Houdini World's Greatest Mystery Man And Escape King is a new picture book biography on Harry Houdini, the escape artist and magician. It was written by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Eric Velasquez.

Librarian extraordinaire Nancy Pearl joined us at the Downtown library on Sunday for a talk about books, reading, and writing. She suggested several great books for young people, from picture books like Knuffle Bunny and Skippyjon Jones to chapter books like Three Terrible Trins, Whales on Stilts, and Ragweed. For teens, she especially liked Feed, by the same author as Whales on Stilts, Lisa Yee's Millicent Min, Girl Genius, Richard Peck's Teacher's Funeral, and the difficult but moving story in Looking for Normal by Betty Monthei. Already read these? Ask any librarian for more suggestions.

Jacqueline Woodson’s 2006 Newbery honor book Show Way traces her maternal family history from slavery, to the Civil Rights movement to the present day in eloquent poetic rhythm. Show Way is the quilt sown by slave women with an encrypted map that showed the way to freedom. The illustrations reveal both the fear and hope of African Americans throughout history.

The National Book Award winning author of The Penderwicks will be joining many enthusiastic readers at the Ann Arbor Book Festival on Saturday, May 13th at 12:00 pm. This delightful romp for kids is the perfect summer read!

Mr. Williams is a biography of a man who grew up on a farm in Arcadia, Louisiana. He was born the same year as Martin Luther King Jr. and when Calvin Coolidge was president. In simple text, Karen Barbour captures the life of Mr. Williams as it was told to her when she was a little girl.

It's 1947 and Jackie Robinson will play for the Brooklyn Dodgers for the first time. A young boy and his deaf father attend the game. The crowd cheers Jackie, Jackie, Jackie!, but his father who is deaf yells Aghee, Aghee, Aghee! The boy is embarrassed. They go to every game that summer. The boy wonders why his father is so interested in baseball and why he is so fascinated with Jackie Robinson. He later learns that his father and Jackie Robinson have a lot in common. They both have to live in a world of prejudice. Myon Ulberg uses his own life experience to create a story of triumph over adversity.

Kids ages 2-6 (and their grown-ups) get the exciting chance to listen as cellist Eric Amidon and pianist Kathryn Goodson from the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra play a G Major suite by Bach, an E Minor fugue by Brahms, The Swan by Saint Saens, Romanian Folk Dance by Bartok, and Voice of the Whale by Crumb! Does it get any better than this? Yes; they will get to move around the big room to all of it with Gari Stein! It's a great way to learn to listen and move to great classical music with folks who really know their notes. Two half-hour sessions on Friday morning, May 5; 9:30 and 10:30.

The Books Change Lives Program is part of the Ann Arbor Book Festival. BCL encourages readers to tell us about their favorite all-time book and how it changed their lives. Rachel's favorite book is Strider by Beverly Cleary. Here's what she had to say about it: "I don't know how many times I have read Strider, but I know it better than any other book. The situations that Leigh Botts faces make me love it so much. He found his comfort in writing about his anxieties and in running with his dog. The way he wrote about running made me want to run. In high school I started. Running boosted my self-esteem, kept me focused and lively, and helped me push myself. Like Leigh Botts, running helped me deal with my social awkwardness." Do you have a favorite book that influenced your life?

If you liked Millicent Min, Girl Genius, you will laugh out loud when you meet Stanford Wong, Millicent's nemesis, in the hilarious companion volume by Lisa Yee. Stanford is a reading challenged basketball star who discovers the joy of learning over a painful and comical summer.

This Is The Dream is written in verse about the struggle for equality through nonviolence. The illustrations enhance the poetic verse leading to the accomplishment of being able to choose a seat on the bus, sit at a lunch counter with anyone from any race and drinking from the same water fountain in a park. This is a wonderful introduction to the discussion of civil rights with young children.