Kids Art Contest 2018 Due Date

The 2018 Art Contest is to design a book jacket for your favorite book!
Artwork will be judged for originality, creativity, and interpretation
of the book’s theme.

Entries are due in the store before October 5.

Winners in each grade level (one through eight) will receive gift
certificates from The Open Door, and all entries will be displayed in
the store windows Nov. 10-17.

The entry form can be downloaded via the following link entry form

"How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read?" and "Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries"

by Mark Teague

     Here at the Open Door Bookstore, on Saturday October 6th from 1-2:30 pm, we welcome Mark Teague for the signing of his latest books, "Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries" and "How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read?"

Description:

Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries: Written and Illustrated by Mark Teague

     "When Jack trades the family cow for a handful of magic beans, he gets more beans than he ever expected or wanted. It's bean porridge for breakfast! Bean salad for lunch! Bean chowder for dinner! It doesn't take long before Jack is tired of eating nothing but beans--no matter how nutritious! But just as he's about to chop down his magic beanstalk, he meets a grumpy giant, who is just as sick and tired of beans as he is. Together, Jack and the giant cook up a plan to plant a vegetable garden full of tomatoes, corn, carrots, and russet potatoes that's bound to satisfy everyone. A deliciously zany retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk from author Mark Teague that ends with one happy boy, a satisfied giant, and a large plate of french fries."

How do Dinosaurs Learn to Read: Written by Jane Yolen, Illustrated by Mark Teague

     "Children sometimes feel the task of learning to read is overwhelming, but the winning combination of rhyme and illustrations here provide a perfect way to present the subject in a comical, engaging, and nonjudgmental way. The contrast of enormous dinosaurs in kid-sized bedrooms (with human parents) adds irresistible humor as families explore the do's and don'ts of reading. Both practical and engaging, this book shows dinosaurs getting into all sorts of reading-related trouble! But of course, in the end, the dinosaurs learn how to carefully handle their books, read out loud, and read a lot!"

"Wicked River"

by Jenny Milchman

     Here at the Open Door Bookstore, on Sunday October 7th from 12-1:30 pm, we welcome Jenny Milchman for the signing of her latest novel, “Wicked River"

Description:

     "Six million acres of Adirondack forest separate Natalie and Doug Larson from civilization. For the newlyweds, an isolated backcountry honeymoon seems ideal-a chance to start their lives together with an adventure. But just as Natalie and Doug begin to explore the dark interiors of their own hearts, as well as the depths of their love for each other, it becomes clear that they are not alone in the woods.

     "Because six million acres makes it easy for the wicked to hide. And even easier for someone to go missing for good.

     "As they struggle with the worst the wilderness has to offer, a man watches them, wielding the forest like a weapon. He wants something from them more terrifying than death. And once they are near his domain, he will do everything in his power to make sure they never walk out again."

"Bootlegger of the Soul: The Literary Legacy of William Kennedy"

By Suzanne Lance and Paul Grondahl

     Here at the Open Door Bookstore, on Sunday October 13th from 1-2:30 pm, we welcome William Kennedy and editors Suzanne Lance and Paul Grondhal for the signing of “Bootlegger of the Soul"

     Suzanne Lance is Associate Director of the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Paul Grondahl is Director of the New York State Writers Institute and is the author of several books, including Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma and I Rose Like a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore Roosevelt.

Description:

     "The award-winning novelist William Kennedy is perhaps best known for his Albany Cycle, a series of novels that put Albany on the world's literary map alongside James Joyce's Dublin, Gabriel Garc a M rquez's Macondo, and William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County. Bootlegger of the Soul offers a fresh and authoritative overview of Kennedy's long literary career and his astonishing trajectory from journalist to struggling novelist to Pulitzer Prize winner. Included here are reviews, interviews, and scholarly essays on Kennedy's work, as well as essays, speeches, a play, and a short story by the author himself, together with a total of fifty historical and personal photographs. Lively, readable, and brimming with the infectious wit and lyrical prose that animates Kennedy's novels, Bootlegger of the Soul is a celebration of a writer still working hard at his craft at age ninety."

As part of the Open Door partnership with The City Mission of Schenectady, Chris Graf will be signing Chris's book A Light in the Window: The City Mission of Schenectady. 

After giving us a brief history of the mission, Graf has included stories from former residents who have been able to transform their lives in amazing ways. 

Chris Graf is a volunteer at the mission and says that writing this book “made me appreciate the blessings in my life more than I ever had.” 

Your purchase at the book signing will benefit the Schenectady City Mission.