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3 days, 10 hours and 26 mintues. That’s how much time is left before the mega-summit of adventure authors get together for a live webcast release of the final book in the 39 Clues global adventure series. Have you read any? I’m intrigued by the idea that several venerated authors would write parts of a much bigger story, so much bigger in fact that it incorporates an online game, card collecting and presumably tens of thousands of Scholastic’s dollars. This last part relates to the five winners of the online game who get prize money to take expensive trips to locations in the story. So this is pretty huge. So far the story of Amy and Dan Cahill, grandkids of the enigmatic Grace Cahill, has them racing around the globe following clues that lead to a secret inheritance that Grace leaves behind. The backstory goes that members of the Cahill family have impacted human culture for centuries and now there are 39 clues that will, once collected and deciphered will skyrocket someone to become the most powerful person on earth. I don’t know if you even have to still eat Cheerios after you know whatever this secret is.
Book one was published in 2008, and now, on August 31st, the tenth and final book Into the Gauntlet(watch author Maragret Peterson Haddix reading an excerpt here) is coming out in 3 days, 10 hours and…..6 minutes. Sounds pretty exciting! Click on the book title to get your copy.
Looking for something fresh for storytime at home? Here’s a shiny new one!
The Cow Loves Cookiesstarts off the right way, with a little familiar animal rhyming, cartoony cheerful artwork, and text that winds all over the page. You can tell pretty quickly that mischief is underway. Barnyard books get cranked out all the time, but there’s something awesome about the lyricism of Karma Wilson’s writing. It rolls right off the tongue, so easily that you almost get tripped up reading quickly like a tongue twister. The star of the book, Cow, enters each scene to break up the bullet train of words with the reminder: SHE. LOVES. COOKIES. The cow’s adherence to cookies is certainly something I can understand, and kids do too. I think what I like most is that far from being discouraging or parsimonious, the farmer is totally in on the deal. Check out the cover illustration. The cow loves cookies, and Farmer loves to give her cookies. Could there be a reason? Hmm?
You’ll have fun reading this book. Try this, for instance:
Whenever Farmer feeds the horse
He feeds the horsey hay, of course
The horse just loves to nibble hay
He eats it every single day -BUT- the
cow
loves
cookies
The Cow Loves Cookies
by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Marcellus Hall
ISBN:978141694206
And guess who else likes cookies. Now, there are plenty of stereotypes about libraries and librarians that I have no inclination to reinforce. So contrary to this doofy guybrarian’s lackluster customer service, I want to assure you that anyone who loves cookies, be they kid, cow or monster, can find what they want at our library. In fact I’m munching on some Lorna Doones right now, and they are delicious.
***JUST SO YOU KNOW*** All of the posts in our book discussion series contain questions and reviews that could possibly reveal parts of the plot you may rather discover by reading the book. Proceed with caution!***
The Book Discussion Series enhances the reading experience by providing a list of interpretive questions compiled by librarians of the Cleveland Heights University Heights Public Library.
Lloyd Alexander has written a lot of children’s fiction over the years, and perhaps his best known saga is The Chronicles of Prydain which begins with this book. It’s a story set in a world that is medieval and fantastic, where knights and magic both exist. The hero is a boy who begins so low that he is not even fit to be a pig farmer – he’s the assistant pig farmer. The Chronicles are the story of how Taran goes from this pitiful station to fulfill his destiny as something much greater. The cast of characters is wonderful and makes the story feel very full and lively. The language and descriptions create a world that is easy to beleive and hard to leave.
This gem ranked #82 on a recent poll of 100 best Children’s Novels where pollmistress Elizabeth Bird had this to say “To the uninitiated, Alexander’s best-known series looks like a rough copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s. It would be an unfair characterization. For one thing, Alexander had a sense of humor. For another, one of the things I always loved about this series was the hero’s capacity to learn and grow. Cause when you first meet dorky Taran in this book, you have a pretty hard time believing he’s going to turn into the man in The High King later on down the road.” This book really is captivating, but also very discussable. There are plenty of ways to see how fantasy adventures like this series are not necessarily escapes from reality, but actually very entertaining but astute reflections of young lives.
How would you describe Taran at the beginning of the book? How would you describe him at the end of the book? Does Taran learn anything from his experiences? Why or why not? How does Taran’s quest change during the course of the book?
What do you think Dallben means when he says, “we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself?” Do you agree with him?
Gwydion says, “It is not the trappings that make the prince, nor indeed the sword that makes the warrior.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree? If so, what is it that makes a prince or a warrior? What does Taran imagine makes a warrior in the beginning of the book? How does his point of view change?
How would you describe Gurgi? Is he as bad as he initially seems? Why or why not? Why do you think the author decided to include him in the story? How does Gurgi change during the story? How does Gurgi’s relationship with Taran change?
Most of the characters in this book are flawed in some way or another. (Which characters might be closer to being unflawed than others?) Think of the main characters and describe how they are flawed. How do you feel about them because of this?
Describe Eilonwy. What kind of person is she? How is she of help on the quest? What do you think of her? How do other characters perceive her?
Describe Fflewddur Fflam. What kind of person is he? How is he of help on the quest? What do you think of him? How do other characters perceive him?
What are the Cauldron Born? Why are they frightening? Why does Gwydion say that removing the memory of laughter and tears from them was one of Arawn’s cruelest acts?
Who are the villains in this story? How are they connected? What makes them so evil?
Who is Medwyn and how do the travelers arrive in his valley? �
What does Taran learn from Medwyn?
What is the significance of the story about Gwythyr and the Lame Ant? (starts p. 146). Why does Medwyn tell it when he’s talking about taking Gurgi with the travelers?
What does Medwyn mean when he says, “It is not given to men to know the ends of their journeys… It may be that you will never return to the places dearest to you. But can that matter if what you must do is here and now?”
Why does Medwyn offer Taran a place in his valley? Would he have done this for the Taran who begins the quest? Why does Taran refuse (look at p. 144 and 151-2)? Do you think the Taran from the beginning of the book would have refused the offer?�
Why does the author choose to include the visit to Medwyn’s hidden valley? Why is it important to the story?
Who (or what) are the Fair Folk?
How would you describe Doli? What do you think of him? How is he of help on the quest? How do the other characters perceive him?
Why does Taran rescue the Gwythaint from the thorn bush? What did Taran’s fellow travelers think of his decision to do so? Was it a wise or foolish thing to do?
How is the Horned King defeated?
What gifts were given to the companions and why are they important (p. 218)? Fflewddur Fflam: one harp string that will not break; Doli: power of invisibility; Gurgi: wallet of food that is always full; Eilonwy: a ring; Taran: to return home.
How does Taran’s opinion and choice of rewards show that he has changed from the beginning of the book? (p. 218-219). Also, look on page 222, when Taran talks to Dallben of what befell him, how do we see that he has changed?
Why do you think the book was called The Book of Three? What other name might be fitting for the story?
This is the first book of a series. There are four other books. Has anyone read the others? If you haven’t, what would you imagine would happen to Taran in the future? What would you want to have happen to him? Did you like the book enough to look for the others?
The author often uses imagery (language used to appeal to the five senses). Can you point out some examples of this in the book? What senses does he appeal to and how does he do it? (p. 87, p. 204-5)
Last Wednesday, we had an amazing crowd in the Children’s Department! Everyone came to enjoy and congratulate each other on reading all summer so far. Kids and parents enjoyed making crafts fit for our Make A Splash! theme, like paper plate jellyfish. They played games like Fish Pond (from aboard the S.S. Read!) and Bean Bag Tossery. Refueling with some snacks, kids piled in to get a balloon animal or bow and arrow from Flower Clown (I don’t think Clown is his last name, but I don’t think it’s Flower the Clown either. It’s definitely not Clown Flower, but in any case I think you probably know who I mean. He’s in the picture!)
We drew winners of prizes from each branch who got a $20 gift card to Target. Then the grand prize winners got $50 cards. And do you know what? Both the winners, the K-2 and 3-5 grade category lucky ducks, are from Noble! And they are going to get a brand new library soon, too!
You can still sign up and get stickers and a free book from the library all the way through the end of August. Keep reading, and if you run into Mr. Flowerpants, please ask him his full and proper title, and let me know.
**UPDATE**
Here’s a few things I came across that highlight the importance, benefit and fun times we have in summer reading clubs:
from ALSC’s blog: The GLIS at Dominican University has some pretty good data to prove what we have known for years—children’s librarians are doing significant, important work. How we get leaders – in the library world, in the financial world, in the education departments of our governments – to recognize and support this is what I see as our biggest hurdle. The executive summary has a few recommendations, which I would hope someday to see come true. The first is “Recognizing that public libraries play a significant role in helping to close the achievement gap in school performance”. Read the full report (executive summary is included in this) here.
From the New York Times blog: “Several studies have documented a “summer slide” in reading skills once school lets out each spring. The decline in reading and spelling skills are greatest among low-income students, who lose the equivalent of about two months of school each summer, according to the National Summer Learning Association, an education advocacy group. And the loss compounds each year.” The article describes how reading anything can be crucial to getting into reading. I agree, have fun with reading.
Perhaps a little known fact is that the Native Americans gave every full moon a name. Each month’s moon had a name associated with something important that was happening during that month, for instance July’s full moon, which has just passed, was known as the Full Buck Moon to certain tribes:
The Full Buck Moon [...]
Harvey Pekar is dead, and we miss him a lot. A long time ago, he decided to write comics because he thought that comics “could do things”. Harvey was sure that while heroes with super powers made for a great story, there was another kind of comic that people would want to read, comics that [...]
Walking a mile in someone’s shoes might be a hard thing to do, unless those shoes belong to Pete the Cat! Meet Pete.
He’s been on the scene for a while, but resurfaced recently when author Eric Litwin wrote a book called “I Love My White Shoes“, starring Pete. James Dean (the artist, not the rebel [...]
***JUST SO YOU KNOW*** All of the posts in our book discussion series contain questions and reviews that could possibly reveal parts of the plot you may rather discover by reading the book. Proceed with caution!***
The Book Discussion Series enhances the reading experience by providing a list of interpretive questions compiled by librarians of the Cleveland [...]
Reserve a copy of this book
***JUST SO YOU KNOW*** All of the posts in our book discussion series contain questions and reviews that could possibly reveal parts of the plot you may rather discover by reading the book. Proceed with caution!***
The Book Discussion Series enhances the reading experience by providing a list of interpretive questions compiled by [...]
It’s intriguing to me when a big batch of new books comes in and several books center on the same, sometimes obscure, subject. I personally love when coincidences pop up and give you the suggestion that something else is happening outside of what is readily apparent. I mean, what is going on in the world that [...]
