tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17492706160597297662024-03-15T18:12:38.009-07:00Book Chat ThursdayAuthors, Illustrators, Teachers and Librarians Discuss Children's and YA Booksfive nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.comBlogger149125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-77160830436455846482024-02-08T16:16:00.000-08:002024-02-26T16:25:36.338-08:00A WORK IN PROGRESS by Jarrett Lerner and HOT DOG by Doug Salati <p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcaxzE0esxd5oqHnIHzSqIrMZcvy8dWFFVuUnBXYdtM7cZNMen-4g6vNSRJTKPHSJVMxJG05xw49_3UkMiWZJ9u_BesdPseDFp0POODC6-ErUrKUCIt8s3kxqtaF2FYNS3lummkZuktNHl59szNzgslf2XlpFZ88XxFyJNHZyphj-sbBNgizCoaQu0qs/s720/A%20Work%20in%20Progress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="476" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcaxzE0esxd5oqHnIHzSqIrMZcvy8dWFFVuUnBXYdtM7cZNMen-4g6vNSRJTKPHSJVMxJG05xw49_3UkMiWZJ9u_BesdPseDFp0POODC6-ErUrKUCIt8s3kxqtaF2FYNS3lummkZuktNHl59szNzgslf2XlpFZ88XxFyJNHZyphj-sbBNgizCoaQu0qs/w265-h400/A%20Work%20in%20Progress.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />We had a great group
and good discussions at our February meeting. We started with our novel, <b style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">A Work in
Progress</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> by Jarrett Lerner. We all mostly had varying degrees of
'Like' for </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">Will's</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> first-person
account of his agony that started with his first being called "</span><b style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">FAT!</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">" by a bully in fourth grade, and
how it continued to affect him even in middle school where he tried to make
drastic changes in his eating habits in order to 'fit in' and attract and keep
friends. We all remembered the things that had been said to us when we were
quite young that continued to bother us many years later. Initially we were all
a bit daunted by the 362-page heft of this book, but the format of very short
free verse text and many full-page drawings in a facsimile of </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">Will's</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> lined notebook made it a quite
speedy read. We thought it was an important story that dealt with bullying,
body-shaming, eating disorders, and self-acceptance, along with the usual
middle-school angst. We wondered which kids would read it: overweight kids?
kids with overweight friends? parents/teachers of overweight kids? We also
wondered how an adult might comfortably place this book in the hands of a kid
who might really benefit from reading it -- and who also might be able to
learn, through the events in </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">Will's</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> story,
how to best cope with their own situation and begin to accept themselves for
who they really were. We agreed that perhaps presenting it to a whole class
would encourage a variety of young readers to at least pick it up and look at
it -- and perhaps read the whole thing, given its quick-read/multi-illustrated
format. Upon learning more about the author, we were pleased to know that it
was </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">his own</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> story, and not
just some "...oh! I'll write a popular issue book" situation. We were
sure that young readers who started it would definitely want to finish reading
the whole book.</span><p></p><p><span style="background: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF-5d6BOPv48pJUlgdyJp4AV-nYQsKQU9RlMv5Wa19EG1utwBoofHSb2X7X6RiYZwC7of_9qv1BmKTECMMGRBgTEV7cWpuytkp3-RgHMQnixjEB2_nPFf_C91FngplaOvuLtErURa9SHz24ywNPYA7cXp7Lft3m8aH4vJNdbtCWcE1Z3pJwIfZ3EhfTc/s797/Hot%20Dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF-5d6BOPv48pJUlgdyJp4AV-nYQsKQU9RlMv5Wa19EG1utwBoofHSb2X7X6RiYZwC7of_9qv1BmKTECMMGRBgTEV7cWpuytkp3-RgHMQnixjEB2_nPFf_C91FngplaOvuLtErURa9SHz24ywNPYA7cXp7Lft3m8aH4vJNdbtCWcE1Z3pJwIfZ3EhfTc/w361-h400/Hot%20Dog.jpg" width="361" /></a></div><br />We had varying
opinions on our picture book, <b style="outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Hot Dog</i></b> by Doug Salati. One
reader was expecting it to be about <i style="outline: none !important;">actual </i>hot
dogs, and was disappointed that it was merely about a dog in a big city (probably
New York?) who hated the hot summer and the noise and confusion and was
thrilled when his owner, who was tuned into his feelings when he plopped
himself down in the middle of traffic and refused to budge, took him on a
short cruise to a nearby island where he could enjoy the sea breeze, romp on
the beach, and cool off in the water and gather pebble and shell treasures to
take home. We liked the detailed illustrations, which told most of the
story, where the dog himself was portrayed as short, reddish-brown, and yes,
sort of 'hot dog-looking'! One reader was not so thrilled with the scant
text, and felt that had the text alone been sent to a publisher perhaps it may
have not even been published. But we felt it <i style="outline: none !important;">could</i> be
a fun read-aloud, and that anyone -- adult or young child -- who had ever spent
a hot summer in a big, noisy city could empathize with this nameless <i style="outline: none !important;">hot</i> dog and dream of a wonderful day
at the beach.<p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-26438603187491404712023-12-14T16:10:00.000-08:002024-01-02T16:18:58.374-08:00CINNAMON by Neil Gaiman and THOSE KIDS FROM FAWN CREEK by Erin Entrada Kelly<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU6UmH8qEfBoS1bREC1Uw3SqRGpcbCQu7L7JPWVoXKKUPOJDYaBqlREXBR9FX4OAcVkHdqiMJwx0r1ox95n1Uc4V0zaN7t3azegud-l0qM6ZE6lREBZkSkDNfwKpDEQGNAGdVtcXQuanehgecVFpTNAXHPqA5xuSkGPiX-PXZMskZ3dlW7aSDeTPCk-Fk/s640/Cinnamon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="491" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU6UmH8qEfBoS1bREC1Uw3SqRGpcbCQu7L7JPWVoXKKUPOJDYaBqlREXBR9FX4OAcVkHdqiMJwx0r1ox95n1Uc4V0zaN7t3azegud-l0qM6ZE6lREBZkSkDNfwKpDEQGNAGdVtcXQuanehgecVFpTNAXHPqA5xuSkGPiX-PXZMskZ3dlW7aSDeTPCk-Fk/w308-h400/Cinnamon.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br />We all loved Divya
Srinivasan's authentic India-themed illustrations of our picture book, <b style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Cinnamon</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> by
Neil Gaiman. Long ago a Rajah and a Rani had a daughter, princess </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">Cinnamon</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">, who was not only blind, but also
did not talk, and they offered a mango grove, a parrot, and a portrait of the
Rani's aunt, once a raging beauty, to anyone who could teach their daughter to
talk. All failed except for a ferocious tiger, who (amazingly!) </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">could </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">talk, and who taught Cinnamon
about pain, fear, and love. It turned out that Cinnamon never talked because
she had nothing to say, but learning about the world from the tiger made her
want to go away with him "...for a while to further her education."
We all loved that! Some of us loved the writing and the humor in the telling,
others not so much; some felt the story was too dark, others remarked that most
fairy tales have dark elements; some felt it was too simple or too fantastical.
The written and illustrated details that made the story enjoyable are too
numerous to mention here, but worth a look. We did feel it could be a good read
aloud, and could be used with students alongside other traditional tales with
similar motifs.</span><p></p><span style="background: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<br style="outline: none !important;" />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkpIkSezWGoH3ww3XwokHDTunENHdCYbJrB9j_9FfreqSb3C9E_AnEwOKktm_JWWDTeNn0amO8Zp7FUwXWUSNHHgeB4vTiG5HFR3GQbSx9WLAMzNcsLVFCztTWrthuU69atMncF2dYd_i7daMQ_otRq0oxJefJhNEGqwL0bOL3xDT4iobk7DNQKBAPlg/s2048/Those%20Kids%20from%20Fawn%20Creek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1356" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkpIkSezWGoH3ww3XwokHDTunENHdCYbJrB9j_9FfreqSb3C9E_AnEwOKktm_JWWDTeNn0amO8Zp7FUwXWUSNHHgeB4vTiG5HFR3GQbSx9WLAMzNcsLVFCztTWrthuU69atMncF2dYd_i7daMQ_otRq0oxJefJhNEGqwL0bOL3xDT4iobk7DNQKBAPlg/w265-h400/Those%20Kids%20from%20Fawn%20Creek.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>None of us were thrilled with the <i style="outline: none !important;">title</i> of
our novel, <b style="outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Those
Kids from Fawn Creek </i></b>by Erin Entrada Kelly, the story of a strange
newcomer, <i style="outline: none !important;">Orchid</i>, a seemingly
ethereal girl, who arrives to join a very entrenched group of 12 seventh
graders who have been together since kindergarten in Fawn Creek, a tiny
Louisiana town. As <i style="outline: none !important;">Orchid </i>begins
to affect the long-held behaviors of the other kids via her positive attitude,
everything seems to be thrown into turmoil. The story, told from many points of
view, deals with several of the usual issues among kids of this age: cliques,
'mean girls,' crushes, friendship, gender roles, bullying, lying, etc. etc.
etc. Some readers thought the different points of view as the story progressed
were confusing, but others pointed out that the drawings at the beginning (as
if on a yearbook page) made it easier to figure out who each kid was, and why
each of their descriptions/actions/feelings made sense. Some thought that it
would have been good to read <i style="outline: none !important;">Orchid's </i>point
of view also, but that never arose. Some thought it was a psychological study
of kids' thinking/reactions at that age but not so thrilling to read. Others
felt that young readers in the target group would certainly relate, and that it
was a quick read, including moments of suspense, which kids would also like.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break; outline: none !important;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-63169056106459251612023-11-13T14:59:00.000-08:002023-11-13T14:59:06.660-08:00SMART COOKIE by Elly Swartz and THE GARDENER OF ALCATRAZ by Emma Bland Smith <p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSSRAYTq89oiMUlDv2tnHFb22cwGGCaT1byRb0SMwon1y7psjKUopqdnRY8JUSG2FULfCtZdhmAUGi1Yus98KAc0G9HZ-CvLm4CKEKltRgsL_ucMyRYb50eaiu_YDeqdbn88rfZYXPECt4ClxyKXkiYD9WXCd1N1vpaAEmCHbnnnstBT7dBzxBa7nOVY/s640/Smart%20Cookie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSSRAYTq89oiMUlDv2tnHFb22cwGGCaT1byRb0SMwon1y7psjKUopqdnRY8JUSG2FULfCtZdhmAUGi1Yus98KAc0G9HZ-CvLm4CKEKltRgsL_ucMyRYb50eaiu_YDeqdbn88rfZYXPECt4ClxyKXkiYD9WXCd1N1vpaAEmCHbnnnstBT7dBzxBa7nOVY/w264-h400/Smart%20Cookie.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br />We began our November discussion with our novel, <i style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;"><b style="outline: none !important;">Smart Cookie</b> </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by Elly Swartz. We had several issues with this book. Although we thought that the major plot point, Frankie's efforts to find a mate for her dad online after her mom's death in a thunderstorm, was a good idea, but it lacked depth. We felt that there was just too much other stuff happening -- ghosts, friendship problems, hoarding, rules, secrets, and more that got in the way of the plot and were never properly developed or resolved. We liked the relationship between Frankie and her best friend Elliot and between Frankie and her dad and grandma, but since there was so much other 'mini-plot stuff' to think about none of us really </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;">felt </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">anything as the story proceeded. We did agree that young readers of the target age group (8-12) would probably like the book, and anything that keeps a kid reading is good.</span><p></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEickk65edamcQbXn9nQMIXSpdK7p9lC9eYMMaX9cilsGoEStuTp3dcideWw6vumSSKOw9fGTjLLswCVQ4TpHWfLEN-TFKRhYFKZeuygagp5S3b40mx9hyphenhyphennnb_7YHYlNssLVCQShJhT9SyQQgearM4XyK508EO83YZ9iTiqXzqbUaxCab8k0GvBwVjjSd3s/s513/Gardener%20of%20Alcatraz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="513" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEickk65edamcQbXn9nQMIXSpdK7p9lC9eYMMaX9cilsGoEStuTp3dcideWw6vumSSKOw9fGTjLLswCVQ4TpHWfLEN-TFKRhYFKZeuygagp5S3b40mx9hyphenhyphennnb_7YHYlNssLVCQShJhT9SyQQgearM4XyK508EO83YZ9iTiqXzqbUaxCab8k0GvBwVjjSd3s/w400-h313/Gardener%20of%20Alcatraz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />We liked both the great opening and the tone of the writing of our picture book, </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">The Gardener of Alcatraz </i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by Emma Bland Smith, which told an easily accessible story of Elliott Michener, a convicted counterfeiter, who had been transported from Folsom Prison to Alcatraz, decided to be a 'good guy', and ultimately redeemed himself by tending the Alcatraz garden outside of the prison walls. We thought the engaging story showing that people can change would be good for young readers as they read about Elliott's passion and pride as he learned more about gardening and gained skill. We thought Jenn Ely's illustrations were well done in terms of showing facial expressions, changes in perspective, and the way that color crept into the garden that developed in a previously barren place. We agreed that the back matter, for those who would read it, was helpful in presenting further details about Elliot's life and encarceration, the Alcatraz garden, background on (usually un- or poorly-paid) prison labor, treatment of nonwhite prisoners, and other social issues. We thought the book might be especially relatable for students who had incarcerated parents or relatives, and could present some hope of redemption and transformation through the idea that one is not 'just a prisoner.'</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;" />five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-9204393811203302062023-09-21T20:19:00.001-07:002023-09-28T20:26:54.418-07:00ATTACK OF THE BLACK RECTANGLES by A.S. King and NANO: THE SPECTACULAR SCIENCE OF THE VERY (VERY) SMALL by Jess Wade<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57V_d2aZ4c5KEn6tNN1T-tkwDRm18PWyQFoxWl56ID4nY1BOOH79h08BuWmSpvLeySBzub9iQfNjaBFuGQbgdk-j-DYyrdBlEwQicbECZ4FQDymkVHAU4TAYBMcibZzOViFMrXoaunabWqHZ_HpzecmaDB7lhHK-TdUY4bdGCdjs7_P5eMUKqkv6-CQk/s400/Attack%20of%20the%20Black%20Rectangles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57V_d2aZ4c5KEn6tNN1T-tkwDRm18PWyQFoxWl56ID4nY1BOOH79h08BuWmSpvLeySBzub9iQfNjaBFuGQbgdk-j-DYyrdBlEwQicbECZ4FQDymkVHAU4TAYBMcibZzOViFMrXoaunabWqHZ_HpzecmaDB7lhHK-TdUY4bdGCdjs7_P5eMUKqkv6-CQk/w265-h400/Attack%20of%20the%20Black%20Rectangles.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />We started with the
discussion of our novel, <b style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Attack of the Black Rectangles</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> by
A.S. King. There were things about this book that we all liked: the fact that
it dealt with reading, honesty, and current issues of censorship that are part
of the general conversation (sadly/still!) in today's society. But most of us
felt that much of the characters' 'dialog' regarding not only the fact that
words had been redacted (by their teacher, Ms. Sett!) from </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">The Devil's Arithmetic </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">by Jane Yolen,
but also long discourses re: women's rights, treatment of Native peoples by
Columbus, Anglicizing a Vietnamese student's name, and other present-day issues
turned 6th-grader Mac and his friends into didactic mouthpieces for the points
the author wanted to make in this story. We liked the fact that Mac had been
exposed to many well-known and excellent examples of children's literature, and
we hoped that young readers, upon seeing those titles in this book might want
to read the books mentioned. We liked the idea that Mac was encouraged to speak
his mind by his mom and his grandpa, and we saw his growth as he and his
friends excited the whole community of his small town and brought them on board
to protest this act of censorship in front of the school board. We were
somewhat puzzled by the additional storyline of Mac's dad: an impulsive, angry,
and somewhat dishonest man who was obviously in the throes of some mental
illness issues. Mac just wanted to know the truth about his dad, which was
being kept from him and prevented him from feeling whole. But -- though the
issue of honesty was emphasized throughout this book -- a couple of us felt
that the story itself was somewhat </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; outline: none !important;">dishonest </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">in
the way it ended, where the kids won, Ms. Sett promised to not redact any more
books, and everyone lived happily ever after. In today's real world it
unfortunately wouldn't happen that easily. We did like the emphasis on keeping
an open mind and reacting with grace in uncomfortable situations which Mac
consciously always tried to do. We felt that young readers would probably like
this story of family, friendship, first crush, and frankness.</span><p></p><span style="background: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<br style="outline: none !important;" />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWXIN-IqM0xMuertWwoGPzRb-DqutWGe23BeFX_ZO9CwpYbdu9dVcBs7iQRyl3HBVYkrpZ3sgwtiO7csh7iK4ZjblmhApnIk8f1b9jS9gS_NBV1vdRLeov2ISspXSHGB_b4gioykA5TD0NmTws6EE9Pgj_J-Zm-IO5fb3GMldQ6KOIGLt3DEE4lJezPM/s400/Nono.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="298" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaWXIN-IqM0xMuertWwoGPzRb-DqutWGe23BeFX_ZO9CwpYbdu9dVcBs7iQRyl3HBVYkrpZ3sgwtiO7csh7iK4ZjblmhApnIk8f1b9jS9gS_NBV1vdRLeov2ISspXSHGB_b4gioykA5TD0NmTws6EE9Pgj_J-Zm-IO5fb3GMldQ6KOIGLt3DEE4lJezPM/w298-h400/Nono.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><br />We had mixed feelings on our picture book, <b style="outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Nano: the Spectacular Science of the Very
(Very) Small </i></b>by Jess Wade. We thought this simplified explanation
of the very complicated science of nanotechnology was basically well-done. We
liked how it started in an almost poetic way with the very fundamental
knowledge that youngsters have about what makes up our world. Some of us felt
that when it got into more scientifically detailed explanation the text became
less fun to read and seemed more like a very dryly written textbook. Most (but
not all) of us thought the strangely colored illustrations were terrific, and
we all liked the fact that a little girl was shown on each page exploring
whatever the text was attempting to explain. We thought this was especially
encouraging for young female readers who were interested in science. We liked
the pages at the end that contained even more detailed explanations of
nanomaterials and a brief index. We felt that most young readers would probably
not pick up this book on their own, but that an adult might alert them to it
and that they might enjoy it. We also felt that it was a basic introduction to
nanoscience that would be valuable for middle-schoolers and even those in high
school.</span><b style="outline: none !important;"><u style="outline: none !important;"><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break; outline: none !important;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></u></b>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-66407828994488863702023-08-17T08:42:00.014-07:002023-08-26T09:20:46.258-07:00THE BEATRYCE PROPHECY by Kate DiCamillo and THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU: All About Your DNA by Rajani LaRocca<span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: medium; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTk2tt05mxSQq7d9XUXlNsQwZPlsoU9Ytyf9y7f6Q1S4qMFR5NpXwZaldxfDy0wH-uC1XYO9nerm4Wo6-2GK_WmE0RGzhm_LYPhI9MbMyI8a3k7qSOIa4js_hD-dF6ha8_Xw6PHjF3E28Amh6SaEcsnreUJyHj2iZZqA3A7kjTxM7LDIO427a2xm9klo/s450/Beatryce%20Prophecy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="325" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTk2tt05mxSQq7d9XUXlNsQwZPlsoU9Ytyf9y7f6Q1S4qMFR5NpXwZaldxfDy0wH-uC1XYO9nerm4Wo6-2GK_WmE0RGzhm_LYPhI9MbMyI8a3k7qSOIa4js_hD-dF6ha8_Xw6PHjF3E28Amh6SaEcsnreUJyHj2iZZqA3A7kjTxM7LDIO427a2xm9klo/w289-h400/Beatryce%20Prophecy.jpg" width="289" /></a></div><br />At our August meeting we began with our novel, <b style="outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">T</i></b><i style="outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;">he Beatryce Prophecy</b></i> by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Most of us had varying degrees of love for this book for a variety of reasons. We all appreciated the seemingly very simple, but actually very deeply thought out text, which at times felt like a fairy tale and at other times felt even biblical. We appreciated DiCamillo's amazing storytelling skill, and w</span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: medium; outline: none;">e also felt that the black/grey illustrations done with "real and digital pencils" were entirely appropriate.</span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: medium; outline: none;"> We were enamored by Beatryce, who, during the medieval times in which she lived, was destined, according to an ancient prophecy, to become king. Beginning when she is found in a pen with a goat, Answelica, <i style="outline: none;">and</i> with amnesia, the story goes on to explore her quest to find out who she really is, and to find out what her place is in the world. There are so many details that become evident as the story proceeds -- too many to mention here -- but the main one is that she knows how to read and write, which is prohibited for girls in the time she is living. With the help of a monk, Brother Edik; a boy, Jack Dory; an ex-king, Cannoc; and the goat, Beatryce's perseverance leads her through many hairy adventures en route to the palace. We loved the way that the story developed as we learned the reasons that each character joined her quest; we loved the suspense, and the final resolution, which made a reader feel the power of love as well as the power of story and the importance of reading. One reader was less enamored of the book, and although she did like the story and the writing, she felt it might be a bit too didactic as far as Beatryce's strength as a female and the importance of reading were concerned. We all felt that young readers would become fully engaged in this book from the very beginning, and that since it is a relatively easy read (and not too long) they would stick with it until the end -- where they could not help but to feel -- something!<br style="outline: none;" /><br style="outline: none;" /></span><p><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PHYn0rOLeqU3FDyd1KyTK_vASaRBy0yjb0ATS3JAyBOO7ebzPCbINJiELKYieSFkPbpKI_GBWWZM3-Fh-u9SMbV8ZV96ln_1UoT2tfPLiMUWBUeB7Hm59YJCiQPc8D3l-qR9e5p7Lc4JvaI6SL7AmMF68cXcqkoNnqwcBIYz_yvxiRI54KI9TLAghA8/s328/Secret%20Code%20Inside%20You.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PHYn0rOLeqU3FDyd1KyTK_vASaRBy0yjb0ATS3JAyBOO7ebzPCbINJiELKYieSFkPbpKI_GBWWZM3-Fh-u9SMbV8ZV96ln_1UoT2tfPLiMUWBUeB7Hm59YJCiQPc8D3l-qR9e5p7Lc4JvaI6SL7AmMF68cXcqkoNnqwcBIYz_yvxiRI54KI9TLAghA8/w318-h400/Secret%20Code%20Inside%20You.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">We decided to read<span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"> </span><b style="color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">The Secret Code Inside of You: All About Your DNA</i></b><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"> </span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;">by Rajani LaRocca and illustrated by Steven Salerno because we had loved her writing in</span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"> </span><i style="color: #1d2228; outline: none;">Red, White, and Whole</i><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;">, which we discussed in July. We wanted to see what she would do with a nonfiction picture book for younger readers. We had varying opinions on this book whose role was to simplify the very complicated subject of cells, DNA, chromosomes, genes, and how they all create specific characteristics in humans and animals. Some of us liked the rhyming couplets that comprised the text throughout the book, others thought they were terrible, and that the introductory part of the book -- before getting into the actual science -- was too long. We all basically liked the illustrations, which were quite colorful, and</span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"> </span><i style="color: #1d2228; outline: none;">did </i><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;">show what the text talked about -- like the cell and the double helix of the DNA. One reader felt that this book was terrible -- that it wasn't totally scientifically correct, and that it was poorly written. But most of us felt that kids could definitely learn from it but probably would be unlikely to just pull it from a library shelf. However, if a teacher or parent read it to them and showed them the pictures they might want to read it again themselves, and might even want to read more books about this topic. We did feel that the back matter of the book was helpful, but probably for adults -- since young kids rarely read it.</span> </span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-18459508477652711212023-07-13T09:19:00.012-07:002023-07-18T09:37:19.384-07:00MY LITTLE SISTER AND ME by Maple Lam and RED, WHITE AND WHOLE by Rajani LaRocca<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjylXtavfK-S4CT5KIiq6kDaQ3PKqjdWV2YyRUj7XJuk9ujiqID3_ePVYRAWeLBMnb56CEMh9xkcCttr4GAUJlhMm0BgCxlcywpdFDry2MnF9vLMQ88yrfUrYZNA3XjUS7J5_nbpzulz5uJlaziT8xuCNecNVqKveua5qJr-mKwaANBy40dQRCXHexJB0/s466/My%20Little%20Sister%20and%20Me.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="398" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjylXtavfK-S4CT5KIiq6kDaQ3PKqjdWV2YyRUj7XJuk9ujiqID3_ePVYRAWeLBMnb56CEMh9xkcCttr4GAUJlhMm0BgCxlcywpdFDry2MnF9vLMQ88yrfUrYZNA3XjUS7J5_nbpzulz5uJlaziT8xuCNecNVqKveua5qJr-mKwaANBy40dQRCXHexJB0/w341-h400/My%20Little%20Sister%20and%20Me.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><br />We started our June
discussion with our picture book, <b style="outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">My Little Sister and Me</i></b> written
and illustrated by Maple Lam. We all agreed that this was a very nice, although
slight, little story depicting a 'big' brother taking care of his little sister
as he walked her home from her school bus stop for the very first time. We were
a bit confused as to why the brother wasn't on the same bus as his sister, but
figured maybe they went to different schools. We thought this story might feel
somewhat dated since -- even though published in 2016 -- the idea of two little
kids walking alone for several blocks sadly seemed unheard of in today's world,
and we weren't sure if today's little ones would relate. We liked the
relationship between the two as the brother tried to protect his little sister
on the way and encouraged her to keep heading home when she dawdled along the
way, picked up assorted 'stuff', missed her teddy bear, or needed the bathroom.
We also liked the way they both bragged about being 'brave' through a twig duel
and a thunderstorm, and we liked the heartwarming illustrated note she created
for him when they finally got home extolling his caring and bravery.
We all felt that the illustrations aided nicely in carrying the story along,
although some thought that the brother should have been drawn as being a little
bigger than his sister instead of practically the same size. We felt this book might
be good as a read-aloud at bedtime or in a pre-K/Kindergarten class, and could
certainly engage kids in comparisons between their own lives and those of the
characters.<br style="outline: none;" />
<br style="outline: none;" /><o:p></o:p><p></p><p><span face="Helvetica, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsx-4V653TlhZFD43loI5404F5PotJQRlpxw3P89lpUtauOxDVAha4u4zhDRpyXRnLmj3HHb6JEJaPr0HXpzdcLOSyGhwazxrke-Z4ZQAn1jQvQq1vKZzH_HPkIn529EYeQ61hwXqdzXOCVQ_ED_fq3eyqgZ78YmpmRMuDE3srfj18A1LvzZYm1HRMDo/s1500/Red%20white%20and%20whole.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="993" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsx-4V653TlhZFD43loI5404F5PotJQRlpxw3P89lpUtauOxDVAha4u4zhDRpyXRnLmj3HHb6JEJaPr0HXpzdcLOSyGhwazxrke-Z4ZQAn1jQvQq1vKZzH_HPkIn529EYeQ61hwXqdzXOCVQ_ED_fq3eyqgZ78YmpmRMuDE3srfj18A1LvzZYm1HRMDo/w265-h400/Red%20white%20and%20whole.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />We were unanimous in our fondness for our novel,<b style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;"> Red, White and Whole</i></b><span face="Helvetica, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"> by
Rajani LaRocca. We loved the voice of 13-year-old Reha, who is trying to
reconcile her two lives -- one as a member of the close-knit Indian community
with all of its customs, expectations, foods, and relationships, and the other
as an American kid concerned with MTV, hair, clothing, giggling with friends
about boys, etc., -- the usual middle school angst. She feels a great love for
her mom, her Amma, although their actual communication (in words) is limited to
expressions regarding expectations of how she should behave. We loved how her
story is developed in short, flowing, somewhat poetic entries. None of us like
the term "novel in verse" but this is how this book is categorized.
We loved her voice and the way we really got to know and care about Reha as she
explains her life, her activities, her wishes and dreams, her trials and
tribulations, and her coping with Amma's becoming ill, needing chemotherapy, a
bone marrow transplant, and finally (sadly) dying. We truly loved how the
themes of Reha's story were all tied together at the end when she receives a
hand-written letter from her mom that someone mailed exactly one month after
her death. Reading the letter causes Reha to understand that her mother really </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; outline: none;">did </i><span face="Helvetica, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;">'know' her and that she really
leads just </span><i style="color: #1d2228; font-family: Helvetica, "sans-serif"; outline: none;">one</i><span face="Helvetica, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"> life, where
everything is intertwined, and that the memories of her mom are always around. [This
book requires Kleenex.] We felt this book was so accessible to young readers
with its spare writing, vivid descriptions, heartfelt tone, real emotion, and
universal tropes related to parents, friends, family, school, community, hopes,
dreams, and love. A definite plus all the way around. We were so taken with
LaRocca's writing that we decided to read her nonfiction picture book about DNA
(she is a doctor in real life) for our next meeting.</span> <p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-57713905912121592022023-06-15T20:48:00.003-07:002023-06-15T20:50:31.708-07:00ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME, MARGARET by Judy Blume and EARTH! MY FIRST 4.54 BILLION YEARS by Stacy McAnulty<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzID5q9zlEQh9goviwClSiAQeCqY0PpPO_SETqtuvHb_qVCDBKVQocoIbkjU2iIcG2V66ck2UcXl-uRQVz5l6t0khkzQmiRHY5aa7Ah2GPpqxsXsuDixbYh6rfVO0JCbej5yk_Msox36nLgg9uK3-tcfSTzgzwapM-89YaufLKKbmgFQKhoyKxAczh/s475/Are%20You%20There%20God.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzID5q9zlEQh9goviwClSiAQeCqY0PpPO_SETqtuvHb_qVCDBKVQocoIbkjU2iIcG2V66ck2UcXl-uRQVz5l6t0khkzQmiRHY5aa7Ah2GPpqxsXsuDixbYh6rfVO0JCbej5yk_Msox36nLgg9uK3-tcfSTzgzwapM-89YaufLKKbmgFQKhoyKxAczh/w265-h400/Are%20You%20There%20God.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once again at our June meeting we were unanimous
in our opinions on both of our books. We began with our novel, <b><i>Are You
There God: It's Me, Margaret </i></b>by Judy Blume. We had decided to read (or
re-read!) this book because of the recent release of the movie and to see if it
would still hold up today. It did! Even the granddaughter of one of our members
agreed! We all marveled at its simplicity as 1/2 Jewish, 11-year-old Margaret
experienced pre-teen angst related to what -- to her -- were the most important
things in her life: 1) whether her bust would ever grow, 2) when she would ever
start her period; and 3) how she could figure out what religion she was. We
agreed that her voice was very real as she talked to God, and that her
descriptions of her interactions with new friends after moving from NY to NJ,
her parents, and especially her Jewish grandma were authentic...along with the
descriptions of a party, the various boys in her class...from cutest to -- not
so much -- and her quest to find religion by attending services at a temple and
at other churches. We thought the book also had some quite subtle points
related to the adults in the story, which were great to read, even tho' we felt
most young readers would probably miss them. We loved the special relationship
she had with her grandma, and understood her sorrow when Grandma moved from New
York to Florida. We were a group of seven definitely 'grown-up' women, and this
book caused us to have one of the most personal discussions we've had -- about
'girl stuff' -- and how we each -- at Margaret's age -- or a bit older --
reacted to the changes that were happening (or not!) in our bodies and in our
lives. We remarked that this is the joy and the strength of a terrific book:
the way it provides room for personal reflection and can even garner great
conversations. We thought that young readers of today could certainly relate to
Margaret's story and we hoped it could get them sharing their own stories with
each other also.</span><br />
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<!--[endif]--></span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4n_92D_3hTGd5ayB-HJmmYgRPmPFDN8zsB2txI5aRWpCBhXKeWEr71FnjbfU2kqWVNb1h2LaFrhg2yo2M542t02-Xpw1QHHeENsZp0BfDTPfuQwyubfq73o7WFGpBIhstP0cXxhwiGlsW_m0Lbgab_8e_NDxSzsAb60lKtg-nMyXOogewqTmOMTa/s400/Earth.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="399" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4n_92D_3hTGd5ayB-HJmmYgRPmPFDN8zsB2txI5aRWpCBhXKeWEr71FnjbfU2kqWVNb1h2LaFrhg2yo2M542t02-Xpw1QHHeENsZp0BfDTPfuQwyubfq73o7WFGpBIhstP0cXxhwiGlsW_m0Lbgab_8e_NDxSzsAb60lKtg-nMyXOogewqTmOMTa/w399-h400/Earth.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">We adored <b><i>Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years </i></b>by
Stacy McAnulty, illustrated by David Litchfield. We thought that the
simple language that conveyed the story of Earth and its development and
place in the cosmos was so accessible to young children -- either as a
read-aloud, or if read independently. Although most of us loved the
illustrations, and the personification of Earth as a talking 'being'
with a face, teeth, arms, etc., one reader thought those illustrations
were a bit garish and creepy, although she loved the text along with the
rest of us. We were pleased with the ending, showing a variety of the Earth's people carrying a large banner that read, "WE LOVE YOU, EARTH,"
and we hoped that young readers/listeners would get the message about
how important it is to 'be nice' to our home planet. We felt that the
double-page spread of Back Matter which included specific facts related
to the <i>Continents</i>, the <i>Location of Earth</i>, and <i>Life on Eart</i>h, along with a list of <i>Sources</i>
could be especially helpful for classroom use at many different grade
levels, and could be a kickoff for further study and research on the
part of students.</span><br /></span>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-77399190917393487362023-04-27T09:11:00.014-07:002023-05-03T09:20:11.126-07:00COUGAR CROSSING by Meeg Pincus and GREENGLASS HOUSE by Kate Milford<p><span style="background: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAihhHb7j1iRoO1lIXPVmljXYfCNWPCBfTTYDbP04nZCdqH71GewhItFIHDnqkBlA0qOCKuFaP7767_AyeXpZ3Mih_ECG-9qExOUhGXY85z-J6k21Rk66eGL4bVBDlczCiJUN9xQvO6dYkarugOCgA5QEnqoS9v3PcgLqesNwRjveOACZdyr9BFkb/s475/Greenglass%20House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAihhHb7j1iRoO1lIXPVmljXYfCNWPCBfTTYDbP04nZCdqH71GewhItFIHDnqkBlA0qOCKuFaP7767_AyeXpZ3Mih_ECG-9qExOUhGXY85z-J6k21Rk66eGL4bVBDlczCiJUN9xQvO6dYkarugOCgA5QEnqoS9v3PcgLqesNwRjveOACZdyr9BFkb/w265-h400/Greenglass%20House.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />Once again we were
unanimous in our reactions to both of our books. Usually we begin with our
picture book, but this time we decided to start with the novel, <b style="outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Greenglass House </i></b>by Kate Milford, because we wanted to get it out of the way <i style="outline: none !important;">because</i> -- well -- here are some of the comments: didn't finish
it; too much effort/no payoff; didn't hold the reader's attention; too slow;
chapters were too long; too convoluted; too complicated; couldn't figure out
when/where the story happened; disengaged parents; main character, Milo, not
compelling; secondary character, Meddy, not nice/too bossy; plot had too many
names/stories to remember; and I could go on, but I won't. A couple of readers <i style="outline: none !important;">did</i> finish it, and -- on the positive side, liked the
natural setting, the vocabulary used in the description of the windows of the
house -- varying shades of blue and green, and the fact that Milo, who was
adopted, was Chinese, unlike his adoptive parents (although it took ages to get
into his actual adoption story.) We did feel that some kids <i style="outline: none !important;">might </i>like the role-playing that Meddy & Milo got into, and
other aspects of the mystery, but as a whole we were far from giving it a
thumbs up.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none !important; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWAG30hLnHs_7M0sDk84VeTui9Nxl8VxasgdT8ut4tdIy-dqrjU_TQ7aEsS7tdMkKWh3iX_2O2QBAtp7xzwcNKjg9qXP4oPmMY2b9KxFmjA4IcAyKYgYESaO5U5frbOiTLbYzEuIiXbR5hztZPK5vFKRgUZMyZvRg04GE_BEEPtn0D11bnfHuys__/s1621/Cougar%20Crossing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1621" data-original-width="1399" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWAG30hLnHs_7M0sDk84VeTui9Nxl8VxasgdT8ut4tdIy-dqrjU_TQ7aEsS7tdMkKWh3iX_2O2QBAtp7xzwcNKjg9qXP4oPmMY2b9KxFmjA4IcAyKYgYESaO5U5frbOiTLbYzEuIiXbR5hztZPK5vFKRgUZMyZvRg04GE_BEEPtn0D11bnfHuys__/w345-h400/Cougar%20Crossing.jpg" width="345" /></a></div><br />We unanimously gave a HUGE thumbs up to our
gorgeous picture book,<b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none !important; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="outline: none !important;"> Cougar Crossing </i></b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">by Meeg Pincus, illustrated by Alexander Vidal. We loved the
way it described the life of </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none !important; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">P-22</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">, a local Los Angeles puma who had been born in the Santa
Monica Mountains in 2009, and was ultimately tagged in 2012 by the National
Park Service (NPS) in Griffith Park, miles away in the middle of northeast L.A.
It appeared that he had crossed two freeways in order to make his home in the
park, and this set off a huge fundraising campaign to create a wildlife
crossing over a major southern California freeway. We loved the way his story
was told through clear, simple text and beautiful, earth-colored (rusts,
browns, blues, greens & black) collages, and further embellished on many
pages with framed circular sidebars which showed a cartoon-style conversation
between Miguel from the Natural History Museum and Jeff from the NPS that
created a running commentary about what was happening. We thought it was a
fantastic book with a fantastic story about a fantastic animal, and how his
life made the wildlife crossing, which will be completed in 2025, a reality. We
felt it gave a good description of how wildlife fares in a big city, and we
thought young readers could learn a lot about how people and animals can co-exist.
We especiall liked the Back Matter which contained a timeline of </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none !important; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">P-22's</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> life, facts about pumas/cougars, suggestions for
further research, and a great double-page spread of </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none !important; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Wildlife of Southern California</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. A couple of readers questioned whether kids/teachers
outside of So. Calif. would be interested in this story, but we determined that
it could serve as a model for people in other areas to explore what animals
might be living in </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none !important; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">their</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> own surroundings, and what might be done to
make their lives better. Sadly, </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; outline: none !important; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">P-22</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> died in December 2022, but many more animals of his
'tribe' will be helped by the wildlife crossing. We were glad to end our
meeting with this book that we all loved.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-67654736030899934652023-03-30T15:56:00.014-07:002023-04-05T16:05:47.812-07:00JUST TRY ONE BITE by Adam Mansbach and MR. PUTTER AND TABBY STIR THE SOUP by Cynthia Rylant<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYvtNyqs5sw71wqhsYDGCqPRhptmYbBWRi_gFBT_gi2_eDdyGBFRbIBhw_oCHUe8oKF0JcZ8s9O53Zolbr9BQX952qNk8qySXXxuYQOj5JqbrPKkzh8Om4xxKky6izUDqRm7g9tR4JerDRVUcF_pQb8FkeArWT21i5H9qGO_MOnytW0nlld0QLLlD/s400/Just%20Try%20One%20Bite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="311" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYvtNyqs5sw71wqhsYDGCqPRhptmYbBWRi_gFBT_gi2_eDdyGBFRbIBhw_oCHUe8oKF0JcZ8s9O53Zolbr9BQX952qNk8qySXXxuYQOj5JqbrPKkzh8Om4xxKky6izUDqRm7g9tR4JerDRVUcF_pQb8FkeArWT21i5H9qGO_MOnytW0nlld0QLLlD/w311-h400/Just%20Try%20One%20Bite.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">We began with our picture book</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">, </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Just Try One Bite </i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by Adam Mansbach, illus. by Mike Boldt. We all mostly liked the premise of the role reversal between two parents and their young kids who tried to convince them to cut down on 'junk food' and eat more healthily. BUT -- we felt that this book missed the boat since it was quite 'one-note' with no real arc of a story and a basic lack of imagination. We felt that the attempt at rhyming text was awkward and often fell short. We also thought it was too long, sometimes too preachy, and some thought it was irritating and outlandish. We did like the illustrations with their realistic depictions of the 'bad' and 'good' foods, also shown, respectively, in the front and rear endpapers. We liked the premise of showing kids good eating habits and we felt that some kids </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;">might</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> enjoy reading this, but we hoped that maybe another author/illustrator would present this idea in a better way at some time in the future.</span><p></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8rAMvG6UClGgSfUqT_Nil0lQhY1e_1WEcRa71a0w5i9sleSkpUtWtsYeXWF6Hy47YiAQfSMSWXNj2rNkakwSQiFq2LVNd1j4d6_v-TN9PUYRZtMzguBzLp-rXgMw9pxb5fcIJERvLQ4jY1KXZr7D4yYb8UTQBlrvoj6qQs4W2b-fK9CNW-PxvJP3/s445/Mr%20Putter%20and%20Tabby%20Stir%20the%20Soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt8rAMvG6UClGgSfUqT_Nil0lQhY1e_1WEcRa71a0w5i9sleSkpUtWtsYeXWF6Hy47YiAQfSMSWXNj2rNkakwSQiFq2LVNd1j4d6_v-TN9PUYRZtMzguBzLp-rXgMw9pxb5fcIJERvLQ4jY1KXZr7D4yYb8UTQBlrvoj6qQs4W2b-fK9CNW-PxvJP3/w286-h400/Mr%20Putter%20and%20Tabby%20Stir%20the%20Soup.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br />For our 'novel', </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; outline: none !important;"><i style="outline: none !important;">Mr. Putter & Tabby Stir the Soup</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> by Cynthia Rylant, illus. by Arthur Howard we were unanimous in an outpouring of love! Some of the adjectives mentioned by more than one reader were: wonderful, welcoming, sweet, gentle, and tender. We thought this very short chapter book had everything a good book should have: 1) a great beginning; 2) emotion -- shown in the text and the fantastic illustrations; 3) repetition used to good advantage, 4) suspense & cliffhangers; 5) a good, believable story line, 6) humor; and 7) warm relationships between the characters. We thought it would be perfect for new 1st or 2nd grade readers, who could guess unknown words via context and/or illustrations, and would feel a great sense of accomplishment after finishing the 5 chapters. One reader called it, "...the kind of book I love"...'nuff said.</span>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-13249501933151508322023-02-23T15:37:00.014-08:002023-02-28T15:47:31.842-08:00CURVE AND FLOW: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams by Andrea J. Loney and CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPVphDzABo6epSwFvs2jYo4yo8ejVkTHJDuDJcX4NuGD62389wj3pykkh2XSHZ-9joAR6KLkOkOL5bX-RFPDuIgFEiKhxwfJz05ng3XlkDCBI6PATDx1E0uJX-s-_NkVs00b_hUjisI_4IzyuVi4GELfancFrgSU9zBhUbYh5rPunyifLqYACURnL/s400/Curve%20and%20Flow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPVphDzABo6epSwFvs2jYo4yo8ejVkTHJDuDJcX4NuGD62389wj3pykkh2XSHZ-9joAR6KLkOkOL5bX-RFPDuIgFEiKhxwfJz05ng3XlkDCBI6PATDx1E0uJX-s-_NkVs00b_hUjisI_4IzyuVi4GELfancFrgSU9zBhUbYh5rPunyifLqYACURnL/w400-h400/Curve%20and%20Flow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />We began our discussion with our picture book, <b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Curve & Flow: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams </i></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by Andrea J. Loney. We all agreed that the digitally created illustrations by Keith Mallett were stunning and elegant, and that it was a very good pairing of artist and author. We felt that the issue of race, as African-American architect Paul Williams was confronted with many challenges -- 'walls' of discrimination that he had to conquer -- was treated with grace and delicacy, while clearly providing the necessary message to readers. We mostly liked the exposition and language of the text, except for a couple of readers who felt that the use of "But" at the beginning of several sentences was excessive. We also questioned the title "</span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Curve & Flow</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">," which was also repeated extensively as Williams' story was told, since -- other than the iconic </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Theme Building</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> at Los Angeles International Airport, which IS 'curvy' and 'flowy' -- the majority of Williams other architectural creations are quite linear. We thought this might be misleading for young readers. We thought it was a definite plus that this book covered Williams' </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">entire </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">life, which is very rare for even a 44-page picture book bio, since his early life with a loving family who adopted him after both parents died from lung-related illnesses was as important to who he became as were his later degrees and experiences. We wholeheartedly approved of the excellent Back Matter, which included an author's note, an extensive timeline, a list of sources, and photos of several Williams buildings. We all agreed that it was important that this book about a </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Los Angeles </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">notable (for a change!) is out in the world, and that it would be a great read for </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">all</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> kids -- probably 3rd grade and above -- a definite inspiration for young Black readers, as well as an excellent example for all of persevering one's dream.</span><p></p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCqTFeF-RLKsuIGi1yE2yKsDtJ-LJc_yqxdAmrieyCPR-0cRoiXoQl-phmE7A9_R_ogbJE1DSnA2xgBxhhNlJ3vMtsPZ4eUszdc3LozG8aw34D4F-OsIyJ-nRyl-P1UQ0yg6udCM4GIKPh1K97xFc4bEv6xAU4bXbGqENEm4KbyaEIKer-blxI6P6/s350/Clementine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="248" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCqTFeF-RLKsuIGi1yE2yKsDtJ-LJc_yqxdAmrieyCPR-0cRoiXoQl-phmE7A9_R_ogbJE1DSnA2xgBxhhNlJ3vMtsPZ4eUszdc3LozG8aw34D4F-OsIyJ-nRyl-P1UQ0yg6udCM4GIKPh1K97xFc4bEv6xAU4bXbGqENEm4KbyaEIKer-blxI6P6/w284-h400/Clementine.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br />We had a great discussion about humor after reading our novel, </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Clementine</b></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee. All but one of us loved it for a variety of reasons, but one reader -- not so much. She thought it was thin, boring, lacked richness, somewhat colloquial, and not so funny. She felt that although it would probably serve to get kids into reading 'longer' books, she preferred books with role models who weren't always getting into trouble through their actions. Others of us loved the book entirely. We thought it was a well-edited, heartwarming, reassuring, tightly written book without a wasted word, and that Marla Frazee's lively black ink drawings worked perfectly with the text. We thought the vivid details of </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Clementine's</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> narrative of her 8-year-old daily life were entertaining, and several of us were reminded of female heroines from books of earlier times like </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eloise </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">and </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ramona Quimby</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. We loved the way </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Clementine's</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> arty, energetic parents honored her 'out-of-the-box' way of looking at the world, as they surrounded her with love. We came to the conclusion that each reader has a different conception of what is actually funny; it can depend on age, culture, life experiences, and view of the world. We felt that Pennypacker really knows her audience of young readers, and that -- given the book's popularity -- they are eating it up.</span>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-5997473090341151892023-01-26T17:03:00.001-08:002023-02-03T17:16:29.965-08:00THE GREAT ZAPFINO by Mac Barnett and THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM by Christopher Paul Curtis<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTRDzNef_q57eSsKVc3uajpVTgKVS9MyuTKYKfXiKjQ4PW2_FraIK0h0K45ZgZZ62NhnQLuwFznsErC4J_BqO-uWp_HwWemWrzL0rM-0BrRX4fCiOdbBcQk-EX8vZiitXuub47oU5cEGl3SE_KYno7j8-uSnuE2vkYQB9A70ape5oqmFe8FkwCBOc/s612/The%20great%20zapfino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="380" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTRDzNef_q57eSsKVc3uajpVTgKVS9MyuTKYKfXiKjQ4PW2_FraIK0h0K45ZgZZ62NhnQLuwFznsErC4J_BqO-uWp_HwWemWrzL0rM-0BrRX4fCiOdbBcQk-EX8vZiitXuub47oU5cEGl3SE_KYno7j8-uSnuE2vkYQB9A70ape5oqmFe8FkwCBOc/w249-h400/The%20great%20zapfino.jpg" width="249" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We began our discussion with our picture book, <b><i>The Great Zapfino
</i></b>(2022) by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Marla Frazee. We all loved
the black Prismacolor pencil illustrations, which actually served
as the main vehicle to tell this story, which begins with a very
few words as "the Great Zapfino" -- a young man/boy (?) climbs a 10-story ladder at the circus, walks out
on a platform and then prepares to dive down onto a trampoline. BUT WAIT! -- where is Zapfino? It seems that he got scared and
disappeared and after a taxi/airplane/taxi ride ends up taking a
job as an elevator operator at a seaside hotel. He even gets his
own apartment on the <i>tenth floor</i>! The bulk of the story is told
with large and small very sensitive and expressive drawings which
show young Zapfino's daily life as it passes between work and
making toast and sleeping in a chair at home. The expressions on
the faces of the elevator riders are
bored/happy/excited/inquisitive/celebratory/amorous/and more, but
the expression on Zapfino's face is always...sad. When Zapfino
falls asleep in his chair as his burning toaster sets the apartment
on fire, he runs to the window, and -- his courage returns and he
jumps! he twists! he turns! he dives!-- straight into the
firefighters' net. He is a hero! ...and now -- at the very end -- he is <i>smiling</i>
as he stands beside his elevator door with a big Z on the front of his
uniform! Behold
the Great Zapfino! We mostly liked the story as Zapfino found his
courage, and did it for himself -- without help from anyone. We
thought this might be a good message for young readers. But one
reader felt that perhaps it might not be so good for young kids to
see the actions in this book. Perhaps it needed a "Do NOT try this
at home" disclaimer. We were unsure that it would work as a read-aloud,
but felt that youngsters would individually enjoy really exploring all
of the visuals as the pictures told the story.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFfMNd0d9gdVEwxc8cWQIJ0wUe7ZPREuVqH4SNZ0NDcydDQmwRzQ0TrxDKrX_dUNxgCYARhcmDQzn63leVDXGS9UjbhskhqibbB7EFMjSB9ZRGjaFneeG9vtaLoVpv7w0nFpQZXY5ZOOlKOmG07kHrX7sO4Jt6fECXSVIi5-pV4SMuwc-oSbJjhQUI/s450/Watsons%20go%20to%20Birmingham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="274" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFfMNd0d9gdVEwxc8cWQIJ0wUe7ZPREuVqH4SNZ0NDcydDQmwRzQ0TrxDKrX_dUNxgCYARhcmDQzn63leVDXGS9UjbhskhqibbB7EFMjSB9ZRGjaFneeG9vtaLoVpv7w0nFpQZXY5ZOOlKOmG07kHrX7sO4Jt6fECXSVIi5-pV4SMuwc-oSbJjhQUI/w244-h400/Watsons%20go%20to%20Birmingham.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><br />We chose our novel, the</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Newbery Honor book </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963</i> </b>by
Christopher Paul Curtis, to see if it still held up 28 years after its
original 1995 publication. We decided that it basically does. We all
liked10-year-old Kenny's voice as he introduces us to his family by
commenting on their lives, daily activities, personal quirks, and some
family history. When Kenny's 13-year-old brother Byron, who Kenny
describes as an "official juvenile delinquent" has some problems, it is
decided that the family will drive from their home in Flint, MI to
Birmingham, AL so By can live for a while with his Grandma who will
certainly ' 'straighten him out'. It's a long ride, with various
incidents, conversations, music, and events that solidify the family
further. There is suspense as we learn that on Sunday a "bomb has been
dropped" on the church where younger sister Joey has gone -- all dressed
up -- to Sunday school, and then Kenny finds her shoe on the street
near the church. We thought that it was important for today's
middle-grade readers (age 10+) to be aware of this atrocity that
occurred on September 15, 1963 at the 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham where the KKK planted the bomb that killed four young girls:
three who were 15, and one who was 11 years old. We thought the family's
reunion back at Grandma's home at the end left a good feeling for the
reader. We appreciated that Curtis included an <i>Epilogue</i>, which
gave the reader a short historical perspective on conditions in the U.S.
South in 1963 and the Civil Rights Movement which was an outgrowth. A
couple of readers felt that the story took too long to actually <i>get </i>to
Birmingham (since that was the title) while others thought that really
getting to know Kenny and his family made the climax and the ending of
the book better. We agreed that it was a good read for the designated
age group, and that today's kids might want to give it a look. <u><span style="color: red;"><b><br /></b></span></u></span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-6914437125458220452022-12-08T17:25:00.014-08:002022-12-12T17:36:35.130-08:00WONDER WALKERS by Micha Archer and YOUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE by Jason Chin<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZDAy3bcLPFXXCxObW4uX9zmeHJnFhaYHspiVJHynWHGXlrKPPcFUyQiGsEolDQH5JX4eLXKLo3vKMryNzUihL4WZjFCt4oNpD7CBXlM7Y-aX2rLpje6euIBzKAKUsScQNOsQdfn0FR8iDMzxq7Q9k2CCHAiapYwoxbn5vXrpJMhtOEUWtgxrYSgN/s720/Wonder%20Walkers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="720" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZDAy3bcLPFXXCxObW4uX9zmeHJnFhaYHspiVJHynWHGXlrKPPcFUyQiGsEolDQH5JX4eLXKLo3vKMryNzUihL4WZjFCt4oNpD7CBXlM7Y-aX2rLpje6euIBzKAKUsScQNOsQdfn0FR8iDMzxq7Q9k2CCHAiapYwoxbn5vXrpJMhtOEUWtgxrYSgN/w400-h361/Wonder%20Walkers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">We
had a great discussion of our two picture books at our December
Zoom meeting. We began with <i><b>Wonder Walkers</b></i><span> by Micha
Archer. We all loved this book. We loved the fact that it dealt
with a young sister and brother who were exploring their world on
their own, and asking their own questions about it -- without any
adults telling them what to look for/at. We loved their closeness,
and they way they communicated and understood each other. We loved
the fantastic colorful multi-faceted collage illustrations which
showed the </span><i>wonder</i><span> of the world around them -- as they
</span><i>wondered</i><span> about it. (We also loved the dual meaning of the
word 'wonder'!) We thought that these illustrations, which showed such
painstaking detail, were a </span><i>wonder</i><span>! We </span><i>wondered</i><span> if
Archer had done them all by hand OR if she had used digital
availabilities. We thought it was the </span><i>children</i><span> who actually made
every picture meaningful with their bright, inquisitive faces. As
for the text, one reader said she became a bit bored with the
continual questions, but others felt that the economical text told
so much....with the phrases, "I wonder" and "Me too" popping up in
the middle of the book, and then again at the very end. We thought
this was a great read-aloud, and would be very useful in home and
classroom situations in helping young children to become more
observant of the world around them. A 'thumbs-up' all the
way!</span></span><p></p>
<p class="yiv0875355403MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMiXyeYi04aXeqNfdtVddEPqYHGWcYE-ptv5FF3r2eUFL12H2aehAPp_9iFC2x19UFHP_ck1OK32TFU6LiboTgo8JAdEYrdptz2FjB1-USF9ePAsb8l2K31LF_owcfSYLfNn7OWsjpRzJ38HTEVqhbuSmIjTzh5PE2IHmY2xxSWxPqZC2dsQ3rvMS/s720/Your%20Place%20in%20the%20Universe.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMiXyeYi04aXeqNfdtVddEPqYHGWcYE-ptv5FF3r2eUFL12H2aehAPp_9iFC2x19UFHP_ck1OK32TFU6LiboTgo8JAdEYrdptz2FjB1-USF9ePAsb8l2K31LF_owcfSYLfNn7OWsjpRzJ38HTEVqhbuSmIjTzh5PE2IHmY2xxSWxPqZC2dsQ3rvMS/w400-h400/Your%20Place%20in%20the%20Universe.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">We were equally impressed with
our second picture book, <b><i>Your Place in the Universe</i></b>
by Jason Chin. We loved the concept of how the first illustration
pulled the reader in, with its focus on the group of diverse
eight-year-olds, as the idea of size was explored, and how in each
ensuing spread the 'universe' got bigger as the children, books,
animals, trees, and skyscrapers got smaller. We thought that the
way Chin showed relative size was not only very clever, but very
informative as well. Since it was a challenge to keep the text
simple, we liked the way that Chin augmented this by using a
different smaller font where specific scientific explanations or
measurements were necessary. As the universe was shown to get
bigger and bigger, the text always circled back to the kids. We
thought the final illustration of the Cosmic Web (even though
no-one has ever seen it) was very engaging and compelling. We loved
that it ended back with the group of kids -- realizing they were on
our Earth -- a little dot in this great Cosmic Web. We thought
young readers would find this book very interesting, since it dealt
with comparisons they themselves could make as they learned about
relative size. We also felt it could encourage kids to further
explore STEM possibilities. We were also very pleased with the
extensive Back Matter which provided a wealth of additional facts
and figures about Earth and its place in the universe.<br /><br />
We loved the relationship between these two wonderful picture
books: a sort of left brain/right brain -- facts/imagination
exploration of our planet and our place in it.</span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-37138870532058024812022-11-10T17:23:00.008-08:002022-11-16T17:31:30.047-08:00PAPA LOVES YOU, TINY BLUE by Jo Empson and SPY SCHOOL by Stuart Gibbs<p> </p><p class="yiv6403588439MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqtFrUw3wCwiFFEbFtqRKUX7LmxQ9PStJxxS1tnvqUb1eb0fX4jqk9DtFD51ORfmTI1edAa06W1k6bjGP_jBJqpL6cFSW74n2t4EhWBtwJWyZnqQvw5Cpfhlaak8ojcxm0I1_-rsofBvsu1rurSyyyqveiYBLqX4etbcKFBVH0hijO_b-7VjX8kH1/s400/Papa%20loves%20you%20tiny%20blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="394" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqtFrUw3wCwiFFEbFtqRKUX7LmxQ9PStJxxS1tnvqUb1eb0fX4jqk9DtFD51ORfmTI1edAa06W1k6bjGP_jBJqpL6cFSW74n2t4EhWBtwJWyZnqQvw5Cpfhlaak8ojcxm0I1_-rsofBvsu1rurSyyyqveiYBLqX4etbcKFBVH0hijO_b-7VjX8kH1/w394-h400/Papa%20loves%20you%20tiny%20blue.jpg" width="394" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Our October meeting was a
hybrid with three of our members joining us remotely on Zoom. We
began with our picture book, <i><b>Papa Loves You, Tiny
Blue</b></i> by Jo Empson. We all loved this sparely and
beautifully told story of <i>Papa Penguin</i> and his very cute
baby, <i>Tiny Blue</i>, who had A LOT of questions as they walked
along the beach and swam in the ocean. We agreed that anyone one
who has had experience with an inquisitive toddler (including the
toddlers themselves!) could relate as Papa very simply and clearly
explained the wonders of the world around them and the sea in which
they swam – until – he finally said, “Aren’t you tired yet?” We
loved the ending as Papa answered the final question, “What is
love?” We also loved the lush, mostly bluish and pinkish
illustrations throughout, which in many places felt very ‘wet’ –
especially when they were exploring the underwater areas. We also
liked the addendum page at the very end that explained fairy
penguins, the smallest in the world, and gave very simple,
scientifically true answers to some of <i>Tiny Blue's</i>
questions. We felt that this was a great read-aloud/bedtime story
that all would enjoy.</span><p></p>
<p class="yiv6403588439MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDbwZy3ux84fVd9z4MQcUVON89o7KaQAs7YeM4mkUR4m7CIk3jl-zTJ4oeT_l-ls62TnWRutckn9cUSDP-Bbkrolem716K8YFC9l449HrzORQqn9JptNCugH4Je-Q27OeK6JCJE97AYeMiRIl4PFkbdybQuzTwIxAdXrXnmtN_UyKalKv1mbA_dXTr/s180/Spy%20School%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="119" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDbwZy3ux84fVd9z4MQcUVON89o7KaQAs7YeM4mkUR4m7CIk3jl-zTJ4oeT_l-ls62TnWRutckn9cUSDP-Bbkrolem716K8YFC9l449HrzORQqn9JptNCugH4Je-Q27OeK6JCJE97AYeMiRIl4PFkbdybQuzTwIxAdXrXnmtN_UyKalKv1mbA_dXTr/w211-h320/Spy%20School%202.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We had a 50/50 split in our
reactions to our novel, <i><b>Spy School</b></i> by Stuart Gibbs.
Half of us thought at first that the book would be really great,
due to the title and the chapter headings, along with the
military-seeming format telling the location, date, and time of the
incidents in each chapter. But sadly, these readers were
disappointed due to what they felt was a lack of characterization,
too much violence, references that they felt were beyond the
knowledge of the 8-12-year old targeted readers, and some plot
situations that were just too convoluted to tolerate. Those of us
who liked this book more appreciated 12-year-old <i>Ben</i>, the
protagonist, who, after being brought to the Spy School as a ruse
to catch an internal mole, turned out to be a very smart and intuitive
thinker and problem solver, even as he was cast into various scary
episodes of intrigue along with the usual middle-school angst
common in novels for this age group: friends, girls, relating to
teachers, food, etc. We also appreciated the fact that the
‘smartest person in the room’ was the very aloof and brilliant
<i>Erica</i>, who had an answer and a solution for almost every situation
that arose. Even though we didn’t love all of the weapons and
violence, we felt that young readers would enjoy reading this first
installment (published in 2012) in what is now a series of ten
books, and many of us were interested in possibly reading more
ourselves to see what happens to <i>Ben</i>, and whether the author’s
style and plot ideas have changed at all, given current issues with school
violence, guns, relating to authority, and attitudes of today’s
youth toward sex. We had a very interesting discussion, and our
differences of opinion are part of why we love our
group!</span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-87054529453879753212022-10-13T14:35:00.010-07:002022-10-23T14:47:08.121-07:00A LIFE ELECTRIC: The Story of Nikola Tesla by Azadeh Westergaard and MEET CUTE: Some People are Destined to Meet by Jennifer L. Armentrout <p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkT7Plxp9UJljqGhNCYbWBTMbtYjNiCZfbfIdRLezQ7yyvcQlkmKUuNnqB3KfM0z66Q2EYmuOp_GuOcED02pND4DyFn30qMo5aoE3O6a92Tj7CQgkLCLggkXnZA8mxFhpyidHChJCGjkiokJuGU_gF_dp30h5COkoW_olVDTaoXZDCsxG-PTn73ZRk/s400/A%20Life%20Electric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="312" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkT7Plxp9UJljqGhNCYbWBTMbtYjNiCZfbfIdRLezQ7yyvcQlkmKUuNnqB3KfM0z66Q2EYmuOp_GuOcED02pND4DyFn30qMo5aoE3O6a92Tj7CQgkLCLggkXnZA8mxFhpyidHChJCGjkiokJuGU_gF_dp30h5COkoW_olVDTaoXZDCsxG-PTn73ZRk/w313-h400/A%20Life%20Electric.jpg" width="313" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We started with our picture book,<i><b> A Life Electric: The Story of
Nikola Tesla</b></i> by Azadeh Westergaard, illustrated by Julia Sarda. We
were all very happy to learn more about the early life and later
experiences of this brilliant though underrated scientist about
whom little is known beyond his name on a 21st century electric
automobile. We all liked the the illustrations which were digitally
created using mostly muted colors, but which showed many details of
Tesla's life, both as a young boy and as a man who never lost his
curiosity nor his love for poetry, animals and birds. We especially
liked the borders on many pages, which provided designs giving a
feeling of electrical movement. We thought the message of the book
would be great for young readers: encouraging them to be persistent
in their childhood interests and stick with their dreams for the
future. One reader felt the book was a bit too wordy for a picture
book while others felt it was OK. Another reader liked the
beginning and the ending better than the middle. The only real
problem we had with this book was its lack of scientific
information. Although Tesla's discovery of AC current
revolutionized the modern world, there was minimal explanation of
how it works -- until we read the Author's Note at the back of the
book. Here there were <i>many more details</i>, scientific and otherwise,
that made Tesla's life more real -- including his feud with Thomas
Edison and his decision to tear up the royalty contract he had made
with George Westinghouse when he sold him the AC rights. We thought it would have been a good idea
to have included these details in the text of the book, since most
young readers would probably not read the Author's Note. We felt it
was important to show the sad ending of Tesla's life, as a
seemingly lonely man living almost penniless and taking care of
pigeons in a hotel room. We were glad that at least his funeral was
attended by thousands of mourners (and many pigeons -- according to the illustration!) We thought this book would have
many uses in a school situation, including in middle- and
high-school, since it was a great introduction to a very important
scientist and it could be a kickoff for further research into his
life, the life of other scientists, or into the process of how
electricity (which we all mostly take for granted) actually works
to light up our lives.<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcUM8rm_lI2D0P2aOhBjTAX3d4hVNtFCSH6ilsxvh_AlnvWAwMgnXUmHXWe3y4VYPB65jszjR4bjuMk10Q7cLm1KIAehX33E64bmV3VUan-UI5K5Cx_9Q4sOpNcnuJoMUe78ugiASiu2edM5BQUD3hfspaIWHZKrx5nDMzGs0r7xQKxJyNIwKf_3o/s2550/Meet%20Cute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1688" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcUM8rm_lI2D0P2aOhBjTAX3d4hVNtFCSH6ilsxvh_AlnvWAwMgnXUmHXWe3y4VYPB65jszjR4bjuMk10Q7cLm1KIAehX33E64bmV3VUan-UI5K5Cx_9Q4sOpNcnuJoMUe78ugiASiu2edM5BQUD3hfspaIWHZKrx5nDMzGs0r7xQKxJyNIwKf_3o/w265-h400/Meet%20Cute.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />We had varying opinions on our 'novel' -- actually a short story
collection -- <i><b>Meet Cute: Some People are Destined to Meet</b></i>,
by
Jennifer L. Armentrout, et al. Some folks were big fans of story
collections, others not so much. We felt the writing was mostly
quite pedestrian -- nothing really stood out for any of us as being
particularly stellar, and we agreed that there is a definite art to
writing compelling short stories. We also couldn't determine much
difference in
the 'voice' from each story. It almost felt the same in each story,
even though they were about different situations created by
different writers. It was interesting to hear how readers approach
story collections. One reader went through the Table of Contents,
and only read those stories whose titles enticed her. Even so, she
felt some of the stories were too long. Others read the whole book;
others only a few stories. We had a few favorites, but none of our
minds were paricularly blown. We did feel however that teen readers
would enjoy this book, since its subject matter is front-of-mind
for many of them, and that there was enough variety of
places/plots/situations to which they might gladly relate.</span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-60895014959094567322022-09-08T18:09:00.021-07:002022-09-13T18:20:23.232-07:00CHESTER VAN CHIME WHO FORGOT HOW TO RHYME by Avery Monsen and THEY WENT LEFT by Monica Hesse<p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 13.5pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLtToUDPNvXmKlZAT_7T5gzK7ub95QGQ_WKV9qe_1VOzUG1J_F4gaVlPf9lu_F66LqBGjm_xnwAJmpB2JOs-r8uhwB-RR15wyFN0ijdJggyYSnzWGXBugYM-w2n5Dbw20yDdlXwzSMLkn8Kt9jcc94nfMPPRgRjkfPs7SMcnBNno_noUcJRDZliocR/s383/Chester%20van%20Chime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLtToUDPNvXmKlZAT_7T5gzK7ub95QGQ_WKV9qe_1VOzUG1J_F4gaVlPf9lu_F66LqBGjm_xnwAJmpB2JOs-r8uhwB-RR15wyFN0ijdJggyYSnzWGXBugYM-w2n5Dbw20yDdlXwzSMLkn8Kt9jcc94nfMPPRgRjkfPs7SMcnBNno_noUcJRDZliocR/w314-h400/Chester%20van%20Chime.jpg" width="314" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">We began our discussion with our picture book,</span><b style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><i> Chester
Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme</i></b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.5pt;"> by Avery Monsen, illustrated by Abby
Hanlon. We all agreed that it probably wasn't the greatest picture book of all
time, but it would be very useful in classroom or home situations as a
read-aloud to reinforce vocabulary development in young (PreK-2/3) children.
Although essentially written in rhyme, the final rhyming word is replaced each
time by its meaning...well -- because Chester </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">forgot </i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.5pt;">how to rhyme. But
the illustrations must be perused carefully -- because the REAL rhyming word is
incorporated into many of the pictures. We felt that teachers and students
could have fun with this book, and that it would be great for encouraging close
observation of the colorful, humorous, and delightfully detailed illustrations.
It presents many, many rhyming pairs throughout the story and on the front and
back endpapers, and it could be used to create an opportunity for children to
come up with their own rhymes. Near the end Chester figures out that playing
with wby words should be FUN, which is a good seed to plant in the minds of small
learners.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;">
<br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcpgxFnMVZME8N6czo8IToo7ovtxDjmIg7KZK50uV0reSCjK1xT-BzlvxPJ3rOpexC9K1XtR7j5CHnPlDurEmHfAB4UFNM2kNXWKD5CUHJWNz20DQuNGG2K3i_-JiFhwreXX2HfkaYZfryTKnzHEDkU2FmbQetZulzU5FcWEAcRF8FjDKhxWCl8Xh/s475/they%20went%20left.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcpgxFnMVZME8N6czo8IToo7ovtxDjmIg7KZK50uV0reSCjK1xT-BzlvxPJ3rOpexC9K1XtR7j5CHnPlDurEmHfAB4UFNM2kNXWKD5CUHJWNz20DQuNGG2K3i_-JiFhwreXX2HfkaYZfryTKnzHEDkU2FmbQetZulzU5FcWEAcRF8FjDKhxWCl8Xh/w268-h400/they%20went%20left.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br />Our very meaningful novel, <b><i>They Went Left </i></b>by Monica Hesse
impressed us all by its page-turning, authentic, and unfortunately rarely-told
story of young people who <i>survived</i> the Holocaust, and their lives after
they were released from the concentration camps during World War II. The
protagonist, Zofia starts out a broken person, whose only mission upon her
release is to find her missing younger brother, Abek. Although there were many
characters to remember, we all thought the story unfolded in a believable
manner, superimposing Zofia's memories of life in the camp with what she was
experiencing at the moment. We agreed that it presented a gripping example of
the thoughts and feelings of a young person recovering from the trauma of
losing loved ones, seeing various horrors, seemingly falling in love, which is
then betrayed, and using her talent and skill in sewing to help her return to
reality AND solve a big mystery. Readers were riveted and haunted by this
story, which made many feel that maybe their current 'problems/inconveniences'
weren't so bad after all. We felt that the Author's Note at the end did a good
job of explaining Hesse's research and her point of view which was to create a
combination of sadness and hope, which this novel certainly did...ending with
Zofia's wish for 'going home' with her new 'brother' Abek to create a new life
across the ocean. We all agreed that YA readers would like this engrossing,
emotional, realistic rendering of a very human story of such historical
importance.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-31292216399163260422022-08-04T09:31:00.001-07:002022-08-10T09:43:33.367-07:00SOUL FOOD SUNDAY by Winsome Bingham and WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE US by Pamela N. Harris<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4PnlQ-mOgBt3c9AdXMevUJPNMk6aS60dfbb16MarfmaxFUWGP2z0_cOBDEKg2Ypf4n4duwqwDGY4IigTJQiWR8tguyGAicVKOt6g01ntavQwFQ1JjtUyV2H7dJQilE4_nPF80z2y88p_5PoPc1gPeiJyjFDq3zZkIJdnygYKw6NJQcyjl_ml9SOg/s318/soul%20food%20sunday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="318" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4PnlQ-mOgBt3c9AdXMevUJPNMk6aS60dfbb16MarfmaxFUWGP2z0_cOBDEKg2Ypf4n4duwqwDGY4IigTJQiWR8tguyGAicVKOt6g01ntavQwFQ1JjtUyV2H7dJQilE4_nPF80z2y88p_5PoPc1gPeiJyjFDq3zZkIJdnygYKw6NJQcyjl_ml9SOg/w400-h323/soul%20food%20sunday.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />We began our discussion with our picture book,<b style="font-size: large;"><i> Soul Food Sunday</i></b><span style="font-size: large;">
by Winsome Bingham and Illustrated by C.G. Esperanza. We had various
reactions to this book. Most of us loved the vibrantly colored, detailed
illustrations of the young Black boy who decided to help his Granny in
the kitchen as she prepared the delicious food for the weekly large
family Sunday gathering at her house. A couple of readers were not so
entranced by the art -- they weren't fans of Esperanza's somewhat bold
and brash style. That's OK. Most of us liked the repetitive text where
the little boy worked very hard as he learned various important tasks
and was praised by his Granny each time with a repeated phrase. We were
honored to have one 17-year-old join us, and she liked the book a lot
because it helped her to learn about a custom and food of another
culture. She said she would have liked to read it as a younger kid. One
reader was not so thrilled with the book, she said it didn't seem real,
and she had issues with some of the cooking details presented. We
thought it could be useful in conjunction with several other excellent
books about the foods and gatherings of different cultures.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PlZAKC2uDHmeiEZ1DQuUCw8fqgVuZUTBdasDobsX8h2HMnE_BfP4B_XBc7pULgRTBXxeVbtwcJrU3LjyTLtR40AcGhTmcU0UgEbLjXGbnadeMDureeK3dopPSJKetfmw68ObQ_qsWRZDL1eP23mEM46NW7EyNpw_BD0LtjhrxUfFIwasSfPAzhP9/s475/when%20you%20look%20like%20us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PlZAKC2uDHmeiEZ1DQuUCw8fqgVuZUTBdasDobsX8h2HMnE_BfP4B_XBc7pULgRTBXxeVbtwcJrU3LjyTLtR40AcGhTmcU0UgEbLjXGbnadeMDureeK3dopPSJKetfmw68ObQ_qsWRZDL1eP23mEM46NW7EyNpw_BD0LtjhrxUfFIwasSfPAzhP9/w265-h400/when%20you%20look%20like%20us.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We all agreed that our novel, <b><i>When You Look Like Us </i></b>by
Pamela N. Harris was too long, and contained some scenes that could
easily have been cut. We all felt for 16-year-old Jay whose dad had
died, whose mother was in prison, and whose older sister Nic was
missing, and we all had the need to keep reading just to see if she
would be found. We got a glimpse into the good and bad parts of his life
in the housing project where he lived, his school interactions, his
friends, his love for his grandma (MiMi) and his desire to take charge
of finding his sister, where several blunders were made. But -- many of
us felt bothered by the fact that he didn't tell anyone Nic was missing
for the longest time, and that when he finally did it was almost too
late. A couple of readers said it reminded them of a Nancy Drew mystery,
others didn't see that. We were all glad about the ending, although
most of us felt it was almost too 'pat' when his sister was found. One
reader absolutely loved it, and felt that all of the characters and
actions in the book were very real. Another mentioned that it was all
about perceptions and expectations -- how Jay <i>thought</i> he was perceived by various adults, teachers, other kids in his life, the police -- and how the expectations <i>he</i> had of many of <i>them</i> turned out to be wrong. We all agreed that young middle- and high-school readers would love this book.</span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-6536288856386809762022-07-05T15:01:00.002-07:002022-07-05T15:07:21.575-07:00WATERCRESS by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin, and THE LAST CUENTISTA by Donna Barba Higuera<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkU-ygL-JZS7F8kXtwUXb8rko1l6ibnjQ37yjgEszti28P4PovdRps4bMxhsDINhlHRjOzqmlVpUsymu6v-ln21MDr2uvKEXcGA6lLnzQSWox-xx8ZcHAVghSImsGuNtpYatyVypE2WJDWsFL2mjZtHGBQKEiMZfwpQzRm-0PPkDEsvOkf1BgkPaHd/s720/Watercress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkU-ygL-JZS7F8kXtwUXb8rko1l6ibnjQ37yjgEszti28P4PovdRps4bMxhsDINhlHRjOzqmlVpUsymu6v-ln21MDr2uvKEXcGA6lLnzQSWox-xx8ZcHAVghSImsGuNtpYatyVypE2WJDWsFL2mjZtHGBQKEiMZfwpQzRm-0PPkDEsvOkf1BgkPaHd/w400-h320/Watercress.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />It was
interesting this month that both of our books spoke to the importance of story.
We began with our picture book, <b><i>Watercress</i></b>, by Andrea Wang;
illustrated by Jason Chin. We all loved the "breathtakingly
beautiful" poetic writing and the perfectly executed illustrations, using
Chinese art techniques and brushes, of this first-person story of a young girl
whose parents are immigrants from China. She describes the annoyance she feels
when her parents stop the car on a family trip to pick watercress growing by
the side of the road, and then her refusal to eat it later because it reminds
her of "hand-me-down clothes and roadside trash-heap furniture." The
importance of story comes to the fore when her mother shows an old family
picture, showing famine years ago in China, and ultimately our heroine comes to
the realization that her mother's younger brother had died because of it, and
her outlook on everything changes. We loved the way it depicted an example of
the immigrant experience, of struggling, of yearning for a land long ago left,
and of a young girl being ashamed because she isn't "American
enough." We felt that it was an excellent read-aloud that students with
immigrant parents could relate to, and that would give non-immigrant kids an
understanding of what it felt like to be different. We also related to the
universal shame of being economically needy, and wanting to be able to just buy
things at the store rather than obtain them by other means. We also thought
that it would encourage all readers (and listeners) -- especially youngsters --
to seek out and hear and ultimately tell -- the stories of their own families.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGaoz6G2kCXvPPyJNq5swjab9iRJOThFdQ4waMz9Db9q3QS9etPUmT1wVEop5olctTuY05gDKCI-C8stTQIXpHWNRiFn5xmmuctaoxdLlsm0id4qQnq1qThhVQ8vpybxyC5fu-1sHVz8LCXgtFb4kHQyEBRRi9qQRl3cBq1nRDQb1Om82m40JXJkh/s720/Last%20Cuentista.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="481" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGaoz6G2kCXvPPyJNq5swjab9iRJOThFdQ4waMz9Db9q3QS9etPUmT1wVEop5olctTuY05gDKCI-C8stTQIXpHWNRiFn5xmmuctaoxdLlsm0id4qQnq1qThhVQ8vpybxyC5fu-1sHVz8LCXgtFb4kHQyEBRRi9qQRl3cBq1nRDQb1Om82m40JXJkh/w268-h400/Last%20Cuentista.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br />Stories were also the emphasis in <b><i>The Last Cuentista</i></b> by Donna
Barba Higuera; the title of which actually <i>means</i> 'the last storyteller.'
We had a variety of reactions to this dystopian novel, which starts in the year
2061, when Earth is threatened with total destruction by a giant comet, and
goes on for seemingly hundreds of years, as Petra a 13-year-old and her younger
brother Javier and scientist parents are among those chosen to
begin/create life on Sagan, a new planet. We all agreed that the book was too
long, and the plot somewhat convoluted as we learned that everyone's memories
of Earth had been technologically removed...everyone except Petra, who
continued to remember her life on earth as well as her time spent with her
beloved grandma (<i>abuelita</i>, or <i>Lita</i>) who made her very aware of
her ancient culture thru the vehicle of storytelling. We liked the relationship
Petra had had with her '<i>Lita</i>' and her desire to not only remember her
past on earth, but to share her stories with other children in her midst to
help them remember their families also. There are so many more details to this
story, too numerous to recount here -- which is mostly why it needed editing --
and why we had mixed feelings about the book. One reader absolutely loved it,
and said it brought her to tears when Petra's brother was found and made the
ultimate sacrifice so that all could live, and she felt that middle schoolers
today would "eat it up" given the kinds of stories they are 'into'
these day about alternate universes -- online and in books and movies. Although
the rest of us all found parts that we liked, we were mostly not fans of
dystopian fiction. A couple of readers felt that some of the things that
happened to many of the characters were just 'too horrible', and one reader
felt that most of the tropes of this sci-fi fantasy had been done before -- that
there was nothing new here. Others had a hard time getting thru the whole book
(but did!) and felt that there were just too many details to remember and that
it wasn't particularly engaging. Our bottom-line conclusion was that there will
be plenty of young readers (and -- obviously adults -- since it is a Newbery
Award winner) who will love it, and others, like those in our group, for whom
it just isn't their 'cup of tea.'<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><p></p>
five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-15615886991595458062022-05-26T09:45:00.012-07:002022-06-05T11:15:03.608-07:00CUBA IN MY POCKET by Adrianna Cuevas and EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS by Joanna Ho and illustrated by Dung Ho<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga45Mnd7D6Pi2Gi4-B-BnS3t_eUyuxxcGFPHC6FCCoj3XdjtVta-Ot4h6lgHBbz2lKzLlwjg9mMja9FgimQVLrrNKgHPgUUz1h9dPh3BuTEr3MZu-8Q856yjZf4UxSbYZKsoCNOSc2-a89-nW9u55okH5vBkAVqCS3QuLEbGzOxPwHhQK60N19BHNq/s2048/Cuba%20in%20my%20Pocket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1327" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga45Mnd7D6Pi2Gi4-B-BnS3t_eUyuxxcGFPHC6FCCoj3XdjtVta-Ot4h6lgHBbz2lKzLlwjg9mMja9FgimQVLrrNKgHPgUUz1h9dPh3BuTEr3MZu-8Q856yjZf4UxSbYZKsoCNOSc2-a89-nW9u55okH5vBkAVqCS3QuLEbGzOxPwHhQK60N19BHNq/w259-h400/Cuba%20in%20my%20Pocket.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We began with our novel, <i><b>Cuba in my Pocket </b></i>by
Adrianna Cuevas. We all liked the sensory picture that twelve-year-old
Cumba painted of his native Cuba and his loving family and friends -- we
could see, hear, feel, smell all that he described of the life he loved
but had to leave in 1961 after the Revolution. We also liked his
first-hand description of his experiences as a new immigrant in the U.S.
-- getting used to a new language, food, people, activities, school,
and missing his quite affluent family and his country. We felt that many
young readers, immigrants themselves, could relate to this and that
non-immigrant kids could get a feel for what some of their
fellow-students might be experiencing -- perhaps creating some empathy.
We also liked Cumba's voice, and were gripped by his feelings as he had
to leave the home he had known in order to avoid being conscripted into
the military, and we thought that the tension in the story was
well-maintained throughout. We understood the author's need to
fictionalize the story of her own father's journey from Cuba to the U.S.
in 1961 and were thankful for her note at the end of the story as well
as the Glossary of many Cuban terms. However, a couple of readers had
mixed feelings about this book, since they were fans of the Revolution,
and what it had accomplished for the millions of mostly poor, mostly
black, and mostly illiterate Cuban peasants, namely: a 98% literacy rate
due to the Literacy Brigade; free education for all; and free health
care in every neighborhood. It was noted that the very poor peasants did
<i>not</i> have the opportunities that Cumba had, due to his
professional parents' knowledge, connections, and wealth. All of that
considered, we were all happy that -- in the story -- Cumba's family was
ultimately able to join him in Florida in the end. We felt that this
could be a very useful book for middle-schoolers to further their
knowledge about immigration, trying to 'fit in', and the universal
12-year-old angst that many young folks experience.<br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UgJOdtp3pY0TCKkvlq_rpFqcGFs47L-FjiJjpAkcab5oNOXDa1FWDL4GWwOI_1POZUJwB-JJ7yzEPEmS3D0F9uLc9EavFOuq6cL3Unoh503ehgYAch9REQV88j6PfOqFXIbtqFIfiNTCG6G1bcNIOw5EdCb4ny2J0kv4c7osPC7-BtvYBTkMtV6n/s1000/Eyes%20that%20kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="822" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UgJOdtp3pY0TCKkvlq_rpFqcGFs47L-FjiJjpAkcab5oNOXDa1FWDL4GWwOI_1POZUJwB-JJ7yzEPEmS3D0F9uLc9EavFOuq6cL3Unoh503ehgYAch9REQV88j6PfOqFXIbtqFIfiNTCG6G1bcNIOw5EdCb4ny2J0kv4c7osPC7-BtvYBTkMtV6n/w329-h400/Eyes%20that%20kiss.jpg" width="329" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We all agreed that the biggest strength of our picture book, <b><i>Eyes that Kiss in the Corners</i></b>
by Joanna Ho and illustrated by Dung Ho was the group of vibrantly
colorful, detailed, and in some places quite fanciful digitally created
illustrations that we felt really served to tell the story in the voice
of a little girl who compares her eyes with those of her mom, grandma,
and little sister. We liked the inclusion of the folkloric/mythic images
from the stories her grandma told, and the warm connection between
three generations of females. We felt that much of the text was glowing
and poetic, but that other parts were a bit overwritten. We had a hard
time determining exactly <i>where</i> this story took place, and would
have been very thankful to have been able to read an Author's Note with
further details. We loved the fact that the story (and the title) placed
value on something that has been de-valued -- the eyes of people with
Asian ancestry -- and the fact that this very short picture book served
to define their beauty. We thought it could be a great read-aloud, and
gave it a 'thumbs-up'!<br /></span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-80455517029459250202022-04-28T17:28:00.014-07:002022-05-06T08:41:12.265-07:00DOUBLE BASS BLUES by Andrea J. Loney and WHEN WINTER ROBESON CAME by Brenda Woods<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYQiNmB_JYdjWE-WFHlhSSZ2cdGJuJ_eS1e9H6_AvPROoXZ6uMlOoWewNx49VlLueelR53ZenWNA97vSfTrgIrg7OpUKy_NM7PPeUbEb-VyihEXo1j4KklrH4W0V5hfI15GOPNfejtM47SVH9bFiEnq05ZwamRpuG-AGRLZkVL7_hUXEKZ4hlF8Nq/s450/Double%20Bass%20Blues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYQiNmB_JYdjWE-WFHlhSSZ2cdGJuJ_eS1e9H6_AvPROoXZ6uMlOoWewNx49VlLueelR53ZenWNA97vSfTrgIrg7OpUKy_NM7PPeUbEb-VyihEXo1j4KklrH4W0V5hfI15GOPNfejtM47SVH9bFiEnq05ZwamRpuG-AGRLZkVL7_hUXEKZ4hlF8Nq/w400-h400/Double%20Bass%20Blues.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We began our April discussion with our picture book, <i><b>Double Bass Blues</b></i>,
by Andrea J. Loney; illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez. We unanimously loved
the vibrantly colored, action-packed, and symbolic illustrations --
including the front and back endpapers -- in this book, which were
mostly the vehicle for telling the story. Double-bass player <i>Little Nic</i> -- after being hailed as a star in his school orchestra -- has to lug his clumsy, heavy bass on a bus from school to his <i>granddaddy's</i> house. The many details in the illustrations tell the story and also cause readers to be very observant. On the way, <i>Nic's</i>
many experiences are shown by various painted sound words, some of
which are made by his clunky bass, some by nature, and some by taunts
from others he encounters. A couple of readers felt that these words got
in the way; others liked them. We wondered how much communication (if
any) there had been between the author and the illustrator. We felt it
was a unique book for young readers and liked the way that it
represented jazz, especially at the end where <i>Little Nic </i>arrives at his <i>granddaddy's</i>
place and is warmly greeted by 'real' jazz musicians who loudly applaud
his playing. We liked the way the book dealt with his relationship with
his grandpa, with showing his own talent, and with how he handled the
bullying from some people he encountered on his journey. We felt that
kids who are 'into' music would love this book, and we felt it could be
used as a read-aloud in many K-12 school situations -- especially where
music and art are emphasized. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhesaVQd_pQuAb6Vlbs3zR6ZNF6R1AppdHXwE7PkjHQWQfMQohhnbh7h6-cZOTeyRGEC9bMF0bLIBDoXQSP-q6YF94hyzPJdYZYum87GY9QAi_P1SGeKGSAWiBRetg6LrPIwSHZNWyZOT8hYDe67Ub8nhJqWsKNIPX80DRNfnrnWwnAzHXkVfDGTqQG/s450/When%20Winter%20Robeson%20Came.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="298" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhesaVQd_pQuAb6Vlbs3zR6ZNF6R1AppdHXwE7PkjHQWQfMQohhnbh7h6-cZOTeyRGEC9bMF0bLIBDoXQSP-q6YF94hyzPJdYZYum87GY9QAi_P1SGeKGSAWiBRetg6LrPIwSHZNWyZOT8hYDe67Ub8nhJqWsKNIPX80DRNfnrnWwnAzHXkVfDGTqQG/w265-h400/When%20Winter%20Robeson%20Came.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>We had various reactions to our novel, <b><i>When Winter Robeson Came</i></b>
by Brenda Woods. A couple of readers were not big fans of novels in
verse; they felt it was distracting by creating unnecessary (poetic?)
pauses in their reading. Others were not bothered by that and said they
had just read it like any other story. We all liked the historical
perspective of the story told in the voice of 12-year-old Eden -- a
budding musician/composer -- which was set in Los Angeles in 1965, "not
too far from Watts". Some were a bit put off by some of the musical
terms Eden added throughout her narrative, and said it felt like those
words were just 'tacked on'. Eden welcomes her 14-year-old cousin Winter
who has come from Mississippi to visit for two weeks. We liked the
comparisons the two made between life in each place at that time. We
also liked the way they navigated the city, using a telephone book (!)
and maps and traveling by bus on various sightseeing trips, including to
Watts Towers and the beach. A mystery element was introduced when
Winter expressed that he was actually looking for his dad, who had come
to LA ten years earlier and had seemingly disappeared. We liked the way
that these two brave young folks became detectives, questioning
significant people and following clues to find the dad (no spoilers
here). We liked the relationship between Eden and her family and
friends, and felt that all of the kids' voices and personality quirks
were very real, and we also appreciated the vivid descriptions of the
clothes, music, cars, buildings, and events of that time and place,
including everyone's reactions to the 1965 rebellion in Watts that
erupted in the middle of Winter's visit -- but played a relatively small
part in the overall story. We also liked the compassion that was shown
between various characters in times of stress or anxiety...and commented
about how, sadly, these days it seems that a lot of that has been lost.
We felt the book was quite accessible for young readers, and that they
would enjoy a smooth read <i>and</i> learn something about how things
were way before their time. We agreed this book could be a jumping-off
point for further research.</span> <br /><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-38719292407702406372022-03-31T17:58:00.002-07:002022-04-10T12:21:51.009-07:00THE PAPER KINGDOM by Helen Ku Rhee and ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Saenz<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgreeltBFXmH5sHKxOv9i7QPrPYQ3_YrtMXBMDVphEsv6wl3hhJ1aPKoP-dEG1QvSoZ-Vk__7JUmFgsgIb5lb7zWLs3uRqgpMMEf8Rlt6Uy6WuYFo_A4dxqKcmFbxyvNKFX7JrNJpRI9-74uujTZ952GcU_2uySOomRzcNLLc65istQXTb4WnpXQ1kF/s400/Paper%20Kingdom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="308" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgreeltBFXmH5sHKxOv9i7QPrPYQ3_YrtMXBMDVphEsv6wl3hhJ1aPKoP-dEG1QvSoZ-Vk__7JUmFgsgIb5lb7zWLs3uRqgpMMEf8Rlt6Uy6WuYFo_A4dxqKcmFbxyvNKFX7JrNJpRI9-74uujTZ952GcU_2uySOomRzcNLLc65istQXTb4WnpXQ1kF/w308-h400/Paper%20Kingdom.jpg" width="308" /></a></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><br />We began with our picture book, <b><i>The Paper Kingdom</i></b>
by Helena Ku Rhee, illustrated by Pascal Campion. We all loved the light and glow of the illustrations
as they depicted a little boy's reactions as his parents -- nighttime
building custodians -- took him to work with them to a big skyscraper
when their babysitter had to cancel. We liked the way his parents made
up a story of a "paper kingdom" -- complete with dragons -- to explain
the work they were doing, and to give him a chance to use his
imagination though he might be in an uncomfortable circumstance. We
liked the strength of the family being shown together, at home in their
tiny studio apartment and at work, and the fact that they tried to
portray their work as being "fun" for his benefit. We were a bit
disappointed in the text, and felt it was a bit flat, plus we couldn't
really see what advantage the so-called "dragons" added. We also felt
the ending was a bit abrupt, and killed the flow of the story. We felt
that this book filled a need for books about economic diversity, and
that many young folks hearing this story could relate if their parents
had similar work situations. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxtDnvZeRFOd4db-wE48cp7-MbycbOp1h3jYxlBnV14tqfXRGogW6gOLjjHVUapsDcoV0uIpWnXrwPtW_rlet-Y8U8DKSB_ogJMUOlRsaNMh1z-8BsBbReof1FZ-_73YcFoWzexlcHWtCdlVfw_Zq562Y1x5qpEaxsWYrWZHTYqtxK5NdVpu3W3t_/s400/Aristotle%20and%20Dante.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxtDnvZeRFOd4db-wE48cp7-MbycbOp1h3jYxlBnV14tqfXRGogW6gOLjjHVUapsDcoV0uIpWnXrwPtW_rlet-Y8U8DKSB_ogJMUOlRsaNMh1z-8BsBbReof1FZ-_73YcFoWzexlcHWtCdlVfw_Zq562Y1x5qpEaxsWYrWZHTYqtxK5NdVpu3W3t_/w266-h400/Aristotle%20and%20Dante.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />We all loved our novel,<b><i> Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe</i></b>
by Benjamin Alire Saenz. We loved the points of view of Ari and Dante
in this character-driven story, with Ari as the narrator, but with
Dante's ideas/feelings becoming evident via his conversations with Ari
and his letters when he moved to Chicago. We felt it perfectly depicted
the lives of boys of this age, with all of their angst, questioning,
exploration, emotions, impulsivity, language, and humor. They were both
so real, as were all of the complete and well-developed supporting
characters and<i> their</i> personalities and actions. We loved that
both Ari's and Dante's parents were sensitive, educated, concerned,
well-meaning people -- even though they dealt with their sons in
completely different ways, and both boys felt supported and loved -- a
situation sometimes missing in many YA novels. We felt that the writing
was superb: the poetry of it; the pacing; the flow; the
thought-provoking ends of chapters. We felt that though it depicted
young Mexican-Americans, this novel had a universal theme of teen-aged
boys longing for someone who understands them while trying to figure out
their own identities, be they ethnic, familial, sexual, intellectual,
or ability-related. We felt it was a wonderful story of friendship and
love, and we unanimously gave it a three(!!) thumbs-up.<br /></span></span></span><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-16228648358778557472022-02-24T16:53:00.017-08:002022-03-02T17:04:19.843-08:00MAX AND THE TAG-ALONG MOON by Floyd Cooper and SHOW ME A SIGN by Ann Clare LeZotte<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpnD9w1oF7PE712nQrapeOutpNyfN4aaOkPx_hPGZDO7V3lkIES4znl0A6_IZ1AiY3OxNwbqwfkATNvOtUlHW_2dK5i9fgRo3yxxHhnB7JeVbUUgqSqkREJ-T7c5T94np6xmxgYXJbJK_pwzkm5libA3JWaFl99hDmPIM3epGkVnQoDmfOKLoy68PU=s379" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpnD9w1oF7PE712nQrapeOutpNyfN4aaOkPx_hPGZDO7V3lkIES4znl0A6_IZ1AiY3OxNwbqwfkATNvOtUlHW_2dK5i9fgRo3yxxHhnB7JeVbUUgqSqkREJ-T7c5T94np6xmxgYXJbJK_pwzkm5libA3JWaFl99hDmPIM3epGkVnQoDmfOKLoy68PU=w335-h400" width="335" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />First we discussed our picture book, <b><i>Max and the Tag-Along
Moon</i></b> written and illustrated by Floyd Cooper. We had a
great read-aloud by one of our members, and those of us who had not
held the actual book in our hands got an excellent 'feel' of the
story and the wonderful illustrations. We all agreed that it was a
lovely, child-centered story -- honing into what the little boy,
Max, saw and felt as he remembered his "<i>Granpa's</i>" words that
"<i>...the moon will always shine for you</i>." When dark clouds
threatened on the way home, and obliterated the moon for Max, and
when he was tucked into bed and still didn't see it, we felt that
was a good moment of tension, and were pleased, as Max was, when
the moon finally appeared and lit up his darkened room, fondly
reminding him of and again connecting him with his <i>Granpa.</i> We
learned a bit about Cooper's art tecnique, which was to create a
painting, and then 'erase' everything that was unnecessary. We
loved how his technique created shading and an ethereal feeling to
the illustrations. We all loved the depiction of the strong,
special relationship between Max and his <i>Granpa</i>, and felt that
pre-school kids especially would relate. We all agreed that it was
a wonderful book, with a universal, though very simple and
old-fashioned-feeling story. It was definitely a 'two thumps
up.'</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN_ZGQFv0jvougynedF6TPpL5QnTrEAOVloLsfNCGBfTLwj-DhZwRFyNKitRSF1iqPljDqJmk2ej6pgU8vv0MSzcqAJyvCUweOUmIC5W53iVjReRjCJwhf0nUAKL99u4dAor51dvsZ-Vaga6-P9jWYXC_9clJ9TFM-vkt0pijOi1Y8J_zUg5ZBNCyY=s500" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="348" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN_ZGQFv0jvougynedF6TPpL5QnTrEAOVloLsfNCGBfTLwj-DhZwRFyNKitRSF1iqPljDqJmk2ej6pgU8vv0MSzcqAJyvCUweOUmIC5W53iVjReRjCJwhf0nUAKL99u4dAor51dvsZ-Vaga6-P9jWYXC_9clJ9TFM-vkt0pijOi1Y8J_zUg5ZBNCyY=w279-h400" width="279" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We all learned a lot from our novel, <b><i>Show Me a Sign </i></b>by
Ann Clare LeZotte. We liked that it was told from the point-of-view of a
deaf young girl, Mary, who let us know at the beginning that the
language might seem different from what we were used to reading. We
liked the historical aspects related to the deaf colony that had settled
on Chilmark Island, part of Martha's Vineyard, south of Boston. We
appreciated the descriptions of life there in 1805 -- which -- although
quite insular -- was more than adequate to the island's dwellers, who
had and did almost everything they needed, while using their own unique
sign language, MVSL, long before the conception of ASL. We felt that
some of the didactic-seeming passages that explained the plight of the
deaf community were acceptable, since they helped us to understand Mary
and the other deaf members of her village and to experience their world.
We thought that when Mary was kidnapped and taken to Boston as the
object of an experiment, it provided some action and suspense, and it
made us keep reading to find out what would happen. We thought her
descriptions of the stormy boat excursions to and from Boston were very
real and harrowing. We realized very clearly, that deaf people were seen
as less than human at that time in history, and were often poorly
treated. We also liked the inclusion of many other issues: taking the
Wampanoag Indians' land, the townspeople's relations with a previously
enslaved Black man, the varying points of view of the citizens, the
relationship between Mary and her friends, and her feeling of guilt over
the death of her brother, whom she had lured out to a road where he was
killed by a speeding horse carriage. We found the Author's Notes at the
back especially helpful, giving us more specific information about
Martha's Vineyard, Deafness there, the Wampanoag, Deaf Education, and
the creation of ASL. We felt that young readers could relate to many
aspects of the story, and -- as we did -- could learn a lot, and perhaps
become more empathetic to people different from themselves. It was a
good and worthwhile read.<br /></span> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />
</span></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-85030231012598059542022-01-20T09:59:00.027-08:002022-01-25T10:15:45.203-08:00THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES by Elizabeth Eulberg and WHEN ANGELS SING: THE STORY OF ROCK LEGEND CARLOS SANTANA by Michael Mahin<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikpDvn22i7vaZ8D5Yi7S_4LiopkPXop0kV2HRNBOmh8AeQQzY8PJg9G6Ci4bubCgGnu5m5RA9soXp81jr5YrgVg4HvIcfnhw4QJxNUQjtrXEkpfinL_4uWlGDib2HvXs3RVxg20YIyVeZMaghCQJi9jIEsv58RTYcpv9buQzd3QZFA3rXy_j0ao4wf=s3375" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3375" data-original-width="3075" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikpDvn22i7vaZ8D5Yi7S_4LiopkPXop0kV2HRNBOmh8AeQQzY8PJg9G6Ci4bubCgGnu5m5RA9soXp81jr5YrgVg4HvIcfnhw4QJxNUQjtrXEkpfinL_4uWlGDib2HvXs3RVxg20YIyVeZMaghCQJi9jIEsv58RTYcpv9buQzd3QZFA3rXy_j0ao4wf=w365-h400" width="365" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />First, Big Congratulations to one of our Book Group members, Colleen Paeff, whose first book, <b><i>The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem</i> </b>(Margaret K. McElderry, 2021) just received a <span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv7418021971markedContent" id="yiv7418021971page47R_mcid1"><span dir="ltr" face="sans-serif">Robert F. Sibert Informational Book</span></span></span> Honor from ALSC, a division of the American Library Association. Here's a complete list of all of the awardees and honorees: <br /><a href="https://ala.unikron.comYMA%202022%20Wrap%20Release%20FINAL_01212022.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ala.unikron.comYMA%202022%20Wrap%20Release%20FINAL_01212022.pdf</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyAupE2VveBKsMNMpeNl7m4c7wV7zeD7Rt6c_J7b6N8SdCG0FgyfM8TI2BuvDAbtFESNTR4drs2-2FvMPHibnUs7joNHxg033Zv-WenJih94K8oXb-_m46M6Snwqk8mLK0AMDKF94Qx4j0DFPYzV_HNb5BTxjHB9bAhhqWo_NnT8LclKo0dUA0sb4q=s2098" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyAupE2VveBKsMNMpeNl7m4c7wV7zeD7Rt6c_J7b6N8SdCG0FgyfM8TI2BuvDAbtFESNTR4drs2-2FvMPHibnUs7joNHxg033Zv-WenJih94K8oXb-_m46M6Snwqk8mLK0AMDKF94Qx4j0DFPYzV_HNb5BTxjHB9bAhhqWo_NnT8LclKo0dUA0sb4q=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></div>We had a great discussion at our last meeting and were mostly positive about both of our books. We began with our novel, <b><i>The Great Shelby Holmes</i> </b>by
Elizabeth Eulberg. We mostly liked the characters and the story, and
thought it was quite clever, well-written, and excellently plotted. We
agreed that it could have been a bit shorter...some readers got tired of
all of the time spent being 'inside' of John Watson's head as he
described meeting, getting to know, and finally being accepted as a
friend of Shelby, a young female neighborhood super-sleuth a la Sherlock
Holmes, while trying to solve the mystery of a missing dog, owned by a
very rich family. It was Shelby who decided to just call John 'Watson'
since there were several other 'Johns' that she knew. We liked the way
the two of them and the other young folks in the story acted like real
kids; the way they navigated living in New York without helicopter
parents; and the realistic portrayal of a New York neighborhood with its
shops and local characters. We felt it was great that Watson was the
one telling the story, and that the Shelby/Watson relationship was quite
similar to that in the actual Sherlock Holmes stories by A.C. Doyle.
(The author is a fan.) There was some question as to why the author and
illustrator chose to make Shelby white, while Watson and the rich family
were black, since some of the actions and situations just didn't make
sense, and nothing regarding their races was ever mentioned -- only
shown in the illustrations. One reader felt it was a 'cute story,' but
she didn't 'buy' the fact that Watson's mom, a black woman, was an
Afghanistan veteran who now worked at Columbia University, as well as a
few other plot points, such as no explanation of why Watson's parents
were separated, even though Watson's dad was constantly in his thoughts.
We particularly liked the way the writer kept the mystery going, and a
few of us really wanted to know 'whodunit' -- the answer to which we
finally got, very near the end of the book -- after several very
well-plotted misdirections. We all felt that kids in the intended
readers' age group would enjoy the story, and it would be a great
introduction into reading mysteries.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYwrLiO-uLEJm3OXlyaN3XNBvpKm6Pt7B_wcGvoVGRZWokrE0_0cjwOc-Vh7uenXUjuoBQyiAdQaZd8s_g5YMyf5cjJFW-b2PNQ2-MmqLi49U2VprFYPZ-RzV77hrU6YrDmbOJ7s_wCGX82V-Sm4iMweUZg4iSdqOKM-PV-0rztR2pa9IpsvrXp1zg=s1854" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1854" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYwrLiO-uLEJm3OXlyaN3XNBvpKm6Pt7B_wcGvoVGRZWokrE0_0cjwOc-Vh7uenXUjuoBQyiAdQaZd8s_g5YMyf5cjJFW-b2PNQ2-MmqLi49U2VprFYPZ-RzV77hrU6YrDmbOJ7s_wCGX82V-Sm4iMweUZg4iSdqOKM-PV-0rztR2pa9IpsvrXp1zg=w400-h303" width="400" /></a></div>We all loved our picture book, <b><i>When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana</i></b>
by Michael Mahin; illustrated by Jose Ramirez. We agreed that the
colorful, vibrant illustrations were marvelous, and we loved the musical
poetry of the text. We felt that by using the second person, "When you
were born..." the writer puts us directly into Carlos' head as he tries
to figure out his place in the world of music -- listening, trying out
different instruments, feeling that music makes angels real, and trying
to find his own angels as he continues to grow and improve his musical
skill. We see his creativity flourish as he internalizes different
genres of music and is also aware of the problematic world around him in
the late 1960s and his wish to use music as a uniter between people
comes to a guitar-riffing, cymbal-clashing climax at Woodstock in 1969,
where the 400,000 music fans in attendance cheer for his multicultural
band. A link to that performance is here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPauXWjY4T8" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPauXWjY4T8</a>
We felt that young readers who are interested in music would enjoy this
short picture book biography, and might be interested in further
exploring the resources that are mentioned in the Back Matter of the
book.<br /></span> <p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-58590490194620748082021-12-02T16:40:00.037-08:002021-12-07T16:51:04.155-08:00VINCENT AND THEO: THE VAN GOGH BROTHERS by Deborah Heiligman and THE GIRL WHO NAMED PLUTO: THE STORY OF VENETIA BURNEY by Alice B. McGinty<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJJIF6Q68_yzJy3N1kQjeMlLMGsVrslHJAqgrdZ_T9fhEGPHzC5Xc4XGqVY0qwzUDDlWkmmSI-EYLfCkbNOap4I1YHoXDoLD9Ck4Ouv-PmDwaCceoa43qm9dzjAQi7BYSd3--hoO7sbn0lF042CIDm-FHY2g15tRqfAPgsN8GAEieEqFDR6sdfFAyr=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJJIF6Q68_yzJy3N1kQjeMlLMGsVrslHJAqgrdZ_T9fhEGPHzC5Xc4XGqVY0qwzUDDlWkmmSI-EYLfCkbNOap4I1YHoXDoLD9Ck4Ouv-PmDwaCceoa43qm9dzjAQi7BYSd3--hoO7sbn0lF042CIDm-FHY2g15tRqfAPgsN8GAEieEqFDR6sdfFAyr=w265-h400" width="265" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We started with our nonfiction 'novel':<b><i> Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers </i></b>by
Deborah Heiligman. Only one of us loved it; everyone else had parts they
liked a lot, but thought the book was too long for what it was trying to
accomplish -- a couple of readers said they couldn't finish it.
Everyone liked the black-and-white reproductions of Vincent's drawings
that introduced each chapter, and appreciated the fact that each one
included the years covered. We all appreciated learning more about
Vincent's early life and his very close -- maybe co-dependent --
relationship with his brother Theo. We appreciated the enormous amount
of research the author had done, and the inclusion of direct quotes of
the many letters between the brothers over the course of their short
lives. We were gratified to learn about Jo, Theo's wife, who -- along
with her son -- was instrumental in creating the Van Gogh Museum in
Amsterdam. Although one reader felt the very simply-written text lacked
passion, most of us weren't bothered by that; but even with the spare
text several readers felt that it was a book for adults rather than
young
readers -- though a couple of us felt it could be enjoyed by high
school readers who were interested in art. We all loved the fact that it
spoke to Vincent's persistence in finding his way to express his
deepest feelings through his art, though we wondered how much he would
have done without his brother's emotional and financial help throughout
his life. We all appreciated all of the end matter: the list of people
involved in Vincent's life, the Timeline, the Author's note and the
Endnotes. We felt it was an excellent resource, even as the writing
perhaps lacked intensity or feeling.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1sZyXKTMfRYod_vHSfCJMWk9y_dCpCi-pA-gJkF5uHUOhp_83LgszjCPsIzz4qSLC_3C-o4ocOmZXF2UMy3fvYBRn80YR2akRTr0KMJLKauwS_RZuj_9F3gyn9MDhVErwfAjR915UgeiXxWqkG8WLuXXZasl7yvxBqiJheUS4T74YRy9dBoerVdM5=s1387" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1387" data-original-width="1208" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1sZyXKTMfRYod_vHSfCJMWk9y_dCpCi-pA-gJkF5uHUOhp_83LgszjCPsIzz4qSLC_3C-o4ocOmZXF2UMy3fvYBRn80YR2akRTr0KMJLKauwS_RZuj_9F3gyn9MDhVErwfAjR915UgeiXxWqkG8WLuXXZasl7yvxBqiJheUS4T74YRy9dBoerVdM5=w349-h400" width="349" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We mostly liked our nonfiction picture book, <b><i>The Girl Who Named Pluto: the Story of Venetia Burney</i></b>
by Alice B. McGinty; illus. by Elizabeth Haidle. We all loved the way
the illustrations were fully integrated with the story of 12-year-old
Venetia, a fan of astronomy and mythology, who -- on a sudden whim --
combined these two interests to come up with the name <i>Pluto</i> for
the newly discovered planet in 1930, becoming the only child to have
ever named a planet. We appreciated learning this bit of trivia, and a
bit about Venetia's life -- especially her relationship with her
grandfather who had the proper connections with the 'powers that be' to
get her suggested name accepted by the Royal Astronomical Society. We
were gratified to learn that Venetia actually got to see Pluto through a
telescope when she visited the Observatory Science Center the day
before her 89th birthday. One reader felt that the story was 'slight' --
pleaseant enough to read, but not showing any great initiative or
struggle on Venetia's part; without her uncle's intervention, Pluto
would never have gotten its name. We appreciated the author's note
explaining how she created the story from known facts, and the Selected
Bibliography for those interested in gaining more information. We
thought the book was accessible for young readers and could also be
useful for science teachers as an introduction to studying astronomy.</span><p></p><p><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Two pieces of nonfiction added to our knowledge about the world.</span></span></span></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-30623235914038473952021-10-28T16:04:00.030-07:002021-11-08T16:15:16.571-08:00LOOK BOTH WAYS by Jason Reynolds and STRONG AS SANDOW by Don Tate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkvG3O_VYrbT3q_3SkRbzhBBr6zOPFYkrvDNRnreBT0_Jd9QyQM1w0J-nrR0bGzIh8BXjMWmkq2tkDLBT1EMJNjx94uy6eZdZAQcY4gA4fx9rktzsXh4iT2Nl97RAnuA-FEbRoVEV-yg/s500/look+both+ways.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvkvG3O_VYrbT3q_3SkRbzhBBr6zOPFYkrvDNRnreBT0_Jd9QyQM1w0J-nrR0bGzIh8BXjMWmkq2tkDLBT1EMJNjx94uy6eZdZAQcY4gA4fx9rktzsXh4iT2Nl97RAnuA-FEbRoVEV-yg/w265-h400/look+both+ways.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Greetings to all! .....Our October Zoom meeting
provided a ton of positive reactions to both of our books. We started
with our novel, <i>Loo</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>k Both Ways</i> by
Jason Reynolds. Although one reader said that the first chapter
completely turned her off due to the graphic discussion of bodily
functions (think: nose), the rest of us -- though agreeing that this
chapter was the weakest of the ten chapters -- each depicting particular
middle-schoolers walking home on a certain street -- kept reading and
finished the book. We thought that the first chapter, although
off-putting to adults would immediately pull young readers in. We
ultimately felt that this book was a masterpiece of plotting, character,
and brilliantly fresh writing. We thought it was very real, respectful
of the youngsters it depicted, a great examination of joy and kindness
and love -- along with some realistic 'kid meanness' -- and that its
intended audience of young readers would 'eat it up'. We loved how each
chapter/street was a short story within itself, and presented a new
world to explore, ending with the last chapter/street in which the
relationship of all the characters became evident as well as other
things we didn't understand earlier. We also commended the book
designer, who used a small line-drawing sketch to introduce each
chapter/street and how -- visually -- these drawings descended downward,
so that at Chapter 10 the drawing was at the bottom of the page. We
hoped that our own 'reluctant reader' would give this book another try.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMtKxrq0ye_quNrF9T71kmeL1oE732VLLUBj6bKR5oo7Dqu2GVg-HDxQ6naK6pxTkC9sAAWzVkKGUo5nN_XvW5oT3PGwhb1ZWCCdrFNhRKSt4ogLE0TdUsbPoJ1CuZ7FG0Zyvm5KDbZc/s400/strong+as+sandow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMtKxrq0ye_quNrF9T71kmeL1oE732VLLUBj6bKR5oo7Dqu2GVg-HDxQ6naK6pxTkC9sAAWzVkKGUo5nN_XvW5oT3PGwhb1ZWCCdrFNhRKSt4ogLE0TdUsbPoJ1CuZ7FG0Zyvm5KDbZc/w400-h400/strong+as+sandow.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />We had equally positive things to say about our picture book biography, <i>Strong as Sandow</i>
by Don Tate. All of us were happy to learn about Eugen Sandow, a body
builder in the middle/late 1800s that none of us had ever heard of, and
we felt the first page really made one want to read further and the
vivid illustrations that bounced off the page were also enticing. We
liked the layout of the book where each boxed chapter heading included
the location and date where the depicted events occurred. We liked how
the story flowed as it told the story of Friedrich Wilhelm Muller, a
weak, sickly 10-year-old boy who -- against his parents' wishes --
worked hard at physical exercise to become --at the age of 20 --Eugen
Sandow: Strongman. We thought this story was a good page-turner and
could be inspirational for young readers as it described the pursuing of
a dream and never giving up. We also liked the Back Matter a lot,
where: 1) the Afterword elaborated on Sandow's life, where he prescribed
physical fitness progams in schools and healthy diets for all; 2)
simple exercises anyone could try at home were presented; 3) the
Author's Note where Tate described his own experience with bodybuilding;
4) an excellent and extensive bibliography; and 5) actual citations for
quotes used in the text. (This is often missing in picture
biographies.) ...So great to have two books with (almost) total pluses!</span> <br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br /></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1749270616059729766.post-58566735825682851552021-09-16T09:12:00.001-07:002021-09-29T09:32:31.263-07:00EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE by Daniel Nayeri and BIDDY MASON SPEAKS UP by Arisa White and Laura Atkins and illustrated by Laura Freeman<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40cNBDUujg7pDDbWu6-53KoMz0DQ6oaJwPi_a2QjymDdRqa3LuMlL_AhwHvy5HiTzFXLGucdf6wrD8DjOXpSdxkyrS6OEqyD5fTt9jYS__BdkhL5igK_zJJfM6pEDVT6v5-oBhkka8_E/s475/Everything+Sad+is+Untrue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh40cNBDUujg7pDDbWu6-53KoMz0DQ6oaJwPi_a2QjymDdRqa3LuMlL_AhwHvy5HiTzFXLGucdf6wrD8DjOXpSdxkyrS6OEqyD5fTt9jYS__BdkhL5igK_zJJfM6pEDVT6v5-oBhkka8_E/w263-h400/Everything+Sad+is+Untrue.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br />We began with our novel, <b><i>Everything Sad is Untrue</i></b> by Daniel Nayeri. A few readers said they were put off at the beginning of the book due to the non-linear story development which inserted ancient Persian myths and old family history into middle schooler Daniel's explanation of his life as an immigrant kid who fled Iran with his mother and sister for religious reasons and ended up in Oklahoma. But fortunately, those doubters returned to the book and finished it and were glad they did. We all agreed that it was an amazing feat of storytelling that provided a real window into the immigrant experience as Daniel related his story with insight, wisdom, humanity, and humor. We got used to the insertions of 'Sheherezade-like' stories, and the lessons they were trying to impart. We loved learning about the ancient roots of the Persian/Iranian culture. We all loved Daniel's 'rules' -- things he figured out as he tried to reconcile his past with his present: describing the struggles of an immigrant family, the cruelty they had to endure on their journey, but holding on to his cultural identity as he faced the challenges (typical to all middle schoolers) of just trying to fit in. Some readers felt that parts of the story were shocking and gripping, with no pleasure, and very hard to read. We marveled at the strength of Daniel's mother, and were happy when his father finally showed up -- after many years -- and spoke to the class. We all agreed that perhaps this book should have been 'billed' as a YA title, or even a book for adults, since we weren't sure that younger middle-grade readers would be able to stick with it due to the very non-Western style of storytelling. But we agreed that often it's not the story, but the connection between teller and listener that's important, and we felt that this book definitely accomplished that. We agreed that it was a tribute to the human spirit and we all felt richer for reading it.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AJb_cmWc4Y4G37JgRIqR79bpcC_HUnmvPvx9SLqyLoTTNABgW8DigL3WAIGZzK_zgD3xH7Ve071MGTThQYf_quGrfDjjX38YOHp05IfXparGBANfjStB25orxRyvMRIVwpvvVq8DiHA/s720/Biddy+Mason+Speaks+UP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="560" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AJb_cmWc4Y4G37JgRIqR79bpcC_HUnmvPvx9SLqyLoTTNABgW8DigL3WAIGZzK_zgD3xH7Ve071MGTThQYf_quGrfDjjX38YOHp05IfXparGBANfjStB25orxRyvMRIVwpvvVq8DiHA/w311-h400/Biddy+Mason+Speaks+UP.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br />Our discussion of our nonfiction picture book, <b><i>Biddy Mason Speaks Up</i></b> by Arisa White and Laura Atkins and illustrated by Laura Freeman brought up several interesting issues We were all glad that it honored this African-American enslaved woman who had been brought to Los Angeles because of her talents as a healer and a midwife in the 1850s, won her freedom in an important court case, and later became a successful entrepreneur as she continued a life of standing up for herself. We loved her story, which some (not all) felt was poetically written. We also loved the colorful illustrations which included small, individual boxed photos of some of the plants Biddy used in her healing maneuvers. We did have some issues with this book however. First, we had some problems with the actual story, which, though inspiring, made it hard to tell what was real and what wasn't due to the insertion of fictional characters into a true story. We felt that a picture book biography should only include characters and incidents that were real. Secondly, we had a problem with the format. Some readers likened this book to a web page with multiple 'clickbaits'. Although some young readers might like this, we felt it was distracting. Between the Timeline, maps, photos of related historical events, plus a sidebar Glossary and a moral issue for readers to consider on almost every page, it felt like it was trying to be a reference book in addition to just presenting Biddy Mason's story. We felt that it presented just too much information to digest, and several of us read the book more than once: for the story; for the Timeline; for the photos; for the issues raised. We weren't sure kids would do this, but we also felt that it was probably OK if they just bounced around and read what interested them -- even if that interrupted the story. We thought all of that information in addition to the Back Matter was more for adults, and could be very helpful for teachers, since this book could be used in a variety of curricular areas. We appreciated the authors' excellent research and citations, and we felt that anyone who read this book would certainly learn a lot, and perhaps be moved to do further research to find out more about this amazing Los Angeles heroine. <br /><p></p>five nestshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18291274724653706754noreply@blogger.com0