"Excuse me please, but are you a mouse?" 

 

Max is a cat. He is a sweet cat. But, more importantly, Max is a brave cat! He is a cat that is so brave, he is on the hunt for mouse.  The only problem is - he's really not sure what a mouse is.  So he proceeds to ask lots of other animals about mouse. Unfortunately, not all animals tell the truth. Especially mouse.  Very cute for the preK crowd. Would fit well with the Superhero theme or a story time on cats or being brave.  Thanks to Sourcebook for providing my advanced copy!

I also finished "Ready Player One" by Cline.  It was oh so enjoyable.  A great gaming geeks/love story/coming of age/sci-fi/fantasy romp. It's young adult at our library but I would recommend it for older teens and anyone that grew up in the 80s. Or had kids that grew up in the 80s.  I wonder if we will ever have an Oasis?

I finished "The Island of Dr. Libris"!

This is the review I posted on Goodreads -- "This would make a great summer read - especially for kids like Billy and Walter (the main characters in the book). And it's relatively short and it might encourage some readers to try "Time Machine" or "Robin Hood" or even "Pollyanna". I liked "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library" a wee bit better but I did like this; it would also make a great read-aloud!"

Added here -- it all wraps up a bit abruptly.  I'm not sure if there will be a sequel or not - possibly.  There is a long list of the books that he incorporates into his story at the back of the book and this could serve as a jumping off point for further reading.  My favorite fairy tale - Three Billy Goats Gruff - is included so that was pretty awesome.  If you have a mid-to-upper elementary/tween that really enjoys reading - give them this.  It also deals with some real world issues like bullying and problems with parents and asthma. 

So what is next on the stack?  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  Whoa.  Has anyone else read this?  I'm about 100 pages in and hooked.  Had to make myself put it down or I would have stayed up all night reading.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

I am done with this semester! All except waiting for my grades. (grr grr)  So I am reading.  I just started this -- and so far, Dr. Libris seems like a pretty nefarious guy.

And I also read Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman.  It is a companion book to Seraphina.  If you have not read them, please (please please) do!  Hartman is an amazing world builder.  If you are like me, you'll have dreams of Goredd and Porphyry; you'll want to hear Seraphina play her flute and oud; watch Abdo dance; and see the dragons fly.  A lot of people have been disappointed with the second book...  but I loved it.  I hope Hartman writes more!  (She has said it's the last one - but she left it open-ended enough that she could revisit the world.)

FUN SUNDAY READING

We had some serendipitous reading time today (we being precious grandbabies and Mooma). And there were several favorites to share. First is 

Peanut Butter and Cupcake by Terry Border. It's about moving and making new friends. 

 

Next was Seymour Simon's Our Solar System. N is quite fascinated by planets right now and can even point out Venus in the evening sky. But Neptune is her favorite. This one had a lot of words but she really liked the pictures. 

We also read Rosie Revere Engineer written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts. N was fascinated by the fact that Rosie (and her aunts) are all drawn so that one eye is hidden by their hair.  She also thought it was a fun book. Don't give up just because someone laughs at your invention.

  

Best comment of the day was when we were out on the balcony. It was one of those perfect spring evenings with a cool breeze and the sun just starting to go down - the ones you remember when it's July and 110 in the shade - and N said, "We have such a beautiful world." I had to agree.

Something to look forward to in November!

Oh look!  The last in Gail Carriger's Finishing School series -- Manners and Mutiny - will be published on November 5, 2015!  If you like steampunk, vampires, werewolves, and feisty heroines then read this series. Hasten to your local library and check out the first book, Etiquette and Espionage.   Waistcoats & Weaponry, the third book in the series, won Steampunk Chronicle’s 2015 Reader’s Choice Award  for Best Young Adult Steampunk Fiction.

 

Manners and Mutiny

Ah - ah - ah - choooooooo!

I know I haven't posted in ages but I just wanted everyone to know - there is a new Chu book out!  Chu's sneezing at the beach causes a huge problem for everyone! The solution is for Chu to sneeze again -- but he can't.  What ever will we do?  Another delightful chapter in the life of this adorable panda.  Be sure to check it out!

"The Talking Eggs"

Back we go to the Kind and the Unkind Girls!

After looking at the history of the tale and some of the older, written versions, I took a peek at some of the more recent retellings.  Over the next few days we will look at four of these.  They are mostly in a picture book type format and written for the 4-10 age set but all ages can and should read picture books.  

The first is "The Talking Eggs", one of my favorite picture books!  It is retold by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.  This book is what led me to investigate "The Tale of the Kind and the Unkind Girls". It begins like this - "Back in the old days there was a widow with two daughters named Rose and Blanche.  They lived on a farm so poor, it looked like the tail-end of bad luck"! When you first read this book, you immediately think of a Cinderella story - but it doesn't quite mesh with Cinderella.  For one thing, there is no Fairy Godmother.  Instead there's an old witch!  “The Talking Eggs” is, in fact, adapted from Creole version of the Tale of the Kind and Unkind Girls.  The kind daughter is Blanche, who is greatly abused by her mother and her mean older sister.  One day, she is sent to the well to fetch water and finds an old woman, begging for a drink.  She obliges and returns home, only to be greeted by a beating.  So she runs away, right into the arms of the old aunty from the well.  She invites Blanche to come home with her, but tells her she must not laugh at anything she sees.  Thus the story unfolds; Blanche  follows the instruction of the old witch and is richly rewarded. Mean older sister Rose, on the other hand, tries to duplicate Blanche's adventure.  Of course, she makes fun of the witch and is soundly punished. Robert D. San Souci does a delightful job of recreating this version of the tale set deep in Louisiana. And Pinkney’s illustrations make the book truly magical. In fact, the book was awarded a Caldecott Honor Medal in 1990.  If you have never read this story, please do yourself a favor and check it out from your local library.