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Eric Carle (June 25, 1929 – May 23, 2021)
I only really came to know Eric Carle when I became a parent. We spent a lot of time in the library and Carle’s books were checked out regularly. My son’s favorite was A Very Hungry Caterpillar and it got a lot of mileage in our house. I remember reading the board book version and I think we ended up with our own copy that eventually fell apart. When my son was eighteen, I bought him another copy to keep as a memento of his childhood. What I remember most of the books was the very simple language and the colourful artwork. It was beautiful and easily captured our attention…
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Vasilisa
It’s 1919 and Vasilisa is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Edenfall, Pennsylvania. The Great War has ended but her father is missing, presumed dead, and the family life is not quite normal. Vasilisa’s mother is being “courted” by an ogre in disguise and her Babka, also named Vasilisa, is not well. Meanwhile, Ivan has travelled to Edenfall in order to fulfil the wish of his father to look after Vasilisa and her grandmother. These two young people will work together to reach Old Rus and to deal with Baba Yaga in her three forms and also with old Koschei, the ogre. This is a gentle story with an adventure to…
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Ramona the Pest
I never went to kindergarten and I don’t recall books from my life before I went to school. So my reading adventures started in first grade where I picked it up quickly and was always on the search for more books to read. I was a regular at my school library and I think I spent a bit of time at the city library too. It wasn’t long before I was reading chapter books, and one of the writers I remember most from that time is Beverly Cleary. I read many of her books and the one that stands out in my mind is Ramona, the Pest. I had a…