Itsy Bitsy Bookworm

Grover!

2009-09-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

I bought something today. Something for Grant and it's very exciting. I couldn't wait to get home and read it! What is it that could have me so super-pumped? Why...it's my favorite Little Golden Book of all time!

The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone.

This book is so much fun! It features one of the coolest Sesame Street characters of all time...Grover. You can have Elmo any day. I'll always choose Grover. Just like Mo Willems' Pigeon books, The Monster at the End of this Book is interactive. Grover begs the readers not to turn the page so they won't ever reach the monster hiding at the end of the book.

Will it work? It never did when I was a kid, and I hope it won't for Grant either. At this point, his little grabby hands love reaching for the pages, and we continue to turn towards the huge unveiling at the end of the book. (Though I'm not sure we'll get there before something gets ripped out. I mean it. They are very grabby hands. Oh, well. It just means he loves it!)

Once Was Lost

2009-08-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
On shelves October 1, 2009

Sam Taylor is the preacher's daughter on the verge of a crisis of faith. Her mother is in rehab after being arrested for a DUI, and her father cares more about his congregation than his family and might also have an eye for other women. As Sam is struggling through her home life, a local girl from Sam's church disappears. After all of this, Sam just doesn't think she can believe in miracles anymore.

Sara Zarr has a beautiful writing style and I've enjoyed all of her books including this one. However, as a reader I felt a little disconnected with Sam. She is complacent, bottles up her feelings, refusing to tell her friends or her father how she truly feels. I waited for the moment Sam would confront her father for his recent actions, to find her voice. But she never does. And that's ok. That's just who Sam is, and it's actually very realistic. Some of us are like that, no matter how frustrating it is for others.

While the missing teen plot line is mysterious, interesting, and exciting, this is not a story about a missing girl. Jody's disappearance never overshadows the quiet plot of Sam's search for family, happiness, and faith. The ending is enjoyable and ties everything up nicely. Look for this one in the next couple of months!

Reviewed from ARC

Hate List

2009-08-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

In May, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, shot and killed several of their classmates in the school's cafeteria before shooting Valerie and killing himself. Valerie was implicated because of the list she created, the Hate List, of the things (and people) she and Nick hated. The same list that Nick used to choose his victims. Valerie was unaware of Nick's plan, but does she bear any responsibility for Nick's actions?

Jennifer Brown weaves together three different time periods seamlessly, before the shooting as we see why Valerie loves Nick, the shooting and it's immediate aftermath, and the next school year as Valerie and the rest of the school attempt to recover. Although the media reports that the school is now a peaceful place where students treat each other with respect, Valerie is definitely not finding that the case. Not for the girl's whose boyfriend went on a shooting spree.

This story brings up so many important issues without being didactic. Bullying, responsibility for one's actions, and looking past initial appearance are all vital parts of the story that continue to run through your head after finishing the book. Important (and enjoyable) reading for every teen.

Note: Amazing cover. Great job, Little, Brown.

Review ARC from publisher

Guessing Games with Terrific Twos

2009-08-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

For Terrific Twos storytime this week, I used a couple of books that used a "Guess Who?" format. The kids enjoyed the titles, guessing and squealing over the animals.

Simm Taback's City Animals

City Animals by Simm Taback (a Caldecott Medal winner) uses a giant fold-out format. Each page starts with "Who am I?", just showing the reader a small portion of the animal in question. As you fold-out each section of the page, a clue is given about the animal and another portion of the picture is revealed, until finally, we see the complete image. The illustrations are HUGE, colorful, and perfect to see across the room in storytime. Plus, the kids LOVED guessing the animals, the format of the book, and yelling out the answer as each piece of the puzzle was revealed. Even when they didn't guess correctly, they all squealed and clapped when we finally saw the animal. This was perfect for storytime, and I'll be adding it to my Terrific Twos repertoire.

Whose Nose and Toes? by John Butler

This interactive title has pictures of different baby animal's noses and toes. Each new page starts with "Whose nose and toes?" while showing just the tip of the animals face and feet. It's like they are walking onto the page, but haven't arrived yet. The next page reveals the animal in its entirety, saying "They are tiger's nose and toes." (or whatever animal we're looking at). It's very repetitive, which the twos enjoyed. John Butler's best known for his wild-life illustrations, and his animals are too cute. Each animal looks realistic, so soft and fuzzy you want to pet them. The kids loved cooing over them. Overall, two really fun books for a two-year old storytime!

Shiver

2009-08-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Lovely. Shiver is the love story between Grace, a somewhat typical teen, and Sam, who happens to be a werewolf. Stiefvater's werewolves aren't the traditional werewolves. They are human during the warm months, wolf during the winter. Grace was fascinated with Sam as a wolf, even before she knew him as a person.

This novel has been compared to Twilight, and superficially, I can see the comparison. But, only superficially. In both, the main girl loves a mythical creature (and both books include werewolves), but Shiver is so much more than that. Where Twilight's Edward was more than human, with super speed and cold, hard skin that sparkled in the sunlight, Sam was delightfully human. He's not perfect, he has some issues, but he's so wonderful to Grace. There was never the question of if he would hurt her (like we had with Edward and Bella). No, the tension in the Grace/Sam romance stemmed from the fact that we knew it couldn't last, as winter pulls Sam away from his last summer as a human. And, therefore, also away from Grace.

A wonderful romance with beautiful writing, I can't wait to read Linger, the next title in the series.

Barnyard Dance!

2009-08-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton

"Stomp your feet, clap your hands. Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!"

When I think of board books, I think of Sandra Boynton. Her baby books are well loved by so many children. And, now we can add Grant to that list! Barnyard Dance! uses bouncing rhymes to describe the actions of a barnyard hoedown. There's so much here for a baby to love, colorful illustrations, a die-cut front cover, and wonderful sing-song rhymes.

But, it's not just for babies! As the child grows older, they can enjoy making the noises with the farm animals, the moos, and quacks, and cheeps. And, there's so much movement in this little book, bowing, leaping, skittering, etc. that your little one can have their own barnyard dance. It's always fun when you can add in some activity when you're reading a story.

I love it so much, but what does Grant think? He likes it! He had an adorable grin on his face during the entire story. He loved the animal noises as well as the bouncy rhythm of the text. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to practice my country twang. (Not so great...but you have to do it when you're having a hoedown. Oh well...Grant likes it.)

Sappy Picture Books

2009-07-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

I'm not really a fan of overly-sappy children's books. I will never read Love You Forever to my child. Really. Never. I refuse. However, because I own these next two picture books, I read them to Grant.

This Quiet Lady by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Anita Lobel (signed by Anita Lobel). This book was a gift from a co-worker, given to me while I was pregnant. There's very little plot. A young girl looks at pictures of her mother as she grows from a baby to her own mother. I whipped this one out for the first time as Grant was having a particularly grumpy morning and showed it to him mid-cry. Success! He stopped screaming and we read the book three times. If only it was always so simple.

I Already Know I Love You by Billy Crystal and illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles. I feel ashamed...let me preface this by saying I'm also not a fan of books by celebrities (usually...some are fine). My mom bought this for Grant because it's a story written from the perspective of a grandpa-to-be as he anticipates the birth of his grandbaby. Through rhyming text, he shows excitement for all the moments they will share together. Very sweet, passable but not exceptional by any means. Grant's reaction? Grant laid on his tummy as I read it to him and delighted in rolling over. He enjoyed himself anyway.

Preschool Storytime

2009-07-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

Preschool storytime today, and boy was it chaotic. I read a couple of stories that I hadn’t used before as they are relatively new. First up, Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban, illustrated by Henry Cole. Mouse is mad, really mad. He goes from hopping mad to stomping mad to screaming mad to rolling-around-on-the-ground mad. The only problem is that he’s not as good at hopping as hare or at screaming as bobcat or at stomping as bear. And, as he tries to do each of these activities he inevitably winds up falling in a muddle puddle. This results in mouse reaching the epitome of madness, standing-still mad.

This worked well for a read-aloud with my smaller group of storytime kids. They loved each time Mouse fell in a puddle and it gave us a great opportunity to talk about the things they do when they’re mad. The illustrations were great too, as they are large and colorful and easy for everyone in the room to see. I just loved the illustration where Mouse is standing-still mad, fists clenched. I feared the picture might be too subtle for the kids, but it wasn’t. Several commented that he was really mad now. This title worked great for my smaller, more attentive group but was a little long for the large, rowdy morning session.

Moving on, I next read Big Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsley and illustrated by G. Brian Karas. In this title, we follow two seemingly different story lines, the Big Bad Bunny running ferociously through the forest and little Mama Mouse hunting for her missing Baby Boo-Boo. At the end, we realize that Big Bad Bunny is Baby Boo-Boo and not so scary after all.

This was fun as a read aloud as there is lots of chomping and roaring and crashing. The kids loved the names Big Bad Bunny and Baby Boo-Boo (apparently, one of the funniest names ever). Funny enough, even as the last few pages showed Mama Mouse walking with Big Bad Bunny as she leads her home, several of the kids didn’t realize Big Bad Bunny was Baby Boo-Boo until we see her taking off her ears and tail. They proudly proclaimed “Look! It’s Baby Boo-Boo!” At least they got the joke at some point. Overall, I think the kids really enjoyed this one and I heard echoes of “I’m Big Bad Bunny” throughout the children’s department after storytime.

Summer Reading

2009-07-13T11:44:00.001-07:00

Great news! Grant finished his first Summer Reading program. In my library system, as each person completes the program they get a free book. I chose Wacky Wild Peekaboo! (board book) for Grant. Wacky Wild Peekaboo! has a lift-the-flap format that babies love. Underneath each fold-out flap is a photograph of a wild animal. The rhyming text is nothing special, but Grant loves looking at the pictures, lifting the flaps, and listening to me make the animals sounds for each animal. He also likes the repetition of the line "When he's found make his sound" written on each flap. His favorite part of the book, however, is when I say "Peekaboo!" as we lift the flap to reveal the animal. Apparently, this is quite exciting and almost always results in a big grin. I think he's going to like this one.

So what are we reading now?

2009-07-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

So, what are we reading? On a daily basis we read the following books:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (board book)
Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (board book)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. (board book)
Gossie by Olivier Dunrea (board book)
Trucks by Byron Barton (board book)
Splash! (Babyfaces) by Roberta Grobel Intrater (board book)

Whew! I think I need to increase my repertoire. Of course, repetition is good for babies and he enjoys reading the same books over and over again. I just don’t want to get tired of the same titles. Especially, since some of these titles are among my favorites.

Of course, at this age (he’s almost five months) his reaction to books is almost always the same. Grinning at the pictures (or at me as I’m reading to him), trying to turn the pages, and then seeing how quickly he can shove the entire book in his mouth. I think that means he likes what we’re reading. As he gets older, I look forward to seeing his preferences develop.

Introduction

2009-07-09T12:39:00.001-07:00

I’m used to recommending books to kids. I’m a children’s librarian. And, one of the most satisfying parts of the job is reading aloud to the kids. Picking picture books that I love, and hopefully convincing the kids to love them as well. But before February of this year, I hadn’t had the opportunity to read aloud to my own child. How will raising a kid affect the books I recommend at the library? Will my baby help me be a better librarian?

As a librarian, I understand how important it is to read to your child each day. Not only is it extremely important, it’s also one of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of my day. So I got to thinking…wouldn’t it be a great idea to try to record each book I read to my son and his reactions to these books?

Fun? Yes. Impossible? Possibly. Worth the effort? Most definitely.

I can’t wait to share some of my favorite books with him. I want to see his reaction as we introduce Sandra Boynton’s board books. Will he think Mo Willems and Jan Thomas are as funny as I think they are? Will he look forward to finding out what the Pigeon and Olivia and Lilly and David are up to now? Will he pore over the art work of Eric Carle and Kevin Henkes and Chris Van Allsburg? Will he love the classic picture books I adored as a child? I can’t wait to find out.