Happy Birthday, Authors!

I believe there is a good reason National Poetry Month is in April.  With the proliferation of breathtakingly beautiful new plant and animal life, balmy days, and spectacular thunderstorms, it is easy to wax poetic!

But there is more to take note of this time of year.

If you have an upcoming birthday, you are in illustrious company.  Some well-known authors were born in late April and early May.  A few of them are:

Ludwig Bemelmans, April 27, 1898

For generations, children have read and enjoyed the timeless Madeline stories.

Harper Lee, April 28, 1926

The incomparable Harper Lee only wrote one novel, but the unforgettable To Kill a Mockingbird catapulted her to fame and ensured her a well-deserved place among literary giants.

Patricia MacLachlan, May 3, 1938

Patricia MacLachlan’s successes are almost too numerous to mention.  Some of her special treasures include Arthur, for the Very First Time, What You Know First, Sarah, Plain and Tall and sequels, Cassie Binegar, Tomorrow’s Wizard, and Word After Word After Word.

Beverly Butler, May 4, 1932

Beverly Butler originally planned to be an artist; however, when her eyesight began failing when she was fourteen, she typed stories to improve her skill.  This practice led her to write her own stories and novels, two of which–Light a Single Candle and Gift of Gold–are based on the author’s own experience.  Two other notable works are Ghost Cat and Witch’s Fire.

The best of both worlds!

Passover Splendor

Japanese Flowering Quince in our back yard

The flowering quince tree in our back yard is in glorious bloom, the tulips are showing their buds, even an unidentified house plant in our living room has graced us with a rare flower.  These long-awaited events make the magnificent holiday of Passover even more special.  As we celebrate our national freedom, we experience the rebirth of the world around us.  Not only are trees and other plants bursting with colorful blossoms, but creatures everywhere are nurturing new arrivals.

All this splendor naturally reminds me of some delightful reading.  Eugenie Fernandes has created a series of seasonal picture books that are a feast for the eyes.  With mixed-media art, the author portrays a kitten as she encounters the world during each time of the year.  Simple rhyming text and bright illustrations–with details that youngsters will delight in pointing out–make these stories perfect for the preschool set. 

Time to go enjoy this beautiful world.

Is It Spring Yet?

The answer is a definite YES!  Even though the weather turned chillier, wetter, and windier (proving that anything can happen in April), the sun is shining in our hearts.  It probably has something to do with our daughter’s engagement to a wonderful young man…  (There is a scene in the delightful movie, Singing in the Rain, in which one of the protagonists, when the fact that it is raining is mentioned, responds that he hadn’t noticed.  I understand the sentiment.)

Back to the subject of books, I’m now reading a debut novel that, from the moment I opened it, I put in the WOW category.  The Thing About Georgie by first-time author Lisa Graff tells the story of a fourth-grade boy who is not like anyone else in his class.  His difference is made very real to the reader from the onset: “I need you to do me a favor.  Yes, you…Stretch your right arm  high up to the sky.  Now reach across the top of your head and touch your left ear…Did you know you could do that?  Well, Georgie can’t…You can let go of your ear now.”  The reason Georgie is unable to perform this feat, and do a lot of other things most people can, is that he is a dwarf–but he is also a bright, sensitive, self-confident boy blessed with supportive parents and a good friend.  However, the “good friend” part is about to change, just when Georgie needs a buddy he can confide in more than ever.  Ages 9-11

Back to the wedding plans…

A Few Treasures

As I sift through the boxes of new arrivals at the school libraries, I’m uncovering some books that are special treasures.

As Pobble and her father take a walk through the snowy woods near their home one evening, they use their imaginations to describe what they find: a mushroom can be a frog umbrella and a feather a tickle stick.  Caught up in the fun of the moment, the little girl drops a mitten–which is found by a group of animals.  Each tries to explain what the unfamiliar object is, and only wise Deer knows the right answer.  A warm, humorous tribute to the power of the imagination.  Ages 5-8

B.B. Wolf receives a call from the public library inviting him to tell how he met the three pigs.  Embarassed by his bad behavior, he paints his actions in a more positive light until the pigs, by constantly interrupting B.B.’s story, compel him to admit the truth.  This hilarious story by a master of wacky tales is perfectly matched by the vibrant illustrations.  Ages 5-8

Bink and Gollie are as different as two friends can be.  But that doesn’t stop them from enjoying each other’s company, even when their very dissimilar tastes put them at odds.  Kids will enjoy making friends with these two very special girls.  Ages 5-8

Keep watching for some phenomenal books for older kids.

Libraries Rock! (Part Two)

During the 1930s, the WPA sponsored the Pack Horse Librarians, whose task it was to bring books to remote locations.  Cal lives in the Appalachians, and makes no secret of his displeasure with his sister Lark’s fondness of reading.  When a woman on horseback arrives one day with a bagful of books, Cal is as unimpressed as Lark is delighted.  But after the librarian shows up on a snowy night with her wares, his ideas begin to change: “It’s not the horse alone that’s brave, I reckon, but the rider, too.  And all at once I yearn to know what makes that Book Woman risk catching cold, or worse.”  A beautifully written and magnificently illustrated book.

Marion loves to read.  She loves to read so much she wants to be a librarian when she grows up.  When Marion starts school, she is thrilled to discover than she can borrow two books from the school library.  However, the little girl is not very careful with her treasures–and, when one becomes damaged, Marion tries to make things right.  In the second Marion story, the young booklover shows her friend how he can find his favorite things to read in the library.  Readers will find this introduction to the Dewey Decimal System fascinating.  When Marion Copied demonstrates the importance of properly citing sources used in reports.   All three books are sure to be hits with young book lovers (and just about anybody else) for years to come.

Words of Wisdom

A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.  ~Lemony Snicket

 What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it thinks about education.
 –Harold Howe, former US Commissioner of Education

In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends.
 – Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Libraries Rock! (Part One)

April has to be a librarian’s favorite month.  With School Library Month and National Library Week occurring now, we are definitely in the spotlight!

Here are some books that library lovers will enjoy–and might make some new fans of these amazing places.

One day, a very large lion walks into the public library.  Much to the dismay of the assistant, Mr. McBee, the big cat stays for storytime.  Head Librarian Miss Merriweather allows him to stay as long as he observes the rules.  The lion returns every day and finds ways to make himself useful.  However, one day, Miss Merriweather falls and cannot get up–and the lion knows the only way he can alert someone to help her is by breaking an important library rule.   A beautiful story, perfect for shared reading for kids of all ages.

What happens when the librarian drives her bookmobile to the zoo by mistake?  She shares her books with the animals, of course!  Readers and listeners will laugh out loud as the critters find the perfect reading material:  “Raccoons read alone  and baboons read in bunches./And llamas read dramas while eating their llunches.”  This treasure will leave kids laughing all the way to the library. 

 

When a rare edition of The Wizard of Oz disappears from the public library, Becky, an avid reader, is accused of stealing the book.  She and her twin brother Toby set out to prove she is innocent and find the real culprit.  Clues throughout the novel add to the excitement of this can’t-put-it-down story.

 

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Everything’s Coming Up Poetry!

 Happy National Poetry Month!

Here a rhyming gem that is guaranteed to please poetry lovers, and are sure to win over a few new devotees as well.

 

The cover of this beyond wacky book tells you what you’ll find inside.  Every poem describes an event in the life of the main character–including the time  “Runny Babbit knearned to lit,/ And made a swat and heater” with hilarious results, and–

“RUNNY’S HEADING RABITS

Runny lent to the wibary
And there were bundreds of hooks–
Bistory hooks, beography gooks,
And lots of bory stooks.
He looked them over one by one
And guess which one he took–
A bience scook? A boetry pook?
Oh, no–a bomic cook!”

Kids from ages 5 to 105 will find their tunnybones fickled by ingenious poetic zanyness as only Shel Silverstein could create it.

If you like your poems humorous, you will love anything by former Poetry Foundation Children’s Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky.  A few of his books are A Pizza the Size of the Sun, My Dog May Be a Genius, and Something Big Has Been Here.

Have an incREADable weekend!