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Always, Always Reading Books, Recipes, and Life Kitschy Witch The Herb Gardener

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Nimona

This is the second book that I read for the At Odds section for Books for the Beast. I wasn't sure if I would like it because I usually don't read graphic novels, but I liked it and enjoyed it.

The story features a hero, Sir Goldenloin, and a villain, Lord Blackheart, but as the story progresses the villain looks more like the hero and vice versa. Sir Goldenloin is employed by the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. Lord Blackheart had his arm cut off by Sir Goldenloin in a joust. Later in the story, Lord Blackheart tells Sir Goldenloin, "What if I cut off your arm right now? Then you'd see how fast the institution would cast you aside. Just like they did me." Sir Goldenloin tells Lord Blackheart, "You wouldn't." Lord Blackheart responds with, "No, I wouldn't. And I'm the villain. What do you suppose that says about you?"

Enter Nimona! She's a young girl with bright red hair and announces to Lord Blackheart that she is his sidekick and that the agency sent her. "That makes no sense, why would they send some kid to be my sidekick?" Lord Blackheart asks and then Nimona suddenly turns into a shark! She is a shapeshifter and that is what convinces Lord Blackheart to hire her.

Throughout the story she changes into a wide variety of shapes: dog, bird, cat, rhinoceros, elephant, monkey, boy, and dragon. She tells Lord Blackheart that a witch turned her into a shapeshifter. But at the end of the story, when she turns into a dragon that ravages the kingdom and kills the king, Lord Blackheart finally realizes that she may not be what she seems.

The illustrations in this story were fabulous!

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Farm Animals Story Time!

The first book that I read was Grumpy Goat by Brett Helquist. This story is about a goat who stays to himself and doesn't want to play with the pigs, cow, or sheep. Then one day he discovers a bright yellow dandelion at the top of the hill that reminds of something, but what is it? The children immediately guessed that it was the sun! He takes care of his dandelion every single day, watering it and trimming back the grass. He starts to become friendly with the sheep, the pigs, and the cow. Then one day the unthinkable happens! All of the petals on his dandelion blow away! Grumpy Goat is devastated, but fortunately he and the rest of the animals find a field full of dandelions.
This story wasn't as interactive as most of the stories that I pick, but the children did learn a new vocabulary word - dandelion! Also, I had the children identify the pigs, cow, and sheep and we counted them together. Most of the children were attentive to the story.
The next story that I read was The Cow Said Meow by John Himmelman. The children absolutely loved this story! A cow sees the cat get into the warm snug house when it is raining by saying, "meow." The cow, who is drenched, says "meow" to get into the house and the other animals follow. One by one the pig, chicken, donkey, goat, and duck get into the safe shelter of the house. The children had a lot of fun making animal sounds with me!
The third story that I did was a rhyme that involved the farm animals on popsicle sticks. I held up each animal and asked the children to identify the animal and make the sound that the animal would make. This was a huge hit! I also recited the following rhyme:
I had a little dog
The nicest dog yet;
and that little dog
was my very own pet.
Then the little dog said, "bow-wow, bow-wow!"
I changed the rhyme slightly for each animal.
The credit for the rhyme goes to the Prince George's County Memorial Library system.
The following is a list of alternate titles that I chose, but did not read:
Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri
Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri
Moo! by David LaRochelle

Monday, July 24, 2017

Charlotte and the Quiet Place

Charlotte and the Quiet Place by Deborah Sosin takes us on Charlotte's journey to find a quiet place where she can sit still, relax, and not be bombarded by noise. Charlotte lives in the city and experiences the following: "In the living room, the TV bellows and blares; in the classroom, the bell clangs; in the lunchroom, the trays clatter and clash; on the sidewalk, the jackhammers blast; and on the street, the sirens warble and wail."

Charlotte has trouble finding peace and quiet even in the park! But one day her dog, Otto, chases after a squirrel and pulls the leash out of her hands. Otto leads Charlotte to a quiet secluded grove where Charlotte finds the peace she has been so desperately seeking. Even better, she finds an inner peace and quiet that she takes back with her to her noisy and bustling home.

I was originally going to use this story for my city story time, but it was too long. I think this would be perfect for a one on one read aloud.

Friday, July 21, 2017

Scythe

I've started my reading for Books for the Beast which takes place at the Roland Park School on Saturday, 28. It is sponsored by the Enoch Pratt Library. This event features two discussion groups: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I picked the following two sections to read: At Odds and Sink or Swim. The first book that I read from the At Odds section was Scythe by Neal Shusterman.

In 2042, we have conquered death and "the cloud" evolved into "the Thunderhead" and everything there is to know is stored in "the Thunderhead" an artificial intelligence that is almost all powerful. Disease has been eliminated and if anyone is hurt their nanites will protect them from the pain and heal them. People "turn the corner" that is they change their age to a younger age when they get old. The Age of Mortality has ended. However, one problem still remains - population control. For this reason, scythes are trained to kill people (otherwise know as gleaning) to keep the population under control.

Scythes are expected to abide by 10 laws. Law 2 states that, "Thou shalt kill with no bias, bigotry, or malice aforethought." Law 6 states that, "Thou shalt lead an exemplary life in word and deed, and keep a journal of each and every day."

Citra and Rowan are chosen to be scythe apprentices to Scythe Faraday. They are told that they must give up their emotional bonds to families and friends. After all Law 9 states, "Thou shalt have neither spouse nor spawn." But this proves to become complicated as their friendship becomes stronger and appears to lead to something more.

Citra and Rowan cease to be Scythe Faraday's apprentices when he gleans himself so that neither Citra nor Rowan will have to glean the other when one of them becomes a scythe. But it doesn't work. Citra becomes the apprentice of Scythe Curie. Scythe Curie is a thoughtful moral person who does her best to follow the laws and does her gleaning dutifully. Rowan becomes Scythe Goddard's apprentice. Scythe Goddard gleans for the joy of killing and goes to a Tonist cloister with the intention of killing the Tonist "rabble" and stating that "obliteration is our hallmark."

Not only is this book an entertaining read, but it also raises interesting philosophical questions. If we become immortal would we become bored? If an entity such as the Thunderhead existed, would there be anything left to learn or know? Would we cease striving for anything? And even if we were to create a "perfect utopia" could we overcome the one thing that has always derailed us - the true nature of humanity itself?

I highly recommend this book!

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Fish Story Time!

I started my story time with The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. The children loved the story of the pout-pout fish who pouted at everybody because he has "a pout-pout face" and he has to spread the "dreary wearies" all over the place. His life is changed when another fish gives him a big kiss on the lips. Then he starts smiling and smooching other fishes. The children and I repeated the "blub, blub, bluuub" refrain and all of us enjoyed saying "blub, blub, blummb." This is a good interactive book for story time that illustrates the importance of being kind.

The next book that I read was definitely their favorite - Swallow the Leader by Danna Smith. A small group of colorful bright fish start to follow each other and the children enjoyed counting ten fishes including the shark! The shark starts to swallow all of the fish one by one, so the children and I counted down as well. Fortunately for the fish, the shark burps and all of the fish that he swallowed come right back out! I always enjoy a happy ending for children's books.

The last book I read was Poor Little Guy by Elanna Allen. In this story, a cute tiny yellow fish with glasses is caught by a huge white octopus. The octopus teases him saying things like, "let's play catch of the day!" and "how about a round of fish and chips?" However, the little fish who happens to be a blowfish gets the last laugh when he puffs up in the octopus's mouth. The octopus lets him go.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Monsters Love Colors

I received this book through interlibrary loan today and was so disappointed that I didn't receive it before last Tuesday! It would have been perfect for my colors story time! Well, at least now I know about it for next time.

Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin is a fun and interactive book. Children are first introduced to the blue, red, and yellow monsters - the primary colors. Then the red and yellow monsters mix together to make a orange monster, the yellow and blue monsters mix together to make a green monster, and the red and blue monsters mix together to make a purple monster. At the end of the book, the color monsters get together to make a beautiful rainbow.

When I read this book to the children (my next colors story time), I can't wait for the children and I to roar and snore with the red monster, howl and growl with the yellow monster, and scribble and nibble with the blue monster.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Colors Story Time

For my colors story time, the first book that I read was Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson. I love the Bear series by Karma Wilson and this book did not disappoint! As Bear walks through the woods and greets his friends, he spots the following colors: blue, red, yellow, green, and brown. When I got to the page where a certain color was featured, I asked the children to tell me what color it was. The children loved participating!

My only regret is that the group was too big (25) to point out some of the smaller items on each page and ask the children to identify the color. For example, the blue flowers and blue berries, the red raspberries, birds, flowers, and mushrooms, the yellow flowers, bees, and apples, and the green apples and frog. I think if I had a smaller group (10) pointing out these items and asking the children what colors they are would really enhance the story time experience.

The next book that I read was Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. This is also a great interactive book. Each item in the book was featured in a color that it does not have. For example a lemon is not red, it is yellow. The items that are featured are cut out in a stencil pattern highlight. There were only two things that I didn't like about the book. Some carrots are purple and the moon is silver was too difficult for the kids to guess. I just read it as the moon is gray.

My story time children needed some extra time to "shake their sillies out", so I didn't read a third book. My two possible picks for the third book where Yellow Is My Color Star by Judy Horacek and The Parrot Song by Edouard Manceau.

Yellow Is My Color Star tells the story of a girl explaining that yellow is her favorite color. She mentions the other colors too and there is an illustrated page for each color. Throughout the book, she asks the reader, "Which color do you love the most?" and shows each color as jam that you could put on toast and the colors are illustrated via a queen's gown and crown, frogs, fish, and cars. This is also a good interactive story where you can ask the children what the colors are and also ask them to count the queens, frogs, fish, and cars.

The Parrot Song by Edouard Manceau has a simple catchy text that can also be sung as a song. Different colors are illustrated as rain drops, flowers, and parrots.

Monday, July 10, 2017

The Book of Speculation

I knew as soon as I started reading this book that I was going to enjoy it immensely. Librarians, carnivals, women who swim as mermaids, tarot cards, an old family curse, what's not to like?

The main character in the story, Simon, is a librarian who lives in a house on Long Island that is ready to fall off of a bluff into the sea. The house is literally falling apart around him. He is concerned about his sister, Enola, who seems fragile and not altogether stable. Simon and Enola's mother drowned herself, even though she could hold her breath underwater for ten minutes and she swam as a professional mermaid

Simon receives a mysterious book from Mr. Churchwarry - a book that tells the history of a traveling carnival. Also, he discovers through reading the book that his grandmother, Verona Bonn, died from drowning on July 24th - the exact same date as his mother died. July 24th is coming up soon, and his sister, Enola, keeps getting the same mysterious reading from her tarot cards - could this have anything to do with the family curse?

The book also has a second story in it; the story describes what happens to Simon and Enola's ancestor, Evangeline. The curse starts with her. This story is equally as fascinating as the first as it chronicles the day to day life of a traveling carnival.

My only complaint is that the characters seem more typecast rather than three-dimensional. It is hard to understand some of their motives and why they do the things that they do. But if you can suspend your disbelief, you are in for a wonderful experience with a fascinating tale!

For those of you interested in women who really do swim like mermaids, be sure to check out Weeki Wachee mermaids

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

City Story Time!

I decided to use the theme of cities for my story time. The first book that I read was Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle. This book tells the story of people caught in a thunderstorm in the city. They use the subway as a refuge and a place to stay until the storm stops. Elizabeth mentions that, "The storm above makes friends of strangers. We laugh undercover at thunder and danger." The book ends with the sun coming back out and the display of a beautiful rainbow! This book is a wonderful interaction book! Together, the children and I tapped and boomed. They really got into it!

The second book that I read was City Shapes by Diana Murray. This also an amazing interaction book. The book introduces the concepts of shapes through objects that are commonly found in the city. For example, the stacks of brown packages are squares. The children had a fun time guessing the shapes, although they found some shapes to be difficult to identify, such as ovals and diamonds.
The third and final book that I read was Count on the Subway by Paul Dubois Jacobs and Jennifer Swender. This is also a very interactive book where the children and I counted the turnstiles, singers, empty seats, cars, etc. Unfortunately some children could not see the book. Probably because there were 47 children! This book might best be suited for a smaller story time crowd.