Rocking Links for Monday September 30th, 2013

By Kris Kahrs

     Yep, once again my son has proved to me that Mom is always the last to know.  This week I offer up links to rocking kids books I never knew existed until I found them in my son's backpack, some bookie treats to enjoy while reading your favorite kidlit and my new favorite childrens book illustrator, Paul Stickland (be still my heart).  These books are wonderfully illustrated, cleverly written with fresh ideas and entertaining language.  Please check them out at your local library or favorite indy bookstore, then leave your comments below on your favs.

Actually, I bought Beautiful Oops! for me, although my son and I love to read this together.  I love the idea that mistakes can turn into beautiful opportunities.  Now we talk about our 'beautiful Oops!' and I think it's made us both more tolerant of when things don't turn out the way we originally planned.

I love, love, love cats and A Cat Named Egg?  Well, you had me at sunnyside up or over easy.  This book is funny, clever story in verse.  It has plenty of plays on words and your kid will love the connections it makes.  You will both have fun reading this.

L is for Lollygag is the book I've been waiting for.  The Chronicle Books staff call it 'Quirky Words for the Clever Tongue' and they are right!  This book is about words that are fun to say: flabbergast, skullduggery, zigzag and swashbuckler to name a few.  We bet you can't say them without laughing and your young reader will expand her vocabulary as well.

Almost everyday, my son poses hypothetical battle questions to me, "Who would win in hand to hand combat: Chima or Ninjago?  C3PO or R2D2? Stink Moody or Captain Underpants?  A garbage can or a fire hydrant?  Ahhhhhh!  (I actually made up that last one, but you get my meaning.)  We go through this exercise until I tell him mommy needs to have a lie-down.  Then these books came home in the backpack.  I get it!  This is a 'boy-thing'.  There's a series of 7 of the Who Would Win books; Polar Bear vs. Grizzly Bear etc.  Your little hypothesizer will love 'em.

Two other subjects high up on boys reading hit-lists: potty humor (which I understand from my husband is always funny, no matter how old you are) and non-fiction, so when Will Farts Destroy The Planet by Glenn Murphy, came home in my son's backpack, I knew he had found gold.  Even better, this book is actually about climate change, so it's an educational read.  Who knew?

I did mention my new favorite illustrator above, did I not?  His name is Paul Stickland and his art is amazing.  He is a prolific kids book illustrator and the paper art in his pop-up books is nothing short of extraordinary.  He also does a lot of classroom visits to promote his books and does papercraft with the students.  He says he finds their art inspiring for his own work.  He also shows step-by-step photos of how he builds his pop-up books.

Last, what are books without a few cookies?  Even better, how bout some bookies?  That is, cookies in the shape of your favorite books.  Here are mine.  Yes, you guessed it, cookies made for a Very Hungry Caterpillar.  You can buy them here on Etsy. Yumm-o!





Now it's time for me to curl up with a book and a cat.  Happy reading (and writing).

What To Do With All Those BooksNow That You've Gone Digital

by Kris Kahrs

I've been trying to get my hubby to donate some of the numerous books in his collection so that our son can have his room back.  All of our books are currently taking up space in my son's room.  I thought it might make it easier for my husband to let go of the physical books themselves now that he has the digital copies of them stored on various devices.  Hmm, maybe if I gave him some ideas of what to do with them.  Here's what I came up with so far:

Make A Book Chair

Donate Them to the Book Vending Machine

 

 

Birds Like Books Too

Book Fashionista

Gateway to Another World

Or A Hobbit Hole

 

See? There are lots of choices.  Oooh, I think he'll like this recipe for book smoothies.  Hopefully we can find some happy solutions here. Write on people!

Emotional Level vs Reading LevelWhat’s Appropriate for your Reader

Victoria

by Hilde Garcia

Setting: January 26th.  Mother Daughter Book Event at the Flintridge Bookstore.

Our characters:  One very excited young writer, aged 8.  Mom, another writer, as her partner.

Our story:

“Mommy, am I really going to meet writers?”

“Yes, dear.”

“And we can buy the books they wrote?”

"Yep.”

"Yeah, this is the best day ever.”  (She usually says this about four times a week.)

Jenn Resse

Rookie parenting mistake #1: 

Don’t say yes to buying books unless you know they are going to be a match for your child’s emotional level.

We sit at our first table with Jenn Resse, author of Above World.  She has miniature sea horses as her giveaway and book markers   Victoria is in heaven and is mesmerized listening to Jenn speak about her book.  Victoria wants to buy it.

I say yes.  Are you kidding?  I want to read it as well.

Miniature Sea Horses

Even though Victoria is reading on a 4.8 reading level which is several years ahead of her actual grade level, she is still simply an “8 year old.”  She is young and innocent.  She doesn’t watch TV, she still plays with Lincoln Logs, horses, paints, reads, and loves her dolls.

And yet, she has tackled books like Hugo Cabret, the entire Harry Potter Series and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, along with classics like Matilda, Rikki Tikki Tavi, and Black Beauty.

I figure why not.  But something about Jenn’s book upsets her.  And nothing about the story is any scarier than what she’s tackled already.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” My husband snuggles next to her at bedtime to calm my very distraught daughter.

“The book was scary. Aluna almost got eaten by the Great White. And her friend was dead.”  My daughter cries silently.

“But honey, you know it’ make believe.  It’s just a story.  Just like in Harry Potter and all the tragedies that happened to him.”

“But I was sad when those things happened too, like when George is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange.”

Emotional level vs reading level.  Hmmm.

My husband and I talked that night.  So why would or how could Above World frighten her so?  I think she really connected with Aluna from the first word on the first page, maybe more than in other stories.  I read the first page and felt Aluna’s power.  She was as real to me as she was to Victoria.  Jenn’s writing is smooth and rich and it can’t help but pull you in.

I was hesitant to have her read the Harry Potter series, even though it’s a favorite of my husband’s and mine, (Our son’s middle name is Harry- no joke and no accident; my daughter’s is Anne for Anne of Green Gables- can you see a theme here?), but she was hooked and there was no stopping Victoria, so against my better judgment, and with a lot of supervision and discussion, we allowed her and her twin brother to finish the series.  Victoria was very upset after she finished reading Book 7 and asked me if I was going to die.

A question I wish I didn't have to answer.

After her sad night with Aluna and Above World, I decided it was time to step back in time a bit when things were a different kind of exciting and scary.  I suggested Caddie Woodlawn, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Pollyanna, The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, Nancy Drew, etc.  My daughter was furious.

“Mommy, I am fine.  I am not scared now.  We bought the books. I should get to read them.”

Mind you, she had been our guest blogger on Pen and Ink that week and I had allowed her to hand out my cards with her named penciled in.

“I have to read Above World, please!”

I said, “Not right now.  I want you to read a few other books first and work your way up to this one.”

I figured that would allow her emotional reading level a chance to breathe and recoup from some very adventurous and sad stories.  She proceeded to go back to reading Dr. Seuss and any picture book she could find as if to say, “If I can’t read Above World, then I won’t read anything difficult.”

Ahhhh, parenting, it’s such a fun thing, isn’t it?  But, you know, I don’t regret my decision.  I think she got a bit ahead of herself and she needed time to let her soul catch up to her brain.

My best advice is to know your child.  Until now, I had never restricted titles, but being an expert in this field, (I’ve read everything in YA and below), I knew she was making good choices that she could handle.  When Harry Potter became an interest, I thought well, let’s see how it goes.  My daughter was on fire reading it, discussing it with me, and seemed to be handling it.  But that was all on the surface.

“Honey, I know it is hard to understand, but you need to let your heart catch up to your brain.  I will let you know when you can read your new titles.”

(My daughter also bought Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger that day.)

She passes the books on my bookshelf and runs her fingers over the cover, wistfully.

“Fine.”

She exits my office with a sour look and a disposition to match.  And yet, even though it breaks my heart to see her restricted temporarily on some book choices, I know in my heart I am doing the right thing.  I need to preserve that little soul as long as I can before life does a number on her.

I know my young reader well.  Get to know your young readers too and don’t always rely on reading level for appropriateness. Sometimes, you have to know the impact of the story before you say yes.

My mistake was that I hadn’t had time to read the story first before I said we could buy them.  That same weekend, my daughter had bought Lin Oliver’s Almost Identical and Leslie Margolis’ Maggie Brooklyn Series.  She finished each one in one night.  I can’t pre-read most titles for her because she can out read me- oh to be a child without laundry duty.

Victoria with Lin Oliver

Bottom line, older kids don’t always like stories that have angst, younger readers sometimes read it and compute it on a superficial level so it doesn't seem to wound their soul, other kids are in between.

Reading is very personal and every reader has to find a connection, but those of us that are in a position to guide can do best by treating each reader as one, and helping guide them accordingly.

I learned a lot from this experience.  I hope that it affords you some insight as well.

Happy Reading.

What Kids Like To Read

Victoria Krol

by Victoria Krol

Children’s books are very popular today. Have you ever asked a child what they like to read?

Well, now you get to know! I am a really good reader. I like reading The Harry Potter series. My friend, Eva, likes reading The Fairy Books by Daisy Meadows.

Instead of being lazy on rainy days by watching TV, I will read a story. Whenever I have free time in class, I’ll get my books out and read. I can block out noise. A couple of times, the teacher is talking and I’m not paying attention because I’m reading. (OOPS).

Revising Blog Post

Eva’s friend, Josie, also likes reading The Fairy Books by Daisy Meadows.

My friends, Jack and Henry, like reading The Berenstain Bears.

Parents, when you go to the library let your child pick a book above their reading level.

Eva and Jose

That’s why I’m so good at reading.

“I read chapter books and Harry Potter,” says Sam, my brother. Sam and I used to like to read Captain Underpants but not anymore.

Also, parents, remember to read to your children. My Dad used to read to us and now we read to him. My dad is reading us The Hobbit now.

Sam

Now that I have finished The Harry Potter books, I decided to read something not as scary like Ivy & Bean and several American Girl books.

Reading is very important and it helps you learn and it’s one of the subjects you need to get into Kindergarten. Reading helps you with everything.

And that’s my take on children’s books.

These are my suggestions for books you can let your kids read. I’ve read all of these and they are very good. (Well, I am not quite done yet with the stuff at the end of the list but hope to be by summer.)

Preschool 

Elmo and Grover books by various authors, illustrated by various.
Sesame Street books by Sesame Street Library, illustrated by Joe Matthieu.
Mickey Mouse/ Disney books by various authors, illustrated by various.
The Barn Yard Dance by author and illustrator Sandra Boynton.
Hippos GO BESERK by author and illustrator Sandra Boynton.
Pajama Time by author and illustrator Sandra Boynton.
My Personal Penguin by author and illustrator Sandra Boynton.

K-2nd grades

Tinkerbell stories by various authors.
The Berenstain Bears by author and illustrators Jan & Stan Berenstain.
Dora and Diego books by various authors.
Care Bears stories by various authors.
Junie B Jones Series by Barbara Park, illustrated by Denise Blunkus
Marvin Redpost Series by Louis Sachar, illustrated by Barbara Sullivan.
Amelia Bedelia Series by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat.
The Fairy Books by Daisy Meadows, illustrated by various.

3-4th grades

Little House on the Prairie 1-7 by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Lucy Kemp and others.
The American Girl Series by various authors, illustrated by various.
Goosebumps by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Tim Jacobus.
Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes.
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams.
Stuart Little by E. B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams.

5-6th grades

Anne of Green Gables 1-8 by Lucy M. Montgomery.
Harry Potter Books 1-7 by J. K. Rowling, illustrated by Mary Grandpré.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz.
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein.
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, illustrated by Norman Rockwell.

***************************************
The staff at Pen & Ink Blogpost would like to thank Victoria Krol for her post.
Victoria is currently writing and illustrating her own trilogy.

My Garden Book

My School Year

My Vacation

How Are Schools Instilling the Love of Reading in Students?

by Hilde Garcia

This is a difficult post for me to write.  I have a unique perspective on reading. I’m not only a writer, but also a teacher in the public school system. I’m a product of yester-year’s public school.

What changed?
Money. 

Bottom line: the budget!  It’s been cut, chopped, and diced like those knives advertised on the informational channels for $19.99.

When I was a student of public schools in the 1970’s, schools were the focal point of a child’s day.  You went to school from 8am to 3pm.  Everyone ate in the cafeteria.  Parents picked up children or they simply walked home.  Schools offered art, music, and PE to all students.  

Fundraising was unheard of except for the occasional PTA bake sale that helped buy extra books for the library or some neat school improvement like a sign or a new flag.  Teachers had manageable class sizes- how’s 12-15 for kinder, 15-20 for lower grades and 25 for 4^th-6^th.

Schools weren’t overcrowded for the most part and administrators weren’t bogged down with so many special meetings and administrative concerns.  They would greet you at the gate in the morning, in the afternoon, at lunch, and visit classrooms. They were rarely off campus and rarely pulled in multiple directions.

Our teachers read to us with the lights off after lunch.  There was no madness about testing.  We painted, we laughed, we sang, we explored bugs, we loved going to school.

As an immigrant child whose parents did not speak English, I relied heavily on my teachers.  My parents revered my teachers like Gods.  Teachers weren't second-guessed; they weren't disrespected.  They were considered a child’s advocate.

I learned the word flamboyant from Mrs. Morris in 6^th grade. Mrs. Dobbs taught me how to write a proper thank you note and not to simply say, “Thanks for the lovely gift.” I still write the best thank you notes say the people who have received them. Mrs. Moncur taught me how to read the word shenanigans and also said I was the best speller in the 3^rd grade. But my greatest memory is Miss Cavanaugh who taught me how to read English when I was 5. I still correspond with her today. She opened up the world of reading. She read to us aloud every day during nap-time  I remember the sunshine coming in through PS 4’s window in the fall of 1972 in New Jersey. No other noise could be heard but her lyric voice and Dr. Seuss’ genius. 

I couldn’t speak a word of English when I began Kindergarten. By June, I was speaking both and reading both Spanish and English. By 3^rdgrade, I could read on a 6^th grade level and you couldn’t detect an accent in my speech in either.

While I am not naïve and I know it wasn’t like this everywhere for every student, it was a completely different time period.  The funding available for schools allowed for longer day, more individual time with each student, less interruptions, smaller class sizes and simply more focus on learning than on testing.

How different for the kids of today.  Every day I turn on the news and hear of millions of dollars that are cut from the budget.  No music, no art.  Who cares?  The kids don’t need it; they need to read and write.  I recall the Presidential Awards and how coveted and prestigious they were. I always wanted to get one and did more than my best in PE to do so.  Today, we have a generation of obese kids who don’t read.

So how does all this speak to my title of  “How are schools instilling the love of reading for students?  They are not, not really.  It’s up to us, the children’s book writers of the planet.  Like super heroes, we rescue children from Playstations everywhere and bring them back to wonder and magic in their minds.

Nowadays, kids read for the test. They learn to skim the passage for clues.  They learn to read the questions first to see what they will be quizzed on, before they scan the reading.  The test excerpts are not based on literary works of fiction or non-fiction. They are samples created for the test.  They are boring.

Teachers rarely have time to read to their classes because every minute has to be accounted for.  In most public schools teachers are mandated to teach for the test instead of teaching material that integrates all the subjects kids find interesting in order to motivate and inspire them.

I teach students that were born in the US and are labeled English Learners and never get rid of that label.  They can’t speak proper English nor can they speak Spanish to their parents.  I have 5^th and 6^th grade students reading on 2^nd and 3^rd grade levels.  

When I ask them do they read, they say not really.  They have quite a few reasons: no time, no books, don’t care, sibling bothers me, and the list continues.  These students are socially promoted every year.  And these students simply keep falling behind.

There is no love of reading instilled because why should students read when their level is the same as their kid sister’s?  Someone might see them check out a “baby” book.

Why should they love reading if from the very onset of their scholastic career, they are set up to fail? Our kids today can’t love to read like we did because our generation isn’t making that the forefront of education. It’s up to us, the writer’s of children’s literature to produce incredibly engaging works of fiction and non-fiction, so that in spite of all these obstacles, kids will read and be better for it.

We are the cavalry and our battle is uphill.  I say, “CHARGE!”  Write the book that will stop the war.

In an upcoming post, my daughter will share her views with you on What Kids Read.

Good Reads for Gifting

by Kris Kahrs    

Hey, let's do something really radical this year and buy our Hannukkah and Christmas presents a little ahead of time instead of at the gas station while filling up two hours before the big event.  In this spirit, we here at The Pen and Ink Blog have some inspired suggestions from vintage books blogs, illustrators of kid's books, award shortlists, tucked away indie bookstores and more.

Peruse and delight in the variety you'll find and give to your favorite someone.

1) Twenty of the Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World by Emily Tempest via Flavorwire.  Are bookstores your place of worship and books your religion? Then check out this post featuring a bookstore in a former Dominican church in Maastricht, Holland and the Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a converted movie palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Ugh, so hard to go back to the Barnes and Noble in Burbank.

2) Book By Its Cover.  This blog features a carnevale of wonderful kidlit books with innovative illustration.  One of my son's favorites, the Follow the Line series is spotlighted here. Take a gander.

3) The Redhouse Children's Book Award Shortlist.  Not only can you vote for your favorites on this site, but you can also buy them and what better way is there to show your support?  My vote went to "Dog Loves Drawing" by Louise Yates.

4) Curious Pages.  For the rebels among us who need to get their freak on, there is Curious Pages.  A wonderful blog about 'recommended inappropriate books for kids'.  At this blog you will find all of the books you read as a kid, including the ones that are no longer deemed appropriate.

5) We Too Were Children.  What do Upton Sinclair, James Joyce and Langston Hughes all have in common?  Why they are children's book authors, of course!  At this blog, written by author, Ariel S. Winter, you'll be surprised to learn that many of your favorite classic literature authors also have a kid's book lurking in their past! 

6) The Art of Children's Picture Books.  Another blog for the Illustrator's out there or just for the lovers of wonderful illustration in all of us.  The illustrations alone are so detailed and fantastic that I felt I could tell the story from the image without ever having read the book.

And Now Some Places to Buy Your Faves:

7) Elwood & Eloise.  You don't get much more independent than an Etsy Shop.  Right now, E&E has a Cyber Monday sale on, 20% off your purchase of 2nd loved books.

8) The New York Review of Books.  At the opposite end of the book store spectrum, the NYRB has a 20% off special going on now also.

9) Books of Wonder.  This online catalog of a NYC bookstore also has an 800 number to make your ordering easy.  They claim they know 'just what your kids will love' and they are right.  They have new William Joyce, Mo Willems and Patrick McDonell.  They also sell backpacks, art and old and rare books too.         




Enjoy and remember to support your indie booksellers!

Review of Atomic Number 92

by Lupe Fernandez

A snow avalanche threatens to bury two intrepid boys and an old miner. Will they ever find The Lost Uranium Mine? This adventure chapter book was published in 1964 by Benefic Press, written by Henry Bamman and Robert Whitehead, and illustrated by Berthold Tiedemann. 

At a child, I would check this book out from the Hayward Public Library in my hometown of Hayward, CA. It has everything a house-bound boy would love. A lost treasure. A ghost town. Hiking gear and a Geiger counter. I wanted a Geiger counter so bad. If I had a one, I would wander around his house and listen to the clicking of decaying atoms. 

Our hardy young heroes, Mark and Rich follow old miner friend, Patrick brave a snowstorm in search of the ghost town of Great Bear, deep in the Rocky Mountains.

Since I grew up on the snow-less shores of the San Francisco Bay Area, I was fascinated by their trek through a blizzard, plunging knee deep in drifts, wind shrieking. Page after page, the illustrations put me on the mountain with the boys. When the three explorers find refuge in a cave, old Patrick tells the boys a tragic tale of greed and death in the discovery of the Lost Uranium Mine. 

The motivation for finding uranium, says Old Patrick, “…our country has been looking for uranium for a long time…the money you get for finding the ore is very good.” And the hunt is on. But the Ghost of Great Bear menaces their every step. When the party finds the abandoned town of Great Bear, they settle in for the night in one of the abandoned buildings. They talk about finding the black ore which is processed to extract uranium. Rich says, “Uranium and money, just what I want.” 

After escaping a cave-in, a wild bear and crawling around in tunnels, the uranium hunters find the black ore. The Geiger counters click away. Rich says, “That’s money talking!” 

Their last encounter with the mysterious Ghost of Great Bear yields, after a fist fight in the dark, a claim jumper posing as the ghost to scare away Rich, Mark and old Patrick. 

A page count in parenthesis ended every chapter. Chapter one is 918 words. Total word count: 7,676. The book includes a vocabulary count page. Total words: 282 Uranium is used 7 times. Kill is used 17 times.

The next page has a map and an article about the method of finding and claiming a uranium mine. Cool. I would draw my own maps with trail keys to places unknown where monsters dwell. 

Some Facts About Uranium

• Atomic Number 92
• Name derived from the planet Uranus
• Atomic Weight: 238.03
• Periodic Table Symbol: U
• Popular Isotopes: Uranium 235 and Uranium 238
• Isotope 235 is used atomic bombs
• Isotope 238 is used to make plutonium.
• Uranium Oxide (UO2) is used in nuclear reactors.
• Extracted from open and underground mines. 
• Milling ore results in radioactive tailings. 

In the 21st century, I know a lot more about uranium than I did as a child. If The Lost Uranium Mine were written in the 50’s - when we really loved the atom - I wonder if such a book would‘ve included a radioactive sample for educational purposes? 

I tracked down a copy of this elemental tale of adventure before my memory decays and the story of The Lost Uranium Mine is gone forever.