Fourth of July- What a Difference a Year Makes

This year my family is again scattered- oldest in Seattle, middle in New Orleans nearing the end of her 6 week volunteer project (I'm looking forward to giving her lots-o-hugs!) and the youngest is just a few blocks away. We are expecting him to descend with his friends for a barbecue soon.

Last year, Rachel and I celebrated our country's freedom in Cambodia with an awesome family from America. I took a suitcase of books for the children, and some Mp3 players loaded with audiobooks. Living differently, like the Lewis family, certainly requires sacrificing things that one enjoys, such as books. They founded Action to Restore Hope- Cambodia to provide safe water, medical supplies, and educational materials to a remote area in the northeastern part of Cambodia.

Books- wow! I scored at ALA! Huge tote bags full of ARCs- thank you to all the generous publishers! I'm set to read for weeks!

What are you reading?

Imagine {God's Blogs}
INSIGHTS FROM HIS SITE
by Danny Donoho


This was a Christmas gift to me. I'm enjoying it.

BookArtRecycling

Another great way to recycle old books. But not for the common folk.

Artist Brian Dettmer uses books, cassette tapes, and maps to create works of art. Intricate. Ingenious. His works of art are displayed on a couple of art gallery websites:

KINZ, TILLOU + FEIGEN in New York

I also enjoyed the titles listed on the articles in the biography:
"Spine Surgery." " Cut to the chase." " Digging into a Good Book."

Recycling Books......

Gotta love the way that Jim Rosenau's decided to recycle old books.

You know, those encyclopedias that are 30 years old and you just can't part with because they look so nice there on the shelf..... never mind that most of the geopolitical data is so out of date....

Some of the creations are funny, like the one here. Book lovers, recyclers, artists....check out This into That.

The Wall

Saw a notice for an author/illustrator/artist signing by Peter Sis. His new children's book is called The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain.

Some of his bio: "In 1982 he was sent by the Czech government to Los Angeles to produce a film for the 1984 Winter Olympics. But the film project was canceled when Czechoslovakia and the entire Eastern bloc decided to boycott the Olympics. Ordered by his government to return home, Peter decided to stay in the United States and was granted asylum."

Illustrator/painter/artist. Illustrator of books by Jack Prelutsky, George Shannon, and Sid Fleischman. Writer and illustrator of his own books. Artist (subway stations. films with Bob Dylan. Pieces in the Museum of Modern Art. Awards all over the place)

He had long been thinking about writing the book, but decided to go ahead and do it after seeing our freedoms being taken away as a result of 9/11. My thought: this is a pretty powerful viewpoint from someone who sought asylum in America and enjoyed our freedom. I need to buy the book.

“Peter Sís’s book is most of all about the will to live one’s life in freedom and should be required reading for all those who take their freedom for granted.”
—Václav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic

Go here for more information: www.petersis.com

The author speaking engagement/book signing is free to the first 100 librarians who sign up. Sigh- but it is in Northern California.