You know, for kids:
Today is the book birthday for Darth Paper Strikes Back, an Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger. In our house, this has been the most highly anticipated book of the summer. We got a hold of a British release (thank you Generous Benefactor) in July and my children took a solemn oath not to reveal anything about it. On his reading sheet for the library, under “what did you think of the book?” my son wrote: TOP SECRET. (I’ve been trying to teach him not to give away endings so in a way, this helped.) One secret that Tom revealed today on his blog: There will be another OY book after this one. The saga continues!
You know, for grown-ups (though not inappropriate for smaller ears):
I’m always blown away by what my poet-friends can do in so few words. In Jane Varley’s recent Sketches at the Naesti Bar, we get 19 poems that convey an expedition to Iceland — its landscape and geography, sure, but most of all, its people. Sketches, perhaps, but Jane’s evocative images remain fully fleshed out in my brain. Personal favorites: “Bjork and Bobby Fischer in Heaven,” “The Bells of Akureyri,” and “Thinking Practice.”