We had a small but lively group at our last meeting, and delicious
'nibblies' also! We discussed the picture book first. We all agreed that the
illustrations were wonderful, and we especially loved Bear and all of
his expressions as he tried to get his small animal friends to listen to his
story as he helped them prepare for winter. We did however agree that as a
read-aloud to a group of children, it might not work so well, since many of the
illustrations were quite pale, and couldn't be seen so well from a distance.
Some people objected to the fact that it was a 'circular' story....reading the
last page would send you back to the beginning. Some people liked that idea,
while others didn't like the ending at all and wanted to know exactly
what Bear's story WAS. We also read aloud A Sick Day for
Amos McGee, the Caldecott winner for the same author/illustrator team, and
some liked that book better, while others preferred Bear. Differences
in perception and opinion are what makes our group so much fun!
As for the novel...there are Pinkwater lovers and then there
are others! We all loved the beginning of the book, and the fact that Victor was
a normal kid with a normal family...not the usual middle school smart aleck of
so many current books. A couple of us loved the rest of the story also -- but
not everyone. A couple of people felt that Victor didn't really DO anything...he
merely reported everything that happened on the strange lizard island, but he
had no real part in any of the action. Some folks couldn't figure out the
purpose for the story. We did love Victor's obsession with Walter Cronkite and
TV news, however. One of our members said she had always loved this book and her
son had loved it and read it several times when he was young. Some of us
wondered about any symbolism in the story, knowing a bit about the author and
some of his other works. We thought it might be good to read another book of his
to figure out where he's really 'coming from'....maybe we will some time in the
future.
Other news: Two of our members, Ann Paul and Nancy Hayashi, have a new
book coming out in November: 'Twas the Late Night of Christmas. They
will be doing a book signing at Skylight Books in LA, and the details are here:
http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/ann-whitford-paul-reads-twas-late-night-christmas?utm_source=November+Events+at+Skylight+Books&utm_campaign=October+events+2013&utm_medium=email
Perhaps you'd like to attend.
Have fun on Halloween! BOO!
