Throwing Marshmallows

I have been meaning to post a link to this podcast of a discussion with Philip Pullman for awhile now:

In this month’s Christmas book club, John Mullan turns his attention to Philip Pullman’s expansive, magnificent His Dark Materials trilogy.Listen to the podcast of last night’s book club event, in which Pullman talked about Milton, morality and heading for the Arctic, and answered some searching textual questions from younger audience members.

At over 45 minutes, there is a lot of meat to this discussion…lots of background including how he came up with the idea of daemons (animal representations of a person’s soul) which was one of my favorite concepts (turns out he needed someone for Lyra to talk to in the opening chapter when she is in the closet!)

His Dark Materials is such a wonderful trilogy and one of those gems that I am so glad to have discovered as part of our homeschooling. Philip Pullman is not only a masterful storyteller, but an incredible writer (these two do not always go hand in hand!) The way that he can build the rich world in which Lyra lives (and the other parallel worlds) and the way that he has with words just amazes me. There were times when I would re-read passages just to hear the words again. The audio book is very well done as well (read by the author with a full cast) and I highly recommend it.

I just got an email from my favorite place to buy audio books, Audible, and it looks like they are opening an separate site just for kids audio books, called…wait for it…Audible Kids.

It actually looks pretty fun…I can’t tell if the selection is any bigger than on the regular Audible site (where you can still get kids books). It does seem as if you have more ways to search for books…by categories, age, grade, series, popular characters and award winners.

And yes, you do use the same account for making purchases for both Audible and Audible Kids, so there is no new fee or anything new to join. If you have credits on Audible, they are available on Audible Kids as well.

I have only poked around a little bit, but it looks like lots of fun stuff. Although I can’t say that I could ever bring myself to buy an audio version of a good picture book (like Where the Wild Things Are)…even though it is not expensive (many are only $1) it still seems a bit of a waste for a 5 minute audio book! Not to mention not getting the wonderful artwork.

But there are tons of other books that I would definitely consider owning. Much of my audio book purchases are kid lit…for both the boys and myself.

I have been a member of Audible for over 2 years now and I have to say that I have gotten some awesome deals. They frequently run promotions and sales (in fact I have $10 waiting to be spent that I got for using 4 credits in March…I had a couple of items on my wishlist that I had been waiting to purchase, including John Adams by David McCullough which was on sale for only 1 credit (regularly $48.96/ 2 credits))

There is an in depth interview with Terry Pratchett (author of the Discworld series including the boys and my favorite Wee Free Men). I love this man’s humor…even about things that are not really funny:

“When I was going in for the tests, they asked my wife and PA to say what they had noticed in my behaviour. They jointly wrote a letter saying, ‘Like any author who’s in the throes of writing a book, Terry probably shows all the signs of dementia: he’s unworldly, he doesn’t pay attention to things, he’s antisocial, grumpy.’ I’m a typical bloody writer. Maybe all of us have had Alzheimer’s for years without realising it.

If you have not read Terry Pratchett with your kids, don’t wait another minute! The Wee Free Men and its sequels are so skillfully written…great characters, rich, colorful writing and best of all absolutely, frickin’ hilarious (this might be one to get on audio book as I know that I could never have done the Nac Mac Feegle’s accent justice).

We recently finished listening to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents which I also recommend. It is a take-off on the Pied Piper tale. Talk about food for thought…there is so much there to discuss…death, loyalty, ethics, what makes you human…Pratchett won the Carnegie Medal for it in 2001:

A brilliant and witty twist on the tale of the Pied Piper. Funny and irreverent, but also dark and subversive, in the way it parodies the classic folk tale genre. This is a story that holds a mirror up to our world and questions attitudes and behaviour prevalent in our society. A clever and most entertaining read.

I have been reading Unshelved for over a year now and realized that I don’t think I have ever mentioned it here.

For book-lovers and wanna-be librarians (like me!) it is a must read. A comic set in a fictitious library. I have it set so that I receive a daily email or you can subscribe to the feed. The characters are fun and the strip takes on issues such as censorship and recently the issue of judging books based on controversial viewpoints of the author rather than on the book itself. Yes, I am a book geek.

To read more about webcomics, check out this Unshelved blog post which explains a bit about the ins and outs of comics:

But there’s a downside to our control-freak existance. And that is that webcomics aren’t as discoverable (or let’s say, differently discoverable). You probably discovered Unshelved because a friend or coworker recommended it, or you followed a link from a listserv or blog. But many others followed that link and weren’t compelled to return by what they saw. I am a little sad that there aren’t hundreds of thousands of people who read our strip in their paper day after day, slowly gaining a taste for our style of humor. Nor are there folks who start reading our strip because they picked up a paper at the barber and start reading it. It’s a lost opportunity. I’m not sure how much, but I do wish we had a way to reach a broad and highly diverse audience day after day.

Bottom line: all in all we like being on the web, and it’s been years since we seriously discussed the possibility of newspaper syndication. But we are almost completely dependent on our readers to expand our audience. Thanks to everyone who has told a friend or coworker, or blogged about us, or posted to a listserv, or skywritten “unshelved.com” above the Superbowl. Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Well, it isn’t skywriting, but I am doing my part. Go check them out.

Seems like video previews of upcoming books are the new trend in Child’s Lit. The latest is for the latest Percy Jackson book, The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4) which comes out in May 2008.

This has been a series that the boys and I have both thoroughly enjoyed and we are looking forward to it.

This review is way over due…last spring, Sheila of Wands and Worlds contacted me and asked if I would like a review copy of The Dark Dreamweaver which was being released in paperback. It looked like fun, so I took her up on her offer. Jason and I started reading it (and after a brief break for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) finished it this summer. Unfortunately, writing the review has taken a bit longer (obviously!) and for that I apologize.

From the website:

Eleven-year-old David is suffering from nightmares. Over and over again, he dreams about a strange, bear-like man with black eyes. He’s not the only one; an epidemic of nightmares seems to have infected the Earth. David takes matters into his own hands and embarks on an adventure to Remin, a land powered by dreams. Aided by a caterpillar wizard, a jellyfish-man, two wise-cracking water serpents, and several other unusual characters, he sets out to find and confront the evil wizard who is causing the nightmares. The challenges that he encounters will require all of his intelligence, his courage, and most of all, his imagination.

On the whole, both Jason and I both enjoyed this book. I found the storyline very interesting and different. The characters were enjoyable and very unique. From an adult perspective, I thought that it could have used a bit more editing as it had some quirks that I found a bit distracting (compound sentences that repeated the same word being one). So I think that I will let this series be one that Jason can read on his own. He is curious where the characters will go in the next book.

Jason’s review:

The Dark Dreamweaver is about a boy, David who finds a caterpillar wizard, Houdin from Remin, the magical dream world. David must help save the dream world from a dark dreamweaver, hence the name The Dark Dreamweaver.

I liked the dream world of Remin and I liked the characters especially Sir Heads Alot who kept taking his heads off and replacing them with other heads. And just so that you know, they were little manikin heads so he did not have to kill anything or use real heads.

I would recommend this book to other kids.

and Jason

Jon Scieszka was just named the first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature!

Scieszka’s nomination for the new post, which Billington had to approve, came from a five-member committee of children’s literature experts. Jewell Stoddard, who runs the children’s section of Washington’s Politics and Prose bookstore, was one of them. Scieszka was a good choice, she said, both because he’s already “on a mission to promote reading among young boys” and because “he’s a wonderful speaker and lots of fun.”

He is definitely a big favorite around here.

Thanks to Anastasia on the Child’s Lit list for the heads up!

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!

All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

-by Susan Cooper, 1977 written for The Christmas Revels

And unfortunately it is not good news. Terry Pratchett has early onset Alzheimer’s.

For those who are not familiar with Terry Pratchett, he is the author of The Wee Free Men and tons of other wonderful books for both kids and adults. We discovered him last spring and he quickly became one of the boys and my favorite authors. We have read all the Tiffany Aching books and I have been making my way through the adult Discworld books and thoroughly enjoying them.

While this is indeed sad news, it sounds like he is handling it with characteristic wit and perspective. As he put it:

PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should be interpreted as ‘I am not dead’. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think - it’s too soon to tell. I know it’s a very human thing to say “Is there anything I can do”, but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry.

Terry Pratchett was one of the main draws for us when we went to the National Book Festival this past fall and he was incredibly entertaining to hear in person. You can see a webcast of his talk which was wonderful.

For more information on his books, you can check out his website.

There was a really interesting article in Salon this week called Michelle Obama Gets Real in which children’s books plays a key role.

There’s time for one more story before Obama has to address the adults gathering in an adjacent room, and someone has set aside two books from which Obama can choose. There’s one unfamiliar book called “Skippyjon Jones,” and a hardback edition of “Our National Anthem,” the sort of red, white and blue book Lynne Cheney would write, and that an aspiring first lady would be expected to read. “Not that one,” says Obama, quickly discarding the patriotic volume. She opens “Skippyjon Jones” and begins the story of a Siamese kitten who, for reasons too murky to convey here, soon starts using “his very best Spanish accent,” to say things like, “My ears are too beeg for my head. My head ees too beeg for my body. I am not a Siamese cat … I AM A CHIHUAHUA!”

I have to admit that I as soon as I heard Skippyjon Jones mentioned, I both laughed and cringed. We have this book (I picked it up when we were at the National Book Festival) and as described , it is most definitely a tongue twister (and hilarious). Kyle especially likes it. I could feel Michelle Obama’s pain as the article described her laughing through it all. The cringe came because the book can be seen as controversial and is probably not the most “politically correct” because of the Spanish accent and I was hoping that was not the angle the article was going to focus on.

Luckily, the angle the article took was a bit more sophisticated than that:

But Obama’s particular impulse — to reject meaningless political pablum or helpmate hokum in favor of unexpected candor and a good laugh — has already distinguished her yearlong tenure on the presidential campaign circuit.

“You’ve never seen anyone like us before, and that’s a little freaky, isn’t it?” she asks the crowd of grown-ups who’ve assembled at the Monticello library after the bangito conclusion of “Skippyjon Jones.” “It’s like, ‘They’re real!’ Well, guess what? Real people can be politicians too. We as a country have grown suspicious of real. We take the fake.”

I will admit that I am very partial to the Obamas for precisely this reason…they seem very real and human to me and not as tied to poll results (I am also intrigued by John and Elizabeth Edwards for the same reason as well). And I will also admit that Michelle Obama’s choice of Skippyjon Jones over the National Anthem only serves to reinforce this impression. I love that she went with a book that she thought the children would enjoy over a book that would have “looked good” from a political/adult perspective.

After reading this article I kept looking for the news reports taking her to task for this, just like they took her husband to task for not wearing a flag pin. I guess if they had, all she would have had to do was to point out that Judy Schachner was a featured author at the National Book Festival, hosted by none other than Laura Bush.

I do think that it is sad that I was worried about her having to defend her choice of books. But that seems to be what politics has come to in this country…folks look for any little thing and then pounce, usually blowing it way up and way out of proportion until you have no idea what to believe any more.

It was an interesting article and kinda cool to see children’s books take a central role in a political piece.

Can I just say for a moment that I am really enjoying having “older” kids?

I was not sure what to expect when the boys and I headed out to the National Book Festival today. They seemed excited about seeing Terry Pratchett in person (our new absolutely most favorite author…we are on the third book in the Tiffany Aching series, Wintersmith, and can’t get enough of Discworld and the Nac MacFeegles). But still, spending a day in the crowds on the National Mall listening to authors talk about their books? I wasn’t too sure how it would go over.

So I decided that we would go see Terry Pratchett (luckily he was scheduled for noon) and then play the rest of the day by ear, figuring that I wanted the kids to have fun and if all else failed I could watch the talks via the web.

We headed out and took the metro downtown, getting there in plenty of time (a small miricle for me). Walked around a bit, checked out where they were selling books but decided that we did not want to wait in that long of a line. Went over to the Science Fiction and Fantasy tent and got seats in the very back. I have to say that Terry Pratchett definitely lived up to my expectations. I wasn’t sure how much the boys enjoyed it because he talked a lot about his adult novels (he has kids books and adult books set in the same Discworld with overlapping characters…very fun!) But he was so funny that Jason especially really enjoyed it.

We then walked down to check out the kids activities, but did not find much interesting there (a lot of stuff for younger kids). Went back to the book signing, but realized that the line was way too long to even attempt. At that point, there were still a few authors that I wanted to check out, but we still had over an hour and half wait until the next one we wanted to see and I really was not sure that they would last that long. We decided to get lunch and see how we felt. The kids tackled played with each other out on the grassy area while I waited in the incredibly long lunch line.

By the time that we finished, we had only 15 minutes until Holly Black (co-authored The Spiderwick Chronicles) so we decided to head over there. Another great talk and she read from her new book Ironside. Also found out that there is a new Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series…the first is called The Nixie’s Song. They are planning on 3 books I think.

We had another hour to kill before so the boys decided that they wanted to check out the book sales tent again. This time the line was reasonable, so we picked up The Nixie’s Song and Ironside (although I think that we will wait a bit for Ironside…I checked on Amazon and I think that some of the subject matter is a bit mature for him…it is actually recommended for 14 and up. That is one nice thing about books, they don’t go bad!). For Kyle we picked up Martina The Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Deedy and Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones by Judy Schachner.

Headed back to the Children’s Tent (did I mention that we did a fair amout of walking?) to see Carmen Deedy but had a little bit of time to kill, so I read Martina which we all thoroughly enjoyed. But I have to say that I did not do the story justice…which became very obvious when we heard Carmen tell it in person! My friend Parrish had mentioned that we should not miss her talk and she was right. Carmen is a fabulous storyteller! Jason commented on how she changed the story from the book and we talked a bit about the difference between storytelling and writing for a book.

Then it was time for MT Anderson. This was a bit drier for the boys, as he spent a fair amount of time talking about his book Octavian Nothing which is set in Revolutionary War times (which I, of course found fascinating). He did answer some questions about Whales on Stilts (the boys really enjoyed this). He talked a lot about what inspires his books…for Whales on Stilts he said that there had been a couple of whales that were washed up on a beach near him. This got him to thinking about what if whales, instead of being the harmless, gentle creatures we think they are, were instead just biding their time and waiting to invade complete with laser eyes. And how else would they do it, but on stilts? Neat.

After that, it was a crowded ride home on the metro. We finally got home around 6pm. Whew.

The only disappointment was that the lines for the book signings were way to long (and out in the hot sun) and that due to some sort of brain freeze, we totally missed Jack Pretlusky (we have some of his poetry books).

The neat thing is that we had an absolutely wonderful day. Despite all the walking and the waiting. I gave them plenty of chances to decide to go home, but they wanted to stay. I do think that Jason got more out of it as he really seemed to enjoy the talks. Kyle had fun, but tended to get a bit bored more often. And I only had to bribe offer ice cream once.

Amazingly, I just checked and they already have the webcasts up! That is pretty darned amazing. You can find the video on each author’s page. Neat! Definitely check it out. They are great. And I just noticed that they also have podcasts of interviews with different authors. How cool is that…

Now I am beat! I hope to get some pictures up soon. Did not have the energy to download them tonight.

The Ratastrophe Catastrophe (Book 1 in the Illmoor Chronicles)

Jason’s Rating: Book Hall of Fame (highest)

Summary

It is based on the Pied Piper of Hamlein. Basically, here’s how the Piper got his powers. Supposedly there is this dark magic that comes up every once in awhile and possesses something. This time, it turned out to be a person..Diek. Meanwhile there is a city called Dullitch. It’s problem? It has a plague of rats. The Duke of Dullitch sends out some messengers to recruit mercenaries to get rid of the rat plague. They end up coming across Diek and recruiting him because he says that when he plays his flute everything follows him.

Then when he gets the rats out, the Duke refuses to pay him so he uses his flute to charm the kids into following him to the mountain. The only other two mercenaries who were recruited were a barbarian named Groan and a dwarf called Gordo. They team up with an ex-council member/wizard named Tambor and went off. When the children get stolen, the Duke sent out the messenger to look for them with three bags of 100 gold coins to persuade them to help find the children. They end up searching for the children.

Why I Liked It

It was just kind of funny. The cities had names like Dull-itch and Leg-rash. There was also this one spell called the “Screaming Tower of Doom”. The Wizard ended up casting it. It was supposed to be a 5 foot tall pillar of fire. A little after he casted it and it wore off, he ended up bragging how impressive it was and how it allowed them to escape. He said that it wreaked carnage on them. But really, all that happened is that it destroyed a nearby beehive and then sputtered out.

~Jason

I was reading Rick Riordan’s blog this morning (Rick is the author of Lightening Thief, one of the boys favorites). He posted a speech that he made at the annual conference for the Federation of Children’s Book Groups at Worth Abbey School in England. The theme of the conference was “Crossing Frontiers”.

This part in particular jumped out at me:

Recently I was asked in an interview to name the ten books I thought every child should read. I took issue with the question. Perhaps we should stop thinking about a universal canon of children’s literature. The ten books my twelve-year-old son should read are not the same as ten books his nine-year-old brother would enjoy, or that a fourteen year-old girl would like. Children are not the same. Perhaps instead of narrowing the field to define the center of children’s literature, we should be more active in pushing the boundaries and widening the edges. Let’s expand, not narrow.

Obviously I agree! Reading is such a personal thing and while I do believe in exposing kids to a wide range of literature, I also believe that kids should be allowed to develop and follow their own tastes.

~Stephanie

What are the Cybils?

Like all revolutions, this one started small, with a single post on a blog devoted to children’s literature. The Newbery Medals seemed too elitist and the Quills, well, not enough so.

Was there a middle ground, an annual award that would recognize both a book’s merits and popularity?

The answer: invent one! Within hours, this meme had circulated among some of the biggest bloggers in the burgeoning kidlitosphere, the cozy corner of the Web where children’s books are given the same regard as their grown-up counterparts.

Within days, the new awards had a name and a website: The Cybils, a loose acronym for Children’s and YA Bloggers’ Literary Awards. Nominations quickly opened in eight categories, from picture books up to Young Adult fiction and even graphic novels.

Well after many, many months of waiting, they have published the list. Check out the best in the following categories:

• Fantasy and Science Fiction
• Fiction Picture Books
• Graphic Novels
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Non-fiction (Middle Grade and YA)
• Non-fiction Picture Books
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction

Great way to find great recommendations for your kids (and your own!) reading enjoyment.

Have fun!

~Stephanie

Jason got the first three books in the Bone graphic novel series by Jeff Smith for Christmas. He absolutely devoured them (I have enjoyed them too!) and we followed up by getting the next two. Here is his review.

Rating - X for Excellent

What makes the books excellent?

They are funny and they have cute things like the Rat Creature Cub. It has a very interesting storyline.

Favorite Parts

1. One is in Book 1 when Fone Bone says “That is what they dragon wants you to think, they they don’t exist.”. Then the dragon comes up out of the well and says “Actually I just want her to think you are nuts.”2. The part when Smiley offers the Rat Creature Cub a sandwich and it turns out to have a giant mouth and instead of just eating the sandwich, it has part of Smiley’s arm in his mouth. And then Smiley Bone says “Sit” and the Rat Creature Cub sites. Then Smiley Bone says “See I told you he was smart”.

Synopsis

There are three Bone cousins. One of them, Phoney, keeps getting run out of town and Fone and Smiley Bone always help Phoney get away from the angry mob. And on the latest time Phoney Bone got run out of town, they got lost. They were off the charts.Then Smiley Bone finds a map and asks Phoneu Bone for $1. Then some locusts come and they start running. away from the locusts. Fone Bone ends up running off a cliff because he can’t see where he is going. Then he climbs out, goes through the mountain using the map. When he gets through, hefinds a valley where most of the story takes place.

Characters

The Bone Cousins - There are three Bone Cousins: Fone Bone, the main character of the book, he is a normal looking Bone with a backpack. Nothing really distinguished. Smiley Bone: Unlike Phoney Bone, Smiley Bone has no money whatsoever. He’s really tall, has this kind of jacket and in the beginning of the book, he is sitting on a rock playing guitar. He also really likes smoking cigars. Phoney Bone: Looks a lot like Fone Bone but he always has a uni-brow plush has a shirt with a star. He is also the richest bone in Boneville (which is where they come from).

The Red Dragon - Kind of a relaxed attitude, can breath fire of course. Unlike you would think, instead of scales, he has fur and big floppy ears. He also has a very good sense of humor. He can be tough when he needs to and he is good not bad.

Ted, the Bug - He is very small. Got a kind of funny attitude. He is a good guy who is opposing the Rat Creatures. And he always hops around. He also has a big brother but you only see him for a bit.

Thorn - Ted ended up mentioning her to Fone Bone because Fone Bone was asking if Ted had seen his cousins. Thorn is a girl, a human (humans have more detail then the Bones) so it looks kind of strange when they are standing close to one another. And her past is sort of a secret. And Fone Bone is also in love with her.
Gran’ma Ben - She’s a farmer. She competes is this Great Cow Race in the summer festival. She fought back the Rat Creatures in the War. She can be a little strict, kind of gruff. Her history is also a little bit of a secret.

Lucius - His personality is kind of gruff. He runs the Barrel Haven Bar. And actually I don’t know too much about him other then that. But I think he has a crush on Gran’ma Ben.

Raque Ja - He’s this giant mountain cat. He says that he is the Master of the Eastern Boarder. He is not helping the Bones but he is not helping the Rat Creatures. He’s also not helping the dragons or the valley people. His personality is very strict. Very powerful.

Rat Creatures - Large scary rat monsters with bug-red eyes. They come in different colors. These are the two main rat creatures: a blue one and a brown one. The brown one likes quiche. The blue one hates the fact that the brown one likes quiche and gets very annoyed with him. They are pretty stupid and easy to distract. In one part Fone Bone jumps onto a small branch and says that the Rat Creatures would be pretty stupid to jump onto this small branch. The Rat Creatures jump onto it and Fone Bone says “Stupid, stupid, Rat Creatures!”. Rat Creature Cub - I think he is really cute and funny. Fone Bone found him in Barrel Haven. He must have wandered in there around the time when the Rat Creatures were evacuating the valley.

King Dok - He looks a lot different then the other Rat Creatures. He’s got tiny arms with a club. And unlike the other Rat Creatures he is actually pretty smart.

The Hooded One - He’s the new leader of the Rat Creatures, apart from King Dok. I don’t know what his personality is like. But he is definitely evil.

Lord of the Locusts - An ancient spirit from the Dream Time. I don’t really know what that is yet. And I actually don’t know too much about this guy either except that he probably wants to take over the world.

~Jason

Inkheart is one of our favorite books…I love it as much as the boys! We have listened to it on cd and it is so wonderfully done. Inkheart is about a bookbinder, Mo, who discovers that he can read characters out of books…he accidentally reads 2 villains, Capricorn and Basta and another character Dustfinger out of a book called Inkheart while reading his wife into the book. Mo and his daughter Meggie are swept up in the adventure that ensues as they try to stop Capricorn and rescue Meggie’s mother. Inkspell is the second book in the trilogy and I found this one just as exciting and captivating (if not more-so) as the first. Inkspell takes place in the book, Inkheart and introduces us to a wonderful new world as Meggie searches to find her mother. Inkspell also solidifies Dustfinger as one of my all-time favorite characters.

There is something about this series that I just absolutely adore…maybe because it revolves around books? Or taps into a secret desire to be read into my favorite books and meet my favorite characters?

Turns out that the movie is currently in production and will be out in Spring of 2008. The article talks about how they will handle Gwin, the horned marten (they were able to stick small horns on a ferret). They also mention that Meggie reads Toto out of the Wizard of Oz and he helps her throughout the movie…that is definitely not from the book. We’ll have to see how it works. They also did not mention Basta in the article, so that has me worried…he was such a great villain and plays a large role in both books….not sure where they are going to go if they do not include him.

And another great thing…the 3rd book in the trilogy, Inkdawn, will be out in Spring 2008!

So much to look forward to!

Thanks to Book Moot for the link!

~Stephanie

Christine wrote in the comments from my last post I love surprises:

Just out of curiosity, how do you find all of these author blogs/websites, etc? Do you just google authors you like? Is there a website that lists stuff like this? My kids would be very interested, I think, along with their “book geek” of a mom.

Thanks to the wonder that is the internet, there are tons of great email lists/blogs/websites out there to indulge our “book geekiness” if we so desire. I have found that “child’s lit” makes up the core of our homeschooling…we do a lot of reading together and always have an audio book going. And to be honest with you, I think that I enjoy this part of our homeschooling as much as the boys!

I have discovered a wealth of great authors and books by hanging out around Child Lit lovers. There are tons of folks discussing and writing about it on the web. Some of my favorites are:

Child Lit email list: By far the best resource. Ongoing discussions about anything and everything to do with Child’s Lit. This is not a homeschool specific list, but is made up of lovers of Children’s Literature…list members include authors (Jane Yolan, Philip Pullman, Bruce Hale and many others), teachers (all levels, elementary through college), librarians, English/Children’s literature majors, parents and homeschoolers. I have learned about so many great authors that I never would have known about and I love the conversations…especially interesting to hear the teachers and librarians. You can tell that these folks just love children’s books!

Mother Reader: My favorite child’s lit blog written by a mom (who doubles as a librarian’s assistant). We share similar tastes in books and I love her sense of humor. She is the one who turned me onto Mo Williams blog and the National Book Festival. And many, many great books.

Educating Alice: A great blog written by an awesome 4th grade english teacher that I “met” on the Child’s Lit email list. She has some great ideas for teaching kids and is the type of creative teacher that everyone would love for their kids (if they are not homeschooling that is!)

Other Child’s Lit blogs that I check out:

• Fuse #8
• Chicken Spaghetti
• Big A little a
• Book Moot
• Scholar’s Blog

It also seems that most authors have a website or even a blog nowadays. If you have a favorite author, google and see what you find out. You never know where it might lead. I am hoping to have time soon to update my blogroll to include favorite author sites…

Hope that these get you started…but I warn you, there are tons of great Child’s Lit blogs out there…it is easy to get totally hooked! And now I find out about great new books when they first come out which drives me crazy…because I have to make the decision of whether or not to wait to get it in paperback! And what is it with this need that I have where if I find a book that I (or the boys) really love that I have to own it…even if we have gotten it from the library and already read it?? I think it is a sickness…
Happy Reading!

~Stephanie

So Kyle and I were checking out Mo Willems blog when I remembered that MotherReader (gosh, she is going to think that I am stalking her like she stalks Mo Willems now…two blog references in two days…) also had a link to a webcast of when Mo Willems had given a talk at the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival earlier this year.

We decided to watch it and what fun! He read from Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, discussed his new book Edwina, the Dinosaur that Did Not Know She Was Extinct, showed how to draw the Pigeon and talked about writing and drawing and doing what he does. He was incredibly entertaining and Kyle loved it (as did Jason when I showed him it later). They especially liked how Mo explained that the Pigeon does not like Mo writing books about anyone other then himself, so he ends up sneaking into Mo’s other books.

Then we poked around some more and found Tony DiTerlizzi’s (author of the Spiderwick Chronicles and other fun books) webcast. Wow! What a great speaker. Again, he read from his new book and talked about being an artist. What was really cool is that he said how he got started was when he was 8 or 9 and would make up stories about how aliens would try to take over the world but the dinosaurs fought them back and ate them and then got destroyed by a meteor (I am not doing him justice at all here!). But it sounded a lot like the stories that Jason loves to tell and reminded me that I really need to start writing down more of his stories.

What I really love about these two is that you can tell that they really love what they do. And I love how they talked about getting started and about the goofy stories they used to tell when they were kids. And how they loved to draw all the time…I am sure that a lot of right brained kids would relate.

Storytelling is an area where I really want to encourage Jason…he hates the physical process of writing, but he LOVES telling stories and is good at it too. He gets a gleam in his eye when he is working on one. He and his Grandpa Elms have had this running oral story that they have been doing since Jason was around 3 or so called Baggerbusters. It has morphed several times (I think that now it is about developing spaceships and weapons to take over the universe) but he really looks forward to doing it each time they get together. And he and I have done what I call collaborative stories, where we start with an idea and then gradually make up the story together. These are a lot of fun and I mostly play the role of asking questions, helping him think a bit and fill in more detail.

We have not gotten to check out the other Children’s Lit authors yet, but plan to do so. And I am kicking myself for not going! (it was held here in Washington DC.) I had heard about it back in September, but did not really realize exactly what it was. I think that we would have had a blast and it would have been cool to actually see them in person (not to mention getting our Pigeon and Spiderwick Chronicles books signed!). Ah well. I will definitely keep my eye open for it in 2007.

Oh and then to top off the afternoon, I just found out that Lane Smith (illustrator for Jason’s favorite books The Stinky Cheeseman, Math Curse, and Science Verse) has a new book out called John, Paul, George, and Ben about the founding fathers. It looks really neat and from what I can tell has a running “big underwear” gag throughout which might be what it takes to finally interest the boys in my favorite part of history!

Man! I love the internet! The only problem is that I keep finding out about these neat new books when they first come out and then I have to debate about waiting to get them when they come out in paperback. Thank goodness for libraries!

~Stephanie

Appeared in the 52nd Carnival of Homeschooling.

I just read over on MotherReader that Mo Willems has a blog! What fun. He is the author of the incredibly funny Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (and various other Pigeon Books like Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog) and Knuffle Bunny.

Kyle has been a big pigeon fan for awhile now and I have to say from a parent’s perspective I love these books too. If you have to read a book over and over again, these are the books to choose. They have become one of my favorite gifts for young kids. I have yet to meet a child who did not think that pigey was just too cute (and could totally relate to him!). Even Jason (who is usually a bit too old for these kind of books) thought that it was really funny.

Oh, and be sure to check out MotherReaders blog…she is a p/t children’s library assistant (I think somewhere near me here in Virginia actually) and has great book suggestions (maybe because she has two girls the same age as the boys!).

I love her blog…great book info and a great sense of humor. I have found many, many a new book to try through her. The latest one being Chickens to the Rescue which was a huge hit (with both boys). Check her out!

~Stephanie

Well, I can blame it all on Lissa. She wrote this great post about comics and happened to mention Mouse Guard. I have been looking for books that might grab Jason’s attention and comic/graphic novels are definitely up his alley (very visual obviously and not as intimidating to read).

So I tracked down the nearest comic book store (which happened to only be about 10 minutes away - great find!). Turns out that they had Issues 1, 3, 4, and 5. Issue 1 and 2 are difficult to find (I got the last Issue 1 and am still on the hunt for Issue 2). These comics are gorgeous and about sword fighting mice, so what is not to love! It is going to be hard to wait until Christmas to give these to him.

While at the comic book store, I happened to find this wonderful graphic novel…the 2nd volume in the Owly series called Owly: Just a Little Blue. What is unique about this novel is that there are no words. The entire story (all 128 pages) is completely told in pictures! It is a sweet story about an Owl and his friend Wormy. They decide to build a birdhouse, but the birds do not want to come. I really think that Kyle will like it (although it is supposedly for slightly older kids), especially that he can read it himself. And I am sure that Jason will like it too.

So of course, I had to come home and jump online to see what I could find. No luck in finding Issue 2 of Mouse Guard, but I did find Volume 1 and 3 in the Owly series on half.com (actually found more then those but needed to exercise some self-control!)

In reading up on the Owly series on amazon, I found a link to the graphic novel Bone which I had heard about on the Children’s Literature email list I am on. I checked it out (amazon had an excerpt) and it is awesome! Funny, well written, interesting with a dragon to boot. So back over to half.com and I found the first 3 volumes. I contemplated getting the complete one book set (13 years worth and over 1,000 pages!) but decided that it was a bit too hefty and could not imagine Jason lugging that much of a brick with him. Again I exercised some restraint.

Now I can’t wait to get the books…I may need to give them a read through before they go under the Christmas tree…what fun!

Anyone else out there have any favorite comics or graphic novels? Jason loves Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side, but it is kind of fun to discover lesser known comics too.

~Stephanie