Clear Away the Clutter Readathon: April 5-11

Just in time for Spring Break!!  It's the Clear Away the Clutter Readathon, hosted by the Neverending Shelf, where the goal is to chip away at that ol' TBR shelf.  I can tell you, the public library will be very happy to get some of its books back.

Let's see... here are some reasonable goals:

1. Read a little bit each hour I am awake.  (Can I count reading blog posts?)
2. Read all the books I've renewed 10 or more times.  (13 books, I'm sorry to say.)
3. Read at least 5 books every day with my children.
4. Write notes on every book so I can write mini-reviews of all of them.
5. Finish reading ALL the poetry books I've checked out so I'm prepared for Poetry Month.  

How about one unreasonable goal?

1. Read one entire novel every day.

This will also overlap with the Dewey 24 Hour Readathon on Saturday/Sunday, so I'll be doing a lot of concentrated reading that day, although I also have a commitment in the morning that Saturday.  

Webcomic: xkcd

While I take a short hiatus, please enjoy the hilarity that is xkcd.

Library Loot, Mar 15

It's been a while since I did a Library Loot post.  I get most of my books from the library; I've only ever received two ARCs in the mail, and I (shamefacedly) haven't read either one.  Luckily our local library system is excellent, and I can get nearly anything I want from it.

I have a much more structured reading schedule this year, but I've kind of fallen down on the job in the past month.  I'm not a reluctant reader, but when I'm feeling overwhelmed, I resist structure of all kinds, even when it's related to things I like or appreciate.  Not a very typical librarian, I suppose.

In any case, Ivy and I were at the library the other day, returning a few things we were done with, and I found a couple books I've been waiting for.  So, even though I already have over a hundred books checked out, I got a couple more.

• The Magic Thief #2: Lost! by Sarah Prineas - I really enjoyed the first one, and was excited to spot the second at the bookstore.  
• Moriboto II: Guardian of the Darkness by Nahoko Uehashi - I've heard a lot about this one and haven't read the first one yet; it's on hold at the library and should be arriving soon.  For some reason, I thought it was manga, but it's just regular prose.
• Some readers for Ivy: The Dinosaur Who Lost His Roar (cute anti-bullying story with graphic novel components), Harry and the Lady Next Door, two Little Bear books.
• Wishing for Tomorrow by Hilary McKay - ooooh!  I was waiting for this, the sequel to A Little Princess, written by one of my favorite contemporary authors.  I sure hope it's good.
• The Prometheus Project #1: Trapped - I'm always looking for good science fiction for middle graders, and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive.  Here's hoping it lives up to the hype.
• Some choices by Ivy: DW's Guide to Perfect Manners, Most Loved Monster, Minerva the Monster (at the bottom).  
• The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton - another one that's been on my to-read list forever, and the library finally got it. 
• Truce by Jim Murphy - I read Betsy Bird's review and was hooked.  Glad to finally have it.
• The Listeners by Gloria Whelan - this I hadn't heard of, but I love Whelan and am looking forward to reading it.  

Now to schedule them and not read them.  =)

What was in your library bag this week?

Review: Bad News for Outlaws - Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Bad News for Outlaws

by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Ages 6-10

32 pages

Carolrhoda Books, November 2009



Okay, I admit it.  My father hooked me on westerns when I was a little kid.  One of my very favorite movies of all time is Silverado.  The sense of adventure, the open prairie, the black and white morality all appealed to my childhood brain -- and now, of course, it's too late.  It's embedded in my psyche.

But even if you don't care much for westerns, or if you have (heresy!) never seen Silverado, Bad News for Outlaws is a smashing success.  It begins with a strong hook.  I defy any child to resist the power of Bass Reeves capturing the criminal Jim Webb:

Webb couldn't outrun a horse.  And he knew he'd hang for sure this time.  In a last-ditch effort to escape, Webb stopped in his tracks, turned, and let loose with his rifle.

The rest of Reeves' story is told chronologically, with one-page episodes of each part of his life, from the slavery of his youth to becoming a Deputy U.S. Marshal.  The focus is on his time capturing criminals.  The text is scattered with fascinating facts, anecdotes and quotes about Reeves.

One of the distinguishing features of this biography is the quality of Bass' character.  He was an exemplary shot, but killed very few men in his lifetime.  A touching segment tells how Reeves was required to arrest his own son, who'd killed his cheating wife.

The back matter is rich with additional detail, including a glossary of "Western Words," a timeline of Reeves' life, books and web sites for further reading, more about Indian Territory and Judge Isaac Parker, who hired Reeves, a selected bibliography and an author's note.

The illustrations by R. Gregory Christie are colorful and rich paintings, with a thick line and impressionistic style.  You can read an interview with him at 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast here.

When judging biographies for sharing with my classes, I always go back to Judy Freeman's 10 biographical "ingredients" in her recipe for Biography Hash.  Not all biographies need to have all ten, but it sure helps -- and this one does.  I can predict some serious hash-making next week!

Winner of the 2010 Coretta Scott King Award.

Ratings

• Awesomeness: 8 - superb example of biography and a smashing story to boot.
  
• Wordsmithing: 8 - compelling descriptions and evocative quotes.
  
• Personages: 7 - Bass is a fabulous character and a great role model.
  
• Mesmerizitude: 7 - a quick read.
  
• Illustrations: 7 - though not my style, the paintings are very eye-catching.
  
• Factfulness: 9 - truly excellent scholarship and inclusion of notes about the research process.
  

Reviews & Other Stuff

• at the publisher web site
• at Happy Nappy Bookseller
• at INK
• at The Reading Tub
• Listen to the author reading from the beginning of the book at Teachingbooks.net.

Why not to read early chapter books aloud

Here's a rant I've repeated a few times now, so I thought I should post it someplace where I can link to it.

This is my response to parents who ask me questions like, "Do you have #43 in the Magic Tree House series?  My kindergartener can't wait for me to read it to her."

Books like Frog and Toad and Mr. Putter and Tabby are written especially for children who are learning to read on their own.  They don't have any significant concept challenges, so readers can focus on decoding and fluency.*  (I call those books junior fiction; most people call them "easy readers" which I think is demeaning to beginning readers who don't find them easy!)  This category also includes abridged versions of classics, Magic Tree House, Nate the Great, Geronimo Stilton, Captain Underpants, Junie B. Jones and nearly all television or movie tie-ins.

As a media specialist, I suggest you save junior fiction for beginning readers to enjoy on their own.  This has a few significant advantages. One is that these books sell themselves, so there's no need to read them aloud to get kids interested in them.  Once they are hooked on a series, young readers will never lack books about familiar, comfortable characters, which encourages them to read more.  Another is that you as the parent will never be stuck reading the forty thousandth Magic Tree House or Rainbow Fairy book aloud.  Let your readers know they will be able to read them alone soon and this may be motivation for them.  Third and most important, when you read aloud more complex chapter books, you have the opportunity to share some great literature (read: fun and interesting, not just "good for them") that your children otherwise would not discover on their own until many years later, if ever.

I enthusiastically recommend Toys Go Out and its sequel as great read-alouds for preschool and up.  I love the Mercy Watson books too, but they qualify as junior fiction to me, so I prefer to recommend them as read-alones instead.  In general, but not always, animal adventure stories are somewhat gentler than those about humans.  Here, in no particular order, are some of my other favorites:

Jenny and the Cat Club by Esther Averill (many books in this series about a cat and her cat friends)
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (3 books - gentle adventure)
All About Sam by Lois Lowry (4 books)
The Magician's Boy by Susan Cooper (for those who love fairy tales)
The Puppy Sister by S.E. Hinton (a dog who wants to be a girl)
Stuart Little and Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (lesser known adventures by author of Charlotte's Web)
Mary on Horseback (historical fiction with some intense moments - less racist than Little House on the Prairie)
The Littles by John Peterson (several in this series, tiny people aka Borrowers except with tails)
Mary Poppins by P.L Travers (nothing like the movie, trust me - much weirder!)
Catwings by Ursula K. Leguin (cats with wings!)
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (many books in series, some out of print)
Bunnicula (many in the series about the thoughtful dog and the vampire rabbit)
anything by Dick King-Smith - mostly animal stories

For those who want something a little sillier, try these -- very little children, however, may not get the jokes.
The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle (about poo!)
Stuart's Cape by Sara Pennypacker (2 books)
The Legend of Spud Murphy by Eoin Colfer
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (and its scary sequel, and really anything by him for kids)
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (3 books)

Finally, please don't stop reading picture books.  Many are written for younger children, but others are much more complex and can bring incredible richness to your children's reading lives well into their middle school years.  If you're looking for something longer than the average picture book, I suggest you try picture book biographies.  Ask your librarian for recommendations.

For more on reading aloud, Jim Trelease is so amazing!!  He just retired from doing workshops on read-alouds, and I think it's a darn shame.  You can hear him here:http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/video_2.html and here: http://www.vimeo.com/2273440



* One caveat is that older books, such as Frog and Toad, may have concepts or words six or seven year old children may not be familiar with.

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-A-Thon! (April 10, 2010)

The Read-A-Thon is coming up in about a month.  They're looking for volunteers if you can help out.

In some ways it's an excellent day, being a Saturday and all, and I don't have any community meetings.  It's the end of my Spring Break.  But I also have a conflict resolution workshop that morning, and that will take a big chunk out of my day.  Oh, well.

My goals include:

• reading at least 20 picture books off my to-read shelf, and writing mini-reviews of them
• reading at least 5 nonfiction books off to-read shelf and writing mini-reviews
• reading at least part of one book for each of my reading challenges
• reading to both my children
• reading at least some of every hour of the day

Do you plan to participate in the Dewey Read-A-Thon this April?  If so, what will you read?  

Whitewashing and Coverjacking

There's been a lot of buzz about the issue of whitewashing YA and children's book covers.  Specifically:

• Liar by Justine Larbaliester: the original cover portrayed a woman with white skin and straight hair, not the African-American character as written in the book.  After much brouhaha, Bloomsbury redid the cover.
• Magic Under Glass, also Bloomsbury: main character has dark skin, but cover has a model with white skin.  Again, cover was redone, but only after ranting and raving from bloggers.  You'd think they'd learn?
• The Mysterious Benedict Society books: Sticky, a character of color, has been presented as white (or even albino) on covers.  Little, Brown has agreed to amend covers, although with a notable lack of apology.
• Summaries about above issues at The Book Smugglers in their Cover Matters feature, 

I like to see covers that accurately represent the people inside.  I get very annoyed if they don't.  I will buy books about characters regardless of their race, but in cases like mysteries, fantasies and SF, I'm more likely to buy a book if it has a person of color on the cover because I think they are so poorly represented in these genre.  

If I used Facebook for things other than private communication, it might matter more that I've joined Readers Against White Washing.  As it is, I'm happy to suggest you do the same.

In a related note, there's been a lot of conversation on child_lit about boys not wanting to read books with girls on the cover, such as Calpurnia Tate or Ella Enchanted.  One of the solutions posted was to remove the cover and sell the book without it.  I've gotten rather uppity about this solution.

Sharon Levin said it very well:

So, really, what we’re saying is that boys are interesting and girls are boring.  We wonder how any boy could be interested in what girls are up to, even though in any good book, the story, conflict, etc. should be interesting enough to be a good read for ANYONE.... As I was ranting on the way home from the airport after the conference  the spousal unit said  “Would any of these people hold up a book about an African-American child and say to a white kid, ‘you wouldn’t like this, it’s about a black kid’?   Well, of course not, that would be racist.  So, why in the world is sexism not only accepted, but reinforced, taught even, by those we hope know better?

I am wishing we lived in a society where we did not have to redirect boys after they see covers with girls on them, knowing we don't have to make that effort with girls and covers with boys on them.  Even more, though, I am wanting a world in which we, as teachers and librarians and parents, explicitly teach our children about racism, sexism and homophobia when we encounter such moments ("Here, read this great book!" "No, it has a girl on it -- I'm a boy, I want to read a boy book."  "Do you know you were being sexist just now?" "What's sexist?" etc.).   I hear people saying they don't do that.  That, frankly, pisses me off.

Booking Through Thursday: Grammar

Booking Through Thursday is a question-of-the-week meme.  This week's question:

In honor of National Grammar Day … it IS “March Fourth” after all … do you have any grammar books? Punctuation? Writing guidelines? Style books?
More importantly, have you read them?
How do you feel about grammar in general? Important? Vital? Unnecessary? Fussy?

I am a stickler for grammar and punctuation in my professional life.  I've never been able to fall into the conventions of online chatting or writing quick emails with no punctuation; even my notes to my husband are meticulously grammatical.  Not that I don't ever make a mistake.  And sometimes I even start sentences with "and."  =)

I do a mini-unit each year with my fourth grade students.  This is usually in cooperation with teaching them the conventions of typing: one space after each punctuation mark, two after each period, etc.  We read some funny books on punctuation, correct a few paragraphs with errors and learn to use a checklist for editing our own work.  Student's work improves dramatically in this experience.

I like to start with Punctuation Takes A Vacation by Robin Pulver.  This humorous story, illustrated with childlike paintings, shows what would happen if punctuation left the classroom.  Students One two page spread has punctuation marks writing postcards back to the students.  Later the punctuation from the classroom next door comes over and messes up their work.  It's funny and useful and the kids love it.

The second book I use is Greedy Apostrophe, which goes more in detail about the mistakes one makes using the apostrophe to create possessives where there are not supposed to be any.  This mistake pervades student work, even those hung in the halls, and I tell them in no uncertain terms that it makes them look bad when they use apostrophes in the wrong place.  We do a short worksheet so they get practice putting the punctuation in the right place.

Another excellent and very funny series of books are the picture books by Lynne Truss, starting with Eats Shoots and Leaves, followed by The Girl's Like Spaghetti and Twenty-Odd Ducks.  These books present a sentence twice, with two different ways to punctuate it, resulting in different meanings.  The funny part is the illustration going with each sentence.  Every fourth grader I know thinks these books are hilarious.

Incidentally, when I read the adult version of her book Eats Shoots and Leaves, I was eating alone in a diner at 7 in the morning, falling all over myself laughing.  If you're a grammar and punctuation fanatic like me, treat yourself to her book sometime.

Review: The Boy on Fairfield Street - Kathleen Krull

The Boy on Fairfield Street

by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Ages 6-10

43 pages

Random House, 2004



Every year we celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday during March (is Reading Month).  I do a week of activities with my students and read them all the Dr. Seuss books they've never heard of.  This is my favorite book to read to the older kids, fourth or fifth grades, who think they know everything about Dr. Seuss.

Krull presents a chronological story of the early life of Theodore Seuss Geisel, focusing on his experiences as a boy in Springfield, Massachusetts.  It includes the happy details, such as Ted's mother reciting lists of nonsense words to help him go to sleep (names of pies!), and not so happy details, such as Ted being bullied by anti-German neighbors.  At the end there are four pages of further information about Geisel's later years, a comprehensive list of books written by Seuss and some suggestions for further reading.

This biography appeals to children of all ages, but I especially like to share it with older children who have had the experience of being punished for dreaming too much.  Ted is presented as a creative but unfocused genius, full of ideas but not a lot of drive.  I think many creative children (myself included) can relate to this state of being.

It is beautifully illustrated with a painting on each two-page spread.  At the bottom of each spread is a character from one of Seuss' books.  I took these icons and made a trivia/word puzzle out of them, appropriate for 3rd grade and up.  (Post a comment with your email address if you'd like a copy.)

Ratings

• Awesomeness: 7 - full of great information about Seuss, and gorgeous to boot.
  
• Wordsmithing: 6 - well written, and only a bit too long for reading aloud in one session.
• Mesmerizitude: 6 - I especially liked all the stuff at the end (back matter?).
  
• Illustrations: 7 - perfectly captured the capricious, creative nature of Geisel as a boy.
  
• Factfulness: 7 - very well done!
  

Other Reviews

• on SMS Book Reviews

SLJ 2010 Battle of the (Kids') Books

The SLJ Battle of the Kids' Books has begun!  Oh, this is bound to be a fun year.  Last year's Battle was a source of much amusement for me.  Don't miss it!