This year marks a big anniversary for Lerner Publishing Group, the children's book publisher that has been in downtown Minneapolis since 1959. That first year, the folks at Lerner published just four books, titles about childhood diseases that were meant to comfort children during trips to the doctor. Now, they're going nuts with 300 books a year -- the beautiful, the quirky, the educational, the fun, everything from Duluth artist Chris Monroe's funny picture book "Monkey With a Tool Belt" to the dearly loved books of Nancy Carlson, who has been writing for Lerner for 25 years.

They threw themselves a big 50th anniversary party earlier this month, with Walter Mondale speaking (his wife, Joan, published a book with Lerner back in the 1970s), and Mayor R.T. Rybak has proclaimed May (this May, not all Mays) as Lerner Publishing Group Month. OK, that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but it's a lovely thought. Help them celebrate: Go read a book.

Also ...

• "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt" by T.J. Stiles has been published by Random House. Stiles, who was born and educated in Minnesota, is the author of "Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War." He lives in California.

• "Word Origins and How We Know Them" by Anatoly Liberman will be published in paperback this month by Oxford University Press. Liberman is a professor at the University of Minnesota and the author of the "Oxford Etymologist," which appears Mondays on the Oxford University Press blog, www.blog.oup.com.

• "Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems," translated by Minnesota poet Robert Bly and Jane Hirshfield, is out in paperback with Beacon Press.

• Arcadia Publishing has published "Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center" ($21.99), a photo history of the two northern suburbs. Old farms, lots of horses, wonderful hats. Author Pat Snodgrass works at the Anoka County Historical Society.

• Minneapolis artist Cori Doerrfeld has illustrated "It's the Best Day Ever, Dad!," a picture book by actress Brooke Shields -- the second Shields picture book that Doerrfeld has illustrated. It is published by HarperCollins.

• Ross I. Donaldson, formerly of Minneapolis, has written a book about practicing medicine in Sierra Leone. "The Lassa Ward: One Man's Fight Against One of the World's Deadliest Diseases" was published by St. Martin's Press. Donaldson will be at the Barnes & Noble at HarMar Mall at 7 p.m. Monday.

• Poet, novelist and children's book author Alison McGhee has a new picture book, "Song of Middle C," published by Candlewick Press.

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