The Purple Cow

Just In Time For SNOW

2011-11-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

All the wonder and excitement of that first winter snow! Just in time, some entertaining books at The Purple Cow Bookstore to help the kids get excited about WINTER SNOW and SNOWBALL FUN!

Snow by Roy McKie and P.D. Eastman

Snowball Soup by Mercer Mayer

A fun learning activity is Ten Little Snowmen.
You can find the rhyme from our friends at Starfall.

Watch for the upcoming holiday event information - On December 3rd, we will be hosting the author and illustrator of Snowmen At Night, Snowmen At Christmas, and Snowmen All Year,
Caralyn & Mark Buehner!

The Countdown Is On!

2011-11-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

3 days until the much anticipated release of Inheritance

by Christopher Paolini. The Purple Cow Bookstore can take your
special order so you are guaranteed a copy on the day of the release,
November 8th. Call 435.882.9805 to pre-pay with a credit card.

Looking for A Super Special Gift!

2011-11-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Purple Cow Bookstore carries Zoobies. These adorable animals transform from a plush toy into a soft pillow into a cozy blanket. Fabulous baby shower gift! Or, give one as a great gift for any occasion.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Adventure Club News

2011-10-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

Adventure Club Kids, lets get reading
Powerless by Matthew Cody for our

awesome adventure meeting on November 15th at 4:30 p.m.
Super easy to read adventure where Superhero Kids
meet comic book mystery!

Tuesdays At The Castle

2011-10-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon! The fabulous Jessica Day George

with her spunky new character, Celie! If you haven't read
Tuesdays At The Castle, you should.
Join us for her book signing on Saturday, Nov 5th @ 2:00.

Read for the Record

2011-10-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Show your support and help break the world record today by joining millions of preschool age children read the wonderful book by Anna Dewdney.

If you don't have a copy at home you can read it online here, or stop by the store and we will read it to them. For some fun games and activities you can go to llamallamabook.com. Enjoy the time spent reading with your child or a group of children.

3rd Children's Book Festival

2011-10-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 15th is for fabulous readers!

visit childrensbookfestival.com for a
list of authors and illustrators joining us. Tickets for brunch can be purchased at
The Purple Cow Bookstore!

The Witch's Guide to Cooking With Children

2011-09-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to move into a neighborhood of witches? In this funny book, The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children by Keith McGowan, that is exactly what happens to Sol and Connie. This hilariously funny adventure places the children up against the witch who lives next door. Of course, the witch is trying to lure the kids into her cauldron and it seems as though the whole town is in cahoots to get those children onto the witch's table as her entree. The witch's diary entries are very funny, especially the list of her favorite recipes. You can guess the book is a very clever twist of the tale of Hansel and Gretel and is a funny read-aloud for families.

Another clever book is The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman.

Imagine visiting a library that loans out magic objects from the collections of the Brothers Grimm. That is exactly what happens in this modern fantasy adventure.
You will take on a discovery quest to find out who is stealing the magic from priceless items in the collections repository when they are checked out for everyday use. The adventure, romance and magical aspects include rhyming charms, a mirror that talks, boots that fly, and magic carpet rides.

Watch next week for the new release of the 2nd book in

The Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan!

It is certain to be a hit with all our middle reader fans.

Celebrate With Pancakes

2011-09-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 26th is National Pancake Day!

Pancakes for Breakfast is a wordless picture book by Tomie DePaola. What fun to gather the kids together and follow this tale of a little old woman and her visions of pancakes dancing in her head. Throughout the book, she works hard to gather all the ingredients together for a fabulous pancake feast!

Your family might enjoy making your own maple syrup. This super easy recipe smells great while simmering and will fill the whole house with a sweet smell of autumn.

Simple Maple Syrup

(prep time 5 mins., cook time 5 mins.)

Ingredients: 2 cups white sugar, 1 cup boiling water, 1/2 teaspoon maple flavored extract. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in maple flavoring.
Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Follow this link to a yummy recipe for stardust chocolate pancakes! Or, this recipe for cinnamon vanilla pancakes!

You might also have fun reading, If You Give A Pig A Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff.

Secrets Of The Crown

2011-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

A new curse has befallen Vastia, eliminating all human magic.
Only animals are able to cast spells.
It's now up to the chosen three, Aldwyn (the cat), Gilbert (the tree frog)
and Skylar (the bird) to save the queendom from all evil.

Secrets Of The Crown by Adam Jay Epstein is the second book of

The Familiars and it's filled with adventure, magic, surprises and most of all unending friendship!

If you are interested in learning more about these unusual characters as friends, join the Adventure Book Club on October 18th at 4:30 p.m.

We will be sharing our impressions about The Familiars during our book club extravaganza designed for kids ages 10-13. Then you will be ready to get the new book as a Christmas gift.

Happy Birthday, Roald Dahl!

2011-09-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Children of all ages have read and enjoyed books by Roald Dahl! Many of his stories have become classics in their own time while others have been re-created into movies for all ages to enjoy. Although Roald Dahl passed away in 1990, he truly is a writer of books we will continue to enjoy.

September is Roald Dahl month. In celebration of his birthday, four new books are set for release. One is The Missing Golden Ticket and Other Splendiferous Secrets, which is said to be a 'top secret' missing chapter from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Visit the official Roald Dahl site for more information.

Everyone has a favorite story by Roald Dahl? What is yours? Roald Dahl teamed up with illustrator Quentin Blake to create books of magical worlds hidden away in our imaginations. Of children he said, "They love being spooked, they love chocolates and toys and money . . . they love being made to giggle." Many of his books were written to do just that! His tales are indeed treasures for all ages of readers.

Watch For The Purple Cow On Wheels!

2011-09-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

The bookstore will be traveling to Grantsville

on Thursday, September 8th

from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

We will be near Soelberg's Market - stop by

and see what's new!

Adventure Club News

2011-09-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

A new Adventure Club season begins in September. Hope you can join us on Tuesday, Sept. 20th, 4:30 p.m. We are going to learn how to play, Zigity! A game I know you will l-o-v-e!

This month we are reading, Instead Of Three Wishes
by Megan Whalen Turner.

This is a selection of seven short stories about enchantment, magic spells and wishes. If you come along, you might end up with a little bit of luck coming your way! You may also like these other books about wishes and dreams:

Wish Stealers by Tracy Trivas

To Catch A Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors

Where's The Purple Cow Going Next Week?

2011-08-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, August 24th our bookstore
on wheels will be back in Grantsville
near Soelberg's market
from 10:30 to 4:00

Stop in and look around at all our books and
our new fiction section for adults, as well.

August Author Event - Quinn Heder

2011-08-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

We will be hosting local author, Quinn Heder
Saturday, August 27th at 2:00 pm
Hope you will be able to join us!

Reader reviews about Search For Yesterday

Purple Cow On The MOOOO-VE!

2011-08-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Where's The Purple Cow Bookstore On Wheels Going Next?

Rush Valley
on Tuesday, August 16th
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(near Town Hall)

tell all your family & friends!

More Summer Adventure Books!

2011-08-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled with the success of our summer reading adventures! As we wind down and the kids head back to school there are still plenty of great adventures to go on through reading. Best of all, there's time to finish another BINGO row and be entered in our final drawing held on August 23rd for the Ipod Nano!

If you haven't seen our 'wall of reading balloons', stop in and look at all the places we have gone this summer. Each balloon represents five books a child has read. So far our kids have read over one thousand books!
Check out our new adventure books:

What's The Buzzzzzz?!

2011-08-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

You may have heard (or maybe even seen) our 'Purple Cow Bookstore On Wheels' moooo-ving all around town! We are very excited to be bringing our books around to community events and school book fairs. Best of all, we can tell you where we are going to be in the future so if we happen to be in your town, all your family and friends can stop in to take a look around!

Next stop - Grantsville (near Soelberg's Market) on
Wednesday, August 3rd.

On Friday, August 5th, we will be having a storytime at the County Fair at 2:00 p.m. Join us and "Meet Einstein" a new picture book by Mariela Kleiner. Along with the story, we have craft activities for you to do that go along with Einstein's experiments and creativity. Looking forward to this fun event as well as seeing you all as we mooo-ve about town!

Around The World WINNERS!

2011-07-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

We had our drawing this afternoon for the second round of prizes in our summer reading program BINGO game! Congratulations to Arick B, Taylor G, and Ryan C. They are our winners. Thanks to all of our co-sponsors Del Taco, Domino's Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery, Cinema 6 Movie Theater, Maceys, and All Star Lanes. Keep reading and get a BINGO before August 2nd and you will be entered into our drawing for the third round. A third row BINGO also wins you a free kids meal from Del Taco in Lake Point. Work hard to finish more BINGO rows by the end of summer for our
GRAND PRIZE drawing on August 23rd --an IPOD Nano!

Summer Reading FUN!

2011-07-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

Reminding everyone that our 2nd drawing for the summer reading program will be on Tuesday, July 12th at the end of our day. There is plenty of time for you to read some more and finish more BINGO rows. When you finish a row, bring the board into The Purple Cow Bookstore for a prize AND a ticket to be entered in the drawing for additional prizes, as well.

Hey all you Skippyjon Jones fans, the new book will be here on
Tuesday, July 12th. Get ready to see what happens when Skippyjon
goes off to school in the newest book,
Skippyjon Jones, Class Action
by Judy Schachner. Follow Skippyjon as he finds
himself on the playground of imagination where he is surrounded
by dogs of all kinds. When a bully sends shiver-itos down the spines
of little yippers, Skippyjon Jones saves the day!

Adventure Club News!

2011-06-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

With summer well underway, we've been searching for a variety of new summer adventure books.

Check out what's new in The Purple Cow Bookstore:

For Junior Readers

Hank, The Cowdog by John R. Erickson

Pirate School Adventures by Brian James

Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins

For Middle Readers

Powerless by Matthew Cody

Secret of Zoom by Lynne Jonell

100 Year Old Secret by Tracy Barrett

For Young Adult Readers

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Incarceron (Books 1 & 2) by Catherine Fisher

Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

If you are getting the family ready for a summer vacation, these are super great books to read while you're out on the road! Stop in and find something new for everyone!

Around The World WINNERS!

2011-06-21T15:30:00.001-07:00

We had our drawing this afternoon for the first two prizes in our summer reading program. Congratulations to Angela R. and Eliannah W. They are our first round winners. Thanks to our co-sponsors Maceys, Domino's Pizza and All Star Lanes for the prizes. Keep reading those great books and get a BINGO before July 12th and you can be entered into our drawing for the second round. A second row BINGO wins you
an ice cream cone from Cold Stone Creamery!

Welcome Adria Manary!

2011-06-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to be hosting author, Adria Manary next week. Check out her book, Mommy Magic. It is a treasured gift for moms wishing to capture the magic and joy of raising little ones.

Save the date and join us for a memorable afternoon!

New Arrival for Summer!

2011-06-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

We hope you are enjoying your summer days! Hopefully, no one is bored yet! But, if parents are looking for the ideal book of practice activities, we highly recommend the new Summer Bridge Activity Book! These practice books are excellent for refining basic skills and designed specifically to help students transition to the next grade level!

Stop on by and take a look at them.

Fun at The Forgotten Locket Party!!

2011-06-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

A big Thank You to Lisa Mangum for coming to The Purple Cow for a pre-release party. Lisa is so fun and always gives her fans personal attention. Fans came from as far away as Elko, NV, Pocatello, ID and St. George, UT as well as many other cities. The store was packed with readers anxious to discover Dante and Abby's fates. The Forgotten Locket was well worth the wait.

A few of Lisa's fans.

Did anyone notice Lisa's locket? Yes, it is the one.

Thanks to everyone for coming.

What To Do On A Rainy Day?

2011-05-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

On a lazy, summer afternoon the country mouse gets a visit from his friend, the town mouse.

Do you know the difference between these two best friends? It is where they live, of course! In the country, Pipin's life is very easy-going and slow but in the city, Toby's life is quite busy --especially when the cat comes to visit.

The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse as re-told by Susanna Davidson is a wonderful read-aloud story and a favorite book to read for story time.

Or you might consider gathering the kids together and having your very own circus. It is so much fun to dress up like clowns and other circus performers. Here are some circus party ideas for all ages you might like to try. Favorite circus stories to read are If I Ran The Circus, a Dr. Seuss Classic or See The Circus by H.A. Rey.

Dragon In The Volcano

2011-05-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

Just can't get enough of those Dragon Keepers? We can hardly wait for the fourth book in the series to come out next week titled, Dragon In The Volcano by Kate Klimo.

If you are looking for a fun and easy to read series of books for
summer reading, the Dragon Keepers is one you will enjoy! The story begins with the finding of a "thunder egg" (which is another name for geode). When the kids take it home and put it in their sock drawer, a dragon hatches and the series begins with Dragon In The Sock Drawer. Jesse and Daisy are entrusted with the care and keeping of Emy the Dragon and as she grows and grows and grows, the adventures begin. The second book in the series is Dragon In The Driveway and the third book is Dragon In The Library. Great news,
you can get all the books at The Purple Cow Bookstore!

Our Baby Dinos Have Hatched!

2011-05-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Mother's Day, we have received lots of new dinosaurs in the store. Stop in and take a look at them. They even make 'real dinosaur sounds'! Along with them, we have dinosaur puzzles and great books to choose from that are fabulous as birthday gifts for
your favorite dinosaur lovers!

One of my favorite dinosaur stories is
Saturday Night At The Dinosaur Stomp
by Carol Diggory Shields.

You can also order a variety of other dinosaur books from our website.

El Dia de las rosas y los libros!

2011-04-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Day of Roses and Books is a tradition started in Barcelona, Spain. It is now celebrated internationally. To celebrate this fun holiday that supports literacy, we gave a candy kiss rose to each of our customers who bought a book today.

We have great customers- Thank You all for your love of reading.

We Have A Winner!

2011-04-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

The winner of our drawing for Jellybeans and the Big Camp Kickoff is Sarah O. Thanks, thanks, thanks to everyone who entered and to Miss Kimber Hall for reading during story time today and drawing out the winner!

There were 742 jellybeans in the jar and Sara W.

had the closest guess! She guessed 750 and
Eastyn guessed 706.

Saturday, April 30th is The Purple Cow Bookstore's 3rd birthday! Watch your e-mails for a coupon for our three day sale happening April 28 thru 30.

A Rabbit For Easter!

2011-04-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Found some cute ideas for two different bunny crafts you can do at home with your preschoolers. Thanks to the All Kids network for this adorable bunny. Click on this link for a copy of the materials needed and the printed instructions.

Here is a simple rabbit basket made with a paper plate from the Family Crafts website. Find the instructions here.

The Purple Cow Bookstore Staff wishes everyone a Happy, Happy Easter!

Jellybeans And The Big Camp Kickoff

2011-04-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Friday, April 22nd is a celebration of jellybeans. The 'unofficial' creation of Jelly Bean Day gives us a reason to gobble up a favorite treat --jellybeans! Laura Numeroff has authored three books about best friends who call themselves 'the jellybeans'! You can win her newest book,

Jellybeans And The Big Camp Kickoff

Just come into the store and 'guess how many jellybeans' we have in our jellybean jar. Any kid can guess and that will enter you into our random drawing to win this book during our preschool story time on Friday, April 22nd (you do not need to be present to win). Bring your friends and enter the drawing BEFORE 11:30 on April 22nd.

Attention! Lisa Mangum Fans- Breaking News!!

2011-04-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

EARLY RELEASE PARTY!! EARLY RELEASE PARTY!!

We have been notified by the publisher that the release date for The Forgotten Locket has been changed to June 9. But don't despair. We are happy to announce that Lisa will be having her EARLY RELEASE PARTY here at The Purple Cow Bookstore on May 28 at 2:00. If you will be attending the party, you may pre-order The Forgotten Locket and we will have it here for you on May 28. Yes, you read that right- you will receive your copy and get it signed by Lisa, before the book has been released to the public.
You can either do a phone order with a credit card (435-882-9805), order on our website, or come in to the store.

The Forgotten Locket

2011-04-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

We are happy to tell you we are now taking pre-orders for
Lisa Mangum's final book in the Hourglass Door Trilogy,
The Forgotten Locket!

You can either do a phone order with a credit card - 435.882.9805 or order for in store pick up on our website. As long as you pre-order, we'll save your copy on May 9th when the book is released.

Here's the best part of the news, she (Lisa Mangum) will be in the store for an author event on Saturday, May 28th at 2:00.
Save the day and join us as we find the answers to Abby and Dante's uncertain future.

Duck, Duck, Goose & Other Learning Rhymes

2011-03-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

What a wonder of nature!

One amazing part of Spring is when the baby birds, baby chicks, and baby ducks hatch from their teeny, tiny eggs. All our little ones can become nature explorers in the outdoors as they search for worms and rainbows after a fresh Spring rain. They will enjoy looking around for new flowers blooming and learning to run and play outdoors when the weather is good. Here are some books that are perfect for teaching learning games and rhymes to kids. What fun you will have finally getting outside to play along, too.

Children's Poetry Day

2011-03-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

What an amazing day for poetry! Tomorrow --Monday, March 21st is the day when lovers of children's literature from all around share their poetry ideas. Thinking back to those first childhood poetry memories brings to mind the rhyme and rhythm of Mother Goose.

Primary grade children enjoy listening to poems written by Aileen Fisher, Robert Frost, Jack Prelutsky, and Shel Silverstein. One of our favorites is Runny Babbit - A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein.
It definately is a 'Billy Sook'!

Way down in the green woods where the animals all play.
They do things and they say things in a different sort of way--
Instead of sayin' "purple hat," they all say "hurple pat."
Instead of sayin' "feed the cat," they just say "ceed the fat."
So if you say, "Let's bead a rook that's billy as can se,"
You're talkin' Runny Babbit talk, just like mim and he.

--Shel Silverstein

There are many ways to encourage your children to enjoy poetry.

Try reading a poem everyday. Be sure to tell them about the poems you like best. Carry a poem in your pocket. Read your favorite poem to a child or send it out to all your friends. It may also be fun to write an acronym from your child's name in poetry form or celebrate Spring by writing a poem about this beautiful Spring day.

A Little Bit O' Green

2011-03-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Enjoying a holiday gives us a reason to have some fun at The Purple Cow Bookstore. We have put together a collection of 'green books' for you to see. A few of the titles are, The Road To Oz by L. Frank Baum, Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin, Fablehaven 1 by Brandon Mull, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, The Earth Book by Todd Parr, and Grandma's Garden by Mercer Mayer. Hope you will stop in this week and pick your favorite book of green.

Looking for a fun fingerplay to use with the little ones
on St. Patrick's Day this week?
You can link to one we have used at the DLTK website.

Here is a picture of what the 5 green shamrocks look like.
Some other fun ideas for celebrating the day are to serve all green foods for dinner, make green slush or milkshakes, use finger jello cut in shamrock shapes, or try to think of all the synonyms used to name the color green.

Favorite Children's Books

2011-03-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Everyone has a memory of a favorite childhood storybook read so many times that either the pages became tattered and worn or the book binding began to unravel. Those memories in the minds of our staff at The Purple Cow Bookstore make us excited to share our book favorites with you. Stop in soon to look at our book section of staff favorites for the month of March. Also on March 9th, we'd like you to READ YOUR FAVORITE PICTURE BOOK --just for the memories!

Our favorite picture books:

Isa - Cha Cha Chimps by Julie Durango and Eleanor Taylor
Jeanine - Stand Back, Said the Elephant, I'm Going To Sneeze! by Patricia Thomas and Wallace Tripp
Julie - Saturday Night At The Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields and Scott Nash
Leah - Cookies - Bite-Sized Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jane Dyer
Louise - The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown

Our favorite books from long ago:

Isa - Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Jeanine - The Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin
Julie - Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
Leah - To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Louise - The Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne

All of these books are available for order through our website. Take a look around. You may even find other books that have created special memories for your own families.

Which is your favorite children's book? Leave us a comment, we would love to hear from you!

Story Time With Dr. Seuss

2011-03-04T15:35:00.001-08:00

Ms. Louise read Green Eggs and Ham for story time today to continue the birthday celebration for Dr. Seuss. This classic story is a favorite with children because of the repetition, rhyming and timeless illustrations. This is a "make believe" story that shows the real-life importance of trying new things.
Stylin' with Cat In The Hat at story time.

Dr. Seuss On The Loose!

2011-02-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

March is the month for book readers. It's a great time to help a child learn to read for the first time, find new books to read, or re-read our favorite books. What a great way to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd when the National Education Association (NEA) kicks off a Read Across America campaign. It is on that day everyone is encouraged to spend a few extra minutes reading to a child.

Just for fun, check out Oh Say Can You Say?, the fabulously funny book of terrible tongue twisters!

Find fun crafts and games for the day on the Seussville web page, complete with a downloadable booklet of activities for Dr. Seuss lovers!

There are also wacky, crazy things to do every day of the week, compliments of the Kinderthemes web page. Check out their ideas for a Mixed-Up Monday, Top Hat Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Theodore Thursday, and Funny Food Friday here.

Come to The Purple Cow Bookstore on Friday, March 4th at 11:30 a.m. when Ms. Louise reads aloud Green Eggs and Ham to our preschool kids!

Teddy Bear Birthday Party!

2011-02-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

For storytime today Miss Julie read A Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker. The kids brought their teddy bears (& other stuffed friends) and had fun playing balloon and counting games. Storytime is every Friday at 11:30 AM.

Adventure Club News

2011-02-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

Have you ever thought of joining our Adventure Club? This book club meets once a month at 4:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. We have fun, fun, fun reading good books and experimenting with fun activities to go along with them. The group is for kids ages 9 - 12. On Tuesday, March 15th, we'll adventure into a new book by Dan Gutman, The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable! If you are interested, you still have plenty of time to read the book before then. Read below to see what this book is about.

This is a story about Coke and Pepsi McDonald, thrill seekers adventuring out on a cross-country vacation. In the story, they jump off a cliff, get locked in the basement of a burning school, are chased by murderous lunatics, are left for dead in the pit of a sand dune and there is more but if I tell you everything, you won't read the book! Read the book and you'll be hooked on Coke and Pepsi and what it's like to uncover secret messages in the Genius Files . . . if you DARE!
Use this 'if you dare' link to play The Genius Files Frisbee Fling!

Kids Love Authors

2011-01-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

2011 Newbery and Caldecott Winners

2011-01-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

The 2011 Newbery Medal winner is Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. Set in 1936, this is the story of 12 year old Abilene who's father drops her off to spend the summer in the town he grew up in. During her efforts to learn more about her father's past, she quickly makes friends and uncovers a local mystery. Their summerlong “spy hunt” reveals deep-seated secrets and helps restore residents’ faith in the bright future the town once promised them.
The 2011 Newbery Honor books are:
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

The 2011 Caldecott Medal winner is A Sick Day for Amos McGee illustrated by Erin E. Stead and written by Philip C. Stead. This is the story of Amos McGee, a friendly zookeeper, who stays home from work one day when he wakes up with the sniffles. Though he doesn't make it to the zoo, his zoo friends miss him and make an unexpected visit at Amos' home.The 2011 Caldecott Honor books are:
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Laban Carrick Hill

Interrupting Chicken illustrated and written by David Ezra Stein

Adventure Club News

2010-12-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

If you are wanting to put some new books on your Christmas list, the Adventure Club will be enjoying two of the latest & greatest in January and February of 2011! On Tuesday, January 18th, we'll be doing some fun things with a new book, Neil Flambe and the Marco Polo Murders by Kevin Sylvester. This is a story about 14 year old wunderchef, Neil Flambe. He can cook nearly anything but his real claim to fame is the incredible sense of smell he uses to solve murders and to eliminate himself as the prime suspect in an unsolved crime.

The day after Valentine's Day on February 15th, we will enjoy some sweet treats when we talk about The Candymakers by Wendy Mass.

Take a look at the super fun website that goes with the book here. In this story, four kids are chosen to compete to create the tastiest candy in the nation. Who will invent something more delicious than Oozing Crunchorama or Neon Lightning Chew? To find out, you'll have to read this funny new book that is filled with friendship, mystery, and juicy revelations.

Counting Down To Christmas

2010-11-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

We will be sharing our favorite Christmas stories with everyone during our twelve days of Christmas countdown that begins on Thursday, December 9th. Story time will be each day at 11:30 a.m. except for on Saturday, December 11th when our special guest, Santa Claus, reads at 2:00. Story time will continue until Christmas Eve (Dec. 24th). Hope you will bring the little ones by for our special story surprises!

Also, on Saturday, December 11th we are excited to bring back
Utah author & illustrator, Nathan Hale. He just released a new
Christmas picture book, The Twelve Bots of Christmas.

This story will infinately be more interesting to modern day kids
than lords a leaping, drummers drumming, and a partridge in
a pear tree. With one robotic Santa and nine cyber-reindeer
pulling a techno-sleigh, this version of the twelve days of
Christmas complete with circuitry and wizardry is certain to
be a treat for all robot fans. Save the date and join us for
picture books & fun at The Purple Cow Bookstore.

Holiday Shopping Specials

2010-11-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

Join us on Friday, November 19th and Saturday, November 20th where you can find some great discounts! Melissa & Doug wood toy products will be 15% off on these two days only! We also have 0ne shopping cart left discounted at 20%. Clearance books are all 30% off! We have a variety of holiday gift ideas, art activity books, and ZOOBIES. So come in and look around this weekend.

It's not too late to enter our giveaway for two tickets to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows opening on Friday, November 19th. All you have to do is spend $25.00 in the store before 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 18th!

Remember to sign up for
our Purple Points Reward Program

There's No Such Thing!

2010-11-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

At story time on Friday, Ms. Julie read, There's No Such Thing As A Dragon by Jack Kent. This is the story of Billy Bixbee who finds a dragon in his bedroom. But mother says, "There's no such thing as a dragon," so when Billy tries to ignore the tiny dragon, it grows and grows and grows and grows! Find out what happens in the story when the dragon gets too big for the house!

After the story, we made a dragon wind sock. You can find the pattern for the dragon's head here.

Movie Ticket Giveaway!

2010-10-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

As we anticipate the exciting movie release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1), we thought it would be fun to get the holiday shopping season going at The Purple Cow Bookstore with a movie ticket giveaway. All you need to do is to spend $25 in the store between November 2nd & November 17th and we'll enter you in our drawing for two movie tickets!

Pass the word around!
Drawing will be held on November 18th and we'll call you if
you are the winner!

A Day For Best Friends

2010-10-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Celebrate 'best friends day' with Ivy & Bean at The Purple Cow Bookstore on Saturday, November 6th, 2:00 p.m. Bring a friend, play fun games, and do spectacular science experiments!

There are now seven books in the Ivy & Bean series by Annie Barrows. The newest one is What's The Big Idea? You can find activities, crafts, and tips for elegance that best friends can do together here.

Jessica Day George & Julie Berry Visit

2010-10-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Hope you will join us on Thursday, October 21st at 6:30 p.m.

for a memorable visit with popular authors,
Jessica Day George and Julie Gardner Berry.

Jessica Day George is the author of six novels, including her most recent Princess of the Midnight Ball and Princess of Glass. Jessica studied at Brigham Young University and worked as a librarian and bookseller before turning to writing full time. Originally from Idaho, she now lives in Utah with her husband and two young children.

For information about all of her books, follow this link.

Julie Gardner Berry grew up in western New York. She holds a BS degree from Rensselaer in communications and an MFA from Vermont College in writing for children and young adults. Her newest book, Secondhand Charm releases on October 12th. She also co-authors a series of books with her sister, Sally Faye Gardner. Information about the Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys can be found here.

For information about all of her books, follow this link.

Something New To Read!

2010-10-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

We always wait for newly released books with anticipation! Perhaps it is because our faithful customers come in looking for that 'perfect' book. If you haven't been in to The Purple Cow Bookstore for awhile, you will be surprised by what you see! Our shelves are stocked with new releases and a variety of books we haven't carried before. We have a Halloween section and lots of picture books - many that are already on the New York Times bestseller list.

An exciting new book is The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

This modern fantasy is a favorite young adult book because of the adventure, romance, and magical aspects from rhyming charms and a mirror that talks to flying carpet rides. Imagine working in a library that loans out magic objects from the collections of the Brothers Grimm. That is just what The Grimm Legacy does. It takes you on a discovery quest to find out who is stealing the magic from priceless items in the collections repository.

The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby

(Utah teacher and author)

This is the story of three characters - Guiseppe, an orphaned street musician, Hannah, a strong willed girl from the tenements, and Frederick, a talented clock maker's apprentice. The three are brought together by extraordinary events and together they create a friendship that ultimately works like the turning gears of a clock. This adventure opens a world of imagination, sacrifice, and suspense as the characters are challenged to overcome their greatest fears. This remarkable debut story will leave readers with a sense of wonder long after they have closed the book.

Out next week on October 12th is The Lost Hero: Heroes of Olympus - Book 1 by Rick Riordan. Fans of Percy Jackson & The Olympians, return to the world of Camp Half-Blood where the next generation of demigods inherit a quest to survive their own prophecy. This is set to be a five book series.

Local Author & Illustrator Event

2010-09-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Join us on Saturday, October 9th when we start our Halloween holiday with Tooele author Barbie McConnell talking about her first children's picture book, Marsipity. LaForge Encore Theatre will also do a reader's theatre performance based on the book. The hauntingly good time begins at 1:30 p.m. - don't be LATE!!

Happy Birthday, H.A. Rey!

2010-09-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Who enjoys a birthday party, especially one for our favorite storybook monkey, Curious George? Today during story time, Ms. Leah read Curious George and the Birthday Surprise! After the story, the kids made a monkey paper sack puppet so they could tell stories about Curious George over and over again. For other fun 'birthday monkey activities', visit this website. If you are interested in learning more about Margret and H.A. Rey, click here.

Here are some pictures of our guests for you to enjoy.

Storytime FUN!

2010-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

We would love for you to join us for our preschool storytime every Friday at 11:30 a.m. Last Friday, Ms. Julie read, The Donut Chef by Bob Staake.
Then the kids made a donut chef out of circles, just like the circles of all the donuts in the story. They also enjoyed a donut treat! Follow this link to a trailer of the book where you can see what the story is all about.

Join us this week when Ms. Isa reads. . . .

It's Book Festival Time!

2010-08-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

Children's Book Festival 2010

2010-08-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to share the information about our 2nd annual Children's Book Festival! Adventurous plans are happening so your families can share an event filled day with many talented Utah authors and illustrators. Activities throughout the day are FREE - except for the catered brunch. Authors will be available from 12:30 - 3:00 for book signings.
Join us on Saturday, August 28th!

The brunch is being catered by Tooele's Sostanza. Tickets can be purchased at The Purple Cow Bookstore until August 19th. A copy of the menu is also available. For additional information about the authors and illustrators, visit the
Children's Book Festival website.

At The Beach

2010-07-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

A fun read aloud for kids ages 6 - 9 is The Sand Dollar Club by Annetta LaBar. Whether you are enjoying the sand and surf at the beach or pretending by the wading pool in your own back yard, this book is sure to be a summer favorite! It's the story of five friends who meet every summer at the beach. Together they discover an environmental problem and come up a plan to clean things up, make some extra money, and in the end use the money to help a friend a need.

Of course, the legend of the sand dollar was an inspiration for this book. The author has cleverly integrated the tale into a lesson of taking care of the things we value - especially our friendships.

Celebrate E.B. White!

2010-07-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

We all have memories of our favorite classic read-aloud stories like E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, or
The Trumpet of the Swan. Since July 11th is E.B. White's birthday, how fun it would be to gather the kids around and celebrate the day with a great read-aloud story. If not, one of E.B. White's classic tales, perhaps one of the new books that received the
E.B. White Read-Aloud Award.

This award was established in 2004 and has since expanded to include both picture books and books for older readers.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown is the 2010 picture book award winner and The Brilliant Fall Of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner is the book award for older readers.

The 2009 read aloud awards went to A Visitor For Bear
by Bonny Becker (picture book)
and for older readers, Masterpiece by Elise Broach.

Summer Reading Adventures

2010-07-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Great Books To Read!

One of the joys of working in the bookstore is the opportunity to know what's new and fun to read for all ages of kids (and adults). This is a list we've put together of popular summer book reads. We are sure you will recognize many titles and might even find something you haven't heard of before on our list.

GRADES 2-3

Ivy & Bean Series (6 books) by Annie Barrows & Sophie Blackall
Flat Stanley Worldwide Adventures by Jeff Brown (4 book series so far)
The Doll People by Ann M. Martin (3 book series)
Magic Tree House Adventures by Mary Pope Osborne
Araminta Spookie by Angie Sage (she's working on Book 6 already)
The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka
Baby Mouse by Jennifer Holm & Matt Holm - Book 13 comes out in Sept.
Geronimo Stilton Series - 40+ book titles

Grades 4-6
The Magic Thief Trilogy (Magic Thief, Lost, Found) by Sarah Prineas
Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath (now out in paperback) by Cornelia Funke
Dragon Slippers, Dragon Flight, Dragon Spear by Jessica Day George
The Gideon Trilogy (Time Travelers) by Linda Buckley-Archer
Ranger's Apprentice Series by John Flanagan - Book 9 comes out in Oct.
39 Clues Series by various authors
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (Book 7 just released)
Sister's Grimm Tales by Michael Buckley (Book 8 just released)

Grades 7-9
Maximum Ride by James Patterson (6 book series so far)
Demon King & Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima
Books of Bayern (Goose Girl 4 book series) by Shannon Hale
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen (and other novels by her)
Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
--(final book releases - Aug 24th)
Fallen by Lauren Kate - sequel, Torment, comes out in Sept.
The Hourglass Door & The Golden Spiral by Lisa Mangum
Ruined by Paula Morris
The Maze Runner by Jame Dashner

Ann Cannon (author) and Julie Olson (illustrator)

have teamed up together on a new book for grades 2-4,

The Chihuahua Chase.

Follow this link to the book trailer Julie created.

Good Morning America previewed some of the hottest book reads on their show last week. View the booklist here.

Here is a link to Scholastic Book and their summer challenge reading recommendations.

It's A Book!

2010-06-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Recently there have been numerous articles written in the paper and elsewhere concerning the book and technology. With the ability of so many e-books that can be downloaded some have even asked how much longer the book is even going to exist. The question was recently asked in our local paper "Is the golden age of books drawing to an end?" Reading this has caused us to ponder and reflect on the children that come into our store. We get to see the excitement on their faces as they discover a new book to read. We get to watch them rush in the front door and go to just the right shelf to pick out the book they have been waiting for ever to be released. We get to see faces peeking through the front door as they patiently wait for Mom to get out of the car so they can come in.

These are some of the rewards of working in a bookstore. Because we see this we are the first to say children and adults still love books. They love to hold a book in their hands and browse through the pages. They love to curl up with a book and spend hours reading and imagining.

Technology can not give you the smell of a new book. Technology does not allow you to bend the page just to mark your place. Technology is here to stay and we have much to learn yet about it. But it can never replace the joy that one gets from owning a book of their own.

You can find more bookplates here.

Ann Cannon, author and writer for the Deseret News recently compared the book and the Kindle. She ends her column, You can't curl up with a good wireless device, with these words,

" I realize that like it or not, we live in an online world.

We gather information online, we scrapbook online, we socialize online.

And. There. Is. No. Going. Back.

But please, don't expect me to stop loving books — not only for their stories but also for physical selves."

Don't Wait - Order Now!

2010-06-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

We are now taking pre-orders for the long awaited FINAL BOOK of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Mockingjay releases on August 24th and your friends will envy you when you pick up your copy on that day! We require a 1/2 down deposit to reserve your copy - you can either call to place a phone order with credit card, 435.882.9805, or stop in the bookstore to order. The total cost of this hardcover book is $19.13 (includes sales tax).

SHE DID IT!!!!

2010-06-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

HAVE YOU HEARD THE LATEST! ONE OF OUR FAVORITE AUTHORS HAS WON THIS...

Here she is doing a book signing. Doesn't she look great! Watch the video and see if you recognize two of our Tooele County girls.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

In honor of this exciting time for Lisa we will be holding a giveaway. Come on in to the bookstore and enter your name in our own "Hourglass" for a chance to win an autographed set of The Hourglass Door and The Golden Spiral. On Friday, June 11, we will draw a name and the winner will be notified.

Just In Time For Summer Reading

2010-06-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

There are many amazing new books available for your summer reading enjoyment. Some are sequels to last year's new releases and a few are the final chapter of the trilogy. We are forever impressed with new stories and different twists on classic tales that are sure to become favorites with our young readers. We are pleased that Utah continues to stand among the top when it comes to up and coming authors. Here are some books you might like to read when you are relaxing on your summer vacation:

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan - Book #1 of the Kane Chronicles.

Princess Of Glass by Jessica Day George.

Found, The Magic Thief's book three

in the trilogy by Sarah Prineas.

Necromancer, book four of the Secrets of the Immortal

Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott.

The Princess and the Snowbird
by Mette Ivie Harrison - this is the final book in this trilogy.

Adventure Club Summer Reading

2010-05-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

We had fun at our book club meeting last week when we made name plates out of our fingerprints. We also selected some very interesting adventure books to read for the summer months. If you are ages 11 - 13 and have time to join us, we are going to get together the third Tuesday of each month (June 15, July 20, August 17) at 11:00 a.m. to talk about the book read for the month and do some fun activities. Cost is $5.00 per kid each month.

For June, we are reading a Zion National Park mystery titled Ghost Horses by Gloria Skurzynski.

In July, we will adventure behind the scenes in Disneyland by reading Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson.

On August 17, we'll talk about

A Door In The Woods by James Dashner.

Creative Snack Ideas

2010-05-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

With summertime just around the corner, we
thought it would be fun to share
with you some quick and easy ideas for snacks!
Just click on the snack title and it will take you to each recipe. ENJOY!

Ants On A Log

Cat In The Hat Cookies

Caterpillar Biscuit Snack

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

Cinnamon Popcorn

You can find great stories to read along with each of these snacks when you visit our new website - just look in the book section to find books available
in the store and other books you can special order.

Make Time to Read With Your Child

2010-05-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Take a moment to watch the video and then gather your children around you and read to them. Make it a daily routine in your lives. Share with them some of your favorite books as you were growing up. Those few moments that you spent each day will be treasures in years to come.

"You may have tangible wealth untold.
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be –
I had a mother who read to me."
— Strickland Gillilan

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Adventure Club News

2010-05-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of our 2nd Birthday at the Purple Cow, the kids in Adventure Club are going to share book reviews with you about some of their favorite books each week during May.

Our book read for this month is A Hero's Guide To Deadly Dragons by Cressida Cowell. This story is part of the How To Train Your Dragon series. In the book, the Heroic Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III sets out on another seriously funny mis-adventure! To save Toothless the dragon from being banished, Hiccup must brave the Hairy, Scary Librarian and his dreadful army of Meathead Warriors so he can borrow the Vikings most sacred book from the 'locked up library'. You will have to read the book to find out if Hiccup bravely makes it out alive in time for his next birthday celebration!

If you haven't read, How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell, it is one of Blake's favorite books! This is why he likes it:

"This is a book about a boy named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Hiccup). Everyone in his town (the town of Berk) is a Viking. There is something different about Berk though. They catch/train dragons to hunt fish and stuff. Hiccup and nine other boys need to learn how to catch their first dragon. Once they catch their dragon, they need to train it and present it in the festival or they get exiled from this town."

Emily really likes this book by Michele Ashman Bell
- Summer In Paris

"This book is a great teen novel for any girl. It's about a girl (Kenzie Williams) that goes and spends the summer with her aunt and uncle in Paris, Idaho. I really enjoyed this book because it had a good message. When she looked on the bright side, everything turned out right. It also shows what happens you make wrong choices. This is a great book I would recommend to girls, ages 12 to 16."

The Purple Cow Bookstore is Turning TWO

2010-04-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

We are so excited that April 30th is our 2nd year birthday! Hope you will join us on Saturday, May 1st to celebrate and participate in our activities that will be going on throughout the day. There will be a LEGO competition, cake decorating contest, and our special guest, Julie Barnson, will be storytelling to everyone at 2:00 p.m. More information is below.

We have also launched our website, complete with access to books we carry in the store and also those books available for customers to special order. Check it out here!

Look What We've Got!

2010-04-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

Check out the new addition to our store!

Oh, how we love these cute new mouse pads!

Dinosaur Storytime

2010-04-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

Today for storytime, Kristina Quintana was our guest reader. She chose a few of her favorite stories to share with the children today: How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food.

After reading her stories, Kristina had a fun dinosaur activity. The children colored, cut out, and glued together pieces to make their own dinosaur!

Thank you Kristina for reading to us and sharing an activity! Click here if you would like to print out your own dinosaur to work on at home.

Spend a Night with an Author!

2010-04-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

Janette Rallison will be joining us for a very informative evening on Tuesday, April 20 at 5:30. She is a very talented writer and will be sharing a wealth of knowledge with us. If you would like to learn more about Janette, click here to visit her website.

Library Appeciation Day

2010-04-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was library appreciation day. What fond memories do you have of a library in your life? Do you remember the shelves full of books? Do you remember the stack of books you would check out or just that one book you had been waiting forever to arrive? Did you walk to your library or did the bookmobile arrive every other week?

Look at some of the libraries we have become aware of.

Have you heard of the Biblio Burro? You can look at a NYT slideshow here .

Take a look at this photo journal from the BBC website on the Camel Mobile Libary.

What if the library was an actual castle? You can read this wonderful blog entry written by Elizabeth Bird yesterday, on the International Youth Library. You might also enjoy looking at the top 100 Children's Novel Poll that she conducted.

Drop Everything And Read Week!

2010-04-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of Beverly Cleary's birthday on April 12th, children in schools all over the nation will spend time this week stopping to read for 20 minutes each day. While every day is a great day to Drop Everything And Read, the goal of D.E.A.R. is to encourage reading as a regular part of our daily routines. So, spread the word and enjoy a reading celebration today, tomorrow, and every day!

The beloved Beezus and Ramona story will be coming out in movie theaters on July 23rd but we want to make sure you "Read It Before You See It"! For information about all of Beverly Cleary's books, follow this link and for fun activities to do (including a trivia quiz about all the characters) go here.

The Beverly Cleary books at The Purple Cow Bookstore are all 15% off this week (April 13 - April 17).

Storytime Adventures

2010-04-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

We've been very lucky to have guest readers at our storytimes over the past weeks! On Friday, March 26 Jami Carter, Director of the Tooele City Library was our special reader. She started off by sprinkling magic listening dust on each of the listeners' heads.

After everyone had been sprinkled with listening dust, Jami read a great assortment of stories including Armadillo Tattletale by Helen Ketteman, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems, Back to Bed, Ed! by Sebastien Braun, and Augustus and His Smile by Catherine Rayner.
In between stories Jami shared a few rhymes and fingerplays with the children. Here's one of them:

We Can Find It In a Book
(Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It)

We can find it in a book, if we look (clap, clap)
We can find it in a book, if we look (clap, clap)
We'll find stories that are fun
We can learn about the sun
We can find it in a book, if we look (clap, clap)

On Friday, April 2 Robyn Whitmer, a Dairy Princess Attendent was our reader. She decided to read one of her favorite books: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Then she read The Rabbit Who Liked to Say Moo by Johnathan Allen. Robyn involved the children in this story by having them make each of the animal sounds.

Because Easter was a few days away and Robyn read a story about a rabbit, the children made rabbit baskets for their activity.

Today our guest reader was Darlene Christensen. She teaches 4-H at the USU extension office here in Tooele. She read two of her favorite stories. The first was The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood. Then she read Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert. The children really enjoyed participating as Darlene asked them if they had ever eaten the different fruits and vegetables listed in the book.
Darlene brought coloring pages for her activity. One page had strawberries and the other had peas in a pod. As a special little gift, Darlene gave each family a box of crayons to take home.

Thank you to all of our guest readers! We appreciate the time you took to share some of your favorite stories with us! Next week Ms. Jeanine will read at storytime; then on April 23 we will wrap up our Read Across America campaign with guest reader Kristina Quintana.

What Is A Book?

2010-04-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

What Is A Book?

by Lora Dunetz

A book is pages, pictures, and words;
A book is animals, people, and birds.

A book is stories of queens and kings,
Poems and songs - so many things!

Curled in a corner where I can hide,
With a book I can journey far and wide.

Though it's only paper from end to end,
A book is a very special friend.

Celebrate A Poem

2010-04-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

National Poetry month is celebrated during April. There are many amazing writers of poetry to honor. Thinking back to those first childhood poetry memories brings to mind the rhyme and rhythm of Mother Goose. Primary grade children listened to Aileen Fisher, Robert Frost, Jack Prelutsky, & Shel Silverstein, just to name a few. Recently Julie Andrews, Jeff Foxworthy, Jon Scieska, Margarita Engle, & Peter Yarrow have been recognized for their contributions to children's poetry.

There are many ways to encourage your children to enjoy poetry. Try reading a poem everyday this month. Be sure to tell them about the poems you like best. Carry a poem in your pocket. Mail a poem on a postcard to a grandparent or a best friend. Just take some time this month to share a poem with someone special.

Poet, Kristine O'Connell George has a fabulous selection of poetry resources for parents, teachers, librarians, and home school families here. Kristine is the author of Fold Me A Poem, a book that through poetry introduces us to a young boy who uses his creative energy to fold origami animals from colored paper squares. She has authored several other poetry books for children. Thanks Kristine - you truly are an inspiration!

A Royal Storytime

2010-03-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

Storytime was a treat today! Our guest readers were Miss Tooele County Danica Olsen and her attendant Kimber Hall. Kimber read Kevin Henkes' new picture book My Garden. In this delightful story a girl describes how her garden would grow. For example, there wouldn't be weeds, flowers would grow back right after picking them, the rabbits wouldn't eat the lettuce because they would be chocolate rabbits, and so on.

Then Danica read her favorite book Charming Opal (from the Toot and Puddle series by Holly Hobbie). This story tells about Opal who looses her tooth and anxiously waits for the Tooth Fairy to come. After reading, Danica gave each of the children their own toothbrush and tube of toothpaste.

As an activity, the children decorated die-cut flowers to go along with My Garden.

Thank you Danica and Kimber for reading to us today!!

Just In Time For Spring

2010-03-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Look at the new books that have arrived!

The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza by Laura Numeroff

Princess Pigtoria and the Pea by Pamela Duncan Edwards
My Garden by Kevin Henkes

Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire!

by Jane O'Connor & Robin Preiss Glaser

Spring Day Storytime

2010-03-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

Enjoy these pictures of the kids listening closely and enjoying themselves!

Create a photo slideshow

A great big thanks to our guest reader at story time on Friday, Ms. Kathy Witt and her preschool kids. She read several books to us about Spring. The first story, Mouse's First Spring by Lauren Thompson, followed little mouse as he ventured off into the woods for the first time. There were many early springtime things to see. She also read Over In The Garden by Jennifer Ward. This story taught us counting with eye-catching garden critters. Then the kids learned a simple springtime poem and used a set of 5 die-cut umbrellas to show they know their colors. This is the poem:

FIVE UMBRELLAS
Five umbrellas stood by the back door,
The red one went outside, then there were four.
Four umbrellas, pretty as could be,
The blue one went outside, then there were three.
Three umbrellas with nothing to do,
The green one went outside, then there were two.
Two umbrellas not having much fun,
The yellow one went outside, then there was one.
Just one umbrella alone in the hall,
The purple one went outside and that was all.

A Day For Kite Flying

2010-03-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

March is the perfect month to take the family out for a day of kite flying! As long as the weather holds up, you are sure to have fun out there in the sun.This weekend, March 12-14, Powder Mountain in Eden hosts the Superfly Snow Kite Festival. The event is part of the U.S. Snowkite Tour where kite making demonstrations, kitercross races, and spectacular colorful kites will fill the sky. For more information about kite flying times, check here.

A great book to read to your kids about kites by Grace Lin is Kite Flying. Within lies a tale of the first kite flight that began in China over 2,000 years ago. This is the story of how a family comes together during difficult times to make a dragon kite for flight on a windy day.

Expert kite lovers may enjoy Kites For Everyone by Margaret Greger. This easy to follow guide has instructions for more than 50 awesome kite flying projects to make.

Dairy Princess Storytime

2010-03-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

In conjunction with Read Across America, we have decided to invite guest readers to our weekly storytime this month. Today Tooele County Dairy Princess Alisha Harding and one of her attendants, Lindsey Terry were our guest readers. Lindsey read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Following that story, Alisha read The Rainbow Fish.

After the stories, the children decorated their own cookies and fish, which were made from die-cuts.

Thank you Alisha and Lindsey for reading to us today!
Join us Friday, March 12 at 11:30 for our next storytime. Kathy Witt from Kathy Witt's Preschool will be our guest reader.

Dr. Seuss On The Loose!

2010-02-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

March is the month for book readers. It's a great time to help a child to learn to read for the first time, find new books to read, or re-read your favorite books. What a great way to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2nd when the National Education Assocation (NEA) kicks off a Read Across America campaign. It is on that day when everyone is encouraged to spend a few minutes reading to a child.

There are outlined activities for the day on NEA's web page. One of our favorites is the pattern for making your very own felt hat from The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss. There are wacky, crazy things to do on every day of the week, compliments of the Kinderthemes web page. Check out their ideas for a Mixed-Up Monday, Top Hat Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Theodore Thursday, and Funny Food Friday here.

The Pop Shop USA also has creative ideas for each day of the week and a kid's menu of wacky Seuss treats taken from the Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook where the recipes were inspired by Dr. Seuss. This book was concocted by Georgeanne Brennan and photographed by Frankie Frankeny. Tasty treats like Blueberry Bumplings, Schlopp with a Cherry on Top, Daisy Head Mayzie Burgers, Pink Yink Ink Drink, and Circus McGircus Pink Lemonade are found in this book.

P.J. Funnybunny

2010-02-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

What fun we had at our story time today! Ms. Julie read about P.J. Funnybunny from a bright and early beginning reader book titled, It's Not Easy Being A Bunny by Marilyn Sadler. This is the story of P.J. who doesn't like being a bunny because he has too many carrots to eat, too many brothers & sisters, and his ears are way too big! So he sets off on an adventure to find other forest animals he could be like.
In the end, he finds out he just wants to be himself.

We also played some fun hopping games with cotton balls and made our own funny bunny, too. You can make you a funny bunny - just print out this pattern, use a colored cotton ball for a funny bunny nose, draw on eyes, whiskers, and a mouth.

The Olympics and The Purple Cow

2010-02-23T09:22:00.001-08:00

We have been having so much fun watching the Olympics that we asked our graphic designer, Clarissa Douglas, to make our winter cows into coloring pages for our little customers to have fun with. Enjoy.

Dancing Away at Storytime

2010-02-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

Today's storytime was filled with movement and dancing. Ms. Jeanine started off by reading From Head to Toe by Eric Carle. After each page of this interactive story, the children copied the actions of each animal (i.e. "I am a monkey and I wave my arms. Can you do it?"). The next book was Cha-Cha Chimps by Julia Durango. This story was filled with dancing chimps and other jungle animals. It sounded like the bookstore was filled with monkeys as the children joined with Ms. Jeanine in reading the repetitive text on each page ("ee-ee-oo-oo-ah-ah-ah! 10 little chimps do the cha-cha-cha.").

With all the movement and dancing contained in these stories, having our own dance activity was the perfect way to top off storytime. With scarves in hand, the children danced to Wiggy Wiggy Wiggles and The Chicken Dance.

Don't forget! Storytime is every Friday at 11:30. We look forward to seeing you!

EXTRA, EXTRA!

2010-02-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

Don't wait until it's too late - reserve a personal copy TODAY!

We are now accepting pre-orders for two very popular books to be released in March. As we anticipate a rush for purchases of Sapphire Flute written by local resident, Karen E. Hoover, we will take your order now and save you a copy. This book will be released on March 16th and the cost of the book is $21.22 (includes tax). Karen will also join us for a book signing at the bookstore on Saturday, March 20th at 1:00 p.m. Save the date and celebrate with us!

Also the 5th and final book in the most popular Fablehaven Series, Keys To The Demon Prison by Brandon Mull will be released on March 23rd. You may also pre-order this book for $23.39 (includes tax).

You can either stop in The Purple Cow Bookstore to place your order or order as a credit card purchase over the phone (435) 882-9805.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T06:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun activities for Valentine's Day. Have fun with your little reader or teen in your life. Don't forget that the important thing is to spend time creating memories that will be remembered for years to come.

The first one is from chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com . Monste has links for paper dolls that one can spend hours and hours of fun playing with.

How about giving the reader in your life some special valentines. You can find some here.

Activity Village has some fun ideas here.

Lightning Thief Giveaway

2010-02-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to

Kristi Jones!

She's our movie ticket winner for
The Lightning Thief!

A Gift For A Princess

2010-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Are you still wondering about a perfect book to give as a gift to your little princess on Valentine's Day? We have just that gift in one book that is certain to go on as a classic for many years to come. Hillary McKay has just published a companion story to A Little Princess originally written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Wishing For Tomorrow is an endearing book that tells the continuing story of Lavinia, Lottie, Alice (the new maid) and Ermengarde after Miss Sara Crewe has gone away from Miss Minchin's boarding school for orphan girls. As a young girl, reading A Little Princess, I always wondered what happened to the other characters from the book. What was their story? Did they continue to live and learn from Miss Minchin? Were their own hopes, dreams, and desires ever fulfilled? This continuing tale about those orphan girls will touch your heart. It is also a simple but beautiful reminder that anyone can be a princess and real princesses really do live happily ever after!

Calamity Jack Booksigning

2010-02-04T08:58:00.001-08:00

We finally have the pictures available from our fantastic visit with Shannon & Dean Hale and Nathan Hale. It was so much fun having all three of them here at the bookstore. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely!

My Heart is Like a Zoo

2010-02-03T04:31:00.000-08:00

We have just received My Heart is Like a Zoo by Mark Hall. What a delightful book! Take a peek at the book trailer and look at all you can do with a heart.

Enter Our Percy Jackson CONTEST

2010-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

Attention Percy Jackson and The Olympians Fans!!
The Purple Cow Bookstore is planning a great prize give away for the movie release, The Lightning Thief! If you come into the bookstore and buy any one of the five books in the series between Feb. 2nd and Feb. 10th we will enter you in our contest to win two movie tickets for opening night (Feb. 12th) of the movie. Winner will be contacted on Feb. 10th by 6:00 p.m.

On Wednesday, Feb. 10th, come into the store throughout the day to answer a trivia question about Percy Jackson's adventures or Greek Mythology. There are prizes, prizes, prizes for you to win to show you how excited we are to celebrate the movie release. Prizes available while supplies last.

Adventure Club News

2010-01-27T09:25:00.000-08:00

As we anxiously await the release of the movie, The Lightning Thief on February 12th, the Adventure Club is reading The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan for the month of February.
This book is the third tale in the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series. The next time we get together is Thursday, February 18th at 4:00 p.m. Join us for an exciting adventure where we will have a Greek Mythology & Percy Jackson trivia challenge to determine whether you are a Demi-God or a true Olympian God!

The movie release and our book club read also corresponds with the opening of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics on February 12th. Check out the Olympic mascots here.

And, HERO is the magazine of the Gods. You can learn interesting insights from our hero, Rick Riordan and brush up on the Percy Jackson trivia before the challenge on Feb. 18th. Our bookstore book club is for kids ages 11-13 and the fee is $5.00 each month. We hope you will join us.

2010 Newbery & Caldecott Awards

2010-01-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

The American Library Association announced this morning the 2010 Newbery and Caldecott Awards. The winners are:

"When You Reach Me" written by Rebecca Stead is the winner of the 2010 Newbery Award. You can visit her website here.

This year "The Lion & the Mouse" by Jerry Pinkney, is the 2010 Caldecott Medal winner. Jerry Pinkney's website is found here.

You can read the complete list of awards at the ALA's website.

Move Your Body!

2010-01-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

Storytime today was full of wiggles and stretches! Ms. Isa read Waddle by Rufus Seder and Stretch by Doreen Cronin.

Waddle is the newest of Seder's scanimation books. Each page describes the way an animal moves ("Can you waddle like a penguin?" or "Can you hop like a frog?"). After reading each page, Ms. Isa had the children move like the animals from the book.

Stretch is Cronin's latest book and it focuses on all the different ways we can stretch our bodies. Once again Ms. Isa had the children interact with the book by mimicking the stretches on each of the pages.

Ms. Isa chose these storytime books from a new display in our store called "Bounce! Shake! Wiggle! Move Your Body!" where you can find books that showcase different ways to move around. Some of the other books on display include Ready, Set, Skip! by Jane O'Connor and Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae.

We hope the next time you visit the store, you will check out the Move Your Body! display and share with your children an opportunity to physically interact with the stories they read.

Calamity Jack

2010-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

At the Purple Cow Bookstore, we have eagerly waited for the release of Shannon & Dean Hale's latest comic graphic novel, Calamity Jack. Once again, the authors have taken readers on a thrilling adventure, visually completed by the amazing artwork of illustrator, Nathan Hale.

In this second graphic novel by the Hales', the character of Calamity Jack is a plotter, trickster, swindler, and thief with an incredible amount of bad luck coming his way. When his biggest scheme of all goes terribly awry, Jack hightails it out of town and meets up with a certain spunky girl well known for her long, red braids! Together, Jack and Rapunzel (from Rapunzel's Revenge), create mischief and commotion as they creatively plot to swindle the evil giants and regain control of the city. Readers will find this adventure hard to put down!

We are very excited to let everyone know that Shannon & Dean Hale and Nathan Hale will be joining us for an author event and book signing at The Purple Cow Bookstore on Saturday, January 16th at 2:00. Both Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack are available for purchase at the bookstore. Additional information on the event is below.

The 1st Story of Christmas

2009-12-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

For our last story of Christmas, Ms. Nicole read Snowman at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner and pictures by Mark Buehner.

Have you ever wondered what Snowman do for Christmas? If you want to find out, read Snowman at Christmas. This jovial story is about how snowmen celebrate Christmas while all are snug in their beds awaiting Christmas morning to come. Here is a fun activity for your little tyke to enjoy.

The Purple Cow Bookstore,
wishes everyone a Merry Christmas
and
a Happy New Year!

The 2nd Story of Christmas

2009-12-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

Corduroy's Christmas Surprise, a story based on the bear character created by Don Freeman and illustrated by Lisa McCue was our 2nd story of Christmas, today.

What do you think is the best thing about Christmas? There are so many fun things to do and this story shares them all with little readers. Corduroy's best thing about Christmas is being able to share the day with all of his friends

--Mouse, Rabbit, Dolly and Puppy. For a fun bushel of bear's activity to do at home click here.

The 3rd Story of Christmas

2009-12-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

Today, Ms. Louise read Tale of the Christmas Mouse by Judith Fringuello. The friendly little Christmas Mouse lives beneath the floor, helps to trim the tree, sweep the floor and opens the door when Santa comes. He help put toys in the stockings and then has a party with other mouse friends. After listening to the story the children made their own mouse ornaments using the oval die cut #39 to cut a white oval and the mini die cut #58 to cut a pink heart. The oval is folded in half (length-wise), the heart is cut in half to form the ears (from the dip at the top to the point at the bottom). The "ears" are glued to the inside of the oval, one on each side, toward the front of the oval with just the tip glued in place. A small piece of white yarn is taped at the fold on the opposite end for the tail and a loop of yarn is taped at the top of the curve to form a hanger. The oval is glued so the two sides come together. Wiggle eyes were glued on and with a nose and whiskers added with crayon, the mice were ready to hang on a tree.