Velma Gratch Review

It's hard being the last of three sisters to enter first grade.  All of Velma's teachers remember Frieda for her wonderful singing voice and skills in math.  They remember Fiona for how fast she could run on the soccer field and how well she spelled.  But Velma's teachers can hardly even remember her name!  All this changes, however on a field trip to a butterfly conservatory where Velma gets to stand out for her own reasons.

This story will resonate with all children entering school in the shadow of an older sibling and the whimsical nature of the text and the colorful and engaging illustrations will be sure to please and entertain even only children.  The lesson of the importance of being true to yourself and carving out your own path is one that is important to all children, and reflects principals of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.  Velma's sister Frieda appears to be strong in rhythmic and logical intelligences while Fiona appears gifted in kinesthetic and linguistic intelligences.  As linguistic and logical intelligences are highly valued in traditional school settings, both older sisters did well in school and are fondly remembered by their teachers.  The interactive nature of the field trip allowed Velma's own skill in naturalist intelligence to shine through.  This shows the importance of differentiated education in making each child feel valued by allowing them to explore subjects using a variety of intelligences and not just through the traditional linguistic and logical modes.

Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly. By Alan Madison.  Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Schwartz & Wade Books, 2007. [18] pages. $17.99, ISBN 978-0-375-83597-1

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Picture Book Reviews

I am taking a course in children's materials ages 5-8 this semester, and I will have to review a lot of picture books for it.  I'm going to post them here, but they will follow the format my teacher has outlined rather than my regular one.  They will also probably contain some odd add-on regarding whatever part of the week's readings in educational theories our teacher wants us to discuss.  I will also keep up with my regular posting of books read in my free time in the usual format.   Just a heads up; I hope you enjoy them!

The Great Wide Sea Review

Book talk:  When Ben's mother dies all he wants is some time to be alone, but his father has other plans.  One day he announces that he's sold their house and bought a sailboat and that the family is going to spend a year sailing around the Bahamas.   Ben and his two brothers don't want to go, but he is their father and so they have to go anyway.  Ben is so upset with his father he doesn't even want look at him, so living on a 30 foot long boat with him 24/7 seems like the worst fate imaginable, that is until the worst truly does happen.  One morning they wake up in the middle of the ocean to find their father gone.  The boys are left all alone, and a storm bigger than any they've ever seen is brewing on the horizon.

Rocks my socks:  I like how layered the characters are and the changes they go through as they deal with their grief.  None of the characters are perfect, they all make mistakes they wish they could take back, but in the end they're family and they know that they have to stick together.  I also found the descriptions of their trip fascinating.  I could tell that the author had actually been to many of these places, and her experience and the sense of place really comes through and enriches the novel.

Rocks in my socks: The tone of the novel was pretty unrelenting and even scenes that could have been nice, relaxing interludes were told in a way that made me extremely aware of the fact that it was just the calm before the storm so I was still on edge.  I read the book in one sitting and by the end I felt like I had been battered by a storm myself.

Every book its reader: This book is perfect for a teenager seeking a fast-paced adventure novel, especially for those who like survival stories or with an interest in sailing.

The Great Wide Sea by M. H. Herlong

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Toby Alone

Book talk: When you are only one and a half millimeters tall, a tree can seem like the whole world, and that world is a dangerous place.  Ants, weevils, birds, and even rain drops can pose a big threat.  But the world is even more dangerous for thirteen-year-old Toby who suddenly finds himself the subject of a massive manhunt.  A whole army of big muscled and small-brained crooks are out looking for him, and with his parents held hostage and his friends turning on him, he quickly finds himself alone.  But Toby's not the only one in danger: with organized criminals taking over the tree, exploiting all its resources and silencing all the opposition, the tree itself is in danger, and all who live in it.  How can Toby save the tree and its people when most of them are trying to kill him?  It's a big responsibility for such a small boy, especially one who's all alone.

Rocks my socks:  The world Fombelle creates is delightfully creative and entertaining.  Just imagining the world as it would appear to someone one and a half millimeters tall is a refreshing lesson in perspective.  Toby is constantly getting himself into scrapes that seem almost absurd from our lofty stature, but Toby's bravery and ingenuity in getting back to safety won me over.  There is also a cast full of wonderful characters, including Toby's parents.  It was nice to see a story where a kid actually has adults he can rely on and look up to, and yet due to the fact of their being held hostage we still get to see Toby trying to survive on his own.  I like the themes it weaves in of sustainability and doing the right thing in the face of danger and prejudice.

Rocks in my socks: Even though the book is full of action the tone of the book is almost one of detached amusement so that the pacing doesn't feel very fast.  When Toby got out of a scrape I often thought "How clever!" but I never thought "Phew, that was a close one!"  The book was very entertaining, but I read it over a week or so right before bed and I never had difficulty putting it down when the time came to go to sleep.

Every book its reader: I recommend it to fans of adventure grades 4th and up.  There's plenty to appeal to a wide range of readers because while the main narrative starts with Toby at 13, it ends with him at 15 and much of the story is spent in flashback to when he was younger.  While there is a lot of action, there's nothing too frightening in there, the only obstacle for younger readers would be its length.

Bonus Quote: "Words are the enemy of darkness.  If you choose to be their friend, they will help you out all your life...that was why people talked about being 'familiar' with a word or language.  They were like a family to you."

Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle, translated by Sarah Ardizzone, illustrated by Francois Place
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Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin Review

Book Talk: After Will leaves his deaf school for a mainstream one, he has plenty of trouble just trying to fit in. So he stays on the sidelines, lip-reading from afar to see what the cool kids are talking about and writing it down with his own snarky commentary in a notebook.  But a whole new level of trouble is unleashed when one of his classmates dies on a field trip.  Was it a jealous friend?  A jilted lover? A hired hitman? Suddenly, Will's notes and lip-reading abilities become valuable assets in his investigation.  Will and his new friend are a far cry from the Hardy boys, but together they just may be able to find the killer--if they don't get themselves killed first.

Rocks My Socks: The author clearly did his research for this book, and I really appreciated it.  From the politics of Deaf culture that I remember learning about in ASL class to Will's reflections on what the mechanics of certain signs remind him of.  I also really loved Will as a character and it's easy to empathize with his outsider perspective and appreciate his snarky take on the conversations of the cool kids.  The Hardy boys references were amusing to me as well, even though I haven't read any Hardy boys books.

Rocks In My Socks: The characters other than Will aren't particularly well developed, and even Will doesn't make much of a change from the beginning to the end of the novel.  The novel also suffers from Useless Adult Syndrome with most of the adult characters either actively harming the kids in the book or indirectly doing so through indifference or ignorance.

Every Book Its Reader: I'd give it to grades 7 and up who appreciate a sarcastic sense of humor.  Fans of the Hardy Boys who have grown up and are looking for something a bit darker will enjoy this novel.

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk; Knopf, 2010
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Proust and the Squid review

Booktalk: Have you ever wondered how humans developed the ability to read?  Or what exactly is going on inside the brain of a child who is learning how?  What happens when everything goes right?  What happens when it doesn't? This fascinating book will tell you all the science and a fair amount of the stories surrounding reading.  Not only will it answer your questions about reading, it will get to to start asking the right ones.

Rocks my socks: The subject is of course fascinating to me and it covers the history of learning how to read pretty well.  It goes from the beginnings of reading in civilization discussing what we can glean from archaeology all the way to what happens inside the brain of a child with reading difficulties.  While I am fairly comfortable with archaeology, my B.A. in theatre has left me somewhat lacking as far as knowledge of neuroscience goes.  Still, I found this book highly readable and was able to understand it all, largely due to the wonderful narration and copious amounts of anecdotes and analogies to guide me through the story.

Rocks in my socks: Wolf has a tendency to talk in wide, sweeping metaphors that she uses to sum up her views on the subject a bit too often and it eventually became a bit repetitive.  What I found most annoying was the fact that she has copious notes at the end, which I probably would have enjoyed, but I never really used.  This was because rather than setting them up as footnotes with in-text references via superscript number they're just listed in the back by page number.  While I often check footnotes if they come at the end of a sentence that I find interesting and want to know more about, I am unlikely to constantly interrupt the flow of my reading to check a mystery grab bag of notes for the pages I've just read.

Every book its reader: I'd hand this to any librarian or teacher who works with children.  It really contains a lot of great insight in how to best encourage literacy and teach reading.  It also contains a lot of great stuff about pre-reading like helping children become familiar with phonemes through rhyme, etc.  It would be a great read for parents with small children for this reason.  Finally, I think it is a must-read for anyone who works with or is the parent of a child with dyslexia or other reading difficulties.  The author herself has a child with dyslexia and she handles the topic in a really wonderful way that explains what is going on and what to do about it as well as emphasizing the advantages of having a different way of thinking and processing.

Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf

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Weirdest Bookmark?

I've seen a lot of odd thing shoved inside books during my years working at an independent bookstore and various libraries, but this stove piece found inside a book returned to my current elementary school library is perhaps the weirdest to date:

It isn't even flat!  Also, this is an elementary school library so it was returned by a kid.  Kids should not be hanging around stoves, pulling pieces off!  This is very concerning...