The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden

Master Gardener Lee Schneller's visit to our store could not have come at a more welcome time... hurricane-like weather, power outages and a snowy Saturday!

Lee's PowerPoint presentation about her book The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden gave us hope that Spring will soon be here. Her garden photos are amazing and inspired everyone in the audience to talk about redesigning their perennial gardens.

If you missed the event due to the above mentioned weather or power outages, we have plenty of signed copies on hand!

Children's Story Hour

We had a great turnout for this morning's snowman themed story hour! The recent snowfall had everyone in the mood for Madeline's reading of The Magical Snowman by Catherine Walters and Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams. Afterward, everyone made a snowman bookmark to take home.

Children's Story Hour

Attendance was light at our Saturday Story Hour this week, but that didn't deter us from having a grand time! Miss Ann read Jan Brett's classic The Mitten, as well as Who's Been Here? by Fran Hodgkins and Winter Visitors by Karel Hayes. The discussion then turned to what we do to stay warm in the winter, where the animals live and where the birds go. The young folks think that spring is coming soon "cause they keep hearing the birds singing". Our young artists then made paper birds to hang in their rooms ... Sean says he "will keep his bird forever... even when he is a man and buys his home".

A Sweet time is had by all!

Maine children's author and Caldecott Honor winning illustrator Melissa Sweet came to visit our Children's Story Hour this morning and we had a blast!


Melissa read from her books Day is Done (with author Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame), Won't you be My Kissaroo? (with author Joanne Ryder) and the crowd favorite -Melissa's own Carmine: A Little More Red. Next we had a fun time getting creative and made Valentine magnets to take home as a momento of the day. We rounded out the morning snacking on animal crackers while Melissa signed books for her fans. She also signed copies for us to have on hand here at the store for anyone who couldn't make it to Story Hour.




In the afternoon, we hosted our inaugeral in-store Book Club and discussed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Our next Saturday Fiction Book Club will meet on Saturday, March 6th at 1 pm to discuss The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran.



We also have a Tuesday Fiction Book Club that will meet at 10:30 am on February 23rd to discuss The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Murial Barbery and a Saturday Mystery Book Club at 1 pm on February 27th that will talk about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. If you are interested in joining a book club but aren't sure you'll be able to attend very often, no commitment is necessary. We will email out the meeting schedule and you can come as often or as little as you like!

Maine Home & Design and Maine magazine

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we are now carrying Maine Home & Design and Maine magazines. Also, we have the March issues now. Other newstands won't receive them for 12 more days!

The Return of Our Children's Story Hour!

A fun time was had by all at the first Saturday Children's Story Hour of the year! Our wonderful children's book specialist, Madeline read 10 Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle and much "quacking" could be heard in the background. Next came Angelina's Ice Skates by Katharine Holabird, after which the children decorated paper ice skates complete with silver glitter blades. We hope to see you next Saturday (Feb. 13th) at 10:30 am when special guest Melissa Sweet will be here to celebrate Valentine's Day.