Overheard in the Used Book Cellar & more proof kids are awesome and weird...really really weird.

I was informed by Jodie this morning that she overheard a little girl, no more than 4 or 5 years old, looking at the used kids books... pulling on her father's sleave and then asking point blank:

"Do they steal these books from little kids?"

Her father assured her that the other children were done with the books, and that they brought them here so other kids could enjoy them.

Now- there is so much happening in this exchange I get flushed with excitement. This BRILLIANT little girl saw that our used books were in fact "used". She may have seen bitten chewed and gently torn pages, with elephantine handwriting identifying previous owners something to the effect of :

Photo courtesy of my niece Maggie. (Such an accurate likeness of my proportions might I add)

Anyway back to the thought...This little girl posed a great question to her dad, one that required some upper level thinking and abstraction. One possible option for her train of thought:

-These books aren't new

-These books aren't new because ANOTHER KID LIKE ME has read them, a lot.

-Why would this other kid want to part with a well used/loved book?



Therefore:


Elf-like booksellers sneak into local family homes, and steal children's books to turn around and sell or ransom back to other children.


I really hope this was the logic, because it's kinda dark, and mostly spectacular. This little girl must be a reader, and I really hope she comes back in with more wildly legitimate questions.

Oh, and worry not, our used books were not stolen, and mostly unchewed upon.

Coming Soon!

I love audio books, but hate it when there's random music in the middle that often disrupts the mood created by the narrator/author. I mean, the author never intended it to be there and it can often take away from their words. There is an exception though...

Ever heard Peter and the Wolf, where the instruments are orchestrated to illustrate the characters and action in the story? I don't remember the first time I heard Peter and the Wolf, but I do remember it being a calming and thoughtful performance -- even more so than the cartoon. I've always wondered why the orchestration of Peter and the Wolf seemed to be the only one of its kind for so long. That is changing.

The holidays are fast approaching us and we are getting tons of winter-holidayish books (more on that next month) coming into our store. Over the holidays, we will also be increasing our children's audio selection and be bringing in a few more music cds.

A few weeks ago, when I was at NEIBA (New England Independent Booksellers Association conference), I was introduced to Maestro Classics. After listening to their demo of Peter and the Wolf (a slightly different version than I grew up with), I was eager to go home and listen to the cd of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, buried on my to-read-shelf. I loved it! Over the past week alone, I have listened to the story several times. The opening of the story, with Irish-pipes, guides the listener into the story and lets them imagine the scenery of a countryside. There are also hints of well known folk songs throughout the orchestration to create the mood of different areas. Sounds of machines and airplanes and steam are created by instruments of the orchestra.

In all, there are seven tracks on the cd. Besides the story itself, there is great information on the author, an original song about Mike Mulligan, and a quick talk on why the conductor chose the musical elements and sounds that he did. Here, music is for story telling, imagining, and creating a drama that extends beyond words.

Maestro Classics bring great story telling and music appreciation to children's (and parent's) ears. There are audio clips on their website, here. Other titles available: Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Story of Swan Lake, Casey at the Bat, The Tortoise and the Hare, and more. Keep a watch out for them in our kids' audio section.