Berenstain Bears Creator Dies February 29, 2012

Jan Berenstain, half of the team that brought you the Berenstain Bears books, died this week at the age of 88. Her husband, Stan, died in 2005.  According to yesterday’s  New York Times, Stan and Jan Berenstain wrote over 300 books that sold over 200 million copies.  Their first book, The Big Honey Hunt, was published in 1962 – 50 years ago!

As parents, librarians and teachers know, the Berenstain Bear books are lesson books. They are not award-winning literature, but they are reliable. There have been times at school when a teacher has asked for a book to address a very specific issue: tattling, watching too much TV, having bad dreams. I’ll go through our collection and look under all of the appropriate subject searches, but there are also books I keep handy for special situations. My special situation shelf includes 5 or 6 stories about the bear family.   

Fun Fact #1: It was Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) who came up with the name Berenstain Bears for the Random House Beginner Book series. As their editor, Geisel helped the Berenstains develop their recognizable style.

Fun Fact #2:  The baby bear’s name is Honey Bear. I just looked it up. I knew the other two were Brother Bear and Sister Bear, but Honey Bear was new to me.

The Flint Heart by Katherine Paterson February 29, 2012

A guest blogger today!  Elizabeth, a 4th grade student at Inly, reviewed The Flint Heart by Katherine Paterson and her husband, John Paterson. 

“This book is about a young boy named Charles, but let’s start from the beginning. One day, a thousand years ago, there were two men named Fum and Phutt. One afternoon in their small stone village, Fum made a charm. The charm looked like a heart with a hole in it so he called it the flint heart. This was no ordinary piece of flint – it was magical. That day Phutt took a look at it and he started turning evil. Phutt told Fum that when he dies, Fum should bury the flint heart in the ground. The day of Phutt’s death came, and when he was buried, Fum just threw the heart on the grave.  

A thousand years passed and there was a boy named Charles. One day Charles wanted to find gold for his family… I liked this book because it was very exciting and you don’t want to stop reading it. I recommend this book for 4th to 6th grade students because it is very long, and I think some parts might be hard for younger kids to get.”

Admittedly, I edited some of Elizabeth’s review. She gave away a bit more than you may want to know! It’s worth pointing out that the critics agree with Elizabeth.  The Flint Heart was given starred reviews by both School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.

In other news, the Guardian recently published Comic Heroe’s magazine’s list of the top 10 heros. Batman was #1, but if you want to see the whole list, here’s the link.  Clearly, my knowledge of comic heros is lacking. I could only recognize 5 of the 10 names! 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/28/batman-greatest-comic-hero

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly February 27, 2012

I just finished reading Jennifer Donnelly’s young adult novel, Revolution, and I can’t stop thinking about the French Revolution. To be honest, I didn’t begin reading Donnelly’s book because of a burning desire to learn more about the Storming of the Bastille, but there you go. That’s the best part of reading good historic fiction. I knew her book was successful because I kept checking Wikipanion on my iPhone to learn more about Danton and Robespierre.

Revoloution is about two teenage girls, one living in modern day New York City and the other in Revolution-era France. The primary story is about Andi, a girl grieving over the death of her younger brother and flunking out of her prestigious private high school. The only thing that makes her happy is playing her guitar and thinking about music. Through her Nobel Prize-winning father, she has the opportunity to travel to Paris where she discovers a diary belonging to Alexandrine, a girl who lived two centuries earlier. The novel alternates between Andi’s efforts to write her high school thesis (about a fictional composer) and Alexandrine’s eventful diary. Of course, the two stories begin to connect. Both girls are performers and both are dealing with loss. The book is a long but worthwhile read. It was one of those things where I would get really into Andi’s story and not want to travel back in time to check in on Alexandrine. Of course, then the opposite would happen, and I would not want to return to Andi’s 21st century problems. The bottom line: Really good book. Bonus: Reading about Marie Antoinette!

Things I Found Interesting – and Hope You Do Too… February 26, 2012

When I walked outside this morning, it was actually cold - something that has not happened too often during this mild winter.  Not that I have any complaints. In fact, the other day I heard a report about the downsides of the unseasonable temperatures, but I had trouble sharing the reporter’s concern.  With apologies to my friends who ski, I think this has been a perfect winter.  Cold enough to enjoy a hot drink and a good book, but no ice to slip on!

Back to books. Here are a few things that have caught my attention this weekend:

1. For all you Jodi Picoult fans, her new novel is being released this week.  In Lone Wolf, Picoult, a bestselling author of novels about families and relationships, takes on end-of-life issues.

2. Mark Kelly, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s astronaut husband, has written a picture book. Mousetronaut: A Partially True Story, is about a mouse who dreams of traveling to outer space. The book is being released in October.

3. This is kind of cool. Each month, NPR is inviting a poet to spend the day in the newsroom and then write a poem based on the news. Here’s the link to this month’s poem:

http://www.wbur.org/npr/147208997/newspoet-craig-m-teicher-writes-the-day-in-verse

4. I’m really excited about The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce.  In fact, one of the Academy Award-nominated short films is based on this picture book about the power of stories.  The movie is available, but the book won’t be released until July.

5. Perfect timing. I’m reading Julian Houston’s novel New Boy with a group of middle school students right now. Houston’s book is based on his experiences (in the late 1950s) as the first black student at a New England boarding school.  In chapter five, the main character is walking around Harlem and meets Lewis Michaux, a civil rights activist and owner of the African National Memorial Bookstore. And then I read yesterday that Vaunda Micheaux Nelson has written a young adult novel – No Crystal Stair - based on her great uncle’s life.  I ordered it and am looking forward to sharing it with my students.

I’ll keep my eyes open for other interesting book-related news…Happy Reading!

The Visual Miscellaneum February 24, 2012

If you find yourself on a desert island – or someplace that feels like one – you may want to bring this book along: The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most Consequential Trivia. Like certain web sites, it sucks you in and before you know it, a few hours have passed. As the author, David McCandless, explains in his introduction, he was “swamped by information…and searching for a better way to see it all and understand it.”  The book is a series of visual charts that illustrate trends, ideas and facts about our hyper-connected world.

It was a middle school student who introduced me to the book. She received a copy as a gift and had it with her at school one day. The page that interests me the most is a word cloud titled “Books Everyone Should Read.”  I looked through the titles and broke them into 3 categories: books I have read, books that are on the proverbial list, and others that I know are out there, but fall under the “life is too short” category. Then there’s that one I had never heard of until this week – Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. According to Wikipedia, Under the Volcano is a semi-autobiographical novel that takes place in a small Mexican town on the Day of the Dead. It sounds serious and “important,” but quite honestly, after reading several descriptions, I put it in the “life is too short” category.

You can probably guess many of the other books on the list: Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Great Expectations, Grapes of Wrath, 1984, The Great Gatsby, The Diary of Anne Frank – and many other worthy selections. One notable exception: Charlotte’s Web. I think E.B. White’s novel should be on all required reading lists. 

In case you are wondering how McCandless determined what “Books Everyone Should Read,” he identifies the source of every visual. In the case of the book cloud, the sources are: the BBC’s Desert Island Discs, the Pulitzer Prize winners, Booker Prize, the BBC’s Big Read, Oprah’s Book Club, World Book Day, and “the author’s top five.” That may explain Under the Volcano!

Finding Buzz Beaker February 22, 2012

How did I miss these books? I think I have a pretty good radar for easy-to-read books because so many Inly students are learning to read. But somehow Buzz Beaker escaped my notice. Until now…

Buzz is the star of the Buzz Beaker Stone Arch Readers (Level 3) by Cari Meister and illustrated in bright cartoon style by Bill McGuire. A young African American boy who is a self-described inventor, Buzz has lots of projects. Among other things, he’s designing a putt-putt hole, driving a Super Fast Car, Growing Goo and inventing a spaceship. He even takes tuba lessons!

Buzz is a determined little guy.  He tests all of his inventions and if they don’t work out, he tries again. “Buzz thinks fast. Buzz thinks smart.” A good message for kids learning to read!

Reader, I Paid Full Price February 20, 2012

I’m in New York City for a few days so this will be short, but of course, I’ve bought a few new books during the trip. Yesterday, I walked from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Times Square – about 50 blocks – and took “breaks” in a couple of bookstores and one Starbucks. The most enjoyable break was in a small independent store on Madison Avenue called Crawford Doyle Booksellers. It’s a small store, but clearly they know their audience. The selection was thoughtful and smart and beautifully displayed.

I eavesdropped on a number of conversations – only because I knew customers were talking about books, and I wanted to discover something new.  I heard a woman talking to one of the booksellers about an English author named Elizabeth Taylor. She was commenting that Taylor’s books are getting renewed attention and that she loved the novel she was currently reading. I quickly pulled out my phone and read a wiki entry about Taylor. She was not the star of National Velvet, but an English woman who wrote 12 novels about upper middle class English life. Her work is often compared to Jane Austen and Barbara Pym.

Now…the decision was which novel to buy. There were several that I added to my “to read” list, but after much deliberation, I purchased two - The Soul of Kindness and A View of the Harbour. I know they would have been less expensive elsewhere, but I learned about Taylor in a small independent bookstore and it wouldn’t have felt right to purchase them online. As the sign on the front of my local independent bookstore says, “See It Here. Buy It Here. Keep Us Here.”

Friday Round-Up February 17, 2012

Here are a few items of note from the children’s book world:

1. I want to go to England, buy postage stamps and come back home. Kind of crazy and I don’t think my family will go for it, but I have to figure out how to get to a British post office. The Royal Mail has issued a series of stamps in honor of Roald Dahl, featuring illustrations by his long-time collaborator, Quentin Blake. As the Royal Mail describes the stamps, they are “gloriumptiously collectable.”  The six stories pictured on the stamps are: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Twits and The Witches.  In case you couldn’t guess, my favorite one is the Matilda stamp!

2. Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham (among other good books), has selected 10 books to read for Black History Month. The article is on the Huffington Post web site. Here’s the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-paul-curtis/black-history-month-books_b_1268491.html#s682170&title=Beloved_by_Toni

3. Last summer, I wrote about the closing of the children’s book store in Harvard Square. But good news for Boston area children’s book lovers – on April 28, a new store is opening with the same theme – Curious George. I am definitely planning to visit soon after they open – a trip that will be much easier than getting to a post office in London!

4. For all of you Lemony Snicket fans, the author of the Series of Unfortunate Events has a new series, All the Wrong Questions. The first installment is being released on October 23. The first book is titled Who Could That Be at This Hour?

5. And last but not least… a 6^th grade girl came into the library this week and declared that she just finished reading the “best book in the world.”  According to her, it’s Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner.  I haven’t read it yet, but she is a very trustworthy source so Gardner’s book is being added to Inly’s summer reading list.  Into the Woods is a fantasy inspired by fairy tales and, judging from my student’s enthusiastic re-telling, it sounds delightful!

Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson February 15, 2012

Here’s one of the risks of writing a blog about books. There is a temptation to be “the boy (or girl) who cried wolf.” There are only so many times that I can say a book is a new favorite or something you absolutely have to read. Eventually, the reader will understandably say “I thought the last book you wrote about was one of the best.” But, trust me. Otto the Book Bear, a new picture book by Katie Cleminson, is one of the sweetest stories you will ever read. Even my partner in the Inly Library, who reads stacks of new picture books, was immediately captivated by this one.

Otto is a bear who lives in a book. Like all good picture book characters, nothing makes him happier than kids reading about him. Otto also comes to life and can often be found wandering away from the safety of his pages. One day Otto is left behind – his book disappears while he is on one of his excursions. Then, Otto is left to negotiate big world on his own.

What I love most is when Otto is safely situated in his book, he’s big. But when he’s out in the world, he looks really small. Otto finds his way back, but you have to read it to see how incredibly touching it is. I don’t purchase many picture books for myself, but I’m going to buy a copy of this one.

Making Tea for Senator Glenn February 13, 2012

Many years ago – during the summer I was 18 -  I was an intern in Senator John Glenn’s office. There were about 20 high school-and college-age interns serving in Senator Glenn’s Washington office, all of us honored to work for such a good man and all of us from Ohio. It was a wonderful summer filled with museums and new friends and the experience of working on Capitol Hill.

The highlight of the intern experience was the “Shadow Day.” This was the day all of the interns looked forward to – when you got to ”shadow” the Senator for most of the day. Of course, sometimes interns were asked to wait in the lobby while certain meetings were held, but that didn’t matter. It was a great day, and Senator Glenn always spent a few minutes showing the starry-eyed interns around his office filled with memorabilia from his days as an astronaut.

So…on my day I went to a Committee Hearing and joined a meeting the Senator held with Ohio constituents. All good. Until Senator Glenn asked me to get him a cup of tea. Should be a simple request, right? But not so much. I had never made a cup of tea. My parents didn’t drink it, and I didn’t know anyone else who did. We drank Pepsi – it’s big in Ohio. There was a kitchen near his office and I went in thinking “how hard can this be?” I proceeded to get a mug, find the tea bag, cut it open, pour the tea into the water, wonder why anyone would drink hot water with little dark flakes floating on top, and brought it to Senator Glenn.

The first Amerian to orbit the earth laughed. He laughed hard. I nervously picked up the cup, apologized, and offered to go find assistance. But no. He wanted to show a couple of people on his staff. I still don’t drink tea, but I now know not to cut the bag open!

On February 20, 1962, nearly 50 years ago, John Glenn stepped into the Friendship 7 to orbit the earth. Glenn was also the oldest American to fly in space when he got back in a rocket at the age of 77.

For kids who want to learn more about the fighter pilot who became an astronaut and then a U.S. Senator, they should read: Liftoff: A Photobiography of John Glenn, a 2006 biography by Don Mitchell.  It’s an engaging and inspiring book that tells the story of Glenn’s life from his boyhood in small town Ohio to his career in the military before being selected as one of the original astronauts.

Late note – the day after I wrote this post, there was a long article about John Glenn in the New York Times. Here’s the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/science/space/50-years-later-celebrating-john-glenns-great-feat.html