How to Draw a Penguin

So it won't let me embed it. Or if it would I have not figured out how. Drat. But this little drawing lesson by Oliver Jeffers is adorable.

Not book or tech tool related. Just thought it was pretty good and from a fairly unexpected source.

Things I've Been Hearing About

that you will hopefully see more of on this blog.

ScoopIt
Popplet (actually, I knew about that one and started one back in the spring ... but I need to really play with it and actually FINISH something for the kids)
Symbaloo (same there)
JotForm
Present.me
Screenr
Visualize.me
Tag Galaxy
Nota


And I never posted a link to my tech camp presentation on different picture/photo editors. Here it is. Classes seemed to like it!

Books I've Been Reading--Picture and Middle Grade

The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Lovely, lovely, lovely writing. I loved the writing in this book. So many beautiful descriptions or funny turns of phrase.

Here's one example. But it's just one and not even necessarily my favorite. "Of course, carousels are completely for infants, but if you had discovered one unexpectedly and you didn't have to pay for a ticket, you would have ridden it too, you know you would." (p138)

Was not as big a fan of where the plot took us but that is just me. Highly recommended.


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The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This will be a fun one to introduce to the kids next year. The illustrations add just the right dash of fun to the already hilarious story. This is one of those ones that is enjoyable on two levels. The target audience for this one (first and second grade) will love that this is a CHAPTER book they can read. They will love the characters and the pictures. What they may not recognize, however, was the skill with which the voice of this story (JJ) was written. Total noir detective. Fun for the grownups reading the story, too!


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A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home by Henry Cole

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Love the illustrations. Love the tie-in to history (Audubon ... only wish he'd made different choices about sketching live animals!) Love the animal characters (I think Lafayette might be my favorite). AND I think kids will actually like this one. That is not always true of "buzzed about" books.

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Julia Gillian And The Dream Of The Dog by Alison McGhee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An easy read in terms of reading level (it might be 327 pages, but the layout is double spaced so it goes very quickly) but not as much in terms of content.

Julia loves her dog Bigfoot. But Bigfoot is getting old. You can guess what happens. But that's good. It wouldn't hurt so badly if there hadn't been so much love to begin with.

Loved the whole "controlling for variables" bit. May have to try that for my own organizational mishaps. :/

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The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I do like her books. They are very quiet books ... but that's the charm. Share with one or two little ones as you cuddle. This one was about a snow day for a little kindergarten rabbit. They feel a little cooped up all day until it finally stops snowing just before bedtime. Love the ending. They can play outside in the snow again tomorrow when daddy gets home.

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Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was cute ... and a change from many alphabet books in that the letters actually did string together sentence fragments that told a story about a little dog who really, really, really loved apple pie.

Super cute. Not necessarily a have to but a like to.

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The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


FINALLY got around to this one. Loved the art direction and how the book started out in black and white but as the story progressed more color was added to the layouts. It's just one of those quirky stories that kids (oh, let's be fair ... all of us!) find fascinating.

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The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


OOOH! Super good ... if you're OK with this one being a little more intense than the others.

Lots of action and world almost ending. SERIOUS CLIFFHANGER. Can't wait for number four. Will have to think ... I know kids liked to check out one and two just for the skeleton on the cover. Do I get this one as well? SLJ says grades 5-8. Here's another one. Need to keep the collection relevant to the older students. But boy howdy IT NEVER FAILS that the third graders will try to check them out every single time.

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How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Fascinating. Our GT teacher heard about this book on NPR and told me about it. I was on the hold list at the library for almost three months!

It might have been a five star but the author did use a sort of sarcastic tone that several times actually interfered with getting the information across.

That said ... in a morbid sort of way this is just super interesting. I think I might have to get it for our school collection. All these famous people. Some of them I'd had an idea ... but I learned something from each entry.

Grateful for modern medicine!

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Square Cat by Elizabeth Schoonmaker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I liked this one. It's OK to be different ... a square cat in a round world.

And I don't even like cats.

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Spellbinder by Helen Stringer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OOOH. I liked this one. A great story with just the right spooky touches.

And superb writing.

First lines ... "It was Wednesday. The day of the week when it feels like Friday will never arrive. And it was cold. Not cold enough for snow, but that autumn cold--bright and bitter, the wind sharp with the promise of winter. It was no day to be outside. It was a day to be inside, curled up on the couch with a steaming mug of hot chocolate."

(Ironic to be reading that on a day where it's already 90 degrees plus outside.)

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except if by Jim Averbeck

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yay! Two picture book successes today (the last couple of days have been hit and miss :X).

Great for sequencing or predicting as a model text. Or Just For Fun.

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Books I've Been Reading--more YA

A Zombie's Guide To The Human Body by Tom Becker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Five stars for gross out zombie pic/factoid factor. Three to four stars for non-fic explanations of the parts and systems of the human body.





Won't get this for the elementary school but if I was a middle or high school I'd think about it just for the kitsch factor. Design really is ... too good. Ugh.



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Alabama Moon by Watt Key

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One day I'm going to actually start keeping track of where I hear about books. Looks like I added this one to my TBR pile in August of 09.



Didn't remember much about it so it was NOT what I expected.





Sort of like a more modern My Side of the Mountain? Sort of.





Moon's always lived outside, in the wild, with his daddy ... who was always ranting about the government. Then (this happens fairly soon in so I don't feel like it's a spoiler) his daddy dies. LOTS happens to Moon. That's where the whole story comes in. All the different people he meets ... some of them happy to be his friend and some of them madder than a hornet at him.



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Virals by Kathy Reichs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Well. This one ... it certainly moves along. I do like this author and the character Temperance Brennan, so reading about her "niece" was certainly a natural progression.



Things I Liked

1)Lots of science.

2)The interaction between the characters. Hi and Shelton and Ben and Tory.

3)The setting.





Things I Think Could Have Been Done Better

1)The whole "flashing" thing. I mean, I can suspend disbelief. I can. But this one didn't always convince me I wanted to.

2)Another reviewer mentioned this and I agree. This storyline was all over the place. Revise. Concentrate on what's important. Some details (this was part of the story, actually) do not make the lie more believable. They just make it obvious it was a lie.



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The Creek by Jennifer L. Holm

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Well. Pretty much hated this one and not even sure why I finished it. I like spooky mysteries but the characters just didn't ... fit.





Half the time you don't even know if the main character is in her right mind or not. And she's only thirteen.



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This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Well. Pretty much hated this one. It was seriously depressing. Blah. Liked the first one. And the second. But now I feel like they were a waste of time I disliked this one so. :[


Combining the characters from the first two books seemed forced. Who on earth was Syl and what purpose did she serve?

Lame.



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Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Can definitely tell why MJ is such a popular YA author. Fun characters. Interesting setting with the whole idea of a small, family run hotel. Actually made me want to visit New York and I avoid big cities like the plague.

Curious as to whether or not who Mrs. Amberson is is discussed in Book Two. Not that that is a huge thing but really. Mysterious.

Maybe even a three and a half. Some drama but none of it was ... what's the word I want. Lurid? Just a fairly normal family going through fairly normal stuff. Which you can find in YA, definitely. It's just not as OUT THERE as the paranormal stuff.



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ALALeftBehind and ISTELeftBehind

Yep. This year that's me. I did get to go to ALA last year. And I went to NECC (at the time) when it was here. And I'm HOPING to get to go to my state tech in ed conference next year (still waiting to hear if my presentation was accepted).

So ... today I am watching a few things that are streaming online. I will just catch up on all the #bookaday things I've been reading for now. Later!

J is for ...

Steve Jenkins. I love his collage style artwork. Love, love, love. He and his wife do a lot of work together. Most of his can be read on two levels ... through the book the text is more simple. Then at the end there is a wealth of information in the last couple of pages. My favorite might be Actual Size. Or maybe I See a Kookaburra. This is one he did with Mem Fox.



Syrie James. Loved the Jane Austen book. Loved the quotes and in this particular case loved the fictionalized tie ins of her life to her stories. Not as fond of Dracula. Still need to read the Bronte one.




Maureen Johnson. Loved 13 Little Blue Envelopes. We have some differences of opinion on a couple of things but agree on a lot. Her Twitter feed makes me laugh. I wonder how she manages to post so much and still have a life.