This just might be a way to teach numbers to kids ... you get to eat the results at the end of the book! The m&m's ® brand counting book, by Barbara Barbieri McGrath teaches counting up to 12, then sets (of 2, 4, etc)., then addition, shapes, and subtraction. Wish this was around when I was struggling with math!

Wandering Reader gave me Down Cut Shin Creek (see the April 12, 2014 post) about the horseback librarians of Kentucky, which quickly became a favorite, so I was pleased to find That Book Woman, by Heather Henson with pictures by David Small. Cal (not the oldest of the children, but the oldest son) is the first to hear the sound of hoofbeats coming up the steep trail to their remote family home. Wondering why a peddler would come so far he is even more surprised when all she has to offer is a small stack of books ... for free. Not only that, she'll come back every two weeks to swap them out! True to her word, she comes in all kinds of weather. Little did Cal know at first what a change it would make in his life.

Here's another entry from the Images of America series I like so much. This time it's The 1939 - 1940 New York World's Fair, by Bill Cotter. Coming after Great Depression, the main theme was one of hope for the future. Built on the grounds of a former garbage dump (tons had to be removed before the construction could be started, dozens of nations and companies offered their view of 'tomorrow.' (My grandmother had a plastic salt and pepper shaker of the Trylon and Perisphere). As always with this series, there are wonderful pictures. A few of the buildings are still in use.

Many years ago there was a wonderful show on PBS called Connections .... Kiwi and I just finished watching it on dvd. It has held up extremely well we enjoyed it thoroughly. The companion book for it is Connections, by James Burke. While an excellent read, you miss Burkes wit and enthusiasm as he hosts the tv series. This got me looking for something else by him and came upon American Connections: the Founding Fathers. Networked. Here, he connects each signer of the Declaration of Independence with a present day (up to about 2005) person of the same name. Sort of a 'six degrees of separation' journey, it was great fun! Burke is also the author and host of the book and PBS series The Day the Universe Changed.

Reading Hermit With Dog