Rubber Bracelets

They're the latest fad and all the rage!! Can you believe...little tiny rubber bands woven together to make all kinds of bracelets and now necklaces. We have them here at Edgewater Books! Stop by and take a look!

Welcome Fred Bowen!!

Hello to Fred Bowen! Were you lucky enough to catch Mr. Bowen for a chat and autograph? We were!

There will be many more chances to meet local authors...don't miss them!!

(Just between me and you, Ken and Fred look like they could be brothers. Hmmm?)

Author Spotlight - Action Books For Young Athletes

Whether you're an athlete or a sports fan, Fred Bowen is an author you can't miss! He's written many sports books for young readers spotlighting baseball, basketball, football and soccer. Many of his books are born from his own childhood in Maplehead, Massachusetts where he grew up with his 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Sports were always a big part of his life until he enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania as a history major. Sports history was a particular favorite of his. After Fred graduated from college he married Peggy Jackson who was a journalist and they had 2 kids. Fred enjoyed coaching his kids through sports and coached more than 30 teams if you added them up!

Fred Bowen lives in Silver Spring, MD with his wife who is a substitute teacher at Woodlin Elementary School. Both of his kids have grown up. His son is a college pitching coach and his daughter works for a nonprofit. Fred worked as a lawyer for many years before retiring to write books for kids. I'm glad he did too! Boys are the hardest group to get interested in books and with authors like Fred Bowen, Dan Gutman and Mike Lupica we now have a whole genre to offer to our Edgewater athletic youth. And by the way, our girl athletes love these books too! This only leaves me with one question...where are the lacrosse books?

If you would like to ask Fred Bowen this question personally, then hop down to Edgewater Books on September 28 from 3:30pm - 5:00pm. Fred Bowen will be available to autograph books and a portion of the proceeds will benefit our very own SRYA and AAMC children's wards.

Fred Bowen Books

Baseball
- Dugout Rivals
- Golden Glove
- Kid Coach
- Perfect Game
- Playoff Dreams
- Throwing Heat
- T.J.'s Secret Pitch
- Winners Take All
- No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season

Basketball
- Final Cut
- Full Court Fever
- Hardcourt Comeback
- Off The Rim
- On The Line
- Real Hoops

Soccer
- Go For The Goal
- Soccer Team Upset

Football
- Quarterback Season
- Touchdown Trouble

You can find out more information about Fred Bowen at:
www.fredbowen.com

Grand Opening

We've opened!! Hopefully everyone was able to stop by, have a look at the store and bounce a bit! There are a lot of activities that are going on. To stay informed of them all, check out Edgewater Books' website and sign up for the monthly newsletter!! You don't want to miss anything!!

The Five Finger Rule

How do I know if a book is too challenging for my child or not challenging enough? Should I challenge my child with tougher books to strengthen her reading level? Grade level books should be a good fit right?

Unfortunately, not every child reads on the same level. Some read on higher levels while some read on lower levels and that's okay. No matter what level your child reads on, that doesn't mean it's a life sentence. Childhood is riddled with milestones and sometimes reading isn't a priority. It's not unheard of for reading levels to spring up later in life. Forcing a non-reader to read can backfire and you don't want that to happen! Keep reading a fun and enjoyable pastime! Make sure the subjects are of interest to the child and that the level is just right and this is where the Five Finger Rule comes into play. Take any book and pick any page. Let your child read a couple pages and hold up one finger for every word they come across that they don't know. See the chart below.

                                              -  0 to 1 fingers - Too easy
                                              - 2 to 3 fingers - A good, comfortable level
                                              - 4 fingers - A slightly more challenging level
                                              - 5 fingers - Danger zone...frustrating level

Make sure to read with your children too! Children follow Mom and Dad's lead and you can share more challenging books with your child and make it a learning experience by talking about and defining those trouble words.

Happy Reading!!

I Survived Book Series

Boys are a tough crowd. Many start out as great readers, but by the time they hit tweendom they start to lose interest. Thankfully, there are quite a few books out there that may get those lost souls back onto the reading train! Lauren Tarshis has put out quite a few books in a new series called I Survived. I Survived books are tales from history as told through the eyes of a young boy who has lived through the experience. I Survived books are fiction from the "young boy" standpoint, but the historical references are factual. The stories are fast moving and full of action and they are true history that any boy would love. The I Survived books are:

                                         - The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912
                                         - The Shark Attacks of 1916
                                         - Hurricane Katrina, 2005
                                         - The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941
                                         - The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
                                         - The Attacks of September 11, 2001
                                         - The Battle of Gettysburg, 1863
                                         - The Japanese Tsunami, 2011

Lauren Tarshis is the editor of Scholastic's magazine "Storyworks" and the group editorial director for language arts for Scholastic classroom magazine. She has also written "Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out Of A Tree" and "Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell In Love".

Check out the I Survived Series! We have them all in stock!!

Sneak Peek!

Here's a little sneak peek of all the work hoppin' at Edgewater Books!

Books! Books! Books! You could just roll around in them!

Check out the stage! Story time is going to be great!

A Young Artist Sharing Her Talents

Gillian Nolan is working hard painting in the pictures that she drew on the walls of characters from all kinds of books from Dr. Suess to the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Gillian will be starting her 8th year with the PVA program for visual arts at Bates Middle School.