SWEET MELISSAS Meet “The Two Melissas.” These two Larchmont moms have a combined five children and a shared passion for children’s books. Back in 2005 mutual friends brought them together and a friendship and business partnership was born. Melissa Young was a teacher specializing in literacy. Her parents were also teachers and summer vacations were spent on the beach reading books. Melissa Gaynor's mom was a teacher as well, and books were a popular gift around the Gaynor household. Both Melissas dreamed of opening a bookstore someday. They discussed the idea when they met, but between raising their young families and the looming digital age, the dream dimmed. Their love of children’s books did not. Over the years, they explored several different ideas and even formed HoneyBee Partners, LLC. (In case you didn’t catch that, Melissa means honey bee in Greek). By 2007 they were blogging about books and two years later launched SweetonBooks, a website devoted to reviewing children’s books. “The Two Melissas” each read and review three children’s books a week. And not just any books. They try to find the most interesting books that you haven’t heard about for children ages 0 to 12 (or six grade). They use a methodical review process to evaluate the books, and the final review includes a full summary along with highlights and rankings for things like laughs, fear, and subject matter. Book reviews may be searched by author, title, category, reader level and rating. You’ll also find author interviews and blog posts on the latest children’s book news. The website is an invaluable resource for parents, librarians, and teachers. What’s next for “The Two Melissas?” Now that they’ve both renovated their homes to include more book shelves, they got more room for all of those books coming in from authors and publishers. Yes, they’ve been discovered and have a growing following from around the world. They are now writing weekly and exclusive reviews for the local ABC News affiliate and recently launched mysweetreads, a social media community for kids to share their own book reviews. "The Two Melissas" are also involved with the newly formed Westchester Chapter for Room to Read, an international organization that builds libraries in remote places. At the end of the interview we had one burning question left to ask “The Two Melissas:” “Do you ever read adult books?” The reply: “Sadly, that’s not an indulgence we have time for.”
BY THE TIME I GET TO WOODSTOCK Put on the tie-dye tee shirt. The Summer Concert Series ends in Memorial Park TONIGHT with a throwback to the 60s. Relive Woodstock with Back to the Garden 1969. CSNY, Joe Cocker, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix…they’re playing it all! Showtime at 7 p.m.
CHILL WITH A COLD ONE August is here, the dog days of summer. We asked the ladies from the Drinking Diaries how they beat the heat. Their favorite adult libations? An ice cold beer, mojito, chilled chardonnay or frozen anything. They also like pink wine and wanted to share two of their blog posts on the topic here and here. By the way, Caren and Leah are publishing a book of all their fabulous essays and interviews with well known authors on the topic of women and drinking. A book release is scheduled for sometime in 2012.
WOOF! Thinking about getting a dog? Rescue one! Pet Rescue is holding a Dog Meet & Greet at the Larchmont PETCO on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Applications will not be accepted at this event, but you may apply online here.
STROLL & READ Storywalk is back! This time with Dr. Seuss’ very first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. Take a stroll with a little boy named Marco to find out all the things he sees (real and imagined) during his walk down Mulberry Street. Book pages are posted throughout the Village. Stop by the Larchmont Library for a map and let your reading adventure begin. On a side note, this book almost didn’t get published. So many publishing companies rejected the original manuscript that Dr. Seuss nearly set it in on fire. We’re glad that Vanguard Press finally published it back in 1937. Storywalk is sponsored by the Friends of the Larchmont Public Library. The program runs through August 20th.
BLIND DISH Which prime retail location will soon be occupied temporarily by a real estate developer?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Tuesday to Renee Powell, owner of Pascal’s Restaurant and Michou NY.
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