"Last to Die", Two Children's Books, and More Buys

So, I might an addict. I can't just say no to books, you know? Especially when they're free. But more on that later.

I received the latest Tess Gerritsen novel in the mail yesterday – I pre-ordered it back in March while I was testing out Amazon Prime. I cracked it open and start right away. However, I'm run ragged these days. So I haven't gotten too far into it. I had to read some passages twice because I kept dozing off. Not a commentary on Gerritsen's writing, by the way.

As I have mentioned in the past, my work now involves me reading books in the department. Most of the time I select my reads from the 3rd through 5th grade shelves because their lengthier. However, because I do have an infant son, I'm drawn more and more toward the easy shelf.

In Maxine Trottier’s Migrant, we learn what’s like to be a migrant worker through the eyes of a young girl named Anna. Trottier relates migrant families to a flock of birds, comforts them with a kitten’s warmth, and compares their temporary housing to a jack rabbit’s burrow. The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault bring Anna’s imagination to life – her transformation to a jack rabbit to comparing the voices of her fellow migrants to crickets before she is whisked away by one upon its back. As a child whose mother traveled across the state and country for work while she was growing up, this book echoes her memories. It’s beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated that all readers will fall in love with it immediately.

Exposure to art is equally important to a child’s development as reading. In his book, Magritte’s Marvelous Hat, D.B. Johnson infuses the joys of art and reading. Not only does Johnson name his character after René Magritte, his illustrations are riddled with references to the Belgian painter’s work. Interaction is also a must, so Johnson added in a few “clear” pages containing images that create new illustrations when they are turned. Johnson created a so much more than just a story about a dog painter and his marvelous hat, one that both parent and child can enjoy.

Of the two books, it's difficult to say which exactly is my favorite. They're both equally beautiful in their own right. So before I attempt some sort of compare and contrast of apples and oranges, I'll continue on to the next and former topic.

My addiction of book has reached an all new high. We have a new librarian – who is amazingly awesome – and she seems a bit miffed with the mess of donations we have in the back. It was a get rid of everything sale. Tons of things were placed in the back to recycling – all textbooks I have little to no interest in. Here's what I've made out with this time:

• Little Women by Lousia May Alcott
• The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
• Literary Journalism: A Reader edited by Jean Chance and William McKeen
• The Aeneid by Virgil (translation by Patric Dickinson)
• Social Anthropology in Perspective: The Relevance of Social Anthropology, 2nd edition by I.M. Lewis
• Man and His Measure edited by Francis Connolly
• Technical Writing Style by Dan Jones
• A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edition by Kate L. Turabian
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 8th edition by Joseph M. Williams
• Cognitive Psychology, 3rd edition by Robert J. Sternberg

Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble; for Kindle and Nook. You can pick up Magritte's Marvelous Hat on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can pick up a copy of Migrant at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Until next time, keep on huntin'.