About Me

My name is Genevieve Woods and in addition to being the mother of an adorable preschooler named Oscar and his adorable toddler brother Henry, I am the Children's Buyer at Spellbinder Books, a small independent bookstore in Bishop, California. I am often asked by customers for recommendations...and thus the idea for this blog was sparked.

Many sites recommending books for kids are created by librarians and non-profits. While these are great sites, they often recommend out-of-print books. This site is all about the great books that are available now! While I am not being paid for these recommendations, I would appreciate it if readers would purchase the books I recommend from local independent bookstores, or even B&N. Basically don't buy from the evil empire (A_A_O_), because if you do much of our literary knowledge will be lost.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A Book for the Roaring Set


Cute, new, and soon to be classic; everyone loves the Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen. The Library Lion came out in 2006 as was on the bestseller list (New York Times & IndieBound) for some time. The illustrations are timeless, so much so that when it first came out I overlooked it. I always take note of flashy and bold illustrations in picture books, but then I don't always read the stories. The tale of the Library Lion is so classic only classic illustrations will do; the pictures and the story fit each other perfectly.


This is the story in a nutshell: A lion is allowed in the library because he follows the rules, he even helps the librarians with dusting and what not. One day a librarian is injured and the lion has to break the rules to get the librarian help. He is sad because now that he has broken a rule he has to leave the library, but because he broke the rule for a good reason he is allowed to stay. Yeah!


This is a book that I feel I grew up with, except I didn't; I was 30 when it was first published. However, I have a feeling a lot of future adults are going to remember it as a book they grew up with; the book is now available in paperback, a significantly cheaper option that should spread the story far and wide.


This week's Book of the Week is Library Lion! As always it is 20% off in the store.

2 comments:

  1. What a nice review. I want to order the book to send to Oliver. he can read it in . . . 7 years? 8?

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  2. It can be read to Oliver in about a year; it could be read to him now, but I'm not sure he would totally get it. Hopefully he can read it himself in six!

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