The Bard's Books

Ok, I'll admit it. I am slightly afraid of the dark, even at 30. First off, I don't hear well, and I don't see well without my glasses, so in the dark I feel I'm at a significant disadvantage if a bad guy (or a sneaky chair) were to creep up and get in my way. Also, because I'm a woman, I've been taught to be extra aware of my surroundings and stay out of dark alleyways and the like. So, dark places have never been my favorite, unless it happens to be my bathroom with a steamy bath and some smelly candles... The little bear in a book I read today has a similar problem (without the scary alleys or vision/hearing impairments). "Afraid of the Dark! by Karen Sapp is a fuzzy, shiny pop up book. A new moon is rising over the chilly skies where little bear lives - and all the bears are going to spend the night playing and celebrating...all except Little Polar Bear. You see, Little Polar Bear is scared of the dark - and the idea of leaving the cave for the dar

Alrighty, so I mentioned I was going to try to update the book blog every day for a year. And then I went 6 days without updating! Bad Book Banshee! So here it is, 6 days late. The update I'm sure you've all been hankerin' for. I spent part of this beautiful Sunday afternoon upstairs in my reading nook (I would have read outside, but the mosquitos are the size of a Scottish Terrier!). I ended up reading an old book of mine called "The Great Green Apple War" by Barbara Klimowicz with drawings by Lee J. Ames. Now, I don't remember ever NOT having this book, so I'm betting it belonged to one of my older sisters before it fell into my hands. Ah yes, I checked the front cover and it used to belong to my older sister Jeanette. It was publised in 1973 and it doesn't look like its ever been reprinted. You can still get it used at Amazon (and probably ebay). Now to get on to the review. First off, the book starts with a map. I have never met a book that began w

I have been horrible about posting to my book blog, and as a result, I'm going to start a project. Beginning today (October 12th) I am going to post one book blog every day! That's right, 365 days of bibliophile goodness! I'm lucky that I work at an elementary school and that my librarian loves me - plenty of access to short but beautiful books. You should know by now that I enjoy books with a sense of humor, and today I picked up a cute little twist on a well known classic called "The Wolf Who Cried Boy". Written by Bob Hartman with illustrations by Tim Raglin, its a cute little retelling of (of course) The Boy who Cried Wolf. First off, I was drawn by the cover art, which looks like a cross stitched sampler. However, I'm not 100% sure why its a cross stitched sampler, since that theme doesn't even appear in the details of the illustrations within, but oh well. The story follows a young boy wolf who HATES what his mom makes for dinner every night. Lamburg

Wow. I'm way behind on updating my book blog. However, that doesn't mean that I haven't been reading. On the contrary, my birthday was last week, and that brought with it a slew of new books. One of which was Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel (a gift from my husband). I do love the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. I find the dialogue witty, the characters fun and the plots to be little rollicking adventures that are quick and easy to read. And, I've come to enjoy graphic novels, after six years of my husband's influence. It is because I enjoy both elements of this adaptation that I enjoyed the book. The original Artemis story is inside the graphic novel. However, it has been shortened and some details have changed (eye and hair colors, mostly). Sometimes, the edits from the story work well, and sometimes they just leave you wishing you had a bit more. The coloring of the graphic novel was quite well done. The drawings, however, left something to be desired. I w

Julie Andrews is, in my opinion, one of the greatest female vocalists of all time. I have loved her since I was a little girl and unlike some of my other childhood favorites (Strawberry Shortcake, for example) I still enjoy watching and listening to her performances. I found her autobiography at audible.com and was immediately interested. When I realized the book is actually read by Dame Andrews, the decision to buy it was a no brainer. I wasn't disappointed. The book covers Andrews' life from infancy to 1962, when she was approached by Walt Disney to portray Mary Poppins. I know I would have enjoyed the book anyway, but hearing Julie tell her story made it even more special for me. One of my favorite things about the story is the way Julie deals with people in her life who didn't make decisions she respected, or who behaved inappropriately or were just plain mean. Andrews is never rude or disrespectful in return. In fact, she is so kind to those people in her book, and so

A few years ago I happened upon the Alana the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. With a strong female heroine who overcomes prejudice to become the King's Champion and greatest knight in her realm, I was instantly drawn in. Since discovering that series, I've devoured all of Pierce's books set in Tortall including the Copper Isles, Protector of the Small and Wildmage series. I was very excited to learn that she was writing a new series based on the life of an ancestor of George Cooper ( Tortall's spymaster and husband to Alana the Lioness). I recently downloaded the unabridged audio book for the latest in this series, called Beka Cooper: Bloodhound, from audible.com and listened to it on my long commute into work. Once again, Tamora Pierce manages to pull me into Tortall and the cities of Corus and Port Caynn . Beka is a young dog (police officer) who works the roughest part of the capital city of Corus , Lower City. When a large number of false coin is discovere

In the town of Itching Down, things are NOT going well for the villagers. They've had a unusually high number of wasps and the villagers are fed up with their buzzing and stinging. At a town meeting, they come up with a plan to rid the town of the horrid insects by an unusual means - creating a giant jam sandwich! This book was my absolute favorite as a child. It is rhyming (and not in a tedious, forced way) which makes it perfect for reading aloud. The illustrations by John Vernon Lord wonderfully detail the process by which the villagers go about solving their problems. And the story itself is just delightful, to kids of all ages. The educational benefit is clear - the story focuses on creative problem solving. In addition, readers get some idea of where the ingredients for a sandwich come from, as we watch the villagers build their sandwich from the wheat up. This blog wouldn't be complete without a link to purchase. At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Jam-Sandwich-Sandpi

I just picked up this gem of a book from the World Trading Company in Austin. Its an adorable little children's book written by Boni Ashburn that's a fresh take on the traditional lullaby, "Hush, Little Baby". First off, its a book you can sing with, which gives it more points in my opinion. The illustrations by Kelly Murphy are adorable, and the book introduces new vocabulary to your little bibliophile (including the words entree, cuisine and musketeer). I plan on using it in my classroom with kindergarteners and some little dragon puppets. You can pick it up at Amazon here... http://www.amazon.com/Hush-Little-Dragon-Boni-Ashburn/dp/0810994917/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1