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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Halloween feltboards

Here are two felt boards I whipped together for Halloween.

I'm really happy with this bat one. The kids loved the sparkles on some of the bats.


Here's the rhyme I used:
Five Black Bats
Five black bats are flying around,
The first one did not make a sound.
The second one said, "I'll fly far tonight"
The third one said, "I don't like sunlight"
The fourth one said, "I want to eat some bugs"
The fifth one said, "I want some hugs"
Five black bats are hanging upside down
Shhhh! It's daytime, don't make a sound!



This pumpkin felt board was popular as well, even though it's not quite as cute as I hoped. Maybe I'll re-do it by next year.

I used this old classic:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late."
The second one said, "There are ghosts in the air."
The third one said, "We don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run."
The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"
Oooooh, went the wind
And out went the lights
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.


Friday, October 25, 2013

Phantom Tollbooth documentary

Several years ago, I had the good fortune to meet Jules Feiffer while he was on a book tour. He's a delightful man with a great sense of humor. He amazed everyone in his audience by sketching characters at lightning speed, all while sharing anecdotes about his career. I was happy to hear that there's a documentary about The Phantom Tollbooth coming out. Here's the trailer:

The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations - Official Documentary Trailer from freckless productions on Vimeo.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

All Hallows Read posters

What's All Hallows Read? Simple: give someone a scary book for Halloween. It was started a couple of years ago by Neil Gaiman.


Check out this whole set of fantastic All Hallows Read posters by Sabrina Zbasnik at her blog.

Friday, October 18, 2013

A Hero for WondLA review

A Hero for WondLA
by Tony DiTerlizzi
Simon & Schuster Children's Books
May 2012

First line: "Eva Nine watched a turnwing flap its triple pair of wings to join its flock."

DiTerlizzi continues his sci-fi saga of Eva Nine in this gorgeously illustrated sequel to The Search for WondLA. There are several internet extras embedded in the illustrations, but readers don't need computer access to enjoy the story. DiTerlizzi's two-tone blue and black illustrations are reminiscent of W.W. Denslow's original illustrations for The Wizard of Oz.

Eva Nine has long believed herself to be the last surviving human on Orbana but now she joins a human colony for the first time, and after a lifetime of limited contact with other sentient beings, naturally she finds everything very overwhelming. Human pilot Hailey and Nine's older "sister" Eva Eight each have their own agendas and Eva Nine learns a lot about loyalty, friendship and xenophobia. I liked how Eva matures so much in this book. Eva is temporarily blinded by the comforts of her new home in New Attica amongst the human colonists, but after she realizes that she misses her alien friend Rovender, who has been barred from entering the human city, she leaves to continue her search for answers about how their world came to be in ruins.

With fantastic world-building, airships, chases, intrigue and mystery, this is a series that has a lot of appeal for older middle grade readers and young YA readers. I'm definitely looking forward to more in this complex and fascinating series.

Compare to:
The Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum
Zita the Spacegirl - Ben Hatke
The Ruby Key - Holly Lisle
Larklight - Philip Reeve, illustrated by David Wyatt

I borrowed this book from the library.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Masquerade review

Masquerade: A Blue Bloods Novel
by Melissa de la Cruz

Hyperion
May 2007

First line: "The pigeons had taken over St. Mark's Square."

Masquerade is the second volume in the Blue Bloods series. This one veers a bit (only a bit, mind you) from the formula of the first. There's slightly less brand-name dropping and conspicuous consumption in this one, and a little more international intrigue in Italy as teen vampires-in-training hobnob with the wealthy New York elite.

Schuyler is searching for her missing grandfather, a patriarch amongst the ancient vampires, but in the meantime she requires a human blood donor. She leans on her best friend Oliver, who (of course) is secretly in love with her. Mimi Force, daughter of the powerful New York businessman Charles Force, is busy planning the party of the century. Mimi is eagerly looking forward to "bonding" with her twin brother Jack... and he is secretly feeling really not so sure about the whole thing. There's plenty of confusion about who's related to who - all the vampires are essentially reincarnated avatars of saints, angels or gods and inter-related in various ways. Jack and Schuyler are being established as a couple to root for, yet they are technically first cousins. Mimi and Jack have been a couple for many lifetimes, and no one is more frustrated than Mimi about the inappropriateness of wanting to marry her twin brother. There is a side plot about Bliss Llewellyn being duped by Kingsley, an undercover agent, but she still pines for missing Dylan. Who are the real villains? Who are the Silver Bloods? The cliffhanger ending leaves everything still up in the air.

Compare to:

I borrowed this book from the library.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Read in September 2013


This month I read the following the books:

1. Instant Mom - Nia Vardalos
2. Asunder - Jodi Meadows
3. This Wicked Game - Michelle Zink


Picture credit: Girl at Bookcase by unknown

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