Holy Boov! The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is so totally entertaining, smart, sassy, clever, and hysterical that you must read it! No excuses!
When twelve-year-old Gratuity (“Tip”) Tucci is assigned to write five pages on “The True Meaning of Smekday” for the National Time Capsule contest, she’s not sure where to begin. When her mom started telling everyone about the messages aliens were sending through a mole on the back of her neck? Maybe on Christmas Eve, when huge, bizarre spaceships descended on the Earth and the aliens – called Boov – abducted her mother? Or when the Boov declared Earth a colony, renamed it “Smekland” (in honor of glorious Captain Smek), and forced all Americans to relocate to Florida via rocketpod? In any case, Gratuity’s story is much, much bigger than the assignment. It involves her unlikely friendship with a renegade Boov mechanic named J.Lo.; a futile journey south to find Gratuity’s mother at the Happy Mouse Kingdom; a cross-country road trip in a hovercar called Slushious; and an outrageous plan to save the Earth from yet another alien invasion.–library catalog
Here’s a little video tutorial created by the Boov to help teach us humans how our holidays have changed since the alien invasion
An ambitious Stone Age man demands a talisman that will harden his heart, allowing him to take control of his tribe. Against his better judgment, the tribe’s magic man creates the Flint Heart, but the cruelty of it causes the destruction of the tribe. Thousands of years later, the talisman reemerges to corrupt a kindly farmer, an innocent fairy creature, and a familial badger. Can Charles and his sister Unity, who have consulted with fairies such as the mysterious Zagabog, wisest creature in the universe, find a way to rescue humans, fairies, and animals alike from the dark influence of the Flint Heart?–library catalog
What a lovely surprise. I knew I wanted to read this book because the cover illustration is so inviting and charming but the beginning of the story is a bit . . . harsh . . . and dark. Not exactly what I had expected. Then I kept reading and as the story went along it got sweeter and sweeter and had me completely hooked. Doesn’t surprise me, really, when you consider that the author is Katherine Paterson (and her husband, John). Katherine Paterson is responsible for some of the most memorable children’s books ever: Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved, The Great Gilly Hopkins, etc. Go ahead and add The Flint Heart to her long list of memorable favorites.
After learning that her favorite teacher will be leaving for a trip to Egypt and will be absent for the remainder of the year, Clementine writes a horrible letter to get rid of the substitute and get Mr. D’Matz to stay.–from library catalog.
I’ve got to admit that I’ve never really been a fan of Junie B. Jones nor Judy Moody (poor grammar and bad attitudes and all) but there are plenty of children who adore both of them and that is fantastic! Not everyone loves everything. So I was hesitant to try Clementine’s Letter by Sara Pennypacker but I’m glad I did. Clementine is funny and imperfect and real. And the way she navigates her world is brilliant. Anyone who loves Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, Amber Brown, or Ivy + Bean will love Clementine.
And don’t you just love that hair? Marla Frazee is amazing!
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Don’t miss all of the other Clementine books by Sara Pennypacker, including the newest one Clementine and the Family Meeting which is now available.
Below is a author interview with Sara Pennypacker where she talks about Clementine’s Letter.
The Emerald Atlas: The Books of Beginning, Book One is most certainly one of my favorite new fantasy books. So rich and compelling . . . but that might have something to do with the fact that I listened to this on audio and Jim Dale, the man of a million voices, was immensely superb as the narrator.
Don’t know what I loved better. Reading this book or finding these gorgeous trailers. In fact, I found a couple of different versions of the same trailer and I’m not sure which one I like better. Take a look and decide for yourself!
No sign of when Book Two is coming out, so we must wait with much patience. Sigh.
In 2008, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, written and illustrated by Brian Selznick, won the Caldecott Medal for best illustrations. But wait! you say, “Isn’t that a chapter book?” Yes. Yes, it is. And it is awesome. On November 23, 2011, the companion movie, Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese, is opening nationwide. Will it be just as amazing as the book? Who knows? But I can’t wait to find out!
“ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message all come together…in The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”--from the official The Invention of Hugo Cabret web site.
Here’s a great (and quick) interview with Brian Selznick about making The Invention of Hugo Cabret:
There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself — not just sometimes, but always.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer is turning 50 this year. I know! Can you believe it? I remember loving this book in 1980 when I was in the sixth grade. (yeah, yeah, now everyone knows how old I am.) I reread it again in honor of its birthday and I loved it just as much as the first time. In fact, I probably enjoyed it a little more due to the fact that my years of knowledge and experience allowed me to read it with a different perspective.
It still has wonderful characters; it still sends a meaningful message to both children and adults about the way we should live our lives; and the unbelievably clever way that Juster uses figurative and literal language still made me chuckle in awe.
My favorite message from the book not only addresses my feelings about living but also about what kind of teacher I want to be and how I want my children and students to learn:
You must never feel badly about making mistakes, explained Reason quietly, as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.
Below is a wonderful interview with Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer and the story behind the making of this classic.
Did you know that has been turned into a musical? Watch below and maybe you can catch it when it comes to your city!
I love listening to NPR in the car. So, I was thrilled to hear that NPR is starting The Back-Seat Book Club hosted by All Things Considered for children ages 9-14 as a way to get children listening and participating in the conversation.
Every month will be a new book to read or listen to and children can email their questions to the author who will be interviewed at the end of the month.
The first Back-Seat Book Club book is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. A fantastic choice for October! You can listen to the details of the book club below.
I have always loved the stories written by Jon Scieszka, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Math Curse, Science Verse, and the Time Warp Trio series.
I also love, love, love his Guys Read web site which has fantastic reading recommendations of books that boys will want to read. (But girls should read these books, too!)
So when I saw that Jon had written an autobiography about what it was like to grow up with five brothers in the Scieszka household, I knew that he probably had some crazy stories to tell. And I was right!
Don’t miss Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories about Growing Up Scieszka.
Looking for a good mystery in a great setting with genuine characters? Then you will love The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally read it. But better late than never.
Ted and Kat live in London and their cousin, Salim, visits. On the day that they visit the London Eye, Salim gets into the sealed pod without Ted & Kat but he never comes out. Vanished! Disappeared! Gone.
What I loved most about this book was the fact that Ted has Aspberger’s Syndrome but that wasn’t what this book was about. Sure, Ted’s ability to see things differently helped him to solve the mystery of his disappearing cousin but it wasn’t the main focus of the story.
I highly recommend listening to the audio version to hear the characters’s British accents which adds to the flavor of the London setting.
If you liked The London Eye Mystery, you may also enjoy the The Case of the Missing Marqess (book one of the Enola Holmes mysteries) by Nancy Springer or The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.
Here’s a pretty darn good book trailer created by michyamamoto on YouTube. Hope the creator doesn’t mind my sharing!
Well, not exactly. Rick Riordan’s new book goes on sale on October 4, 2011 to be precise. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t get excited about book two in the Heroes of Olympus series!
In fact, Olympian Week starts on Tuesday where Rick Riordan will tour the country stopping in seven different locations to promote The Son of Neptune and to sign books.
Mrs. D'Elia is the Librarian in a very purple elementary school library. She believes that every child should have at least one favorite book. If you are a child and you don't have a favorite book yet, come and visit me in the library because we need to fix that.
Holy Boov! The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is so totally entertaining, smart, sassy, clever, and hysterical that you must read it! No excuses!
