Join us for a different kind of OTown Reads book club: This time, a focus on children’s books.

Make Believe by Mac Barnett came across our radar in July. It's a tiny book, on the NY Times bestseller list - and its topic intrigued us.

"Kids' books merit grownup conversation," Barnett says. From Goodreads: "From the newly appointed National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, a timely and intimate meditation on the ways we think about and interact with children’s literature, and what that says about our opinions of children and childhood."

Although this book has received some controversy, we found it fascinating. There's much fodder for great conversation within these pages.

We also invite all participants to bring a favorite picture book and perhaps share a passage. We will use Make Believe as a springboard for conversation and share our collective passion for great children's books. Of course, we will also have some of our favorites on hand for perusal and purchase for your own collection - including some of Mac Barnett's wonderful work.

Copies of Make Believe are available at Hudson Valley Books for Humanity for a 10% discount to all book club participants.

About the Book

Make Believe is bestselling children's author Mac Barnett's rallying cry for art and imagination, and a celebration of the power of storytelling in all our lives. It's an incisive, intimate, and timely invitation to approach children's literature not only as an art form worthy of deep study and criticism, but as a portal into the lives of the children. And at a time when we are faced with a national literacy crisis, he champions the profound joys of literature and the importance of reading for pleasure.

What if children are a great audience for art?
What if they are in fact better equipped to engage deeply with stories than adults?
What if humans' ability to appreciate art is, if not innate, awakened early in childhood?

Well, then we'd better do our best to make some good kids' books.

Written with humor and academic rigor, Make Believe reads like a letter from your smartest and funniest friend. —from bookshop.org

Contact the host of OTown Reads: Make Believe, by Mac Barnett