WINNER of Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It

Okay. I got smart this time. No slips of paper for me! The winner is

Mrs. Jones

Contact us on our blog email, and have fun using this book with your fourth graders!! Again, thanks to ALL for the fun comments and blogiversary wishes!

Winner of Book Love

Using www.random.org, I chose the winner of our Day 3 Giveaway.  The winner of BOOK LOVE is

skanny17

Congrats!  Please contact us through out blog email so we can get your mailing address and get  Book Love to you.  

Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes in the comments. Come back for more great books and 4 more chances to win!

Poetry Friday and Blog Birthday: Giveback-Giveaway #4

Hard to believe that we've been blogging for SEVEN years!

This year we'd like to celebrate by giving back to our readers with a Giveback-Giveaway every day for seven days.

We'll choose a random winner from the comments each day and send them the featured book of the day. The books we've chosen are all new(ish) books that celebrate books and reading. (As we were choosing books, we realized that we need to update our Books About Books and Reading list in the sidebar. Are any of your favorites missing from our list?)

Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate 7 years!

**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**

Blog Birthday Giveback-Giveaway #4 -- FORGIVE ME, I MEANT TO DO IT

This is one of the books that suffered the fate of compromise as the first-round poetry judges for the CYBILS honed our list of finalists. I was THRILLED, then, to see that it was chosen as a Nerdy Poetry Book for 2012.

Our fifth graders ended 2012 by writing business letters. (Side note -- I'm thinking that this genre of letter-writing is headed the way of the dinosaurs. It's not that our students didn't have a lot they wanted to say to companies about their business or their product(s), but the kids really couldn't comprehend why they couldn't just email the company. And when it comes to finding mailing addresses online...it would seem that companies would rather communicate by email as well.)

So. Business letter follow-up. I'm thinking that before we fully immerse ourselves in our next writing project, it will be fun to write some false apologies...and this book will be our mentor text!

Have you seen it? The table of contents is hysterical. Every poem has the same title, after all...

The introduction is about 20 pages in -- one of the many fun surprises in this book.

There are kid-sized literary allusions in many of the poems -- Mother Goose rhymes, fairy tales, etc.

So much to love about this book. Franki reviewed it last March, and now we'd like for one lucky commenter to have a copy of this book for their home library, their classroom library, or to give to a friend who doesn't have it yet. Happy Poetry Friday!

Matt has the roundup today at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme. The shiny new roundup calendar is posted in our sidebar and in the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group calendar. The html code for your very own sidebar calendar is located in the files of the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group. If you'd like me to send you the code by email, drop me a note at mlhahn at earthlink dot net. (Sorry I ran us so close to the wire this time. December almost got away from me. Thanks to all of the roundup volunteers!!)

Blog Birthday: Giveback-Giveaway #3

Hard to believe that we've been blogging for SEVEN years!

This year we'd like to celebrate by giving back to our readers with a Giveback-Giveaway every day for seven days.

We'll choose a random winner from the comments each day and send them the featured book of the day. The books we've chosen are all new(ish) books that celebrate books and reading. (As we were choosing books, we realize that we need to update our Books About Books and Reading list in the sidebar. Are any of your favorites missing from our list?)

Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate 7 years!

**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**

Blog Birthday Giveback-Giveaway #3 -- BOOK LOVE by Penny Kittle

If you are looking for a great new professional book to ground you in good teaching that leads to helping students become lifelong readers, we highly recommend Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Penny Kittle.  This book is an incredible celebration of books and reading and how important it is that we, as teachers, commit to helping every child become a reader.  Although this book is written with adolescent readers in mind, Penny's stories have messages for teachers at all levels.  She spends time telling us stories of reluctant readers who found the right book, she shares routines and strategies that work for her as a teacher. She shares great books. But she also shares the challenges that come with this commitment as a teacher. She knows the struggles we face when grading. She knows that it takes time and energy to build a classroom library that our kids deserve. And she knows that the work of committing to all readers is not always easy work.  The book is centered on being passionate about our readers and our classrooms. It is a powerful read and one that I believe all teachers should read.  Penny has the right message for us in these testing times and she is the perfect person to share it.  Definitely a book that must be added to your professional bookshelf.  This is a book I'll revisit over and over again and one that we are excited to give away!  Comment below for a chance to win this amazing professional read!

WINNER--Giveaway #2

I used the old-school method to draw the winning name for THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE: names on folded strips of paper in a cereal bowl swished and swirled around until I pulled out the lucky one...

ANDREA at *Reading Toward the Stars*!!

Congratulations, Andrea! I'll try getting ahold of you through your blog's email. If that doesn't work, contact us through ours so we can get your mailing address and get Morris Lessmore winging his way to you!

Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes in the comments. Come back for more great books and 5 more chances to win!

Winnner-GIVEAWAY #1

I used random.org to choose a winner for OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK.  Author, Jesse Klausmeier has offered to send an autographed bookplate for the winner's book! Thank you Jessie. Today's wnner is .....

                                    plentyo'moxie

WOOHOOOO!

Please contact us at our blog email ayearofreading@earthlink.net to claim your prize!

Blog Birthday: Giveback-Giveaway #2

Hard to believe that we've been blogging for SEVEN years!

This year we'd like to celebrate by giving back to our readers with a Giveback-Giveaway every day for seven days.

We'll choose a random winner from the comments each day and send them the featured book of the day. The books we've chosen are all new(ish) books that celebrate books and reading. (As we were choosing books, we realize that we need to update our Books About Books and Reading list in the sidebar. Are any of your favorites missing from our list?)

Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate 7 years!

**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**

Blog Birthday Giveback-Giveaway #2 

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce. Franki first discovered the book as an amazing interactive ebook on her iPad. She reviewed it on the blog then.  Today, we will be giving away the hard copy of book.

This is an amazing story of the power of books and we are happy to share it today -- comment for a chance to win!

CYBILS and NERDIES!

Cybils finalists are here:

Poetry -- I was on the panel that helped pick these seven fabulous books of poetry! Also serving: Anastasia/BookTalking, Trisha/The Miss Rumphius Effect, Misti/Kidlitgeek, Carol/Carol's Corner, Irene/Live Your Poem, and Jone/Check it Out

Picture Books
Nonfiction Picture Books
Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books
Book Apps
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Middle Grade and YA Nonfiction
YA Fiction
Middle Grade Fantasy/SciFi
YA Fantasy/SciFi


Nerdies winners are here:

Picture Books
Early Reader/Early Chapter Books
Nonfiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Poetry
Nonfiction
Middle Grade Fiction
YA Fiction

Blog Birthday: Giveback-Giveaway #1

Hard to believe that we've been blogging for SEVEN years!

This year we'd like to celebrate by giving back to our readers with a Giveback-Giveaway every day for seven days.

We'll choose a random winner from the comments each day and send them the featured book of the day. The books we've chosen are all new(ish) books that celebrate books and reading. (As we were choosing books, we realize that we need to update our Books About Books and Reading list in the sidebar. Are any of your favorites missing from our list?)

Thanks for stopping by to help us celebrate 7 years!

**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**~~~**

Blog Birthday Giveback-Giveaway #1 -- OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of Open This Little Book from Chronicle last week.  I was immediately drawn to it and noticed that it was illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Suzy Lee.  The author is Jesse Klausmeier and this is her first picture book.  What a treat it is!

This is a book that reminds me of so many books I love, but one that is unique on its own. It reminds me a little bit of Press Here because I can see kids having the same gleeful reaction to this one as they do to Press Here.  And it is a great one to add to my collection of books about books and reading.

When you open this book, you see that the inside pages are smaller than the cover. They are smaller because they are actually a book inside the book. The surprises every time you turn a page, continue. I can't even explain the design but I recommend you open it up because, as I said, it will make you gleeful :-)

Somehow Jessie Klausmeier and Suzy Lee have told a story about the power of reading and books in the simplest, most joyful way I've seen.  It is a simple, yet powerful message. But the details are far from simple. Even the end pages share a message.  It is a colorful book and the design is as important as any other part of the book.   Every time I open the book to reread it, I notice something I missed before. Like I said, a real treat.

Young children are going to love this one. It is definitely a great gift book because it is one parents and children can enjoy together over and over.  And it is perfect for EVERY the classroom and library. I can't wait to share it with my 4th graders.

There aren't many books that meet the needs of so many readers. The flap inside the book says of this author/illustrator team, "Together they have created a book of startling imagination that is not only an entertaining and interactive read for the very youngest reader, but also a stunning showcase of design that will delight even the most sophisticated book enthusiast." They certainly got that right in my opinion. It is not often that a book can do so many things in such a perfect way.

I love when I read a great book early in the new year. This is already one of my favorite books of 2013 and I am sure it will remain on my list of favorites forever.

Comment below for a chance to win this great new picture book!

December Mosaic and 2012 Photo Projects

Flickr photoset is here if you'd like to see the photos full-sized.

At the beginning of the month, our temperatures were still in the 50s. Almost like the flipping of a switch on Winter Solstice, the temperatures dropped and the snow came. Fun vegetable shots this month -- "Bright Veggies" in my Buddha Bowl at Northstar, a grinning spud spotted at Kroger, and fresh Brussel Sprouts from the Winter Worthington Farmers Market before they were roasted for Christmas dinner.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

Back in January, I gave myself a new focus for my photos:

I'm going to collect photos of numbers and letters (actual and representations). By the end of the year, I'll be able to make my own Alpha-Numeric picture book through the iPhoto store!

I collected about half of the alphabet and all of the numbers 1-13 except 9 and 10. I also discovered that our local Cord Camera is the way to go for all kinds of photography projects: support a local business and don't pay exorbitant shipping fees!

Coming Soon: January

A few years ago, I started a strand on my calendar to alert me to upcoming books. So, I technically have a book release calendar. I hate when I hear about a book weeks or months in advance and then forget about it.  So, this calendar reminds me of those books I am looking forward to.  I add books as I see them and I check the calendar every few weeks looking ahead to what is coming up.  Mr. Schu is far more efficient and organized than I am and  I check his public Book Release Calendar often.  Some of my students have also gotten into the habit of checking Mr. Schu's calendar for upcoming titles.

This year, I thought that every month, I'd share the titles I am most looking forward to in the coming month.  So, today, I thought I'd share the books I am excited about that are being released in January. Here they are!

January 1

Whatever After #2: If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Miynowski is the second in this Whatever After series. I love all things fairy tales-especially middle grade and YA versions of classic tales.  The first book in this series was popular with my 4th graders and I am excited that there is another coming out.  This is a present day story in which two kids somehow get transported to a story and have to solve a problem. This new one is centered around the Cinderella story.

January 2

Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson--I love anything by Kadir Nelson and am excited about this new picture book biography about Nelson Mandela.  I love adding picture book biographies to my collection and I love that Kadir Nelson has done this one! Can't wait to see it!



January 8

I am really excited about The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. I don't allow myself much time to read adult books as I spend so much time reading children's and YA books but I will definitely make time for this book. Tracy Chevalier is one of my very favorite adult authors and this book looks to be another good one. I love that it is set in Ohio too-an added bonus!

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin is one I am interested in because I love this author and this illustrator.  Jen Bryant and Mellissa Sweet are two of my favorites so I can't wait to see them team up on this picture book biography.






January 20

There is one professional book I am looking forward to in January.  Bill Bass and his colleagues have written a book with ISTE called FROM INSPIRATION TO RED CARPET. The book shares the story of a district who hosts a film festival for students.  I am excited to read about the power of video production, the projects that are possible, and more. Definitely one I have been looking forward to that I think will impact my classroom!






January looks to be a great month for books!!

2012 Nerdies: The Poetry Winners

ANNOUNCING THE 2012 POETRY NERDIES

Light Verse,

Incredibly Diverse,

Apologies,

Honey Bees,

Contemplation,

Rumination.

Best six:

Classics

* ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ *

Head on over to the Nerdy Book Club blog for the details!

Bill The Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman

I am always looking for great picture book biographies. I especially like the ones about people who are not famous.  So I was thrilled to find Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman by Marc Tyler Nobleman. I recognized the author from another great picture book biography, BOYS OF STEEL which was quite popular in the library last year.

I am not a huge Batman reader but I do love popular culture and stories of creativity.  I loved this new picture book for so many of reasons and I can't wait to share it with kids.  The book is a good length-not too short and not too long. It is filled with the story of Bill Finger who co-created Batman as an anonymous writer. It is a fascinating story of a man who loved to create. Even more fascinating is the Author's Note in the back that gives even more information about Bill Finger and the research involved in publishing this book--the only book EVER that focuses on him.

I am excited to share this book with kids for lots of reasons. First of all, it is a great story and with so many comics/graphic novels fans, I am sure I will have kids who will be instantly interested in the topic. But it is also the story of writing and creating--how and where ideas come from and how storytelling is often collaborative.  The story is also a great example of someone who made a big difference in the world even though he was not famous. I worry about fame and our typical use of biographies. I want my students to know that there are many ways that people make the world a better place and you don't have to be famous to make a difference. And finally, the research involved in finding the story of Bill Finger life and the outcome of the research is worth sharing with students.  Research isn't so easy and it certainly is not the book research that kids often think of when we say the word research. Nobleman makes much of his research process public and that will be great for kids.

I totally enjoyed this book for lots of reasons. One of my favorite nonfiction books of the year for sure!

Poetry Friday: Il Tempo Corre

CLOCK
by Linda Pastan


Sometimes it really upsets me—
the way the clock's hands keep moving,

even when I'm just sitting here
not doing anything at all,

not even thinking about anything
except, right now, about that clock

and how it can't keep its hands still.

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

We play against it, set records based on it, get hit in the head with it, try to stop it or run it out, watch it...and its hands just keep moving.

clock ¹ |kläk|
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch klocke, based on medieval Latin clocca ‘bell.’ 

noun
a mechanical or electrical device for measuring time, indicating hours, minutes, and sometimes seconds, typically by hands on a round dial or by displayed figures.
• (the clock) time taken as a factor in an activity, esp. in competitive sports: they play against the clock | her life is ruled by the clock.
• informal a measuring device resembling a clock for recording things other than time, such as a speedometer, taximeter, or odometer.

verb [ with obj. ]
1 attain or register (a specified time, distance, or speed): Thomas has clocked up forty years service | [ no obj. ] : the book clocks in at 989 pages.
• achieve (a victory): he clocked up his first win of the year.
• record as attaining a specified time or rate: the tower operators clocked a gust of 185 mph.
2 informal hit (someone), esp. on the head: someone clocked him for no good reason.

PHRASES
around (or round ) the clock all day and all night: working around the clock.
run out the clock Sports deliberately use as much time as possible in order to preserve one's own team's advantage: facing a tie, he decided to run out the clock in the final moments.
stop the clock allow extra time by temporarily ceasing to count the time left before a deadline arrives: he agreed to stop the clock as negotiations continued.
turn (or put ) back the clock return to the past or to a previous way of doing things.
watch the clock (of an employee) be overly strict or zealous about not working more than one's required hours.

PHRASAL VERBS
clock in (or out )(of an employee) punch in (or out).

When the clock chimes 12:00 AM on January 1, 2013, I'll shout out a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and the world. 

In the meantime, sign up for a Jan-June Poetry Friday roundup slot here. 

Carol has today's round up at Carol's Corner. 

An Elizabethan Christmas Greeting from Karen Cushman

We were lucky enough to take part in Karen Cushman's blog tour for Will Sparrow's Road. My student, "Suzy," who is Muslim, read the book and helped to prepare the questions for Ms. Cushman. (see blog tour post here and comment for a chance to win a copy of the book) When we received the following information about Christmas in Elizabethan England, Suzy naturally had questions about Muslims in England at that time. Ms. Cushman graciously sent this addendum to her description of an Elizabethan Christmas:

Alexander Ostuzhev as Othello, 1935

Will Sparrow’s Road takes place in England in 1599, during the reign of Elizabeth I. There were very few if any Muslims in England at that time. Shakespeare was familiar enough with Muslims to include such characters in The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus, and Othello, which featured a Moorish Othello as its title character. It is said these plays were inspired by several Moorish delegations from Morocco to England about 1600.

So now is come our joyful'st feast,
 
Let every man be jolly.
 

Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
 

And every post with holly. 

Though some churls at our mirth repine, 

Round your foreheads garlands twine,
 

Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,
 

And let us all be merry. 
(George Wither—16th c. poet)

 
Imagine a Christmas without a tree, colored lights, Santa Claus, presents, or Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Even without these joys, the Elizabethan Christmas revels were the highpoint of the year. After the sad, solemn, sometimes violent reign of Mary Tudor, Englishmen were ready for gaiety. And Elizabeth, relieved to find herself queen and not martyr, marked her reign with joy, luxury, and extravagance. Her people, starting on Christmas Eve and culminating twelve days later on Twelfth Night, celebrated Christmas with gusto.

Villagers and nobles alike decorated their homes with holly, ivy, yew, bay, laurel--in fact, anything still green. A large log, the Yule log, was brought in and kept burning in the hearth throughout the twelve days of the holiday.

Someone would be chosen as “The Lord of Misrule” and would be in charge of organizing the entertainment and revelry for the Twelve Days of Christmas. There would be dancing and play-acting and the singing of carols. Groups of girls and boys would go round their village or neighborhood with an empty drinking cup, begging for each house to fill it with spiced ale or cakes or a silver penny. It was bad luck to refuse.

Food was the highlight of the celebration. Turkey had only been introduced into England from the Americas during the reign of Henry VIII and was relatively uncommon. Goose was more traditional. It is said that in 1588 Elizabeth I ordered the entire country to serve goose at their Christmas feast, since it was the first meal she had eaten following England's victory over the Spanish. The very rich might serve peacock—skinned, cooked, and put back into its skin and feathers. The poor, of course, ate whatever they could.

Other goodies included wild boar, minced meat pies, plum porridge, and a Christmas pie of birds' tongues, eggs, sugar, lemon and orange peel, accompanied by a beer brewed especially for the occasion. During the Elizabethan age water was not considered fit to drink. Instead, beer was the staple drink for the majority of people, and it was common for country homes to house their own brewery. Mulled wine might also be served as well as syllabub (spiced milk with rum or wine) and lambswool, made by heating cider, sherry or ale, spices, and apples until the apples exploded into a foamy, white head.

The last night of the Christmas celebrations was January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, which commemorated the coming of the Three Kings. Twelfth Night festivities were often the grandest of the year, filled with balls and parties. A special cake would be baked and given out to members of the family and household. This cake would contain a bean and whoever found it would be pronounced King of the Bean.

Whether or however you celebrate Christmas, I wish you great joy of the season and a splendid new year.

-- Karen Cushman

In case you were wondering...

...this is John F. Kennedy:

Poetry Friday -- Sensing the Solstice

This is the poem I wrote for Diane Mayr for the Winter Poem Swap that Tabatha organized. (click to enlarge)  Tabatha prompted us to

Write a twelve-line poem in which the first word of each line starts with the same letter (e.g. all of your lines start with "A") and the last word of each line starts with the same letter (e.g. all lines end with words that begin with "B").

As you can see, I didn't manage to hit the prompt right on the nose!

Tonight I will celebrate the Solstice with close friends. We will eat Navajo stew and sage bread, and the Kachinas, who left at the Summer Solstice and took light and life with them, will come back bearing gifts and the promise of spring.

Our Solstice Poetry Friday Roundup Hostess is Heidi, at My Juicy Little Universe.

Speaking of Summer Solstice, we need to line up Poetry Friday roundup hosts for the first half of 2013! Leave your choice of Fridays in the comments -- I'll update the calendar on Saturday.

January
4    Matt at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
11  Renee at No Water River
18  Violet at Violet Nesdoly / Poems
25  Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference

February
1    April at Teaching Authors
8    Tara at A Teaching Life
15  Linda at TeacherDance
22  Sheri at Sheri Doyle

March 
1    Julie at The Drift Record
8    Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe
15  Jone at Check it Out
22  Greg at Gotta Book
29  Mary Lee at A Year of Reading

April
5    Robyn at Read, Write, Howl
12  Diane at Random Noodling
19  Irene at Live Your Poem...
26  Laura at Writing the World for Kids

May
3    Liz at Growing Wild
10  Anastasia at Booktalking
17  Ed at Think Kid, Think!
24  Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup
31  Betsy at Teaching Young Writers

June
7    Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
14  Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
21  Carol at Carol's Corner
28  Amy at The Poem Farm

#bookgapchallenge

So, in a conversation on Twitter the other day (started by the Nerdy Book Club post that Katherine Sokolowski and I wrote to help Colby find great YA books-EVEN if there is some kissing...), we all started to share our "book gaps" -those books we kind of avoid reading.  Donalyn Miller challenges us all to think about our book gaps and to make a goal to read more of those. She gave a hashtag to the idea--#bookgapchallenge. I tend to avoid lots of historical fiction.  I am not a fan of the lives of women before recent times--not only because their rights were limited, but because they seem to wear pretty uncomfortable clothes. Oh, I love fairy tales and Philippa Gregory's historical fiction where women are wearing puffy fancy dresses, but the thought of itchy high-collared dresses makes me gag. And I don't like the cold--so those books set in "Little House on the Prairie" times are not my faves (even though I did love Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was younger.)  Anyway, I tend to avoid historical fiction.  BUT, I do read some historical fiction and if the characters are good, I can get past the itchy clothing and the cold weather.

As our #bookgapchallenge conversation continued, I realized that I have several book gaps--not just one. Lots of conversations with Tony Keefer (who agrees with Colby about the kissing books) over the years have reminded me of this. I often go to Tony when looking for adventures and books with action. It isn't that I don't like adventure, but I tend to read books that are character-based.  Plot is secondary to me. Setting means almost nothing.  This need for characters I love, means I don't read many plot-based books. I tend to skip over the action-packed adventures that many of my kids have fallen in love with.

So, Tony Keefer, Katherine Sokolowski and I made a pact.  Katherine and I will read H.I.V.E. by Mark Walden, an action-packed book that Tony chose for us. And Tony will read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, a YA romance that Katherine recommended. (I will read this one too as Katherine highly recommends it and we have very similar tastes in books.)

H.I.V.E. arrived today.  I have been thinking about this book.  I have read other action/adventure books but I usually read them because I feel like I have to. I read them because I know I have kids who will like them and I don't do much beyond getting through them. But I am going to try to approach this one differently--to see if I am missing something in these books that will help me enjoy them more. I have faith in Tony's decision on book title and I am going in with an open mind. I am excited to try something new.

I love this idea of the #bookgapchallenge and I plan to talk to my kids about it. I think to make it work, you need to connect with other readers. I am not the best person to choose an adventure, so I needed to find a reader friend who could recommend one for me.  I want this for my kids--find some books that are different from what you usually read, stretch yourself a bit and see what happens. A great challenge for 2013, I think. What are your book gaps?

Karen Cushman Blog Tour

Will Sparrow's Road
by Karen Cushman
Houghton Mifflin, 2012

Karen Cushman has a gift for bringing the past to life. In her newest book, we travel to Elizabethan England and meet Will Sparrow, self-proclaimed liar and thief, who, in the first chapter of the story, runs away from the innkeeper to whom his father sold him to pay a bartab.

Throughout his journey, Will tries hard not to trust people or become too attached to them, but it is just not in his nature. He falls in with a sort of Elizabethan freak show that travel from fair to fair. The man who "owns" the a midget, the cat-faced girl, and a variety of real and conjured oddities in bottles that fair-goers pay to see, turns out to be the right person to mistrust. But by the end of the book (after the "owner" has been dispatched),

"...Will walked right up to them as if he belonged there. Which, he supposed, he did. Oddities, all of them -- a liar and a thief, a disagreeable little man, and a girl with the face of a cat -- belonging nowhere but with each other."

One of my fifth graders (I'll call her Suzy) read Will Sparrow's Road and shared her thoughts and questions with me.

The character Suzy was most taken with was Grace Wyse, the cat-faced girl. Suzy imagined her as "pretty and brave, but she didn't really trust sometimes." I had wondered as I read whether a modern young reader would be able to visualize from Cushman's descriptions of Grace, a child with the condition (Cushman explains it a bit in the author's notes) hypertrichosis.

Suzy found that visualizing the story was difficult. Everything is so different -- "strange language, weird foods, and no electronics!" This seems to me to be the challenge of historical fiction for young readers. It's a conundrum. They don't have the background knowledge for historical periods that helps to make historical fiction come alive, and yet, historical fiction is often the best way to get a feel for a historical period that helps it to come alive! When my two language arts classes totalled up the number of books they'd read in the first trimester, the genre of historical fiction was a weakness in both classes. We'll be launching a fiction unit after break -- the perfect opportunity to dig into historical fiction!

Suzy and I had these questions for Ms. Cushman:

How do you make another time period come to life for a reader? What kinds of specific details do you look for in your research? 

I like to metaphorically look around a place and see the things my character would notice: clothing, music, houses, food, herbs and trees and birds. I deliberately try to include all five senses—not just what a setting looks like. How does it smell? What sounds might one hear? And how does the character know? Where does he feel it in his body? What does that sound do to his ears? His heart? Does it remind him of something? Somebody? How does that make him feel?

Equally important are attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions of the past. These are harder to identify but critical. People of the past are not just us in different clothing. There are very real differences in what we believe, value, and think true.


Was there a journey story that inspired you as a young reader? 
No, not as a young reader but as a 22-year old, in a children’s literature class, I discovered Dawn Wind by the British historical novelist Rosemary Sutcliff. This journey story is set from the last stand of the Romans in Britain through invasion and settlement of the Saxons. It was a very different time and place from my own but drew me in with its gorgeous prose and characters I could relate to. I saw how good historical fiction transcends the difficulties of language, place, and time.


What messages or learnings do you hope a modern child takes away from Will Sparrow's Road?

I would like modern children to see the importance of looking beyond appearance and to try to treat everyone as we would like to be treated. I’d also hope they draw encouragement from seeing a boy overcome his bad beginning with pluck and determination. If Will Sparrow can succeed with all his problems, I think we all can.

See our Christmas Eve post for information Karen Cushman sent about Christmas in Elizabethan England.

The publisher was kind enough to provide a copy of Will Sparrow's Road for us to give away. Leave a comment that includes one (or more!) of your favorite books of historical fiction (picture book, chapter book, graphic novel, poetry...you name it) and I will put your name in a hat for a drawing. DEADLINE: Midnight, December 31. Be sure that your comment includes a way for me to find you, in the event that you win! And thanks, in advance, for helping me to plan a fabulous historical fiction unit!

BLOG TOUR THURSDAY:
Tomorrow, check out Random Musings of a Bibliophile for Karen Cushman's next stop.

BLOG TOUR: TUESDAY
If you are interested in why Karen Cushman chose a boy main character for the first time, she has a guest post at GreenBean TeenQueen.

BLOG TOUR: MONDAY
For a fabulously complete author-to-author interview, check out Kirby Larson's Kirby's Lane.

Books I Still Want to Read Before 2013

So, it is time for the annual holiday #bookaday. I am always so excited because early in December I believe that I can get rid of my TBR stack. Then I begin my pile and I realize I'd need to do #bookanhour if I really wanted to make a dent.  And I start to feel overwhelmed about all of the books I will miss.  No question I won't get finished with the books on my stack before some great 2013 books start coming out.  I asked on Twitter to send me titles of great books form the year. I got tons of great titles. I had to cut lots of great ones from my list if  I am serious about TRYING to get to the books on my list.  These are the books that sound like fabulous, not to miss book. I guess I know deep down that I won't get to the whole list, but this is my starting point for my next several weeks of reading.   I narrowed it down to 20 books from 2012 I just don't want to miss.

Young Adult
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle) by Maggie Stiefvater
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
 Endangered by Eliot Schrefer
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Middle Grade
The False Prince: Book 1 of the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
After Eli by Rebecca Rupp
Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ellen Bryan Obed
The Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron
Kepler's Dream by Juliet Bell
The Peculiars by Maureen McQuerry
Keeping Safe the Stars by Sheila O'Connor
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
Chained by Lynne Kelly
The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
Iron Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill

Professional
Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Penny Kittle
Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst

Wise Words for Today

From Kylene Beers:  On Monday

From Angela Maiers: There is No Lesson Plan for Tragedy -- Teachers YOU Know What to Do

A Day (or two) of Silence