What is in the Bag?

My cherished alphabet bag always accompanies me on a visit to the Red Balloon Bookshop. It ended up fuller than I expected it to be. With items for school and personal items, it was also heavier than usual, so I was grateful to my husband for carrying it back to the car (and stopping for a piece of truffle framboise cheesecake at Cafe Latte).

In addition to the bowtie penguin puppet (Folkmanis), the school items included

2 copies of Press Here by Herve Tullet

2 copies of Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka

1 copy of Skippyjon Jones, Class Action by Judy Schachner

1 copy of In Front of My House by Marianne Dubuc

1 copy of Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

The personal items included

2 copies of Happy Birthday Hamster! by Cynthia Lord, personalized on the spot by illustrator Derek Anderson for two children who have birthdays in the coming weeks

1 Mom's Family Calendar 2012, created by Sandra Boynton and perfect for 5 people to use

1 copy of You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman (a bargain book I could not resist saving for a reading family I love

1 copy of Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert in board book form for a soon-to-be-born baby

1 copy of Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, also in board book form for that baby

1 copy of Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

After unloading the personal books, I spent the afternoon on the window seat, reading the words and images in Wonderstruck, feeling much of the same magic I experienced when I brought home The Invention of Hugo Cabret almost 5 years ago.