The Good News in the Kidlitosphere: The June Carnival of Children's Literature

It's Saturday, but for this month's carnival, we invite you to the relaxed feel of browsing the Sunday newspaper with a big cup of coffee. Enjoy!







Chris Barton shares his good news in Whoopee ti yi yo, get along little pseudonym posted at Bartography. Yipee!










Alyssa F. has some good news for all of you Carnival-goers at Contest, Contest, Contest! posted at The Shady Glade.









Becky Laney reviews Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller posted at Becky's Book Reviews.

Susan T. reminds us of an old favorite collection of folktales from around the world with Chicken Spaghetti: "Silly & Sillier," by Judy Sierra posted at Chicken Spaghetti.

Sonja Cole takes us to the beaches of Maui for a video blog of Mermaid Booktalks posted at Bookwink.

Sheila Ruth picked up a huge stack of promising new books at BEA. Check it out at Wands and Worlds: BEA: Books and other cool stuff posted at Wands and Worlds.

Royce Wells reviews Summerland posted at A Stack Of Books. Great timing!

:: Suzanne :: shares two family favorites -- Runaway Bunny and Handy-Dandy Helpful Hal: A Book about Helpfulness posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.

Niki Anders has found a new repeat read aloud: The-A-TEAM » A Seed Is Sleepy posted at The-A-TEAM.

Sandy D. read an adult book and a children's book that were both about the 1893 Worlds Fair in Chicago. Check it out to see which she liked best at Fair Weather and The Devil in the White City: Book Review posted at the imponderabilia of actual life.

Maureen O'Brien declares, "Another new book by Roland Smith is a winner!" Read Trinity Prep School - Peak Experience of the Week posted at Trinity Prep School to find out more.



Author Cynthia Leitich Smith presents Author Interview: April Lurie on Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds posted at cynsations.

Author Liz Garton Scanlon throws down the gauntlet in Liz In Ink - C'mon and Tri posted at Liz In Ink.

Writer Kelly Fineman shares writing tips in kellyrfineman: Useful bits and photos, mmm mmm good posted at Writing and Ruminating.

Writer Emily shares picture book writing secrets in ...whimsy... - Part One: The Conference... posted at Whimsy Books.

polliwog interviews author Meg Cabot in Guest Frogger - Meg Cabot posted at Polliwog's Pond.

Jen Robinson interviews a book character in Sameera Righton (Sparrow) Interview posted at Jen Robinson's Book Page, saying, "This interview of Sameera Righton is good news because it was published on the release date of First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover, by Mitali Perkins."

DeputyHeadmistress remembers a favorite author in The Common Room: Lloyd Alexander, RIP posted at The Common Room.

Storytellers count as authors, don't they? Alkelda the Gleeful shares with us the story Little Monkey Face posted at Saints and Spinners.

The title says it all. NYCTEACHER presents I've come to believe you cannot ask your students to do what you don't do. posted at Mentor Texts and More.



Anne-Marie presents Summer school and a trip to the zoo with Sylvan Dell and Top 10 recommended summer reading lists posted at A Readable Feast.

Sherry Early presents Summer Reading List: Middle School Daughter at Semicolon posted at Semicolon.





Have you read THE TRUE STORY OF STELLINA to your NYC child yet? Get busy, says Mother Reader in MotherReader: Poetry Friday: Stellina posted at MotherReader.

Terrell shares some end-of-school-year thoughts in PTSW: Crystal Stair posted at Alone on a Limb.

:: Suzanne :: spotlights the poet Elsa Beskow in Around the Year - Elsa Beskow posted at :: adventures in daily living :: .




Allen Holman reminds us of the classic game Judge and Jury posted at Classic Kid's Games and Party Games.

Laurie Bluedorn introduces us to a dollmaker and illustrator at Trivium Pursuit » Blog Archive » Podcast #3 Interview with Eloise Wilkin’s Daughter, Part Two posted at Laurie Bluedorn.



Kelly shares some excellent news for girls who want more out of life than to be the best French braid maker in Excellent News (Finally) and a Feminist Rant posted at Big A little a.

Roderick Russell gives us a real conversation starter with Children's Book Preaches Cryonics posted at NOUMENON :: Art, Ideas, Culture & Capricious Opinion.

Rory Sullivan shares a conversation started by a book in Impromptu Sex Education - Is It Always When You Least Expect It? posted at hamelife.

Jeanne presents Kids Lit Itinerary posted at soultravelers3.com , saying, "Using books while you travel is a fantastic and fun way to home school on the move and helps enrich the experience for a child. We are on a multi year trip around the world but this same idea can be used for field trips at home or on any vacation or trip." You read that right -- a multi year trip around the world! You gotta check this one out!

The ultimate field trip for a book lover is probably the Book Expo. Liz reports on her BEA experience with BEA at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy.

Summer presents Thursday thirteen great books on conservation and the environment posted at Mom Is Teaching.

Veronica reports on a conversation prompted by AND TANGO MAKES THREE in What makes a family? posted at The Red Thread.

DHM debates the need to dilute children's intellectual food in Sesquipedalians and Children posted at The Common Room.

Phil shows how real life can be framed as a well-known fable in The Turtle and the Rabbit « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity.

That's the good news for June in the Kidlitosphere!

Poetry Friday -- Barter

On the longest day of the year, what better than to use up every last minute of light on one of the few streams in Ohio with water cold enough to support trout?

No, I didn't catch any fish, but that's not always the point when fly fishing. We shared the river with a great blue heron. The woods were filled with evening birdsong. The drive out of the state forest twinkled with firefly lights.

Barter
by Sarah Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell.
All beautiful and splendid things...
.
.
.
Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.

The rest is here.

Roundup at a wrung sponge this week.

While We're Waiting For Your Carnival Submission...

(Six more hours before you miss the deadline. And even then, we'll work you in! Submit your Carnival of Children's Literature entry here.)

The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: You Wish
By Jason Lethcoe

I wanted to like this book. It has footnotes, for heaven's sake! And a time line in an appendix! And maps on the end papers!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get past Benjamin's wishes for Playstations and flat-screen tvs for himself and all the other kids at the orphanage. The author threw in a "massive outdoor power generator" to add a tiny bit of plausibility. Then one of the boys was "so overcome with emotion that he just sat with the unopened Playstation box on his lap, wiping tears from his eyes with his tiny, grubby fist." Gag. I nearly wept, too. We went from wishes vs. curses and good vs. evil directly into consumerism at its very ugliest.

I agree with all of this, but the excelsior file said it better, so I'm going to be lazy and let you read his review.

After you're done reading the review, get busy and submit your Carnival entry.

2 New Writing Books by Ralph Fletcher

Ralph Fletcher has written two new books for writers. One is HOW TO WRITE YOUR LIFE STORY. This is part of the series that he has written that includes POETRY MATTERS, A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK and HOW WRITERS WORK. All of these books are written to help young writers grow as writers and in each Ralph Fletcher shares his own process. In this new book, Ralph Fletcher focuses on writing memories and memoir. He does it in a way that makes sense for kids, helping them think through things like ideas, focus and craft. He also deals a bit with writing difficult scenes or topics. As with his other books, he's included interviews with other children's authors who have written their life stories. (He has chosen authors who have written memoirs of their childhoods.) Author interviews included in this book are Jack Gantos, Jerry Spinelli, and Kathi Appelt.

The other new book about his writing process is REFLECTIONS: AUTHOR AT WORK. This one is a short text--64 pages--with lots of great photos. In this book, he shares his writing process and little things about his life as a writer. The photos allow readers to see how his writing happens. He has specific examples from many of his books that readers will know.

Between the two of these new books, I can see possibilities for lots of great minilessons in Writing Workshop next year. I can also see these two books as books that kids will pick up to read cover to cover.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little

So, I have been having problems finding a character that I love ever since I read CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker. How could anyone compare to Clementine? Well, I finally discovered the character who could be Clementine's new best friend. Moxy Maxwell is an amazing character. I picked up the book MOXY MAXWELL DOES NOT LOVE STUART LITTLE by Peggy Gifford because I loved the premise--a 4th grader who had procrastinated her assigned summer reading until the very last day of summer. The back cover reads:

"Now, Moxy loved to read books. She loved books so much that sometimes she would stay up all night and read. It's just that Maxy liked to read what she wanted to read and not what someone told her to read."

I expected to like the plot but I didn't really expect to love the main character so much that I am looking for the author's email address so that I can beg her to write more about Moxy.

Lots to love about this book--it is a great, short chapter book. Like I said, who can argue with the premise. The chapter titles are fun and the photos throughout are laugh-out-loud funny. But, the very best part of the book is Moxy. I should have known I would love her from the front cover photo--but I didn't spend enough time looking at it since I fell so quickly in love with the blurb on the back.

To help you know Moxy a bit better, here is the except where I decided that I needed more books about Moxy:

"Now, Moxy's mother was not wrong when she pointed out how rare cases of 'in-between' were for her older daughter. To the best of her knowledge, she had never witnessed Moxy in between anything: while Moxy was eating lunch, for example, she was already asking what was for dinner. The day she got her puppy, Mudd, she wanted to know if she could get another to keep him company. Before she could finish one sentence, she had often started another."

This is a quick read--less than an hour. It is one of my new favorites. A great read aloud for the middle grades. (Lots of the humor is meant for older readers--that is one of the things I love about it. Some of the funniest moments could be lost with younger readers.) I may have to read it aloud, although the photos are so fun, kids would have to be able to experience those, too.

Peggy Gifford, it seems from the back flap, originally planned to be a famous actress. After reading this book, I am pretty selfishly happy that her plan did not work out. Her new plan is to become a famous writer instead. I am in total support of this PLAN B. She is really, really good at this writing thing.

If anyone finds Peggy Gifford's address, we need to send letters in bulk, begging for more books about Moxy Maxwell.

Taran Wanderer

Book Four of the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander

This has forever and always been my favorite book of the series. It is bristling with stickie notes marking passages that speak to me. There are many pages with a corner turned down, indicating passages that have spoken to me.

In TARAN WANDERER, Taran leaves home in search of his true identity and in search of his parents. He is still a little obsessed with being born of noble blood so that he will be worthy of Eilowny, but by now, the reader (and Gurgi), at least, know that his nobility has nothing to do with his parents. He is engaged in the universal process of a person striving to become his own (noble) self.

Reading this book was a real surprise. I kept waiting and waiting for the part when Taran learns from the craftsmen of the Free Commots. In my memory, that was the whole book, but in reality it is only the final third! Before Taran gets to the Commots, he meets a king who rules with an iron fist who needs to learn compassion and mediation, and another who believes himself to be generous, but who is actually very stingy. "Indeed, is a man truly what he sees himself to be?" Taran wonders.

In two moments of foreshadowing, Taran learns that the people of the Free Commots are not beholden to any Cantrev Lord, rather they rule themselves. "Indeed, true allegiance is only given willingly," Taran muses. (Perhaps not the USA in actuality, but certainly the ideals of our country.) And Taran has an opportunity to mediate a conflict between the iron-fisted ruler and the not-so-generous ruler, showing a glimmer of leadership skills that will be a part of his destiny later on.

Here's more on the Free Commots: "...no man lords it over his fellows because he had the luck to be born in a king's castle instead of a farmer's hut. What matters in the Free Commots is the skill in a man's hands, not the blood in his veins."

And here's what Taran learns in the Free Commots:

"Life's a matter of luck. Trust it, and a man's bound to find what he seeks, one day or the next...Trust your luck, Taran Wanderer. But don't forget to put our your nets!" (Which I've also heard as "Trust Allah, but tie your camels!")

"Life's a forge! ...Yes, and hammer and anvil, too! You'll be roasted, smelted, and pounded, and you'll scarce know what's happening to you. But stand boldly to it! Metal's worthless till it's shaped and tempered!"

Life is "...a loom, rather, where lives and days intertwine; and wise is he who can learn to see the pattern."

"Craftsmanship isn't like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it's empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains. The heart renews itself, Wanderer, and skill grows all the better for it."

"Stale water is a poor drink. Stale skill is worse. And the man who walks in his own footsteps only ends where he began."

The quest for one's true self never ends. Because of that, this book remains timeless in its messages to those who seek to be more than they are at the moment.

Did We Mention...

You are invited to join the

June Carnival of Children's Literature

Theme: The Good News From The Kidlitosphere

Submission Deadline: June 19
Submit via the Carnival Site, or our blog email (see sidebar), or even in the comments!

The Carnival will be up on June 23

Poetry Friday -- A Fable

The Calf-Path

by Sam Walter Foss. Public Domain.

One day through the primeval wood
A calf walked home as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.
Since then three hundred years have fled,
And I infer the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.
The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bell–wether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell–wethers always do.
And from that day, o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made.
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because 'twas such a crooked path;
But still they followed – do not laugh -
The first migrations of that calf,
And though this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.
This forest path became a lane
That bent and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.
The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;
And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare.
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.
Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed this zigzag calf about
And o'er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They followed still his crooked way.
And lost one hundred years a day,
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.
A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.
They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move;
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf.
Ah, many things this tale might teach —
But I am not ordained to preach.

Poetry Friday is Famous!

Susan at Chicken Spaghetti has an excellent article about Poetry Friday on the PoetryFoundation.org website! Check it out!

(Thanks to Gregory K. for the link.)

The Castle of Llyr

Book Three of the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander

In THE BLACK CAULDRON, Taran had to learn to deal with the nasty, mean-spirited Ellidyr. In THE CASTLE OF Llyr he has to learn to deal with a nobleman who is a doofus. A nobleman who is a doofus who is also to be betrothed to Eilowny, Taran's beloved. So no matter how strong and brave and honorable Taran is, he believes all of those qualities to be trumped by an idiot who happens to be high-born. He must learn that "For a man to be worthy of any rank, he must first strive to be a man."

This book doesn't speak to me the way the others do, however, I know it is necessary in the scope of the series. Fflewddur gets his giant cat, Llyan. Eilowny is almost lost to Taran, but at the very end of the book, the reader is sure they will be reunited. And Taran seems to be done looking to others to discover who he really is and what he will really be. He is ready to look within.

A Summer Book Party!

My brilliant friend Maureen called a few weeks ago with a great idea--"Let's get the girls together a few times this summer to read. We'll throw a bunch of books out and just let them have fun reading together."

I loved the idea so together we planned 6 Summer Book Parties for a few girls from the same first grade class this year. The invitation was simple--come for an hour and bring some good picture books--quick books you can read lots of in an hour. The girls were very excited and the party was a hit!

We put our favorite books everywhere (See, that money I spend on books is well worth it-we filled up the whole room with books!). The girls came in read alone, together, in the house, on the swing set...Then we made sundaes to celebrate. This first party, we had 3 girls. There are 6-7 total so we may have more at future parties. We'll have 3 at our house and 3 at Maureen's house. It is quite a fun thing and a fun way to keep the girls reading all summer.

One of the side benefits was that Ana remembered lots of her old favorites because we had them displayed all day in the house. She also found some that she could read that she hadn't been able to read before. It was a great way to refresh her reading and to remind her of the books she has. What better way to spend summer --with friends, books and ice cream!

Summer Goals Meme

It took me a while to think about my goals for summer-I am just settling in....
With the end of the school year, the book deadline, and life in general, most of my goals are about getting caught back up so I can start the school year semi-organized. Here goes:

1. I'd like to get back to exercising 5-6 days a week. Maybe start running.
2. Read lots--kid stuff but I have a pile of good adult books including WATER FOR ELEPHANTS and A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS.
3. See family and friends often.
4. Get organized for the fall--I started a new job and school this year and never felt totally organized.
5. Learn how to make and decorate a few really good kinds of cupcakes. (I have no patience for cake decorating but I have seen lots of cupcake books that look fun, fancy and more fun than whole cakes.)
6. Like Mary Lee, do a better job with my writer's notebook.
7. Clean every drawer, cupboard, and closet in the house.
8. Nap often.
9. Keep up with Weight Watchers.

Okay, that's enough. Too overwhelming to think about for the 2nd day of summer!
We are not going to tag anyone but invite teachers who have started summer vacation to join in the fun:-)

Fuse #8 Open For Business at SLJ

Check it out here.

Second Book Finished

If THE BOOK OF THREE is about Taran's impetuous immaturity and the continuous mistakes he makes, THE BLACK CAULDRON is about how Taran begins to learn to deal with others. His biggest challenge is Ellidyr, a nasty, spiteful, mean-spirited person who acts as a mirror, forcing Taran to look at and overcome his own worst tendencies.

In the end, Ellidyr turns it around and makes the ultimate sacrifice by jumping into the cauldron to destroy it. "He has lost all else, even his steed."

"Or perhaps gained all," Gwydion answered. " And his honor shall be certain." Gwydion goes on to say that a barrow will be raised for Ellidyr, and also for Morgant, who switched sides at the end and who would have used the cauldron for ultimate power. Taran is incredulous that Gwydion would honor Morgant.

"It is easy to judge evil unmixed," replied Gwydion. "But, alas, in most of us good and bad are closely woven as the threads on a loom; greater wisdom than mine is needed for the judging...I honor Morgant for what he used to be, and Ellidyr for what he became."

Worth remembering.

I had hoped for all five books of the Prydain Chronicles in the 48 Hour Reading Challenge Weekend, but two will have to do. The other three will go with me to Colorado.

Marley: A Dog Like No Other

As Mary Lee mentioned, we are participating in Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge but not really the challenge part. We are kind of "auditing" but participating:-) We are trying to get in lots of reading and blogging but can't drop everything else. My youngest daughter has been visiting with my parents for the last few days. Today I had to drive to pick her up. So, I decided to pick up an audiotape. I chose MARLEY: A DOG LIKE NO OTHER by John Grogan--the middle grade version of MARLEY AND ME. It is performed by Neil Patrick Harris. I am not always a fan of dog books but I love this one for middle grade kids. I love that the book goes through the dog's whole life--from puppy 'til death. It is a great story and you come to love the dog and the family. I am putting it on my List of Possible Read Alouds for next school year. There are some places that seem a bit more adult than others but my 7 year old was listening to the last 1/2 with me on the way home and laughed and cried along with me. So, it works for both adults and kids. Regardless of whether or not I read it aloud, I will definitely pick up a copy of the book for the classroom and have the audio available too. I can think of lots of kids who would love the story. I also think that each chapter can almost stand alone and can see using it in Writing Workshop to really look at good writing--good samples of short pieces from real life. So, my first book was an audiobook but I think I used my time well. If it weren't for the 48 hour read,I wouldn't have picked up an audiobook. Made the trip far more fun! I am anxious to pick up the picture book, BAD DOG, MARLEY for my 7 year old since she seemed to love the audiobook of this version. I do love these books that the whole family can enjoy together. I also spent some time on the author's website . And you will be happy to know that he also has a blog .

First Book Finished

I'm not going to be able to read for 48 continuous hours, but over the course of the Challenge weekend, I hope to read all five of the books in the Prydain Chronicles by (and in memory of) Lloyd Alexander.

I wasn't 20 pages into THE BOOK OF THREE before I had to go get my stickie notes. I had forgotten how much wisdom Alexander packs into these books:

"In some cases, we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself." p.18

"Well, that is one of the three foundations of learning: see much, study much, suffer much." p.19

"The task counts more than the one who does it." p.31

"I have never known courage to be judged by the length of a man's hair. Or, for the matter of that, whether he has any hair at all." p. 36

"Every living thing deserves our respect, be it humble or proud, ugly or beautiful." p. 142

"Neither refuse to give help when it is needed, nor refuse to accept it when it is offered." p. 143


"Once you have the courage to look upon evil, seeing it for what it is and naming it by its true name, it is powerless against you, and you can destroy it." p. 211-212

"As for me, what I mostly did was make mistakes." Dallben's reply to this, in part, reads, "If you made mistakes, you recognize them. As I told you, there a times when the seeking counts more than the finding.

Does it truly matter which of you did what, since all shared the same goal and the same danger? Nothing we do is ever done entirely alone. There is a part of us in everyone else -- you, of all people, should know that." p. 217-218

Summer Goals Meme

We've been tagged by NYC Teacher to list our summer goals. (btw--check out the new look on her blog! Way cool! I have banner envy!)

Here are some of my summer goals:

• Read. Lots. Piles. Especially all the professional journals that haven't been touched for months.
• Transfer the yard waste from the old composting bin in the corner of the garden to the new one that will not allow chipmunks to nest there. (did that today)
• Plant the herbs I bought today. (That's on tap for tomorrow.)
  
• Walk to the farm market every Saturday.
• Dust off my bike and go biking again.
• Swim in a one mile open water swim. (Somewhat unlikely, due to falling off the swimming bandwagon in May, but that's what goals are for, right?)
  
• Catch up on letter writing.
• Make bread baking a habit again.
• Blog.
• Scan all of my classroom books into LibraryThing with my new CueCat scanner.
• Read. (Did I already mention that one?)
• Try new recipes.
• Start writing in my writer's notebook again.
  

Newspaper Clipping Roundup

The headline at The Daily Sponge reads: School's OUT!

Eric Luper's headline is Muscle Car Goes Missing.

Ask Amy's headline reads One Book Talk Done, 19 To Go. If I'm reading the article correctly, we're invited to help her with the remaining 19!

NYC Teacher explores the classroom posibilities for the Newspaper Clipping Generator in her article titled Discovery!

::Suzanne:: has found the cure for wiggling children! Find out more in Wiggle-less Children.

Go to The Newspaper Clipping Generator and make yours. Send me a link and I'll round you up here!

How Did This Happen?

Back in April, when Mother Reader announced her 48 Hour Book Challenge, the weekend beginning June 8 was as smooth and clean as a new marble countertop.

School would be out, and, ahhhhhhh, we'd be FREE! The livin' would be easy!

Now reality has hit. That smooth, clean, new marble countertop of life is crowded and cluttered with everything that was delayed and deferred during the last few weeks of (I had a bunch of meaningless adjectives in here, but I'll leave them out and just go for the basics) end of school... stuff.

So...we'll be with y'all in spirit, but not in strict adherence to the rules of The Challenge. We will read in every spare minute between Friday morning and Monday morning (including, for me, blogs -- I've missed you!) and we'll try to put up a record number of reviews in three days. Hopefully, much of what happens this weekend will highlight...

...The Good News From The Kidlitosphere!

Reading Labels

Stuff

So, I haven't had much time to blog.... It has been a crazy two weeks. I have been working on a book for Scholastic Professional and it finally went in the mail today. Won't be out until February but the final copy went to the editor today. So, I feel like I have time to breathe again. That deadline stuff is no fun.

No, I am not sure what we were thinking--a book deadline and the end of the school year all at the same time. Craziness for sure. But, it worked out well. I went on high-speed for a month or so and now everything will come to a close. It was actually good to have some diversion to the end of the year. As much as I love summer and the different pace, extra time with family, etc. the end of the school year is always sad. 20 years of teaching, 20 classes of kids. No matter how long you teach, every class is different. Every class takes on its own personality. Every class stays with you in some way. So when the last day of school comes up, you realize that there will never be another year like this. A great feeling to have been part of a great group of people learning together, but a sad time too.

The kids were feeling it today too. They were quite cute. We had a special POETRY FRIDAY on Tuesday since we don't have school on Friday. We had a ball. Several of the kids wrote and shared their own poems about the last few days of school. They certainly understand poetry and how to play with words. Others had fun sharing favorites from the year.

So today has been the first day I've been able to think about the actual end of the year. As I said, the book was a good diversion--the end of the year is a bummer. It is fun to see the kids grow up and move on but knowing that we'll never have a year just like this one is always a bit sad.

I imagine lots of us are having our last days of school sometime soon. And I think we all go through the same thing every year--as teachers, parents, kids.

Happy Last Day of School:-)

The Secret is Divulged

Here is the website where you, too, can make newspaper clippings:

The Newspaper Clipping Generator

Go make a clipping, post it on your blog, then send us a link in the comments and we'll do a round-up of clippings. Have fun!

Thank You For Your Patience

The finish line is in sight. Two more days.

We finished GOONEY BIRD GREENE today. She's no Clementine, but the kids did love trying to figure out what was absolutely true about her stories. I might read her first in the fall next year and start with story telling as our first unit of study in writing workshop. But I'll wait to see what the new District Language Arts Binder has in store for me before I set that in stone.

The reading assessments and math fact assessments are done and scored. The spelling assessments will be done tomorrow. Report cards will be done tonight before I sleep and printed tomorrow morning. Awards are ready for tomorrow's assembly. Six iMovies of our two years together as a looping class are done (not without near disaster and an unwanted learning experience) and about 1/3 of the 25 dvds are burned. The end of loop party is planned and ready for Wednesday. Students took home everything but their supply boxes today.

Mom's 80th birthday party is on rails -- some supplies have been mailed out to her, rental chairs are ordered, cakes will be ordered later this week, the soundtrack needs just one more tweaking and it will be perfect.

Yesterday we planted the rose bush that Bess' doggie play date buddy, Bender, sent in memory of her short but joyous life.

I beg to differ with T.S. Eliot that "April is the cruelest month." This year, May was. We couldn't flip the calendar pages over to June fast enough. As if to distance itself from May in every way, June has cooled down, substantial rains have come to break the drought, and, not to repeat myself, but...

The finish line is in sight. Two more days.

June Carnival of Children's Literature

Best place to submit your entry: The BlogCarnival site.
Entries will also be gladly accepted via our blog email or comment section.

Poetry Friday

Courtesy of The Writer's Almanac, today is John Masefield's birthday. I love his poem, Sea Fever.

In other poetry news, I borrowed the idea for having my students write letter poems from Elaine at Wild Rose Reader. I shared LOVE LETTERS by Arnold Adoff and DEAR WORLD by Takayo Noda. Then I invited my 5th graders to choose some object around the room or some activity we did in the past two years as the subject for a poem that I would post next year in the fall. These poems would be their way to tell the new loopers, the new 4th graders that I will teach for 2 years, a little about life in room 222. Here are a few of my favorites.

Dear Mr. Quaker Oats,

Sorry we
ate
some of you
Sorry we got
mold
on you from the apples
The taste
is still
in our mouths
We are sorry But
you taste
So good.

Formerly Known as Pests,
The Mealworms



Dear Future Class,

You
will have
lots of fun
with read alouds
and stories.

You
also will
have fun with
Christmas surprises but
you have

to
guess what
the surprise is.
You should behave
and be

good
sometimes the
best teacher in
the world a.k.a.
known as

Ms. Hahn
might give
you candy or
heads up
7

up.
Well what
I'm saying is
good behavior leads
to good things.

From,
The Teacher's Pet

25

USA Today is celebrating its 25th year with 25 lists of 25. This week's list is 25 Lives of Indelible Impact. I might have sorted the list in a different order, but these are all amazing and inspiring people from the last 25 years.

Last week was 25 Years of 'Eureka' Moments -- inventions that have changed our lives since 1982. As I scanned this list, some were integral to my life, and some seemed irrelevant. I wondered what my 5th graders would make of the list, how they would sort it (important vs. irrelevant), and if they would notice anything missing.

Predictably, things like debit cards, lettuce in a bag, and online stock trading aren't a very big deal for 11 year-olds. You want to know they think is missing from the list? (Cable TV was also on their list of missing items, but I just Googled it -- 1948, if you can believe that!)

• game consoles (PSP, Nintendo, X Box, Wii, etc.)
• self-scan lines at the grocery
• energy drinks
• hybrid cars
• Google and Wikipedia
• Pokemon and Yu-ghi-o cards
  

Which items on the list are most important in your life? Of the 25 USA Today picked, my important ones would probably be debit cards, pay at the pump gas and my iPod. Which items on the list are most irrelevant to you? Online stock trading, electronic tolls, TiVo, Big Bertha golf clubs, home satellite TV and karaoke are all at the bottom of my list.

8 Things Meme

We've been tagged for a meme! This one is the 8 Things Meme and it comes to us from Kelly at Big A little a. Here are the rules:

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

This is just the time-waster I need when there are stacks of end-of-the-school-year paperwork calling to me from the kitchen table, so I'll go first:

8 OF MARY LEE'S FACTS/HABITS
1. My favorite colors in nature are the purple of a post-thunderstorm sky and the bright green of the freshly washed leaves against that purple sky.
2. My favorite landscape in nature is the flat, arid, emptiness of the western plains. That's where I grew up and it seems to have become a part of my psyche.
3. My favorite dessert is creme brulee.
4. My favorite exercise is swimming. I am addicted to the shock of the cold water and the smell of chlorine.
5. I love the art of Laurel Burch.
6. I own a polka-dotted purse.
7. I have a freckle on the palm of my left hand.
8. One of my favorite books as a child was Just Plain Maggie by Lorraine Beim. I still have the 1967 Scholastic edition of this book ($.35). Did anyone else ever read this?

8 OF FRANKI'S FACTS/HABITS
1. I carry a flashlight when I stay in a hotel, in case the electricity goes out.
2. I have fallen off of a treadmill 3 times.
3. I have a film credit in "Light of Day" (I was a one-day tutor)
4. In college, my music ed professor made me promise, in front of the class, to never sing in front of children.
5. Every Sunday, in 5th or so grade, I'd go up to my grandmother's attic to pick out another Nancy Drew book for the week.
6. My favorite movie candy is DOTS.
7. My purse is ALWAYS a mess.
8. I drink hot tea all day, every day.

We tag:
Chicken Spaghetti oops! A double tag! Kelly already got her. Okay, we'll go with...
Blog from the Windowsill
GottaBook
Mentor Texts
Proper Noun
This Just In
Inspiring Readers and Writers
Liz in Ink
Gathering Around the Table

The Fairy Chronicles

MARIGOLD AND THE FEATHER OF HOPE, THE JOURNEY BEGINS (Fairy Chronicles)
by J.H. Sweet
May 2007
Review copy compliments of the publisher

In the first book of the Fairy Chronicles, Beth’s dreaded visit to Aunt Evelyn’s takes a turn for the better when Beth learns she is a fairy. Marigold Fairy, to be exact.

The minute we got news of this book, I knew which of my fifth graders would be the first reader. I’ve seen her with other fairy books, and she took a spell book out to recess for weeks on end last fall. All of the characters in her writing have magical mystical powers and they go on epic quests.

Little did I know just how into fairies she is. She has read all of the Disney Fairies books, and owns several. She can recite the names, talents and adventures of all the Disney fairies. So it’s an understatement to say that she brought some background knowledge to her reading!

She was practically giddy with excitement when I showed her the book and asked her to read it in one night, if possible. (She managed in two.) She found one way that the Fairy Chronicles fairies differ from the Disney fairies: the fairies in the Fairy Chronicles are humans who can change back and forth from their fairy selves, while the Disney fairies are static fairies. Some of the fairies in both series have similar talents. There are Fairy Circles in both books, and the Fairy Chronicles has a handy fairy profile page which I missed, but she accessed several times when talking about the book to get the details right. She made a connection to GOSSAMER by Lois Lowry, and she was surprised and pleased to find the Tooth Fairy in the Fairy Chronicles.

Both of us were delighted by the Fairy Handbooks that automatically adjust the explanations and instructions so they are just right for that particular fairy and that particular age. (Magically leveled books! Hmm….) A Fairy starts with the First Fairy Handbook, moves to the Fortunate Fairy Handbook (for Fairies who are 10-12 years old and accident-prone), then the Formidable Fairy Handbook, and last of all, the Final Fairy Hand book.

What pleased my student most, however, was when I told her that she could read book two before me, and she could read it at whatever pace she chose, since she had read the first one so quickly to be able to give me her feedback!

Franki and her students loved it. She has lots of fairy readers in her class and they have a whole system of who gets the books next. Her students thought the illustrations were a bit like Spiderwick’s but in color. For Franki, it was like Bewitched—there could be a magical person living by her or...she could be a fairy and didn’t know it yet.

Fifth Graders Love Clementine

I knew if I didn't read Clementine and The Talented Clementine (by Sara Pennypacker) to my fifth graders, both books would be completely off their radar. A middle-schooler reading a thin, illustrated book about a third grader and a fourth grader? I don't think so.

But an end-of-year fifth grader listening to these stories? "Don't stop now!"

Clementine has become the 26th member of our class. We say, "Okay, fine," and we all know it's Clementine talking. Everyone is always paying careful attention in my classroom...but not always to the lesson, and that's all right, thanks to Clementine. Choosing what to do or what to pick? Not anymore. Now we honor all our options by not choosing (N-O-T not choosing) the ones we don't want. Laxative, Fluoride, Moisturizer, and Mascara will live forever in our memories as exquisite cat names. Things that amaze us will be "astoundishing." And we will work to be more empathetic.

Poetry Friday -- A Meditation on Creativity

Ars Poetica
By X.J. Kennedy

The goose that laid the golden egg
Died looking up its crotch
To find out how its sphincter worked.
(punchline here; rhymes with crotch).

Pay Dirt!

Do you know about Daedalus Books? They are "the online discount book and music store selling thousands of quality bargain books and overstock CDs for the independent reader and listener."

Books, CDs and DVDs at up to 90% off! Gotta love that.

I don't hit pay dirt with every catalog, but the Spring Children's Catalog had all of these:

Two by Carolyn Marsden, $2.98 and $3.98
THE GOLD THREADED DRESS
SILK UMBRELLAS




Three by Lucy Cousins (future baby shower presents) for $2.49-$3.98

I didn't know there was a companion for MY LITTLE SISTER ATE ONE HARE! Very fun! MY LITTLE SISTER HUGGED AN APE $3.98



LITTLE RUTH REDDINGFORD by Hank Wesselman looks like a fun twist on Little Red Riding Hood. A must for my collection! $4.98



SONG OF THE WATER BOATMAN by Joyce Sidman $10.95. Okay, fine, not such a great price, but might as well since I found so many others...





I've wanted this book since the first time I saw it! A BOOK ABOUT DESIGN: COMPLICATED DOESN'T MAKE IT GOOD by Mark Gonyea $4.98



There are also three from the Smithsonian Odyssey Series that look good ($3.98 each): A GOLDEN AGE: The Golden Age of Radio; THE LAST RAIL: The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad; THAR SHE BLOWS! Whaling in the 1860s. And for $3.98, why not check out THE ESSENTIAL ATLAS OF TECHNOLOGY from 2002. The information on basic technology (wheels and pulleys and the like) shouldn't be outdated.

This is why my classroom is positively overflowing with books!

Kid Quips

It's been awhile since I had a really good one to share. Today's was a doozie.

At the end of the day, Boy A was by the door tying his new sneaks. Real hot, fast looking shoes. I told him they looked like they ought to have wings on the heels, like that Greek god. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you?" I asked.

"The Red Bull guy?" he replied.

Groan. The curse of popular culture.

So I had to go over to my mythology shelf and check. On the way, I asked Boy B, who was likely to know the answer so I wouldn't have to look. "Is it Hermes with the wings on his shoes?" I asked.

"No, Herpes, isn't it?"

"Uh, no. For sure not Herpes. That's a disease."

2 New Books for Young Readers

I picked up two new picture books that would be great for primary kids. I thought ORANGE, PEAR, APPLE, BEAR by Emily Gravett was adorable. The whole story is told with the four words in the title. The illustrations are adorable and it is amazing how the author wrote the book with only four words. I actually bought it thinking it would be fun to share with older kids. I thought with all of our talk about visual literacy--with Hugo Cabret and other graphic novels, we have been talking about how readers get information from illustrations and graphics. I also thought it would be interesting to talk to them about how the author wrote a book with 4 words.



The other one that I bought has been reviewed on several blogs already. I finally found a copy of I'M THE BIGGEST THING IN THE OCEAN by Kevin Sherry. It is a VERY fun book! The colors are great. The story is fun. And the book is just oversized enough to work. It is one of those great books that should be in every K-1 classroom because it is one that new readers can read on their own once they've heard it read aloud. As you know, I am a huge advocate of new readers reading real books rather than ONLY leveled texts so books like this one are great for these classroom libraries.

Fabulous Fiesta of Children's Literature!

Head on over to Chicken Spaghetti for the 14th Carnival of Children's Literature! The setting is Texas and the Carnival is (appropriately) larger than life!

DOGS AND CATS by Steve Jenkins

Steve Jenkins, author of ACTUAL SIZE has this great new book out called DOGS AND CATS. This is a fun book for many reasons. First of all, it has two covers. One side is the cover for the side about dogs. Flip it over and you have the cover to the information about cats. Each page is PACKED with information about dogs and cats. So much is covered in this book. And the illustrations are amazing. Labels are used to show different things and the illustrations are so realistic. I can already think of a few kids who will grab this one for reading time this week. A great addition to my nonfiction library--one that I know lots of kids will love.

Lloyd Alexander, 1924-2007

Another of the giants is gone.

This summer I will re-read the Prydain Chronicles. TARAN WANDERER was the right book at the right time almost every time I read it through late adolescence and early adulthood. I wonder what it will say to me now.

TIME CAT will continue to take my students to nine times in history.

Thank you, Mr. Alexander.

Read Roger
HornBook Virtual History
HornBook obituary and links
Lois Lowry remembers
NPR Remembrance, with comments from Jon Scieszka

WARRIORS: THE LOST WARRIOR

Her love affair with the WARRIORS series began when she was in 4th or 5th grade. Upon her recommendation, I read one of them back then. (It's pretty powerful when the teacher reads the student's recommendation, rather than vice versa.) I brought her ARCs from NCTE. (Getting the next book in a favorite series before it's out in the bookstore? Priceless.)

She's in 7th grade now, but when TokyoPop sent the uncorrected proof of the new graphic novel parallel series, I knew she was the expert I would need to call on for an opinion.

Her life had been taken over by the middle school theater production when I dropped the book off at her house, but we had a good chat about it when she brought me my Girl Scout Cookies.

The graphic novel is not exactly the same as the novels, she was quick to point out. "You wonder when Greystripe is coming back, and the graphic novel shows what happened to him. It also shows how he motivated to leave house cat life."

She sees the graphic novels as companion books to the regular series. They have a mixture of new story lines and they fill in between the parts of the series. And she is absolutely savvy to the marketing of the graphic novels, "They will lure in young readers and get them ready for the series."

Nevertheless, she plans to own all of the graphic novels, because they will "complete my collection...my library."

She recommends the Warrior Cats website and writes: "The field guide comes out May 29. I have the new book and after today and a little of yesterday reading I am on page 167. It is so good. Also Graystripe the lost warrior (cough title of cough manga cough book cough cough cough) comes back with Millie (cough another cough cat from cough manga). There is already another book coming after this called Dark River. Now I can't wait until September because an extra book called Firestars Quest comes out. I love when you get the unedited versions when I can read them. I wish I could meet Erin Hunter it would be so cool.




According to her book this is how the books go in order:

Warriors

Into the Wild
Fire and Ice
Forest of Secrets
Rising Storm
A Dangerous Path
The Darkest Hour

Warriors: The New Prophecy

Midnight
Moonrise
Dawn
Starlight
Twilight
Sunset

Warriors: Manga

The Lost Warrior

Warriors: The Power of Three

The Sight
Dark River- not out in stores yet

Warriors: Extra

Field Guide: Secrets of the Clans

Poetry Friday! THIS IS A POEM THAT HEALS FISH by Jean Pierre Simeon

This is a great new poetry book that I picked up at Cover to Cover yesterday. It is about a little boy whose fish is sick. He doesn't know how to help him so his mother tells him to give him a poem. The boy isn't sure what a poem is so he goes around and asks lots of people. Each person tells him something different. Lolo in the bicycle shop tells him, "A poem, Arthur, is when you are in love and have the sky in your mouth." Mahmoud tells him that "A poem is when you hear the heartbeat of a stone." Everyone tells Arthur something different so he has to put it together for himself. The ending is quite perfect:-)

I love lots about this book. The pictures are bright and fun. The language to describe poetry is beautiful and unique. I LOVE the message that poetry can heal.

A great book for any age! At this very moment, it feels like one of the best books I've ever bought!

Off Topic Request

My mom's 80th birthday is coming up in June. I'm working on a playlist (soundtrack?) for her party and I'd love your suggestions.

So far I have, in no particular order:

Circle Game by Joni Mitchell
Bop Till You Drop by The Nylons
Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler
Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
It's Your Song by Garth Brooks
Lean on Me by Al Jarreau
Sunshine on My Shoulders by John Denver
I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack
Forever Young by Rod Stewart
Through the Years by Kenny Rogers
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Ordinary Miracle by Sarah MacLachlan
Remember When by Alan Jackson
Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
Only the Heart May Know by Dan Fogelberg
Tumbling Tumbleweed by The Sons of the Pioneers
and at least one by Glenn Miller, but I'm not sure what

Hmmm...I didn't realize I already had so many! Oh, well. Any other suggestions?

Breaking News!

Four kidlitosphere bloggers will present a panel session at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention in November 2007. The theme of the convention is "Mapping Diverse Literacies for the Twenty-First Century: Opportunities, Challenges, Promising New Directions."

Jen (Jen Robinson's Book Page), Liz (A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy), Kelly (Big A little a) and Mary Lee (A Year of Reading) will present "Welcome to the Kidlitosphere: Reading, Reviewing and Blogging about Children's Literature" on Saturday, Nov. 17.

Mark your calendars! Hope to see you there!

Summer Reading Plans for Kids

Last year, there was big talk on the blogs about summer reading. I just wrote an article for Choice Literacy about the things I do with my class to help my kids think about and plan their summer reading. It is here if you'd like to read it.

What We're Reading

Elaine at Wild Rose Reader tagged us with a book meme: What books are you reading?

Franki's traveling this weekend, which sometimes means great chunks of airport reading. We'll have to wait for her update. Here are mine:

Adult Book Club:

Mostly True by Molly O'Neill. The biography of a Columbus girl who grew up in a family of 5 boys who were all sure they were going to make it big in baseball. One did. Molly escaped to New York City to became a food columnist for The New York Times Magazine and the host of the PBS series Great Food.

5th Grade Literature Circle:

Our last book of the loop -- The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. This is my gift to these 6 extraordinary readers. I hope they will go on to be extraordinary 6th graders, proud of their talents and willing to follow their passions in the face of peer pressure.

To Review:

Reality Leak by Joni Sensel. Review copy courtesy of the author.

The Fairy Chronicles volumes 1 and 2 by J.H. Sweet. Review copies courtesy of the publisher.

Waiting for me at the bookstore:

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg
Animal, Vegetable and Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver
Test Talk by Glennon Doyle Melton and Amy H. Greene (Stenhouse)
Strategies That Work 2nd Edition by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (Stenhouse)
Mentor Texts by Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli (Stenhouse)

Poetry Friday

This week, I'm thinking of the Virginia Tech families. I'm thinking of the folks in Greensburg, KS. I'm thinking of a 1 lb. baby born prematurely by C-section. And I'm thinking of a dog who's come back from the brink.

On a Tree Fallen Across the Road
(To Hear Us Talk)

The tree the tempest with a crash of wood
Throws down in front of us is not to bar
Our passage to our journey's end for good,
But just to ask us who we think we are

Insisting always on our own way so.
She likes to halt us in our runner tracks,
And make us get down in a foot of snow
Debating what to do without an axe.

And yet she knows obstruction is in vain:
We will not be put off the final goal
We have it in us to attain,
Not though we have to seize earth by the pole

And, tired of aimless circling in one place,
Steer straight off after something into space.

by Robert Frost

Standing Women --Mother's Day

Have you heard about the Standing Women event on Sunday, Mother's Day? Women across the world are standing at 1:00 for five minutes of silence to imagine a better world.

It is a pretty amazing thing. Thanks to Ann Fisher for her Dispatch article on the event in today's paper. A group of women have invited women all over the world to stand together.

The idea came from a book called a THE GREAT SILENT GRANDMOTHER GATHERING: A STORY FOR ANYONE WHO THINKS SHE CAN'T SAVE THE WORLD by Sharon Mehdi. (Yes, it is on order as we speak:-)

As I am writing this, there will be women 2284 events in 66 countries. The number keeps growing.

The combination of women and good books continue to make the world a better place.

I MET ANNA QUINDLEN!

A group of us went to hear Anna Quindlen last night. She was here on a book tour, reading from her new book RISE AND SHINE. I had read it the day it came out--That is what I do with books by Anna Quindlen. Loved the book--a must read! Her talk was amazing and she was so genuine. (And thanks to our good friend Meredith, we had GREAT seats!) I am a huge fan. Have read all of her books. Read every NEWSWEEK column . Have extra copies of a few of her books. I love her novels. I really love her essays. And, I am a HUGE fan of her little books. I purchased another copy of BEING PERFECT last night. HOW READING CHANGED MY LIFE is one of her more brilliant pieces of writing. It speaks to me and I use it with my students a lot. Last night, she talked a lot about her life as a reader. How she couldn't imagine life without reading. She talked about kids needing to find books that they care about. She talked about the fact that, for her, books never seemed like books--they seemed like places that she visited again and again. She was passionate about all she said about her life as a reader. I could very much relate! 
She is on tour for the new book. If she is coming anywhere near you, I would highly recommend going to hear her. Even if she isn't really close, hearing her is worth traveling a bit. It was a great evening with friends. We even got to take a picture with Anna Quindlen! (As you may have already noticed..)

Starting HUGO CABRET

We started HUGO CABRET. It was a fun day. Books from amazon arrived on time. I passed out the books. Kids shared books in groups of 2 and 3. The first few minutes were spent watching the kids lift the books up and down and talking about how heavy it was. Then they flipped through it looking for interesting thing--mentioning things they noticed.

It was a tricky read aloud, I must say. I read the Intro page and then the first 45 pages were illustrations. I had forgotten about that. I wasn't sure what to do, so I had them look at those 45 pages on their own. It took a while. Then we chatted. We pointed out things we noticed, shared characters we'd met, events that had happened, setting, etc. We also discussed whether that 45 pages was "reading". It was an interesting conversation. Since there were no words, a few students did not think that they were reading. But after lots of talk, most kids agreed that, of course it was reading. They were reading pictures, thinking, making meaning, creating a story.

The other tricky thing was that because they had a copy and you can look at it for hours, it was a little tough to have a conversation. We stop and talk often during read aloud. But, the kids couldn't really pry themselves away from the book to participate in the talk. The newness of the book was too fun.

The kids were all pretty excited. I think it will take us a few days of this book to really settle in, stop lifting it up and down in amazement, get used to the way we'll read it together, etc.

No matter how tricky this read aloud is, I can tell already that it will be worth it.

Baby Steps

Thank you everyone for your kind words and wishes for Bess. She's keeping food down and she still hasn't had any seizures. Neither the vet nor the online sources we used were exaggerating when they said to start her back on tiny amounts of food and increase what she's getting by tiny amounts very slowly.

I've been thinking about other things that work better when you take very tiny, very slow baby steps:

• moving a child from habitual disruptive behaviors to more cooperative, socially acceptable behaviors
• convincing a beginning reader to believe in himself
• teaching 10 year-olds to make a bibliography, do long division, or use a protractor
• teaching my mother to send an email attachment
• losing weight after 40
• adding weight to the machines after back surgery
• learning to ask for help
• learning to say no to one more committee

Pet Stories

This week Kelly wrote about her book-shredding cat, Lois Lowry wrote about a coyote sighting (and gave equal photo time to Alfie), and Neil Gaiman rescued a white German Shepherd.

Now it's my turn.

It's been the week from gastonomic hell for our dog, Bess. She started throwing up last Sunday morning, and she didn't really stop until Thursday. She kept food down from Friday night until Sunday morning, and we're pretty sure that one was our fault for optimistically increasing the amount of food she was getting at too rapid a rate. (We went from 1/8 c. dog food with her chicken and rice to 1/4 c. dog food with her chicken and rice.) You wouldn't fault us if you could see how weak she is. She can barely stand.

No, this isn't related to all of the pet food recalls, no, she doesn't have have any intestinal blockages, and no, she doesn't have any indicator of organ failure due to her epilepsy meds.

The silver lining in all is, in fact, related to her epilepsy. She was having rounds of seizures every 19 days before all this. She has now gone 24 days seizure free. Could the food she had been fed since puppyhood be the cause of her seizures? Now is our chance to start from scratch with a new brand of food. We're trying one that is high protein, all natural, wheat free, and of course, made in the U.S.

Needless to say, between clean-ups at all hours of the day and night, time spent fretting, and time spent researching possible causes and new food options, very little reading and blogging got done this week.

Here's hoping for a more normal week.