New Titles

                                                                              
1) Hodder, Ian. The Leopard's Tale: Revealing the Mysteries of Catalhoyuk. 2011. Thames & Hudson. Paperback: 288 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: The Neolithic mound of Çatalhöyük, in central Turkey, shot to international fame in the 1960s when an ancient ‘town’ – at 9,000 years old one of the earliest in the world – was discovered there together with wonderful wall-paintings and sculptures, many featuring images of leopards.
     The excavations changed our understanding of the early farmers who started the road to complex civilization, but many questions were left unanswered until leading archaeologist Ian Hodder began a new campaign of research in the early 1990s. Çatalhöyük: The Leopard’s Tale is the inside story of the remarkable advances made so far.
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those with an interested in Middle Eastern archaeology!

                                                                              
2) Mauries, Patrick. Cabinet of Curiosities. 2011. Thames and Hudson. Hardbound: 256 pages. Price: $45.00 U.S.

SUMMARY: Unicorns’ horns, mermaids’ skeletons, minerals of breath-taking beauty, fossils, preserved animals and plants, sea-shells, monstrous births, insects in amber, wax effigies, death-masks, ivory carvings of incredible virtuosity, automata that imitated living things, clocks, musical instruments, lenses, celestial globes … all knowledge, the whole cosmos arranged …
     This book traces their amazing history, from their first appearance in the inventories and engravings commissioned by Renaissance nobles such as the Medici or the Hapsburgs, via those of the Dane Ole Wurm and the Italian polymath Athanasius Kircher, to the serious 17th- and 18th-century scientists Elias Ashmole and Levinas Vincent.
RECOMMENDATION: An interesting look at the forerunners of today's natural history museums.

                                                                              
3) Norton, Mary. The Complete Adventures of the Borrowers: Three little people and their not-so-little adventures. 2011. Sandpiper/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 5 paperbacks in slipcase. Price: $34.99 U.S.
SUMMARY: Mary Norton’s beloved, best-selling books about the tiny, stouthearted Borrowers are now available together in one gorgeous package, perfect for gift giving. Put this boxed set into the hands of little people—or of any reader who delights in classic adventure. Includes paperback editions of The Borrowers, The Borrowers Afield, The Borrowers Afloat, The Borrowers Aloft, and The Borrowers Avenged.
RECOMMENDATION: For Ages 8+. A must have for those that collect children's books or want children they know to enjoy these books!