Watermark Teacher
Feature – April 1, 2009
In this issue:
UPCOMING EVENTS:
* Antonya Nelson Reading
& Signing: Thurs., April
2. 7:00 p.m.
* Watermark Booksellers
on the Air: Friday,
April 17, 7:00 a.m.
* Jane Hamilton Reading
& Signing: Tue. April
21.
*
Cokie Roberts at the WSU
Metroplex: Wed., April
22. 8:00 p.m.
FEATURED REVIEWS:
“The Flea’s Sneeze” by
Lynn Downey & Karla
Firehammer
FRESH TITLES:
* “Just Like Bossy Bear”
by David Horvath
* “Elephant & Piggie:
Watch Me Throw the Ball”
by Mo Willems
*
“Ruby Lu, Brave and
True” by Lenore Look
*
“Ruby Lu, Empress of
Everything” by Lenore
Look
*
“The Demigod Files: A
Percy Jackson & the
Olympians Book” by Rick
Riordan
*
“Hit the Road, Manny!”
by Christian Burch
*
“How to Build a House”
by Dana Reinhardt
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This and previous issues
of Teacher Feature are
available on the
Watermark Web site. You
can read on-line,
complete with pictures
and clickable links,
here:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/teach.html
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Greetings & salutations,
Ah,
Kansas! Where else can
you watch your next-door
neighbor, in shorts,
dodge snow drifts while
mowing his lawn--just
one week after spring
break?
We
have awesome authors
coming to Watermark all
month long--both
national names and
hometown favorites. We
also have lots of new
books rolling in for
young readers.
If
you have a pack of eager
“Twilight” readers to
keep happy, I have two
quick teen suggestions
for you:
*
The House of Night
series by
mother-and-daughter team
P. C. Cast & Kristin
Cast. Set in Oklahoma,
this series has vampires
and teen drama in
spades, and it’s
becoming more popular
every day. The fifth
book, “Hunted,” is just
out, and your “Twilight”
fans will want to catch
up with them all.
*
“City of Glass,”
the third book in
Cassandra Clare’s
thrilling “Mortal
Instruments” series,
comes out next Tuesday,
April 7. It spins around
supernatural creatures
and a young woman fated
to combat them in a
secret struggle in--and
under--the streets of
New York City. (This one
is hotly anticipated:
the past two weeks, I’ve
been getting urgent
phone calls from parents
whose daughters have
been texting them from
school: “OMG: plz get me
CITY OF GLASS @ WTRMRK!
l8r g8r.”
(Okay, so I made up that
text message; but the
phone calls are real!)
Let me know if you need
more good Twilight
picks. I have scads!
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UPCOMING WATERMARK
EVENTS
Antonya Nelson Reading &
Book Signing. Thursday,
April 2. 7:00 p.m.
Join us as we welcome
novelist and short story
writer Antonya Nelson
home to Wichita for a
reading of her new book,
“Nothing Right: Short
Stories.” Ms. Nelson
grew up right here in
the College Hill
neighborhood. She now
teaches creative writing
and has served on
selection committees for
several prestigious
writing awards. She’s
one of Wichita’s
homegrown treasures!
Watermark Booksellers on
the Air. Friday, April
17, 7:00 a.m.
Tune your radios to 89.1
FM and listen to the
very first morning of
KMUW Wichita Public
Radio’s spring pledge
drive. Watermark
booksellers Sarah Bagby
and Mark Bradshaw will
be on the air talking
about the inextricable
connections between
great books and great
broadcasting.
Jane Hamilton Reading &
Book Signing. Tuesday,
April 21. 7:00 p.m.
Novelist Jane Hamilton
is coming back to
Watermark! Jane is the
author of “A Map of the
World,” “The Book of
Ruth,” “Disobedience,”
and “When Madeline Was
Young.” She is the only
author to have been
chosen *twice* for
Oprah’s Book Club, and
she is a favorite at
Watermark, both for her
writing are for her
wonderful talks.
Join us as she reads
from and signs copies of
her comic romp of a new
novel, “Laura Rider's
Masterpiece.” You can
read Sarah Bagby's
review of the book here:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0209-011.html
Cokie Roberts at the WSU
Metroplex. Wednesday,
April 22. 8:00 p.m.
Watermark is proud to be
a co-sponsor as KMUW
Wichita Public Radio
89.1 FM presents Cokie
Roberts, award-winning
journalist and
bestselling author, in a
public presentation
marking the release of a
new edition of her book
“We Are Our Mothers’
Daughters.”
Location: Lowe
Auditorium at Wichita
State University's
Hughes Metropolitan
Complex at 5015 E. 29th
St. Admission is free.
Tickets are required.
For tickets, please
visit:
www.kmuw.start-thinking.com
For event questions,
please call KMUW at
(316) 978-6789.
For Ms. Roberts's books,
call Watermark at (316)
682-1181.
For a full listing of
Watermark events,
including book clubs and
art openings, visit the
Events page of our Web
site at:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/events.html
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FEATURED BOOKS
“The Flea’s Sneeze”
by Lynn Downey, illus.
by Karla Firehammer
(Henry Holt,
9780805088687, $25.99,
for ages 3 to 6)
Here’s a brand-new
large-size edition --
one and a half feet
square! -- of a favorite
preschool read-aloud
book: In an old barn, a
menagerie of farm
animals are fast asleep
until a wheezy, sniffly
flea ("Does eddybody hab
a tissue for be?")
sneezes an enormous
sneeze that shakes them
all awake:
“It scared the rat,
Who cried 'Boo hoo!'
And woke the cat,
Who hissed 'Mairoo!'
It
baffled the bat,
Whose eyes turned blue,
And confused the cow,
Who muttered 'Moo Moo!'”
On each page, the
wonderfully painted
animals are stacked up
in an amusing new
formation, so youngsters
can have a great time
finding and identifying
each one, from the big
spotted cow to the
orange-striped cat and
down to the tiny, sneezy
flea. The fast, silly
rhymes will demand many
repeat readings.
And this book absolutely
benefits from being
super-sized! The big
pictures are fantastic
and easy for even a
sizable group of kids to
see, and the pages’
large scale makes
searching out the whole
role call of animals
even more fun. This big
edition should be a
staple for many
preschool classrooms.
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FRESH TITLES
Picture Books
“Just Like Bossy
Bear” by David Horvath
(Hyperion,
9781423110972, $14.99,
for ages 2 to 5) Like
its predecessor, this
vividly colored,
preschool-friendly
picture book teaches a
lesson about bossiness
and sharing that is as
funny as it is
necessary.
Read review:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0309-010.html
“Elephant & Piggie:
Watch Me Throw the Ball”
by Mo Willems
(Hyperion,
9781423113485, $8.99,
for ages 2 to 5)
Elephant and Piggie are
great early-reader
friends who are back to
share more fun and
hilarity. Read review:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0309-009.html
Chapter Books
"Ruby Lu, Brave and
True" and "Ruby Lu,
Empress of Everything"
by Lenore Look, illus.
by Anne Wilsdorf
(9780689849077 and
9781416950035, for ages
7 to 10) Ruby Lu is a
spunky, magical big
sister and another star
Chinese-American
chapter-book character
from the creator of the
wonderful “Alvin Ho:
Allergic to Girls,
School, and Other Scary
Things.” If you love
Alvin or Clementine,
you’re going to love
meeting Ruby. Read
review:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1208-004.html
Books for Middle Readers
"The Demigod Files: A
Percy Jackson & the
Olympians Book" by Rick
Riordan (Hyperion,
9781423121664, $12.95,
for ages 9 and
older) All your Percy
Jackson fans are eagerly
awaiting the fifth book
in May. While they wait,
give them this exciting
volume of short stories
about Percy and his
mythological pals. Read
review:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0209-010.html
"Hit the Road, Manny:
A Manny Files Novel" by
Christian Burch (Atheneum,
9781416928126, $16.99,
for ages 9 and up)
Christian Burch is a
Kansas native and a
recent visitor to
Watermark. His Manny
Files books leave
readers of all ages
gasping with laughter.
Read review:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1208-009.html
YA
and Teen Titles
"How to Build a
House" by Dana Reinhardt
(Wendy Lamb Books,
9780375844539, $15.99,
14 and up) This teen
novel is an well-written
summer love story
fortified with excellent
themes of volunteerism
and community
involvement. It follows
a high-school girl who
volunteers to build a
house in a town struck
by a devastating
tornado. Read review:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1208-007.html
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L8r educ8rs,
