Favorite Series: Dragonbreath

Dragonbreath: Lair of the Bat Monster
by Ursula Vernon
Dial Books, 2011
review copy purchased for my classroom library

I love this series.

Maybe we should start with the three reasons I love this series:
1. The humor. (This reason encompasses characters, setting, plot, plot twists, a magic bus that isn't driven by Ms. Frizzle, and recurring themes -- "Can it skeletonize a cow in under two weeks?" They are all FUNNY!!)
2. The way every book is better than the one before it.
3. The design of the book. (This reason encompasses size, shape, illustrations, colors, and its hybrid graphic novel-ness.)

So. That pretty much covers it. I love everything about this series.

In this installment, Vernon blends graphic novel, fantasy novel, humor, and NONFICTION ABOUT ENDANGERED RAIN FORESTS AND RAIN FOREST ANIMALS AND MAYAN MYTHOLOGY all in one book. Brilliant, no?

Danny Dragonbreath and his sidekick Wendell rescue a bat from the swimming pool. They ride the magic bus to the rainforests of Mexico, where Danny's cousin Steve is trying to discover a new species of bat in order to save bat habitat in the rainforest. Steve teaches them about the bat they saved, and then invites them to see the bat cave he's discovered. They see the bat cave, with bats pouring out of it at dusk, but something odd happens -- all the bats fly back into the cave.

"Something burst out of the trees.

...it was huge. It wasn't an animal sort of huge, it was the huge he associated with cranes and bulldozers and building equipment.  The elephants at the zoo were big, but this was the size of a house, and it wasn't moving like anything he'd ever seen.

Then it stepped forward, and he thought of a gorilla the size of a building, like King Kong, because that was how it moved, big shoulders and arms crashing down, and smaller hindquarters swinging forward.

Except that it wasn't a gorilla.

'Holy crud,' breathed Danny. 'it's a bat.' "

Turns out, it's Camazotz (Mrs. Camazotz, to be exact) of Mayan Mythology fame. And she grabs Danny to keep as her pet. And Steve and Wendell have to save Danny. And Wendell is a self-proclaimed scaredy cat. ("They had a system. Danny was fearless and Wendell was terrified, and it worked out between them.")

And now I'm going to stop writing so you can go get the book and read it for yourself.

THE PULL OF GRAVITY

We don't often review Young Adult novels on our blog but I have been trying to read more adult novels this year.  After attending ALAN this fall, I was happy to see so many YA novels appropriate for some 5th graders.  And it is fun to read books that my 11 year old daughter is also interested in, now that she is starting to read YA. I don't have time to read lots of YA so I make sure that the only YA I read are the great ones.

Today, THE PULL OF GRAVITY by Gae Polisner will be on shelves in bookstores and libraries. What a great book it is. Even if you don't read too many YA books, I would definitely recommend reading this one.  As with almost every book that I love, I LOVED the characters in this book.  I am sure that Nick Gardner and Jaycee Amato will stay with me for a long time.

This starts out as the story of Nick.  He is going through a hard time.  His next door neighbor and good friend, Scoot, is dying of a rare disease that has made him age prematurely.   But this reality is hard for Nick to believe.  Nick's father, who has become depressed and overweight over the past several years, has decided to walk to NYC, leaving the family behind. Nick can't believe that his father won't be coming back and ignores all of his calls and emails. All that is going on around him seems to be too much to deal with.  Then he meets Jaycee, a friend of Scoot's who has an idea. An idea that is totally out of character for Nick, but one that he agrees to. The adventure turns out to be more difficult than expected (as most journeys are) and doesn't go quite as planned, but it seems worth the difficulties in the end.

I loved so much about this book. First of all, it isn't an overly long book-it is about 200 pages. I am getting a little tired of really long books that just seem to be long for no reason. This book tells a great story and shares a powerful message in 200 pages. Don't get me wrong--I would have loved another 800 pages about these characters.  I loved the characters. They were very believable and very timely. Both characters have very real home issues they are dealing with, just as so many of our kids are. And I loved that the book didn't have all the answers. But mostly, I love these characters. I love who they are individually and who they are together.  My very favorite stories seem to be about people coming together to become more themselves and THE PULL OF GRAVITY is one of those stories.

There are references to Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck throughout the book.  I have not read the book in a very long time but the author does a great job of filling in the missing connections for readers who are not familiar with the book.  The way this piece of literature weaves through this story is pretty brilliant.

I love the premise of this book, the story, the characters and the writing.  So excited to have finally gotten a copy of this book as I'd been hearing about it for months. Now that I've read it, I so understand what all the buzz was about.  This book is sure to be a hit with middle school and high school kids.  Whether you read much YA or not, I'd recommend reading this one.

And I am already looking forward to Gae Polisner's next book.

A Great New Alphabet Book-ABC KIDS

I have been weeding books in the library this week and have found lots of great ABC books that I had forgotten about.  Such an added bonus of weeding--looking at every book and remembering the books in the collection that you've forgotten about.  Although we have lots of great alphabet books, some are outdated and I find that there can never be too many great alphabet books.  Not only are they great for beginning readers who are learning the alphabet, but they are great to use as mentor texts, to go along with word study, etc.

I found ABC KIDS by Simon Basher today and I love it. I was drawn to the cover immediately. The colorful happy illustrations will definitely be a hit!  I so wish I had had this book for our POETRY PICNIC for the word play area.  I can see lots of great conversations around letters, words, great verbs and nouns, etc. happening after reading this book.

Each two-page spread in the book focuses on one letter of the alphabet.  One page has a large upper case and lower case letter, some illustrations, and a sentence that uses lots of words starting with the featured letter.  The opposite page has a word and illustration related to the sentence.  The sentence on each page begins with a child's name which makes it a fun book to use early in the year with a name chart. One of my favorite pages is H. The sentence is "Henry's horrible hairy hat has huge holes." Kids will crack up at many of the sentences and accompanying illustrations.

The illustrations are perfect for young children. The pages are done in bright and pastel colors with varying backgrounds.  Lots of happy and unique illustrations are part of each page.

This is really a perfect alphabet book because there are so many ways in.

Poetry Friday -- Experience

875 

by Emily Dickinson

I stepped from Plank to Plank
A slow and cautious way
The Stars about my Head I felt
About my Feet the Sea.

I knew not but the next
Would be my final inch—
This gave me that precarious Gait
Some call Experience.

The Poetry Friday round up is at Family Bookshelf (formerly Scrub-a-Dub-Tub). Go check out Terry's new digs and all the poetry for this week!

This Plus That: New Book From Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Amy Krouse Rosenthal's visit to our school last month was definitely a highlight of the school year.  She was amazing and her books are always checked out of the library. When she visited, we got a sneak peek at her newest book that came out last week. It is now one of my very favorites.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal loves words and she loves to have fun with words. That is what this new book, THIS PLUS THAT: LIFE'S LITTLE EQUATIONS is all about. In this book, Rosenthal plays with word equations. She builds this idea for the reader, beginning with simple equations such as "Yes + No = Maybe"  As the book continues, the equations become a little more tricky and a lot more fun.   I love the way Amy Krouse Rosenthal thinks.  One of my favorite equations in the book is "somersaults+somersaults+somersaults=dizzy". How fun is that?  I love the way that it invites readers to play with and think differently about words.

 Illustrated by Jen Corace, who also illustrated the Little Books by Rosenthal (LITTLE OINK, LITTLE HOOT, and LITTLE PEA), the book has a happy feel!  The colorful pictures help readers solve the equations and get into the spirit of the book.  The white background and colorful illustrations are a perfect match to the text.

I love this book for lots of reasons. I love the relationships Amy finds between words and I love the relationships she finds between the word equations. I like the whole idea that she played with word equations. I think this is another great invitation from Amy Krouse Rosenthal. She is all about invitations and this book will invite readers to give word equations a try.  Such a great book for word play and so many other things.

Favorite Series: Aldo Zelnick Comic Novels

Cahoots
by Karla Oceanak
illustrated by Kendra Spanjer
Bailiwick Press, May 1, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher


This is the funniest book in the series so far!

Aldo's mother is fed up with the amount of time that Aldo and his older brother Timothy spend inside, on the couch, with their digital gizmos (Game Boy, cell phone, iPod, TV...). She bans electronics before she goes to the grocery store, but by the time she gets back, both boys (and even their dad) are back on the couch in front of the TV. Aldo has grabbed the laptop and is playing Farm Town. Little does he know that all of his misconceptions about farm life are soon to be cleared up.

"I'm level 18 now, so I'm a Master Farer. I have a farmhouse, a giant garden, chickens and a rooster, cows, and lots more farmish stuff. My goal is level 59--Zenith Farmer. That's when you can get a swimming pool because really, what's a farm without a swimming pool? 

One farm lesson I've learned the hard way is to ALWAYS hire other people to harvest your crops. It's way too much work to do it yourself! All that clicking makes your arm sore."

Mom declares that they will be going for a week of vacation to the family farm where she grew up, where her brother, Aldo's Uncle Odin and his wife and twin boys live -- a week of ELECTRONICS FREE vacation.

There are a few good moments -- epic farm breakfasts with lots of BACON -- and lots of bad ones, almost always having something to do with the chores. There is a ghost (maybe) and there is the constant pranking by the twins.

If I had been paying closer attention to the title of the book -- CAHOOTS, hint hint -- I wouldn't have been as surprised as Aldo by the ending. But then again, it was fun to be as surprised as Aldo by the ending!


Why I love this series:
1. Each book features fun words, starred with an asterisk, and amusingly defined in the back of the book. In ARTSY FARTSY, the first book, they were A words, BOGUS had B words, and now CAHOOTS has C words. The definitions are fun enough that if you peek just once, you'll know they are worth your time, either while reading or at the end of the book.
2. Aldo is such a lovable antihero -- very easy to relate to!
3. There are 23 more books in the series to look forward to! One of my students from last year has come back to borrow BOGUS and CAHOOTS, and students from this year's class who have fallen in love with Aldo are planning to come back to my room next year to borrow DUMBSTRUCK and EGGHEAD! Keep them coming, Karla and Kendra!!!

Big Red Lollipop

Big Red Lollipop
by Rukhsana Kahn
illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Viking, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

Rubina has received her first invitation to a birthday party, but Ami won't let her go unless she takes her little sister, Sana, who's screaming and crying to come along. Nothing will make Ami budge, so Sana goes along. Not only does Sana spoil the party for Rubina, all the other girls know that if they invite Rubina, then Sana will have to come, too. Each child gets a goodie bag with a big red lollipop. Sana gobbles hers down before bedtime, and eats most all of Rubina's in the morning before she gets up, adding insult to injury.

When Sana gets her first birthday party invitation, their youngest sister Maryam screams to go along, and Ami is set to make Sana take her to the party since she was taken to Rubina's party.

Rubina remembers how hard it was to have Sana at the party with her, and how long it was before she got another birthday party invitation, and she convinces Ami to let Sana go alone. Sana brings Rubina a special treat from the party.

This is a perfect book for talking about sibling rivalry, birthday traditions, theme, and character development.

A Great Pink Book: THE QUEEN OF FRANCE by Tim Wadham

Pink books are quite popular in the library.  Sad, but true. Often, kids will check out picture books merely because they are pink and/or sparkly.   So, I pay attention to pink books these days. Because if kids are going to check out pink books, I want them to be the best pink books out there. I want them to be more than an engaging cover.  

I believe FANCY NANCY started this trend and no wonder.  FANCY NANCY is a great book and fans of the book are always looking for something like it that they can fall in love with.  I want kids to take them home and discover a great story just as they are hoping to.

So, I was thrilled to read THE QUEEN OF FRANCE by Tim Wadham.  It is pink and fancy--a crown and a little girl dressed up as royalty on the front. And the endpapers are pink:-)

This is the story of Rose who woke up one day feeling "royal". Rose has quite a few boxes of dress up clothes and accessories in her room and she uses them well.  She becomes the Queen of France.  She then goes off (as the Queen of France) looking for Rose. She asks Rose's mother and she asks Rose's father (the Royal Physician). But, she still can't find Rose.

The Queen of France then takes off all of the dress up clothes and becomes Rose again.  And, Rose goes off, looking for....The Queen of France.  Of course, she can't find her.  This is an adorable story about a clever little girl and a playful mother and father who have as much fun as Rose seems to.

The illustrations are perfect. They have a bit of a royal feel and a bit of a little girl feel--all mixed up. And there is plenty of pink on every page.

This is a great pink book--an enticing cover with great story and a great character inside.

April Mosaic and 3 Fun iPhone Camera Apps

This month, in a seemingly innocent move, Franki rejuvenated my informal Project 365 "Photo-a-Day" (or at least one for every day of the month, if not exactly one every day) Project.  She sent me a link to something like "The Top 30 Camera Apps for iPhone and iPod Touch." (Of course, I no longer have the exact link...)

I picked out three apps: Pano (for making panoramas), AutoStitch (for creating wide-angle and panoramic shots) and camera+ (for playing around with all kinds of fun effects).

The last picture in my mosaic is my best attempt at an AutoStitch. It is the Atlas Building in downtown Columbus. If you look closely at the bottom just left of center, you can see I didn't get quite enough picture for the program to fill in the stitch. Oh well, I can't wait to try it again on a big scene I want to try to capture whole.

Most of the panoramas don't look like much in the little squares of the mosaic. Head on over to Flickr if you want to see how they turned out. My favorite is the Deaf School Ravine.

The app I'm having the most fun with is camera+. You take your photos through the camera+ app, and then you can play with color, focus, borders, effects...PLAY. It's so much fun!! You can even bring photos from your other camera rolls into the app and play with them. SO MUCH FUN!

Thanks, Franki! 

Poem #30 -- With Apologies to Mr. WCW

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Kevin H.

This is Just to Say

I have written

the poems

that appeared in 

my life

and which

I've gathered like

plums in a bowl

forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

so unexpectedly sweet.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

Well. There you have it. Thirty poems in thirty days. 

Thank you, blog readers, for indulging me in this project. For being patient with this shift in our usual blog focus. We'll return to our usual programming next week.

I am relieved to be finished -- I'll gladly let go of the pressure of producing a poem fit for public consumption every single day. And yet...and yet...

Franki said something to me mid-month that has really stuck with me: "Now that you're living like a poet..." That's really what happened this year. Every day I was on the lookout for the words or image or idea that would become that day's poem. It felt very similar to the way I carry my camera with me at all times, looking for the shots that will become my monthly mosaic. It rejuvenated my writer's notebook.

I was going to say that I think this year's poems are better than last year's, but reading back, I think they're just different, not better or worse. Last year I seemed to focus more on forms, finding the words to fit. This year I followed a trail of words, and created or used the form that seemed to fit. I have begun to live like a poet.

Happy National Poetry Month 2011!