Two New Favorites for Kids

We just recieved two new wonderful kids books that are just adorable!


"Read it Don't Eat It"
by Ian Schoenherr
What's almost as important as reading? "Read it don't Eat it" tells readers that it's respecting and caring for the books themselves. Full of animal characters, big, friendly type, a soupçon of slapstick and a pinch of wordplay help take the sting off the scolding. "No dog-ears, please," admonishes the left hand side of one spread, while on the right side a puppy is caught folding down the edge of a page. "Don't censor, delete, or deface," is the warning given to a shifty-looking fox who is striking out some lines of text with a thick black marker. Simple, direct and knowingly funny, this book is worthy of a permanent spot on the desks of youth librarians everywhere. Ages 2-4.

"The Imaginary Garden"
by Andrew Larsen
Theodora loved her grandfather’s old garden. His new apartment’s balcony is too windy and small for a garden. But what appears to be a drawback soon leads to a shared burst of creativity as Theo and her Poppa decide to paint a new garden. As they work side by side — sowing seeds with brushes and paint — a masterpiece begins to take shape that transforms the balcony into an abundant garden.

When Poppa goes away on holiday, Theo helps nurture the garden and it begins to take on a life of its own. This garden grows not from soil but from love, imagination and creativity. Readers will marvel at each stage of this fertile garden as it grows from seed to full flower, revealing the power of art to enrich our lives.

First Family

Following the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Simple Genius, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell return in David Baldacci's most heart-pounding thriller to date . . . FIRST FAMILY





It began with what seemed like an ordinary children's birthday party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate. There were balloons and cake, games and gifts. This party, however, was far from ordinary. It was held at Camp David, the presidential retreat. And it ended with a daring kidnapping . . . which immediately turned into a national security nightmare.





Sean King and Michelle Maxwell were not looking to become involved. As former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, they had no reason to be. The FBI doesn't want them interfering. But years ago, Sean King saved the First Lady's husband, then a senator, from political disaster. Now, Sean is the one person the First Lady trusts, and she presses Sean and Michelle into the desperate search to rescue the abducted child.





With Michelle still battling her own demons, and forces aligned on all sides against her and Sean, the two are pushed to the absolute limit. In the race to save an innocent victim, the line between friend and foe will become impossible to define . . . or defend.

From Hachette Books


Another great Baldacci with multiple plots, fascinating characters and fast paced action.
Kathi

IndieBound

IndieBound for iPhone!

IndieBound is now available as an iPhone application. Shop the bestsellers and find other independent retailers wherever you are. To download the app, go here.

Loitering with Intent

from the publisher....

The newest addition to the New York Times– bestselling Stone Barrington series.

Dumped by his glamorous Russian girlfriend during dinner at Elaine’s, and running low on cash, Stone Barrington is having a bad week. So his luck seems to be improving when he’s hired to locate the missing son of a very wealthy man—lucky because the job pays well, and because the son is hiding in the tropical paradise of Key West. But when Stone and his sometime running buddy Dino Bacchetti arrive in the sunny Keys, it appears that someone has been lying in wait. When Stone very nearly loses his life after being blindsided at a local bar, he realizes that the young man he’s been hired to track may have good reason for not wanting to be found. Suddenly Key West is looking less like Margaritaville and more like the mean streets of New York. . . .


Another Stuart Woods/ Stone Barrington...it's like candy, fast, fun and predictible!

Kathi

My Sister's Keeper

Great update from Jodi Picoult's newletter.

MY SISTER'S KEEPER

Movie Update

Hi everyone -
For those of you anxiously counting down the days till MY SISTER’S KEEPER - THE MOVIE (June 26, FYI - that’s when it hits theaters in the US and UK) - I have a sneak preview of the movie trailer. As the movie gets closer, I’ll be posting more behind-the-scenes info about the making of the film.

I had the chance to see the movie when I was on tour in LA. Yes - it ends differently from the book. And yes, you’re still going to like it The acting is phenomenal; the movie is beautifully shot; and I highly recommend investing in Kleenex before you go.

Enjoy!

Jodi

Spiritually Hmong

When three-month-old Lia Lee Arrived at the county hospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Lia's parents, Foua and Nao Kao, were part of a large Hmong community in Merced, refugees from the CIA-run "Quiet War" in Laos. The Hmong, traditionally a close-knit and fiercely people, have been less amenable to assimilation than most immigrants, adhering steadfastly to the rituals and beliefs of their ancestors. Lia's pediatricians, Neil Ernst and his wife, Peggy Philip, cleaved just as strongly to another tradition: that of Western medicine. When Lia Lee Entered the American medical system, diagnosed as an epileptic, her story became a tragic case history of cultural miscommunication.

Parents and doctors both wanted the best for Lia, but their ideas about the causes of her illness and its treatment could hardly have been more different. The Hmong see illness aand healing as spiritual matters linked to virtually everything in the universe, while medical community marks a division between body and soul, and concerns itself almost exclusively with the former. Lia's doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg--the spirit catches you and you fall down--and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul. The doctors prescribed anticonvulsants; her parents preferred animal sacrifices.


Despite a cruel stepmother's schemes, Jouanah, a young Hmong girl, finds true love and happiness with the aid of her dead mother's spirit and a pair of special sandals.

Indies Choice Book Awards

Announcing the 2009 Indies Choice Book Award Winners!

The American Booksellers Association today announces the winners of the inaugural Indies Choice Book Awards. Formerly the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards, the new Indies Choice Book Awards reflect the spirit of independent bookstores nationwide through new categories and a broader range of winners and honor books.

The 2009 Indies Choice Book Award winners, chosen by the owners and staff at ABA member stores during more than four weeks of voting, are:

Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction): The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (The Dial Press)

Best Conversation Starter (Nonfiction): The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell (Riverhead)

Best Author Discovery: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski (Ecco)

Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book (Fiction): The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)

Best New Picture Book: Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies (Houghton Mifflin)
Most Engaging Author: Sherman Alexie

"On behalf of independent booksellers across the country, we're proud to announce the first Indies Choice Book Award winners," said ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz. "Each perfectly represents the array of unique and thought-provoking titles championed by ABA members. We look forward to saluting the winning authors and illustrators at a very festive Celebration of Bookselling Luncheon at BEA."

Five Indies Choice Book Awards honor recipients were also named in each category:

Best Indie Buzz Book (Fiction) Honor Books

City of Thieves, by David Benioff (Viking)
The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane (Morrow)
Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill (Pantheon)
People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks (Viking)
Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf) .

Best Conversation Starter (Nonfiction) Honor Books

American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, by Steven Rinella (Spiegel & Grau)
The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins (Knopf)
Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir, by Michael Greenberg (Other Press)
A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America, by Tony Horwitz (Holt)
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami (Knopf)

Best Author Discovery (Debut) Honor Books

Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan (Algonquin)
The Story of Forgetting, by Stefan Merrill Block (Random House)
White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga (Free Press)

Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Honor Book (Fiction)

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (HMH)
Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow (Tor)
My Most Excellent Year, by Steve Kluger (Dial)
Savvy, by Ingrid Law (Dial)

Best New Picture Book Honor Books

Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken, by Kate DiCamillo; illustrated by Harry Bliss (HarperCollins)
Monkey and Me, by Emily Gravett (Simon & Schuster)
The Pout Pout Fish, by Deborah Diesen; illustrated by Dan Hanna (FSG)
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox; illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Harcourt)
Wave, by Suzi Lee (Chronicle)

Most Engaging Author Honor Recipients

Michael Chabon
Ann Patchett
Jon Scieszka
David Sedaris
Terry Tempest Williams

Winners and honor books are all titles appearing on the 2008 Indie Next Lists, which launched last July, and on the Book Sense Picks Lists from the first half of the year. Most Engaging Author honorees are being recognized for being engaging at in-store appearances, as well as for having a strong sense of the importance of independent booksellers to their communities at large.

Earth Day at Yosemite National Park

Wednesday, April 22nd 2009 – Earth Day!




Yosemite Valley Activities Schedule

Friday, April 17th, 2009—Launch of Earth Day Weekend!
7:00pm-8:30pm Earth Day Family Night!

Saturday, April 18th, 2009 Yosemite Vally Event.

Time: 8:30am-9:30pm
Schedule:

* 8:30am Photo Walk: Ansel Adams and the Yosemite Landscape-

* 10:30am-2:00pm
• Yosemite Village Mall Celebration
• Children’s Tent
• Earth-Friendly Products

* 11:00am Propane Bottle Recycler Ribbon Cutting & Demonstration

* 11:30am-1:30pm Sustainable “Salad Bar” Tasting

* 12:00pm—4:00pm Universal Waste Collection

* 1:00pm—5:00pm Photography Class-In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams

* 1:00pm-2:00pm Earth Day Cake & Lemonade

* 2:30pm Earth Day Family Walk

* 3:00pm—4:00pm Fine Print Tour

* 4:30pm – 5:45pm Poetry and Parks: A Walk and Reading

* 8:30pm-9:30pm Yosemite Theatre presents Lee Stetson in" The Spirit of John Muir"


Sunday, April 19th, 2009
This will be an all day event at Yosemite.
Time: 8:30am-9:30pm

* 8:30am Photo Walk: Ansel Adams and the Yosemite Landscape

* 12:00pm—4:00pm Universal Waste Collection

* 1:00pm—5:00pm Photography Class-In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams

* 2:00pm Earth Day Cake at The Ansel Adams Gallery

* 3:00pm—4:00pm Fine Print Tour

* 8:30pm—9:30pm An Evening with a Ranger


Wednesday, April 22nd 2009- Earth Day!
This will be an all day event at Yosemite.
Time: 9:00am-9:00pm

* 9:00am– 11:00 am Stewardship Project

* 2:00pm – 5:00pm Pedal

* 7:00pm – 9:00pm EarthDance Film Festival

Fig Garden Bookstore Doll

AND THE WINNER IS!

Molly P. Originals™ Announces Winners of Its Beautiful Baby Contest

Modesto, CA—The waiting is over—Molly P. Originals™ has finally selected the winners of its first ever Beautiful Baby Contest. For several hours, entries were mulled over during the final evening of the 2009 International Doll Expo (IDEX) held in Orlando, FL. Judges included renowned doll designer Gregg Ortiz, Editor and Web Marketing Director of DOLLS Magazine, Ms. Carie Ferg, and Al Angel, President and CEO of Molly P. Originals™. The daunting task of sorting through lots, and lots of photos with hopes of finding seven faces of children that possessed great consumer appeal and whose likeness would translate well for manufacturing and sale in the Specialty Trade retail market proved to be no easy task. Hours after first convening and no mutual agreement in sight, judges welcomed input from well known and respected doll doctor and doll shop owner Mary Ann Pizzolato (The Doll Hospital, Spring, TX). A twenty-two year veteran in the doll business, Ms. Pizzolato’s input enabled the group to come to a consensus. By popular vote, the winners are:

• First Place Winners, 18" Sculpt
Eleora Bee Hays of Arroyo Grande, CA Age: 10 mos.

• Second Place Winners, 13" Sculpt
1. Cole William Short of Fresno, CA Age: 9 mos.
2. Molly Rose Woods of Vancouver, WA Age: 11 mos.
3. Sophia Marie Romono of Middleboro, MA Age: 1 yr. 4mos.

• Third Place Winners, 9" Sculpt
1. Kennedy Neefe of Colorado Springs, CO Age: 3 yrs.
2. Elizabeth Hannah Smith of Southaven, MS Age: 5 mos.
3. Elyse Watamura of Fresno, CA Age: 7 mos.

Winners will be notified by Molly P. Originals™ and featured in the June/July 2009 issue of DOLLS magazine. Final production and sale of the replica dolls is slated for 2009-2010.

To learn more about Molly P. Originals™, visit http://www.mollyporiginals.com/.

Not only did Fresno have two winners, but the Number 1 Second Place winner is my grandson!

Get ready for an amazing doll launch party in the early Fall for the Cole Doll.

Kathi

Harry Potter and the G20

When world leaders met last week at London's G20 summit, it wasn't the collapsing economy or the threat of North Korean missiles that had everyone buzzing. It was J.K. Rowling.From The Telegraph UK's article, G20 summit: Barack Obama is a fan of Harry Potter:The President made a beeline for Miss Rowling at the end of the Downing Street G20 dinner, and told her that he had read all her books himself and to his children Sasha and Malia.Miss Rowling then received a second presidential seal of approval for the boy wizard from Russia's President Medvedev and his wife Svetlana, who not only admitted to having read the Harry Potter books but also asked for her autograph.To read the rest, tap your wand here.

Mark Arax "West of the West"

I've know nationally acclaimed author Mark Arax for a lot of years and when he called me and said let's totally step out of the box to launch his new book "West of the West", I immediately said we're in. He wanted to host a celebration at his home, invitations we sent and what an amazing day we had.

Over 400 people came by to chat with Mark and get a book signed. Tables were arrayed with an unbelievable variety of Armenian food and Mark's son played piano throughout the afternoon. Guests stopped by "for just a few minutes" and ended up spending the afternoon!

Congratulations Mark. Not only are you an incredible writer, you are an extraordinary host!

If you weren't able to attend the event, please stop by Fig Garden Bookstore or give us a call at 559-226-1845 and we'll get a signed and personalized book for you.

We Love Flat Stanley

We love Flat Stanley.
Here's a cool new website!

Reduce Stress with a good book

Research shows reading reduces stress by 2/3rd

The Daily Telegraph (UK) reports on research that shows that just six minutes of reading can reduce stress levels by 2/3rds:

"Subjects only needed to read, silently, for six minutes to slow down the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles, he found. In fact it got subjects to stress levels lower than before they started.

Listening to music reduced the levels by 61 per cent, have a cup of tea of coffee lowered them by 54 per cent and taking a walk by 42 per cent.

Playing video games brought them down by 21 per cent from their highest level but still left the volunteers with heart rates above their starting point.

Dr Lewis, who conducted the test, said: 'Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation.'"