THERE'S A PRINCESS IN THE PALACE by Zoe B. Alley

In January, we reviewed THERE'S A WOLF AT THE DOOR--a great, over sized book of fairy tales told in graphic novel form.  I have loved this book and it is quite popular in the library. Even though I am sure it doesn't fit in any child's bookbag, they figure out a way to get it home!

So, I was thrilled to see another book that follows this same idea by Zoe Alley. THERE'S A PRINCESS IN THE PALACE: FIVE CLASSIC TALES does for princesses what THERE'S A WOLF AT THE DOOR did for wolves. This very fun, pink, over sized book  (really, what more could you want!) is the retelling of 5 classic princess tales including Cinderella and The Princess and the Pea.  The humor in the dialogue and the personalities of the princesses are quite fun. My 11 year old laughed aloud as she read the ending to Cinderella.

A fun book and a great addition to any fairy tale study.  I loved the first book but love this one even more as some of these stories are my favorites.  This author knows how to bring classic tales to life in a very unique way.

Poetry + Music = Fun

Camille Saint-Saëns’s The Carnival of the Animals
new verses by Jack Prelutsky
illustrated by Mary GrandPré
includes CD of music and verses
Alfred A. Knopf, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

This music, long used to introduce children to classical music, does not need poems to suggest the animals each piece describes with sound.

These poems, written by the first U.S. Children's Poet Laureate, do not need musical accompaniment to help their rhythms and rhymes suggest the animals they describe -- the lumbering elephants, the flitting birds, the obnoxious donkeys, the slow and ancient tortoises.

But this music and these poems together, make the music more fun to listen to and the poems more fun to hear and say. What a great way to introduce children to the sounds of language along with the sounds of the orchestra.

Google books preview is here.

The Odious Ogre

The Odious Ogre
by Norton Juster
illustrated by Jules Pfeiffer
Scholastic, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

This is the story of an ogre so awful that the villagers cower in terror underneath tables when the ogre is afoot. This ogre is confident that he's "Absolutely invincible!"

Then he meets a sweet girl who, even though she recognizes his flaws, insists that he's not so terrible. "Overbearing perhaps, arrogant for sure, somewhat self-important, a little too mean and violent, I'm afraid, and a bit messy. Your shoes could certainly use a polishing, but I'll bet if you brushed your teeth combed your hair, found some new clothes, and totally changed your attitude you'd be quite nice."

You might be able to guess that the sweet girl overcomes the odious ogre. The way she does it is a good reminder that huge and unmanageable problems can be brought to their knees without anything more than continuing on the path one knows to be the right one. (Self, are you listening?)

This is a great book for your word study stack. The ogre has a fabulous vocabulary, due to swallowing a dictionary on one pillage or another.


The Odious Ogre by Norton Juster, Illustrated by Jules Feiffer from Expanded Books on Vimeo.

Rosa's Bus: The Ride to Civil Rights

Rosa's Bus: The Ride to Civil Rights
by Jo S. Kittinger
illustrated by Steven Walker
Boyd's Mills Press, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

Here's a new way of approaching the story of the Civil Rights Movement and that famous day when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama -- this is a biography of Bus #2857, the bus where that moment in history took place.

Bus #2857 was made in Michigan, and carried riders in Indiana for six years before moving to Alabama. It carried riders in Montgomery until 1971.  It now has been fully restored and lives in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Wouldn't it be fun to tell about other moments in history by researching an object that was instrumental in that moment?

Poetry Friday -- The Fairfield County Fair

The Fairfield County Fair is always the last county fair of the year in Ohio. That's where I'll be today on our day off.

FAIRFIELD COUNTY FAIR

It is a fall harvest fair,

not a heat and humidity of summer fair.

It's the round barn against the October sky (maybe blue, maybe rainy),

betting on the harness racing until we run out of money or races,

4-H exhibits

baked goods

quilts

photography

collections of who knows what or why

mullets and guts 

and snotty-nosed kids running wild clutching carnival prizes.

We buy maple syrup and homemade sorghum molasses 

to last the winter.

The smell of peanut shells on our hands

brings curious velvet horse noses out of stalls to snuffle.

We touch oily sheep backs 

wonder at the odd slit-eyes of goats

pick out the craziest chicken breed.

I always fall asleep in the car

on the way home.

THE COUNTY FAIR

by Ron Padgett

The Holstein looks at us with big eyes but with no expression
in them. What images are flashing in its brain? The white goat
walks over as if to ask a question, but it has no question to ask:
there is no question mark in the goat world. The rabbit's pink
eyes dilate when a hand draws near, but it does not move, and
like a horseshoe, it says nothing. The two holes in the top of the
goose's beak are in search of something to get huffy about: the
poor goose is angry and without real nostrils.

(the rest of the poem is at The Writer's Almanac)

Liz has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Liz in Ink.

Amulet: The Cloud Searchers

Amulet: The Cloud Searchers (Book 3)
by Kazu Kibuishi
Scholastic, 2010
Review copy is mine

Some series books can be read out of order. Others, like Amulet, have a cumulative story that builds from book to book. A few of the reviewers cited below have a problem with the fact that there is no "catch you up on the story" beginning to this third volume in the Amulet series. However, (and maybe a truer test) Author Amok's 8th grade son had no problem reading this book without the background of the first two. He was interested, stayed with it, totally got the plot, and gave the book his highest rating.

Another reviewer took the author to task with not having a balance of pure good to offset the evil in this book. One of the reasons I like this series so much is that good and evil are NOT pure. Emily struggles with the powers of the amulet. The elf prince turns out to be a much more complicated character in this book -- he is not pure evil.  The airship pilot who gives up everything to attempt to locate the lost city of Cielis has some unexplained history that may or may not be all good. Cogsley and Miskit (the robot and rabbit who have been protecting Emily since the beginning) are captured by a wyvern, and I certainly hope that Kubuishi will bring them back at some point. The new character we meet at the end of this volume seems to be on Emily's side, but he gets this look in his eye when he talks about power, and Emily doesn't trust him, even though Leon (the fox, her mentor) insists that she will come to trust him.

Bottom line -- I really like this series and I especially like Kibuishi's art. My fourth graders will be glad I finally got this review written so they can line up to read book three!

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Mixed reviews can be found at Comics Worth Reading, Book Dragon, ComicM!x, SLJ's Good Comics For Kids, and Author Amok's 8th Grade Son.

The Moral of the Story Is...

Here are two new books to add to your unit on Theme, or your tub of Fables.

Making the Moose Out of Life
by Nicholas Oldland
Kids Can Press, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

Moose never wants to do anything exciting with his friends. One day, he gets inspired (or maybe just hit in the head with a golf ball) and jumps aboard a sailboat and sets sail. He is stranded on a desert island where he makes the most of island life with his new sidekick, Tuesday the tortoise. Moose is eventually rescued, returns to his friends and suggests they go cliff jumping. The book ends with Moose and Tuesday making plans to meet for a holiday in Africa. Moral of the story? Make the moose out of life so it doesn't pass you by while you sit under an umbrella wearing 100 SPF sunblock.

Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents: The Way of the Ninja
by David Buins and Hilary Long
Kids Can Press, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

The trio that taught us to appreciate our friends instead of always trying to be the best in The Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear  are back with a new story about friendship. Ninja loves to play with his friends Cowboy and Bear, but Ninja always wants to play his games, and his games are always rough and rowdy and end badly for Cowboy and Bear. Moral of the story? To be a good friend, sometimes you have to compromise about what to play.

100 Things About Me as a Reader

Photo from Flickr by brianjmatis http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianjmatis/3431100962/

I am working with our 4th and 5th graders about really knowing themselves as readers.  This week, I gave them a basic reading interview to begin helping them think about what they knew about themselves as readers and then I asked them to turn it over to write 100 things about themselves as readers. I tried to do the same. Of course, none of us go to 100, although we might be the end of the year of we keep noticing and adding, but it was a great conversation starter.  Here is my list so far.

1.  I read almost every Nancy Drew book when I was in 6th grade. My grandmother had the collection in her attic.
2.  I loved the Betsy books when I was in elementary school.
3.  Realistic Fiction is my favorite genre.
4.  No one is allowed to talk to me or bother me during the last 10 pages of a book.  Endings are key for me.
5. I have to love the character in a book to enjoy the book.
6.  I occasionally enjoy science fiction and fantasy.
7.  I loved the Bookmobile when I was younger. It parked right down the street every 2 weeks.
8. Walk Two Moons is one of my favorite books of all time.
9. I have a shelf of books that I haven't yet read. I like to have back-ups in case of a snowstorm or some other reason that I'd have time to read.
10.  I often skip parts in books when scenery or nature is described.
11. I am not so good at listening to books on tape. I get distracted. I like to see the print.
12. I almost never like the movie better than the book.
13. I never read a book after I've seen the movie.
14. I get recommendations from friends.
15. I like to read books that are brand new--hot off the press.
16. I don't get excited about having authors autograph my books.
17.  I don't really like to share my favorite books. I want my friends to read them but I really like to keep favorites after I am finished with them.
18. I like to alternate between long and short books.
19. I like to read children's fiction on airplane trips.
20. I can't read in the car--I get carsick.
21.  I rely on blog reviews and other reviews to choose children's books.
22.  I have many favorite authors.
23.  I love to hear authors speak and share their work.
24.  I love YA books but never have time (or give myself time) to read them.
25. Many Graphic Novels are hard for me to read/understand.
26. My mother read me Secret Garden and A Little Princess when I was little. Still two of my favorite books.
27.  Most of my nonfiction reading is connected to my work/job.
28. I have very little patience for reading how-to/directions.
29. I love love love to hang out in any bookstore.
30. I buy too many books.
31. I love to visit new bookstores when I travel.
32. I am convinced that Cover to Cover is the best children's bookstore in the country.


This is a really fun thing to do --I know as I live my life over the next several weeks, I will notice more about myself as a reader. I will add them as I notice. Who knows if I will get to 100. It is just a fun way to begin to think about myself as a reader and to pay attention to things I didn't notice. I think the same is true for our kids . Starting a list like this becomes a great tool for noticing these things about ourselves. If you try this, let us know.  I realized quickly that when I hear other people's lists, they remind me about things I hadn't thought of myself.

The Eraserheads

The Eraserheads
by Kate Banks
illustrated by Boris Kulikov
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

"Once there were three eraserheads: an owl, a crocodile, and a pig. They lived with a boy in the land of pencils, paper, rulers, letters, numbers, and drawings. And they had an important job. They erased mistakes."

I am a huge fan of erasers because I am a huge fan of making mistakes...as long as they are found and fixed!

Are these three eraserheads alive and working independently of the little boy who is making a big imaginative drawing? Or do these eraserheads and the boy work together to find a way to end the story in the drawing with a happily ever after instead of with the eraserheads being eaten by a snake? Or...maybe, just maybe, are the eraserheads only alive in the boy's imagination?

You decide.

No matter what, always remember to say "Hooray for mistakes!" And remember, if there weren't mistakes, "there'd be nothing to learn. And what fun would that be?"

"Hooray for erasers!"

Books I Could Read A Million Times: The Movie Version

If you haven't heard, DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS, the Scholastic DVD, came out last week.  I ordered a copy knowing it would be good to have for the library.  I don't order many DVDs these days but this seemed like a must-have.

I planned to show this to a few classes during Book Fair week since the library is pretty much taken over by book fair merchandise. I ended up showing it to almost every 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade class and I loved it EVERY SINGLE TIME!

This is a great DVD--as would be expected from Mo Willems.  The DVD includes an animated version of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Knuffle Bunny, and Leonardo the Terrible Monster.  There are also some extra fun clips that I will get to later.  I don't ever remember liking a movie or animated version of a story as well as I liked the original book but Mo Willems brings great fun to this DVD.  The laughs and giggles from kids of all ages--kids who know and love the books-were contagious. Teachers would pop into the library to see what all of the great giggling was about.  The whole DVD is a real treat.

And I watched it many, many times this week and did not get sick of it at all--I looked forward to watching it even after I had already seen it 10 times.  (Thus, the reason it is being added to my Books I Could Read a Million Times list--the first item that is not a book!)

Here are some things I love:
-There are little added bonuses--surprises at the beginnings and ends of each story that add to what we already love about the characters.
-Mo Willems and his wife and daughter do the narration of Knuffle Bunny which makes it quite fun.
-Jon Scieszka plays the role of the bus driver and I couldn't think of a better person to do this--there is an added part to the book where we get to know the bus driver a bit better. Jon Scieszka is great at the part!
-There is a live retelling of the Pigeon book. Mo Willems reads it to a group of children in a library. It is quite fun.
-A favorite among some classes were the "You Yell" version of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.  Yes, the story is told and the group needs to yell the "no" each time the Pigeon asks to drive the bus. Kids had a ball with this.
-There is also a Spanish Version of the books on the DVD as well as discussion questions.

This DVD is packed and I was sad to see it end during each class. I don't think there was one set of kids who did not ask to see the stories again. I agreed--it is one of those DVDs that you can't watch enough.

I am going to make this one available for student check out. We don't have many DVDs that are available for our students but this one would be such fun for kids to be able to share with families. It was such a fun 1/2 hour that I can't not share the fun with our families. Our school is filled with Mo Willems fans that I might even need a few more copies..... An added bonus will be that Leonardo the Terrible Monster will be loved by more children now that they know the book better.

Really, if you are a teacher or librarian, if you need a baby gift or a gift for a Mo Willems fan you know, get this DVD. It is really the best animation of children's books that I've seen.  And I might just watch it a million times--I love it that much!