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CELEBRATE SAINT JORDI DAY FRIDAY APRIL 23rd
Buy a rose or a book for a loved one, sample fine wine, party and meet people. Saint Jordi day is a Spanish tradition that begins on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 from 8-10 pm We will have a great selection of poetry and quality literature, gift books and many bargain priced remainders. There will be books, wine tasting, food and more. SPRING FIESTA! Sanit Jordi Day will also be celebrated at the Ferndale Public Libary on Sunday, April 18th from 2PM-7 PM. This will be a wonderful pre-Saint Jordi celebration with Michigan authors, readings and more! Our friends at ELIE WINES in Royal Oak brought the first St. Jordi day celebration to Book Beat in 2006. It was an enthusiastic success, with Catalan poetry being read and delicious wines sampled, roses and books were joyously given away. This “World Day of the Book” with its Spanish origins and its link to romance and love, is something we at Book Beat and Elie Wines have continued to celebrate as a yearly tradition here in the Detroit area. In Barcelona; almost 5 million roses will exchange hands and much kissing will take place. Very nice tradition.April 23 is a symbolic day in world literature. Declared as International Day of the Book by UNESCO in 1995, this celebration of books and literature draws it’s inspiration from a Catalan tradition, the Festival of the Rose. Legend has it that Saint George, Patron Saint of Catalonia and international knight-errant, slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful Catalan princess. From the dragon’s blood sprouted a rosebush, from which the hero plucked the prettiest rose for the princess. Hence the traditional Rose Festival celebrated in Barcelona since the Middle Ages to honor chivalry and love. In 1923, this lover’s “festa” became even more poetic when it merged with “el dia del llibre”, or The Day of the Book, to mark the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, the two giants of literary history, on April 23, 1616. |
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| Posted in: Book Beat / Shop history, Bookstores | 13 Comments » |
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Friday, October 16th: David Small at Book Beat – 7:00PMThis event has ended, but we do have some signed first editions of STITCHES still available – New York Times #1 bestseller, and just nominated for the National Book Award, please call or order soon! View a cinematic look inside the pages of STITCHES: Caldecott Award winning artist and author David Small will be presenting his highly acclaimed new graphic novel style memoir STITCHES at the Book Beat Friday, October 16th, from 7-8:30 PM. STITCHES is a deep look into the author’s often painful past, filled with memories and scenes of growing up in the Detroit area. Truly one of the highlights of this fall’s list, STITCHES is an adult graphic memoir/ black-comedy that is both hilarious and sad, surreal and grotesquely too real. David has prepared a special slideshow presentation and we will moderate a discussion that is not to be missed. Please welcome David Small back to his hometown that has filled him with an abundance of energy, inspiration and creativity.
David Small evokes the mad scientific world of the 1950s beautifully, a time when everyone believed that science could fix everything….Capturing body language and facial expressions subtly, Stitches becomes in Small’s skillful hands a powerful story, an emotionally charged autobiography. (Robert Crumb ) “Stitches is as intensely dramatic as a woodcut novel of the silent movie era and as fluid as a contemporary Japanese manga. It breaks new ground for graphic novels.” -Françoise Mouly, Art Editor of The New Yorker Small earned the 1997 Caldecott Honor and The Christopher Medal for The Gardener, with Sarah Stewart, his wife, recipient of the 2007 Michigan Author Award. In 2001 he won the Caldecott Medal for So You Want to Be President?, combining political cartooning with children’s book illustration. Small’s drawings have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times. David Small and Sarah Stewart make their home in an historic manor house in Mendon, Michigan. |
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| Posted in: Author signings, Author/artist interviews and lectures, Award winning books, Book Beat / Shop history | No Comments » |
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“Ashley Bryan was born in a rough section of New York City in 1923, one of six children born to West Indian immigrants from Antigua. His early love of drawing, painting, and creating handmade books was encouraged by family, friends, and school teachers.” A more complete biography is available at the Children’s Library at the University of Southern Mississippi |
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| Posted in: African-American History, Author signings, Book Beat / Shop history, Children's Books | No Comments » |
Author and illustrator Ashley Bryan was recently in town and was the honored guest at the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Coretta Scott King Awards at Oakland University. He is one of our favorite artists and we were very pleased when the director of Oakland University’s children’s literature program, Linda Pavonetti and her husband James brought Ashley to the Book Beat. We are lucky to now have available signed copies of his latest autobiography, 
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* “Books make great gifts because they are an amazing way to kill time while your web site is buffering.” –Jon Stewart * “Books make great gifts because they are a perfect way to get a conversation started.” -Barbara Walters * “Books make great gifts because they make great friends. Your cherished book can hold your secrets, and you can tell it every secret you have. And, it can’t blab.” –Maya Angelou * “Books make great gifts because they’re everybody’s favorite things.” –Julie Andrews * “Books make great gifts because they’re not as hefty as fruitcake, but they’re enjoyable and they’re easy to devour.” –Rachael Ray 10 Reasons Why Books Make Great Gifts Top Five Reasons Why Guys Should Give Books as Gifts Top Five Reasons Why Girls Should Give Books as Gifts: |
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| Posted in: Book Beat / Shop history | 2 Comments » |
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We would like to thank everyone in the Berkley School District who helped make this a success; teachers, media specialists and administration – thank you all for your support and the methods used to bring the message and ideas of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Pennies for Peace” into the classroom. A special thank you goes out to Amira and Greg Mortenson for putting together an inspiring and lovely presentation. We appreciate and enjoyed your company – and hope you can someday return to see more of Detroit, a city that especially needs to hear your message of hope. This has been a wonderful and uplifting launch for these two important children’s books; the picture book adaptation, “Listen to the Wind” and young adult version of “Three Cups of Tea.” We would like to stress that this young person’s book was a simultaneous release in paperback and hardcover (so one does not have to wait a year for the paperback version to appear). This rarely occurs in publishing, and the paperback was priced low at only $8.99! — an opportunity to begin reading this in classroom groups and young people’s reading groups. Everyone knows a young person -or possibly five young people, who should be reading and exposed to this phenomenal book. “Three Cups of Tea” shows how each young person and individual can be of service and help in transforming the world. Start now. Book Beat will continue its “Pennies for Peace” fundraising until the end of March. We hope others will begin a project or continue one for themselves -together we can make a difference, one penny at a time.
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| Posted in: Author signings, Book Beat / Shop history, Children's Books, Peace & Gaia | No Comments » |
We are happy for everyone who was able to attend the “Three Cups of Tea” event at the Berkley High School Auditorium this bright and frigid Sunday afternoon. We missed many people who could not attend, but it was standing room only and there was not a second left for a single extra book to be signed. Mr. Mortenson and company rushed off for their plane ride to Chicago at 4:45 PM – we hope they made it in time.
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An exhibition featuring some of the best artworks by students in the Berkley School District from K- grade 12 will be on exhibit in the Book Beat gallery from January 5th - 31st. The following images are from a reception for the young artists and their families held on Wednesday, January 14th from 6-7 PM. Artworks featured a wide variety of media and projects including; drawings, photography, ceramics, weaving, computer art and multi-media collages. Over 100 works of art have been selected from young community artists. A portion of sales that night and through the month (with voucher) will be donated to the Berkley School District art department. Just mention you’d like your purchase to help the Berkley School district and we will register your purchase.   Â
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| Posted in: Art, Book Beat / Shop history, Book Beat Gallery | No Comments » |
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