Fancy Nancy Tea Party

Bonjour, Nancy!

Dragonwings Bookstore will host a Fancy Nancy Tea Party on Saturday, April 12 to celebrate Bonjour Butterfly, the new release in the best-selling Fancy Nancy series.

In her latest story Nancy and her family are invited to a very posh affair - her grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary party. Nancy should be over the moon as her parents pack all of their fanciest clothes, but unfortunately, Nancy is double-booked; her best friend's birthday party is the same day. Nancy is devastated, and for the first time she goes for days without feeling her usual joyful celebration of life or wearing her spectacular outfits in honor of every day events.

As always, the loving support of Nancy's family helps her recover her sunny nature, and after a heartfelt apology, she begins to enjoy herself and have a fabulous time at the party. Of course, only the fanciest words can describe Nancy's feelings or the stupendous party decorations or scrumptious food. Once again, Fancy Nancy's popular books entertain readers while introducing them to new vocabulary and even French phrases.

The Bonjour Butterfly Tea Party will begin at 3:00 PM at Dragonwings Bookstore at 108 N. Main St. Waupaca. Guests are invited to dress like Nancy and be ready to create butterfly wings and more crafts while enjoying cocoa and cookies served on fancy china.

Reservations are $10 and include all supplies, refreshments, party favors, and a Fancy Nancy book. Seating is limited. To make a reservation call 715-256-9186 or e-mail us at:

dragonwingsbookstore@gmail.com

Chicken Socks Art Class

Dragonwings Bookstore will hold a Chicken Socks Art Class for children on Thursday, March 27 at 3:00 PM. Designed for children ages 4 to 10, the featured projects will be made with crayon rubbings using glitter crayons and rainbow brick crayons to create designs with humorous textures. Children will also experiment with rubbings from nature and from household objects.

Dragonwings will provide all of the supplies and materials for the projects. Students will receive a packet of glitter and rainbow crayons and a zany, textured rubbing plate to take home along with their finished projects. Class fee is $7.50 and includes all materials and a Dragon Dollar discount coupon. To register call Dragonwings Bookstore at 256-9186. Dragonwings is located at 108 N. Main St. in downtown Waupaca.

Easter Basket Treats

If I were dreaming of a white Easter, this year would be my snow bunny heaven. Somehow, with two feet of crusty snow in the yard, it doesn't seem like Easter could be this Sunday. It gets better when I walk through the door at Dragonwings. There are spring flowers, egg trees, chicks and bunnies everywhere.
I love the soft, little lambs that gently baa, and the perky chicks with their newborn chirps. Rabbits abound in all sizes from tiny finger puppets, to a big, friendly jack rabbit puppet.
The eggs aren't only in trees, we also have dino pods, grow dino eggs, cyrstal growing kits in eggs, egg cha-chas, old-fashioned silly putty, and eggs that pop out of rubber chickens (really gross).
There are baskets and bins full of funny treats that can replace candy in your Easter baskets, and we also have some luscious, German chocolate ladybugs, pirates, and sunflowers, along with Ritter Sport and Santander passion fruit, dark chocolate bars. I hope the Easter Bunny puts one of these in my basket. Stop in and see us for a taste of spring, and have a great Easter.

Author William Durbin coming to Waupaca March 3

Could you face danger alone in the wilderness? In many of William Durbin's novels kids are relying on survival skills to help them escape from enemies, predators, or other dangers in dark forests or on wild rivers. Living in northern Minnesota on the edge of the Boundary Waters, Mr. Durbin knows the sounds, sights and smells of the wilderness, and he's good at creating suspense. But, has he ever faced danger in the forest, or needed to track animals, build shelters, or find food in order to survive? Has he ever tried skiing through a dark forest at night? We can find out when Mr. Durbin visits Waupaca in early March. He will speak at the library on Monday evening, March 3rd, and to student groups at the Middle School auditorium on Wednesday, March 5th.

We have all of Mr. Durbin's books at Dragonwings including his exciting new adventure Winter War, which just came out last week. You can purchase books ahead of time at Dragonwings and bring them to the library to be signed, or we can get them signed for you, if you can't attend the presentation. We will also have his books for sale at the library on Monday evening, and the schools are sending order forms home to make it easy for students to get signed books.

We will post reviews very soon.

New Books That We Love

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic $16.99
Just released in August, this middle grade book has already been gathering awards. We say look for it when the Newbery Awards are announced in January 2008. Curtis is a storyteller, whose historical fiction is full of adventure, suspense, fun, and characters that you care deeply about. Elijah is the first freeborn child in Buxton, Ontario, which is only a riverbank away from the United States and slavery. Although escaped slave families arrive every few weeks, Elijah can’t imagine not being free, until he gets hoodwinked into crossing the river, and makes not one, but two daring escapes. Curtis laces heartbreaking and heart-pounding scenes with humor, and Elijah’s inborn optimism gives him confidence when he desperately needs it. A thrilling and moving story for ages 11 and up.

Star Wars A Pop-up Guide to the Galaxy by Matthew Reinhart
Scholastic $32.99
More than 35 intricate pop-ups from x-wing starfighters tucked into corner pockets to a two-page spread of the Millennium Falcon or another of the spaceport cantina at Mos Eisley with over 24 creatures conversing and spying over drinks fill the pages of this extravagant pop-up book. Already beyond amazed we reached the final spread where Darth Vadar’s shriveled visage is covered by his black mask as you open the page. In the top corners we found Luke Skywalker and Darth Vadar armed with lightsabers that light up, and we could manipulate them and make them engage in combat! Take that Vadar!
Absolutely splendid for ages 8 through adult.

First Discovery Night Creatures by Gallimard Jeunesse and Sylvaine Peyrols
Scholastic $5.99
I am so glad to see this series back in print. Night Creatures is one of my favorites, because the transparent pages are used very effectively. For instance to show an owl’s camouflaged feathers viewed from above and its white underbelly when you flip the page. In text written at two levels of difficulty, the owl’s eating and nesting habits are described with an entire page depicting all of the tiny contents of an owl pellet. Bats are given a few pages and other nocturnal birds are mentioned, but the section on owls is the most engrossing. Recommended for ages 4-8.