Road to Tater Hill,by Edith M. Hemingway, is about a girl going through a rough time. Her baby sister just died and her mom won’t talk to any one. She thinks wishing is a bad thing, and she believes her wishes made her sister die.

Annie’s wandering around the mountain when she finds a rock shaped like a baby, and  calls it her “rock baby.” She sees a shadow, she decides to follow it but it disappears. Annie becomes good friends with the shadow whose name is Ms. Eliza.

when ever  she tries to talk to her mom about anything, her mom doesn’t she respond.For a while nobody eats or drinks. Annie is scared she’s losing her mom. When she goes to visit the Millers, who are friends with her grandparents, she hopes they don’t know about her baby sister, Mary-Kate. She is in for a big surprise.

I really liked this book because it’s about good, strong friendships no matter if it’s someone older than you or someone younger than you. She does become friends with a murderer her name is Ms. Eliza , who was married and was abused. She threw a metal pot at him, killed him, and spent 30 years in jail.

This is a good book for you if you like to read about strong friendships. Edith M. Hemingway has written a spell-binding book.

Babar, doll and amazing book!

Here is a picture of a few of the toys I mentioned last time! Unfortunately I could find all the toys I mentioned! But here is Babar and my red-headed doll, and an amazing book! A classic I think, The Cat in the Hat.

Do these toys bring back any memories?

Have a great day,

Katherine.

Sounds like the books from October have been received and well loved.  Thanks again to everyone who entered and stay tuned for Christmas give aways. 

Today’s Book Review comes from my local book club last night.  Due to busy holidays we decided to share our favorite picture books and drink hot chocolate.  Really not a bad way to spend the evening.

One of the most fascinating books which was talked about was Graeme Base’s Eleventh Hour.  This is a book with absolutely beautiful illustrations which tells the story of Horace the Elephant who is celebrating his eleventh birthday on the eleventh day of November.  He invites eleven friends to come and play games and have a feast at 11 o’clock.  Are we sensing a theme here?  However the feast is stolen just before eating time and now you need to figure out who did it.  There are plenty of clues through the book and ever illustration includes codes and cryptograms.  The book is absolutely fascinating to look at and try to solve and if you need a little help there is a sealed portion in the back which gives you instructions for where to start looking.

Great for both kids and grownups.  I think it may have to be a Christmas pressie at my house this year.

Genre:  Picture Book

Age: 8+ for reading level, all ages will enjoy the pictures, solving all the clues may be a 12+ or with parental help.

Content: Family friendly

Overall: 5 paws

Jana

Q. Who is she from the world of Literature and why was she in the news off late?

14

Ans.: Enid Blyton, the author of Famous Five and Secret Seven series along with many children books and stories. She was in the news due to BBC’s ban on her works, which dates back to 30 years of her works being branded as second-rate by the Corporation.

Well done Sudha, Anurag, Anubhav, Harsh, Anjana, Aprajita, Priya, Ignoramus Scribbler, Nandini, V.chandrashekar, G86, Rabi, Amit, Aarthi, Malcaluffin, Parijat, Vaidehee and Jaya for answering correctly.

What a delight! Isn’t it wonderful to read a novel that’s just plain fun? It’s becoming rather difficult to find, at least for me. Books seem to want to be more dramatic, life-changing, and BIG. Not that I have anything against that, but it was downright refreshing to read a novel that focuses simply on fun entertainment. Bed-Knob and Broomstick is perfectly enjoyable.

Carey, Charles, and Paul are the Wilson Children. For Summer break they visit a dull aunt in Bedfordshire. It is on this visit that they meet the fascinating Miss Price. (I cannot tell you how much I adored Miss Price). And it is by chance that they discover Miss Price’s highly guarded secret: Miss Price is a witch-in-training. Upon this discovery the children and Miss Price make an agreement: they will never tell anyone of her witchcraft if she gives them something that is magical. Miss Price agrees and places a spell upon a bed-knob–Charles’ bed-knob, to be specific. Carey, Charles and Paul are now able to travel anywhere in the past and anywhere in the present with a simple twist of the knob. It is from the  bed-knob that the adventures abound. They travel to a remote tropical island and must escape from cannibals. They travel to the past and bring company back with them. Miss Price has her hands full with keeping the adventurous children out of trouble and getting them safely out of the trouble they get into. The image of a bed–quilts and sheets included–zooming around the world is just so funny and clever.

I was very  happy while reading Bed-Knob. I never felt that I was getting into something ‘dense’ or ‘heavy’ and that was exactly what made me content–it was what I was looking for. I wanted a break … a book that would be relaxing. I nearly teared-up in the end, but Miss Price (once again) had me grinning on the last page.

Note: This is the novel that inspired the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. They took the general idea by changed everything else. Both in their own distinct ways are very good and entertaining, but not the same.

児童文学は主人公の魅力はもちろんのこと、彼らをとりまく「もの」も魅力の一つと言えるでしょう。例えば、私の子どもの頃は『赤毛のアン』に出てくる「かえで糖」（今でいうメープルシロップ）や「パッチワーク」など、興味をそそられた「もの」でした。

そんな「もの」に着目して、物語へと導くユニークな辞典を見つけました。

その名も『「もの」から読み解く世界児童文学事典』（原書房）です。
楽しそうな事典なのでほしいのですが、う〜ん、ちょっとお財布と相談ですね（苦笑）

Don’t blink. Don’t forget to breathe. 12 BOOKS – 12 MONTHS!
A Hot New Series for 2010 with a new book every month. 

Reserve Your Advance Copy of Book One Today!
Available through Usborne Books & More – November 13, 2009.

Not Available in Stores until 2010

Click here to read the first chapter of Conspiracy 365 – January!

Follow Callum

Follow Conspiracy365

llustrated Dictionary of Science
Series: Illustrated Dictionaries
Author: Oxlade, C.

• Ages: 12 years and up
• Size of book: 6 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches
• Pages: 382

This great study aid has topics arranged thematically so that words are explained in context, with a fully integrated system of cross-referencing plus a comprehensive index.

Earned the Parents’ Choice Recommended Titles Award

There is nothing more enjoyable than making someone laugh, especially if they have one of those infectious laughs or if they are the tough-nut-to-crack type.  The best books, especially pictures books, are those that make me laugh and Mélanie Watt seems to have a gift for laughter.  She not only hits me right in the funny bone, she turns my funny bone into a pulp.  I adore her Scaredy Squirrel series.  The illustrations are perfect for her comical and ridiculous character.  You see Scaredy Squirrel is scared.  But not just any scared, ridiculously scared.  “A few things Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of:  tarantulas, poison ivy, green Martians, killer bees, germs, and sharks.” In all four books, Scaredy Squirrel explains what he is scared of and his action plan if he encounters any “scary” things.  His action plans are always quite ridiculous, but surprisingly well thought out.

From the book Scaredy Squirrel at Night

By the end of the books Scaredy Squirrel always realizes that perhaps, maybe he was being a little bit silly and that there is really nothing to be afraid of after all.  The best part about the books is the interactive storytelling. Mélanie Watt invites readers to think about Scaredy’s reasons for being afraid and discuss what makes being afraid of green Martians silly.  Also, she leaves all kinds of hilarious phrases or moments hidden throughout the book for parents and adults to enjoy.

Check out all these books by Mélanie Watt:
Scaredy Squirrel, Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend, Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach, Scaredy Squirrel at Night, Chester, Chester’s Back, Augustine

Age Group: 4+ (Kids need a bit longer attention span for Scaredy Squirrel books)
Genre: Illustrated Picture Book
Themes: Humor, Bad Dreams, Fear, Friendship
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Reading Level: 3.6

• Ages: 2 years +
• Size of book: 8 x 11 1/4 inches
• Pages: 56

Squirrel has never seen it snow, and this year he is determined not to miss it. He wants his friends to see it too, but it’s hard to stay awake. Finally, winter arrives and snow is falling, or is it?

Squirrel usually sleeps through winter, “but not this year!” The rumpled red squirrel is determined to see snow but waiting gets pretty boring. Fresh air and exercise help, as does the companionship of Hedgehog, with whom he sings sea shanties, and Bear, who helps them look for snow. Meschenmoser’s minimalist text provides just enough support for his laugh-out-loud illustrations, rendered in swift, penciled lines on creamy white space. Squirrel’s red coat provides a spot of color against the autumnal grays and sepias used to sketch out the trees and the other animals. He packs a wealth of expression into each animal’s face without venturing into heavy anthropomorphism. Readers will howl at the animals’ mistaken notions of snow, and they’ll sigh with satisfaction at the just-cozy-enough end. A perfect marriage of words and pictures. Starred review, Kirkus Reviews

“Like furry slapstick comedians, a squirrel, hedgehog and bear make one sweet goof after another as they look for the first snowflake of winter. Told that it will be “white and wet and cold and soft,” they put off hibernating and begin to search. Hedgehog holds up his discovery in triumph: it’s a toothbrush (“Winter will be wonderful,” Hedgehog thinks, as the next page shows the animal delighting in a shower of white toothbrushes against an inky sky). Squirrel is convinced that a tin can is the first snowflake, and Bear appears with an old white sock. Meschenmosher (Learning to Fly) sketches freely on white pages in dark gray and sepia, drawing with casual grace and unerring comic instinct. Squirrel’s reddish hair springs forth frenetically, Hedgehog’s prickles look untidy and sleepy, and Bear’s luxurious fur hangs over his eyebrows, making him look even grumpier. Giggles and guffaws will abound (three whole spreads are devoted to Squirrel and Hedgehog belting out sea shanties to keep themselves awake). The moment when the snow really does begin to fall is worth waiting for, too. A quiet, atmospheric and offbeat treasure.” Starred Review Publishers Weekly, September 21, 2009

“The illustrations are deftly drawn in colored pencils, complete with sketching lines that give the renderings depth and maturity. The addition of broadly stroked hues of azure paint when the snow arrives will startle and delight young readers as it makes the white space of the page really come to life. This is a beautiful title to share with children on a lap or with a small group.” School Library Journal, September, 2009

“This book is perfect.” Curled Up With a Good Kids Book, September, 2009

“It is smart, clever, beautifully illustrated, and downright funny. Each season there is one good ‘snow’ book that comes out for kids. This book should be considered the good snow book of this and any other year. Read it!
Meschenmoser is our man and if ever there was a book of his deserving of our attention it is Waiting for Winter. Touching and funny by turns, this turns out to be not only an idea winter tale, but also a perfect bedtime story too. For any kid who has ever tried to stay awake for an important event, this tale rings true. A must purchase. Can’t talk it up enough.” - A Fuse #8 Production/School and Library Journal

 

 

His characters had names like “Two Horned Drouberhannis,” “Andulovian Grackler,” and “Semi-Normal Green-Lidded Fawn.” Shortly after Seuss created this unique collection of artworks, Look Magazine dubbed Seuss “The World’s Most Eminent Authority on Unheard-Of Animals.” To this day, Seuss’s Unorthodox Collection of Taxidermy remains as some of the finest examples of his inventive and multi-dimensional creativity. (drseussart.com)

Dr. Seuss had the ability to take his mind somewhere else. He could look at something as simple as a beak and allow his mind to flow to places many wish they could visit. His biggest playground and vacations must have been the ones he took by simply shutting his eyes or daydreaming. Needless to say I have always loved Dr. Seuss, his stories, illustrations, and hidden messages. He was one amazing man that understood the power of pairing imaginative creativity with storytelling. A pairing as good as a couple of sunny side up green eggs and a side of ham.

角野栄子さんの代表作『魔女の宅急便』シリーズもついに完結を迎えました。
『魔女の宅急便　それぞれの旅立ち』です。

１３歳のキキが満月の夜に旅立ち、トンボさんの住む街に住んで何年か過ぎて….。
そしてついにトンボさんと結婚し、なんと双子（姉ニニと弟トト）の母親になっていました。その双子も旅たちのお年頃になり…というお話。
あのキキが母親になったなんて、感慨深いものがあります（笑）。

このシリーズに出てくる魔女系の人たちはキキのお母さんコキリをのぞいてはみな、キキ、ケケ、ジジなど、二文字の名前がおもしろいですよね。

キキの人生を描いた『魔女の宅急便』シリーズは世代や時代を超えて読まれる作品になるでしょう。

“No princesses, adventures and spacemen! No fancy pictures and, above all, no pretty fibs! I want to tell true stories about real people, just the way we behave in everyday life.

Mini-dramas on the psychological level. Mischief, missing a friend, being frightened of ghosts, getting into fights, Christmas being over … The sort of thing that any child can recognize.

But, preferably, there should also be something unreal, unexpected!

For in the midst of everyday life we also have: astonishment, terror, a sudden paroxysm of laughter and Eternal Questions. We adults have mostly forgotten that kind of thing, pre-occupied as we are with paying rent, bringing home food and doing our duty: forgotten that life is an incomparable enigma! Full of possibilities. The things we get into! Things we never thought we were capable of! And while wars are fought, computers are invented and people have babies … the seasons of the year are performing their perpetual cycle, over and over again as they have been doing for thousands of years past …

It’s incomprehensible!

Reality is fairytale enough. Each day is new. Children understand this best. It’s we adults who have forgotten. I want to tell stories so that children and adults will be reminded and can laugh and be amazed together.

Children who are charged with reality and with the magic of reality are more amply equipped.

Other decisions can be made, stronger contenders conted and more affectionate spirit can be created – when youngsters one day become the people in power. Or “simply” parents … “

Gunilla Bergström Auther to the books about Alfie Atkins / Alfons Åberg

Everyone studying math needs this book, and it is an essential study guide when preparing for exams. Over 500 definitions of all the key terms and concepts. More than 300 useful illustrations and diagrams. Over 100 worked examples. Comprehensive cross-referencing and detailed index. Internet links to recommended websites

Not just audio books, but epic audio adventures!

Audventures are new and epic audio stories or audio books with cinematic sound scapes, exciting music, fantastic sound effects and some great fun characters. Predominantly aimed at kids but listened to by all ages Audventures have taken the production every bit as seriously as the story itself and have pushed audio books that little bit further on in terms of making almost short movies in audio format as opposed to the flat, straight reads that we so often download. Here’s the exciting bit…

…The writer and producer of these stories has added a new twist on getting some kind of following. When Audventures were first taken to the market they were sold as a completely bespoke package; you place an order for a story starring your child, his or her friends, pets etc and the story would be totally tailored to that individual – the kids absolutely loved them and they would be fantastic in car entertainment, bedtime stories and so on (can you imagine hearing yourself play the lead role in a Gladiator style action adventure as a kid?!). These proved costly however due to the time it took to personalise each story. Ross Lewis, the creator of Audventures has just released a collection of four Audventures called Audventures: Classic Collection but plans on many many more (Animal Collection, Action Collection, Sports Collection, Fairytale Collection etc etc) and has found a way to keep that personalisation element,

Written, voiced and produced by Ross Lewis

“In order to gain a bit of a following I have decided that when I write future stories I will tweet on Twitter with a bit of a plot idea and whoever comes back to me quickly with “Charlie loves the sea” or “My Zach is very fond of animals could he be in this one” or whatever, then I will write them into the story – I then have a star of my story, someone gets a personalised story and anyone can download and enjoy it !”

Click here to follow Audventures or search Audventures on Twitter.

Audventures have released the first in the series Audventures: Classic Collection and you can download the collection of four audiobooks here and you get:

The first release is a collection of four Audventures in one bundle.

1. Samuel & The Pirates… Samuel and his Brother accidentally stow away on a pirate ship and find themselves in the centre of a desperate hunt for treasure!

2. Princess Ella… Our heroine gets lost in a forest only to find that she is mistaken as the Fairy Princess by a little man who leads her into a magical world full of fairies, goblins and giants only to be crowned the Queen of the Fairies!

3. Maisy The Amazing Cowgirl… It’s down to Maisy to cross the desert at the dead of night to get her horse back from Big Bad Bob, but is she brave enough to deal with what stands in her path?!

4. Alfie’s Brigade… Alfie and his crew of fireman get a call up from head quarters to pilot the brigade’s first ever Fire Jet!!!

So, if your kids names feature in the above list then you already have a tailor made audio book for your child. What are you waiting for? Take a listen to a quick demo here, your kids will love them whether their names feature or not!

バーバラ・スレイの『カーボネル』の日本語版が岩波少年文庫から出ました。
といっても復刻版といううわさもありますが…。

『カーボネル』はシリーズとして３話ほどあるようですが、今回出ているのは『黒猫の王子カーボネル（Carbonel: The Prince of Cats)』です。

ちょっと翻訳が「ひょろ高い」とか「ペンキがはげちょろけ」など、今はあまり使わない言葉が気になりましたが、お話の雰囲気を壊すほどではないのでご愛嬌といったところでしょうか。

大人の方なら原作の英語版を読まれた方がいいかもしれません。

Telah hadir di Grace OnlineStore produk buku-buku anak-anak dari Scholastic-Grolier. Buku-buku ini dirancang dengan menarik dan disusun sedemikian rupa sehingga meningkatkan minat baca dan pengetahuan anak-anak Anda…

read more: Buku Anak

Little Explorer - Counting

Science Experiments

I Wonder Why

Goodnight Moon

This is a wonderful book that should be a part of a child’s nightly reading ritual.  This book helped me est my son into a ritual of these are the things we do before bed and the last thing is Goodnight Moon and then prayer.

The boy in the story says goodnight to everything, everyone and every inanimate object in his room and when he finishes saying good night to everything he then goes to sleep.  The pages are colorfully and the words are small and easy for your little ones to say.

It’s a book that every child should have in their collection.