It is the Wind

It is the Wind by Ferida Wolff, illustrated by James Ransome 2005.

This is a beautiful picture book.
A young boy listens to the sounds of the night as he settles down for sleep.

What is the noise I hear,
in the night
that wakens me,
that shakens me,
the noise, I hear, in the dark
in the night?

It is the swing, I think
by the barn
that sways and clunks
that sways and thunks,
the swing I think, in the breeze
by the barn.

It is the bugs, I think,
in the grass
that stir and crick,
that stir and click
the bugs, I think singing songs
in the grass.

Ransome's watercolors glow with a veil of blue night upon them. He displays small scenes from a farm life opposite each stanza. A lovely and melodic choice for quiet times or bedtime.

A 2X2 selection

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa

The Texas Library Association provides some of the best reading lists around. The 2X2 Reading List is a project of the Children’s Round Table, a unit of the Texas Library Association. The 2X2 Committee‘s charge is to produce a list of 20 recommended books for children, age two to grade two.

I had an opportunity to share some of the books on this year's list with students. What treasures!



Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Erica Silverman, painted by Betsy Lewin, 2005.

This title is a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor book. Cowgirl Kate and her
horse Cocoa understand each other perfectly. Sometimes Cocoa does not
want to work and Kate knows just what to say to get him moving. when
she cannot count all the cattle,Cocoa helps her. Cocoa is always hungry
and Kate works hard to take care of him.
When she can't sleep, he sings her a lullabye.

"Will you fluff my straw?" Cocoa asked.
Cowgirl Kate sighed.
"I am very tired," she said.
But she climbed out of her sleeping bag
and fluffed his straw.
Then she crawled back into her sleeping bag.
"I am hungry," said Cocoa
Cowgirl Kate sighed.
You are always hungry," she said.
But she climbed out of her sleeping bag
andgave him three carrots.
Then she crawled back into her sleeping bag.
"Uh-oh! My water bin is low," said Cocoa.
Cowgirl Kate groaned.
"Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"I didn't think of it before, " said Cocoa.
"First I was thinking about straw.
Then I was thinking about food.
Now I am thinking about water."
"You are doing too much thinking," said Cowboy Kate.

Lewin's paintings are comical and expressive. Their expressions are
priceless as they stare at each other during this exchange.

I'm intrigued

The Fetch by Chris Humphreys, 2006

OK, when the entling reads this book all afternoon and all through dinner and then disappears for the entire evening only coming downstairs after having finished the book and announces it is "better" than Harry Potter, (she is Harry's no. 1 fan) I sit up and stare with wide eyes. Then I burble something intelligent like, "Really?"

When she says she cannot wait until the next book and if it does not come out soon, "there's gonna be trouble (er ... that is "screaming and chaos" to quote her, accurately,)" I go hmmm...and move the book to the top of my stack.

Stay tuned!

Dress Up

Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children's Literature has an excellent post about Halloween and kids dressed up as Indians for Trick or Treating. In addition to her thoughtful comments this line leaped out at me:

If the book you select for a Halloween read-aloud in storytime has characters that dress up as Indians, turn that illustration into a teachable moment with your students.

In the elementary schools in this area Halloween is a forbidden word and a non-event. There are no read alouds of Halloween books in schools here. In past years, books featuring scarecrows, bats and spider have even been questioned by some parents because they might be inferring the H-word.

We can share books about fall and the changing color of the leaves and anything seasonal that can be linked to the curriculum.

A few years ago, the district had to issue an apology to parents who were horrified to discover that the dairy had printed a picture of a haunted house on the milk cartons that were served at lunch time.

Even so it seems that decorating the home for H-night is almost approaching the frenzy usually reserved for that other holiday that occurs on December 25. Witches, bats, skeletons, gravestones, monsters and ghosts (even inflatable Tiggers holding Jack-o-Lanterns) have popped up overnight in my neighborhood.

Target is offering their own version of a Naughty Librarian costume this year.

Kids arriving at my door will NOT be greeted in this fashion although they already know that in order to receive a treat they must declare the title of their favorite book and receive a book mark along with the mini-Snickers or M&Ms. One boy just shouts out the title of his book as soon as I answer the door, forgoing the ritual:
(ding-dong)
(door opens)
"AMAZING SHARKS--uh--Trick or Treat!"

There is a group of girls that come by every year for the Orlando Bloom bookmarks.

Slacker

I feel like such a blog slacker but I've subbed 3 days this week, it is homecoming weekend for the entling which entails a great deal of planning and angst (for parental units.)

There was the great "mum handoff" this afternoon and a choir concert tonight. I may not surface until Sunday. One cheerful child lit note is I am reading Newbery Honor book, Whittington by Alan Armstrong and S.D. Schindler at school. What a fantastic story so far!

Lunching with the stars

School librarians have many responsibilities. They instruct students in research methods, warn against plagiarism, help them find information on topics of importance to them.

Sometimes students remember those lessons. On Friday, I was waiting for my entling to finish up her singing lesson when a bright and extremely intelligent former student who is now in high school, arrived for the next lesson. She told me that I had been in her thoughts that very day as her English teacher assigned a research project on Victorian England and told them they would be using Big 6. She remembered me teaching Big 6 in elementary school. (You can see why she is a very intelligent child. My pearls of wisdom were still, apparently, circulating through her cerebral cortex on some level.)

As I subbed at a junior high library on Friday, I was reminded, though, that my favorite part of the job is helping kids find that special book. I can't do that job unless I read the books and know something about the people who write them.

Reading puts the author's words directly into the brain. The action is between your ears, your imagination is responding directly to the story. It is very personal and initmate which is why I am always interested in the people who write the books I read.

When I attend a library conference I know I should attend those sessions on advocacy, aligning information literacy lessons with the curriculum, making my MARC records sparkle...and I do... attend...some of them. But I flock, beeline and elbow my way to sessions where authors are speaking.

Wednesday, I hastened away from the homestead enroute to Austin to see Jennifer Holm. Incredibly heavy fog and traffic conspired to keep me from arriving in time for her presentation (blast! drat!) but I did get to enjoy lunch with her AND Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith (shiny!) . Cynthia and Greg directed us to Green Pastures for an absolutely delicious lunch.

The warmth of Jennifer's welcome was overwhelming. Cynthia and Greg are legends here in Texas for generosity with their time and their booster support of other Texas writers. It was a dream to have the opportunity to meet them.

Later, you think of things you meant to tell them. I wanted Cynthia to know that Jingle Dancer is never on the shelf because it is continuously checked out by young readers, and how much I loved Indian Shoes. Greg's book Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo is a junior high triumph. The audio version is excellent!

Jennifer, Cynthia and Greg, I am grateful for your imagination and the gift you have for putting your creative sparks into words so I can experience them too!

Cool facts from lunch:
Grandmother Patience, the horrible grandmother from Our Only May Amelia, was based on a real person.
Jennifer Holm's husband designs video games so they own every gaming system known (irony!).
Cynthia is working on a new book and she and Greg traveled to the King Ranch to do research for Greg's new book.

Author: Jennifer Holm

Wow, Jennifer L. Holm is going to be at bookstore extraordinaire, Book People in Austin, TX, tomorrow, Wednesday morning.

Hmm...I'm thinking road trip! This family's motto is "Will drive for bookstores and authors" (as well as Faciemus Melius Prorimo Tempore.)

--------------------------------------


Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm, 2006

Penny from Heaven is one of the most comforting books I have enjoyed in a long time. The cover art echoes the time period of the 1950s. Penny is a beloved child. Her father is dead and no one will really explain the circumstances surrounding his death but she is surrounded by an extended family of grandparents, aunts and uncles who love her and care for her. She and her Uncle Dominic share a passion for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Her slightly deliquent cousin Frankie is her best friend. Her dog, Scarlett O'Hara is a un-house-broken-nightmare.

When her mother begins dating again, Penny's secure world begins to tilt. A terrible accident brings family secrets to light but then allows Penny and her mother to move on.

This is not a novel with sweeping action sequences. It is a warm and gentle read about family.

Fans of books like Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising and Holm's earlier book, Our Only May Amelia will especially enjoy this read.



Jennifer Holm Website

Phew!

One of my posts was messing up the old template. After scouring through them and deleting them, one by one, I finally found the responsible post. Now I need to restore them.

Drat! Now I've lost all the good comments. Oh well.
HTML weirdness.

Abadazad anyone?

Abadazad: The Road to Inconceivable - Book #1
Abadazad: The Dream Thief - Book #2

Wow, these sound very cool. Has anyone read these graphic novels? Heard the author and the artist interviewed on NPR tonight.

The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, 2006

Princess Alyss Heart will be queen of Wonderland some day. She is gifted with a powerful imagination that can make her imaginings come true. On the day of her 7th birthday, Princess Alyss's father is killed in an ambush while hurrying home for her birthday party. Despite the vigilence of Hatter Madigan and the elite hatter security forces Alyss's Aunt Redd and her card soldiers attack the castle and overthrow her mother, Queen Genevieve.

On orders from his queen, Hatter Madigan swears to protect the young princess and they flee from the murderous claws of Redd's grinning assassin in feline form, The Cat. With nowhere else to go, Hatter and Alyss plunge into the Pool of Tears.

Lost and alone, Alyss emerges from a puddle of water on the streets of Victorian London to attempt to find her way in a strange new world. The Liddell family adopts her and changes her name to Alice. Forbidden from talking about her earlier life she confides her story to a family friend, the Reverend Charles Dodgson who rewrites her seemingly fanciful story as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, using his pen name, Lewis Carroll.

The story is engrossing and satisfying as a fantasy read. Planned as a trilogy, I look forward to seeing what Beddor will do with the characters. Alyss's childhood friend, Dodge could shape up to be an Anakin-turn-to-the-dark-side character who is haunted by his father's murder. The standout character of the story has to be Hatter Madigan. He is a superhero/assassin/protector with a hat weapon that can slice and dice. I want to know more about him.

Young adults do not have to have characters the same age as themselves to enjoy a story. They are regular readers of McCaffery's Pern stories and the Star Trek books at the junior high near me. Beddor does cover a great deal of ground as Alyss goes from age 7 to age 20 in the story though. As a 20 year old character, she is less interesting than she was as a young child. As the book is pitched at YA readers, I wonder if he should have/could have aged her more gradually.

There are lots of battle scenes and I can see the CGI card soldiers on the big screen now.

Penguin has a splashout site about the book and even a soundtrack to listen to which Entling no. 3 has appropriated and enjoyed very much.

This is a fun read for fantasy readers. I can already think of 4 kids who will be interested in this book.

Official Site:
http://www.thelookingglasswars.com