It is almost the end of the month, so here is my picture book of the month. Granpa Green by Lane Smith was a Caldecott Honor book. The story line is simple, a young boy is talking about his great grandfather who has a garden full of topiary figures that add to the story of important events in the grandfather's life. The section I liked best was when the boy describes the books his grandfather read when he was home in bed with the chicken pox. "So he read stories about secret gardens and a little engine that could." This page is illustrated with depictions of a train and the lion, scarecrow and tinman. All kinds of connections!!
For all the grandparents out there. This is a fun book to share with the grandchildren, imagining what kinds of topiary we would all put in our gardens of life!
You can learn more about Lane Smith at his page on Penguin Books: http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000029880,00.html
Enjoy!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Grammar and books for kids
I just finished reading Lucky Cap by Patrick Jennings. It is was a fast read for upper elementary students, primarily aimed at boys. The narrator gets a new cap with a brand name from his father's new employer and thinks it brings him good luck. Over the course of his first semester in middle school, he learns many valuable lessons about friendship, bullying and being true to oneself. But, there were a few things that bothered me about the book. Since the narrator was a 6th grade boy, there were occasional grammar lapses, particularly the expression: Me and my father, or some variation of that. While I know that this is how kids talk (and even some adults), I hate to read poor grammar in books for kids. Doesn't it just reinforce their poor grammar habits? What do you think?
The book is also a little boy-centric and has a few areas where I felt that girls were unnecessarily stereotyped. For example, when Enzo loses his special cap, he finds himself "bawling like a baby girl" and wiping away his "girlish tears." Come on, can't we do any better than this in the 21st century? Do we still have to portray girls as crybabies, even when it is the boy doing the crying?
The book is also a little boy-centric and has a few areas where I felt that girls were unnecessarily stereotyped. For example, when Enzo loses his special cap, he finds himself "bawling like a baby girl" and wiping away his "girlish tears." Come on, can't we do any better than this in the 21st century? Do we still have to portray girls as crybabies, even when it is the boy doing the crying?
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
January 2012 list
Books-January 2012
1. The winters in bloom by Lisa Tucker
2. Samantha on a roll by Linda Ashman illustrated by Christine Davenier (picture book)
3. The prince's new pet by Brian Anderson (picture book)
4. A plain and fancy Christmas by Cynthia Keller
5. Deadly housewives edited by Christine Matthews
6. Zombie tag by Hannah Moskowitz (intermediate book)
7. The cruelest month by Louise Penny
8. The pile of stuff at the bottom of the stairs by Christina Hopkinson
9. Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (intermediate book)
10. The surrender tree by Margarita Engle
11. Emily alone by Stewart O'Nan
12. A secret kept by Tatiana de Rosnay
13. Maine by Courtney J. Sullivan
14. 1225 Christmas tree lane by Debbie McComber (audio)
15. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
1. A quiet story about a couple who have both suffered loss. Their lives are changed when their son is kidnapped and then returned to them.
2. I always start the month determined to get through the stack of books on my desk and never quite succeed. But, this was a cute story of a little girl who takes off on her own, only to eventually return safely to her own home.
3. See my comments about the picture book of the month. A good story and works on many levels.
4. When two baby girls are sent home from the hospital with the wrong parents, their lives are changed forever. Years later the mistake is acknowledged and the to young women get to know their birth families. Since one family is Amish, it adds a little twist to an old story.
5. Short murder mystery stories. Most were good but not memorable.
6. What a weird book about pretend zombies and real zombies with real loss and grief mixed in. May appeal to some teens.
7. The third Louise Penny book I have read in the last few months. She is still high on my list and I will eventually catch up with her latest book. Check her out if you have not read any of her mysteries.
8. This has been compared to I don’t know how she does it by Allison Pearson (see March 2011). I thought it was similar in some ways, but I liked it better. Still a little bit whiny about all that women have to do that men never seem to even notice. Much truth to the whines, though.
9. Newbery winner. I was not impressed. Gantos can do so much more than this, I think.
10. A series of poems about the wars fought at the end of the 19th century in Cuba. Strong characters based on real people who fought for the right to have autonomy in their own country.
11. Had never read Steward O’Nan before. I liked this simple story of Emily, a widow living our her last years, completing simple tasks and wondering how she can connect with her children and grandchildren.
12. This book was not as well received as Sarah’s Key by the same author. For me, it was not spectacular, but it worked somehow. A story about the importance of relationships and learning to love oneself as you love others.
13. This was hailed as a comic novel. But, I did not see it as funny so much as full of pathos. The way the characters treated one another was too hurtful to be funny. I did like the writing and would read this author again.
14. I listened to this story and it was a little confusing as I think this story was written to wrap up a series set in this town in Oregon. The author was constantly referring to past events in the many different characters’ lives. Of course it ends with all stories neatly wrapped up and many happily ever afters.
15. One of the most powerful books I read this month. About a young refugee from Nigeria, how she gets to England and what happens when she gets there. Told in two voices. This was the library book club book and we had a very good discussion.
1. The winters in bloom by Lisa Tucker
2. Samantha on a roll by Linda Ashman illustrated by Christine Davenier (picture book)
3. The prince's new pet by Brian Anderson (picture book)
4. A plain and fancy Christmas by Cynthia Keller
5. Deadly housewives edited by Christine Matthews
6. Zombie tag by Hannah Moskowitz (intermediate book)
7. The cruelest month by Louise Penny
8. The pile of stuff at the bottom of the stairs by Christina Hopkinson
9. Dead end in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (intermediate book)
10. The surrender tree by Margarita Engle
11. Emily alone by Stewart O'Nan
12. A secret kept by Tatiana de Rosnay
13. Maine by Courtney J. Sullivan
14. 1225 Christmas tree lane by Debbie McComber (audio)
15. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
1. A quiet story about a couple who have both suffered loss. Their lives are changed when their son is kidnapped and then returned to them.
2. I always start the month determined to get through the stack of books on my desk and never quite succeed. But, this was a cute story of a little girl who takes off on her own, only to eventually return safely to her own home.
3. See my comments about the picture book of the month. A good story and works on many levels.
4. When two baby girls are sent home from the hospital with the wrong parents, their lives are changed forever. Years later the mistake is acknowledged and the to young women get to know their birth families. Since one family is Amish, it adds a little twist to an old story.
5. Short murder mystery stories. Most were good but not memorable.
6. What a weird book about pretend zombies and real zombies with real loss and grief mixed in. May appeal to some teens.
7. The third Louise Penny book I have read in the last few months. She is still high on my list and I will eventually catch up with her latest book. Check her out if you have not read any of her mysteries.
8. This has been compared to I don’t know how she does it by Allison Pearson (see March 2011). I thought it was similar in some ways, but I liked it better. Still a little bit whiny about all that women have to do that men never seem to even notice. Much truth to the whines, though.
9. Newbery winner. I was not impressed. Gantos can do so much more than this, I think.
10. A series of poems about the wars fought at the end of the 19th century in Cuba. Strong characters based on real people who fought for the right to have autonomy in their own country.
11. Had never read Steward O’Nan before. I liked this simple story of Emily, a widow living our her last years, completing simple tasks and wondering how she can connect with her children and grandchildren.
12. This book was not as well received as Sarah’s Key by the same author. For me, it was not spectacular, but it worked somehow. A story about the importance of relationships and learning to love oneself as you love others.
13. This was hailed as a comic novel. But, I did not see it as funny so much as full of pathos. The way the characters treated one another was too hurtful to be funny. I did like the writing and would read this author again.
14. I listened to this story and it was a little confusing as I think this story was written to wrap up a series set in this town in Oregon. The author was constantly referring to past events in the many different characters’ lives. Of course it ends with all stories neatly wrapped up and many happily ever afters.
15. One of the most powerful books I read this month. About a young refugee from Nigeria, how she gets to England and what happens when she gets there. Told in two voices. This was the library book club book and we had a very good discussion.
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