Outstanding author interviews

I’ve been blown away lately by the lengths that some authors have gone to for their reading public!

The first is an interview with the creators of Battle Bunny.  The brilliant Mac Barnett and jon Scieszka.  Colby Sharp is a Grade 3 teacher who asked his students to help him create an interview, Battle Bunny style for Mr. Barnett and Scieszka to answer.  The results are hilarious.

http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/interview-with-the-creators-of-battle-bunny/

The second is an illustrated interview between teacher-librarian Travis Jonkers and author Herve Tullet.  I’d love to print out some of Herve’s answers and frame them for my library!

http://100scopenotes.com/2013/10/21/herve-tullet-the-illustrated-interview/

The third, isn’t an interview per say, but is just pure brilliance.  A couple of years ago Youth librarian Lucas Maxwell at the Tantallon Public Library in Nova Scotia decided to celebrate their library’s 10th anniversary by writing several different authors asking them to write a letter back, addressed to the youth of Nova Scotia, outlining the benefits of reading and libraries in general.  The responses he got….well read for yourself.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111975251084366282209/albums/5659285007498674545?authkey=CLmf75XLwr3TeA&banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1#photos/111975251084366282209/albums/5659285007498674545?authkey=CLmf75XLwr3TeA&banner=pwa&gpsrc=pwrd1

 

A new school year, brings tons of volunteers!

School started back up almost a week ago.  I got the basics done. I updated our client list, put tons of great books back on display.  Now I need to gear up for our volunteer program. 

Several years ago we started asking for student volunteers to work in the library to help with shelving of books, pulling magazines that needed fixing (which is pretty much constantly around here), and other random tasks that the kids come up with. 

The popularity of the program has grown ENORMOUSLY in the last two years.  It may be in part because when the kids donate their time to work in here; one morning recess a week, we blast music of their choosing the entire time they’re working (I get to choose my cbc radio 2 favourites as well, which usually emits a large amount of groans, until they start requesting them a few weeks later 🙂 

Students need to be in grade 4 – 6 (our grade 7 & 8’s do no get a morning recess.  But I’ve had several previous volunteers ask if they could continue working in the library this year, so they may be coming in one lunch recess a week). 

The grade 4’s usually get the task of sorting magazines and putting away Fiction and Easy Reader books.  After a year if kids want to try putting away non-fiction titles I’ll train them to do that as well.  I’ve learned that some kids get the hang of shelving books right away, and some never do.  My biggest issue is not the mishelved books, and I will admit there are a fair amount of them with this program (most are CLOSE to where they’re supposed to be though :).  It’s getting kids to come to me when they don’t where things go.  Very few are willing to open their mouths and say “you know what, I’m not really sure I understand how to do this”.  Which is frustrating beause I make it very clear that if they need to ask me every single time where a book goes, they can, because I want them to learn how to do it properly. 

A wise person once told me that it’s much more important that they continue to shelve books (even if half are wrong), if they’re working hard, and they really want to learn how to shelve, that’s more important than it being 100% right. 

This morning I did an all call for volunteers who are interested in working this year.  62 students showed up, 25 of them being volunteers from last year.  A good 15 of those kids will either decide this isn’t for them, or will quit halway through the year.   At this point I’m not sure how to handle 13 students each recess and not have complete chaos!

Early chapter book review – Lulu walks the dogs by: Judith Viorst, Illustrated by: Lane Smith

This is the second book that Lulu stars in.  The first book Lulu and the Brontosaurus is laugh out loud funny, as Lulu the most spoiled girl in the world finally gets told that “No, she cannot have a brontosaurus as a pet”.  Lulu learns a lot about being polite in the first book, and is changed in many ways.

The second book is just as funny.  Lulu needs to make some extra money, and after asking her parents politely 18 times and being told no. Lulu finally decides to get a job to earn it (because she’s done with tantrums after Lulu and the Brontosaurus).  And although Lulu knows nothing about dogs, she decides that being a dog walker is the perfect way to earn money.  Turns out (like most things in life) that walking dogs isn’t as easy as she thought.  So she gets some seemingly unwanted help from Fleischman (who’s first name is Fleishcman, not his last name, and there’s a whole other story on that too), who Lulu thinks is a a goody-goody, and makes her want to throw up in all his perfectness.

The antics, and advice, and life lessons about accepting people for who they are, and maybe, just maybe being a little bit nicer bring out much laughter and learning.

Judith Viorst has so many great picture books out (Alexander, and the terrible, no good, very bad day), so it’s not surprising that she’s created such a great series.  The narration alone in this book is brilliant, with the narrator regularly interjecting into the story to interact with the reader ” In actual life this almost could never happen.  In the stories I write, things like this happen a lot. Deal with it”.  Even going on tangents within the story to help explain things that might go over the young reader’s head, with excellent and funny explanations.

This would make the most wonderful read aloud book, and with Lane Smith’s fabulous pencil drawings throughout (my personal favourite is when the author speaks of Brutus the dog and his owner looking alike, complete will full pages picture) This is one of the best early Chapter books I’ve read all year.

Middle years fiction review – Between Heaven and earth By: Eric Walters

Between Heaven and earth is part of the seven series of books published by Orca.  The series can be read in any order, and each book is written by a different Canadian author.  The premise of the series is that a grandfather has seven grandsons. In his will he has left each grandson with a different task to complete, each book tells the story of a different grandson.

Eric Walters has published over 70 novels for grade 5-8 students, and I’ve read many of them.  I tend to recommend them heartily to students who like adventure novels.  Some of his books (like most authors) are better than others.  I had a hard time with this book.  I find that he often has main characters who are far too full of themselves and as the book progresses they learn more about the world around them, and that they still have a lot to learn.  Nothing wrong with that, although it gets a little painful when it takes 3/4 of the book for the character to really start to become more worldly and less annoying.

DJ is the main character of this book, he’s the oldest grandson, and takes himself to be the leader of the family, as though it’s his job to make sure everybody is doing what they should be, at least according to his standards.  I think this trait was supposed to be endearing, but I just found him so obnoxious, and such a know it all that I had a hard time getting past his traits to even start liking him or the book.

The task DJ has been given is to fly to Tanzania and hike to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro  and distribute his ashes at the top of the mountain. DJ assumes this will be a simple task, who can’t climb a mountain in 2 days?  Who needs to listen to the local guides? Why wouldn’t  you speak  to customs officials in another country as though you know so much more than them?  DJ is 17 and knows better than anyone how things should be done, at least according to DJ.  He does eventually grow as a character, but not as much as I’d hoped.

There were also several events that happened in the book that were flat out dangerous, and got solved far too easily and quickly, it made the book feel a bit false to me.  I’m hoping to read the 6 other books in the series, and since they’re written by different authors it will be interesting to see if I have a very different take on the writing style of each story.

grade 6+

Young Adult graphic novel review – Relish: my life in the kitchen by: Lucy Knisely

I’ll admit that it took me almost a full chapter to really get into this book.  I’m so used to graphic novels being in a set format, there was so much more text above each comic box that it threw me for a loop initially.  But once I was I used to the format, it was pure love.

Lucy Knisley tells a delicious tale (quite literally) of growing up in upstate New York with foodie parents.  How her first memories are tied directly to food “I’m lucky to have grown up with cooks and bakers, eaters and critics, and meals to remember.  My memories are formed in conjunction with my palate.”

As I read this collection of vignettes from her life, I found myself smiling, and reliving foodie moments in my own life.  Laughing at the fact that I grew up in a house with three spices in the cupboard (salt, pepper, and Paprika for deviled egg decoration) and how my palate grew and changed once I left home.  Good food can bring so much joy and so many memories.  I’ve never seen someone put it to words and drawings so poignantly! I need to read it again to really savour it honestly.

Her chapter on Junk Food made me laugh many times, knowing that even good foodies love their processed food in it’s disgustingly good glory as much as the rest of us.  While her description of finding the world’s perfect croissant in Venice, and then attempting for months to recreate it without success was my favourite chapter in the book.   “The mysterious deliciousness of those croissants continues to haunt me.  I suspect that the ingredient I lacked in Chicago was the anticipation and delight of waking on a morning of possibilities, far from home and school, in an ancient, watery city.”

It’s the recipes at the end of each chapter that really bring so much more to the book, I”m excited to try them!  Always pertaining to something that happened that chapter, and with drawings and interesting descriptions on how to make each recipe, it will be hard to look at cookbooks without delightful drawings included.

I need to hunt down her first book, French Milk now!

grade 9+ (for comprehension not content)

middle years review – The brilliant fall of Gianna Z by: Kate Messner

After reading (and loving) Kate Messner’s Marty Mcguire books (great early readers!) I decided I had to try some of her middle years fiction.  The brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. does not disappoint.

Kate Messner puts the perfect voice to paper for all of her main characters.  The brilliant fall of Gianna G. follows Gianna through a turbulent month of the fall school year.  Gianna is an amazing runner, gifted artist, and completely unorganized when it comes to getting her school work finished.

Life gets even more complicated when her grandmother starts having forgetful episodes that lead to tremendous family drama, her arch nemesis goes after her spot on the cross country team and goes to any length (including sabotage) to get it.  Plus her leaf project for social studies starts to become a monkey on her back.

I loved how Gianna handled things, when times got tough, instead of blaming others, or the genuine stress around her, she sucked it up and tried to make lemonade out of lemons.  There were several scenes when I was hoping for that key moment when the main character in a complete panic loses herself and says something she regrets, but I admired Gianna even more when she was able to take a deep breath, and be the better person.  It was refreshing to read!

This book would make a great novel study for grade 5/6 and even includes a reading group guide at the back.

It’s not just about the books, end of the year musings.

I always find the last few weeks of the school year interesting.  I get completely absorbed in things I NEED to get done by the last day of school, the normal things, like shelf reading, and inventory, and trying to get as many outstanding books back as I possibly can.  These things are important, but I find there are things outside the library that become more important.  Like supervising on field trips, so that the kids get to know you as someone other than “the weird library lady”.  Like running a 10K race with thirteen students who realize they are capable of so much more.  Like getting 4 grade five students to help me clean out disgusting, moldy compost buckets, and do it with smiles, and laughter, no matter how disgusting it was 🙂

A very wise person once told me that it’s sometimes more important to be there for the kids, to be a listening ear, than to be there to run the library, I try to do my best at both.

Today, on the last day of school when I am usually in the library by myself for the last couple of hours trying to finish up odds and ends, and counting down the minutes as much as the kids, a grade 8 student who I had gotten to know through various activities through the year decided to spend his last 45 minutes in the building as a student chatting with me, about life, about books, about everything.

I don’t know if I made a difference in his life over the past few years, but I know he’s made a difference in mine, and I can’t think of a better way to have spent my last 45 minutes in the building this year.

Teen review – The New Normal By: Ashley Little

I hate when a book doesn’t get to the point.  You read the blurb on the back and it sounds so exciting, so great, and then it takes half the book to get to that aha! moment that drew you into reading the book in the first place.  The new normal is the opposite.  The opening sentence grabs you immediately, “I am losing my hair, I don’t know why.  I’m only sixteen”  Tamar Robinson’s back story is filled in for you in the first two pages.  She’s losing her hair and her twin sisters are dead “They died from riding in cars with boys. Stupid, drunken boys.”

Tamar’s parents are a complete mess, her dad sits at home in a fog while her mother hides from her grief by doing yoga 24/7, which leaves Tamar more alone than she ever thought possible, and wondering how you grieve the loss of sisters that weren’t all that likable to begin with?

Many parts of this book reminded me of The reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, 
especially with it set in the suburbs of Calgary and the family dealing with the grief of losing a sibling, how do you define yourself as a family after something like this?

Tamar is incredibly likable, and laugh out loud funny. Trying to get through grade 11 in one piece.  There were a few loose ends that fell into place a little to nicely and abruptly at the end of the book in order to finish it up in the allotted pages, but for the most part this is a really great read from a new Canadian author.

age 14+

Picture book review : Creepy carrots! By: Aaron Reynolds, Illustrated by: Peter Brown

 

I hate carrots, more than the taste though, I hate the sound of my husband taking a full carrot out of the fridge and eating it whole.  The sound drives me nuts (which I’m positive is why he continues to eat it in such a fashion).  So when Creepy Carrots! came out I was so excited to have my thoughts on carrots put into a perfectly awesome picture book. Plus it allows me shout “creepy carrots!” whenever he’s eating them.

Jasper Rabbit is your average rabbit. The guy can’t stop eating carrots, and if he can pick a few from crackenhopper field each day, who cares, he loves carrots!  But then things start to get weird.  Jasper starts hearing noises….and seeing things, and swears he’s being followed……….tunktunktunk.  Is Jasper eating carrots….or are the carrots getting ready to eat him?!

Aaron Reynolds has written a superb read aloud book, that allows the reader to slowly build up suspense through out the story, and with a twist ending that deserves a bit of a maniacal laugh when you read it.  Illustrator Aaron Reynolds, who wrote and illustrated Children make terrible pets and You will be my friend has created beautiful artwork in black and orange that draws your eye to what Jasper may or may not be seeing throughout the book, and the shadowing creates the perfect, creepy vibe for the reader.  Winning him a well earned Caldecott Honor for 2013.

 

 

 

End of the year amusement – Entrepreneurs

It’s that lovely time of year, when I collect the 1500 outstanding books from the school.  Shelf read the library (can you sense the excitement of putting every book on the shelf in order?……goosebumps I tell you).  Then doing a complete inventory.

It’s a bit mind numbing.  I always find classic books as I complete all of these tasks.  Today I found this book.  The cover alone stood out, I didn’t know who this Entrepreneur was, but his 90’s look, and self-confidence grabbed me immediately.  Plus he’s Canadian….tell me more!!!

Then I opened the book, and I laughed even more.  The classic Canadian entrepreneur that all children should aspire to be appeared on page two.  Compete with picture that should have ended up anywhere but in print. 

This is why you weed your collection.  Books that can seem new are easily filled with misinformation depending on the topic.  But man do I enjoy reading them.