What Wouldn't You Want to Live Without?

What wouldn't you want to live without?

Chocolate?  Google?  Pictures? Snuggling?  Cheese? Those were some of the answers our students and parents gave when we asked them that question.

Zombies scary stuf! [sic]

Last spring I purchased 40+ books in the You Wouldn't Want to...  series (You Wouldn't Want to Live Without... Electricity/ Books/ Fire; You Wouldn't Want to Be A... Suffragist/ An Aztec Sacrifice; you get the idea!) for the school library.  I knew they would be popular once they made it onto the shelves this fall, but I still wanted to draw the students' attention to this new collection.  I left out slips of paper asking what they couldn't live without and tons of children (and a few parents) filled them out and, as expected, the books have proved popular.

These books are not the type of nonfiction I usually like.  I find a lot of today's nonfiction too busy (I did not grow up with all the screens and video games that get today's kids used to seeing lots of graphics and scattered information on each page). And while I think there is a place for nonfiction that provides snippets of information, I think they have to be supplemented if students want to delve more deeply into a topic.  Finally, these books feel a bit gimmicky to me - they make everything about history gross, horrific and negative.

Star Wars

Despite myself,  I do like these books.  I find they go more in depth than others of this type. They are less busy than, say, the Magic School Bus books, which I find dizzying.  The topics are interesting. When you think of things you wouldn't want to live without, clean water and toilets come to mind, and are covered by entries in this series, but you probably wouldn't think of things that you think you would want to live without, like insects, or extreme weather, which also are covered here.  Similarly, being a suffragist or a samurai or a gladiator might sound really cool... until you read these books.

So, what wouldn't you want to live without?

My Apartment Complex

Do you remember those TV ads for the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes?  You know, the ones where they knock on someone's door and tell them they've won $25,000?  Well, every time my sister and I saw one of those, we had the same reaction: Why doesn't anyone who lives in an apartment ever win?

I have the same question about children's books.  Where are the apartment buildings? Perhaps, as a lifelong apartment-dweller myself, I am oversensitive and thus exaggerating their scarcity.  Sure, there are some books - some pretty famous ones, at that - featuring apartment dwellers: When You Reach Me, Liar and Spy, and Goodbye Stranger, all by Rebecca Stead, the Riverside Kids books (these really get at the heart of apartment living, with unpleasant interactions in the elevator, a building-wide party, and Nora's imagining all 200 residents brushing their teeth at the same time!), the Clementine series, and the Fudge books (except for the year the Hatcher family decamps for New Jersey).  The characters in Mark Goldblatt's Twerp and its sequel, Finding the Worm, live in apartment buildings in Queens.  Harriet the Spy is a city dweller, but her wealthy family lives in a house, as do the Primms of Lyle the Crocodile books.  Ditto for the Melendy Quartet.  Some older books, especially those that feature immigrants, are set in (small) apartment buildings such as All-of-a-Kind Family series and In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  But modern, apartment dwelling kids?  They seem to be few and far between.

As for picture books, such depictions seem even more rare. Amy Schwartz's A Glorious Day portrays the daily activities of the residents of a low-scale Brooklyn apartment building. What Happens on Wednesdays, Nana in the City (where a boy becomes reconciled to his grandma living in the city, but still doesn't want to live there himself!), the books of Ezra Jack Keats, Gina, a little known out-of-print gem by Bernard Waber about a tomboy who lives in Queens also come to mind.  (Speaking of which, the latter, Mark Goldblatt's books, and How Pizza Came to Queens are the only children's books I have found set in Queens.)  Some others, like Tar Beach, feature apartment dwellers, but that fact plays little to no role in the story.  


Even non-fiction books that take as their subject matter homes seem to equate homes with houses, not apartments.  In Carson Ellis's otherwise lovely Home, apartments get barely a glancing mention.  In If You Lived Here (which admittedly does have the subtitle Houses of the World), there is nary an apartment to be found, although there are other types of multiple dwellings mentioned, such as the tulou of China.  And in Cynthia Rylant's Let's Go Home: The Wonderful Things About a House (emphasis added), of course only addresses the components of houses (including a ridiculously big bathroom).  A search did uncover Apartment Book, but I can't think of any other books about apartments and/or apartment buildings.  Not (only) how they are built, not their architecture or engineering, but how they function as homes.

What children's fiction can you think of where the protagonist lives in an apartment?  Is there non-fiction about apartment buildings that I've missed?

Is it me, or do way more children's book protagonists live in houses than apartments?

Zeroteenth Birthday Book Quiz, Part 3!

The third, and final, part of our quiz!  Scroll down for the answers.  Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 can be found here.

1.       Which of the following is an epistolary novel?

a.       Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

b.      Heidi

c.       Daddy Long-Legs

d.      In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

2.       In Sisters, Raina is afraid of:

a.       Snakes

b.      Spiders

c.       Cockroaches

d.      Dogs

3.       In Half Magic, the children must hold what when they make their wish?

a.       A magic wand

b.      A coin

c.       A letter

d.      A key

4.       In The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Jamie cheats at which card game?

a.       Poker

b.      Crazy Eights

c.       War

d.      Spit

5.       In The Pain and the Great One, both children think:

a.       The other is keeping a secret from him/her

b.      Their parents love the other one best

c.       The other is smarter than him/her

d.      The other is actually adopted

6.       Eloise lives in which New York hotel?

a.       The Plaza

b.      The Waldorf Astoria

c.       The Soho Grand

d.      The Chelsea Hotel

7.       Little Women is set during which war?

a.       The Revolutionary War

b.      The War of 1812

c.       The Civil War

d.      The Spanish-American War

8.       The last book in the Anne of Green Gables series AND the 4^th and 5^th books of the All-of-a- Kind Family series take place during which war?

a.       World War I

b.      The Vietnam War

c.       The Korean War

d.      World War II

9.        In which TWO books, is someone cured of paralysis and can walk again?

a.       The Secret Garden and A Little Princess

b.      Heidi and The Secret Garden

c.       Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and A Little Princess

d.      Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Heidi

10.   In The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Claudia and Jamie try to figure out the    provenance of what kind of artwork?

a.       A sculpture

b.      A painting

c.       A photograph

d.      A collage
   

Bonus question: What book does the word "zeroteen" come from?

a. Ramona's World
b. Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst
c. Completely Clementine
d. Smile


























Answers:  1. c, 2. a, 3. b, 4.c, 5, b, 6. a, 7. c, 8. a, 9. b, 10. a
Bonus: a.

How did you do?

Zeroteenth Birthday Book Quiz! (Part 2)

And here is part 2... Scroll to the bottom for the answers.  Part 1 can be found here, and part 3 here.

Birthday girl with one of her birthday books

1.       Where does Frances run away to in A Baby Sister for Frances?

a.       Under the sink

b.      Under the table

c.       The backyard

d.      The hall closet

2.       What category of names does Clementine call her brother?

a.       Fruit names

b.      Flower names

c.       Descriptive names (e.g. Patience, Charity)

d.      Vegetable names

3.       Back in China, Shirley Temple Wong was known as:

a.       Rascal

b.      Bandit

c.       Smuggler

d.      Wrangler

4.       Which of the following is a girl?

a.       Sal in When You Reach Me

b.      George in Nancy Drew

c.       Georges in Liar and Spy

d.      Laurie in Little Women

5.       Which of the following children do NOT cut or dye their own or someone else’s hair?

a.       Anastasia Krupnik

b.      Elisa and Russell Michaels

c.       Betsy, Tacy, and Tib

d.      Anne of Green Gables

6.       In Breathing Room, the main character is ill with:

a.       Pneumonia

b.      Bronchitis

c.       Whooping cough

d.      Tuberculosis

7.       In Out of My Mind, the main character can’t speak because:

a.       She has cerebral palsy

b.      She was hit by lightening

c.       She is deaf and only communicates in sign language

d.      She doesn’t want to

8.       In Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Fudge swallows:

a.       A goldfish

b.      A quarter

c.       A turtle

d.      Dog food
 

9.       Sheila Tubman is NOT afraid of:

a.       Dogs

b.      Lightning

c.       Swimming

d.      Heights

10.   In The Secret Garden, Mary moves to England from:

a.       Australia

b.      India

c.       Canada

d.      South Africa

Answers: 1. b, 2. d, 3. b, 4. b, 5. a, 6. d, 7. a, 8. c, 9. d, 10. b.

Zeroteenth Birthday Book Quiz! (Part 1)

For my daughter's zeroteenth (aka 10th) birthday party, I put together a 30-question book trivia quiz for her book-loving friends.  The kids did really well - I think the questions were too easy!  Since I was unable to figure out how to make one of those fancy buzzfeed-type quizzes, I went the old-fashioned route.  Scroll all the way to the bottom for the answers.  30 questions are a lot, so I'll post them in 3 installments of 10 each.  Part 2 can be found here and Part 3 can be found here.  Good luck!

Birthday balloon bouquet

1.        In All-of-A-Kind Family, which girl refuses to eat her soup?

a.       Gertie

b.      Sarah

c.       Henny

d.      Charlotte

2.       In the Ramona books, what game that Henry and Beezus like to play does Ramona
  always ruin?

a.       Chess

b.      Checkers

c.       Tiddlywinks

d.      Twister

3.       In Where the Wild Things Are, the Wild Things have:

a.       A fancy ball

b.      A board game competition

c.       A wild rumpus

d.      A dance party

4.       In the Little House on the Prairie books, Mary becomes:

a.       Blind

b.      Deaf

c.       Mute

d.      Paralyzed

5.       In Anne of Green Gables, when Anne is upset she says she is:

a.       Feeling blue

b.      Down in the dumps

c.       Sadder than a soggy potato chip

d.      In the depths of despair

6.       A frindle is really a:

a.       Pencil

b.      Piece of chalk

c.       Pen

d.      Computer

7.       In When You Reach Me, what game show does Miranda’s mother compete on?

a.       The Price is Right

b.      Wheel of Fortune

c.       Jeopardy!

d.      The $20,000 Pyramid
 

8.       Which character accidentally mails dog poop instead of her mother’s artwork?

a.       Clementine

b.      Anastasia Krupnik

c.       Ramona Quimby

d.      Sheila Tubman

9.       In one of the All-of-a-Kind Family books, the girls go to the library and pick out which  
  book?

a.       Heidi

b.      Treasure Island

c.       Anne of Avonlea

d.      Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

10.   Which of these does Ramona NOT do?

a.      Take one bite out of each of the apples in the basement

b.      Bake her doll in her sister’s birthday cake

c.      Get paint on her hands and leave handprints all over her house

d.    Lock Henry's dog in the bathroom

Answers: 1. b, 2. b, 3. c, 4. a, 5. d, 6. c, 7. d, 8. b, 9. c, 10. d.

How did you do?

The Answers Are...

So the answers to our "what do these books have in common?" contest are...

(drum roll.......):

Grades 1 and 2

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Dogger by Shirley Hughes

A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman

These books are all about beloved stuffed animals which are LOST (and then found).

Grades 3-5

The Magic Half by Annie Barrows

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead                                             

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

Half Magic by Edward Eager

Seven Stories Up by Laurel Snyder

These books all feature TIME TRAVEL.

Did you get it right?

Stay tuned for our next contest, the Zeroteenth Birthday Book Quiz!

It Only Took A Year...

It only took a year, but we did it!  My daughter and I finished reading all 8 books in the Anne of Green Gables series.  I gave her the first book last year, in early June, for her 9th birthday, and I was determined that we should finish before her 10th, as more literary gifts await her.  Thankfully, we met the deadline with over a week to spare.  I had visions of us staying up late in the night before her birthday in an effort to reach my self-imposed deadline.

No, we did not read Anne every night.   My younger daughter is too young for Anne, so if I only had time for joint reading, Anne didn't make the cut.  And there were times when we needed a break, a palate cleanser, when my daughter was in the mood for picture books (which she still loves, much to my delight), or something else entirely.

At times it was tough going.  The language is flowery and old-fashioned.  The middle books tend to be gossipy stories about people Anne interacts with and less about Anne herself.  And the final book, set during World War I, has lots of arcane (to my 9-year-old) references to military personnel, politicians, and battles.

But it was worth it.  There's a kind of satisfaction in finishing a series.  The other series we have done this with are the Betsy-Tacy books, the Ramona books (multiple times, but a much quicker read) and the All-of-a-Kind Family books (ditto, and sadly, the last book was quite disappointing).

I know lots of people have done the same with Harry Potter.  What other series have you read aloud to your children in their entirety?  How long did it take you?