Poetry Friday -- Joys and Sorrows

I couldn't find a single poem
about eating Christmas cookies for breakfast.

There were also none
about that moment
halfway through vacation
when it becomes obvious
that nothing is going to get done
unless you make a list
and begin
accomplishing.

Reading Glasses for 2008!

I think it is time for me to accept the fact that 2007 will become the last year I read without reading glasses. My vision has always been 20/20 and is still good. However, during my last few annual eye exams, I seemed to "qualify for" reading glasses. I think I got my first pair 4-5 years ago. I'd wear them once in a while, mostly for fun. This last year, I noticed that I needed glasses to read small print directions, etc. Lately, I have noticed that reading in bed lasts about 10 minutes before I fall asleep.

So, this week, I started reading with my reading glasses on. I was reading a book recommended by Karen in her Newbery Hopeful post--THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY by Trenton Lee Stewart when I realized how blurry the words seemed. (By the way, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book and would be thrilled to see it win an award!) What a difference the glasses make! I didn't realize how much I was straining to read the print on the page until I forced myself to wear them. It made a huge difference. I enjoyed the book, read 350+ pages yesterday and have moved on to EGGS by Jerry Spinelli (recommended by Larry in his Newbery Hopeful post).

The problem with my reading glasses is that I can't wear them if I am not reading. They are only for reading--I can't really walk while I am wearing them. They aren't meant for that. So, my dilemma is locating them when it is time to read. Taking them upstairs with me at night, having them at school for read aloud, etc. At 44, I finally understand people who wear their glasses on a chain--what a grand invention. But, one I am not yet ready for. Any good tips on having your reading glasses handy when you need them would be hugely appreciated!

So, in 2008, my reading will change in that I imagine I will be wearing my reading glasses far more often. A small price to pay for being able to see the words on the page. And I think it justifies buying some extra pairs with fun frames--to make sure I have a pair when and where I need them.

Middle School and High School Angst

I wouldn't go back to my pre-teen and teenage years if you paid me.

For my first piece of evidence, I give you

Stuck in the Middle
edited by Ariel Schrag
Viking, 2007
review copy compliments of the publisher
2007 Cybils Graphic Novel nominee

The subtitle is "Seventeen Comics from an UNPLEASANT Age." That pretty much sums it up. Want to remember what middle school was like? Read this book. It's just as bad as you remembered.

Next, we have

Dead High Yearbook
by Ivan Velez
Dutton Books, 2007
review copy compliments of the publisher
2007 Cybils Graphic Novel nominee

Apparently, before this yearbook goes to press, there are eight more stereotypical teens who need to die (or become undead, as it were). The bloody finger prints on the edges of the pages are a nice touch -- heh, heh. (Please tell me they are part of the book design...)

Two more have a light at the end of a tunnel. One for boys

Blindspot
by Kevin C. Pyle
Henry Holt and Co., 2007
review copy from the library
2007 Cybils Graphic Novel nominee

This coming-of-age story reminds me just a little bit of BLACK SWAN GREEN by David Mitchell. The main character makes it out of the woods (literally) in the end.

And for the girls, a story of a "spiky," unstereotypical girl -- a Korean-American martial arts champion who gets sideswiped by hormones and almost loses her way. Almost.


Re-Gifters
by Make Carey, Sonny Liew, Mark Hempel
DC Comics (MINX imprint), 2007
review copy from the library
2007 Cybils Graphic Novel nominee

A Couple More Reasons To Go To The Health Club On Christmas Eve

1. Need I say more?

2. They have this promotion going to help us keep exercising through the holiday season/month of December: Get 15 punches on your punchcard and you're entered in a drawing for I don't even know what, because just getting those punches is INCREDIBLY (ridiculously) motivating. December 24 and 26 are THREE POINT DAYS! (It occurred to me while swimming that they probably made them 3 point days to lure in more members and make it worth it to pay the poor employees who have to work those two days.)

3. The soprano in the church choir was practicing her parts for the Christmas Eve service...in the shower...at the health club. It was a little startling at first to be serenaded by angels in that venue, but it was really quite delightful once I got used to it.

Poetry Friday -- One More Day

As I looked for a poem for today,
the ones that caught my eye were mostly about sleep.
That's the first thing on my agenda
for tomorrow.
I will spend this day,
this four-days-before-Christmas day,
with a class full of preteens
who will begin the day
with a 30 minute dance party
and end the day with a Holiday party.
Which state standards should I try to meet in the middle time,
the time between those two excitements?


Back to tomorrow.
Check out Billy Collins' poem Reading Myself to Sleep. It's in QUESTIONS ABOUT ANGELS. I decided not to pick a sleep poem because what I really want is time for myself. I give you

MORNING
by Billy Collins

Why do we bother with the rest of the day,
the swale of the afternoon,
the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,
his many-pointed stars?

This is the best—
throwing off the light covers,
feet on the cold floor,
and buzzing around the house on espresso—

maybe a splash of water on the face,
a palmful of vitamins—
but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso


(The rest is here. Round up is at AmoXcalli.)

Food Gift Ideas

Happy Blogversary HipWriterMama!

In her anniversary post, HWM, asks us about teacher gift ideas which got me thinking about good gift ideas for lots of people. Of course, I think books always make good gifts but it is hard to know what people already have, etc. I don't often have trouble finding gifts for teachers but I always struggle with new ideas for people who I am not sure what they'd like. I do lots of food gifts. This year, we bought some Mrs. Prindables Gourmet Apples. I have also had big success with giving from these great Ohio companies and would highly recommend gifts from all of these (I would also recommend ordering some for yourself as they are all quite delicious!):

Cheryl's Cookies
Anthony Thomas Buckeyes
Great Harvest Bread
Brownie Points

But, I am always looking for other food ideas to send to people on my holiday gift list. If you have any great food/gift ideas that you've had success with, I'd love to hear about them. I think food is a great gift--especially for out-of-town relatives and friends. So I'd love to hear any ideas.

One of My Favorite Cookie Cookbooks

Well, I have spent the weekend baking. I always do this--I try to do 8 kinds of cookies in one day. It is craziness and I always mess up my last few. I have trouble fitting baking in at night and I see no need to bake if I can't put together a tray with a big variety of cookies. And I LOVE to bake cookies! Easy ones and hard ones.

I pick up cookie cookbooks often. But, I usually find 1-2 recipes in each book that I like. However, THE COOKIE BIBLE is different. There are many, many recipes that look great. I have tried several. And, there is a photo of almost every cookie. That is important to me. I need that visual. My favorite recipe is for the Black and White Hearts. These make a great holiday cookie (I did star shapes instead of hearts.) For those of you that have cookie tables at weddings, they are beautiful in heart shapes.

There are so many recipes in this book that I've tried and several that I have tabbed to try sometime soon. (One of my daughter's friends was over the other day and she was looking through the cookbook. She laughed and said that it was like every page was dog-eared. She was almost right!

It is a pretty comprehensive cookie book--thus the title. Some old favorites as well as some new ideas for cookies.

Highly recommended for the holiday season and all other seasons.

December Carnival of Children's Literature

The Carnival is up at Big A little a, for your browsing and book shopping/buying pleasure!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules - #2
by Jeff Kinney
Amulet Books
Publication Date: February 2008
Review Copy: Uncorrected Proof received at NCTE

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is funny, but Roderick Rules is even funnier. The plot is tighter and more focused. The sibling rivalry between Roderick and Greg (which trickles down to Manny) is believable and relentless. And Rowley is weirder than ever.

I'm not the only one who thinks this book is funnier than the first. When I got back from NCTE, we made a sign-up sheet for the review copy, with the students who had read the first book getting first chance to sign up. Four guys have finished Roderick Rules and all but one of them agree that it is funnier.

The first to read it said that it is funnier because there are more of Roderick's crazy ideas (like trying to use the fake money he stole from Greg), and they go bad in worse ways. He especially liked when mom got involved playing the role-playing game and named her character "Mom." (That part reminded me of the Simpsons episode where Marge gets involved in the online game in which Bart's character is ruthless and evil.)

The second reader liked the suspense after the party they had when their parents were gone. The party went undetected for a long time, then the dad almost found out when he discovered that the downstairs bathroom door was not quite what he remembered, and then he did find out when the pictures in mom's camera were developed.

The third reader was the one who disagreed. He liked the first book better. He liked that it was longer, and he thought the Creighton the Cretin comic (Greg's invention) in the new book was simply not funny. (He can recite the joke in the first Cretin comic word for word.)

The fourth reader thought that Roderick definitely made this book funnier than the first. He thought it was funny when mom danced when Roderick's band played at the talent show. (It's always more funny when someone else is humiliated by their mom!)

Looks like a couple of girls are next up on the list to read Roderick Rules. It will be interesting to see if they agree with the guys!

Holiday Baking

There's a Christmas cookie party going on at jama rattigan's alphabet soup ("a children's writer offers food for thought & fine whining"). Here's another of my holiday baking traditions. My first two years of teaching were in a school in the Dallas Independent School District that was on a federal low-income list. It was like being in the Peace Corps. Every year I taught there, my student loans were reduced and deferred. If I would have made it 5 years, I would have erased my student loans. I lasted for two. But I'm proud of what I accomplished in that short time. I took my kids on a field trip, single-handedly, to the (then) brand-new Dallas Museum of Art. I taught with literature. And I started a tradition that lasted 20 years: I made gingerbread people for the students to decorate. Some of them had never decorated cookies. I made myself a promise that I would make cookies every year in case I ever had students who had not decorated cookies. After 20 years of gingerbread, I was ready for a change. I have an extensive collection of cookie cutters and only two were getting used. So, a few years back, I switched to sugar cookies. And, in a bold move that gave the whole event a new twist, I provided the kids with plain white butter frosting (yes, from scratch) and FOOD COLORING and let them make their icing colors. Here are some views from last year's event: