Got Wedding Plans? Shop Half Price Books Humble
June 4th-9th 2012 Half Price Books Humble will reward you for shopping for wedding preparation material (thank you cards, planners, how-tos, etc.) with a Raffle Ticket. What’s being raffled? A photo session with Sweet Southern Style Photography, the best little photography business in the Humble area.
Summer Reading Kick Off Party!
Every June Half Price Books hosts a party to kick off their summer reading program. At the store in Humble, we’ve made it a habit of inviting local Fireman Ricky Meehan out for the fun. He reads to the kids while we pass out snacks and brochures, and talks to them about being a fireman and shows off his gear. Last year he read Curious George and the Fireman, this year we laid out some fireman titles but got requests for favorites from the likes of Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein.
He read for nearly a full hour, kids came up and rotated out using the chairs. We maybe had about twenty smaller ones over all, but there were lots of tweens and teens that hung back, browsing the young adult section while munching on their snacks, pocketing the brochures so they could log their time and get the coupons too. HPB’s summer reading program is designed for kids 14 and under. If your child is too little read like mine, no worries, you can read to them and it still counts!
The Humble location will continue to do Wednesday morning story time at 10:30 am on a weekly basis throughout the summer. We wont have a fireman handy, but children’s authors have been known to do book signings on those days. Just last week we had local author Temara Moore read “Bloop! Bloop! Goes the Poop” later this month we’ll be visited by M.G. King, author of Librarian on the Roof.
A few of my personal favorites to keep an eye out for this summer:
Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House
Kids got to check out the gear and learn about how it protects our fireman from injury.
Every kid should spend a summer with old school greats like The Hardy Boys, The Boxcar Children, and Nancy Drew. When they are exhausted on those fabulous mysteries, most kids can handle Sherlock Holmes
Invitation to the Game
A great series for older kids to get into is Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars
Whatever you pick, if you’re 14 and under you should log your minutes and cash them in! More information can be found at the links below.
http://freebies.about.com/od/familyfreestuff/p/half-price-book-summer-reading.htm
Delaney Rhodes Book Signing
Yesterday, Half Price Books in Humble had the pleasure of hosting a book signing for Delaney Rhodes
About Delaney Rhodes (taken from Amazon.com): Of Irish and English descent, Romance Author Delaney Rhodes, is a native Texan from birth. She is a Graduate with Double Majors from The University of Houston; in Law and Writing. She has two teenage daughters, and is married to an entrepreneurial Husband. Three of her favorite people, are her three neurotic rescued Russian Blue cats; Sebastian, Sasha, and Sissy. Her family would not be complete without “13″, an adopted Bearded Dragon. Visit http://www.DelaneyRhodes.com.
There’s always something awesome going on at Half Price Books. Check out the location nearest you to see what’s happening: http://www.hpb.com/. Later today (June 3rd 2012) there’s a Summer Reading Kick Off Party at all HPB locations at 2:00 pm. The Humble store will have local fireman Ricky Meehan there, in his gear, to read a story to the kiddos.
Some southern photography by a fellow Texan and friend. Check it out.
Taking pictures of teens, particularly young teens, can be awkward. This is because it is an awkward time for them. They aren’t fully child nor adult. Mutants, they are somewhere in between. As such, as a photographer, I am always trying to find the right balance. You don’t want to treat them completely like children and neglect the fact that they are changing, but you don’t want to overemphasize what they are going to become either, and forget that they still want to giggle twenty four hours a day. Sometimes you see both. Even in these few photos can you see the change. Some are youthful and fun, and in others you can’t help but see the future for these two girls. It may be awkward, just like them, but in the end, it is also pretty cool.
I have a passion for the Classics. Classic movies. Classic Cars. Classic Rock. Pretty much anything old school totally rocks my boat. So of course I am a fan of Classic books. I think more readers should be too. But time and again I run into The Three Classic Excuses. Too much work. Too boring. Too long. Baloney. Not all Classics fit these stereotypes. I try to dispel these myths through my posts here on Quirky Girls Read on a regular basis. Many kind visitors leave comments stating that they will add a Classic to their To Be Read pile. But you and I both know all that means is that it will be used to prop up the pile rather than being picked up and actually read any time soon. So out of desperation I am resorting to bribery to show readers that Classics can be…
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The Swamps of Sleethe
I’ve just recently started beefing up my poetry section in my personal library. I looked out over my shelves and realized I had many biographies but not the works that made the people famous in the first place. On hunting down essential poets and their work, I started stumbling across more children’s poetry that I’d like to have for Ayla. Punctuation Celebration was one of the first, many children’s picture books are poetic in nature and I’ve been trying to make sure we have the cleverest and the best here at home, at our fingertips. Among these searches after Story Time at Half Price Books, I came across The Swamps of Sleethe
Prelutsky is the first Children’s Poet Laureate and also a Star Trek fan, which is obvious in this wonderfully fantastical adventure through space (or his version of it) via rhymes and anagrams. Visit fictional planets like Ogdofod and risk becoming dogfood. Breathe even one breath of air in the World of Thade and you’ll be poisoned to death. The poems are exciting, a little bit scary, but wonderful for your kiddos at home who find poetry and space adventure enticing.
The Cold of Drifig Prime, illustration by Jimmy Pickering
On top of the fabulous work of this brilliant wordsmith are the illustrations of Jimmy Pickering
Needless to say, I bought my copy at Half Price Books, and I’m a huge fan with absolutely no buyer’s remorse. Every parent needs a copy for their kiddo.
Weekly Low Down on Kids Books – Memorial Day Weekend
We’ve been in a bit of a funk here at the Klemm household this weekend. According to the online dictionary: Funk = A state of depression: “I sat absorbed in my own blue funk”. But I’d never say ‘blue funk’ because I’m more of a Holly Golightly girl – when I’m really depressed, it’s the mean reds. I didn’t have the mean reds, just a funk, which means I sat around watching awful television that I justified by what my baby might get out of it. Dance Academy = lame teen show that I’m hopelessly addicted to. What my baby might get out of it = an Australian accent and the desire to join a ballet class?
I didn’t read anything all weekend. This is an appropriate end of the month weekend to a month when I skipped out on all my Agatha Christie’s. Les Miserables may be one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read, but it definitely has put me in a funk. I started reading Chalice by Robin McKinley and I couldn’t be drawn out of it. I started reading Native Son by Richard Wright, still could be drawn out. I sat down with Ayla last night before bed (while my husband and his best friend repaired the air conditioning that had been out all day – reminder: I live in Houston, TX and its the end of May) and guess what finally drew me out of my funk? Ant and Grasshopper by Luli Gray.
Ant and Grasshopper is a sweet tale about an unexpected friendship between two very different bugs. I like bugs – illustrated bugs like the ones Guiliano Ferri portrays. Real bugs are interesting, but I don’t want them lurking about my house, so yes, despite my romantic take on all things living, I kill bugs (and eat cows and pigs). If a bug is exceptionally fascinating and harmless I might carry it out to the yard and give it a stern scolding about never coming back. But its citronella window washings once a month, my wonderfully diligent pest control guy, and egg shells and lady bugs in my kitchen garden for me. Little pests are not welcome – in real life. In books, I invite them often.
Ferri’s illustrations are wonderful, I love Grasshopper’s little hat and Ant’s old-fashioned glasses. The story is a good one, a nice little life lesson to be kind to all. My only issue with the book is when things have been deliberately mis-spelled. Delicious is Dee-lishus. Most likely for little eyes reading the words for the first time and to exaggerate Ant’s phrases, but I still don’t like it. I would prefer Ayla to struggle with the word and be taught through guidance the proper spelling and pronunciation than get used to seeing it spelled wrong. I went through my second grade year with a teacher who taught “inventive spelling,” where we only had to spell words how we thought they sounded rather than looking them up and discovering their true spelling. I found this activity detrimental to my education, and contradictory considering how rigorous our spelling tests were. (I distinctly remember being allowed to spell laugh as “laf” but had to memorize the word meteorologist for a weather themed spelling test the same year.)
Ant and Grasshopper
Another one we enjoyed is called Spells
Archie Every Friday!
Last time Archie played at Half Price Books he totally rocked the house. It was awesome. He was awesome. The customers were tapping their toes, buying vinyl, nodding their heads at the register, and clapping between book browsing. People came up to me and asked me if he’d be here every week. At the time, I had to say no, but now I’m proud to announce that from here on out – yes, Archie will be playing at Half Price Books in Humble every Friday night from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. Come one, come all, every week!
Anakalian Whims 