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Just finished this a day ago and this is not hyperbole: What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb. If you work with children from third grade through middle school, you should read this book and attempt to press it into their hot little hands. It made me laugh, made me think, made me cry. The author conjured beautiful, descriptive sentences that I wish I had written. You won't regret reading What Happened on Fox Street. It will grab you from the first paragraph and hold you until the last page!
Amazing, beautifully-written realistic fiction
Mo and her five year old sister Dottie live on Fox Street (a dead end) with their dad. Mo defines her life by Fox Street: her relationships with her varyingly kookie neighbors, the rhythms of the neighborhood, and the memories people have of her dead mother. This is her universe, so when changes come, she feels threatened and must redefine both her street and herself. Through these changes—good, bad, and excruciatingly difficult—one thing sustains Mo: the possibility of someday seeing a real fox on Fox Street.
Though the narrative is realistic fiction, Mo has moments wonder and awe that feel touched by whimsy and the fantastic. She faces difficult situations, such as the possibility of moving, and struggling to be both a sister and a substitute mother of her younger sister, but she emerges with wisdom and a changed view of the world. You will, too!
Tricia Springstubb, you are my hero!
Though the narrative is realistic fiction, Mo has moments wonder and awe that feel touched by whimsy and the fantastic. She faces difficult situations, such as the possibility of moving, and struggling to be both a sister and a substitute mother of her younger sister, but she emerges with wisdom and a changed view of the world. You will, too!
Tricia Springstubb, you are my hero!
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Chris Raschka on his 2012 Caldecott Award for the picture book A Ball for Daisy. The illustrations are absolutely wonderful, complementing a heart-warming story about a small dog dealing with the loss of a special toy. It's a tale that any child-- and any adult who remembers what it was like to be a child-- will appreciate.
2012 Caldecott Winner (award given by ALA for picture books)
Jack Gantos on his 2012 Newbery Award for his novel Dead End in Norvelt. Jack Gantos, the eponymous hero of this story, set in 1962, lives in the town of Norvelt, PA, a planned community created during the Greate Depression and named for its biggest supporter, Eleanor Roosevelt. Grounded by his parents for misbehavior, Jack comes under the supervision of the local librarian, who gives him the task of typing obituaries of the town's residents. Well, it's not as dull as it sounds for soon he's having adventures involving Eleanor R., molten wax, strange promises, Hells Angels, a homemade airplane, voices from the past, and even a possible murder.
Kooky, quirky ALA award winner for children's lit
Kadir Nelson on his 2012 Coretta Scott King Award for his picture book Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African-Americans. This book expressively maps the story of the black experience in America; it's a story of injustice and hope, of racism and courage, or brutality and faith.
A well-deserved ALA Award
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A viral video..."The Joy of Books." They are just so darned adorable, why would anyone want a Kindle or a Nook or a Kobo? Don't tell me how much a big hardcover weighs or how hard they are to lug around. Good grief, exercise those biceps...Thank you, crazedadman!
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I have a confession to make... which I may have already confessed on this blog, but I will confess again or re-confess, whatever the correct terminology may be. As a child, I whiled away countless hours (or perhaps minutes) reading the dictionary. It's true. On a rainy afternoon when outdoor play was impossible... or in the late evening, when there was nothing but mind-numbing reruns on broadcast TV (this was back-in-the-day before cable), I would haul down the old Webster's from the bookshelf in the family room, place my finger in a random notch in its thick side and let it fall open. Who knew what treasures might be found on those tissue-paper thin pages. Yes, I'm a word nerd, always have been, always will be.
So imagine my joy in celebrating "Thesaurus Day." Who cares if Wikipedia blacks out its site to protest the SOPA bill in Congress? Who needs freakin' Wikipedia. I can name four dozen websites where you will find whatever information you need that you might ordinary seek out on Wikipedia just because, admit it, it's at the top of the search results' list. But Thesaurus Day??? Where would a writer be without Roget's in print -- or, in a pinch, any of the online thesauri?? Now that would be a loss!!
Just look at all the epossible synonyms related to speech and the word "remark:" statement, comment, crack [slang], one's two cents' worth [informal], word, say, saying, utterance, observation, reflection, expression, note, thought, mention, assertion, averment, allegation, dictum, declaration, interjection, exclamation, question, answer, address, greeting, apostrophe, sentence, phrase, subjoinder, Parthian shot.
Just like the Inuit have multiple lexemes for snow and snow-related events, we have a wondrous variety of words at our disposal. So put them to use and entertain your friends!
So imagine my joy in celebrating "Thesaurus Day." Who cares if Wikipedia blacks out its site to protest the SOPA bill in Congress? Who needs freakin' Wikipedia. I can name four dozen websites where you will find whatever information you need that you might ordinary seek out on Wikipedia just because, admit it, it's at the top of the search results' list. But Thesaurus Day??? Where would a writer be without Roget's in print -- or, in a pinch, any of the online thesauri?? Now that would be a loss!!
Just look at all the epossible synonyms related to speech and the word "remark:" statement, comment, crack [slang], one's two cents' worth [informal], word, say, saying, utterance, observation, reflection, expression, note, thought, mention, assertion, averment, allegation, dictum, declaration, interjection, exclamation, question, answer, address, greeting, apostrophe, sentence, phrase, subjoinder, Parthian shot.
Just like the Inuit have multiple lexemes for snow and snow-related events, we have a wondrous variety of words at our disposal. So put them to use and entertain your friends!
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Santa tucked Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-Ray under the Christmas tree this season and I have spent recent evenings watching the contents in the original order of release. (It just seemed the appropriate thing to do.) So when this entertaining list came over the transom recently, I found myself chortling convulsively in the library. If I was the shushing kind of librarian, I might have had to shush myself. As it was, the children passing through on their way to lunch just nodded knowingly to each other: there goes Ms. Z, laughing again. Anyway, I challenge you to keep a straight face, even if you are not a big Star Wars fan.
George Lucas, the maker, as C-3PO would say, is a great storyteller and film maker, but he also has a reputation for writing dialogue that's just cringe-worthy, especially in the last three Star Wars epics (that would be I, II, and III). So here are 25 lines from Star Wars that can be improved by substituting the word "pants."
George Lucas, the maker, as C-3PO would say, is a great storyteller and film maker, but he also has a reputation for writing dialogue that's just cringe-worthy, especially in the last three Star Wars epics (that would be I, II, and III). So here are 25 lines from Star Wars that can be improved by substituting the word "pants."
1) A tremor in the pants. The last time I felt this was in the presence of my old master.
2) You are unwise to lower your pants.
3) I find your lack of pants disturbing.
4) She must have hidden the plans in her pants. Send a detachment down to retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander.
2) You are unwise to lower your pants.
3) I find your lack of pants disturbing.
4) She must have hidden the plans in her pants. Send a detachment down to retrieve them. See to it personally, Commander.
Join me and together we will rule the pants as father and son.
5) These pants may not look like much, kid, but they've got it where it counts.
6) Lock the door. And hope they don't have pants.
7) Don't worry. Chewie and I have gotten into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.
8) Great, Chewie, great. Always thinking with your pants.
9) Yeah, well, short pants is better than no pants at all, Chewie.
10) You look strong enough to pull the pants off a Gundark.
11) Jabba doesn't have time for smugglers who drop their pants at the first sign of an Imperial Cruiser.
12) Maybe you'd like it back in your pants, your highness.
6) Lock the door. And hope they don't have pants.
7) Don't worry. Chewie and I have gotten into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.
8) Great, Chewie, great. Always thinking with your pants.
9) Yeah, well, short pants is better than no pants at all, Chewie.
10) You look strong enough to pull the pants off a Gundark.
11) Jabba doesn't have time for smugglers who drop their pants at the first sign of an Imperial Cruiser.
12) Maybe you'd like it back in your pants, your highness.
Hokey religions and ancient pants are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.
13) Governor Tarkin, I recognized your foul pants when I was brought on board.
14) You came in those pants? You're braver than I thought.
14) You came in those pants? You're braver than I thought.
Into the pants, flyboy!
15) I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants back home.
But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some pants!
16) We've got to be able to get some reading on those pants, up or down.
17) Han will have those pants down. We've got to give him more time!
18) That blast came from those pants. That thing's operational!
19) Attention. This is Lando Calrissean. The Empire has taken control of my pants. I advise everyone to leave before more troops arrive.
17) Han will have those pants down. We've got to give him more time!
18) That blast came from those pants. That thing's operational!
19) Attention. This is Lando Calrissean. The Empire has taken control of my pants. I advise everyone to leave before more troops arrive.
Move as close as you can and engage those pants!
20) These pants contain the ultimate power in the Universe. I suggest we use it.
21) TK-421... why aren't you in your pants?
22) General Veers, prepare your pants for a surface assault.
23) I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.
21) TK-421... why aren't you in your pants?
22) General Veers, prepare your pants for a surface assault.
23) I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.
Lost his pants, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing… how embarrassing.
24) Your pants betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially one. Your sister!
25) Luke... help me take... these pants off.
25) Luke... help me take... these pants off.
Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your pants...
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You can't talk about the Harlem Renaissance without talking about Zora Neale Hurston. And would these African-American authors have found their voices without her to blaze the trail: Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.
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The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over ...
(from "Fog")
Hog Butcher for the World,
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders...
(from "Chicago")
Pile the bodies high...
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all...
(from "Grass")
If I should pass the tomb of Jonah
I would stop there and sit for awhile;
Because I was swallowed one time deep in the dark
And came out alive after all.
(from "Losers")
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over ...
(from "Fog")
Hog Butcher for the World,
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders...
(from "Chicago")
Pile the bodies high...
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all...
(from "Grass")
If I should pass the tomb of Jonah
I would stop there and sit for awhile;
Because I was swallowed one time deep in the dark
And came out alive after all.
(from "Losers")
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Fitzgerald or Hemingway?
Rhett or Ashley?
For that matter, Scarlett or Melanie?
Jay Gatsby or Tom Buchanan?
George Wickham or Fitzwilliam Darcy? (Pride and Prejudice)
In the 90's update: Daniel Cleaver or Mark Darcy? (Bridget Jones's Diary)
May Welland or Ellen Olenska? (The Age of Innocence)
Arthur or Lancelot?
Charles Darnay or Sydney Carton? (A Tale of Two Cities)
Heathcliff or Edgar Linton? (Wuthering Heights)
Tonya or Lara? (Doctor Zhivago)
Florentino Ariza or Juvenal Urbino? (Love in the Time of Cholera)
Betty or Veronica?
Louis or Lestat? (Interview with a Vampire)
Dracula or Frankenstein?
Sauron or Voldemort?
Rhett or Ashley?
For that matter, Scarlett or Melanie?
Jay Gatsby or Tom Buchanan?
George Wickham or Fitzwilliam Darcy? (Pride and Prejudice)
In the 90's update: Daniel Cleaver or Mark Darcy? (Bridget Jones's Diary)
May Welland or Ellen Olenska? (The Age of Innocence)
Arthur or Lancelot?
Charles Darnay or Sydney Carton? (A Tale of Two Cities)
Heathcliff or Edgar Linton? (Wuthering Heights)
Tonya or Lara? (Doctor Zhivago)
Florentino Ariza or Juvenal Urbino? (Love in the Time of Cholera)
Betty or Veronica?
Louis or Lestat? (Interview with a Vampire)
Dracula or Frankenstein?
Sauron or Voldemort?
The one eye versus the nose (or lack thereof)...
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Today marks the 227th anniversary of the birth of Jacob Grimm in Hanau, Germany. Without him and his brother, Wilhelm, we might be without priceless folktales such as Rapunzel, The Fisherman and His Wife, Little Red Cap, The Bremen Towne Musicians, Rumpelstiltskin and Hansel & Gretel. To celebrate, read a folktale, either to your favorite child or just for your own pleasure!
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The world of children's literature lost another light with the passing of author/illustrator Simms Taback, who passed away on December 25th at the age of 79. Taback won the Caldecott Medal for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (2000) and a Caldecott Honor for one of my favorite read alouds, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, with its amazing die-cut illustrations. He also created the illustrations for the first McDonald's Happy Meal Box in 1977!
Here are ust a few of his works. The world of children's books will be a little less colorful without him.
Simms Taback in his studio.