In a tree The McGillicuddy Book of Personal Records (Colleen Sydor)

Today I snagged a guest reader, 10 year-old Hunter McNicoll, who was enjoying The McGillicuddy Book of  Personal Records (Red Deer Press)in a tree near the library.  "I like that what happens is unexpected," says Hunter.  He also enjoys the interesting quotes from random famous people at the beginnings of chapters.

From Chapter Seven:  Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover.  (Mark Twain)

I had the pleasure of driving author Colleen Sydor from a Mississauga school to Paris (yeah I wish the Eiffel tower one) Ontario.  Immediately I asked the Canadian Children's Book Centre which books she'd written and when I heard about the personal records story thought it might be for Hunter.  Why?  Because he likes the Guinness Book of Records.

Even during her tour for Children's Book Week not one Chapters or Indigo had a copy on hand,
so I crossed my fingers that she had brought some and would autograph a copy in time for Hunter's birthday the next day.  Hurray!  She had!

Now I was warned the book was perhaps for advanced 10 year old readers.  Hunter is a lively enthusiastic sports a holic and I passed the warning along to him, not as a comment on his own reading habits, more in case he found it slow slugging.

My honesty worked like some kind of  reverse psychology and he snatched it up as a challenge, calling out to me during the good parts.

I can't wait to read it myself.  We're lucky that nowadays we can just order books like these online, we don't have to depend on the boxstores' buyers' decisions.

My email is sylvia.mcnicoll@cogeco.ca if you want to show/tell me what you're reading, where and why.

The perfect passtime for summer, reading.  Ahhh!!