Allen Mock Caldecott 2010 runoff

I don't know if you have any concept of my to-read shelf, but it was overflowing... and that was before I brought home three new bags of books to review for my 2nd grade annual Mock Caldecott. Egads!

I have a big double stack of 2009 picture books that have appeared on others' shortlists or have won other Mock C's this year. Since I don't seem to have the time or the wherewithal to sit down and review all these titles, here's a list of the books I'm looking at tonight. I'll post the culled list in a few days. If you have suggestions of anything to (eek) add, or subtract, please do post a comment.

In no particular order:

Only A Witch Can Fly - Alison McGhee

Tillie Lays an Egg - Terry Golson

The Composer is Dead - Lemony Snicket

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau - Dan Yaccarino

The Lion and the Mouse - Jerry Pinckney

Hook - Ed Young

Robot Zot - Jon Scieszka

Boats Speeding! Sailing! Cruising! - Patricia Hubbell

Dinothesaurus - Douglas Florian

The Cuckoo’s Haiku - Michael J. Rosen

Mama Says - Rob D. Walker

I Need My Monster - Amanda Noll

One Beetle Too Many - Kathryn Lasky

Surprise Soup - Mary Ann Rodman

Dinosaur Woods - George McClements

14 Cows for America - Carmen Agra Deedy

Chicken Little - Rebecca Emberley

A Foot in the Mouth - ed by Paul B. Janeczko

Tortuga in Trouble - Ann Whitford Paul

Home on the Range - Deborah Hopkinson

Do Re Mi - Susan L Roth

Sleepsong - George Ella Lyon

The Song of Francis - Tomie de Paola

Willoughby and the Lion - Greg Foley

The Anne Frank Case - Susan Goldman Rubin

Just in Case - Yuyi Morales

All of Baby Nose to Toes - Victoria Adler

If Kisses Were Colors - Janet Lawler

Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers - Gloria Whelan

Redwoods - Jason Chin

Eleanor Quiet No More - Doreen Rappaport

Machines Go to Work - William Low

Moonshot - Brian Floca

A Chair for Always - Vera B. Williams

Honk, Honk, Goose! - April Pulley Sayre

Sweethearts of Rhythm - Marilyn Nelson

Mommy, Where Are You? - Leonid Gore

I’m Your Bus - Marilyn Singer

Billy Milly Short and Silly - Eve B. Feldman

Button Up! - Alice Schertle

Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem - Mac Barnett

Our Abe Lincoln - adapted by Jim Aylesworth

Living Sunlight - Molly Bang & Penny Chisholm

Written in Bone - Sally M. Walker

Marching For Freedom - Elizabeth Partridge

Thunder-Boomer! - Shutta Crum

The Sleepy Little Alphabet - Judy Sierra

What Can You Do With an Old Red Shoe? - Anna Alter

My Mom is Trying to Ruin My Life - Kate Feiffer

Open the Door to Liberty! - Anne Rockwell

Blueberry Girl - Neil Gaiman

Mystery Vine - Cathryn Falwell

Down Down Down - Steve Jenkins

Tell Me About Your Dragon - Jackie Morris

First Dog - J. Patrick Lewis

All the World - Liz Garton Scanlon

John Brown - John Hendrix

The Terrible Plop - Ursula Dubosarsky

Spot the Plot - J. Patrick Lewis

When Stella Was Very, Very Small - Marie Louise Gay

Waiting for Winter - Sebastian Meschenmoser

We Troubled the Waters - Ntozake Shange

Now that I've gone through them, I have a few sorted piles, but I have a bunch of reading to do before I decide for sure what goes where.

Nonfiction Monday: Honk, Honk, Goose!: Canada Geese Start A Family

Honk, Honk, Goose!: Canada Geese Start A Family by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee Ages 4-8 32 pages Henry Holt and Co., April 2009 978-0805071030

We have lots and lots and lots (did I mention lots?) of geese around here.  In mild weather, we sometimes run across six or seven or fifty in the pond, lawns, road and parking lots around our home.  Geese are, to put it mildly, pests.  They leave poop all over the lawn... and really, that's enough to label them as pests.  They are also pretty aggressive about protecting their admittedly cute babies.  So I was pleased to come across this nonfiction picture book about the darker side of geese.

The book is full of onomatopoetic expressions of daddy goose (er, gander) hissing and honking at all the dangers that threaten his young.  I can imagine my lively first graders enjoying making the noises right along with the story.  

I especially appreciated the way the illustrator clearly portrayed the goose family interacting with its environment, especially other wetland animals.  In a world of books with glorious Eyewitness white backgrounds, it's not always easy for children to infer context.  This book gave the geese a home.  I would use this as an introductory text when teaching about freshwater animals to older students, and ask them to identify some essential questions they might ask when researching their chosen animal or predator/prey pairs. 

Ivy liked the baby geese and the honking and hissing from the papa goose, and asked for it to be read again.  She wanted to know about the broken egg (would be fun to pair with Mini Grey's Egg Drop!).  We saw some parallels with one of her favorite board books, All My Little Ducklings by Monica Wellington -- another one done with cut paper, if I'm not mistaken.

Awesomeness: 6 - I felt like I was walking into a local wetland!

Wordsmithing: 6 - simple story and lyrical tone coupled with onomatopoeia make it perfect for large or small group sharing

Mesmerizitude: 5 - an enjoyable picture book

Illustrations: 6 - cut paper done well, with a simple and realistic color scheme

Factfulness (nonfiction): 6 - an introductory text about geese raising young, with a focus on the role of the father

Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon and Happy Birthday Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

Summaries from Amazon: "It’s not easy for Danny Dragonbreath to be the sole mythical creature in a school for reptiles and amphibians—especially because he can’t breathe fire like other dragons (as the school bully loves to remind him). But having a unique family comes in handy sometimes, like when his sea-serpent cousin takes Danny and his best iguana friend on a mindboggling underwater tour, complete with vomiting sea cucumbers and giant squid. It sure beats reading the encyclopedia to research his ocean report . . .Using a hybrid of comic-book panels and text, Ursula Vernon introduces an irresistible set of characters with a penchant for getting themselves into sticky situations. It’s perfect for both the classroom and the Wimpy Kid set."

"It's Bad Kitty's birthday, and you're invited! Bad Kitty's second illustrated novel is packed with deadpan humor, rich tidbits of cat information -- and even some suspense! Who took Kitty's presents? Why are Kitty's friends so bizzare? Readers will laugh out loud at Kitty's feline mood swings, and they'll be touched by the heartwarming visit from a surprise guest."

I can just see my third graders: "And I learned something, too!"  Both of these hybrid novels include lots of facts about their subject matter (ocean life and cats, respectively).  They're also both pretty funny, even to this jaded curmudgeon.  

Bad Kitty's format of the offscreen narrator having a conversation with BK was perfect for those reaction shots that kids love, complete with tongue hanging out of mouth and sproing-ing tail.  The book also contains plenty of gross smelly humor. There is truly inspired, footnoted commentary from Chatty Kitty.  And, BK manages to get through his entire birthday without once being nice to anyone... well, maybe one cat.  Add some facts on top, and you have a perfect reluctant reader sandwich.  

Dragonbreath is heavier on the text, with perhaps 1/3 of the story told in graphics and the rest in prose.  I think this book would have been equally successful as an illustrated chapter book, but of course I love the graphic novel components.  I really like the character interplay between Wendell and Danny; Wendell has the best one-liners.  I will enjoy seeing this one fly off the shelves as well.

Both books are super follow-ups to Wimpy Kid.  Enjoy!

The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang

Summary from Amazon: "From two masters of the graphic novel--Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and Derek Kirk Kim (Same Difference and Other Stories) come fantastical adventures through the worlds we live in and the worlds we create: the story of a prince who defeats his greatest enemy only to discover that maybe his world is not what it had seemed; the story of a frog who finds that just being a frog might be the way to go; and the story of a woman who receives an email from Prince Henry of Nigeria asking for a loan to help save his family. With vivid artwork and moving writing, Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Luen Yang test the boundaries between fantasy and reality, exploring the ways that the world of the imagination can affect real life."

Dang.  This one got me.  I guess I'm used to reading kids' books, which are inevitably predictable. This one had me guessing and marveling at every twist, of which there were several!  

I would say this is YA mostly because of the references younger students wouldn't get (Nigerian spam and genital prosthetics, for example), but it was refreshing to read a story with really nothing to be considered obscene.  Um, except for the genital prosthetics, but we never actually *see* those or anything... 

I am hooked and must go read more Yang!

I read this for the 2009 Cybils.

Awesomeness: 8.5 - this book exudes awesomeness!

Wordsmithing: 7 - clever and well plotted.

Personages: 7 - fascinating but not very likeable, though that is not necessary in short story land.

Mesmerizitude: 8 - it captured me.

Illustrations: 7 - three excellent stories in three excellent styles, all by one artist - very cool.  

Audiobook roundup

Here's what I've been listening to lately:

There's A Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar.  I will always have a special space in my heart for Sachar, filled with bottlecaps.  This is an old one I never read.  I guess I assumed it would be a comedy based on the cover.  Boy, was I wrong!  It's an insightful, multi-layered look at the life of a bully.  Not that there weren't funny bits, but really, I got choked up more than once.  

Powers by Ursula LeGuin.  Another author I'm fond of, and of course I knew I would love this one.   The depth of her world-building is truly fabulous.  I'm only a third of the way in, though, since it's quite long compared to the middle grade stuff I usually listen to.

The 100-Year-Old Secret by Tracy Barrett.  Now I have three art theft mysteries to recommend!  (Masterpiece and Chasing Vermeer - and its sequels - are the other two.)  This one is, unfortunately, about a fake artist, so it doesn't carry the same resonance as the other two books.  It's also written for a younger audience and there isn't such a sense of mortal peril for the investigators, but I still enjoyed it.

Nation by Terry Pratchett.  Not as laugh-out-loud funny as his Discworld series, but definitely full of Pratchett moments.  A great survival, clash-of-cultures story.  I really liked the reader.

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey.  I was hoping this would have aged more gracefully, but sadly, I barely cracked a smile.  I don't think I'll be recommending this one.

Amulet 1 & 2 by Kazu Kibuishi

Amulet 1 summary from Amazon: "After the tragic death of their father, Emily and Navin move with their mother to the home of her deceased great-grandfather, but the strange house proves to be dangerous. Before long, a sinister creature lures the kids' mom through a door in the basement. Em and Navin, desperate not to lose her, follow her into an underground world inhabited by demons, robots, and talking animals. Eventually, they enlist the help of a small mechanical rabbit named Miskit. Together with Miskit, they face the most terrifying monster of all, and Em finally has the chance to save someone she loves."

The most interesting part of this story is definitely Emily's relationship to the amulet.  Even in the midst of part 2, we still have little idea who or what the stone is.  I enjoyed watching her wrestle for control and dialogue with it, but she was a little too predictable and perfect in her response to the amulet's reaches for power.

This was a quick read with lovely graphics.  It reminded me of Bone in some ways, but was more cinematic, with a simpler story.  I can recommend it to my kids at school and know they'll enjoy it, but there's little beyond that. 

I read this as a nominated book for Cybils 2009. 

Awesomeness: 6 - points for a clean, sweeping fantasy story.

Wordsmithing: 5 - nothing too special here.

Personages: 6 - Miskit!

Mesmerizitude: 6 - eh, I'm vaguely interested in the way it comes out. 

Illustrations: 7 - this is my style of comic, but still only good enough

Audio: Alvin Ho #1 and #2 by Lenore Look

I was reading Heavy Medal back issues about last year's Mock Newbery, and I was captured by their review of Alvin Ho:

Funny. Multiculturalism/diversity doesn't stick out, it's just there. Funny. Episodic chapters--each one a complete narrative arc--serve a young audience that's still learning to read novels. Funny. Each chapter builds, realisitically if only slightly, on the theme of overcoming fears. Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. 

These are books I've been pooh-poohing for months now, on the grounds that middle grade readers don't want to read about a kid who's 2-4 years younger than them.  Junie B. notwithstanding, this is something that is simply not done by 8-10 year olds.  And yet, here I sit reading review after review of how great these books are.  So I sigh, and put the audiobook on hold.  Maybe it'll be worth a look.

Good thing I wasn't taking any sips of water on my way to work this morning, or I suspect they would have been spewed all over my dashboard.  A students'-eye-view of me on my way into the building would have seen me literally falling all over myself laughing.  How often do I do this?  Hardly ever.  (For example, I was listening to Homer Price last night, and that merited scarcely a weak smile.)  Lenore Look presents Alvin's day at school and at home in these flighty little vignettes that left me shaking my head and giggling all morning.

I will admit that a good portion of my enjoyment came from the reader, eleven-year-old Everette Plen (what a great name).  He is funny funny funny.  And oh my gosh, doesn't he just look like his voice?  There is nothing like listening to young Mr. Plen cursing in Shakespearian English.

I don't think book two is quite as creative and wonderful as the first, but I'm kinda feeling it as a continuation of book one, so perhaps it doesn't matter.  I was definitely looking forward to more.

Lenore Look, you have another convert!  I will never again discount a book because of the age of its main character. 

Awesomeness: 8 - big kudos for a fabulous task accomplished - put on your to-read pile soon

Wordsmithing: 8 - quirky and funny

Personages: 8 - wow, a 2nd grader with a missing eye and a limp!  Awesome

Mesmerizitude: 8 - I could listen to Everette Plen chirp all day

Readathon check in, 4:50pm

My second check in. I've spent most of the day cooking and at meetings, but got a little reading in before 1pm with the kids and I've been filling in with audio. I have a bit of time now before Dex wakes up.

Reading: Fancy Nancy series
Next up: Wanda Gag bio

Thanks to all the cheerleaders! It's so fun!

Readathon check in, 8:22am

Dang and blast, my computer plug is at work. So I'm trying this nifty app to blog via iPhone.

Reading currently: 3-2-3 Detective Agency, with Ivy

Last read: Amulet #2

Next up: something nonfictiony

Total hours reading: .5

I'll check in after we set up for brunch.

The Adventures of Bert - Allan Ahlberg

I brought this one home as part of my new promise to Ivy that I will bring her a new book every day from school.  It's easy enough to grab one from the shelf on the way out the door.  This is one I've had my eye on for years, but never picked up until this year.  

With spare language, Ahlberg has created a book that could count as an early reader, but works just fine as a picture book.  There's plenty of fun detail (the little spiders, the cat hiding under the bed that you never quite get to see), but it's very simply done.  The end of each chapter reminded me of Kitten's First Full Moon ("Lucky Bert!").  I liked the way the story came full circle from morning to night.  Whimsical and short, this is a fun one to read twice in a row, which is what we did.

Ivy liked the part where the reader wakes the baby and makes her cry!

Awesomeness: 5 - just another nice picture book

Wordsmithing: 6 - quirky

Personages: 6 - I would have enjoyed hearing from Mrs. Bert?

Mesmerizitude: 7 - kept me reading to the end

Illustrations: 6 - sweet and colorful

Sea-Cat and Dragon King by Angela Carter

This one fell off the shelf while I was leveling our junior fiction section.  I thought, "Huh.  Looks interesting.  I should read this one aloud."  I tucked it in my bag and brought it home.  Ivy found it immediately and began looking through it.  I offered to read it to her and she said, "Just a minute."  When she'd finished turning every page, she smiled and said, "Read!"

It's a beautifully descriptive book, with lots of creative use of language and unusual phrases, I imagine because it was translated from another language.  It flowed effortlessly -- no need for chapters in this "chapter" book.  Ivy was captivated for the entire story.

What didn't work for me was the illustrations.  The story focused on the beauty of the sea-cat's suit, and how the dragon king wanted a beautiful suit like that for himself.  But the illustrations were so quirky, with no color, that I just couldn't believe the story.  I kept thinking how much more successful it would be if it had been published as a picture book, with lavish illustrations and rich hues -- Brandon Dorman, anyone?   I hope some publisher picks this one up and reillustrates it, because it could be a  real winner.  

Awesomeness: 6 - sweet and creative, but packaged too strangely to stand out

Wordsmithing: 8 - lyrical 

Personages: 6 - reasonably three-dimensional but not super surprising, this being an early chapter book

Mesmerizitude: 5 - eh

Illustrations: 3 - I actually liked them for what they were, but they didn't go with the story, and I really wanted to see some color to go with the lavish descriptions

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon! (Oct 24, 2009)

Whee!  I am excited about doing my first Read-A-Thon.  It happens to fall on a day when I'm head cook for brunch and signed up for a work day (can you say audiobook?), then a community meeting from 1-3, and finally have a commitment from 7pm-1am that night.  I'll definitely be taking a big break in the middle... but I can also imagine it will be a day of caffeine and curling up in my big comfy chair.  Ahhh.  Sounds excellent.

You would not believe my TBR shelf.  Er, three shelves.  It's all been languishing while I've focused on the first month of school and reading graphic novels for the Cybils.  I think I'll primarily attempt to wade through the large number of nonfiction books that I've been renewing and renewing and renewing.  I should read this review book, Planet of the Dogs.  Many of the picture books I've already read at least once, but I've been wanting to blog about them, so that will be a good opportunity.  Breakfast and work day = audiobook listening, and I've been cranking through those at a rapid rate on my commutes to and from work.  

That leaves my pile of middle grade novels:

Melonhead

Wild Girl

Also Known as Harper

Into the Wild

Out of the Wild

Whitefoot

Jimmy's Stars

Carolina Harmony

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had

Sassy

Emmaline and the Bunny

Amaranth Enchantment

The Borning Room

Lost and Found

The Devil's Storybook

The Gecko & Sticky #1

Love, Aubrey

The Meanwhile Adventures

Louisiana's Song

Who's Jim Hines?

The Year the Swallows Came Early

Zormagazoo

One Voice, Please

Little Leap Forward

Faith, Hope and Ivy June (may wait for the audiobook)

When the Whistle Blows

A Season of Gifts (ditto audiobook)

How Oliver Olson Changed the World

Heart of a Shepherd

Locomotion

Peace, Locomotion

I will leave my YA and adult novels for another time.  Sigh.  It's depressing to look at that list and know I have no time for any of them!

Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians

Hairnet donned and stainless steel spoon in hand, the lunch lady is an ageless icon of elementary schools everywhere, but seldom do they have an opportunity to kick some evil genius booty.  Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of Max for President and the Punk Farm books (and forever esteemed in my school as the illustrator of Bubble Bath Pirates), has provided such an opportunity.  

This is the second in the Lunch Lady series, in which Lunch Lady, her trusty sidekick and three elementary school kids employ fabulous spy gear to catch the dastardly League of Librarians, who plan to steal a shipment of new game controllers (so the kids will read more?  It's hard to say).

Of the kids, Dee is the one who loves to read, and she also takes the lead when defending Lunch Lady against the eeeeevil librarians.  There's plenty of POW, SMACK and WHAMMO, but also some creative plotting and fun dialogue.  Lunch Lady's whimsical, food-inspired epithets add a dash of spice -- pun definitely intended.

Clever, for boys and girls of all ages, and full of "gifty nadgets," it's great to see the poor, ignored lunch ladies get a starring role at last.  

This book is a 2009 Cybils round 1 nomination.  

Awesomeness: 7  -- unique and funny make it a great package for the elementary crowd

Wordsmithing: 6 -- love the silly sayings

Personages: 5 -- cardboard characters with no development, but what would you expect from a superhero book

Mesmerizitude: 5 -- light and fun, but no real connection here

Illustrations: 7 -- just the right amount of detail

Cybils nominations are open!

Go forth and nominate thy favorite books of every genre!

I'm feeling very fortunate to be on the nominations committee for graphic novels this year, so I imagine I'll be posting lots of reviews of graphic novels in the next few months.  

Audiobooks

With two children under 4, three student teachers and hundreds of pounds of fruit to preserve, I find myself with little time these days for actually sitting in front of the computer.  Luckily, with the miracle of the iPhone, I can still stay caught up with email and Facebook posts, but I haven't yet figured out a quick method of blogging on the iPhone.  

I am, however, feeling excellent about listening to audiobooks on my commute to and from work. Here's what I've been listening to:

The Amulet of Samarkand by Stroud.  At first, my reaction to listening to this book was, "Yikes, it's Arthur Dent pretending to be a genie!"  But that was quickly lost in appreciation for Simon Jones' excellent narration.  The book is hilarious.  I immediately put the second book in the trilogy on hold at the library.

The Thief Lord by Funke.  I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to reading Funke's first novel for children!  I am swooning with joy for her character development.  Yay, three-dimensional characters!  Yay, unusual turns of phrase!  Yay, unpredictable plot!  Plus, Simon Jones again.  Excellent.

Strawberry Hill by Hoberman.  Okay, excellent book, but this is where audiobooks can sometimes get in their own way, because I was just wondering if the narrator could be any more annoying?  It made an already precious book a little over the top.  I would have appreciated this one more in text form, I think.

Walk Two Moons by Creech.  I've been wondering about Creech's recent works, because they haven't quite lived up to my memory of the quality of her Newbery winner.  I'm happy to say it's just as good as it was fourteen years ago.  The narrator was very funny, too.

The Not-Just-Anybody Family by Byars.  Last year I read a bunch of Byars' junior fiction and was hooked, so I thought I'd try this old series about the Blossoms.  I think it's stood up well over 47 years.  The new covers will give it some life to new readers, I think.  

Ivy and Bean by Barrows and Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Schlitz are next.  

Summer reading catchup

If you hadn't noticed, my daughter Ivy and I took the summer off to enjoy being outside.  That doesn't mean we stopped reading, however!  Before I return them all to the library, let me post a Wordle of some of the books we read this summer.

And, for those of you who like things more orderly, here's the same in list form.  I put a star by those we read more than once.

*Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban

"I Have A Little Problem," said the bear by Heinz Janisch

Hook by Ed Young

*The Story Tree: Tales to Read Aloud retold by Hugh Lupton

*The Robot and the Bluebird by David Lucas

*A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet by Stephen T. Johnson

Roawr! by Barbara Joosse

*Mermaid Queen by Shana Corey

*Peter and the Wolf by Chris Raschka

*I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont

Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld

The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos

Stanley at Sea by Linda Bailey

*A Birthday for Cow! by Jan Thomas

*The Doghouse by Jan Thomas

*What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas

Bippety Bop Barbershop by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

*Edwina, the Dinosaur who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems

*Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and the Three Cups of Tea by Mortensen & Roth

*When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat by Muriel Harris Weinstein

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You A Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis by Robbin Gourley

*Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli

Hello, Baby! by Mem Fox

*Bertie at Bedtime by Marcus Pfister

*Little Beauty by Anthony Browne

*A Book by Mordecai Gerstein

*There's Nothing to Do on Mars by Chris Gall

Tsunami! by Kimiko Kajikawa

Crinkleroot's 25 More Animals Every Child Should Know by Jim Arnosky

*Walt Disney's Cinderella retold by Cynthia Rylant

*The Way We Work by David Macaulay

I didn't read nearly so much on my own.  Mostly I re-read old favorites (the rest of the Vorkosigan Saga by Bujold, the entire Liaden series by Lee & Miller, and Sunshine by McKinley), a book for my neighborhood book club, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and a book for my professional book club, Reading Is Our Business by Sharon Grimes.   I'll post my review of The Problem With the Puddles by Feiffer, which I started at the beginning of the summer and finished yesterday.

I hope everyone had a great summer!  I look forward to being back here more often this fall.

Library Loot

Quoting from Amanda at A Patchwork of Books:

"Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!"

Thanks, Amanda, for alerting me to this great event.  This is pretty much the way I get books all the time -- I put stuff on hold, I pick them up on a regular basis, and I throw in a few serendipitous finds each time.  

So here's my loot from last week:

Matilda and Millions videos - following a conversation on good/bad movies of children's books on CCBC

The Unincorporated by Dani and Eytan Kollin - following a review on Unshelved

When You Reach Me by Stead - following... well, everyone.  Where have you been??

Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers by Whelan

Machines Go to Work by Low

Redwoods by Chin

Time to Pee! by Willems - a request by Ivy

Dinosaur Woods by McClements

DinOTrux by Gall

Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Surprise Soup by Rodman

And What Comes After A Thousand? by Bley - a book about death recommended by a parent

The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be by Grey - I put this on hold after I tried to tell Ivy the Princess and the Pea story and failed

Button Up! by Schertle

Hook by Young

Little Oink by Rosenthal - following Amy's awesome call to my daughter Ivy earlier this summer to read her a book

My Mom is Trying to Ruin My Life by Feiffer

These are to add to the vast to-read shelf I already maintain... I really need to find some time to actually read them.  *sigh*

Coming-and-Going Men: Four Tales by Paul Fleischman

Having spent nearly a decade now as a librarian, I have been confounded by the two Fleischman authors sitting side by side on my fiction shelves, Paul (son) and Sid (father).  Although I am constantly recommending both, I often get the two mixed up.  It's awkward to point out their dual spot and not know whether to say, "He's the guy who wrote The Whipping Boy," or "Remember that poetry book about bugs I booktalked in January?  That's him!"  

So I decided to answer the question once and for all.  I checked out a whole passel of books by each from our fantastically stocked public library and am working my way slowly through them.  

Paul Fleischman's prose is lush and nobbly.  I don't think it would be possible to read the book aloud without being, or at least affecting the voice of, an elderly white-haired man.  He has a great knack for clever imagery and metaphor: "A vast sickle of wind swept through the air, mowing down the crop of smoke rising from the chimney tops and attempting to harvest the long-limbed, stalklike figure of Mr. Snype himself."  Tasty.  The black-and-white illustrations complement the stories well.

I dislike plot summaries or spoilers in my reviews, but I'll just say that these four stories are all set in the same (fictional?) town, set at the turn of the 19th century, and tie together nicely.  I'll be interested to see if he uses the town again in any of his other books.  They are morality tales about honesty, and have a nice dark quality I imagine many of my older readers will enjoy in a few years.  Sadly, as it seems is the case with most of P. Fleischman's other novels, I think it's too advanced for most elementary students.  A quick read, this was an effective diversion from my sniffles and stuffy head.  

Awesomeness: 6

Wordsmithing: 8

Personages: 7 - characters are not well developed, as these are short stories, but pack a punch

Mesmerizitude: 7

I read this post for the Spring Reading Thing.

Ivy's Pick: That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell & Neal Layton

This book reminded me strongly of a whole bunch of other books.  Photographic background images and floppy bunny: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.  Wit and style: Wolves by Emily Gravett.  Spunky heroine with strange capabilities to get around town without any adults present: A Beautiful Girl by Amy Schwartz.  And yet, it has a style all its own.  Army, Navy AND Air Force, PLUS a queen!  Boys and girls alike will swoon.   

Ivy made me read it three times in one day.  She covered her ears when I yelled the Air Force words too loudly, and solemnly pronounced Stanley "dead" as he lay in state at the royal palace after being stolen, restuffed and accidentally dyed pink.  

Awesomeness: 7/10

Wordsmithing: 6/10

Personages: 6/10

Illustrations: 6/10

The Pig's Picnic by Keiko Kasza

Is it just me, or does Keiko Kasza have a real mean streak?  She's very hard on her poor little animal characters.  They're always yelling at each other or calling one another names.  Maybe I'm just sensitive to such talk, but it seems a little excessive.  

This book is a perfect example.  Mr. Pig goes on his predictable, repetitive journey on his way to see his ladylove, and his friends all give them their best attributes (mane, stripes and tail) in which to dress up.  When he gets there, does she snort with delicate piggy laughter and encourage him to "just be himself?"  No!  She screams, attempts to shut the door in his face and calls him a monster.  I don't know about you, but if someone criticized my fashion sense like that, poor though it may be, I wouldn't be going on any picnics with them.

Well, it's Keiko Kasza, and it's still going to circulate effortlessly in my K-1 crowd.  I just wonder if it's exactly the message I want to send?  I'll guide them toward Grandfather Toad's Secrets instead.

Awesomeness: 4/10

Wordsmithing: 4/10

Personages: 3/10

Illustrations: 6/10

Ivy's Pick: How to Heal A Broken Wing by Bob Graham

Ah, Bob Graham.  How can you express such profound sentiment on a face drawn from a single line?  The characters do look awfully familiar... I think these are the same actors he drew in Max, just playing different roles.  

With great economy of speech, dramatic perspective and muted colors highlighted with patches of light, Graham has created another moving picture book which is truly for all ages.  

Ivy asked lots of questions about the bird's "scrape" and was greatly relieved to see her fly away at the end.

Awesomeness: 7/10

Wordsmithing: 6/10

Personages: 7/10

Illustrations: 6/10

Earthquake in the Third Grade by Laurie Myers

Here's another of the Byars family's beginning chapter books. 

I guess I could say it has all the qualities one would want from a chapter book, were one a typical third grader: it's short (around 60 pages), familiar territory (school/home), pleasantly multicultural (the main character is portrayed in the pictures as Asian-American, though this is never mentioned in the text), boy-heavy (2 boys : 1 girl and she's obnoxious -- can we say Hermione syndrome?) and all the metaphor is completely transparent and spelled out (the class is experiencing an "earthquake" in the form of their teacher moving, paralleled by a similar earthquake experienced by David's ant farm).  

Of course, there's the argument put forth by Richard Peck that children don't want to read about kids their age -- "they want to read about the people they wish to be."  My limited experience has taught me that this may be true for kids -- once they can read full sentences without struggling to decode words longer than two syllables.  Most 3rd graders are still becoming familiar with comprehension and basic plot elements.  They don't want to wrestle with big issues.  They are happy to see themselves in books, even if it's not the most flattering picture.

My only regret is the pictures are hopelessly 80s and thus would probably not sell with my kids.  I just started reading The SOS Files to one third grade and they already love it... I can't help but feel the love would not flow as freely were the illustrations not hip and cartoony.  Ditto with Surviving Brick Johnson.  Publishers, if you're reading this (ha!), take note: would you please reprint all of the Byars/Duffey/Myers clan books with trendy 21st century illustrations?  Thanks so much!

Awesomeness: 4/10

Personages: 4/10

Wordsmithing: 3/10

Mesmerizitude: 5/10

Illustrations: 3/10

I read this as part of the Spring Reading Thing.

Ivy's Pick: Who Needs Donuts? by Mark Alan Stamaty

This is a weird book.  

Now that I have that judgmental statement over with... it's a nice little story about materialism and greed. A boy wants all the donuts in the world, so he leaves his family, goes to the city and finds a kindred spirit donut seeker.  Boy eventually loses his friend to love and decides having all the donuts is not as important as having people who love you.  I'd never heard of it, but I decided I needed to read it when it turned up as #81 on Fuse #8's 100 Best Picture Books thingie.  

The illustrations are crammed full of black-and-white detail from one edge to another, with a preponderance of wide-mouthed caricatures and little signs with lots of words.  A little scary, a little bizzare, a little intriguing.  In the end, not really my cup of tea.

Ivy likes the elephant birds, of course -- she likes anything with elephants.  She also likes hunting for the little talk bubbles ("What does that say?").  

Awesomeness: 3/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Personages: 4/10

Illustrations: 6/10

Ivy's Pick: How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

My first encounter with Steve Jenkins was reading What Can You Do With A Tail Like This? to a kindergarten class.  They were mesmerized.  Then I had the fun of discovering all of his other nifty-animal books, like Actual Size.  This new one is just as cool.  

First of all, pictures.  Layout.  Fantastic.  The Eyewitness white background inset picture with caption thing is here to stay, and it really works to focus kids' attention.  The book alternates one page of introductory material about a facet of animal behavior, such as how do they get into those tough clam shells?  At the bottom of each page,  you get a glimpse of what animals they'll be talking about on the next page, which provides a perfect guessing-game format for read-alouds.  It was great for reading with Ivy, too, as she chose a few bits to read on each page until her attention to the topic waned and we moved on to another.

Second of all, how many cool animal factoids can one (okay, two) people cram into one book!? Example: the Surinam toad lays its fertilized eggs into cavities on its own back, where they incubate, hatch and grow for several months before erupting.  Can't you just hear the delighted squeals of Ewwww!?  I really can't wait to share this book with my fourth graders, currently working on swamp animal research projects about predator-prey relationships.  

Jenkins does a great job of making the book accessible to all levels of interest.  Very young children can enjoy the cutouts with very little attention to the text.  Slightly older kids can jump around from factoid to factoid with no need for any organizing schema.  Older still, and they will appreciate the summaries at the beginning of each section, as well as the additional (and still interesting) material at the end.  

Ivy really liked the dolphin bubble net, although she still insists the Polynesian megapode is really a ptarmigan.

Thanks, Jenkins & Page!  I feel rather giddy... I sense a wave of nifty coming on.

Awesomeness: 9/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Factfulness: 8/10

Illustrations: 9/10

My Dog, My Hero by Betsy Byars et al

I didn't realize that Laurie Myers, one of the other co-authors of this book, was Betsy Byars' daughter until I read Surviving Brick Johnson, which Myers wrote on her own.  

I can't imagine why I missed this title.  It fills that all-important middle reader category, children who are beyond Junie B. and Magic Tree House series books, but aren't quite ready to jump into the ambitious middle grade pool of books.  Most kids hit this point somewhere in the third grade.  This one is cool enough to appeal to fourth graders, too, which is great.  

The illustrations are lovely, but totally not necessary to paint a picture of the characters, neither dog nor human -- the words are descriptive enough, quite a feat in less than six pages per chapter.  

I suspect this book will fly off my shelves... and I'm looking forward to testing my theory!

Booklist said: "Drama, humor, excitement, and love fuel these short, well-written stories that are certain to be relished by dog lovers. The selections can also provide students in English classes with excellent examples of point of view, characterization, and plot construction."

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 3/10

Personages: 6/10

Mesmerizitude: 6/10

I read this for the Spring Reading Thing.

Ivy's Pick: Rapunzel by Grimm, illustrated by Dorothee Duntze

Ivy knows the Rapunzel story from a coloring book, but she'd not read the fairy tale, so I decided to pick up a copy to share with her.  I knew she would find the copy of Rapunzel's Revenge I got from the library, too, so I figured this would give her some background story.  

Duntz's version is less scary than Zelinsky's; there's no poking-out-of-the-eyes or anything.  The style is soft, mostly pastel, and has a strange undersea quality: the table in her tower looks like a snail, and is that a sea urchin hanging from the ceiling?  The translation was solid and appropriate for elementary kids.

Ivy liked the part where Rapunzel had two children, but wondered why they were so old.  They did seem to spring out of nowhere.

Pub Weekly said: "The arresting art abounds with sensuality and charm, making this version a welcome reimagining of a classic tale."

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 6/10

Personages: 3/10 

Illustrations: 6/10

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson

Okay, so, my relationship with James Patterson is as a serial killer novel writer (Kiss the Girls, Along Came A Spider).  So I was really surprised when I heard he'd been writing novels for teens.  I'm a little out of touch, being at the elementary school, but I like to read teen novels because, gosh, they're good!  

This one... well, I wouldn't say it's good.  The blurb says "Spider-Man meets Men in Black," which is a very accurate description.  It's scary. It's gory.  It's fast.  It's even funny, at times. It's also very simply written.  The chapters are each three pages long.  The language is easy.  I would guess the lexile level is around 800, or less... (running to Titlewave to check -- ha!  680; that's third grade!).  There's no discernible character development, and all the supporting characters are flat as construction paper.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's clearly written for low level readers, but in such a way that most teen readers would still really enjoy it. Heck, I enjoyed it.  So, I guess that makes it good!

It's hard to find hi-lo books in such a convincing, appealing package.  This one works.  But, unfortunately, I think it's too scary and gory for most elementary school students (this coming from a girl who read Steven King at eleven), so don't reach for this as a hook for your third or fourth grade reluctant readers.  

Awesomeness: 5/10

Wordsmithing: 2/10

Personages: 2/10

Mesmerizitude: 7/10

Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is the UK cover, which I like way more than the US cover.  I always imagined Miles being played by Robert Sean Leonard (Dr. James Wilson from House, MD), which is wonderfully supported by this illustration. Hee!

This is the 12th of the Vorkosigan Saga, not counting Falling Free or Ethan of Athos, but the first of the Miles In Love trilogy, in which (spoiler, but duh) he meets his future wife.  He stumbles all over himself doing it, though, which is really the fun of reading Miles.  That, and learning along with him all the stuff one learns along the course of a lifetime, with the added bonus of not having to actually be Miles and suffer the hardships therein. 

Komarr is primarily a character portrait of Miles and Ekaterin, with a mystery subplot and some interesting description of Komarr along the way.   It does not stand alone as well as some of the earlier books, mostly because of all the spoilers Bujold throws in to make the plot make sense, but one could begin with the short story "Labyrinth," then just read this trilogy (A Civil Campaign and "Wintergifts") and have a relatively meaningful sequence.  I really resonated with the Ekaterin character description and her difficulty with her husband -- Bujold, as always, totally nails her as an archetype while simultaneously creating a fresh, three-dimensional character.  Miles is mostly pining and moping for his forbidden love.  My biggest complaint is the lack of witty dialogue, as a good portion of the book takes place in the two main character's heads.

I am continuing reading this on my iPhone using Stanza, and loving it.  

Awesomeness: 6/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Personages: 7/10

This is part of my reading list for the Spring Reading Thing.

Ivy's Choice: Birds by Kevin Henkes

I'm always surprised when Kevin Henkes writes a book, but doesn't illustrate it.  I wonder why he chooses to do that?  In this case, Laura Dronzek's illustrations are so similar to his newest styles (as in A Good Day) that I am further befuddled.  

I enjoyed the simple clarity of color and line in this introductory book about birds.  I can imagine using it to discuss fiction/nonfiction with my preschoolers or kindergarteners.  They could dissect which statements are fact and which are fiction.  

Ivy said, "Let's read it again."  

Awesomeness: 7/10

Wordsmithing: 7/10

Factfulness: 1/10

Illustrations: 7/10

The Christmas Dolls (Girls of the Good Day Orphanage series) by Carol Beach York

This came off of someone's Top Ten Books list, and as I am also a fan of the young girl orphan genre, I thought I'd give it a look.  These girls are considerably better treated than Sara Crewe of Miss Minchin's was.  The girls are not the focus of the book -- the dolls, and their uncertain fate, are -- but there is still plenty of attention paid to details of interest to little girls, such as the contents of their Christmas stockings.

Now, I thought the book was very sweet, succinctly written with characters as interesting as any doll characters in children's chapter books may be.  But I couldn't stop thinking I'd seen these characters before.  I even recognize the illustration style, though not the illustrations themselves.  Tatty... Little Anne... what book had they appeared in originally?  It's just on the tip of my tongue.  I wish I had an answer.  Perhaps I will dream it tonight.

Awesomeness: 3/10

Wordsmithing: 5/10

Personages: 6/10

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Spoiler Alert!

This one sat on my shelf for a long time between the time I picked it up (summer) and when I finally finished it (this morning).  I read, and fell in love with, The Wednesday Wars, and I thought Trouble was pretty fantastic too, so I anticipated loving this one as much... but it just didn't grab me.  The writing and imagery was beautiful, but I wasn't as attached to Turner in the same way as I'd been to Holling.  In addition, I was shocked at the death of Lizzie.   I guess I didn't anticipate such a move from a children's book author.  Also, the ending came too abruptly -- I needed more closure.

I won't give up on you, Gary D. Schmidt!  I look forward to the next one.  

Awesomeness: 4/10

Wordsmithing: 7/10

Personages: 4/10

I read this book for the Spring Reading Thing.

Spring Reading Thing 2009

Well, I've been wondering what I might use this blog for, so I think I'm going to attempt to join (late) the Spring Reading Thing. My initial list is just going to consist of the pile o' books I picked up at the library the other day, plus my to-read shelf.

Paul Fleischman:
- Seedfolks
- Lost! A Story in String
- Sidewalk Circus
- Saturnalia
- The Borning Room
- Coming and Going Men
- The Animal Hedge
- The Birthday Tree
- I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices
- The Half-A-Moon Inn
- Shadow Play
- Weslandia
- Time Train

Laurie Myers (Betsy Byars' daughter):
- Surviving Brick Johnson
- Dog Diaries
- My Dog, My Hero
- Guinea Pigs Don't Talk
- Earthquake in the Third Grade

A few miscellaneous others, some of which have been sitting on my to-read shelf for months now, and I'd better get to them:
- Life as We Knew It (I read The Dead and the Gone and decided I had to read this one too)
- The Way a Door Closes (again, I read Keeping the Night Watch and had to read the prequel)
- Louisiana's Song (sequel to Gentle's Holler)

Also, I'll sprinkle in some adult SF I've been wanting to get to, including the remainder of the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold (I'm just starting Komarr, which I think is the fourth from the end) and Mark L. Van Name's books.

I usually post my reviews on GoodReads, so I'm not sure how this will go, but I'll try to follow up on at least these books here.