fortunately for readers...

I love to read. Yet, I know when some kids talk about reading, 'love' is not the word they use when describing books. Some kids have trouble connecting with books independently. 

But... I have found two books that will spark the enthusiasm of even the most reluctant of readers: Fortunately The Milk by Neil Gaiman and Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo.

First, Fortunately The Milk...

Neil Gaiman could write about anything and make it amazing. So, a trip to the corner market for milk becomes an incredible adventure where anything, absolutely anything, can happen.

Fortunately The Milk is hilarious and wacky and wonderful, and elementary students will love it. It would be an awesome read-aloud. The predictions of "what will happen next" would be pure fun.

How do you suppose piranhas are involved? Well, you'll have to read Fortunately The Milk to find out. Enjoy the laughs!

Next, Flora & Ulysses...

Kate DiCamillo is a super story teller. By combining elements of comics, graphic novels, and chapter books in Flora and Ulysses, she is original and inventive. The fun style of the book will grab upper elementary readers, and the wonderful vocabulary makes this book as smart as it is fun.

Flora is a self-proclaimed cynic and Ulysses is a superhero squirrel. How does a squirrel become a superhero? Well, you'll find out in the first few pages.

This book would be a wonderful read-aloud. It is full of quirky characters and delightful vocabulary.

the thing undone

Awesome opening paragraph:

"What follows is the strange and fateful tale of a boy, a girl, and a ghost. The boy possesses uncommon qualities, the girl was winsome and daring, and the ancient ghost ... well, let it only be said that his intentions were good."

I just read far far away by Tom McNeal. It's a macabre, dark, suspenseful fairy tale.  I loved it. 

Jacob Grimm, from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, died but never moved on. He's stuck in the Zwischenraum... the space between life and what comes after.

Jeremy Johnson Johnson is a teenage boy in the village of Never Better. He can hear voices.

Ginger Boultinghouse is a beautiful, witty, popular, daredevil of a girl. She's attracted to the quirky and unusual qualities of Jeremy... or is it the Prince Cake enchantment? Only time will tell.

If you like fairy tales... Read this book.
If you like adventure... Read this book.
If you like to be scared... Read this book.
If you like a good romance... Read this book.

I have so many favorite parts of this book. It is so well written and I underlined so much...  here's my favorite bits just in the first 50 pages...

"In the old tales, kindness is the purest form of heroism. Find the character who meets the world with a big heart and an open hand and you have found your hero or heroine."

"Ginger said, 'My grandfather says there's no point in traveling. He says all that happens when you go far, far away is that you discover you've brought yourself along.'"

"Every day a child steps away from the parent by the littlest distance, perhaps just the width of a mouse-whisker, but every day it happens, and the days go by, one after another after another." 

the shining people

I read Colby Sharp's review of The Real Boy by Anne Ursu and knew I had to read it. When Mr. Sharp says that a book has "it", you know that book is special.

Anne Ursu, who also wrote Breadcrumbs, gives us another beautiful fairy tale filled with magic and wizards, spells and charms, amulets, and packets of herbs.

The first paragraph:

The residents of the gleaming hilltop town of Asteri called their home, simply, the City.  The residents of the Barrow – the tangle of forest and darkness that encircled the bottom of Asteri’s hill like a shadowy moat – called the Asteri  the Shining City, and those who lived there the shining people.   The Asterians didn’t call themselves anything special, because when everyone else refers to you as the shining people, you really don’t have to do it yourself.

Immediately you are pulled into the Shining City of Asteri and the Barrow and all the shining people who live there. You will love Oscar, an odd and wonderful boy.

You must read this book. Like Mr. Sharp says... this book has "it".

The Hobbit

“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love." -Gandalf 


 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare

This weekend V and I read The Selection and The Elite by Kiera Cass. V was finishing The Selection on Friday night and kept saying, "You have to read this!" She wouldn't finish until Saturday after we headed to our local bookstore to get The Elite. "I can't finish until I know I have the next book to jump into.", she said.

The books, described as The Hunger Games meet The Bachelor, are the perfect tween books. Where middle school is full of relationship drama, this book brings up great 'talking points' about relationships, caste systems, friendships, and civil unrest. We had some great conversations about caste systems in India, South Asia, and parts of Africa (V had no idea that there really were caste systems) and we compared them to the social positioning in middle school and elsewhere.

Also... these were fun books to read for pure entertainment. We are both looking forward to book three, The One... due out May 6, 2014.

I'm thinking... Caldecott

I just got the best picture book: Journey by Aaron Becker.

 

Get it for the children you know.

Get it for anyone who knows or needs to be reminded that freedom is a tremendous act of courage and kindness.

I loved this beautiful picture book.

But, be sure not to miss the back flap for Aaron Becker's biography...

"Aaron Becker has made several memorable journeys in his lifetime. He's lived in rural Japan and East Africa, backpacked through Sweden and the South Pacific, and, most recently, ventured from San Fancisco Bay to Amherst, Massachusetts, the town he and his wife, daughter, and lazy cat now call home. To this day, his favorite destination remains his imagination, where he can often be found drawing secret doorways and magic lanterns."

Like I say about so many authors, I think Aaron and I should be friends.

:) 

Why do I read?

Today I was asked, "Why do you read?"

And, I guess I haven't given it much thought. I just read; it's what I love to do.

So, after some contemplation, here's my answer...

Some people read for entertainment. Some people read to acquire knowledge. I read for both.

To me, reading is more than raw input. I read to increase knowledge. I read to find meaning. I read for better understanding of others and myself. I read to discover. I read to make my life better. I read to make fewer mistakes.

Why do you read?