tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36190642579762833682024-03-12T21:09:02.459-04:00. . . Even in AustraliaA lot of reading, a little bit of parenting, a helping of education policy, and a taste of NYC from a library school drop-out and mom of two.Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.comBlogger305125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-41186628025628365452019-02-24T16:52:00.001-05:002019-02-24T16:52:55.934-05:00A Book Is A Good Book<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently, a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbsZohEMn38" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">YouTube video</span></a> of a Scottish grandmother reading to her grandson went viral. With her grandson, who was too young so sit up on his own, tucked snugly into the crook of her arm, she was reading him a picture book I’d never heard of, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wonky-Donkey-Craig-Smith/dp/0545261244/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550876579&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wonkey+donkey" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Wonky Donkey</span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. His eyes were wandering but still, she was reading to him. And she was having the best time. As she roared with laughter, I couldn’t help but laugh too, until my eyes teared.
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I posted the video to social media and sent it to other children’s-book-loving friends. One of the first responses I received was “I wish it were a better book.”</span></span></div>
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I was horrified.</span></span></div>
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This child, this baby, this infant, really, was being exposed to words and pictures, to the opening of a book and the turn of a page, to wordplay and the idea of a cumulative tale, to animal noises. He was being shown that reading is not a chore but a joy. Most importantly, he was experiencing time and affection from his grandmother. What brought them together? A book. That sounds like a darn good book to me.</span></span></div>
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A few days prior, Marie Kondo’s supposed exhortation that those trying to declutter should get rid of books had created a viral outcry. The minimalists were pitted against the book lovers.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> As the commenting on social media became increasingly heated, one person in my feed stated in passing that, “But it is a reality that book clutter can be a form of OCD. I’ve seen pictures of people with shelves full of mass market paperback mysteries, and that’s a whole other demographic, but </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">even serious book lovers </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[emphasis added] can get crowded out and overwhelmed by too many books.”
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Again, I was horrified.
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Someone who loves mass market paperback mysteries can’t be a serious book lover?
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This sort of intellectual book snobbery is offensive. Are some books “better” that others? Well, yes and no. It depends on what standard you are judging them by. Some are sheer entertainment. Some evoke deep emotion. Some have beautifully crafted sentences. Some provoke discussion of social issues. Some make us think about the human condition. Some teach and inform. Some - and they are rare - do some combination of these. For some people, only those that do something in addition to entertain (or perhaps don’t entertain at all!) are worthy.</span><br />
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But on another level all books are good. Even books which are arguably racist, sexist, or otherwise objectionable are opportunities for discussion. As an elementary school librarian, I have to make tough choices about which books to purchase and keep for the library all the time. Budgets and shelf space are finite. Some books really do not belong in my school library for a variety of reasons, but there are no books that I would tell a child not to read because the book did not meet some imagined, arbitrary quality standard.
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Every year, I conduct a Mock Caldecott competition with my students where we vote for the book with the “best” illustrations and we discuss past winners of the real Caldecott medal, which is awarded annually to the "most distinguished American picture book for children." I always caution my students that just because a book has a shiny gold sticker on it doesn’t mean they will like it. Or that they should. And just because the book they love lacks that sticker doesn’t mean they shouldn’t like it. Taste is, and should be, personal.
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Janice Clark, the grandma in the video, sets a wonderful example. She teaches us not to be intimidated by books or by reading aloud. Read what you like (especially while the child is too young to object!), and share the experience with someone you love.
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A book that brings people together is a good book. A book that makes you laugh is a good book. A book that teaches you something is a good book. A book that entertains you is a good book. A book is a good book.</span></div>
Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-9270799790172023372018-08-16T08:49:00.000-04:002018-08-16T08:49:19.962-04:00Kindness v. TruthEspecially in this age of fake news and truthiness, it is harder than ever to teach a child the value of a white lie, the value of tact which may require at least omission and at most a small fib.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtKrgBS-MOglsvrywULoDZ92h6ztopQkPk2_SHe_wHqqANLeWYGd25JMqaA6Y1XTJS6gUyKKJnQ-n8_3a-pAWhytu7gdRWkp5CmU6hfBVwNpdR1pVThjym7CUY7s-WHkGb5hB4hdLpms/s1600/IMG_8208+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtKrgBS-MOglsvrywULoDZ92h6ztopQkPk2_SHe_wHqqANLeWYGd25JMqaA6Y1XTJS6gUyKKJnQ-n8_3a-pAWhytu7gdRWkp5CmU6hfBVwNpdR1pVThjym7CUY7s-WHkGb5hB4hdLpms/s320/IMG_8208+2.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZaCuMOu4JsFpxz0KB5jj6HLYzAZ0dOTU_X_yagpi3Xf3Yp0e3DvFCc4eoz3svilEuoAXkvY_9cZbBPhcSUL5GpXKns6FNJqZHitM8J4qmqWzj-A96uHKp_RxUGmK4QuUhok7j4QPN0k/s1600/IMG_8211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZaCuMOu4JsFpxz0KB5jj6HLYzAZ0dOTU_X_yagpi3Xf3Yp0e3DvFCc4eoz3svilEuoAXkvY_9cZbBPhcSUL5GpXKns6FNJqZHitM8J4qmqWzj-A96uHKp_RxUGmK4QuUhok7j4QPN0k/s200/IMG_8211.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASdJ4iMz4o0ZLJTerQ8V_a32OOL-2ErJmL5G_Ccs4fweXH8Rw9Y-IVkMjaUCoiEikqI9DM0PXfNsmWlCzrlhXL6LSgzyK8VSBZrOoXqzKDDGHR0HZPejPqc-BORiEDYafmRbkK8P_Ll8/s1600/IMG_8209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1600" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASdJ4iMz4o0ZLJTerQ8V_a32OOL-2ErJmL5G_Ccs4fweXH8Rw9Y-IVkMjaUCoiEikqI9DM0PXfNsmWlCzrlhXL6LSgzyK8VSBZrOoXqzKDDGHR0HZPejPqc-BORiEDYafmRbkK8P_Ll8/s200/IMG_8209.jpg" width="200" /></a>Enter <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Adrian-Simcox-Does-Have-Horse/dp/0735230374/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534423364&sr=8-1&keywords=adrian+simcox" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Adrian Simcox Does NOT Have A Horse</span></a>,</span> a picture book relative of the classic <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Hundred-Dresses-Eleanor-Estes/dp/0152052607/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534422036&sr=1-1&keywords=the+hundred+dresses" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Hundred Dresses</span></a>. Just as Wanda Petronski did not own a hundred dresses, Adrian Simcox does not own a horse. The other children self-righteously call their bluff and learn to regret their unkindness. While I've always found <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Hundred-Dresses-Eleanor-Estes/dp/0152052607/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534422036&sr=1-1&keywords=the+hundred+dresses" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Hundred Dresses</span></a> </span>a little didactic, <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Adrian-Simcox-Does-Have-Horse/dp/0735230374/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534423364&sr=8-1&keywords=adrian+simcox" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Adrian Simcox</span></a> </span>is not. (Amazingly, it is author Marcy Campbell's debut picture book.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFLkk1BmP4lnqjejbb61_VrI1xxrsIMmiAJ28hTasCqy1s_a2X9tIk670ngHnMXcRdNxtyJw39lLZECyVFxdIdN0iNstOuCDGbtEzDbAaXR2zmWAibuZ-sY8scYk-KMSxUDvrAm6aucQ/s1600/IMG_8213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1600" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFLkk1BmP4lnqjejbb61_VrI1xxrsIMmiAJ28hTasCqy1s_a2X9tIk670ngHnMXcRdNxtyJw39lLZECyVFxdIdN0iNstOuCDGbtEzDbAaXR2zmWAibuZ-sY8scYk-KMSxUDvrAm6aucQ/s320/IMG_8213.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe's indignation blazes off the page.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Adrian-Simcox-Does-Have-Horse/dp/0735230374/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534423364&sr=8-1&keywords=adrian+simcox" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Adrian Simcox</span></a> </span>is a beautiful book in every way - the language, the message, and, of course, the illustrations. Illustrator Corinna Luyken, of <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Book-Mistakes-Corinna-Luyken/dp/0735227926/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534423573&sr=1-1&keywords=the+book+of+mistakes" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Book of Mistakes</span></a>, uses an autumnal palette of golds, oranges, and ochres and purples for Adrian and a darker purple and black palette for Chloe, the narrator who insists on complete and utter honesty. Of course she learns that kindness is sometimes more important than the literal truth.<br />
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Adrian lives with his grandfather, who I'm convinced is Marty, the protagonist of <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Mop-Top-Don-Freeman/dp/0140503269/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534423624&sr=1-1&keywords=mop+top" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Mop Top</span></a> by Don Freeman. That hair!<br />
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Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-19718626386050556882018-02-12T10:17:00.000-05:002018-02-12T10:17:01.436-05:00The Oscars of Children's BooksIn honor of the ALA Youth Media Awards, which are being announced this morning, I came to school in a sparkly silver dress. It has long sleeves and is a bit sack-shaped and is from the Gap, but hey, if Sharon Stone can wear a black turtleneck from the Gap to the Oscars, then this dress is certainly festive enough.<br />
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The ALA Youth Media Awards are the Oscars of children's literature. In fact, just like the Oscars, they save the "big" awards until the end. Since the ALA Mid-winter convention at which the awards are announced is being held in Denver this year, we don't know the winners yet, as they begin the announcements at 8am Mountain Time. Therefore, the Caldecott and Newbery Medal and Honor winners won't be announced for another hour or two.<br />
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As the Children's Book Oscars, I think ALA needs to step things up a bit. I want a red carpet, with librarians, authors, and illustrators asked who they are wearing. I want to hear about the jewels loaned by Harry Winston. And I want them televised. To that end, I have a few suggestions.<br />
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1. Move the awards to the evening. No one is going to watch awards at 8am. No one gets dressed up at 8am. No one drinks cocktails at 8am.<br />
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2. Nominate a short-list of 10-12 books for each award. Without nominees, you can't invite authors and illustrators to the award ceremony because the field is wide open. The Oscars went from 5 nominees for best picture to a maximum of 10. There must be some procedure for the ALA membership to vote and make this change.<br />
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3. Contact ESPN. If ESPN can televise the Spelling Bee, it can surely televise the Youth Media Awards.<br />
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Until then, I'll be sitting in my sparkly silver dress, watching the live feed in between classes coming to the library.<br />
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Next year, the red carpet!Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-84299924129760764462018-02-11T14:02:00.000-05:002018-02-11T14:02:38.683-05:00Schooldecott 2018!On the eve, literally, of the announcement of the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery medals tomorrow morning, along with a slew of other awards, I tallied our school's votes just in time.<br />
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I selected 12 nominees:<br />
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Kindergartners and first-graders voted only for their favorite; everyone else voted for their top three. A book got 3 points for a first-place vote, 2 for a second-place vote, and 3 for a third-place vote.<br />
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The winner was... (drumroll)... <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Wolf-Duck-Mouse-Mac-Barnett/dp/076367754X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518375006&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wolf+the+duck+and+the+mouse" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Wolf, the Duck & the Mouse</span></a>!<br />
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It was followed closely by <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/After-Fall-Humpty-Dumpty-Again/dp/1626726825/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518375080&sr=1-1&keywords=after+the+fall" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again)</span></a>, then <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Big-Cat-Little-Elisha-Cooper/dp/1626723710/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518375139&sr=1-1&keywords=big+cat+little+cat" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Big Cat, Little Cat</span></a>, and then <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Book-Mistakes-Corinna-Luyken/dp/0735227926/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518375206&sr=1-4&keywords=the+book+of+mistakes" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Book of Mistakes</span></a>.<br />
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I can't wait to find out whether any of our choices were selected by the ALA.<br />
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May the best book win!Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-72064350557639712432018-01-07T11:33:00.001-05:002018-01-07T11:33:24.553-05:00A Dinosaur's (Literary) Ancestors"Real dinosaurs didn't like attention. They didn't want anyone to see them. That's why Bolivar lived in the busiest city in the world."<br />
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<a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Bolivar-Sean-Rubin/dp/1684150698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515341338&sr=1-1&keywords=bolivar" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Bolivar</span></a> has been getting a lot of justly deserved attention. But he is not the first (fictional) dinosaur to find refuge in New York.<br />
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That would be - I think - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sinclair-Sophocles-dinosaur-Friederike-Mayro%CC%88cker/dp/0394825365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341510&sr=8-2&keywords=sinclair+sophocles" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Sinclair Sophocles, The Baby Dinosaur</span></a>. Published in its author's and illustrator's home of Vienna in 1971 and published in English in the United States in 1974, Sinclair has Bolivar beat by over 40 years.<br />
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You might think that a lot has changed in 40 years, and a lot has. People lament the gentrification and write odes (through rose-colored glasses, in my opinion, possibly even hot-pink) to the gritty days of yore.<br />
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But some things never change.<br />
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In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sinclair-Sophocles-dinosaur-Friederike-Mayro%CC%88cker/dp/0394825365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341510&sr=8-2&keywords=sinclair+sophocles" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Sinclair Sophocles</span></a> Friederike Mayrocker wrote, "You are probably wondering why the people in the street did not stare or scream when they saw a baby dinosaur walking by. I am wondering, too, but the fact is - no one did. People who live in cities are often like that."<br />
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Were truer words ever spoken (or written)? We New Yorkers pride ourselves on not staring - not at celebrities, not at crazy people, not at the strange outfits or the strange things people carry with them. Some people disparage this attitude as isolating. We prefer to see it as respecting people's privacy. Therefore people of all stripes, clothing and headgear- and dinosaurs - can ride the subway in peace.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6drLFsZr3-JPwO1siax7AMA_IpK8wg00lVFmQyZGsORFU9JR5n9a2PAWm-f4UM3G4y6Q5tya5o-Yh0iXjXIJkEsEOuuJGTZGDuI_3Xl7HZyhlRcNUg1oLpk69n3KyjULaVFEojnUn4Q/s1600/IMG_4322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1600" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6drLFsZr3-JPwO1siax7AMA_IpK8wg00lVFmQyZGsORFU9JR5n9a2PAWm-f4UM3G4y6Q5tya5o-Yh0iXjXIJkEsEOuuJGTZGDuI_3Xl7HZyhlRcNUg1oLpk69n3KyjULaVFEojnUn4Q/s320/IMG_4322.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bolivar rides the subway undisturbed and unnoticed</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNWOpj6we_JHC7fus3jC37wN3O2A7rqUFwPSPcDTt5eIdni5BPVh7oD_QGrXaK5wjnPzoUoMWm4JDYSVGFgICRNnfoO4MLFg6vZFaTh74JpVfPi7CkbK8fTR0lL3cltj9Iu3tRrGz04ws/s1600/IMG_4277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="1600" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNWOpj6we_JHC7fus3jC37wN3O2A7rqUFwPSPcDTt5eIdni5BPVh7oD_QGrXaK5wjnPzoUoMWm4JDYSVGFgICRNnfoO4MLFg6vZFaTh74JpVfPi7CkbK8fTR0lL3cltj9Iu3tRrGz04ws/s200/IMG_4277.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lizard form the Park rides the subway, undisturbed and unnoticed</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQLK6MOfGGvX3E5dIsXq2mJ0UGl0OVjYjxMDkNPDTZEG7NkbFCIHKCyDssCKO-xPJtITeJihLQrFyFfJaz_CSqH9zhpnq0l5gjIQGeKreAmiKPARjuk3VcZRlACEdnNFzN2leUHIfaAc/s1600/IMG_8583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQLK6MOfGGvX3E5dIsXq2mJ0UGl0OVjYjxMDkNPDTZEG7NkbFCIHKCyDssCKO-xPJtITeJihLQrFyFfJaz_CSqH9zhpnq0l5gjIQGeKreAmiKPARjuk3VcZRlACEdnNFzN2leUHIfaAc/s200/IMG_8583.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man with giant red mouse ears rides the subway, undisturbed but noticed by me</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQ-2P7X5HTra87LZT_efDc1C6cgxihK8DMlwOQsuEUBnM3CFWII05ekfZ6XBAyAa17iHHSrUiFswnz4ATYkVTc7DhMf4rms7GbIHL0iFQWufzFOYO5YDbF0Redec0ddO6xyCGW7_zNIk/s1600/IMG_4317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1600" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQ-2P7X5HTra87LZT_efDc1C6cgxihK8DMlwOQsuEUBnM3CFWII05ekfZ6XBAyAa17iHHSrUiFswnz4ATYkVTc7DhMf4rms7GbIHL0iFQWufzFOYO5YDbF0Redec0ddO6xyCGW7_zNIk/s320/IMG_4317.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shopping at Fairway, of course</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_w5PDPz3bCop-GeM0-FjhQkeVEPm0X0WxTvwR_JHpRnYx-12tq_N1586ClvinpDz0VBS78_AINyt5cndcY6bWwO2oVwbYj9c0GEnITVUNX6U080f1hTd_xPHzfXkWtHE9i_jIdWGBitk/s1600/IMG_4325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_w5PDPz3bCop-GeM0-FjhQkeVEPm0X0WxTvwR_JHpRnYx-12tq_N1586ClvinpDz0VBS78_AINyt5cndcY6bWwO2oVwbYj9c0GEnITVUNX6U080f1hTd_xPHzfXkWtHE9i_jIdWGBitk/s200/IMG_4325.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 1 train does not stop here!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeTo4URF5CAtwm6hTSDE4rIBISxGFcJ9VUbdvswMFWtKKpcB1Z9u-G5F0c7BfVEX8E8m_IP4d7mFQARpmAjoeLjNHfn54FeskGiGwUqYpvIEHzWvLrqan4CAodCMXVAX0t-bzJGM0OZA/s1600/IMG_4326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1600" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeTo4URF5CAtwm6hTSDE4rIBISxGFcJ9VUbdvswMFWtKKpcB1Z9u-G5F0c7BfVEX8E8m_IP4d7mFQARpmAjoeLjNHfn54FeskGiGwUqYpvIEHzWvLrqan4CAodCMXVAX0t-bzJGM0OZA/s200/IMG_4326.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcFdERBbCfV1eI6tg50XsCrocYXU0BbKtW_3DnYVBXtXRquG9Y1wVirtzs89PR0vObthyphenhyphenYLt-hpLtlvCH1zY2P03lLeEBDhuHUmEuZk4NKIX6rnrJMGDaQH6oBekqpzvvhxjVFedu9yw/s1600/IMG_4321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1547" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcFdERBbCfV1eI6tg50XsCrocYXU0BbKtW_3DnYVBXtXRquG9Y1wVirtzs89PR0vObthyphenhyphenYLt-hpLtlvCH1zY2P03lLeEBDhuHUmEuZk4NKIX6rnrJMGDaQH6oBekqpzvvhxjVFedu9yw/s200/IMG_4321.jpg" width="193" /></a><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Bolivar-Sean-Rubin/dp/1684150698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515341338&sr=1-1&keywords=bolivar" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Bolivar</span></a> is strikingly beautiful and detailed, leading to cries of recognition (Fairway! the subway tiles!) and the occasional calling out of an error (the 1 train does not stop at 81st St for the Museum of Natural History; that would be the B and C trains). There also some clever visual jokes, some New York-related (the local hot dog joint is the Papaya Czar rather than the Papaya King) and some not (Sybil's mom uses a Pineapple brand laptop (or perhaps Pomegranate)). The themes of friendship and when privacy becomes isolation, when anonymity turns into loneliness are treated with a light touch.<br />
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But for my money, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sinclair-Sophocles-dinosaur-Friederike-Mayro%CC%88cker/dp/0394825365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341510&sr=8-2&keywords=sinclair+sophocles" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Sinclair Sophocles</span></a> is the winner here. Both Bolivar and <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sinclair-Sophocles-dinosaur-Friederike-Mayro%CC%88cker/dp/0394825365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341510&sr=8-2&keywords=sinclair+sophocles" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Sinclair</span></a> </span>are stories of a friendship between a child a dinosaur. Both are absurd, although <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sinclair-Sophocles-dinosaur-Friederike-Mayro%CC%88cker/dp/0394825365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341510&sr=8-2&keywords=sinclair+sophocles" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Sinclair Sophocles</span></a> ventures into the surreal with a talking furniture dust cover that renders the wearer invisible. But <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sinclair-Sophocles-dinosaur-Friederike-Mayro%CC%88cker/dp/0394825365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341510&sr=8-2&keywords=sinclair+sophocles" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Sinclair</span></a> elevates the theme of friendship with its beautiful ending, when Sinclair flashes his "promised sign" of forever friendship in the sky: the infinity sign.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUj7CeR1eQ33Dp3B9uWTf_d2lysmqWyDAbNJUVqVvfZsxwYGr27MeLGJCoxuTuw0INON0_m3ZuWPmRR2RODj4dFtUWmVgM5KKtuE4QqUOy6VsWDnqAatHPbujMrDvcSKb9D0T97kobK0/s1600/IMG_4287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUj7CeR1eQ33Dp3B9uWTf_d2lysmqWyDAbNJUVqVvfZsxwYGr27MeLGJCoxuTuw0INON0_m3ZuWPmRR2RODj4dFtUWmVgM5KKtuE4QqUOy6VsWDnqAatHPbujMrDvcSKb9D0T97kobK0/s320/IMG_4287.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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After <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sinclair-Sophocles-dinosaur-Friederike-Mayro%CC%88cker/dp/0394825365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341510&sr=8-2&keywords=sinclair+sophocles" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Sinclair Sophocles</span></a> came the dinosaurs of Hudson Talbott's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Were-Dinosaurs-Story-Hudson-Talbott/dp/0517565994/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515342236&sr=1-1&keywords=we%27re+back%21" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story</span></a> (disappointing, in my opinion), followed by Mark Pett's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lizard-Park-Mark-Pett/dp/1442483210/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515342312&sr=1-1&keywords=lizard+from+the+park" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Lizard from the Park</span></a>, both of which, amazingly, feature the dinosaurs camouflaged as balloons the Thanksgiving Day Parade:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbm8WsGkSahpWhwE7JE9mkRLqSIB5vb9_3zM1UDo12eENAuhvVG429Hu6xRKoOA1paeVyuXLuR3os-Eju3UQsnIPer_KhRgfqdAJNGkziAQdbaej2-HUvAO-Y1lgmmvp9ZkkokcoplW4/s1600/IMG_4328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1600" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbm8WsGkSahpWhwE7JE9mkRLqSIB5vb9_3zM1UDo12eENAuhvVG429Hu6xRKoOA1paeVyuXLuR3os-Eju3UQsnIPer_KhRgfqdAJNGkziAQdbaej2-HUvAO-Y1lgmmvp9ZkkokcoplW4/s320/IMG_4328.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEkr1cgS22HLYOIsWCM64IpDoj35vpGSxRS1iu78SB6MSRwKG-dWx9yW23dLZopfVEtHNzplygZrlMufxqjKc_LRWyr2UZurdRagiNpsQVsN_4YSXIEf9-9HllNjcEMJ6zk1vXNKrQ10/s1600/IMG_4283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEkr1cgS22HLYOIsWCM64IpDoj35vpGSxRS1iu78SB6MSRwKG-dWx9yW23dLZopfVEtHNzplygZrlMufxqjKc_LRWyr2UZurdRagiNpsQVsN_4YSXIEf9-9HllNjcEMJ6zk1vXNKrQ10/s320/IMG_4283.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cJnaIwBPoFjjQzgNbsi3gS4zu6jq0rjn-UF08tD8QIrR5FH9CkCPmyOz-E_V2Ig1Vdb-c3OUKrX50l2svljtXoWkCLdBse3Q8GHIr2olVoDrp8Sx9Hof9Qp6dYJhSF2fg_Fi04Y2n8k/s1600/IMG_4538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cJnaIwBPoFjjQzgNbsi3gS4zu6jq0rjn-UF08tD8QIrR5FH9CkCPmyOz-E_V2Ig1Vdb-c3OUKrX50l2svljtXoWkCLdBse3Q8GHIr2olVoDrp8Sx9Hof9Qp6dYJhSF2fg_Fi04Y2n8k/s200/IMG_4538.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsyNDaUX_sPIqUpc2-PG3EpEhWqfVgYWIBiTP0wxfesCc_MPZT8MyCieDA_FkXD2QVuIoAVmAM_6dD5a656H2YZA2gxFXg7iEJmSUPQwnYRNNevNOYepbcVbCJGFqJuJsylkiFOkICMc/s1600/IMG_4293.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsyNDaUX_sPIqUpc2-PG3EpEhWqfVgYWIBiTP0wxfesCc_MPZT8MyCieDA_FkXD2QVuIoAVmAM_6dD5a656H2YZA2gxFXg7iEJmSUPQwnYRNNevNOYepbcVbCJGFqJuJsylkiFOkICMc/s200/IMG_4293.jpg" width="200" /></a>If we expand our search to include not just dinosaurs but reptiles in New York City more generally, we have Lyle the Crocodile who made his first appearance in 1962 in the classic <a href="https://www.amazon.com/House-East-88th-Street/dp/0395199700/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515341832&sr=1-1&keywords=the+house+on+east+88th+street" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The House on East 88th Street</span></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=have+you+seen+my+dragon" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Have You Seen My Dragon?</span></a>, published in 2014. And in <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Chalk-Bill-Thomson/dp/0761455264/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515341047&sr=8-1&keywords=chalk+thomson" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Chalk</span></a> (2010) we have a playground structure shaped like a dinosaur coming alive in a city that, while not specifically New York, certainly could be.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqeNIB4a2lwYuy8kU3wctUTHvDp5dMtQcRrgTRdyoamTxMfI432JtKQ3W7qPwHON_jIRtqI75mO1SYnzTEQaeukNuhNTbrJbFJet7YFJJRVwpVu-wFvxHvBGrqNdjIgvMaEBeo9bzcoA/s1600/IMG_4540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1600" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqeNIB4a2lwYuy8kU3wctUTHvDp5dMtQcRrgTRdyoamTxMfI432JtKQ3W7qPwHON_jIRtqI75mO1SYnzTEQaeukNuhNTbrJbFJet7YFJJRVwpVu-wFvxHvBGrqNdjIgvMaEBeo9bzcoA/s400/IMG_4540.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And underlying it all is that old "alligator in the sewer" urban legend, which dates back until at least the 1930s. Steve Light, author and illustrator of <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=have+you+seen+my+dragon" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Have You Seen My Dragon?</span></a> </span>notes that his father used to claim that the steam coming out of manhole covers was the breath of a dragon.<br />
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There is something about the intersection of the wild and the civilized and the line between privacy and isolation that fascinate us. Perhaps that is why the legend of the urban dinosaur, unlike the dinosaur itself, will never become extinct.Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-40397104616880723702017-10-27T11:37:00.004-04:002017-10-27T13:50:20.989-04:00The Masks We Wear Halloween is not my holiday. Scary and, to me, morbid, I could happily skip the whole thing. But most kids love it and so I decided to find non-scary Halloween books to read to my students this year.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDw06_oEf1ff97G3J3koeyu4iSI7Mfe0OX_LOzBMPZP5qbx0iHZ-V1TfRhZTHYqwZJXtiHGXEhma5Fq0suRCeJc3uxrr4Fp3cgYUamfvzENj6ZQKydhgXkZ7Lzuu2QesTDadfylLklL8/s1600/Ramona+the+Witch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDw06_oEf1ff97G3J3koeyu4iSI7Mfe0OX_LOzBMPZP5qbx0iHZ-V1TfRhZTHYqwZJXtiHGXEhma5Fq0suRCeJc3uxrr4Fp3cgYUamfvzENj6ZQKydhgXkZ7Lzuu2QesTDadfylLklL8/s320/Ramona+the+Witch.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustration by Louis Darling</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first book - or rather, chapter of a book - that came to mind - was the one in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ramona-Pest-Beverly-Cleary/dp/0380709546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509117340&sr=8-1&keywords=ramona+the+pest" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Ramona the Pest</span></a> where she dresses up as "the baddest witch in the world" and participates for the first time in the school Halloween parade. Reading it to classes over and over, I was struck each and every time by how perfectly Beverly Cleary describes the terror that can come with the anonymity that a costume can bring. Cleary writes, "Nobody knew who Ramona was, and if nobody knew who she was, she wasn't anybody." Desperate to assert her identity, Ramona runs back to her classroom and writes herself a nametag, which she proudly holds in front of her costume.<br />
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Cleary also describes with emotional clarity the satisfaction children (and adults) can have in scaring themselves - in controlling the amount of fear they experience. Ramona finds her own mask terrifying and hides it under a couch cushion so she doesn't have to look at it. But then she periodically "would lift the cushion for a quick glimpse of her scary mask before she clapped the pillow over it again. Scaring herself was such fun." And while Ramona finds looking at her mask scary, when she wears it - and therefore can't see it herself - she feels brave. That is, until she feels lost and alone.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBXRunw-0nCjMya7kGGbthsTjA7zxYOhM8-b-FEpXq8h7UL3uNBZOm7JHAOLJvX8Mpi6BGBf6M5KP4DbAFfxmqOfuliNU-ChL5EVMRxfSKtZVYEtzGPwPqRkkop8MbPrDPAykm36bdOk/s1600/A+Tiger+Called+Thomas+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBXRunw-0nCjMya7kGGbthsTjA7zxYOhM8-b-FEpXq8h7UL3uNBZOm7JHAOLJvX8Mpi6BGBf6M5KP4DbAFfxmqOfuliNU-ChL5EVMRxfSKtZVYEtzGPwPqRkkop8MbPrDPAykm36bdOk/s320/A+Tiger+Called+Thomas+1.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illustrations by Kurt Werth</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglC7OzVIdPdislE8oBbVYy4KHdkHRkPbKrNrM2W9dYyPCkVGXbcirVoG8Si2iUAJzVyCQHSJuHaqAhMNVG9n5jrg6zWeGPMuOmpbiMyw3IKfVvdzdqvcq8dSTMrEAcyE6AQjG5VBTPSo/s1600/A+Tiger+Called+Thomas+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1600" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglC7OzVIdPdislE8oBbVYy4KHdkHRkPbKrNrM2W9dYyPCkVGXbcirVoG8Si2iUAJzVyCQHSJuHaqAhMNVG9n5jrg6zWeGPMuOmpbiMyw3IKfVvdzdqvcq8dSTMrEAcyE6AQjG5VBTPSo/s200/A+Tiger+Called+Thomas+3.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1P27YSJx5XsAEHCgLbDFOeXAMaAzq-UgHt3kw486a8QF-5OM-oXV3BgUVYlUeI7hGyLGc6y65W197wCyr3duGzqssYu0A9RoVW8Vgvzfp8WhBctmpSkjUto0fVPpQ-Yxj7cfKlOeVNo/s1600/A+TIger+Called+Thomas+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="1600" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1P27YSJx5XsAEHCgLbDFOeXAMaAzq-UgHt3kw486a8QF-5OM-oXV3BgUVYlUeI7hGyLGc6y65W197wCyr3duGzqssYu0A9RoVW8Vgvzfp8WhBctmpSkjUto0fVPpQ-Yxj7cfKlOeVNo/s200/A+TIger+Called+Thomas+4.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Written five years before <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ramona-Pest-Beverly-Cleary/dp/0380709546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509117340&sr=8-1&keywords=ramona+the+pest" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Ramona the Pest</span></a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Called-Thomas-Charlotte-Zolotow/dp/B0007DR8JQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509117590&sr=1-1&keywords=a+tiger+called+thomas+kurt+werth" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">A Tiger Called Thomas</span></a> by Charlotte Zolotow also uses Halloween and costumes to tackle issues of identity, but from a very different perspective. Thomas, who has just moved to a new neighborhood, is too shy to approach any of his neighbors. (And why should he?!? Shouldn't they come over and greet the new arrivees? But that is neither here nor there.) But safely inside his tiger costume, Thomas is brave enough to trick-or-treat, feeling secure that no one will recognize him. Much to his surprise, everyone knows who he is! (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Called-Thomas-Charlotte-Zolotow/dp/B0007DR8JQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509117590&sr=1-1&keywords=a+tiger+called+thomas+kurt+werth" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">A Tiger Called Thomas</span></a> wass reissued with<span style="color: magenta;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Called-Thomas-Charlotte-Zolotow/dp/0688066976/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509118325&sr=1-1&keywords=a+tiger+called+thomas+catherine+stock" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">new illustrations in 1988</span></a></span> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Called-Thomas-Charlotte-Zolotow/dp/078680517X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509117696&sr=8-1&keywords=a+tiger+called+thomas" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">again in 2003</span></a> and will be published again next year with yet another set of illustrations. There was an article in the March/April 2017 issue of The Horn Book about the different versions, but unfortunately it is not online.) <br />
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Masks - literal and figurative - can embolden us, change us, or render us invisible or anonymous.<br />
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But I still don't like Halloween.Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-74613596467674057912017-09-24T15:15:00.000-04:002017-09-24T15:15:15.106-04:00Imagination Can Never Be Obsolete<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Finite funds and finite space necessitate that libraries weed their collections. And when they do, they indicate which books they are removing by a variety of stamps or handwritten words, like this one:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpxF1OOZHd5I2GKnbVxCTVb8bPMCh_z1U6FxZPyn4Jlpvh1907HdtF7MQxWuqwPGtAkzmjJWQgfwsrGZudyBsTaM1n73nfLBJ3iYL4-WE0MInl504JRWM4PwHQqfESI67yW2oB04V7AU/s1600/Discard+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpxF1OOZHd5I2GKnbVxCTVb8bPMCh_z1U6FxZPyn4Jlpvh1907HdtF7MQxWuqwPGtAkzmjJWQgfwsrGZudyBsTaM1n73nfLBJ3iYL4-WE0MInl504JRWM4PwHQqfESI67yW2oB04V7AU/s320/Discard+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Or this one:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXER_acfCWfWaYdq5IfuLVFYUk3vV9yFbfhjvwAW4UppULfTkIzlfyOkiGBqLwkGbM8tPUJbQZCTzrur3hg1TIeemwWoLcxdeC-qRWoCdud1Ll0qpKk96vQFlXQPenOi4h8ij71aeyhA/s1600/Withdrawn.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXER_acfCWfWaYdq5IfuLVFYUk3vV9yFbfhjvwAW4UppULfTkIzlfyOkiGBqLwkGbM8tPUJbQZCTzrur3hg1TIeemwWoLcxdeC-qRWoCdud1Ll0qpKk96vQFlXQPenOi4h8ij71aeyhA/s320/Withdrawn.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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But this one?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvAa7DYwqcQPjzMqQ09lhbQd_npZTFK9Wrmj9seEPG917rE9rWQNk1HLOdrTbH-CfSc33pJmmuLoq6tLmRaJJWiRpGXDBHLsX5QblyuBXbvk6cF7YbJ0q_MmJolJE2AnM7D4ZC2ZfTXDI/s1600/Obsolete+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvAa7DYwqcQPjzMqQ09lhbQd_npZTFK9Wrmj9seEPG917rE9rWQNk1HLOdrTbH-CfSc33pJmmuLoq6tLmRaJJWiRpGXDBHLsX5QblyuBXbvk6cF7YbJ0q_MmJolJE2AnM7D4ZC2ZfTXDI/s320/Obsolete+1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Obsolete? Well, some books are indeed obsolete. Books that talk about the Soviet Union as if it still exists, for example. Atlases that show Czechoslovakia. Books that have scientific information that has since been proved incorrect, or for which new terminology has been agreed upon (e.g. Is Pluto a planet?)<br />
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But this was a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/One-Monday-Morning-Uri-Shulevitz/dp/0374456488/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506280181&sr=8-1&keywords=one+monday+morning" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">picture book</span></a>. A picture book about a child who is visited by a king and his royal entourage... which turns out to have all been in the child's imagination, piqued by a deck of playing cards. This book is not, and could never be, obsolete.<br />
<br />Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-91549250236496798122017-09-08T11:04:00.000-04:002017-09-08T11:04:30.177-04:00Tragedy Does Not RhymeWhen I came across <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Little-Chapel-that-Stood/dp/0932529771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504882787&sr=8-1&keywords=the+little+chapel+that+stood" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Little Chapel That Stood</span></a>, I was immediately taken in by the cover and the use of the survival of St. Paul's chapel on 9/11 as a framing device to teach children about what happened that day. I assumed that St. Paul would be used as a symbol of hope and resilience and that it would, like many books about horrific events, ease children into learning about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Number-Stars-Lois-Lowry/dp/0547577095/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504882887&sr=1-1&keywords=number+the+stars" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Number the Stars</span></a>, which teaches children about the Holocaust by focusing on the Resistance (like Mr. Rogers' reminder to look for the helpers), or several of the books I wrote about <a href="http://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2017/09/ldor-vador-from-generation-to-generation.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">here</span></a> which focus on lost loveys as a way to teach children about the Holocaust, I assumed that <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Little-Chapel-that-Stood/dp/0932529771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504882787&sr=8-1&keywords=the+little+chapel+that+stood" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Little Chapel That Stood</span></a> would be a paean to resistance and resilience.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5S_yAb0kBEU8Vc0pPFkEcAiG0iul1j0h9y9wkBJCxiQ1rewG5_UVDH88P2Lm9dO-DL2KKN9O9oEi0OwXSak0XkZpBHb4CGfiuQ1ATiWT9qj2hiQXxZAstDGeJzcTWNitpHYewxRhdNMg/s1600/Worst+911+book+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1426" data-original-width="1600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5S_yAb0kBEU8Vc0pPFkEcAiG0iul1j0h9y9wkBJCxiQ1rewG5_UVDH88P2Lm9dO-DL2KKN9O9oEi0OwXSak0XkZpBHb4CGfiuQ1ATiWT9qj2hiQXxZAstDGeJzcTWNitpHYewxRhdNMg/s320/Worst+911+book+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well, I shouldn't have judged a book by its cover.<br />
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Rhyming and tragedy do not go well together. Sure, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" rhymes, but A.B. Curtiss is no Tennyson. With lines like "Two planes hijaced by/ a terrorist crew/Struck the Twin Towers:/ no warning, no clue!" and "One Tower, the other/ they fell, fell, fell," this book is in extremely poor taste.Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-8449510309457615822017-09-05T11:32:00.003-04:002017-09-05T11:32:56.048-04:00L'dor Va'dor: From Generation to GenerationWhat would you take with you if you had to leave your home? What thing - an object, a recipe, even a story - have you inherited? What do you want to pass down to your descendants?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1Rs7Jgdl4ORGdygjLhtrym9zdAEYqP2qPeDgh8K-Az9OArKabFsAqTAqLXp4ohqhgSiaFLGsAPx6Xao-yIekt5M6ZmWQQoX-7sriZc9kyczitmWOpY6tzu-nZsF_TBPMZnFfPbpFriU/s1600/Miss+Bridie+All+the+Way+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1Rs7Jgdl4ORGdygjLhtrym9zdAEYqP2qPeDgh8K-Az9OArKabFsAqTAqLXp4ohqhgSiaFLGsAPx6Xao-yIekt5M6ZmWQQoX-7sriZc9kyczitmWOpY6tzu-nZsF_TBPMZnFfPbpFriU/s320/Miss+Bridie+All+the+Way+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHBkz0O8bgWyBv-eshuzShwD3Zo_YBdBDMGMg-ISSMdFOU-7Z_K8T8kd9NfFG2WXoshJufKSZIZfa9F2hJoWrZA0sf81KvLBGODhS40NhbYs_y6WL85nwymmvjxIddPPDFGOIzdZIZ3Q/s1600/This+is+the+Rope+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zGVw-pK6NyhH-jEZLAMhJkVkk9QOcfpIVWZiqbaiGDeBfi8jhug_PZRE9hGruTdvnmKDvSVzL5iV7thGUK5hA1al70aiSPxSpO61JDusmjZz35c4xEOabMKDAsbGxCL0qYNT_BjdmTQ/s1600/This+is+the+Rope+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1600" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0zGVw-pK6NyhH-jEZLAMhJkVkk9QOcfpIVWZiqbaiGDeBfi8jhug_PZRE9hGruTdvnmKDvSVzL5iV7thGUK5hA1al70aiSPxSpO61JDusmjZz35c4xEOabMKDAsbGxCL0qYNT_BjdmTQ/s200/This+is+the+Rope+1.jpg" width="200" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYHBkz0O8bgWyBv-eshuzShwD3Zo_YBdBDMGMg-ISSMdFOU-7Z_K8T8kd9NfFG2WXoshJufKSZIZfa9F2hJoWrZA0sf81KvLBGODhS40NhbYs_y6WL85nwymmvjxIddPPDFGOIzdZIZ3Q/s200/This+is+the+Rope+2.jpg" width="200" /></div>
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Maybe it's a shovel - like in Dan Yaccarino's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Way-America-Italian-Family/dp/0375859209/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500907322&sr=8-1&keywords=all+the+way+to+america" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and A Little Shovel</span></a> and Leslie Connor's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bridie-Chose-Shovel-Leslie-Connor/dp/0618305645/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500907371&sr=1-1&keywords=miss+bridie+chose+a+shovel" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Miss Bride Chose A Shovel</span></a> - which can be put to any number of uses, from the expected digging to the less predictable scooping flour and salting the sidewalk in advance of a snowstorm. Or a quilt as in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Quilt-Patricia-Polacco/dp/0689844476/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500928101&sr=8-1&keywords=the+keeping+quilt" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Keeping Quilt</span></a> by Patricia Polacco or a rope, as in Jacqueline Woodson's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/This-Rope-Story-Great-Migration/dp/0425288943/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500928198&sr=1-1&keywords=this+is+the+rope" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">This Is the Rope: A Story From the Great Migration</span></a>, both of which can also be used in myriad ways - the quilt becomes a chuppah (wedding canopy); the rope ties, and hauls, but also becomes a jump rope and the string for a pull-toy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIchsSoAUuY90cQc95YP3ISkaa7sdoseIetNJlat1BEjt015A19xUsXmxiif0sN3V4cfybIAprUUNhgkHzSNzk_jvrTTKrP5EpC3LGUjJUQRAmIRw6q5M9pZD40YEMBdCXzmVEFYOE1o/s1600/Chachaji%2527s+Cup+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1600" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIchsSoAUuY90cQc95YP3ISkaa7sdoseIetNJlat1BEjt015A19xUsXmxiif0sN3V4cfybIAprUUNhgkHzSNzk_jvrTTKrP5EpC3LGUjJUQRAmIRw6q5M9pZD40YEMBdCXzmVEFYOE1o/s320/Chachaji%2527s+Cup+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMtDAD0a_4RNk7I3A7QHWCKgCqrht1bok8kMw4RyVovojrEOonlCbvsPxbHUvFI21bMiw1bUDSf9b-ABg3N0RDK9HGQ51xYoOm2x0hyDy12osC8trJBiwTy_hyi-0DM7NDtJRH0vDWXQ/s1600/The+Blessing+Cup+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMtDAD0a_4RNk7I3A7QHWCKgCqrht1bok8kMw4RyVovojrEOonlCbvsPxbHUvFI21bMiw1bUDSf9b-ABg3N0RDK9HGQ51xYoOm2x0hyDy12osC8trJBiwTy_hyi-0DM7NDtJRH0vDWXQ/s200/The+Blessing+Cup+1.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Maybe it's a cup, broken but still whole, like in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chachajis-Cup-Uma-Krishnaswami/dp/0892391782/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500907428&sr=1-1&keywords=chachaji%27s+cup" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Chachaji's Cup</span></a> by Uma Krishnaswami (perhaps my very favorite of all the titles here), or Patricia Polacco's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Cup-Paula-Wiseman-Books/dp/1442450479/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500907465&sr=1-1&keywords=the+blessing+cup" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Blessing Cup</span></a>.<br />
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Or a precious doll or stuffed animal, perhaps lost forever as in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Hitler-Stole-Pink-Rabbit/dp/0142414085/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500907515&sr=1-1&keywords=when+hitler+stole+pink+rabbit" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit</span></a> by Judith Kerr, perhaps only thought forever lost and then found again, like Tomi Ungerer's teddy bear <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Otto-Autobiography-Teddy-Tomi-Ungerer/dp/0714857661/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500907571&sr=1-1&keywords=ungerer+otto" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Otto</span></a> or Claire Nivola's <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Elisabeth-Claire-Nivola/dp/0374320853/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500907617&sr=1-1&keywords=claire+nivola+elisabeth" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Elisabeth</span></a> </span>(all three of these involve WWII). Or a doll damaged and repaired, like Miki in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yokos-Show-Tell-Yoko-Book/dp/142311955X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500907714&sr=1-1&keywords=yoko%27s+show+and+tell" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Yoko's Show and Tell</span></a> or a teddy bear that could tell quite the story if only it could speak, like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Anzac-Ted-Belinda-Landsberry/dp/1921966564/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504541139&sr=8-1&keywords=anzac+ted" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Anzac Ted</span></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bear-War-Stephanie-Innes/dp/1927485126/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541172&sr=1-1&keywords=a+bear+in+war" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">A Bear in War</span></a> (both set during WWI) or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Titanic-Daisy-Corning-Spedden/dp/0316806250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541228&sr=1-1&keywords=polar+the+titanic+bear" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Polar the Titanic Bear</span></a> who journeyed on the ill-fated ship. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYRdDtQIBmLWgbkYCZygaKgdT5N85KSOp3MlEjJ0LHNVm7r4xh-nRj7hGp628FszGbQ5whAmDmtg3ncOU4hQNBiOAVbVil6hE08IQKZY-tv_rosBHnsn1fyy_vBVqTJV67cVOwozxMR0/s1600/Sabbath+Lamp+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1563" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYRdDtQIBmLWgbkYCZygaKgdT5N85KSOp3MlEjJ0LHNVm7r4xh-nRj7hGp628FszGbQ5whAmDmtg3ncOU4hQNBiOAVbVil6hE08IQKZY-tv_rosBHnsn1fyy_vBVqTJV67cVOwozxMR0/s200/Sabbath+Lamp+2.jpg" width="195" /></a><br />
What about something that your whole family had to bring, piece by piece, like Izzy and Olivia's ancestors did in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Under-Sabbath-Lamp-Michael-Herman/dp/1512408433/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500928315&sr=1-1&keywords=the+sabbath+lamp" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Under the Sabbath Lamp</span></a>?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaehS094MVR9JiS2yfoiNUkbnfH41zK_pJ6JMafzg_HgJZnl4UAY2G5vuDwp_1nm_G84A_u6LcPFm0TCX6PLskrkGsE2mn1QnTh5GTuOe7VDp510U_EA7AEAs7fXsdzVhgDyHCEHjqc8I/s1600/Seeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaehS094MVR9JiS2yfoiNUkbnfH41zK_pJ6JMafzg_HgJZnl4UAY2G5vuDwp_1nm_G84A_u6LcPFm0TCX6PLskrkGsE2mn1QnTh5GTuOe7VDp510U_EA7AEAs7fXsdzVhgDyHCEHjqc8I/s200/Seeds.jpg" width="200" /></a>Perhaps you'd bring with you a smell or taste of home, via seeds that you could plant in your new land. That's what Azzi does in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Azzi-Between-Sarah-Garland/dp/1847806511/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541285&sr=1-1&keywords=azzi+in+between" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Azzi in Between</span></a> and what the protagonists do in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Seeds-Mary-Watson/dp/0688141323/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541319&sr=1-4&keywords=the+butterfly+seeds" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Butterfly Seeds</span></a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6qWgRHcalZN2cOpTBs574rQLzmJDDY3Ouinatk3W_ziWyefzbw3y5M8YBX3k-saqsnrynqlaY4ih4i-e5ryR6li8x4YJYfIcb1g-7NVZhl1gUWINlicbJFVgybFZZgQDBdb0Shj9gc0/s1600/Jewelry+Heirlooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1155" data-original-width="1600" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6qWgRHcalZN2cOpTBs574rQLzmJDDY3Ouinatk3W_ziWyefzbw3y5M8YBX3k-saqsnrynqlaY4ih4i-e5ryR6li8x4YJYfIcb1g-7NVZhl1gUWINlicbJFVgybFZZgQDBdb0Shj9gc0/s320/Jewelry+Heirlooms.jpg" width="320" /></a>Or maybe you'd take a piece of jewelry, like the necklace in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Granddaughter-Necklace-Sharon-Dennis-Wyeth/dp/0545081254/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541505&sr=1-1&keywords=the+granddaughter+necklace" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Granddaughter Necklace</span></a> or the ring in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Jessie-Came-Across-Sea/dp/076361274X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541539&sr=1-1&keywords=when+jessie+came+across+the+sea" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">When Jessie Came Across the Sea</span></a>, or the bracelet in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yoon-Jade-Bracelet-Helen-Recorvits/dp/0374386897/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541581&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=yoon+and+the+joon+bracelet" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Yoon and the Jade Bracelet</span></a>? <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpuEUMYPef8ACMPGlsocMTRcyKf9Mm2uHNhnWt8fFV0ry0wd8m2occtf0aoPAM7reh78BricUEKmapAFypcRqnTBePzkq-0V67TeO5594eaazdizsQcX4G0z3vfHBzwR1Eb6Uf91fgAw/s1600/Small+Beauties+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1521" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpuEUMYPef8ACMPGlsocMTRcyKf9Mm2uHNhnWt8fFV0ry0wd8m2occtf0aoPAM7reh78BricUEKmapAFypcRqnTBePzkq-0V67TeO5594eaazdizsQcX4G0z3vfHBzwR1Eb6Uf91fgAw/s200/Small+Beauties+1.jpg" width="190" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFnfR4V6qOUmefV3XoTYHJuUh1yqK2YFxsv0oFceL32p5meAqoxmBwp8MSeqE3_E20GnkbkCPU20VKglTReZglnUSV51ToVP_CqLOQl5MeoUXnXfwAby5u5tIZMPuuuQA29DIYKeUfrs/s1600/Mendel%2527s+Accordion+18.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFnfR4V6qOUmefV3XoTYHJuUh1yqK2YFxsv0oFceL32p5meAqoxmBwp8MSeqE3_E20GnkbkCPU20VKglTReZglnUSV51ToVP_CqLOQl5MeoUXnXfwAby5u5tIZMPuuuQA29DIYKeUfrs/s200/Mendel%2527s+Accordion+18.JPG" width="150" /></a>Or a collection of small mementos, like an olive pit to remind you of hunger, or a single bead from a rosary, like those in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Matchbox-Diary-Paul-Fleischman/dp/0763676381/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541648&sr=1-1&keywords=the+matchbox+diary" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Matchbox Diary</span></a> or <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Small-Beauties-Journey-Darcy-Heart/dp/0375826866/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541677&sr=1-1&keywords=small+beauties" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Small Beauties: The Journey of Darcy Heart O'Hara</span></a>, </span><br />
<br />
Would you bring an instrument with you? <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mendels-Accordion/dp/B072BBG84D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504542035&sr=8-1&keywords=mendel%27s+accordion" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Mendel</span></a> did.<br />
<br />
Maybe something you left behind - or merely a remnant of it - was found and returned to you after you left, like the pillow in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Feather-Bed-Journey-Paula-Kurzband-Feder/dp/0807523305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504542431&sr=8-1&keywords=the+feather+bed+journey" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Feather-Bed Journey</span></a>.<br />
<br />
Or something you created under the worst conditions imaginable, like the menorah in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nine-Spoons-Chanukah-Marci-Stillerman/dp/0922613842/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504542204&sr=1-1&keywords=nine+spoons" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Nine Spoons: A Chanukah Story</span></a>?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizRUlM25EdHl6iPK3q1PLofmy_1lYHOEWpGFAg4ZR4H318JBhu4xoNJNhn-SNHvDkhUlzOHDXg6n1oq_C3bvtY9o_i2eArwczePCiiJ3eZNQfhF5UXecgqECIVUZsbi4tr-TNFqC8kL1E/s1600/Joseph+Had+a+Little+Overcoat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1600" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizRUlM25EdHl6iPK3q1PLofmy_1lYHOEWpGFAg4ZR4H318JBhu4xoNJNhn-SNHvDkhUlzOHDXg6n1oq_C3bvtY9o_i2eArwczePCiiJ3eZNQfhF5UXecgqECIVUZsbi4tr-TNFqC8kL1E/s320/Joseph+Had+a+Little+Overcoat.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbojGT7EfOstEEFx0z2CI5AeTYPyxjg-tSHYChaAJBin_kbjREkDb7YhbmOEJAlUAcQ4DdHKxz6D6ju4rxZWsw8p6WkFdKlqIn6iSQxJW4ZlvxRFYChg2gKMsOYTyND6TlDeOb2gigKzA/s1600/The+Cookie+That+Saved+My+Family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1537" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbojGT7EfOstEEFx0z2CI5AeTYPyxjg-tSHYChaAJBin_kbjREkDb7YhbmOEJAlUAcQ4DdHKxz6D6ju4rxZWsw8p6WkFdKlqIn6iSQxJW4ZlvxRFYChg2gKMsOYTyND6TlDeOb2gigKzA/s200/The+Cookie+That+Saved+My+Family.jpg" width="191" /></a>Or maybe you had to leave with nothing. Nothing tangible, that is. Instead, just the story of an item, recycled and reused until nothing is left but the memory of it, as in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Learned-Geography-Uri-Shulevitz/dp/0374334994/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504625461&sr=8-1&keywords=how+i+learned+geography" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">How I Learned Geography</span></a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Little-Overcoat-Caldecott-Medal/dp/0670878553/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504545512&sr=1-1&keywords=joseph+had+a+little+overcoat" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Joseph Had a Little Overcoat</span></a> and its many iterations (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Something-Nothing-Phoebe-Gilman/dp/0590472801/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504545559&sr=1-1&keywords=something+from+nothing" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Something from Nothing</span></a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mayas-Blanket-Manta-Monica-Brown/dp/0892392924/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504545594&sr=1-1&keywords=maya%27s+blanket" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Maya's Blanket: La Manta de Maya</span></a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Grandfathers-Coat-Jim-Aylesworth/dp/0439925452/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504545624&sr=1-1&keywords=my+grandfather%27s+coat" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">My Grandfather's Coat</span></a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bit-Steve-Sanfield/dp/0399227369/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504545678&sr=1-15&keywords=bit+by+bit" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Bit by Bit</span></a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Had-Favorite-Dress-Boni-Ashburn/dp/1419700162/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504545708&sr=1-1&keywords=i+had+a+favorite+dress" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">I Had A Favorite Dress</span></a>). Or not even a recipe on a worn, creased piece of paper, but one memorized, so no one could take it from you, as Bill Freund writes in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cookie-That-Saved-My-Family/dp/0984634673/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504545853&sr=1-1&keywords=the+cookie+that+saved+my+family" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Cookie That Saved My Family</span></a>, "Something you've learned can never be taken away."<br />
<br />
What would you bring? What did you or your ancestors bring? What do you want to pass down to your children?<br />
<br />Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-79304905224245178082017-08-27T09:29:00.003-04:002017-08-27T10:29:55.792-04:00HalleluYAH! HalleluYAH!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrxioVZlAKmKipTGVI7LwBP9WRb6_MHBMTuzOF6esrU3ovQXai372Xp9ZD9zNUkgUT0klUcSSa8YYctEOTX_F3ydqze0u_NdZJW3Fz19Z_UdD8i00rNMhkyFe8obxKmKzi7Cwbwp0DOg/s1600/Jeremy+Fink+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrxioVZlAKmKipTGVI7LwBP9WRb6_MHBMTuzOF6esrU3ovQXai372Xp9ZD9zNUkgUT0klUcSSa8YYctEOTX_F3ydqze0u_NdZJW3Fz19Z_UdD8i00rNMhkyFe8obxKmKzi7Cwbwp0DOg/s320/Jeremy+Fink+4.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZhxRaN9OWCcEAFqM7Vt3zQSSpQCXvfU0DhvsBpkFHEMxx6e-o__B1R-QZmd3AkjwQieRfA3VWtYS-IEKHimRTcqKynrzdovPa9uW_QMyR5rIH1Y9RVnycCP_Vyr8NWkZU1k8BFj3X-8/s1600/Jeremy+Fink+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZhxRaN9OWCcEAFqM7Vt3zQSSpQCXvfU0DhvsBpkFHEMxx6e-o__B1R-QZmd3AkjwQieRfA3VWtYS-IEKHimRTcqKynrzdovPa9uW_QMyR5rIH1Y9RVnycCP_Vyr8NWkZU1k8BFj3X-8/s200/Jeremy+Fink+3.JPG" width="150" /></a>After my last post about books set in NYC, I picked up another book I'd been meaning to read, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-Fink-Meaning-Life-Wendy/dp/0316058491/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503840411&sr=8-1&keywords=jeremy+fink" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life</span></a>, only to discover it too was set in New York. But it got the details wrong and those mistakes nearly ruined the book for me. True, the protagonist is a bit of an anxious kid, afraid to travel by himself in the city. But certainly he's traveled with his mom! My kids - and all those I know - know to use a Metrocard on the bus and to signal for their stop! (In fact, NYC kids, from toddlerhood, beg to be the one to ring for their stop. It's kind of like pressing the elevator button.) All New York kids, except the most sheltered and wealthy, which Jeremy and his friend Lizzie clearly are not, would know these things. Despite an appearance by the Museum of Natural History, this book could have been set anywhere. Those two facts make it ineligible for my next books-set-in-NYC post. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERyNLSZ5wNlNIav3EWpvuLXOmIoh2m-h4BMcL7gRa56jGJYwm5fozrQ9W7wED3dFN7qe94jsn_pGH5Nv4SxXh4qbMHE7vxbumBXweKtVc-9Y_Np_kFqpQz5qanle-C-xFqS2d6b1Htk4/s1600/Halleluyah+Guy+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERyNLSZ5wNlNIav3EWpvuLXOmIoh2m-h4BMcL7gRa56jGJYwm5fozrQ9W7wED3dFN7qe94jsn_pGH5Nv4SxXh4qbMHE7vxbumBXweKtVc-9Y_Np_kFqpQz5qanle-C-xFqS2d6b1Htk4/s320/Halleluyah+Guy+2.JPG" width="240" /></a>Days later, a friend posted a photo of a page from Rachel Vail's book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Well-That-Awkward-Rachel-Vail/dp/0670013080/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503840469&sr=1-1&keywords=that+was+awkward" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Well, That Was Awkward</span></a> on Facebook, in which the characters hear the "Halleluyah Guy" (a real, older man who walks the streets of the Upper West Side from approximately 100th to 110th St. shouting, "Glor-EE! Glor-EE! Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. HalleluYAH! HalleluYAH!" and are relieved that he is well since they haven't heard him in a while. The Facebook thread blew up with current and former Upper West Siders sharing their reminiscences about Halleluyah Guy and, just like the characters, sharing their concerns about whether he was still with us, until one commenter finally said she'd heard him recently. Now THAT'S authenticity for you. <br />
<br />
So I picked up the book, and on nearly every page was a reference to my neighborhood. I drove my husband nuts by telling him about every mention of our local pizza place, bakery, bagel shop. I started to wonder if the book was <i>too</i> authentic - too specific to a time and place to be universal. (It's <i>really</i> specific. Only people who lived between 96th St. and 112th St. and Amsterdam Avenue to Riverside knew what we were talking about. Upper West Siders who live in the 70s had no idea.) But it's not. It's really about relationships - familial, platonic, and romantic. It manages the trick of being both universal and specific, and its authenticity and accuracy have earned it a place on my next list of New York city books.<br />
<br />
What errors in a book ruined or almost ruined a book for you?Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-63349751298202694672017-07-24T09:47:00.001-04:002017-07-25T16:13:51.312-04:00New and New to Me New York BooksThere must be more books written about and/or set in New York than any other city in the world. London might come close, Paris should be up there, but New York has to be the winner, don't you think? I have absolutely no evidence to back up this claim, but it's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Here are some of them:<br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Picture Books</u></b><br />
<br />
<b><i>New</i></b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnpJ0Qb8ZNUXXf5UpalcyCSAPMW4iXP0qYbxQ3gwGDWRg2ZOHrFK6-k173Zpf4x2mKLlTMS9Vknz7OLOO4RSLBNhclLFhk56682GaMRkgxapG4RF1WFvk_u_gXnTp87wJVkjmKaCDyo6k/s1600/Stop+Feedin%2527+Da+Boids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnpJ0Qb8ZNUXXf5UpalcyCSAPMW4iXP0qYbxQ3gwGDWRg2ZOHrFK6-k173Zpf4x2mKLlTMS9Vknz7OLOO4RSLBNhclLFhk56682GaMRkgxapG4RF1WFvk_u_gXnTp87wJVkjmKaCDyo6k/s320/Stop+Feedin%2527+Da+Boids.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Feedin-Boids-James-Sage/dp/1771386134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499796408&sr=8-1&keywords=stop+feedin%27+da+boids" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Stop Feedin' Da Boids</span></a> </span>by James Sage, illustrated by Pierre Pratt<span style="color: magenta;">. </span> I wanted to love this book. I love the title, resuscitating as it does a nearly-gone New York accent. The first full double-page spread by illustrator Pierre Pratt of a scene in Brooklyn with the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance is perfection. With its bright colors and its diversity of Brooklyn residents - a Hasid, a man in a wheelchair, a Muslim, a dogwalker, a skateboarder - it's both visually beautiful and so evocative of its setting. And it's resurrection of the classic New York accent - perfect. But the plot is lacking. Swand, having moved from the country, is eager to find any signs of nature in New York. But soon her building is overrun with pigeons - and their noise and filth - due to her feeding them. The solution is obvious: stop feedin' da boids! But it takes far too many pages to get there and the journey is not worth it. Nonetheless, this book prompted me to check out Pratt's other work. He's prolific, and I'd never heard of him before.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje7pO_Rwq32kJBkHA_RUyATRNqFZCmMmKMGXhKEBfefLOMQPcibvpopJOnT4vwgwMZ0lmmUEv8AK8jgyrs7XsAggKe3NgHE25BC-GmhCdsXl6wHC5XYWQq4gAjeM5PCvIA5s8Cx9DPG3U/s1600/Pax+and+Blue+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1123" data-original-width="1600" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje7pO_Rwq32kJBkHA_RUyATRNqFZCmMmKMGXhKEBfefLOMQPcibvpopJOnT4vwgwMZ0lmmUEv8AK8jgyrs7XsAggKe3NgHE25BC-GmhCdsXl6wHC5XYWQq4gAjeM5PCvIA5s8Cx9DPG3U/s200/Pax+and+Blue+1.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DkL1og7Wlz38CaEuQn-n6xYGLW0TSg-lD6aVUxWV5SoxYerWNc5HBbUd0Jr8bIrTYnzJcG64GA4qqL3edidi5A6FEAZ6sE_Oo2C4qxT-Ii5Ko0xCXUuX1eSIvSGND2B1Eg_u98s3Uzo/s1600/Pax+and+Blue+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DkL1og7Wlz38CaEuQn-n6xYGLW0TSg-lD6aVUxWV5SoxYerWNc5HBbUd0Jr8bIrTYnzJcG64GA4qqL3edidi5A6FEAZ6sE_Oo2C4qxT-Ii5Ko0xCXUuX1eSIvSGND2B1Eg_u98s3Uzo/s200/Pax+and+Blue+2.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><br />
<span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pax-Blue-Lori-Richmond/dp/1481451324/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499796571&sr=8-1&keywords=pax+and+blue" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Pax and Blue</span></a> </span><span style="color: magenta;">by Lori Richmond. </span>Another pigeon book. This time, a pigeon ends up in the subway. Sweet but not saccharine, with more great NYC illustrations, including subway illustrations. I love how only the title character is in color.<br />
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<b><i>New to Me</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rosa-too-little-Sue-Felt-Kerr/dp/B0007DKHR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499801319&sr=8-1&keywords=rosa+too+little" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Rosa-Too-Little</span></a>, written and illustrated by Sue Felt. One of my newly discovered finds, this book, published in 1950, is set uptown, seemingly in Spanish Harlem and features the local library branch. So of course I love it! The street scene art is fantastic. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jx9m-8el7Lx3yRfom5YS00_qPO9lyeSbPZkNqkc66yQTFI4olZdlubAcTPmwFSdpeRE9tlpJ7S7h3mKz74btINMDee8kD-dPvee7Pt3klZCEGlOgYoH3CQ3AXntxd41anLg2gCBvpfE/s1600/Rosa-Too-Little+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0jx9m-8el7Lx3yRfom5YS00_qPO9lyeSbPZkNqkc66yQTFI4olZdlubAcTPmwFSdpeRE9tlpJ7S7h3mKz74btINMDee8kD-dPvee7Pt3klZCEGlOgYoH3CQ3AXntxd41anLg2gCBvpfE/s320/Rosa-Too-Little+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszZE_0IlB1LSvzqQq1OkrEI52D7YaidW3j_7C4cB1d15OTfL3h1zTzUHKPsr37VbpSZQJ6p3kiY5HgfUo16FTVil7MU-mHHGjZS4EREFw0n3O9KlUV2Lm2vaiOfUJxbMNb7PqNtRadw4/s1600/One+Monday+Morning+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszZE_0IlB1LSvzqQq1OkrEI52D7YaidW3j_7C4cB1d15OTfL3h1zTzUHKPsr37VbpSZQJ6p3kiY5HgfUo16FTVil7MU-mHHGjZS4EREFw0n3O9KlUV2Lm2vaiOfUJxbMNb7PqNtRadw4/s200/One+Monday+Morning+2.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q4Oxq-8VfyAlmqCM8Ff-5qVwt_rMNHCYaKmA3qLAYSyjWXDfLsqdIH9Gi2xbi14mrxkufqAzvxn42sYVbfzeLCQlNTxog2NOLmbWqYLU_G5KLtF-7vWLXhWTpsd-Sk-DU0d8vcJbS34/s1600/One+Monday+Morning+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q4Oxq-8VfyAlmqCM8Ff-5qVwt_rMNHCYaKmA3qLAYSyjWXDfLsqdIH9Gi2xbi14mrxkufqAzvxn42sYVbfzeLCQlNTxog2NOLmbWqYLU_G5KLtF-7vWLXhWTpsd-Sk-DU0d8vcJbS34/s200/One+Monday+Morning+1.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/One-Monday-Morning-Uri-Shulevitz/dp/0374456488/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499801198&sr=8-1&keywords=one+monday+morning" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">One Monday Morning</span></a> by Uri Shulevitz. A little boy who lives in a tenement building and takes the D train finds a way to amuse himself on a rainy day. While the street sign is not easy to read, I'm pretty sure it says Broome Street.<br />
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<b><u>Chapter Books</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hAF1RDz6NiXKYvocEuL80QQS5ECmLb3-QVoKCf7oFjUQp0Ls1Jd6WLGuOIt13tlGdvoH2K3O8783l7SMMg_DjcfwPcYC7t0GXQ59KySzxa24RUBCi7U4KX51lWjUQYX8_1MR2WfoKmM/s1600/NYC+chapter+books+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hAF1RDz6NiXKYvocEuL80QQS5ECmLb3-QVoKCf7oFjUQp0Ls1Jd6WLGuOIt13tlGdvoH2K3O8783l7SMMg_DjcfwPcYC7t0GXQ59KySzxa24RUBCi7U4KX51lWjUQYX8_1MR2WfoKmM/s320/NYC+chapter+books+2.jpg" width="301" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ls7p8YdqKHdrBxNCxRh9KGquLNbX8JvVG4-_cyZV2sochxk70q9TlMuJK5OE-LPg0SG19pZXXU4QWFPWr-aSY2VT514wtJC4jupfKH4cIcty5WVjHKGKisaxYkG8XfZYoGx4inzCb7g/s1600/The+Goat+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1150" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Ls7p8YdqKHdrBxNCxRh9KGquLNbX8JvVG4-_cyZV2sochxk70q9TlMuJK5OE-LPg0SG19pZXXU4QWFPWr-aSY2VT514wtJC4jupfKH4cIcty5WVjHKGKisaxYkG8XfZYoGx4inzCb7g/s200/The+Goat+cover.jpg" width="143" /></a><br />
<b><i>New</i></b><br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Goat-Anne-Fleming/dp/1554989167/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499796835&sr=8-1&keywords=the+goat+anne+fleming" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Goat</span></a> </span>by Anne Fleming. I wrote about this one <a href="http://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2017/05/and-2018-newbery-goes-to.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">here</span></a>. Love it. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKbf5wCPvaVZEHynT7dh8cO5kv5rIud7iKDw8EX9sgqSAkqYWsHwZFFQeLRhuOfJAGRnseJzxszsh-je0iPNaELw3wKmlKo88Pypc6ADbLJZOfOS_66I-wweus-7avKppu9iGngrZ2Zw/s1600/The+Doorman%2527s+Repose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="942" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWKbf5wCPvaVZEHynT7dh8cO5kv5rIud7iKDw8EX9sgqSAkqYWsHwZFFQeLRhuOfJAGRnseJzxszsh-je0iPNaELw3wKmlKo88Pypc6ADbLJZOfOS_66I-wweus-7avKppu9iGngrZ2Zw/s200/The+Doorman%2527s+Repose.jpg" width="117" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Same-Sun-Here-Silas-House/dp/0763664510/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499799943&sr=8-1&keywords=same+sun+here" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Doorman's Repose</span></a>, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka. This volume of interconnected stories set in a single apartment building, 777 Garden Avenue, a fictional short street that I imagine something like Claremont or Manhattan Avenue, is just so good. From the doorman (think of Henry, featured in Judy Blume's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJDHJZU/ref=sr_es_i_1_1_vsp_B00CJDHJZU&qid=1499800547&sr=8-1&keywords=fudge%20judy%20blume" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Fudge books</span></a>, but with more gravitas), the elevator (Otis, naturally), the cranky busybody (recalling Mrs. Mind-Your-Own-Business of Johanna Hurwitz's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJDHJZU/ref=sr_es_i_1_1_vsp_B00CJDHJZU&qid=1499800547&sr=8-1&keywords=fudge%20judy%20blume" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Riverside Kids</span> </a>series), the local mice (one a psychiatrist (this must be the Upper West Side), who has learned her specialty by residing in the tissue box of her human equivalent, and a jazz musician, who has learned his art by living in a double bass), the super (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CJ71HM2/ref=sr_es_i_1_1_vsp_B00CJ71HM2&qid=1499800694&sr=8-1&keywords=clementine%20pennypacker" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Clementine's</span></a> dad?), this book gives life to some of the "eight million stories" in the city. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleLjvifuS0h5PiVTnlI8ARBbAqUenjVB1UwffHCSoIeBvAhZlaTkYNgdyrP3IuaMj27YRnvVeIIfEznJQuha_4uCcfLrOY_aTLuRRLRyDkocaNOtNJXdiaa3gSljhEsDjYDkB8iR3GWw/s1600/Lucky+Broken+Girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1208" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhleLjvifuS0h5PiVTnlI8ARBbAqUenjVB1UwffHCSoIeBvAhZlaTkYNgdyrP3IuaMj27YRnvVeIIfEznJQuha_4uCcfLrOY_aTLuRRLRyDkocaNOtNJXdiaa3gSljhEsDjYDkB8iR3GWw/s200/Lucky+Broken+Girl.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Broken-Girl-Ruth-Behar/dp/0399546448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499799466&sr=8-1&keywords=lucky+broken+girl" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Lucky Broken Girl</span></a> by Ruth Behar. In this semi-autobiographical novel, a Cuban Jewish immigrant girl to oft-literarily-neglected Queens is bedridden for a year after a car accident, and learns who her friends really are. (Other books set in Queens include <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gina-Bernard-Waber/dp/039574279X/ref=sr_1_32?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500466981&sr=1-32&keywords=waber" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Gina</span></a> </span>by Bernard Waber (picture book), <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Twerp-Mark-Goldblatt/dp/0375971459/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500467087&sr=1-1&keywords=twerp+goldblatt" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Twerp</span></a> and its sequel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Worm-Twerp-Sequel-Goldblatt/dp/0385391110/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500467087&sr=1-2&keywords=twerp+goldblatt" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Finding the Worm</span></a> by Mark Goldblatt, and, in YA, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Baby-Meg-Medina/dp/0763674672/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500467160&sr=1-1&keywords=burn+baby+burn" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Burn Baby Burn</span></a> by Meg Medina.) <br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apartment-1986-Lisa-Papademetriou/dp/0062371088/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499800153&sr=8-1&keywords=apartment+1986" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Apartment 1986</span></a> by Lisa Papademetriou. Another book I wanted to like more than I did. Callie skips school one day, but playing hooky suddenly becomes a habit she can't break. Add in parents who are acting strangely, financial fraud, and a grandmother with a secret boyfriend, plus a friend facing a debilitating illness, and it all seemed a bit much to me. <br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apartment-1986-Lisa-Papademetriou/dp/0062371088/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499800153&sr=8-1&keywords=apartment+1986" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">York: The Shadow Cipher</span></a> </span><span style="color: magenta;">by Laura Ruby</span><span style="color: magenta;">. </span><span style="color: magenta;"> </span><span style="color: magenta;">Set in a present-day but alternate NYC, where the subways are immaculate and never break down. On second thought, maybe it's not just an alternate NYC but a fantasy NYC. </span>I just started reading this aloud to my 9-year-old. I'll keep you posted!<br />
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<b><i>New to Me</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGOBxBgbtI0QBoob8kl29QPwYDhbLDT8yA0vPEhN_ZgRxiUC7fTWrN5xn-TNrNveJ9IKjD4E-6fva7sbLoI8K1U4G9SeM4MNBhXnDWGrTcKskYep59ysWqDjGTb_2KIBZGIl79x6LMkw/s1600/Stoneflight+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1022" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGOBxBgbtI0QBoob8kl29QPwYDhbLDT8yA0vPEhN_ZgRxiUC7fTWrN5xn-TNrNveJ9IKjD4E-6fva7sbLoI8K1U4G9SeM4MNBhXnDWGrTcKskYep59ysWqDjGTb_2KIBZGIl79x6LMkw/s320/Stoneflight+1.jpg" width="204" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Stoneflight-Georgess-McHargue/dp/067067107X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499799757&sr=8-1&keywords=stoneflight" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Stoneflight</span></a> by Georgess McHargue. Janie is stuck in the city for the summer. Her parents are preoccupied with their jobs and their faltering marriage. She takes refuge in her Morningside Height's building's rooftop, where she, by force of will (heart?) brings the stone carved griffin that stands atop it to life. With scenes at the local library branch, the main 42nd street building, and a "vacation" in her uncle's Upper East Side townhouse, combined with flights on the griffin over Manhattan, I don't understand how this book has ever gone out of print. It's similarities to the recent adult book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gargoyle-Hunters-John-Freeman-Gill/dp/1101946881/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499799895&sr=8-1&keywords=the+gargoyle+hunters" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Gargoyle Hunters</span></a> (preteen protagonist named - you guessed it, Griffin - whose parents' marriage is on the rocks) makes me wonder whether that book's author read <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Stoneflight-Georgess-McHargue/dp/067067107X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499799757&sr=8-1&keywords=stoneflight" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Stoneflight</span></a> </span>before he wrote his book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFUgoQrC7vA9bdUNwXJ_Gn6KcUH6PR1wZ1O8-98E_xAuWWjDlKej041c08zAJUJL-0yB3aE93mkv0bhInXvPkMxo5zit5QOljByEHbHLv8r-4ZTHBBKOIH2u6nfFW9C8vilMhKWhcg0I/s1600/Same+Sun+Here.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1201" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFUgoQrC7vA9bdUNwXJ_Gn6KcUH6PR1wZ1O8-98E_xAuWWjDlKej041c08zAJUJL-0yB3aE93mkv0bhInXvPkMxo5zit5QOljByEHbHLv8r-4ZTHBBKOIH2u6nfFW9C8vilMhKWhcg0I/s200/Same+Sun+Here.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Same-Sun-Here-Silas-House/dp/0763664510/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499799943&sr=8-1&keywords=same+sun+here" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Same Sun Here</span></a> by Silas House and Neela Vaswani. I grew up on the Lower East Side and I knew that this book featured letters between from a girl living there and a penpal in Kentucky. And yet even I was set around the turn or beginning of the last century, in the Lower East Side's heyday, as if real, young people don't live there anymore. Of course, I was wrong. Written in 2008 and set contemporaneously, this epistolary novel features Meena, a young Indian immigrant, on the LES, and River, a young boy who lives in Kentucky. Meena has only recently rejoined her family in NYC from India after her parents and brother finally had enough money to pay for her to rejoin them. While the book deals with many of the issues you would expect - feelings of abandonment, homesickness - it also addresses body image (Meena writes to River about shaving her legs, which he is not pleased about, and her brother is the person who teaches her how), interracial relationships (her brother's girlfriend is Latina) and a sibling relationship that seems a little too good to be true. And on River's side, the focus is on the environmental disaster of mountaintop removal done to facilitate coal mining. The two bond over the stereotypes that both of them face but the book never seems preachy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqX7pNgWkTTYcUDuIsRm2JZ65XimCQ4XNQyKbDwAG2Crw_2KkoFcFHGrV-Qb4efDU2tNQn_sCbbwmCiVGnAbFyYsJNhbRvb_C50JDbqRZ9r5WWKbopaiH1rvnbH0plsZBLkmsDigIShAY/s1600/Wizard+of+Washington+Square+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqX7pNgWkTTYcUDuIsRm2JZ65XimCQ4XNQyKbDwAG2Crw_2KkoFcFHGrV-Qb4efDU2tNQn_sCbbwmCiVGnAbFyYsJNhbRvb_C50JDbqRZ9r5WWKbopaiH1rvnbH0plsZBLkmsDigIShAY/s320/Wizard+of+Washington+Square+3.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPcNlKZ3pub8Py65UG-ZuiwELSZZMZSDjxnQY73bLu9Fo3lZPQCCnxJZdMwWYSv7JKNe1bMv-QwVvu0MewlLSFkLnafYcD7Nl-kHt0ExgFjh7s3hHNnmYohjEYMirAJf1PSjq22OE1N0/s1600/Wizard+of+Washington+Square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPcNlKZ3pub8Py65UG-ZuiwELSZZMZSDjxnQY73bLu9Fo3lZPQCCnxJZdMwWYSv7JKNe1bMv-QwVvu0MewlLSFkLnafYcD7Nl-kHt0ExgFjh7s3hHNnmYohjEYMirAJf1PSjq22OE1N0/s200/Wizard+of+Washington+Square.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Washington-Square-Jane-Yolen/dp/B0006DXEWM/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1499800041&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Wizard of Washington Square</span></a> by Jane Yolen. David, new to NYC, meets the Wizard of Washington Square. I have one quibble with this book. The boy's dog goes missing and his parents don't notice?!? But it makes up for it with great descriptions of Washington Square Park in the late '60s, with people signing petitions without reading them, everyone having long hair, and a reference to the IRT (subway). And do those illustrations look familiar? Why, yes they do. Do they perhaps remind you of a boy who's having a bad day? A terrible day? A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? They should! Ray Cruz is indeed the illustrator here.<br />
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What are your favorite new or lesser known children's books set in New York?<br />
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<br />Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-85861422800369200082017-06-04T16:27:00.001-04:002017-06-04T16:27:43.671-04:00Alphabet Books, Collected (ABC)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXXbwEa9zqErmzNmbUEYFNwKyNgrljKo0C81zwjYZDosKAVh4bYQOzjlFjr2LWIKSR77Vg1EDtSBiSUmmFm7z7Xv4xf1e7EKkSEfKyz63yzLGJJHzfcO2PZFns0K9i8yfGxO4veiaxvA/s1600/Apple+Pie+ABC+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeXXbwEa9zqErmzNmbUEYFNwKyNgrljKo0C81zwjYZDosKAVh4bYQOzjlFjr2LWIKSR77Vg1EDtSBiSUmmFm7z7Xv4xf1e7EKkSEfKyz63yzLGJJHzfcO2PZFns0K9i8yfGxO4veiaxvA/s200/Apple+Pie+ABC+2.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIG-WfZhMDMdIHWDJXd389yJZv5AZQ26OuoTbyGmnuw00Qsix9FO5ZgMHw4yNO5-lAEpg1ZeQh23hUU9KD1iu6Nu7FbJgtwzZjmRfkepo6u2U9yB6s9pHns-0lbvGAGm_k_Z6KoIZ9Sks/s1600/Apple+Pie+ABC+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIG-WfZhMDMdIHWDJXd389yJZv5AZQ26OuoTbyGmnuw00Qsix9FO5ZgMHw4yNO5-lAEpg1ZeQh23hUU9KD1iu6Nu7FbJgtwzZjmRfkepo6u2U9yB6s9pHns-0lbvGAGm_k_Z6KoIZ9Sks/s200/Apple+Pie+ABC+1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
In an <a href="http://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2012/03/library-round-up-4.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">earlier post</span></a>, I claimed that Alison Murray's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pie-ABC-Alison-Murray/dp/1423166299/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494462022&sr=8-1&keywords=apple+pie+abc" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Apple Pie ABC</span></a> was the only alphabet book that told a story through words in alphabetical order. In that book, a mischievous dog is tempted by the apple pie cooling on the table.<br />
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Well, I have been proven wrong by the relatively recent <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Oops-Pounce-Quick-Run-Alphabet/dp/0062377000" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run!</span></a> by Mike Twohy which also tells the story of a dog, this time one whose beloved ball rolls into a mousehole.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv_YspLzOBS4ICZMsQg1NTs_dxerY8e1xj9J1QrL5QkVyGs66DbsLqMcuWQRW6q3I7O4PbkxDtJxg9Bno0Bb5Shgj9sGoAX7IXe1_w3xm0m1ja2a6HFEqavT0XDdwUs1qzdVW3orSp7g/s1600/Oops+Pounce+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv_YspLzOBS4ICZMsQg1NTs_dxerY8e1xj9J1QrL5QkVyGs66DbsLqMcuWQRW6q3I7O4PbkxDtJxg9Bno0Bb5Shgj9sGoAX7IXe1_w3xm0m1ja2a6HFEqavT0XDdwUs1qzdVW3orSp7g/s200/Oops+Pounce+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWL3mIC56jpyUFJmKBov7qbQcNORDk7e3jOP2fiAsQvV0dyZyyO8Kbe5Q9XXzMPPv-1XM4LBjhYrWEw5c5CJrZxthtCh6LB9zhtV4LORs0XaufxHjCEkeIEeDR_QCxV68t2vFmArZGpm8/s1600/Oops+Pounce+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWL3mIC56jpyUFJmKBov7qbQcNORDk7e3jOP2fiAsQvV0dyZyyO8Kbe5Q9XXzMPPv-1XM4LBjhYrWEw5c5CJrZxthtCh6LB9zhtV4LORs0XaufxHjCEkeIEeDR_QCxV68t2vFmArZGpm8/s320/Oops+Pounce+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBHAD-dX2XVKYRoVxnVaSTWfSl6wOqi4umSqyXW43OoCSuJpPpytikJyEq28Yvdhxj1AZ9vhomxULYoAHOvy68SvArrm1Ru8lzdt5Uig6-VrcI6Ip5NTZAKI3DV47GdQJ_L0Y33Q9rEc/s1600/Oops+Pounce+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBHAD-dX2XVKYRoVxnVaSTWfSl6wOqi4umSqyXW43OoCSuJpPpytikJyEq28Yvdhxj1AZ9vhomxULYoAHOvy68SvArrm1Ru8lzdt5Uig6-VrcI6Ip5NTZAKI3DV47GdQJ_L0Y33Q9rEc/s200/Oops+Pounce+5.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpk2da8n_rpQBomztXZbtFWOmti8XlBPqCSqD3fOCGAyGeOfBlh8KxFPFH-HGuKNleYAOncX51uLMLax5YCRLBHqBIS7Wt5zd2Qf5uOkXYBD086DXSztUnRhHIctn8jaytm2R6TqeQM8/s1600/Old+Black+Fly+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpk2da8n_rpQBomztXZbtFWOmti8XlBPqCSqD3fOCGAyGeOfBlh8KxFPFH-HGuKNleYAOncX51uLMLax5YCRLBHqBIS7Wt5zd2Qf5uOkXYBD086DXSztUnRhHIctn8jaytm2R6TqeQM8/s320/Old+Black+Fly+3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpk2da8n_rpQBomztXZbtFWOmti8XlBPqCSqD3fOCGAyGeOfBlh8KxFPFH-HGuKNleYAOncX51uLMLax5YCRLBHqBIS7Wt5zd2Qf5uOkXYBD086DXSztUnRhHIctn8jaytm2R6TqeQM8/s1600/Old+Black+Fly+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrdO5tWGQQI1gmW_tVRt3zKTgVsasQrAapbM8FA26djYUGFyLKIyYrjtkk5kp4FNrssKLeq1P8of6rzL7pxJIPs2bQLFb9wHY-kM1MVUllc8XeE6Zq4zS8FMPGHUsqkbiw0gEsjK-58E/s1600/Old+Black+Fly+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrdO5tWGQQI1gmW_tVRt3zKTgVsasQrAapbM8FA26djYUGFyLKIyYrjtkk5kp4FNrssKLeq1P8of6rzL7pxJIPs2bQLFb9wHY-kM1MVUllc8XeE6Zq4zS8FMPGHUsqkbiw0gEsjK-58E/s200/Old+Black+Fly+1.jpg" width="170" /></a><br />
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And then I stumbled upon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Old-Black-Fly-Jim-Aylesworth/dp/0805039244/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494462316&sr=1-1&keywords=old+black+fly" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Old Black Fly</span></a> by Jim Aylesworth, which uses a simlar format. He tells the story of a black fly alighting on different objects or irritating various people which start with each letter of the alphabet in order. Those letters are in a different color, literally highlighted on the page. With stunning, splattery, and very funny art by Stephen Gammell, as well as a gory, satisfying ending, this one's a winner. My kindergarteners sat open-mouthed (really!) while they listened to it. <br />
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I'm also looking forward to the publication of <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0316502464/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_17?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC's (the Hard Way)</span></a> in September. It looks like a nice addition to the genre.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtIJNFFdJvCubHKcNozRJq3XfiolPEeQcpRNdRu9AYZEZ2Yfkx28YxmS24k5wqWtVcqIFTkcKJwFr2wHefTsq-7HNRaXaz2TZbZLRmhdfIemiTFQ7jxgv4kGlVYABevuVpuDZjHF6ydY/s1600/Alphabet+Tale+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtIJNFFdJvCubHKcNozRJq3XfiolPEeQcpRNdRu9AYZEZ2Yfkx28YxmS24k5wqWtVcqIFTkcKJwFr2wHefTsq-7HNRaXaz2TZbZLRmhdfIemiTFQ7jxgv4kGlVYABevuVpuDZjHF6ydY/s200/Alphabet+Tale+3.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLBilwbEtanPRPOmDIrE6BAd7N9dt-TjA6kwQtimICT2m5a_6ZAOXMeY-eZ_3mJfn-DMdJMu8AjnCRYN_SDWUcsp5ua-yB2MxluC8IOMmih6zPsuGxjdtaQGOKhrK12acwH97nV8lmjU/s1600/Alphabet+Tale+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLBilwbEtanPRPOmDIrE6BAd7N9dt-TjA6kwQtimICT2m5a_6ZAOXMeY-eZ_3mJfn-DMdJMu8AjnCRYN_SDWUcsp5ua-yB2MxluC8IOMmih6zPsuGxjdtaQGOKhrK12acwH97nV8lmjU/s200/Alphabet+Tale+1.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj202XFV5GIDdCKKkyu5YAdzf82MYlOENAYcOhV970wDyCdWHdu3shbH08W6Z4E_gwcTbxbhSOBge5qG4uLocgLQBLxptDXN6HXaZ1kA3LynHpcJ-Dm-78YDT4Be0Ov3qR-L3i3w6ijb-Q/s1600/Alphabet+Tale+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj202XFV5GIDdCKKkyu5YAdzf82MYlOENAYcOhV970wDyCdWHdu3shbH08W6Z4E_gwcTbxbhSOBge5qG4uLocgLQBLxptDXN6HXaZ1kA3LynHpcJ-Dm-78YDT4Be0Ov3qR-L3i3w6ijb-Q/s200/Alphabet+Tale+2.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Another serendipitous discovery, found among the animal books, is Jan Garten's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Alphabet-Tale-Jan-Garten/dp/0688127029/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494462391&sr=1-1&keywords=alphabet+tale" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Alphabet Tale</span></a>, this 1964 book is still fresh and appealing with delightful illustrations by Muriel Batherman. Each recto (right-hand page) shows an animal tail, with a clue in rhyming verse. On the following page, the last word of the rhyme names the animal the tail belongs to and shows the animal in full. Rhyming intelligent and elephant and bottomless and hippopotamus are, in my opinion, strokes of genius.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBZn7hCgypZHvlPcrMJjJ3yXA3SC0y2fOiM2YPW6iAX_Bi8dffLdCJis740zy_rSlg1Dr3Thd6Cu-ChFTH5vV50yPnBJEDxoYRsSAiTqvvXyxwe8np4yDTaICQNoLFSq-JgNXjTdfMoo/s1600/Tomorrow%2527s+Alphabet+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBZn7hCgypZHvlPcrMJjJ3yXA3SC0y2fOiM2YPW6iAX_Bi8dffLdCJis740zy_rSlg1Dr3Thd6Cu-ChFTH5vV50yPnBJEDxoYRsSAiTqvvXyxwe8np4yDTaICQNoLFSq-JgNXjTdfMoo/s320/Tomorrow%2527s+Alphabet+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrows-Alphabet-Mulberry-George-Shannon/dp/0688164242/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494462443&sr=1-1&keywords=tomorrow%27s+alphabet" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Tomorrow's Alphabet</span></a> by George Shannon and illustrated by Donald Crews would be another perfect interactive guessing game if it weren't for the fact that the answer is given on the facing page, rather than after the page turn. I resorted to covering that page with a piece of paper to remedy the problem. Each page states that a letter is for something it is decidedly NOT, but something they can or will turn into in the future. For example, B is for eggs, since they will hatch into birds. My kindergarteners caught on quickly and were soon shouting out their guesses.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AcwxLCrk37jISS4raDsJT0VCNpdiUI24LHONo0HGZR8RcQwk4k9GOyiexwJ1F2FSSoml1eoIiRKLJfnrQx31EL8vX0cJIJ0eC1BeJtQ3yhKzZ99mvwanfOAUUuKiiRihksVleK-IlqQ/s1600/Today+I+Feel+2+%2528ABC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AcwxLCrk37jISS4raDsJT0VCNpdiUI24LHONo0HGZR8RcQwk4k9GOyiexwJ1F2FSSoml1eoIiRKLJfnrQx31EL8vX0cJIJ0eC1BeJtQ3yhKzZ99mvwanfOAUUuKiiRihksVleK-IlqQ/s200/Today+I+Feel+2+%2528ABC%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Normally I wouldn't pick up a book about feelings. Too gooey, too sappy, too obvious. But I'm so glad I picked up <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Today-Feel-Alphabet-Feelings/dp/1419723243/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1496607803&sr=8-2&keywords=today+i+feel" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Today I Feel... An Alphabet of Feelings</span></a>. The feelings go way beyond the usual sad, mad, glad, and the illustrations do too. <br />
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What are your favorite alphabet books?<br />
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Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-65380327572846700532017-05-10T20:39:00.000-04:002017-05-10T20:39:05.369-04:00And the 2018 Newbery Goes To...You heard it here first. The 2018 Newbery is going to go to Anne Fleming's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Goat-Anne-Fleming/dp/1554989167/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494339591&sr=8-1&keywords=the+goat+anne+fleming" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Goat</span></a>. Set in New York City, mostly in a single apartment building, it is funny yet deep, smart yet wacky and whimsical (without being annoying), surreal yet realistic, and utterly, completely original.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBs39Lw6k41WcXA7E2yl1jWl-wsQhfDX7pciQvDywZRPebOOWI2oDfWbP-f9_-0lee-_Ub6r_S6eJ8RLrRr8PAh_B93R0MkHa-bIUIPX4hGsf0xymdJTMWgpbmoxYRLutaU6GA74s_3MQ/s1600/The+Goat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBs39Lw6k41WcXA7E2yl1jWl-wsQhfDX7pciQvDywZRPebOOWI2oDfWbP-f9_-0lee-_Ub6r_S6eJ8RLrRr8PAh_B93R0MkHa-bIUIPX4hGsf0xymdJTMWgpbmoxYRLutaU6GA74s_3MQ/s320/The+Goat.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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It is not a typical coming-of-age story. There is no divorce, no friendship triangles, no crushes, no school drama. In fact, there's no school. There is no sibling rivarly (there are no siblings). There is no conflict between a tween and her parents, no embarrassment as they all skip to Follow the Yellow Brick Road in public. This all makes for a nice change from the usual middle-grade chapter book fare.<br />
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There *is* an orphan and death and 9/11, but ten years on, in a totally matter-of-fact, non-tear-jerker-ish way.<br />
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There is a musical about soccer (Americanized from hockey) moms.<br />
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There is a man who's had a stroke, a blind science-fiction-writing skateboarder, and an immigrant grandmother from an unnamed country.<br />
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There is an 11-year-old girl named Kid and her parents, Lisa and Bobby, and a dog named Cat.<br />
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And yes, there is a goat. <br />
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Or is there?Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-43224409999778412862017-05-08T19:00:00.000-04:002017-05-08T19:00:40.863-04:00The Funny FormulaAs we stepped out of the subway station near Lincoln Center, as we do every Thursday, my daughter started to laugh delightedly. It took me a minute and then I saw it: a new piece of public art, a sculpture of a hippo wearing a tutu.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLy5jpZdJHGCZwNf5m0Y83ZMWHemnwVhSPYH-wwez-DyRJwe6XJ6J7aHnoYyazEBSLCbbMEjqszS0Tc0hsLHuYQ0_DyXRQf0xDp6C8yW_LeLl5Tv_WFOiwqJUXmcKvp4KxdKhsv4R1z4/s1600/Dancing+Hippo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLy5jpZdJHGCZwNf5m0Y83ZMWHemnwVhSPYH-wwez-DyRJwe6XJ6J7aHnoYyazEBSLCbbMEjqszS0Tc0hsLHuYQ0_DyXRQf0xDp6C8yW_LeLl5Tv_WFOiwqJUXmcKvp4KxdKhsv4R1z4/s640/Dancing+Hippo.jpg" width="299" /></a></div>
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When I posted the picture to Facebook and asked my friends what fictional character they thought it reminded me of, I was surprised by the number of answers. While I had thought of Martha of George and Martha, dancing hippos are apparently everywhere - in Fantasia, in Sandra Boynton's work, and in Karma Wilson's Hilda Must Be Dancing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaYZ_aOteiJBrAtqnYtOOeoz-ikyWMOlviLdDDkVxNCfPht44iyluZF3ZNQ8I4R04V9nvN1An4yplWziG8k8VdYYWbHoFxWmNOnN-BRmtHiWkvgRIzjliEpRU3YxxJNdqYWcwd6scHbc/s1600/Dancing+Martha.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxaYZ_aOteiJBrAtqnYtOOeoz-ikyWMOlviLdDDkVxNCfPht44iyluZF3ZNQ8I4R04V9nvN1An4yplWziG8k8VdYYWbHoFxWmNOnN-BRmtHiWkvgRIzjliEpRU3YxxJNdqYWcwd6scHbc/s320/Dancing+Martha.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martha doing the Dance of the Happy Butterfly</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsE4QZXKl7s6HUoO1suTNcOrzh4CDGfW0POKWy1HO-D4D4koibd9ixpdRxWjb1p8ZQmoQQJ0zKi5xSungJZXWdlvDsdvabq4EKq1nFbSz5gziqKeTXLVWBRQJobtSK6z3tMcVTrIvCC3M/s1600/Dancing+George+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsE4QZXKl7s6HUoO1suTNcOrzh4CDGfW0POKWy1HO-D4D4koibd9ixpdRxWjb1p8ZQmoQQJ0zKi5xSungJZXWdlvDsdvabq4EKq1nFbSz5gziqKeTXLVWBRQJobtSK6z3tMcVTrIvCC3M/s320/Dancing+George+2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George in the studio</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-_Zsb9auviFBeO-zVVOFqE6rOfhapopmp79Tx4IlwNP2tn21WEfq2d5bPkwLWskg6atreVc68abB8Rstln9Kuj6-PsfqKnBOhlKX9nNJa4FFn1sTDWLEFAD5K99MhLPxWQKFQ5WHsUs/s1600/Dancing+George.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-_Zsb9auviFBeO-zVVOFqE6rOfhapopmp79Tx4IlwNP2tn21WEfq2d5bPkwLWskg6atreVc68abB8Rstln9Kuj6-PsfqKnBOhlKX9nNJa4FFn1sTDWLEFAD5K99MhLPxWQKFQ5WHsUs/s320/Dancing+George.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George performing the Mexican Hat Dance</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3oMQB3D1zYgXZiKKAfesoNq-z_ABf07DxyjTwCW1O1r08iiD606AVSmDGEWic_4PjSPdGkmP3j_V1MGgKOd0y35R43pb-MnLckgXka2L2tjaX3hJ6s3Au7xHUn6bmYDAEmncaYC-aVs/s1600/Hilda+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3oMQB3D1zYgXZiKKAfesoNq-z_ABf07DxyjTwCW1O1r08iiD606AVSmDGEWic_4PjSPdGkmP3j_V1MGgKOd0y35R43pb-MnLckgXka2L2tjaX3hJ6s3Au7xHUn6bmYDAEmncaYC-aVs/s320/Hilda+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hilda disco-ing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9jgSd1Y4nZI7LoleJhuvKNfwjabKCXfA9C4g528osuQrix1DFOxJG26iEsjY4E4EFLpxZ2lrx0sUS1fkGigNSTstfX69LVcnhwgGXaZHFZilzqSohocP1yVSTwBXbZe1QVN-cG94dFg/s1600/Hilda+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9jgSd1Y4nZI7LoleJhuvKNfwjabKCXfA9C4g528osuQrix1DFOxJG26iEsjY4E4EFLpxZ2lrx0sUS1fkGigNSTstfX69LVcnhwgGXaZHFZilzqSohocP1yVSTwBXbZe1QVN-cG94dFg/s320/Hilda+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hilda doing the flamenco</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtODGR5Lyi6hb5apPaP-r5VvU3dWkbYl8PPZGGXQSUsMmkSiOgkAHMrrWzqDFiACUs4r4AIEibneUhWvYqYBkQtW349JF477yjs0DqqvBzGisJRQyI_Gl72b2nlrtMh_zGkBWnWKUjSo/s1600/Sandra+Boynton+Hippos.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtODGR5Lyi6hb5apPaP-r5VvU3dWkbYl8PPZGGXQSUsMmkSiOgkAHMrrWzqDFiACUs4r4AIEibneUhWvYqYBkQtW349JF477yjs0DqqvBzGisJRQyI_Gl72b2nlrtMh_zGkBWnWKUjSo/s320/Sandra+Boynton+Hippos.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandra Boynton's Dancing Hippos</td></tr>
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Dancing hippos are just funny. It makes sense. Large and unwieldy + graceful activity = funny.<br />
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And for good measure, one more hippo, not dancing this time, but still wreaking havoc and making readers laugh.<br />
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<br />Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-77253090119304733952017-03-26T10:17:00.000-04:002017-03-26T10:17:00.365-04:00Caveat LectorAs regular readers (all 3 of you!) know, I'm a <a href="http://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2012/03/adding-in-anachronisms-abomination.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">purist</span></a>. I don't like it when books are "<a href="https://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-first-fictional-female-president.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">updated</span></a>" or abridged or adapted. And so I went through the school library and got rid of all the "classic starts" books, and anything that was "based on" the books of another author and so on and so forth. But those publishers can be tricky. Sometimes it's hard to spot a modified book and I was recently horrified to discover one on... my own bookshelf. (dum dum DUM.)<br />
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A kindergarten class was doing an author study on Dr. Seuss and asked me to read a Dr. Seuss book of my choosing during their library period. I happily picked <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Theres-Wocket-Pocket-Seusss-Ridiculous/dp/0679882839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490537677&sr=8-1&keywords=there%27s+a+wocket+in+my+pocket" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">There's A Wocket in My Pocket</span></a>, which I used to sing to my own children, and proceeded to happily embarass myself by singing the book to the kindergarteners. Except I was tripping over my words because, while they were similar, they were not identical to the version I'd always sung to my own kids.<br />
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Which was the original and which was the impostor? It took some close reading to find out. I'd been reading the board book all these years, which I'm pretty sure we'd acquired as a gift or a hand-me-down, not as an original purchase. Turns out, the board book had been "adapted" from the original.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9xNERzknFQjFpULzo7oTmq6sP-gs9j6JhX4vfWU4hHblEJfE1AMma9dZeJoBYK4CD8mhaMuoHQaEXUNoTU8cDpJrGr1SCyoVKlaS53csTN9Hd6gt3PYXVisrb3dCx-zRyMqlGjX8CHA/s1600/Wocket+Original+Last+Page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9xNERzknFQjFpULzo7oTmq6sP-gs9j6JhX4vfWU4hHblEJfE1AMma9dZeJoBYK4CD8mhaMuoHQaEXUNoTU8cDpJrGr1SCyoVKlaS53csTN9Hd6gt3PYXVisrb3dCx-zRyMqlGjX8CHA/s200/Wocket+Original+Last+Page.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzbiFuAz3HqvSMqe-e9ZdatdeveYx3_VY6zve3SHsEjnoqRBT2X9y0cDFezjt7rqHCOUMOl2q3u20T-gEbbHIIT8TuDUSYHkn3FeePF53pQo3uiWnlh3-bSdPfj_h51gj39fvTbJe76fU/s1600/Wocket+Boardbook+Last+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzbiFuAz3HqvSMqe-e9ZdatdeveYx3_VY6zve3SHsEjnoqRBT2X9y0cDFezjt7rqHCOUMOl2q3u20T-gEbbHIIT8TuDUSYHkn3FeePF53pQo3uiWnlh3-bSdPfj_h51gj39fvTbJe76fU/s200/Wocket+Boardbook+Last+page.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Board book version</td></tr>
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But here's the thing: I like the board book version better. (Horrors!) The rhymes work better and the ending is sweeter and less wordy. Is it just a matter of what we're used to? (Or maybe just what I'm used to?) Who knows? But I'm bringing in my own board book version the next time I plan to sing this book to a class.<br />
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<br />Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-2135699397654102352016-12-05T20:05:00.000-05:002016-12-05T21:59:20.259-05:00Books For Our Times: RefugeesWhen kids hear the word "refugee" these days, they are probably most likely to think of Syria. But unfortunately there have been refugees throughout history, from countries around the globe. There are aspects of the refugee experience that are universal - feelings of dislocation, difficulty with a new language and culture, homesickness, fear, and, for child refugees (and immigrants), often taking on a parental role, both emotionally and logistically (often as translator). Others are specific to refugees from a particular country, or to an individual. Picture books tend to focus on the universal; chapter books on the specific. One of the picture books listed here has more abstract art; the others are quite realistic. One of the picture books is more metaphorical; the others, quite literal. Most of the books also address the danger refugees face not just when they reach their destination or from political persecution or war back home, but along the way as well.<br />
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All of these books may be disturbing or upsetting, especially to a sensitive child. We are lucky we have the luxury of deciding whether to expose our children to the harsher realities of our world. <br />
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This list is not comprehensive; these are just some of my favorites.<br />
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<u><b>Picture Books</b></u><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3E1ePcoOsvwgm5K1YKe2djWBgkUlv2LtvEAQuLeCfBrBqAwKeMi97w5xQJoxwu4F4GLCZAzcIKHeZ4LAwM_OAI9ZvM2_EV-B17TsDTGxrC096wmsGPsS78Fa10ft6IGor-kqyUt9VQI/s1600/Azzi+Escape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3E1ePcoOsvwgm5K1YKe2djWBgkUlv2LtvEAQuLeCfBrBqAwKeMi97w5xQJoxwu4F4GLCZAzcIKHeZ4LAwM_OAI9ZvM2_EV-B17TsDTGxrC096wmsGPsS78Fa10ft6IGor-kqyUt9VQI/s320/Azzi+Escape.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Azzi's family pushing their way on to a boat to escape</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGkiAZTZ0q8S-GLzNk500RmcP0N2C9EoxEYvJL8f0tXXZyRoiQDnhx2JyzgIFVLXppLpFB8Adjo-Zjg6vqUFIWLcFN3Jp-qvoXghoxKky55lEhQbvUmTF4AkvTKczDe7_3NjHbMZVliHY/s1600/Azzi+in+Between+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGkiAZTZ0q8S-GLzNk500RmcP0N2C9EoxEYvJL8f0tXXZyRoiQDnhx2JyzgIFVLXppLpFB8Adjo-Zjg6vqUFIWLcFN3Jp-qvoXghoxKky55lEhQbvUmTF4AkvTKczDe7_3NjHbMZVliHY/s200/Azzi+in+Between+2.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Navigating a new land</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Azzi-Between-Sarah-Garland/dp/1847806511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480859446&sr=8-1&keywords=azzi+in+between" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Azzi In Between</span></a> by Sarah Garland. Azzi and her family flee an unnamed Middle Eastern country, leaving her grandmother behind. In graphic novel-style panels, the reader sees Azzi struggles with a new language, new friends, new food, a newly depressed, unemployed father - new everything! But her family has been able to take a special little piece of home with them and Azzi uses it to cheer up her father and teach her classmates about where she is from. The bleak cover and pictures give way to a realistically happy ending.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxRU6uwiS4kyTj9YxW77K8cg3LYuCLZrZscPzhngCLzRWPyz6j9IMwlH2go72lhbne49T3yLQGq3MlW_omNQ3IT63p4Wt6ptwDg-YPKMwCpZFu6BIse2mgHZtAUtpDnaRPOxqc7yM50o/s1600/The+Journey+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxRU6uwiS4kyTj9YxW77K8cg3LYuCLZrZscPzhngCLzRWPyz6j9IMwlH2go72lhbne49T3yLQGq3MlW_omNQ3IT63p4Wt6ptwDg-YPKMwCpZFu6BIse2mgHZtAUtpDnaRPOxqc7yM50o/s320/The+Journey+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mvlO4m70KDjPFHTly2ZrhZNPa3gE1PgWAdHe1PtgqqPR7Er2EQ6sYPgiP2tZFsf6-H9LE89Ys5etCSQWPe8bhLG-WcEp3qzjC9eoH0FiMhih4mAjOlGPf3w_XbBFLBcTf_MolAXOt2s/s1600/Journey+Escape+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mvlO4m70KDjPFHTly2ZrhZNPa3gE1PgWAdHe1PtgqqPR7Er2EQ6sYPgiP2tZFsf6-H9LE89Ys5etCSQWPe8bhLG-WcEp3qzjC9eoH0FiMhih4mAjOlGPf3w_XbBFLBcTf_MolAXOt2s/s320/Journey+Escape+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fleeing through the forest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzx7oZf-T01AjffMywc7tRY0Tw0F94f2VtbOXUJraFR7U8jICpQwfNrbIvW2ef8bZPod1bbUbOCUisUWgra5kwCdCKWHHrvEMdgwkK6IIHztfFetnTBxHJjlqd7d9d57y8a4_dibrsNOk/s1600/Journey+Escape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzx7oZf-T01AjffMywc7tRY0Tw0F94f2VtbOXUJraFR7U8jICpQwfNrbIvW2ef8bZPod1bbUbOCUisUWgra5kwCdCKWHHrvEMdgwkK6IIHztfFetnTBxHJjlqd7d9d57y8a4_dibrsNOk/s320/Journey+Escape.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another crowded, unsafe sea voyage</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Francesca-Sanna/dp/1909263990/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480859201&sr=8-1&keywords=the+journey+sanna" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Journey</span></a> by Francesca Sanna. This new book has gotten a lot of press lately. Its abstract art may make it less scary but possibly less accessible, although the language makes clear that the narrator's family is in danger.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvGgB6mNVaUbSAVA0mHFtQhv61Sx47vjKX34c3DsY-SGFc5LfFQ5Tiorc8vEsYe6Z7A7YD0M7l_3N44Fl-tzR_NdSMRzJCD5OTY29VTtKlEAWW5ONJ-3gpz-FKEyRTaWAvuSCsbmw5TE/s1600/How+I+Learned+Geography+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvGgB6mNVaUbSAVA0mHFtQhv61Sx47vjKX34c3DsY-SGFc5LfFQ5Tiorc8vEsYe6Z7A7YD0M7l_3N44Fl-tzR_NdSMRzJCD5OTY29VTtKlEAWW5ONJ-3gpz-FKEyRTaWAvuSCsbmw5TE/s400/How+I+Learned+Geography+1.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Learned-Geography-Uri-Shulevitz/dp/0374334994/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480859115&sr=8-1&keywords=how+i+learned+geography" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">How I Learned Geography</span></a> by Uri Shulevitz. My favorite of the picture books on this list. With simple, straightforward language and gorgeous art, Uri Shulevitz tells the story of his own family's escape from WWII Poland to Kazakstan and how he took solace in a map his father purchased instead of bread, much to his mother's chagrin. An author's note explains that his journey did not stop there. Mr. Shulevitz and his family then moved to Paris and then Israel. In 1959, he came on his own to the United States. Written in what is his second? third? fourth? fifth? sixth? (he must have spoken Polish, probably Yiddish, possibly Russian, French, Hebrew, and then English) language, this is a beautiful book. A Caldecott Honor book.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMm7QyyxzHNlVRYFadxukkBQbPznzx_XuzVQWvtrWWKc6LDDyjqIr3D92VoZmaMgwivpYDybNwxfmU3ZahurfXZdqiIl_XV1s6ziRXRCkwgqQyJEWN7gYupfCDW9p88YeNpE-4szWArY/s1600/How+Many+Days+to+America+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMm7QyyxzHNlVRYFadxukkBQbPznzx_XuzVQWvtrWWKc6LDDyjqIr3D92VoZmaMgwivpYDybNwxfmU3ZahurfXZdqiIl_XV1s6ziRXRCkwgqQyJEWN7gYupfCDW9p88YeNpE-4szWArY/s320/How+Many+Days+to+America+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiding from soldiers</td></tr>
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<span style="color: magenta;">How Many Days to America?</span> by Eve Bunting. A family flees an unnamed Carribbean country, arriving in America just in time for Thanksgiving.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-paoMGtxgIi7uHmhSiYH_7i9MdfZDGAktLzjpeindUjdojTPHD6R22PDKWGpVTpscmfdbs3U0jj8p0FjaY7TKmzpUQP_QLE8IP9J0nkWWp99Ag9LwQHEYfC6RYHlAR6JjQDlOWwylm7c/s1600/Molly%2527s+Pilgrim2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-paoMGtxgIi7uHmhSiYH_7i9MdfZDGAktLzjpeindUjdojTPHD6R22PDKWGpVTpscmfdbs3U0jj8p0FjaY7TKmzpUQP_QLE8IP9J0nkWWp99Ag9LwQHEYfC6RYHlAR6JjQDlOWwylm7c/s320/Molly%2527s+Pilgrim2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mollys-Pilgrim-Barbara-Cohen/dp/0688162800/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480859711&sr=8-1&keywords=molly%27s+pilgrim" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Molly's Pilgrim</span></a> by Barbara Cohen. My favorite <a href="http://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2013/11/three-must-reads-for-thanksgivukkah.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Thanksgiving book</span></a> and perhaps my favorite holiday book and just plain one of my favorites ever. For homework, Molly has to make a Pilgrim girl (big "P") out of a clothespin. Her mother offers to help her and dresses her in the Russian clothes she herself wears. When Molly brings the doll to school, her classmates ridicule her because the doll is not dressed as a Pilgrim. But the understanding teacher points out that Molly and her family are pilgrims (small "p") too, refugees from religious persecution just as the first Pilgrims were. Make sure you have tissues nearby. Barbara Cohen also wrote another wonderful holiday book, this time about Passover, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Carp-Bathtub-Barb-Cohen/dp/1512407534/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480975776&sr=8-1&keywords=the+carp+in+the+bathtub" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Carp in the Bathtub</span></a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTKogRC3v0Yh-32azWKlBJgnmQJ96BeBirnLrOnEy9f6jGRqC5DOBFUFwX6OfszkL5YOTVTTPra4JVesEN4sGA5QEkKLJLI1qpeFDNxwydJYJg5CGMjOp9Mg61GOHn13CFJhY7KTaDCI/s1600/Teacup+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTKogRC3v0Yh-32azWKlBJgnmQJ96BeBirnLrOnEy9f6jGRqC5DOBFUFwX6OfszkL5YOTVTTPra4JVesEN4sGA5QEkKLJLI1qpeFDNxwydJYJg5CGMjOp9Mg61GOHn13CFJhY7KTaDCI/s320/Teacup+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Teacup-Rebecca-Young/dp/0735227772/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480984381&sr=8-2&keywords=the+teacup" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Teacup</span></a> by Rebecca Young. "Once there was a boy who had to leave his home... and find another. In his bag he carried a book, a bottle, and a blanket. In his teacup he held some earth from where he used to play." The boy travels alone by boat, floating for days, until he finally finds land, and a kindred spirit. Obviously less realistic than the other books listed here, it can be read on a metaphorical level with older children and a literal level with younger children. The spare simple language is perfect. The earth the boy carries with him is reminiscent of the seeds Azzi's family brings with them in <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Azzi-Between-Sarah-Garland/dp/1847806511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480859446&sr=8-1&keywords=azzi+in+between" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Azzi In Between</span></a></span>. <br />
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<u><b>Chapter Books</b></u><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Out-Back-Again-Thanhha/dp/0061962791/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480859925&sr=8-1&keywords=inside+out+and+back+again" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Inside Out and Back Again</span></a> by Thanhha Lai. This novel-in-verse tells the story of the author's escape from Vietnam with her family during the Vietnam War.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/When-Hitler-Stole-Pink-Rabbit/dp/0142414085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480859993&sr=8-1&keywords=when+hitler+stole+pink+rabbit" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit</span></a> by Judith Kerr and <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0689711301/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Journey to America</span></a> by Sonia Levitin. Both of these books recount how their authors and their families escaped Hitler's Germany, first fleeing to Switzerland and then the former to France and ultimately England and the latter to the United States. Both endure a sudden decline in their quality of lilfe and social status. I loved both as a child. Both are also the first books of trilogies, a fact I learned only recently<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Aint-So-Awful-Falafel/dp/0544612310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480860094&sr=8-1&keywords=it+ain%27t+so+awful+falafel" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">It Ain't So Awful, Falafel</span></a> by Firoozeh Dumas. Zomorod Yousefzadeh is in California with her Iranian family for just a year or two for her father's job in the oil industry. But the year is 1978 and, unbeknownst to Zomorod (now known as Cindy), the deposition of the Shah, the Iranian hostage crisis, and another oil shortage are on the horizon. When it turns out her family can't go home because of the political situation in Iran, Zomorod becomes an accidental refugee. While her family is economically better off than many refugees, Zomorod still faces many of the difficulties common to them all. As many refugee (and immigrant) children do, she becomes the translator for her parents - not just of language, but of culture, and a caretaker for her depressed mother. While children may have some trouble understanding the complex politics involved, they will certainly relate to Zomorod/Cindy's desire to fit in. This book is, like so many on this list, based on the author's actual experience.<br />
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What would you add to this list?</div>
Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-30197032163158299752016-10-31T16:51:00.000-04:002016-10-31T16:53:40.330-04:00The First (Fictional) Female President<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEKboim2o7M5dfESkYqj3E56hSpRSY7rWZWKZ7MMHeJqGnMXsENxb0CZPGhGxqkLOircIPhJCamAZGhdX8bU6Jbx_uboOtizWTPVO_c2q7vbj4SFomIGSL_ndbJWsXBmPKNxl-CWJ_r4/s1600/President%2527s+Daughter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEKboim2o7M5dfESkYqj3E56hSpRSY7rWZWKZ7MMHeJqGnMXsENxb0CZPGhGxqkLOircIPhJCamAZGhdX8bU6Jbx_uboOtizWTPVO_c2q7vbj4SFomIGSL_ndbJWsXBmPKNxl-CWJ_r4/s320/President%2527s+Daughter.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This election has brought back memories of a book I loved with uncommon devotion when I was about 10 or 11 years old: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Presidents-Daughter-Ellen-Emerson-White/dp/0312374887/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1477946779&sr=8-3&keywords=the+president%27s+daughter+ellen+emerson+white" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The President's Daughter</span></a> by Ellen Emerson White. As the title suggests, the focus was not on the first female president but on her daughter, the oldest of her three children. You can see how well-loved this book was i nthe photo below. The spine has disintegrated and although you cannot see it, the back cover has fallen off completely. <br />
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I'm not sure exactly why I loved it so much. It was good, sure, but perhaps an odd choice for constant rereading. In 2016, the one part that I remember clearly is Meg, the daughter, asking her mother if she can vote for someone other than her mom. Her mom, amused, replies that of course she can. It makes me wonder if someone's children are perhaps not voting for him (or her) this year. Thank goodness for the secret ballot!<br />
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The book was published in 1984 and I apparently purchased it for less than $3.00. The author then "updated" it in 2008. Those of you familiar with my <a href="http://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2012/03/adding-in-anachronisms-abomination.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">purist sensibilities</span></a> will know that I disapprove.<br />
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Did anyone else read the original version?Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-67636881980705770182016-10-21T16:48:00.001-04:002016-10-21T16:48:13.030-04:00The Princess and the Shark<u>The Princess and the Shark</u>. If I ever write a children's book, that's what it will be titled. If, that is, I don't care about quality but <i>do</i> care about selling a lot of books. Based on the very small, unreliable sample size of 2 school libraries that I've worked in, both on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, girls in grades K-2 want books about princesses and their male peers want to read about sharks.<br />
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There are other scary, fierce, awesome-looking animals besides sharks. Why the obsession? I have no idea.<br />
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And the princesses. When these girls ask for princess books they mean Disney. I offer them Shirley Climo's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Cinderella-Shirley-Climo/dp/0064432793/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477082684&sr=8-1&keywords=egyptian+cinderella" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Egyptian Cinderella</span></a> and they turn up their noses.<br />
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Of course there are other requested topics. Ballet, gymnastics, soccer, and lately, cooking. The boys also ask for books about the military - soldiers, military aircraft, the navy. Crafts, especially origami, are big too.<br />
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The gender divide is (nearly?) absolute. To date, I have never had a boy request a princess book or a girl request a book about the military. I probably have had boys ask for cooking and have definitely had them ask for origami, and I've probably had girls ask for sharks. <br />
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So in order to capture the market and straddle that divide, <u>The Princess and the Shark</u> it is!Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-6539910910725173332016-10-06T09:44:00.001-04:002016-10-06T10:45:53.889-04:00After Harry PotterIn the past two days, two parents have come to me saying, "My child has read all of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sxts_gp_wtanrd_0_0?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aharry+potter%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2656020011&keywords=harry+potter&ie=UTF8&qid=1475761173&rnid=618072011" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Harry Potter</span></a> (and/or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=percy+jackson&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Apercy+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Percy Jackson</span></a>) (multiple times)... what's next?" While I have a lot of great suggestions for <a href="http://eveninaustraliakidlit.blogspot.com/2015/11/for-child-whos-read-everything.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">the child who's read everything</span></a>, many of those may not appeal to a child who is just looking for fantasy. I'm not personally a fantasy reader, so I haven't read all of these myself, but these recommendations come on good authority. For those kids, here are a few ideas.<br />
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<b>Don't forget these classics:</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0547953836/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1475760429&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Hobbit</span></a> by J.R.R. Tolkien.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=narnia&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Anarnia" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Chronicles of Narnia</span></a> by C.S. Lewis<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=chronicles+of+prydain&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Achronicles+of+prydain" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Chronicles of Prydain</span></a> trilogy by Lloyd Alexander. An undeservedly forgotten series.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+wrinkle+in+time" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">A Wrinkle in Time quintet</span></a> by Madeleine L'Engle.<br />
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<b>Newer series:</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=gregor+the+overlander&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Agregor+the+overlander" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Gregor the Overlander</span></a> by Suzanne Collins (author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+hunger+games&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Athe+hunger+games" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Hunger Games</span></a>). For those children who are not ready - or whose parents are not ready! - for <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+hunger+games&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Athe+hunger+games" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Hunger Games</span></a>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=miss+peregrine%27s+home+for+peculiar+children&sprefix=peregrine%2Cstripbooks%2C132&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Amiss+peregrine%27s+home+for+peculiar+children" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children</span></a> </span>by Ransom Riggs<span style="color: magenta;">.</span><br />
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<b>Not exactly fantasy but may appeal to fantasy lovers:</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=secret+benedict+society&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Asecret+benedict+society" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Mysterious Benedict Society</span></a> by Trenton Lee Stewart.<br />
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<b>For fans of fairy tales, these series take them to a new, darker, level:</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Land-Stories-Hardcover-Gift-Set/dp/031639307X/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1475759839&sr=8-8&keywords=land+of+stories" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Land of Stories series</span></a> by Chris Colfer. <br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+sisters+grimm" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The SIsters Grimm</span></a> by Michael Buckley and Peter Ferguson. <br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=grimm+gidwitz" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Grimm series </span></a> by Adam Gidwitz.<br />
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What other books do you suggest for a child who loved <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sxts_gp_wtanrd_0_0?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aharry+potter%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A2656020011&keywords=harry+potter&ie=UTF8&qid=1475761173&rnid=618072011" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Harry Potter</span></a> and/or <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=percy+jackson&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Apercy+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Percy Jackson</span></a> </span>and is ready for something new?<br />
<br />Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-56472474036981256352016-08-21T12:24:00.003-04:002016-08-21T12:24:39.812-04:00Yay for YA!I'm not a big reader of YA. Too much sappy romance, too many vampires, too many dead parents. I know, there's plenty of YA that does not include any of those elements. But I don't have the time or energy to seek those out. But every now and then, a YA book will grab me. A friend will recommend it, or a review will catch my eye, or I'll hear about a book that interests me and only realize later that it's been classified as Young Adult by... someone! (Whom? The publisher? The Library of Congress? The author?)<br />
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In the last 6 months or so, I have read three stand-out novels that someone, somewhere, has deemed Young Adult.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Conviction-Kelly-Loy-Gilbert/dp/1423197380/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471721560&sr=1-1&keywords=conviction+kelly+loy+gilbert" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Conviction</span></a> by Kelly Loy Gilbert, seems at first to be a book about baseball, but is really about faith, love, parenting, siblinghood, morality, the justice system, and a tug-of-war between familial loyalty and truth. When I first started the book, I assumed the title referred to a belief system, but as I kept reading, I realized it also referred, cleverly, to a finding of guilty in the criminal justice system. A fabulous book for adults, young and otherwise.<br />
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I picked up <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Burn-Baby-Meg-Medina/dp/0763674672/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471721363&sr=8-1&keywords=burn+baby+burn" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Burn Baby Burn</span></a> for it's NYC 1977 Summer (Son of Sam, the blackout) setting. Although I am too young to remember that summer, I lived through it, and am convinced I have a sort of collective memory about it, combined with living in NYC through the 80s and 90s. Author Meg Medina, thankfully, does not wear rose-colored glasses and lament the gentrification of the city since then (yes, artist could afford apartments here back then, but they often got mugged as they traveled to and from them!). Her 1977 Queens is the real deal, with a serial killer on the loose and looting erupting during the blackout. But her characters have their problems writ small (although not to them), too. Nora is eager to graduate high school and start her "real life" but her teachers are trying to convince her she's college material. She has a crush on a coworker and there is domestic violence at home, of a sort not often addressed in fiction. Again, you don't have to be a young adult to enjoy this book. In fact, you will probably enjoy it more if you lived through that summer or lived in New York during its grittier days.<br />
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I've lately become intrigued by books set in the Middle Ages, possibly because there suddenly seem to be a slew of them being published (it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario), or maybe because of my daughter's fifth grade class trip to a place called Medieval Times. With the publication of the highly anticipated <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Inquisitors-Tale-Three-Magical-Children/dp/0525426167/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471722650&sr=1-1&keywords=the+inquisitor%27s+tale" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog</span></a><span style="color: magenta;"> </span>in September, the trend continues. In the meantime, pick up <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Dolssa-Julie-Berry/dp/0451469925/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471722110&sr=1-1&keywords=passion+of+dolssa" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Passion of Dolssa</span></a> (written, strangely enough in my opinion, by the author of <span style="color: magenta;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Scandalous-Sisterhood-Prickwillow-Place/dp/1250073391/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" target="_blank">T<span style="color: magenta;">he Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place</span></a>,</span> a perfectly fine book, but far inferior to this one) to satisfy your medieval cravings. Dolssa believes she has a direct relationship with Jesus, who she says appears to her, and who endows her with the power to heal and work other miracles. The Church has labelled her, and other women like her, a heretic. Dolssa takes refuge in a medieval village where three sisters protect her. The middle sister, the local matchmaker, narrates the story. However, I must make one confession. At the very end of the book there is an epilogue of sorts. An old woman is in prison and is speaking to someone outside the prison with instructions. I could not figure out who the woman is. Apparently I was not the only one who was confused (sigh of relief!), because the author posted an <a href="http://www.julieberrybooks.com/about-the-ending-unraveling-the-passion-of-dolssa" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">explanation</span></a> online. Nonetheless, the book is wonderful despite this lack of clarity (or perhaps despite my denseness!).<br />
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What YA books have you read and enjoyed?Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-57084732708262826192016-08-09T11:02:00.002-04:002016-08-09T11:02:28.872-04:00What Do These Books Have in Common?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9EYq2e5FiT5Kkq6ugR6KZ2aZsc_hKb-XjvoGDwQqDh5qcbCE9rNeuoa_-AgqjKNXc7EjpaIzvLyajQWXGxFcm7cj4mMSvFaPAt_xE2pBUIRp_KKOayZbZJ7GKAs7e7qLTULVHYpYAaE/s1600/Opening+Belle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9EYq2e5FiT5Kkq6ugR6KZ2aZsc_hKb-XjvoGDwQqDh5qcbCE9rNeuoa_-AgqjKNXc7EjpaIzvLyajQWXGxFcm7cj4mMSvFaPAt_xE2pBUIRp_KKOayZbZJ7GKAs7e7qLTULVHYpYAaE/s200/Opening+Belle.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQptds0MMvRnDsleAZRfnfLAgs-TujrmEdWJrQpv7Xel9O_rOn8RUA3_qH7OQ3VHJ0_7RgbT4uB8hOerOF_zAZmAzge8-1XuutCKQq0_SiMeDPALfroBf_JDY2USrPCZalRL9IHyrGmAg/s1600/Walls+Within+Walls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQptds0MMvRnDsleAZRfnfLAgs-TujrmEdWJrQpv7Xel9O_rOn8RUA3_qH7OQ3VHJ0_7RgbT4uB8hOerOF_zAZmAzge8-1XuutCKQq0_SiMeDPALfroBf_JDY2USrPCZalRL9IHyrGmAg/s200/Walls+Within+Walls.jpg" width="148" /></a><br />
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These books don't look like they have much in common, do they? One is a mystery for kids involving a treasure hunt through New York landmarks and clues in the forms of poems,. The other is fiction for adults about women working in the financial industry, based on the author's own experience. It turns out that they were written by the same author, Maureen Sherry.<br />
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And, unusually, the children's book was published (although not necessarily written) first. While there is no shortage of authors of fiction for adults trying their hands at children's books, particularly picture books (e.g. Harlan Coben, Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, John Grisham,<i> inter alia</i>), it is rarer for an author of children's books to then write for adults.<br />
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As for the books themselves, I definitely enjoyed <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Walls-Within-Maureen-Sherry/dp/0061767034/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470754401&sr=8-1&keywords=walls+within+walls" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Walls Within Walls</span></a>. Hand it to a child who loves <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mixed-up-Files-Mrs-Basil-Frankweiler/dp/1416949755/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470754471&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mixed+up+files" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler</span></a>. Although the characters are not as fully realized as I'd like, and the plot point of the parents getting swept up in their newfound wealth strained credibility, especially for the mother, the plot was a fun romp through New York. A sequel set in London is to be published next year. I am only about one-third of the way through <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Belle-Novel-Maureen-Sherry/dp/1501110624/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470754540&sr=8-1&keywords=opening+belle" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Opening Belle</span></a> (I love the title!) but so far, it's an engrossing look at the male-dominated world of finance and how women operate in that world. As someone who frequently used to be the only woman in a roomful of male lawyers, I can relate.<br />
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I hope Ms. Sherry writes many more books - for both children and adults.Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-63533304898133834772016-08-03T09:30:00.001-04:002016-08-03T09:30:15.654-04:00Summer Is For ReadingThis past weekend, we visited my older daughter (now 11!!) at sleepaway camp. The week leading up to Visiting Day, we had received a letter that consisted only of a list of things we should bring: a fan, more sunblock, more underwear. Conspicuously absent from the list was books. She'd gone up to camp with 4-5 books and after 2.5 weeks, I was expecting her to have finished them. (Last summer, when she was only at camp for a total of 2.5 weeks, she told me she'd had to reread the 4 books she'd brought because she'd finished all of them.) So, assuming the failure to mention books was an oversight, I hit the bookstore, and this is what I bought.<br />
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It was so fun to go to the bookstore and just browse! I don't do that enough any more - I think most of us don't. Now that it is so easy to access book reviews and to put books on hold at the library, I usually go just to pick up books I've already reserved. And when I buy books, it is usually only to purchase something I already know I love. Browsing is under-rated. I haven't read any of these, although I can't wait to do so when my daughter comes home. <br />
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And as it turns out, the day after Visiting Day, I received a letter from my daughter requesting... books!<br />
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(By the way, don't worry that she is sitting at camp indoors reading all day. She goes to farming camp and is out all day, petting the goats, visiting the chickens, doing arts and crafts and as well as all the other traditional camp activities. But I am happy she is has enough downtime to sit (outside!) and read, too.)<br />
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How many books does your child go through at camp?Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-7342445224644610432016-03-31T20:37:00.005-04:002016-03-31T20:37:42.595-04:00The Final Four<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03D0a9E-bxzLBQY1bcvHmXZwXgMa6mezvPtcMpzb_JbRuoN5UxFRF6zW7i_XW8EwkzL3xRDuhxXbkd0_JC5H7tMzpWF_xoTrqoWA82XV7YqoVNbfpWne7vHG3wR0hMRRhCG2YGKX8oaE/s1600/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+Final+Four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03D0a9E-bxzLBQY1bcvHmXZwXgMa6mezvPtcMpzb_JbRuoN5UxFRF6zW7i_XW8EwkzL3xRDuhxXbkd0_JC5H7tMzpWF_xoTrqoWA82XV7YqoVNbfpWne7vHG3wR0hMRRhCG2YGKX8oaE/s400/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+Final+Four.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Final Four will be:<br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Wimpy-Kid-Book-1/dp/0810993139/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458835132&sr=8-2&keywords=diary+of+a+wimpy+kid" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wimpy Kid</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #222222;">, unsurprisingly, crushed </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Alice-Phyllis-Reynolds-Naylor/dp/1442446420/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916595&sr=8-4&keywords=alice+phyllis+reynolds+naylor" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Alice</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> (by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor), 81-8.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Sorcerers-Stone-Rowling/dp/059035342X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916963&sr=8-5&keywords=harry+potter" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Harry Potter</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> squeaked by </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio/dp/0375869026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458917129&sr=8-1&keywords=wonder" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wonder</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">, 49-44.</span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Wimpy-Kid-Book-1/dp/0810993139/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458835132&sr=8-2&keywords=diary+of+a+wimpy+kid" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wimpy Kid</span></a> </span><span style="color: #222222;">will face</span><span style="color: magenta;"> <span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Sorcerers-Stone-Rowling/dp/059035342X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916963&sr=8-5&keywords=harry+potter" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Harry Potter</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> in the semifinals.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Nate-Himself-Lincoln-Peirce/dp/0062283596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929120&sr=8-1&keywords=big+nate+class+by+himself" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Big Nate</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> clobbered </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Ramona-Collection-Forever-Ramonas/dp/006196090X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929251&sr=8-1&keywords=ramona+beverly+cleary" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Ramona</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">, 61-20.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mixed-up-Files-Mrs-Basil-Frankweiler/dp/1416949755/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084932&sr=1-1&keywords=mixed+up+files" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">From the Mixed-Up Files...</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> overwhelmed </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Piggle-Wiggle-Collection-Betty-MacDonald/dp/B009G8WW7G/ref=sr_1_23?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084757&sr=1-23&keywords=mrs+piggle+wiggle" style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle</span></a>, 43-25 .</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;">This semifinal match-up will therefore be </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Nate-Himself-Lincoln-Peirce/dp/0062283596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929120&sr=8-1&keywords=big+nate+class+by+himself" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Big Nate</span></a> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">versus</span><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mixed-up-Files-Mrs-Basil-Frankweiler/dp/1416949755/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084932&sr=1-1&keywords=mixed+up+files" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">From the Mixed-Up Files...</span></a></span></span><br />
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May the best book win!<br />
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Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-56832966749253976282016-03-27T09:25:00.001-04:002016-04-08T13:52:32.892-04:00First-Round Winners!<div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
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I tallied up the results of our first round and read them out loud to a bunch of my kids' friends yesterday before announcing them in the library. It was fun to hear them cheer when their picks won and groan when they didn't. </div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">The discrepancy in the number of votes is because the students weren't supposed to vote unless they'd read both books in a particular pair. I knew neither </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Alice-Phyllis-Reynolds-Naylor/dp/1442446420/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916595&sr=8-4&keywords=alice+phyllis+reynolds+naylor" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Alice</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> nor </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anastasia-Krupnik-9-Book-Series/dp/B0161WNX40/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916846&sr=8-14&keywords=anastasia+lois+lowry" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Anastasia</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">wouldn't be super-popular but I was hoping including them might get some more kids to pick them up. Plus, I just love them both!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Without further ado, the winners:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9l0wQMz4_hVBH_5aZX61f4IqYWjnsDLzH90Zp65iVB-F9Z6bKoQOLuirxewKFUbdtCmNa0ofxe7Rfqa05g9hayoUcowrZ8TlDuSSU0pjrQwdDbC248sUL-MRyMYF8e-LUEyUlmiNwu_4/s1600/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+First+Round+Results.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9l0wQMz4_hVBH_5aZX61f4IqYWjnsDLzH90Zp65iVB-F9Z6bKoQOLuirxewKFUbdtCmNa0ofxe7Rfqa05g9hayoUcowrZ8TlDuSSU0pjrQwdDbC248sUL-MRyMYF8e-LUEyUlmiNwu_4/s400/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+First+Round+Results.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: magenta;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Wimpy-Kid-Book-1/dp/0810993139/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458835132&sr=8-2&keywords=diary+of+a+wimpy+kid" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wimpy Kid</span></a> </span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: #222222;">beat out </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Smile-Raina-Telgemeier/dp/0545132061?ie=UTF8&keywords=smile%20telgemeier&qid=1458916537&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Smile</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">,90 votes to 57</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Alice-Phyllis-Reynolds-Naylor/dp/1442446420/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916595&sr=8-4&keywords=alice+phyllis+reynolds+naylor" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Alice</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> (by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor) defeated </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anastasia-Krupnik-9-Book-Series/dp/B0161WNX40/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916846&sr=8-14&keywords=anastasia+lois+lowry" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Anastasia</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, 30-18</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">This means we have a second round match up of </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Wimpy-Kid-Book-1/dp/0810993139/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458835132&sr=8-2&keywords=diary+of+a+wimpy+kid" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wimpy Kid</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> v </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Alice-Phyllis-Reynolds-Naylor/dp/1442446420/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916595&sr=8-4&keywords=alice+phyllis+reynolds+naylor" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">Alice</a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">. Next year I have to plan better as that one's a foregone conclusion!!</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Sorcerers-Stone-Rowling/dp/059035342X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916963&sr=8-5&keywords=harry+potter" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Harry Potter</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> triumphed over </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jackson-Olympians-Paperback-covers-poster/dp/1484707230/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458917032&sr=8-1&keywords=percy+jackson" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Percy Jackson</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, 76-49</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio/dp/0375869026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458917129&sr=8-1&keywords=wonder" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wonder</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> trounced </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Out-My-Mind-Sharon-Draper/dp/1416971718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458928123&sr=8-1&keywords=out+of+my+mind" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Out of My Mind</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, 89-21 </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">In the second round </span><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Sorcerers-Stone-Rowling/dp/059035342X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458916963&sr=8-5&keywords=harry+potter" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Harry Potter</span></a></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> will face off against </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio/dp/0375869026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458917129&sr=8-1&keywords=wonder" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wonder</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">. That one should be interesting.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Nate-Himself-Lincoln-Peirce/dp/0062283596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929120&sr=8-1&keywords=big+nate+class+by+himself" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Big Nate</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> bested </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=captain+underpants" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Captain Underpants</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, 70-49</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Ramona-Collection-Forever-Ramonas/dp/006196090X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929251&sr=8-1&keywords=ramona+beverly+cleary" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Ramona</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> overcame </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Clementine-Sara-Pennypacker/dp/0786838833/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929305&sr=8-1&keywords=clementine+pennypacker" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Clementine</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, 55-21</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">Our second round will pit </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Nate-Himself-Lincoln-Peirce/dp/0062283596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929120&sr=8-1&keywords=big+nate+class+by+himself" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Big Nate</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> against </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Ramona-Collection-Forever-Ramonas/dp/006196090X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458929251&sr=8-1&keywords=ramona+beverly+cleary" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Ramona</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;">. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Piggle-Wiggle-Collection-Betty-MacDonald/dp/B009G8WW7G/ref=sr_1_23?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084757&sr=1-23&keywords=mrs+piggle+wiggle" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> prevailed over </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Murphy-Collection-Rescue-Strikes-Wishing/dp/B00J0CHFR0/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084796&sr=1-11&keywords=the+worst+witch" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">The Worst Witch</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, 39-18</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mixed-up-Files-Mrs-Basil-Frankweiler/dp/1416949755/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084932&sr=1-1&keywords=mixed+up+files" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">From the Mixed-Up Files...</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> won over </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/When-You-Reach-Yearling-Newbery/dp/0375850864/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084970&sr=1-1&keywords=when+you+reach+me" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">When You Reach Me</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, 47-24</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;">So </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Piggle-Wiggle-Collection-Betty-MacDonald/dp/B009G8WW7G/ref=sr_1_23?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084757&sr=1-23&keywords=mrs+piggle+wiggle" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> will face </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mixed-up-Files-Mrs-Basil-Frankweiler/dp/1416949755/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459084932&sr=1-1&keywords=mixed+up+files" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">From the Mixed-Up Files...</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.8px;"> in round 2.</span></div>
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(Yes, I used a thesaurus!)</div>
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May the best book win!</div>
Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3619064257976283368.post-67338290162553719862016-03-20T14:09:00.000-04:002016-03-27T09:26:23.249-04:00March Madness, Bibliophile-Style!Inspired by the literary takes on March Madness proliferating online, I decided to do our own March Madness competition at the school library.<br />
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Although we got off to a rocky start (one child asked, confused, "Wait, the books are going to play basketball?!?"), once the kids got the hang of things, they voted enthusiastically, with some even adding notations to their ballots ("hardest choice EVER!!!!" - for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio/dp/0375869026/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458917129&sr=8-1&keywords=wonder" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Wonder</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> v </span><span style="background-color: white; color: magenta; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Out-My-Mind-Sharon-Draper/dp/1416971718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458928123&sr=8-1&keywords=out+of+my+mind" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;">Out of My Mind</span></a></span>).<br />
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Our bracket:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5i3V7s7CVX8U0M9qGQnYuzq_YFFy-inyn1xncjtOnPV_JcC6ajwBodARBib7PpadKItcsHyaTELDWzE1jIxNmuJlGYzRX7bRAWRYC833xqhhkuC5Dutsc4vHk5a0Lp7-t0neMWi7XpM/s1600/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5i3V7s7CVX8U0M9qGQnYuzq_YFFy-inyn1xncjtOnPV_JcC6ajwBodARBib7PpadKItcsHyaTELDWzE1jIxNmuJlGYzRX7bRAWRYC833xqhhkuC5Dutsc4vHk5a0Lp7-t0neMWi7XpM/s400/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSK4PmHBpa1HmlCB2pMvpbcwld19NElzaMI1C802GHHvYPQppLHNdfzonwb1dEZbpU3m82-UZHXL-4IBxNxD-ecOpF0FlL9GZlBH7mbUcvZOoE7dNFfprDxAfqdQ6F1ehIhnKGMHAusY/s1600/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSK4PmHBpa1HmlCB2pMvpbcwld19NElzaMI1C802GHHvYPQppLHNdfzonwb1dEZbpU3m82-UZHXL-4IBxNxD-ecOpF0FlL9GZlBH7mbUcvZOoE7dNFfprDxAfqdQ6F1ehIhnKGMHAusY/s400/March+Madness+Chapter+Books+2016+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Which books would you choose?<br />
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Which do you think will win?<br />
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Stay tuned for our first-round results...Even in Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477875616674358434noreply@blogger.com0