tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350882402012-01-26T14:18:37.943-05:00the excelsior filechildren's literature reviews, mostly. occasional thoughts, commentary, and whatever else fits the kidlit bill.david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.comBlogger5161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-27366792691057995952012-01-25T08:37:00.000-05:002012-01-25T08:37:00.148-05:00Going Underground
by Susan Vaught
Bloomsbury 2011
Three years after a school incident turns him into a felon, can Del find love and a life outside the graveyard where he works?
Yeah, I said graveyard.
Del is seventeen, and digging graves isn't just the only job he can find that doesn't do background checks, but it gives him plenty of time to think about how he got here. With a parole officer checking to david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-6960113582830531632012-01-23T08:38:00.000-05:002012-01-23T08:38:00.444-05:00Guantanamo Boy
by Anna Perera
Albert Whitman 2011
On a family vacation to Pakistan sis months after 9/11 a teen boy is picked up as an enemy combatant and taken to Guantanamo Bay where he is tortured, all the while wondering how he got there...
This is one of those stories you want to like, want to be able to recommend, have a hard time not putting too many eggs into your basket of hope, because it's a david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-64974909142217416222012-01-19T08:16:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:00:01.929-05:00Shelter
by Harlan Coben
A Mickey Bolitar Novel
Putnam 2011
When his girlfriend goes missing, and no one else seems to notice or care, Mickey begins to dig around and finds himself caught up in a web of... human sex trafficking!
His dad is dead, his mom is in rehab, his girlfriend of three weeks has gone missing, and the neighborhood crazy lady has scared the pants off Mickey... all in the first david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-7477230801192274562012-01-17T08:34:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:03:58.449-05:00Mister Creecher
by Chris Priestley
Bloomsbury 2011
The creature walks the streets of London, with the Artful Dodger, hunting down the mad doctor! No, Boris Karloff does not make an appearance.
The scene is London, 1918, and there in the darkened, fog-damp streets is Billy, pickpocket and petty thief. Billy starts off in a spot of trouble with the local thugs when is hide is saved by an enormous monster david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-32994633818551381262011-12-12T08:01:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:09:35.230-05:00Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor
Story and drawings by Mervyn Peake
Originally published in Country Life magazine 1939
published in book form by Macmillian 1967
reprinted by Candlewick 2001
The Captain and his oddball crew settle in on an uncharted island where they encounter a creature the color of butter and then... do nothing?
The good Captain is a bruiser who has run through his share of crew. His ship, The Black david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-47078526661180856122011-12-05T12:05:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:14:19.598-05:00Nursery Rhyme Comics
edited by Chris Duffy
introduction by Leonard S. Marcus
First Second 2011
Fifty timeless rhymes! From fifty celebrated cartoonists! At least forty-nine excellent classic nursery rhymes in a cartoon format!
There are a number of ways to approach nursery rhymes. You can either take them at their most surface story level. You can interpret them literally or figuratively or historically. Youdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-77190808848589177772011-11-30T08:56:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:22:31.618-05:00Around the World
by Matt Phelan
Candlewick 2011
Three remarkable journeys made by a trio of intrepid adventurers – Thomas Stevens, Nellie Bly, and Joshua Slocum – on the eve of the 20th century, rendered in graphic novel format.
As a prologue, we begin with the wager that sets up Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days. It seems an impossible (and almost arbitrary) goal to set, but fantastical enough david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-36798755171183884032011-11-29T08:51:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:26:00.768-05:00Neville
by Norton Juster
illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Schwartz & Wade / Random House 2011
Moving to a new neighborhood is tough. How do you find and make new friends? One boy has an interesting solution...
It's move-in day, and there's little for a boy to do while his parents begin unloading boxes and setting up the house. Mom can see that he's upset, she knows that it's hard to be the new kiddavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-45265538064424253742011-11-28T07:12:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:30:28.794-05:00The Day the Cow Sneezed
by James Flora
Harcourt, Brace & World 1957
reprinted by Enchanted Lion 2010
Noted Mid-century Modern illustrator tells a shaggy dog story. Not all illustrators are meant to be seen and heard.
"I bet your cow never sneezed a hole in the schoolhouse wall," begins The Day the Cow Sneezed, and truth be told, the cow in the story didn't either. Through a chain reaction like Rube Goldberg on david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-58133449633022544252011-11-23T09:22:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:35:48.943-05:00The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True
by Gerald Morris
Houghton Mifflin 2011
King Arthur's undefeated knight learns some lessons about making (and keeping) promises and the values of courtesy and friendship in the most satisfying book yet in The Knights' Tales series.
Sir Gawain is a great knight, an undefeated champion when it comes to battle. He is also more than a little self-absorbed and quite rude about it. Upon savingdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-18227399297015597802011-11-22T13:40:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:47:09.589-05:00Babar and Zephir
by Jean de Brunhoff
translated from the French by Merle S. Haas
Random House 1937
Babar's little monkey friend goes home for summer vacation. All hell breaks loose.
It is the end of the school year and time for Babar the elephant to bid his monkey friend Zephir farewell for the summer. His friends wave goodbye to him as his train passes them by the river, and it is impossible to wonder david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-39816091168283907702011-11-21T09:38:00.000-05:002012-01-19T14:52:37.709-05:00Habibi
by Craig Thompson
Pantheon 2011
A sprawling, epic graphic novel of love and... no. Just love. But also a lot more.
Chance throws together Dodola and Zam, a pair of child slaves, and theres is an intricate story of love, admiration, and survival. It's a love that survives all the worst things that can happen to lost and forgotten children, and it is a love that seems to span thousands of david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-33170529677533592922011-11-16T09:22:00.000-05:002011-11-16T09:22:00.296-05:00The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman
by Meg Wolitzer
Dutton 2011
Three kids at a Scrabble tournament realize there are more important things in life than winning. Wait. One of these kids has a superpower?
Life's been tough for Duncan and his mom who have moved back to mom's childhood home in Pennsylvania to regroup at Duncan's Aunt Djuna's house. New kid at school, fish out of water, mom working for a thrift store owneddavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-4927027801500572422011-11-15T07:43:00.000-05:002011-11-15T07:43:00.120-05:00Grandpa Greenby Lane Smith
Roaring Brook Press 2011
A boy fondly remembers his great-grandfather through the topiary garden he has built over the years.
There's something missing here, something I can't quite put my finger on. Or maybe something off.
We have a boy, ostensibly the main character, going through the garden and explaining the meaning behind all the various animals and objects his david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-21387194176434687702011-11-11T07:45:00.000-05:002011-11-11T07:45:00.552-05:00I Want My Hat Back
by Jon Klassen
Candlewick 2011
Bear has lost his hat, have you seen it?
They say that in this day of limited attention spans (and I'm talking about adults, not kids) shorter is better when it comes to picture books. I have a theory about this, but let me talk about the book first.
Bear has lost his hat. It is red and pointy. He asks various animals if they have seen it but they have not. david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-4891302513855254202011-11-10T07:30:00.000-05:002011-11-10T17:56:40.091-05:00Bigger Than A Bread Box
by Laurel Snyder
Random House 2011
As her parents are going through a separation, a girl finds a magical bread box that can grant her almost any wish she can imagine. But what if what she wants can't fit inside the bread box?
There is no arguing, divorce is rough on families. It's usually rough both before and after for all parties, but especially so during, and no more so than on kids david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-76899823017830538012011-11-02T09:57:00.000-05:002011-11-02T09:57:00.521-05:00Abandoned: SkateFate
by Juan Filipe Herrera
HarperTeen 2011
A teen journal, mostly in verse, of a boy ironically nicknamed Lucky as he picks up the pieces of his life following an accident that leaves him in a wheelchair.
It isn't a hard and fast rule, but when I come across a novel in verse, or one that purports to be the inner most thoughts of a teen, I kind expect it to blow me away. Otherwise, why bother david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-10489026140746796132011-11-01T08:23:00.002-05:002011-11-01T08:26:01.735-05:00Return of the Dapper Men
written by Jim McCann
illustrated by Janet Lee
Archaia 2010
In a world, where time has stopped, populated by eleven year old children and their robot minders, comes a story of the day the men from space came to repair the damage that had been done long ago...
It would be fun if I could say that this book struck a balance between Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland and the British TVdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-12516238937272479572011-10-27T08:34:00.000-05:002011-10-27T08:34:00.653-05:00Resistance: Book 1
written by Carla Jablonski
art by Leland Purvis
First Second 2010
This graphic novel set during the Occupation of France by the Nazis in World War II shows the work of the Resistance movement through the eyes of children who find themselves in the thick of things.
Teen Paul finds himself the man of the house when his father is taken away by the German Occupying forces. When they Germans david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-15813024753404105012011-10-26T09:26:00.000-05:002011-10-26T09:26:00.177-05:00Lost States
Lost States:
True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It
by Michael J. Trinklein
Quirk Books 2010
What if the United States had accepted every proposal to form a new state? One really messed up flag, that's for sure!
Growing up in Southern California it is hard not to notice that there is a simmering animosity with neighbors to the north. It isn't so much david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-80563368201928257262011-10-25T10:59:00.000-05:002011-10-25T10:59:16.198-05:00Where's Walrus
by Steven Savage
Scholastic 2011
After escaping from the zoo a Walrus find "ingenious" ways to remain hidden in plain sight from the zookeeper. Complete with "twist" ending!
I have to call this one the way I see it: It's Where's Waldo meets Goodnight Gorilla. Also: this is a board book disguised as a picture book.
One afternoon while the zookeeper naps nearby a Walrus, in what looks like andavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-59624231636792757132011-10-12T14:23:00.000-05:002011-10-12T14:41:40.215-05:00Happy Belated Blogiversary to Me!Oh, Holy Undies, how could I have missed my own 5th Anniversary?
So a quick scan of the records showed that five years and nine days ago I embarked on this journey to read, write, and review books for children and young adults. What began as an exploration to better educate myself eventually led to an MFA at Vermont College and what is clearly becoming my great second act in life. I would david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-18740632992167680662011-10-11T09:11:00.004-05:002011-10-11T09:12:20.870-05:00The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Storiesby Dr. Seuss
introduction by Charles D. Cohen
Random House 2011
Seven previously published magazine stories by the late Bard of Beginner Books, collected in book form for the first time.
The story of this collection has been in the news a lot lately, and certainly been on a lot of folks' radar since its publication announcement in the spring. The idea that there was enough Seuss that hadn't david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-10205026792644344712011-09-12T15:52:00.000-05:002011-09-12T15:52:34.247-05:00Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff
by Walter Dean Myers
Viking Penguin 1975
A collection of vignettes of teen life in Harlem, though occasionally dated in language and setting, still as bold and authentic sounding as probably was back in the day.
Francis, aka Stuff, moves to 115th street he finds the local kids wary of the newcomer until he proves his stuff (or lack thereof) on the basketball court. The good-natured david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-43622144316868837942011-09-07T18:44:00.000-05:002011-09-07T18:44:13.390-05:00Pearl
by Jo Knowles
Henry Holt 2011
When fifteen year old Pearl (aka Bean) loses her grandfather, the one person she felt knew and loved her best, a whole world of secrets open up that forces her to question everything she's ever believed about her world.
Pearl, who goes by the nickname Bean, and her best friend Henry are self-separated outcasts. Henry's mom Sally spends her days watching david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-10882389369713750842011-09-05T08:55:00.148-05:002011-09-05T08:55:00.419-05:00Bake Saleby Sara Varon
First Second 2011
The long-awaited (by me at least) new graphic novel by the author of Robot Dreams, proprietor of unusual parallel worlds. Recipes included.
Cupcake is a cupcake who is the owner of a bakery that makes, among other things, cupcakes. It may take a moment of adjustment, but if you can get past that – and vegetables that eat carrot cake, and eggs that drink david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-11480144972437401162011-08-17T09:52:00.000-05:002011-08-17T09:52:09.785-05:00Just Disgustingby Andy Griffiths with illustrations by Terry Denton
Scholastic
"From the Best-Selling Author of The Day My Butt Went Psycho..." 'nuff said.
In researching about the types of books boys like to read I came up with a short list of elements that, when included, would increase a reader's interest. Most of the things writers are taught have to do with craft elements – subtext, metaphor, david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-44306544818221223902011-08-12T08:37:00.000-05:002011-08-12T08:37:02.871-05:00The Witch Who Wasn'tby Jane Yolen
Illustrated by Arnold Roth
Macmillan 1964
At a convention for witches, sweet young Isabel doesn't think she has what it takes to win the Spelling Bee...
I'll be honest, I checked this out from my library because of Arnold Roth. That and the hope that by checking out the one sole remaining copy of this book in my library system that it might survive another year's weeding.
david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-84378306187104417262011-08-01T09:07:00.001-05:002011-08-01T09:07:00.331-05:00Secret Circusby Johanna Wright
Neal Porter Books / Roaring Brook Press
2009
Only the mice know, and they aren't telling...
In Paris there is a circus, a very secret circus, a very tiny circus, that only the mice know about. They ride a hot air balloon to a merry-go-round long after the people have gone to bed and find their way to the circus where they snack on left-behind snacks and enjoy the show. david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-11408658871561424482011-06-27T08:09:00.007-05:002011-06-27T08:09:00.282-05:00Bubble in the Bathtubby Jo Nesbo
Aladdin 2011
Nilly and Lisa are back, this time to help rescue Doctor Proctor who seems to have gotten himself trapped somewhere in time while trying to reunite with an old flame from long ago...
When Lisa and Nilly receive a postcard from their friend Doctor Proctor (inventor of the infamous Fart Powder that was the subject of the previous book) the discover a secret message david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-5237157888131274242011-06-17T08:20:00.000-05:002011-06-17T08:20:01.336-05:00Nothing Ever Happens On My Blockwritten and illustrated by
Ellen Raskin
Atheneum 1980
While a boy sits and mopes there's plenty of things going on that he casually seems to ignore.
In some ways Chester Filbert is like many kids who complain of nothing to do in a world where adults are more than happy to point out all the possibilities. There Chester sits, a figure clad in black against a line drawing of his david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-77906637484025990282011-06-15T08:03:00.001-05:002011-06-24T08:29:52.714-05:00Punch in New York written and illustrated by
Alice Provensen
Viking 1991
When the star of a famed Italian puppet theatre is stolen fro his owner he goes on a mischievous romp through modern day New York City only to realize there's no place like home... unless you get to rip off someone in the process.
Landing in New York, Il Professore Tucci-Piccini (all Punch puppeteers are referred to as Professor) has onedavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-30860897505664184542011-06-13T08:38:00.000-05:002011-06-13T08:38:00.491-05:00Fight the Nightwritten and illustrated by
Tomie de Paola
Lippencott 1968
Ronald so refuses to go to sleep that he vows to fight the night, until the morning if necessary.
Playing outside until bedtime, Ronald refuses to cooperate. Even as his mother coaxes him into pajamas and into bed with the vague promises that tomorrow is another day and perhaps there might be a surprise for him and that the david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-83256558204342642162011-06-08T08:27:00.004-05:002011-06-08T08:27:00.817-05:00Who, Said Sue, Said Whoo?written and illustrated by Ellen Raskin
Atheneum 1973
As Sue drives her jalopy she encounters any number of creatures that say any number of things, but the chitter-chatter mystery sends them running for cover. And then there's that moral...
In this cumulative story a young woman drivers her car across the landscape encountering any number of sounds. Each page answers the mystery of david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-74617601252283025592011-06-06T08:20:00.002-05:002011-06-06T08:20:01.672-05:00Spectacles written and illustrated by Ellen Raskin
Atheneum 1976
When a girl named Iris begins mistaking the fantastical for everyday items an eye exam is on order in a picture book by the author of The Westing Game...
Iris starts out by telling the reader that she didn't always wear glasses, but then one day a dragon showed up at her door. Then came the pygmy nuthatch, the Indian, the chestnut david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-70112262388342798502011-05-20T09:05:00.001-05:002011-05-20T09:05:00.720-05:00The Moon Jumpersby Janice May Udry
pictures by Maurice Sendak
Harper & Row 1959
Four children frolic beneath the light of the full moon. Yup, it's as simple as that.
On the title page we get a small verse of poetry that sets the tone for the book.
Summer night is the cool dark grass
And big tired trees
With the moon sailing
On a wind. Once the sun has set, the moon is in the sky and Motherdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-44745265596039604502011-05-18T10:16:00.000-05:002011-05-18T10:16:17.003-05:00Lionby William Pene Du Bois
Viking Press 1956
In an animal factory in the sky winged artists invent new animals, including one very unusual looking lion.
Artist Foreman, looking suspiciously like an angel, was one of the first animal designers in the Animal Factory in the sky. Now in semi-retirement as, well, a foreman to the other artists, he has come up with a new name for an animal -- david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-41947915470860016832011-05-11T14:59:00.001-05:002011-05-11T15:00:24.424-05:00Aliens on Vacationby Clete Barrett Smith
Disney / Hyperion 2011
When Scrub is shunted off to his Grandmother's for the summer he discovers that her Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast is more than a name...
Scrub just knows his summer is going to suck. Having to spend his summer helping his grandmother run her Star Wars hippie-decor B&B in the middle-of-nowhere Washington was bad enough, but knowing that his bestdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-34441357339277218012011-04-29T11:53:00.005-05:002011-04-29T11:53:00.240-05:00Cousins of CloudsElephant Poems
by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy
Clarion House / Houghton Mifflin 2011
A collection of poetic ruminations on pachyderms coupled with informational bits that might work on multiple levels for older and younger audiences.
The second largest mammals on the planet get the poetic treatment from a variety of perspectives that describe and david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-22824511797894758252011-04-25T10:56:00.001-05:002011-04-25T10:56:00.297-05:00UnderwearWhat We Wear Under There
by Ruth Freeman Swain
illustrated by John O'Brien
Holiday House 2008
A picture book history of undergarments over the ages that provides some basic coverage but nonetheless has a few holes.
This was a book on my radar some time ago that dropped off and resurfaced mysteriously. All I could remember going in was how I thought this was the perfect subject for a david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-79859905806163164052011-04-08T09:34:00.003-05:002011-04-08T09:38:15.013-05:00Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?by Helen Palmer
with photographs by Lynn Fayman
Beginner Books / Random House 1963
One tow-headed boy's laundry list of what he intends to do includes a good deal of eating and pretty large amount of time hanging out with the Marines. Includes gun play.
This is perhaps Palmer and Fayman's finest collaboration and also it's most incendiary by modern standards. A boy – let's call him Timmy david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-70875900247757976752011-04-06T11:30:00.001-05:002011-04-06T11:44:55.372-05:00I Was Kissed By a Seal at the Zooby Helen Palmer
with photographs by Lynn Fayman
Beginner Books / Random House 1962
A group of kids go to the zoo and do things no kid would ever be allowed to do, setting up some false expectations and perhaps forever ruining the notion of zoos to children forever.
"What would you do if you went to the zoo?" is the question posed to a number of children. One would want to play with a baby david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-9887951519985745062011-04-04T09:55:00.002-05:002011-04-04T09:58:17.962-05:00Why I Built the Boogle Houseby Helen Palmer
with photographs by Lynn Fayman
Random House / Beginner Books 1964
A boy trades up from a turtle to increasing larger pets, building and modifying homes for them, until finally he has a house big enough for a Boogle. (What's a Boogle?)
It starts with a turtle, a pet this boy has always wanted. He builds a house for it to live in out of wood. The next day the turtle has run david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-10626327738619610972011-03-30T08:48:00.174-05:002011-03-30T08:48:00.439-05:00Jazz Countryby Nat Hentoff
Harper and Row 1965
A teen boy wants nothing more than to be a jazz musician and that being white puts him on the outside, but time an exposure to one of his jazz idols teaches him that character, not color, defines who you are. Well, sort of.
I love how every once in a while a library sale will unearth relics from another layer of the children's literature archaeological david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-45622339115021989312011-03-28T09:39:00.001-05:002011-03-28T09:50:29.298-05:00Dave the PotterArtist, Poet, Slave
by Laban Carrick Hill
illustrated by Bryan Collier
Little Brown 2010
A picture book biography of a 19th century African American pot maker who was also a poet, and apparently a slave.
I don't think anyone's going to let that summary slide without my saying something about it first. When I look at a picture book biography I have to step back and read it through the david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-64645188395406530602011-03-25T20:08:00.002-05:002011-03-25T21:30:00.294-05:00Surfer of the CenturyThe Life of Duke Kahanamoku
by Ellie Crowe
illustrations by Richard Waldrep
Lee and Low 2007
A bit of bait-and-switch on this picture book biography of the father of modern surfing as it focuses more on his accomplishments as a swimmer.
As a kid, "Duke" wasn't much for school, but he loved the water. He loved swimming and surfing, riding the waves at Waikiki Beach on 100-plus pounddavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-35625698513258862682011-03-23T07:48:00.155-05:002011-03-23T07:48:00.181-05:00The Fourth Stallby Chris Rylander
Walden Pond Press / Harper Collins 2011
Mac's the guy you go to when you need a problem solved, but when a gambling ring muscles in on his territory has Mac finally come to a problem too big to solve?
Mac is the go-to guy when you got a problem that needs fixing. Need tickets to an R rated film when you're only in sixth grade? Mac's your guy. And through a combination david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-14075003623562191882011-03-21T08:05:00.000-05:002011-03-21T08:05:00.414-05:00Rosie's Walkwritten and illustrated by
Pat Hutchins
Simon and Schuster 1968
A Chicken, a fox, a handful of prepositions... and a lot more story than what's in the text!
It might be fun to try and review a picture book using as many words as are in the text. To do that, I would have to stop the review right here.
Some other time perhaps.
Rosie the end leaves her protected hutch and goes for a david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-44298417766784804972011-03-18T08:57:00.003-05:002011-03-18T08:57:00.440-05:00Shark vs. Trainby Chris Barton
illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Little, Brown 2010
It's the Superman vs. Batman argument of the toy box, people! Who will win?
Two boys run for their toy box, each extracting their power toy of choice, one a shark the other a train. Grrr! Chgrrrr-chug! Who will win? Depends on whether they on land or sea, in hot air balloons or roasting marshmallows. And while david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-6131923493583897442011-03-16T08:26:00.002-05:002011-03-16T08:26:01.157-05:00abandoned: Kid vs. Squidby Greg van Eekhout
Bloomsbury 2010
A kid farmed out to a relative for the summer, a witches head in a box, the lost city of Atlantis, weird characters, weird creatures, the promise of weird adventures...
This book has all the elements that could and should work for me in a middle grade book and yet I wasn't 20 pages in and already I wanted to jump to the end. Not david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-31172685176959345192011-03-14T09:25:00.000-05:002011-03-14T09:25:57.843-05:00Interrupting Chickenby David Ezra Stein
Candlewick Press 2010
Bedtime, and little Chicken just can't seem to fall asleep...
Indeed, just as Papa begins a bedtime fairy tale Chicken jumps up and interrupts. She warns Hansel and Gretel away from the witch, Red away from the Wolf, and tell Chicken Little that the sky is really just an acorn. Finally Papa gets the idea to have Chicken read him a bedtime story david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-54194552515080256982011-03-07T08:00:00.001-05:002011-03-07T08:00:18.374-05:00The Secret of the Yellow DeathA True Story of Medical Sleuthing
by Suzanne Jurmain
Houghton Mifflin 2010
A compelling account of how early medical researchers discovered and isolated the causes of yellow fever in the early part of the 20th century.
Don't start this book if you have just eaten, and I might make the same recommendation for the following description of the symptoms that open The Secret of the Yellow Death: at david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-20914533182426165742011-03-03T07:44:00.000-05:002011-03-03T07:44:00.167-05:00The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)by Barbara Kerley
illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham
In an everything-old-is-new-again twist we get a biographical picture book portrait of Samuel Langhorne Clemens from a fresh pair of eyes... his daughter's.
"According to Susy, people were... well, just plain wrong about her papa." And so begins both the story of and about Mark Twain's oldest daughter's attempt to capture the man she david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-1295140559696570112011-02-28T08:58:00.003-05:002011-02-28T11:53:19.507-05:00Mirror MirrorA Book of Reversible Poems
by Marylin Singer
illustrated by Josee Masse
Dutton / Penguin 2010
Alas,
I do Singer an injustice
with this review
(depending on your point of view).
There are two sides
to every story~
Whether given or received,
an apple can mean life or death
as far as Snow White is concerned.
&
To a hungry Wolf, and Little Red
in the woods,
a treat means different things.
david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-35047699367266281962011-02-25T20:24:00.002-05:002011-02-25T20:24:00.652-05:00Lulu and the Brontosaurusby Judith Viorst
illustrations by Lane Smith
Atheneum 2010
Lulu is the sort of girl who won't take no for an answer when she demands a dinosaur for her birthday so she goes out to find one on her her own. Hilarity Mild amusement ensues, with a whiff of forced nostalgia.
Lulu, an only child, is spoiled to the point that she has never heard the word 'no' before. So when she announces for david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-74566747202973235032011-02-23T08:46:00.102-05:002011-02-23T08:46:00.778-05:00A Tale Dark & Grimmby Adam Gidwitz
Dutton / Penguin 2010
An award-worthy collection of Grimm tales retold as a continuous narrative about the adventures of Hansel and Gretel. Bloody. Violent. Just the way Grimm's tales ought to be.
In the Kingdom of Grimm there lived two children named Hansel and Gretel. What we are told of their story in "classic" editions of the stories is that they found a house made david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-44282221304581943162011-02-16T08:19:00.006-05:002011-02-16T08:19:00.302-05:00The Unsinkable Walker Beanby Aaron Renier
First Second 2010
Pirates! Glowing skulls! Crustacean-y looking giant sea-witches! A man with eight legs (he keeps running away!)! Homing messages-in-a-bottle! Wait! What's this all about anyway!
I think the only real contentious moment I had while in grad school came from a faculty member who hated, more than anything in the world, when a story seemed to be as he put it "david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-17970518421902470002011-02-15T08:31:00.002-05:002011-02-16T07:34:03.157-05:00MeanwhilePick Any Path. 3,856 Possibilities
by Jason Shiga
Amulet / Abrams 2010
2010 Cybils Winner for Middle Grade Graphic Novels
It seems like such a small decision – chocolate or vanilla ice cream? – but whichever one the reader chooses for Jimmy will send them both down one of 3,856 paths. Some paths lead to death and the end of the world as we know it, some lead to a parallel dimension, david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-35717449145842800222011-02-14T08:15:00.001-05:002011-02-14T08:15:00.175-05:00Who Need Donuts?Story and Pictures by Mark Alan Stamaty
Knopf 1973
Sam wants donuts for his birthday, more donuts than his parents could ever afford. He wanders from his suburban home to the big city and discovers there are some things more important that donuts.
Once Sam hits the city he finds a man named Mr. Bikferd who is a donut collector, wandering the city hunting for donuts and hauling them david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-8620019375520174402011-02-07T08:39:00.007-05:002011-02-07T13:25:21.682-05:00A Pet for Petuniaby Paul Schmid
Harper 2011
A little girl wants a pet, and she promises to take care of it and everything, but some pets just aren't meant to be...
Petunia loves skunks. That's all you need to know. Because when a child loves an animal at some point the question will be "Can I have one as a pet, please, pretty please?" and we all know how that goes. Of course Petunia, and most children, david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-133210020955807042011-02-04T08:02:00.001-05:002011-02-04T08:02:00.156-05:00Sporkby Kyo Maclear
illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Kids Can Press 2010
Neither Fork nor Spoon, can the lonely Spork find acceptance in the world?
Poor Spork. A misfit in the cutlery tray, a one-of-a-kind in a world of deeply polar divisions. In a place were different kitchen utensils can live in harmony in the drawer this misfit simply doesn't fit in. In an effort to fit in, to david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-35393245809388152572011-01-31T07:58:00.003-05:002011-01-31T07:58:00.672-05:00Children Make Terrible Petsby Peter Brown
Little, Brown & Co. 2010
A bear finds a boy and brings him home, only to discover the truth in the book's title.
In the storytelling industry (publishing, theatre, film) there is an undue amount of emphasis placed in promoting the idea of the "high concept" story. The high concept is easily grasped in under 25 words (under 10 if you're really good) that is open to quite a david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-87654235076345966852011-01-20T09:09:00.002-05:002011-01-20T09:09:00.813-05:002 by Suzy Lee Mirror
Seven Footer Press 2003
Shadow
Chronicle Books 2010
A pair of wordless picture books with similar themes from an artist I like to think of as the Master of the Gutter. That's a good thing, I'll explain.
In Mirror, a sullen girl notices the mirror she is slumped near and makes a series of poses, modifying and monitoring her image. Slowly she begins to dance with her david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-1135657095141615502011-01-12T09:41:00.005-05:002011-01-13T13:36:55.244-05:00Trappedby Michael Northrop
Scholastic 2010
Seven kids, a week-long blizzard, does anyone even know they're still alive?
What with recent snows in the South and along the Atlantic seacoast there's been a lot of chatter about various snowpocalypses (snowpocalypsii?) recently, but seriously, what would happen if a blizzard went on for a week and dumped over 18 feet of snow? Would you be david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-67064824924340435252010-12-22T13:35:00.002-05:002010-12-22T13:41:29.978-05:00Brain Jackby Brian Falkner
Random House 2010
In a post-post-9/11 America, the most deadly threat comes from the Internet, and Sam and a small cadre of young hackers are the sole line of defense...
Sam is a hacker, a freak, a natural. He can code on the fly and read viruses and cut them off before they can do any damage. And like any teen boy he uses these powers for good, which is to say he and hisdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-6062183559219715232010-12-08T04:30:00.001-05:002010-12-08T04:30:00.612-05:00Beat the Bandby Don Calame
Candlewick Press 2010
(This review is being cross-posted at Guys Lit Wire today, for those of you keeping score at home.)
There is no phrase that jolts my skeptical meter into the red faster than "laugh-out-loud funny." When a movie is described this way its almost guaranteed not to make me laugh, but it's worse when this line is used in books because it's so rare that I laugh david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-35488873300656996512010-11-18T09:04:00.007-05:002010-11-18T09:04:00.760-05:00The Boy Who Could Enter Paintings by Herb Valen
illustrated by Susan Perl
Little, Brown and Company 1968
A boy discovers he can literally jump into paintings and interact with the people there, but his ability all mysteriously vanishes just as he's about to enter school...
Edward has grown big and strong, and can hop around on a single leg all the time without getting tired. he spends his cold winter days in his david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-39174152468195257842010-11-16T09:03:00.000-05:002010-11-16T09:03:21.706-05:00GuykuA Year of Haiku for Boys
written by Bob Raczka
drawings by Peter H. Reynolds
Houghton Mifflin 2010
Haiku for and about boys, organized by seasons, full of the sort of things boys do. But not for haiku purists or people who want boys to really understand what haiku are really about.
Full of observations of what it means to be a boy, full of mischief and the occasional moment of tenderness, david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-65359244201987664442010-11-10T09:59:00.000-05:002010-11-10T09:59:13.134-05:00Rot & Ruinby Jonathan Maberry
Simon & Schuster 2010
Deja vu? Perhaps. I am cross-posting this review from Guys Lit Wire today.
The zombie apocalypse has happened. Never mind how, it just did, fourteen years ago when Benny was eighteen months old and was spirited away from his parents by his half-brother Tom before they became victims themselves. Since then, the living have taken to enclosed david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-87023724624676936672010-10-20T08:51:00.002-05:002010-10-20T11:25:06.885-05:00abandoned: Mockingbirdby Katherine Erskine
Philomel / Penguin 2010
Everyone's been raving about this book. It just got nominated from a National Book Award. It's been on the periphery of my radar so I figured it was time to pick it up. Twenty-five pages later it was time to put it down.
There is no worse feeling than to not like a popular book and feel, somehow, like you're defective for thinking it. Worse if david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-69479133556116923342010-10-18T08:51:00.003-05:002010-10-18T08:53:10.514-05:00Mercuryby Hope Larson
Atheneum / Simon & Schuster 2010
A tale of gold prospecting and romance and karmic debts paid off over several generations with just a kiss of magical realism in this graphic novel.
In the settled Canadian province of Nova Scotia the Fraser's of French Hill have settled into a life of barely sustainable farm life when the mysterious stranger Asa Curry comes calling. He's david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-25758385844998837402010-10-13T08:15:00.010-05:002010-10-13T08:15:00.272-05:00YummyThe Last Days of a Southside Shorty
by G. Neri
illustrated by Randy DuBurke
Lee and Low Books 2010
The tragic account of an act of inner city violence that briefly gripped the nation and put a young face to seriousness of the problem.
In the spring of 1994 there was a shooting in the Roseland area of Chicago, on the city's southside. Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, age 11, out to make a david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-41848903101528586382010-10-08T08:55:00.002-05:002010-10-10T18:52:51.514-05:00Copper by Kazu Kibuishi
Graphix / Scholastic 2010
A collection of occasionally-connected comic strips about a boy and his dog and a very strange, strangely reminiscent world...
As a boy named Copper walks home with his dog he imagines his backpack is a jetpack that takes him zooming around the skies. Instantly he's surrounded by other jetpack fliers... who all are dropping bombs on a city below. david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-17957324192032168152010-10-06T12:58:00.001-05:002010-10-08T09:18:08.931-05:00Brains For LunchA Zombie Novel in Haiku?!
by K. A. Holt
illustrated by Gahan Wilson
Neal Porter / Roaring Brook Press 2010
zombied middle school
desegregation among
living and undead
haiku and romance
bullies and librarians
imperfect but fun
Loeb's a zombie
smart, but he hides it from friends
has brains, eats them, too
cute librarian
suggests Loeb enters contest
reading his haiku
david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-21589637085390509502010-10-04T13:45:00.003-05:002010-10-05T07:00:11.251-05:00Smileby Raina Telgemeier
Scholastic 2010
The memoir of the author's teen years told in graphic novel format focusing on her orthodontic adventures following a severe injury.
Everyone has a story tell about themselves, and in theory everyone has a reason for telling that story. We do this all the time in conversation when someone mentions a topic and our memories spark with a story, account, ordavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-69588552882966417232010-10-01T09:21:00.001-05:002010-10-01T09:21:00.153-05:00The MonsterologistA Memoir in Rhyme
Ghostwritten by Bobbi Katz
Illustrated by Adam McCauley
Sterling 2010
A picture book collection of monster poems in the guise of a memoir of a monster hunter. What's not to like?
Every couple of years is seems we get a collection of ghoulish rhymes and monster-themed picture books, with one that stands out. Off the top of my head the only recent one I can think of isdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-56582318088957527602010-09-29T13:26:00.000-05:002010-09-29T13:26:28.651-05:00Round Robinby Jack Kent
Prentice Hall 1982
A baby bird becomes so focused on eating it cannot fly south for the winter and is forced to walk the entire way. In doing so there are some unintended consequences, both good and bad.
Last week when I reviewed Hoddy Doddy I felt like I wanted to give Kent another chance. I thought maybe I was looking too closely, maybe I caught the one book of his that rubbed david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-4149571350432785212010-09-22T17:21:00.001-05:002010-09-22T19:24:18.394-05:00Hoddy Doddyby Jack Kent
Greenwillow / William Morrow 1979
Three folksy tales of the town fools in an Old World unnamed Danish town. An interesting window onto a slightly politically incorrect beginning reader by the creator of the King Aroo comic strip.
In a little Danish town, where these stories are all set, we see three small portraits of hoddy doddy's, or what Kent calls "foolish fellows." The david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-20144026478801517722010-09-20T19:47:00.000-05:002010-09-20T19:47:03.787-05:00The Crowfield Curseby Pat Walsh
Chicken House / Scholastic 2010
The arrival of a mysterious stranger to a medieval abbey draws an orphan boy into a battle between forces in the Old Magic realm searching out an angel for their own purposes.
I'm going to ask for leniency up front for those of you better versed in fantasy. It isn't a place I go to often so forgive any naivety or genre transgressions on my partdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-58590868587049865642010-09-15T11:18:00.001-05:002010-09-15T11:19:07.731-05:00Jimi: Sounds Like A RainbowA Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix
by Gary Golio
illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
Clarion 2010
A picture book storyography of the 60's icon's early years told with an unusual objective that isn't obtrusive or moralistic. Or is it?
Okay, a picture book about Jimi makes me wonder two things before I even open the book: how do you convey the sense of person who would come to change the way rockdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-88183512598488398732010-09-13T09:11:00.121-05:002010-09-13T09:11:00.535-05:00Killing Mr. Griffinby Lois Duncan
Dial 1978
A group of high school kids decide to teach their hard nosed English teacher a lesson in humility by kidnapping him and threatening to kill him. Hilarity ensues. (Not!)
As a "light reading" choice among the other required reading for one of my daughters this summer I decided she might enjoy Killing Mr. Griffin. She has an odd sense of taste and humor, and my david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-81728553883193286582010-09-10T09:51:00.120-05:002010-09-10T09:51:00.525-05:00Don't Touch That Toad& Other Strange Things Adults Tell You
written by Catherine Rondina
illustrated by Kevin Sylvester
Kids Can Press 2010
A collection of superstitions and folklore passed down by adults, refuted and supported, and an attempt to arm kids with the facts behind the phrases. Entertaining, but it's no snopes.com.
I like the idea of arming kids with the truth as a way of disarming the myths kids david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-42026676082495576762010-09-08T08:47:00.063-05:002010-09-08T08:47:00.068-05:00Outwitting Squirrels101 cunning stratagems to reduce dramatically the egregious misappropriation of seed from your birdfeeder by squirrels
by Bill Adler, Jr
Chicago Review Press 1988
A very opinionated, wryly humorous approach to preventing squirrels from eating out of bird feeders, intended for serious birders, but chock full of amusing anecdotes and information about those pesky rodents.
This might not, david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-61279806246647066102010-09-06T08:12:00.004-05:002010-09-06T08:12:00.272-05:00Dark Lifeby Kat Falls
Scholastic 2010
A dystopic sci-fi hybrid of life between settlers who have gone to homestead the sea and the topsiders who remain on land in overcrowded conditions. And a child shall lead them...
Living and farming under the sea with his family, Ty cannot wait to turn 18 and claim a homestead of his own. One of the first children born and raised entirely in the ocean, Ty's david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-54508940640938098392010-08-23T11:49:00.000-05:002010-08-23T11:49:59.877-05:00Fast & SlowPoems for Advanced Children and Beginning Parents
by John Ciardi
illustrated by Becky Gaver
Houghton Mifflin 1975
A somewhat lackluster collection of poems for children by an otherwise great American poet who might have been caught in the trade winds of children's poetry...
I have read various collections of Ciardi's poems over the years and find him to be rather sturdy when it comes to david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-48410145073094284552010-08-20T12:48:00.000-05:002010-08-20T12:48:10.787-05:00The Adventures of Ook and GlukKung-Fu Cavemen From the Future
The second graphic novel by
George Beard and Harold Hutchins
the creators of
Captain Underpants
(along with Dav Pilkey)
Blue Sky Press / Scholastic 2010
Those bad boys of hypnotic mischief are back (finally!) with an epic 175 page tale of time-traveling cavemen who learn kung-fu and save the planet, both then and in the future. Really, do you need to david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-27074790946228220222010-08-13T07:26:00.007-05:002010-08-13T07:26:00.092-05:00Calamity Jackwritten by Shannon and Dean Hale
illustrated by Nathan Hale
Bloomsbury 2010
Sequel to the graphic novel Rapunzel' Revenge, this time following the backstory and continuing adventures of Jack, skewering fairy tales along the way.
Having helped Rapunzel escape, Jack's intention is to bring her back to his home city of Shyport and make restitution for the mess he's left behind. And what a david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-73048204004313621082010-08-11T07:51:00.002-05:002010-08-11T07:51:00.557-05:00Burning Chromeand other stories
by William Gibson
various editions since 1986
A classic collection of sci-fi stories by the writer who invented the term cyberspace and probably did more to shape what our vision of the future looks like in movies than most people realize.
Though technically not a book written for children, I am including it here because I think it's a solid read for teens, and have a david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-32227333257918917022010-08-09T08:50:00.157-05:002010-08-10T08:32:31.712-05:00Old Abe, Eagle HeroThe Civil War's Most Famous Mascot
written by Patrick Young
illustrated by Anne Lee
Traditionally-told biography of a bald eagle who was a wartime mascot, which is sort of odd when you think about it. I thought so at least. But this book has bigger fish to fry, like the fact that it's riddled with inaccuracy.
"Found" in a nest high in a tree (i.e. stolen from its home) a Native American (david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-2081427289462237482010-08-06T08:48:00.009-05:002010-08-06T08:48:00.789-05:00Picture ThisHow Pictures Work
by Molly Bang
Chronicle Books 2000
A short study on graphic composition that's an accessible introduction to the subject for the artistically inclined, and those who just want to understand better how illustrations 'work.'
Picture book illustrator Bang comes to the subject of her book honestly, at the beginning of her introduction. A visiting friend makes a suggestion aboutdavid elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-34466433407521808172010-08-04T07:10:00.005-05:002010-08-04T07:10:00.263-05:00boom!(or 70,000 light years)
by Mark Haddon
David Fickling / Random House 2009
A middle grade my-teacher-is-an-alien story from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Entertaining, if strangely familiar.
While secretly eavesdropping on their teachers, Jimbo and his friend Charlie discover that two of their teachers are, in fact, aliens from another world on the far david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-68506213978738575292010-08-02T07:24:00.003-05:002010-08-02T07:24:00.619-05:00Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Daysby Jeff Kinney
Amulet / Abrams 2009
The fourth book in the Wimpy Kid series continues with the misadventures of Greg Heffley trying to make it through the summer with as little effort and trauma as possible. But if that happened there'd be no book...
After the initial blast of the first Wimpy Kid book, and the subsequent popularity, I sort of let the series go as one of those things that's david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-43925163129654263392010-07-21T12:44:00.000-05:002010-07-21T12:44:16.062-05:00midsummer noticeFirst, greetings to new visitors to the excelsior file, particularly my fellow VCFA peeps. Thanks for visiting and drop me a line to tell me what you think.
For regular visitors who may be wondering about the reduced activity, I want to assure you that the blog is not going anywhere but may take a bit to get back up to speed. I am currently looking at some long-term changes and adjustments for david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-20275593329297803672010-06-04T07:30:00.002-05:002010-07-21T12:45:01.318-05:00godless
by Pete Hautman
Simon & Schuster 2004
A teen boy questions religion by playfully inventing one of his own based on a water tower, but things get out of hand as everyone who participates views the new religion differently.
This is a book I've started several times over the last three years and only now finally managed to read it straight through. It's no fault of the book or its author, david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-28668733155538003922010-06-02T08:31:00.001-05:002010-07-21T12:45:25.316-05:00BoothWritten by C. C. Colbert
Illustrated by Tanitoe
First Second 2010
A graphic novel exploration of the other half of the Lincoln assassination story, of its key player John Wilkes Booth, that lacks a very crucial element: motivation.
For as much as people refer to the United States as The Great Experiment in Democracy the simple truth is that it's history is marred by a pair of gaping wounds david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-2567830401530119502010-05-28T04:41:00.000-05:002010-05-28T04:41:00.219-05:00Belly Upby Stuart Gibbs
Simon and Schuster 2010
When the recently-deceased hippo mascot of a zoo turns out to have been murdered it falls to a 12 year old boy to solve the mystery none of the adults seem to be able to, but not without the help of a girl.
Did that sound cynical? Huh, I wonder why.
Could it be another mystery (albeit with an unusual victim) solved by a kid where no adult seems able david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-42322060153586525122010-05-26T04:21:00.004-05:002010-05-26T04:21:00.509-05:00SparkyThe Life and Art of Charles Schulz
by Beverly Gherman
Chronicle Books 2010
A well-told and nicely-presented biography of the man who created the most loved comic strip of the 20th century.
Reading this biography of Charles Schulz I found myself feeling as if I knew most of this story from previous sources. I knew about his first published drawing being in a Ripley's Believe It Or Not david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-59461469221206204242010-05-24T08:43:00.000-05:002010-05-24T08:43:59.445-05:00Martin Gardner 1914 - 2010I don't know that I would have cared that much for the books of Lewis Carrol if it hadn't been for Martin Gardner. I certainly never would have discovered The Hunting of the Snark back in fifth grade, and I don't know that I would have enjoyed lateral thinking if I hadn't discovered Perplexing Puzzles and Tantalizing Teasers around the same time. As an adult, an educator, seeking sources for david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-3781473780869830802010-05-10T06:56:00.000-05:002010-05-10T06:56:50.406-05:00The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boysby Scott William Carter
Simon & Schuster 2010
Two boys hit the road in a stolen car on a journey to both run away from and confront their parental relationships. It's practically a teenage Roger Corman film from the 1960s, except it isn't.
Sensitive artist Charlie can't believe his mom is about to marry her stiff accountant boyfriend, while at school he's being menaced by bully Leo because david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35088240.post-33668921257656479982010-05-06T06:05:00.001-05:002010-05-06T06:05:33.310-05:00How to Survive Middle School...(without getting your head flushed) and Deal with an Ex-Best Friend, ... um, Girls, and a Heartbreaking Hamster
by Donna Gephart
Peachtree Press / Random House 2010
I think the only thing the title doesn't include is the main character's love of Jon Stewart, and perhaps the fact that he isn't legally old enough to have a YouTube account...
David Greenberg is a bit of a nebbish who wants so david elzeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com0