The Author Is Coming! The Author Is Coming (Again)!

Actually, Lynne Rae Perkins made a special trip up to Northport on Saturday, November 2, to sign a few copies of her new book for me, but she will come back for an official signing on Saturday, Nov. 16. Our official starting time for that event is 2 p.m., and we’ll see how long we can keep her here. I guarantee it will be until 3 p.m., at least.

Since she was here today (as I post this), I do have a few signed copies on hand already, for customers who can’t wait two weeks to get their new Perkins book. While here, Lynne also signed copies of her other books I had in stock, and I’ll restock those for the official mid-November signing. 

Lynne Rae Perkins is such a charming, delightful guest that she brightens the bookstore any day she walks in the door, so please join us if you can on November 16. You’ll have a good time, I promise! And we will probably have cookies, too.

Always a Treat -- Cake? In a New Book from Lynne Rae Perkins!

It’s a lot of work to bake a cake from scratch, but even more effort is involved in making amends for having misjudged someone. When Lucy realizes she has jumped to a wrong conclusion, though, she overcomes her natural feelings of foolishness by creating a beautiful gift. And, as generally happens in a story by Newbery winner Lynne Rae Perkins, adventure takes shape along the way. 

A perfect book to go under the Christmas tree — or to be read by the whole family after Thanksgiving dinner.

Wintercake

by Lynne Rae Perkins

Hardcover with dust jacket

$17.99

Chickadees Are Stars Again!

Bill O. Smith’s third book starring chickadees lives up to the standard set by his first, Chickadees at Night, and second, The Chickadee Spirit. Like the earlier books, Chickadeeland once again presents the little birds we all love in rhymes that please the ear and captivate the imagination, completing a trilogy of perfect bedtime stories that all ages will enjoy. Traverse City artist Charles R. Murphy’s watercolors, too, could not be better suited to illustrating Smith’s chickadee adventure tales.

Nor will you want to overlook a fourth Bill Smith book (third in chronological order), Four a.m. December 25, illustrated by Glenn Wolff. There is also a lot going on in the pictures that isn’t told in the words in this book. Lots to look for and talk about as the author and illustrator take us around the world, through the time zones, for one hour in the dark of Christmas morning.

The author is donating his profits from Chickadeeland to the National Parks Conservation Association, Historic Sleeping Bear Preservation, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, Groundworks Center, and the National Park Foundation. His profits from Four a.m. December 25th are going to the Air Force Enlisted Village, Air Warriors Courage Foundation, Our Military Kids, Inc., and the Cherryland VWF Post 2780 Relief Fund. 

Books by Bill O. Smith, all hardcover with beautifully illustrated boards:

Chickadees at Night, $18.85

The Chickadee Spirit, $18.85

Chickadeeland, $18.85

Four a.m. December 25 (somewhat larger format than chickadee books), $19.95

You will definitely want to catch the chickadee spirit yourself!

NATURE’S FRIEND Comes to Northport

There is no need to introduce anyone in northwest Michigan to Gwen Frostic. Most people have been to her charmingly quirky working studio (see above) in Benzie County, where production is still active though the artist is no longer alive. Now a new children’s book has arrived to introduce another generation to Michigan artist Gwen Frostic and her life’s work. Beautifully illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen, Lindsey McDivitt’s Nature’s Friend: The Gwen Frostic Story combines biography with inspiration in a way that does honor to its subject.

Nature’s Friend: The Gwen Frostic Story

By Lindsey McDivitt

Illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen

Hardcover with dust jacket

$16.99

Jim's Only Children's Book

Jim Harrison wrote only one book for children, and he wrote it for his grandson, but anyone who wants to understand this outstanding Michigan poet’s background and inspiration will learn a lot from The Boy Who Ran to the Woods.

At the age of seven, a fight with a little girl put Jimmy in the hospital for a month. He was tied to the bed at night. Both eyes were bandaged for a full week, but the sight in his injured eye could not be saved.

It took months for the blind eye to heal and by the time he entered second grade he was sure that all the other boys and girls were staring at him. His father bought him a young dog and Jimmy would hide in the thickets with his dog for days at a time. He became a wild and unruly boy....

He does not want to learn to read – does not want to be in school at all -- but finally, thanks to a father's understanding, a love for the birds and other wildlife he encounters in nature begin to cure the boy’s unhappiness and give him a hunger for learning.

The Boy Who Ran to the Woods,

by Jim Harrison; illustrated by Jim Pohrt

Harcover with dust jacket, $18.95

Take Home the Beauty of Leelanau County--or Send It to a Friend

coloring book

Artist Kristin Hurlin of Glen Arbor is my bookstore feature today. Whether you like to spend your nonreading vacation hours doing puzzles, relaxing with a beautiful adult coloring book, or writing notes to friends, Kristin Hurlin has you covered. Her card assortments come in packs of 8 cards for $20. The coloring book, “A Beautiful Place,” retails for $18. And the two 500-piece puzzles, one of North Bar Lake, the other showing species diversity, measure 16” x 20” when completed and are priced at $15. I’m delighted to be able to offer Kristin’s work at Dog Ears Books.

notecards

jigsaw puzzle

jigsaw puzzle

Take Wing Over Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore

Here’s another lively, colorful page-turner for children. Whether on vacation or back home again, kids and their parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles will be cheering for Herschel, the little near-sighted hawk, as he overcomes a troublesome challenge to see clearly, at last, the beautiful dunes and lakes and farms below. Adults will recognize many of the iconic sights pictured, and maybe you will be able to identify another bird species or two, also.

Author Rob Ford is a writer for the Traverse City Record-Eagle, and his brother, Tom Ford, a well-known area wildlife artist. The story is lively, the illustrations appealing, and I’m happy to add that the book was printed in Michigan, too.

Hershel Takes Flight: A Hawk’s Tale

by Rob Ford, with illustrations by Tom Ford

(Signed copies available now at Dog Ears Books)

Hardcover, $16.95

An idea: I recommend pairing the Herschel book with Karen Trolenberg’s Flight of Megizzewas, the story of a Leelanau County eagle (first introduced here). 

Karen Trolenberg's story was inspired by a real eagle once resident in Omena, Michigan, and Christopher Smith beautifully captures Trolenberg's story, as the eagle flies from his nest over deer meadows, dunes, and apple orchards, all the way to the Mackinac Bridge, finally returning to the nest high above a northern Michigan's lake. Rivers and lakes, fishing and playing -- we see land and people  from the eagle's eyes, as the author's text evokes the peaceful beauty of Michigan. 

We are very proud of this Northport author!

Flight of Megizzewas

by Karen Trolenberg

(Copies signed by author available now at Dog Ears Books)

Illustrations by Christopher Smith

Hardcover, $18.85

In Focus on Waukazoo Street

This year the posters in my window are focusing on BOOKS!

The mostly white flier in the window has Friday, July 22, circled, because tomorrow is the date of L. E. Kimball's bookstore appearance (1-3 p.m.) with her book of fiction, Seasonal Roads. I don't have a poster for Lynne Rae Perkins, but she will be here on Saturday (3-5 p.m.) to read from and sign Frank and Lucky Get Schooled. Hint to parents and grandparents: The latter will definitely be a kid-friendly event!

Our Beautiful Leelanau County Shoreline, Captured!

The latest book from Leelanau Press is in Northport now, and it’s a beauty. Lake Trek: One Shoreline, Two Visions features the work of photographer Ken Scott and painter Kaye Krapohl, and to call it stunning would be to understate the case. Walking the shore, through the seasons, from Traverse City north and around and down south to the Benzie County line, Ken and Kaye captured a breathtaking variety of beautiful moments with their respective arts. Kaye’s sketches and studies for later finished paintings and the comments of these two talented people about their extended adventure add depth to what would already be a magnificent volume with finished work alone. You will love this book!

Ken and Kaye will be at Dog Ears Books on Thursday evening, August 11, at 7 p.m., to tell you about their long hike and the art that came out of it. They will sign books for customers after Q&A.

Lake Trek: One Shoreline, Two Visions

Ken Scott & Kaye Krapohl

Hardcover, 136pp, $39.95

New from Lynne Rae Perkins

The day a new book by Lynne Rae Perkins arrives is always an exciting day. I was champing at the bit (horse talk) this rainy Wednesday, keeping watch for the UPS truck. At last!

Frank and Lucky Get Schooled is a big, beautiful picture book, and the story stars a boy and his dog. Lucky is lucky to have Frank, Frank is lucky to have Lucky, and we are all lucky to have this fun new story. The mind is Lynne Rae Perkins is a wondrous thing. You never know which direction she's going to go from one page to the next in her stories, but you follow her characters eagerly on their adventures, and this new book is no exception. It is utterly delightful! You'll have a hard time deciding which adventures and pictures and pages are your favorites.

Frank and Lucky Get Schooled
by Lynne Rae Perkins
Hardcover, $17.99

Also, please note that Lynne Rae will be reading and signing books at Dog Ears Books on Saturday, July 23, from 3 to 5 p.m.

Chickadees Back by Popular Demand

Chickadees at Night, written by Bill O. Smith and Charles R. Murphy, both of Traverse City, was a regional bestseller when it first came out, back in 2012. There is no one who didn't love the chickadees! So now, by popular demand, we have restocked the popular title for the current season -- though the author will have a new book later this year, and you'll want that one, too, when it's available.

Continue to watch this site for new book news from Dog Ears Books in Northport.

Chickadees at Night,
by Bill O. Smith
Hardcover
$18.85