When my two kids were young, I loved going to the library with them and getting books to read to them. We spent a lot of time in the Fairy Tale section of the library.  I hadn't know that there was a Fairy Tale section...I was pretty much in book heaven.

I also was obsessed with the Scholastic Book Fairs and volunteered a lot for them. It was at one of these Fairs that I found "Frederick" by Leo Lionni. It is the most wonderful children's book about a mouse who is a little different and appears not to help his friends get ready for winter but in the end, his imagination and memory help them all get through the winter.

I just love this book, because it recognizes that the creative ones among us have an important place in our world! To me Frederick is the ultiimate storyteller. He reminds the hungry mice about the warmth and colorful Spring that is just ahead of them. He helps them hold on. Like many children's books, it is deceptively simple. But its message is so deep and beautiful. We need all of us to get by.