Monday, May 15, 2017

Need a WONDER-ful Grad gift...or a "just because" surprise?


Millions of readers have fallen in love with Augie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. Wonder tells his story from six different perspectives.  Wonder's message of kindness and tolerance inspired the "choose kind" movement which has been adopted by schools across the country.

This follow up picture book is based conceptually on the themes of Palacio's young adult novel.  Tapping into the magic of differences, We are all Wonders encourages us to see each person for  they truly are and not what our preconceived notions tell us they might be.  It is a celebration of uniqueness.

Two other Palacio books in the Wonder collection merit comment, also.  Augie and Me features stories of three characters we meet in the original novel. Like We're all Wonders, these stores provide gentle reminders for us all....good friendships are worth a little extra effort, being friendly isn't the same as being a friend....

Then there's 365 Days of Wonder...a collection of quotes, old and new, offering wisdom from famous and not so famous voices.  

I remember searching out inspirational quotation books in high school, copying favorite quotes into a journal and attempting to illustrate each one.  Some of the quotes stuck with me -Emerson for example - "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds".  If I didn't fear needles as much as I fear rats, those words would be tattooed on my inner arm.  Someday I'll just grab a Sharpie and do the job myself.

Happy warm weather, pleasant gardening, biking, getting reacquainted with neighborhood walkers and dogs...celebrate thinking and wondering as much as doing.  The Lakeshore has plenty of choices to fill warm weather days...and when those choices overwhelm you escape into a book.

Thanks for stopping by.