Holiday books for children
A review of three children’s Christmas books, The Christmas Ship by Dean Morrissey with vivid artwork and a story about Sam Thatcher, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg highlighting belief and a magical journey, and If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff with Felicia Bond illustrations about a mouse’s movie day and Christmas prep.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sam
Santa
Houghton Mifflin
Chris van Allshure
Santa Claus
van Allsburg
HarperCollins
Laura Numeroff
Felicia Bond
Bond
The Constant Gardener review by John le Carre
A sweeping appraisal of The Constant Gardener. Le Carre frames Africa as a pharmaceutical noir stage where profit outruns human life. Justin Quayle hunts truth after Tessa’s presumed Kenya murder, exposing pill for profit misdeeds and global disease politics.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John le Carre
Scribner
Berlin Wall
le Carre
Africa
Pharma
le Carve
Tessa Quayle
Justin
Switzerland
Germany
Tessa
Constant Gardeners
Constant Gardener
Justin Quayle
New audio book The Cricket in Times Square reviewed
George Selden's The Cricket in Times Square is read by Rene Auberjonois in an unabridged Random House Listening Library edition. At 165 minutes on two cassettes, the tale of Chester Cricket Tucker mouse and Harry Cat remains charming for children, though slower for modern attention spans. The narrator captures the animals' voices well and conveys Maria's character vividly.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Times Square
George Selden
Rene Auberjonois
Random House Listening Library
Chester
Tucker Mouse
Harry Cat
Mario
Alough
Maria
Selections from Annals of the Former World by John McPhee
A Dallas Morning News review by Larry Bleiberg praises John McPhee’s Annals of the Former World. The work, read by Grover Gardner, covers North American geologic history from a billion years ago, tracing continents, faults, and mountains along Interstate 80.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John McPhee
Grover Gardner
North America
The
New Yorker
Palisades
New Jersey
Plains
Midwest
Wyoming
California
New paperbacks showcase Latin American stories and Gary Fincke
The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories edited by Carlos Fuentes and Julio Ortega surveys 39 stories from a vibrant era valued for innovation in the genre. The Almanac for Desire by Gary Fincke, praised for its expansive poems, blends spiritual quiet with chaotic modern life in a 93 page collection.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Vintage Book of
Carlos Fuentes
Julio Ortega
Latin America
Mexico
Octavio Paz
Colombia
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Guadalajara
Buenos Aires
Garcia Marquez
Julio Conazar
Argentina
Ortega
Gary Fincke
Fincke
Also Mentioned on This Page
Zoe Ann Shafer
Associated Press
Sam Thatcher
Dean Morrissey
Morrissey
Father Christmas
Wendy
Never-Never Land
Peter Pan
North Pole
Pole
Beilish High Commission
Nairobi
Kenya
Sandy
Constan
Newsline
Punch
McPhee
Larry Bletberg
Dallas Morning News
Desire
BliMk Press
Mark Eberhart
Kansas City Star
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!