This series is placed in honor of the grand opening of the new Henry County Public Library and my love of reading; the caches are located along a walking trail nearby. Each cache will highlight one (or more) of my favorite books. I have many more favorites than these caches allow, so I’ve decided to select books from different genres. I also have more hobbies than free time, and one of my struggles sometimes is deciding whether I want to hunt caches or read. This trail offers the opportunity to hunt caches but also grab a seat on a bench and read, so take along a book if you’re so inclined. Since I’m always on the lookout for new great books to read, share in your logs your favorite book of the genre indicated in the description.
Children’s book (by Alfredo Alva and Deborah Mills): It’s hard to choose a favorite children’s book, so I’ll just say this is one of many I have. It’s bilingual English and Spanish, which is one of the reasons; it tells the true story of Alfredo’s journey with his father to the United States, and it mirrors the story of some of my students--so that’s another reason. True story: I read this to a group of fifth graders, and I cried in front of them when I read it. In addition to the beautifully written true story, it also has lovely illustrations that my students loved. This is a great addition to a child’s library.
Equally as lovely is Stepping Stones by Margaret Ruurs, which is bilingual English and Arabic. It tells the story of a family fleeing war-torn Syria with only a few possessions. Just as remarkable are the illustrations by a native Syrian (who still loves there), Nazir Ali Badr, who creates amazing pictures using river stones. The author of the book had seen some pics of his work (which is all temporary--he preserves none of the art he creates) and managed to contact him to ask him to do the illustrations for the book. So he created the art with the stones, and it was photographed for the book. Lovely story and pictures, and also a great addition to a child’s library.
This cache is big enough to hold small trackables.