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Category Archives: Childrens

Readers advisory for October ’22

31 Oct

If there ever was a month to label as “mixed bag”, it would have to be October.

This is just a smattering of the books I read either in print, digitally, or audio and they range from a true crime audiobook of two women murdered in the Shenandoah National Park to the GOAT of horror manga, Juji Ito’s Uzumaki. Then there are middle grade fiction titles like Key Player by Kelly Yang and my continued obsession with Spy x Family. All told there were sixty-three books read for the month.

It was a result of several converging events, committees, and activities:

  • With a conference presentation a few weeks ago, at the beginning of the month I was trying to squeeze in some anticipated titles of 2023 while also reading a few 2022 titles to be ready to talk books.
  • Sitting on a “Best of” books selection committee for nonfiction so I had a few nonfiction titles that I didn’t know about to read to better argue which were the best!
  • A little countdown to Halloween on my Instagram, I read a spooky book a day for the last week that included the wacky spirals of Ito’s imagination to reliving the dramatic 1990 movie The Witches based on Roald Dahl’s The Witches which I had never read and decided to listen to the audiobook of today while traveling in the car. Plus I discovered the delightful Ghoulia.
  • And of course, fitting in the general love of certain series or titles that sit on my endless TBR that I pick up based on length, topic, and format.

November is my birthday month, so I’m planning a few personal reading challenges and organizing my own readathon. Any suggestions?

 
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Posted by on October 31, 2022 in Adult, Audiobooks, Authors, Book of the Month, Childrens, Comics, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Manga, Middle grade, Nonfiction, Young Adult

 

Readers advisory from May ’22

31 May

Read As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh and The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson when they come out in September, Tin Man by Justin Madson, Dumplings for Lili by Melissa Iwai, and Soul Lanterns by Shaw Kuzki.

With dozens of books read, these sparkling gems shined the brightest.

 
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Posted by on May 31, 2022 in Authors, Childrens, Cover Love, Fiction, Graphic novels, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult

 

Readers advisory from March ’22

31 Mar

To try to keep up with reading everything you want to read is the same analogy as trying to find information on the internet which is that it’s like trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant- more will keep coming at you. So the task is always to enjoy it. Yes there are times when I have to read certain things like for a committee or a book review for a magazine that has a deadline, but this year I’ve found I have a lot more flexibility and I’m enjoying myself.

The Only Good Indians I already posted about here. That was a highlight from this month that warranted its own post. And a few others for various reasons which I’ll share now, going backwards from audience since The Only Good Indians‘ target audience is adult.

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz was a perfect Gothic tale to a YA audience. As I’ve shared in the conversations I’ve had since reading it is that while I knew that the subtitle was “a love story”, I think Schwartz could have kept it solely about Hazel’s pursuit of being a physician and it been solidly fabulous. I know why Schwartz included the romance and the ending relied, in part, on it’s existence, but Hazel’s strength of character was memorable all by itself.

I have a good friend who is a high school art teacher. As soon as I closed the book, I sent her a few texts asking if she knew much about Savage. Then I told her she needed to read Augusta Savage: The Shape of a Sculptor’s Life by Marilyn Nelson pronto and that I was just as taken with Nelson’s choice to write in verse but that there was historical context in addition to the biographical content and that I loved a quote that was included by Savage: “I have created nothing really beautiful, really lasting, but if I can inspire one of these youngsters to develop the talent I know they possess, then my monument will be in their work.” Immensely powerful.

And last, a picture book by Phung Nguyen Quang and illustrated by Huynh Kim Lien called My First Day. I will end up owning this book soon because the captivating artwork unlocks a reader’s imagination as much as it connects to every experience we’ve had with a “first”. Yes, the boy is on his way to his first day of school through a maze of obstacles, but perseveres. The writing matches the tone of the design and creates an all-encompassing experience. A feast for the eyes.

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2022 in Adult, Authors, Book of the Month, Childrens, Cover Love, Fiction, Nonfiction, Verse, Young Adult

 

Readers advisory for February ’22

28 Feb

The end of month brings a brief pause to reflect on what I’ve read over the past month. I’ve usually always worked toward identifying that one book that made me pause. I also read a lot so one book each month is difficult and why I generally break the one book rule I’ve self-imposed, hence why I changed the title of the month’s-end post to readers advisory.

This month I decided to pull my favorite children’s book, young adult, and adult title. In order, a nonfiction, a graphic novel, and the audiobook.

Born Hungry: Julia Child Becomes ‘the French chef’ written by Alex Prud’homme and illustrated by Sarah Green was an easy choice for a book everyone should read because children’s biographies are superbly informative in addition to capturing (when done right) the essence of the topic at hand. In this case, the nephew of Child, writes a celebratory story of how Child didn’t become ‘the French chef’ until very late in life, proving that you can do anything you set your mind to and have a passion for. Using Green’s bright and vivid illustrations to compliment the story, it is a feel-good story that’s food-centered.

Yasmeen written by Saif A. Ahmed and illustrated by Fabiana Moscolo is a graphic novel with a hard truth to face. That many girls were kidnapped, raped, tortured, and maimed as part of the unrest in the Middle East. Yasmeen is an Iraqi girl whose family settled in Texas after leaving their war torn home but without her because she had been captured and used as a pawn. The graphic novel does not sugarcoat her trauma and the fight she gave to break free. But what levels this graphic novel up is the intricate use of time in the panels and on the pages which takes an astute reader of the format because of the level of understanding of the story, characters, and setting. A passive reader will not understand the story completely. And it’s powerful. You do not want to miss anything.

I listened to the audiobook read by Michelle Zauner, the author and subject of Crying in H Mart: A Memoir. While I did not know who she was and had only downloaded the audiobook because of it’s popularity and subject matter (you’ll often find that I read and share about food memoirs or food stories). I recognize that there is wide general appeal, but it went deeper for me as I’m sure that others who feel like they do about the book can attest; it’s Zauner’s relationship and caretaking of her cancer-stricken mother and simultaneously about the food of her life through the lens of her now suffering mother. Food is balm. Food is love. Food is history. Food is memory. I don’t often reread books, but because I had listened to the audiobook, I’ve considered rereading it in print because I remember several times stopping in my tracks while listening to a poignant phrase or sentence or scene.

What did you read this past month that you loved?

 
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Posted by on February 28, 2022 in Adult, Audiobooks, Book of the Month, Childrens, Fiction, Graphic novels, Nonfiction, Young Adult

 

It usually begins with a book

20 Jan

My middle school sons spent the last few months working with a talented group of middle schoolers (and a few elementary schoolers) in their junior production of Willy Wonka. It was a magical experience altogether and not just because my kids were a part of it but because the directors chose bright and fun props and costumes to make the viewer experience a feast for the eyes. And isn’t that what Willy Wonka does when the Golden Ticket winners enter the factory that has been closed to the public for many years?

When it all came to a close after the third and final performance, I reflected on where it began. With a book by Roald Dahl called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

And isn’t that how most things start… with a book? We don’t give them nearly enough credit sometimes. The best blockbuster movies (and then the reboots upon reboots) and plays, fanfiction and t-shirts– usually based on a book. There are two versions of the book made into a movie, both of which were watched by my kids in preparation for their theatrical performance.

But it usually begins with a book.

And of course I decided to do what I do best and return to the OG- Dahl’s book and found that I highlighted one of the closing passages that seems to always stay true in any version:

“Listen,” Mr. Wonka said, “I’m an old man. I’m much older than you think. I can’t go on forever. I’ve got no children of my own, no family at all. So who is going to run the factory when I get too old to do it myself? Someone’s got to keep it going- if only for the sake of the Oompa-Loompas. Mind you, there are thousands of clever men who would give anything for the chance to come in and take over for me, but I don’t want that sort of person. I don’t want a grown-up person at all. A grownup won’t listen to me; he won’t learn. He will try to do things his own way and not mine. So I have to have a child. I want a good sensible loving child, one to whom I can tell all my most precious candy-making secrets- while I am still alive.”

Imagination. The way a child’s brain works to find the magic and the beauty, right from their own imagination. I can hear the music now.

If ever you need a break, borrow a children’s book (or five) and unlock your own imagination. It can begin with a book.

 
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Posted by on January 20, 2022 in Authors, Childrens, Events, Fiction, Middle grade, Shows

 

The 31 Days of December: Top 10 of 2021 childrens, middle grade, & adult edition

28 Dec

The year end review is here! Over the next three days I’ll be featuring three top tens including today’s childrens, middle grade, and adult edition, tomorrow young adult fiction edition, and Thursday’s graphic novels and manga edition. I have had to intentionally leave off young adult nonfiction since I have spent the year reading close to two hundred middle grade and young adult nonfiction titles for my work on the 2022 Excellence in Nonfiction Award and therefore cannot talk about them.

In no particular order, these ten books feature elements like lyrical prose, thought-provoking questions about life, and the necessary empathy to be a human being in this world. Whether it’s grief or loneliness, needing to find your purpose, or going on an adventure, these ten authors kept me riveted from start to finish.

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2021 in Adult, Blogging, Childrens, Cover Love, Fiction, Middle grade, Miscellaneous, Reflections, Verse

 

The 31 Days of December: Holiday vibes

26 Dec

Only recently did I create a bookshelf on Goodreads for seasonal/holiday reading because I don’t often seek them out intentionally or need to retrieve them often, however I’m finding I am more often. With that said, I know one person in particular, a coworker, who reads with holidays and seasons in mind. He first introduced me to Truman Capote’s three short stories (which I read as a collection): “A Christmas Memory,” “One Christmas”, and “The Thanksgiving Visitor.”

A few weeks ago we were again discussing holiday reading and he mentioned a tradition he has that includes Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” which I had never heard of and promptly put it on hold at my library. Serendipitously, it came in just in time for the holidays and I was able to settle in to read the short story on my couch, in my red and white striped pajamas at the foot on my tree, with a white cranberry mimosa. And it was delightful. I highly recommend the ambience and even more so, the short story itself which is exactly what you would imagine it would be from the title and the writer.

After this, I might be a convert to seasonal and holiday reading in a way that was never intentional before. All I know is that I now have a new memory and that one includes reminiscing about old memories and books.

I would love more season and holiday recommendations!

 
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Posted by on December 26, 2021 in Adult, Authors, Blogging, Childrens, Quotes, Reflections

 

The 31 Days of December: Best job ever

22 Dec

Yesterday was the kind of day that I’ll remember. We had been working with our specialized reading teacher throughout the last few weeks before our holiday break to have stories both fiction and nonfiction, short stories and picture books about the holidays. She wanted to count down the days with her groups and make it special but incorporate activities to build the skills necessary for students who are still learning to read. One of the last elements to put in place was some hot cocoa and coming in as a mystery reader with my favorite holiday picture books because you’re never too old to be read aloud to.

We organized the the urn for hot water and the teacher brought in some accoutrements (candy canes and marshmallows). Then I picked out my favorites: Snowmen at Night, Snowmen at Christmas, and Bear Stays Up For Christmas. The first two are part of a series by wife and husband, Caralyn and Mark Bruehner in which the paintings on each two-page spread of snowmen having fun (at night and at Christmas) have hidden items like a Santa face and T-rex. The Bear book by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman detail the hibernation of Bear who is staying up for Christmas with his woodland friends… until he falls asleep.

I read through the books with the small classes, talking through and asking questions before they refilled their hot cocoa and we rounded out the class with a YouTube tutorial on drawing a holiday character. First up, the elf. Second, a penguin. And third, the Grinch before my colleague came in to do the other classes because we like to share the fun.

This is the best job ever. We got to connect with a veteran teacher new to the high school who had a vision for the last few weeks before the holiday and we helped to make it happen and were able to partake in the fun. (Only to be tied with listening to our choir sing a handful of carols in the library eighth period).

 
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Posted by on December 22, 2021 in Blogging, Childrens

 

The 31 Days of December: The best spot

20 Dec

If you’re a book lover, it’s not hard to love Macanudo, the daily comic by Argentinian comic Liniers, especially when he writes and draws his central character, Henrietta and her cat Fellini because the focus of most of those comics are about her reading. The comic from the other day was another perfect one: the good spot to read.

Where is your good spot? What is your good book?

 
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Posted by on December 20, 2021 in Blogging, Childrens, Reflections

 

The 31 Days of December: When one thing leads to another

12 Dec

You can agree that once a word, an item, a phrase is introduced to you or you learn about a topic, it then seems to be everywhere– but it’s about what’s in your consciousness. And I’m always entertained when it happens in my reading. I’ve explained that I’m a mood reader– I always have a mountainous stack of books at home so that I have a range of options to pick from. So when there is no real strategy, it’s delightful to make connections between books. Here is that tale in three books yesterday:

Book 1: I’m taking my time reading John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed. It’s essentially a collection of short stories– his reviews. I’m entertained and enlightened by his stories, so I’m reading a few a day. The other day I read his review on the Lascaux Cave Paintings. I knew a little about what they were, but now I now more.

Book 2: Science Comics are cool. I’ll always pull one of them aside if I haven’t read it even if it’s not a topic I’m super interested in (though I don’t know if I’ve ever really felt that way about any of them thus far). One of the new ones that came into our library was Crows: Genius Birds by Kyla Vanderklugt. In the graphic novel between a dog and a crow, it’s mentioned that there’s a sketch of a crow in the Lascaux Cave. BINGO!

Book 3: Then ding, ding, ding! I wanted a quick transitional book in the afternoon, so I picked up Singer’s picture book illustrated by Fotheringham from a recent box delivered to my front door called A Raven Named Grip: How a Bird Inspired Two Famous Writers, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allan Poe. Crows and ravens– all part of the corvidae family.

From caves to crows… I love when one thing leads to another.

 
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Posted by on December 12, 2021 in Adult, Blogging, Childrens, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Nonfiction

 
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