I’m on a reading roll, yay me!
Blackbird Fly was excellent. And, it made me want Filipino food. Why do I have no lumpia wrappers in the house? Or pancit noodles? I guess I could just make chicken adobo but that’s not quite what I want. But anyway, back to the book.
It was a good middle grade fiction book. It read a little younger than I expected it to but I very much enjoyed getting to know Apple and her REAL friends, not those fake friends.
You guys! I read a book! A whole book. On paper. It had words! How exciting is that?
It’s also a book from the Cybils shortlist and a really good middle grade fiction book. Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy is about a mom who has Bipolar Disorder and a daughter who worries she might “get sick,” too. It also has a character with cerebral palsy, another with PTSD, and touches on child abuse.
I really liked all of the characters and I liked the way the story played out.
Also, I READ A BOOK!! hahaha.
Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy Read More »
Tis the season, one of my favorite days, the 2015 Cybils shortlist is up and I’m ready to get started and read some awesome children/middle grade/teen lit. Join me? (Also, why are those National Geographic Readers not in the non-fiction section?) (Also, Book Six? Really? Of a series I’ve never read even one book in? Gah. This is going to be ROUGH.) (More also, gah I’m way behind on Courtney Crumrin. Did I mention this is going to be hard. We are moving to an unknown library district!!! — At least I’ve already read ONE book on the list. hahaha.)
Easy Readers/Early Chapters
Elementary/Middle Grade Non-Fiction
Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle-Grade Fiction
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction
Young Adult Non-Fiction
Young Adult Speculative Fiction
2015 Cybils Shortlist Challenge Read More »
This was a pretty uninspiring batch of easy readers and a bit of a dull way to finish up my Cybils shortlist challenge fore the year. Oh well. They weren’t bad, just not great.
Mo Willems, of course, duh. “My New Friend Is So Fun” was cute. I liked it.
“Okay, Andy” has great illustrations, really bright color. I liked that about it.
Extraordinary Warren: Super Chicken was cute. It amused me. I’d read more about Warren.
Inch and Roly and the Sunny Day Scare… I liked this one. But, it felt like it was titled badly. Yes, it was sunny out but the sun had nothing to do with the scare. I dunno. I read it twice because I was sure I’d missed something important (which is ridiculous since it’s 13 pages and there are three words on a page, or something like that. lol)
Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey. I felt like I’d read this before. Maybe I’ve read another Pigsticks and Harold book? I dunno. It was ok. I don’t love Pigsticks. Or Harold. But, it was ok.
The Ice Cream Shop (Scholastic Level 1) was very cute. That push/pull thing is a hard thing to figure out.
Clara and Clem Under the Sea was fine. The rhymes were nice. It’s a little like a Dr Seuss book, but not quite.
The Last Seven Cybils Read More »
Through the Woods was excellent. Creepy but not overly scary and not silly, as kids’ scary stories sometimes are.
I loved, loved, loved, The Shadow Hero and I didn’t expect to. The afterword, with info about the 1940s Green Turtle just made it even better.
To This Day: For the Bullied and the Beautiful was very well done. Great illustrations, great stories.
Three Graphic Novels Read More »
Three books, two of them Cybils – one audio or all three audio, depending upon your POV.
Dory Fantasmagory was cute. I’d probably kill her if she were my kid, hah. A combination of all three little kids in one. Hoo… lol
We listened to Chicken Squad: The Second Misadventure on audio before we got the first one (the problem with reserving all the things at once at the library is the first book often comes later than the others in the series, lol.) It was cute. Weird blue chickens are weird and brothers are trouble. 😉
Then, the Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure arrived in print and I read that one and was amused. Squirrels are weird.
The most interesting thing about these three books is that two of them arrived in print, though I reserved the audio versions… then I noticed they both had the audio versions tucked into a pocket in the the back of the book. I like this idea a lot for this reading level.
Three Children’s Books Read More »
I finished seven children’s books (from the Cybils shortlist) while listening to the Cubs lose. (wah!) 777 pages…
The best of the bunch was Knock, Knock: MY Dad’s Dream for Me — heartbreaker.
I liked Here Comes the Easter Cat a lot more than I expected to. Totally fun. JMP needs this book.
Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door was super cut.
Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake was pretty cute. I enjoyed it.
I’m a big Violet Mackerel fan so Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend was terrific. I love Violet and her family.
I was most disappointed by The Lion Who Stole My Arm. It was fine but I expected more.
I did not particularly love Lulu’s Mysterious Mission. It was fine. Just not great.
15 hours in, 7 more books (#readathon) Read More »
I really liked Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future. Do not drink bats. Also, the whole loophole in the Fair Pay Act thing scared the holy hell out of me. I can see some asshat white dudes with power thinking this is a good idea.
Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future Read More »
I read a bunch of these in September when I visited JMP but never got a chance to talk about them. So… here’s a combined Sept/Oct list:
Cybils (12):
– Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain was pretty good. Not the best Angel Island book but not bad.
– Chasing Cheetahs was fantastic. I loved it.
– Feathers: Not Just For Flying was a nice book. The illustrations were especially nice.
– Handle with Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey was fine. Not great, not horrible.
– Separate Is Never Equal was wonderful! Best book of the bunch.
– The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats was interesting.
– When Lunch Fights Back was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it.
– Brimsby’s Hats was a nice book. JMP was interested in it, mostly because of the snow and the “friends”.
– Maple was beautiful and I loved it. JMP was not really that into it. Probably because he hasn’t grokked the idea of maple treas and willow trees and such.
– Shhhh! We Have a Plan made me roll my eyes and I mostly hated it. JMP, however, liked it.
– The Girl and the Bicycle was a nice story. The underlying idea seemed lost on JMP, lol, he just wanted to talk about the bikes.
– This is a Moose was another one that made me roll my eyes and JMP didn’t get it at all. (Because, duh, of course he didn’t.) We stopped with the ridiculous story mid-way and just talked about the illustrations and that was good.
Non-Cybils (8):
– Seven Orange Pumpkins was cute (and it’s a counting backwards book, which is good)
– Max the Brave, I loved it. JMP isn’t sure about it but I think he’ll come around.
– Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin was cute. JMP wouldn’t let me read it to him, he wanted MAMA to read it. And she did. I think he liked it.
– Otis and the Puppy is a really cute story. JMP read it twice, once with me and once with MAMA. He liked it but he wasn’t sure Otis is really a tractor, lol.
– Bad Kitty’s Tasty Treats is a cute alphabet board book with just the quirkiness you’d expect from a Bad Kitty book.
– Scholastic Discover More: Rocks and Minerals… I love this book. JMP loves this book. I hope he loves it for many years to come. Also, he wants a green egg rock and I’m pretty sure he’s going to get a green egg rock.
– The Moon Is Going to Addy’s House is a beautiful, beautiful book.
– Thesaurus Rex is amusing. Really.
A Ton of Children’s Books Read More »