Book of the Week (7/22/2024) and more...

This deeply moving story shares valuable lessons about fitting in, standing out, and the beauty of joyful acceptance. It traces a child’s journey to self-love and shows the power of words to both hurt and heal. With spare text and exquisite illustrations, this emotional exploration of being big in a world that prizes small is a tender portrayal of how you can stand out and feel invisible at the same time.

About Vashti Harrison

Vashti Harrison is originally from Onley, Virginia and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to writing and illustrating books she is an experimental filmmaker. Her films and videos focus on her Caribbean Heritage and folklore and have shown around the world at film festivals and venues including the New York Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Her website is at https://www.vashtiharrison.com/

Activities & Links

•  Check out this read along at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrFEtYcQE-w
• There is a pdf storytime kit for this book at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ox9iqhxukn8qktwfji5t5/Big_StorytimeKit_Color.pdf?rlkey=x5zkyck2bndueqvirpywobdee&e=1&dl=0
• Watch a video about the author's creative process and research that led to this book at https://vimeo.com/857330066
• Check out a guest-post on the ALSC blog about reading this book in an elementary school at https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2024/05/the-magic-of-big-a-month-of-read-alouds-and-great-conversations/
• An episode of The Calm and Collected podcast explains a visual activity, based on Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, which shows kids the power of their words at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkAfgog9USU.
  

• If you want more books illustrated by Vashti Harrison check out Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o or Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry. 
• Want to meet more girls who don't let other people define them? Consider Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood and Meg Hunt; or Pocket Full of Colors by Amy Guglielmo and Brigette Barrager.
• If you like reading books by Vashti Harrison about amazing women don't miss Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, and Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around the World.
  

   

There is a time and a place pulling out shakers and stirrers and strainers and taking time to assemble the perfect cocktail. But sometimes, what you really want is a great drink, served immediately.

For those times, there are Freezer Door Cocktails—batch cocktails of your favorite drinks that are built directly in the bottle and kept on your freezer door to be ready when you are.

The premise couldn't be simpler: Pour off enough of a standard liquor bottle to create just enough space to add the other ingredients needed to produce a full bottle of your desired cocktail. Store the bottle in the freezer and you have chilled cocktails ready whenever the mood strikes. That means a Negroni in hand before you even have a chance to loosen your tie or take off your heels.

This fun, creative collection of 75 ready-to-pour beverages will walk readers through making freezer door versions of their favorite cocktails, from Negronis, Margaritas and Manhattans to Cosmopolitans, Espresso Martinis and Gin & Tonics. Organized by primary liquor, Freezer Door Cocktails also covers the science behind the simplicity, including how the freezing point of alcohol changes based on volume of water, juice, and/or sweetener added, as well as how to use this information to craft your own recipes. --Publisher's blurb

About the author:

J.M. Hirsch is a James Beard Award-winning food, drink, and travel writer. He is editorial director of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street, a Boston-based food media company with a popular print magazine, award-winning cookbooks and public television and radio shows that reach millions of viewers and listeners. His previous cookbooks include Pour Me Another; Shake Strain Done; High Flavor, Low Labor; and Beating the Lunchbox Blues. He is the former national food editor for The Associated Press and lives in New Hampshire with his son, husband and two cats.

Join J.M. Hirsch at Gibson's Bookstore on Thursday, July 18, 2024 at 6:30 pm as he discusses his newest book!

   

Finn is in a horrible mood and doesn't want to talk about it. After some persuading, though, they agree to go for a hike with Grandpa. Throughout their forest walk, they see many different things: big, strong trees with networks of roots growing underneath, still water with schools of fish swimming below, and an expectant bird with eggs nestled under her. It’s when the pair pass fellow hikers that Finn realizes that people, just like the elements of nature, are more than they appear. Grandpa explains that sometimes beneath a person who seems like they won't understand what you’re feeling, is someone feeling the exact same way. This sweet and tender picture book celebrates our similarities, differences, and that there's always more under the surface of what we can see.

About Cori Doerrfeld

Cori Doerrfeld lives in Minneapolis, MN with her husband and two children. She received her undergrad degree in Studio Art from St. Olaf College and her Post Baccalaureate from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Her website is at https://www.coridoerrfeld.com.

Activities & Links

• Check out this read along at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNhhK3HWPI
  
• Emotional Robot Coloring Pages: https://lemonlimeadventures.com/emotional-robot-simple-emotions-activity-for-kids/
  
• 10 Forest Crafts for Kids: https://artsycraftsymom.com/forest-crafts-for-kids/
  
• Forest Related Activities for Kids: https://www.habausa.com/blogs/blog-inspiration/forest-exploration-with-kids
• A super-simple paper quilt craft idea: https://parentingpatch.com/construction-paper-quilt-craft/
  

•  If you want another book about what's underneath the forest try Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart and Constance R. Bergum.  
• If you are looking for more stories about emotions consider Maya Was Grumpy by Courtney Pippin- Mathur; My Blue is Happy by Jessica Young and Catia Chien; or Not Afraid of Dogs by Susanna Pitzer and Larry Day.
  
• For more by Cori Doerrfeld check out Rabbit Listened, which is also available in Spanish.
  

   

Journalist and author Ted Reinstein has reported all around New England for 25 years, telling the colorful stories of this historic yet ever-changing corner of America. Now, he condenses his countless travels into a single, unique labor of love: a journey through the heart and soul of New England, meeting the most memorable people—and their unlikely stories—all along the way. People whose struggles, toughness, triumphs, and humor not only define the very essence of New England, but represent the timeless best of America as well.

In all six states, in their own words, the stories unfold. From a stalwart surfer on New Hampshire’s tiny seacoast, to Maine’s “Slim” Andrews and his one-man museum, to the Vermonter who builds extraordinary havens in the trees for those without hope of reaching them. Meet a couple in the Berkshire Hills determined to save a place they were told doesn’t exist, and a cartoonist in Rhode Island who found an ingenious way for an entire city to say goodnight to those who need to hear it most.

It's a legendary part of America that’s often caricatured, but rarely caught with such real-life candor and intimacy. Indeed, the Old Mainer in the tired-old joke was wrong: you can get there from here. And along the way, see New England in a whole new light, through the stories of some everyday Americans you’ll never forget. --Publisher's blurb