Back to School Edition 2006

In this issue:
E-mail or fax us your book orders; it’s easy as pie.
"Eat These Words" lunch-time discussion series continues this Friday.
Next KMUW Literary Feast: Sept. 1.
Watermark’s Teacher Appreciation Day: Sunday, Sept. 17.
Upcoming author events with Tom Drury, Jane Hamilton, and Mitch Albom.
“Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!” by Lynne Truss
“Wordplay Café” by Michael Kline June book reviews from A-Review-A-Day.

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We want to extend a warm welcome to all those who have recently signed up for
Teacher Feature: we’re so glad you’ve joined us! Watermark aims to bring you
news, events, and book reviews that make your work as teachers and parents
easier and more educational, and Teacher Feature is our main pipeline for
information.

Tell your friends! Everyone who signs up gets entered to win a free lunch in the
Watermark Café, and educators receive a discount on classroom materials
purchased at Watermark.

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E-mail or Fax Us Your Book Orders

As you gear up for the coming school year, we’re happy to help you place
orders for your classroom books and teaching materials. If you would like to
e-mail or fax Watermark with your list of titles to order (or to research
for price and availability), please include your name, school, and phone
number.

E-mails can be sent to: lisa.johnson@watermarkbooks.com

Our fax number is (316) 682-1506

Also, we dedicate special shelves to Newberry and Caldecott winners and
books on the current William Allen White list, so come to Watermark and make
your book-buying easier!

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Upcoming Events at Watermark:


"Eat These Words" Lunch-time Discussion Series
This Friday, August 11, 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.

Speaker Randy Schofield, member of the "Wichita Eagle" editorial board, will
give a talk and lead a discussion on the best American fiction of the past
25 years, drawn from a list recently compiled by the "New York Times Book
Review." Come to Watermark, get your lunch, and join the conversation.

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KMUW Literary Feast – Monthly Gourmet Dinner and Book Club
Friday September 1, 7:00 p.m.

Literary Feast participants enjoy dinner together – with a book-themed menu
created by our Watermark chef – then take part in a book discussion over
dessert.

September’s book is the novel Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky; October’s book (for the Oct. 6 feast) will be All Aunt Hagar’s Children, stories by Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward P. Jones. You can pre-order All Aunt Hagar’s Children now.

Tickets for the feast are available in the bookstore or by calling (316)
682-1181. Places are limited, so we recommend purchasing your ticket well in
advance.

You can read more about September’s book, author, and menu on the KMUW Web
Site at: http://www.kmuw.org/LiteraryFeasts.html

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Teacher Appreciation Day at Watermark – Sunday, Sept. 17.

To show our appreciation for that you fine educators do, Watermark will host
a day of special events including prize drawings, giveaways, and more –
including recommendations on new books from the student participants in our
Young Readers Advisory Group.

Please mark your calendar, tell your friends, and check our next Teacher
Feature for further details.

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Upcoming Author Events: Tom Drury, Jane Hamilton, Mitch Albom


Tom Drury Reading & Book Signing – Saturday, Sept. 23, 2:00 p.m.

Join us as Tom Drury reads and signs his new novel “The Driftless Area.”
Sarah says: “This existential novel set in the upper Midwest is as spare as
it is accomplished. Drury is a genius at knowing exactly what’s needed to
develop a story with depth, humor, and insight into the human condition.”


Jane Hamilton Reading & Book Signing – Tuesday, Sept. 26, 7:00 p.m.

We're so excited to again host Jane Hamilton, author of “A Map of the World”
and “The Book of Ruth” (both chosen for Oprah’s Book Club), “Disobedience,”
and “The Short History of a Prince.” She will be reading and signing her new
book, “When Madeline Was Young.”

The novel is the story of Aaron Maciver and his beautiful wife, Madeline,
who suffers brain damage in a bike accident, leaving her with the intellect
of a seven-year-old. In the years that follow, Aaron and his second wife
care for Madeline with deep tenderness and devotion as they raise two
children of their own.

Come hear Jane Hamilton talk about this portrait of family tragedy and the
altered boundaries of love.

Attention Book Clubs: Jane Hamilton will speak to book clubs before the
reading (from 6:00 - 6:45 p.m.) in our author autograph gallery. E-mail Beth
Golay (beth.golay@watermarkbooks.com) to reserve space for members of your
book club.


And looking ahead…


Mitch Albom Reading & Book Signing – Wednesday, Nov. 15, 7:00 p.m.

Watermark will host Mitch Albom, author of “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “Five
People You Meet in Heaven” for a reading and book signing.

Mark your calendars now; we’ll have more details as the event gets closer.


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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Language Arts Books for Young Readers


To help get your educational juices flowing, we’d like to tell you about two
lovely, lively books on words and grammar for young people. The first is a
brand-new title from an internationally bestselling author; the second is a
recent work written and illustrated by one of our much-loved local authors.


“Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!” by Lynne
Truss, illustrated by Bonnie Timmons (Putnam Juvenile, 0399244913, $15.99)

Who among us, while driving through a residential neighborhood, hasn’t
chuckled at signs warning of “Slow Children Playing”? Those whacky kids and
their endless games of freeze tag and stuck-in-the-mud! Why don’t they
choose something with a faster pace? Why don’t they play dodge ball or blind
man’s bluff? And why don’t sign-makers use commas to render those signs a
little clearer and less ridiculous?

Commas are important, and Lynne Truss knows this better than anyone. The
author of two bestselling books for adults (“Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero
Tolerance Approach to Punctuation” and “Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody
Rudeness of the World Today”), Truss is taking her punctuation crusade to
where it’s most sorely needed: our sluggish and woefully under-punctuated
children. Her new picture book shows kids how moving commas around in a
sentence changes how that sentence works and changes what it means. Consider
one pair of examples:

“The student said the teacher is crazy.”

“The student, said the teacher, is crazy.”

The book’s illustration for the first version shows a teacher watching her
pupil perform a balancing act atop a spotted dog; the second shows the pupil
aghast at the spectacle of his teacher slow-dancing with a trout. It’s fun,
silly stuff. More than a dozen similar examples are illustrated in full
color by Bonnie Timmons, best known as the real-life cartoonist whose work
appeared on NBC’s “Caroline in the City.” The pictures help make the point
that commas matter, and their magic is all about placement. At the back of
the book, Truss also includes a guide that gives more detail about the inner
workings of grammar in each example.

“Eats, Shoots & Leaves” is a humorous and instructive visual tool for
teachers and parents who want to impart a bit of comma savvy to youngsters.
It’s recommended for readers ages 4 to 8, but also would be useful for older
students, including those learning English as a second language.

Review by Mark David Bradshaw, whose favorite childhood playground game was
called “RELENTLESS ZOMBIE DESTRUCTION WAVE” – no commas, all caps.


Read a review of Lynne Truss’s original Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero
Tolerance Approach to Punctuation at:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0404-003.html

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“Wordplay Café: Cool Codes, Priceless Punzles & Phantastic Phonetic Phun”
written and illustrated by Michael Kline (Williamson Books, ISBN 0824967534,
$12.95)

Mike Kline is a pretty amazing guy. He has illustrated numerous books for
many publishers, all from his quiet home in Wichita, Kansas. In "Wordplay
Café," he encourages kids (and adults) to really listen to the English
language, and the results can be pretty hilarious.

With colorful illustrations throughout, Kline gives us dozens of word games
to play together. In “Word Lightning Lemonade,” one player calls out a
letter, then each player has one minute to call out as many words as they
can that start with that letter, without repeats. Or in “Add a Gram of
Anagrams,” players are given a title of  a movie, book, or song and have
five minutes to come up with as many anagrams as they can. Kline offers
these examples:

FUNERAL = REAL FUN

DEBIT CARD = BAD CREDIT

MICHAEL KLINE = MAN LIKE CHILE

He also redefines traditional words, causing the reader to listen to the
pronunciation of words in a new way.  Some of my favorites:

“pungent:” a man who enjoys wordplay

“renown:” what you have to do if your teacher says that you've used the
wrong noun.

“paralyze:” when you tell two fibs in a row

“decline:” de person dat draws de pictures in dis book

Fun and games abound in "Wordplay Café," and it's just waiting for you to
play with your students, kids, or grandkids. And if you do play with
youngsters, I wouldn't bet on winning. They can listen to words without the
prejudice of a head full of dictionary definitions. A friend tells me her
son can't stop giggling when he hears the word "European." After
experiencing "Wordplay Café," you might not be able to either.

Review by Beth Golay, who just loves words.

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June reviews from A-Review-A-Day.

The following list links to recent Watermark reviews of children's and young
adult books. You can sign up here to receive our Review-A-Day e-mail in your
in-box: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/reviews.html


PICTURE BOOKS

Up in the Tree by Margaret Atwood:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-003.html

Russell and the Lost Treasure by Rob Scotton:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-014.html


MIDDLE READER BOOKS

(Mark’s Pick of the Month!) Abadazad, Book 1: The Road to Inconceivable
and Abadazad, Book 2: The Dream Thief by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-012.html

The Amazing Life of Birds: the Twenty-Day Puberty Journal of Duane Homer
Leech by Gary Paulsen: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-017.html


YOUNG ADULT and TEEN BOOKS

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-002.html

TTYL by Lauren Myracle:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-007.html

Grand and Humble by Brent Hartinger:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-011.html

Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faïza Guène:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0606-016.html

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I think I see a school bus around the corner…

Mark David Bradshaw
 

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