Mailbox Monday — July 26

Each week, Mailbox Monday is a place for us to share what books we received in our Mailbox. You can link up at The Printed Page, or just visit around and see what others have received.

It’s become one of our very favorite features because of the fun comments and book chat it generates, so please let us know what you think of our selections!

JENNIFER

One of my highlights of BEA 2010 was listening to the panel of YA authors read from their works. I brought home copies of several of them, but they didn’t have copies of Rebecca Maizel’s Infinite Days. Even though I’m not sure what I think about the whole vampire craze, this book captured my interest. The amazon product description doesn’t thrill me, but hearing the author talk about the book did. The vampire ends up living as a human at a boarding school. She’s in a teen body, but has the wisdom and angst and regret of 592 years of living as a vampire. I was thrilled when it showed up as a selection on my Amazon Vine list last week. This book will move to the top of my pile for sure.

Finding a padded envelope stuffed into my mailbox (as my mail carrier is want to do) or left on my front porch (as my UPS lady or FedEx guy do) is always exciting. But finding a box? Why that’s really exciting, because I never know what I’ll find. This week, we found a big heavy box from Kids Can Press. I had requested Making the Moose Out of Life and the newest in our favorite nonfiction series, Looking Closely in the Rain Forest, but I got a whole bunch of books that are releasing this fall. Some highlights include:

• Up We Grow!: A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm
• Good Garden, The: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough
• After helping me unearth the treasure, Kyle (age 6) grabbed Spork and began to read it. Of course there’s nothing cooler than the spoon fork fusion, most commonly found at Taco Bell (at least most commonly found by us), but I wasn’t sure what drew him to it. “It looked really exciting,” he told me.
• He also wanted to read Daily Comet, The: Boy Saves Earth from Giant Octopus!, but it was a bit text heavy. We will definitely look at that one over a few bedtimes.
• along with Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents the Way of the Ninja

Another unsolicited, but equally exciting book is Let’s Have a Bite!: A Banquet of Beastly Rhymes. Kyle and I enjoy poetry, but I don’t pick it up often enough. I look forward to nibbling our way through this September 16 release, which has very creepy cartoonish artwork throughout, which usually appeals to kids (but sort of creeps me out, ha!).

DAWN
When we get offers for soon-to-be-released books from our publishing contacts, sometimes books immediately call out, “Pick me! Pick me!” Other times, I see titles and descriptions that appear to perhaps be up my reading alley, and I’ll accept those if no one else in the group is clamoring for them. This week, I received a book that I know I requested but couldn’t really remember what the description had been that had drawn me to it- Chris Binchy’s Five Days Apart. Then I read the description at the top of the back cover: “a wonderfully charming and bittersweet story of friendship, love, and the courage of second chances.” Ah yes, that sounds like something I would pick up.

Like Jennifer, I too was delighted by a surprise BOX on my doorstep, although mine was from the illustrious DK Publishing. Oh, how I love to browse their books, for I believe they consistently produce some of the best of the best in children’s nonfiction books. Seven newly released goodies awaited me (and the kids!) in the box:

• Nature Explorer— From birds to bugs, weather to space, rocks and fossils to thinking like a nature ranger, this book is a wealth of information, activities and amazing photographs. Upon seeing it at the top of the box, I immediately handed it off to my four-year-old nature lover.
• I’m a Scientist: Kitchen— The colorful images and smiling children on this book’s cover called out to my two-year-old son, even though the experiments presented may be a couple years off for him.
• The Little Brainwaves Investigate: Animals– The two-page spreads on different animals and their behaviors and features appear to be good for short bursts of reading, making this book one that might stay in the diaper/mommy bag for emergencies (i.e. long lines, late buses, etc).
• Who’s in Charge?— Although I think the cover lacks some appeal, my almost-ten-year-old son went for this book first, and I think the information contained in this one could educate us both! I’m looking forward to reading through this one with him.
• The Big Idea Science Book: The incredible concepts that show how science works in the world— The title alone makes me predict that this one will be read the most by my older son and husband.
• One Million Things: Space and One Million Things: Human Body— Holy cow, they are not exaggerating with the “one million” in the title. These books are truly incredible resources and I imagine will be consulted and pored over again and again.

Each Tuesday we have a different meme that you join in, from Kids’ Picks to What’s on Your Nightstand, to a Children’s Classics challenge. Join Us!

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