The New York Review’s collection is a beautiful selection of titles. Really nice gifts for children, grown-ups, or yourself.

Reading all weekend, happy :)

— nancy

…with my students and at our house:

…plus some titles I’m planning to read them next week!

happy reading, y’all.

— nancy

Here’s what I’m reading this week:

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Talk about the opening of your favourite book.

“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. They left the house at half past nine… The smallest one was Madeline…” — “Madeline,” Ludwig Bemelmans

“A Child’s Calendar” is a book of poetry by John Updike, with illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman (Scholastic, unpaged, all ages). I use this book when I teach, and it’s just always what the students and I need on those days. You know the ones. When nothing is running on time, when plans go askew, when we don’t know exactly what it is we need or want. I recommend getting a copy of this for your home library and paging through it when you need to.

November

Give thanks: we do
Each in his place
Around the table
During grace.

“Nighttime Ninja” is a new release from Barbara DaCosta, with art by Ed Young (Little, Brown, 2012, $16.99, 32 pages, ages 3-6). Wacky Boy likes this one and says: “It doesn’t have any really big sentences, so that’s good for the younger readers. The illustrator was really creative with the collage art.” The illustrations were done in cut paper, textured cloth, string and colored pencil.

This is DaCosta’s first children’s picture book. The story is sweet and engaging. Young, who was born and raised in China, moved to America as a young adult, in order to pursue his art. Success! He has illustrated more than eighty books for kids. “The House Baba Built” is about his childhood in Shanghai. He is a Caldecott medalist (for “Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China”) and also wrote “The Emperor and the Kite.” My favorite work by Young is “Seven Blind Mice.” He has been the U.S. nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award on two occasions, and has received a number of other award and honors for his work.

Jane Yolen’s latest work is “Waking Dragons,” which was illustrated by Derek Anderson (Simon & Schuster, 2012, $16.99, 32 pages, ages 4-8). Another hit with my son, who says: “It also doesn’t have any big sentences, so it’s good for the younger kids. The drawings are really good.”

I’m a fan of Yolen’s — everything she’s ever done, basically, as I’ve written here before. How many writers can you say that about? Her dinosaur series (“How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You,” “How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight,” and others)? Just perfect. Her newest is just as fun as the others.

“Don’t forget
to
wake the dragons
before school.
Love,
Mom”

the book begins, and you know you’re going to enjoy going along for the ride. Derek Anderson (who also illustrated the “Little Quack” series) did a lovely job on the paintings. They’re whimsical and won’t scare the littles.

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

i swiped all of these from Oprah’s magazine. usually when i find a “must read!” book list, one or maybe two titles appeal to me. but everything on this list sounds good… holiday reading, coming up…

xo

wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

Do you think that newt likes to read? Perhaps… Also, doesn’t it look like he’s on a bed of caviar? What a trip.

When I say we are backlogged on book reviews, what I mean is: I can’t find my desk. Cuz it’s buried under a load of books, that’s why. Also, I’m back to teaching, after a long break spent writing and avoiding responsibility. My new students and I have been reading some old and new favorites. I’d like to give “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” a shout-out here because Dr. Seuss, you’ve never let us down. Thank you.

“This one has a little star/this one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are.”

We’re kind of enamored of “Press Here,” by Herve Tullet (ChronicleKids, 2011, unpaged, $15.99). It’s a picture book, but don’t let that fool you. It’s a game, a work of art, and would be a really fun read-aloud for a class. Blue, red and yellow dots dance across the page. Press here. Tap on the blue. Tilt the page and see what happens. Love. This. Book.

“Zephyr Takes Flight” was written and illustrated by Steve Light (Candlewick Press, 2012, unpaged, $16.99.) Oh, Zephyr, you have a great imagination, little girl. She likes her airplanes and flying machines — making them, building them, and flying off, like Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace in “Peanuts.” The book is beautifully drawn in pen and ink, with added pastels and colored pencil.

Wacky Boy says: “This is a good one for ages 5-10. It’s a really creative book. I liked all of the different kinds of flying machines they had.” (And wait for the surprise, once Zephyr discovers the inhabitants of the wild blue yonder.)

“The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists: The Coolest Experiments and Projects for Science Fairs and Family Fun” is by Ken Denmead, a husband and father from the Bay area who also works as a civil engineer. (Gotham Books, 2011, 231 pages, $18.00.) He wrote “Geek Dad” and “The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun,” too. He lost us at the first chapter: “Extracting Your Own DNA.” Sorry, but I guess I’m just not geeky enough. Wacky Boy is 10 now (5th grade) and is Junior Science geek, but this book was a little beyond us. (Middle school/high school level, perhaps?)

Have a great weekend, y’all.

Wacky Family

Reading this week:

And for NaBloPoMo:

Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Talk about the last compliment you received.

“You are a good teacher.” — one of my students

(happy, happy, thank you!)

See a theme? The theme is: All of these books are hilarious and funny. Serious and intense, too, but mostly? Funny.

xo,

wm