#ala16 book spotlight–the keepsake/special books: Pax and Finding Winnie

It will take me awhile to make my way through reading and reviewing all my ALA16/Orlando books but I want to make sure they still get attention in the meantime.

I spotlighted the creepy books last week and this week I have a few that are special to me.

The first book is Pax by Sara Pennypacker, illustations by Jon Kassen. I had heard wonderful things about this book but it was this post by author Tammara Webber that sold me on Pax. When I saw it ALA I was so excited and got in line for the autographing session. Sara was wonderful and signed the book then I was moved down the line and illustrator Jon Klassen started drawing this little fox and I just about melted into a puddle of goo. HOW FREAKING CUTE IS THAT??? It’s probably my favorite book I got at the event. The cover – the autograph – the drawing. Gah! I want to hug it forever!

The next book is Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattic, illustrations by Sophie Blackall. I’m a HUGE Winnie-the-Pooh fan. I have collectibles, clothes, sheets – you name it. So when I saw Finding Winnie – the story of the bear that inspired Winnie I had to buy it! They had an autographing session with the illustrator and I was all over that. Sophie was very nice and chatted to me about how the original Winnie-the-Pooh & friends stuffed animals are going to be restored after years of neglect.

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Pax by Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klasses (illustrations)
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published: February 2, 2016

Pax was only a kit when his family was killed, and “his boy” Peter rescued him from abandonment and certain death. Now the war front approaches, and when Peter’s father enlists, Peter has to move in with his grandpa. Far worse than being forced to leave home is the fact that Pax can’t go. Peter listens to his stern father—as he usually does—and throws Pax’s favorite toy soldier into the woods. When the fox runs to retrieve it, Peter and his dad get back in the car and leave him there—alone. But before Peter makes it through even one night under his grandfather’s roof, regret and duty spur him to action; he packs for a trek to get his best friend back and sneaks into the night. This is the story of Peter, Pax, and their independent struggles to return to one another against all odds. Told from the alternating viewpoints of Peter and Pax. ~ Goodreads


Finding Winnie: The True tory of the WOrld’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsey Mattick, Sophie Blackall (illustrations)
Publisher: Little Brown for Young Readers’
Published: October 20,2015

Before Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie.
In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. He named her Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war.

Harry Colebourn's real-life great-granddaughter tells the true story of a remarkable friendship and an even more remarkable journey--from the fields of Canada to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England...

And finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made another new friend: a real boy named Christopher Robin.

Here is the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. ~ Goodreads