Here on the Powell's Kids' Team we are all breathing a sigh of relief that spring break is over. Now we're gathering reinforcements and bracing ourselves for the summer insanity. What's wrong with living in the moment, people? Have all those uncomfortable yoga positions taught us nothing? Okay, breathe, here we go. At the moment, baseball season is in full swing; Cesar Takes a Break in our Book Buzz (we could use a little break of our own); we have five new author Q&As to share with you; Jill is living in fear of eBooks; and the restaurant we normally go to for Mother's Day is already booked up, so we are frantically — we mean calmly — searching for a replacement. Phew! Now that wasn't so hard.

MOTHER'S DAY BOOKS
Every year around Mother's Day we're inundated with sugary, unrealistic books about motherhood that seem superficial to us. This year we've put together some books that reflect real mothers, flaws and all. A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams, a classic Caldecott Honor book with vibrant pictures, is about a mother, grandmother, and daughter who save up to buy a comfy chair after their apartment is burned in a fire. My Mother the Cheerleader is proof that author Robert Sharenow believes even the worst of mothers should have a shot at redemption. Set during desegregation in New Orleans, an imperfect mother takes small steps toward redeeming herself. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola tells the inspiring tale of how this Nobel Peace Prize winner and mother of three goes about teaching the people of Kenya how to care for their land by planting trees. Printed on recycled paper with breathtaking watercolor illustrations, this book is perfect for the eco-friendly mom. Check out our entire selection of Mother's Day books here.

KIDS' Q&A: SARA PENNYPACKER
Not since Ramona Quimby or Judy Moody have we seen a character with this much pitch-perfect exuberance and well-intentioned troublemaking! Clementine quickly joined the ranks of our favorite books to read aloud, whether to groups of third graders or to a blank wall. Yes, it's that good, and that funny, and that heartfelt. Peruse Sara Pennypacker's Q&A to discover how this whirlwind of a character was born. Save 30% on all three of the Clementine series books, including the newest, Clementine's Letter.

KIDS' Q&A: JAMES A. OWEN
We loved James A. Owen's brilliant book Here, There Be Dragons, and his pen and ink illustrations made the story all the more magical. In The Search for the Red Dragon, the second book in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series, once again the combination of detailed art and good story writing guarantees an imaginative ride through a world filled with dragons, wizards, and adventure. James has also written and illustrated two dozen Starchild comics and books, something we learned about on his website. Read Owen's insightful Q&A and save 30% off the cover price of The Search for the Red Dragon.

KIDS' Q&A: JUSTINE LARBALESTIER
Author of the Magic or Madness trilogy, Justine Larbalestier is a fantasy writer who has a fantasy life: she's married to Scott Westerfield! In this Q&A Larbalestier shares that she loves her teen audience but doesn't consciously tailor her writing to them. Meeting her audience and hearing from them in letters has changed the way she thinks about what she does. With the last book in her trilogy, Magic's Child, just out in paperback, you can now read them straight through without having to wait! Discover them here, save 30% off the cover price of each, and learn more about what inspires this vibrant young author in her exclusive Q&A.

BOOK BUZZ
We can relate to Cesar Takes a Break, written by Susan Collins Thoms and illustrated by Roge. When Cesar, pet lizard of Ms. Lee's second-grade classroom, discovers that the kids will be taking a seven-day spring break, he becomes a puddle of sadness... until, of course, he discovers all the gleeful things there are to do as a lizard in a school overrun by class pets! Filled with chatty diary entries and little jokes that parents will appreciate (Peace, the turtle, makes a run for it every spring break, and Cesar admonishes that they should "give Peace a chance"), Cesar Takes a Break is the perfect springboard for creative writing about what your class pet does when you're away. Cesar boldly shatters the assumption that only humans dread the end of a vacation and does so with style. Look out, Diary of a Worm, there's a new journaling creature in town!

BASEBALL BOOKS
We might be children's book nerds, but we also get down and dirty on the baseball field. For opening day ceremonies this spring, here are some great baseball reads. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson pays tribute to the unsung heroes of the Negro League with beautiful oil paintings in his Caldecott Award-winning style. With Bill Thomson's perfectly rendered action shots, Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius captures a young coed team at practice. Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park brings history to the game when Brooklyn Dodgers fan Maggie befriends a soldier during the Korean War. Lastly, for the littlest fans, Home Run!: My Baseball Book by David Diehl teaches toddlers basic baseball vocabulary with its colorful, simple design. Okay, now go ransack the garage for that old dusty glove and play ball! And browse books for children on myriad sports subjects here.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH CONTEST
Well, it's still National Poetry Month, and it's not too late to win a poetic prize! Just post your original short poem (20 lines or less, please) on the kids' section of our blog before April 30, and we will randomly pick five names to win a $25 gift card and a Powell's Kids' Nalgene Water Bottle! Under 13 years of age? No one under the age of 13 is allowed to submit their name, email address, or other personal information, so please ask your parent or guardian to post for you.

KIDS' Q&A: SAM ENTHOVEN
Sam Enthoven is a kids' book writer. Why? "Younger readers haven't forgotten how to have fun," he says, and more importantly, they casually accept vomiting bats, unlike some of the adults he knows (yeah, jeez). Read up on Enthoven's newest book, the King Kong-style monster epic Tim, Defender of the Earth! and a whole bunch of other topics in this entertaining Q&A and save 30% off the cover price of Tim for a limited time.

KIDS' Q&A: J. M. STEELE
There have been a few books and movies that have turned the quest for popularity on its ear (remember Mean Girls?). The Market takes that thread and adds a twist: the girls at Millbank High are rated like stocks, and the boys "trade" them on the Millbank Social Stock Market, or MSSM. After Kate learns of her "junk bond" status, she's determined to raise her ranking and ends up gaining something she never imagined: newfound self-respect. Read this Q&A with J. M. Steele, find out why it's important to craft strong female characters, and save 30% on The Market while our promotion lasts.

SIGNED EDITIONS
This month Margaret Peterson Haddix visits our store. With her young adult novel Found, she begins a new series that promises to be every bit as suspenseful as her Shadow Children series — which has sold more than 4.5 million copies — and proves once again, to be a master of the page-turner. Preorder your signed copy online. Or come to our Cedar Hills Crossing location Tuesday, April 29, at 7:00 p.m. to see her in person!

KIDS' TEAM COLUMN
Welcome to the Kids' Column: unfettered commentary from the Kids' Team members at Powell's Books. This month, Jill muses over eReaders:

Over the spring break I visited my family in Boston and was shocked to find out that my dad, who works in the book business, has to use an eReader as part of his job. An eReader, if you haven't heard by now, is a device that's essentially an iPod for books. This blatant irony on the part of my dad's company got me wondering: how much are eReaders going to change the face of children's books? Part of me thinks we're safe because, really, no one is going to want to read Goodnight Moon to their toddler on a handheld computer.

How might eReaders change how we relate to each other as fellow readers? When I flew to Boston and saw a kid reading Ivy and Bean I experienced the joy that comes from being a children's bookseller and seeing actual kids reading the books that you've recommended over and over (someone needs to name that feeling, I think). It reminded me of the important place physical books hold in public: they can be conversation starters, a chance to meet someone new, or simply a personal statement. It saddens me to think of a day when I will walk onto a plane, and, as if in some stale sci-fi novel, everyone will be holding up a faceless receptacle for words with no hint of individuality. Then again, maybe I've seen Blade Runner too many times...

For more observations from our Kids' Team, visit the kids' section of our blog.

KIDS' BESTSELLERS

1. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Education) 2. Into the Firestorm by Deborah Hopkinson (Middle Readers) 3. Jim the Boy by Tony Earley (Young Adult) 4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney (Middle Readers) 5. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Young Adult) 6. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (Middle Readers) 7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Young Adult) 8. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson (Picture Books) 9. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (Young Adult) 10. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Middle Readers)