Jack for Ambassador!

Today the new novel by Jack Gantos, Dead End in Norvelt, goes on sale! As such, my family has declared it
Jack Gantos Day here in the entwood.  I have been unabashed in my fandom for this man's writing. The humor in his books got my family through a tough time.

I still hear from students (many now in college) who say, "I remember when Jack Gantos came to our school."  His visit was memorable in so many ways, not the least because it was the first and only time I ever saw a teacher almost fall off of her rolling chair because she was laughing so hard during his presentation.

One of the many joys of belonging to the Kidlitosphere community is getting to know folks who share your reading (and felt boarding) enthusiasms. During an email discussion of all-things-Jack with Jules at 7-Impossible things Before Breakfast and Adrienne at What Adrienne Thinks About That, we all agreed that Gantos would be the PERFECT choice for the role of Ambassador. So today, along with them,  I enthusiastically wish to nominate Jack Gantos to be the next National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

His knowledge of children's literature is "deep and wide" as the old song goes. Listening to one of his presentations is a mini course on the subject. From Rotten Ralph to Hole in My Life, his books span early childhood to young adult.

Gantos's stories takes his characters into the strange, the odd, and the macabre but he always knows exactly how far to go and respects the youngster holding the book.  He overlays his stories with tenderness and affection.

Still, there are moments when the reader cannot believe what just happened. While reading his stories aloud, my listeners have been know to suddenly cover their eyes (not their ears) and exclaim, "I can't watch!"

It is fitting that after years of writing some of his childhood into the Jack Henry stories, his character has stepped out in Norvelt as "Jack Gantos" or "Gantos Boy." 

It is a testament to my dedication to this cause that I have stepped out from behind the dragon to appear here today.  (Well, almost. The new baby dragon wanted to be in the photo and, yes, it is chewing on Rumbaughs.)

I hope Jack can be considered for ambassador.  He would be grand.

Thank you Jules for arranging for our t-shirts. I wear mine with pride. 

Nonfiction Monday: Baseball

First Pitch:  How Baseball Began by John Thorn. Beach Ball Books, 2011
Review copy provided by publisher

Beach Ball is producing some very well done sports books.  I like their typography and the design which includes a nice balance of white space, text boxes and illustrations. The information easy to read and assimilate.  The pages are numbered which is helpful to students learning to cite facts.  They include an index, short glossary, photo and illustration credits and a list of web resources.

There is a wealth of information here on the origins of "America's pastime" provided by historian, John Thorn, whose credentials are very sound as he is the Official Historian for Major League Baseball.  Thorn's mission here, is to share the background of baseball's origins and examine the real contributions of Abner Doubleday and Alexander Cartwright.  Thorn's conclusions may surprise fans who have seen the plaques at Cooperstown. He traces the history of the game from an early children's game to the year, 1845, when William R. Wheaton wrote down some of the first rules for club play. 

Thor's story reads like a detective tale which engages even casual fans, like myself.  Highly recommend this title for all school library collections.


Review copies from my public library.

Author, Phil Bildner is recalling the great stories and legends of baseball for a new generation.  Beginning with Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, which was chosen for the Texas Bluebonnet Award in 2004, Bildner tells the story of Shoeless Joe Jackson and his search for the perfect bat.  Charlie Ferguson, the "finest bat smith in all of South Carolina -- and in all the South" made a bat for Jackson which he used throughout his career. Ferguson was also part psychologist as he helped Jackson through various hitting slumps with advice on caring for his bat.  Bildner's after word tells the rest of the Shoeless Joe's famous story. C. F. Payne paints his subjects with caricature-realism and a rich colors.

Bildner recounts the epic pennant race between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants in the summer of 1951 in The Shot Heard 'Round the World.  C. F. Payne illustrates again. His paintings and Bildner's words paint a time gone by as stillness falls over Brooklyn and every ear listens to the final game of the series on the radio.  Bildner's young narrator calls the climactic game and the reader watches, in the stands, as the Giant's Bobby Thomson cracks out the game ending home run. 


Bildner is at the top of his game here with polished storytelling in his new book, The Unforgettable Season: Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the Record-Setting Summer of 1941.  Here, he covers Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak and Ted Williams's .400 batting average. What little I knew about DiMaggio's hitting streak was from Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlow in the movie, Farewell My Lovely.  "Joltin' Joe" and "The Splendid Splinter" hit their way into the country's hearts during the summer of 1941.  Bildner calls games like a veteran baseball announcer as he highlights key hits and identifies the fields and cities where the games were played. He lets the players speak for themselves with quotes. After hitting a three run homer in the All-Star Game,we "hear" Ted Williams say, "The greatest thrill of my life!"  A list of research sources is also included.
  Illustrator S.D. Schindler presents the visual story like a newsreel combining full page illustrations with vignettes.  The book bolds and color codes Williams's name in red and DiMaggio's name in blue which helps the reader follow the two story lines. Bildner smoothly entwines facts and baseball stats in his writing but he excels at finding the heart of these sports stories and sharing them with a young readers. 

First Pitch:  How Baseball Began by John Thorn. Beach Ball Books, 2011
 Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy by Phil Bildner ; illustrated by C.F. Payne. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2002.
The Shot Heard 'Round the World by Phil Bildner ; illustrated by C.F. Payne. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2005.
The Unforgettable Season: Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the Record-Setting Summer of 1941 Phil Bildner ; illustrated by S. D. Schindler. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, c2011.

Amy O'Quinn is hosting the Nonfiction Monday round-up today @amyquinn.com

Sunny Bunnies

Greg Pincus, father of the Fibs poetry form at his blog GottaBook and social media tour guide at Happy Accident, penned an ode to summer with a new poem, "At the Beach - a beach poem"  last week.  His poem inspired me to pick up Margie Blumberg's book Sunny Bunnies from the review stack.

  A rabbit family packs up the car and heads to the beach where they play in the waves, fly a kite, enjoy a picnic lunch and build a sand castle. Blumberg's story rhymes along with a pleasant read-aloud rhythm. She hits all the activities a child enjoys at the beach.  June Goulding's bunnies are picture book sweet and she fills the page with nice details including a sumptuous picnic with foods young children will recognize.  At the end of the day, jars of lightening bugs glow while the family toasts marshmallows around a campfire. She also keeps the geography of the beach consistent in the different views.  Her end papers are a map of Carrot Cake Park where the family has spent the day. I really like presenting maps to young children.  Blumberg and Goulding hit the mark with the book's last pages as the children, who are still not tired, jump out of bed to check on their parents and find them completely zonked, sound asleep from their big day at the beach.
  
Sunny Bunnies, written by Margie Blumbert, illustrated by June Goulding, MB Publishing, 2008

Second Fiddle

Second Fiddle by Rosanne Parry. Random House, 2011

As a veteran of the "I can't hear you practicing" skirmishes,  I am heartened by stories of young people, devoting themselves to music (and practice) which this lovely book cover promises.  Band, orchestra and choir programs play a huge role in many teens' lives.  One of my students used to credit Virginia Euwer Wolff's The Mozart Season for inspiring her to All State success.
 
Parry begins her book with this cracking opening line: 

"If we had know it would eventually involve the KGB, the French National Police, and the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, we would have left that body in the river and called the Polizei like any normal German citizen; but we were Americans and addicted to solving other people's problems, so naturally, we got involved." 

This is a very cleverly imagined mystery, set in the distant past of 1990, in Berlin, not long after the Berlin Wall came down. Also, as promised, there is music.

Three girls have become friends by playing together in a string trio. Their music has linked them in friendship even though they come from different social worlds.  Giselle's father is the commanding general of the American Forces in Berlin and Vivian's mother is the U. S. consul general to West Berlin.  Jody's family lives in enlisted soldiers' quarters. Musically, Jody also plays second violin in the trio. As political change takes hold  in Germany, many American diplomatic and military families are preparing to leave Berlin. These girls will probably not see each other again.

Their apprehension worsens when they learn their music teacher will not be able to take them to a music competition in Paris,  This is a blow after all their practice and preparation. On their way home from their last lesson, they decide to cross into the East Berlin to console themselves with some gelato.  The ease of their crossing is still somewhat unnerving as this used to be enemy territory.  While there, they witness a terrible crime against a Soviet soldier and despite years of Cold War distrust, the three resolve to help him.  As they plan, Jody sees a way to help the soldier and also get to Paris so they can perform together, one last time.

Parry conveys a sense of what it is like to be part of a military family living overseas.  Despite frequent moves and her father's long work hours, Jody's family enjoys a sweet closeness. The author also captures the time and place perfectly.  One side of the Brandenburg Gate is prosperous and booming, the other side is poor and grim.   Parry inserts lovely detail such as the mouth-watering aroma from a Parisian crepe cart and the quiet interior of a church which puts the reader there, on the streets of Berlin and Paris. Her descriptions are so spot on, we can follow the action with a city map.

A useful and interesting author's note gives additional background on the division of Germany in 1945, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Eastern Europe's struggle to be free from the Soviet Union.

From Pachebel's Canon to Paris street musicians to Cold War intrigue, this book is a virtual vacation. I truly enjoyed the ride.  


Roseanne Parry Website

Harry Potter

Waves of Harry Potter nostalgia are washing over me this weekend. This lovely article "How J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter Saved Reading" By Norman Lebrecht in the Wall Street Journal today tributes the school library for introducing the book to his family.

My family experience traces the phenomenon to the school library. Our youngest daughter brought home a copy around year four, when she was 9. Her elder sisters commandeered it and insisted that the parents read as well. What Ms. Rowling achieved—long before Warner Bros. adapted her work into films, the last of which will be released next week—was a children-led read-in that crossed all age barriers, uniting families in a primal fireside act of sharing an unfolding story, page by page.

I remember that summer when I started reading Sorceror's Stone with entling no. 3. After two afternoons of reading aloud, together, she took the book upstairs and finished it on her own and pronounced it a grand read. I credit JK Rowling with her reading fluency to this day.

I was very fortunate at the start of my school librarian career. My first year as a school librarian saw the stampede for books about the Titanic, thanks to the movie. At that point we only had Exploring the Titanic by Robert D. Ballard and a picture book biography about Molly Brown, Heroine of the Titanic by Elaine Landau.  Publishers soon got up to speed. (I remember the almost mele at the Little Brown booth for Inside the Titanic.)

Then there was Harry, wonderful Harry. I met a former student, not long ago, who recalled that I handed him a copy of the first book and he became a reader from that day forward. Rowling's books made every librarian look good as children clamored for the books.

As I look forward to the final film chapter of Harry's story on Friday I am reminded of how exciting it was to anticipate the very first movie along with my students. Seeing photo stills of Hogwarts with the floating candles in the great hall was thrilling. As the end of his film journey is at hand, I am cheered to see the books still being checked out by a new generation of readers in school libraries today. I am so happy the my family and I were there for the first grand ride.

Old MacDonald has a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O

In the spirit of Old McDonald and onomatopoeia sound effects.
 

Gobble Gobble Moooooo Tractor Book by Jez Alborough. Kane Miller, 2010

Jez Alborough's usual cast of animals characters are trying to hitch a ride on a tractor driven by Sheep.  Farmer Dougal hears the all noise and jumps out of bed to see what is going on. All he sees is his tractor sitting in place and animals grazing quietly, nearby.  After he returns to bed, the animals are ready to ride again.  The story reminded me of Duck on a Bike by David Shannon -- animals and vehicles.  As a read aloud, there are animal sounds to make.  The illustrations are in Alborough's comic style.  I will say that the toothy grin of the sheep is a little unnerving.

Chicken, Chicken, Duck by Nadia Krilanovich, Tricycle, 2011

Farm yard animals quack, baa, cluck, maa, squeek, meow and woof.  As the pages turn, the animals seem to be cheerfully jumbled up together. It is not until the last two page spread that their goal is revealed.  Krilanovich paints with lovely texture and pattens.  Her chickens are especially beautiful.  The book plays with the Duck Duck Goose game chant, adding in animal sounds. 


Dancing Feet! by Lindsey Craig, illustrated by Marc Brown, Knopf, 2010

Dancing is just plain fun for everyone.  Dancing ladybugs go Tippity! Tippity!, elephants go Stompity! Stompity!, ducks' feet go Slappity! Slappity! and so on, with insects and lizards and animals of all sizes dancing up a storm.  Nice rhythm and rhyme swing the text. It would make an excellent storytime read-aloud with lots of opportunities for audience participation.  Marc Brown's collage illustrations pop with color and texture.  The simple shapes might inspire some young artists.  I am putting this one in my "have book, will travel" librarian's bag.

SYNC YA Literature into Your Earphones

2 Free Audiobook Downloads Each Week
June 23 - August 17, 2011

Teens and other readers of Young Adult Literature will have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required reading classics this summer. Each week from June 23 - August 17, 2011, SYNC will offer two free audiobook downloads.

The audiobook pairings will include a popular YA title and a classic that connects with the YA title's theme and is likely to show up on a student's summer reading lists. For example, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, the first book in a popular series with strong allusions to Romeo & Juliet, will be paired with Shakespeare's classic.

To find out when you can download titles to listen to on the run this summer, visit www.AudiobookSync.com or text syncya to 25827

SYNC Titles
Summer 2011

6/23/11 - 6/29/11
Shiver By Maggie Stiefvater
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

6/30/11-7/6/11
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Trial by Franz Kafka

7/7/11-7/13/11
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

7/14/11-7/20/11
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
Beowulf by Francis B. Gummere [Trans.]

7/21/11-7/27/11
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

7/28/11-8/3/11
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Rescue: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea by Dorcas S. Miller [Ed.]

8/4/11-8/10/11
Immortal by Gillian Shields
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

8/11/11-8/17/11
Storm Runners by Roland Smith
The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Pottermore

Pottermore.com
The registration page is very slow right now. I can only imagine that the site is getting hammered with requests. There is more (thanks to Sheila Ruth @Wands and Worlds for the information) at the Guardian

the fresh Potter material – to be unveiled later this year - already stretches to 18,000 words about the novels' characters, places and objects, with more to come. From Professor McGonagall's love for a Muggle as a young woman, to how the Dursleys met (Petunia was working in an office); from new information about Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses, to details about wand wood, Rowling's writing will be just one part of the richly interactive, free Pottermore.com website, which is intended to bring the Harry Potter storylines to interactive life for readers.

Nonfiction Monday: For the Love of Music: The Remarkable Story of Maria Anna Mozart

For the Love of Music: The remarkable  Story of Maria Anna Mozart by Elizabeth Rusch, paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Francher. Tricycle Press, 2011 (review copy provided by the publisher)

The CIP in this books shows the LC subject heading as "Berchtold zu Sonnenburg, Maria Anna Mozart, Reichsfrelin von, 1751-1829" aka Maria Anna Mozart, Wolfgang's sister. Rusch uses  the piano sonata form, which she describes before the story begins, to frame her story as Maria played them frequently.   Billed as Wonders of Nature! and Child Geniuses!, Maria and her younger brother, Wolfgang performed together across Europe.  The two spoke French and Italian and had rich imaginations.  A composer and prodigy in her own right, Maria noted down Wolfgang's compositions for him, before he could write.  When their father chose to focus on Wolfgang as a solo performer, Maria was left behind at home, a move that devastated her.  The siblings remained close though even after Maria's marriage and many of Wolfgang's compositions were dedicated to his sister.

Artists, Johnson and Francher use a collage of woven fabrics, rich brocades and embroidered satins, to bring the story to life. The textiles act as a canvas for the paintings and give them richness and depth. The paint is laid on thickly in places rendering a three dimensional feel to the figures.  The pianos are layered with  images of original hand written sheet music from the Mozart family collection.  I would love to see the original artwork for this book. 

A brief but complete bibliography  includes books, letters and documents and personal interviews.  An "encore" summary of Maria Anna Mozart's life fills out details of her story.  This book is beautifully executed in every way.
Bravi!

If Rocks Could Sing

If Rocks Could Sing: a discovered alphabet by Leslie McGuirk.  Tricycle Press, 2011 (review copy provided by publisher)

My inner school librarian is putting this book on my "must purchase" list.  The book is a happy tribute to every child who ever filled a box, sack, pail, or gym sock with a rock collection.
The ABC style book is wholly original and an imaginative delight.  Each page focuses on a rock in the shape of a letter of the alphabet.
A rock shaped like a lower case "e" illustrates "elephant" along with a rock that looks just like the head of an elephant, with an upraised trunk.  The two page spread for "o is for Ouch!" depicts a donut shaped "'o" rock with ouch depicted by a smooth oval stone "face" pitted with holes and grooves that look just like a face, grimacing.

I know I exclaimed or laughed out loud at some of the whimsical selections. McGuirk's interpretation of these amorphous shapes is a wonder because we see them too!  Her rocks are identified as fossiliferous sandstone and the geologic process that forms this kind of sedimentary rock is also described.  McGuirk began collecting these rocks on Florida beaches although she specifies that the letter "X" is from Maine.
This book has wide classroom applications from art teachers to science teachers.  It would perfectly pair with Byrd Baylor's classic Everybody needs a Rock.