Missing ALA

This is the time of the year when I am most envious of you lucky ducks who are members of the American Library Association.  You are mostly all at ALA this week.  Because I got to go last year I know how exciting and fun it can be.  I had the best or second best week of my life last year at ALA (I can't decide if it beat my 6th birthday when I spent at week at Disney World and had lunch with Cinderella on my birthday.  They were both amazing.).  There is the one thing that is better about being at home: I slept until 11:00 this morning, and I'm not exaggerating at all.  The reason I am thinking about this right now is that I did my 10 page 4-H scrapbook this afternoon alone and it was on my amazing experience at ALA last year.  My favorite page title is Ace of Libraries (about the cake Charm City Cakes made last year) and my favorite picture is one of just me at the Newbery/Caldecott Gala.  So my request to all of you lucky ducks that are at ALA right now is to post a comment about your favorite part and the things you are doing / did so that I can hear about ALA Annual 2011 while I remember ALA Annual 2010.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Kids should not be intimidated by the size of this book.  My copy is 511 pages long, but there were 284 pages of pictures.  But you can't just skip the pictures, pay attention because they tell part of the story.  This story takes you into the world of a boy, Hugo Cabret, who thinks that an automaton can save his live and makes you realize how easy your life must be if Hugo has to face so many challenges just to live in the world after the death of all his relatives.  I liked everything about this turn-of-the-century novel, from the detailed characters, to Isabelle's love of Greek mythology (which really tied into the end of the story well).  All of the details seemed to fit in just right.  As the first novel ever to win the Caldecott medal, I recommend this book to kids and adults, to readers and lovers of illustrations.

Rating:  *****
Check out the movie, coming out in December of 2011!