The Kaleidoscope: Our Focus Is You

Welcome to The Kaleidoscope

There was a time when a book delighted your senses. It felt substantial in your hands. The aroma of oiled leather greeted your nose. Pages were a feast for your eyes with their hand-lettered text and beautiful illuminations. If you know where to look, you can find modern books that are just as extraordinary. As a gift for a loved one or as a treat for yourself, books carefully selected for their content and beauty are our specialty. So fix yourself a cup of something hot and get ready to curl up with a good book.

If you already know what you're looking for, The Kaleidoscope can get you any book in print. If you're looking for ideas, you'll want to check out Our Staff Recommendations, The Book Sense Picks, and The Book Sense Best Seller lists. We're a small town store that's big on customer service. Let our friendly staff help you find what you want, because at The Kaleidoscope, Our Focus is You.

The Kaleidoscope Suggests…

Short notes or comments from Keri

Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression
by Kalish, Mildred Armstrong
"I tell of a time, a place, and a way of life long gone. For many years I have had the urge to describe that treasure trove, lest it vanish forever. So, partly in response to the basic human instinct to share feelings and experiences, and partly for the sheer joy and excitement of it all, I report on my early life. It was quite a romp."
So begins Mildred Kalish's story of growing up on her grandparents' Iowa farm during the depths of the Great Depression. With her father banished from the household for mysterious transgressions, five-year-old Mildred and her family could easily have been overwhelmed by the challenge of simply trying to survive. This, however, is not a tale of suffering.
Kalish counts herself among the lucky of that era. She had caring grandparents who possessed--and valiantly tried to impose--all the pioneer virtues of their forebears, teachers who inspired and befriended her, and a barnyard full of animals ready to be tamed and loved. She and her siblings and their cousins from the farm across the way played as hard as they worked, running barefoot through the fields, as free and wild as they dared.
Filled with recipes and how-tos for everything from catching and skinning a rabbit to preparing homemade skin and hair beautifiers, apple cream pie, and the world's best head cheese (start by scrubbing the head of the pig until it is pink and clean), Little Heathens portrays a world of hardship and hard work tempered by simple rewards. There was the unsurpassed flavor of tender new dandelion greens harvested as soon as the snow melted; the taste of crystal clear marble-sized balls of honey robbed from a bumblebee nest; the sweet smell from the body of a lambsleeping on sun-warmed grass; and the magical quality of oat shocking under the light of a full harvest moon.
Little Heathens offers a loving but realistic portrait of a "hearty-handshake Methodist" family that gave its members a remarkable legacy of kinship, kindness, and remembered pleasures. Recounted in a luminous narrative filled with tenderness and humor, Kalish's memoir of her childhood shows how the right stuff can make even the bleakest of times seem like "quite a romp."

"From the Hardcover edition."

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April is Poetry Month

Celebrate Spring with words that make you sing!

Mites to Mastodons: A Book of Animal Poems
by Kumin, Maxine, Rosenberg, Liz, Zagarenski, Pamela
From as little as the snail to as big as the giraffe, from the thundering mastodon of long ago to the ordinary backyard squirrel of today, the animals in this book inspire our imagination. Here is a fascinating cornucopia that exudes a whimsical affection and respect for the creatures with whom we share our kingdom.

Book Sense Picks

Unique and provocative selections from a great diversity of voices...all personally recommended by the independent booksellers of America.

Agate: What Good Is a Moose?
by Dey, Joy M., Johnson, Nikki
"Agate is a moose with self-esteem issues. He really is a gem -- he just doesn't know it. Dey's lively, lyrical text reminds us to look for inner strength in ourselves and others. Johnson's stunning yet simple watercolors capture the personality and beauty of every animal in the book." --Anita Zager, Northern Lights Books &Gifts, Duluth, MN