WELCOME

WELCOME! For the last 17 years, about once a month, usually on a Thursday evening, a group of writers, illustrators, teachers and librarians meets in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles to discuss children's books. Usually we talk about one picture book and one middle grade or YA novel. After the meeting, Sandy Schuckett, a retired LAUSD librarian, summarizes our discussion. Here are her reports of our thoughts about the books we have read. We'd love to have your comments too!
Thanks to Nancy Hayashi for our wonderful title art! NOTE: We are changing to a new schedule. Our meetings will now be quarterly and during the afternoon. Our group has been meeting since 2007. It was organized under the auspices of the Children's Literature Council of Southern California (CLCSC).

Thursday, May 7, 2020

SOMETHING TO TELL THE GRANDCOWS by Eileen Spinelli and THE TWO BOBBIES: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery

This month we had our first ever virtual meeting of Book Chat Thursday on Zoom. We had eight participants and a lively discussion. With libraries and book stores closed, we did not attempt to read books ahead of time. Instead, Ann Paul chose two books off her shelf and read them aloud, showing the illustrations via a second screen. The first was Something to Tell the Grandcows by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Bill Slavia, a fictional telling of a true event. We loved the way the cow conveyed her emotions and excitement of the adventure and at the same time was very cow-like. We also liked the inclusion of so much information about the trip and Antarctica–what they brought (suitcases, building material, even a ukelele) and what they saw (icebergs, seals, endless sunshine in summer and endless nights in winter.) We liked the language of the story and the illustrations that paralleled the light-heartedness of the text. Here’s a link to an article about the actual expedition: Cows in Antarctica

Our second book was The Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery, illustrated by Jean Cassels.  This book tells the true story of a dog and a cat, both without tails, who got left behind during Hurricane Katrina and after fending for themselves for four months, finally found a friend at a construction site, and eventually a permanent home. We liked how the story depicted the friendship of the two animals and the way they helped one another. This book felt much more matter-of-fact than the first story. We discussed whether it would be shelved with fiction or nonfiction in the library. Some felt that it was fiction because no one knew exactly what happened to Bob and Bobby before they were rescued; others felt that as a true story, it should be classified as nonfiction. In any case, we felt that young children would enjoy hearing this story of friendship and learning more about the impact of Hurricane Katrina.