I am a planner. Ask anybody. I pick out my clothes the night before. I outline my storytimes a year in advance. Okay, I admit it, two years in advance. So it should come as no surprise that I had already lined up (and even written) all my blogs for this week. I wasn't looking for any newsworthy items. I had a plan. But you can't plan for everything because you can't know everything. And I did not know that this week included two major children's literature milestones that just have to be featured on the Hoover Public Library's blog.

Clifford the Big Red Dog celebrated his 50th birthday on Monday, September 24, 2012. This article does a great job of honoring 84-year-old author Norman Bridwell and his memorable canine character. After you've read it, you'll definitely want to check out a couple of the ninety (that's right, 90!!!) books and a DVD or two.

Magic Tree House released a 20th anniversary edition of its first book Dinosaurs Before Dark on Tuesday, September 25, 2012. This continues to be our most popular First Chapter Book series, with multiple new titles coming out each year. The newest release, #48 A Perfect Time for Pandas, just hit the shelves on July 24, 2012. The next one, #49 Stallion by Starlight, is scheduled to come out on March 26, 2013.