For Future Snowy Days

We don’t want to think about snow yet! Fall color is late this year, giving us the happy illusion that winter will never arrive; we know it will, but we don’t want to go there yet! When winter does come, though, and holiday season comes around, here is a fun new book for little ones and those who read to them.

Samson loves dandelions. He loves the color yellow. What will he find to love when his world turns white? Story and captivating pictures answer that question.

Samson in the Snow

by Philip Stead

Hardcover, $17.99

Michigan ROCKS!

I’m thrilled to announce that I now have, back in stock and even autographed by one of the co-authors, the popular, much-desired, and for a time elusive Michigan Rock Picker’s Guide. Since Partners Book Distributing went out of business, the former publisher of this book dropped it, and the copyright went back to the authors, who have now had it reprinted in color better than the original.

Lake Michigan Rock Picker’s Guide

by Bruce Mueller & Kevin Gauthier

Paperback, 80pp, $15.95

And that’s not all. For intrepid adventurers whose Michigan experiences extend as far as the “Sunrise Side” and the Upper Peninsula, I also have a couple copies each of Lake Huron Rock Picker’s Guide and Lake Superior Rock Picker’s Guide – same amateur-friendly information, same beautiful color, and same great price. 

Trees, Mushrooms, and Books (Again)

Today's post features items found in but hardly unique to Michigan.

First, do trees communicate with each other? Peter Wohllenben thinks they do, and he explains their diverse methods in this fascinating book, an investigation in the spirit of French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre, one of my all-time nature heroes.

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World

by Peter Wohllenben

Greystone Books, 2015

Hardcover, 272pp w/ index, $29.95

Next, moving from spores to seeds --

It’s fall mushroom time again, time to get out the field guide. What one friend calls “dead man’s fingers,” Audubon calls “elegant stinkhorn,” but there’s no mistaking it, thanks to the color photograph. Audubon! Don't leave home without it!

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms, North America

Flexible cover, fully illustrated, over 900pp, cross-referenced and indexed, $22.95

Finally, on to one of my all-time favorite subjects, do your children have any idea what goes into making a book? “Based on a true story,” Mac Barnett and Adam Rex undertake to explain the entire process to young people, from start to finish, clearly and engagingly. (Older people will be equally engaged.) How could I not love this book?

How This Book Was Made

by Mac Barnett & Adam Rex

Hardcover, $17.99

Leelanau Nature Real CLOSE UP!

Here's a new book that exemplifies, magnificently, what you can find in your own back yard, given patience, interest, and talent. My nature-loving book friends are going to be beside themselves over these photographs! Come in and see it -- you may not believe it even then! Amazing!

Nature's Unseen World: Leelanau County's Backyard
photographs by Bob Jones
Traverse City: Mission Point Press
Hardcover, $29.95

More Historic Leelanau, Hot Off the Presses

Logging, shipping, early homes and roads and more – it’s all here in the new book from Leelanau Press, Edward Beebe’s Historic Leelanau Photographs: Leland, Suttons Bay, and North Manitou, 1909 – 1915, with text is by Jack Hobey. The story begins with “North Manitou Arrival” and ends with “North Manitou Departure.” My beloved little Lake Leelanau, then Provemont, is part of the story, as is Empire.

For those always curious about Rock, the famous hermit, yes, he makes the book, too. 

Edward Beebe’s Historic Leelanau Photographs: Leland, Suttons Bay, and North Manitou, 1909 – 1915

by Jack Hobey

Glen Arbor: Leelanau Press, 2016

Hardcover, fully illustrated, 154pp with index

$39.95

Noteworthy Survivals

As well as new books, Dog Ears Books stocks many volumes that have stood the test of time. That, after all, is what books do. Given proper treatment, a physical library is near-forever. Here, then, are some recent additions to our eclectic collection of old and rare titles:

(HISTORY; CIVIL WAR; MEMOIR)

MY STORY OF THE WAR: A WOMAN'S NARRATIVE OF FOUR YEARS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AS NURSE IN THE UNION ARMY, AND IN RELIEF WORK AT HOME, IN HOSPITALS, CAMPS, AND AT THE FRONT, DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, WITH ANECDOTES, PATHETIC INCIDENTS, AND THRILLING REMINISCENCES PORTRAYING THE LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF HOSPITAL LIFE AND THE SANITARY SERVICE OF THE WAR, by Mary A. Livermore. Superbly illustrated. Hartford, CT: A. D. Worthington & Company, 1889. Full leather. Light wear, as is to be expected. Very good condition. $80

(OUTDOOR; CAMPING; SURVIVAL)

HOW TO GET OUT OF THE RAT RACE AND LIVE ON $10 A MONTH, by George Leonard Herter & Berthe E. Herter. Revised 7th edition, 1975. Hardcover, silver covered boards, front board illustrated. Many illustrations within. 656pp. Excellent copy. $80

(Hint: Porcupines make good eating.)

(LITERATURE; FICTION)

DOCTOR DOGBODY'S LEG, by James Norman Hall. Boston: Little, Brown, 1940, 2nd printing. This is a very rare edition of an uncommon title by the co-author of the famous MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY. There is mild bumping to spine ends and one small nick to top of front board, with some code numbers ffep; otherwise, a very clean, tight copy. $400

PORGY, by Du Bose Heyward. Grosset & Dunlap reprint by arrangement with George H. Doran Co., in same year as original printing: 1925. Illustrated with woodcuts by Theodore Nadejen. This is the novel that became the stage play that became the musical.  Black cloth/no dj. Near VG. $50

(ARCHITECTURE; TECHNICAL)

WOODWARD'S COUNTRY HOMES, by Geo. E. Woodward, architect and civil engineer. NY: Geo. E. Woodward, 1865. Dark green cloth, gilt title on spine. 188pp, generously illustrated with floor plans, details, and views of finished homes. Light wear. Nice copy. $45