We hope this newsletter finds you well. Last month, we asked whether you preferred reading e-books or print books, and the latter won by a landslide! Our new question of the month is:

What is your favorite bookstore, and why?

Please share your thoughts (short or long) with us on our Facebook page or through email.

We look forward to a wonderful evening at The Frost Place with Becky Sakellariou, J. Kates, and Julia Older, introduced by Sid Hall, on Saturday the 15th of June. The poets will also read poems in memory of W. E. Butts. See details in the events pane at left, and join us there!

This event is open to the public and free (The Frost Place will be accepting donations).

The second edition of Creating the Peaceable Classroom is richer and fuller than the first, including more detailed information, new charts and diagrams, and sections for Special Education teachers and students. The Parent Connection sections offer parents ideas for using these same techniques at home.

Creating the Peaceable Classroom is intended to assist the community of teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, psychologists, school nurses, administrators, students, and parents, to create calm and useful energy that leads to better learning.

Sandy Bothmer recently did a workshop in Newtown, Connecticut where her book is being used by teachers after the tragedy there. She tells the story in the video below.

This month, you can purchase Creating the Peaceable Classroom for only $18 (regularly $30)!

So reads a sign in the entrance to a bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

I have actually never been to a Walmart. I haven't been to a McDonalds in over 20 years.  I'm not self-righteous about it (OK, yes I am). But I like the idea of supporting businesses that are home-grown.

I can't say I never bought a book from Amazon. But I have never stooped so low as to sneak into an independent bookstore or a publisher's website to find a book, and then go to Amazon to buy it. If you have stooped that low, we won't turn you in. It's not like cheating on your spouse—or it is only in degree.

But think about the consequences. At Hobblebush Books we have worked for years to develop editorial policies, standards, relationships with authors, and a level of competence and beauty that we want to share. If you buy our book from Amazon, you are helping us a little (Amazon gives to us with one hand and takes away with the other). But if you buy from an independent bookstore or directly from us, you support people who love books, as well as our authors, our mission, our experience, everything we are!

You keep us here.

—Sid Hall

Holly is exhausted from studying Russian, and her book is as dog-eared as she is. Let sleeping dogs lie. This may be a good time to repeat the famous Groucho Marx line: Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.