Author 85: Holly Hobbie still going strong

Fanny is a sweetheart doll of a book about a young girl who envies the "Connie" dolls of her friends. She makes her own doll to play with her friends and their Connie dolls. (At one point the Connie dolls are nurses and Fanny's doll is the doctor-with the author poking a bit of fun at the "looks only" dolls versus those with more, shall I say, traditional? appearances.)

Find out more about Holly Hobbie (who also writes the Toot and Puddle books!) at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_Hobbie

Bountiful Baskets October

$15 netted us 2 pomegranates, 2-lb. bag carrots, a bag of red grapes, 5 limes, 7 plums, 4 red peppers, a head of green leaf lettuce, 7 bananas, 2 broccoli crowns, 4 asian apples, 3 gala apples, 6 pears and 6 ears of corn. Find out more info at www.bountifulbaskets.org

We also ordered a case of pomegranates. We'll have to post later on how well they store but in the meantime we've already eaten a number of them and shared some with friends.

Everything was pretty good except the pears were brown inside which is a sign of being held at too-low of a temperature for too long. Pears are notoriously susceptible to breakdown of the fruit once they are ripe and they can't handle any rough handling or too much cold once that happens. When they are still hard they can handle more but not once they are ripe.
Also, the plums were a bit stubborn in ripening. Otherwise the rest was rapidly consumed.

Thank you to Dr. Jerry Parsons for confirmation of my suspicions that the pears had suffered from the cold. His article on Pears and Pear Preservation can be found at: http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu/HomeHort/F1Column/2005%20Articles/AUG28.htm

Author 84: Internet Safety with former Utah First Lady, Jacalyn S. Leavitt

Jacalyn S. Leavitt, wife of former Utah State Governor Mike Leavitt, has co-written Faux Paw's Adventures in the Internet with Sally Shill Linford. The book also features a forward by First Lady Laura Bush. Join this techno cat as he explores the internet and learns some valuable safety rules along the way. Not everything on the internet is as it seems and it's better to be safe by following these three rules:

1. I keep safe my personal information
2. I keep away from Internet strangers
3. I keep telling my parents or a trusted adult about everything I see on the internet-especially when something makes me uncomfortable.

This book is written in cartoon form with adversaries of the variety similar to old Saturday morning cartoons such as Sylvester and Tweety Bird so the book would probably still be acceptable to younger children just starting school and starting to use the internet.

Read more about internet safety at: http://www.ikeepsafe.org/

Author 83: Mercer Mayer Encore!

Mercer Mayer has a brand new book out! Octopus Soup was just released April 1, 2011. Mayer returns to earlier roots in this wordless tale of a little octopus. Bright colors, expressive creatures, adventure, comedy, and drama are all in this many-legged tale.

For another example of Mercer Mayer's work, see Authors 73 and 74: Dewey and Mayer and a humble stable and then read even more about Mercer Mayer at: http://www.littlecritter.com/about_mercer_mayer.html and see more of his artwork at: http://www.mercermayer.com/

Author 82: Underwood and some prickly critters

Porcupines + Balloons = Trouble. How can Isabel get a balloon for graduation? The porcupines get lovely bookmarks for holidays throughout the year but now it's time for graduation and Isabel really wants a balloon like the other children in her class. Find out how Isabel discovers how she and the other porcupines can become pop-proof in this whimsical tale by Deborah Underwood. Find A Balloon for Isabel at your local library. Read more about Deborah Underwood and other books she has written at: http://www.deborahunderwoodbooks.com/
And remember, broccoli is good for you!

Candy fit for the library

I recently made candy for a library meeting. From the top wrapped candy going clockwise: wrapped orange caramels, penouche, raspberry jellies rolled in powdered sugar, peanut brittle and fluffy white divinity. I have to admit, I really like making candy. It's time consuming, somewhat expensive with quality ingredients, and one is on one's feet for inordinately long periods of time but the end results are so scrumptious! I just felt bad that it's been too hot to dip. Dipped chocolates are always so impressive and they are the crowning pinnacle of candy-making achievements even if there are trickier recipes (pulled butter mints!)

I'm hoping to make more candy for the upcoming holiday season but time and money will be the determining factors. We'll just have to wait and see if either commodity (preferably both) materializes in time for Christmas. At least it's plenty cold enough at the beginning of December for dipping!