Back to School (yes, already)

Sunshine on Day One at Sunset Elementary!

Public schools have started up in San Francisco already.

My twins are on Day Two of kindergarten, and all is well so far. They were pretty beat after day one yesterday, and we spent a lot of time reading picture books at day's end. Even though we've largely moved on to longer chapter books (Matilda by Roald Dahl was a big hit this summer), they seemed to want to take it easy with some picture books. I think they somehow yearned to reconnect with their old picture books (and cuddly home rituals).

If you feel like treating your back-to-schooler with a new book, we have a nice display in the kids section right now. Good luck, kids and parents, in the new school year.

Two new kids books we love

As the parent of boy-girl twins who just turned five, and as a reader, and as the owner of a bookstore, I can tell you that there are two kinds of books for kids that are sadly uncommon:

1) The innovative. Well, there are innovative books, like Gallop! But an innovative book that 5 year-olds love, that's rare. To that end, we are pleased to be selling copy after copy of Press Here by Herve Tullet (Chronicle Books, $14.99). It's a big hit at our preschool: an interactive book of a magical sort. You just have to come in to see it.

2) The truly funny. And I mean funny for the kids and for the grown-up reading it. We just received our first batch of Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael Kaplan and Stephane Jorisch (Dial Books, $16.99). When Betty Bunny discovers chocolate cake for the first time, she decides she loves it so much, she's going to marry it. Instead, she makes do with carrying it to school in her pocket. We love Betty Bunny.