LAZY LITTLE LOAFERS by Susan Orlean

I laughed out loud in the bookstore when I read this book. Who thinks of these things? LAZY LITTLE LOAFERS by Susan Orlean is narrated by a young child--one who is wondering how babies get away with not working? She has a point. And she defends it throughout the book. She isn't too thrilled that while she is at school taking tests and doing book reports, these babies are hanging out looking at their toes and pushing elevator buttons. The whole concept cracks me up.

I thought, when I started it, that the concept would get old. That the author couldn't really carry it out for a whole entire book. But I was wrong. It amused me until the very last page. I think it is the voice of the narrator that makes it work. She is talking to us with a little bit of sarcasm that works. It is pretty sophisticated humor so I am not yet sure which age of kids would most enjoy it.

There is a lot of acceptable jealousy in the book--the baby gets to stay home with mom and do nothing, while the narrator has to go to work. The pictures tell so much of the story. Speaking of the pictures, they are quite fun. I had to do a 2nd read to see the humor added by the illustrations.

As a teacher, I am wondering if this could work as a model for persuasive writing. I could see it as a pretty fun mentor text for older kids to use when thinking about essay and persuasive writing. Because really, this is an essay answering the question of why babies don't work (How do the lazy little loafers get away with it?) The word choice, voice and actual examples really do make it quite a good model for older kids. And I think they would LOVE the humor.

No matter how you use this book or who you share it with, it is definitely worth a read. Pretty darn funny, if you ask me.

Books I Could Read A Million Times-PART 1

So, I have learned something important in my first few weeks as a librarian. Since I see every class, on a 4 day rotation, I often read a book several times over the course of 4 days. I choose one book to read to every class in the school. ( I got this idea from Bill at Literate Lives. My hope is that by reading the same book to all of the kids in the school, we have anchors to talk about--books that can be talked about at dinner tables at home, books that can be talked about with friends in other classes, etc.)

SO, sometimes I read the same book 20+ times over 4 days. Other books I read 4-8 times--to one or two grade levels.
What I have found is that one of two things happens quickly: Either I CAN'T STAND IT after the 2nd or 3rd read OR I love it every single time and never get sick of it. I look forward to reading it again. So, I am paying attention to those books that, honestly, I could read a million times and never get tired of. I figure if that happens, it is one of the best books out there. Here are a few that I have discovered so far.


Piggie and Elephant by Mo Willems
I never tire of these amusing characters. The stories are fun and enjoyed by all age levels. And, I find myself getting better at them each time I read them. I sound more like the characters as I read them over and over. I have not yet read one of these to the whole school but I plan to read the new one that comes out this fall to everyone. I don't think I will ever get sick of these two great characters! All of the books in this series meet my criteria for "Books I Could Read A Million Times". An added bonus--I have discovered that if I find myself becoming a bit grumpy or cranky, reading one of these to 1st or 2nd graders puts me back in a good mood! The fun of it just makes you happy!

Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox
The rhythm and rhyme in this book is quite fun. And the fact that kids join in on each page to chant, "Where is the green sheep?" is also quite fun. This is a quick read aloud and one that kids ask to hear over and over.

Beware of the Frog by William Bee
This is a new one that I hope becomes a classic. This is the story of a sweet old lady named Mrs. Collywobbles. Really, I could say her name a million times. It is fun every, single time. (Kids like to say it too!) The humor and surprise in this story is quite fun. I love seeing the kids' faces when the surprises begin and continue throughout the book. It is funny because this story starts out in a pretty traditional way. Since I read it over 20 times this week, I know precisely when students become hooked and I know that once we get to that point, they are hooked for the book. It looks and sounds like your traditional fairy tale--but not quite. I was actually a little sad when I read it to the last class last week.

(I will share other books that I find that fit my criteria as I come across them. Not many books are that fun to read 20+ times so those that can, definitely deserve to be shared!)

My Week

Last weekend began with the 5th annual Ohio Casting for Recovery retreat, and ended with a blow-by from Hurricane Ike. Both events taught me big lessons.

In 2005 I attended the CFR retreat as a participant. For the past three years I've served on the retreat team as a planner/fundraiser throughout the year and as a fishing instructor at the retreat. I wrote about the 2006 retreat here.

The William Stafford poem that Jules shared for Poetry Friday this week (and all the other Staffords in the comments) helped to crystalize what the CFR weekend taught me this year. This year I heard myself saying to a participant things I need to remember and practice in my own life:

All we really have is this moment right now. We can't change what's behind us and we can't know what's ahead of us, so we need to focus on this moment and do our best with it, enjoy it to its fullest. (Live in the moment, Mary Lee. Pay close attention to Right Now.)

There are plenty of people in the world who will judge you based on your looks. The ones who matter are the ones who get to know you -- the ones who can see that you are so much more than your shell, who can see the beauty within you. (Don't judge, Mary Lee. Learn to look within for beauty. Be one of the ones who matter.)

When I got home from the retreat, new challenges and learnings awaited me. Ike's winds were revving up to 60-80 mph, construction barrels were rolling across the road creating a live-action obstacle course, branches were down (and still falling) everywhere I looked, roads were closed by fallen trees, and there were no working traffic lights.

I pulled into the driveway at 4:00 pm, just as we lost electricity. We didn't get our power back until 1:30 am on Thursday. Across the street from us, and in many other parts of the city, they still don't have power. Within walking distance of my house, there is still a street closed because of a fallen tree. There were schools in the city and around the area that were closed for four days this week. In our district, we were out two days (one building for three).

Here's what I learned from Ike:

I missed being connected to the Internet and email, but I can definitely survive without it. Hot showers are much more important in the big picture.

Electricity isolates us as much as it connects us. Without electricity, we spent much more with our neighbor, sharing lunch from a COSI we found nearby that was miraculously open, sharing pans and thermoses of hot water (we have a gas stove), and commiserating during the clean-up. I haven't talked to her since the power came back on.

If this much chaos was caused by half-power hurricane winds in a dry storm, I can now clearly imagine what a real hurricane is like. We had no rain (so no flooding and less damage because the trees were dry), and the weather cooled down to the 70's after the storm passed, leaving us with pleasant, rather than steamy, air. My heart goes out to anyone who has ever lived directly in a hurricane's path.

For one day, I lived in two worlds -- the one of chaos, deprivation and uncertainty at home, and the "normal" one at school. I now have a better appreciation for my students who navigate two worlds every day.

When you're focusing on where the next meal is coming from, it's hard to care about politics, the stock market, and the situation in Afghanistan.

It doesn't matter how many services and offers of help are available to those in need, when you are cut off from the "real world," you have no idea those services and offers even exist. We had a battery radio, but we could not find a single station that gave us any information (beyond school closings) that was of any assistance. We found it quite amusing when we got power to watch the news and see how much information about the storm and the recovery was available...if you had electricity to watch the news! CRAZY! WRONG!

And once again, I learned that all we really have is this moment right now. We can't change what's behind us and we can't know what's ahead of us, so we need to focus on this moment and do our best with it, enjoy it to its fullest.

Poetry Friday -- Review

Beastly Rhymes to Read After Dark
by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Brian Biggs
Alfred A. Knopf, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

(the cover of my copy looks nothing like this)



This is a fun-sized volume (about 5" x 7") of poems perfect for the Halloween season. The illustrations are bold and colorful, and the rhymes just beg to be read aloud.

Here are some quick excerpts from a few of the poems:

The Lavatory Crocodile
"...She settled in the loathsome pool
Beneath the bathroom of your school.
When next you find you have to go,
Look first, and wave, and say 'Hello!'... "

Lovely Giant Squid
"...You can't have friends and eat them, too."

Who is Haunting the Zoo
"Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!
Who is haunting the zoo?
There's a phantom flamingo,
A windigo dingo,
An elephant skeleton, too..."

Leopard Chefs
"My next-door neighbor, Hilda Hitchen,
Kept two leopards in her kitchen
Who, when Hilda wasn't looking,
Taught themselves the art of cooking..."
(you might guess, it doesn't bode well for Hilda!)

Parasite Lost
(the title's enough on this one -- it's the best/grossest poem in the book so you'll have to read it yourself!)

Never Bully a Bug
"...Young William never realized
The tiny mites he victimized
Had cousins that were giant-sized..."

This week's roundup is at author amok.

The Literacy Connection Annual Workshops

For those of you who attend the annual Literacy Connection workshops, you will be happy to know that THE LITERACY CONNECTION has a new website! And, the new workshops have been announced there and by mail. This year, Kelly Gallagher, author of Deeper Reading, Teaching Adolescent Writing and others.
He will be presenting to teachers in strategies for writing in grades 4-12. Kelly is a full time teacher and a great presenter. The session is on Saturday, October 11 and the cost is $50 (Lunch included. A great way to spend a Saturday if you teach grades 4-12. Registration forms and info are on the site.



Carl Anderson will be The Literacy Connection's April speaker. He will be speaking on the topic of Assessing Writers. For those of you who have attended the April workshop before, it is part of a year long study around an expert's work. We meet in October to talk about the year and then meet in study groups around the work. Then in April, the author of the book speaks and does demonstration teaching at a local school. I always learn a lot when I attend these. More details are on The Literacy Connection's website.

HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN edited by Nikki Giovanni

I have always been a huge fan of Nikki Giovanni. Her poetry books were some of the first I had in my classroom. Her newest book, HIP HOP SPEAKS TO CHILDREN: A CELEBRATION OF POETRY WITH A BEAT may be my favorite yet. I just received a review copy and spent quit a bit of time with it. It is quite fun and packed with great poetry with a beat. The book is due out on October 1 and I imagine people will be scrambling to get copies as soon as they can.

These are the things I love about the books:

-The poetry has a beat and I love poetry with a beat. So much fun to read and play with.
-Some of my favorite poets have pieces in this collection--Eloise Greenfield, Nikki Grimes, Maya Angelou, Walter Dean Myers
-There is a GREAT CD that goes along with the book. 30 of the poems are included on the CD. Many are read by the poets. Others are read by performers.
-The illustrations are gorgeous. So many illustrators and looks that seem to match the poems. Each page stands alone as its own work of art.
-I love the variety of the poems, the illustrations, and the audio. There is something to hook everyone to the book.
-I love the size. It is a pretty big poetry book. One with lots packed in it. You know when you pick it up, that it is filled with beat and depth.
-Nikki Giovanni shares her vision for the book and the history and importance of hip-hop as the introduction. Such a reminder of how powerful words have been throughout history.

Love this book. I think it is a K-8 must-have for classrooms and libraries. Like I said it is packed and it may be (at first) intimidating to young readers. But, once they hear some of the audio, spend time with the illustrations, and experience some of the poetry, I think it will become a favorite.

Other reviews:
Nikki Giovanni shares her thoughts on the collection on this video.
Amy Bowlan of School Library Journal includes Giovanni's video clip in her review also.
Jennie at Biblio File
Becky at Becky's Book
Reviews

WILD BOARS COOK by Meg Rosoff and Sophie Blackall

I have been trying to catch up on "funny books". I don't always tend to read those books that are just plain fun. But with my new job as school librarian, I think it is very important that we laugh in the library. And that we laugh a lot. So, I have been on the lookout for funny books. My friend, Bill at Literate Lives has been a huge help with this. I think I am getting better at finding books that kids might find to be amusing.

As a classroom teacher, I looked for books to use as mentors for writing, books to use for comprehension minilesson, books that would meet the needs of different readers and writers in my classroom and books that I could use across the curriculum. We certainly read books for fun, but they weren't a priority for me when I was shopping. I just usually happened upon them. These days, I am trying to catch up on knowing more books like this.

I think one of the other librarians in the district shared this one in our last meeting and I just got my own copy. It is called WILD BOARS COOK and it is quite funny. The story is a sequel to the book MEET WILD BOARS which I haven't read yet--but I am anxious to do so sometime soon.

The 4 wild boars are great characters. It is fun that their names rhyme (Boris, Morris, Horace, and Dorris) but the way they spend their time is pretty fun too. They are not likable creatures but you find yourself loving them anyway. In this story, the boars are hungry so they make a magnificent pudding. It is amazing to me how much you get to know each character in such a short text. The book is pure fun but it is also filled with great writing, and a very satisfying ending. A great book all around.

Other reviews:
Publisher's Weekly
4IQREAD

An interview with Sophie Blackall at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD: The Fourth Book of Ember

I have LOVED the Ember series. I found CITY OF EMBER when it first came out--Karen at Cover to Cover recommended it and it became our year's first read aloud. It was one of the best first read-alouds ever. A perfect combination of plot, action, adventure and lots to talk/think about.

When PEOPLE OF SPARKS came out, I was ending the cycle with the class who had read CITY OF EMBER. The publisher was nice enough to send me an ARC so we finished off our year with that book as read aloud. The book caused lots of conversations and disagreements--so much for 5th graders to talk and think about.

I read THE PROPHET OF YONWOOD when it came out. I liked it but didn't love it like I had loved the others.

I picked up the fourth and final book--THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD--last week and have been staying awake a bit too long reading it the last few nights. It is a PERFECT ending to a great series. I think sequels and final books can be very disappointing but this one was far from either of those.

The fun in this book is that Lina and Doon return to the city of Ember. I must say, as a reader, it was like I was returning too. It was changed, but I remembered it. I remembered being there and I reentered the world of Ember just as Lina and Doon did. I am not sure how DuPrau accomplished this as a writer, but it works well. I won't tell the story here but this series is a great one for readers of science fiction. And this ending book is perfect--closure but surprises; characters we see grow and change, goodbyes and new hope.

If you have yet to read any of the books in this series, I would read CITY OF EMBER quickly--before the movie comes out in October. I think it will be a great movie--the trailer shows a bit of it. But I can't imagine the movie can even compare to the book.

Poetry Friday -- Found Poem

I keep this list of reminders on a sticky note at my desk.  Just for today, they seem like a poem.

PROCEED

We never

know what to expect.

We've never

seen it all.

In every interesting situation,

we never

really know 

what to do.

We should always

proceed with caution.

We should always

proceed.

The roundup this week is at Biblio File.

If Animals Kissed Good Night

If Animals Kissed Good Night
by Ann Whitford Paul
illustrated by David Walker
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher



This is my new baby shower gift book.

Reading this book as the last read aloud of the night is bound to result in lots of snuggling and kissing. What a great way to end the day!

The book starts out, "If animals kissed like we kiss goodnight, Sloth and her cub in late afternoon's light would hang from a tree and start kissing sooo slooowwwww...the sky would turn pink and the sun sink down low." Peacocks kiss with a fan dance, snakes kiss like rope loosely wound, walrus calf and papa kiss with whiskery swishes, elephant give a kiss and then a shower, "and Sloth and her cub? Still...kissing good night." Land and water and forest and Arctic and human animals kiss their way through the rest of the book, and you can probably guess what Sloth and her cub are doing after the child is tucked in with all her stuffed animals around her!

Join Hands! The Ways We Celebrate Life

Join Hands! The Ways We Celebrate Life
by Pat Mora
with photographs by George Ancona
Charlesbridge, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher


A year ago, I had never heard of the Malaysian poetic form pantoum.

Then last year, Tricia (Miss Rumphius Effect) used the pantoum for one of her poetry stretches. She explained the form, wrote an original, and shared the pantoums her stretch participants wrote.

This August, Kelly Fineman explored the pantoum for Poetry Friday.

Jone shared an original pantoum in April, and then came back at the end of August to a poem she worked on for Elaine's (Wild Rose Reader) and Janet Wong's challenge to write a ring/blanket/drum poem and made it into a ring/blanket/drum pantoum!

And now Pat Mora and George Ancona have created a single-pantoum picture book! I declare it The Year of the Pantoum! The pantoum is the perfect form for Mora's poem. She explains, "A pantoum is a repeating form written in four-line stanzas. The second and fourth lines in one stanza become the first and third lines in the next stanza. In the last stanza, the second and fourth lines are almost the same as the frst and third lines of the first stanza. So, like a group of friends joining hands, the poem becomes a circle."

In her poem, friends sing and dance, strut and ballyhoo, plan a masquerade and a parade, take a chance and begin to dance, and join hands in a "happy hoopla way." A fun book and a great invitation to children to explore the pantoum.

Monsoon Afternoon

Monsoon Afternoon
by Kashmira Sheth
illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi
Peachtree Publishers, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

The weather is changing, and the first fat raindrops of the monsoon are beginning to fall. No one but Dadaji has time to play with his grandson. Luckily, Dadaji remembers what fun he had as a child playing in the monsoon rains -- floating paper boats in the washtub, enjoying the smell and feel of the rain after a long dry season. Dadaji remembers swinging in the banyan tree, watching peacocks strut, and picking mangoes, and he shares these memories as he spends the afternoon with his grandson. He assures the little boy that he was once as young as he is, and, yes, someday the little boy will be a Dadaji, too.

In the author's notes at the end of the story, Sheth shares some of her memories of monsoon season from her childhood on the west coast of India.

Many of our students and their families have storm-related memories. In our beginning of the year writing workshops, we often ask students to write personal narratives. This book might prompt students to gather and write a collection of storm stories.

Kashmira Sheth's blog

Erin Hunter at Cover to Cover

One of the three authors who write as Erin Hunter, author of the Warriors series, Victoria Holmes, visited Cover to Cover on Friday. I have never seen so many people at Cover to Cover. The audience was predominantly tween/teen girls and their moms, but there were some boys and dads there, too. The audience was very animated and interactive, cheering when Holmes announced that a big book about Bluestar is forthcoming, and gasping when she revealed that Firestar will die.

All of the displays and bookshelves from the middle of the store were moved to the back room.

After the talk, they called groups of 25 in for autographing. Rumor has it there was someone with autograph number 258. Luckily the rain held off.

Here's a report about the afternoon by longtime Warriors fan, occasional guest blogger (here and here), and my former student, Victoria:

I got an email from Ms.Hahn telling me that on September 5 at 4:30 PM I could meet Victoria Holmes (the main Warrior writer) and listen to her talk and that she was signing books. That alone was a miracle, just to hear I could meet her. I have read every single one of her books and I always buy the new ones the day of their releases, so this experience was going to be amazing. She was to be at a little book shop which I had never heard of called Cover to Cover.

To my first surprise Victoria (which is also my name) had a nice British accent, which just made everything else five times funnier. For many who have read her books this may also be a surprise: she doesn't own any cats and actually she doesn't like cats. She owns one dog (a bull terrier) named Missy, who is utterly spoiled.

If anyone is interested in knowing why cats die it isn't because she doesn't like them or they're bad, NO she kills cats when they get boring (LOL). Also there are no perfect relationships in the books, because she says they get too boring and therefore she kills someone.

When time came around for questions some little kid asked her, "Who is your least favorite cat?" Victoria answered, " I don't have least favorite cats and if I do they die, then become my favorite cat." Victoria is just such a funny person.

For anyone asking how devoted is she to Warriors, well, she is getting married in November and she will still be on tour so their honeymoon will be wherever they go on the last week of her tour.

Future books coming out:
Long Shadows: Power of Three: Book Five- Dec. 1
Tigerstar and Sasha: Escaping the Forest- Jan. 1

There will be another volume of six books coming out also and several more special edition books coming out on Bluestar and Skyclan.

This was just an amazing experience to be there in the hot and crowded little book shop and to meet Victoria Holmes! You can't describe it until you've met her for yourself, so I have a question: Are you a Warriors fan yet????

Victoria certainly is a fan, and has been from the beginning! Here she is with Victoria Holmes.

Maybe this is a future Warriors fan? He made good use of his time in the board books while Victoria Holmes was speaking.

Apples & Oranges: Going Bananas With Pairs

Apples & Oranges: Going Bananas With Pairs
by Sara Pinto
Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

This year, our staff is focusing on a few of the strategies in Marzano's CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION THAT WORKS.  One of the instructional strategies that has been proven by research to raise student achievement is identifying similarities and differences.

To launch our study of weather, we brainstormed all the weather words we could think of.  I recorded the words on the overhead, and the students at each table took turns writing the words on index cards.  Then I gave the groups this task:  sort the words into groups that you think make sense.

After this content work on similarities and differences, I shared APPLES & ORANGES: GOING BANANAS WITH PAIRS.  This book nearly put a couple of my students over the edge.  

Page 1: "How are an apple and an orange alike?"  Page 2: "They both don't wear glasses."    

"I don't get it!"  "It doesn't make sense!"  

Others, however, delighted in the playfulness and quickly were able to adapt to the BOTH DON'T format of the comparing.

Page 17:  "How are a spoon and a fork alike?"  Student Response:  "They both don't run away with the dish."  About half the class understood the literary allusion.  I was thoroughly impressed.  This is clearly a student to watch!  (Page 18:  "They both don't dance in the ballet.")

This seems like another book that would be fun to take down the grade levels to see how younger and younger students handle the BOTH DON'T format.  Or maybe a certain librarian could try it for me -- hint, hint Franki!  Or maybe you can try it in your classroom and let me know how it goes! 

10 THINGS I CAN DO TO HELP MY WORLD BY Melanie Walsh

I picked up a great new book this week at Cover to Cover. It is called 10 THINGS I CAN DO TO HELP MY WORLD by Melanie Walsh. It is written for young children and the simple text and shaped pages make it a fun read with lots of important information.

This is a type of how-to book with added facts for young children--why they should turn off the water when they brush their teeth, that we could save lots of trees by using both sides of the paper, and more. Kids can read the main text and also the added facts.

The large text, bright illustrations and fun page shapes make this a perfect nonfiction book for homes, classrooms and libraries.

I must say, I have been so impressed with Candlewick Publishers lately. So many of the books I love--books that are a bit unique--are published by Candlewick. This is one of those books!

Poetry Friday: Cicadas

Cicadas at the End of Summer
by Martin Walls
(American Life In Poetry: Column 024)

Whine as though a pine tree is bowing a broken violin,
As though a bandsaw cleaves a thousand thin sheets of
titanium;
They chime like freight wheels on a Norfolk Southern
slowing into town.

But all you ever see is the silence.
Husks, glued to the underside of maple leaves.


(the rest of the poem is here)


Happy End of Summer! Let the cool weather begin!

The round up this week is at Wild Rose Reader.

A Book to Add to My Word Play Books

I love when I find a new book to add to my collection of picture books with great word play. I am building quite a collection of these so I couldn't pass up this new one that I found today. It is called BUTTERFLIES IN MY STOMACH AND OTHER SCHOOL HAZARDS by Serge Bloch. This is the story of a boy's first day of school--from the minute he wakes up until the time the bus drops him off at home at the end of the day. Each page tells a bit about his day and each is filled with lots of word play--The illustrations share the "literal" meaning of some of the sayings. They are simple black and white illustrations with color graphics added to illustrate the point of the more literal meaning. From "being in a pickle" to being "in the same boat", this book is full of idioms and a simile or two ("I was as happy as a puppy with two tails!").

The thing that makes this book unique is that the idioms are part of a story with a bit of a plot--the word play is definitely the focus of the book but there is a sequential story going on too!

BABYMOUSE #9!

I was so happy to find BABYMOUSE: MONSTER MASH this weekend! Now that Jennifer and Matt Holm are only writing 2 new Babymouse books per year, the wait between books seems like forever!

BABYMOUSE: MONSTER MASH is set during the Halloween season. And, the fun thing about this book is that it is ORANGE INSTEAD OF PINK! A fun change that totally works for this issue. And, as always, Babymouse is quite adorable on the cover and throughout.

In this story, Babymouse is planning a Halloween party. The group of "mean girls" (Felicia Furrypaws and friends) want to be invited but they want Babymouse to play by their rules. Babymouse has to make some choices.

I love so much about this series, but this one really nails why I like it so much. Babymouse gets lots of peer pressure in this book-peer pressure to be someone who she is not. Peer pressure to do things she knows are not right. I like this because it is so real--so close to what some of our kids deal with on a daily basis. Babymouse is a character who gives us a way to think about these things. Since I've read every Babymouse book out there, I've become quite attached to Babymouse. In the first few books I think I loved her because she was adorable and unique. And I loved the size of the books and the humor. But in this book I realized, I love the character Babymouse. She is strong and real and anxious and fun-loving and so many other things.

The humor is still all over the book--the tombstones at the end of the book, the dedication page, etc. There are even paper dolls with costumes on the back page! And, thank goodness that they give us a very tiny bit of info on the next Babymouse book--Babymouse: The Musical--on the back flap. Even though it won't be out until spring, it reminds us (thankfully) that Babymouse will be back!

My 3rd grade daughter read the book before I did and loved it. Here is what she had to say (Spoilers included):
I liked the end of the book because the mean girls kept making rules like "A Girl has to be a princess for Halloween." Babymouse does things cause the mean girls say "You have to do it. It is a rule." Babymouse goes back home to get ready for her party. The mean girls say, "Can we come in?" Babymouse says "You have to be wearing a scary outfit." I liked that part because she made her own rule and she stuck up for herself. She didn't let them boss her around anymore."

The Words Don't Match the Pictures

There's No Such Thing as Ghosts!

by Emmanuelle Eeckhout

first American Edition, Kane Miller, 2008

first published in Belgium, 2008

review copy provided by Kane Miller

The unnamed little boy is not supposed to go near the strange old house on the corner in his new neighborhood because it's said to be haunted.  So...he promptly goes there because he wants to catch a ghost!

No matter where he goes in the strange old house, he finds no ghosts. However, the reader can clearly see that behind him, or above him, or below him, or hidden in the bubbles of the bubble bath, there are clearly LOTS of ghosts.

Despite what the reader knows, the little boy declares, "There's no such thing as ghosts!"

The words don't match the pictures.


Minji's Salon

by Eun-hee Choung

first American edition, Kane Miller, 2008

first published in South Korea in 2007

review copy provided by Kane Miller

Minji's mother is at the beauty salon getting a new hairdo.  On the left side of the facing pages, the reader sees Minji's mother at her salon getting cut, colored, and styled. On the right side are the words Minji's mother might hear, along with a picture of Minji acting the words out on her dog.  

"The color must be mixed carefully.  (No tasting allowed.)" reads the text.  The stylist is mixing colors from tubes for mother's hair; Minji is choosing coloring ingredients from the freezer (mmmm, ice cream!) for the dog's hair.

"You have to be patient; beauty takes time," reads the text.  In the left hand picture, we see Minji's mother with eyes closed, serenely patient as the stylist colors and rolls her hair.  In the right hand picture, we see a wild-eyed dog smeared with ice cream, tongue in the container, bits of fur rolled up in crayons and pencils.

The words don't match (both of) the pictures.  (At least not until the end, when Minji says, "Mom will be back soon.  I think she'll be surprised.")

What are some other examples of books like these (books with parallel stories, books where the pictures don't match the words) and how do you use them in your classroom or library story time? 

New Math Literature

2 years ago, I purchased the book GREAT ESTIMATIONS and LOVED IT! The kids in my 3rd/4th grade class LOVED it! It had the feel of an "I Spy" Book but had so much to teach us about math. I know that books often help kids make sense of math concepts and this is one that can help all of us think differently about estimating. So, yesterday, I was thrilled when Beth at Cover to Cover showed me GREATER ESTIMATIONS-- a second book about estimating!

Bruce Goldstone (who I was happy to learn grew up in Ohio!) is quite the genius. You don't realize it at first, but these books are teaching books. Goldstone takes us through the process of learning to make good estimates. But you are so busy having such fun looking at the amazing photos and trying to make a good estimate, that it almost takes many reads to pick up all of the great things that you can do to make better estimates.

Bruce Goldstone chooses some pretty cool things to photograph and for us to estimate. He chooses a variety because he teaches us the different ways to estimate--clump counting, estimating length, etc. Readers spend time looking at rubber ducks, honeybees, skydivers, dominoes, hairs on a cat, and blades of grass.

Lots of interesting facts as well as humorous talking bubbles fill the pages. The author also includes a note at the end of the book. He talks about the fun of estimating, but also about how helpful it is in everyday life. He shares times when estimation is critical that I hadn't really thought about.

I had just assumed that Goldstone used computers to create these images but, from his author blurb in the back of the books that Beth pointed out to me, it seems that he spends hours and hours setting real things up for photographing! Very cool.

Goldstone has a fun website that includes info about him, his books and more. It also includes a fun game called "Estimatron" that allows you to practice those estimation skills!  If you like the ducks in the book, you'll be happy to see them again (and again) on the site!

Lessons From a Beer Goddess

For those of you who loved Franki's bootcamp metaphors for teaching struggling readers, head over to Carol's Corner and check out what a teacher can learn from a tattooed Beer Goddess while pouring beers for 8 hours straight.

TRADING (our favorite) SPACES Round-Up

We love to see all of the great spaces that people create in their classrooms and libraries. So, last month, we asked anyone who had a space that they loved to share it with other bloggers and then we would round up the links today.

Well, we have seen some great spaces and have also heard some of the thinking that goes behind these spaces for kids. Teachers and librarians working hard to create the best spaces for student learning. Consider this a virtual tour of some great spaces for children! We had fun collecting them and were able to try some new things in our own spaces. We hope this sharing of spaces does the same for you.

Karen of Literate Lives lets us tour several areas of her 5th grade classroom. She has created several spaces that support student learning in great ways.

Bill from Literate Lives invites us into his library where he has created some great open spaces for students as well as some other spaces that make everyone feel welcome.

Stella at My World-Mi Mundo shares spaces she's created for her ELLs--spaces for reading, writing and listening as well as the spaces she's created with her students' photos!

Mary Lee shares her two favorite spaces in her classroom this year.

Katie D shows us the many smart way that she displays and organizes books in her first grade classroom.

I shared my new library space and a few of the things I did to create more space for books on display.

Jenny of Elementary, My Dear, or Far From It shares lots of great spaces for books and reading!

Stacey at Two Writing Teachers shares 2 of her favorite new spaces. Hers include conference tables, meeting area, technology and more.

Mrs. Beaver of Blogg'n With Mrs. Beaver let us take a peek into the transformation of her room from start to finish.

We hope that you enjoyed the tour!

Great Post for School Librarians

As a new school librarian, I have been reading blogs a bit differently. I LOVED this post at BookMoot about hopes for the School Library. This is the way I think. I need the big picture. What am I shooting for in the school library. She captured my hopes and I will keep this close by throughout the fall months to remind myself of the big picture of the school library. Such great thinking!

TRADING (our favorite) SPACES: My New Space

I have spent the last few weeks getting my new space ready. Last spring, when they cut my job as a Curricular Support Teacher, I decided to apply for a school library position in our district. I love the classroom but I also loved the idea of working with all K-5 kids in the library. Since the principal's vision for the library was exactly what I wanted, I applied for the job and got it. So, for the last few weeks, I have been playing around with the space.

It is nice to move into a totally new space once in a while--it is like moving into a new house. I found myself having things that I needed to change right away and things that I might do down the road. My big goal this year was to create lots of spaces for books on display--places where kids could see lots books they might not know, touch lots of books and read them in a comfortable space. Here is what I've done so far.



This used to be a space that housed teacher resources. Because it was a place that you saw when you entered the library, I rearranged a bit so that I could use this space for books and a comfy reading spot. For now, I have lots of books on display. As the year begins, I can see this space housing baskets of books by authors we've discussed, new books, etc. I can see kids spreading out here to look at favorite books, read with friends, preview new books, etc.



I added a small coffee table near the window in the Everybody Section to give kids another comfortable place to browse books or read books. I can see this table with a basket of books on top--one that changes often.



I had a space like this in my classroom--a space with favorite series book characters. I think that the wall space can start great conversations between kids and I hope that this one invites kids to talk about the series book characters they love. I purchased several small black baskets to house books that were part of a series. This will help kids find the books and think about the characters that they might want to read about again and again.



I added a corner space for magazines. Our library gets several great children's magazines subscriptions. As a classroom teacher, I realized that I could use kids' love of magazines to teach lots about nonfiction. The magazines are in their own little spot and kids can find lots of topics to read about.

This coming week will be my first week with kids and I think the library is ready to go! I am excited about spending my days with children and books!

Poetry Friday -- Labor Day

For all the workers who take off their coats and hats and tackle the jobs no one else will do, no one else can do, or that no one thinks can even be accomplished:


It Couldn't Be Done
By Edgar Guest

Somebody said it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing and he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one has ever done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing and he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

(first published in 1914)


The round up this week is at Charlotte's Library.

TRADING (our favorite) SPACES Reminder

We have had several people post favorite spaces in their classrooms and libraries. Earlier this month, we thought it would be fun to collect all of those to share. So, we invited bloggers to share their favorite spaces. We'll compile all of the links in a post on September 1. So, if you haven't had time to take photos and post about your favorite classroom/library space, we'd love to have it for our September 1 round-up!

Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears

Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears
by Emily Gravett
Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
On shelves September 9, 2008
Winner of the 2007 Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze Award and
the 2008 Kate Greenaway Medal
review copy provided by the publisher


What's it with book characters taking the pencil (or the red marker) and revising the author's work?!? Chester messes with Mélanie Watt's writing, and now Little Mouse is messing with Emily Gravett's -- writing and drawing on the pages, chewing on the pages, and more.

Ms. Gravett has created a perfectly good self-help book for those who have fears and phobias. It is intended to be a sort of workbook for the phobic to face his/her fears with writing, drawing and collage. And Little Mouse takes her up on this.

I know we shouldn't laugh at others' fears, but this is a really funny book. Little Mouse's fears have literary references (Three Blind Mice and Hickory Dickory Dock), have real (Acrophobia) and imaginary (Whereamiophobia) names, and are so problematic to Little Mouse that his red pencil is a mere stump by the end of the book.

There are flaps, die-cuts, "chewed" edges of pages, "folded" page corners, and a VERY funny fold-out map of The Isle of Fright to keep the reader poring over the pages of this book. Every time you read it, you'll find a detail you had missed before.

I'm not sure this would be a therapeutic book for anyone with bonafide phobias, but the rest of us who have our share of fears and worries will completely empathize with Little Mouse, and in the end, with Emily Gravett.


Shelf Elf reviewed Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears last October. She must have gotten ahold of a British copy.
Visit Emily Gravett's website, where there's an activity for making your own collage of your fears, and a couple of page shots to give you a feel for the unique illustrations.

New Series Book Character-AMY HODGEPODGE

I like to keep up on new series books that are available for transitional readers. I just finished AMY HODGEPODGE ALL MIXED UP. It is the first in this series. Amy Hodge has been home schooled up until now. But now she wants to go to school and be part of all the things that school brings. But the first few days are a little tough for Amy until she makes a great group of friends. Lots is tackled in this book--feeling new at school, the "mean girls", fitting in,etc.

One of the things that I really like about this series is that Amy's family is multiracial. Amy is part Asian, part Caucasian and part African-American. I am finding that it is often hard for kids to find themselves and their families in the books they read. Especially children who are mixed race. Amy Hodgepodge and the friends that she makes at her new school help to fill this gap in children's books--especially those for transitional readers.

I was stunned to see some statistics in a blog post titled "Why Are Children's Books Still So White" about books that featured African American, Latino, and American Indian characters. The numbers are unsettling.

I liked reading about Amy and her troubles at her new school. She is a likable character and the series is perfect for the age group that it is intended for. I am excited to add this series to our shelves and look forward to more books about Amy Hodge.

Chester's Back!

Chester's Back!
by Mélanie Watt
Kids Can Press
September, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher

Mélanie Watt does her best to give us a new book starring Chester, the gigantic tortoiseshell cat with the equally gigantic attitude. But he's got his red marker in high gear and he hardly lets her get a word in edgewise. In the end, he lets down his guard and Mélanie gives him exactly what he asked for. Exactly. To his great dismay.

Both Chester and Chester's Back would make a great books for reader's theater for two voices. I get to be Chester, okay?

AMELIA MAKES A MOVIE by David Milgrim

As a kid who put on plays for my parents almost daily (painful for them, I am quite sure), AMELIA MAKES A MOVIE is quite fun! This new picture book is all about Amelia and her process of making a movie. She goes through the whole thing--script, lights, building a set, etc. It is quite exciting to watch the movie unfold with surprises along the way.

I love that this book takes into account the fact that kids have the capabilities of producing a movie on their own. The video camera and computer for editing are all a part of the illustrations and these kids are quite confident with all of the things needed to pull together a movie.

I also love the illustrations. Lots of talking bubbles, good colors, a graphic type look. The characters are quite likable--as are the pets who help out quite a bit:-)

A great book for all ages. I can see kids reading this one for fun, as a model for how-to nonfiction writing, and I can see teachers adding it to collections of books that help kids see a variety of purposes for writing.

Thinking about everything out there on 21st Century Literacies, this is a great book to show how the tools of the 21st Century just add to the same great thinking process of those who create!

New KELLY GALLAGHER website

For those of you who are Kelly Gallagher fans, he has a new website that is up and running this week. Included on this site is a list of books that Kelly's staff is reading as part of their book club as well as an "Article of the Week" feature that Kelly uses. The site just became live so checking back often for new stuff will probably be worth it.

For those of you who are not familiar with Kelly Gallagher and his work, his expertise is mostly middle school/high school literacy. As an upper elementary teacher, I have always learned so much from his books and workshops. He has written professional books such as READING REASONS, DEEPER READING, and TEACHING ADOLESCENT WRITERS.

On a related note, Kelly Gallagher will be doing a workshop in Columbus as part of the professional development provided by The Literacy Connection. He will be here for that workshop on Saturday, October 11.

Imaginary Menagerie

Imaginary Menagerie: A Book of Curious Creatures
by Julie Larios
illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Harcourt, 2008
review copy provided by the publisher



You've seen this book around the Kidlitosphere:

7-Imp kicked off poetry month last April with it; at Big A little a, Kelly reviewed it for Poetry Friday, as did Charlotte, at Charlotte's Library, although her focus was a little more on the art; and Harcourt has a teaching guide that includes a coloring/activity sheet. (There may be more. If my blog search missed you, let me know!)

I'm sharing it again because I want to make sure it didn't slip off your radar.

Fourteen mythological creatures each get their own poem and a gorgeous, luminous illustration: dragon, mermaid, firebird, centaur, troll, cockatrice, hobgoblin, sea serpent, thunderbird, sphinx, will o' the wisp, gargoyle, naga, and phoenix. (Go to 7-Imp and Charlotte's Library -- links above -- to get a feel for these amazing illustrations.)

The book includes a table of contents, a little more information about each creature (including culture of origin, where possible), and some of the most gorgeous endpapers ever.

Are your students reading fantasy? They need this book! Are you studying mythology? Include this book! Poetry Friday, poetry unit, poetry month: gotta have this book!

Poetry Friday -- Bees

Substitute oregano for morning glories and this could be a poem about my garden. I let the oregano in my raised beds go wild this summer and it has bloomed nonstop. It has not spent a minute of the summer without a swarm of these "pirates" in "pantaloons heavy with gold and sunlight."


Bees and Morning Glories
by John Ciardi

Morning glories, pale as a mist drying,
fade from the heat of the day, but already
hunchback bees in pirate pants and with peg-leg
hooks have found and are boarding them.

This could do for the sack of the imaginary
fleet. The raiders loot the galleons even as they
one by one vanish and leave still real
only what has been snatched out of the spell.

I’ve never seen bees more purposeful except
when the hive is threatened. They know
the good of it must be grabbed and hauled
before the whole feast wisps off.

They swarm in light and, fast, dive in,
then drone out, slow, their pantaloons heavy
with gold and sunlight.


(the rest is here)

Today's round up is at Read. Imagine. Talk.

The Start of School

It's getting a little crazy here in Back-to-School Land. Times like this, the best we can do is point you to the writing of others. Bud Hunt, at Bud the Teacher, has a great post that every teacher needs to read, whether this is your first year or your 25th year (*finger pointing at self*): An Open Letter To Teachers, by Bud the Teacher. Here are a couple of my favorite parts:

Be humble, but fight like crazy for your students. (Did this today. Proud of self.)

You’ll have nervous days and scared days and failure days. But you’ll also have “yes” days. Write about, reflect upon, and learn from all of them, but build a special place to keep a record of the “yes” ones. Return to it when you need a boost on some of the not-so-good days.

I wish you well. I ask you to be brave and humble and kind and tenacious and wise and caring and gentle and fierce. We so need you to do well. And there are lots of folks out there who want to help. Do good stuff.

JBlack at Transitioning to Web 2.0 made a Wordle poster of Bud's main points. Very cool. Words to live and teach by.

PAPER TOWNS by John Green

As most people who read the blog know, I don't read or review many Young Adult novels. (Actually, I am not going to actually review this book. Just tell you all that I think everyone should read it. As soon as it comes out.) I love YA but really don't have time to read many. With reading the K-6 stuff for work and the professional things I read and the adult books I read, YA comes as a last priority. Unfortunate, but true. Not because I don't love YA, but because there are so many books and so little time. So, I have to be very, very picky about the ones I do read. I read the classics. The books that you feel like you can't live without.

So, I can't tell you how happy I am that I made time to read PAPER TOWNS by John Green. As a non-YA reader, I would recommend it to everyone--whether you are a YA reader or not. It definitely deserves to be at the top of your next read stack. Like I said, I read the classic YA stuff. Love Chris Crutcher, Sherman Alexie, etc.

PAPER TOWNS is a great story and I won't go into the plot. Other reviewers have done that here, and here and here. I do have to say, for me, reading is all about the characters. And, these characters, Margo Roth Spiegelman, Quentin Jacobsen, Ben, Radar, Lacey. These characters will stay with me for a very, very long time. After reading the book, I feel like we've spent a lot of time together. Green is a master at creating believable characters that you come to know and love.

The cover is pretty amazing. Actually, the TWO covers are pretty amazing. John Green talks about the two covers here. Or you may prefer to hear him talk about the covers in Video Blog form. You can also hear John Green read an excerpt from his book here. And again here.

To remind yourself exactly how many days, hours and minutes you have before you can actually go out and BUY this new amazing book, you can visit the Paper Towns Countdown Widget. That John Green makes things fun and easy for his fans, don't you think?

And here is the even better news! John Green will be visiting COVER TO COVER Bookstore in Columbus!!! He will be there on October 20th at 5ish. So, you will have plenty of time between the day it comes out (October 16) and the day he visits to read the book because it will only take you a day or two because you won't be able to put it down.

GOODNIGHT GOON: A PETRIFYING PARODY

I was quite happy when I saw GOODNIGHT GOON: A PETRIFYING PARODY by Michael Rex at Cover to Cover today. GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown is a classic. A must have. And I do appreciate a good creative version of a favorite book. This one is perfect!

GOODNIGHT GOON is filled with monsters and Martians and mummies and more. I love how perfectly the author imitated each page of the original book in this version. As in the classic version, this makes for a great read aloud.

The illustrations are quite fun. Quite monster-like but not too scary for young readers. The colors make it a bit eerie but the smiling faces help to keep it more amusing than scary.

My favorite part is the Martians. It starts out
In a cold gray tomb
There was a gravestone
And a black lagoon
And a picture of---

Martians taking over the moon


How smart is that! Too fun!
I can see this book in all classrooms K-5. Younger students will just love a new version of this familiar classic. I can see older kids attempting to play with their own versions. And, of course, this is out in plenty of time for the Halloween season.

Poetry Friday -- Count Ten

Count Ten

by Arnold Wesker

(for Harold Pinter)

Count ten. Then

Count ten again.

That way is time measured

Death denied.

Each measures time

His own way - coffee breaks

Rejections, installments

On the car.

Count blessings. Then

Count them again.

(the rest is here)

Tomorrow I am celebrating 10 years since the end of treatments for breast cancer. I am counting blessings; counting ten. Then I will count ten again. And again and again and again...with hope, and luck, and confidence, and courage, and prayers/pleas to the universe, and surrounded by good friends and loving family no matter what the next ten bring.

Poetry Friday round up is at Big A little a this week.

KISS! KISS! YUCK! YUCK!

I found this fun new book by Kyle Mewburn today--KISS! KISS! YUCK! YUCK!. This book was published in New Zealand where it won some good awards. It is just now being released in the US by Peachtree Publishers.
I am not so good at buying funny books. But this one amused me so I thought I'd add it to my collection. I think it was the art that was the decision maker. It is a bit graphic/cartoony. You can't not love the characters in these illustrations!

Andy's Aunt Elsie always comes to visit and greets Andy with kisses which he hates! (Thus the YUCK! YUCK!) He tries to hide but Antie Elsie is very smart and she finds ways to lure him out of his hiding places so that she can kiss him. But then Auntie Elsie can't come to visit for a few weeks and Andy finds that he actually misses those kisses!

I think this book would be a fun read aloud. It is predictable and kids can join into the "Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!" part of the book. The font and text set-up would be a bit tricky for brand new readers. But it would be fun for readers who are more comfortable with text. The text is spread out across the page and in some places is diagonal. There are also speech bubbles and various sized fonts. I could see this as a fun read aloud for K-2. I imagine kid would want to hear it again and again--each time I reread it, I find something new to love!

I Should Never Write Summer Goals!

This should make Mary Lee feel better. Let's see.

1. Read Lots--okay, I feel good about that one.
2. Continue Boot Camp and add a walk 3-5 times a week. Ha! It seemed crazy to get up at 4:45 am in order to exercise at 5:30 when it was summer and I could sleep in. With all of my travel, I had to miss a lot and then this month, I figured I only had a few more weeks to sleep in. So, back to daily boot camp next week when school starts. It is interesting...when you've lived your entire life on the cycle of the school year calendar, it is harder to change than you would think. Getting up at 4:45 am in the summer will have to take a bit more of a commitment. Maybe next year.
3. Learn a few new recipes. If you count fruit dip, then I did this, but I was hoping for some new meals which I haven't gotten to.
4. Drink more water. Hmmm. I drank a bit more on some days but not consistently....

So, there will be no more summer goals. I see a clear pattern here. I don't meet the goals. So, I am not having a list of summer goals again. It seems quite silly when I look at my history of accomplishing them....

Summer Goals Revisited

Sigh.

This isn't going to be pretty. Here are the summer goals I set in June:

1. In an attempt to slow summer down and savor every minute, I vow to make fewer lists. (Ignore the fact that this is a list, please.)
2. I will exercise EVERY morning and walk EVERY morning that it's not raining. EVERY. (Embedded in this one is a daily glance at the ceiling to say, "Thanks for another day above ground.")
3. I will write in my writer's notebook EVERY day. (Embedded in this one is a close attention to what's right in front of me, reminiscing about what's behind, and anticipation for what lies ahead.)
4. Make multi-tasking an endangered species in my life. Focus. On. One. Thing. At. A. Time. Be a better listener.

Here's what I did first thing this morning:

1. Made lists -- not one, but TWO!
2. Gave myself permission not to exercise and walk. (It's not raining.)
3. Moved my writer's notebook to the other end of the kitchen table.
4. Stopped working on an enormous pile of Notables so I could write this post.

Sigh.

How did summer goals go for you? Anyone else want to come clean on their complete failures or stunning successes? (or anything in between)

Franki's goals are here. The round-up of goal-setters is here. Let us know if you post on your outcomes and we'll round those up as well.

***********

Edited to add: Karen at Literate Lives gives herself a 50% success rate. Yay, Karen!

Megan at Read, Read, Read got 4 out of 5 for an 80% success rate. Yay, Megan!
Jen W. at Eclectic Reader is feeling good about her goals. Yay, Jen!

Abby, at Authentic Learner got married AND met her goals.  Yay, Abby!

Bill, at Literate Lives met almost all of his goals, and who cares if it was by accident!  (I call that good goal writing!)  Yay, Bill!

Barbara, at Greetings from Nowhere achieved every single one of her goals!  Yay, Barbara!

Cloudscome, at A Wrung Sponge, has checked in with her successes, accompanied, as you might expect, by a gorgeous photo.  Yay, Cloudscome!

Moxy Maxwell is Back!

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-You Notes
by Peggy Gifford, illustrated by Valorie Fisher
published by Schwartz and Wade (Random House)
hits the shelves TODAY, August 12, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher

Moxy has one more day to write her Christmas thank-you notes. If she misses the deadline, her mom won't let her go to Hollywood to visit the father she hasn't seen for three years.

Only Moxy can make not writing thank-you notes so entertaining. Much of the not writing takes place in Ajax's office, and involves Ajax's new copy machine that he got for Christmas, and Ajax's La-Z-Boy chair, and Ajax's carefully organized piles that are everywhere. (Ajax is the "famous children's book writer" who married Moxy and Mark's mom. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Ajax is modeled after J. Patrick Lewis, Peggy Gifford's brother in-law.)

There is also a surprise return appearance by gold spray paint, even though readers of Moxy's experience with her summer reading in Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little might assume that Moxy had learned her lesson about spray paint.

Moxy's mom is again deserving of sainthood in this book, and although it's not clear whether Moxy will ever get her Christmas thank-yous written, she does indeed write the "first real thank-you note of her life."