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Sneak Peek At J.K. Rowling’s Annotated ‘Philosopher’s Stone’

Josephine Mangani — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:35:25 +0000

Earlier this month it was announced that J.K. Rowling was placing a first edition annotated copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone up for auction.

New photos of the book released today depict some amazing notes written by the author within her debut novel.

The Guardian shared three pages from inside this extremely rare charity item. In addition to the new notes, we also see a sketch of baby Harry in his carriage sitting out front Number Four Privet Drive.

Above each photo is a typed version of what Rowling wrote on the pages, for easier reading.

One particular interesting item within these notes: Hufflepuff’s original house animal was a bear, not a badger. Rowling suggests in the notes that fans would’ve had more respect for Hufflepuff had she kept their animal a bear.

Title page [beneath title] ‘changed my life forever.’

Title page ‘No shield here – crest. I mean all that came in the later editions. This one’s a bit wonky but you get the idea. Perhaps Hufflepuff house would have the respect it deserves from the fans if I’d stayed with my original idea of a bear to represent it?’

p.18 [beneath drawing] ‘Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking.’

p.133 [beneath 'Quidditch'] ‘-was invented in a small hotel in Manchester after a row with my then boyfriend. I had been pondering the things that hold a society together, cause it to congregate and signify its particular character and knew I needed a sport. It infuriates men, in my experience (why is the Snitch so valuable etc.), which is quite satisfying given my state of mind when I invented it.’

Sotheby’s is auctioning off this one-of-a-kind Philosopher’s Stone to raise money for English PEN, who “campaign to defend writers and readers in the UK and around the world whose human right to freedom of expression is at risk.”

This Philosopher’s Stone first edition includes 1,100 handwritten notes and 22 illustrations by Rowling herself. Thanks to The Guardian.

Wish I could bid on it! I expect the auction will exceed 100,000 pounds at the least! (If you have that kind of spare change, please, win this auction and then share the book with the rest of the world!)

Duck, by Randy Cecil

Dagmar — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:23:26 +0000

I have to admit that I choke up whenever I read Duck by Randy Cecil. This book tells the story of a carousel animal, a duck, that dreams of flying like other ducks.

One day, a small lost duckling walks up to Duck, thinking Duck is his mother. Duck takes the duckling under her wing and raises her. They laugh, plan and dream together. Duckling is growing up, and soon, Duck realizes that she will have to teach Duckling to fly. After trying everything she knows how to do, Duck finally straps Duckling to her back with her scarf. When they see ducks flying by, they jump off a hill, and Duckling flaps his wings. Duck realizes that she is weighing Duckling down. She loosens her scarf and falls to the ground, watching Duckling fly away with the other ducks.

The winter passes sadly for Duck. When spring comes, she no longer looks at the ducks flying, because flying took Duckling away from her. Then, she spots Duckling out of the corner of her eye. Duckling has returned. They laugh and play until Duckling takes duck onto his back and helps her to fly.

This is honestly such a sweet and touching book. Randy Cecil’s drawings are fantastic and my young audiences love it.

Owl Bookshop

Emily — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:01:09 +0000

Owl Bookshop, 207-209 Kentish Town Road, London, NW5 2JU

Last week I got myself very lost in Kentish Town, looking for Walden Books. Fortunately, most good stories get started when the heroine stumbles off the path. As I wandered up Kentish Town Road, growing more and more certain that I had gone too far, I became aware of golden light glowing out from the windows of this beautiful green shopfront.

The first thing I noticed about the Owl Bookshop is how ‘local’ it is; sitting on the high street, it is an integral part of the community. It’s the kind of place that probably has regulars. It’s the kind of place where a child can grow up, returning every week like a ritual, just like I did in another local bookshop far far away. The little chairs scattered around the shop invite you to sit down and read or sort out which books you’re actually going to take home. The majority of the books are retail price, but there are a few tables throughout the shop filled with books on sale for £3, £4 and £5, so a lack of money needn’t stop you from browsing.

It reminded me a lot of the Stoke Newington Bookshop and not just because the layout of the shop similar – indeed you could almost substitute Stoke Newington’s blue shelves for the Owl’s green ones and have the same shop. But more importantly, both have an almost tangible sense of community, and the booksellers who foster those communities are friendly, lively, energetic and more than competent.

When I walked into Owl Bookshop, one of the booksellers was patiently helping a woman decide what to buy for her friend who ‘likes good novels.’ Unbelievably, this was the only criteria she was able to give the bookseller, but instead of being annoyed, he seemed to enjoy the challenge, happily bouncing around the shelves suggesting books. She left with three so I think he must have done all right. As I skulked around the poetry section eavesdropping on other customers (my usual routine) I heard them talk to customers with complete ease about authors I’ve never heard of, being helpful and obliging and more than willing to spend as long as it took to make sure each customer left with the perfect book. I don’t normally ramble on about staff, but I’m making an exception because the good people at the Owl were truly impressive.

As they chattered away with customers, I was busily exploring the fiction section. In addition to a wall full of A-Z Fiction, there was a bay of bestsellers and new releases. I always love this in a bookshop; I think it’s a sign that the people who run it love, care about and pay attention to books. I was even more impressed to realise that these bays contained so much more than the mundane chart-toppers. It gets old to see the same books on display week after week in every bookshop, so it’s very refreshing to see a display of books that demonstrates a real knowledge of the publishing industry, as well as an understanding of what’s good, not just what’s popular. Not that those can’t be the same thing, it’s just that…well, come on. In a post-50 shades world, do I really need to qualify that statement?

Even the Classics section was better than average, redefining what we deem ‘classics’ by including books from all over the world. Some of these may not be canonical in the world of British academia, but they have stood the test of time nonetheless and gave me lots of new ideas for my ever-growing ‘To Be Read’ pile.

The rest of the bookshop is really brilliant; I truly can’t say enough good things about it. And I’m stumped for clever ways of phrasing my praising. I’m just in love with the Owl, okay? A whole wall is full of travel books. The history and politics sections are relevant and well-stocked. The corner full of cookbooks is colourful and appealing. Beautiful art and architecture books have an entire section to themselves. I could have spent hours there looking through the interesting selection of interesting books I never knew I wanted to read until I saw them and then could not pull myself away.

The only small stain on my otherwise brilliant visit fame from another customer. He walked in with his sons and before he even looked around went immediately to the desk. He told one of the aforementioned brilliant booksellers that he was taking his son to a girl’s fourth birthday party. ‘I know nothing about girls and girly stuff’ he snapped, making every woman in the shop glad not to be the mother of his spawn. Each time one of his boys suggested something like Thomas the Tank Engine or a Scooby Doo book, he snarled ‘We’re not looking for a book you like, we’re looking for something a girl would like.’ I think he spent the entire time trying (and failing) to avoid sneering every time he said the world ‘girl.’ I stood there fuming as he indoctrinated his impressionable sons with some idiotic ideology about how girls like princesses and boys like trains, dinosaurs are for boys, sparkles are for girls. I wanted to explain to him that if he continued with his behaviour he would be guilty of unleashing two first class neanderthals upon a world that thought it was rid of this type of person.

This ridiculous dividing of literature into categories happens in academia too, where Jane Austen and Emily Bronte are studied by women but their male contemporaries, like, say, Dickens and Carlyle, are for the boys. Don’t people realise that Austen could be just as observant as (and even more bitingly clever than) Dickens? It’s worrying that we still allow artists to be pigeon-holed in any way, but gender-based judgements are the worst. The power of literature is that it allows us to transcend silly little differences like gender, class, nationality, race and see ourselves as human beings. Anyone who tries to pervert that noblest of goals is, in my humble opinion, a mere subspecies.

But what bothered me most was that he completely missed the point of this bookshop. By offering its readers an unconventional selection of titles, which are good regardless of whether they’re popular or well-known, the Owl asks us to go beyond our normal habits and discover something new. It asks us to try out books we would never have found ourselves, by authors we’d never heard of but probably should have. It invites us to open our minds and it reminds us that this openness, this ability to see beyond our own tiny little lives and experience the world in a new way, is the reason we loved reading to begin with. So here’s to the Owl Bookshop; the world needs more places like it.

Our Collections: Arthur Ransome

Wayne and Christina — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:27:05 +0000

Wayne writes: When I finished my bibliography of Tolkien in 1992, my publisher, pleased with the result, asked which author I would like to tackle next. I replied at once: Arthur Ransome. Ransome (1884–1967) is by no means a household name; indeed, I have often had to point out that my subject was the writer Arthur Ransome, not the artist Arthur Rackham. But he is a significant figure in twentieth-century English children’s literature, and has long had a devoted following. Many of his writings are still in print. I did not myself read any of his books until I was in my thirties, when I came upon the attractive Godine edition of Swallows and Amazons. I was immediately swept up in the adventures of the Walkers and Blacketts and their friends, and by the quality of Ransome’s storytelling. It was also a pleasant coincidence that Ransome and Tolkien had admired each other’s work.

From an early age, Ransome had literary ambitions, and as soon as he could, he left his native Yorkshire for London, where he became a freelance writer. He took on assignments of all kinds and on subjects in which he was no expert, to make a living and learn his craft. Such a romantic adventure was still possible in those days, at the turn of the twentieth century. The earliest known book to bear Ransome’s name is, remarkably, The A.B.C. of Physical Culture, published in 1904. He also wrote articles and stories for a variety of magazines. Other books, written or edited by Ransome, soon followed, including A History of Story-Telling in 1909 and, most notoriously, his 1912 study of Oscar Wilde. For remarks in the latter, he was sued (unsuccessfully) for libel by Wilde’s sometime lover Lord Alfred Douglas.

In the meantime, Ransome married somewhat impulsively and, before long, unhappily. In 1913, he made his first trip to Russia, both to escape his failed marriage and to study native folk stories; this resulted in his popular Old Peter’s Russian Tales (1916). In 1915 he became the Petrograd (present-day Saint Petersburg) correspondent for the London Daily News & Leader. He was not in Russia when the revolution began in November 1917, but quickly returned to his reporting, interviewed Lenin and Trotsky, and fell in love with one of Trotsky’s personal secretaries, Evgenia Petrova Shelepina. Though (in my view) he was never a Communist or Socialist himself, because he admired the Bolsheviks and recognized, in a world still at war, the value of Russia as a counterforce to Germany, Ransome sought to explain the truth about the Soviet republic as he saw it. His Six Weeks in Russia in 1919 (1919) and The Crisis in Russia (1921) were issued by George Allen & Unwin, whose enlightened director, Stanley Unwin, was willing to publish books with unorthodox views.

Ransome remained a journalist for nearly a decade longer, moving to the prestigious Manchester Guardian. He travelled in eastern Europe, to Egypt and the Sudan, and to China, and with Evgenia pursued his love of sailing. They were married in 1924, as soon as Ransome’s divorce from his first wife was absolute. Further books appeared, including the sailing classic Racundra’s First Cruise (1923) and The Chinese Puzzle (1927), and columns on his other love, fishing (‘Rod and Line’). In 1929, asked by the Manchester Guardian to become their regular correspondent in Berlin, Ransome instead became a freelance journalist and wrote his most famous book, inspired by a group of children he had known in his beloved Lake District and by his golden memories of sailing on Coniston Water.

Swallows and Amazons was published in 1930. Its great success was a turning point in Ransome’s life. Histories of children’s literature point to it as the model ‘holiday story’, or story of realistic adventures experienced by children during school holidays. Although some of the child protagonists are perhaps too ‘good’ by today’s standards, which is to say, they get along and are well-mannered, and no sexuality enters into the picture, they are nonetheless real, and so are their experiences, sailing and camping with adult supervision often only on the fringe, and not omitting real work and responsibility, and physical danger. From my adult perspective, the four Walker children and the two Blackett sisters are friends such as I wish I had growing up, and no doubt they were regarded as friends by the children who eagerly awaited a new ‘Swallows and Amazons’ title more or less annually until 1947. The first sequel, Swallowdale, followed in 1931, and ten more books in the series in Ransome’s lifetime. A thirteenth was left unfinished, but published with other material in 1988. The fifth book, Pigeon Post (1936), won the first Carnegie Medal. But Ransome’s masterpiece is the sixth in the series, We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea (1937).

When I was writing my Tolkien bibliography, I found that I had to collect Tolkien’s works in order to describe them, libraries having supplied only a fraction of the existing titles and variations. The result is a very large collection. When I began to write about Ransome, I vowed that I would not follow the same route, but would rely on libraries (which was more feasible for Ransome than for Tolkien) and on private collections; and I managed to do so, as far as the bibliography (Arthur Ransome: A Bibliography, 2000) was concerned. But strong admiration for an author, and strong interest in the variety of books produced by someone who was by turns a storyteller, critic, essayist, editor, foreign correspondent, fisherman, and sailor, were more than enough to lead me willingly, or at least without protest, into another avenue of collecting.

Today our Ransome shelves extend to around thirty linear feet. Christina had, among the books she brought to our marriage, some early printings of the ‘Swallows and Amazons’ titles, and I have been able to buy a few – again, I came to Ransome very late – but only a few, as they can sell dearly. Ransome is collected widely enough that his scarcer books can command prices more than I can afford; on the other hand, not all who sell Ransome know him very well, and bargains can be had. For example, I found the very rare A.B.C. of Physical Culture on abebooks for under thirty dollars, and Ransome’s second book, The Souls of the Streets (1904), for only twenty. EBay has been helpful as well, and odd volumes, such as Pond and Stream (1906) and The Book of Friendship (1909), have turned up at antiquarian book fairs or in secondhand shops.

Several of Ransome’s works have been published, or reprinted, along with many books about Ransome, by Amazon Publications, an adjunct to the Arthur Ransome Society (TARS), which I joined soon after its founding in 1990. The Society journal, Mixed Moss, is essential to the Ransome enthusiast. TARS has also been involved with audio versions of the books and with videos, most of which are likewise on our shelves, as are reasonably faithful and sympathetic film adaptations of some of the ‘Swallows and Amazons’ stories.

Images, top to bottom: My first copy of Swallows and Amazons; a small part of our Ransome shelves.

Book review: Lion and Mouse by Catalina Echeverri

goodallruby — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

“The book made me feel really happy.”

Lion and Mouse by Catalina Echeverri – this book is really good.

It’s about the lion and the mouse and they are best friends. Lion thought that he was better at everything and said he wasn’t scared of anything at one point. But he was only scared of the dark.

Dark came and he called the mouse. The mouse was thinking but eventually came and they worked out what best friends was being all about…helping, being kind and having fun together.

The book made me feel really happy.

The pictures were great and I like that they have speech bubbles. My favourite books are one with quite a lot of speech bubbles.

Bookworms out of 10: 7.5 out of 10

You’ll love this book if you like: Colin and The Wrong Shadow

Reviewed by: Piggle

Thanks to Random House Children’s books for the review copy.

Book review: Pea's Book of Big Dreams by Susie Day

goodallruby — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:59:26 +0000

Pea’s Book of Big Dreams by Susie Day: “This book could be like real life – things could actually happen to you and that’s what makes the book so good.”

Pea’s Book of Big Dreams could be like real life – things could actually happen to you and that’s what makes the book so good.

Pea is girl who likes reading and writing and wants to be an author. She’s 11 years old and has 2 sisters, one younger and one who is older. Pea gets on well with them both.

Pea is thinking about things she’d like to be when she grows up and the book is about her testing all of these careers. It’s imaginative writing and I felt like I really got to know the characters.

I’d recommend this book to over 7s and anyone who likes the first Pea book Pea’s book of Best Friends or quite girly books (but books without princesses in them).

Bookworms out of 10: 8 out of 10

You’ll love this book if you like: Pea’s book of Best Friends

Reviewed by: Grub

Thanks to Random House Children’s books for the review copy.

The Railway Children

fantasticbookblog — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:42:33 +0000

Illustrator C. E. Brock
Author E. Nesbit
Year 1960 (first published 1906)
Publisher Puffin
ISBN unknown

Though published more than fifty years ago, the story of The Railway Children has become a favourite with children of today as a B.B.C. Children’s Television serial.

There were three of the ‘Railway Children’, Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis, and life went along as happily as anyone could wish until Peter’s tenth birthday. Then an awful thing happened. Some men came and took away their father. They left London after that and went to live in a not-very-nice house in the country. With Father away, and Mother brave but plainly worried, and very little money, they all did their best, but it was undoubtedly a piece of luck to find that a railway line ran by, just down the hill from their garden. There were always things to do beside a railway in those days, and all sorts of people travelled by train. The Railway Children soon made friends with some of them, and with the station-master and the porter; and then one day Bobbie discovered what had happened to their father, and, keeping it a secret from the others, thought of a way to help him. And that’s what makes the story so exciting – that, and the fact that it all feels so truly possible that anyone can get right inside that awful situation and feel what it would really be like to have to live it.

The Railway Children available on Amazon

The Railway Children (full size)
The Railway Children back cover (full size)

Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose

ThroughtheRavenglass — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:00:38 +0000

It’s free! And soft-hearted Thidwick must be nice to his guests. So more freeloaders join the pests on his antlers, until hunters have Thidwick in a terrible spot. Was Thidwick finished? Decidedly not!

Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose by Dr. Seuss

Curious Little Miss Sasi

JMKhapra — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:51:46 +0000

I made a few studies (sketches) for the cover of a children’s book I am planning to write and illustrate. This one is my favorite so far. I want to include Babar in the story or make him the main protagonist if Little Miss Sasi would not mind.

Anne of Avonlea - L.M.Montgomery

Catherine Voutier — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:02:33 +0000

In this second installment, Anne doesn’t get into as many scrapes as she did when she was younger, but she still has childish (and some not-so childish) notions that she needs to grow out of. Nowadays, it is surprising to learn that at the turn of last century, primary school teachers were still children themselves. Now, teachers at primary school and high school are in their early 20s at the youngest. At 16, Anne gets her first job teaching at a local primary school and boy, does she revise her initial ideas! Montgomery keeps up her charming momentum with this story, and it is just as full of flowers, sunsets and romantic imaginings as the first. There are romances rekindled, misunderstandings forgiven and hearts warmed. The essential business of life – chores, bills, shopping, illness, death and making ends meet, also make appearances. I really enjoyed reading this story about Anne growing up and will most probably will read this again. Lovely!

Snack Time for Confetti by Kali Stileman

C. C. Gevry — Sat, 18 May 2013 06:59:22 +0000

From the author of Roly-Poly Egg comes a story of one hungry little bird on the search for something to eat. Confetti is hungry, so she asks her animal friends what she should eat. But everything they suggest sounds yucky.

Snack Time for Confetti by author/illustrator Kali Stileman is absolutely charming. From the storyline to the artwork the details blend together to create an engaging story that will entertain your child ages 3 – 7. Confetti visits with a giraffe, a zebra, an elephant and more trying to find out what she should eat. The book teaches children what various animals eat, even though it’s a story to simply be enjoyed. With a great and funny ending, Snack Time for Confetti will be read time and again.

Rating:

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Tiger Tales (March 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 158925127X
ISBN-13: 978-1589251274

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

1,400 Things for Kids to Be Happy About

bethebestnanny1 — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:30:28 +0000

Weekly Trip to the Library

What makes for a happy childhood? The little things, just like at any other time of life. Kids are happy when they read books with their mother and father. They like little things like smelling a Christmas tree or building a fort with a friend.

1,400 Things for Kids to Be Happy Aboutby Barbara Ann Kipfer is not only a celebration of all the little things that make kids happy, it’s also a workbook of happiness.

Each picture is labeled with ten blank lines for kids to fill in with their own favorite things. There are no right or wrong answers since the kids just fill in what they like.

In a friendly, spread-by-spread format, it covers all the important things that make up a child’s world – their parents, neighbors, the zoo, friends, the playground, pets, the classroom, movies, and summer vacation.

You can easily purchase the book by clicking book image or title below. Don’t forget to stop by again next Saturday for another Weekly Trip to the Library.

1,400 Things for Kids to Be Happy About

Peter Rabbit - what's wrong with this picture

Lynn Buckler Walsh — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:11:34 +0000

In 1916, when Beatrix Potter was 50 years old and her creation Peter Rabbit was a teenager, the following version of Potter’s classic was released in the United States by The Saalfield Publishing Company. Not by Potter’s publishers Frederick Warne & Co and not with Potter’s own illustrations. Well that last bit is not entirely true as I discovered while browsing through this e-book from Project Gutenberg. Here’s the original.

The part where it says “illustrations by Virginia Albert” is mostly true. Compare these images from both books.

....

Yes. There they are – copies of Potter’s work tucked in among the ‘new’ version of the illustrated bunny and looking a little strange in the company of the very different approach of Virginia Albert. Warne & Co must have had their copyright all stitched up in Europe as this French version [all rights reserved] was printed in Great Britain. Apparently Warne’s New York office did not register the copyright for The Tale of Peter Rabbit in the US thus opening the floodgates to imitators and blocking the considerable income stream that Warne and Potter herself would have earned.

At Abe Books (online sellers of used books) you can find pirated editions of Peter Rabbit that were published as early as 1904 when, for example, the Philadelphia publishers Altemus copyrighted The Tale of Peter Rabbit using all of Potter’s illustrations and text. They left one thing off – the author’s name! I note too that the Saalfield Peter Rabbit books were all copyrighted.

Virginia Albert went on to illustrate other Peter Rabbit books also published by Saalfield. One can only imagine the response of Beatrix Potter to the titles and content.

By Louise A Field with Albert’s illustrations there was Peter Rabbit and his Ma, then Peter Rabbit and his Pa. By an unknown author with Albert’s illustrations came Peter Rabbit and Sammy Squirrel and Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Chipmunk. The style of the illustrations is inconsistent. These images are via Amazon.

To add to the fun, another illustrator by the name of Ethel Hays put her oar into the Peter Rabbit waters. Ethel Hays was the illustrator of the Raggedy Ann stories. Images via Wikipedia and Amazon.

American children’s author and conservationist Thornton W Burgess wrote many stories based on Peter Rabbit. They included Mrs Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit Puts on Airs and Peter Rabbit Learns from the Striped Chipmunk. The Peter Cottontail character morphed out of these tales. (Remember that Cottontail was one of Peter Rabbit’s brothers in the original tale). Harrison Cady who illustrated many books for Burgess, including Peter Rabbit Proves a Friend, wrote and illustrated a newspaper comic strip called Peter Rabbit from 1920 to 1948. Image via e-Bay per Gibson Books.

And so it goes. Mr McGregor protected his vegetable patch. Warne & Co had one forgetful moment and let a whole lot of other rabbits slip out from under their fence.

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Visualizations (of Sorts)

eightlimbspractice — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:50:26 +0000

I was read bedtime stories long before I heard a guided visualization. My mom would read while my sister and I rested on the floor against the side of my bed. Shortly after closing the book, my sister would make her way to her room, I’d climb into bed, and we’d be drifting off to sleep in those super cozy pajamas with the feet attached. (The good old days!)

Storytelling has a unique, yet predictable way of relaxing the listener’s mind and body. A story can focus the listener’s attention. That focus settles the mind. And when the mind is settled, the body finds ease. When the mind and body are relaxed, the body can repair and restore itself from the day that has unfolded.

I’m seeing in yoga classes with elementary-aged children that they are tired- physically, mentally and emotionally. Each week in class they ask if I have a visualization to share. Often mid-class they’ll ask if it’s time to relax.

Kids are tired!

But that doesn’t mean they navigate getting relaxed with any more ease or speed than adults. How quickly can you wind down at the end of your day? How quickly can you shut your mind off when you are tired?

My answer for both is “not rapidly.” I am often tired but still need to ease into relaxation. My experience…kids have the same challenges! They just may not know how to ask for what they need to find ease.

I’ve read numerous self-created visualizations in my classes with children. They respond well to them, but I don’t think we need special scripts to help kids settle. Thousands of authors have crafted stories with the same intention. Libraries are filled with them.

I offer two titles below. I will discuss each of these books in greater detail in future posts or in practices on this site, but I think it’s worth sharing the titles of their works now.

Why?

Daylight is increasing as we shift from spring to summer. Children will soon move from the routine of school to the slightly more free-spirited schedule of summer vacation. Temperatures and humidity are increasing for many of us. These are just three shifts in the world of a child that lengthen their days thereby shortening their nights. It’s not effortless to fall asleep when it’s still light outside. It’s not as easy to relax when the humidity is high. And when schedules shift, our internal clocks can take awhile to catch up.

This yearly transition is a great time to start or expand a bedtime story practice. It’s a simple way to invite ease into children’s bodies and minds before they attempt to sleep. (I use the word “attempt” intentionally…because that’s what we do when we aren’t at ease before we climb into bed. It can be frustrating- even for a kid).

Let’s check out these two books:

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson
Swanson’s book, with pictures by Beth Krommes, is short, simple and focused on the connections between the things in our lives and the world around us. It’s a cumulative pattern-based story, so the reader hears objects connected to one another and then connected again in reverse. For example, the key is connected to the house. Later the house is connected to the key.

I often use progression in my visualizations. I slowly build images on top of each other- eventually reaching a peak image. I then gradually wind back to the starting object. At the beginning of the practice the children have lots of mental energy to formulate the images. Slowly drawing them back through the steps from which they came allows them to start to let go of the image. Acts of letting go can invite the mind and body to release tension. More ease= swifter route to slumber.

The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss
Krauss’ book is also short. Although Krauss focuses on the transition from winter to spring and that’s right now “out of season” for us, the pace of the story mirrors that of many visualizations. She begins by talking about various animals that are sleeping and repeats short phrases. (I regularly start a visualization talking about what they will do- relax, rest, etc! And I repeat myself). Krauss then moves through scenes with animals waking for spring, touching on the liveliness of the season. (This mirrors the build common in visualizations to capture their attention.) She calmly ends with just a light reference to a spring flower in bloom and all the animals pausing to notice it. (Visually bringing it back to stillness invites physical stillness).

These are just two options. I could (and want to!) offer many more titles for those who want suggestions. If your kids have specific topics they love, leave me a comment. I will happily make additional suggestions.

Happy reading!

Namaste.

Building Our House/Building Our Home

abbynies — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:48:50 +0000

In July, we will have lived in our house for two years. I believe in the power of place, and there is no place other than this house where I would rather live.

With river, woods, garden, fruit trees (all hidden quite magnificently in the midst of a suburban neighborhood), in my homestead I am at peace.

As are my kids when we read Building Our House by Jonathan Bean (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013).

According to the Author’s Note, Building Our House tells the story of Bean’s parents’ building their homestead over the course of five years when Bean was a child.

It begins: “Today is moving day. We left our old house in the city and are moving to the country.” In the first illustration we see the family driving away from the city in an overloaded blue pick-up truck that we later learn is named “Willys.”

“Our family is building our new house away from the road, back down a dirt lane.”

…

“My brother helps Dad carry the tools. ‘The right tools for the right job,’ Dad says. I help Mom carry the plans. ‘A good plan for a good house,’ says Mom. Willys carries everything else.”

The story, told as much if not more through pictures than text, details how the family drills a well for water, sets wires for electricity, buys lumber from the sawmill, gathers rocks from neighboring pastures and then settles into their small portable trailer to live until the house is built.

Seasons pass and construction continues, complete with detailed pictures of diggers and dumps, hammers and hoses.

Every member of the family helps build the house, even the extended family (and friends) for the “…frame-raising party!”

When the house is livable the family moves in, and one of my favorite illustrations is of them gathered around the stove, Dad warming his hands next to a tea kettle about to whistle, Mom looking at blueprints while snuggling her then youngest child, narrator curled up with pillows and a blanket at her Mother’s feet.

It is all so cozy.

My favorite picture is on the next page—a two-page spread of nothing but the house’s blueprints, with a few architect pencil shavings and a steaming cup of coffee keeping the bottom left corner from curling up like the top right.

I can taste the coffee.

Although we didn’t build our house, the owners who did left us the blueprints, and I delight in their crinkle as I spread them out on the table for a study. Furthermore, with every new project—inside and out—we are building, a home.

I have also been able to help, in a very small way, our friends Jake and Meaghan build their straw-bale homestead in Southwest Wisconsin. Everything about this book, from the original details of the house to the clearly unbreakable bond between family members—to the coffee—reminds me of these friends, and their home.

And my entire family has helped build the Nies homestead in Ontario—a piece of property more magnificent than any in the world. My dream is to someday, like Bean, have a book that pays homage to my parents for the gift of growing up in this place.

Finally, I have watched my brother and his family and several close friends design and build their own homes here in Oconomowoc.

I believe in the power of all these places.

For now, this picture book is one that we (my 3-year-old, my 19-month-old and myself) deeply enjoy looking at—no matter what page we turn to first. We find diggers, cats, brothers and sisters playing together (a favorite is of the kids hiding beneath the wheelbarrow), and the Mom, who after several seasons of building is pregnant and by the end is cradling a newborn.

Even if we don’t sit and read Building Our House word for word just yet, we pull it off the shelf and “read” it all the time—I think because it feels so much like home.

Circle and Square by Sally O Lee

C. C. Gevry — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:35:01 +0000

Sally O. Lee is back with another imaginative, unique creation. When circle meets square, circle is curious if square is always the same: brushing his teeth, bouncing a ball, at bathtime, and in other situations. Square assures circle that he’s always the same no matter what he’s doing. Simple in nature, this story is one of friendship and acceptance. Parents could even use this book as a teaching point for how their love remains constant no matter what happens.

A delightful story coupled with Lee’s adorable artwork is waiting for your young reader in Circle and Square.

Rating:

Paperback: 34 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 12, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1482676850
ISBN-13: 978-1482676853

I received a free copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

Robby's Quest: Ocean Bound Featured Post

dcrushbooks — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:03:11 +0000

Our second book in the Robby’s Quest children’s series is featured this weekend at The Serious Reader. Please stop by to check out our book.

http://www.theseriousreader.org/1/post/2013/05/robbys-quest-ocean-bound.html

I JUST CAN'T WAIT: Brand New Stead/Fogliano and Fancy Nancy

abbynies — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:20:56 +0000

Have I mentioned that I am a HUGE fan of Philip and Erin Stead? And of Julie Fogliano? Why yes I have, here:

http://picturebookhouse.com/2013/03/05/and-then-its-spring-on-yet-another-snowy-day-in-wi/

http://picturebookhouse.com/2013/02/23/mommy-i-want-to-go-in-the-amos-mcgee-book/

Which is why I am biting-my-nails anxious to get my copy of if you want to see a whale. Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead together again (the team that brought us and then it’s spring), and I just can’t wait.

Another new, albeit different type of book that I am also so excited about it the latest Fancy Nancy, which came out on April 23rd. I haven’t written about Fancy Nancy yet because by the time I started this blog we had read Fancy Nancy, Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy, Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet and Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas so many times that we needed a break…similar to the kind of break we take when we have peanut butter and jelly for lunch too many days in a row. We don’t stop eating it because we don’t like it; we just need to switch to turkey and cheese or English muffin pizzas for awhile. But with a new Fancy Nancy I’m sure we’ll also return to all our old favorites, and I’ll dedicate an entire post to why we love them, then.

In the meantime, I have to get my hands on these books. I’m jealous if you get to them first.

Difficult Lessons Couched in Creative Storylines

bibliophilebrit — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:20:55 +0000

In a world filled with so many complex issues and dangers, writers seeking to inform children in a way that is non-threatening, engaging, and relatable have an extremely delicate task. At a recent PEN Panel called “Children’s Literature: Braving Our Endangered World,” held on May 4th, panelists discussed their tactics for presenting science and ecology-themed books to children in a way that would resonate with them.

The panelists’ books covered topics such as ethnic conflicts, endangered species, and trash dumping in our oceans. Each of the panelists have found a way to expand their expertise in science through the lens of literature. By creating human stories to surround scientific issues, they have been able to reach a new audience and convey significant messages about serious scientific issues.

Though these are weighty subjects to address in children’s books, they are vital to instill them with a sense of what is going on in the world around them. Children are naturally eager to learn and explore and tapping into their innate sense of discovery is an excellent way to impart important messages that will shape their worldview.

The key according to Padma Venkatraman, author of Island’s End, is “well-rounded passionate characters that leave readers with questions.” Too often the moral or social message of a children’s story can be too thinly veiled, which quickly loses a child’s attention as it then becomes more of a boring lesson and less of a captivating story. Fostering that wondrous sense of curiosity and inquisitiveness and getting children engaged with key topics surrounding environmental issues and cultural differences is the best way to enable them to become conscientious and well-rounded adults.

Check out the full article on Publishers Weekly.

Flashback Fridays: Cat-tostrophic Space Adventure!

Stephanie Whelan — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:16:45 +0000

Before LOL cats, or Nyan cat . . .there were other cats out there. Cats of fiction who did amazing

Field Day Friday

bookwoman67 — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:00:09 +0000

Day 296

We managed to get in all but two stations before the thunderstorm this afternoon.

In a related item, apparently the frisbee throwing posts with circles were mistaken for a quidditch pitch. I heard one student lay claim to the position of beater on the way to the field.

My published children's books

smartwritingnz — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:59:46 +0000

Fonzi, the shetland pony, is excited that Georgia’s class from school is coming to spend the day with him. When they arrive, things don’t go as Fonzi had hoped ….

Based on a primary school visit in New Plymouth,Taranaki, New Zealand. The children meet Fonzi who lives on a farmlet near to the school.

The book re-inforces patience throughout the story.

Peat loved exploring and bringing home the treasures he had found. But one day be brought back something most unusual.

Based on a friend’s poodle dog who lives on a dairy farm on the peat plains of Ngatea.

The story is about caring for others and friendship.

It's Coming!

kristigrimm — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:38:27 +0000

Meet Little Mar

Wow! Time is flying by so fast. It feels like it was just yesterday that I got an e-mail from Celebrity Chef Charles Mattocks suggesting a partnership in the development of a children’s book about diabetes. Now we are only a little over a month away from the book’s release, Diabetes & Healthy Eating, on July 4^th.

We are so excited about the potential of this book to help children all over the world cope with this difficult disease. The more I talk to people about this book the more it solidifies how important this project is to the diabetic community.

The average parent is trying to teach their child so many things: how to tie their shoes, how to keep their room clean, how to play nice with others. If you are a parent you know that the list is almost endless. If you have a child with any kind of health issue, this task just becomes all the more difficult.

At the top of this list are issues with food. Ask any parent that has a child with food allergies or diabetes, and you will realize the amount of stress that comes with monitoring what they eat on a constant basis. Simple events like birthday parties, classroom celebrations or just eating out can become very difficult to handle. Today with so many children dealing with obesity, food is no longer becoming just a topic for these health challenges, but for all children.

What child wants to be lectured about diet, exercise or nutrition? No child that I know. In fact I don’t know many adults that want that either. This is why the idea of this book began. How can we teach young children about these difficult issues in a fun and friendly way that will keep their attention and educate at the same time?

Children with diabetes and their families face such a difficult road ahead of them. Unlike allergies that can diminish some with age or medication, Juvenile Diabetes is a life-long journey that can end very badly if not taken seriously.

It is our prayer that this book can be a tool in making this life challenge a little easier for these little ones to face. But we need your help to spread the word. This book can help no one if they don’t know about it. Please pass the information about this book to any doctors, educators, or parents that can share this with a young child that might be able to benefit from it.

You can pre-order this book or just learn more about Charles Mattocks and his quest to help the diabetic world by going to http://charlesmattocks.com or the direct book website @ http://charliesland.com.

'Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane' by Suzanne Collins

MRS SW — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:28:33 +0000

I took this book out of my wonderful school library (and I should have probably mentioned this a lot earlier in this blog), but I am possibly one of the luckiest people on the planet as I have free access to the BEST school library in Hertfordshire at the school where I work. Not only is a well stocked, but they get in as many of the latest YA and children’s fiction as they can on a regular basis: there are new deliveries virtually every week. Moreover, the librarians are absolute stars. Not only do they know absolutely what they are talking about and can find a book or recommend one at the drop of a hat, but will pretty much get hold of whatever you want in about a week. I cannot tell you what a difference this makes to my teaching, my reading and to the students I teach. They are amazing and deserve every praise you can heap on them. Anyway, so I was able to acquire the second in the series before I had even finished the first (so great was ‘Gregor the Overlander’). However, I decided to delay my reading as I often think that when you rush through a series you get bored of the style and narrative and then don’t fully appreciate it. (I also have the advantage of my fabulous librarians turning a blind eye to my often very late books and repeated renewals).

So several weeks after reading ‘Gregor the Overlander’, I embarked on his next adventure. I was not disappointed. In this installment, Gregor is forced to return to the Underland when his beloved sister Boots is snatched by the roaches in the middle of Central Park. Forced to return, he soon discovers there is a second prophecy that only he can fulfill. However, the Underland remains a dark and fearful place and worst of all, there is a new enemy…the bane. The bane is the new leader of the rats who has begun gathering troops beyond the wasteland and if he is allowed to gain any more power, the Underland could be destroyed. The only one who can defeat him…Gregor. So armed with a small group of what he hopes are trusty followers together with Boots, he is forced to undertake the perilous journey down the river to the labyrinth in which the bane hides waiting to attack. However, will they make it past the flesh eating insects, the poisonous squid and the whirlpools of doom and even if he does, will he be able to find the Bane, kill it and save the Underland?

Oh Suzanne Collins, you have such a knack of creating tension. This is a narrative that propels the reader onwards. Just as one disaster is, averted another appears. This is something she achieved brilliantly in ‘The Hunger Games’ and in my opinion, this series (although aimed at a younger audience) is even better. Moreover, as less time is spent in this installment establishing the characters and sense of place and background, it is even more dynamic.

There are so many things to love about this novel, which will appeal to young boys so much. Gregor remains an empathetic, moral hero whom we cannot help but admire and side with. Collins’ characterisation is superb including that of her animal characters – I love Ares, who is a very human bat and who despite his suffering and rejection, is so noble and self sacrificing. Moreover, she also introduces us to several new characters in this latest narrative most notably Twitchtip, who has such a strong and painful sense of smell she can even sense colour. The novel also has a really emotional quality. Collins is not easy on the reader: nothing ends nicely with everyone surviving and a nice party and I really like this – she does not patronise her readers with an easy happy ever after ending. There is anxiety, suffering and real moral dilemmas. Her depiction of the Underland is also superb. She creates monsters that seem to have originated from Greek mythology and the journey through the rivers of the Underland reminded me somewhat of Ulysses’ odyssey home and the many obstacles he faces on route. In fact, her monsters and pacy narrative often seem to have a mythological quality, which, as a former Classics scholar, really engages me.

This is a pacy, dynamic narrative that is compulsive reading. I can’t justify giving it a 5 as it is not a great literary work (which I am trying to reserve my 5s for), but it is one of the best children’s series of novels that I have read and far superior to either Potter or the terrible Twilight tragedy of literature.

I love Gregor; I fear the Underland and I can’t wait to read ‘Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods’

Meet the Mon-Stars

M. Darville Anaya — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:22:33 +0000

The Narration is completed, Original Music has been composed and the award wining Creativoligist Victor Guiza is creating his magic on the illustrations for Monster Jam. I am thrilled to announce that this Rock Music themed Story Book App is in the final stages of completion.

Monster Jam Children’s Book App is a highly interactive Story book app that builds music awareness. It features an interesting garage band of characters, well on their way to become Mon-stars but first they must make it to the Monster Jam music festival. They’re the Ground Hogs and they rock!

Meet the band

Axe is a little Monster with a big dream. As the guitarist and band leader he’s the glue that holds them together and their driving force. His dreams of being a Mon-Star is on the brink of coming true as he’s just landed the band a spot at the annual Monster Jam.

Skyler: is the only girl in the band but she’s tough enough to hang with the boys. She’s the lead vocalist and is always up front and center.

JD: plays the bass and he’s one cool character who loves to have a good time on stage.

Stones: is a gentle giant. He keeps a low profile, doesn’t have a lot to say and he’s a genius on the keyboard.

Banger: don’t let his size fool you, he’s a feisty little guy with a big personality. Banger is always ready to jam and his drumsticks are never far.

This story is an inspiring one about determination & following dreams, and it’s been a lot of fun bringing all the components together with the Dragon Pencil App Producers, it’s coming alive in an exciting way. The Rock Music theme will immerse children in songs & sound sprites. They will enjoy reading along to the music as well the animation & touch interactions. In the play with the band activity they’ll choose one of three instruments to play as the band performs their signature song “Smashing Daisies” The making of Monster Jam been quite the adventure and we can’t wait to share it with you!

For a more in depth look behind the scenes & the making of Monster Jam, visit the Kids Korner