Who: Amy Novesky & Lisa Congdon
Where:  Mrs. Dalloway's Literary & Garden Arts
2904 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
When: February 3rd, 3:00pm
What: (from the site's description)
"Imogen’s family didn’t have much, and life was hard atop the wild hill they call home. But when Imogen declared she wanted to be a photographer, her father built her her very own darkroom. Flash forward. Imogen is a photographer and a mother. She has her hands full! How does she do it all? She turns the garden into a wonderland for her three growing boys and a workshop for herself. While she works, her boys play, and Imogen photographs them. Click. Click. Click. Photographing her sons leads Imogen to focus on plants and flowers — most notably her signature magnolia blossoms—for which she will become best known."
More: http://www.mrsdalloways.com/events/kids-amy-novesky-lisa-congdon

Who: S.S. Taylor
Where: Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925
When: February 6th, 2013 6:00pm
What: (from the site's description)
"Computers have failed, electricity is extinct, and the race to discover new lands is underway! Brilliant explorer Alexander West has just died under mysterious circumstances, but not before smuggling half of a strange map to his intrepid children—Kit the brain, M.K. the tinkerer, and Zander the brave. Why are so many government agents trying to steal the half-map? (And where is the other half?) It’s up to Alexander’s children--The Expeditioners ($22.00)—to get to the bottom of these questions, and fast."
More: http://bookpassage.com/event/ss-taylor-expeditioners-and-treasure-drowned-mans-canyon

Who: Sean Beaudoin, Kevin Emerson, Cat Patrick, and Martha Brockenbrough
Where: Kepler's Books and Magazines
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, California
When: February 28th, 2013; 7:30pm
What: (from the site's description)
"You Are Next Tour: Sean Beaudoin, Kevin Emerson, Cat Patrick, and Martha Brockenbrough
Come meet four rain-soaked Seattle-based authors who represent some of “what’s next” in YA lit."
More: http://www.keplers.com/event/you-are-next-tour-sean-eaudoin-kevin-merson-cat-patrick-and-martha-brockenbrough

Thinking about efforts towards social justice, peace and what we can do to shift society, let's explore the idea of giving of ourselves, our time, talent, listening skills, to help someone else. The idea of a gift economy where we give without expecting something back helps connect us to each other and the world.  Here are some books that explore the concept of kindness.

Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein
When Mrs. Higgins sees Amelia's smile, she smiles too and sends her grandson, Lionel who lives in Mexico, some homemade cookies setting off a chain of events. Smiles, good feelings, kindness and love travel across the world.

This quote inspired the book--"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"This beautiful and powerful illustrated edition brings my father's inspiring message of freedom, equality, and peace to the youngest among us--those who will one day carry his dream forward for everyone."  Dr. Bernice A. King
Two time Caldecott honor winner Kadir Nelson has created magnificent and moving paintings that have  immediacy and the power to inspire awe.

Each kindness makes the world a little better

Chloe and her friends won't play with the new girl, Maya. Maya is different--she wears hand-me-downs and plays with old-fashioned toys. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her gang, they reject her. Eventually, Maya plays alone, and then stops coming to school altogether. When Chloe's teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she'd shown a little kindness toward Maya.
Publisher's description
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

In Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson, Mary starts a chain reaction of good deeds in a way similar to Amelia and her smile. Each five people inspired to help others by her deed multiply until 6,103,515,625 people are touched.

Minna has a class assignment to do something kind and make a picture of it.  After observing many acts of kindness she makes a quilt with all of them on it.  When the class sees it, they want to take all their pictures and make them into a quilt.
The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.

Have you Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud.  An invisible bucket that everyone carries  can be full or empty. Full buckets are happy making and empty ones make us sad.  We need people to fill our bucket and others need us to fill theirs. Kindness, compassion, love and caring are fillers. Being mean, exclusive, and insensitive can empty the bucket of others as well as your own. Filling someone's bucket can fill your own too. Some of the third grade teachers have a bucket "system" in their rooms.

Even with the vacation there were still 1,718 books checked out last month.  A lot of students were gearing up for the holidays with 'Christmas' one of the top search terms and two of the top five titles winter-themed.  Picture books remain the top category with the 700's following.  The popularity of the 700's can also be seen with 'comics' being one of the top search terms and two of the five top titles being comic books.