In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday - 11/22/09

Welcome to another edition of In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday, where I show you what books came into my house via the mailbox. In My Mailbox is hosted every Sunday by Kristi at The Story Siren and Mailbox Monday is hosted on Mondays by Marcia at the Printed Page. Both ladies have wonderful blogs, that I hope you will take the time to visit. I appreciate each of them for hosting these memes so that book bloggers can share the books that they receive to review. To see what others have gotten this week, visit these ladies and check it out!

Here's what came into my house over the last week:

For Review

The Paper Bag Princess (board book) by Robert Munsch, from Annick Press

THE PAPER BAG PRINCESS hardly needs an introduction. First published in 1980, and with over four million copies in print, this story of a feisty princess and her hapless prince has captured the hearts of readers young and old all around the world. THE NEW YORK TIMES called it one “of the best children’s books ever written,” while it has appeared countless times on Best Books lists across North America.

Now, even toddlers can enjoy this modern classic. While retaining the original storyline with all its humor and panache, a revised text for the 2-to-4-year old makes this version appropriate for pre-schoolers. The sturdy board book format is perfect for little hands. 

Together by Hazel Hutchins, from Annick Press
Acclaimed children’s writer Hazel Hutchins explores the concept of what-goes-with-what in her new picture book for pre-schoolers, whether it’s buttons that keep your shirt together, or shoelaces that keep your feet in your shoes. Playful text coupled with lively illustrations will keep children engaged and encourage them to build their vocabulary.

As young children struggle, literally, with keeping it all together, here’s the book to help them from coming undone, blowing away or falling apart. From getting dressed at the start of the day to leaving school at the end, there is plenty of opportunity throughout the story to make connections. 

Camp Fossil Eyes: Digging for the Origins of Words by Mark Abley, from Annick Press
See into the past and discover how English evolved from more than 350 languages.
In this fanciful book about etymology, 15-year-old Jill Boswell and her 13-year-old brother, Alex, are sent to summer camp in a bizarre badlands region -- the only place in the world where words are fossilized in rock. Armed with water bottles, spades and backpacks, the campers hike from ridge to ridge in search of their ancient quarry. The budding word hounds soon realize they are on an amazing journey of discovery.
Traveling through the mountains of fossilized words -- from ancient Greece (television, demon, gorilla, catastrophe) to Spain (mosquito, ten-gallon, burrito) and from the language of the Goths (heathen, home, haunt) to Dutch (booze, dock, pickle, cookie) -- they find that even current words like podcast and gossip originated hundreds of years ago!

Born to Write: The Remarkable Lives of Six Famous Authors by Charis Cotter, from Annick Press

What were famous authors like as kids?
Our childhood experiences shape us into the adults we become. Born to Write tells the stories of how six extraordinary children transformed early struggles into spellbinding bedtime reading for kids around the world.
To ease the pain of being ostracized by her classmates, Madeleine L'Engle escaped to an invented world every night in her bedroom. Lucy Maud Montgomery lost her mother as a baby, and her father appeared only sporadically throughout her life. And Philip Pullman, a seasoned traveler by age 10, used his long journeys by ship as inspiration for his remarkable novels.
In Born to Write, Charis Cotter chronicles the early lives of these and other much-loved children's writers, including Christopher Paul Curtis, C.S. Lewis and E.B.White, revealing how each author's achievements, losses, triumphs and tragedies helped shape our most beloved books.
Interspersed throughout are sidebars highlighting other well-known children's authors, such as Hans Christian Andersen and Louisa May Alcott, whose works served as inspiration.

The Snowman's Song: A Christmas Story by Marilee Joy Mayfield
The Snowman's Song is an enchanting tale of longing and fulfillment. A little snowman yearns to sing Christmas carols, but is desolate because he hasn't a voice. From the kindness of others, he dares to believe in the impossible and experiences a Christmas miracle. Beautifully told in melodic verse, this inspirational story shows that impossible dreams do come true and reminds us of the true reason for the season. This heartwarming story is a multimedia experience - a bonus CD contains a reading of the entire story told in the author s voice, sure to transport rapt young listeners to the snowman' s winter wonderland.

Dragons Love by Stephen Parlato, from the author

The world has not always loved dragons, but dragons have always loved the world. They love the simple beauty of nature’s fleeting flowers, the armor left behind by knights who come to slay but end up playing with them. They love the birds with whom they share the skies, and they love books that entrance them. Often cast as villains associated with destruction, in this enchanting picture book dragons are depicted as great spirits and protectors of the natural world, ancient beings in touch with the beauty and rhythms of the earth. Collage art of dragons compiled from the things they love fill every page of this book, which is sure to spark young imaginations.

Gifts

Yum! !MmMm! Que' Rico!: America's Sproutings by Pat Mora, a thank you from Lee & Low
A collection of haiku focusing on fourteen foods native to the Americas, celebrating the fun of the foods as well as their origins.

Gracias Thanks by Pat Mora, a thank you from Lee & Low

In a series of poetic sentences, a young boy (biracial Mexican/Caucasian) tells about some of the everyday things for which he is thankful.

For Cybils Judging

I got huge Cybils deliveries this week, so I'm only going to post the titles.  You can see book covers and click to read more or order in the Cybils widget, top of right sidebar.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem
Pennies for Elephants
Magic Box
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
Spoon
Let's Do Nothing
Finn Throws a Fit!
Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates
The Circus Ship
How Do You Wokka-Wokka?
Wiggins Learns his Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant
Bee Wigged
There are Cats in This Book
Who Wants to be a Poodle I Don't
Maggie's Monkeys
Kissed on the Wind
Higher! Higher!
The Dunderheads
The Clever Stick
Boo Hoo Bird
Family Huddle
No Snow for Christmas
Ron's Big Mission
Wink: The Ninja who Wanted to be Noticed
Put it on the List!
In Our Mothers' House
Before You Were Here, Mi Amor
Me with You
Llama Llama Misses Mama
Hugging Hour!
Muriel's Red Sweater
Tsunami
Otis
Crow Call
My Little Round House
The Yankee at the Seder
I Call My Grandpa Papa
A Carousel Tale
The Book That Eats People
Ned's New Home
The Curious Garden
The Lion and The Mouse
All Kinds of Families
Martha Doesn't Say Sorry!
Dewey There's a Cat in the Library!