabrics to suit every mindset, including lots of novelties. Large clearance section with decent choices. (5)

Montclair, CA - Fabric Patch
Two storefronts in a strip mall, one with batiks in back and sewing machines in front, plus a third huge classroom. (3)

Newbury Park, CA - The Quilter's Studio
This store is an artist's delight. New fabrics, brights, geometrics, a gorgeous supply of solid Kona Cotton. I got sucked in by the bright orange and green florals. Really nice personel. Found lots of fabrics for pillowcases for my many male teenager's upcoming Bar Mitzvah's. (5)


Carpenteria, CA - Treasure Hunt
A little bit of everything here - all new and up-to-date. Three different rooms, one down a few steps. Yarn room, felting, surfing-related items (I bought a couple of cool linen dish towels),jewelry, crafty knicknacks, and a great selection of fabric. I purchased a new baby collection here that is adorable. Perfect for Laura's new baby! (5)
*GREAT BREAKFAST at the Worker Bee Cafe. Delish. Cute, decorated with bees everywhere, tables and a cpimter. Run by older couple.
*CLEANEST BEACH IN AMERICA, or so they claim. It was pretty nice. The Pacific is warm, I enjoyed a good wade in the waves. Really cute town, would come here again.

Orcutt, CA - Old Town Quilt Shop
We almost missed this one, because the address we found was an empty lot. Come to find out, just across the road the numbers started again at 0 going the other way. I'm so glad we didn't miss it, it was wonderful. The facade doesn't shout "this is a great shop", but it was. Two rooms, packed with new fabrics and a really nice proprieter. She gave us a 10% discount because we promote quilting with kids. Found lots of fabrics for teenagers pillowcases. (4)

Arroyo Grande - The Quilt Attic
Cute little town with a petunia-studded old bridge right next door. Great storefront, but somewhat uninspiring inside, lots of older fabrics. I did find the pattern for the zipper pouch I saw made up in Calimesa ("Zip Bags"by Shelley's Studio, Banning, CA) (2)

Grover Beach - Stitch'n Sew
A small quilt shop between and around Arroyo Grande and Pismo Beach, just opened about five months ago. The owner is a wiz at miniatures and offers classes on them. THAT would be fun! (2)

Pismo Beach - Quiltin' Counsins
We discovered we'd eaten on the next block the night before, on the pier. This long, skinny shop was packed with great fabric and wonderful patterns. She has created her own simple patterns, laminated them, and markets them for five bucks each. I found one that makes origami-like potholders and coasters (presents for everyone!), a zipper pouch, and an easy, easy purse called "A Darn Cute Bag!" Great shop. (4)

San Luis Obisbo - Betty's Fabric
This was a huge shop with a great sign out front - and oodles of fabrics for every kind of sewing, including lots of quiliting fabric (but no chenille!). Flannels and novelties galore, yarns, ideas, and many cutters to help you out. (4)

Atascedero - Sew Fun
A large, open, airy shop with stands of new fabric. I like it when they're put in sets you can walk around instead of in aisles. More than enough great fabric to choose from. I picked up a Christmas panel and matching prints here to whip up for Brian and Heather for Christmas. I could have spent more time here, but time was fleeting...... (5)

Atascedero - Quilter's Cupboard
I didn't buy anything here and for the life of me I can't remember what its inside looked like. I've failed miserably here - I can remember all the others really, really well!

Paso Robles - Wine Country Quilts
There was something really special about this shop. It was on the corner in a lovely upscale-seeming town center. It was full of fabrics, ideas, huge fake sunflowers, quilt-related items, all really cleverly displayed. A long, somewhat skinny shop, it was a memorable one. I found a great California fabric here to make my brother a pillowcase. (5)

Bakersfield - Strawberry Patches
I almost didn't find this shop - I'd left Dede's and with her, Sylvia Maven (the GPS). Because of construction all the signs had been taken down. I hunted, drove on, circled back. I'm glad. Wow. If you have kids or babies in your life this is the shop to go to! Apparently, they are the people that started the MINKE craze for baby blankets. They've created all sorts of pattern and have luscuous colors that you want to feel and rub and smooth across your cheek...... I found the perfect matches for the rest of Laura's baby quilt there - the perfect greens. I'd really like to get back here. She said they also have a great website. (5)

Tehachapi - Debbie's Fabrics, etc.
Sometime in July Debbie's is moving around the corner to the main street in this tiny town. I hope she keeps the character of the shop, because I was charmed. Fabric is draped across bookcase-like bolt shelves- you feel like you're in the middle of a fabric bazaar, and it's a delilcious feeling. Lots of things to see, in every nook and cranny. Mostly new stuff, too. Totally in the middle of the Mohave Desert - it was hot and quiet and.....lonely....here. (4)
There was another shop in town, 5 Hearts, but she closes early, apparently. Two shops in one teeny, tiny town!

Pippo The Fool - Tracey E. Fern

Illustrated by Pau Estrada
Published Feb, 2009
Charlesbridge
Older kids, 2nd-6th?
48 pgs.
$15.95
Rating: 4
Author's Note, Illustrator's Note, Resource List
Endpapers: White, with a hazy hilly landscape covering a small part of the bottom corner

This is an iteresting and FUN tale, based on the true story of Filippo Brunelleschi and his truly amazing cathedral dome - an extraordinary work of genius, especially for the early 1400's. The movers and shakers of Florence wanted a dome designed and built for their cathedral. Many artists and engineers of the day attempted designs, but none seemed able to actually WORK...until Pippo's. However, everyone thought him a fool, so he built a model to show them the intricasies, of which there were many - truly exceptional ideas. It took many, many years to build, but he was called a genius for evermore.

I love a gorgeous, interesting, informative picture book, and that's what we've got with this one. Estrada's illustrations work beautifully with Fern's excellent writing - full of figurative language and wonderful words.