"For travelers, the stars are guides. For other people, they're nothing but tiny lights. And for still others, for scholars, they're problems. For my businessman, they were gold. But all those stars are silent stars. You, though, you'll have stars like nobody else...When you look up at the sky at night, since I'll be living on one of them, since I'll be laughing on one of them, for you it'll be as if all the stars are laughing. You'll have stars that can laugh!"

—Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

KIDS' Q&A: MEG ROSOFF
After his younger brother's brush with death, fifteen-year-old Justin Case becomes obsessed with his own mortality. Just in Case, the "intriguing, stylized" (Publishers Weekly) new novel from Meg Rosoff, author of How I Live Now, follows Justin as he seeks to reinvent himself and change his own destiny. Read our Kids' Q&A with Meg Rosoff and save 30% on Just in Case.

KIDS' Q&A: J. M. DEMATTEIS AND MIKE PLOOG
Both J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog have backgrounds in writing and illustrating comic books; their new middle reader series, Abadazad, began as a comic book, and it shows in their innovative storytelling technique, which combines prose, graphic novel elements, and diary entries. The plot is no less engaging: fantasy and reality collide in this story about fourteen-year-old Kate, who reads novels about a land called Abadazad, only to find herself there and on a quest to find her missing younger brother. Read all about the authors in our Q&A and save 30% on the first two books in the Abadazad series.

KIDS' Q&A: MINI GREY
Mini Grey is a picture book author-illustrator to watch. She wowed us with last year's Traction Man Is Here!, a playful, inventive story which carries us into the mind of a boy as he plays with his action figure. A kitchen sink full of dishes becomes an ocean in which to scuba dive, backyard grass becomes a jungle to crawl through, and the too-cute suit Grandma knit for Traction Man is unraveled into rope to haul the fallen spoons back up the kitchen counter cliff. Grey has followed up this funny and exciting book with The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon. Her elaboration of the original nursery rhyme will sweep you away with its drama, suspense, wit, and gaiety. Find out more in our Q&A about the mastermind behind these masterpieces, then save 30% on The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon.

VOCABULARY INTERMISSION
prestidigitation n. sleight of hand or the working of a magic trick; also known as thaumaturgy.

BACK TO SCHOOL PICTURE BOOKS
Some are heartfelt and some are funny, but all of these picture books will help a young child just starting school. From I Am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child to James Howe's When You Go to Kindergarten, browse our selection here.

SUMMER STARGAZING
It's August. The skies are clear, the nights are warm, and school hasn't started quite yet. It's the perfect time of year for stargazing. Learn to recognize the constellations and enjoy the exciting stories behind them in these titles from our children's astronomy section, including Exploring the Night Sky and The Atlas of Space Exploration.

NEW ARRIVALS
So many hot new books are arriving with the landslide end of summer. On display in our picture book corner, Doreen Cronin, author of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, has a new book about Farmer Brown, Duck, the cows, and all those barnyard animals. This time, they want to sing in Dooby Dooby Moo. And Mo Willems tells the tale of a dinosaur and the boy who wanted to prove she is extinct in Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct. Heading over to the middle reader aisles, Avi has a new Crispin novel: Crispin: At the Edge of the World. And Jenny Nimmo, author of the Charlie Bone series, offers the first in the new Magician Trilogy: The Snow Spider, about a young boy who finds out he is a magician and must find his missing sister.

KIDS' BOOKS ADULTS SHOULD READ
On a recent trip to the East Coast Alexis noticed something curious: in the airports and on the planes, there were more adults reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince than kids.  The tremendous success of Harry Potter and other books for young readers has proved that great stories are meant to be captivating for all ages.  And there is life beyond Hogwarts. For lovers of magic, Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle is the real deal: Jones is a master who pays as much attention to characters and emotion as she does the fantastic worlds she creates.  The same can be said for Shannon Hale, whose retelling of a Grimm's fairy tale, The Goose Girl, is quickly becoming the most popular young adult title among the Burnside Kids' Team members.  Jacqueline Woodson's Newbery Honor-winning Show Way, a story of family traditions and American history, is a gorgeous picture book that should be read aloud, slowly, to enjoy its lyrical rhythm.  And finally, Sylvia van Ommen's Jellybeans, a seemingly simple story of two friends, is a touching reminder of the small, important connections we make in world.

KIDS' BESTSELLERS

1. When the Legends Die by Hal Borland (Young Adult) 2. Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith (Middle Readers) 3. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Newbery Award Winners) 4. Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert (Picture Books) 5. Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac (Young Adult) 6. Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space by Dav Pilkey (Chapter Books) 7. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey (Chapter Books) 8. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (Classics) 9. Moccasin Thunder by Lori Marie Carlson (Native American Stories) 10. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery Award Winners)

Lots of creative people were born in August. Happy Birthday to these amazing children's authors (deep breath): Barbara Cooney, Don Freeman, Ian Falconer, Lane Smith, Roger Duvoisin, Kevin Hawkes, Tasha Tudor, Brian Pinkney, Virginia Lee Burton, Laurent de Brunhoff.