The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming

In preparation for our Materials Review for Educators happening October 3rd starting at 9:00 am at Bear Pond Books, we're highlighting some of our favorites from our stack of 100 nonfiction books of 2014.

Candace Fleming, the award winning author of The Lincolns, Amelia Lost, and The Great and Only Barnum, shifts her gaze from United States history to Imperial Russia in her thoughtful, entertaining and scrupulously researched  book, The Family Romanov - Murder, Rebellion, and the Downfall of Imperial Russia.   

Opening in 1903 at St. Petersburg's Winter Palace, where the reclusive Czar Nicholas and the Empress Alexandra are hosting an opulent costume ball, the reader is lead through an increasingly hostile landscape as the discrepancy between the peasant and working class becomes exposed. Fleming weaves in the colorful stories of Lenin and Rasputin, detailing how they contributed to the inevitable fall of the royal family and all they represented.  

Fleming juxtaposes details of royal life with photographs and firsthand accounts from peasants and workers. Diaries and letters support the most moving storyline “Beyond the Palace Gates,” in which relevant accounts by starving peasants and exhausted workers stand in stark contrast to the cloistered experience of the Romanov family. 

There is an extensive bibliography and recommended online resources, including this collection of Royal Russia articles, photographs, and videos, and the Nicholas and Alexandra site, which includes a virtual tour of the Last Imperial Family of Tsarist Russia exhibition. There is a lot to explore in this book and beyond.

While intended for ages 12 and up, this will certainly appeal to adults as well.

100 Books and Counting. . .Materials Review October 3rd, 9:00am

Revolutions! Gila Monsters! Baseball! Migrations! Insects Changing History! Johnny Cash! Orangutans! Bathing Machines! . . . More!

Those are super short summaries of some of the 100 books we're reading in preparation for our October 3rd Materials Review. The list covers new non-fiction on all sorts of topics for grades K-8. We'll have books to look at, books and supplies for door prize giveaways, coffee, coffeecake, time for conversation and a run down of what we're excited about in 2014. Our reviewing panel will be Jane, Carrie, Helen, and Scholastic Book rep Nikki Mutch.

A Sneak Peak - books we'll be discussing include:

• Orangutan Houdini debut picture book by Vermont author Laurel Neme - Laurel has a long history of work in wildlife conservation and is author of the previous adult title Animal Investigators that profiles the fight against illegal the animal trade. And she's speaking at the store on "Creating Global Connections" on January 24th.
• The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinnkin, which is on the long list for this year's National Book Award (you can read why here) and won the Boston Globe - Horn Book Award for 2014.
• Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell, recipient of an honor award from the 2014 Boston Globe - Horn Book Awards.
• Graphic novels Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust by Loic Dauvillier, Shackleton by Nick Bertozzi, and El Deafo by Cece Bell (check out fun "extras" on her website http://cecebell.wordpress.com/). Graphic novels are being highlighted right now as part of Banned Books Week (read more at the Banned Books Week homepage)
• Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla, a picture book version of The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, which won the Newbery Award in 2013 and was a nominee on the 2013-2014 Dorothy Canfield Fisher list.
• Biographies of Johnny Cash, Ghandi, Sun Ra, Dr. Peter Mark Roget (of thesaurus fame), Peter Francisco (the Virginia Giant) and Lady Dai (if you haven't heard of her, you should. . . an ancient mummy remarkably preserved. . "biography" may be a stretch. . .)

We're also featuring some favorites leading up to the event:

• The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
• Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales
• Neighborhood Sharks by Katherine Roy

. . .plus more, from history's biggest, loudest peace concert to animal classifications via poetry. Join us from 9:00 (panel starts at 9:30) to 11:00 am on Friday, October 3rd in the Children's Room. 

Events in the Fall

We have many events this fall that might be of interest to educators. . . not all of them part of the "official" educators series. See below for the full list! Ones marked with ** are part of the educators series, which means there will be resources and articles related to the event posted here afterwards. 

**Friday, October 3rd, 9:00 - 11:00 am. Materials review. Coffee at 9, review starts at 9:30. Previews, reviews of new releases, and conversation about nonfiction children’s titles. There will be book and supply giveaways, and a chance to browse all the latest titles at the store. Covers grades k-9.

**Saturday, October 18th, 11:00 and 1:00 - Sarah Stewart Taylor Writing Workshops (Two different workshops) S.S. Taylor, author of the acclaimed Expeditioners books, conducts two creative writing workshops. The first, from 11:00 - noon will be for educators interested in their own writing as well as teaching techniques. The second, from 1:00 - 2:00 pm will be for young writers (recommended for ages 11+). Because there is limited space, we do request RSVPs for these workshops (e-mail helen@bearpondbooks.com).  

Tuesday, October 21st, 7pm Ben Hewitt speaks about his latest book Home Grown. This book tells the story of his family's approach to education based on discovery and learning on their Vermont farm and in the natural world and everyday decisions found there.  

Tuesday, October 28th, 7pm Garret Keizer reads from and speaks about his memoir Getting Schooled, which reflects on a year spent teaching in a rural Vermont high school after several decades away from the classroom.

**Saturday, November 15th, 11:00 am Jason Chin and Deirdre Gill, Picture Books in Nature  - Picture book authors and illustrators Jason Chin and Deirdre Gill discuss how they tell stories that are inspired by their love of nature, using both text and pictures. Includes both their process and ideas for activities with students.

Tuesday, November 18th, 7:00 pm Author Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Jacob Have I Loved) comes to the store as part of our regular authors series to share her new memoir Stories of My Life.

For a list of all Bear Pond Books events, visit our main website www.bearpondbooks.com

Back from Summer Vacation. . . .

A lot has happened over the summer and we're ramping up to share news, resources, and original articles this year on the Educators' blog. 

For the first time, we're offering a Materials Review session, which will take place on Friday, October 3rd from 9:00 - 11:00 am and we will review new and upcoming nonfiction titles, with a focus on grades K-9. We've had requests to offer these reviews in both fall and spring. We'll make a decision on future reviews based on the October event and what the Department of Libraries decides to offer upon the hiring of a new Youth Services Consultant. A heartfelt goodbye was said by many, many admirers of Grace Greene upon her retirement last May.

We've got a wonderful roster of authors signed up for our Author-Educator talks. Authors joining us will include:

• S.S. Taylor (The Expeditioners)
• Jason Chin (Gravity)
• Deirdre Gill (Outside)
• Katherine Roy (Sharks in the Neighborhood)
• Laurel Neme (Orangutan Houdini)

We'll post the final schedule as soon as we get firm dates for the spring events.

Many of the authors who spoke in previous Author-Educator events have books coming out this year, which we will feature on this website.

This is the year that Jane starts serving as a member of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Committee for selecting the long list of DCF books, which she will share with us this spring.

We're also making plans to bring educator-focused activities to Bear Pond Books' participation in two important community events: Art Walk and April Poetry Month.

In other words. . . it's a busy year ahead, and we're looking forward to it! If you haven't signed up for our Educators' Newsletter to receive twice-monthly announcements about events and a round-up of relevant posts, you can do so at the Bear Pond Books Newsletters page. You can see the most recent edition of the newsletter here.

Summer Vacation

Yes, we're on the summer vacation from our author-educator events (okay, we've been on summer vacation since May and didn't get around to posting this until now. . . )

We still have great things happening in the Children's Room, including Reader's Bingo and the downtown Montpelier Where's Waldo game starting on July 1st. Follow our Bear Pond Books Facebook page, on Twitter (@BearPondBooks), or check in at www.bearpondbooks.com to stay up to date.

We're also putting together our speakers series line up for next year - do you have suggestions for authors or topics? E-mail helen@bearpondbooks.com or see Jane in the Children's Room.

Enjoy the summer!

Great Greene Challenge

This blog post ends with 20% off all pre-orders of Varian Johnson's The Great Greene Heist. You can skip to the end for details. . . but we hope you also read the middle part about why. 

Let's start with reviews of the forthcoming book The Great Greene Heist. The words "fun caper" get tossed around a lot, and it is. Jackson Greene assembles a team of fellow middle school students in an elaborate scheme to steal the school election back from dishonest politicians (13 year old politicians . . . plus some less-than-scrupulous adults). It's funny, fast paced, reminiscent of classic con artist movies (Varian started the book after seeing Oceans 11) and we think Gordon Korman said it best in his quote: "A political heist page-turner set in middle school? Is that even possible? Varian Johnson shows us how it's done, expertly walking the tightrope between true-to-life school experiences and belly laughs." Plus, Varian Johnson is a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts so we're claiming him as a sort-of local author even if he happens to live in Austin.

It's a book worth reading and perfect for summer (ALA and Publisher's Weekly agree, naming it a top pick for Summer 2014). It has also gotten a lot of attention recently as part of a call for greater diversity in children's literature. Why don't the characters in children's fiction reflect the diversity of. . . well, our children? There is no good answer. It makes us here selling books frustrated and disappointed. You can read more about this issue, and particularly the recent #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign from Publisher's Weekly, Salon, The Guardian, Book Riot (and basically all over the web).

So, the month of May started off with an acknowledged problem, diversity in children's books, and a social media campaign that brought attention to the issue. Author Kate Messner also added this observation: calling for diverse books is important, but so is actually buying them. She recommended starting with The Great Greene Heist. Her blog post kicked off the Great Greene Challenge (which also has a hashtag #GreatGreeneChallenge), challenging independent bookstores to sell this book! Which we're happy to do.

Bear Pond Books will be stocking The Great Greene Heist as soon as it's published (May 27th). In the meantime, you can pre-order the book at a 20% discount. Just go to our website www.bearpondbooks.com to order. We've discounted it automatically by 10% - to get the additional 10% off, enter Coupon Code GreatGreeneChallenge at checkout.

Teachers and school librarians will continue to get 20% off on all books purchased for classroom and library use (not just during the pre-order promotion).

And don't stop at The Great Greene Heist. Jane has put together a list of other middle grade books that introduce compelling and diverse characters. Check them out here in her childrens / YA staff picks.

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference

 Bear Pond was happy to be present at this year's DCF conference at the Stoweflake Inn on May 2nd. We got to chat with many friends and make some new ones. The lovely Jo Knowles was the keynote speaker and had many in the audience in tears as she spoke about a particular shy girl who would not have become the person she is today without the guidance and support of her teachers, librarians and one highly influential book called The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. "He told the truth." said Jo about Cormier to the standing room only audience who also gave her a standing ovation.

One of the wonderful workshops, the "Not DCF list ", was hosted by Steve Madden--Camels Hump middle school librarian-- and two of his students, who book talked the many creative and attention-worthy titles published by international authors last year. Art and identity were two of the major themes that the students described as being central to many of these books, offering some surprising and unique perspectives.

Rushing straight from the Burlington airport to the podium, author Gary Schmidt discussed the ways in which stories support complex thought, and how that complexity allows us to support our children and see the world with compassion. As a writer, Schmidt explores the landscape in which his characters begin "turning towards adulthood", and what propels them to that point. Both Knowles' and Schmidt's novels tend to plumb the depths of our collective compassion and humanity, which is why we booksellers are used to seeing librarians and teachers walking around with Jo's and Gary's books clutched to their chests, exclaiming "I LOVED this book!"

The last emotional moment of the day, in a long string of them, was when the DCF committee stood up and donned their party hats to sing a variation on "Leaving on a Jet Plane" for the irreplaceable Grace Greene, retiring DCF Chairperson, whose wit and passion has fostered the vibrancy that the DCF program has today. Grace, you have touched the lives of many, and have made us laugh louder and harder than is socially acceptable.