The full name’s Brooke Shirts: a semi-employed public librarian for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and mother of three children. I love my kids (they’re from the Land o’ Cute Malapropisms), my library (we have gilding and angels on the ceiling of our 100+ year-old hulk of a building), and children’s literature and media more than anything. The kids, and the MLIS were birthed here in Pittsburgh; the love of literature was in me from the start.
-
Recent Posts
Tag Cloud
archive art author visit autumn baker's dozen Beatrix Potter booklist brian pinkney Brooke Explores the Nature of Blogging Caldecott Winners Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh cats christmas cinnamon bear classic children's literature classic kidlit classic literature conference contemporary fiction cookies from the mouth of sauron decisions decisions dirty dishes edward gorey Eric LeCain excuses excuses fall festival fiction flashbacks to a more unfortunate time in life flight of the conchords fluffy bunny folklore forgotten bookshelf games good eats green ginger and envy halloween holiday shopping humble requests illustration jake wizner jay williams katherine ayers lord of the rings lotte reiniger M. Varin Hamler mo willems music ned vizzini Newbery winners new yorker natterings non-fiction paul zelinsky picture books poetry poetry friday preview puppetry radio show road trip sandra boynton shadow puppets sharon flake shelftalker spanking shakespeare Storypockets stuff to buy sweet child o' mine T.S. Eliot The Potter Project toys video book report video sunday wendy cope william aulson young adultArchives
brookeshelf.wordpress.com 
Dear Brooke,
I saw your comment on “7 Impossible Things” from a friend on a list-serve who gave me a nudge to answer you. Of course, since I am the author of LOUISIANA’S SONG, I am biased, but I do feel like it’s a stand-alone too. In each book, Livy Two is the storyteller, but I also really try to focus one on character in this huge Smoky Mountain family. It’s “Gentle” in Gentle’s Holler, and “Louise” in Louisiana’s Song and “Jessie, the mother” in Jessie’s Mountain. Anyway, I’m so glad to know about your site now. Thanks for commenting.
All best
Kerry Madden
Hmm. Thanks, Kerry! I’ll get Louisiana’s Song back on my library queue.
You have received a Kind Heart award from the Teacher Features blog of the San Francisco Center for the Book.
Kudos!
Dear Brooke,
Just came across your website when I was looking for books to read aloud to my two boys, 9 and 6. I had The Loner read aloud to me by my third grade teacher, Ms. Crail (isn’t it funny how you can remember the names of your teachers in elementary school, but not of people that you may see now in your recent, everyday life), and I loved that book so much I bought it and kept it to read to my own children someday. I actually have already read that very book that I purchased back then so many years ago to my boys last year, which they loved too.
Your website and blog are wonderful. I’ve been a huge reader for most of my life, with periods of drought, the longest when I slept in the same room as my husband for 10 years. He couldn’t stand the sound of my active mind and the pages turning.
I’m thinking of starting my own blog about my new business, Dans Le Jardin L.L.C., and my demonstration garden. I have to get my website up and running first, though, since the business is still fairly new.
Last summer, I left the life of real estate transactional attorney in San Francisco for 17-plus years and transformed myself into a landscape designer, who provides the full range of gardening services, including design, installation and maintenance to my local community. I live in the tiny, little-known city of Kensington adjacent to Berkeley, California. From a monetary standpoint, the change of career is as crazy as it sounds, but I have been an avid gardener for over 20 years, and everyone who came to my house and didn’t know what I did for a living (mostly the parents of my kids’ friends) just assumed I was a landscaper and would be asking me all sorts of gardening advice, which is definitely a lot better than being asked for legal advice.
Anyway, I’m going through an extremely stressful part of my life (blah, blah, blah) and have recently remembered that reading is such a wonderful and necessary escape.
Take care,
Sharon