Great Books - The Shortlist for CBCA Book of the Year 2014 has been ANNOUNCED!!

It's that time of year again!! I love Book Week and now I have another list of books to check out!  Hopefully I will get to them before August!

Lots of exclamation marks!!!! :D

Kids' Book Review: CBCA Book of the Year 2014 SHORT LIST ANNOUNCED!: Congratulations to all the shortlisted and notables authors and illustrators, from all of us at KBR! See the Notable Books right here . ...

NOVEMBER CRY

The NYR Theme for November is “cry” and when I first saw it I almost cried.  ‘What a stupid theme!’ I thought.  But, as I considered it further, I decided it wasn’t so stupid after all.  Other themes this year include; laugh, think, feel, escape, dream and discover, so I suppose it makes sense that we include CRY. 

I figure there are two paths we can take to explore the CRY theme.  Firstly, I could tell you about books that have made me cry… there are three that come to mind.

Secondly, you could follow the rather twisted meandering journey that my mind takes when I think about the word CRY.  Let’s go with number one.  We might explore number two another time.

Books that made me CRY…

Looking for Alibrandi

Looking For Alibrandi

I have mentioned this book before.  “Alibrandi” was required reading in year ten and I’m not afraid to admit that I enjoyed it.  The story of a 17 year old girl’s final year of high school was relatable for me.  The descriptions were vivid and the Australian setting made it even more real for me.  The family craziness, self-esteem issues, closet skeletons and school pressures made me feel like I was reading about a friend.  So, when a minor character in the book committed suicide (I don’t think that counts as a spoiler) I cried.  I cried and I cried.  It made me sad but it reminded me that life isn’t really so bad after all.  Come to think of it, I might have cried after I got the result for my Essay about the book too. 

Good Night Mr Tom

This book was recommended by a colleague of mine.  It was included in the Special Education Library at my school for class novel studies.  As the SEP Year 8 English teacher, it was my job to choose a novel for our class to study and my colleague recommended "Mr Tom".  

Goodnight Mr Tom

The story is not at all similar to mine, as I came from a loving home and have not been evacuated from the city.  But, the characters were credible and the plot was unpredictable.  I won’t tell you what happened that caused my tears to flow, but I did the “ugly cry” in several parts of this novel.  I decided not to use it as a novel study because it was just too sad for me!  This one was probably the most emotional for me.  I remember the day after I finished reading Good Night Mister Tom, I entered the staffroom and literally “threw the book” at my colleague!  The poor man didn’t know what hit him.  LOL.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

If you haven’t heard of this novel, you must have been living under a rock for the last couple of years.  John Boyne has won some critical acclaim for this fictional recount from the perspective of a German Officer’s son during World War II.  The simple sentence structure and innocence of the child narrator makes this book an easy read that quickly cuts straight to the heart.  Again, the plot is not predictable.  Well, not to me.  This book was also recommended by my boss and the poor man had another book thrown at him when I finished it.  

Despite my random temper tantrums, the boss did get a kick out of my intense involvement with the books he recommended.   The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was so captivating that on two separate occasions I missed my station when reading it on the train.  As far as I’m concerned, the “whether or not you miss the train test” is the best indication of readability.  My boss enjoyed telling people “M keeps missing her station because she’s reading.  Hehehe.”  If you haven’t read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, you should.  But make sure you have the tissues handy. 

If you end up crying about an event in the book, you have invested in the characters.  That is the sign of a good book.  Then again, if you don't cry, it doesn't mean that you haven't invested in the story or that it isn't a good book.  Reading evokes emotion, whether you are laughing, crying, yelling or rolling your eyes, you are feeling something, so that's good. 

The National Year of Reading is nearly over.  I'm not sure what it will be like next year, but I hope I get to read more.  

Happy Reading

LAUGH, ESCAPE, THINK with Steven Herrick

My reading adventures over the past few weeks have seen me visiting some old friends.  I already mentioned that I cleaned out the works of Steven Herrick from the school library.  I am combining a few themes to tell you about a few of the Steven Herrick books I have been enjoying lately.    

LAUGH

Love Poems and Leg Spinners is a verse novel about class 5B.  Illustrated by Steven’s son, the book is written from the perspective of five year 5 students.  Topics cover teachers, lessons, games, playground conversations, families and religion.  The world through the eyes of 10 year olds provides quite a chuckle for me as a grown up.  I read a few of the poems to my year 8 class and they actually cracked a smile. 

ESCAPE

I believe I may have covered this topic in the past, but I will quickly remind you that reading is my escape hatch.  The world is so much better when my head is in a book.  A Place Like This screams "escape" from many angles.  The story follows Annabel and Jack who have to escape their safe suburban lives to see they’ve really lived. The poems are written from the perspective of all the characters and Herrick seamlessly morphs between voicses.  When I read A Place Like This, it felt like I was watching a reality show and the characters were telling me what they were thinking and feeling as the action unfolded before me.  We see people of different ages choose between escaping or not.  It is an interesting read. 

THINK

I have probably covered this theme in the past as well, but I will say it again.  Reading is Thinking and true engagement with text requires and stimulates thought.  Reading Verse Novels over the recent weeks has led me to think about Steven Herrick (as an author and a person). He reveals much of his upbringing and experience in his books.  There are so many similarities between Herrick’s main characters.  I began to make connections between the experiences of the characters and I can see Herrick’s history in them.  But, the significant thought is that of returning to verse writing.  I love writing poetry.  I would like to try my hand at more free form verse and I think I can learn a great deal from Steven Herrick’s style. 

Next Week will be November! I will be covering the NYR Theme: Cry.  This will probably be the first time I manage to cover the theme in the same month. 

Happy Monday and Happy Reading! :D

Favourite Blog for Aussie Poetry

I am fairly sure that my regular followers know how much I love poetry.  Let's not forget Poetry Month. So, you will not be at all surprised at the idea that the "Aussie Poem A Day" blog has made it to my favourites list.  

A very clever person has started a Word Press blog in celebration of the National Year of Reading 2012.  Each day, followers are treated with a poem by an Aussie Author.  Poems are tagged by Author and are organised by theme.  I only just discovered An Aussie Poem A Day this week when I was researching (okay, I was googling) authors for upcoming blog posts.  That's right, I'm forward planning.  So I am still EXPLORING the site myself.  

Stand alone resource pages are also attached with links to Poetry on Screen and Poetry in Action.  Don't forget that poetry is meant to be read and really, to be performed.  Make sure you check out the performance poets on YouTube as well.  

Enjoy!  

NYR 2012 Themes: EXPLORE

The October Theme for National Year of Reading is EXPLORE.  This one proved quite a challenge for me.  Despite reading the guiding notes on the website (click on the link above), I didn't know what or how to explore this month.  As usual I asked the BFF... because she says that she knows everything.  Then she says "I don't know" so that is nice and confusing for the medicated person.  LOL!

The BFF suggested that I look into choose your own adventure books.  I replied to this quite negatively, as I have a slight problem with this genre.  I am not at all decisive and I end up reading all the possible "optional" twists and turns and then I forget which one goes with which and I completely lose the plot of the story.  I also have a problem with the authors of these books.  It seems to me that they have a problem with "decisiveness" as well.  I can't blame them for that, but pick a path people.  If you want it to end differently, then don't be so lazy... write another book!  


I shouldn't criticise really.  I have never tried to write a "choose your own adventure" kind of story, which proves that I don't really understand what kind of undertaking it is.  I like to relax into a book and let the author tell me the story.  But I guess that is just me. 

The theme notes suggest EXPLORING another genre this month.  I settled on Science Fiction because I have enjoyed Science Fiction television recently, but never actually read a Science Fiction Text.  This is what brought about my "just bite the bullet" impulse purchase of The Ultimate Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  But as you know, while I was waiting, I ended up rediscovering an old favourite of mine, Steven Herrick.  I explored more "Verse Novels" this month and I started to explore my school library a little more extensively.  This time around, I was looking for books that could peak my interest and give me something light and fun to read.  I found it on the "H" shelf of the Fiction Section and the poor kids don't have any Steven Herrick left to read for the moment.  

Sometimes it is interesting to skip into a different genre every now and then.  I know what I like (most readers do) but I also like to feel like a "kid in a candy store again".  But for me, when I was a kid, I loved to visit the library and I read anything and everything available to me.  I was ready to explore practically anything.  I have read Mills and Boon Romance, Twilight, Babysitters' Club, John Grisham, Nora Ephron, Tom Clancy, Steve Martin, Wendy Harmer, Political Satire, Comic Collections, Junior Fiction, Picture Books, Autobiographies, Fact Files, World Record Books, Education Journals, Music Textbooks, Young Adult Fiction, Magazines, Newspapers and the list goes on.  As a young reader, I loved to hide in the library and found friends among the the paperbacks.  It didn't matter what the books were about, or who wrote them, if it was readable, I wanted to read it.  That is the best way to learn how to be a better reader and the best way to learn what you like to read.  

So, my advice for October, is to get out and explore.  Read.  Read some more.  Don't dismiss it out of hand, but give it a go.  Read something new.  Read something different.  Read to explore the world beyond your work and your lounge room and your family and your friends.  Read to explore the world of words.  Just Read.  

Happy Reading, Happy Exploring.  

Kids Book Review: 12 Curly Questions with author Melina Marchetta

QUESTION

The theme for August was QUESTION.  I don't know about you, but, when I read, I inevitably end up thinking about the author.  I always have a million questions (maybe not a million) to ask the author. Where was your inspiration? Are these characters based on people you know? Why this story? How long did it take you to write this book? And that is just for starters.  Most Book Review websites make a great effort to post author interviews.  I must admit, that I enjoy reading author interviews far more than book reviews! 

Kids Book Review is one of the blogs I follow to keep up with children's literature.  I love Melina Marchetta and I had to share this interview with you.  Click the link below.

Kids Book Review: 12 Curly Questions with author Melina Marchetta 

If you are wondering, Melina Marchetta is the author of Looking for Alibrandi which was made into a movie in 2000.  If you attended secondary school in Australia during the late 1990's you were probably required to read Looking for Alibrandi, but if you weren't, someone you knew was.  I hope you enjoy reading Melina's direct answers.

Classroom Applications: instead of requiring a "book review" from students, ask them to write 10 questions they would like to ask the author.  Alternatively, they could write an interview (including both questions and responses) of a main character in the book.  When students are encouraged to pose their own questions they are far more likely to engage in a text than when they are given a list of questions to answer.  

Friday Favourite Author on a Favourite Blog

I love Kids Book Review (KBR) for keeping up with the latest in kids literature.  The site has competitions, book reviews, author interviews and information about children's literature and library events. 

The other day I saw an interview on KBR with one of my favourite children's and young adult authors, Jackie French. In case you are wondering; she wrote Diary of a Wombat among several other books.  

Click here to see my previous blog post about Jackie French.

Click here to see the Jackie French Interview on KBR. 

On Monday: Another link to a KBR interview with Melina Marchetta and a note about the QUESTION theme of NYR12.  

Have a great weekend! 

Are you textist?

The National Year of Reading 2012 is encouraging "exploration" in reading this month.  I was exploring the NYR12 Love2Read wiki and was quite intrigued by an article titled "What is Reading?" It was quite good.  The best thing about it was this line...

"All reading is reading no matter the format.  Don’t be textist about format, or length of work, or context of reading."

This week, the word is TEXTIST.

In this context TEXTIST refers to the attitude that reading is not reading if it doesn’t apply to a book or a “real” text.

Urban Dictionary claims that TEXTIST is the word used to describe a person who dislikes a font colour. 

TEXTIST refers to the way people think reading text messages or facebook walls or magazines or catalogues isn’t real reading.  But it is real reading.  If you are using reading strategies you are reading. Texts come in many shapes and sizes and we shouldn’t discriminate.  Got it?!

Don't be Textist!  Read something, anything and relax.

National Year of Reading 2012 Themes

I have been promising National Year of Reading Content for about 10 months now.  Finally, I'm going to share with you the monthly themes that were laid out by the NYR organisers to steer activities and social network conversations.  Special supporter book clubs, twitter feeds and facebook comments have been focusing on the monthly themes.  I, on the other hand, have been writing fast and loose when it comes to themes and just been doing my own thing.  I'm such a rebel, hey!?

January was THE AMAZING READ: I think the idea was to get us readers to open up, so to speak, about the "book" that totally amazed us.  I don't really know.  I should probably find out before I try to write more about that.

February was LAUGH: This one I get!  Humour makes everything a little more bearable.  So what do you read when you want to laugh? What makes you laugh?  What is the funniest book you have read?  Why do we head for the comedy?  I could talk about this one for ages!

I'm thinking.....
these glasses don't work very well.  

March was THINK: ouch.  Thinking makes my brain hurt, but apparently if there is no pain there is no gain.  Reading is Thinking.  If you didn't know that, you didn't know what the real experience of reading can be.  What do we read that makes us think?  How does reading impact on your thinking? Reading is Thinking.

April was FEEL: I get this one too!  Reading can provoke any number of feelings and I think the organisers wanted us to share what we feel when we read and why and how.   That's April in an Easter Egg.  LOL I’m so funny!

May was ESCAPE: which I think I may have accidentally written about before.  We all know that reading is escaping from the real world and I don't think I need to say much else about that.

June was DREAM: and I have to say I am not sure what to say about that.  I will say that I often dream of curling up on the couch with a good book.  I also dream of my castle that I will have custom built when I am rich and famous and it will have a library spanning at least two levels *sigh* :D

July was DISCOVER: and you have to do that for yourself.  If I told you what that was about you wouldn’t be discovering it, would you?! No, you would be taking the discovery of another and claiming it as your own and that is not true discovery.

August was the month to QUESTION.  We often read to find the answer to our questions.  But does reading ever cause you to Ask Questions?

September was only a few days ago and apparently was the month to GROW.  Reading grows your brain cells.  True Story… I read it on the internet.

October is this month and the theme is EXPLORE.  I will tell you more about this one later. 

November will be dedicated to CRY and we can all look forward to that one.

December will have the theme “LOVE2READ” and I think I have already covered that one too. 

Everyone knows how awesome I am and we are going to do an entire year of “reading celebrations” in a little more than two months.  Get on board people… We are going to catch up on the old themes, jump into the current one and head towards the future. 

Love2Read! 

Talking Books with Kids!

My niece came to visit at the end of last week and we had a lovely time.  Miss 5 (she's 5th in order of the kids, but she is 6 years old) was very excited about her very first sleepover at her Aunty's house.  I was very excited about it too.  I love having the boys over, but they are not so keen to make jewellery that is sparkly and watch animated princess films.  LOL.  I will go into more detail about the fun we had, later. 

After a day of good old fashioned girl fun, Miss 5 sat down to dinner and I collected a number of picture books from my shelf for us to share before bed.  Her eyes lit up when I placed the books on the table.  "You can choose one to read before bed," I said, "then, tomorrow we can read the others."  Miss 5 was still eating her dinner, so spoon in mouth; she began to look at the books.  She read the titles and looked at some of the pages.  If she didn't know a word she; sounded it out, looked closely at the pictures and if she still couldn't work it out, she asked me.  I was impressed.  Miss 5 has got her some strategies!

She pointed to one book and said, "I have read that one before, I have it at home. But it has a different cover and a different title." 

I frowned for a moment as I tried to understand what she meant.  "This is the same," she said, pointing at the author's name.

"Oh," I replied, "You mean you have read a book by the same author?"

"Yeah," she smiled at me.

Next thing I knew we were looking at the books again and sorting them according to author.  We were counting how many books were written by each author.  We were counting how many books altogether.  We were talking about the plots/ themes of each book.  It turned out, that the books I had selected included only two authors, Mem Fox and Jackie French.  Miss 5 chose a book called Time For Bed by Mem Fox, "because it is night time and I'm going to bed too."  (So CUTE!)  And all this conversation was led entirely by Miss 5, not me. 

Time For Bed written by Mem Fox 

Even better than picture books and reading them to others, is sharing the reading with a confident 6 year old reader.  Miss 5 read a page and I read a page.  That was the only way I was going to get a chance to read!  She was so keen.  She read almost flawlessly.  I was so proud.  We both made a few mistakes and giggled at how silly the "wrong" words sounded.  We snuggled on the bed and she turned the pages and I pointed to the words that were tricky and we talked about what the "unknown words" meant.  It was wonderful.  When we finished the book, we said good night and I tip toed to the living room.  The BFF got to see my delight as I flopped on the couch.  "Did you hear her reading?"  I grinned. The BFF matched my smile as she nodded. 

It doesn't have to be planned or painful, but it can be perfect.  Just grab some books and relax with your kid.  Don't make it a chore, just go with the flow. 

 Next Monday: NYR12 themes

Have Fun Reading, because you can!  

10 Things... Compilation Books

As I was writing up this book list of 10 Compilation books for the Reading Rough Patch, I realised that most of the titles fell squarely in the "chick-lit" category.  There are a few which do not and I will highlight them of course.  It should be noted that every genre would have some kind of "compilation" and most successful authors publish some type of collection during their career.  So, while my list is more chick friendly than any other, it would not be difficult to find a blokey alternative.  Each title is hyperlinked so you can just click on it to get more info or see the listing on Amazon.com.  

Without further adieu, I give you....in no particular order….

10 Compilation books for the Reading Rough Patch

1.    Kid’s Night In (1,2and 3).  I have book 2, but I would like to have them all.  Each book stands alone, so it doesn’t matter which one you choose to purchase first. For the KID in all of us. 

   2.  Pieces for the Left Hand by J. Robert Lennon: I mentioned this one yesterday.  This one is a collection of 100 anecdotes, the longest of which covers three pages, the shortest is not more than a paragraph.  It is certainly an interesting read. This one is for adult BLOKES and CHICKS

3.  Handbag Heaven by Maggie Alderson, is a compilation of articles/ opinion pieces that the author has written for fashion magazines and newspapers.  I bought this one at the airport and chuckled for most of the flight.  Aimed at the CHICKS. 

4. Shoe Money by Maggie Alderson, is another compilation of Maggie’s.  I also bought this one at an airport and I can’t remember if Handbag Heaven or Shoe Money was first, but they are both great.  A bit of light hearted reading that can be dipped into wherever, whenever.  Aimed at the CHICKS. 

 

  5.  I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron is the first book of this kind that I read.  I became aware of Norah Ephron through her films and was so excited to find this book among the shelves at a local Borders (book) store.  I love how this book makes me feel like I’m reading letters from a best friend, rather than essays from a stranger.  It is easy going and funny with a touch of reality. Definitely aimed at CHICKS but I think it could be enjoyed by anyone. 

6.  Scribble Scribble Notes on the Media by Nora Ephron was first published in 1978 and is now available in a combined volume with Crazy Salad (see below).  This one is for BLOKES and CHICKS.

  

7.  Crazy Salad Some things about Women by Nora Ephron is difficult to purchase as a single volume.  This one is a collection of articles that Nora wrote during the 1970’s and is an interesting read about the feminist movement.  Written for both BLOKES and CHICKS.

 

8.  Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes also has the lovely, ‘letter from your bestie” mood, which makes for an easy read and quite a bit of stifled giggling.  It is noteworthy that I also bought this one at an airport. 

9.  Further Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes is another compilation but includes articles and essays about beauty, fashion, family and life in general.  As a special treat for the fiction fans, Marian has included all 9 of her short stories written mostly at the beginning of her writing career. 

   10. The Tales of Beedle the Bard  by JK Rowling.  No reading list would be complete without something from the World of Harry Potter. 

Happy Reading! :D

Short Story Shuffle

I love Short Stories.  I love Compilations of short stories.  I love observational essays and feature articles and I love Compilations of essays and feature articles.  Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love Nora Ephron.  I was quite sad when I heard she had passed away earlier this year, never to observe again.  I enjoy reading compilations and I have quite a few of them on my bookshelves. 

Compiled features, articles, stories, poems etc. are wonderful.  

"When the going gets tough, the Compilations get got."  

The beauty of a compilation lies in the immediacy, rapidity and simplicity.  You can pick up one book and have humour, drama, fact, fiction, thrill and escape.  When you read a short story (or feature article), you can usually do it in single sitting.  Our school library calls them "rapid reads" and they are often checked out by our reluctant readers.  When life is so busy/ crazy reading is a must for me (you know the need to escape), but it is almost impossible (the pesky need to be present by the hospital bed or at the desk).  Novel reading (and worse, educational reading) requires remembering.  Novels (well, good ones) create a world in your head and entice you to live there for a while; to make friends with the characters and become involved in the plot.  Short stories can do this too, but they don't do it for as long.  When life is making me crazy and I want to escape, but know that I shouldn't, I go to the compilation shelf.  

Compilations are not too taxing.  Short Stories allow their readers to escape, but just for a little while.  Feature Articles are interesting and easy to relate to without being heavier than a newspaper.  The world feels a little smaller when you read a feature and you realise that people are people and you are not alone.  Can you see why I would head towards the compilations when things are rough?  It is the ease. 

I have a medical condition which sometimes makes it difficult for me to concentrate.  My dad was recently in hospital; lots of waiting interrupted, often, by doctors, nurses, physios and visitors.  It is next to impossible to get into anything requiring thought. So, a compilation is great.  You can dip into it quickly and easily, wherever and whenever.  Interruptions are not such a big deal and you still get to escape albeit for a short time.  

 

Can you see it now?  

The three compilation books I headed for in the last three weeks were, Pieces for the Left Hand by J. Robert Lennon, Shoe Money by Maggie Alderson and Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes.  

 

Drop by tomorrow for 10 things Tuesday when I will give you a list of 10 compilation books that are “must haves” for the reading rough patch. 

Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

J