My Humble Opinion on The Fault In Our Stars... Audio Book

This may not be the most reliable review on a book that I have ever done, simply because of those words I added on at the end of the title. 

Audio book

I tried to listen to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn in audio book quite some time ago and was not impressed by the book OR the reader. So while I waited and waited (and waited!) for the 2 library copies of The fault In Our Stars by John Green to be returned so that I could check one out, I disregarded the option of the audio version sitting on the shelf, lonely and ignored, until I finally ran out of patience with the disrespectful young adults that were dominating the copies of a young adult book coveted by adults.

I checked out those CDs doubtfully. I loaded them onto my computer, transferred them onto the tablet AND bought a new set of ear buds. I quickly discovered that if I am not busy doing things while listening I will 'zone out'. You know what I mean, the voice or music is going in one ear and out the other while my brain is contemplating something thrilling like the grocery list or lesson plans. 

Also, I found that by listening instead of reading I never formed an emotional attachment to any of the characters. At all! It was disturbing to say the least. I am usually overly attached to fictional characters!

Anyway, John Green (according to his author page on goodreads.com ) has spit out 4 decently popular books in the past 8 years. I consider that impressive, having never written anything decently popular in quadruple that amount of time. 

This is a tear jerker people. Before I even opened the cover... er... CD case... I knew it was a love story about two teens with cancer, at least one of them terminal. Some people would cry over that in itself. 

It is the story of Hazel, who meets Gus at a cancer support group. It is the story of their friends from before they were diagnosed and the story of Isaac, a friend who also has cancer. It is the story of siblings, parents and doctors who love and treat them and others. 

*Side note: I love the names in this book. They are not totally common or uncommon. The purpose of that? Who knows. I, however, prefer to think that it is because they need to be viewed as individuals, not just another John or Jessica, but they also need to be considered as people you could meet at the local high school or supermarket.

These teens are avid readers and deep thinkers. Whether that is because they were born that way or if it is a 'side effect of dying' is not made absolutely clear, but my guess is that we are expected to deduce that they became that way after they were diagnosed. 

This is not just a story of first love. Nor is it simply a story of cancer. It is a tragic and heroic story of living & dying, love & anger, despair & hope. Life. It's a story of the realities of life.

So what is my opinion?

I liked it. I wish I had read it instead of listening to it but, eh, so it goes.

Read it, tell me what you think. Okay? Okay.

Sharon Creech- Lover Of Children

I'm not sure if I have shared this before, but as a child I was NOT A READER!  

**BUM BUM BUM**

I did not get into reading until I was forced to by that dreaded AR (Accelerated Reader) program when I was 12 or 13. As you would expect from an angry teenager with anxiety and an attitude problem who has never learned to love reading, I hooked onto the R.L.Stine fear street series. 

(In the interest of full disclosure I did like the Thoroughbred and Saddle Club books at some point.)

After that I moved sideways into L.J.Smith, then up into Anne Rice, then sideways to Anne McCaffrey. Occasionally, I caved in and read the books I was supposed to read for school like Othello and To Kill A Mockingbird (more on that later!).

Long story short, I never read the 'normal' books that other kids read when they are young. No Judy Blume or Ronald Dahl or E.B.White for me. This may or may not explain my obsession with children's and teen books even though I am physically an adult now, or so people tell me.

When I was working at Barnes and Noble they would have Christmas parties. When I say party I mean they would school us in all the pertinent holiday policies and events then play games where we win books. Not cheap mass market ones either. Newish, hardcover ones. I once won The Castle Corona and later acquired (I don't remember when or where) Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech.

I found these books to be phenomenal. 

After that I would often look at the C section in the young readers aisle at libraries and bookstores and think about picking up another of hers, but never got around to it until this week.

While we were volunteering at the library this past week I grabbed Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King, Pandora by Anne Rice, Love Life and Elephants by Daphne Sheldrick, the DVD of Hugo, and of course The Boy on the Porch and Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. 

She is a really cool author. She writes books about orphans who find people who love and care for them and about how kids really feel about things. I find her perspective fascinating. I feel like her books help me understand what goes on in those crazy little heads of the children around me which in turn makes me a better caregiver, teacher and parent. So really it's like professional development! (See I can justify anything!)

Next time you come across one of her books pick it up. It will only take you an hour or two to sail through one. I promise you won't be sorry.

Such a Cute Little Library!

A year or two ago I decided that my book obsession was a financial problem...

I know, it's an ugly thought.

So we started frequenting the library not just for kids books, but for me as well. At the time we were members of the library system in the county next to ours since our county has no library system, just small, mostly privately funded and volunteer staffed libraries. 

Our local library has recently made some changes and updates. So I decided that instead of purchasing a membership somewhere else, I would donate that money to our library and see how we make out there.

The truth:

We are a pain in our librarians butt. We may be stressing her out a little.

Honestly, we are fanatics. We go through several books a week each, request particular books that have to be borrowed from other libraries continuously and question her about getting specific things or having certain programs. 

So, a few months ago I decided that we should give as well as receive. We began to volunteer at the desk every second Monday night and it is so much fun! There have been a few boring nights when there were only a handful of people that came in, but I can always read or alphabetize the juvenile books (they always need it!) if I get antsy. 

Mini-me is loving the checking out books part but not so much the 'dead nights' with nothing to do. I have my suspicions that I will want to be more and more involved so that our library can meet our growing needs.. Oh yeah, and those of the rest of the people in town too.

I just hope we are viewed as ambitious and involved, not pushy and obnoxious!

In Summer!

"Bees that buzz. Kids that blow dandelion fuzz, and I'll be doing whatever snow does in summer!" (Frozen music is permanently ingrained in my head! Help!)

Ah, Summer! 
Pools
Beaches
Zoos
Flowers
Sleeping in
and summer reading


In the past we have been members of a large, heavily funded library in the county next to ours which has a phenomenal summer reading program with bags, stickers, bookmarks and tons of coupons for free food at local stores as the prizes. Since we did not pay what I consider to be an overly large amount of money for that membership this year and since our small, privately funded library cannot afford anything so extreme, I have decided to come up with my own program. 

Gwen has a LARGE summer long goal of 4,000 pages and will receive a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card for reaching that goal. 

She also gets smaller prizes every 400 pages (Maximum of one per week!) which include things like a free water ice at the local ice cream place, a new game on our tablet, and a trip to YoGo.

What do your kids do for summer reading?

Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover... But Maybe Judge a Reader by Her Bookshelf?

I had a moment of shock earlier this year that all of you should know about.

I am a NOOK patron. NOOK is Barnes and Noble's e reader. Once you are NOOK friends with someone you can see all of the Barnes and Noble books that they own which are lend-able. This was good news for me at the time because I was saving up for a big trip. Saving up for a big trip means that I am struggling to adhere to a strict budget... adhering to a budget means using the library more then the bookstore.

Not that I don't LOVE the library... it's just that I really enjoy being able to walk up to one of my bookshelves and see a good book and remember what I loved about it and possibly reread it at any time. Other people borrow library books, which means they are not always there when I want them. Also, the library is not open 24 hours a day like my bookshelves are and Gwen would probably get pretty annoyed with me if I threw her in the car at 2 am because I couldn't sleep and I wanted to read that particular book that I borrowed from the library 8 months ago and was really awesome...

Anyway...

This past spring I was checking out what my friends with NOOKs had to offer and I was blown away. Now I realize that these were only the 'lend me' books (not all ebooks are able to be borrowed, which is stupid, but that is a soapbox you don't want to get me started on!) and people always keep all of their ebooks because they are a lot easier to store then actual books and why delete something you paid for? An ebook collector is not nearly as committed as a physical book collector. Take it from the chick that has 7 overflowing bookshelves AND books piled up all over the house. Still though, you really can tell a lot about a person by what they read and even more by what is physically on their bookshelves.

For example, two of my friends are closet romance readers. Who knew?!?! I have never heard them talk about them or seen them lend them out or buy them. I don't think they kept it from me, specifically, because they know how I feel about romance books. I try to keep my distaste for that entire section of the bookstore a secret (So shhhh!) because really, I read crappy science fiction/fantasy so who am I to judge.

Anyway...

I took a look around my books with new eyes and discovered a couple things about myself by my own bookshelves.

First: My joy in owning and lending out books actually exceeds my literary appetite. I own roughly 40 books that I haven't read yet. About 10 of them I never honestly plan on reading (free or 50 cent yard sale buys) and another 10 or 15 of them I will probably never get around to reading because they don't strike me as books I will love.

Second: My love of certain books exceeds my love of lending out books. I have a 'top shelf' of books. They are organized by author and series and double stacked so that only half of them are visible. Many of them have been read so many times that the covers have completely fallen off. I have never offered to lend these to anyone. Ever. I don't plan to either. They are mine. My only. My prreeeccciiousss.

Third: It's all about the escape (but I knew that already). Historical fiction, Science fiction, Fantasy, etc.. are my favorites. I want impossible or in the past. I get enough of reality when I am not reading.

Fourth: Stronger is better. My favorite characters that I like to revisit over and over in the pages of their books are strong. They make mistakes... a lot, but they are not indecisive sissies (speaking of indecisive sissy characters, those twilight books are collecting a lot of dust on their shelf. Hehehehe!). 

So I love to share the literary 'bug', but am possessive of my 'top shelf' and I am drawn to strong characters, but only when they are facing impossible settings and situations.

What can I learn about you by your bookshelf? More importantly, what can YOU learn about you from your bookshelf??

Banned Books Week!!

I have returned from my long absence to remind you about Banned Books Week! Yay!

While I am in complete agreement that parents should be able to decide what is appropriate (or not appropriate) for their children... I am totally against removing books from library and/or store shelves simply because they are controversial. 

I have recently been exploring the ALA (American Library Association) web site and discovered a list of frequently challenged books! Imagine my delight, rebel that I am, when I discovered that I have many controversial books on my shelves here at home. 

I will highlight in red the ones I have:

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the creators of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

In addition, I plan to read a few of them again in honor of this week and my freedom to do so. 

What will you read this week?

Spreading The Love!

So, because I enjoy reading so much I always want to help kids enjoy books from a very early age and I have a method to my madness

Step 1: Exposure. I take them to the library, read to them at least twice a day (I actually can't remember the last time I only read to them twice in a day...) and always have books available to them.

Step 2: Knowledge. I teach them how to take care of books, how to find the ones they're interested in at the library, and how to use them to learn about anything in the world.

Step 3: Do It Yourself. I believe it is very important for them to have a good experience when learning to read. So I encourage them in recognizing letters and learning their sounds even before 'preschool age'. Not just through worksheets, but with things they can explore. The Leapfrog Word Whammer, Starfall.com, painting, and sensory exercises.

It has worked in the past anyway

Keeping To The Schedule

As always with preschoolers, our days run more smoothly if we stick to our schedule like glue. Not that silly Elmers glue, I'm talking heavy duty Gorilla glue. Does it always happen? Of course not! If 'stick to your schedule' was the first thing I learned about preschoolers, then 'be flexible' was the second thing. It's not always possible to be exactly on schedule. There is only one of me and there are 5 of them in varying ages. I try my best though.

So we have been continuing our Friday trips to the Library... just every other Friday instead of every Friday. We stop at the playground nearby to 'get our runs and yells out' if it's decent outside and make it in time to pick out some books before the story time for 3 & 4yr olds.

Today we came home with quite a haul, as always.
Books
          
Movies
  
and an audio book


They also painted a picture of The Cat In The Hat and Thing One and Thing Two... because today is Dr Seuss birthday. You might think that they would want to borrow Dr Seuss books on a day like today, but I'll be honest with you. Since I have 20 Dr. Seuss books and another 5 Cat in the Hat Bright and Early books for Beginning Beginners in my home library we would've had trouble finding ones we don't have out of the small selection that hadn't already been borrowed.

It was a very successful outing :)

“Think and wonder, wonder and think.”
― Dr. Seuss

Imagine A Day

When kids ask to borrow books over and over from the library. That's what makes them special. Imagine A Day by Sarah L. Thompson is a special book. Renowned Canadian artist Rob Gonsalves stretches the limits of visual exploaration with his breathtaking paintings and encourages parents and children alike to look beyond the limits of the everyday world and imagine.

The text on this page says: Imagine a day when you don't need wings to soar. 

Look closely at the picture. That's what the kids have been doing to every page in this book. I can't wait to borrow the companion books. Imagine A Night and Imagine A Place. They're on thier way from other libraries.

   

Seeing A Theme Here...

Gwen's library books for this week were:

Pony-Crazed Princess: Princess Ellie's Starlight Adventure

Pony-Crazed Princess: Princess Ellie's Camping Trip
Pony Tails: Pony Crazy
Pony Tails: Corey's Pony is Missing

Library Lion
Woof, A Love Story

One of the 3 yr old boys picked out these:

Spike at Halloween

Brooms are for Flying

Halloween Kittens

The other little boy picked out WHOO! WHOO! Goes the Train. None of these selections were a surprise. At all. We bring home similar titles every week, but really and within reason, who cares what they're reading?? I'm not going to be picky! When I announce that it's Library Day and they get excited and start jumping up and down, talking about what books they will look for and rereading the books we'll be taking back it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. That somehow, even with all the distractions of real life, I am encouraging a real love for books and learning that will hopefully be with them forever.

Some day I may even have time to look for book for myself... Possibly.

We Love Our Library!

Fridays have been our library day for a few months now and it's one of our favorite days of the week. During the summer Gwen and the two boys that I had five days a week each had their own bag to carry their library books in which made them feel more responsibility for the books they were checking out. It was a little hectic during checkout because the books all had to come out of their bags and back in without getting mixed up, but I felt it was worth it. Especially since one of the boys was starting Kindergarten this year and would be expected to be responsible for his own library books.

They also had a summer reading program that included smaller kids that can't read independently yet, which was really awesome. They each got a bag, a coloring page, and a log in name on the library website. If they met the reading requirements, each week they received a coupon. There was one for a free donut at Dunkin Donuts and free apple slices at McDonald's, but the best of all was the free kids meal at Applebees. It wasn't one free kids meal per adult meal either, because they outnumbered me 3-1! I thought that was really awesome of applebees to do that.

Anyway, This past Friday we made it to the library in time for story time and because I only watch a few kids at a time I like taking them to things like that so they can interact with kids they don't know. Our children's librarian does a fabulous job and we had a lot of fun dancing and listening to a story about grandparents.

Gwen had just found a Patricia Polocco book that we don't own called For the Love Of Autumn and she read it the whole time. The librarian helped her order some Pony Tails books that she was looking for and suggested Pony-Crazed Princess books that she could read while she waits for them.

It was a great trip and a wonderful experience for Gwen to work with the librarian without me hovering. I was busy with four preschoolers in the kids area!