26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola

I was browsing the list of Newbery winners recently, and noticed this book on the Newbery honor list. I've only ever know Tomie dePaola as a picture book illustrator, so the book sparked my interest.

I requested it from the library and had it in just a few days.

The book is dePaola's autobiography. Or rather, the start of it. It turns out that there are several books now in the series, and I found it delightful. It took me less than an hour to read, and I was captivated the whole time. I giggled, I was intrigued, and couldn't put it down.

Tonight I requested all the books in the series from my library. I can't wait to read the rest of them.  If your child is not old enough to read it by himself, it's worth reading out loud to him. It's a short chapter book with illustrations so it fits that difficult category of books between picture books and long chapter books for children who have just caught the burning desire to read everything in sight. And if your child doesn't like to read, this may spark that burning desire.