Sweet-tastic Children's Books

I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but one of my favorite things about working over in the Children's Section so often is getting to find and read through some pretty awesome books. The artwork, the stories themselves, and the characters are just so interesting to me. So today, I wanted to share some of the more sweet-tastic ones I've found recently with you all.

The Crows of Pearblossom by Aldous Huxley - What first caught my eye about this book was the artwork on the cover. I love the style it's done in. Then I saw that it was written by Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World), which I thought was pretty awesome. I read through it, and in true older children's story fashion, it's very... blunt, and somewhat violent. Huxley wrote it in 1944 (it was the first of two children's stories he wrote) for his niece. You can read more about it here.

Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman - Another book that I was drawn to by the artwork on the cover. It's so unique, and very unlike any illustration style I had seen in a children's book before. The story itself is very out there, revolving around a man who has crazy hair (surprise!) and a young girl who wants to tame it, but is warned not to because of all of the things that live inside of it. It's wild, and I love it. (You might recognize Neil Gaiman... he wrote Coraline several other science-fiction novels.)

Mr. and Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen by Nancy Wood - Alright, I'll admit it, when I first saw the title of this book, I was a little skeptical. But then, when I read through it, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is the artwork beautiful, the message in the story is pretty great as well. Obviously, it leans more toward the creationist side of explaining how the universe/world came into existence, but it does so in a more progressive manner (taking into account geological estimates of the age of the earth and how long it would have taken for everything to come about). I thought it was very well done, and appreciated it's novelty.

Not much has been happening at work lately. Lots of bomb room work and shelving in children's because of the SRP. I have encountered some really adorable, and some really bratty, children lately though, which has made things fun. My favorite was this little girl from the other day who was probably about 9 or so. I was shelving, and I had a book that she wanted to see in my arms, so she said, "Excuse me, if you don't mind may I please see what that Great Illustrated Classic is?" So polite, I was pretty much blown away.

Another entertaining conversation I overheard was:

2 children asking for something and acting kind of hyper.

Adult says no.

2 children ask again.

Adult says "N. O. What does that spell?"

"No!" chorus the two children excitedly and they pretty much start behaving.

I just had to laugh... I can only wish that someday my children will be that excited about being told "no."

Also, another shout-out to everyone that's been participating in my Summer Reading Program! You are all awesome, keep reading! :)