Thursday, October 29, 2009

All my Friends!


Look at this!!!! Look at all my friends! I am so excited for all of you who are listed. If you check out my sidebar, you will find MANY of these blogs listed as the Best 100 Book Blogs for Kids. I think it is WONDERFUL!
(I tried to tag all my cyber buds, but there were too many!)

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Now anyone who knows me, knows I am a fan of Barbara O'Connor. I am also a sucker for a good southern accent and a backwoods setting. This book has backwoods written all over it and this is what I loved the most!
My favorite part of the book is the family in the rambling RV. I wanted to know them. I thought maybe I did know them. Oh, the characters... Gosh, Barbara is so good at character development. I knew all those characters. I put a face with them in a split second. (Or split page) The NAMES, the NAMES, the NAMES! I am always complaining about authors using obscure character names. These were obscure in a perfectly lovely way.
The book is short. A quick read. Perfect for that reluctant reader that isn't going to pick up a book over 200 pages, even if paid to do so.
Of course there were dogs in this book. But maybe not in the way that you would expect. Knowing a little bit about Barbara O'Connor, this part of the plot just tore me up.
Mrs. O'Connor is such a fan of vocabulary. I see that theme in many of her books. There is no exception here. Does it fit? Maybe. That might be my only complaint. Sometimes I wasn't sure the vocabulary added to the story. However, as teacher I have to view vocabulary building as a good thing no matter what.
I recommend this book to students in grades 3-5.
Way to go, my friend. Homerun! Sorry for the rambling post.

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Friday, October 2, 2009

Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Shines My Shoes Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I LOVED this book! I am not sure which I loved more, this or the first, Al Capone Does My Shirts? But I can tell you I LOVED this one! I really hope it is not so long between this book and the next book. I don't know how long I can be without Moose, Natalie, Piper, Jimmy, Annie, Janet, et al...
Is it better than the first? You be the judge? And, What will Al Capone do for Moose next?

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Thursday, October 1, 2009

September Carnival of Children's Literature and CYBILS Nominations


Two exciting things to add to my day...
The September issue of The Carnival of Children's Literature is up at Susan Taylor Brown's Blog.
AND...
You can now begin nominating books for the CYBILS Award. Go to this site to nominate or find out more about the contest. I am pretty sure you can click on the button I have in my sidebar as well, but not positive.