Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch The line on the cover of this winning graphic novel sums it up nicely: “Yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl.” Mirka, the 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl, is somewhere towards the bottom middle in age in a large blended family (helpfully for the character count, only those closest in age to Mirka are introduced). She longs to fight dragons and resents her mostly kind if ugly stepmother’s attempts to teach her to knit. It’s sweet family life sprinkled with Yiddish, until Mirka sees a witch in the forest and starts being chased by her talking pig. The art sets just the right tone between serious and funny, and the story is a warm-hearted adventure with a good sense of humor. I fell hard for Mirka, and loved the details of Jewish mythology and Orthodox life. I’ve been toting this one around with me, and everyone I’ve shown it to has been enchanted. I’d say it’s ideal for about third grade up, and I’m really hoping for a sequel where Mirka gets to use her new sword.
Crossposted to http://sapphireone.livejournal.com and http://library-mama.dreamwidth.org .
Raising Happiness by Christine Carter Carter makes a convincing argument that raising our kids to be happy is worthwhile. Not trying to make them happy, but teaching them how to find happiness in what life deals. And it turns out that making things happier for the parents can make things happier for the kids as well. This book has ten concise chapters, each with a specific focus, like fostering generosity or gratitude, or how to get over periods of the day that consistently lead to unhappiness, such as the morning or evening rush. She’s summarizing a lot of solid research here. You could read it somewhere else, but her approach has two advantages: it’s all neatly in one place, and each chapter has concrete and doable action steps for busy parents to bring about the goal. Try them all or just one – you and your children will end up better for it. 
The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia McKillip This new book from long-time favorite Patricia McKillip is a misty tale of magic, music, mystery and archaeology. In the distant past, Nairn was called the Pig-Singer, because the pigs were his only audience. Then he found himself studying at a newly-emerging school for bards, pushed into training to compete to be bard to the equally new but self-appointed king. This story is interwoven with a story of a time that feels closer to our present, where Phelan Cle, graduate student at the School for Bards, is in need of a topic for his final paper. Hoping for something easy, he picks a topic that has been done at least once a decade for centuries: What happened to Nairn after the legendary competition? Does Bone Plain, the site of the competition, really exist, and if so, where? His research may (oh, ok, will of course) turn out to be more relevant than he thought as he tries to finish his paper while keeping his drunken, wandering father from getting into trouble. Also in the present day is the stereotypically lovely but unconventional Princess Beatrice, who runs Phelan’s father’s archaeology dig in the city, and whose work will have more in common with Phelan’s than either of them realize. There is something about McKillip’s writing – perhaps the way the magic is clearly there with workings invisible to all the characters – that makes her magic seem more, well, magical, than most fantasy books, where magic is often a thing clearly understood. I haven’t read a bad McKillip yet, and this is worthy of her name. 
Snow Party by Harriet Ziefert. Illustrated by Mark Jones For those people who are looking (even if only sometimes) for a celebratory winter book that is not a Christmas or even a Hanukkah book to share with children, I humbly offer a title. In this book, a large group of snow people – made out of snow people – are coming together to celebrate the first day of winter. It is a great and glorious party, filled with color despite every page being filled with snow. My only beef with it is that this amazing party (secret to those who haven’t read the book) happens only in years when the first snow fall coincides with the winter solstice. That’s putting off the party for too many years in a row, I think, so I read it as when there’s snow on the first day of winter. That’s tonight in my neck of the woods. I hope it’s a good one. Happy solstice. 
Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier. Zombies are in right now. Really in, and I personally really don’t like them. That’s why I’m so glad that this anthology of short stories has come out, so that everyone can see once and for all why unicorns are so much cooler than zombies. That would be my way of looking at it, anyway. The book is geared towards a teen audience and has twelve stories, six each zombie and unicorn, each team headed by a separate editor. Here are the authors that I’ve heard of: Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Maureen Johnson, Diana Peterfreund, Scott Westerfeld, Meg Cabot and Libba Bray. These are very good authors, though I admit that the only zombie story I made it all the way through was Alaya Dawn Johnson’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, and that only because the opening comments described it as funny. Every story is preceded by an argument between the two editors on the background of the story, tidbits about zombies or unicorns (depending) and the relative merits of zombies and unicorns. Even when I didn’t read the story, the notes were priceless. A thoughtful feature of this book is that every story is marked with a zombie or unicorn icon so if you are a diehard member of one team or another, as it turns out I am, you can avoid the stories from the other side. Some of the stories are dark, like Kathleen Duey’s “The Third Virgin”. Some, like Naomi Novik’s “Purity Test” (what if the girl the unicorn picks isn’t really a virgin?) and Meg Cabot’s “Princess Prettypants”, where the unicorn literally farts rainbows, are hilarious. I hear the zombie stories were pretty good, too. 
Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas Falick and Nicholas are two excellent knitters whose work I have enjoyed before. This books seems to come from the starting point of someone being inspired by a new or upcoming baby to knit. It starts with very basic instructions and easy projects, working up from simple garter stitch projects knit flat to working in the round, cables, and (fairly simple) colorwork. The projects are attractive and include difficulty ratings intended for beginners, while the instructions are detailed. My favorite projects include the stripy garter-stitch cardigan and the snowflake fair isle, though the more advanced aran pullover, and small balls and teddy are also very attractive. There’s lots of baby knitting books out there, of course, but this is a solid one good for beginners up. 
Vintage Knits for Modern Babies by Hadley Fierlinger This book seems on average to be written more for the intermediate than the beginning knitter, though there are still patterns at all levels and it still includes helpful difficulty ratings (because I am a person who could just get sucked in by how pretty a project looks and not think about whether I’d actually have the time and headspace to knit a complicated pattern.) Fierlinger’s introduction includes the intriguing idea of picking one baby pattern to knit for every baby, one simple enough that you can memorize and just plunk them out in between projects or in a hurry, so that you are always prepared for a new baby with your signature baby gift. I like the idea a lot, though there are so many cute baby patterns out there that I’d have a hard time picking just one. I was looking at cardigans, of course, and my favorite was Anya’s Cardigan, a lacy number that reminded me of the ones my grandmother wore. Ravelry says, however, that the most popular pattern is the Vintage Pixie Cap, indeed a charmer. Another strong book, beautifully photographed and laid out, with lots of drool-worthy inspiration for the babies in your life.
The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk by Diana West and Lisa Marasco While I’m not at all happy that I have personal reason to need this book right now, I am really thrilled to have found it. West and Marasco are both IBLC-certified lactation consultants with personal experience with low milk supply. They are very reassuring and nonjudgmental – you will find neither the idea that problems are all in your head or your fault nor the idea that everyone needs to supplement. First, they go over common things that people think are signs that babies aren’t getting enough but really are not. Then they talk about how to tell if you baby isn’t getting enough. If not, is the problem your baby, your feeding habits or something on your end. They go into quite a few specific situations here, covering many problems that I’ve known people to have. For instance, I hadn’t known that milk production is stimulated most heavily by night nursing, so that the common practice of pumping during the day so that Dad can bottle-feed baby and let Mom sleep is doubly harmful to establishing milk supply. They also go over supply problems caused by PCOS, hormone imbalance, and low breast tissue (either from nature or from breast surgery). Next, solutions, and a whole raft of them: how to best establish a good milk supply; how to optimize with pumping; various pharmaceutical and herbal galactagogues and when to use them. Finally, dealing with the emotions of low milk supply and how to define your own success. It’s also linked with a web site, 
Sky Masters by Dale Brown Brown is a popular and fairly prolific author in the action-adventure category. As a former U.S. Air Force Captain, he brings his inside knowledge of the action and technology of the Air Force into his books. In this book, a conflict over a small island between China and the Phillipines brings the U.S. Air Force into play with new, secret and superpowerful planes and miniature, nearly invisible sattelites. The technology is described in detail, and the action moves rapidly from one locale to another with cinematic precision. Those who love tales of military action with a focus on the plot and the machines will blast through this and come back for more.* 
Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like by Jay Williams. Illustrated by Mercer Mayer. Here is an old-but-good one, fortuantely still available from Amazon as well as at my library. Young orphan Han is a cheerful street sweeper who tends to the gate of the city of Wu, between China and the land of the Wild Horsemen. One day, a messenger brings word that attack by the Wild Horsemen is imminent. The Mandarin calls together his advisors – the Captain of the Army, the Leader of the Merchants, the Chief of the Workmen, and the Wisest of Wise Men – to discuss what to do. They decide to pray to the Great Cloud Dragon to save them. Shortly thereafter, Han meets an ragged and fat old man at the city gate, who says he is the dragon and asks to be taken to the Mandarin. Naturally, the Mandarin and his advisors refuse to believe the man – they all know what a dragon looks like. Only Han is polite and hospitable to the old man, and his courtesy of course saves the day. This is a beautiful, slightly twisted fairy tale from Williams, whose “The Practical Princess” I remember vividly reading in Cricket as a child. This is both absorbing on the surface and provides plenty for more conversation. The beautiful pictures are recognizably the prolific and versatile Mercer Mayer’s fairy tale style, but also clearly Asian in palette and layout. Lightning Bolt loved it so much that we read it regularly for six weeks before I brought it back to the library.
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood. Read by Katherine Kellgren.
alibrarymama 