by Laura Joffe Numeroff
I've read so much of Numeroff's work for story times, that I was really excited to go out and get the Kohls Cares for Kids animals (Numeroff's mouse, moose, pig and cat) this season. In fact, I made the theme for the first week of December's story times all about Laura Numeroff's books. We had a lot of fun.
Somehow, I'd missed this title in the past. It was fun to see characters from previous books come back as the friends invited to the party. As usual, Numeroff has a series of crazy requests that come from the title animal and the all cycle back to the first thing the child offered, in this case a party. I have to say, one child was scandalized, as only a giggling three-year-old can be, by the "naked" moose before the pajama party began.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
I'm the biggest thing in the ocean
by Kevin Sherry
There are some books that I just have to read in performance mode. On my first pass with this one, I realized that I do an awesome squid voice (not as good as my moose voice, though). Have fun with this squid who thinks he's got it all, until someone bigger comes along.
There are some books that I just have to read in performance mode. On my first pass with this one, I realized that I do an awesome squid voice (not as good as my moose voice, though). Have fun with this squid who thinks he's got it all, until someone bigger comes along.
The Very Cranky Bear
by Nick Bland
This new picture book was so much fun, that it is now in my personal collection. Several animal friends take refuge from a storm. Everything is great until they realize there's a bear trying to sleep in the same cave. While his friends think of reasons the bear is unhappy, the sheep finds a way to be selfless. His actions are the cure for what ails the bear.
This new picture book was so much fun, that it is now in my personal collection. Several animal friends take refuge from a storm. Everything is great until they realize there's a bear trying to sleep in the same cave. While his friends think of reasons the bear is unhappy, the sheep finds a way to be selfless. His actions are the cure for what ails the bear.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A.J. Jacobs
Jacobs has made a career writing about his social experiments: his first book was about reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica from A-Z, and his second was about living for a year following all the rules in the Bible. Each chapter in this book is a smaller experiment - outsourcing your life, absolute truth-telling, impersonating a movie star, etc.
I didn't realize when I ordered this book that I'd actually read his first book too; I didn't know it was the same guy. Jacobs is funny and, as he's told all the time, his wife Julie must be a saint for putting up with him.
Because he limits his social experiments to a month each, you don't really get bored with the idea. You get a taste of the benefits and drawbacks, then A.J. moves on to the next project. Many of the experiments are really interesting, and would be worth implementing into your own life, albeit on a more limited, reasonable scale.
I didn't realize when I ordered this book that I'd actually read his first book too; I didn't know it was the same guy. Jacobs is funny and, as he's told all the time, his wife Julie must be a saint for putting up with him.
Because he limits his social experiments to a month each, you don't really get bored with the idea. You get a taste of the benefits and drawbacks, then A.J. moves on to the next project. Many of the experiments are really interesting, and would be worth implementing into your own life, albeit on a more limited, reasonable scale.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Everything is fine
by Ann Dee Ellis
This could be a very depressing book and that is exactly why I think teens would like it. Every so often it is comforting to read about a fictional character whose life is sadder than your own. Precisely because it is fiction, the reader can see so clearly what can be done to resolve the central problem. If only real life were so easy.
Pick up this story of preteen Mazzy who lives alone with her severely depressed mother. Mazzy truly believes she is capable of running the household on her own. As the story moves along, see how Mazzy grows to trust a neighbor for guidance once in a while and find out what has caused her mother to retreat so far into herself.
This could be a very depressing book and that is exactly why I think teens would like it. Every so often it is comforting to read about a fictional character whose life is sadder than your own. Precisely because it is fiction, the reader can see so clearly what can be done to resolve the central problem. If only real life were so easy.
Pick up this story of preteen Mazzy who lives alone with her severely depressed mother. Mazzy truly believes she is capable of running the household on her own. As the story moves along, see how Mazzy grows to trust a neighbor for guidance once in a while and find out what has caused her mother to retreat so far into herself.
Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton
I don't read a lot of parenting books (natch - I don't have kids!), but this is a funny, interesting, and educational book that applies to anyone who eats.
Amster-Burton decided before his daughter was born that he didn't want to give up his enjoyment of food and cooking just because there was a tot in the house. This book is about his journey with Iris - cooking, eating, and exploring food with a baby (and eventually a toddler).
Her whole life, Iris eats whatever everybody else is eating. Not that she isn't picky ... for a while, Iris loved spicy food. Then, no longer. And maybe someday she'll come around again. In the mean time, Iris eats around the peppers. Sauces go on the side. But she still eats the same thing that's served to everyone else. And she helps cook everything - sometimes most enjoying the preparation of foods she ultimately doesn't enjoy.
This isn't a stuffy, food-geek kind of book. It's a book about exploring food and learning more about cooking - with your kids, or with your friends. It's a practical cookbook full of things you can actually do (and not an english-muffin-pizza in sight!), with amusing stories and dwellings on eating. I'd recommend it for anyone who's trying to be more adventurous in the kitchen.
Amster-Burton decided before his daughter was born that he didn't want to give up his enjoyment of food and cooking just because there was a tot in the house. This book is about his journey with Iris - cooking, eating, and exploring food with a baby (and eventually a toddler).
Her whole life, Iris eats whatever everybody else is eating. Not that she isn't picky ... for a while, Iris loved spicy food. Then, no longer. And maybe someday she'll come around again. In the mean time, Iris eats around the peppers. Sauces go on the side. But she still eats the same thing that's served to everyone else. And she helps cook everything - sometimes most enjoying the preparation of foods she ultimately doesn't enjoy.
This isn't a stuffy, food-geek kind of book. It's a book about exploring food and learning more about cooking - with your kids, or with your friends. It's a practical cookbook full of things you can actually do (and not an english-muffin-pizza in sight!), with amusing stories and dwellings on eating. I'd recommend it for anyone who's trying to be more adventurous in the kitchen.
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
Couldn't do it. Sorry, but it just ain't happening.
I made it through two of the five discs before I was so disgusted that I had to put in some Springsteen to make my world balanced again.
Even for chick lit, this is dumb. Lara's life is already messed up, and now she's being haunted by a younger, bratty version of her dead 105 year old great-aunt. I didn't even reach the book's climactic scene, and I already know that Aunt Sadie will change Lara's life for the better by teaching her to loosen up. ACK.
Not. Going. To. Do. It.
I made it through two of the five discs before I was so disgusted that I had to put in some Springsteen to make my world balanced again.
Even for chick lit, this is dumb. Lara's life is already messed up, and now she's being haunted by a younger, bratty version of her dead 105 year old great-aunt. I didn't even reach the book's climactic scene, and I already know that Aunt Sadie will change Lara's life for the better by teaching her to loosen up. ACK.
Not. Going. To. Do. It.
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