Books. According to this video they’re not just for reading (or furniture) anymore.

Now the next time someone comes at you with a whittled down piece of wood you, my book-wielding friends, will be prepared!

Customers who’ve come by the store this week have had the chance to get their photo taken with President Barack Obama. We’ve had life-size replicas on display and available for sale and advertised that customers could come by with their own cameras and snap a picture of themselves with the Chief, to be included in next year’s holiday cards, on their Facebook pages, etc.

On the whole this entertaining experiment has been a great one, filled with fun (and funny) moments in which both customers and staff members have mistaken the looming figure behind them for a real person and done a double-take when they saw just WHO that person was meant to be. Last weekend Lorna repeatedly caught the cardboard Barack out of the corner of her eye and thought he was a customer. Finally she conditioned herself to the notion that the "person" standing in that spot across from the register was NOT real. This worked fine until a customer standing right next to the soon-to-be President spoke to her and she literally jumped, thinking for a moment that the fake Obama had become the real thing. Like a dream had become reality. Much like many of us feel has happened today.

One of the more aggravating challenges of being a buyer is having to exercise patience between the time when you first buy a book for the store until the time when it finally arrives — usually about six months later. Last week I wrote an enthuasiastic bit for out store’s newsletter about three recent arrivals to our shelves and thought I ought to share that same enthuasiam here.

After each of the latter two I’ve included a "book movie" created for their promotion. In a recent post I remarked that I generally don’t like these trailer-style promos, but in the cases of non-fiction, like these, I think they can be very effective indeed. (Note also that since I was rather pointedly informed that the term "Book Trailer" is trademarked, I am not using it here, except in this sentence.)

And, because I hated to see this first book denied the joys of some multimedia accompaniment here, I’ve followed my blurb with a short documentary about its creator that I think is well worth watching.

Leading the pack of OUTSTANDING new additions to our shelves is Tales from Outer Suburbia (Scholastic) by the overwhelmingly talented Shaun Tan, best known for his wordless graphic novel The Arrival. This book for ages 10 to adult (and, seriously, you adults should all be sure to read this!) is an odd, beautiful, thought-provoking, and entertaining assortment of short stories, each illustrated in a different style, showcasing the remarkable range of Tan’s artistic talents. For several months now I’ve been toting around the galley for this book, anxiously awaiting the day when I can get it into the hands of everyone I know. FINALLY the book is out and that day is here! Be sure to come in and thumb through its remarkable pages. I know you’re going to be amazed at what you find there! 

Another new book I can’t say enough about is Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life’s Song (Simon & Schuster). Now in his 80’s, Ashley is a veteran author/illustrator whose passion for storytelling and overwhelming enthusiasm for life have made him a legend in the children’s book world and beyond! This account of his life in picture book format pairs bright photos of Ashley and his home with photos of his art, his childhood, and the experiences that have made him the person he is today. The lengthy text tells the truly remarkable story of the life Ashley’s led, from a childhood in Harlem to an education in the arts (when few African Americans were considered "worthy" of such a privilege) to the beaches of Normandy to travels throughout the world to a tiny island off the coast of Maine, where I had the joy of visiting him in September of 2007. You can see photos from that visit on my blog, and you can get to know Ashley better by reading this wonderful book, which is probably best-appreciated by those ages 8 and up. 

One more quick plug: If you’d like a beautiful commemoration of Barack Obama’s swearing in as our 44th President, pick up a copy of the book Change Has Come: An Artist Celebrates Our American Spirit (Simon & Schuster). In it, Caldecott Medal-winning author/illustrator Kadir Nelson has paired select passages from Obama’s speeches with beautiful sketches of Obama, his family, and his supporters. This small, jacketed picture book is a lovely salute to our new President and a momentous event in our nation’s history.

It has occurred to me on many occasions that right after I’ve read a publisher’s new list I should just jot down a few quick notes about books that surprised or impressed me — especially when they’re by less-familiar talents. For once I actually remembered to do that! What follows are seven quick picks from Candlewick’s 2009 Spring/Summer List.

Leslie Patricelli‘s got a simple new picture book on the list that works like a charm. It’s called Higher! Higher! (March) and stars a girl whose requests to be pushed "Higher! Higher!" on the swings take her to some VERY impressive heights! The scences on these pages are rendered in Patricelli’s usual blocky and colorful style, but they tilt at a dizzying angle, making it feel like you really might be leaving the ground. What fun!

I also loved John Lechner‘s picture book The Clever Stick (July), in which a clever (but silent) stick has to find his own voice, metaphorically. You might think it’d be hard to feel much sympathy for a stick, but…? Not this one.

Stan Fellows‘s watercolor illustrations for The Cuckoo’s Haiku and Other Birding Poems by Michael J. Rosen (March) are STUNNING. This bright and beautiful book will make the *perfect* gift for birders of age. (And poetry fans too!)

First-time author/illustrator Tony Fucile will have kids rolling on the floor with his picture book Let’s Do Nothing! (May) in which two boys attempt to do just that (with zero success). Comic genius!

The same reaction should greet Alison McGhee‘s Song of Middle C (illustrated by Scott Menchin, May) in which a piano-playing girl finds that even her lucky underwear can’t save her from stage fright during her first recital. As the child in this book would say, "Hoo boy!"

Young gumshoes and budding secret agents will love the laughs and suspense in The Dunderheads (June), a lengthy picture book written by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by David Roberts (what a pair!). Here, a pack of mistreated students finds a way to steal back the items taken from them by their tyrannical teacher who thinks they’re no better than (of course) dunderheads. The distinct personalities and unique talents of each student all but guarantee that this memorable pack will amuse both children and adults. And oh the details in David Roberts’ illustrations! My favorite is a movie poster for East Side Anecdote, which parodies a film I feel quite certain I’ve seen before… someday. Somewhere.

I love the poems in Avis Harley‘s African Acrostics: A World in Edgeways (July). Accompanied by bold (and sometimes very entertaining) photographs by the multi-talented Deborah Noyes, the playful pieces on these pages more than ably capture their subjects, in wonderful language that make them a true cut above the most poems I’ve read in this form. I predict that teachers will go ga-ga for this one.

Of course there were other books on the Candlewick list that I enjoyed in addition to these, but at least this gives you a quick peek at what what they’ve got in store for the upcoming season.

Connie Rockman posted an interesting comment on my "WHEN?" post last week that went as follows: "My all-time favorite is one of Jim Murphy’s lesser-known but most fascinating titles – Across America on an Emigrant Train [Clarion Books, 1993]. Also a ‘who’ book because it’s based on the diaries of Robert Louis Stevenson about his journey to visit his lady-love in California, but he paints a very realistic picture of our country in 1879. The hazards of air travel today pale by comparison to the hazards of rail travel in the 19th century. A great read."

I was struck by the similarity  between Connie’s statement and an experience I frequently have in our store when a customer asks me to recommend a non-fiction book for an adult. Almost invariably this non-fiction fan mentions having enjoyed The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. When I ask if they’ve read any of Larson’s other books, about 80% of them say they’ve read Thunderstruck, but only about 2% of them have read Isaac’s Storm, which I think (and I know others who agree) is his best book.

Reading Connie’s remarks got me thinking about all the authors who reach the spotlight with the publication of one book, when there’s a gem (or several) in their backlist that are continually overlooked. Sara Pennypacker has deservedly reached the spotlight of late for her Clementine series, but my favorite pieces of her writing are the wildly entertaining Stuart’s Cape (which I was devastated to learn is now out of print!) and Stuart Goes to School. Apart from needing to be reissued with much bigger print (MUCH bigger print!!) and a thicker spine, I see no reason why these books shouldn’t have benefited from the recent uptick in Pennypacker passion, but their current lack of widespread availablity certainly suggests they have not. Hmmmm.

Think about the times you’ve said to someone, "If you think THAT book by so-and-so-who-just-hit-the-big-time is good, you should go back and read THIS book." Now would you please take a moment to champion those backlist gems here? I know some of you have been DYING to announce to the world that YOU knew so-and-so was going to hit the big time when you first read their book _______, even though no one else appeared to be aware of it. This is your chance to say "I loved them when" or (possibly better) "I told you so."

Not sure what to do with all those publisher catalogs you’re tossing in the recycling bin or the F&G’s you’re occasionally allowed to keep after sales calls? Recycle ’em by turning them into signs for book displays! I’ve been doing this for years, and the results are eye-catching display signs that can sometimes do double-duty by also getting customers interested in the books whose images were incorporated into your sign.

What follows are some examples of signs (either letter-size or legal-size) that I’ve made for our store, like the one above, which is perfect for your next display of insect lore. Each of these signs was created by cutting out an image from a book catalog or part of an F&G then gluesticking it to a larger, colored piece of paper (preferably fadeless, so the sign will continue looking good for quite some time) and gluesticking words on top of that — either words I wrote out myself or words I printed out using one fitting font or another. (One of my favorite resources for downloading free fonts is AbstractFonts.com.) After I’ve put together the pieces I want, I run the sign through our little legal-size laminator, which makes the finished product look more professional AND keeps it from getting mangled when we toss it back into "sign storage" until the next time we use it.

This National Poetry Month was too tall to fit well on the scanner, but I think you’ll get the idea…

This self-explanatory sign is one of my favorites:

Here are two variations on the same summer theme:

A sign for fall:

And a sign that gets plenty of play at our store, come winter:

I think I originally made this one for a display of vegetarian cookbooks. Might be time to put it to use again.

Don’t have any great pictures to use as jumping-off points? The right fonts and colors can make a sign work without any other embellishments, like in this sign (cut off a bit by the scanner!), which we’ve displayed alongside dragon-themed books:

and this one, which I made for a display of vampire books:

Anyone else have any favorite sign-making techniques? How about suggestions for spicing up in-store displays? Bonus points if your ideas involve recycling.

To finish off our week of non-fiction recommendations, I’m wondering what holes you think exist in the world of children’s and young adult non-fiction.

I, for one, was happy to see Amulet Books publish Linas Alsenas’ Gay America: Struggle for Equality last November, as gay men’s and women’s history is one topic that has CERTAINLY been overlooked in non-fiction for young adults.

What else have we been missing? Are there topics you see explored too little or too infrequently (if at all)? Perhaps ones that need "updating"? Are there age groups for whom you think particular types of non-fiction books are lacking? If so, please share those thoughts here. (The non-fiction writers of the world eagerly await your responses!)

Your task for today is to name ANY of your favorite non-fiction books that you haven’t already praised here during our week-long run of books answering the questions "WHO?," "WHAT?", "WHEN?", "WHERE?", and "HOW?".

At the start of the week I mentioned one book that I think fits all of these questions in equal measure — The Race to Save the Lord God Bird by Phillip Hoose (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004, edited by the wonderful Melanie Kroupa). This is without a doubt one of my favorite non-fiction books for any group, EVER. Through it I learned WHO was responsible for the decline of one great bird species, WHAT major and minor events and/or actions led to the destruction of that species’ habitat and its subsequent decline, WHEN the species’ population was in abundance (and when it wasn’t) in addition to WHAT the world looked like at that time, WHY people have long admired and sought out this bird (or any bird for that matter), and HOW a species can (and possibly was) wiped out of existence. What do sewing machines have to do with woodpeckers? I learned that here. What was it like to have been the last living person (or so he thought…) to see an Ivory Billed Woodpecker on the wing? I learned that here too.

I picked up this book not so much because I was interested in the topic but because I thought I "should" read it, based on the rave reviews it was getting from other book lovers whose opinions I trust. I soon found that I couldn’t put it down and by the end I was deeply, passionately invested in the subject about which I was reading. I came away from it with a better understanding of our planet, its species, and the difficulties we face in our role as the protectors of both.

It’s amazing, isn’t it, what one little book can do for us, its readers? Help me celebrate that by adding to the list of recommendations we’ve been compiling over the course of this week. Sing the praises of your non-fiction favorites here — whatever their subjects may be.

HOW does a man’s personality change after a six-foot long iron tamping rod has just been shot the entire way through his head — entering through his left cheekbone, exiting from the top of his skull, and landing some 30 yards away? HOW does he not lose consciousness when this happens? HOW does he not die of infection? HOW did the experience of what happened to Phineas Gage in 1848 shape what we know today about the human brain? These are just a few of the many "HOW" questions that were answered or at least raised for me when I read John Fleischman’s fascinating book Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science (Houghton Mifflin, 2002). It’s one of my favorite non-fiction books that answers the question "HOW?" (and "WHO?" and "WHAT?" and "WHEN?" and "WHERE?" and definitely "WHY?" — but mostly "HOW?").

On a lighter note, HOW is it possible that trout are "made of" trees? To answer that question you’ll have to read April Pulley Sayre’s book called (you guessed it) Trout Are Made of Trees, illustrated by Kate Endle (Charlesbridge, 2008). It’s another one of my "HOW?" book favorites because it explains the connection between plants and animals in such clear, easy-to-follow fashion.

HOW about you? What non-fiction books that tell you HOW something works or happened or came to be are on your list of favorites? 

(One more thing: If you’re a fan of Phineas Gage and you want to be creeped out in the best of fashion, go to the Warren Anatomical Museum on the fifth floor of the Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Longwood Campus. There you will find Phineas’ skull on display, as well as the famous tamping rod that DIDN’T do him in but… didn’t do him any favors. I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. And, yeah. It’s creepy cool.)

It’s a non-fiction filled week here on ShelfTalker. We’ve so far done WHO? books, WHAT? books, and WHEN? books. Today is WHERE?, and I invite you to be creative with your answers to this one, as "where" does not, of course, have to be a physical place, nor does it have to be a place on Planet Earth if it is.

One of my (VERY new) favorite books that answers the question "WHERE?" is Brian Floca’s forthcoming Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 (Atheneum, April 2009). The answer to "where?" is obviously space, and Brian Floca really does take you there on these pages, with a lightness and care and human touch that draws readers right into this story, right up in the shuttle, right ONTO the moon. Holy heck do I ever love this book. When my Simon & Schuster spring kit arrived I carried the F&G back and forth from work to home so that I could be prepared to show it to anyone I met in either place who might ask me what I’d been reading and enjoying lately. I’ve read multiple Apollo books coming out this spring, but this one trumps them all. The illustrations, the writing, the remarkable attention to detail in both make this a picture book that will and should receive plenty of awards attention in 2009. (I’m knockin’ on wood, though, JUST in case. Let it never be said that I jinxed this wonderful piece of non-fiction out of its just deserts!)

Another WHERE? book on my list of favorites is The Secret of Priest’s Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story by Peter Lane Taylor and Christos Nicola (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2007). Like Moonshot, this book is a superb blend of science and history. The "WHERE?" in this book is "inside a cave," specifically a cave in Ukraine where 38 Jews hid from the Nazis over the course of what was almost an entire year — earning them the unofficial record for the longest time a human being has spent underground. The account of their survival is fascinating. And the explanation of how their story was discovered in the first place is equally so. Interviews with survivors and photos (both historical and contemporary) bring this story to life for the reader and make this one VERY memorable book.

What "WHEN?" books do you love? Please comment!