I helped set up the Scholastic Book Fair at Leo's school this morning. This is the third year I've volunteered to work the fair, and I think it's the best one yet. There are a lot of good books in the cases (Clementine, available in paperback, and The Talented Clementine are in there), and not as much non-book merchandise cluttering things up as there has been in the past. I'm still a little uncomfortable with the way the books are marketed to students: last year, they watched a video about some of the featured books; and each class visits the book fair twice, once to write a wish list and once to shop. But the kids (not just mine) are obviously excited about it, and so are the parents. It's a great event for the school.
This year's theme is Book Fair Blizzard, so there are two tables of snowy-looking books on display (Jan Brett's The Three Snow Bears and Susan Jeffers's The Snow Queen are there). I like snow books, so I'll be sure to check those out. My new book, however (yes, I got a book already; I paid myself for setting up at the fair) didn't come from the snow tables: it's a nice paperback edition of Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (I'm probably the last person to read this book, I know), with the original cover art by Tim Zeltner. Sure enough, I think that's snow.
