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With The Year of the Rat, we find Pacy Lin, narrator of Grace Lin's wonderful book The Year of the Dog at almost the same place we left her - a celebration of Chinese New Year with her family and friends. The Year of the Pig has ended and two years have passed since we first met Pacy. As the Year of the Rat, a time of new beginnings and change, kicks off Pacy finds herself wishing that

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Lucy Cousins is the creator of the wonderful world of Maisy the mouse and friends. Her bright, playful illustrations appeal to babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. With Yummy, Cousins brings us a much needed collection of fairy tales for the pre-school and younger set. Big pictures and short stories make this a book that can be read from cover to cover for older listeners or one or two stories

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In the author's note for The Year of the Dog, Grace Lin mentions that one of her favorite books as a child was Carolyn Haywood's B is for Betsy, which was a real life, real girl kind of story that took place at home, in school and in the neighborhood. Written in 1939, the characters came from "normal families and ate dinner and waited for the bus. They were normal families without unicorns or

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Author: Sam McBratney
Illustrator: Charles Fuge

The cover of this book really does a good job of capturing the momentum that is building behind the Obama campaign. Here you see animals enthusiastically jumping in the air, which is appropriate because this election has drawn more interest and enthusiasm than any election in recent memory.

But note that the animals are not your standard elephant and donkey. No, here you have a kangaroo, a mouse, and a duck. In their diversity, they represent the vanguard of the movement towards a post-partisan political climate. We are more than just democrats and republicans, blue states and red states... I mean, a blue kangaroo? That's just silly.

Look a little closer and you will notice the leaves falling from the sky, indicating that we are indeed in a season of change, which has been one of the prime buzzwords of this election season. It is no wonder that Obama chose this book to be the foundation of his campaign message: Yes We Can.

Here is the Obama Yes We Can speech in New Hampshire, the one used for the will.i.am video. While the video is cool, I prefer the speech without the celebrities because, call me square, but I'd rather not have my vote swayed by the lead singer of the Pussy Cat Dolls.

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Though I seriously doubt that anyone in the NYC vicinity is going to be checking blogs today, please remember to stop by the Landmark Tavern tonight at 5:00. I'll be in a dress and everything. Come by.

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By executive decision, I hereby declare the following:

We shall meet at the Landmark Tavern located at 626 11th Ave. (@ 46th St.) this Friday at 5:00. The place is seven blocks north of the convention center, which shouldn't be too terrible a walk. Then, at 7:00 or so, those folks who are attending the ABC 7:30 dinner can take off and the rest of youse can stay.

Here's how Landmark is described:

This bar might as well be in New Jersey it’s so far west. But its history alone is worth a visit. The first beer, costing a nickel, was poured during the Johnson Administration (that’s Andrew, not LBJ), and rumor has it the tavern is haunted by an Irish girl and a Confederate soldier. During prohibition, Landmark was closed for 30 minutes, or the time it took to move the barrels of whiskey upstairs. The bar, carved from a single mahogany tree, is original, as are the floor tiles and stamped tin ceiling. Even the men’s bathroom with swinging saloon doors has a kind of old world charm. If that isn’t enough of a walk down memory lane for you, you’re better off at the Intrepid. The rest of us who like our history in the form of stories told by bartenders will stay put and enjoy a Magner’s Irish cider and an Anglo-Irish dinner menu that suits the surroundings perfectly.

So those of you inclined to have a meal will have the option of doing so too! Hopefully the volume will be less than it was during the drink night at Bar 9 back during the SCBWI Conference.

And if anyone's looking for an explanation of what Book Expo is and what it's like for your average author/illustrator, take a gander at the Mo Willems piece Book Expo American Schedule.

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