Alphabet Soup Turns Five Years Old!

Join our celebrations!

Friday, Nov. 27th ONLY 20% off all new books & framed pictures

Saturday, Nov. 28th @ 10:30 LIVE music with Board of Education

Saturday, Nov. 28th @ 11:30 author reading with Kevin Emerson

Saturday, Dec. 5th @ 1:30 p.m. LIVE music with Caspar Babypants

See below for details!

Stop by for refreshments & fun with your friends at Alphabet Soup as we celebrate five years in Wallingford.

Be sure to sign up for our raffles and win great prizes -- just in time for the holidays.

[Raffle One]
Put your name in the hat to win a Seattle Music Pack: a bundle of CDs from our favorite Seattle Bands!

Central Services presents...Board of Education
Caspar Babypants, "More, Please!"
The Not Its, "We are the Not Its!"
Recess Monkey, "Field Trip"

[Raffle Two]
Give us your list of ten favorite children's books. A randomly picked entry will win a $50 gift certificate -- just in time for the holidays!

[Raffle Three]
Guess how many m&ms are in the cookie jar (there are a lot) to win a $50 gift certificate.



All winners will be notified on Sunday, December 6th.

Central Services Presents....The Board of Education! November 28th @ 10:30

One of our favorite Seattle bands,

The Board of Education,

will perform songs from their release

"Central Services Presents...The Board of Education!"

....and other old favorites.

Saturday, November 28th @ 10:30 a.m.

more on the band (from their website)...

"The Board of Education sprang to life in 2007 as a side project of Seattle band Central Services. While the band was gaining notoriety in the indie music scene (a stint in rotation at CMJ station-of-the-year KEXP in Seattle, a month-long stay on CMJ’s national charts, a spot in Three Imaginary Girls Top Northwest Releases, and a performance at Bumbershoot), frontman Kevin Emerson, a former elementary school science teacher turned children’s novelist, had been toying around with a few songs written for kids.

Kevin showed the kids’ songs to the band. With song topics like a lonely tomato, the dangers of commas and the wonders of tin foil, it was immediately obvious to everyone how refreshing it would be to play music that was so original, so smart, and so much pure fun. They decided to do a couple shows as the BoE and the response was so positive that well… they went and made a whole record!

The press response has been great, with favorable reviews in the Seattle Times, the PI, Seattle Weekly, Three Imaginery Girls, MSN.com, and NPR’s All Things Considered. The Board of Education has performance booked all over the Northwest this summer, including Folklife, Kidsfest and Bumbershoot."

Kevin Emerson, Author of the "Oliver Nocturne" Series

Saturday, November 28th, @ 11:30, local author and Board of Education band member Kevin Emerson will read from his Oliver Nocturne series. Suspenseful adventure for tween readers.

"Though he experiences typical middle school troubles—being bullied, fighting with his older brother Bane, thinking his parents don't understand him, and feeling like a misfit—Oliver is a vampire. Like others his age, he still consumes only animal blood, but Bane, who has recently bonded with his otherworldly demon to become an adult vampire, now enjoys human blood. Despite the ironclad prohibition against associating with mortals, Oliver is attracted to the daylight world and fascinated by Emalie, a human girl who has been exploring the ruins above his family's crypt home. He soon learns that she suspects the existence of vampires and intends to write an exposé—something the highly secretive undead want to avoid. Oliver agrees to help her, even guiding Emalie and her cousin into the hidden subsurface city to consult Dead Désirée, the weird keeper of secrets and powers that even vampires fear. He soon realizes that there is something mysterious about his background, and that danger threatens not only his human friends, but also himself. This volume devotes considerable space to background exposition about the vampire meta-world. While the pacing is slow in spots, the details help to fully realize the idea of parallel human and undead worlds, and the cliff-hanger ending promises more excitement." -- From School Library Journal review of Book One, The Vampire's Photograph.

Caspar Babypants LIVE at the Soup December 5th @ 1:30

Come dance and sing with us when Caspar Babypants returns to the Soup on Saturday, December 5th at 1:30 p.m.

The second album "More Please" is now available with more sunshiney and happy-time tunes!

SIMPLE GOOD TIME SING ALONG MUSIC FOR BABIES BRAINS AND PARENTS EARS!

When you check out Caspar's website, be sure to click on "stories" for the down-low on your favorite Babypants tunes.

See you there!

The Not-Its Rock and Read at the Soup

Thanks to everyone who came out to dance to five-piece local band The Not-Its a coupla Saturdays ago.

The music was awesome, the energy was high, and the kids were working up a sweat. In between songs, a lucky audience member got to pick the next tune by lottery. Before starting the song, kids had a breather, and the sixth band member read a portion of a story from a ginormous book especially written for Alphabet Soup and this very special concert day.

Very warm thanks to all the members of The Not-Its for putting on such a great show!

Come See the Not-Its Live This Saturday!

Stop by Saturday at 11 a.m. for a Not-Its in-store live, free performance!

Music, refreshments, and fun!

Recess Monkey Rocks the Soup!

Special thanks to Recess Monkey, who kicked off the hottest weekend of the year back in August. There was standing-room-only-outside-on-the-sidewalk as the band played a special Unplugged set for their dancing fans.

And special thanks also to Trophy Cupcakes, who provided treats.

Penguins are on the March!

You may have already noticed if you've strolled through Wallingford recently. We have our very own Penguin! Well, it's just a guest for now. Our penguin's name is "Ice Cube" and it was decorated by students at Lake Union Preschool.

Woodland Park Zoo has a new penguin exhibit, and to celebrate they've sent five-dozen penguin statues marching through Wallingford, Ballard, Fremont, and Greenwood-Phinney.

There are two auctions open to the public. Both are during the Greenwood-Phinney Art Walk -- ony on August 14th at the Greenwood Collective; the other on September 11 at the Piper Village Grand Opening.

Check out the website for the full story. Study the map and plan your own penguin tour!

The Blueberry Pie Elf

The latest book to be brought back from the rare and collectible bookshelves by Purple House Press is Jane Thayer's "The Blueberry Pie Elf." Originally published in 1959, the copyright was renewed in 1987, but the book has been difficult to find until being republished this year.

Jane Thayer was the pen name of Catherine Woolley. She wrote more than 80 books for children. Her first book, "I Like Trains," was published in 1944, and her last children's book was released in 1989. Seymour Fleishman's charming illustrations are perfect for this wonderful story about how an elf who loves pie -- but, take note -- only BLUEBERRY PIE -- does all he can think of when the cherry and apple pies start coming. Fleishman, who turned 90 last year, illustrated more than 50 books for children between 1953 and 1989. Fleishman and Woolley also collaborated on the "Gus the Friendly Ghost" series.

Caspar Babypants Rocks the Soup!

Thanks to everyone who came out to see Caspar Babypants and his accompaniest on percussion, Fred Babyshirt! Caspar played songs from his debut, "Here I am" and some new tunes that'll be appearing on his next release, already in the planning stages. All the songs were crowd pleasers, but two favorites were "Fuzzy Wuzzy" with new verses about various animal friends, and a very nice version of PUSA's "Kitty," which had the grown-ups and kids rocking. Also worth note was "Little Broken Truck" for which Caspar (who is really Chris Ballew) was joined by his daughter Josie & everyone in the audience joined in. A rockin', rollin' time was had by all. Thanks, Caspar!
If you missed out, it's not too late to check out the music & schedule for future shows. "Here I Am" is also available for $10 at Alphabet Soup Children's Books.

Caspar Babypants LIVE at Alphabet Soup Saturday May 16th at 1:00 p.m.!

Caspar Babypants (aka Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America) will be performing LIVE at Alphabet Soup on May 16th at 1:00 p.m. Caspar will be singing catchy tunes from his debut release, Here I Am! Fun for everyone. See you there!

After Hours at the Soup -- May 6th -- Celebrating Dr. Suess!

Mark you calendars for After Hours at the Soup -- Wednesday, May 6th from 6-9!

We'll be celebrating Dr. Suess -- study up for a fun and tricky trivia competition.

Enjoy refreshments, including beer & wine for the grown-ups.

Costumes encouraged! Contests to win Dr. Suess books!

The event coincides with First Wednesday, the Wallingford Art Walk, which kicks off in May.

So, who was Dr. Suess?

He was born Theodor Seuss Geisel in 1904 and grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was the son of a brewmaster, who managed to prosper even through Prohibition. An early childhood memory is of his mother chanting rhymes, rather than standard lullabies, to soothe him to sleep. "Ted" as he was known by family and friends, attended Dartmouth College and served as editor-in-chief of the humor magazine until he got demoted after he and his friends were caught throwing a drinking party, against school policy as well as Prohibition! He continued as a contributing writer, and this was where he first signed his work Seuss.
After travelling through Europe, he married his first wife, Helen Palmer, who became a children's book author and editor (several of her books were Dr. Seuss book club selections).


He worked in advertising for 15 years and during World War II, too old for the draft, worked with Frank Capra's Signal Corps in the U.S. Army making training films and learning the art of animation. Although now perhaps best known for his tongue-twisting and nonsensical rhymes, he got his first big break into children's books with illustrations for a humorous series published by Which isn't surprising when you consider that three of his books (McElligot's Pool, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, and If I Ran the Zoo) won Caldecott Honors. That was a long way off, however -- his first book, And to Think That I Saw it On Mulberry Street, was rejected 27 times before finally being published.

Dr. Seuss passed away on September 24, 1991. By then, he had published 44 children's books, and his work had been translated into 15 different languages.

Dr. Seuss Book List -- How many of these books have you read?

List includes books written under Dr. Seuss & Theo Le Seig. Illustrators are not listed, and are different for each book.

__ And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937)
__ The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938)
__ The King's Stilts (1939)
__ The Seven Lady Godivas (1940)
__ Horton Hatches the Egg (1940)
__ McElligot's Pool (Caldecott Honor Book, 1947)
__ Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose (1948)

__ Bartholomew and the Oobleck (Caldecott Honor Book, 1949)
__ If I Ran the Zoo (Caldecott Honor Book, 1950)

__ Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953)
__ Horton Hears a Who! (1954)
__ On Beyond Zebra! (1955)

__ If I Ran the Circus (1956)
__ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957
__ The Cat in the Hat (1957)

__ The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (1958)

__ Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories (1958)

__ Happy Birthday to You! (1959)
__ Green Eggs and Ham (1960)

__ Ten Apples Up on Top! ( 1961)
__ One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (1960)

__ The Sneetches and Other Stories (1961)

__ Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book (1962)

__ Dr. Seuss's ABC (1963)
__ Hop on Pop (1963)

__ Fox in Socks (1965)
__ I Wish That I Had Duck Feet (1965)

__ I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew (1965)
__ Come Over to My House (1966)
__ The Cat in the Hat Song Book (1967)

__ The Foot Book (1968)
__ The Eye Book (1968)
__ I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories (1969)
__ My Book about ME (Illustrated by Roy McKie, 1970)
__ I Can Draw It Myself (1970)
__ Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Dr. Seuss's Book of
__ Wonderful Noises! (1970)
__ The Lorax (1971)
__ I Can Write (1971)

__ Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! (1972)

__ In a People House (1972)
__ Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? (1973)
__ The Shape of Me and Other Stuff (1973)

__ There's a Wocket in My Pocket! (1974)
__ The Many Mice of Mr. Brice (1974)
__ Wacky Wednesday (1974)
__ Great Day for Up! (Illustrated by Quentin Blake, 1974)
__ Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (1975)
__ Because a Little Bug Went Kachoo (1975)
__ Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog? (1975)
__ The Cat's Quizzer (1976)
__ Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him!(1976)
__ Please Try to Remember the First of Octember! (1976)
__ I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! (1978)
__ Oh Say Can You Say? (1979)
__ Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet!(1981)
__ Hunches in Bunches (1982)

__ The Butter Battle Book (1984)
__ You're Only Old Once! : A Book for Obsolete Childre(1986)
__ I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today! (1987)
__ The Tooth Book (1989)

__ Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990)

__ Daisy-Head Mayzie (Posthumous, 1995)

__ My Many colored Days (Posthumous, 1996)

__ Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! (Posthumous, from notes, with Jack Prelutsky & Lane Smith, 1998)
__ Gerald McBoing-Boing (Posthumous, based on story & film, 2000)

Trade in Your Books for Store Credit!

It's Spring Cleaning time again! If you have any children's books you've sort of outgrown, bring them in for a trade! We'll give you credit for 50% of what we would sell the book for. So, if you have a book we'd sell for $5, your store credit would be $2.50. Please bring the books in on a Saturday -- no appointment necessary. If you need to make other arrangements please call Janet at 547-4555.

Remember: we won't sell former library books or books that have any tears, exccessive staining, or scribble marks (a written name or gift inscription is usually okay....) We only take children's books, no grown up books, please. E-mail or call if you have any questions!

Sing, Sing a Song...

One of my favorite classes at school was music. Everyone could participate. I don't remember there being any particular hierarchy who was smarter than whom, which group got finished first, and all that -- we just sang. Sometimes we played instruments. I was quite the triangle afficianado, a career I sort of regret not pursuing.

In general, I love our vintage book collection. But in particular, I love the music books that were used as textbooks in grammar schools. I haven't yet found the one they used at my school -- back in that small quaint town in New Jersey, so many years ago I've lost count -- but flipping through the ones I have found still brings back memories of music class. From holiday celebrations; traditional songs; songs in French (very simple, mind you); to learning essentials such as how to tell time, the importance of sharing, manners, and other life lessons, there seemed to be a song for every occasion.

Thank you, Wizard of Oz Fans!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by for After Hours at the Soup, Celebrating the Wizard of Oz series. And congratulations to the winners of the raffle -- Anna; and to the guessing game -- Brian; and to everyone who won a prize in the trivia contest! We had a lively game. There were wonderful costumes -- so many Dorothys!

Be sure to join us on May 6th from 6 - 9, for our After Hours at the Soup, Celebrating Dr. Seuss!

More on Syd Hoff...

Soon after my post on the first book I ever read, Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff, I received this e-mail from Carol Edmonston, Syd Hoff's niece:

"I thought you might like to know I have created the "official website" dedicated to preserving and honoring the legacy of my late uncle, Syd Hoff, one of the most beloved children's authors and cartoonists. www.SydHoff.org is filled with articles, photos, letters, book list and much more. The site is still being created so do check back from time to time. Let me know if you ever find a copy of "Muscles and Brains" (by Syd). That was one of my favorite books to read as a kid. Unfortunately, its long out of print.

Warmly,

Carol Edmonston

PO Box 5023

Fullerton, CA 92838 USA

(714) 870-5695 ph/fax"

I didn't realize Hoff had written so many books! The only ones I remember from my childhood are Danny & the Dinosaur and Sammy the Seal; more recently I've read many more of them, and they are all delightful! There's a full bibliography on the website -- and some are out of print. Many are still being published as part of the "I Can Read" series.

What was the First Book You Ever Read?

The first book I remember reading, and thinking to myself, "hey, I am reading!" was Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff. I even remember where I was -- in our sun-filled playroom, sitting in my rocking chair. I was 4 -- the first "generation" of kids to watch Sesame Street and I'm certain that was the main reason I was the only kid in my kindergarten class who could read! The other main reason was my mother, who had my sister and I enrolled in every book club -- the I Can Read Club, the Dr. Seuss Beginning Books Book Club, the Parents' Magazine Press Book Club -- and we could always choose books from the Scholastic catalog.

Danny and the Dinosaur, still in print, was part of the I Can Read Book Club. 40 years later, "I Can Read" is still going strong, still published in hard cover and paperback, and divided into "Levels" depending on a child's reading ability. Many publishers have similar "learning to read" series, modeled on I Can Read.

What is the first book you remember reading on your own?

Tell us Your Favorite Children's Books!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by during our Open House on Wednesday! And congratulations to Anna Perrone, winner of the Guessing Game Contest -- there were 219 buttons in the jar, hers was the closest guess with 202!

We mixed and mingled and shared ideas about our favorite children's books. Here are the lists submitted by folks who stopped by the Open House. Feel free to add your own 10 favorites! These are by no means "top tens" -- we all agreed it would be nearly impossible to really put them in any sort of order, but obviously there are some we love more than others.

***************************************************

1. The Witches
2. The Twits
3. My Side of the Mountain
4. Little House on the Prairie (all of them!)
5. The Hatchet
6. Dogsong
7. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
8. Charlie & the Great Glass Elevator
9. Amelia Bedelia
10. “Cartooning” -- an illustration book by someone named Bill something…can’t remember

*************************************************************
1. Old Hat New Hat
2. Charlotte’s Web
3. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
4. Pop Up Moby Dick
5. Where the Wild Things Are
6. Tuesday
7. Amelia Bedelia
8. Caps for Sale
9. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Day
10. Love You Forever
*******************************************************************
1. Chicken’s Aren’t the Only Ones
2. Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing
3. The Celery Stalks at Midnight
4. Do Something Day
5. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
6. Through the Looking Glass
7. Freckle Juice
8. Where the Sidewalk Ends
9. A Light in the Attic
10. Lyle Lyle Crocodile

**********************************************************
1. Frances Books by Russell and Lillian Hoban
2. Very Hungry Caterpillar
3. The Swamp Angel
4. Ramona Books
5. Clifford Books
6. The Little Fur Family
7. Pippi Longstocking
8. The Wrinkle in Time series
9. Stuart Little
10. Charlotte’s Web

Open House March 4th 6 - 9 p.m.

Join us on Wednesday evening -- we'll be open 6 - 9 as part of the Wallingford Art Walk, the first Wednesday of every month!

Enjoy refreshments, enter a raffle, and save 25% on everything in the store!

Shout About Us!

You know how much you love Alphabet Soup – tell the world about it! Add your review to one of the following sites, and let us know if you see any others out there!

Judy’s Book

Yahoo
Go City Kids
Yelp

Publisher Spotlight: Purple House Press

I discovered Purple House Press after a friend asked me about one of her childhood favorites, “Miss Twiggley’s Tree.” I had never heard of it. I figured she hadn’t tried an online search, so I looked it up. I was surprised to see that one of the listings had a publication date of 2002. I checked the publisher, and it was Purple House Press. I looked up their website, and was amazed to re-discover one of my own childhood favorites, “Miss Suzy” by Miriam Young! I immediately ordered one and started carrying the entire line of Purple House Press books. When I got my copy of “Miss Suzy,” reading it again was like breathing in familiar scents that brought me right back to my favorite childhood reading nook. It was one of the many books that touched my soul.

For Jill Morgan, who started Purple House Press with her husband Ray Sanders in 2000, it was “Mr. Pine’s Purple House.” She specialized in finding rare used children’s books, and when prices of her beloved childhood favorite, “Mr. Pine’s Purple House” rose to $300, she decided it was time to start republishing the book so that its message would not be lost to future generations.

Nowadays, the publishing house, based in Cynthiana, Kentucky, publishes more than 32 books, all brought back from the obscurity of being out-of-print, hard-to-find, and very expensive. The titles include classic picture books for young readers, well-loved by all ages, and literature for young adults. See if they have republished one of your favorites!

Purple House Press Book List:

Ann Likes Red

Another Celebrated Dancing Bear

The Big Chunk of Ice

The Big Kerplop!

Big Susan

The Blueberry Pie Elf

The Brothers Lionheart

David and the Phoenix

The Duchess Bakes a Cake
The Finest Horse in Town
The Flying Hockey Stick
The Mad Scientists' Club
The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald
Mio, My Son
Miss Suzy
Miss Twiggley's Tree
Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat
Mr. Pine's Mixed Up Signs
Mr. Pine's Purple House
Mrs. Pine Takes a Trip
The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists Club
Night of the Moonjellies
A Pair of Red Clogs
Pickle Chiffon Pie
The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek
The Space Child's Mother Goose
The Surprise Doll
TAL, His Marvelous Adventures with Noom-Zor-Noom
Three Little Horses
Time at the Top
A Tree for Peter
Twig
The Winter of Enchantment

Vintage Collection Selection: The Crows of Pearblossom

A wonderful story, illustrated by Barbara Cooney, this is the only children's book written by Aldous Huxley, the famous English novelist, essayist and critic. He wrote it for his niece, Olivia de Haulleville, during the Christmas holiday of 1944. Olivia spent long periods of time with him and his wife Maria in their desert home in Llano in Antelope Valley, Mojave Desert, California. They took walks together, and Aldous and Maria would delight in telling stories to the little five-year-old girl. When Olivia and her family moved to Pearblossom, four miles from Llano, the Huxleys spent Christmas with the family and continued to make excursions into the desert they loved. Olivia's and her brother Siggy's neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Yost, are featured in the story, which was almost lost forever! A fire destroyed the Huxley home a few years later. Huxley's death in 1963 also left the story nearly in oblivion for many years. Fortunately the Yosts had kept a copy of the story, after the original manuscript had been returned to Aldous with the request that he illustrate it. The book was finally published in 1967 by Random House, and is now out of print.

Blog Buzz

What fun is having a blog if you're not also checking out other blogs? I found Jeremy's Vanishing New York and check it out several times a week. I grew up in New Jersey so Manhattan was my first, and has remained my main, impression of a City and What It Should Be. For me, most others (besides maybe London) pale in comparison. NYC is near and dear to my heart in so many ways and for so many reasons. The ties are strong. This blog, in addition to being a sad paean to my first Real City, also echoes a theme I've watched unfold in so many cities where I've lived...the gentrification and homogenization that obliterates the charm and character of neighborhoods, and ultimately entire cities. I think someone could do a blog about Vanishing Seattle. Many places I've known have already disappeared in just the nearly 6 years I've lived here; my friends who were born and grew up in the area really have something to mourn. There's something else about the blog, something else I think about when I surf through its photographs and the heartfelt postings. I like to think that Alphabet Soup will be a place that people look back upon fondly. I know families have been shopping here since we opened 4 years ago, and some of our younger friends have been coming here their entire life! And I hope they may continue to for years to come, and that someday the Soup earns its spot among places that are reasons people love Seattle.

Rushton Howard & My Life as a Super Hero (well, almost)

Yesterday local author, illustrator and actor Rushton Howard stopped by (a mutual friend made the connection) to introduce himself, drop off some books, and talk about setting up some future readings. Apparently, he has quite an enthusiastic middle school following. After talking to him for about 5 minutes, I knew why! I have to admit, I’m not one for super heroes, but Rushton’s easygoing manner and wonderful sense of humor piqued my interest in his books.

Half an hour later, I had stacks of signed copies of "Sebastian Reckless” and “The Fearless Force” displayed in the front of the store and plans for an event or two (to be announced – watch this space!) in the near future.

I started on “Sebastian Reckless” as soon as I got home, and got through more than half of it by bedtime. Sebastian is a 10-year-old world-renowned troubleshooter/madman/genius who has a letter from the President excusing him from school for the rest of his life so long as he makes himself available to “save civilization whenever a crisis was beyond the abilities of the armies and navies of the world.” The boy is kept mighty busy. And why not? Inventor, linguist, musician, gourmet chef, time traveler – this kid doesn’t need to go to school! He owns a supersonic airplane, a submarine, a jungle tracker, a tank that tunnels through solid rock, and who knows what else (I’m only halfway through the book!) to help in his fight against evil.

Rushton’s writing is unpretentious, humorous, passionate, and real. Reading about Sebastian (and Tessa, who seeks his help to not only save her life but to save the world from unspeakable evil) made me remember what being 10 was about. Not that I had super powers at age 10, but, I actually was pretty sophisticated. Although I definitely did not have super hero adventures in 5th grade, if I had met a boy like Sebastian, it would have made sense. I suspect quite a few people actually knew a kid like Sebastian in 5th grade.

So who’s this book for, anyway? I say, everyone! Everyone in middle school and anyone, in fact, who has ever been 10.

Soup's New Hours!

We'll be open fewer days this winter, but that just means the time we spend together will be more meaningful!

Our new hours are Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10-8, and closed the rest of the week.

Hope to see you soon!

-- Janet

New Year's Resolution

For me, New Year's is the best thing about winter. I love when January 1st rolls around. Not only are we already one week or so into the nights getting shorter and the days getting longer, the 1st of January sings out "fresh start." I really do feel like it's a clean slate. I rarely make a mistake in writing down the old year when filling out the date on something. I am just that excited about a new year being here. And I love making fresh promises to myself.

This year, my new year's resolution is to read all of the Oz books. What? You didn't know there was more than one? Well, until I opened a children's book store, I didn't know that either! But L. Frank Baum, in addition to a number of other books he wrote for children, wrote a total of 15 Oz books. I suppose they should be read in order, but I'm just going to read each title as I acquire it. In my long checkered reading past, I've only read two, and that was a couple of years ago...The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Ozma of Oz. The latter was a bit strange, I remember reading a couple of chapters before going to sleep and then having very odd dreams. I'll read it again this year and find out if the same thing happens again... In any case, I'm going to start with my copy of "The Scarecrow of Oz," first published in 1915. Here's the entire list of Oz books, so you can follow along.

The list is in the order of publication ("The Scarecrow of Oz" is number 9).

The World of Oz

How many of these have you read?

__ Wonderful Wizard of Oz

__ Marvelous Land of Oz

__ Ozma of Oz

__ Dorothy & the Wizard of Oz

__ The Road to Oz

__ The Emerald City of Oz

__ Patchwork Girl of Oz

__ Tik-Tok of Oz

__ The Scarecrow of Oz

__ Rinkitink in Oz

__ Lost Princess of Oz

__ The Tin Woodman of Oz

__ The Magic of Oz

__ Glinda of Oz

__ Little Wizard Stories of Oz