Chandra Universe

Books for Young Ornithologists

2012-01-24T16:44:00.007-06:00

We just wrapped up a rather lengthy unit on birds. It lasted a bit longer than I had planned because we had so many great materials to use! I simply couldn't move on until we'd explored everything we had at our disposal.

The Giant Golden Book of Birds
by Robert Porter Allen

An absolute gem of a find - thanks to Vintage Books my Kid Loves. It's out of print, but SO worth searching for a used copy! The illustrations are stunning, the information thorough and fascinating!

Birds Do the Strangest Things
by Leonora Hornblow

Another find I owe to VBmKL. I appreciated that the entries are short and simple so Izzy could read a couple out loud to me each day.

What Makes a Bird a Bird?
by May Garelick

This was an awesome find - a favorite book from my own childhood!

It's less about birds (although still very informative on that point) and more about building logic and reasoning skills. Not too shabby! And, of course, I absolutely love the late 60s vintage illustrations by Leonard Weisgard!

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon
by Jacqueline Davies

Another great read - about a brief period in the famous naturalist/artists's life. Really lovely illustrations! I recommend pairing with Audubon's Birds of America Coloring Book. I also scored a used copy a nice large coffe table art book for pretty cheap.

Also, our streaming Netflix membership came in very handy as we watched the following through out our course of study:

March of the Penguins - delightful documentary about the annual mating ritual of Emperor Penguins.
The Life of Birds - fantastic 10 part documentary on a varity of bird-realted topics.
Fly Away Home - sweet movie about a girl who helps a flock of Canadian Geese migrate south for the winter.

Mountains are Free (1931 Medal)

2012-01-23T08:09:00.004-06:00

It's unfortunate that I am starting to approach so many of these titles with trepidation because there really are some little gems to be found - even among the out of print titles. And after the previous month's stinker, I really *needed* a gem! Thank goodness for Julia Davis Adams - author of Vaino. If you'll recall, I had a pretty favorable reaction to Vaino, but I can't say I loved it and so I'm actually glad, that for the first half of the book, I was ignorant of the connection. Ultimately, I enjoyed this one even more than its predecessor. I'm not sure if it was the story/characters that drew me in more or if Adams skill as an author improved that much in a short time. Whatever the case, this was really a nice little treat.

Here is the plot description (via goodreads): This treatment of the legend of William Tell endeavors to place it in its historical setting, and to show the difference in ideals and manners between the Swiss and the people against whom they were struggling; that is to say, between the feudal system and the first faint stirrings of democracy.

Not the most inspiring plot description if you ask me. It makes this book sound rather dull and academic, but it's actually anything but! What I particularly love is that Adams made William Tell a rather minor character and his bit with the apple is a fairly small incident among many. This actually serves to illuminate the bigger picture of the struggle between the Swiss and the Austrians - making Tell's role all the more significant. Because, I'll be honest, before I read this I didn't even really know Tell was a Swiss patriot and that the little stunt with the apple had much political significance.

So, who is the main character if not Tell? It's a young boy named Bruno - an orphan taken in by the Tells who sets out to seek his fortune and ends up keeping company with the Austrians for a time. Another clever device in that we're able to get both sides of the story - although don't expect an even handed account! The Austrians are pretty much pure concentrated evil in this story. I found that I really cared intensely for the main characters - not just Bruno, but also Kyo (the mercurial, but good hearted court minstrel) and Zelina (the Austrian duke's headstrong ward).

My conclusion is that this is one Newbery that does indeed hold up to a modern read (hallelujah!!) - although I can't imagine many very young children reading or enjoying this. Instead I would recommend this for older readers with an interest in medieval European history or for a reader who likes tales of action and adventure involving knights and princesses!

There are also some really delightful illustrations through out this book, but (alas!) I couldn't find any images to share.

Queer Person (1931 Honor Book)

2012-01-23T07:58:00.004-06:00

No, I haven't abandoned my Newbery challenge! Although at times it does look rather bleak. November was one of those months. Queer Person was the selection and I knew by the title that it was going to be a slog - a dated, out of touch with modern sensibilities mess - I just didn't know *how* bad it was going to be. It started off okay by introducing the reader to two fairly interesting characters - the titular 'Queer Person', a deaf-mute Indian boy and his self-appointed caregiver, an old hermit woman simply called 'Granny'. Both are outcasts for a variety of reasons. Tribe members believe the boy is posessed by evil spirits due to his disabilities and the old woman has been living on the fringes of tribal life since the loss of her husband and sons. A promising set-up....but one that ultimately didn't deliver. It really was a convoluted, trite, racist mess from start to finish. Only recommended for those with an interest in tracking racist attitudes in children's literature. Blah! (Thankfully, the following selection was *much* better - stay tuned!)

Movie Project: Hugo v. Hugo

2011-12-16T08:57:00.004-06:00

I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret earlier this year. I've been a fan of Brian Selznick's for quite some time. The Houdini Box in particular really wowed me and I've enjoyed his illustrations in Eleanor and Amelia Go For A Ride and The Doll People.

I'm not sure if it was the hype or what, but I was just a wee bit disappointed by Hugo Cabret. Now, let me state for the record I was (and still am) absolutely blown away by the art. It is simply stunning. I truly appreciate the 'form', but I'm afraid I failed to make an emotional connection with the story.

But I didn't dislike it and was eager for the film, particularly when I saw the previews. I assumed, however, that I'd feel about like I felt about the book - that movie would be beautiful, but that the emotional component would be missing for me.

I was totally wrong!

It's obvious that Scorsese has a deep connection with the material and he was able to translate that to the screen for a simple soul such as myself to appreciate. It's actually made me reconsider my initial reaction to the book. Just brilliant!

Books for Young Entomologists

2011-11-09T15:24:00.002-06:00

We just finished our unit on invertebrates - which included some study of insects, but also other types of bugs - including earthworms, snails, etc. This really was a fun unit of study. Again, there are more books about this subject than you could ever read, but here are some of the good ones we found:

I like to start every unit with a few good 'overview' type books and below you will find my favorites. Each had its own unique strengths.

Bugs
by Nancy Winslow Parker
This book was featured on Reading Rainbow and is one of the few that we decided to purchase. This book is uniquely suited to a wide range of children as small children can appreciate the simple poems and older children will enjoy the more detailed descriptions and diagrams. Highly recommended!

The Best Book of Bugs
by Claire Llewellyn

I think the very best thing about this book were the uber-realistic illustrations. Very nice!

Do You Know About Insects?
by Buffy Silverman

I love that this book uses real, high quality photographs!

There are two series we found that I think are really fantastic.

First, the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science series published by Harper Collins. You can check out the Level 1 titles here and the Level 2 titles here. We find that both levels work for us. We've found at least one great book for every unit that we've covered so far and our Bug unit was no exception. Our favorite titles in this series were as follows:

Fireflies in the Night: Revised Edition
by Judy Hawes

Wiggling Worms at Work
by Wendy Pfeffer

Ant Cities
by Arthur Dorros

The other series I want to mention is the Backyard Book series (also called Up The Garden Path in the UK). In this excellent series children are immediately engaged and asked to imagine life as a particular insect. It is a highly effective method and each book is just fantastic! I can't recommend them enough! We read the following titles in the series:

Are You an Ant?
by Judy Allen

A good one to pair with the above Ant Cities!

Are You a Dragonfly?
by Judy Allen

My personal favorite!!

Are You a Grasshopper?
by Judy Allen

There are many more in the series and I imagine they are all worth checking out!

And just for fun I think the following series by Dorren Cronin is totally silly, but lots of fun!
Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin

Diary of a Fly
by Doreen Cronin

Diary of a Spider
by Doreen Cronin

We read many, many more, but this is about all I have time for!

Books for Young Egyptologists

2011-10-17T14:56:00.006-05:00

My daughter and I just wrapped up (pun totally intended! har har har!) a four week unit on Ancient Egypt. Not surprisingly, it was a blast! We did hieroglyphs, mummified Barbie, built a pyramid and much more! But mostly we read, read, read! There are so many books on this topic that it's almost overwhelming. We divided our unit into five main areas of study - daily life, hieroglyphs, gods & goddesses, mummies and pyramids. The following are my top picks for each category:

Daily Life:
Adventures in Ancient Egypt
by Linda Bailey

Uses time traveling to place three siblings in ancient Egypt so the reader can experience what life was like.

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt
by Joanna Cole

This one is so similar in style/format/scope to the book above that I almost didn't include it, but I think it's still a good pick - particularly for kids who are already familiar with Mrs. Frizzle (via Magic School Bus).

Hieroglyphs:
Fun with Hieroglyphs
by Catharine Roehrig

Aimed at slightly older readers, but the hands-on nature of the stamps can't be beat! Hours of fun!

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs
by James Rumford

Title pretty much says it all!

The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with Hieroglyphs
by Tamara Bower

A real winner! Informative and entertaining!

Gods and Goddesses:
I'm afraid I didn't find a book I absolutely loved on this topic, but we did love Jim Weiss's storytelling recording Egyptian Treasures: Mummies and Myths.

The following book was also a good supplement:
The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
by Leonard Everett Fisher

Mummies:
Now this is where it gets good! This is what most kids love about ancient Egypt!
Mummies Made in Egypt
by Aliki Brandenberg

A great place to start! This book was also featured on Reading Rainbow and it's a great episode if you can get your hands on it!

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy!
by David Stewart

One of my favorite series! Great for kids who love gross-out stuff!

Cat Mummies
by Kelly Trumble

A fun, short supplemental chapter book read about cat worship in ancient Egypt.

I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert
by Eve Bunting

A strange, somewhat somber, but interesting and humanizing look at mummies.

Pyramids:
I'll admit I was feeling a bit petered out by the time we got to pyramids, plus truthfully architecture (at least the mechanics bedhind it) isn't really my 'thing'. However, we still found some good reads!
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pyramid Builder!: A Hazardous Job You'd Rather Not Have
by Jacqueline Morley

More of my favorite series! Not quite as great as some of the other titles, but still fun and informative.

Who Built the Pyramid?
by Meredith Hooper

A good examination of how pyramid building was both a lengthy and highly collaborative effort!

Pyramid
by David Macaulay

Like all of the Macaulay books, this one is not for sissies! This is best suited for kids who really want to go deep into pyramid study!

Just for fun:
I think these are good picks to read after you've finished a unit study on Egypt so the kid can place the stories in their historical context.
Egyptology
by Dugald A. Steer

Second in the very popular 'ology' series - this is a really visually stunning book, but not one I'd recommend for 'beginners'.

The Egyptian Cinderella
by Shirley Climo

A really great Cinderella variant - one of the oldest known!

Chapter Books:
Mummies in the Morning
by Mary Pope Osborne

I'll be honest - I was pretty unimpressed with this one, but I've never read Magic Tree House and maybe it's just not my thing. I know it's very popular and so I wanted to include it here anyway.

The Red Pyramid
by Rick Riordan

We actually haven't read this one yet, but have plans to start it as soon as we finish our current chapter book. I hear great things about it!

Izzy Pick - The Gilgamesh Trilogy

2011-09-14T19:37:00.004-05:00

This series is a truly phenomenal picture book adaptation of one of the oldest stories ever told - The Epic of Gilgamesh. Mesopotamia is such an important, but often neglected, ancient civilization. It influenced all that came after it - the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, etc. Sadly there's just not as much kid-friendly material out there so thank goodness for Ludmila Zeman for creating this fantastic series. The stories are engaging and really help children gain a deeper understanding of Mesopotamian culture. And the illustrations....wow! Just wow! The covers give very little indication of the delights contained within. I was floored to discover that our library system doesn't carry these titles, but I'm also glad that it forced me to buy my own copies. In my opinion that these belong in all picture book and/or legend collections. Highly, highly recommended!

Gilgamesh the King
by Ludmila Zeman

The Revenge of Ishtar
by Ludmila Zeman

The Last Quest of Gilgamesh
by Ludmila Zeman

Floating Island (1931 Honor Book)

2011-07-29T10:26:00.004-05:00

Floating Island
by Anne Parrish

Floating Island tells the story of The Dolls, a toy family shipwrecked on a tropical island. The story involves their little adventures and misadventures as they first work to find one another after the crash, and then survive island life. It's a cute premise with a few little bright spots, but not one that I am likely to ever revisit or even one that I would recommend anyone but a Newbery completist to read. I appreciate how Parrish tries to draw the young reader into the story with her little questions, explanations, etc. There were times when I really was quite amused - particularly by odd, brash Mr. Doll. And there are some pretty cute little illustrations throughout. I can also tell that Parrish took some pains to include descriptions about the natural world in her narrative, thus educating her young audience. That said, it just didn't come together for me. It mostly felt old-fashioned (and not in a good) and just too self-consciously earnest and cutesy. And the story loses a few more points for an unfortunate dated depiction of the doll family's cook.

And that's probably it from me for a couple of weeks!

Vacation Reading

2011-07-26T12:03:00.003-05:00

I'm headed on my annual summer vacation in about 5 days which means I'm in planning/ packing mode. Well, that's only half accurate. I'm actually having an odd case of pre-trip malaise. Has that ever happened to anyone else? It's weird, but I'm still powering through my to-do list at a reasonable clip.

We're going to Hawaii this year and, in my mind, one of the most important components of a beach vacation is reading material. I'm going to try a revolutionary thing this year and try only using my kindle. I've said in the past that I consider one of the weaknesses of the kindle to be that I don't feel comfortable toting around while traveling/touring as it's a fairly expensive device vs. a cheapo paperback. But one of my traveling companions declared that he will be bringing his kindle to the beach. When I asked about sand/water he said he was just going to put it in a ziploc bag. Hmmm, okay, I could try that. My next concern would be theft, but then I reasoned that I always take my camera with me to the beach with little concern. Furthermore, most of the books I've downloaded are freebies from Project Gutenberg and the rest exist on my amazon account and can always be re-downloaded if anything untoward did happen. So, last night I dug around and found that our ziploc bags fit my little kindle perfectly.

Also, thanks to this post by Sur La Lune, I learned that amazon was having a major ebook sale and downloaded a few books for the trip:

Finnikin of the Rock
by Melina Marchetta

Never heard of it, but it has remarkably good reviews on goodreads and amazon. Worth a try I say!

A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama
by Laura Amy Schlitz

Has been on my to-read list for quite some time. Love that cover!

The following were not on sale, but I wanted to try them out:

Night World
by L.J. Smith

Don't Judge! Everyone deserves a trashy vampire read now and then. The bonus about this one is that it's actually three books in one!

Moloka'i
by Alan Brennert

I actually considered this 2 years ago on my last trip to Hawaii, but there weren't enough reviews to make me feel confident enough to shell out the big bucks for the hardcover that was available at the time. Since then a couple of friends have read and raved about this and, even better, now it's available on amazon as an ebook for $9.99. Not too shabby!

There are a few more I'm considering and I was able to download some upcoming Newbery reads for very cheap! Pretty awesome!

And because I'm a bit of a freak, I'm taking one physical book just in case:

The Little Stranger
by Sarah Waters

Waters is one of my very favorite living authors and I have a bit of a habit of saving her books for vacation so I can savor them. (I read Fingersmith on a trip to Colorado and Affnity on my last trip to Hawaii.) However, I accidentally started this one a bit early, but will probably not finish before it's time to leave.

And there is a Barnes and Noble on the island if I get desperate!

Aloha!

Izzy Pick - Children Just Like Me (and Celebrations!)

2011-07-12T17:02:00.008-05:00

Izzy and I are taking a 'literary' trip around the world right now. I noticed that she was having a hard time grasping geographical concepts - like cities, states, countries, continents, etc. I think that's fairly normal for her age (seven), but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to do something about it. So, a while back I concocted this idea of doing a casual home study on continents just to help her gain some general global awareness.

We're about 2 weeks in and having a lot of fun. We typically spend about 2 days on one continent doing map work, art projects and most importantly reading lots of books! I made it a kind of personal goal that we would try to only use books that we own for this little project. I did this mainly to keep things light and low maintenance, but also because I thought it would be nice to work with stories we already know and love and place them in a global context. (I will probably have to cheat a little when we get to Australia and Antarctica though!)

But, for example, today for our 'trip' to Europe we read Adele & Simon (France), Katie in London (England), Count Silvernose (Italy), and Pegasus (Greece). For Africa we read The Fortune Tellers, Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears, Ashanti to Zulu, and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. I was less than thrilled with our selection of Asian books as I found that we had several that feature Japan and China, but none that feature India or the Middle East.

But anyway, there are four books that have been invaluable with this project. First, I think every home should have a kid's atlas. We have this one, but I don't necessarily recommend it over any other. I say just pick one that looks visually appealing and easy to use. Another fabulous book that I can't recommend enough isn't even a children's book, but is really amazing for promoting global/cultural awareness - Material World. But the two books that I really want to talk about today are Children Just Like Me and it's companion Celebrations! These are definitely must have books in my opinion.

This is so much more than I was expecting it to be. I just assumed, based on the cover, that it was a book that would show various children from around the world in some native costumes. That sounded cute, but I wasn't really motivated to run out and grab it just based on that alone. But it really is so much more comprehensive than that. The book profiles approximately 35 children from all over world. Each child gets a full page spread that includes pictures and descriptions from the child's everyday life – likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, family members, favorite food, home life, school life, religious traditions and even an example of how they write their name.

It is a fascinating premise and very well executed. Did you know that Russians take their bed linen off every morning and remake the bed every evening? It is little surprising details like this that really make the book a lot of fun. (Of course now I want to know why they do that! Anyone know?) And I loved seeing all the children’s homes: from Rachel who lives in a centuries old chateau on her parent’s vineyard in France, to Subaedeah who says she loves everything about her modest little home on stilts in Indonesia.

Click here for an example of one of the two page spreads.

This book has been a huge hit in our house for the past three years. Izzy will often pick it up and just pore over all the photos and details. But I'd have to say that it's companion book is probably her favorite of the two.

With a similar format to the book above, this book features holidays and celebrations from cultures and religions around the world. One of the things that I really love about this book is that it is divided into seasons so you could conceivably follow along and do some of the celebrations with your kids through out the year.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven (1931 Medal Winner)

2011-07-08T14:59:00.006-05:00

Time for another Newbery book! The selection I read for June was The Cat Who Went to Heaven - 1931's medal winner. I always take it as a good sign when the Newbery book of the month is one that is still currently in print. I was also excited to see that it was more novella than novel - longer than the average picture book, but not by much. Also, in my online discussion I even learned that it's still being used in some classrooms. So, I knew it couldn't be too horrible. And turns out my powers of deduction are pretty much amazing ;-) It wasn't a horrible book at all and, in fact, in spots it was actually pretty interesting and engaging. I read it over the course of about three to four days - although one could easily read it in one sitting.

Plot:
A struggling Japanese artist is dismayed one day when his housekeeper brings home a stray cat instead of dinner. He grudgingly allows the cat to stay and they name her Good Fortune. Soon enough the artist learns that he has received a prestigious commission to paint the Buddha’s death. The artist decides to depict the Buddha conferring his blessings on the many animals who visited him in his final days. As he paints each animal he reflects on the story associated with that particular animal and its innate qualities. Good Fortune watches every day and soon it becomes clear that the cat is languishing over a desire to be included in the painting. Since it is said that the cat was the one animal to refuse Buddha’s final blessing including her is out of the question.

My thoughts:
Mostly I enjoyed this – particularly the various animal parables. I think a lack of knowledge about Buddhist lore makes this one tricky to fully appreciate though. I found myself wondering how much (if any of it) has any grounding in real Buddhist legend. One of our reading group members pointed out that (as with most religions) there are many different varieties of Buddhism. Just as there are Baptists, Catholics, etc. which all have their unique beliefs and traditions, the same can be said for Buddhism and that perhaps the story of the cat may belong to one particular branch. If anyone out there in cyber-land can shed more light on this I'd love to hear it! Anyway, I could easily see incorporating this into a unit study of Buddhism, but don’t think it works particularly well as a standalone introduction to the topic.

The Movie Project: Howl's Moving Castle

2011-07-07T13:28:00.021-05:00

A sampling of some of the fun covers over the years.

This is one of those rare cases when I love both book and movie equally. I think this is always more likely to happen when you see the film first - which I did in this case. I saw Studio Ghibli's version of Howl's Moving Castle about a year ago. I was already a huge Ghibli/Miyazaki fan; having seen and loved Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro. Typically, I wouldn't call myself a fan of anime, but Miyazaki's stuff strikes me as different from your run of the mill anime - more thoughtful both visually and intellectually. But then again I'm no anime expert. What I do know is that kids love Studio Ghibli films!
Anyway, the film version of Howl really swept me away with its dreamy, thought provoking quality. I actually didn't even know it was based on a novel until fairly recently. Also, about a year ago I became a huge Diana Wynne Jones fan when I read her Chrestomanci series. I will admit that it wasn't quite love at first sight. Infact I found myself feeling a wee bit confused and out of my depth when I started Charmed Life. I learned later that this is kind of a trademark of DWJ's - dropping the reader off into a world with very little explanation.

DWJ didn't believe in condescending to children. She believed that they didn't need or want to have everything explained to them and, what's more, they are perfectly fine with everything not making perfect sense. Now, it's one of my very favorite things about her. And funny enough I think Miyazaki has a very similar philosophy about children. He gives them a lot more credit than most filmmakers and I think that's why they respond so well to his films. But back to DWJ - her books can be a tad unsettling, but they're also refreshing and exhilarating and always very clever and very funny. So, we've established that I'm an adoring fan!
So, with all this in the back of my mind I was looking really forward to finally reading Howl's Moving Castle - so much so that I realize in restrospect I could have been easily disappointed. Luckily, that wasn't the case. I adored the book!

The general plot of both film and book is as follows: (taken from my goodreads review)

Sophie Hatter is the oldest of three daughters living in the magical realm of Ingary. Because she is oldest Sophie assumes she is destined to a life of drudgery and monotony. As her two young sisters are sent off to pursue their more exciting fates, Sophie is left to run her father’s hat shop.

Life is indeed dull until one day the Witch of the Waste appears and turns Sophie into an old woman. Feeling that things really can’t get much worse Sophie decides to strike out on her own and soon finds work as a cleaning woman at the infamous Wizard Howl’s bizarre moving castle. She sets to work with a vengeance while also befriending the castle's inhabitants –a practical and hardworking young apprentice named Michael and a wisecracking fire demon named Calcifer. As an old woman Sophie loses much of her fear and self-consciousness making her the perfect foil for the mysterious, vain and oddly perceptive Howl. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this imaginative story is all about, but I really do have to stop somewhere!

Below is an image of The Witch of the Waste from the film - a big difference between film and book. In the book she is a lovely, but evil and coniving witch. the movie portrays her physically as a corpulent old hag, but also is more sympathetic with her in the end. Miyazaki typically doesn't include characters who are completely good or evil in his films. He favors more ambiguity and complexity in his characters.

What's funny is that I think both film and book have similar weaknesses. The ending/resolution felt very rushed in both mediums. I am willing to forgive this in the book because in reality DWJ has a lot of threads going and lays a lot of hints through out the book that are easily missed, therefore making the ending seem more of out of left field than it really is. The movie ending differs quite a bit from the book, but has that same chaotic, slapped together feel. And, again, I'm willing to forgive the film because it's Studio Ghibli and they can get away with a great deal in my book. Both book and film play with conventions and expectations in a delightful way.

When was the last time that you read a book or saw a movie in which the protagonist was an old lady for the majority of the action?

Because the film and book are different in so many ways I find that most people understandably prefer one over the other, but as I said earlier I can say that enjoyed both equally. The film is a mind blowing visual feast with strong feminist and pacifist overtones (a Miyazaki trademark). The book is a thought provoking fantasy that explores the age-old themes of fate, evil, love, etc. Ultimately, I think Miyazaki still got to the heart of the novel with his adaptation, but just changed things to fit with his own aesthetic sensibilities and thematic concerns. Really, I say you can’t go wrong if you try both!

I'll leave you with one more of my favorite images from the film:

The Movie Project: Ballet Shoes

2011-07-01T13:15:00.004-05:00

I recently finally read Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield. I think it would be fair to say that I'm a fan of girly sentimental, but I have to take it in fairly small doses. It's the same for anything that's too realistic and dreary. Basically, I like a balance. Besides Lucy Maud Montgommery I haven't found an author in the 'girly-fiction' genre who is able to strike that balance and who really truly speaks to me. Not only is her stuff sweet and sentimental, but it's smart and subversive too - a pretty rare combination. I made the assumption that Ballet Shoes was going to be a sweet, enjoyable, but mostly empty confection. And, therefore, avoided it - even though I'd bought myself the loveliest vintage reproduction - complete with sweet little illustrations through out.

The Fossil Sisters making their yearly vow:

Suffice it to say, I was completely wrong. I have a really hard time putting into words what it was about this book that made such an impression on me, but it really surprised and delighted me. I think the title really led my expectations astray. I thought this was going to be a sweet, but improbable story about three orphans who make it big in the ballet world. But, that’s not quite how it goes down. The girls do attend a prestigious performing arts school, but only one girl (Posy) really shines as a dancer - becoming extremely single-minded about it to an almost pathological degree. Pauline finds instead that acting is her passion and has her own triumphs and trials as a working child actress. Petrova, however, never cottons to any of the performing arts – much preferring mechanics and engineering. In short, it was just so much smarter than I was expecting it to be. The plotting was fresh and often unpredictable and the characters were diverse and multidimensional - making for a very satisfying read!

The sisters playing at the beach:

Another great thing about finally reading the book is that I was able to finally bump the movie up on my Netflix queue. I've made the mistake of watching movies to soon after finishing a book in the past, but I really couldn't wait and so I watched it about a week after having finished the book. And, surprisingly, I actually really liked the film as well. Of course, it's not *as* great as the book, but it's really quite good. I thought the girls were really well cast, as were all the characters really. The most glaring difference was that a romance was created where none exists in the book, but it really wasn't a problem for me. Overall, the movie captured the essence of the book quite well - from the characters to the period detailing to the overall tone of the story. Posy is just as obnoxious (if not more so) in the film as in the book! Also, one of the things that really stood out in the book were the two lady professors who I automatically identified as a couple. It seems the filmmakers felt the same way - at least that's how it seemed to me. Anyone else read the book and/or see the film? What do you think?

Another fairly significant change is that the sisters are closer in age in the film than the book. The change makes logistical sense to me and wasn't too much of a bother.

The film version of the Fossil sisters:

Another thing I really liked about both book and film is that it was a fairly balanced look at ballet and the performing arts. It seems to me that most books present one extreme or the other - either overly idealizing or completely disparaging. Ballet Shoes really finds a nice middle ground - emphasizing the hard work and difficulties, but also demonstrating the allure and rewards of such a life.

In short, I give both book and film thumbs up and I will defintely be reading more Streatfield!

Little Blacknose: The Story of a Pioneer (1930 Honor Book)

2011-06-03T18:18:00.004-05:00

Little Blacknose: The Story of a Pioneer

by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift

Little Blacknose, the last of the 1930 Newbery honors, is the story of a personified little train. More specifically Blacknose was the first steam locomotive to operate in New York, the DeWitt Clinton Locomotive. It's really not nearly as horrible or boring as it sounds, but neither is it a really stellar book. It was a quick and mostly painless read, but not one that is likely to stick with me. It was by turns cute, annoying, dull, funny, etc. I'm not sure what else to say about it other than this is not a book that is likely to appeal to modern children except for those who are extremely train obsessed.

The real Dewitt Clinton Locomotive:

Vaino: A Boy of New Finland (1930 Newbery Honor)

2011-05-02T08:29:00.002-05:00

Vaino: A Boy of New Finland (yet another 1930 Newbery Honor Book) is a novel which weaves together two very important threads of Finish history and culture. In the ‘modern’ era (c. 1918) we follow the struggles of a young boy named Vaino and his family as they navigate the complicated terrain of newly gained independence and the subsequent Finnish Civil War. Via stories from Vaino’s mother (taken from the great Finnish epic The Kalevala) we meet the ‘original’ Vaino - the first man, Väinämöinen, born of the goddess Ilmatar.

The old tales have a strange, wistful and haunting quality that strikes me as very uniquely Nordic (based on my very limited experience with Swedish Folk Tales). Some of them are really very striking and memorable - particularly the tragedy of Aino, an adamantly reluctant bride. Ultimately however, I was more emotionally engaged in the ‘modern’ Vaino’s story. And so the (often very long) storytelling interludes felt like an interruption to the flow of the 'main' story. In short, the two threads just didn’t work all that well together.

Overall, I genuinely appreciated the opportunity to get acquainted with a region of which I had very little prior knowledge. That is currently my very favorite part about taking on this Newbery project. So far I can’t say that I’ve come across a lot of great literature (although I have unearthed a couple of real gems) but I have encountered some truly fascinating stories and learned something along the way. I definitely plan on seeking out and exploring The Kalevala further!

Daddy-Long-Legs

2011-04-30T12:56:00.000-05:00

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

Although I’ve wanted to read Daddy-Long-Legs forever, this little novel and I got off to a bumpy start. First, the premise is super creepy. I’m sorry, but it is - ***spoiler*** a young lady falls in love with her deceitful, manipulative benefactor who she refers to as ‘Daddy’. Second, I generally don’t like epistolary style novels. I almost always find it a tedious way to tell a story. And I haven’t changed my mind on either count – so it’s a testament to Jean Webster (Mark Twain’s great niece?!?) that I still enjoyed this novel.

In truth, the epistolary format was my very least favorite thing about this novel. But I’ve thought it over and I understand that it was probably the best/only way to tell this story effectively. So, what about the creepy factor? I know a lot of my friends love this book and most of my friends aren’t creeps – so, prior to reading this, I theorized that the author must have found a way to brilliantly work around the creepiness or that the ‘old-fashionedness’ of it made it all somehow more palatable. Turns out it’s a little bit of both and more.

It really helps that we only ever get Judy’s point of view. This allows us to use our imaginations to fill in ~~Svengali's~~ Daddy’s point of view and, obviously, most readers choose to be charitable on that count. Also, there is a quaint, other-worldly quality to the story – making this feel more like a fairy tale than a ‘modern’ (c. 1912) love story.

Ultimately, it’s Judy’s ‘voice’ which really saves the whole thing. She’s feisty and clever and completely without guile. I’d really like to believe that Daddy-Long-Legs is really more about Judy’s intellectual growth and burgeoning social awareness than it is a love story. Her frank, irreverent little observations and dissections of society are completely delightful. And I love how she flunks two exams because she spent too much time reading classic novels! A girl after my own heart for sure! If the reader can’t help but fall in love with Judy, how is 'Daddy' to resist?

The Tangle-Coated Horse (1930 Newbery Honor)

2011-04-06T09:56:00.004-05:00

In this Newbery Honor winning work Ella Young set out to transcribe for an American audience some of the stories from the Fionn Saga which according to Young 'is one of the oldest and strangest of Gaelic Sagas'.

The stories center around the mythic warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (anglicized as Finn McCool). In the first story we encounter a young Fionn hiding in the forest with two strange women – Bovemall and Liath. We learn that he is something of an exiled prince biding his time to avenge the death of his father and gain his rightful place as chief of Clan Bassna. The following stories chronicle Fionn’s various adventures as he defeats his enemies, falls in love and much more.

As lovely and fascinating as these stories are I can’t say I found this collection to be super accessible to a novice reader of Celtic mythology. I really felt my lack of experience as I read this and felt out of my depth with much the language and motifs. (In that way it reminds a little of Swedish Fairy Tales – which are similarly alien, but lovely and haunting - although I found the Swedish Tales much more 'readable'.) Basically, I need the Idiot’s Guide and this ain’t it. In short this is not a collection I would hand a child (or adult) with a casual interest in Celtic/Gaelic folklore.

All that said, this is a Newbery I'm still glad to have encountered for a couple of reasons. First, it introduced me to a series of myths that I, a self-professed lover of mythology, was not familiar with. Second, I did a little digging about the author, Ella Young, and found out that she was quite an interesting person. She hung with people like Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe. She believed in fairies, elves and pixies. And she lived in this amazing little cottage:

Izzy Pick - Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears

2011-03-29T08:42:00.005-06:00

Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears by Emily Gravett

I think of Emily Gravett as a real 'kid's' picture book author. What I mean by that is that, as an adult, I recognize that Gravett has amazing talent, but sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around her stuff. I want to categorize it and I can't and it frustrates me a little. But my daughter has no such concerns and has been delighted by pretty much every Emily Gravett book she has encountered. I often find Izzy poring over Gravett's books chuckling quietly to herself. She 'gets' Gravett and, it seems, Gravett 'gets' her too.

Visually, this book is a masterpiece. It's a funny and interesting exploration of phobias which has been made to look like an authentic journal which has been co-opted by a fearful, but very expressive little mouse. There are countless painstakingly rendered details -included gnawed corners to discover with every new read. Recommended for young readers with a good sense of humor and a strong aesthetic sensibility!

**For another great book on fears don't miss Scaredy Squirrel. Both books operate on the premise that A Fear Faced is a Fear Defeated!

**And more by Emily Gravett: Spells - Another BIG Izzy fave! The Odd Egg - very funny, very cute! Orange Pear Apple Bear - Must have baby/board book!

RIP Diana Wynne Jones

2011-03-26T08:16:00.006-06:00

I know, I know - I've been neglecting this blog horribly! But I do think about it often. And even though I'm not writing about reading I'm still doing a TON of reading. I have the usual excuses - mainly that I just have a lot going on!

But when I heard that Diana Wynne Jones had passed away I felt that I needed to write a post about it sooner than later. It's odd because I've been planning on writing about her and her Crestomanci series forever, but since I haven't finished the final book in that series I just kept putting it off.

Another weird thing is that, just yesterday, I was on my usual bi-weekly trip to half price books and, as is my custom, I was trolling around for certain authors/titles. One of the titles I always look for is Howl's Moving Castle by DWJ. It's never there! But it was there yesterday! So, I snatched it up and for the rest of the day DWJ was on my mind. I was thinking about what a brilliant author she is and how, it seems to me, she is vastly under appreciated. And then I heard she'd died this morning and the coincidence struck me as almost too bizarre to fathom.

But enough about me (I've even found a way to make the recent Japanese earthquake all.about.me. It's a rare talent.).... I came to the first in DWJ's Crestomanci with some trepidation. I think it's natural these days to be a little wary when every other young adult fantasy book/author is being compared to Harry Potter/J.K. Rowling. So, it took me about 100 pages to 'get it', but when I did I realized what I, and countless other readers, have been missing out on. Jones wrote with amazing grace and subtlety. Her world building was flawless. She respected her intended young audience, but didn't coddle them. Her books are wickedly smart and often very, very funny.

I actually think the comparison with Rowling is a fair one, but there are definitely some big differences. Rowling's stories have stronger continuity and, therefore, build a strong emotional connection between reader and character - one of Rowling's biggest strengths! The Chrestomanci series doesn't follow a linear timeline and, for the most part, doesn't even feature the same characters from book to book. Also, the characters are often deeply flawed individuals - anti-heroes with great internal and external obstacles to overcome. Jones's strengths were in her plotting and pacing. Her books aren't 'easy' or comforting in the way HP often is. DWJ's books actually make the reader feel vaguely uncomfortable at times, but ultimately very satisfied.

Of her Chrestomanci series, I think Witch Week is the strongest and most memorable. I found Conrad's Fate to be the weakest. But really I still recommend them all - even the last (The Pinhoe Egg) which I can't seem to get around to reading/finishing!

The six part series is currently published in a three volume set with each volume containing two full novels. I believe there are also short stories, but I haven't gotten around to those either. I feel so fortunate that there are so many DWJ books that I've yet to discover!

RIP Diana Wynne Jones....

Books of 2010 - The Pretty Good Stuff

2011-02-15T07:55:00.005-06:00

For me the three star rating (via goodreads.com) is the most ambiguous rating so I'm going to divide up my three star books into two categories - 'the pretty good stuff' and 'the good stuff'.

So, below are the books I dub The Pretty Good Stuff. These are books which I find only marginally enjoyable, but I feel have some merit above and beyond my personal experience. Or there are books that I enjoy well enough, but have to acknowledge they have a niche audience and limited appeal.

Now, that I've completely confused things here we go.....

Gay Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
by Dhan Gopal Mukerji

A Newbery book - surprisingly enjoyable given the subject matter (a carrier pigeon??) but definitely limited appeal.

The Old Country
by Mordicai Gerstein

This was a book that I really wanted to love - it's a modern(ish) fairy tale/hero quest of sorts, but it just didn't really speak to me as much as I hoped.

The Children of Green Knowe
by L.M. Boston

Another one that I wanted/expected to love. A sweet English children's classic about belonging and family. It just fell a teeny bit flat.

The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo
by John Bennett

Another Newbery which was actually pretty fun to read - in spots, but not one I'd recommend to many other people.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
by Barbara Park

Read this one with Isabella. She loved it and I found it only mildly entertaining - so I'm splitting the difference.

Dragon Sword and Wind Child
by Noriko Ogiwara

Another one I expected to love - well, isn't that why we read most books? And it is interesting and inventive, epic and unpredictable, but it was also just a little random and rambling.

The Boy Who Was

by Grace Taber Hallock

Another Newbery - a very interesting collection of stories all thematically linked to a particular region in Italy. Some stories are more engaging than others - won't appeal to everyone.

Stuart Little
by E.B. White

I so remember loving this (and just about anything by E.B. White) as a child, but revisiting this one was a really odd experience. I still liked parts of it, but I can't say I loved it.

A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland
by Jeanette Eaton

Yep, another Newbery. This was interesting enough, but I can't think of a single friend (besides maybe my husband who wrote his Master's Thesis on the French Revolution) who I'd recommend this to.

The Jumping-Off Place - 1930 Newbery Honor

2011-02-09T16:24:00.004-06:00

The Jumping-Off Place
by Marian Hurd McNeely

And so continues my quest to read all the Newbery medal and honor books from 1922 to the present. The Jumping-Off Place by Marion Hurd McNeely was one of six honor book in 1930. Have I mentioned how thrilled I am to be out of the 1920s?

Here we encounter four orphaned siblings – Becky, Dick, Phil and Joan – off to claim their beloved late uncle’s homestead in South Dakota. You’ve never encountered a more prepared group of kids as they arrive in Tripp County armed with their uncle’s superbly detailed instructions. And yet they still have ample trials ahead of them - back breaking labor, lethal rattle snakes, epic blizzards, and treacherous claim jumpers. Written two years before Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, comparisons between the two stories are inevitable. Both are semi-autobiographical works chronicling pioneering families, but this felt quite distinct to me. Namely, it lacks the childish perspective of The Little House stories. Although Becky and Dick are just teens they are de facto adults for all the responsibilities they carry.

In my opinion Jumping-Off Place is a well written and genuinely absorbing story – apparently based on the author’s real-life experiences homesteading with her own family. I think the author does a really nice job of blending believable realism with a positive and hopeful narrative. I really don't want to oversell this book. I realize that I'm comparing it to other Newbery books and not all the other books in the world. Compared to some of the Newberys from the 1920s and early 1930s this is truly a bright shining star - interesting, readable, relevant, etc. But, compared to the wide world of children's literature it's probably fairly average - still perfectly enjoyable, but perhaps with some limited appeal considering it’s age and subject matter.

Books of 2010: Part 1 - The Stinkers

2011-02-07T18:47:00.004-06:00

First for the stats:

**I read approximately a book a week in 2010. Not too shabby, but I'd really like to do better this year.

I didn't have any one star books, but I rarely rate any book one star.

There was only one book I simply couldn't finish:

Possession
by A.S. Byatt

And I really expected to love this book, but wow....it was just not for me.

Next, my two star books (only 7 of them):

First the stinky Newberys....

Tod of the Fens
by Elinor Whitney

Had some promise, but just didn't come together. Was a chore to get through.

Clearing Weather
by Cornelia Meigs

Oops I lied. I didn't finish this one either. Only made it about half way. Really incredibly dull and dated.

The Runaway Papoose
by Grace Moon

Another major stinker. I finished it, but just barely. My review is here.

And the rest of the stinkers....

The Passage
by Justin Cronin

Reminded me of The Stand except that I actually finished this 800 page behemoth! A pretty promising start/premise, but it petered out big time about 1/3 in.

Into the Wild
by Erin Hunter

To be fair I really knew this wouldn't be my thing, but as it's one of the most popular kid's series out there right now I wanted to give it a try. My curiosity is satisfied....it's just not for me. Too corny, weird, serious, etc.

Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business
by Barbara Park

Another really popular series with the kiddos. I actually kind of, sort of enjoyed the first one. But everything that annoyed me about the first book seemed multiplied here. Again, my curiosity is satisfied and I'll leave this one to the kiddos.

And last, but not least....

Housekeeping
by Marilynne Robinson

Really lovely prose, but an extremely dreary and ponderous type of story.

Anne of Avonlea

2011-02-02T10:06:00.001-06:00

Anne of Avonlea
by L.M. Montgomery

In this second installment we find Anne living at Green Gables farm preparing to teach at Avonlea School (although she’s only sixteen/seventeen herself!?) Much has changed in Anne’s world. She and Marilla’s once contentious relationship has become one of easy affection and mutual respect. Anne has matured and is no longer the fiery tempered little urchin of the previous book. However, she’s still Anne and has much to learn about life and love. Like all new teachers she has some idealistic (and somewhat unrealistic) notions of what she can achieve. And she continues to find herself in and out of ‘scrapes’ – including, but not limited to, accidentally selling a cranky neighbor’s cow.

It’s hard to know what to say about this book. I've read this book more times than I could count and yet it's still taken me almost two months to sort out my thoughts and write this review. I’d be willing to bet that almost everyone who reads this has read its predecessor – Anne of Green Gables. (If not – what on earth are you thinking?) I think that’s one of the few truly perfect books ever written and so, while I always enjoy continuing with Anne’s journey, all the other books do pale a bit in comparison. But it is still a satisfying continuation of the series and one remarkably enjoyable book. After countless reads it never fails to elicit delighted giggles and sighs of appreciation at all the moments of extraordinary truth and beauty.

One of many favorite quotes (of many):

Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.

Simply beautiful....

A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland

2011-02-01T16:51:00.004-06:00

A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland
by Jeanette Eaton

I'm finally back! Wow, once I stopped blogging here it was sure hard to get back into the routine again. I've read so much since my last post so I'm going to have a lot of catching up to do. First and foremost it's time to update my Newbery progress - since that was how this all got started!

Daughter of the Seine is a biography (published in 1929 and honored by the Newbery committee the following year) which tells the story of Marie-Jeanne Roland de la Platière – an important figure in the French Revolution. It is an extremely detailed and surprisingly engaging story of a remarkable woman. I found myself immediately engaged by Eton’s account of Marie’s unconventional middle class childhood. While the author was clearly somewhat enamored of her subject, it’s also clear that she worked extremely hard to paint a very thorough (if somewhat romanticized) portrait. It’s not at all hard to understand how Marie rose from somewhat humble origins to her very influential position as one of the key players in the Jacobin and Girondist factions. Unfortunately, during the Reign of Terror, her visible association and power within the increasingly unpopular Girondists would be her undoing.

Even as someone who majored in history and has a pretty solid interest in the French Revolution, I admit to approaching this with some concern. And here is a case were perhaps low expectations saved the day! Although I got a bit bogged down in the middle of this 300-plus page biography, I would call it a mostly very engaging and fast paced read. It’s really not that dry – given the rather grave and complicated subject matter. And yet it is also very informative and provides a unique and human perspective on a truly fascinating era. However, I personally found it a bit overlong and I can’t help but wonder if children ever really truly loved this book and, what’s more, if many modern children would much to hold their interest. But, maybe I’m selling kids short. I could actually see this being immensely helpful with a middle school or high school research project.

A painting of Madame Roland by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard:

All in all I'm glad to have read this and to have learned about such a fascinating woman - particularly in a time period whose story is dominated by men.

Hold Please

2011-01-13T15:58:00.001-06:00

I swear I'm coming back. This is just an extremely busy time of year for me!

See you next year!

2010-12-13T11:49:00.003-06:00

I have all these great ideas for blog posts, but no time or wherewithal to get them done. So it's time to admit that, with the holidays and a big road trip fast approaching, I probably won't be around until next year.

I'll be over here, as always, continuing to post about my family and our travels.

When I return I plan to review/discuss the following books:

Northanger Abbey (with a comparison to the movie)
A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland (most recent Newbery book)
The Chrestomanci Series (6 separate books)
The Hunger Games Series (3 separate books)
Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island (as part of my continuing LMM project)
The Hobbit (planning to listen to it on the road trip)

Happy Holidays!

Living With Books around the Holidays

2010-12-08T09:52:00.001-06:00

We're not decorating much for Christmas this year. We're leaving for Colorado on the 17th of December and not returning until the 2nd of January so it seems like a lot of hassle for little pay off. And yet I still made my husband drag down ALL the boxes from the attic because I every year I anticipate diving into my constantly growing Christmas/Holiday/Winter picture book collection. The only book from my own childhood is the book at the very bottom - A Christmas Treasury - and it is a very much beloved book as my father read stories out of to me through many many Christmas seasons. The rest I've been collecting since Izzy was born and I add about 2 to 5 every year. A few are actually missing from this pile as they're spending time in Izzy's room because they are constantly requested. And of course, some didn't made the cut and have been sent to live better lives with other family's who will appreciate their merits.

English Book Shopping - Part 2

2010-12-03T08:13:00.003-06:00

As per usual I didn't get in nearly as much book shopping as I would have liked, but I did manage to make it to the famous Foyles on Charing Cross Road.

Foyles was founded in 1903 by two brothers looking to get rid of their old textbooks after they'd flunked the civil servant exam. They ran the bookshop successfully for many years and it was once listed as the largest bookshop in the world.

Then in 1945 the shop passed on to a daughter who made the shop infamous for her bizarre business practices. Books were shelved according to publisher (vs. author), staff were paid a pittance and were regularly hired and fired indiscriminately, and the process of paying/checking out was a maddening and time consuming three-step affair. In spite of (or perhaps because of) all this the shop became an attraction -for locals and tourists alike. It was known as a place where one could get lost in the stacks and where perseverance was justly rewarded.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) this has all changed and it's a perfectly organized and respectable bookshop these days which, for me, meant it didn't really blow me away. It reminded me of our very own Book People - but truth be told not even quite as impressive. And, of course, we have six-plus handy locations of the unparalleled Half Price Books here so perhaps it's not so easy to blow me away. I suppose it's time to admit that Austin is a good book buying town! Even so, I'm glad to have gone to Foyles and the book prices were surprisingly not horrible and so I bought the following....

This was a gift for my Nerdy Girl pal and fellow recent Gaskell devotee, Meghan (who graciously took us to and picked us up from the airport) and will hopefully make the 2011 reading list!

And I've actually decided that I want to talk about my other purchase in more detail, so I'm wrapping up here!

Traveling with the Kindle

2010-12-01T07:18:00.003-06:00

I thought that travel would completely win me over to the dark side of e-readers, but I'm really not so sure now....

The pros are obvious. I loved just having one 'book' in my luggage. This allowed me a lot of freedom in many ways:

** I loaded the sucker up with tons of (completely free) books and therefore had a lot of choices on the airplane and through out the trip. I was able to read Northanger Abbey while in Bath and various Charles Dickens stories while in London. Very cool!

** I felt more free to shop for books while on vacation.

** An unexpected bonus was being able to read my daughter bedtime stories. I had downloaded all the Andrew Lang fairy books right when I got the device along with some Beatrix Potter stories. I used the device with her at night more than I expected.

The not so good:

** I don't like that I can't read during take off and landing! How annoying! Especially in these days when it seems like those are often the longest and most tedious parts of the trip! Arrgh!

** The travel guide issue. I mentioned before I left that I was going to try to travel sans physical guide books. What a joke! I buckled at the last minute and snuck in 2 books and I'm SO GLAD I did! The two e-guides I downloaded weren't particularly helpful and it's just not practical or desirable for me to carry the kindle around with me while site-seeing. It wouldn't make me feel carefree to have a $150 device in my purse! Also, it's not as easy to power up the kindle and find the right page as it is to grab a book an go to the marked page.

So, while I still really do like the kindle I'm more convinced than ever that e-readers can never completely replace physical books. On one hand I'm excited to take the kindle on my upcoming Christmas holiday to Colorado, but I'm not so sure I'll take it on our summer vacation to Hawaii. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with it on the beach - although it would be a good way to conceal the trashy romance novels that I'm planning on reading ;-)

English Book Shopping - Part 1

2010-11-30T11:31:00.007-06:00

I'm back and ready to crow about my travels and more specifically my acquisitions!
My best score of the trip was a four volume set of Brambly Hedge seasonal stories. I had encountered these stories at my own local library several years ago. I was instantly enchanted by the precious stories which revolve around a community of little rural mice and recreate traditional seasonal English customs in perfect, minute detail. (Just read about the author/illustrator and her painstaking process on the website linked above if you want to be blown away!) The stories are sweet and jolly and move at a leisurely pace and are, therefore, probably not for everyone. The illustrations really steal the show and are reminiscent of Beatrix Potter, but still have their own character.

The books have gone in and out of print over the years and can be hard to find and very expensive. And so when I saw this set for 10 pounds at The Lamb Bookshop I snatched it up quick!

Appropriately, below is an example of one of the 'winter' illustrations. Who doesn't love cross sections?
I'm afraid this doesn't quite complete my set as there are four more titles left for me to acquire:

The Secret Staircase by Jill Barklem

Possibly my absolute favorite of the series for reasons relating to my childhood fantasies.

Poppy's Babies by Jill Barklem

Another sweeter than sweet one!

And I haven't ever been able to get ahold of the following two:
The High Hills by Jill Barklem

Sea Story by Jill Barklem

So, here's to my continued search!

I'm full of it

2010-11-13T09:46:00.002-06:00

The post below is total BS.

I snuck in 2 guide books last minute....

Shhhhh

See you in two weeks!

Trial By Fire

2010-11-11T12:14:00.004-06:00

That's how I feel about my upcoming trip in which for the first time EVER I will be taking no books (beyond my invaluable little Knopf Map Guide of London - this sucker has seen me through two previous trips and I completely rely on it!). Beyond this, I'll be taking the kindle only..... This is huge for me as I usually don't feel safe going on any trip of this length (2 weeks) with out at least 4 full length novels and at least one (but usually more) travel guide. This little proclivity of mine interfered with my other obsession - packing and traveling light.

I had already determined that I'd be taking the kindle for my pleasure reading, but then I contemplated my stack of 4 (yes 4!!) travel guides and began to think that perhaps they weren't entirely necessary. First, this my third trip to London - which doesn't even come close to making me an expert, but it does mean that perhaps I can manage without 4 guidebooks!! But we are spending 5 days in Bath and I'm totally unfamiliar with the area. But I've found on past trips that hotels and B&Bs often have guidebooks handy for customer use. Of course, this means giving up my control and just trusting in the powers that be. But ALSO, my traveling companion will have her own guidebook (again this challenges my control issues). AND we are living in the digital era in which things can be quickly looked up on the internet and I will have 2 devices (my kindle and smart phone) with which to do so. Finally, I've done plenty of pre-trip research (creating lists and itineraries, etc - more control issues....) Anyway, long story short to make myself feel a little better I quickly downloaded a couple of digital travel guides for the kindle :-) but the physical guidebooks are staying home!

I've already started reading Northanger Abbey in preparation for Bath. And I've also still been plugging away at Poor Miss Finch. Beyond that I've downloaded a huge amount of classic novels and short stories that could keep anyone entertained for over a year!

Also, I really hope that when I come back this time I'll be able to post about my book shopping adventures. I've yet to visit all the famous bookshops of London and I'm really hoping to make
time for that this time around!

Izzy Picks - Books for Young Anglophiles

2010-11-11T07:59:00.005-06:00

I'm an unrepentant Anglophile myself and so preparing for our upcoming trip to England (only 2 days!!) was the perfect excuse to convert Izzy to my ways. There were some hits and misses in our little reading odyssey, but below you'll find the titles that satisfied both mom and daughter.

The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard by Gregory Rogers

A young boy chases his stray soccer ball and finds himself in an empty theatre. As he explores, tries on costumes and even mugs for an imaginary audience the clock strikes 4 o'clock - the time at which Shakespeare's plays were performed. The boy is hurled back in time and finds himself on the stage of the Globe theatre facing a very angry Bard. A chase ensues taking the reader on a whimsical romp through Elizabethan London.

We greatly enjoyed this wordless story by Gregory Rogers. The illustrations and layout are very cartoonish - not usually my favorite style, but employed to great effect here. Like most great wordless books there are many details to peruse.

*A few notes: Rogers mentions that he has taken great pains to produce an accurate rendition of Elizabethan England so parents should expect some unpleasantness - the most notable of which are the infamous impaled heads on London Bridge. Also, it may be a tad disconcerting to have this be a child's first/only exposure to Shakespeare as he is presented as a rather frightening figure.

Tower of London: England's Ghostly Castle by Gail Blasser Riley

I didn't have super high expectations for this and truth be told I really did not enjoy the same publisher's title about Windsor Castle. BUT I really enjoyed this one (as did Izzy), but I suppose I'm a bit of a niche audience. Not only am I an unrepentant anglophile and creepy history connoisseur, but the Tower of London is also one of my very favorite historical/tourist sites of all time.

It contains just the right amount of information for a young school age child. The stories were brief, but informative and engaging. The book cleverly uses the Tower's haunted reputation as a framing device for a brief history and overview from William the Conqueror to the present. Young readers will learn about they mysterious Princes in the Tower and the sad fate of Anne Boleyn. They also get to contrast the lavish prison lodgings of Sir Walter Raleigh with those of Guy Fawkes whose cell was so small he could neither stand nor lie down. And much more! Recommended for any young history buffs/anglophiles, anyone planning a trip to London with children and fans of haunted history.

Katie in London by James Mayhew

I bought this for Izzy on my very first trip to London and it has been a staple in our house ever since. This is a fantasy in which Katie and her little brother get a tour of London via one of the Trafalgar Square lions magically come to life! Any child who reads this book will be thoroughly prepared for some of London's most famous sights. And children love being able to identify familiar things!

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

No trip to London would be complete with out getting to know Paddington first - especially since one of our first stops will be Paddington station where there is a fantastic Paddington bear statue!

You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Medieval Castle!: A Home You'd Rather Not Inhabit by Jacqueline Morley

I've already talked about how much I adore this series here. But here's the low down on this specific title - Most kids would agree that living in a castle would be pretty much awesome. And maybe it would be - if you were the lord of said castle. But what about the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people it took to run a castle? What was life like for them? This book explores that question asking kids to imagine that they are a young girl off to work at the friendly neighborhood castle (based on Rochester Castle in Kent). Not only is the work and lifestyle far from glamorous - including regular beatings and a bed that's a bit too near the garderobe (aka the crapper) - but it also gets dangerous when the castle comes under siege by King John. Our young protagonist must treat the wounded and dying while the food supplies dwindle. I'm making it sound a bit more bleak than it really is. It's really more entertaining and interesting than it is horrifying. The format is a kind of picture book/graphic novel hybrid with illustrations that will likely be very appealing to children.

*Note - although not strictly about England (obviously) another title in this series You Wouldn't Want to be an Egyptian Mummy is a great one for getting a child ready for a visit to the British Museum.

England by Michael Dahl

This is not a book that will blow anyone's mind. What it is, however, is a very brief fact-based little book about England (part of a series from Capstone Press which offers many other titles/country profiles). This is not a thrill a minute kind of book, but it does have some value/appeal. It gives younger readers a nice overview. And really, my daughter's reaction to the picture of Queen Elizabeth II was priceless - 'What? She's just an old lady!' Up to now the only queens she's seen have been elegant, beautiful and regal (i.e. historical and fictional). So, that was a welcome (and amusing) moment of enlightenment for her. She also enjoyed learning about the more mundane aspects of English life - public transportation, education, food, etc. The abundant photographs were nice and I think will prepare her for the reality that England is a place like any other and not solely a land of castles and royalty.

***Below are some titles that Mommy enjoyed, but were a bit advanced for Izzy - athough with most she still enjoyed poring over the pictures and discussing.

Shakespeare: His Work and His World by Michael Rosen

A really hefty picture book biography Michael Rosen recreates the life and times of Shakespeare by combining the little facts we do know about the man with a solid examination of the era in which he lived. A hearty dose of contemporary quotes and excerpts from the plays are used through out to illuminate and expand upon the text. The lovely accompanying illustrations by Robert Ingpen are rich and abundant and work beautifully with the text. It is more intensive than most picture book biographies and so seems best suited for advanced independent readers (12 and up).

Shakespeare's Theatre by Jacqueline Morley

Although there is a lot of overlap between the book above and this one I think this works well as a nice companion piece. One is more biographical/historical and the other more strongly emphasizes the history of theatre. The illustrations here aren't as visually striking as those in Shakespeare: His Work and His World, but this one felt more 'youth friendly' with its immense detail and cool cross section illustrations.

Good Queen Bess : The Story of Elizabeth I of England by Diane Stanley

Although Good Queen Bess is a picture book biography this is best suited for older/advanced independent readers as it is very text heavy. That said this is a really fantastic picture book biography for any child interested in one of the most fascinating rulers. Although this is my first experience with her work - Diane Stanley and her husband Peter Vennema have produced several high quality picture book biographies together - Charles Dickens, Cleopatra, William Shakespeare, Saladin. Now I'll definitely be looking for these titles and more.

The Kings and Queens of England and Scotland by Plantagenet Somerset Fry

Although not strictly a children's book, this book has so many fantastic images (as do so many of DK's books) that it is great for poring over.

**I could go on and on with titles that I love, but I wanted to keep this post strictly 'kid friendly' so that'll be a post for another day!

'Best of' Lists

2010-11-10T08:26:00.004-06:00

I know this kind of thing can be really subjective, but I still enjoy looking through them and comparing/contrasting my own reactions.

First, there is the NY Times Best Illustrated books of 2010. I was a little dismayed to discover I hadn't read a single one of these! And some I hadn't even heard of! But several look really appealing to me, including Bink and Gollie, Children Make Terrible Pets, Shadow, and A Sick Day for Amos McGee.

Then, there is the Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Books of 2010 - which includes picture books, fiction and non-fiction. There are some really cool looking titles on this list and I've actually read a few. I was really delighted to see The Extraordinary Mark Twain make the list as I'm a huge fan of the author and it really was a top quality picture book biography. I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by City Dog, Country Frog - given that it was authored and illustrated by two picture book greats Mo Willems (of Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny fame) and Jon J. Muth (Zen Shorts). Ah well - you can't win 'em all. But also some of the fiction looks really intriguing to me.

All in all, two great lists to peruse and get great ideas either for gifts or for yourself!

A Countess Below Stairs

2010-11-07T01:08:00.003-06:00

A Countess Below Stairs
by Eva Ibbotson

Anna Grazinsky is a young Russian countess forced to flee her home country during the Russian Revolution. Once in England the spirited young lady nobly takes a position as a servant to earn money for her newly impoverished family. It doesn’t take long for Anna to charm her fellow servants, as well as the noble family 'above stairs' – including the dashing young Earl of Westerholme. Too bad he’s already engaged to the gorgeous and wealthy heiress Muriel Hardwicke. Beyond the obvious love triangle, there are multiple subplots and a huge cast of colorful characters – including (but not limited to) missing jewels and crackpot eugenicists.

It is what it is. There’s no getting around the fact that this is, for the most part, a romance novel. And as such it’s a bit clichéd, implausible and predictable. The characters are varied and, at times, quite entertaining but they are for the most part fairly one dimensional. The good people are excessively good and the bad are - well you get the picture. But that didn’t keep from tearing through the thing in two days flat. I’m not afraid to admit that I got caught in its sweet little web. It’s light and fluffy with just enough substance and humor to maintain one’s self-respect. Ibbotson’s writing is a joy to read. Every once and while she even sneaks up on you and really makes you think or feel.

A few notes/extra thoughts:

1.) This was also published as The Secret Countess at one time.
2.) I credit this with getting me out of a real reading rut I've been in recently. It's been a while since I tore through a book like this. It has me feeling all invigorated and ready to tackle more!
3.) I really wonder about the target audience here. It seems a teeny bit mature for a children's book, but it's also not very 'grown up' seeming with it's very sweet and idealized worldview - which I guess maybe places this in YA territory. But still....I'm a little confused.
4.) One part of this book which really annoyed me is that there is this pervy old uncle who lives with the family and he is constantly playing grab-ass with the servants and they're just kind of expected to tolerate it because a) he's part of the 'above stairs' crowd and b) it's all just harmless anyway. There's even a point in which we're supposed to feel sorry for him because he's being kept away from all the young female servants. That just didn't really sit well with me!
5.) The eugenics sub-plot is really interesting! On one hand I really liked the inclusion of such diverse characters and the sentiment behind it, but sometimes it all felt a bit too 'precious' to me.

LMM Project - Among the Shadows

2010-11-05T09:51:00.006-06:00

Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side
by L.M. Montgomery

Among the Shadows is one of 8 volumes of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s short stories which were thematically compiled and edited by Rea Wilmshurst. As the title suggests the nineteen stories contained within this collection deal with ‘darker’ themes – from the supernatural and macabre to human vices, foibles and weaknesses. Die-hard Montgomery fans won’t be surprised to see these themes addressed by the author most famous for her plucky heroine – Anne Shirley (of Green Gables). While Montgomery’s work certainly leaned heavily towards the optimistic and idealistic she never shied away from tackling darker topics. Her writing just had such a gentle touch that I think some readers don’t even notice they’d been 'enlightened'.

As mentioned above these stories are really all over the place and that’s part of what makes this such a dynamic and interesting collection. There are some deliciously creepy ghost stories - my personal favorites! But the majority deal with more worldly concerns such as gossip, pride, murder, theft, drunkenness, etc. Truthfully, they also vary some in terms of quality. This was my fourth or fifth read and I can’t say that all of the stories quite held up to my memories. Some were, in fact, somewhat disappointing – striking me as either poorly constructed or simply dated and unappealing (Detected by the Camera and The Martyrdom of Estella come immediately to mind). However, as an overall collection it still shines as each story showcases Montgomery’s signature writing style that I love so much. I’m impressed by how she was able to set the stage with a pitch perfect tone and vibrant characters – all within just a few pages. A true master of the short story genre!

*Note - favorite stories include (but are not limited to) The Closed Door, The Deacon's Painkiller, and The House Party at Smoky Island.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

2010-10-31T09:13:00.002-06:00

Scary Stories Treasury
by Alvin Schwartz

I can't really give this an official rating yet as we haven't even come close to reading all of the stories in the collection, but I can say that this has provided our family with immense enjoyment this Halloween season. I plan to make this book an October family tradition. The 'Treasury' includes three volumes - Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones.

Like most short story collections the stories can be hit or miss, but the majority (so far) have been hits = quite scary! This book really requires an engaged and theatrical reader - which I personally take pride in being ;-)

*Also book lovers should be aware that this is a frequently banned and challenged book - making it even more delightful!

Izzy Pick - You Wouldn't Want To.....(series)

2010-10-28T08:47:00.003-05:00

What started with a happy coincidence has now turned into an all out obsession.

We picked up the Medieval Castle book as part of our preparation for our upcoming trip to England. I wanted Izzy to have a good idea of what to expect when we tour castles. It seems a lot of people don't really understand what a castle actually is - until really see one in person. They are not lavish fairy tale-like residences. Instead they were built primarily with defense and fortification in mind (vs. comfort and luxury) and are therefore rather forbidding structures. In college I recall having my mind blown when I toured the famous Alcazar of Isabel and Ferdinand in Segovia. I was struck by how austere it was. We followed that tour up with a visit to the nearby La Granja - the luxurious 18th century palace of Philip V (often called the Versailles of Spain). It was then that the difference really sunk in for me. And so I wanted to prepare my little fairy tale and princess obsessed girl. She'd already suffered a crushing blow when she saw a picture of Elizabeth II - why, she's just an old lady!!

This is a fantastic book for illustrating the reality of life in a castle. Facts are that the overwhelming majority of people who lived in a castle would have been servants. And so this book asks children to imagine they are a little servant girl in the local castle. Not only is the work and lifestyle far from glamorous - including regular beatings and a bed that's a bit too near the garderobe (aka the crapper) - but it also gets dangerous when the castle comes under siege by King John. Our young protagonist must treat the wounded and dying while the food supplies dwindle. I'm making it sound a bit more bleak than it really is. It's really more entertaining and interesting than it is horrifying. The format is a kind of picture book/graphic novel hybrid with illustrations that will likely be very appealing to children.

*FYI - the castle in the book is based on Rochester Castle in Kent.

Since this was such a huge success we followed it up with the Egyptian mummy book. This was a logical choice as we plan to tour the British Museum in London and I thought it would be nice for Izzy to have some background information as we plan to focus on the Ancient Egyptian collection. And again we were not disappointed. I thought it was slightly less engaging than the castle book as the 'protagonist' is basically a dead man (vs. a child), but it's still lots of fun. As you might expect this book is full of gross out details which will be very memorable to young readers.

Then imagine my delight when Izzy comes home from school on Tuesday with the Cleopatra book! She is dressing up as Cleopatra for Halloween so it's the perfect book to read this week. I was doubly delighted when she started reading it to me from the backseat of the car. The significance of this is that these are not 'easy' books. They are presented in an engaging and somewhat simple format, but they introduce complicated vocabulary (sarcophagus, trebuchet) and concepts (exile, almonry) and history (Magna Carta, Battle of Actium). This goes to show that children will exceed expectations when the interest level is there! This is VITAL when selecting books for children!

I am hugely impressed by these books because they do what so many Social Studies/History classes fail to do - get kids EXCITED about history. What makes history truly fascinating is the human drama of it all and yet somehow teachers and textbooks find a way to suck the life out of it - boiling it down to a list of places, names and dates. I suppose they do this to make it 'appropriate' for children (and nowadays prep them for standardized testing), but I think it ultimately fails children on so many levels.

There are MANY more titles in this series (click here to learn more) and you better believe we'll be reading most of them!

Izzy Pick - The Apple-Pip Princess

2010-10-26T10:49:00.002-05:00

The Apple-Pip Princess
by Jane Ray

An aging king who rules over a barren land tasks his three daughters to 'make their mark'. The one who best fulfills this task and makes him proud will rule the kingdom. The eldest two princesses immediately set out to create something grand and impressive. The youngest princess (Serenity) feels daunted by the task. She is not the favorite, nor is she the cleverest or the most beautiful. Also she is shy and afraid of the dark. How can someone so ordinary make her mark and make her father proud? Her solution isn't as flashy or as obviously impressive, but it is the most practical with the farthest reaching potential.

The Apple-Pip Princess is a sort of updated 'eco fairy tale' - a genre I've come to fear a little. But this one is told in such a sweet, gentle and encouraging way that I couldn't help but be won over - as was Izzy. I can't imagine any child who won't relate to little Serenity and her self doubt. Besides the mixed media illustrations by Jane Ray are completely and utterly captivating. I *will* be looking for more of her work. And I very highly recommend this one for any parents and children looking for unique and beautifully illustrated fairy tales.

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years - 1930 Newbery Winner

2010-10-24T19:39:00.004-05:00

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
by Rachel Field

After 100 years of life Hitty, the little doll made out of lucky mountain-ash wood, has decided to write her memoirs. In it she recounts her many adventures – from her time on a whaling ship to a brief stint as a pin cushion and much more. But like most good dolls her very best times where those when she was loved and played with by a little girl. And thankfully over the course of a hundred years there were many little girls – all with their own little virtues and defects. What makes this book memorable is Hitty’s unique ‘voice’. Hitty is proud and a little vain, but she is also a conscientious and sometimes surprisingly open-minded narrator. Her wry observations about people and the world around her (combined with persistent concerns about her personal appearance) make for an entertaining and often humorous read.

I’d say that, along with Downright Dency, Doctor Dolittle and a few others, Hitty is one of the few early Newberys which holds up reasonably well for a modern audience. It is still a product of its era and does contain some outdated notions, but I think the good (strong and enjoyable storytelling) mostly outweighs the bad in this case.

Notes:

This book was updated and re-illustrated by Rosemary Wells and Susan Jeffers. Before I started this book I was vaguely interested in it for comparison purposes. Now that I've read the full book and have gotten others reactions to the rewrite I've decided to skip it.

This also seems to be more of the more beloved of the early Newbery books. Google searches for Hitty bring up all kinds of results - like this one. Little girls can even buy their very own Hitty doll! Not cheap, but pretty cool! I kind of want one! If that one is too much you can go Flat Stanley style with this one.

It's a relief to be out of the 1920s - especially after so many dreary reads. And it's extra exciting to finally read something that has some relevance and a modern audience. So while I can't say this is an all time favorite book it has helped recommit me to the project!

More Living With Books

2010-10-20T15:20:00.001-05:00

I say a nightstand tells a lot about a person. That's why I'd be horrified for anyone to see the actual contents of my nightstand. But I'm okay with giving a peek at the top of it ;-)

So, here it is in all it's glory. I do most of my personal reading in bed at night - which means I don't get nearly as much reading done as I'd like. But it's the way things are for now and this is the way my nightstand looks pretty much all the time.

Although it's probably not apparent I do have a little system going here. Of course, I have the book(s) that I'm currently reading - right now that happens to be the Newbery selection (Hitty: Her First Hundred Years). Also, since I'm about a month out from a trip to England so I have all my guidebooks and maps out for handy reference. And finally I have my 'on deck' books stacked back against the wall there. I also like to surround myself with special tchotchke type items - a jewelry box that my husband gave me, a picture of me and my daughter in a hand painted frame, a Sherlock Holmes print purchased on my last trip to London, etc. In short you definitely couldn't call my home decorating style minimalist!

Izzy Pick - Four Scary Stories

2010-10-18T09:17:00.002-05:00

Four Scary Stories by Tony Johnston

A true Izzy pick as it's not a personal favorite of mine, but Izzy gets a HUGE kick out of this - it is a much requested book both at Halloween and really anytime of the year. It's an 'oldie' (published in 1979 so it's still younger than me!) but goodie written by Tony Johnston with funky vintage Tomie dePaola (Strega Nona) illustrations. An imp, a scalawag and a goblin and an unexpected guest share scary stories on a dark night. Could be especially appealing to boys as that is the principle fear of the imp, scalawag and goblin. But my girly-girl daughter totally digs this one.

I interrupt your regular programming

2010-10-15T08:28:00.003-05:00

to talk about a movie which may very well be my favorite of the year.

Never Let Me Go (based on a book I haven't read - oops sorry!) is a film about a dystopic England where Donors are created in order to extend the lives of others. In this world the average life expectancy has risen to over 100 years by the 1960s. You can watch the trailer here.

I'll be the first to say that this isn't the most original set up (anyone see The Island?), but that's what makes this film even more awe inspiring. Contrary to expectations it has distinctly NON Science Fiction feel. While bioethics is obviously one of the themes explored, it's really more of an intimate human drama which explores friendship, love, regret, loss, life, and death. The best sci-fi isn't about some theoretical future, but about the present. Roger Ebert summed it up perfectly in his review: If you can walk through this plot without tripping over parallels to our own society and educational systems, you're more sure-footed than I.

I was simply astounded as I left the theatre yesterday and haven't been able to stop thinking about it and what it all means. I urge everyone to get out and see it for yourselves!

A Northern Light

2010-10-11T15:35:00.004-05:00

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

*We picked this book because Meghan learned about it while on a trip to the Adirondacks. I was intrigued because the film A Place in the Sun (based on Dreiser's An American Tragedy) has always been a favorite.

My Review:

The story of sixteen year old Mattie Gokey is told in two threads – only months apart from one another and which finally meet at the very end. In one thread Mattie is working at the fancy Adirondack hotel just a few miles away from her family’s modest farm in the ‘North Woods’. She is haunted by a recent tragedy and her own complicated role in it. (Which just so happens to be based on the real life murder which inspired Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy). In the other thread we learn about Mattie’s background – how she’s a clever student and accomplished young writer yearning to go to college, but is held back by social, familial and financial constraints. Her mother is recently deceased and her father and siblings are struggling financially and emotionally. Abandoning them seems out of the question. Also, it’s 1906 in rural New York where most girls are literally barefoot and pregnant by Mattie’s age.

This is a book which, among other things, explores the notion of fulfillment – can one strike a balance between intellectual and physical/romantic/domestic pursuits? To put it more bluntly - can a woman truly have it all? The house, the kids, the husband and a fulfilling professional/intellectual life. And if the answer is no; then which is the more desirable/noble path? All of this is still being asked and discussed at great length even today, but in 1906 the question was a bit weightier. Mattie clearly sees the joy and pain of each path. Her brilliant teacher Miss Wilcox is a social outcast for her outrageously feminist ideas. Her best friend Minnie barely has time to breathe between nursing her new twin babies and maintaining a household. But she also sees how free Miss Wilcox is. And Mattie sees how Minnie’s husband looks at his wife and babies.

I love that this book portrays a smart girl who is driven by social (and physical) pressures just as much as her intellect. In so many novels the smart girl has no interest in romance until Mr. Impossibly Perfect comes along. But for all her brains Mattie is still a teenage girl and goes brainless when the rather dull, but excessively handsome neighbor boy starts giving her the time of day. She is proud to be seen with him and likes the way it feels when he holds her. Never mind that he has no interest or understanding in her ambitions. She makes the typical, tired excuses for him and sometimes I wanted to smack her, but it also felt so authentic!

This is not a perfect book. I wondered all along how on earth Donnelly would pull the two threads together and she kept me guessing literally until the very end. She technically pulls it off, but I’m still not entirely convinced of the connection. Also the ending could be called a bit too tidy and even somewhat clichéd. But ultimately, I really enjoyed this book and 3 stars just feels like too few. I think Donnelly really effectively evoked time and place and gave us a truly interesting and realistic protagonist to follow.

I think this book is really interesting to compare with The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate which takes place roughly around the same time period (but south of the Mason-Dixon Line) and explores a lot of the same themes. I think they are both inspiring and thought provoking reads for a young lady and both are books I’ll be happy to share with my own daughter when the time is right!

Izzy's Top Halloweenie/Spooky Book Picks

2010-10-08T09:02:00.006-05:00

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex

Hysterical poems! Fantastic illustrations!

The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt

Stunning illustrations!

Boris and Bella by Carolyn Crimi

One of the first Halloween books we purchased!

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

Fun repetitive verse, nice illustrations.

The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

An essential Halloween classic!

Kate Culhane: A Ghost Story by Michael Hague

Super Creepy ghost story! You'll never think of oatmeal in the same way again!

Dem Bones by Bob Barner

Catchy and educational!

The Wizard Comes to Town by Mercer Mayer

Mercer Mayer classic!

Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes

Great bilingual fun!

The Wee Witches' Halloween by Jerry Smath

Very simple, but VERY high on the cuteness meter!

Which Witch's Wand Works? by Poly Bernatene

A recent fun addition to our Halloweenie repetoir.

Monster Museum by Marilyn Singer

More spooky poems paired with fantastic ghoulish illustrations!

Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci

Tim Burton-esque. A great pick for kids who delight in the macabre.

Scarlett Angelina Wolverton-Manning by Jacqueline K. Ogburn

Our most recent find. A great twist ending!

The Little White Horse v. The Secret of Moonacre

2010-10-02T20:15:00.012-05:00

I read Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse about two years ago. I felt that it started out with great promise, but ultimately didn't wow me. I think my expectations were a bit high. Not only is it a classic children's novel -it's billed as one of J.K. Rowling's favorite childhood novels! But, I enjoyed it enough so that I was eager to watch the film adaptation titled The Secret of Moonacre. Two years later I finally got around to it!

Funny enough my reaction to film was almost identical to the book - a strong start with enticing elements, but ultimately failed to completely deliver. This is really remarkable since the book and film are really very different from one another. The film really only uses the bare bones of the novel's characters and plot lines.

The general set up for both book and film:

Maria Merryweather, having just lost her father, goes with her governess (Miss Heliotrope) to live with a previously unknown relative (Sir Benjamin Merryweather) at Moonacre Manor. Upon arrival Maria discovers that there is a mystery surrounding the house and her family and she is the key to unlocking it all. It's really a dream set up (for me at least) - a crumbling manor, a mysterious wood, an ancient family feud, with a little magic thrown in for good measure.

My thoughts about the book:

It seemed a lot of care was taken to build characters and setting and then about half way the pace picked up and it began to feel rushed and a bit slapdash. The story is high on coincidence and low on conflict so it doesn't make for an entirely satisfying adult read, but I know I would have been charmed as a younger reader. It's also worth noting that religion plays a big role in the storyline. But it is presented in a unique and mostly tolerant sort of way that makes it palatable for modern and/or secular type readers. It is a book that places emphasis on the values of nature and kindness and family relationships - all very worthy in my mind!

My thoughts about the movie:

It has a lot of things going for it - not the least of which is a really stellar cast. Maria is played by a lovely Dakota Blue Richards (first seen in the Golden Compass adaptation). I think she is a very promising young actress. Physically she reminds me of a cross between the best parts of Katherine Heigl and Bryce Dallas Howard. She has a very commanding screen presence and I look forward to seeing more of her! Next, we have Sir Benjamin played by Ioan Gruffudd. This was a fairly significant departure from the novel as Sir Benjamin is supposed to be an older and rather portly gentleman and Gruffudd is anything but. I've been ~~in love with him~~ a HUGE fan since his Horatio Hornblower days (le sigh) so this was a welcome deviation from the novel! However, I didn't love that they chose to make his character such an insufferable grump. In the novel Benjamin has his worries, but he is a jovial character and he and Maria hit it off right from the start. The film also features Tim Curry and Natascha McElhone as members of the De Noir clan - bitter enemies of the Merryweathers for hundreds of years. Both are excellent actors who I've enjoyed elsewhere, but neither were particularly great or memorable here.

In general the tone of the movie is far more dramatic than that of the novel. Since one of my complaints of the novel is that it was low on conflict you might think I'd appreciated this. Unfortunately, it mostly seemed a bit overwrought and melodramatic. I would have liked to have seen some more of the sweetness and innocence of the book incorporated.

One can't help but feel enchanted by mysterious old Moonacre Manor in both the book and film. Maria's special little tower room with its 'living' night sky is particularly delightful! The costuming was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand Maria's dresses were just fantastically extravagant and fun to view. But the De Noir 'gang' was just over the top ridiculous with their leather pants and Clockwork Orange style bowlers and eye makeup. Odd choice...

And finally, animals (as the title suggests) play a large role in the novel and for whatever reason (logistics? budget? time?) they aren't featured has heavily in the film. I can certainly see why the change was made, but it does alter the overall feel of the story. Thankfully, they adapted the title to reflect the changes as the actual little white horse barely gets any screen time!

Final thoughts:

While neither book or film are perfect, they both contain elements which will be enchanting for young readers and viewers. I recommend the book over the film, however.

On deck for October

2010-09-29T16:12:00.003-05:00

I've got a great month of reading coming up!!

Among the Shadows by L.M. Montgomery

Kindred Spirits & Nerdy Girl Book Clubs

Spoooooky read!

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Children's Fiction Club

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

Newbery Book Club

The Runaway Papoose (1929 Honor Book)

2010-09-28T21:32:00.005-05:00

The ‘runaway papoose’ that the title refers to is Nah-tee - a young Native American girl (I don’t recall if her tribe is ever specified). One day she is separated from her family and is quite distressed to find herself all alone in the dessert until she meets a young Navajo boy named Moyo. Together she and Moyo traverse the dessert and have many little adventures on their way to reunite Nah-tee with her family.

I am sure the author (Grace Moon) had the best of intentions when writing this novel (1929 Newbery Honor). From the little I can gather she and her husband, illustrator Carl Moon, were fascinated with and respected Native Americans. But despite this the novel just has not aged well. The most regrettable thing about this book is the narrative style which attempts to duplicate Native American dialect. Not only is it stilted and awkward to read, but it is too self-consciously affected and childish to be anything but annoying. I could tell by this quote (on page 9) that I was in for a long and arduous ride – fear thoughts cannot stay very long when smile feelings come. *Groan* My friend Abigail put it really well when she said that this has the effect of making our protagonists feel like 'the other' instead of relatable and engaging characters.

It’s not completely without merit in that one does feel mildly interested in the progress of Nah-tee and Moyo. Nor are they despicable or unlikable characters, but in truth I would not recommend this to a single person – young or old. As a side note I followed this up by reading Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House which was a sharp contrast to this book.

Izzy Pick - Never Smile at a Monkey*

2010-09-27T14:03:00.002-05:00

*And 17 Other Important Things to Remember

Please tell me you've read Steve Jenkins before! Please tell me I'm the only utter fool who hadn't read any of his work up until now! I even *knew* about his work, but just hadn't gotten around to trying it. I'd seen the cover of his Actual Size book countless times and I guess I just assumed it was gimicky. Well, if this is gimicky then give me more of that!

We actually started with Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. What an amazing book! That one is actually my personal favorite as it was my introduction into the brilliant mind of Steve Jenkins. It is simply astounding what the man can do with cut paper. It is a complete aesthetic delight, but also chock full of fantastic facts about the ocean. The result rare blend of information and entertainment! And a very important book to boot!

I didn't think it could get any better until we cracked open this one. I'm almost at a loss for words about it really. The brilliant balancing act at work here would be easy to underestimate because Jenkins makes it look so effortless. This is a book that gets children excited about the natural world, but in a completely fun way. Here children encounter 18 different animals and learn about their various survival techniques which can make them dangerous and potentially lethal to humans. As Jenkins says in his introduction we all know that large predatory animals like tigers and sharks are dangerous, but what about a cuddly black bear cub? A common yellow tropical fish? Or a brilliant spotted octopus small enough to fit in the palm of your hand? The purpose of this book isn't to make children fearful of animals**, but instead to inform and instill a healthy sense of respect and awe for wild creatures.

As is my custom when I discover a new author I search obsessively for everything I can find out about them. Luckily the internet makes stalking so much easier and Steve has his own website. Jenkins says that he has gotten the ideas for most of his book from the questions that his three children have asked him over the years. That makes total sense because his books have a perfect balance of information to satisfy a curious child combined with enough whimsy to entertain. Please don't be a fool like me and check his work out sooner than later!

**The fact of the matter is that some people will find the contents disturbing so concerned parents should probably preview before sharing. But I think this is a book that is sure to delight almost all curious children. I really hesitate to classify books as boy or girl books as I don't think there is really any such thing, and this is a HUGE hit with my daughter. But I would recommend this as a great gift for a very boyish boy who loves gross-out type things.

Kindle Update

2010-09-19T07:29:00.004-05:00

So the 'thing' arrived on Friday. I was really busy with work and just running around and I didn't get a chance to even open the box. Kept just looking at it on the stairs. Truth be told I think I was a little scared of it. Heck, I still am. I still feel 'wrong' somehow. The idea of it just goes against the grain of everything I've ever known about books! But then I remind myself that there WAS a time even before paper books. People transmitted stories and information orally far longer than print books have been around. And then to think there was actually a hullabaloo when books like The Bible actually became MORE accessible to MORE people. So, I try to think of ebooks in this way - as just another step in the ever evolving process of transmitting information.

Anyway, I finally got around to opening the 'thing' on Saturday. I just kind of looked at it and really didn't know what to do with it. I plugged it in to my computer and let them get to know one another and I went on with my day. I made a few little half hearted attempts to figure things out, but didn't get very far.

It wasn't until last night that I finally just jumped in. My main goal was to figure out how to transfer book from Project Gutenberg on to my device. As much as I love gadgets, technology is not always super intuitive for me. (I still have regular pitched battles with my keurig.) So, it took me a little while, but once I figured this out I was obsessed! I downloaded a couple of Wilkie Collins novels that I had been having trouble tracking down - Armadale and Poor Miss Finch. I downloaded all twelve of the Coloured Fairy Books by Andrew Lang (have been wanting those for YEARS!) . I even downloaded one of my favorite Beatrix Potter stories - The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck - with illustrations! I spent a great deal of time browsing and just generally having my mind blown by all of the amazing and obscure things that PG has available. And I've barely scratched the surface.

But, what is it like to actually read on the 'thing'. I'll be honest - it takes some getting used to. For the first few minutes I did feel like I was looking at a device rather than a book. But I was assured that this feeling passes and, miraculously, it did! First and foremost, it is extremely easy on the eyes. I've tried to read books on my laptop and it just doesn't work for me. I envy people who can read on computers, ipads, and similar devices. (I even have a friend who reads on his smart phone!!!) Second, I'm really glad to have gotten the smaller (6 inch) version. Not only was it essentially 'free' because of my gift certificates, but the small size just really works for me. I honestly can't imagine curling up in bed with the bigger versions. I've always been a paper back gal (vs. hard covers). And yes, I did curl up in bed with it. That, for me, was the ultimate test. I read the first story from The Blue Fairy Book and the first chapter from Poor Miss Finch and then finished up with my 'real life' book (The Birchbark House).

All in all, it was a really pleasant experience. I think I actually read faster with the 'thing'. But it could just be that I was excited :-) I do think I'll definitely need some kind of cover.

Living with Books

2010-09-16T13:36:00.001-05:00

Here's another little project I'd like to start....I love looking at people's book collections. I've been known to spend longer than I'd like to admit browsing internet pictures of home libraries and bookshelves. I just love seeing how people live with their books. So, I'd like to quit being a lurker and share some of my own candid shots of how we live with our books. I know I don't have a huge readership here, but I'd love for anyone who stumbles across this to perhaps be inspired and participate as well. So, if you'd like to participate please send me your pictures or link to your blog post and I'd love to feature it here.

Here's my first post...Our books are like members of our household. They aren't confined to one room of the house - they get to go everywhere and anywhere. And as such there isn't a room in my house which doesn't have books lurking in some corner or crevice.

Here's a great example:

This is a corner in my living room where I have kind of a wacky system set up. First, on the ottoman is where I place recently acquired library books. On the floor next to the ottoman are books that I've recently purchased which have not yet been read. In both cases these are mostly picture books. (You'll see where the 'big girl' books go in another post).

On the bottom shelf of the bookshelf is one of my most treasured possessions - a collection of 1950s era Collier's Junior Classics which originally belonged to my father. Each book has a theme - from fairy tales, to poems to history, and much more! I recall delighting in these books every time I visited my Grandmother's house. I know this collection like the back of my hand. I love the way it looks and smells! And one day it was gifted to me and I have cherished it ever since. It has traveled with me from my parent's house, to college, to grubby apartments to my current home. I plan to pass it on to my own daughter when she is ready.

And I can't forget to mention the fun little cloth baby book which was left over here by my baby niece Brooke :-) Book loving runs in the family!

Wives and Daughters (1999)

2010-09-14T12:24:00.008-05:00

I know! I'm a posting fool! For someone who often goes weeks without a new post - this kind of activity is unheard of! I just happen to have some free time in between work right now so I'm taking advantage and getting out all the posts I've had in my head!

Today, I want to talk about the fantastic film adaptation of Wives & Daughters. First, if you read my review you know that I loved the book! I am now officially a Gaskell devotee and I will be reading much more by her. Also, I've seen several of her other novels adapted - Cranford and the swoon inducing North & South - both excellent films. So, I was cautiously optimistic for Wives & Daughters. I'd heard it was a fantastic and faithful adaptation, but I've been burned before. I still haven't quite gotten over my disappointment with The Tenent of Wildfell Hall adaptation!

Anyway, let's just get it out there - this IS a wonderful adaptation. It is almost perfectly cast and stays very true to the novel until the very very end where the filmmakers chose to tack on an ending to the unfinished story (Gaskell died before completing the novel).

The Characters:

* Justine Wadell as Molly Gibson

I think Justine Wadell as Molly was actually MORE likable than in the novel. She seemed less perfectly good and her motives seemed more relatable. Keely Hawes as Cynthia was also a good decision. I think Hawes is a lovely actress and is perfect for period pieces. Her actual physical presence might not have matched up with my mental picture of Cynthia, but no matter - she played the part very well. Perhaps the most complicated character to cast (in my mind) is Mrs. Hyacinth Gibson. She is a very complex character - she is supposed to be elegant and attractive enough to capture the discerning Mr. Gibson, but also silly, vain, shallow and meddlesome. And Francesca Annis NAILED it!

*Anthony Howell as Roger Hamley

What about the men? Bill Paterson as Mr. Gibson - Molly's beloved father - was nicely done. And since I like Michael Gambon in just about anything he does I was thrilled to see him as the stubborn, irascible, but ultimately lovable Squire Hamley. Now, the Hamley brothers were cast in an interesting way. I don't feel that Osborne (played by Tom Hollander) lined up at all with my mental image. In the novel he was supposed to be a dreamy and romantic figure and in the film he just came off as a bit pathetic. However he is in a rather pathetic situation and a big part of his character's struggle is living up to familial expectations. And so perhaps his failure to meet my expectations is more apt that it would seem at first glance. Roger (Anthony Howell), on the other hand, was played by a much more handsome actor than I was expecting. Of course, this suited me just fine ;-) And finally, I think Cynthia's foe, Mr. Preston was well done by Iain Glen.

The plot:

I had heard this was extremely faithful, but was still really pleasantly surprised by HOW faithful this adaptation was. Having read the book so recently I saw that full lines of dialogue were pulled from the novel. And it really works well! The filmmakers did take quite a bit of liberty by adding on an ending which I don't think very likely or realistic. I think the film could have just as easily ended where the book ended (even though it is technically unfinished) and it would have had just as much (if not more) impact.

A few notes:

*Like a lot of English period pieces another star of the show is the scenery and, more specifically, the homes. The action takes place in three major locales:

The Gibson's home was a perfect delight of charming coziness. Although it was the most modest as the home of a 'mere doctor'; it was the home I would choose for myself. I totally covet the little stone structure where Molly went to dry flowers and herbs! Anyone know what such a structure is called?

Hamley Hall suitably imposing and looked like the old stately, but crumbling estate belonging to the oldest family in town. For anyone interested I discovered that Levens Hall and Dyrham Park were both used to represent the manor home and its surroundings.

Cumnor Towers - where the Hollingford nobility reside and exercise their considerable influence over the town. This was probably the most 'fun' residence to observe with it's completely over the top decor room after room.

And finally, perhaps one of the most intriguing characters in both the book and film is one that I haven't mentioned yet - Lady Harriet. In the novel and the film she is Molly's friend and champion. What is so fascinating about her is how 'free' she is compared to all her other female counterparts. She is more casual than one would expect from her title, but because of her position in society she can remained unmarried and yet do and say whatever she pleases. And she does so to great effect! She was played beautifully in the film by Rosamund Pike. But what is really odd is that during the last episode she sports a very bizarre cropped hair-do that seemed completely out of place. I've only been able to dig up a very brief explanation that says it has to do with more fully developing her 'independent' character. Hmmm....Anyone else notice this and wonder about it? Thoughts?

Well, that's about it from me! Would love to hear back from anyone else who has watched this film!

The Book of Goddesses

2010-09-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to read this book for quite some time and having finally unearthed it in a used book shop I eagerly dove in. Fortunately it did not disappoint. I know this is a book that I would have treasured as a girl. I many ways it reminds me of one of my childhood favorites – D’Aulaires Greek Myths – although it is lighter on the stories and heavier on reference material.

The twenty six goddesses featured in this collection each get a two page spread - one page devoted to a an illustration, and the other a full page description. The book is a true aesthetic delight with lavish, detailed watercolor illustrations - each perfectly capturing the ‘essence’ of the particular goddess. The borders are also elaborately decorated to include further visual cues about the significance, character and background of that particular goddess. Simply put this is a GORGEOUS book!

The entries about each goddess are a bit encyclopedic, but still engaging and informative. The reader will learn a little of the goddesses histories, some of the stories most commonly associated with them and also which ones are still worshipped today. Despite being abundantly and beautifully illustrated this book doesn’t work particularly well as a read aloud with a smaller child. I would recommend it for independently reading older children – say ages 9 and up.

Notes:

*I had previously encountered and enjoyed Kris Waldherr's art in another book about mythology - Persephone and the Pomegranate

*The above review is for an older edition. There is a newer revised and expanded anniversary edition available which includes even more goddesses! You can read more about it here.

*I’m interested to try The Barefoot Books of Goddesses and compare with this one.

For those interested the goddesses contained in this book include:

Athena – the Greek goddess of wisdom
Benzai-Ten – One of the seven Japanese deities of Good Fortune
Chang O – A Chinese moon goddess
Diana – Ancient Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon and the forest.
Estanatlehi – A Navajo goddess of the harvest
Freyja – The Norse goddess of beauty, love and soldiers. Plus she has a sweet chariot pulled by giant cats!
Gwenhwyfar – Welsh goddess of the sea – also linked in legends as the queen consort to King Arthur.
Hsi Wang Mu - Chinese goddess of eternal life.
Isis – Egyptian goddess of motherhood, nature’s cycles and fertility.
Juno – Ancient Roman goddess of married women. Ever wonder why June is an optimal month for marriage?
Kuan Yin – Buddhist goddess of compassion and mercy.
Lakshmi – Hindu goddess of good fortune, prosperity and beauty.
Maia – One of the seven daughters of Atlas (which make up the Pleiades constellation). She is the goddess of spring and rebirth – hence the month of May.
Nyai Loro Kidul – A Javanese mermaid goddess who represents the powerful and unpredictable forces of the oceans.
Oya – A Nigerian river goddess who is often appealed to for help with conflicts.
Pele – The Hawaiian goddess of fire and erupting volcanoes.
Inanna – A Bronze Age moon goddess of the Sumerian people dubbed ‘Queen of Heaven’.
Rhiannon – British horse goddess (also known as Epona).
Sarasvati – Hindu goddess of knowledge - credited with the creation of the arts, the alphabet, math, music and magic.
Tara – A Tibetan Buddhist goddess of ‘inner wisdom’.
Ukemochi – Japanese food goddess.
Venus – Ancient Roman goddess of love.
Wawalak – Two sister goddesses of aboriginal Australia.
Xochiquetzal – An Aztec flower goddess (also dance, music, crafts and love).

The Kindle Controversy

2010-09-13T18:16:00.007-05:00

Wowza! I had no idea what I was in for when I ordered my kindle. Like most book lovers I have a lot of book loving friends. The response to my recent purchase (which still hasn't shipped by the way) has been split. Some of my other friends (and my awesome dad who I credit 100% with my love of reading and books) are just as excited as I am because they know what this means for someone like me, because (and I repeat) this is not a replacement, but a supplement to my current reading diet! I simply love the aesthetics of books and that doesn't vanish because I've bought a kindle! One of my very best book buds - Meghan, my Nerdy Girl Book Club cohort - was completely horrified with me. I think she thinks my purchase is the equivalent of crossing over to the dark side. (I know she'll appreciate that reference) She wailed that Half Price Books just lost their best customer! Which is so not true! I have absolutely zero plans to stop reading or purchasing paper books - for which I shop local over half the time. The other half I use amazon's marketplace - which consists of a great deal of independently run shops.

And then there is the issue of amazon's business practices - which I know come under a lot of fire. I even had a perfect stranger fly by my blog to shake her virtual finger at me over this. Yikes! I don't have a super great response to this other than this:

My plan all along has been to use my kindle to acquire classics and hard to find out of print books. I won't be using my kindle to buy the latest book. Namely, because I don't often buy the 'latest book', but also because I buy almost all the novels I want to read at Half Price Books - a fantastic local company!! The thrill of the hunt and adding to my collection is something that is in my blood! And so amazon won't be receiving a great deal of my book buying dollars (beyond my marketplace purchases). But even so, owning a kindle isn't the equivalent of buying a blood diamond for goodness sakes. I concede that some of their business practices aren't the best, but they are damn convenient and have excellent customer service. Plus this whole e-book thing is only in its infancy and I have faith that things will only get better. I see the e-book as an avenue to make more information MORE accessible and I just can't see that as a bad thing.

A couple of great articles if anyone is interested:

A rare books librarian contends that the Amazon Kindle will promote the culture of letters, not undermine it...

Curling up with a Good Screen

Izzy Pick - The Secret Remedy Book

2010-09-13T13:54:00.003-05:00

Another Izzy pick already?? Well, it just so happens that I went to the library last week and hit the mother lode of picture book awesomeness. So, there will be a lot of these posts to come!

Today's book is called The Secret Remedy Book by Karin Cates and illustrated by the phenomenal Wendy Anderson Halperin.

Lolly has been looking forward to visiting Aunt Zep on her own for years! But once the day finally arrives Lolly is distressed to find herself feeling homesick and, therefore, unable to fully appreciate her special time with Aunt Zep. No matter, clever Aunt Zep has the perfect solution - The Secret Remedy Book. They find the book in an old trunk in the attic and it outlines seven tasks to be completed before the owl hoots. Basically, the activities are designed to distract Lolly - allowing her to live in the moment and enjoy her stay.

Halperin is a very interesting illustrator because her style is very folksy and homey - not something that I usually find super appealing. I usually prefer more bold and vibrant illustrations. BUT there are exceptions to every rule and I've not yet met a Halperin illustrated book that I didn't fall in love with. Sophie and Rose is my very very favorite! The thing is that she sneaks up on you. It all seems really simple and straightforward, but it's not! Her illustrations are chock full of delightful details and very effectively evoke a specific mood.

I think children will empathize with Lolly's emotions - ranging from sadness to eagerness to comfort and coziness. And what's more the 'remedies' outlined in this book can be used and adapted for just about any situation.

Izzy Pick - Freckle Face Strawberry

2010-09-07T07:15:00.004-05:00

Normally this is a book that I wouldn't want to touch with a ten foot pole. It has two things going against it. Number one - a very obvious didactic message about accepting oneself - barf! Number two - a celebrity author (Julianne Moore) - horror of all horrors! I admit - both are pretty flimsy reasons for avoiding a book! Of course I've enjoyed 'message' books in the past and will continue to do so I'm sure. And an author being a celebrity shouldn't be a mark against them. In a perfect world everyone deserves a fair chance, right? But there is that little niggling voice that tells me that this celebrity got his/her book published ahead of some unknown just because of his/her name.

But this book also had a few things going for it. Number one - one of my trusted goodreads friends recommended it. Number two- I was plagued with freckles as a child - perhaps not quite as many as a natural red head, but enough for it to be bothersome. And finally, number three - look at that dang cover! Could it be any cuter???

The deal is this - no matter how many times people tell you they're cute most people with freckles always yearn for a more 'uniform' complexion. I'll never forget when I heard freckles described as 'damaged skin'. It was heartbreaking really. And I've tried all the 'remedies' out there at one time or another - from lemon juice to (regrettably) sun bathing. The latter the result of a wild idea that if one spends enough time in the sun all the freckles might eventually just connect into a lovely golden brown tan! Ha!

So, back to this book - yes it's a 'message' book. But it's one of those message books which works and doesn't grate. It is funny and charming and quirky. I am particularly enamoured of the illustrations - which have a distinct 'retro' vibe to them. I'll definitely be looking for more from illustrator LeUyen Pham. Highly recommended!

Me?? With an e-reader???

2010-09-06T22:21:00.004-05:00

I'll admit it - my first reaction to e-readers was less than positive. I LOVE BOOKS! I love the way they look and smell and how they feel in my hands. I have a house full of them and I don't plan to stop buying them ever!

But, I first got interested in e-readers when I actually saw one in person. I can be very old fashioned in some ways, but I also love electronic gadgets like no body's business. (I'm always a little behind the curve - just recently got my first smart phone!) But anyway, I was definitely seduced by my first encounter. It looked and felt so much better than I expected. But at the time it seemed wildly impractical for someone like me. They were so expensive and I have mountains of books here at my house that will take me years to get through. I thought they were really only practical for someone who traveled a great deal or for people who were very limited on physical space to store books.

Recently, however, I've found myself reading a lot of out of print books. Tracking them down can be challenging and costly. In my regular shopping at amazon I noticed that a lot of these books are available for the kindle. I also read a lot of classics which are often free. And finally, I've just been impressed with some of the features - the ability to make notes, look up words, etc. I also like the idea of always having a book in my purse!

And then, a couple of serendipitous events coincided. First, the new affordable 6 inch kindle was released. It's been taunting me on my amazon homepage! Next, I received an amazon gift-card for my birthday. As I was loading up my virtual cart with books my husband asked why on earth I wasn't getting the kindle. And so I impulsively (very unlike me!) emptied my cart and added the kindle!

It still doesn't feel quite real since the device supposedly won't arrive for a couple of weeks. I'm still not sure I did the 'right' thing, but I am excited nonetheless! I like to tell myself that having the kindle will free up my budget for buying more physical books ;-)

Wives and Daughters

2010-09-02T10:16:00.004-05:00

Meghan and I chose this as a monthly read before we were aware of either its girth or the fact that it was unfinished. I was not amused upon learning this last tidbit especially, but thanks to a rigid sense of duty (and money already spent) I didn’t back down. I was buoyed by my one and only other experience reading Gaskell – her contribution to the collaborative novella titled A House to Let. Hers was the major bright spot of the project for me - leading me to conclude I really must try more of her and so naturally I selected this one to start with....

So, let’s just cut to the chase – is this nearly 700 page unfinished behemoth of a Victorian novel worth tackling? My answer is a resounding YES! On the face of it this is a genuine and endearing story of domestic and romantic affairs in a small English town – more specifically how daughters became wives circa 1830s England. But beneath its surface it is a work which also examines and critiques that era's social conventions – albeit ever so gently. And in focusing on the minutiae of the ‘every-day’ Gaskell has evoked a very specific time and place - which was truly a complete delight for me to inhabit over the course of the past three weeks.

Gaskell’s work has neither the biting wit of Austen, nor the galvanizing commentary of Dickens (she is often compared to both authors). And I agree with Henry James’s assessment that: The book is very long and of an interest so quiet that not a few of its readers will be sure to vote it dull. (It is important to note that James does go on to praise the book’s merits). However, this novel is truly notable for its superior character development – keen, subtle, and infinitely nuanced. No one in Hollingford is wholly good or evil, nor profoundly wise or foolish. And what’s even more remarkable is that the fate of our characters are not exclusively linked to their choices or perceived morality. Gaskell's touch is so light that one often forgets she's there gently guiding us through this little maze of manners and mores. It's really a fantastic thing to behold.

But, for all its originality Wives and Daughters doesn’t completely avoid all Victorian storytelling conventions. It is (obviously) long and excessively detailed in spots. And, of course everyone knows that the Victorians tended to have outmoded and offensive notions about race, but knowing it doesn't make encountering it any less less jarring or unpleasant. Also funny, that for all of its superior characterization, I never completely warmed to the novel’s chief protagonist Molly Gibson. She had some admirable flashes of gumption, but was a bit too mild and good to be completely engaging. And finally, the fact that the novel was unfinished actually bothered me far less than I would have ever imagined. The implied outcome is obvious and satisfying and I actually found the unintended terminus to be quite funny and oddly fitting.

*More soon as I plan to compare and contrast the film and book versions!

Clearing Weather (1929 Honor Book)

2010-08-27T11:50:00.004-05:00

I just realized that I had forgotten to review this book. Oh wait, no I didn't. It was dreadfully dull and I never finished it!

Here's the set up for anyone who is interested:

Set in a coastal New England town just after the American Revolution, Clearing Weather (1929 Newbery Honor recipient) is part historical novel, part sea faring adventure.

I’m a fan of the former and not of the latter. And predictably the historical elements were the best parts of this novel especially as the post revolutionary period isn’t one that is often covered. But I could have done entirely without all of the rest - dull, plodding storyline, dated prose and attitudes, etc. This was an utter slog-fest for me and therefore really remarkable that I made it through as much as I made it through.

I just can't recommend this to anyone who isn't completely insane - er, I mean people who aren't Newbery completists.

I'm back!

2010-08-17T18:46:00.002-05:00

Our month away was FANTASTIC! I'll be doing a write up on my other blog about the whole thing soonish.

As for books - I read four of the six books I had planned.

The Passage - some good points, but mostly just not for me. Reminded me a great deal of Stephen King's The Stand which I've never been able to finish. (2 stars)

Catching Fire - listened to this on audio during the long drive from Texas to Colorado. I loved the first book (Hunger Games) and this one was good, but it just didn't quite live up to my expectations. I'm still looking forward to reading the third and final book - Mockingjay. (3 stars)

Stuart Little - Wow! This one so did not jive with my childhood memories. It's an odd little story with some good and some bad. (3 stars)

Wives and Daughters - I'm actually not *quite* finished, but still I feel I can comment fairly accurately. Basically, it's been one of the most delightful books I've read in a long time. The character development is phenomenal - some of the most nuanced and subtle I've come across. I'm super anxious to watch the film and compare! (4 stars)

I'm a bit busy this coming week as we're gearing up for the start of school, my work load has just increased and we have out town company. But I hope to be back to posting semi-regularly in a week or two.

Going on Vacation!

2010-07-15T22:38:00.005-05:00

This Saturday we're heading out for a month long vacation in Colorado! I likely won't be posting during that time, but I have plenty of reading planned and will hopefully have lots to talk about when we get back!

Just bought the audio book of this sequel to The Hunger Games which I tore through a couple of weeks ago. Then I made my husband read it and he loved it too. Now, I'm actually looking forward to the 16 hour drive!

Wasn't planning on this one, but a very dear friend had this sent to me and so I feel semi-obligated to read it. But it actually does sound interesting too and I always like to get out of reading comfort zone.
It's looooong!

This one's been on the docket for quite some time. Between this one and The Passage (above) I've got 1500 pages of reading planned!

Didn't forget about Izzy! We picked out three chapter books to bring!

We read the first in this series a couple of months ago. I felt so-so about it, but Izzy really dug it so I figured it was worth a shot to continue!

We started this one a while back and it was really good, but other things got in the way. Hopefully we can get through it this time!

An oldie, but goodie!! Can't wait!

WANT!

2010-07-07T16:53:00.004-05:00

I reeeeeeally want this book!!

WANT!

NOW!

It even has it's own website!

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

2010-07-04T11:35:00.007-05:00

This was one of my very favorite reads of last year and it was totally unexpected. I love, Love, LOVE the cover art, but I'm not one to be suckered by a pretty picture (yeah right!) and so I was actually consciously avoiding it. Then I received it as a gift and I read the jacket flap - a coming of age novel set in central Texas at the turn of the century....hmmm, okay you've got my attention. Then I read the first few lines: By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat. And it was all over for me - I was hooked.

It's hard for me to describe what this one sentence means to me. I think only Texans can truly relate. We have a completely dysfunctional relationship with the heat here. We bitch about it endlessly, but we also not-so-secretly love it. We are inordinately proud of how we cope and then we miss it like crazy when it's gone. It's really sick! I imagine northerners must have something similar with the cold and snow.

Moving on....bottom line is that this is a book which references the Texas heat, Mark Twain, natural selection AND features a lively and intelligent young female protagonist. Be still my beating heart!

The story follows eleven year old Calpurnia Virginia Tate through half a year as she navigates life with six rowdy brothers in Fentress, Texas. The heart of the story is Calpurnia’s burgeoning friendship with her grandfather and her subsequent intellectual awakening. Mostly, it’s a lighthearted, funny and engaging tale of growing up, but a sense of melancholy grows as Calpurnia becomes aware of how her ambitions run counter to society’s expectations for a young lady. And the ending was, for me, unexpected and extremely poignant. In a lot of ways this is a very typical coming of age/historical novel, but there is something almost intangible that makes this debut novel sparkle.

I was particularly impressed with the characterization – it was complex and subtle. Calpurnia felt like a unique individual to me rather than just another ‘spunky girl fighting social norms’. Furthermore, it would have been easy to have Calpurnia’s beleaguered mother play the villain, but life is never that simple. And it would have been easy to relegate the six brothers to shadowy composites, but remarkably they almost all emerge as distinct individuals. If this book has any weaknesses I’d say the narrative was fairly episodic and lacked some cohesion. It also felt vaguely anachronistic at times. But overall, it's a striking debut novel and I would recommend without hesitation to young girls and adults alike.

Fun Random Book Stuff

2010-07-01T12:30:00.004-05:00

My love of books and the internet can be a dangerous combination. I've often found myself wasting lots of time (and sometimes money) just 'goofing around' on the internet. For instance, I happen to have developed an obsession with old illustrated editions of books. I've even become mildly fanatical about completing sets. It's a sickness. In fact, just yesterday I placed a bid on a five volume set of illustrated Charles Dickens from the late 1800s. It was a total whim and currently I'm still the high bidder! Exhilarating!

Anyway, I really got off topic there, what I really meant to say is that I wanted to share some of the fun things that I come across on the internet from time to time.

This one has a fairly small niche audience, but those 'in the know' will find this very amusing. For the rest of you - there is a very famous scene in Anne of Green Gables - sort of near the end - where Anne and her friends are acting out Tennyson's Lady of Shallot. Long story short Anne finds herself playing the role of Elaine floating in her funeral barge clutching a single lily. As she's floating away (oh-so romantically) Anne discovers that the boat is leaking and must abandon ship until her mortal foe Gilbert Blythe comes along to rescue her. It's a hysterical moment in the book and completely typifies the way in which Anne allows her imagination and romanticism to get the best of her. Anyhoo, the video below is a hysterical stop motion interpretation of this famous scene. All the little details just slay me - look for the orange yarn as Anne's hair!

I am so in love with this! I think the person who made this is a kindred spirit indeed!

P.S. Don't miss the credits!!

Back from Buffalo, NY

2010-06-30T14:55:00.007-05:00

Just got back from visiting my BFF in Buffalo, NY. I really have a love/hate thing with traveling. I hate leaving my family and home for very long and I truly dread flying, but I love the thrill of exploring new places and I love having the time in airports and on planes to catch up on reading! It's quite the conundrum.

This trip I read Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair - a book I had been highly anticipating for quite some time. It's strange and quirky and really a bit of a hodge podgy mess in some spots, but overall I really enjoyed it. It's basically fluff and camp for smart folks with a high level of tolerance for fluff and camp - so a bit of a niche market ;-)

But back to Buffalo - the city intrigues me because it was a fairly prominent and bustling city until fairly recently. As such it's a currently economically depressed city still full of history and great architecture. I even read a book a while back set in Buffalo during the early 1900s - City of Light - a work of historical fiction which examines events surrounding the electrification of Buffalo. I'm excited to say that I've finally seen Niagara Falls which is an important part of this book and the history of Buffalo.

One of my favorite things to do in a new city is check out the local bookshops - I prefer used/antique shops over new, but I'm not too picky. So, imagine my delight when I spied this beauty while driving around downtown. My BFF promised to bring me back the next day!

Once there I really had to restrain myself as they really have a nice selection. However, I had my luggage space (and budget) to think of so I allowed myself one book. I ended up with the 1947 Grosset & Dunlap edition of Little Men which matches my Little Women which I received as a birthday gift a few years ago.

I'm extremely stoked not only about adding to my set, but also because this edition features illustrations by Douglas Gorsline who illustrated my very favorite edition of The Night Before Christmas. I love it so much that I really can't even take other versions seriously. I've even had to purchase a second copy as ours had gotten alarmingly battered and bruised after only three Christmases. In any event - I hope to review this book in more detail as soon as I read it!

Movie Project - James and the Giant Peach

2010-06-23T09:55:00.010-05:00

**This delightful image is from the edition illustrated by Nancy Eckholm Burkert. Hers were the illustrations which appeared in the first 1961 edition. Although later editions feature illustrations by notable illustrators such as Quentin Blake and Lane Smith I really feel this is *the* edition to own. It captures the feel of the story perfectly!

This is an interesting one for me because I have found that in the past I have universally preferred the film adaptations of Roald Dahl’s books to the actual books (Matilda, The Witches). Although, it’s also important to note that up to now I’ve never actually finished a Dahl book. James and the Giant Peach was the book I’d seen repeatedly recommended as a read aloud for young children. I am so glad I listened to the advice and ignored my past experience with Dahl! This is a fantastic read aloud! I’m actually a little concerned that we may have set the bar a bit high for all subsequent chapter book read alouds!

About the book:

James Henry Trotter is an orphan and lives a very Harry Potteresque existence with his two fantastically horrible aunts –Sponge and Spiker. They neglect and abuse him, but (much like Harry) James is eventually delivered from his fate through magical intervention - of the oddest and most unimaginable variety. James finds himself whisked away on an epic journey across the Atlantic Ocean aboard an enchanted peach with giant insects as companions. Is it super deep or meaningful on the level of, say, Charlotte's Web? Well, not really, but it’s terribly fun and it does touch on themes of trust, friendship, justice and facing up to fears.

In short, there are so many things that make this an absolute perfect read aloud for young children – from the very short chapters to the hysterical, preposterous storyline. And parents should be prepared to perform as there is a fabulous cast of characters and dialogue to match.

I gave the book 4 of 5 stars over at goodreads.

About the movie: (image below is from my favorite of the movie posters)

Of course I know that the movie is 9 times out of 10 not going to be as good as the book, but I was looking forward to this movie – namely because we’d just read the book and were super enthusiastic about it, but also because it was produced by the fabulous Tim Burton. Plus I just have this incurable compulsion to watch film adaptations as soon as I finish a book. It's a sickness.

The verdict: Mostly disappointed. I give the movie 2.5 of 5 stars.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s a well made film with some high points. I simply LOVE, LOVE, LOVE stop motion animation and The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my all time favorite animated films. I also thought that Aunt Spiker and Sponge were magnificently portrayed here – particularly Spiker played by Joanna Lumley (of Absolutely Fabulous). Wow! They made her look so truly frightening! I LOVED it! And she played the part beautifully! For that matter all the actors/voices were done well.

But, now on to my gripes:

1.) The animation/overall appearance of the film – I was really surprised to discover that this was made *after* The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's certainly impressive, but it just didn’t look as sophisticated as TNBC. In particular the live-action scenes had a sort of 'summer stock' look about them and reminded me instantly of these dreadful films that I had to watch in a college Shakespearean Lit class. (If I've piqued your interest click here to revel in the horror - Anthony Hopkins in blackface!! I've honestly never recovered!)

2.) The music/songs – I could have done without these entirely. James’s little childish speech impediment was barely tolerable while he was speaking, but almost unbearable when he sang. The songs were completely throwaway in my opinion.

3.) Changes from the original novel – I know, I know – this is unavoidable, but there were times when it deviated so much from the original storyline as to be almost unrecognizable. Just one example - the eerie and totally unique scene with the cloud men was left out entirely and replaced with an odd random moment in the arctic with pirate ghosts. They also changed some of the character dynamics - such as the relationship between Centipede and Earthworm.

In short, although it's been said many times and many ways - the book is better! I personally recommend giving the movie a miss.

Izzy Pick - Scrambled States of America

2010-06-15T13:42:00.003-05:00

Somewhere along the way I became determined to raise my kid with some solid geographical awareness. It's easier said than done. I'm not one for drilling or rote memorization. It has to be fun and meaningful or what's the point. I started searching for books and everything I came across just looked deadly dull or painfully cheesy or, in some cases, actually very nice, but perhaps a little too advanced for a six year old.

Enter the brilliant Laurie Keller and her Scrambled States of America. It's totally and completely wacky off-the-wall silly. On the face of it one wouldn't think it was even really all that educational. The premise is that one day as the states are waking up Kansas decides he's bored stiff being stuck in the middle around all the same states day in and day out. And so his buddy Nebraska proposes a little soiree in which ALL the states can mingle with one another. The party is such a roaring success that the states decide they want even more fun and so they decide to switch places! For example, Kansas ends up floating in the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii's place and Arizona ends up on the east coast (which does not agree with her hair!) Meanwhile Nevada and Mississippi fall desperately in love! It's just the kind of preposterous thing that kids EAT UP! And without being entirely aware with each reading they gain just a little more familiarity with the geography of the U.S. It's brilliant I tell ya!!

We loved this book so much that we even decided to order its sequel The Scrambled States of America Talent Show. Of course, it's not AS good as the original, but still very enjoyable. What's even better, however, is the Scrambled States of America Card Game. It is a blast to play and totally reinforces geographical awareness as well as reading skills. The recommended age is 8 and up, but I would say that it's a good fit for any emergent reader 4 and up!

Now, I'm just waiting for Ms. Keller to takcle the rest of the world! Pleeeeeeeease!!!

LMM Project - Magic for Marigold

2010-06-14T13:23:00.002-05:00

**Although not a favorite book of mine, I don't think there is any LMM cover I covet more than this one! Sadly this isn't the one I own, but I would pay a pretty penny for it. This represents one of the more memorable scenes in the book where Marigold and Old Grandmother sit and chat under the stars just before Old Grandmother passes away.

Magic for Marigold is a stand alone LMM novel. The fact of the matter is that Marigold (like Jane) isn’t LMM's most memorable protagonist. But then again she has a great deal to contend with in Anne and Emily. I’ve heard that Montgomery referred to the experience of writing Magic for Marigold as ‘warming over cold soup’. I do think she was being a tad uncharitable, but I also concede the point a little. Marigold is a highly episodic work and there are little elements from her other works thrown in - the family clannishness of A Tangled Web, the cozy sheltered childhood of Pat of Silver Bush with little dashes of Emily’s imagination and sensitivity and Anne's spunk and penchant for getting into scrapes thrown in for good measure.

One just never quite warms to Marigold as we did with Anne and Emily. Perhaps it’s the lack of any real adversity in her life or maybe it’s that she’s a little too passive at times. Still the trademark Montgomery style is there – with her unparalleled descriptions of nature that make you ache for not having been born on Prince Edward Island. I also never tire of her sly and often irreverent commentary or her knack for conveying a realistic childlike perspective. And there’s no denying that Marigold, despite some shortcomings, is still a kindred spirit. And how can you not love a book where feline characters named Lucifer and the Witch of Endor commune regularly – sharing family secrets and general observations about life? Perhaps warming up a yummy bowl of leftover stew on a blustery day is a better way of putting it.

This was my second read (the first was very long ago) and there are a few things that struck me this time around:

1.) The feisty matriarch Old Grandmother whom Marigold both fears and admires is basically a prototype for Aunt Becky in A Tangled Web - which was published just a few years later. I think that LMM got the whole complicated family web thing much better in ATW. I never warmed to the characters as much in this book.

2.) Interesting that LMM includes atheists in so many of her works. Emily's best friend Ilse was an atheist and Marigold befriends one in this novel. They are always eventually 'converted', but even before their conversion they are portrayed sympathetically. I find this interesting for the times and also interesting for a minister's wife.

3.) Speaking of religion one of the more compelling moments in this novel come when Marigold is struggling to find her own religious identity. She veers into the realm of extremism, but finds it doesn't suit her. And it's clear that LMM doesn't approve either as she shows that most extremists are either too severe or hypocrites or both. I love how LMM always treats spirituality and faith as such an intensely personal and private matter.

4.) I thought the end of the book started to drag and got even more erratically episodic with am endless string of visits and friends. It started reminding me dangerously of Mistress Pat. Ugh!

The Boy Who Was by Grace Taber Hallock (1929 Honor Book)

2010-06-13T17:46:00.002-05:00

I'm still stuck in the 1920s with my Newbery challenge, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! Only three more 1929 honor books to go before I'm officially in the 1930s! Wahoo! And so here goes. This is a pretty obscure title and I had to obtain my copy through Inter-Library Loan. It's also difficult to find much information about the book or author online. Even finding an image for my post was difficult!

The story begins in modern day Sorrento (i.e. 1927) when a visiting artist spies an unusual boy dressed in goat skins. He is intrigued and wants to sketch the boy so he strikes up a conversation and walks home with him. Nino, as he is called, shows the artist some wooden figures he has carved and explains that they all represent important moments in Sorrento’s history. We learn later that each figure will feature in the stories that follow.

All of the stories, although they span a period of several thousand years, are connected thematically through both setting (Italy’s peninsula of Sorrento) and character (the eternally young boy named Nino). We learn early on how Nino received the gift of immortality from the Sirens and then played a role in the region’s major epochs – from ancient times up to the eve of Italian unification. We observe how he witnessed Odysseus’s voyage, saved a town from the wrath of its patron god, assisted a slave girl in her escape from Pompeii, aided a Goth warrior’s escape over the Alps, and much more.

Overall, an interesting collection of stories interestingly told with an appealing protagonist in the eternally young Nino. My only complaint would be that, although I enjoyed all of the stories, some of them took their time gaining momentum. I often found my mind wandering until about the mid-point in many of the stories. I would recommend this collection to readers (young and old) who would like to explore the history and legends of Italy told in a creative way.

*1929 Newbery Honor book. Stories contained in this collection include: Siren Songs ,The Song of Odysseus, Poseidon and the Greeks , The Romans and the Volcano, The Last of the Goths, The Normans and the Saracens, The Crusader, Students of Salerno, Red Beard and Saint Andrew, and The Bandits.

Soulless

2010-06-09T15:33:00.005-05:00

Books like this are a big departure for me and as such I had a lot of fun with it. If this kind of thing was all I read I would loathe myself and possibly even give up reading altogether. It’s hard to pin down the genre here -- mystery, chick lit, horror/fantasy, paranormal romance, and historical fiction (albeit a steampunkish alternate history). Basically there is a little something for everyone and anyone who is up for some light fun. It really helps that this book never seems to take itself too seriously as it does follow a fairly well trod romantic trajectory– an unconventional female (Alexia Tarabotti) is paired with a Brontean male lead (Lord Conall Macon) who is predictably both exasperated and attracted by said lady’s unique qualities and antics. In this way it reminded me a great deal of the Amelia Peabody books. But this one has that little something extra that makes the journey enjoyable and worth the inevitable outcome.

Carriger has taken great care in creating her setting and making it an interesting place for her characters to exist and interact. She’s also created some truly fascinating secondary characters (Professor Lyall – the wise and studious beta werewolf and Lord Akeldama - the flamboyant vampire with an old soul). And thank goodness for a protagonist who enjoys her food and has the curves to prove it. I desperately hope that if this is ever adapted for the big screen that they get this part right! I’m picturing someone like Nigella Lawson. And for romance lovers there are several racy (but not raunchy or explicit) love scenes.

Now, for the not so good: I thought the Cinderella construct of Alexia’s family was just too trite and tiresome and I’d love to see a novel which has enough confidence in its female lead not to surround her with idiotic and inferior females. And finally I found the ending not entirely satisfying - employing a very silly deus ex machina and shift in tone that took me out of the story a bit. It's not a perfect book and I'd even go so far as to say it's a harlequin romance dressed up in more respectable clothing. Nonetheless, I did enjoy this and would heartily recommend it to several of my friends. I even have plans to continue with the series. If nothing else I’d love to get some back-story on some of these characters!

P.S. Author Gail Carriger has a pretty fun website and blog - check it out here, but be careful - if you're interested in reading the series I hear there are spoilers in spots. And if you really want to waste some time check out the virtual Alexia Tarabotti Victorian dress-up doll. Too much fun!

Tales From Outer Suburbia

2010-05-25T16:41:00.009-05:00

The Arrival was one of my favorite finds of last year. I became an immediate Shaun Tan convert, but because I'm completely unorganized with my reading I never followed up on reading more of his work. But thanks to my summer resolution and Jeane (from Dog Ear Diary) who recently reviewed The Arrival I decided that Tan's Tales From Outer Suburbia would be a good place to start for my picture book resolution. And, wow, what a great choice! I've found a new favorite!

My review:

What does it all mean??? I don’t know and I don’t care, but I still love it! I love the way Shaun Tan’s work makes me feel – puzzled and a little unsettled, but also comforted and understood. I’ve been feeling annoyed by pretentious and purposely obscure literature lately, but this feels less like intentional obfuscation and like something much more honest. It’s strange that I was immediately reminded of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio. Strange because, besides being short stories, the collections couldn’t be more different. Anderson’s stories convey the despair and loneliness of small town life, whereas Tan’s stories provide a little snapshot of an oft maligned suburbia that is full of wonder and magic. I suppose the comparison is that they both play with our expectations. Anderson turned the idea that small town life is quaint and inclusive on its head. And so nowadays yet another a collection of stories about soul crushing suburbia would be oh so predictable and not very satisfying. A special thanks to Tan for respecting his readers more than that.

The fifteen tales in this collection are absurd, touching, lyrical - introducing us to a bizarre cast of characters and situations. I have so many favorites that it’s almost painful to try and narrow it down, but I suppose the one that stood out most to me on a personal level was No Other Country in which a beleaguered family discovers a hidden paradisiacal courtyard in their hot suburban home. Surely everyone has dreams about discovering a hidden room in their own house? It’s one of my reoccurring dreams – mine is usually an attic that defies all laws of space and reason and spans what seems like acres. It’s never the same – sometimes it’s an expansive and exquisitely appointed loft, sometimes it’s a dusty old space filled to the brim with priceless treasures and other times it’s just a mirror image of my childhood home. I have no idea what dreams like this symbolize, but I know I wake up feeling a little wistful, but mostly exhilarated. Honorable mentions also go to the stories Eric, Distant Rain, Grandpa’s Story and Alert but not Alarmed. But truthfully there isn’t a story in the lot that I didn’t enjoy. And I haven’t even begun to discuss how breathtaking this book is visually! I just don’t have the time or mental capacity to do it all justice!

Anyone who has read Tan’s work knows that he’s next to impossible to categorize. So yes, this is technically a picture book – with innovative, jaw dropping, eye popping illustrations – but it’s really for anyone and everyone who is ready to experience it. The age recommendation is upper elementary and beyond, but I’d say just read through the collection on your own and decide when/if to share with a child. I read a few of the stories with my six year old – Eric and How to Make Your Own Pet were particular hits. The best comparison I can make is that this book is something akin to the handful of Twilight Zone episodes that weren’t completely nightmare inducing – The Bewitchin’ Pool comes immediately to mind. And so, I recommend it for children and adults who relish the prospect of exploring another dimension.

Summer Reading Goals

2010-05-24T10:35:00.003-05:00

1.) Read more 'big girl' books! No, I don't mean books about fat ladies. It's just that I've gotten so wrapped up in the world of children's lit (which I love and will never give up!) that I've really neglected some of my other more 'grown up' reading interests! Some books I hope to get to this summer:

Cutting for Stone
Drood
The Little Stranger
Three Cups of Tea
The Worst Hard Time
Wives and Daughters

2.) Read ALL the books on my mountainous picture book to-read pile. To date I have a little over 200 books on this list so this is really a HUGE undertaking. But the deal is that I've been finding myself hesitating to add books to my to-read list because it's gotten so out of control and that's just ridiculous! Anyway, I've just checked out four from the list today!

3.) Keep up with my Newbery reading - This is pretty self explanatory and I've been feeling really good about this project so this shouldn't be a challenge.

4.) Read chapter books with Izzy. Here's a tentative list:

James and the Giant Peach
Stuart Little
The Doll People
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Series)
Old Mother West Wind
Series of Unfortunate Events (Series)
Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe
Betsy-Tacy (Series)
The Five Sisters
Lady Lollipop
The Boxcar Children
Toys Go Out
The Worst Witch
The Fairy Realm
Big Susan
Twig
Cobble Street Cousins (Series)

Izzy Pick - I'm Not a Baby!

2010-05-16T11:49:00.004-05:00

So many of Izzy's favorites are books that I probably wouldn't give a second glance. Often times they don't even make a great initial first impression, but after multiple reads and experiencing them through Izzy's eyes they become very special to me. In this way I actually feel sorry for parents who don't read to their kids. I mean I always feel sorry for the kids, but I don't often think of what the parents are missing out on. Reading to Izzy has opened up a whole new avenue of literature to me. I get to revisit old favorites and I'm constantly discovering new ones.

As usual, I digress, the book I'm talking about today is called I'm Not A Baby by Jill McElmurry. I don't know how you can help but be drawn in by that cover. The general gist is that Leo Leotardi is NOT a baby (he starts the book at about age 4ish), but his family (mom, dad, nanny, and older siblings) refuse to believe he's not a baby anymore. Well, it's one thing for an entire family to treat a young child like a baby, but the fiasco continues as he grows in to a teenager, young man and even an independent working adult with his own family. The whole thing is just delightfully preposterous. And the illustrations are hysterical - a sort of quasi Victorian style with little anachronistic visual gags sprinkled through out. And it's really perfect for interactive read aloud as Leo gets more and more insistent that he is NOT A BABY! Also, I'm sure this is something that a lot of kids can relate to!

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

2010-05-12T13:48:00.006-05:00

I know I say this a lot, but Snow White is one of my favorite fairy tales. I think I say this so often because the Grimm's (and Andersen's) fairy tales were a huge part of my childhood. Picking a true favorite would be like picking your favorite kid. But Snow White - I don't know - there's something special about her. Maybe it’s because I dressed up as Snow White (complete with goofy plastic 80s mask) three years in a row. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that my obsession lay in large part with the iconic Disney film.

I know not everyone approves how Disney ‘sanitizes’ fairy tales. But let me tell you – the scenes with the witch used to scare the crap out of me! And you can’t argue with the art – as the first feature length animated film it’s a little slice of filmmaking history for goodness sakes. And I know, I know -- Snow White really is an insufferable goody, goody - all innocently persecuted and everything – and seriously naïve to boot. And in the film she’s downright saccharine, but luckily she’s balanced by the magnificent portrayal of the stepmother/witch and of course the dwarfs!

But I’m talking about a book here right? Well, kind of. It’s just that I think the movie exemplifies some of the problems that exist in the tale – the sharp division of femininity as pure and innocent or wicked and depraved. And let’s not forget the potential oedipal implications, along with the fact that women - mother and daughter, young and old – are perennially pitted against each other as sexual rivals. It’s enough to make my head spin, but still I love this story - warts and all. But which version to read to your child? First, parents should know that fairy tales can be very brutal and that a lot of us like it that way. We think it helps children explore darker themes through a safe medium with parental guidance. So, if you want sanitized/kid friendly – look elsewhere.

I like this 1972 Caldecott Medal version pretty well.

And there is a version by my favorite illustrator of all time – Trina Schart Hyman – **Edited to update: I finally read this version and it did not disappoint! Paul Heins provides a solid text - if slightly old fashioned and formal feeling in spots. But, as always, Hyman's illustrations steal the show. Snow White is rendered perfectly with lavish ebony hair, impossibly rosy cheeks and skin that is almost freakishly fair. The Queen/Stepmother's self destructive obsession with external beauty is played up in both text and illustrations. It's really astounding how Hyman is able to convey so much emotion through a character's 'body language'. She is simply UH-MAY-ZING! Highly, highly recommended!

But currently I’d have to say this version illustrated by Charles Santore is my favorite.

Charles Santore also illustrated my very favorite version of Little Mermaid. His style is perfectly suited for fairy tales. In his version of Snow White – he has chosen to portray the title character as a little girl – approximately seven years old – as she is in the Grimm telling. This version also includes the episodes with the apple as well as the lace and the comb. And finally, the illustrations are just perfect – so much to captivate a young mind. My one complaint about the 1972 version (mentioned above) was the disproportionate text to illustration ratio – not a problem here! There are several lavish two page spreads and each page is almost full to brimming with illustrations. And still the text is substantial and perfect for reading aloud with a child.

Millions of Cats - 1929 Honor Book

2010-05-09T20:25:00.005-05:00

This is the first picture books to win a Newbery award and, as it turns out, one of very few picture books to be so honored. More often than not picture books fall in the realm of the Caldecott, but every once and a while one seems to sneak in there. Also, according to wikipedia this is one of the oldest American picture books to remain in print.

This book completely tickled me! I love the look and feel of the book - from the hand written higgledy-piggledy text to the quaint little black and white illustrations. This combined with the familiar folktale set up - lonely old couple in need of something to love and care for - leads you to believe that you're in for a cute, but fairly predictable little story. But it all veers off the tracks as soon as the old man realizes he can't just choose one cat of the hundreds, thousands, millions, billions and trillions of cats he encounters on a very singular hill. And so he takes them all home! The cats drink an entire lake and eat an entire field of grass and still the old man doesn't seem to sense the flaw in his plan. Leave it to the practical wife to voice some concerns! The resolution is something that is sure to surprise! I thought it was quite clever and funny, but it could also be called bizarre and disturbing - opinions seem to be pretty divided. An odd little book indeed! Recommended for readers who appreciate vintage picture books and have a tolerance for the macabre.

Overall, I am really very impressed by this book - written and published relatively long ago - and still so relevant and appealing to children. I know not everyone would agree with me on this point as some may view the illustrations as old fashioned and the story a little too morbid, but I tried it out with my own daughter and she was definitely very tickled! I think it displays a lot of awareness about what enthralls and entertains children - rhythmic text, outlandish story, whimsical illustrations. I would love to explore more of Wanda Gag's work!

April to May

2010-04-28T13:42:00.002-05:00

Earlier this month I was bragging, er I mean lamenting, about how over committed I was with my reading. Well, here it is the end of the month and it's time to make a report. How did I do? I'd say that I was about 80% successful.

I finished four of the five books I had on the docket:

Anne of Green Gables - brilliant and you can read about it here.
Devil's Arithmetic - great read! (reviewed at goodreads.com)
First Term at Malory Towers - tolerably good, my first intro to the school story genre (also reviewed at goodreads.com)
The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo - part of my ongoing Newbery project, you can read more here.

In addition to this I read three chapter books with my daughter!

My big shame, however, was this month's nerdy girl pick - A.S. Byatt's Posession. I was really excited about this book. I'm a big Victorian/Brit Lit geek, but reading this was seriously like wading through molasses. I finally had to conclude after about 1/3 of the way in that Byatt was far too clever for me or it was just bad timing - or both. Meghan finished it because she is superior to me, but she sweetly gave me permission to give up with the admonition that if I abandon her when it's time for Wives and Daughters she will break up with me. Yikes!

So, what's on for May you say? A very exciting month indeed!

Soulless - May's nerdy girl pick and to make up for my past transgressions I'm ahead of the game and about 20 pages from finishing!
Anne of Avonlea - continuing the series for the Kindred Spirits group and my own personal LMM project.
Fortune's Folly - Children's book club read.
Dragon Sword and Wind Child - International book club read.
Millions of Cats - this month's Newbery and HALLELUJAH it's a picture book!
The Doll People - chapter book with Izzy.

I'm excited about every single one of these books!!

Izzy Pick- Hey, Al

2010-04-26T10:31:00.004-05:00

This book is beeeeezarre! And it is totally indicative of Izzy's quirky sense of humor.

The general plot is that Al and his talking dog Eddie live in a cramped New York apartment and lead a rather hum-drum predictable life. One morning a giant blue bird pops his head in the bathroom window and invites them both to visit paradise. There's no way that can go wrong....right?

Initially I enjoyed the book alright, but I wouldn't have given it much thought beyond that. But Izzy was just wild about it. When it came time to give it back to the library she was visibly disgruntled and we eventually had to buy our own copy. It gets heavy use and she brings it out and shows it to just about every guest we have.

Later I discovered another book by the same duo called Louis the Fish - equally as bizarre and equally as enchanting for Izzy! We own them both now!

LMM Project - Anne of Green Gables

2010-04-21T21:05:00.001-05:00

**Image from Megan Follows iconic performance as Anne in the 1985 Kevin Sullivan production.

THIS.....BOOK.....IS.....SIMPLY…..THE…...BEST!

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world."

My wish is that everyone on the planet has a book like this in their lives – a book you can read over and over again, a book that makes you feel instantly comforted and that each reading reveals something new. After taking on this project – to read all of Montgomery’s work – I began to get nervous. There were some duds to get through that had me doubting, but then my experience with Emily bolstered my confidence and I approached Anne with a great deal of enthusiasm. And as such it wouldn’t really have surprised me if I had been let down - if I had found nothing of relevance for my current life. Of course I would always love it for what it gave me ‘back then’, but what if I’d outgrown Anne?

“There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.”

In past readings I’ve identified strongly with Anne. She is not a mirror image of me - we’re quite different really, but she was and still is a true kindred spirit. Some (unkind and misguided) people accuse Anne of Mary Sue-ism and I admit that after many years I had built Anne up in my mind to almost mythic proportions. So much so that I was surprised to find her such a flawed little creature. Certainly she has her positive qualities, but it’s her negative traits that really make her so relatable. She is stubborn, proud, absent minded and vain (just to name a few)! And what I really love is the implication that by the end of the book it isn’t that she’s changed so much as she’s grown and learned how to channel her passion, intelligence and energy in more constructive ways.

"I'm not a bit changed--not really. I'm only just pruned down and branched out. The real ME--back here--is just the same."

But what really surprised me during this re-read was how much I identified with Marilla! Huh? Well, the fact of the matter is that this is the first time I’ve read this book being a mother myself. I just remember thinking Marilla was so harsh and I never really appreciated her special journey - how she and Anne come to a place of mutual affection and understanding by the end of the book. It’s so gradual and subtle and so infinitely true. It is the most realistic representation of the mother/daughter relationship I’ve seen in all of LMM’s work and maybe even the wide world of literature. For me this is the first time I’ve acknowledged that this is just as much Marilla’s story as it is Anne’s. I love how the depth of her love for Anne terrifies her, how she frets over Anne’s sensitive little heart and fears she will never find the words to express what Anne means to her.

At that moment Marilla had a revelation. In the sudden stab of fear that pierced her very heart she realized what Anne had come to mean to her. She would have admitted that she liked Anne--nay, that she was very fond of Anne. But now she knew as she hurried wildly down the slope that Anne was dearer to her than anything else on earth.

And then there’s Matthew – dear, dear Matthew. How can you not love him? How he knows from day one that Anne is meant to stay at Green Gables. How he delights in just listening to Anne’s ramblings. How he finds his own little ways of showing Anne how much she means to him despite Marilla’s warning not to ‘put his oar in’. He reminds me so much of my own father – shy, kind and just innately wise with infinite reserves of patience, encouragement and unconditional love.

"You've been working too hard today, Matthew," she said reproachfully. "Why won't you take things easier?"

"Well now, I can't seem to," said Matthew, as he opened the yard gate to let the cows through. "It's only that I'm getting old, Anne, and keep forgetting it. Well, well, I've always worked pretty hard and I'd rather drop in harness."

"If I had been the boy you sent for," said Anne wistfully, "I'd be able to help you so much now and spare you in a hundred ways. I could find it in my heart to wish I had been, just for that."

"Well now, I'd rather have you than a dozen boys, Anne," said Matthew patting her hand. "Just mind you that-- rather than a dozen boys. Well now, I guess it wasn't a boy that took the Avery scholarship, was it? It was a girl--my girl--my girl that I'm proud of."

What’s so frustrating is that if I describe this book to someone who hasn’t read it – spunky red headed orphan is mistakenly adopted by elderly brother and sister who grow to love her – it sounds soooo unbelievably trite and sentimental. But that’s what makes this book so remarkable – there’s not even the whiff of schmaltziness about this book. Anne’s hunger and quest for love and acceptance is universal. Her struggles and foibles are real and relatable. Her ambition and growth are admirable. Experiencing all of this with her is as close to transcendence as it gets for me.

"Anne always remembered the silvery, peaceful beauty and fragrant calm of that night. It was the last night before sorrow touched her life; and no life is ever quite the same again when once that cold, sanctifying touch has been laid upon it."

Finally, as I read this I realized that my three favorite books all feature child protagonists (Anne of Green Gables, To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). What does that say about me? I’m inclined to think that it’s something not entirely flattering. But then again I think that the world might be a better place if we all took time to consider the world from a child’s point of view.

"And people laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas you have to use big words to express them, haven't you?"

Persuasion

2010-04-19T08:50:00.001-05:00

*This image is from my favorite film adaptation of this novel - staring Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root.

I am turning into a huge Jane Austen fan, but I feel mildly uncomfortable saying that because it conjures up all kind of unpleasant images for me. I honestly feel the 'Janeites' - Austen's most rabid fans - have done more of a disservice to her memory, her legacy than any of her detractors ever could. I feel that her fans, more often than not, completely miss the point. I think they mostly relegate her work to the realm of frippery and romance. They sigh over Mr. Darcy and Lizzy Bennet and completely miss what Austen was really saying about the world she inhabited - the crushing pressure that a woman faced to make an advantageous match, the intricacy of the rules that governed society, and the dire consequences of failing to conform. Okay, now I'm making Austen sound completely un-fun and that's not what I intended at all. Because on top of all of this she happens to be a blast to read - that's what keeps people coming back year after year, century after century.

I have a kind of love/hate thing with the term 'razor sharp wit'. I think it's a phrase that is used too often and, in most cases, not appropriately. But for Austen it's the most accurate description of her talents. She completely eviscerates people and notions with her words, but it's done in such a dazzling, subtle and honest way that no one comes away feeling soiled or cynical. It's brilliant and I feel sorry for people who miss it! And I swear I'm not being snobbish here - one of my favorite authors of all time, Mark Twain, completely missed the point with Austen. There are a plethora of Twain's hilarious anti-Jane rants, but here is one of my favorites: Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone. Oh Mark! But what I find truly hysterical is that it's clear from this quote and others that he read her work multiple times - hmmmm, interpret that as you will!

So, on to Persuasion. If you'd asked me before I read it I'd predict that it was going to be a rather snoozy affair. The bare facts are this - Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth are reunited several years after the demise of their relationship years earlier. They both struggle with profound regrets, but for a variety of reasons - pride, social restrictions, etc. - they must simply coexist. All the while we're mostly in Anne's head as she observes and contemplates her past, her present, her future. Sounds boooooring to me. But it's not! Watching these two navigate this complicated terrain within the confines of society and gender is a spectacle to behold! Of course we know how it will go (it's Jane Austen for goodness sakes!), but we still feel deeply Anne’s anxiety the entire way.

And, oh that letter! Now, it's my turn to be a sighing Janeite.

***********Sigh************

Chapter Book Odyssey

2010-04-16T22:51:00.005-05:00

So, the big change in our reading this year has been a more consistent chapter book diet. We read a few off and on last year, but didn't make it part of our nightly routine until late last year. Here's a run down of the Chapter books we've read/attempted this year with my ratings/comments.

Charlotte's Web 4 of 5 stars - one of the best we've read so far! A must read in my opinion. I thought I was so above this book. I know how the dang thing ends and yet by the last chapter I was bawling right along side Izzy!

Pink Princess Rules the School 2 of 5 stars - Mostly an extremely painful endeavor. I reeeeally want to support my child's love of reading and her 'choices', but for the love of Christ I didn't know it would mean having to submit to things like this.

A Series of Unfortunate Events 3 of 5 stars - A far superior read to the previous torture, but I just never felt like I really cared about any of it. It doesn't seem like the author really committed to the whole dark humor/satire thing.

Junie B. Jones 3 of 5 stars - Mostly pretty funny and enjoyable, but the little protag is a complete brat!

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle 3 of 5 stars - A little old fashioned in spots, but also very quirky and cute.

On the docket for the rest of the year:

Stuart Little

James and the Giant Peach

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Cobble Street Cousins

Sisters Grimm

Illustrators - Leo and Diane Dillon

2010-04-07T14:10:00.006-05:00

It's time to talk about illustrators again! And Leo and Diane Dillon have been on my mind lately. Sadly, I was a bit of a late in life convert, but I'm making up for lost time!

I'd say their most famous work is probably Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears. I've been aware of this book for some time, but didn't get around to reading it because the cover just didn't appeal to me. And boy was I missing out by judging a book by its cover! The cover illustration is the weakest of the bunch - BY FAR! This is a gorgeous, vibrant, lovely book with a fantastically delightful story! (By the way, this was published in my birth year!)

You probably noticed that shiny gold medal on the cover. Well, this wasn't their last Caldecott either! The very next year they nabbed another medal for Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions. Another Waaaaay gorgeous book! I have a thing for alphabet books anyway! And again, you have no ideas what treasures await you inside!

But I think the book that finally really blew my mind was To Everything There is a Season - the text is adapted from The Book of Ecclesiastes (made even more famous by The Byrds song Turn! Turn! Turn!). The art in this book is such a beautiful homage both to the original verse, but also to the world's many cultures! I just LOVE it!

The thing I've observed about their art is how amazingly adaptable they are to the story that is being told. They're almost chameleon like in that way. And they fascinate me because they are a husband and wife team. Another one of my favorites Audrey and Don Wood are too, but from what I understand Don does most of the painting and Audrey is primarily the storyteller. I think that's totally awesome in and of itself. But Leo and Diane are artistic collaborators and have been for over fifty years! Almost all of the books I've encountered with their illustrations were authored by someone else. How they are able to combine their efforts to such brilliant effect is something that I'm very curious about - so if anyone knows anything more about them please fill me in!

A few more of their work that is WELL worth mentioning:

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks - a beautiful retelling of a Japanese folktale. Here the Dillon's art resembles 18th century woodcuts - perfect for the story!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice - A tale inspired from the same source as the Disney cartoon of the same name. Very beautiful verse poem with art that reminds me of Michael Parks.
Earth Mother - This is a seriously groovy book that follows a day in the live of the gorgeous personified Earth Mother.

The Girl Who Spun Gold - A super cool West Indian variant of the Rumpelstiltskin type tale. I actually like this version better!

30 to 21 Chapter Books

2010-04-06T16:20:00.002-05:00

And so it continues (and I'm behind as usual)....

Green = Newbery books (and so plan to read eventually) - 3
Red = Books I plan to read (hopefully sooner than later!) - 0
Blue = Books I've read (that I remember) - 6
Black = haven't read, not currently interested - 1

30 Winnie the Pooh - How charming that this made the list! I didn't read this as a child, but recently obtained a very nice hardcover/full color edition and I think it is a very nice book indeed!

29 The Dark is Rising - There's been a lot of hullabaloo about this book lately because of a hugely disappointing film adaptation. In any event I'm excited to read this one day for my Newbery challenge!

28 A Little Princess - Not quite as special to me as A Secret Garden (by the same author) but still very nice! Happy to see it on the list and I do plan to re-read one day!

27 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Hmm, not sure how I feel about this. On one hand I have a very special copy that my father gave me when I was two! It has the original John Tenniel illustrations (no others will do in my mind!) But every time I've actually tried to read this book it just hasn't come together. Maybe one day....FYI, I was fairly let down by the recent Tim Burton adaptation. I love Tim Burton, but this one just didn't do it for me. I actually (get ready for the blasphemy) prefer the Disney version! GASP! I know that's a total douche bag thing to say, but there I said it anyway!

26 Hatchet - Huh? Never heard of it, but it's a Newbery so I'll read it one day.

25 Little Women - YES! Another one I'm glad to see on the list (amongst so many of the newer titles). I've written about Little Women here before. I have mixed feelings about it, but I still maintain that it's a very worthy classic piece of literature.

24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - another HP! I predict the first book will take the top spot!

23 Little House in the Big Woods - Okay, so this is my favorite segment so far! Another one of my picks makes the list! This book was read aloud to me in first grade. I remember really envying the simplicity of the Wilder's lives. It's something that's always stuck with me - that things don't make a person happy and that love and family make a house a home! I'm planning on reading the entire series in the next couple of years!

22 The Tale of Despereaux - A pretty recent Newbery winner. I've only read one book by DiCamillo (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane) and I was wowed so I'm very excited to read this one day. I was not, however, wowed by the cartoon adaptation. It felt very flat to me.

21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Hmmm, I just read this. There were things I liked about it (I was a Greek myth obsessed kid!) and things I didn't love (a little too corny in spots). But overall, I was pleased. I just don't see it having some of the staying power of some of the other books on this list.

THe Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo (1929 Honor Book)

2010-04-05T11:48:00.003-05:00

The full title - The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo, With Seventeen Other Laughable Tales & 200 Comical Silhouettes – pretty well sums it up. Since this is a collection of stories and poems I did approach this with some trepidation given my feelings about the past two Newbery winners (Tales from Silver Lands and Shen of the Sea) – blah and double blah. However, I think the combination of much stronger (and funnier) storytelling combined with the ‘comical silhouettes’ made this a much more enjoyable collection overall. It is actually something I could see myself reading and liking as a child.

At times I found myself getting a little impatient with some of the longer stories, but for the most part they’re all cleverly told and I found myself giggling to myself much more than I would have expected! And I found that the more I read the more I appreciated the stories. I’m not sure if it’s that the quality improved as the book progressed or if I had just become accustomed to Bennet’s very quirky style of humor. I enjoyed most of the stories - there were none that I actively disliked and there were some I even loved!

And I have to say that I just love the silhouettes! I’m a fan of the art form anyway, but they’re very abundant well executed here! I am actually a little sad to have to give this book back to the library as I would love to be able to peruse this book at my leisure every now and then.

The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo – a sort of fairy tale romance set in China and told in comical verse.
The Astonishing Story of the Caliph’s Clock – a foreign (i.e. Western) style clock sends the city of Chunder-abad-dad into chaos.
Ye Lily Mayden and Ye Lyttel Taylor-Boye – A chivalric poem told in five cantos about the romantic rivalries of wax figures in a dime museum.
The Story of the Fool Who Was Willing – A funny take on the ‘hero quest’ – a fool named Willing seeks his fortune and actually finds it.
The Proud Mrs. O’Haggin – a very short little poem about a stuffy woman who envies the children’s freedom.
Abijah’s Forth of July – an odd little poem about a man who wishes to avoid all the racket on the forth of July.
Little Peter and the Giant – A story about Little Peter who was ‘too small to be an esquire or knight, too weak to work, and not deformed enough to be a court jester’ and yet he is able to outsmart a giant.
The Jest of Little John –Little John happens upon a little girl crying in the forest and as he endeavors to soothe her he discovers she is the child of his mortal enemy – the Sheriff of Nottingham. Very amusing.
The Land of the Impossible –Nick Sicklefoot seeks his fortune in the Land of the Impossible to win the hand of a haughty maiden. He solves a bizarre conundrum, but things don’t go quite as he planned, but are infinitely better in the end.
The Cat, the Cow, the Dog and the Dairymaid: A Tragical Ballad – When Nelly goes to ‘de-lac-tate’ the cow the sets in motion a silly chain of events.
The Persian Columbus – We return to the kingdom of Chunder-abad-dad as the Caliph and Grand Vizir set out to prove or disprove that the world is round.
The Barber of Sari-Ann – After an unfortunate shaving accident the king decrees, ‘ne’er again shall a whisker be cut in this land’. And this was the way for years until a stranger arrived in Sari-Ann with a plan.
Fritz the Master Fiddler – a talented young fiddler sets off to find his fortune, but finds mostly misfortune until an accident changes his luck for good.
Ben Ali the Egyptian – Destitute and greedy King Ramses hatches a plot whereby he will sell shards of glass at diamond rates. If the jewelers do not agree they face the executioners ax and so they look to clever Ben Ali to save them.
Granger Grind and Farmer Mellow – A short poem about two men – one miserly and one generous.
How Cats Came to Purr – A funny little story ‘so old that if all the nine lives of all the cats that have ever lived in the world were set up together in a line, the other end of it would just reach back to the time when this occurred’.
Ye Ballad of Scullion Jack – A ballad told in five cantos of the king’s missing ring and a mighty reward for its return – the duke’s daughter’s hand in marriage. All is good until a cook’s knave, Scullion Jack, comes to claim his prize.
Hans the Otherwise – An odd outcast named Hans sets out The Land of Nod to see if he can answer the Baron’s question. A very funny and clever story!
Ye Olde Tyme Tayle – A ‘tayle’ told in mock Middle English verse of a knight who finds himself bested by a yeoman farmer in both love and battle.
The Merry Pieman and the Don’s Daughter – A melodrama which concerns the fallen fortunes of Don Sancho Pancho Pedro Pablo de Angostura of Scandalucia (how can you not think that’s funny?) and his daughter who has fallen in love with a humble pieman. One of the funniest selections in my opinion.
The Basket – A basket is the cause of much marital strife
How it All Ended: A Wordless Romance When Knights Were Bold – This is basically, for lack of a better phrase, a little wordless comic strip.

*My only regret is that I have been able to discover very little about John Bennet so if anyone happens across this and can tell me something about him I'd love to know!

Over committed!

2010-03-30T21:06:00.002-06:00

I'm afraid I have sad/disappointing news. For the first time since starting my Newbery project I didn't meet my goal of reading at least one Newbery book a month. This month's (March 2010) selection was 1929's medal winner The Trumpeter of Krakow. I have excuses out the wazoo, but the fact of the matter remains! And for the past week I've been trying to tell myself that I'll catch up in April, but the truth is that this isn't very likely. I have a huge list of April book club reads:

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen (for the Children's Fiction Club)
Anne of Green Gables (for the Kindred Spirits and my own LMM project)
Posession by A.S. Byatt (for the Nerdy Girl Club)
First Term at Malory Towers (for the School-Story Book Club)

AND I have April's Newbery selection (one of 1929's honor books) - The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo - which thankfully, I obtained through ILL early and am over half way done with! Phew!

But Yikes! I've really over committed myself this month! Basically this means I have to read about a book a week. I know that doesn't sound like much, but at the pace I've been reading lately this is a lot! However, I love a challenge and I believe I can get through this!

And I WILL return to read The Trumpeter of Krakow during a less 'reading intensive' month. And when I do I will replace this post with my review!

Wish me luck! I'm off to start Devil's Arithmetic!

LMM Project - Emily of New Moon

2010-03-26T06:51:00.007-06:00

*I had quite a time locating my cover image and even when I found it it was a Spanish language version. But it was very important that this be the image for this post as it's perfectly iconic for me - Emily writing in the garret window with a kitty cat at her feet.

Let's just get this trite statement out there so we can move on to bigger and better things - This is one of my favorite books of all time. This is a rare case in which I had started to doubt my memories and past feelings of this book and therefore rate it lower in my mind than I think it really deserves.

The back story on this book is that I've read it more times than I could count (another trite, but true statement - my battered and beloved paperback tells the tale). I came to the Emily series in my mid teens - well after I'd read the entire Anne series (which was like a dream to me) and I was gobsmacked. I couldn't believe that there was ANOTHER literary heroine who I related to on such an intense and personal level. This was the point at which LMM became a god in my eyes and I put her waaaay up on a pedestal. She's since been knocked down a few pegs (see Kilmeny and Pat), but is still pretty high up there in my estimation. And so while doing this reading project I'd convinced myself that I had an inflated view of Emily, but I'm happy to report that reading this for the umpteenth time has been an indescribably blissful experience. When I read this I feel both transported and completely understood. That an orphan girl from Prince Edward Island can make a thirty-something in Austin, Texas feel this way is no small feat!

This first installment in the three part Emily series tells of how newly orphaned Emily is sent to live with her mother’s people - the Murrays of New Moon. The transition is not an easy one. Her widowed father raised her in a gentle, supportive and mildly eccentric environment. The Murrays, long estranged from her mother, are virtual strangers to Emily. They are proud and highly conventional and Aunt Elizabeth, in particular, is as severe as they come and does not understand or appreciate Emily’s unique spirit. And yet Emily adapts and even grows to love her new home. She makes plenty of friends - spunky Ilse, artistic Teddy, clever Perry, peculiar Cousin Jimmy along with a cast of many other colorful and unforgettable characters. And like all ‘kindred spirits’ Emily has the ability to find beauty and wonder just about anywhere.

Like a lot of Montgomery novels Emily of New Moon is very episodic and highly character driven. As such, comparisons to her more famous creation, Anne Shirley, are inevitable. They’re both sensitive, intelligent and spirited orphans living amongst strangers. But Emily is a less impulsive and more introspective character than Anne. She’s not as immediately lovable as Anne and her relationship with her benefactress, Aunt Elizabeth, is complicated. There is never an Anne and Marilla ‘moment’ – i.e. no declaration of love and acceptance between the two. Elizabeth and Emily come from such different places – emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, etc. – so that the divide between them can never be completely bridged. Also, I would say that much of what drives Anne is her desire to be loved and accepted. Her intellect and creative talents are secondary to this goal. This in itself is powerful stuff and I’ve never believed that Anne ‘sold out’ by marrying and having a family. But writing is Emily’s ruling passion and this unlikely ambition consumes and defines her completely.

It could be said that in a way Anne is a bit of wish fulfillment and that Emily is more of a glimpse into the heart and mind of Montgomery herself. Emily’s story is the evolution of a budding writer in a time when proper ladies simply didn’t harbor such dreams. Much of the novel is written in the form of letters from Emily to her deceased father with childish misspellings and grammar slip-ups left intact. But her talent is unmistakable - she has a keen eye for observation and descriptions. One of Montgomery’s many gifts was that she had an uncanny way of portraying a realistic childlike perspective. She channels this into subtle and satisfying commentary on gender, conventions and religion.

In fact one of my very favorite things about this book is how LMM deals with Emily's little internal struggles with religion. It demonstrates a remarkably open mind not only for the time period, but also for a woman who was married to a very conventional minister. As always LMM treats spirituality as a highly personal issue and not one that can be dictated at all by others. She encourages independent thought and denounces narrow mindedness time and time again.

This is a must read for all Anne and L.M. Montgomery fans!

P.S. This was also a Nerdy Girl pick for the month of March. It's always so nice when my reading projects overlap like that! This was Meghan's first time to read this and I was very anxious as I feared it was a book that only appeals to adolescent girls. However, she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit and even went so far as to say she may even rate it more highly than Anne!

40 to 31 Chapter Books

2010-03-17T16:02:00.005-06:00

Green = Newbery books (and so plan to read eventually) - 4
Red = Books I plan to read (hopefully sooner than later!) - 1
Blue = Books I've read (that I remember) - 4
Black = haven't read, not currently interested - 1

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - I was DEEEElighted when I saw this finally make this list. It was my number one pick and I think 40 of 100 is a very respectable placing for this book seeing as it's a pretty old title and the movie has long since overshadowed it in most people's minds. My father read the entire series by L. Frank Baum (plus some of the sequels by Ruth Plumly Thompson) to me as a child and I'm telling you it was formative for me - not to mention that it's totally iconic and that every single child's fantasy story that has come since owes this book a debt of gratitude. I will say that when I was an older child I attempted a re-read of this and I was surprised at how gritty and unpleasant some of it seemed. I'd created this magic sparkly imiage of it in my head. But all good fantasy has to have at least the hint of malice and danger or what's the point? Anyway, I never completed that re-read and since then I've had many friends who've told me that they didn't enjoy it very much because it was so different from what they were expecting. But no matter - it still holds a special place in my heart and one day I do plan to re-read to my own daughter.

*The image above is from the Del Rey paperback versions that I owned as a child and I still have them all!

39 When You Reach Me - This was the most recent Newbery Medal winner for 2009 and so I'm surprised to see it make someone's top 10!

38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I'm not sure how many HPs have made the list and I wonder if they will all make it. I'm also curious about the order and how people choose which their favorite is! I only selected the first title on my list, but I love them all!

37 Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry - A Newbery Medal winner and one I've been very excited to read!

36 Are You There God It's Me Margaret - Surprised to see some Blume titles pop up here. I'd forgotten about them, but they were very influential for me during a certain phase in my life.

35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - another HP book!

34 The Watsons Go to Birmingham - Another one I've never heard of, but will read as it is a Newbery Honor book.

33 James and the Giant Peach - I still haven't read this yet, but I've been assured that THIS is the Dahl that will initiate me and bring me over to the dark side! It's on my short list for a good chapter book read aloud for Izzy so I plan to read it soon.

32 Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh - I grew up so loving the cartoon and I watched it with Izzy the other day and I realize now that I had really rotten taste as a kid (this was solidified by a viewing of The Last Unicorn - talk about UniCORNY!! Ugh - sorry about that, I couldn't resist!) Anyway, I've never read the book, but it's a Newbery medal winner so I'll be reading it one day.

31 Half Magic - Never heard of it, but it looks fun and fantastic!

Izzy Pick - Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary

2010-03-12T14:32:00.004-06:00

I've already spewed my Barbara McClintock love here before, but be aware that that won't be the last time - nor will this! Izzy and I were reminded of this book while browsing at Half Price Books the other night (in search of the perfect chapter book). They had a end cap full of brand new copies of this book for a fabulous price! I wanted to shout at the top of lungs to all the parents wandering around, 'BUY THIS BOOK! IF YOU DON'T YOU ARE AN UTTER FOOL! IT'S A TREASURE!!!' I didn't do that, but I did exclaim loudly when Izzy pointed it out, 'Oh Yes! I remember that book! It's wonderful!' And of course Izzy requested that we read it that night and I happily complied!

Here McClintock has paired up with memoirist Beverly Donofrio (Riding in Cars with Boys)and the result is a truly wonderful and memorable picture book.

This is the story of an unlikely friendship which spans two generations. First we have Mary and Mouse who discover each other through a happy coincidence. Their meeting and the progression of their lives are told through charming parallel text and narrative. Both Mary and Mouse eventually grow up and have daughters of their own which leads to a very fun and sweet resolution.

I think children will delight over the two 'secret' friendships along with the different perspectives of mouse and human, and I am certain they will love the accompanying illustrations. McClintock has an obvious appreciation for miniatures (see When Mindy Saved Hanukkah) and includes details that will thrill children and adults!

So, it's clear that this book is a hit for both me and Izzy, but I also wanted to share a little personal anecdote. I woke up this morning before the alarm because I heard Izzy talking in her room. At first I thought she was just playing pretend (as she often does when she wakes up before us), but then it became clear that she was reading to herself and then it became clear that she was reading THIS book. It was seriously one of the most heartwarming moments I've ever experienced. It was a phenomenal way to start my morning - just laying in bed and listening to her read the entire thing. I must say she's quite the little orator - she knows just were to add a pause or inflection. Very cute! And so I want to thank Ms. Donofrio and Ms. McClintock for providing me with such a special moment!

Random thoughts and a list...

2010-03-10T12:58:00.004-06:00

I'm compiling this list because I don't really know where else to put it. I'm trying to find fabulous chapter books to share with my six year old daughter. We've had some successful forays into the world of chapter books:

Betsy-Tacy - our first chapter book and I LOVED it! It was also a big hit with Izzy.
Charlotte's Web - another hit for both mom and daughter. My only complaint was that it was a bit long. It took us a very long time to read and I wonder how much she really retained (does it even matter?) I think for a young attention span a book that takes about a week to read at a chapter or two per night is a better fit.
Pleasant Fieldmouse - Very short with only six chapters and since it wasn't a continuous story we could pick it up whenever.
Pink Princess Rules the School - A BIG hit with Izzy and borderline horrifying for me. The positives were that the chapters were short and we finished it in a little over a week.

Our less successful chapter books were:

Matilda - we LOVE the film, but the book was just too advanced and I stopped reading about a 1/3 of the way through.
Alice in Wonderland - I thought it would be fun to read the book before we see the film. I think it's just too 'out there' for a six year old to appreciate.
The Borrowers - We just started this one last night and although I was really enjoying it I could tell it was not a good fit. I could tell I was losing her as I was reading.

So, in light of this I am on a mission to find chapter books that both mom and daughter can appreciate. My only requirements (beyond a great story!) are fairly short chapters with some nice illustrations sprinkled through out. I've compiled a list and if anyone happens by this blog and has input, thoughts or suggestions please share! (These are in no particular order)

1.) Little House Series - I've had this one in mind for quite some time, but I'm holding off just a bit until I get closer to read the Newbery titles.
2.) Stewart Little - since Charlotte was a hit this one might be too!
3.) The Boxcar Children - I remember this book from when I was a kid and remember enjoying it.
4.) Ivy and Bean - a fairly new series about 2 friends.
5.) Magic Treehouse Series - Definitely has short chapters and illustrations, but I worry about the story lines. They look a little maddeningly simplistic, but I should really read before I judge!
6.) Geronimo Stilton Series - The 'hook' with these books is that the fonts are very vibrant and colorful. Could be fun!
7.) Series of Unfortunate Events Series - I wonder about this being a little over Izzy's head, but she has a sort of warped, mature sense of humor so it could be a good fit.
8.) Cam Jansen - Recommended by a friend. I've seen these around and they look interesting. They are indeed very short!
9.) The Cobble Street Cousins - This is closer to being an early reader series than a chapter series, but it still looks interesting and is illustrated by one of my faves - Wendy Halperin
10.) Winnie the Pooh - I have a lovely hardcover collection and we've read a few, but have never really committed to reading them all.
11.) James and the Giant Peach - although I've yet to be wowed by Roald Dahl I'm always open to having my mind changed! Maybe this one is it - it comes highly recommended and is shorter than most of his work.
12.) Mrs. Piggle Wiggle - this just showed up on a list I found. Looks cute.
13.) Junie B. Jones - This series is very popular right now which is probably why I'm feeling a little snooty and resistant - which is really very silly of me!