Three More Children's Books

If I haven't mentioned it before, I'm going to do so now. Part of my job at the library is to find books for the children's librarian so she could read during story hour. This Friday's story hour is a dog theme, so my mission today was finding dog-themed books. I had the pleasure of reading some of these. Keep in mind, however, that I am a cat person. I did my best in removing that bias from my mind as I read the books.

Amazon//BN

"Let's Get a Pup!" Said Kate by Bob Graham

I never read anything by Bob Graham before. Fact is, half the children's books we carry are by authors of which I've never heard. So when I selected "Let's Get a Pup!" Said Kate, my first thought was, "Is that a lesbian couple and their daughter? How progressive." I was wrong about that assumption, I think.

Still, the book is cute and the illustrations are adorable. And once again, I'm put in the place where I know I should give you some sort of feedback as to why I like this book, but I don't want to give too much away. I swear to you, I'll get better at reviewing children's books. I promise.

Amazon//BN

Chick 'n' Pug by Jennifer Sattler

I'm sure we've all been there at one point. Where we're the younger sibling and we adore the older sibling, and believe there is nothing our big brother/sister cannot do. The situation might be different for some of you - only children may have an older cousin, or we imagined our parents this way; same goes for the oldest sibling - but the message is clear. Those we hold up to hero standards can do no wrong. So it is when Chick gets to meet his hero, Pug. Only this pug is nothing like the one he idolizes. Instead, this pug would rather nap.

Once again, a cute story presented to you with minimum review. I'll tell you this, however, Jennifer Sattler has a knack for children's books. Which is probably why she writes them. I started reading Pig Kahuna afterwards, but didn't finish. I'll pick it up tomorrow when I have more free time (which I won't, but one can imagine, right?).

Amazon//BN

What Pete Ate from A-Z by Maira Kalman

I worry about this dog's bowel movements. Especially when that accordion slinkys out. Spoiler alert much? No, it's at the very beginning, so no surprise endings here.

However, Pete is the hypothetical dog that gives me reason not to own one. The dog's a walking garbage disposal. Your kids will probably love him. Hopefully, more than Walter.

These books are all available on Amazon and Barnes an Noble. Their respective links are featured in the caption. Until next time, keep on huntin'!

Flanimals Pop-Up by Ricky Gervais

Atheist parents rejoice? Maybe, but it's only a small jab at believers in this book. The rest of the time it's just all around fun book. And what else did you expect from Ricky Gervais? So what if his dry humor (humour?) is lost upon Americans? As an American who finds this man hilarious, you all should just sit everything out. Quote me on that, if you'd like.

So what is a Flanimal? The grotesque creatures that are part of the unknown world. And perhaps it's better that way because these creatures are ugly. Written as a field guy for the unknown, this pop-up edition is nothing but page-after-page of fun. So much so, you might want to keep this one for yourself. Read it while the kids go to bed. Go ahead, have fun.

I discovered this book today because we have it as a professional book in our department. Most of our pop-up books are professional because kids have the habit of destroying our beautiful toys, which is okay. Sometimes. It was the first thing I read this morning and I'm glad that I did, because tomorrow I plan to order it for my Shaun. Hopefully, he'll love it as much as I did.

You can purchase Flanimal Pop-Up at Amazon (only $6.89!!!) or Barnes and Noble (used starting at $.01). Until next time, keep on huntin'.

And while you're at it, check out these other goodies by Ricky Gervais:

"Last to Die", Two Children's Books, and More Buys

So, I might an addict. I can't just say no to books, you know? Especially when they're free. But more on that later.

I received the latest Tess Gerritsen novel in the mail yesterday – I pre-ordered it back in March while I was testing out Amazon Prime. I cracked it open and start right away. However, I'm run ragged these days. So I haven't gotten too far into it. I had to read some passages twice because I kept dozing off. Not a commentary on Gerritsen's writing, by the way.

As I have mentioned in the past, my work now involves me reading books in the department. Most of the time I select my reads from the 3rd through 5th grade shelves because their lengthier. However, because I do have an infant son, I'm drawn more and more toward the easy shelf.

In Maxine Trottier’s Migrant, we learn what’s like to be a migrant worker through the eyes of a young girl named Anna. Trottier relates migrant families to a flock of birds, comforts them with a kitten’s warmth, and compares their temporary housing to a jack rabbit’s burrow. The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault bring Anna’s imagination to life – her transformation to a jack rabbit to comparing the voices of her fellow migrants to crickets before she is whisked away by one upon its back. As a child whose mother traveled across the state and country for work while she was growing up, this book echoes her memories. It’s beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated that all readers will fall in love with it immediately.

Exposure to art is equally important to a child’s development as reading. In his book, Magritte’s Marvelous Hat, D.B. Johnson infuses the joys of art and reading. Not only does Johnson name his character after René Magritte, his illustrations are riddled with references to the Belgian painter’s work. Interaction is also a must, so Johnson added in a few “clear” pages containing images that create new illustrations when they are turned. Johnson created a so much more than just a story about a dog painter and his marvelous hat, one that both parent and child can enjoy.

Of the two books, it's difficult to say which exactly is my favorite. They're both equally beautiful in their own right. So before I attempt some sort of compare and contrast of apples and oranges, I'll continue on to the next and former topic.

My addiction of book has reached an all new high. We have a new librarian – who is amazingly awesome – and she seems a bit miffed with the mess of donations we have in the back. It was a get rid of everything sale. Tons of things were placed in the back to recycling – all textbooks I have little to no interest in. Here's what I've made out with this time:

• Little Women by Lousia May Alcott
• The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
• Literary Journalism: A Reader edited by Jean Chance and William McKeen
• The Aeneid by Virgil (translation by Patric Dickinson)
• Social Anthropology in Perspective: The Relevance of Social Anthropology, 2nd edition by I.M. Lewis
• Man and His Measure edited by Francis Connolly
• Technical Writing Style by Dan Jones
• A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edition by Kate L. Turabian
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 8th edition by Joseph M. Williams
• Cognitive Psychology, 3rd edition by Robert J. Sternberg

Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble; for Kindle and Nook. You can pick up Magritte's Marvelous Hat on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can pick up a copy of Migrant at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

Snapshot #6

From The Writers Handbook edited by A.S. Burack

Dustin M. Sekula Memorial Library - my place of employment - has done something terrible to me. And by terrible, I mean f**king wonderful! And by wonderful, I mean a 25-cent book sale. No. That's not some cosmic typo. All books are actually 25 cents a piece. That's four for a dollar. Doesn't matter if it's a hardback, a trade paperback, or a mass market paperback. And all the trashy romance novels were at 10 cents yesterday.

Now you're probably wondering how a guy like me got to be so lucky. Well, it started Saturday when the Friends of the Library had their book sale. It was fairly inexpensive. Because I'm such an awesome fella - mostly because I work there - I got my books for $10, despite the fact that I had more than in books. Because not all books were sold - and we have a huge surplus of donated books we have no use for - it was decided Monday to start dropping the price. Lucky, hu? 

Here's what I have as of today:

1. The Hot Kid
2. 52 Pick Up
3. Mr. Paradise
4. Unknown Man #89 by Elmore Leonard
5. Airframe
6. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
7. The Hobbit
8. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
9. Dead Until Dark
10. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
11. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
12. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
13. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
14. The Humanoids by Jack Williamson
15. The Inquisition by Edward Burman
16. 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology 2nd Edition edited by Samuel Cohen
17. Summerland by Michael Chabon
18. Nobody Move by Denis Johnson
19. Dianetics: The Original Thesis by L. Ron Hubbard
20. 9/11 Report by Thomas H. Kean, Chair and Lee H. Hamilton, Vice Chair w/reporting and anaylsis by The New York Times
21. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverley Cleary
22. Nightingale's Lament by Simon R. Green
23. Animal Farm by George Orwell
24. American Gangster by Max Allan Collins
25. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
26. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
27. Grendel by John Gardner
28. A Short Guide to Writing about Literature 10th edition edited by Sylvan Barnet and William E. Cain
29. The Alienist by Caleb Carr
30. The Giver by Lois Lowry
31. Oxford by Paul Streitz
32. Deathbell by Guy Smith
33. Bone: The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith
34. The Professor of Desire by Philip Roth
35. The MacMillan Reader 3rd Edition edited by Judith Nadell, John Langan, and Linda McMeniman
36. Futurelove: Science Fiction Triad edited by Roger Elwood(?)
37. The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
38. The Writer's Handbook edited by A.S. Burack
39. Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense 5th edition edited by Laurence Perrine

As you can see, I have a lust for books. I'm a book slut, and I take that without shame. While my loved ones might not understand my need for books, I know in my heart there are more like me out there. I have a love for knowledge. There are books excluded from here, of course. Books I purchased for others or books I've loaned to others shortly after I bought them. They'll find their way to this page soon enough.

Well, I'm off to read something from an anthology. Which one? I don't know. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

The Good Lion adapted by Don Brown

A few days ago, a co-worker handed this book over, asking if I ever read it. It's pretty dark, he said. "I don't know how this is in [the easy] section." I grabbed it out of his hand and vanished to my cart. A quick read, obviously. In the end, however, I'm still confused. How can we shelve this in the easy section?

Reading levels found in the easy section range from beginner to third grade, so it's not too surprising that this ended up on those shelves. However, our fiction section ranges from third and up. Things that are a little more "mature" are usually shelved there when it comes to third grade books. Why not The Good Lion? Autobiographical, Beryl Markham talks about an incident in her childhood when she was attacked by a seemingly tamed lion. Tragic? Yes. Dark? Most definitely.

The English major in me wants to over-analyze the deeper meaning. That maybe we're all good lions on the inside and our primal tendencies lie in wait. Waiting for that moment when we can let loose and allow them to spring forward. Maybe we're all just dying inside our cages.

The Good Lion can be purchased used at Better World Books. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

Two Children's Books

Taken during peace time

For those of you not following the blog, I work in the Children's Department of the local library. Because I'm also the father of a two-month-old, colicky son, I don't have much time to read big boy books anymore. This blog has suffered greatly because of my job and my new role in life. It's worth it, believe you me.  When I do get a sliver of chance to read, it's usually when I'm shelving books at work. So if this morphs into a children's book blog, well, so be it.

I've read a few books already, come to think of it. None of them seemed worth mentioning outside of I Want My Hat Back, but I still haven't figured out a way to review that book and give it justice without giving away too much. Because I've never reviewed children's books before, I sought advice from Cover to Cover. The irony, of course, is that I have not time to read that book.

Well, here goes nothing.

The Boy Who Cried Ninja by Alex Latimer

Alex Latimer delivers a comical spin to the classic "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," all the while keeping its intended moral. In it, Time has a problem. He's telling the truth but his his parents still punish him for all the things going wrong. Is it his fault the truth is so fantastical? Why is it so hard for them to accept that a ninja finished the last of the cake? Or that a sunburned crocodile broke the TV antenna?

Let's be honest, the title drove me to the book. I couldn't help it. If a children's book contains the "ninja" or "zombie" in the title, I'm picking it up. 99.9% (thus far) I put it right down. But Latimer offers us something great. Something that parents would have fun reading to their little ones and readers as old as third-grade (possibly older, but I'm winging the age recommendation here) can relate to. On the plus side, children will adhere to the message of telling the truth no matter what. I think that's something we can all relate to, no?

I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

Think Monsters, Inc. Got that image? Well, this is better than that. The fact that it's a book sends it over the wall.

When Ethan checks under his bed, he learns that Gabe - his monster - has gone fishing. Ethan grows worried. How will ever fall asleep knowing a monster - his monster - isn't hiding underneath the bed?

Amanda Noll shows us a camaraderie between a boy and his monster that charms the  heart. It's funny and an enjoyable read. And it just might be the proper medicine for the boogieman blues for the little one. Let's not forget the message of excepting no substitutes when it comes to one's best friend (or in this case, best monster).

You can purchase both books at Amazon and Barnes and Noble using their respective links below:

• The Boy Who Cried Ninja by Alex Latimer (Amazon) (Barnes)
• I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll (Amazon) (Barnes)

Until next time, happy huntin'.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

via Media Bistro

Let's be honest: If not for the fact that I work in the Children's Department of the local library, I would have never picked up a copy of Brian Selznick's Wonderstruck. I would have not paid $16 dollars - that's $14 off cover price - for this insanely thick children's book. I may not have even beaten myself over the fact that it took me four days to read rather than the one night/one morning time span it should've taken me (my eyes do get tired). However, I can't say I didn't enjoy the book. Hell, it might be a brick but it's still a damn good book.

The novel follows to characters. Ben, a partially deaf boy who becomes fully deaf after an accident during an electrical storm and recently suffered the loss of his mother after a car accident; and, Rose, a young deaf girl who dreams of escaping her father's house in order to find a place in the world. The two stories are set fifty years apart - Ben's taking place in the 70's while Rose lives in the 20's.

Having never read anything by Selznick before - and if the price of this book is any reflection, it'll take another mandatory reading to get me to pick up anything by him - I don't know much about his style. Whether or not The Invention of the Hugo Cabret follows the similar structure is beyond me. See Ben's story is told through conventional storytelling - you know, with words - while Rose's story takes a more primal spin - with pictures. It's a lot of guess work to be made with the latter story, but it's still just as powerful. It's the allure of the book. And probably why it was chosen for that International Book Discussion we're doing at the library late next month or early April. The story is about language barrier - not entirely, obviously. And when you have a school of predominately English speaking kids discussing with those of a predominately Spanish speaking school, well, you see my point. Clearly not at all like the characters lost in New York in the book, but you know, what are you going to do? 

 It's a sweet story of two kids looking for their place in the world with a mixture of pop culture, Deaf culture, arts, history, and nature. The art work is beautiful and its detail is breath taking. Selznick has a way to keep his readers captivated and wanting more, while dropping subtle clues as it leads you down the path.

This 600+ goliath is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

One more thing before I go. As I mentioned, Wonderstruck is part of the International Book Discussion we host at the library. It brings two schools together - a local school and one from Mexico - to discuss the chosen book. The responsibility of the children's library is to creative activities that will get the children discussing the novel. There are a few that I've encountered via Google searches - such as the ones offered in TeachMentorTexts - but nothing that really grabs the attention. A part of me thinks that having the children create their own cabinet of wonders would be a great way to get the ball rolling, but the required materials they'd need to provide might be a little too much. 

Anyway, if there is anyone out there currently or recently teaching this book in your class, please do send suggestions. It would be greatly appreciated.

Binky Under Pressure by Ashley Spires

via Waking Braincells

If you haven't been keeping up, I work at the children's department of the local library. One of the perks that's stapled to the job is getting to see the new book arrivals. Some of these are reminiscent of my childhood - I recently green dotted a copy of Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion, which is actually packed somewhere in this house - and others just bring the child out of me. Enter Binky, space cat. 

Binky and I only became acquainted recently. And if what Ashley Spires presents in Binky Under Pressure reflects anything in the other books, then I hope the department has the other books (I found out today that we have Binky the Space Cat, but not Binky to the Rescue - though that latter just might not be on the shelves as I didn't browse the card catalog).

Binky is a great space cat. He remembers his exploration into outer space fondly. And while space was fun, he couldn't imagine leaving his humans. Still, he protects his space station from the alien invaders that attempt break in.

Enter a new invader: Gracie. Another cat moving into Binky's territory, eating his food, stealing HIS best friend! Binky. Must. Bring. It. But Gracie isn't all that she appears - is she a friend or foe?

It's a fun read. I'm even sure your kids will love it.

Binky Under Pressure is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Until next time, keep on huntin'.