Savor A Book

Two Lives Are Yours
Richard Armour
Books I think
Are extra nice.
Through books you live
Not once but twice.

You are yourself
And you are the things
With fur or fins
Or shells or wings.

As big as giants
Small as gnats
As far as stars
As close as cats.

You live today
And long ago
The future, too
Is yours to know.

You're multiplied
expanded, freed.
You're you and also
What you read.

National Children's Book Week is a time honored tradition since 1919 dedicated to spreading the word about children's literature and encouraging the joys of reading. It is held annually the week before Thanksgiving.
PW Children's Bookshelf website is a great resource on noteworthy books, authors, book events and other information related to children's literature. Scholastic Books has three new featured books for November that warrant a closer look.
The first is Danger Box by Blue Balliet.
It a mystery novel aimed for children 9-12. A kid named Zoomy who is living an ordinary life in the Midwest suddenly finds himself pulled into a mystery when he discovers a small handwritten notebook from a famous scientist delivered to his grandparent's home.

The second book is Odrous Ogre by Norton Juster written for all ages.
The story centers on a really rotten ogre who terrorizes the country side until a chance encounter with a friendly young lady brings about a change of heart.
The third book Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh for ages 9-12.
An angel is buried behind the Abbey of Crowfield. An orphan boy is drawn into a dangerous world of old magic and into the history of the Abbey.
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Recently I had the privilege of being a guest at a writer's group up in the northwoods. It was particularly interesting for me to be a part of a group of writers and poets whose focus is adult writing rather than young adult and children. Some of the members referenced frequently they were writing NaNoWriMo but what it sounded to me was like nanorimo. Now...not wishing to show my ignorance, I listened carefully to the discussions... hoping for hints. The kept saying I am writing in NaNoWriMo.
Thoughts raced through my head...Was this a new genre I had not heard of? Was this something to do with Native Americans? Was this a new recently coined word like refudiate? A new language? Well you can be sure after the meeting I made a beeline to my computer for enlightenment. And there it was... an acronym meaning National Novel Writing Month. Now why didn't I guess that!!!! This is a annual creative writing project you actually register online to participate and promise to write a 175 page or 50,000 word novel by midnight November 30. In 2009 there were 165,000 participants. Lucky for me it is halfway through the month so pressure is off to get involved.
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Cranberry and Dried Cherry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. container frozen cranberry- raspberry juice cocktail thawed

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 1/8 tsp. allspice

• 1- 6oz. package dried tart cherries

• 1- 12oz. bag fresh cranberries (produce dept.)

• ¼ cup Merlot

Directions:

• Bring first 5 ingredients to boiling in a saucepan stirring to dissolve sugar
• Add cherries and cook 2 minutes
• Add cranberries cook until berries pop about 8 minutes
• Stir in Merlot
• Cover and chill overnight
• To serve discard cinnamon
• Refrigerate till serving-heat on low to warm it
• Serve over turkey, chicken, pork