Party Time!

If only librarians,teachers, archivists, researchers, fellow writers and other creative souls, encouraging editors, booksellers and publishers who really, really care about books, and family members and friends who love and support writers unconditionally could celebrate the ringing in of this new decade together,

IT WOULD BE ONE HUGE PARTY!

Happy new year and happy reading.

One Baby, One Rocking Chair, One Book

Winter nights are great for moms and dads who like to read to their babies. Parents build memories and babies build vocabulary. All might decide that learning through books is a good way to spend a cold night or a rainy night--or any other kind of night. I don't believe watching TV together accomplishes the same thing, but that's my personal bias.

It's surely warm in the jungle while we in the US are shivering, so here's a picture book to take you there.

BEDTIME IN THE JUNGLE by John Butler.

As the title promises, this is a bedtime book. It's also a counting book. And a rhyming book. And more. The author introduces animals one doesn't often tell a baby about: One rhino, three leopards, six peahens. There are familiar animals, too, like monkeys, ducks, and elephants. Number ten is a gatefold page, a visual surprise. The author is also the illustrator. His fine art creates a jungle setting both lush and soothing. By the time the elephants lumber into view and join the mass slumber party, the entire jungle is asleep --and perhaps the baby on the lap as well.

Shh...

BORED YET?

If the song is right, that people who need people are the luckiest people in the world, bored people must be the unluckiest people in the world. Readers are never bored, just between books. If boredom has set in at your house during this Christmas holiday or winter break or time that everyone is home and climbing the walls, try reading. A good book can be difficult to find if your potential readers have made up their minds there is no such thing, but don't give up. Keep trying. Bring them home, leave them lying around. Books, not kids. A little boredom might drive non-readers to pick up a book when no one is looking. This blog might introduce you to an author or a title you wouldn't have discovered otherwise. I hope. The following title is a new release from Egmont.


CANDLE MAN: The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance by Glen Dakin

This is surely considered a “boy” book. It has lots of slime and goop, heart stopping action, no romance or gushy girl stuff, and a 13 year old boy who comes out of enforced seclusion to discover he can save his friends with a touch. But he has to be careful whom he touches. Enemies only. I won’t tell you why. Girls will probably like this book, too. This one did. The good news is, this is only Book One. The author promises more.

Do you have an 11-13 year old reluctant reader at your house?

WHAT IF NO ONE CAME TO THE WAR?

On Christmas Eve 1914 the British and German armies faced each other across the Western Front and a strip of land called No Man’s Land. The men heard each other singing familiar carols, even though they didn’t understand each other’s words. By the end of Christmas Day, some of the opposing groups of men had declared a truce, met each other to exchange food and gifts, and in spite of orders from their superiors, refused to fire AT each other, even going so far as to let each other know when they’d have to fire so the men would be sure to be in their trenches with their heads down. Kids who see war glorified in movies or video games might find this sobering account of what the soldiers in the trenches cared about a thought-provoking black and white contrast with full color animation.

TRUCE by Jim Murphy
An award winning author of nonfiction, Murphy's window on World War I brings this conflict as close as the accounts we see of current wars on today's newscasts. I've heard about this truce and read brief articles, but here is something I didn't realize: This Christmas truce was unique in that it was not arranged by the officers but came about through actions of the men under them. This truce also lasted longer than other truces, such as the ones during the Civil War which were arranged so burials could take place. Those truces also came with time limits. This one did not. Along some sections of the Front, there was no truce. Along another section, the truce lasted until March.

Before you turn your reluctant reader boy loose with this one, read it yourself and be prepared for questions.

In the meantime, in a new year, we can hope and pray for a truce that has no end.

A PLOT FOR PEPPERMINTS

Something about peppermints endears this sweet striped candy to everyone. Who doesn’t have a peppermint story?

THE PERILS OF PEPPERMINTS by Barbara Brooks Wallace.
In 1980 when Barbara Brooks Wallace wrote PEPPERMINTS IN THE PARLOR, it wasn’t enough for her readers. They wanted more. In 1993 the book was reissued. Those new readers wanted more, too. Finally, in 2003, the sequel appeared. This is not the usual Christmas peppermint story. How peppermints figure into the plot is quite unexpected, as any good story would have it.

I’m grateful to 4th grader Carolyn Calvert-Grimes for speaking up for this book so today’s readers can discover it, too. The main character is plucky, resourceful, and the ending turns out to be about as satisfying as, well, as many peppermints as Mom would let you have plus a few extras.

And then there are all those other books with alliterative titles that Mrs. Wallace has written. Although it took her a few years to write the long awaited peppermint sequel, her pen was not idle. There are hours of great reading just waiting for today’s readers.

Go!

Is a Book a True Gift?

My mother read to us beside the Christmas tree every night from the time the tree was decorated until Christmas night. Then the holidays changed gear, visits from the relatives took over, and this lovely time together was packed away with the tree ornaments for the next year. I'd forgotten about this until I read THE TRUE GIFT and it made me think this was the perfect book for reading aloud to one child or the whole family, maybe as a holiday ritual before bedtime or just after supper.

THE TRUE GIFT, A Christmas story by Patricia MacLachlan, Illustrated by Brian Floca. Written by the Newbery Medal winning author of SARA, PLAIN AND TALL, this is the tender story of a young boy’s belief that no one should be alone at Christmas and that even cows have feelings of loss and loneliness. Author MacLachlan has a gift for telling her stories in few words, always the right words, and this book is only 81 pages long, divided into ten chapters. Brian Floca's illustrations evoke the wintry magic that makes a child feel like Christmas must be coming and makes him certain that it will.

What is a true gift? Ask your little listeners.

Underneath the Christmas Tree

I still don't have my very own copy of my favorite book for the last two years -- because I keep giving it away. When I finished reading it the first time, I knew it would be considered for major awards. And it was. It was a Newbery Honor Book and a National Book Award finalist. That's pretty good consideration, don't you think? Maybe Santa will put this under my tree--again.

THE UNDERNEATH by Kathi Appelt with drawings by Ben Small.
When the author was interviewed during the National Book Award festivities, she said she hoped the reader would realize there is always a choice between good and evil. Both protagonist and antagonist must choose. When their lives, like threads, cross each other, tangle each other, and unravel at the last possible minute, what is left? Is it good or evil?

The writer’s magic pulls the reader deeper and deeper into a swamp of intrigue. How does a boy grow up to be an evil man? Is there any possibility of backtracking, becoming that boy again? Can natural enemies build a warm and loving family? Can loyalty triumph over terrible and tremendous odds? And what about revenge? Who should seek it? Who should take it? Can it be used for good?

This is a story that will stay with the reader--even if the book keeps changing hands.