Ho Ho Prose

In an ideal world, your kids probably would have asked for stacks and stacks of books for Christmas, instead of that pesky, impossible-to-find Nintendo Wii or a monster-sized poster of that creepy Efron mannequin child. Were giving you permission to buy that Wii (hope youve got an eBay account and $800 to spare) and High School Musical crap this time, but it might be good if you threw a book or two into that pile under the tree. Remember books? What about Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? The Giving Tree? Harriet the Spy, Superfudge, Matilda? Help children who dont have easy access to books or libraries discover the literary world by participating in Barnes & Nobles annual Holiday Book Drive. The next time youre in a Barnes & Noble bookstore, purchase an extra book or two as donations to be distributed to children of all ages through nonprofit local organizations, libraries and schools, such as the Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, YMCA, and more. Last years efforts brought in approximately 650,000 booksalmost a 100 percent increase from 2005s total. Somewhere, Ferdinands still sitting underneath his favorite cork tree. And somewhere, there are kids who still like to read for fun. Why not help encourage that?
Dec. 13-Jan. 1, 2007