Books with author Julie Bach

His full name is Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg and he only likes what he likes. He only likes one certain black and white cat. He only likes an apple if it's red. And he only likes one particular yellow and white house. You'd think that a boy with such set likes and dislikes would hardly ever have any fun, wouldn't you? So on Monday, when Dewey, who will only eat noodles shaped like letters is invited for dinner and sits facing a bowl of squiggly green macaroni, what can he do?? And what are those wriggly green squiggles anyway?

Bollix Books and Julie Baer, author-illustrator of I Only Like What I Like, hailed as "extraordinary" and a "tour de force" by School Library Journal and named a 2003 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Children's Book of Jewish Content, bring young readers something entirely new: a naturalistic and experiential picture book. Love Me Later, available July 2005, looks different and sounds different from the typical picture book, yet will feel gentle and familiar. It will broaden the visual imagination of the children and families who explore its pages. A monarch butterfly has landed on Abe’s nose! Right in his own backyard! But it flies away, and Abe spends his afternoon hoping it will come back and asking his mom and dad questions about when he was little. They tell him all sorts of funny stories about baby Abe, but when they start to get all lovey-dovey, Abe is out of there! “Love me later!” Readers are invited into the intimate circle of Abe's family and habitat, as seen through the eyes and voice of young Abe, another Julie Baer protagonist who “just happens to be Jewish.” The sacredness of Abe’s home habitat is marked by “the little box inside the doorway” which, he explains, is “reminding my house that it’s a special place.” As we move through an ordinary summer day, uneventful yet full of growth (aren’t all our days this way?), we are surrounded by the ever-present, yet usually unnoticed, natural world right outside the kitchen door. The charming, paradoxical quality of Abe himself - he continues to ask about his baby self but does not want to be babied! - along with the compelling pictures will force us to slow down, will remind us of special small moments within our own lives. The monarch butterfly, which seems to reappear whenever Abe turns his back, embodies the cyclical nature of all growth; the moving away and returning, moving away and returning, just as Abe evades his parents' hugs, yet returns to them in the end when he finally decides that the time is right for later to be now. Children will love to hunt for the many hidden creatures and words in Baer's intricate paintings, and adults will marvel at these light-filled works of art made from cut-up recycled magazines! Julie Baer is an award-winning artist and children’s book author-illustrator based in Boston. Her children’s book work has received honors and her portraits and nature paintings have been exhibited widely and have received many awards and honors, including fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Her works are held in private collections as well as the collections of numerous non-profits. Visit her website: www.juliebaer.com