BOOKS I COULD READ A MILLION TIMES: PART 2

I started this "series" early in the school year and have since realized that a book has to be pretty darn good to make my list! Sometimes when I am reading a book I love to the 4th class in one day, I start not loving it anymore. It reminds me of when my kids were young and they wanted to hear the same book over and over and I got to the point that I couldn't stand the book anymore. But, there are a few books that I really do think I could read a million times. I just never tire of them.

I have found two more books that make my list-books I can read over and over and continue to love them.

WHO ATE ALL THE COOKIE DOUGH by Karen Beaumont is the most fun to read with young children. I love to watch their faces. They never tire of the rhyme and rhythm. And the ending is always fun--even when it isn't a surprise anymore. I first heard about this book from Katie at Creative Literacy. (I think she actually picked up a copy for me.) Who can tire of the rhyme that is almost more fun than the original? "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe! Who ate the cookie dough". The text takes us through lots of possible suspects to find a fun surprise answer at the end.

I love THE LITTLE BIT SCARY PEOPLE by Emily Jenkins for totally different reasons. My cousin told me about this book and I wasn't sold on it at first. But now that I have read it several times, it is definitely one of my favorites. This book takes a look at people who seem scary on the outside--the teenage boy down the street, the policeman whistling at traffic, the bus driver who blows her horn--and then helps us realize that maybe they aren't scary. I love the message of this book--looking past our first impressions of people, past the outside appearances. They're really not so scary after all! And the repeated texts and colorful illustrations add to an already amazing book. One I don't think I'll get sick of because I so love what it says.

Meme of Five

We've been tagged three times this week for The Meme of Five, but we couldn't fit it into Graphic Novel Week, so here are our fives. In lieu of tagging, we have included a bit of a roundup of the ones we've seen around the Kidlitosphere. If we missed one (especially if we missed yours) let us know!

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

FRANKI'S FIVE:

What were you doing five years ago?
Of course, Mary Lee has a diary that tells her exactly what she was doing on this day 5 years ago. I will just have to try my best! 5 years ago, I was just finishing up my first year teaching at Eli Pinney--we opened the school that year and it was a great year of teaching and learning. We were also in the midst of the adoption process and were waiting to bring our youngest daughter home.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
buy a few birthday and retirement gifts
get a few sets of handouts ready for summer work
pull a presentation together for this week
make cookie dough
laundry

What are five snacks you enjoy?
(I am going for the unhealthy ones--treatlike snacks)
My new favorite: DOVE Ice Cream Bars
chips and salsa
those really cheap vanilla cream cookies that you can by anywhere
DOTS
Doritos

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
(not in order of action folks!)
1. Buy books for kids and adults who don't have them and for children's hospitals
2. Put money into schools for girls in places where it is hard for girls to get an education
3. Do something to get rid of testing and punishment of schools for test scores..
4. Buy a house somewhere warm and calm
5. Hire a few people to live here (or close) to do the things I don't like to do (laundry, weeding the yard, etc.)

What are five of your bad habits?
1. I ask a lot of questions.
2. I overbook myself.
3. I don't exercise enough.
4. I eat junk food.
5. I make piles everywhere.

What are five places where you have lived?
(be careful--this may be just too exciting..)
1. Ohio--Youngstown
2. Ohio--Howland
3. Ohio--Bowling Green
4. Ohio--Hilliard
5. Ohio--Dublin


What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Bob Evans hostess
2. Bob Evans waitress
3. Desk and Night Clerk (college)
4. worker at Hot Sam's Pretzels
5. TEACHER:-)


MARY LEE'S FIVE:

What were you doing five years ago?
Five years ago on May 16, my students were baking cookies (5 groups, 5 different recipes) for the "World Premiere" of their multi-media project "Social Issues in the World." (I know this because I have a 10-year diary that I've been keeping for 7 years now.)

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
1. Walk in the Race For the Cure. (It did NOT rain!)
2. Get gas. (Found some high test for under $4/gallon!)
3. Pick up watches. (7 got new batteries and one got a new band. I now have 17 working watches! And now you know one of my obsessions. Other women go for shoes. I go for watches.)
4. Pick up my new glasses.
5. Grading, grading, and more grading, then maybe start report cards?

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. Potato chips. Especially with onion dip.
2. Cheetos.
3. Hubs peanuts.
4. Jeni's ice cream.
5. Pam's cheddar popcorn. (I also like grapes, apples, veggies, Bill's guacamole with corn chips, Cheezits, dark chocolate, peanut M&Ms, Chex Mix...well, you get the idea...)

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Fully fund Ohio's Casting for Recovery program.
2. Buy enough lobbyists to get NCLB fixed or nixed.
3. Save the Arctic from oil drilling.
4. Travel.
5. Buy a house with enough shelves for all our books and enough wall space for all of our art.

What are five of your bad habits?
1. Procrastination.
2. Sloppy handwriting.
3. Taking laundry out of the dryer, laying it in a neat pile on top of the dryer, and then not folding and putting it away for a week.
4. Taking on yet another project.
5. Speaking before thinking.

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Burlington, CO
2. Denver, CO
3. Aachen, Germany (only six weeks, but that counts, doesn't it?)
4. Dallas, TX
5. Columbus, OH

What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Babysitter
2. Lifeguard
3. Cashier at Ben Franklin's
4. Nanny
5. Teacher

OTHER FIVERS:

Wild Rose Reader
The Miss Rumphius Effect
Welcome to My Tweendom
Read. Imagine. Talk.
A Wrung Sponge
Big A little a
Check it Out
Greetings From Nowhere
HipWriterMama
jama rattigan's alphabet soup
Jen Robinson's Book Page
MotherReader
My Breakfast Platter
Read Write Believe
Read, Read, Read
Shelf Elf
The Reading Zone
Two Writing Teachers
Wizards Wireless

THREE: the second of three

THREE years ago (in 2006) on January 2, this blog was born.

To celebrate our third blog birthday, we have prepared for you a THREE day festival of THREEs from our third year of blogging. Let DAY TWO of the triads begin!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

THREE favorite wordless picture books (Franki)

SOUTH by Patrick McDonnell
WAVE by Suzy Lee
WELCOME TO THE ZOO by Alison Jay

THREE favorite middle grade novels (ML)

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff
Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

THREE favorite middle grade novels (Franki)
GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE

MY ONE HUNDRED ADVENTURES

THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF BERNETTA WALLFLOWER

THREE new favorite versions of old favorites

WHO ATE ALL THE COOKIE DOUGH?

WE'RE GOING ON A LION HUNT

RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE

THREE favorite Kidlitosphere events we initiated

Trading (our favorite) Spaces
Summer Goals (setting and reflecting and reflecting)
Central Ohio Blogger get-togethers (summer, fall)

THREE favorite Kidlitosphere events we took part in
Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge
21 Day Comment Challenge
Cybils (we're just cheerleaders this year)

THREE authors we discovered in 2008

Ingrid Law

Jessica Day George

Sarah Prineas

THREE other sites that use our name

2008 was The National Year of Reading in the UK
www.ayearofreading.com (a blog that is open to invited readers only)
(My) Year of Reading (Dangerously)

THREE author/illustrator interviews at A Year of Reading
Melissa Sweet
Sarah Prineas
Amjed Qamar

THREE professional author interviews at A Year of Reading
Terry Thompson
Shelley Harwayne

(oops, we only had two)