First Week of School Catch-up

Day 1: Grade 5, Grade 4

When you get an email from Grammy requesting an update because blog posts have been few and far between, you know you'd better write back. You also know that the other two people who read this blog might want to know what's the what, too. So here's what I wrote Grammy:

Dane's in Fall Ball, which means practice from 3:30-6 on Thursday nights and two weekend tournaments this fall. He's also doing a pitching clinic that's from 4:30-5:15 2x a week for 4 weeks, and has started a basic skills clinic that's 1x a week for the next 5 weeks. This might sound like a lot, but it's really kind of like having 2-3 practices a week with an occasional game.

Aubrey started gymnastics again and has it 2x a week for an hour and 45 minutes each time. She loves it. She comes back all sweaty and happy. She also has 2 birthday slumber parties coming up and keeps getting invited to her girlfriends' houses after school, so she's nice and busy.

Each kid has homework and they usually do that after dinner and dishes, and then they basically get ready for bed and read there for half an hour.

I've been busy with PTO meetings, a meeting with the principal (for site council), a meeting with the librarian to get started with Battle of the Books, and an order at our local book store, Bookwagon, for 4 copies of each BOB book (at a 30% discount and PTO is paying -- isn't that exciting?) to go straight to Walker's library in about a week. Somewhere in there I've been cleaning/sorting all the stuff I took out of the kids' bedroom, which is piled in the spare room. It looked like a hoarder's room for a while. Well, actually it still does. RCC starts in a week and a half, so I'm also putting together my syllabus. Oh, and I started working out at the Y 3x a week in addition to running Sharkles every other day.

Mick's working away full-time and still gets home around 6:45 every night. Last night he went to the MARA ski club fundraising meeting, and found out he'll be expected to do that every Wednesday night until November! It's the Auction committee, and it meets right by his office, so it works out ok. It's our biggest fundraiser. We also recently got news from MARA that the club's been running at a deficit and they have to raise prices to actual cost. Kids will now have to pay $600 each. Yikes! Hopefully we'll find a creative way (raffles, more auction $, etc.) to actually offset it a little. Mick's currently reading a book called The Long Emergency. I haven't read it, but it looks like it analyzes economical and environmental situations and impacts in America and the world.

Oh, and last night Dane and Aubrey and I went to a rain barrel workshop. We can't wait to analyze our property and set up a couple rain barrels to harvest water! I'm going to see if the kids will document how they help me -- as a Science Fair project -- building it with me, taking notes on how they did it, notes on how it fills throughout the year, etc. It would take extra work, but I could see it being really great.

The dream barrel set-up.

Ok, hopefully that gets you up to speed for now. What have you been up to?

Boys Behaving Beautifully

Dane's buddy Nic is spending the night. They spent a good part of the evening working on their electricity experiments for the Science Fair (a post yet to come).

Now they're watching How to Train Your Dragon.

This is what I heard earlier when they were deciding to watch the movie:

Dane: You wanna watch How to Train Your Dragon?

Nic: Sure, I've seen it before, but I like that movie.

Dane: I know, I love that movie. You know how it's, well, kind of touching?

[Folks, I kid you not.]

Nic: Yeah... I know what you mean. There are parts when he's with the dragon that really give me a sense of longing.

[Again, I kid you not!]

Dane: Yeah, there are parts that really get me. Even though I might see them like eight times, they just always get me.

And scene.

It kind of reminds me of this post a few years ago. I hope some things never change.

Sacked Out and Satiated

 

 

Sleeping under the Christmas tree used to be one of my favorite things to do. Now my kids feel that way. Here they are, one of the first nights the tree was up. They tucked their favorite Christmas stuffies round the stand and read through all the Christmas books I brought out in the plastic bin.

They love the books in the bin. The books range from funny (Olivia Helps With Christmas) to sentimental (journals they've written in every year for Santa) to old (a cracking Maurice Sendack version of The Nutcracker) to spiritual (The Shoebox, a story of a foster boy) to traditional (Jan Brett's troll and snow stories). I could go on. The books in that bin have been read and re-read every Christmas since the kids were born. There are a lot of reasons to love that box of books.

I recently read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever out loud to my kids. I acted in the "play" version of that book when I was in 3rd grade. It's the story of a ratty obnoxious family of kids, The Herdmans, who take over the church pageant, and, to everyone's surprise, make it mean something more than it's ever meant.

What are your favorite holiday traditions or memories?

Bud, Not Buddy and my buddy

"If I had to give a rating out of a thousand stars for Bud, Not Buddy, I'd give it a thousand. This is the best book I've ever read."

I love my boy. He's sensitive and insightful and says things like that when he's sitting around on the couch -- and he says things like that even after he's read the Percy Jackson series five times.


Here's what the book is about: A ten-year-old African American boy in 1930s Detroit who leaves foster care when he gets sick of being treated poorly. This is the story of his journey to find the man he believes is his real father, a renowned jazz musician, and how Bud deals with rejection, adventure, and his own sense of identity. It won the Newberry Award in 2000 and I love that a book with such big ideas spoke to Dane. I also love that there are writers like Christopher Paul Curtis out there.

Teaching Note: Dane chose this at the school library for his upcoming book report, which is supposed to be Historical Fiction, and he's supposed to create a diorama along with his written portion. He's already decided to depict a scene at a train station.

Blog Question: Would you have given a book a thousand stars when you were a kid? Which book(s)?

Dane's Hugo Cabret Poster

Dane's completed his movie poster (11x14) for his first book report. The directions say to create a movie poster with images on the poster that you would emphasize if you were the director. The directions also say to use bright colors so the poster stands out while on display.

We're 1 for 2 on that score.

Dane chose to sketch in black and white because the Hugo Cabret novel has black and white sketch illustrations; the book also focuses on the black-and-white movie career of George Melies`, who created that kind of moon up in the corner with the telescoping eye. I don't think Dane'll get docked for this.

He's still working on the report. He's got a first draft that needs revision and editing, but it should be ready by Wednesday's due date.

Hours and Hours of Driving Made Easy

We've been in the car A LOT in the past two weeks. This weekend we drove to San Jose and back for a wedding (7 hours each way) and the previous weekend we drove home from Seattle (9 hours).


But it was great - especially because of THIS book:

We listened to all 7 cds of The Story of the World, Vol. 1 - and we'd listen again.

This is an amazing book, providing an amazing literary and historical base for 9-12 year-olds in terms of a classical education. This book focuses on "The Ancients," basically the beginning of civilization to the fall of the Roman Empire. Greek gods, Old Testament, Christianity, Pyramids and Pharoahs, ancient China, the Americas, and so on.

The idea is that if kids this age are introduced to these major stories and events in narrative form, when they're introduced later in actual text or reference, their minds will already have a grasp on them.

Dane and Aubrey now know the story of Remus and Romulus, of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the world's seven wonders), how mouse hair was used for the finest calligraphy brushes in ancient China, how Greek and Roman gods correlate, and how the tribes of Israel formed.

I'm so excited about this introductory book for my kids. We'll definitely listen again (and perhaps again?) - and I'm already scheming about how to get my hands on the rest of them: Volume 2 The Middle Ages, Volume 3 Early Modern Times, and Volume 4 The Modern Age.

And finally:
The narrator sounds like Jon Lovitz.
Drawback or Bonus? You decide.

A Year In Books

For the past fifteen years I've kept a journal of books I've read. Today I just picked it up to see what I've read in the past twelve months. Here's the list:

9/09 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson - a gripping, page-turning, brutal but well-written murder mystery suspense novel published posthumously. Two more in the series have been released by this smart Scandinavian novelist. Note: this book is not for everyone, nor is the movie. However, I'll say that the movie is one of those rareties, in the sense that it follows the book amazingly well.

10/09 Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson. This is excellent, inspiring nonfiction. Read it.

10/09 Cannery Row, John Steinbeck. Such good writing, such a good story. Steinbeck was a master.

11/09 The Pilot's Wife, Anita Shreve. Oprah's Book Club stuff. I read it in a day. A page-turner, but not necessarily satiating.

11/09 The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula LeGuin. Science Fiction. A book club selection. Ursula LeGuin's so prolific and smart. I'm glad I read this, even if I didn't just love it.

11/09 Gods Behaving Badly. Can't even drum up the writer's name. Awful. Couldn't stand it. A book club selection. A story of modern gods living in London. Blah, blah, blah.

12/09 Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Surival in the Arctic, Jennifer Niven. I think I wrote about this on an earlier post. Fascinating story, decent nonfiction writing, brought about plenty of discussion at book club.

1/10 The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon. I love Michael Chabon. Not everyone will agree with me, but: He can do no wrong. He's the master of descriptive writing.

1/10 The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick. Graphic novel for YA or middle grade. This was a wonder-filled book. Loved it.

2/10 Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Dane's class read this, so I did, too. Lovely story about a boy who saves a dog from an abusive owner. Set in 50's/60's south.

4/10 The Daykeeper's Grimoire, Christy Raedeke. I wrote about this in an earlier post; my friend Christy's debut YA novel. Read it!

5/10 Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen. I can't recall a thing about this. Not even a main character. Wait... Oh. The 16-year-old girl traveling to Bath with chaperones. Meets good boy, pursued by bad boy. Etc. Still not in love with Jane Austen. I'd like to be. Will keep reading her works.

5/10 The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan. The first in the series of five. Excellent middle grade reading.

5/10 Cheaper By The Dozen, Frank B. Gilbreth. Wrote about this on an earlier post. Didn't do much for me, in the long run, but it's a decent read. Besides, I had to read it for book club AND I was waiting for book 2 in Rick Riordan's series, since Dane and Aubrey and Mick were reading the only copy we own!

6/10 The Sea of Monsters, Rick Riordan. Book 2. Fabulous.

6/10 The Titan's Curse, Rick Riordan. Book 3. Fabulous.

6/10 The Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick Riordan. Book 4. Fabulous.

6/10 The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan. Book 5. Fabulous.

7/10 The Reader, Bernard Schlenk. I've wanted to read this since I saw a poster for the movie, starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Set post-Holocaust, and taking on difficult themes, this book was excellent. I read it in a day. I'd see the movie.

7/10 The Girl Who Played with Fire, Steig Larsson. Book 2 of 3. Brutal, but good writing. And I'll read the third.

7/10 Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher. Young Adult literature. The premise caught my attention. A boy gets a box of cassette tapes after a girl's suicide, and listens to the 13 reasons she killed herself. Great premise, and the teens that read it probably love it. I just thought the girl felt objectified a few too many times. Possible - and even probable - in real life, but the way it was written made me not want to believe she had to see things the way she did. Which, of course, is part of the brilliant premise of it, right? We're supposed to believe suicidal cases -- the signs are there, and the reasons are real to the victim. (Anybody else read this and had thoughts about it???)

So that's all for my year. Twenty-one books. Looks like I read a lot of YA and Middle Grade novels this year. Some book club selections, too (which didn't always move me). Oh, and I read these three books all year long, whenever I felt like it: The Fourth Genre, Writing Life Stories, and The Eleventh Draft, among other essay and short story collections.

Upon reflection, I didn't really seek out good literature in the past twelve months the way I usually do. I think that'll be my goal in the next twelve: Keep something on hand at all times that I really want to sink my teeth into. (Help me out with that? Suggestions welcome.)

MICK
He's not here to put this together, but I'll throw in that Mick read the Lightning Thief series, too, some Michael Chabon, the Girl with the... series, and lots of David Foster Wallace (his new hero -- Mick loved the 3-inch thick novel, Infinite Jest).

DANE AND AUBREY
These two cats LOVE the Lightning Thief series (wait, they call it the Percy Jackson series). Dane's read it four times this summer -- yup, that's about 1500 pages each time, so 6000 pages total. Aubrey's on book 4 of her second reading. These guys can't get enough of Percy Jackson and Greek mythology.

They've also listened to books 1-5 on CD of The Ranger's Apprentice series. We're waiting for the audio CD of book 6, reserved at the library. I think we're hold 2 of 6...

**
Got a good book suggestion for me? Leave me a comment!

First Lines of the Morning

In Writing Life Stories, by Bill Roorbach, I'm studying how to make memories into memoirs, ideas into essays, and life into literature. That's the book's subtitle, by the way.

These were my first assignments:
1. Clear a writing space for yourself. (Still working on that one.)
2. Set aside an hour a day to read something challenging - something that's been on your list, but you know it'll take extra effort to get through. For me, that's something like a novel by James Joyce or a book of nature writing by Edward Abbey or a book of science writing like The Moral Animal.
3. Form a writing circle to meet a couple times a month. (Done.)
4. Set aside scheduled time to write daily. (Done, but will be even more intentional.)
and
5. Find 10-20 "first lines" that work.

I was going to skip that last one, but then I decided I'd better play this game full out - and let me just say, it fed my soul to search through my book shelves to find my favorite books and essays, and then to type up their first lines.

Some of them, like Cormac McCarthy's The Road made me cry just to type them up. McCarthy nails the theme of love between his two main characters in that very first line, and that fierce desire the father holds to do whatever it takes to see his son to safety in a dangerous post-apocalypic world.

When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night, he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him.
-The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Others, like Richard Selzer's "The Masked Marvel's Last Toe-Hold" and Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a Face surprised me to start with such simplicity. When you finish their stories, though, you understand that Selzer's giving you another day at work - which is not just another day at work, and Grealy's giving you the shock of what it is to survive face cancer and be subject to the standards of beauty our society holds.

Morning rounds.
-"The Masked Marvel's Last Toe-Hold," Richard Selzer

Ker-pow!
-Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy

And I got to re-visit Cannery Row and how that first line is pure poetry about the contradictions of the simple but complex life on Cannery Row. I remember stopping at the end of that first sentence the first time I read the story, and re-reading it for what it felt like.

Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.
-Cannery Row, John Steinbeck

And here are the others, including the ones above. I'll let them all speak for themselves now:

lake level: 4206.00'
Mimi passed away this morning at 5:10 A.M., June 27, 1989.
-"Screech Owls," Terry Tempest Williams

By nightfall the headlines would be reporting devastation.
-The Transit of Venus, Shirley Hazzard

Nine months Landsman's been flopping at the Hotel Zamenhof without any of his fellow residents managing to get themselves murdered.
-The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon

My desert-island, all time, top five most memorable split-ups, in chronological order:
1. Alison Ashworth
2. Penny Hardwick
3. Jackie Allen
4. Charlie Nicholson
5. Sarah Kendrew
-High Fidelity, Nick Hornby

Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that had happened a long while ago, and I said to you, "That afternoon when I met so-and-so... was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst afternoon."
-Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden

When I teach a beginning class, it is good.
-Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, Natalie Goldberg

When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him.
-The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Morning rounds.
-"The Masked Marvel's Last Toehold," Richard Selzer

Not dead, yet: We found him where he had tried to die in his car -- a huge old Mercedes pulled to the side of Reservoir Road, a washed-out dirt track encircling, what else, a reservoir.
-"The Dead Man," Justin Cronin

At daybreak Billy Buck emerged from the bunkhouse and stood for a moment on the porch looking up at the sky.
-The Red Pony, John Steinbeck

Ker-pow!
-Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy

He came after Homer and before Gertrude Stein, a difficult interval for a poet.
-Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse, Anne Carson

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.
-The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan

The line gets drawn, and the line gets drawn again.
-"The Line Is White, and It Is Narrow," Beth Kephart

My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born.
-Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt

In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together.
-The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers

That last one just kills me. McCullers nailed it there, too. What the two mutes mean to each other is just going to explode as that story unfolds.

If you've read this far, do you have a favorite book with an opening that nails it? Add to my list...

Soldier Stories

If Memorial Day reignites your appreciation for the sacrifices our soldiers make to serve, consider reading my friend Marcus Brotherton's book, A COMPANY OF HEROES: PERSONAL MEMORIES ABOUT THE REAL BAND OF BROTHERS AND THE LEGACY THEY LEFT US. It's filled with the never-before-told stories of the The Band of Brothers.

* * *

In other news, some Americans are upset today because President Obama won't be at Arlington National Cemetery to recognize Memorial Day. Instead, he'll be in Chicago at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, honoring America's fallen.

Well, guess what I learned?

He's not the first president to be away for Memorial Day! Presidents Bush, Bush and Reagan were away from Arlington on Memorial Day during their tenures in office. President Clinton, however, never missed a year.

Read the article here at snopes.com for the full scoop.

And Happy Memorial Day, wherever you're celebrating it.

If The Dog Could Read, She'd Have To Settle For Book 3

Oh, my poor little neglected blog. Neglected for a few baseball games, gymnastics practice, walks with the dog, field trips with the kids, and... a really engaging book.

I'm nearly finished with Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, which I was finally allowed to start reading after Dane finished it for his book report, and then after Mick and Aubrey tag teamed possession of it during their waking/sleeping hours for a couple weeks.

That book is a fun ride. You have a kid who thinks he's different (in a bad way) who finds out he's special (in an amazing way) and you're pulling for him to successfully complete a quest - because he's actually genetically linked to the gods of Greek mythology, and is mixed up in a complex plot among them.

It's an amazing, fast-paced, educational adventure - and, like I said, Percy and his series are a huge hit in this house.

Currently, Dane's reading Book 5: The Last Olympian, Mick's reading Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth, Aubrey's reading Book 2: Sea of Monsters, and if Sharkles could read, I'm sure she'd be on Book 3: The Titan's Curse because she probably would've beaten me to access to Book 1 long ago, too.

I also have to add that it was really tough to put Percy away for a night so I could read Cheaper By The Dozen for book club. Ultimately, I found Cheaper to be a charming. if not slightly overly-anecdotal, book about an unusual family: psychologist (mom) and efficiency expert (dad) raising twelve kids in the early twentieth century.

I may have found the father's chauvinist ways bristling at times (when he's courting his future wife, he stops conversation to pick her up and set her on a book shelf because she "looks prettier there" - and then no longer contributes to the conversation!) but I took it with a grain of salt and mostly found him to be a fun-loving, mix-it-up kind of guy who loved education and family.

Wonderful things that stayed with me: Teaching his children Morse Code by painting code on the walls, teaching the children (ages 3 and up) to multiply double digits in their heads by memorizing squares and then adding differences (or something like that -- I have to figure it out; my parents didn't teach me that!), and hanging the solar system from the house ceiling. Every situation was an opportunity to educate in this family, and it was inspiring, although a little heavy-handed.

Ultimately, I'm glad I read it, but Mr. Frank Gilbreth couldn't really hold a candle to Percy Jackson. But comparing them is like comparing apples and oranges. Or Humans and Half-Bloods. It's really not an even contest.

A boy, a book, a bag

PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF
A 3rd GRADE PRESENTATION BY DANE REYNOLDS

Dane had a month to choose and read an Adventure or Mystery novel, write up a Summary/Setting/Character/Opinion report, and put together a bag of representative items. He spent the last four days dialing in the report and bag - and here's what he finally came up with for his project.

Click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuK09mfng28 to see it.

Update: Dane presented this to his class today and totally rocked it. He blew his teacher away and earned an A+!

Book Sense: A Conversation with Dane

Dane: Mom, how's your book coming along?

Me: Uh, super slow. I think I want to give up on it. It's going nowhere.

Dane: I know a book you could write that would be easy!

Me: Really? [raise eyebrow] What?

Dane: Just write a Dictionary!

Word.

SOME BARF, SOME BABYMOUSE

I'm home from SCBWI, which was inspiring, but I'm home with a sick girl who projectiled onto the nurse today, which was not so inspiring. (Well, maybe it was a little inspiring.)

This could be all I post for SCBWI then, given the circumstances, but I'll at least make it juicy. Here's me with Matt Holm, illustrator for the adorable Babymouse graphic novel series:

I knew Aubrey would love this, so I had him sign her copy -- but when I figured out his sister writes the books and he illustrates them, I had him add Dane's name to the inscription, as a source of inspiration for my own little writing/drawing brother/sister team.

READ IT AND WEEP (OR CHEER!)

Check out this inspiring story Uncle Rod sent us about a father/daughter reading routine. It will astound you - and probably make you want to crack a book with a kid right this instant.

Click here for the NYT article.

I can't read The Giving Tree to my kids without getting a big old lump in my throat. And I love reading Small Brown Dog's Bad Remembering Day in as many different voices or accents as possible. And reading the Ramona books or the Anne of Green Gables series to my mom as she cooked up dinner are some of my favorite reading moments ever.

So tell me: What book have you loved reading to another - as a kid or as an adult?

* * * *

PICK UP

SOME

BOOKS
TODAY

* * * *

AWESOME BOOK TIP #1: When the kids are in school, head over to your local library and check out a bunch of books for them. Then, when you get home, spread them all out over the living room floor and when they step in the door they'll dive in like you've exposed buried treasure.

That's a tip from my mother-in-law. I've been doing it for years now, and my kids love it. They can't help plopping themselves down and thumbing through whatever I've laid out there.

AWESOME BOOK TIP #2: Keep a basket or bin just for library books. Make sure other books don't go in there; make sure all library books get returned to your library-only bin. This makes it SO easy to keep track of your library books and avoid lost or overdue fines. I keep one in the kids' bedroom and one in the living room.

AWESOME BOOK TIP #3: If your library has free requests and holds, do your "shopping" online and pick up your books on-hold the next week. Unless you're on a long hold list, this should save you time if you're in a pinch and can't spend time browsing during your library visit.

AWESOME BOOK TIP #4: Take a book idea or two from a book list. Since it's Black History Month, here's a fabulous list of book ideas to broaden understanding of African American history and culture. I got it from a Horizons eFamily newsletters. It's divided up by age groups, so scroll to the one(s) you need and have fun!

For Preschool and Young School-Age Children

Shades of Black, written by Sandra L. Pinkney, illustrated by Myles Pinkney. The many shades of black are beautifully illustrated in this photo album of the many characteristics of blackness; available in board and hard copy versions. (Ages 2–6)

Oh Lord, I Wish I Was a Buzzard, written by Polly Greenberg, illustrated by Aliki. A gentle, universal story about wanting to be “anywhere but here.” A little girl picks cotton, wishing she was something and somewhere cooler and doing something less back breaking like “a snake curved up cold and cool or a dog under a bush.” A great read-aloud that easily turns into a joyous call and refrain. Aliki’s bright, expressive illustrations are unforgettable. (Ages 3–5)

Goin’ Someplace Special, written by Patricia C. McKissock, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Newbery medal-winning author Patricia C. McKissock and Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney bring the reality of segregation to life in Nashville through the eyes of a 9-year-old girl. (Ages 3–7)

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr., written by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Pinckney’s stunning and beautiful illustrations and Marzollo’s spare text make this a terrific book to introduce preschoolers to Martin Luther King and the civil rights struggle. (Ages 3–7)

No Mirrors in My Nana's House (Musical CD and book), written by Ysaye M. Barnwell, illustrated by Synthia Saint James. A young granddaughter's joyful tribute to her Nana composed by Barnwell and sung by world renowned "Sweet Honey in the Rock" on the CD. The CD also has a spoken-word recording of the book. (Ages 3–8)

The Baby on the Way, by Karen English, illustrated by Sean Qualls. A warm and evocative book about grandparents and family traditions based on African American traditions. (Ages 4–8)

Show Way, written by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott. In this Newbery Honor Book, Woodson uses a “Show Way,” a quilt sewn with secret meanings, to tell her family’s history of African American women from slavery and to trace the history of the civil rights movement to the present. Talbott’s exquisite illustrations will inspire readers to explore their own family history. (Ages 4–8)

Mr. Williams, written and illustrated by Karen Barbour. A beautifully illustrated retelling of one man’s oral history of the hardships of African American rural life in the '30s and '40s. (Ages 4–8)

Sky Sash So Blue, written by Libby Hathorn, illustrated by Benny Andrews. The special sky-blue sash that a young slave girl offers to give her older sister for her wedding dress becomes a lifelong tie between them. This inspiring book depicts a slave family story from the perspective of a child who turns fabric into art and uses hope and joy to transcend sorrow and oppression. Hathorn’s simple rhyming narrative story of a slave who secretly makes a wedding dress out of scraps and patches and the extraordinary bright fabric collage illustrated by Andrews will captivate children. (Ages 4–8)

Visiting Langston, written by Willie Perdomo, illustrated by Bryan Collier. This is an inspiring, poetic book about an African American girl anticipating a visit to the Harlem brownstone of Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes. Perdomo’s poetry and Collier’s watercolor and collage bring to life the first half of 20th-century Harlem. (Ages 4–8)

For Young School-Age Children

I Saw Your Face, illustrated by Tom Feelings, text by Kwame Dawes. Feelings is a widely acclaimed illustrator who illustrates history “through the multiplication of faces” while Dawes creates stories around the faces Feelings sketches. (Ages 5–10)

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr., written by David A. Adler, illustrated by Robert Casilla. A beautifully illustrated, easy-to-read biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Also worth reading by Adler: A Picture Book of Rosa Parks and A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman. (Ages 5–8)

The Village That Vanished, written by Ann Grifalconi, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. A folklore tale of quick-witted African villagers who draw on the spirits of their ancestors to hide from approaching slavers. This is a story of community solidarity and resourcefulness overcoming evil. (Ages 6–10)

For Older School-Age Children

Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis. Narrator 11-year-old Elijah is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada, a settlement of runaway slaves. Elijah ends up on a journey and becomes exposed to the horrors of slavery. This Newbery Honor book is at times funny, exciting, thrilling, suspenseful, and deeply moving; a subtle, original story by a wonderful writer. (Age 9-12)

A Friendship for Today, by Patricia C. McKissack. Rosemary, who is black, develops an unlikely friendship with mean Grace Hamilton, considered "white trash" by classmates, after school integration in 1955. Rosemary is a plucky character with wry observations on life and people and the book offers a great view of life in the 1950’s. (Age 9-12)

Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, written by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. An engaging and inspiring look at the contributions of 10 women from former slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth to the first black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm. Pinkney tells the stories of Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and others — stories of hardship and struggle, determination and strength. Alcorn's beautiful and exciting oil painting illustrations bring life to each story. This is a good read aloud for kindergarten and young school-age children. (Ages 8–12)

There are several good source books that help children explore and understand the history and contributions of African Americans. Good sources are Black Books Galore’s Guide to Great African American Children's Books and Black Books Galore!: Guide to More Great African American Children's Books, written by Donna Rand and Toni Trent Parker.

Below are additional good choices about African American lives, history, and culture:

For Preschool Children and Young School-Age Children

Rap A Tap Tap, written and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Through beautiful watercolor illustrations and bouncy, captivating text in Rap a Tap Tap, Leo and Diane Dillon tell the story of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, an extraordinary, groundbreaking dancer who brought tap from the streets to the world. He was one of the most popular entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. This is a beautiful, terrific, and joyful book on dance and music and a springboard for discussion on an important period in American history. (Ages 3–6)

Mr. George Baker, written by Amy Hest, illustrated by Jon Muth. George is a 100-year-old jazz musician who has decided to learn to read. Everyday he waits for the school bus along with his young neighbor, Harry. At school, while Harry learns to read, so does George with a group of grown-ups. Harry narrates the story and the extraordinary watercolor illustrations depict the warm relationship between the white boy and the African American man. (Ages 4–8)

My Dream of Martin Luther King, written and illustrated by Faith Ringgold, the award-winning creator of Tar Beach and Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky. Ringgold provides an extraordinarily powerful picture of King's childhood and experiences of segregation, prejudice, and protest. (Ages 4–8)

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., written by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier. This picture book biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. uses King’s words along with paper collages and watercolor artwork to tell an age-appropriate version of the civil rights leader’s life story. (Ages 4–8)

Yesterday I Had the Blues, written by Jeron Ashford Frame, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. This is a beautifully illustrated, wonderfully quirky book about everyday life and having the blues. An African American boy laments his blue day and goes on to describe his other days and moods and the feelings of the people around him using the colors of the rainbow.(Ages 4–8)

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, written by Carle Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. A beautifully dramatic picture book about Harriet Tubman and her religious inspiration, using the words of spirituals. (Ages 4–8)

For Younger School-Age Children

Henry's Freedom Box, written by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. The true story of Henry "Box" Brown, a runaway slave from Virginia who "mailed himself to freedom" in a cramped wooden crate. This is an amazing story of courage and ingenuity. (Ages 5–8)

When Marian Sang, written by Pam Muñoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian Selznick. About the 20th-century life of Marian Anderson and how she overcame racial barriers with a voice heard and loved worldwide. We follow Marian from her childhood, singing in church in Philadelphia, through her rejection from a music school that refused to take "coloreds," to her success in the concert halls of Europe, and back to America, where she finally receives acclaim, despite the challenges of racism. Brian’s Selznick's carefully researched, sepia-toned, acrylic illustrations are extraordinary and capture Marian’s soulful determination. (Ages 5–8)

Li’l Dan, The Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story, written and illustrated by Romare Bearden. This extraordinary book is based on the stunning collage illustrations of famed African American artist Romare Bearden; and tells the powerful story of a slave boy dealing with his new-found freedom. Included is a CD with Maya Angelou reading this poignant story. (Ages 5–10)

Ellington Was Not a Street, written by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Poet and playwright Ntozake Shange offers a lyrical reflection on her childhood and the many noted African Americans who often gathered in her home, from Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie to W.E.B. DuBois and African leader Kwame Nkrumah. Beautiful full-page paintings capture the times and the "men who changed the world.” (Ages 5–10)

Love to Langston, written by Tony Medina, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Harlem poet Tony Medina offers a poem of loving biographical tribute to one of America's most cherished poets, Langston Hughes. The bold, beautiful illustrations by R. Gregory Christie complement the text. (Ages 5–10)

For Older School-Age Children

Through My Eyes, written by Ruby Bridges, illustrated by Margo Lundell. Bridges gives voice to her innocent 6-year-old self who every day walked through a mob of howling, angry protestors to integrate the New Orleans public schools in 1960. Bridges recounts how she innocently thought at the time that, "Two, four, six, eight, we don't want to integrate" was a jump rope chant, even while the mob was carrying a black doll in a coffin. Many sepia-toned period photographs and excerpts from newspaper articles, comments by her teacher, and a timeline place her story within the context of the larger Civil Rights Movement. This book is a 1999 Parents' Choice® Gold Award Winner. (Ages 8–12)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963, written by Christopher Paul Curtis. The Watson family heads from Michigan to the deep south of Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 to straighten out fourth grader Kenny by depositing him at the home of his strict grandmother. This Newbery Medal-winning book is both funny and moving. Kenny narrates his family’s trip into the pivotal time and place in civil rights history — the bombing of a Baptist Church with four little girls inside. (Ages 8–12)

Only Passing Through, written by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. A powerful picture book biography of one the most remarkable women of the 19th century. Sojourner Truth was a slave sold three times by age 13 and watched her parents die of cold and hunger. She became one of the abolitionist movement’s strongest voices. Christie’s dramatic impressionist illustrations complement Rockwell’s moving storytelling. (Ages 9–11)

A Dream of Freedom: The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1966, by Diane McWhorter. This is a brilliant, well-illustrated history of the Civil Rights Movement centered on Birmingham, based on McWhorter's prize-winning book, Carry Me Home. (Age 9 and up)

The Old African, by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Lester, with Pinkney’s powerful illustrations, has done a wonderful job chronicling the African American experience of slavery to young readers. Other notable books by Lester are To Be a Slave and Day of Tears. (Age 9 and up)

BOOK SENSE

Dane: Aubrey, you lost my spot! I was somewhere in the Prologue...

Aubrey: Prologues suck.



Oh dear... (But she's kind of right, isn't she?)

Travel Writing: A Novel by Peter Ferry

This'll be quick. I'm off to meet Pete Ferry, author of Travel Writing. He's chatting with my book club at Jennifer Margulis' house and then he's giving a two-hour mini-writing workshop at SOU. Can't wait for either of those. I loved the book -- so did Mick. But I'll have to report back later...

GEORGE WASHINGTON
Dane dictates a post about his upcoming book report

My name is Dane. Anjies son. I am doing a reading report for my class. It is about George Washington. I have learned a lot about him. My grandpa is really into the Revolutionary War, so he's going to be a lot of help. For sure.

So far I know George Washington won the Battle of Cowpens and he won the Battle Across the Delaware. Those were pretty important battles. Cowpens was very important. I'm serious about that. I'll tell the story of that.

Okay, well, in the Battle of Cowpens, George Washington's team lined up in three lines. The first line was called The Sharpshooters. The second line was called, well, the ones that didn't have much practice. And the third row was the really experienced troops. General George Washington told the men in the front row to shoot three shots and retreat -- and only shoot when you see the whites of their eyes. And the second row would do the same. And then the third row was hidden behind a little hill, and that's the surprise.

And then the British came marching down, and the first row fired their shots, retreated to the side. Then the second row shot their shots and retreated to the other side. And then the rest of the British soldiers came marching forward and forward, and then the last, the third row, surprised them and got most of them.

And then they kept shooting, and then the two other lines swarmed around them and that was the end of the battle.

The End. By Dane.
See? We just found this. That's the same map from the Battle of Cowpens movie!

SCOOBY DOO AND THE MISTRY
OF PHANTUM VALLY by Dane Reynolds

One night when the gang was driveing donw a dusty road when they happen to find a little tonw called Phantum Vally and when they got out no one was ther.


The gang started to look a round town and fred said "Something must have scard them away" and Shagy said "like if you think so!!!" And Scooby said "ruhu." Velma said "You chickens be Quiet."

"O.K." Said Shaggy. "r.o.k." Scooby said. Velma, fred, Daffny, Scooby and Shaggy all said "hear that sound?" And there hair stoud up...

AND THEY RAN AWAY FROM A GHOST SCREEMING!

and they finally got away and they made a plan. Fred, Daffny, Velma and Scooby would get the ghost behind the mistry musheen. So Shaggy can cut the rope and catch that ghost.

The plan begins...


and the ghost relly was Dr. Mick. and he said, "I would have goten away with it if it weren't for those metleleng kids."

So one by one the people came back to Phantum Vally. the end


About the Author: Dane reynolds. my sister is aubrey. and I also like the movies and Books because they are good!*


*Author Dane Reynolds self-published this book at home and took it to school to read to his 2nd grade class, who loved it.

A READ-A-THON
for grown-ups!

I used to LOVE reading contests as a kid. When that yearly reading sheet was handed out for the month-long tracking of books read, I would scan the rules immediately and start scheming about the ways I was going to fill that sheet up as fast and furiously as I could.

In primary grades, it probably started out with rules about picture books and page numbers, and I'd read the likes of Danny and the Dinosaur, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

Next, I probably moved on to all those Beverly Cleary books, The Chronicles of Narnia, Judy Blume, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Shel Silverstein, and Roald Dahl.

I remember how much fun it was to devour books my teachers had introduced me to, or that I'd seen my friends reading--but it was also fun to discover other books, maybe obscure ones in the school library that Mr. Rodahl showed me, or something my mom picked up from a friend at work.

In fact, that's how I remember coming across some of my most memorable books: biographies. My mom's co-worker brought in a bunch of books her boys liked, and they were the life stories of famous people. Usually they were famous people I'd never heard of, so the introductions were exciting to me, and it was in those books that I learned about people overcoming amazing odds to make something of themselves, or people who had to have enormous courage when they figured out what they wanted to do.

In those pages, I met Willie Mays, Eleanore Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller, and Amelia Earhart, and I lived for hours on end hunched up on a corner of the couch, bearing witness to their greatness and feeling like there could maybe even be a possibility for my own.

I didn't know it then, but book contests were all about exposure -- being exposed to all different kinds of ideas and people and events -- and they were all about time. They were all about honoring the act of reading -- of tuning out the rest of the world and entering another.

Okay, so why am I getting all nostalgic about these reading fests right now? Well, because after, say, 6th grade, I don't think I ever got to publicly try to read as many books as possible ever again. (Obtaining my Masters came close with gargantuan lists of great literature, but I had to analyze and regurgitate those for tests -- and so a bit of the joy was, let's say, compromised.)

And now my kids take part in these fun summer reading programs at the library where they get fancy pencils or pizza certificates or stickers when they fill a sheet of paper with books we read, and I have to admit I'm jealous of the little turkeys. I want the challenge! I want to make a list and get a prize! I want more exposure and honored time!

Alas, my dream's come true. I never told a soul, but somehow the book fairies read my mind and here at my new library, the Jefferson County Public Library, is a reading contest for adults for the month of January!

The goal isn't to read as many as possible, necessarily, but to read 5 books -- and this sheet of paper has this fabulous numbered list of lines for "author" and "book title." At the bottom is a simple questionnaire asking which book I liked best and why.

When I'm finished, I won't get a sticker or anything, but I will get to enter my questionnaire and submit it for a drawing, and maybe, just maybe I'll win a prize!

I have no idea what the prize is, but who cares? Folks, it's enough that it's a reading contest and I'm a contender.

Books I've started or am planning to read:
1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon (630 pages)
2. The Centaur, by John Updike
3. The Story of Edward Sawtelle, by David Wroblewsky

And 4 and 5 just might be amazing biographies my mom is going to bring home from work for me.