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April 7, 2006
In this issue:
Mea culpa.
Upcoming events.
Reviews, reviews, reviews:
* A-Review-A-Day.
* "Gossamer" by Lois Lowry, review by Mark David Bradshaw.
* "Lilly's Big Day" by Kevin Henkes, review by Carolyn Kretzer.
* "The Boy Who Loved Words" by Roni Schotter, illus. by Giselle Potter, review
by Carolyn Kretzer.
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I am at fault. I've been writing Teacher Feature, the dependability rate hasn't
been the best. In fact, this is the first issue in over a year... and my first
issue ever. Please bear with me as I try to make Teacher Feature a monthly
occurrence.
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We have four children's authors and illustrators visiting in April. You'll want
to mark your calendars for these:
April 8. Lois & Jeff Ruby book signing. 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Mother and son will be
at the store to sign their respective books. Lois Ruby will sign some of her
recent young adult novels, and Jeff Ruby will sign copies of his recent book
“Everybody Loves Pizza.” Come join us for a slice of fun! Here's a link to
Beth's review of "Everybody Loves Pizza" -
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1005-013.html
April 9. 2:00 p.m. Watermark Books & Café and the Wichita Public Library, 223 S.
Main, are co-sponsoring a presentation & book signing by Mo Willems. He’ll be at
the downtown library to sign copies of his latest book, “Don’t Let the Pigeon
Stay Up Late!” Crayons and paper will be provided for the kids to draw along
with Mo!
April 26. Brad Sneed and Lisa Campbell Ernst will be at Watermark from 6:00 -
7:00 p.m. to sign their many, many children’s books. Brad’s latest book is
“Deputy Harvey & the Ant Cow Caper” and Lisa’s is “Sylvia Jean, Drama Queen.”
This is one you won’t want to miss!
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Over a year ago, we began a feature called A-Review-A-Day. We send one review
each weekday to anyone who subscribes to this service. Many of these are
reviews for picture books, middle readers, and young adult books. In fact, here
are some links to some of the reviews which have appeared since the fall:
PICTURE BOOKS
"Emma Kate" by Patricia Polacco:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1105-009.html
"Lies and Other Tall Tales" collected by Zora Neale Hurston, adapted and
illustrated by Christopher Myers
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1105-007.html
ALL AGES
Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four & Spider-Man, comics for young readers from
Marvel Comics:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0106-015.html
MIDDLE READERS
Airball: My Life in Briefs by L. D. Harkrader:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1205-020.html
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very
Interesting Boy by Jean Birdsall:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1205-019.html
The Runaways by Brian K Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, and Takeshi Miyazawa:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0206-011.html
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1205-012.html
Wordplay Café: Cool Codes, Priceless Punzles & Phantastic Phonetic Phun written
and illustrated by Michael Kline:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0106-012.html
The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1205-018.html
Totally Joe by James Howe:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0306-018.html
Midwinter Nightingale and The Witch of the Clatterinshaws by Joan Aiken:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0106-016.html
The Door to Time by Pierdomenico Baccalario:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1205-015.html
YOUNG ADULT
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh
Dumas:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0206-008.html
Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0306-016.html
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0306-013.html
Are We There Yet? by David Levithan
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1005-010.html
Marly's Ghost: a Remix by David Levithan:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0206-005.html
Luna by Julie Anne Peters:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1205-013.html
Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin and Inexcusable by Chris Lynch:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review1205-010.html
To sign up for A-Review-A-Day, send a blank message to this e-mail address:
a-review-a-day-subscribe@lists.watermarkbooks.com
Or reply to this e-mail with "ARAD," and I'll manually add you to the subscriber
list.
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"Gossamer" by Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books, 0618685502,
$16.95)
Lois Lowry doesn’t disappoint with this new short novel for middle readers. It’s
the story of Littlest One, one of the airy spirits who bring dreams to sleeping
people at night then retreat by day to rest in a mounded heap. They are kind,
insubstantial beings who knit together traces of hope and memory to soothe the
troubled. Littlest One is still learning how to bring the dreams when she is
assigned to John, an angry young boy in foster care. As he settles into a new
home, she works hard to strengthen him against his desperate nightmares and
thereby grows into a skilled and capable dreamer.
Lowry is a two-time Newberry Medal winner for her books The Giver and
Number the Stars. In Gossamer, like in those earlier stories, she
creates a small mythology, showing us the world of dream-givers as a way of
exploring her human characters’ feelings. As always, her story-telling strikes a
fine balance: she supplies all the necessary pieces, but she makes her readers
work a bit to fit them together. It’s a method that rewards thought and
encourages young people to reflect on the ideas and relationships in the story.
Gossamer is a soft, quiet book with enough breathless moments to it make
it
exciting. It touches on the serious matter of John’s violent father gently and
without being sensational, and it shows how everyday kindnesses can help someone
to heal. It would be a good choice to read aloud.
Gossamer is recommended for readers ages 9 to 12.
Review by Mark
David Bradshaw
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"Lilly's Big Day" by Kevin Henkes (HarperCollins Children's Books, ISBN
0060742364, $16.99)
Lilly, diva mouse extraordinaire, is back and her self-esteem is still intact.
In this new story from award-winning Kevin Henkes, Lilly possesses all those
qualities that we loved in "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse." Lilly's teacher, Mr.
Slinger, has just announced to his class that he is getting married. Lilly is
thrilled because she naturally assumes that she will be the flower girl. And
Lilly has always wanted to be a flower girl.
Lilly begins diligently practicing for the biggest day of her life. Her parents
try to prepare her for the unlikelihood that she will be asked to be the flower
girl, but their sound reason falls on deaf ears. Lilly is going to be a flower
girl. At school, Lilly's determination kicks into high gear as she gives Mr.
Slinger several less-than-subtle hints about her flower-girl desires and
qualifications.
Finally, Mr. Slinger must break the news to Lilly: Ginger, his niece, is going
to be the flower girl. However, he generously offers to let Lilly be the flower
girl assistant. Well, it's just not the same, is it? But Lilly reluctantly
agrees and goes home to begin practicing her "assistant" duties. Soon, Lilly
begins to believe that being the assistant is very "important and glamorous" and
she meets this challenge head on. Still, in the privacy of her room, she keeps
up her flower girl practice. Just in case.
The wedding day arrives and much to Lilly's dismay, there's Ginger, ready and
excited to perform her duties. So Lilly really is going to have to stay behind
and watch Ginger go down the aisle. Lilly says "Go" and...Ginger freezes. What
happens next is pure Lilly. It's what keeps young readers coming back to their
Lilly books. It's what keeps adults chuckling over and applauding Lilly.
Lilly's grit and quick thinking saves the day. And on the last page, she shows a
tenderness that leaves the reader thinking "Now that's our Lilly."
Even without the delightful story, this book is a hoot if all you do is look at
the pictures. Kevin Henkes' little mouse faces, especially the eyes, tell the
whole story. You'll love Ginger's face when she freezes at the wedding. Read
it. Have fun. Share it with a child.
(ages 4 and up)
Review by Carolyn Kretzer
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"The Boy Who Loved Words" by Roni Schotter, illus. by Giselle Potter (Random
House Children's Books, ISBN 0375836012, $16.95)
This book is hard to categorize. It's a picture-fable-tall tale-concept book.
It's the story of a young boy, Selig, who is a collector. Of words. Selig
collects words in the same fashion that others collect rocks or feathers or sea
shells. Words appeal to all of Selig's senses. When he hears one he likes, he
jots (he even likes the word "jot") it down of a slip of paper and sticks it in
his pocket. When his pockets are full, he sticks words in his hat, in his
socks, in the neck of his shirt. While other kids are participating in active
games, Selig is on the "periphery" listening for and collecting new words.
Selig's classmates dub him "Wordsworth" and call him an "oddball." Selig
contemplates this last word and decides it makes him feel lonely.
Selig has a dream in which a Genie (with a Yiddish accent) tells him that he has
a passion for words, but now he must find a purpose, a mission. So Selig sets
out the next day to find his purpose. As he travels along he collects words, so
many words that finally they being to weigh him down. Finally, to lighten his
load, he climbs a tree and hangs each word on a separate branch, then settles
down to sleep beneath the tree.
During the night a poet, unable to sleep and struggling to find just the right
words to finish a poem, wanders under the tree. Up comes a breeze and four
perfect words come fluttering into the poet's hands. The next morning the poet
praises Selig who decides he's found his mission: sharing his words with others.
Selig roams the towns and country doing just that and changing people's lives in
the process. So begins the legend that when the right word occurs to people they
say, "It's Wordsworth...Upon my word! How lucky we are!"
Now the story continues that Selig meets Melody whose mission is to give music
to the masses, so between the two of them, they bring words and music to
everyone.
While this story is farfetched (a tall-tale, remember?) it has so many
possibilities either in the classroom or just one-on-one with a child. Giselle
Potter's illustrations are brilliant. Hard to describe, but on every page there
are words, words, words, illustrated as if they were on scraps of paper randomly
scattered on the page. So many words. Words like "percolated," "rhapsody,"
"predilection," "giggle," "jovial," "morsels," "passion." Not the mention the
words that Schotter uses in the telling of the story--"tintinnabulating,"
"swarthy," "amphora." No dumbing down in this book. Schotter and Potter push
readers to learn new words, sound out words, think about words, look for words,
use new words. On the back endpapers is a glossary of some--but not all-- of the
words used in the story and illustrations, but many readers will find that they
won't need the glossary after paying close attention to illustrations and
context clues. This book has endless possibilities. Expose it to kids!
(ages 4-8)
Review by Carolyn Kretzer
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I'm going on a book adventure today, so if you reply to this e-mail with any
questions, I'll receive them on Monday. If you need assistance in the meantime,
please give the store a call at (316) 682-1181.
Until May...
Beth
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