Brian Selznick, known for intricate illustrated epics like Wonderstruck and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, reinvents the early-reader book with this fat set of simple stories about a primate private eye who has a lot more trouble putting on his pants than solving his cases. There are plenty of hidden pleasures to enjoy in repeated readings, but the …
Norman Borlaug (the Wizard) and William Vogt (the Prophet): they may not be household names (though Borlaug did win the Nobel Peace Prize for launching the “Green Revolution” in agriculture), but Mann convincingly sets them up as emblems of the two poles in modern environmental thinking, the think-big technocratic Wizards and the think-small ecologist Prophets. …
I have less than zero interest in serial killers, but Bill James, the cranky Kansan baseball analyst, was the J.K. Rowling of my sports-nerd youth, and if that’s what he turns his mind to, I’ll follow. And I’m glad I did. Taking the shards of small-town reporting available to them, he and his intrepid daughter, …
I spotted this KING 5 segment through Seattle Review of Books. It highlights favorite titles by Pacific Northwest authors: You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me Love and Trouble My Rice Bowl Ghosts of Seattle Past Where’s Halmoni? Get Dressed Sasquatch/ Goodnight Krampus Queen of Spades Razor Clams.
So many publications or sites do top 10 lists or even notable 100 for books published in the calendar year. But the folks at Phinney Books in Seattle have a fun year-end summary that I’m very excited about: the unread list. Here’s what Phinney’s owner, Tom Nissley, had to say about it in the store’s …
Monster ABC, written, drawn, and self-published by the Northwest brother duo of Derek and Kyle Sullivan, has been one of our most popular board books, and for good reason—it’s a hoot, and gorgeous to boot! So we were delighted when a new shipment arrived with the brothers’ two more recent board books, Get Dressed, Sasquatch! (in which …
A mysterious new doorway in their grandmother’s room and some equally mysterious paw prints lead Joon and Noona into a land of mischievous and snack-loving animals, and into the world of the traditional Korean folk tales Seattle’s Julie Kim heard as a child. Her retellings (and her exquisitely beautiful illustrations) combine the magic and mischief …
Why is this novel so absurdly entertaining? Shum, who was a casino dealer in Lake Stevens before getting his English PhD, loosely bases his story on an old gambling tale by Pushkin, but it has a seemingly effortless liveliness all of its own (I say “seemingly” because that kind of effortlessness takes a lot of …
This is the month for monsters, and you’ll find few more appealing ones than the father and child in this rhyming tale. The rhythms and the rhymes are note-perfect for reading aloud, and the monstrous details—the “mummified bass” and “toe-biting stones” the daddy loves not quite as much as he loves his little stinkling—strike just …
Anyone want to take bets on how many Wonder Women you’ll see trick-or-treating this year? From the movies to the bookshelves to the Halloween streets, Wonder Woman is having a big year. Below are two recent books for different ages. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo. Bardugo’s fans know she writes rich worlds, complex characters, …
