Summer Book Party Reflection

In June, I told you about our first Summer Book Party. My good friend Maureen, had this great idea to have "book parties" every few weeks during the summer--a fun way to keep the girls reading and to get them together.

Well, we had 5 book parties--once every few weeks. Since people are busy during the summer, we had anywhere between 2 and 7 girls at each party. They were all quite fun! And very easy to pull off. We set up books all over the house and made (or bought) some type of snack. The parties lasted one hour which was perfect to read a few books.


Today was our last book party. We asked the girls what they thought. They wanted to have them again next summer. They liked reading with friends. Even if they read quietly by themselves, they liked "having people around when I read". They loved reading in different places (on the patio, on the tent, the couch, comfy chairs, and lounge chairs. And, of course, they LOVED the snacks (making ice cream sundaes was a favorite). As Colleen said, "When you read a good book, it kind of makes you hungry, especially if it is a book about food!"


Hosting a few of the book parties was part of the fun. Deciding which books to put out for friends to read, what to have for snack, where we could read....



Maureen and I were laughing today as she left-- Just like us, the girls liked the fact that they could be with friends and eat good food. Good friends--Good Books--Good Food--What more could you want at any age?

The Gorgon's Gaze

The Gorgon's Gaze
Book Two in The Companions Quartet
by Julia Golding
US publication date: October 2007
review copy courtesy of Marshall Cavendish Children's Books

Connie Lionheart is no ordinary member of the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures. She is the only universal companion -- she is able to bond with all of the mythical creatures (dragons, pegasi, wood sprites, sirens, etc.) that live secretly in our world. To protect the mythical creatures, Society members protect the last wild spots on earth in which the creatures can survive. In the Gorgon's Gaze, that wild spot is an ancient wood (including a huge oak rumored to be the tree where Merlin was imprisoned by Nimue) threatened by a road to the new oil refinery from Book One, Secret of the Sirens.

The story is a rollercoaster of YAYs and UH-OHs that keeps the pages turning:

YAY! Connie's new companion will be a rare golden baby dragon.
UH-OH! Connie's great aunt is going to isolate Connie from nature and from the society members to "cure" her of her "sickness."
YAY! Two unknown-to-her-aunt members of the Society manage to get Connie out of the house and to Society Headquarters.
UH-OH! Mr. Codderington at the Society Headquarters is surely a bad guy. Watch out, Connie!
YAY! Argand, the baby dragon, comes to visit Connie.
UH-OH! Col's (Connie's friend and fellow society member, companion to pegusi) mother is companion to a gorgon.
YAY! Uncle Hugh unknowingly gives Connie information on how a Universal can protect herself from hostile mythical creatures. (One of Connie's ancestors was a Universal, and Uncle Hugh gives Connie some of her papers from a trunk of family heirlooms.)
UH-OH! Aunt Godiva is really mad when she finds out what Uncle Hugh gave Connie and she cracks down on Connie like never before. At the same time, Col is taken by Kullervo, the ultimate evil. (Kullervo is Connie's Voldemort -- her true companion. Her good and his evil are intimately intertwined. "He was part of her -- and she was part of him.")
YAY! With the help of Skylark, Col's pegasus, Connie goes to the rescue of Col.
UH-OH! It's a trap! Connie is taken by Kullervo!

You'll have to read the book to find out how it all turns out. I predict that the new character, a boy nicknamed "Rat," will feature prominently in the next book.

Here's my review of the first book in the series, Secret of the Sirens.

Violet Bing and The Grand House

Yes, there is another great character to love in this early chapter book by Jennifer Paros. There is lots to love about Violet Bing and The Grand House:

1. The size totally matches the character and the story. It is small book-- a small size and about 100 pages.

2. Violet Bing is VERY lovable. Violet Bing does not like to do much. She "does not have time" or so she says. She does not like surprises or things that are new or unplanned.

3. The plot is simple, yet fun. When Violet decides that she is not going on vacation with her family, she spends the time with her aunt in the Grand House instead. Because Violet says no to so many things, she is on her own a lot (with her aunt watching close-by). A little girl in a big, old, colorful house makes for a great story.

4. The illustrations throughout the book are fun. Violet has a triangular body and string-like hair. The illustrations are spread throughout the book to give the reader a better sense of what is happening. (And often the author refers to the illustrations by saying something like "Look at all of the things she has on the floor.")

5. Some surprises are in store for Violet--a lost dog, a sun room, and a secret passage.

All of this makes for a very fun book! A little girl who is a bit like all of us.

I have heard that this is going to be a series but I can't find any information on this. The end is written in a way that Violet Bing can easily visit The Grand House again soon.
I certainly hope so.

SO..HOW DID THOSE SUMMER GOALS GO? (MEME FOLLOW-UP)

In June, we participated in a Summer Goals meme and set goals for the summer. The 2nd day of summer--so much seemed possible. I thought I could accomplish so much. So today, with just a few days left of summer vacation, I thought I'd go back and see how I did.
1. Get back to exercising 5-6 days a week
I exercised 2-3 times all summer.
Not so good.
2. Read Lots
I read lots of kids books--more than ever-- but did not read the two adult books I was hoping to read.
3. See family and friends often.
I saw many old friends and caught up with people so I'll consider that the best so far....
4. Get organized for the fall
I am feeling okay about the fall. Not as organized as I'd like to be but in okay shape. I am going to work on organizing the house this weekend so I am kind of caught up.
5. Learn how to make and decorate a few really good kinds of cupcakes.
I found a great mix at Williams-Sonoma and a page from a magazine that shows me how to make sunflower cupcakes. Not exactly the gourmet cupcakes I had planned but I will make them for our next book party this weekend so I can maybe meet this goal before school begins...
6. Writer's notebook
Hmmmm...I bought a new one and only have one small entry..not good.
7. Clean every drawer, cupboard and closet in the house
What exactly was I thinking? I did a few but most of the ones I did at the beginning of summer need to be cleaned again. We are in better shape than in June so I am okay on this one.
8. Nap often.
I ACCOMPLISHED THIS GOAL!
9. Weight Watchers--
nope

Okay, so, I did TERRIBLE in accomplishing my goals. But, overall the summer was good. We had good family time, got good work done, feel semi-organized and refreshed to start the year, got together with some old friends.

TAGGING ANYONE WHO SET SUMMER GOALS WITH THIS MEME TO REFLECT--I am confident that you all did better than I did!

Poetry Friday -- Back to School Song

You can hum along with today's Poetry Friday. I've been singing this song to myself in late August for...um...lots of years now. This one goes out today to any first year teachers, and especially my former fourth grader, Courtney, who begins her career as an art teacher this fall.

From "I Have Confidence" (The Sound of Music)

Oh, I must stop these doubts, all these worries
If I don't I just know I'll turn back
I must dream of the things I am seeking
I am seeking the courage I lack

The courage to serve them with reliance
Face my mistakes without defiance
Show them I'm worthy
And while I show them
I'll show me

So, let them bring on all their problems
I'll do better than my best
I have confidence they'll put me to the test
But I'll make them see I have confidence in me

Somehow I will impress them
I will be firm but kind
And all those children (Heaven bless them!)
They will look up to me

And mind me with each step I am more certain
Everything will turn out fine
I have confidence the world can all be mine
They'll have to agree I have confidence in me

All of the lyrics are here.

New For the Youngest Readers

Here's a stack of new books from Marshall Cavendish that are sure to make our preschool or kindergarten teachers very happy!

My Big Rig by Jonathan London. A little boy imagines his trip across the country in his big rig. He's home by dinner time!

Firefighters! Speeding! Spraying! Saving! by Patricia Hubbell. This is a very "noisy" book, perfect for before and after a visit to the fire station that is just down the street from our school.


Shells! Shells! Shells! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. Lots of information about shells is given in the course of a story about Buddy (a teddy bear) and his visit to the beach. The illustrations were made using recycled paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, and actual shells.

And what would the start of a child's school career be without a book about adjusting to leaving mommy? In Eliza's Kindergarten Surprise by Alice B. McGinty, it turns out that perhaps mommy was missing Eliza, too!

Finding Myself in the Classroom Library

I haven't seen my class list for this coming year, but I am almost sure to have students from Mexico, Japan or Korea, the Indian subcontinent, and perhaps several more countries or cultures. It is a struggle to make sure that every child I teach can find him or herself in the books in my classroom library.

Several new picture books from Marshall Cavendish will help me with this goal.

The Furry-Legged Teapot by Tim Myers is a version of a Japanese folktale in which a tanuki (a Japanese raccoon-dog) transforms himself into a teapot. In Myers' tale, the tanuki gets stuck in teapot form until he meets the Emperor and his grandson.

The Three Cabritos by Eric Kimmel is an original retelling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, "with a Texas twist." A cabrito is a "young goat" in Spanish, and the monster under the bridge in this tale is a chupacabra, a legendary "goat sucker" or vampire monster first reported in Puerto Rico.

I'll have to get some help from my students (if they are literate in Spanish) or our ELL teacher with Sopa de Cactus, also by Eric Kimmel. This one is written in Spanish! In the author's note (Nota del autor) I see something something Revolucion Mexicana, something something Pancho Villa y Emiliano Zapata. So besides being what appears to be a folktale, perhaps a Stone Soup variation, this one might have some Mexican cultural and political history woven in.

The House Takes a Vacation by Jacqueline Davies

I am always looking for books with word play to share with my students. Often, the humor in language often goes right past them when they don't realize how playful language can be. I have books like Agatha's Featherbed and Tough Cookie in my classroom library. Sharing these books filled with puns, gives students new ways to think about words and often this shows up in their own writing.

THE HOUSE TAKES A VACATION by Jacqueline Davies is one that I am happy to add to my collection (thanks to Marshall Cavendish Children's Books). What a find! The concept is a fun one--a family takes a vacation so the house decides to do the same. The chimney complains in a "smoky voice". The roof is sore after the long trip and says, "Man, am I sore. I feel like I've got shingles." This picture book is full of puns and word play--new things for readers to discover with every reread. (I am still finding things I missed during the first few reads!)

The illustrations add to the fun of the book--they are done by Lee White.

Definitely worth checking out to add to your word study basket if you teach middle to upper elementary grades.

Cultural Literacy

Another summer of classic movies (CAPA's 38th season) at the Ohio Theater is almost over.

Slowly but surely I am attempting to make up for a lifetime of movie illiteracy. Once, and sometimes twice a week all summer, we go downtown to the gorgeous old Ohio Theater, hear live organ music on the Mighty Morton Theatre Organ (it raises and lowers near the orchestra pit and organist Clark Wilson performs with several silent films each season) and fill some of the gaps in my out-of-school education.

This summer we have seen
"North By Northwest" with Carey Grant,
"Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with Humphrey Bogart,
"Dr. No" with Sean Connery,
Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope" with Jimmy Stewart,
"12 Angry Men" with Henry Fonda,
and in a couple of weeks, this summer's education will end with
"Charade" with Carey Grant

It was interesting to see "Dr. No" in the same summer as "The Bourne Supremacy" (dvd) and "The Bourne Ultimatum." In my mind, James Bond doesn't hold a candle to Jason Bourne.

My other movie this summer was "The Simpsons Movie." Not sure where that fits in the big picture of cultural literacy, but having seen it will probably get me brownie points with my students!

Read Alouds With a Global Perspective on Choice Literacy

Choice Literacy has a follow-up article to Shari Frost's Read Aloud article. This one focuses on great beginning of the year read alouds with a multicultural/global perspective. A great list by Mary Ann Reilly. The article has books for K-3 and for 4-6.