Flour + Water Pasta

From San Francisco's popular Italian restaurant,  "Flour + Water", comes a complete primer on the craft of pasta making.  You might think that a comprehensive tutorial in pasta making would be dry, but you’d be wrong. I read flour + water in one sitting, fascinated by the lively story of one of San Francisco’s great restaurants and the smartly written, easy to follow recipes. This is an enchanting, inspiring book.

From My Point of View - Book Review

I was at the front desk the other day while the clerk was on her break and it was kind of slow so I started to thumb through some of the children's picture books to see if there was anything I could put onto our Easter display. I got about halfway through the top shelf and I had to stop. My mouth dropped open a little and I took a quick intake of breath as I pulled There's NO Such Thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent off the shelf. I recognized the picture on the cover immediately as one I had loved as a child, but had completely forgotten about since. I checked it out to take home and share with another generation, then I realized that I didn't even know if it really was a good story or not. For all I knew it could have been a really dorky story that I never realized was kind of dumb while I was young.

I decided that I'd better take a look and make sure I still liked it enough to share. Later, when I sat down to read it, I remembered why I'd liked it so much as a child. It is just a very fun, very cute story. It also has a cute dragon that keeps getting bigger, and I always liked the story A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer too. Like A Fish Out of Water, There's NO Such Thing as a Dragon is not just a cute story. It teaches its readers about life.

It is the story of a young boy who wakes up one morning to find a dragon in his room. It was a small dragon, but still, it was a dragon. He starts the day by patting the dragon on its head, but soon starts to try to ignore the dragon after his mother tells him that dragons don't exist. Everyone keeps trying to ignore the dragon and so the dragon gets bigger and bigger and bigger, until it is so big the family just cannot ignore the dragon anymore. Obviously dragons DO exist. Even the mother must admit this in the end. Once recognized as being real, the dragon shrinks back down to his original size, no longer needing his enormous size to make his presence known.

I just can't believe that I had forgotten this book. Looking back, I remember reading it many times. I'm so glad I rediscovered this one. (Thank you whoever returned it on the 18th or the 19th.) On reading it again as an adult, I enjoyed it on many different levels. I'd highly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys picture books or is looking for a fun book to share with a child.

Happy Reading!

Elizabeth

City of Ember to become a Movie

By: Michele, Children's Librarian

Lights shine in the city of Ember—but at the city limits the light ends, and darkness takes over. Out there in the Unknown Regions, the darkness goes on forever in all directions. Ember—so its people believe—is the only light in the dark world.
And now the lights of the city are beginning to fail.
Is there a way to save the people of Ember? No one knows. But Lina Mayfleet has found a puzzling document, and Doon Harrow has made discoveries down in the Pipeworks. With these clues, they start their search.




The City of Ember contains a satisfying mystery, a breathtaking escape over rooftops in darkness, a harrowing journey in the unknown, and cryptic messages for readers to decipher.



Bill Murray will star in a film adaptation of Jeanne DuPrau's YA novel City of Ember, to be directed by Gil Kenan (Monster House) and written by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands, The Secret Garden and Corpse Bride). Murray will play the Mayor of Ember. Production begins in Belfast this summer, with an October 2008 release date planned. Playtone and Walden Media will co-produce.



Fans of the book will want to check it out. Those who are new to the series will want to catch up before the movie debut. The series includes the following titles: The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, The Prophet of Yonwood and coming in the fall of 2008 the fourth and final book of Ember which the author describes below.

"That first winter in the village of Sparks was desperately hard. Doon decided he had to do something. He told Lina his plan. "And I want you to come with me," he added. So they went. But what they found was not what they expected at all. "

The Dresden Files

Have you been watching "the Dresden Files" on cable? If you want to read the real story about Harry Dresden, check out the book "Wizard for Hire." in fiction under F. Butcher. This book contains the first three books featuring Henry Dresden, wizard. "If you look in the Chicago phone book under "Wizards," you'll find me, Harry Dresden. I'm the only openly practicing professional wizard in the country. People often laugh, ask me if I'm serious. But if you's seen the things I've seen..... "

sue