What I did at Book Expo America (BEA) 2015

I knew this would be my last year attending BEA so I decided to make the most of it (it's moving to Chicago next year).  First up, they had a promotion code for $25.00 off your first Uber ride, so I gave that a shot and it worked out really well - not only did I get the the Javits Center early for once, but it turned out to be a free ride.  Naturally, I took that to be a good omen for the rest of BEA - and I think it was.

First off, I met my friend Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews.  Our blogs couldn't be more different, but it goes to show you what a great community bloggers are.  We were both attending the BEA Bloggers Conference, so we started off with some of the provided breakfast, followed by the keynote speakers.  While that was happening, we invited Daniel Saugar who blogs YA fiction at The Couch Potatoes Digest (twitter @dsaugar9 and who will also be posting his BEA recap) to join us.

Most of the sessions were about monetizing and branding your blog, both things I don't want to do, but they were interesting.  At lunch, I ran into Charlotte of Charlotte's Library, who I have known for about 5 years now.  For those who may not know, Charlotte blogs about middle grade science fiction and fantasy book, and does a great roundup of reviews and other news on Sundays.  Charlotte was handing out cards informing bloggers about the 2015 KidLitCon (kidlotosphere conference), which will be held  on October 9th and 10th this year at the Hyatt Place Harbor East in Baltimore, MD.  More information can be found HERE.

After lunch, however, the exhibit floor opened up for the afternoon, which they never did before.  Needless to day, Elizabeth, Daniel and I headed up there.  So, for 2 1/2 days, we lugged books around the Javits Center, stood on long lines and walked away with clutching our treasures and grinning to beat the band.

On Friday, I went to the Children's Book and Author Breakfast with Nathan Lane, Oliver Jeffers, Rainbow Rowell, and James Patterson.  Each spoke about their work, their passion for what they do and did you know the it was James Patterson who coined the term "Toy-R-Us Kid" - authors are always full of fun surprises.  I did get a chance to tell Rainbow Rowell about my Kiddo writing fan fiction at fanfic.net when she was younger and how much she loved reading Fangirl because of it.

After breakfast, it was on to the exhibit floor for the rest of the day.  I had decided to be more discriminating in the books I thought I might like and since the amount of swag available goes down more and more every year, swag for me was at an all time low, which was fine.

So what books did I bring home with me?

The Harry Potter book you see is only a preview of the new illustrated edition coming out in the fall.  The blue book is Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper, who I was very excited to meet.  And of course I have to get Mike Curato's new book, Little Elliot Big Family.

These are the middle grade and YA books I was excited about, especially Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond.  I read an awful lot of Lois Lane comics as a kid, so couldn't resist this one.  And even though I have already read Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia, I loved meeting her and getting a signed copy (and yes, I did gush).  But I had already run into Rita the day before when I got a copy of the new Guys Read: Terrifying Tales, edited by Jon Scieszka, and signed by Jon, Michael Buckley, R.L. Stine, and Rita Williams-Garcia, among others.

There are the books I picked up for my other blog, The Children's War.  I was very excited to meet M.T. Anderson, whom I have always enjoyed reading, and get a signed copy of Symphony for the City of the Dead, a YA nonfiction work about the Siege of Leningrad.  And who could resist the new Tim Wynn-Jones book, The Emperor of Any Place.    I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing all these new books.

This is my swag (like I said, not much.  I'm not a big Disney fan, but I have Diane Muldrow's other Everything I Need to Know, so I decided to see about this one, too.  And they are a nice walk down the Little Golden Books memory lane (I stll have my original Pokey Little Puppy book). The gold box on top of that pile is 15 Thank You cards in 5 languages.  The book at the bottom is the new Geraldine Brooks novel, The Secret Chord.  I've always enjoyed her historical fiction so much.  I also have a copy of Suzan-Lori Parks play Father Comes Home from the Wars.  I saw an excellent production of it performed at the Public Theater this past winter and thought I might like to read it, as well.  I was happy to find that Suzan-Lori Parks also thought the play was excellently produced.

So that was my Be a 2015 experience and I have lots of reading material for the coming months.  It was fun, but tiring and now I will be happy to get back to my regular blogging routine.  If you went to BEA, I would love to hear what you did, and if you participated in Armchair BEA, I would like to know how that went, expecially since that's the BEA for me next year.

(I will be reposting this on The Children's War, so if you follow both blogs, I apoligize for the duplicate posts in advance.)

Anne of the Fens by Gretchen Gibbs

If you google the name Baugh and Madison County, Kentucky, you will easily discover the history of my family.  We can trace the Baughs back as far as the 1500s.  I've often looked at my family tree and, thought about the stories they could each tell over the course of all that time.

Well, Gretchen Gibbs must have had a similar thought because she has begun writing fiction histories about the women she descends from in her Bradford Chronicles.

The first of her books, The Book of Maggie Bradstreet took place in 1692 during the witch trials in Salem and in the Puritan settlement of Andover, Massachusetts, where Maggie lived.  I found it to be a compelling story, so when I saw that Gibbs had written the second volume, I couldn't wait to read it.

Anne of the Fens takes place much earlier, beginning in May 1627 in the town of Boston, Lincolnshire, England.  Anne Dudley may be a Puritan, but she is also a curious 15 year old who is beginning to feel strong feelings towards the opposite sex.  As fugitives for refusing to pay the tax King Charles I is demanding to finance his war with Spain, Anne and her family have been living in Tattershall Castle, where her father is a Steward for the Earl there, and away from their own home.  It's an arrangement Anne rather likes.

One Sunday morning, on the way to church, Anne inadvertently catches a bit of a May Fair production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and decides she must find out how their story ends.  When she questions her tutor, Simon Bradstreet, first about Catholicism and then Shakespeare, Anne is surprised by his responses, giving her a broad hint as to where Shakespeare's work is kept in the castle.

Unable to resist, Anne goes in search of it and discovers a secret room, with shelf after shelf of decidedly unpuritanical books, not just Shakespeare.  On a return visit, she senses someone has been in the room recently, and discovers who it is when her father asks her to take food to a fugitive hidden there.  The fugitive, John Holland, is a Puritan hiding from the Sheriff for writing and posting a tract about not paying the King's new tax. Anne finds herself more attracted to him now than she had been to Simon and looks forward to her nightly visits.

Trouble soon erupts, though, when Anne's spiteful younger sister Sarah posts a paper Simon had written to Anne about religious tolerance on the back of one of John Holland's tracts.  Soon the Sheriff shows up with warrants, and Anne decides she must help John Holland escape.  This is a decision that could ruin not just her reputation, but that of her family as well.  On the run, Anne soon begins to suspect that John may not be the kind of man she thinks he is when he leaves her in the fens in the middle of the night to make her way back to the castle alone.

Anne certainly learns some harsh lessons about human behavior in this novel, but one of the underlying storylines shows her budding interest in reading and writing poetry.  It is an interest she takes very seriously, eventually becoming the first woman poet in the United States.

I really enjoyed reading The Book of Maggie Bradstreet, so I was looking forward to Anne of the Fens and I wasn't disappointed.  It was a little disjunctive in the beginning since Maggie Bradstreet was Anne Dudley Bradstreet's great granddaughter, so the two books weren't read in a linear way, but I quickly got past that since both books stand on their own.

Anne of the Fens is an engaging story that follows Anne's journey from a young romantic to a mature woman in the midst of trying times.  The story is well written and well researched.  I found the descriptions of life in the early 1600s to be believable and, in fact, if you ever wondered what it was like to live in a castle back then, they are quite informative, and I can guarantee that some descriptions will certainly tickle your sense of smell.

But Anne's story is also relevant for today's reader.  As she becomes more and more aware of her awakening sexual feelings and makes decisions based on romantic notions, Anne inevitable makes the mistakes of youth that can sometimes have disastrous results.

Be sure to read the "Afterword" in which Gibbs relates what happened to the people included in her story and what their lives were like. The setting, England in the early part of the 17th century was a time of turmoil and religious intolerance.  Most of what was happening isn't really included in Anne's story, but there is enough for the reader to understand the contentious nature of the relationship between the Puritans and the government.  Be sure to read this as well as a brief History of the Times that Gibbs includes for more information.  There is also a poem by Anne, one that is begun in the story and finished later.  The language may sound a little old fashioned, but the meaning is still easily grasped.

Anyone who enjoys a love story surrounded by history will enjoy reading Anne of the Fens.  Who know, it might even inspire some of you to look into your own family history.

This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

Memorial Day 2015

I posted this a few years ago on my other blog, The Children's War, and thought I would repost it here this year.  

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day.  Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, because it was a time when people would decorate the graves of those soldiers who has fallen in war to honor and remember them. 

In many of the national cemeteries, they still mark all the graves with a flag for this weekend.  This makes me feel good, since my baby brother is buried in one of those cemeteries. 

I always think of the poem "In Flanders Fields" on Memorial Day because I had to learn it in school and never forgot.  The poem has an interesting history.
In 1915, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea who a poem called "In Flanders Fields" while presiding over the funeral of a fellow fallen soldier who was killed in the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium and buried in Flanders Fields, a field were red poppies grew everywhere.  McCrea was not very happy with the poem he wrote and threw it away, but one of his fellow officers saved it.  It was published in Punch on December 8, 1915. 

In What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? which was broadcast for Memorial Day in 1983, Linus recites "In Flanders Fields" while the Peanuts gang is visiting the cemetery there:

So, if you see a vet selling poppies this weekend, and you decide to buy one, remember that the money goes towards helping needy veterans.  Oh, and by the way, they are made by vet themselves, and although they receive a small amount of money for making poppies, for so many it is their only source of income.

All this being said, have a happy, healthy and safe Memorial Day and have some fun, too.

In Memoriam

FCP 1955-2001

Blog Tour: The Wizard of Oz: The Classic Edition by Frank Baum, illustrated by Charles Santore

I have to make a confession right off the bat: up until now, I had never read The Wizard of Oz.  Sure, I knew the story, all my friends did.  As kids, we watched the Judy Garland movie version of the story, but I was totally turned off by the flying monkeys, so I just never read the book.  Well, thanks to this beautiful new edition, all that's changed.

It's all there in this edition - Dorothy's life is pretty dull and grey living on the farm with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em.  Luckily, she has her little dog Toto to make her laugh.   But when a cyclone sweeps Dorothy and Toto up, setting them down in Oz, suddenly life is no longer dull and grey.  And yet, as colorful as Oz is, Dorothy just wants to go back home and to do that, she must follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and find the wonderful wizard who can send her back to Kansas.

Along the way, Dorothy and Toto make three friends - a scarecrow who wishes to have brains in his head instead of straw, a rusted Tin Woodsman who would to have a heart and a cowardly lion who just wants some courage.  So, these three new friends go along with Dorothy to find the wizard who, they believe, can give them all just what they want.

Of course, their journey is not without pitfalls, and even when they get to Oz and find the wizard, there are still trials and tasks to fulfill, but that makes for an interesting, exciting story that young readers won't soon forget in this beautifully illustrated, somewhat abridged version of Frank Baum's classic tale about friends and family, courage, intelligence and love, and most importantly, home and what that means.

What sets this book apart from other editions are the incredible painted illustrations of the story, all  reimagined by Charles Santore. In his introduction, Michael Patrick Hearn writes that Santore likes to do "purely narrative illustrations" in children's book.  That way, the story can be read on two levels - pictorially and textually.   When I read that, I first went through the book just paying attention to the illustrations and sure enough, the whole story is contained in the images.  Then, I read the story and compared the text to the illustrations.  It was a wonderfully complimentary marriage of text and image.  I can only magine the conversations this will generate with kids not yet reading, beginning readers and more advanced readers, making this an ideal book for all of them.  How exciting!

I was particularly struck by Santore's use of color.  In the beginning, when Dorothy is still in Kansas, the predominate color is grey, but when the cyclone sets the house down and Dorothy opens the door, the reader can see just is a hint of green and blue.  In fact, Dorothy finds herself in a "a country of marvelous beauty." (pg 20)

As she sets out for Oz along the yellow brick road, the predominant palette color is bright yellow, though in the forest where Dorothy meets the cowardly lion, it changes to dark green.  And once the travelers arrive in Oz, the color is bright green, so bright they have to wear glasses to protect their eyes.  It is clear that Santore gave a lot of thought to how he wanted to illustrate The Wizard of Oz and he has done a really spot on job of it.

I also like his interpretation of Dorothy, making her a younger, more realistic version of Dorothy, so that her innocence and venerability in the face of so much really stand out.

The Wizard of Oz: The Classic Edition is a beautifully rendered book that is sure to quickly become a family favorite.

This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was received from the publisher, Applesauce Press

Be sure to check out the other stops on The Wizard of Oz Blog Tour to see what they have to say:

Read, Write, Reflect

Igniting Writing

Watch. Connect. Read.

Curls and a Smile

Read Now, Sleep Later

Joshua and the Lightning Road by Donna Galanti

Twelve year old Joshua Cooper has been living with his grandfather, Bo Chez, ever since he was a baby.  The two have always moved a lot, but now they are once again settled in a new place and Joshua finally has a best friend.

Or he does until one night very stormy night.   While playing a fateful game of Hide and Seek, Joshua sees his best friend grabbed by a hand and suddenly disappear out the attic window in a burst of bright lightning right in front of his eyes.  Then, after Finn disappears, Joshua hears a laugh and is threateningly told he will be next.  But next for what and where's Finn?

Determined to get Finn back from wherever he has been taken, Joshua races downstairs, grabs a flashlight and the round crystal orb and photo of his mother his grandfather keeps in a box.  He may not know what the orb is for, but he feels the needs to take it with him.  Back at the attic, Joshua waits and sure enough, in flashes of lightning, he finds himself grabbed and next thing he knows, he's waking up in a guarded compound right in the midst of a crowd of other boys and girls.

Joshua has ended up in the world of Nostos, a scary place full of the now fallen-from-power descendants of the Greek Olympians, and where children who are kidnapped on earth are taken there to be auctioned off as slaves to whomever needs workers.  Joshua finds himself, along with his new friend Charlie whom he met in the compound, bought by the evil power hungry Hekate to work in the Power Mill.  There, they are expected to run in giant wheels generating power for Nostos.  Quickly assessing that Finn hasn't been taken there, Joshua and Charlie escape to look for him elsewhere.

Their escape begins an adventure of epic proportion for Joshua and Charlie.  And it doesn't take long for Hekate to suspect that the long prophesied Oracle has arrived on Nostos, a prophesy she has good reason to fear - the Oracle could restore full power to the Olympian heirs and, using their powers for good, would end her own evil quest for full power.  Soon, the chase is on, with Joshua and Charlie looking for Finn, now accompanied by Leandro and Sam, who both has personal reasons for wanting to abandon Nostos and go to Earth.  And along the way, Joshua discovers some real surprises about who he is.

Joshua and the Lightning Road is an exciting story with something for everyone.  Galanti has created a world where one wrong step could cause you to simply fall of its edge into nothingness, and where Greek mythology comes to life for the readers in a full on good vs. evil power struggle, where creatures are both magical and scary, and where you have to be very careful about whom to trust,   And the only way to get there or get home to earth is via the Lightning Road and that is no easy task.

Joshua is a great main character.  He is loyal to his friend Finn, to the point of traveling to an unknown place to rescue him and he never wavers or loses sight of his goal.  He is such a determined and stubborn kid who refuses to let obstacles get in his way.  But he also has good instincts and the sense to trust them, especially concerning Sam and Leandro, whose help and familiarity with Nostos and the powers that be come in very handy for finding and rescuing Finn.  

If you like fantasy books about friendship and family, loyalty and courage and especially about the meaning of home, Joshua and the Lightning Tree is the book for you.  And is these things aren't your cup of tea, give a whirl anyway - you may be pleasantly surprised.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was sent to me by the author, Donna Galanti

Juna's Jar by Jane Bahk, illustrated by Felicia Hoshino

I will never forget how upset my Kiddo was when her best friend moved away.  Both girls were only 4 and too young to realize what moving away would mean.  Naturally, when it happened and the realization that she would never see Rhyanna again finally hit, it was a pretty hard blow.  In fact, she continued to look for her friend wherever we went for a few weeks.  My Kiddo finally did understand that her friend was not around or coming back, but she's never forgotten those first lonely days.

I was reminded of this time in my Kiddo's life  when I picked up Juna's Jar to read.  Juna and Hector are also best friends and the two of them love to go adventuring in the park, collecting things to put into Juna's big empty kimchi jar - bugs, rocks, anything that catches their fancy.

But one morning, when Juna calls for Hector to come out and go adventuring in the park, his grandmother tells her that Hector and his parents have moved away.  The two friends never got a chance to say good-bye.

Missing her friend, Juna begins to look for him in her dreams.  Each night, the kimchi jar becomes a source of adventure as Juna looks for Hector.  The first night, with the help of a fish her brother Minho buys her, the jar becomes a deep sea adventure, the next night, it's a jungle to explore with the help of a fast growing bean Minho gives her, and finally, a cricket takes Juna on an adventure to Hector's new house so she can see that he is doing well.  Juna is finally able to come to terms with not having Hector to play with anymore and opens herself up to the possibility of finding a new friend.

Juna's Jar is a charmingly told story that deals with the difficulties of losing a best friend  at an age when kids don't fully understand how or why that can happen and of finally coming to terms with never having said good-bye (or closure), making it a book that really fills a need.

Juna, who is Korean and Hector, who is Latino, are both nicely portrayed diverse characters.  I like that though their cultural identities were obvious, they weren't made a major part of the story so that the universal theme of friendship remained the focus.  And, although, a lot of kids may not know that kimchi is a Korean dish made with fermented vegetables, more and more it is becoming a part of the American diet and this may open kids up to trying it.  And young readers may even want a big jar like Juna's to go adventuring with.

I thought Juna's older brother was also a very well done character.  He is a great example of a kind, considerate sibling, trying to help his younger sister deal with her friend moving away.

Juna's nighttime adventures are helped with a little magical realism that may confuse young readers and should definitely generate some conversation about reality and imagination.  Did Juna really go deep sea diving in her jar or did she dream it?  The difference is clear in the wonderful watercolor illustrations by Felicia Hoshino, where reality is clear and nighttime adventures are shouwn to be dreamlike, but that may not register with the youngest readers.

Juna's Jar is a satisfying story about a young girl who just misses her friend and I wish it had been around when my Kiddo was young.

This book is recommended for readers age 3+
This book was provided to me by the publisher, Lee & Low Books
 

It's Monday! What are you reading? #15

 It's Monday! What are you reading? is the original weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  It's Monday! What are you reading? - from Picture Books to YA is a kidlit focused meme just like the original and is hosted weekly by Teach Mentor Texts.  The purpose is the same: to recap what you have read and/or reviewed and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week.

Last week, I read some wonderful  picture books, and one middle grade novel:

By Mouse & Frog
Written and illustrated by Deborah Freedman

Mouse wakes up early one morning because he wants to begin writing a book.  And frog is more than willing to help him out.  The only problem is that they have different ideas about how and what to write.  Can they learn to work together so each is happy?

Deborah Freedman brings us another metafiction story. this time about friendship and compromise.  For readers age 3+

If You Plant a Seed
Written & Illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Young readers see for themselves what happens when you plant a seed, whether it is a tomato seed or a carrot seed or a seed of selfishness or one of kindness, it will grow and grow.

Beautifully illustrated, this expressive book gives a new and relatable take on the old Biblical lesson demonstrating how you reap what you sow.  For readers age 4+

Won Ton and Chopstick, A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku
by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Remember Won Ton, the shelter cat who found a forever home a few years age?  Well, he back, and just as poetic as ever.  Told in a series of 17 syllable haikus, Won Ton suffers some sibling rivalry when a new puppy arrives to disrupt his purrrfect life.  Will cat and dog ever learn to get along and share the affections of their family?

Once again, Wardlaw captures each sometimes rocky, always emotional step towards acceptance in these haiku.  Won Ton and Chopstick is funny, but truthful and a nice read aloud (especially for kids about to become an older sibling).  For readers age 4+

The Imaginary 
Written by A.F. Harrold, illustrated by Emily Gravett

Have you ever wondered what happens to imaginary friends when they aren't being imagined?  This very tongue-in-cheek middle grade novel explores that question.  After Amanda is hit by a car, Rudger, her imaginary friend, needs to find a way to get back to her before he completely Fades and is gone for good.  But, Rudger had started to Fade before the accident, and is also being pursued by the ancient, evil Mr. Bunting who has sold his sold to the devil - for every fading imaginary he consumes, he buys himself more living (?) time.

The story is sufficiently creepy, but not for all kids.  If your young readers liked Doll Bones and Coraline, they will probably enjoy The Imagainary.   The black and white illustrations, some with a splash of color add to the weirdness.
For readers age 8+


This week, I will be reading the following books:

What are you reading this week?

Hypers! It's Mothers Day!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Mother's Day!

Remembering my mom:

My dad was the one who had the patience to teach me how to read and instilled me with a real love of poetry, but it was my mom who taught me to really love reading.  Being dyslexic, reading was a nightmare and school was the last place I wanted to be.  After my dad taught me to read, my mother introduced me to three series books that she had loved as a girl - The Bobbsey Twins, Anne of Green Gables and Nancy Drew.  And I fell in love…with reading.

As a girl, my mother loved to read, but as the daughter of a minister and one of seven children and with war on the horizon, there wasn't much money to go around and she had to rely heavily on borrowing books from friends or using the library.  Back then, however, the library didn't carry many series books and friends weren't willing to lend their own new Nancy Drews.  Knowing how much her girls wanted to read them, my grandmother somehow managed get her three daughters a few copies of some Nancy Drew books, most likely donated by a kind parishioner.  My mom held on to those books, and they were read by my cousins and my older sister before they made their way to me.  

Three of my mom's 9 original Nancy Drews

My mom and I had a ritual about the three series books I read.  Every Friday night after dinner, we would walk to Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, where there was a small bookstore right next to the Dutch Reformed Church and I could pick out one book for the week.  If I finished that book, I could get a new one the following Friday.  I started with The Bobbsey Twins, worked my way to Nancy Drew and then Anne of Green Gables.  By the time I finished, I was a pretty good reader and entering 7th grade didn't feel as terrifying as grades 1-6 did.  

I loved our Friday night walks because not only did I get a new book, but I got to spend time alone with my mother.  My sister and brother weren't allowed to tag along.  Those Friday nights are some of my best memories of my mom.

My mother passed away in 1998, but right up until the end, reading was a shared adventure for the two of us and I can't thank her (and my dad) enough for helping me to discover the joy of reading.

My mom's Nancy Drew books are old, the pages are burnt and they are worth anything, but they were certainly well loved by three generations of Baugh girls. including my kiddo .  This year Nancy Drew turned 85 years old and kids are still reading her.  Nancy has changed with the times, but to me she will always be the girl who wore frocks and drove a blue roadster, had two best friends and taught me to be an independent woman.  And I am in pretty good company on that score: my mother, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O'Connor, Laura Bush, Hilary Clinton, Oprah Wimfrey, Sara Paretsky and Barbara Streisand, among others.

 Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and Thank You

And here are some interesting articles about Nancy Drew's continuing impact:

Celebrating 85 years of Nancy Drew, The Girl Who Started It All from The Mary Sue

Nancy Drew's Granddaughters from the New York Times

Nancy Drew's Father from The New Yorker

Counting Crows by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Rob Dunlavey

Just when you think all the books that reinforce kids counting skills have been written in every conceivable way possible, along comes Kathi Appelt and proves you wrong.  Counting Crows does presume that young readers have learned to count at least up to 12 and are ready to have some fun with numbers 1-12.

Here we find twelve crows, all wearing bright red and white striped sweaters and, because there's one fashion rebel in every crowd, one crow accentuates his with a red polka-dot scarf.  The twelve black crows frolic across the pages, playing with each other, hanging from trees, sitting on telephone lines, and looking for something to eat, all of it accompanied by humorous rhyming couplets and quatrains in an ABCB rhyme scheme.

Of course, the crows may be the hunt for a tasty lunch, but they aren't the only ones:

Twelve crows hop,

twelve crows sing,

twelve on a park bench, 

wing by wing.

Twelve chewy chips

twelve slimy snails…

One cat counts

twelve crows' twelve tails!

The brief appearance of a calculating gray kitty wearing a red polka-dot scarf will surely get kids counting crows in the end, but they can also count each thing the crows find to eat, and, as kids will discover, they will eat ANYTHING.  For instance, if you look closely at the image below, you will be able to count nine spicy ants, and nine round crackers.  But be warned, as the numbers go up, it get more and more difficult find their tasty(?) treats.  So the book not only is fun with counting but also helps builds observation skills.  

I loved the illustrations done in marker, pencil and watercolor.  The vivid black crows in bold red sweaters are placed against a bright white background while the other features, like the telephone line, the bench, the edible tidbits are all done with light pencil lines (making them harder to find while seeking and counting them).

This is a fun book that will definitely delight young readers, especially those who are comfortable with their numbers already.

Kids can find some fun Counting Crows activities HERE 

This book is recommended for readers age 3+
This book was purchased for my personal library

This is book 6of my 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Reading Challenge hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

I really liked Lynda Mullaly Hunt's debut middle grade novel One of the Murphys about a young girl in foster care, so I was really looking forward to reading her second novel, Fish in a Tree and it didn't disappoint.

Sixth-grader Ally Nickerson has a secret that she has so far managed to hide from her mom and her teachers - she can't read.  Luckily for Ally, her dad is in the military and so her family has had to move seven times, which means new schools and new distractions so that no one has discovered her secret.  Now, though, her teacher is going on maternity leave which means a new teacher will be taking over.

But Ally ends up in the principal's office (again) when she give the teacher her card and she hasn't a clue why.  She had so carefully picked out a card she thought the teacher would like, not realizing it was a sympathy card instead of a baby card.

Believing she can't read because she is stupid, Ally has always stayed by herself, withdrawing into her "mind movies," or drawing in her Sketchbook of Impossible Things and trying to remain invisible and doing her best to avoid the class bully Shay and her sidekick Jessica.

Luckily, though, Ally has a wonderful, caring older brother which is a genius at solving car problems and who provides her with some relief from the stress of her schooldays.

But it is the new teacher who really turns things around for Ally.  Mr. Daniels, is young, enthusiastic, energetic, interested and creative.  First thing he does is change everyone seat in class.  Suddenly, Ally finds herself sitting next to a girl named Keisha.  After an awkward start, Keisha and Ally become friends and both girls befriend Albert, who occasionally comes to school with bruises and who has an amazing mind for remembering factual information.

Mr. Daniels has also been taking special education classes at night and seems to have a real interest in Ally.  Soon, he is teaching her how to play chess at the end of each school day, which proves to be a real opportunity for him to talk to her about her work.  And he thinks she's a pretty smart girl, which is why he has her pulled out of class one day to be tested.   The test results show exactly what Mr. Daniels suspected - that Ally is dyslexic - and for the first time in her school life, she is finally able to feel optimistic that she can actually learn to read.

With two good friends, an understanding teacher and new found hope, Ally is feeling happier that she ever been, even though she has a rough learning road ahead of her and a few surprises, too.

Fish in a Tree is a book I can really relate to, since I wasn't diagnosed as being dyslexic until I was 18 years old and I know exactly how Ally felt for most of her school life.  Lynda Mullaly Hunt has really captured the anguish and despair that a young person feels when they can't learn the way everyone else does.  And the clever distractions they can come up with as a cover.

Though not without a few flaws, Ally's story proves to be both compelling and inspiring.  And I admit, there were times I found reading her story to be so emotionally charged that it was almost painful.  I thought that Ally, Keisha and Albert are all well-fleshed out characters, with their own personalities.   On the other hand, I thought most of the other characters that surround Ally are pretty much stock types, but then again, middle school does have its share of bullys and nerds, and eager teachers.  I was particularly disheartened, though, by the character of Mrs. Hall, who handled Ally by sending her repeatedly to the principal, rather than taking a closer look at what Ally was doing.  And the principals attitude wasn't much better.  Ally's mistake in giving a sympathy card to her pregnant teacher is seen as bad behavior, not as an indication of a larger problem.  As a teacher, these things really bothered me.  I suspect and hope that Mr. Daniels is going to make a lot of teachers look differently at some of the students in the classes.

Overall, this is a book that I would recommend to all middle school kids.  Hunt doesn't back away from difficult subjects that have not clear cut happy end in sight, instead ending on just a hopeful note.  This was true in One of the Murphys and is true for Fish in a Tree.  I can't wait to see what she is going to do next.

Penguin offers an Educator's Guide to both of Lynda Mullaly Hunt's books HERE
  
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

What's it like to be dyslexic?  Stand in from of an audience and read the following, and it will give you a good sense of Ally's life before Mr. Daniels figured things out:

We pegin our qrib eq a faziliar blace, a poqy like yours enq zine.
Iq conqains a hunqraq qrillion calls qheq work qogaqhys py qasign.
Enq wiqhin each one of qhese zany calls, each one qheq hes QNA,
Qhe QNA coqe is axecqly qhe saze, a zess-broquceq rasuze.
So qhe coqe in each call is iqanqical, a razarkaple puq veliq claiz.
Qhis zeans qheq qhe calls are nearly alike, puq noq axecqly qhe saze.
Qake, for insqence, qhe calls of qhe inqasqines; qheq qhey're viqal is cysqainly blain.
Now qhink apouq qhe way you woulq qhink if qhose calls wyse qhe calls in your prain.

You can find out what this passage really says HERE

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is a weekly event hosted by Shannon Messenger at Book Ramblings, and Plenty of Shenanigans

Saturday Roundup #9: This and That

This was a good reading week and I think I've managed to include something for all age ranges.  And I have nice, new rating stars to try out that match my recently redesigned blog.  And don't forget, Children's Book Week begins on May 4, 2015.  Be sure to check their website for exciting activities for kids to do at home, at the library or in an independent bookstore near you.

                              

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, 

illustrated by Silas Neal

Chronicle Books, 2015, 52 pages (Age 5+)

Young readers will discover that there's more to a garden than meets the eye.  While a young girl and her grandmother plant, tend, and harvest fruits and vegetables above the ground, along with bees and birds who want to enjoy their bounty, down in the dirt, there is lots of activity, too, from the insects, bugs, earthworms and burrowing creatures who want make the garden their home.  Readers can learn about all the garden creatures at the end of the book.  Messner's lyrical prose is complimented by Silas Neal's wonderful two-tiered illustrations.

           

Out and About, a First book of Poems written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes

Candlewick, 2015, 56 pages (Age 2+)

I seem to like poems about the four seasons and this lovely reissue is no exception.  Beginning with spring, a little girl, along with her younger brother, takes the reader on a journey extolling all the joys, big and small, of each season and ending at Christmas, and includes poems about the weather, mud, sand, sunshine at bedtime, even being sick in bed.  The pen and watercolor illustrations capture all the joy and beauty of each season.

           

Nightbird by Alice Hoffman

Wendy Lamb, 2015, 208 pages (Age 9+)

Living in Sidwell, Massachusetts, Twig, 12 has never really been allowed to have a close friend.  Her mother is afraid that a friend might discover the family's secret.  At the same time, there is rumor of a large, strange creature seen flying around at night.  But everything changes, when new neighbors move in next store, with a girl who wants to be friends with Twig.  But do they also hold the key to the mystery of Sidwell's night creature?

           

Dragons at Crumbling Castle and Other Tales by Terry Pratchett,

illustrated by Mark Beech

Clarion Books, 2015, 337 pages (Age 9+)

It was difficult to read this collection of stories written by a young Terry Pratchett so shortly after his untimely death.  Included in this volume are Pratchett’s early stories, written and published in the 1970s on the children’s page while he was a junior reporter for the Bucks Free Press, a weekly newspaper in Buckinghamshire, England.  Although these short stories are not quite a polished as Pratchett’s later stand alone novels, or his Discworld novels, they are certainly worth reading, especially if you are a Pratchett fan, just to experience the early workings of his brilliant mind.  They are fun, satirical, absurd, plain old silly and lighthearted, and all of the wonderful ingredients in Pratchett tale are there in their nascent form.  And he knew it.  Here’s part of his dedication to Dragons at Crumbling Castle and Other Tales:

"And to my younger self, who thought 

these stories were pretty good...

Oh, I could teach that lad a thing or two!"

Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

Disney-Hyperion, 2015, 368 pages

Elizabeth Wein has written another wonderful historical novel, this time set in the 1930s in Ethiopia.  Delia and Rhoda are best friends and stunt pilots, calling themselves Black Dove and White Raven.  In the US, it is a time when gender and race made things difficult for the two women.  Delia, who is black, dreams of living in Ethiopia with her son Teo, who is half Ethiopian, Rhoda and Rhoda’s daughter Em, who is half Italian.  After Delia is killed by a bird striking the plane she is flying, Rhoda eventually decides to honor her dream and take the kids to live in Ethiopia as a family.  The kids, who are as inseparable as their mothers, live on a life coffee plantation, where life is pretty comfortable for them.  But in 1935, war comes to Ethiopia when Italian forces, under the direction of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, threaten to invade the country.  Rhoda and the kids are caught in the middle, because the kids don’t have valid passports to get out of the country.  Now, the family is separated, Teo is trapped and Em is trying her best to convince Haile Selassie Emperor of Ethiopia, to grant him an Ethiopian passport, paying him for the favor with a aircraft she has stolen from the Italians.  Will her audacious act work?

Wein weaves together the story of Delia, Rhoda, Teo and Em using school essays written by the kids, flight log entries, and stories the kids make up about the themselves as “The Adventures of Black Dove (Teo) and White Raven (Em)”.  What unfolds is the story of a diverse family as Wein explores the themes of friendship, sibling attachment, family relationships, race and gender in a volatile country at a volatile time, in other words, historical fiction at its very best. Written in Wein’s inimitable style, she has once again brought multiple characters set in a particular time and place to life as only she can.  Don’t miss this exciting, excellent novel.