Finally, there's a book that's almost as much fun as having a couple of drinks. "Alcoholica Esoterica" presents the history and culture of booze as told by a writer with a knack for distilling all the boring bits into the most interesting facts and hilarious tales. It's almost like pulling up a stool next to the smartest and funniest guy in the bar. Divided into chapters covering the basic booze groups - including beer, wine, Champagne, whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, and tequila - "Alcoholica Esoterica" charts the origin and rise of each alcohol's particular charms and influence. Other sections chronicle "Great Moments in Hic-story," "Great Country Drinking Songs," "10 Odd Laws," and "Mt. Lushmore, Parts I-V." Additionally, famous quotes on the joys and sorrows of liquor offer useful shots of advice and intoxicating whimsy.

11th Street: it wasn't pretty, but it was home. Naomi spends her afternoons scooting down the streets and drawing with chalk on the pavement with her best friend Ada, getting a slice of pizza and visiting her neighbour Mr Ray at his car shop and dreaming of fantastic worlds within her own. But her beloved neighbourhood is changing. Trees are chopped down, flashy new buildings spring up and one by one Naomi's neighbours are forced to move away. Faced with the rapid transformation of her once-familiar city, Naomi turns to painting murals to preserve her favourite 11th Street memories. When something we love goes away we paint it on the wall so it's always with us, Mr Ray tells her and Naomi discovers that no matter how her world changes, as long as she has places and people to love, she will always have a home.

"Lovely art comes with unusual perspectives on familiar tales about lions, mice and trickster foxes." -Kirkus, starred review "Many children are familiar with Aesop's fables but it is a fair bet that few know much about the storyteller himself...(a) beautiful volume." -Wall Street Journal Honoring the path of a slave, this dramatic picture-book biography and concise anthology of Aesop's most child-friendly fables tells how a child born into slavery in ancient Greece found a way to speak out against injustice by using the skill and wit of his storytelling-storytelling that has survived for 2,500 years. Stunningly illustrated by two-time Caldecott Honor winner Pamela Zagarenski. The Tortoise and the Hare. The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The Fox and the Crow. Each of Aesop's stories has a lesson to tell, but Aesop's life story is perhaps the most inspiring tale of them all. Gracefully revealing the genesis of his tales, this story of Aesop shows how fables not only liberated him from captivity but spread wisdom over a millennium. This is the only children's book biography about him. Includes thirteen illustrated fables: The Lion and the Mouse, The Goose and the Golden Egg, The Fox and the Crow, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Statue, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The North Wind and the Sun, The Fox and the Grapes, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Boar.