Reading My Library ~ "A" Authors

We have been reading through the "A" section of the picture books at our local library.

I talked about Frank Asch on Book Sharing Monday here. After going back a couple of days ago for a fresh batch of "A" books, I noticed more Frank Asch titles, especially the Mrs. Marlowe's Mice and Mr. Maxwell's Mouse. Both are illustrated by Devin Asch, who is Frank's son.  Both books are about cats and mice.

Mrs Marlowe is a librarian that keeps mice in her appartment, but not for eating, she shares her home with them. The Catland Security Police is investigating her, because one of her neighbours believes that she is harboring mice (which is against the law!). We all enjoyed this tale, for its suspense and for its detailed illustrations.

We liked Mr. Maxwell's Mouse story just as much. The story of an important cat, going to his regular restaurant, but deciding on a change of routine in his choice of food, to celebrate his promotion at work. He orders a live mouse for his lunch. The mouse comes on a slice of rye toast, and the story becomes quite interesting at that point. The mouse is  smart...but that is all I can say, wouldn't want to give the story away!

The other author that we really enjoy reading aloud is Jim Arnosky. We used to take part in Author Fiesta, which was a monthly discovery of authors. Unfortunately, the blog hasn't been updated since December 2008, but while it was active, Jim Arnosky was one of the authors we discovered (see my short post about it).  We loved all the stories we read, the mix of nature and short stories was a perfect combination for us.

I was able to find some of our favourites of the library shelf, and a few new ones too.

Our 3 favourites from this group are:

:: Beachcombing: Exploring the Seashore, which we used as a seashell guide a while ago

:: Dolphins on the Sand, the story of a dolphin rescue. Dolphins are one of my favourite animals, and this story touched my heart. It isn't known why dolphins and whales become stranded on sandy beaches, but I can only imagine how sad a site it would be to see a group of dolphins stuck that way, and how I would do anything to help them. The people in the story tried to comfort the dolphins and keep them safe from the sharks until they could swim safely out to the ocean. Jim Arnosky's note at the back of the book reveals that he had witnessed a similar event.

:: Adrienne's favourite story this time, was Grandfather Buffalo. It is the story of an old buffalo, the oldest in its herd. He is slower than he used to be, and can't always keep up with the rest of the herd. A new calf is born and a new relationship develops with the old buffalo and the young one. It is a beautiful story of the bond between generations.

The "A" section isn't very big at our local branch, so we will be moving on the "B" now. I wonder what new authors we will discover or which beloved ones we will reunite with?!

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