Last Program!
Between the summer activities, and me missing so many of these programs this year, it just seems like the summer has flown by. Unreal that it's the last program already.
Two Bobbies
Kirby Larson & Mary Nethery, illustrated by Jean Cassels
ISBN: 9780802797544
Vaguely sepia-toned illustrations are gritty and lifelike, often with a distancing view.
Another true story, this time about a pair of bob-tailed friends (one cat and one dog) who were left behind in the evacuation of post-Katrina flooded New Orleans. The story takes a biographical tone, and covers the pair from the hypothetical conjecture (their life before, their journeys before they were rescued) to their rescue, rehabilitation, move to a Utah rescue facility, and their re-homing with a dedicated lady who learned about them via a television broadcast. A twist halfway through made some of the kids actually gasp when I read it, which I think is a first for me.
Next up we did Bertie Was a Watchdog again, because I might never again get the chance to bark for 45 seconds straight inside a library without getting hospitalized.
The Hermit Crab
Carter Goodrich
ISBN: 9781416938927
A shy hermit crab finds a strange shell, and unwittingly becomes a community hero.
This is an odd but cute little story. Our hero is so shy and retiring that he doesn't even participate in community events, but prefers to watch them quietly and contentedly from the sidelines. One day, he discovers a strange segmented "shell" (the top half of a superhero figure) that he loves, so he puts it on immediately. Unknown to him, while he was happily re-shelling, a lobster-trap has descended from the surface and trapped the flounder. He returns after the rest of the community retreats in terror, and they watch in awe as this heroic figure wanders around the terrifying trap for a few scant moments before banishing it back to the surface, with the flounder safely left behind. The resulting parade and accolades scares the hermit so much that he hides deep inside the new shell, and escapes as soon as possible. Really cute, and an interesting complement to another story I read recently: Robert Venditti's newest juvenile fiction / graphic novel crossover Miles Taylor and The Golden Cape.
And that's all she wrote for Heroes this year - we are DONE. We'll be back next year with the next batch of books on whatever topic comes around next.
Showing posts with label Arthur Robins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arthur Robins. Show all posts
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Tuesday Storytime, Summer Reading: Animal Heroes
This was our last program, and I finally got to be the one to give it! YAY!
After this, we're back into the random free-association themes that I come up with on my own.
Hero Cat
Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Jo Ellen McAllister Stammen
ISBN: 9780761452232
Mama Cat saves her five kittens from a burning building - true story!
A fictionalized story of a Mama Cat who nested down in an abandoned city building to have her kittens, and when she finds the building on fire, runs into it 5 times (burning herself badly in the process) to save each of her kittens. The last page has a quick info page with a picture of Hero Cat and her babies.
Bertie Was a Watchdog
Rick Walton, illustrated by Arthur Robins
ISBN: 0763613851
Bertie the tiny dog uses brains, not brawn, to trick a burglar into betraying himself.
Bertie was a watchdog, not because he was big or scary or fierce, but because he was the SIZE of a watch. As in tiny. Really tiny. So when a burglar comes by, he nearly dies laughing at this little dog. But Bertie challenges the burglar to a series of contests, and the burglar keeps winning. Could it be that Bertie wants to lose? I normally don't like illustrations that are loose and chaotic and wildly colored, but this book is perfect for it, and I love it. As a performance note, it does require the reader to bark for a good long while (which the kids are super thrilled about).
Francis the Scaredy Cat
Ed Boxall
ISBN: 0763617679
Francis is scared of the dark, and of the monster in the tree, but he's got to go look for his missing friend, right?
I think this is the sweetest, most understated story I tell. Francis is a big orange cat who has a lovely human friend named Ben, and a big secret: he's afraid of the dark, and of the monster that lives in the scary tree outside. One stormy night Ben is late, and Francis braves the dark and the tree and the monster to find and rescue him. Of course, the monster turns out to be a new friend, and Ben was never lost at all, but still - I love to read to kids how scared Francis is, and how being brave doesn't mean being unafraid. The subtext of being afraid of the unknown is handled very nicely also, with the dark scary stranger turning out to be a sweet black cat who helps Francis.
After this, we're back into the random free-association themes that I come up with on my own.
Hero Cat
Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Jo Ellen McAllister Stammen
ISBN: 9780761452232
Mama Cat saves her five kittens from a burning building - true story!
A fictionalized story of a Mama Cat who nested down in an abandoned city building to have her kittens, and when she finds the building on fire, runs into it 5 times (burning herself badly in the process) to save each of her kittens. The last page has a quick info page with a picture of Hero Cat and her babies.
Bertie Was a Watchdog
Rick Walton, illustrated by Arthur Robins
ISBN: 0763613851
Bertie the tiny dog uses brains, not brawn, to trick a burglar into betraying himself.
Bertie was a watchdog, not because he was big or scary or fierce, but because he was the SIZE of a watch. As in tiny. Really tiny. So when a burglar comes by, he nearly dies laughing at this little dog. But Bertie challenges the burglar to a series of contests, and the burglar keeps winning. Could it be that Bertie wants to lose? I normally don't like illustrations that are loose and chaotic and wildly colored, but this book is perfect for it, and I love it. As a performance note, it does require the reader to bark for a good long while (which the kids are super thrilled about).
Francis the Scaredy Cat
Ed Boxall
ISBN: 0763617679
Francis is scared of the dark, and of the monster in the tree, but he's got to go look for his missing friend, right?
I think this is the sweetest, most understated story I tell. Francis is a big orange cat who has a lovely human friend named Ben, and a big secret: he's afraid of the dark, and of the monster that lives in the scary tree outside. One stormy night Ben is late, and Francis braves the dark and the tree and the monster to find and rescue him. Of course, the monster turns out to be a new friend, and Ben was never lost at all, but still - I love to read to kids how scared Francis is, and how being brave doesn't mean being unafraid. The subtext of being afraid of the unknown is handled very nicely also, with the dark scary stranger turning out to be a sweet black cat who helps Francis.
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