The Man Who Touched His Own Heart
Rob Dunn
ISBN: 9780316225793
Nonfiction: microhistory of heart medicine and human knowledge of the heart.
Very interesting, very thought-provoking, especially when thinking about all those years in the past that elapsed between the individuals who progressed knowledge about the heart, and when thinking about all the strange and wonderful things that we don't even know yet because we haven't even studied them!
Books like these make me wish I were a scientist instead of a librarian, but I don't have the personality or the mind for it. Instead, I'll simply encourage others to read and be inspired as well.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Tuesday Storytime: Dogs
Can't have one without the other, right?
A trio of entirely new-to-storytime books, and I enjoyed them all, and so did the kids. I think the parents might have thought that 1 and 3 were a little on the heavy side, but oh well - life isn't always sunshine and roses, and I like to have a good mash up of reality whenever I can.
Mogie: the heart of the house
Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal
ISBN: 9781442480544
Fictionalized Bio: Mogie is a therapy dog at the Houston Ronald McDonald House, and works with children there.
I like that the story is upbeat and focuses on the kids and the dogs, rather than the illnesses or the parents or the place. Mogie and the kids he helps are described in upbeat action verbs, and illnesses are presented as something temporary (so, perhaps not so good for inspiring kids with terminal diagnoses) and Mogie is the force that helps the kids recover by helping them be emotionally whole again (described in kid terms as "mojo" and "cha-cha-cha" along with a lot of description. Very nice rendition of a service/therapy dog to counter all the pet stories out there.
Dogs
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416987031
A parade of contrasting dogs; big & little, hairy & bald, sloppy and chic.
Short, sweet, precious, beautifully illustrated, and the stinger at the end is simply perfect.
Don't Lick the Dog: making friends with dogs
Wendy Wahman
ISBN: 9780805087338
Pop-art bright colors, lots of jagged thick black edges and splotches, and generally jarring, electrifying artwork punctuates a set of instructions on safe dog-human interactions.
I think a good few of the parents were giving me side-eye when I read this book, but I'm not sorry. Someone has to teach kids good manners with strange dogs, and do it in a way that interests them, and doesn't frighten them or confuse them. This book is perfect. The art is arresting and forceful, and the pictures are very clear on what to do and how to act in multiple situations where people and dogs are interacting. Very very good book, and I'll probably use it again in a safety or good manners storytime.
A trio of entirely new-to-storytime books, and I enjoyed them all, and so did the kids. I think the parents might have thought that 1 and 3 were a little on the heavy side, but oh well - life isn't always sunshine and roses, and I like to have a good mash up of reality whenever I can.
Mogie: the heart of the house
Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal
ISBN: 9781442480544
Fictionalized Bio: Mogie is a therapy dog at the Houston Ronald McDonald House, and works with children there.
I like that the story is upbeat and focuses on the kids and the dogs, rather than the illnesses or the parents or the place. Mogie and the kids he helps are described in upbeat action verbs, and illnesses are presented as something temporary (so, perhaps not so good for inspiring kids with terminal diagnoses) and Mogie is the force that helps the kids recover by helping them be emotionally whole again (described in kid terms as "mojo" and "cha-cha-cha" along with a lot of description. Very nice rendition of a service/therapy dog to counter all the pet stories out there.
Dogs
Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781416987031
A parade of contrasting dogs; big & little, hairy & bald, sloppy and chic.
Short, sweet, precious, beautifully illustrated, and the stinger at the end is simply perfect.
Don't Lick the Dog: making friends with dogs
Wendy Wahman
ISBN: 9780805087338
Pop-art bright colors, lots of jagged thick black edges and splotches, and generally jarring, electrifying artwork punctuates a set of instructions on safe dog-human interactions.
I think a good few of the parents were giving me side-eye when I read this book, but I'm not sorry. Someone has to teach kids good manners with strange dogs, and do it in a way that interests them, and doesn't frighten them or confuse them. This book is perfect. The art is arresting and forceful, and the pictures are very clear on what to do and how to act in multiple situations where people and dogs are interacting. Very very good book, and I'll probably use it again in a safety or good manners storytime.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Tuesday Storytime: Cats
A sweet trio of cat stories today.
Little Spotted Cat
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
ISBN: 0803726929
Soft-edged watercolors and a big-headed kitten - think a sedate Skippyjon.
"It's time for your nap, you Little Spotted Cat" says Mama Cat, but kitten has other plans, and creates chaos (as kittens are wont to do) through the yard before Mama finally physically intervenes and forces a general cleaning up of messes before naptime is enforced. Sweet, repetitive, and adorable illustrations.
Have You Seen my Cat?
Eric Carle
ISBN: 22960000748425
Eric Carle's illustration style isn't amazingly served by this slight travelogue, but the cats are fun.
A boy goes through the world and asks various people (of various cultures, somewhat stereotypically presented) if they have seen his cat, and all respond with a cat of their geographical area. We start with a bang with a lion in a zoo, then wander through bobcats and mountain lions and florida jaguars before crossing the ocean and getting into the serious wild-cats of the world, then end up with a persian on a blue rug before finally getting home to a collage of multi-colored house-cats. I think the ending would have been better served by having a single individual cat as the finale, but even so, it's a fun short romp through cat varieties.
Cat Secrets
Jef Czekaj
ISBN: 22960000417930
A trio of computer-graphic-style cats questions whether the readers are cats, worthy of reading their Secret book.
I don't do interactive books very often, because this age-group is a little young for the concept to really work well. The parents enjoy them immensely, so I do throw one in if I think the other qualities of the book can carry it for the little ones. This one fits the bill perfectly. The illustrations are punchy and the expressions are clear. In addition to breaking the fourth wall, the book also asks for audience participation, so the kids can meow, purr, and stretch like cats, even if they don't quite understand why. The sub-story (unmentioned by the dialogue) with the mouse is adorable, easy to point out and follow, and has a lovely payoff at the end. I would love to do this with a group of kindies or 1st graders, but parents will have to do.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Nonfiction: ASAPScience, by Mitchell Moffit & Greg Brown
ASAPScience: Answers to the World's Weirdest Questions, Most Persistent Rumors, & Unexplained Phenomena
Mitchell Moffit & Greg Brown
ISBN: 9781476756219
Read March 16, 2015
I haven't been reading much lately - between being busy at work and home, and sick as a dog the last two weeks, I've been doing good to put one foot in front of the other. However, I'm feeling better now and what better way to dip my toes back into the lovely world of reading than with a great little book of random science facts.
Sadly, I just read What If. Darnit. If I hadn't, this would have been excellent, but as it is, the answers to the questions were glossy and surface, and don't actually go into the furthest reaches of science and research and related facts of the questions at hand. Which was frustrating for me.
On the one hand, they include several questions that in my opinion they ought to have just left out, or admitted up front are unanswerable because of how they are set up, like "The Chicken or the Egg" which is a question of definitions, or "Which hurts more, childbirth, or being kicked in the nads?" which deals with individual pain tolerances and the differences between sharp instant localized pain and long-term systemic pain - and is therefore unanswerable.
On the other hand, they also have fun questions like "What is brain-freeze" and answer the question without talking about how to fix it (recently studied; firmly press a warm washcloth (or your tongue in a pinch) to the roof of your mouth to force the nerves and blood vessels to re-acclimate to the correct temperature) or "Is binge-watching TV bad for you" by dealing entirely with the physical ramifications of being sedentary and indoors, without addressing the very real social and psychological implications of obsessive or anti-social behavior, both of which have been in the news recently.
That said, several questions are very interesting, and are handled more fully. I enjoyed learning more about the 5-second rule (real deal - anywhere from less than 1 second to more than 20 seconds depending on the surface and how wet the food is), about the disconnect between mirrors and photos of yourself (the key is in the "mirror-image" - and if you tell your phone to reverse the image, you can freak out your friends instead of yourself), and the freaky connection between smells and the potential for a real zombie uprising (nerve connections are weird, y'all.)
Overall, quite fun. For more in-depth treatments, I'd go for What If, but for more mundane curiosity, this book was a fun surface romp through science trivia.
Mitchell Moffit & Greg Brown
ISBN: 9781476756219
Read March 16, 2015
I haven't been reading much lately - between being busy at work and home, and sick as a dog the last two weeks, I've been doing good to put one foot in front of the other. However, I'm feeling better now and what better way to dip my toes back into the lovely world of reading than with a great little book of random science facts.
Sadly, I just read What If. Darnit. If I hadn't, this would have been excellent, but as it is, the answers to the questions were glossy and surface, and don't actually go into the furthest reaches of science and research and related facts of the questions at hand. Which was frustrating for me.
On the one hand, they include several questions that in my opinion they ought to have just left out, or admitted up front are unanswerable because of how they are set up, like "The Chicken or the Egg" which is a question of definitions, or "Which hurts more, childbirth, or being kicked in the nads?" which deals with individual pain tolerances and the differences between sharp instant localized pain and long-term systemic pain - and is therefore unanswerable.
On the other hand, they also have fun questions like "What is brain-freeze" and answer the question without talking about how to fix it (recently studied; firmly press a warm washcloth (or your tongue in a pinch) to the roof of your mouth to force the nerves and blood vessels to re-acclimate to the correct temperature) or "Is binge-watching TV bad for you" by dealing entirely with the physical ramifications of being sedentary and indoors, without addressing the very real social and psychological implications of obsessive or anti-social behavior, both of which have been in the news recently.
That said, several questions are very interesting, and are handled more fully. I enjoyed learning more about the 5-second rule (real deal - anywhere from less than 1 second to more than 20 seconds depending on the surface and how wet the food is), about the disconnect between mirrors and photos of yourself (the key is in the "mirror-image" - and if you tell your phone to reverse the image, you can freak out your friends instead of yourself), and the freaky connection between smells and the potential for a real zombie uprising (nerve connections are weird, y'all.)
Overall, quite fun. For more in-depth treatments, I'd go for What If, but for more mundane curiosity, this book was a fun surface romp through science trivia.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Storytelling: O'Sullivan Stew, by Hudson Talbott
I found this while searching for good St Paddy's Day books for storytime, and while it's way too long and convoluted for that use, I really enjoyed the story, and I liked that it was a newer book, and a more modern attempt to create a mythological-style Irish tall-tale. Also, the illustrations are fantastic!
O'Sullivan Stew
Hudson Talbott
ISBN: 0399231625
The King's men are stealing a beautiful stallion from the witch who lives on the beach, and Kate rushes into the village to get help for her, but the people demur, unwilling to face the King's wrath for a mere witch. This proves to be a mistake, as an angry and rejected witch causes misery after misery for the villagers, until Kate rallies her family to steal the horse back from the King, to give to the witch, to hopefully uncurse the village. Got it so far?
Sadly, Kate's family are terrible at horse theft, and they are summarily dragged before the King, who orders their execution, but Kate has been given the gift of blarney, and she's determined that her family will live. But will the yarns she spins out convince a skeptical King?
I have to say, that without the grand illustrations to carry the story, this wouldn't be nearly as fun and imaginative as it is. But with them, man oh man, this is a fun read. Kate is spunky and fun, the witch is justifiably angry at the stupid thoughtless villagers, and the King is increasingly incredulous at this loquacious upstart preventing him from dispensing justice. Everything of course ends well, and there is even an indication that Kate's blarney might actually be based on fact!
O'Sullivan Stew
Hudson Talbott
ISBN: 0399231625
The King's men are stealing a beautiful stallion from the witch who lives on the beach, and Kate rushes into the village to get help for her, but the people demur, unwilling to face the King's wrath for a mere witch. This proves to be a mistake, as an angry and rejected witch causes misery after misery for the villagers, until Kate rallies her family to steal the horse back from the King, to give to the witch, to hopefully uncurse the village. Got it so far?
Sadly, Kate's family are terrible at horse theft, and they are summarily dragged before the King, who orders their execution, but Kate has been given the gift of blarney, and she's determined that her family will live. But will the yarns she spins out convince a skeptical King?
I have to say, that without the grand illustrations to carry the story, this wouldn't be nearly as fun and imaginative as it is. But with them, man oh man, this is a fun read. Kate is spunky and fun, the witch is justifiably angry at the stupid thoughtless villagers, and the King is increasingly incredulous at this loquacious upstart preventing him from dispensing justice. Everything of course ends well, and there is even an indication that Kate's blarney might actually be based on fact!
Tuesday Storytime: St. Patrick's Day
It's been a while since I've posted: house-selling and flu and actual paid work all piled up on me. I even missed last week's Storytime: I didn't have a voice to give it with!
Back for a Holiday Storytime this week. I like the non-major holidays because I can do storytimes for them without feeling like I'm preaching (Christmas, Easter) or all the local teachers snatch up the few good books (Thanksgiving, Fourth of July).
St. Patrick's Day
Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
ISBN: 9780060501976
A colored-pencil class of diverse kids present a variety of St. Patrick's Day activities in school.
I've used this in years past, and it remains my favorite St. Patrick's Day book - it's a perfect age-appropriate introduction to the idea, it's set in an American public school (albeit with an idealized racial class mix, and an unrealistic class size) and covers the basics with tact and generalities. St. Patrick is "a shephard. He didn't fight with anyone.... He went back to Ireland to teach people to be kind to each other." Another group does a skit showing Patrick driving the snakes out, and a third gives everyone a shamrock in a cup, with no mention of theology. The holiday is presented as being a celebration of the Irish, accessible and open to anyone, which is reinforced when our viewpoint character (a first-generation Irish immigrant) visits his friend Pablo's home for an after-school St. Patrick's Day treat.
Holiday Symbols: St. Patrick's Day Shamrocks
Mary Berendes, photo credits by various
ISBN: 1567666434
Nonfiction: an overview of shamrocks, what they are, how they are connected to St. Patrick and to Ireland.
We read a VERY short version of this book, reading only from the start of the text on page 7, skipping immediately to page 17 and 18, then skipping again to page 27 and finishing the book from there. Each spread has a page of very large text and a full-page photo facing it, and each page is a "chapter" in and of itself. The pages we read cut out all of the natural science of what a shamrock is, and cuts out St. Patrick's actual history. With the excisions, it made a perfect length "middle book" for my active toddlers.
I wasn't sure whether we'd have older or younger kids today, so I picked two options for our last book. Either would have been good, but we had a slightly younger and slightly more wiggly crowd today, so I went with the shorter of the two:
My Lucky Day
Keiko Kasza (A Mother for Choco)
ISBN: 0399238743
Anthropomorphic pig and fox subvert a tale of a fox attempting to get a roast pork dinner.
This is a cute tale that handily subverts the "big bad wolf" stereotype story. A fox is getting ready to hunt his dinner when a filthy, hungry, sore piglet arrives on his doorstep. This must be the fox's "lucky day," right? Well, not so fast. No one wants to eat dirty food, so the pig needs a bath, and he is a little puny, so he needs to be fattened up, and he is all stiff and sore, so he needs a massage to tenderize the meat - except the poor fox is all tuckered out, and Mr Pig, clean, fed, and massaged heads home after a very lucky day.
My alternate for an older or quieter group would have been:
Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato
Tomie DePaola
ISBN: 039922257X
DePaola's signature colorful sketchy style enlivens this tale of an Irish lazybones and his quest to avoid gardening.
Bonus points for a St. Patrick's Day storytime for actually including a leprechaun and being set in Ireland, but it was just too long and involved for the remains of our attention span today.
Back for a Holiday Storytime this week. I like the non-major holidays because I can do storytimes for them without feeling like I'm preaching (Christmas, Easter) or all the local teachers snatch up the few good books (Thanksgiving, Fourth of July).
St. Patrick's Day
Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
ISBN: 9780060501976
A colored-pencil class of diverse kids present a variety of St. Patrick's Day activities in school.
I've used this in years past, and it remains my favorite St. Patrick's Day book - it's a perfect age-appropriate introduction to the idea, it's set in an American public school (albeit with an idealized racial class mix, and an unrealistic class size) and covers the basics with tact and generalities. St. Patrick is "a shephard. He didn't fight with anyone.... He went back to Ireland to teach people to be kind to each other." Another group does a skit showing Patrick driving the snakes out, and a third gives everyone a shamrock in a cup, with no mention of theology. The holiday is presented as being a celebration of the Irish, accessible and open to anyone, which is reinforced when our viewpoint character (a first-generation Irish immigrant) visits his friend Pablo's home for an after-school St. Patrick's Day treat.
Holiday Symbols: St. Patrick's Day Shamrocks
Mary Berendes, photo credits by various
ISBN: 1567666434
Nonfiction: an overview of shamrocks, what they are, how they are connected to St. Patrick and to Ireland.
We read a VERY short version of this book, reading only from the start of the text on page 7, skipping immediately to page 17 and 18, then skipping again to page 27 and finishing the book from there. Each spread has a page of very large text and a full-page photo facing it, and each page is a "chapter" in and of itself. The pages we read cut out all of the natural science of what a shamrock is, and cuts out St. Patrick's actual history. With the excisions, it made a perfect length "middle book" for my active toddlers.
I wasn't sure whether we'd have older or younger kids today, so I picked two options for our last book. Either would have been good, but we had a slightly younger and slightly more wiggly crowd today, so I went with the shorter of the two:
My Lucky Day
Keiko Kasza (A Mother for Choco)
ISBN: 0399238743
Anthropomorphic pig and fox subvert a tale of a fox attempting to get a roast pork dinner.
This is a cute tale that handily subverts the "big bad wolf" stereotype story. A fox is getting ready to hunt his dinner when a filthy, hungry, sore piglet arrives on his doorstep. This must be the fox's "lucky day," right? Well, not so fast. No one wants to eat dirty food, so the pig needs a bath, and he is a little puny, so he needs to be fattened up, and he is all stiff and sore, so he needs a massage to tenderize the meat - except the poor fox is all tuckered out, and Mr Pig, clean, fed, and massaged heads home after a very lucky day.
My alternate for an older or quieter group would have been:
Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato
Tomie DePaola
ISBN: 039922257X
DePaola's signature colorful sketchy style enlivens this tale of an Irish lazybones and his quest to avoid gardening.
Bonus points for a St. Patrick's Day storytime for actually including a leprechaun and being set in Ireland, but it was just too long and involved for the remains of our attention span today.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Tuesday Storytime: Almost-Fairy-Tales
These are fairy-tale-ish stories that I've enjoyed, but aren't as long or complicated as actual fairy tales, nor as short and simplistic as nursery rhymes. Halfway between.
Knick Knack Paddy Whack
SteveSongs, illustrated by Christiane Engel
ISBN: 9781846861444
Lively collage village full of people and activity.
This doesn't keep to the original rhyme, and the last stanza is horribly out of meter, but regardless, it's cute and fun, and a good simple introduction to this sort of nursery-rhyme song. And yes, I do sing. Badly today, as I'm suffering a bit of a cold, but it was sung.
The Wee Little Woman
Byron Barton
ISBN: 0060233877
Blocky shapes, thick black outlines, and bright primary colors identify this as a Barton book.
I love the simple message of this story - words have power. A wee little woman has gone and gotten milk from her wee little cow (I'm eliding the many wee little implements and steps this process takes) but her wee little cat snitches the milk that she left on the table. She yells, he flees, and they're both sad until he returns to find her waiting with a bowl of milk just for him. Perfect narrative structure, perfect amount of conflict and peril (kitty looks very sad in a black page full of stars), and perfect simple reconciliation.
Big Bad Wolf
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Melissa Iwai
ISBN: 0439282438
Die-cut holes reveal aspects of the "Big Bad Wolf" who really isn't so bad in person.
The villagers live in fear of the big bad wolf, but he's really a sweet dad wolf who works and plays in the woods all day, then goes home for dinner with his cubs and then transforms into a super-scary wolf to chase them all into bed and give them kisses. Adorable, and a nice short big-bad-wolf story. (Another excellent one is Wolf's Coming (Joe Kulka, ISBN: 9781575059303), which is a LOT more ominous in tone - I've actually made kids cry with that one.)
Knick Knack Paddy Whack
SteveSongs, illustrated by Christiane Engel
ISBN: 9781846861444
Lively collage village full of people and activity.
This doesn't keep to the original rhyme, and the last stanza is horribly out of meter, but regardless, it's cute and fun, and a good simple introduction to this sort of nursery-rhyme song. And yes, I do sing. Badly today, as I'm suffering a bit of a cold, but it was sung.
The Wee Little Woman
Byron Barton
ISBN: 0060233877
Blocky shapes, thick black outlines, and bright primary colors identify this as a Barton book.
I love the simple message of this story - words have power. A wee little woman has gone and gotten milk from her wee little cow (I'm eliding the many wee little implements and steps this process takes) but her wee little cat snitches the milk that she left on the table. She yells, he flees, and they're both sad until he returns to find her waiting with a bowl of milk just for him. Perfect narrative structure, perfect amount of conflict and peril (kitty looks very sad in a black page full of stars), and perfect simple reconciliation.
Big Bad Wolf
Claire Masurel, illustrated by Melissa Iwai
ISBN: 0439282438
Die-cut holes reveal aspects of the "Big Bad Wolf" who really isn't so bad in person.
The villagers live in fear of the big bad wolf, but he's really a sweet dad wolf who works and plays in the woods all day, then goes home for dinner with his cubs and then transforms into a super-scary wolf to chase them all into bed and give them kisses. Adorable, and a nice short big-bad-wolf story. (Another excellent one is Wolf's Coming (Joe Kulka, ISBN: 9781575059303), which is a LOT more ominous in tone - I've actually made kids cry with that one.)
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