Five days of Seasonal and Holiday book giveaways - Day One

In many states in the U.S. and in many countries in Europe snow has been falling for days. Roads have gone unplowed, schools have closed, people have not been able to go to work, and errands have gone undone. Though many adults have no doubt been annoyed by this state of affairs, many children have been delighted by all the snow days they are having.

For this first day of the five days of seasonal and holiday book giveaways, I have a title about one person's hopes that tomorrow will indeed be a snow day. If you would like to enter this giveaway, send me an email with your name and snail mail address. Good luck!

Snow Day!

Lester L. Laminack

Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Picture Book

Ages 5 to 7

Peachtree Publishers, 2007, 1-56145-418-4

   They have heard the weatherman mention that there might be snow in the forecast. Snow! Of course they want snow. Lots of it so that the school buses won’t be able to move, and so that the teachers won’t be able to get to work. They want a snow day.

   They want a day with no alarms going off. They want a day when they can snuggle together under a blanket on the sofa and “sip hot chocolate from giant snowman mugs.” They want so much snow that they cannot even open the door and have to climb out the window to get outside.

  Ah yes outside! Outside they will build a snow fort four feet tall that has
 “a zillion snowballs inside.”  They will go sledding and they will build a snowman. But now they have to go to be bed to get ready for that snow day.

   Children who have eagerly hoped and prayed for a snow day will thoroughly appreciate this book. Grownups who have watched the weatherman hoping that they will get to have a snow day will laugh out loud when they come to the last couple of pages, and when they discover who the main narrator in the story is. Cleverly crafted and beautifully illustrated, this is a seasonal picture book that captures the hopes and magic of snow days for people of all ages.

   

Poetry Friday - Celebrating Emily Dickinson's poetry

On this day in 1830 Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Emily would grow up to become a reclusive lady who rarely left the home where she was born and where she grew up. In her room Emily wrote poetry that was often dark, and that was very unique. Though she refused to share much of her poetry with the world during her lifetime, she did save the poems she wrote, which her sister had published after Emily's death.

For today's Poetry Friday I have a book for you that contains seven of Emily Dickinson's most famous poems. If you interested in this very unique woman, you might want to take a look at the TTLG Emily Dickinson feature page as well. Here you will find reviews of three titles, all of which look at Emily Dickinson's life in interesting ways.

My letter to the world and other poems

Emily Dickinson

Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Poetry

Kids Can Press, 2008, 978-1-55453-103-5

   Many readers find Emily Dickinson’s poems a challenge to read. Her tendency to choose dark subjects, and her unconventional use of language and punctuation make her poems demanding. One has to think and ponder her words to find their meaning, but the poems are more than worth the effort. In this beautiful book, readers will find seven of Emily Dickinson’s most famous poems.

   In one of the poems Emily gives us a picture of hope, which “is the thing with feathers - / That perches in the soul - / And sings the tune without the words - / And never stops – at all.” In another, she takes a ride in a carriage with Death and sees the world in a new way. In yet another poem Emily Dickinson says “I’m nobody! Who are you?” We, her readers, are invited to be nobodies too. Is this an invitation that we would accept if we could?

   Throughout this book, Isabelle Arsenault’s haunting multimedia illustrations provide the perfect backdrop for Emily Dickinson’s poems. 

Tiger Tales is hosting a Christmas Book Giveaway

Announcing our Christmas Book Give-away! Our collection includes two classic tales: T'was the Night Before Christmas and Jingle Bells, and three original tales: The Very Snowy Christmas, I've seen Santa, and Shhh!

There are three easy ways to enter our Christmas Book Give-Away:
1) Comment on our blog. Tell us your favorite Christmas (or holiday) story.
2) Like us or comment on our facebook page. Include a favorite holiday story and we will enter you twice!
3)Retweet our announcement on twitter. Add your favorite holiday story and we will enter you twice!

Hurry! You only have one week for this give-away. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, December 15 (enter before midnight on December 14). The winner must reside in the US and have a US shipping address.

Bookish Calendar - The birthday of two queens

Mary Queen of Scots

On the 8th of December 1542 Mary, the daughter of King James V of Scotland, was born. Just a few days after her birth, Mary's father died and the infant Mary became the Scottish queen regnant. Nine months later she was crowned queen, but she did not become the acting queen until many years later. At the tender age of five Mary was sent to France where she was educated and groomed to become the future queen of France. When she was sixteen she was married to the Dauphin Francis, and for a short time Mary was queen of France. Then her husband died and Mary returned to Scotland to take her rightful place as the queen. Unfortunately it was not a role that she understood, and her rule was complicated by political and personal problems that brought about her downfall. Young readers can learn about this fascinating woman by reading the books reviewed on the TTLG Mary Queen of Scots page. 

Queen Kristina of Sweden

On December 8th 1626, princess Kristina of Sweden was born. Kristina was a very unusual woman, who created quite a stir when she decided to live her life as she chose, rather than live her life as she was supposed to do. Carolyn Meyer has written a wonderful book about this ruler in her book Kristina: The Girl King, Sweden 1638.

Bookish Calendar - On this day in 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese fighter planes

USS California sinking on December 7th, 1941

Early on Sunday December 7th, 1941 Japanese fighters attacked targets on the island of Oahu. The fighters chose as many 'high value targets' as they could, and ended up sinking and damaging numerous ships and planes. 2, 386 Americans were killed and 1,139 were wounded.

This event made a huge impression on Americans, and many books have been written about that fateful day, including some excellent titles for young readers. On the TTLG Attack on Pearl Harbor feature page you will find reviews of several titles, both fiction and nonfiction, that tell the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor very well.

Poetry Friday - A review of Poems for the very young

On this bright and cold Poetry Friday I have a collection of poems that were selected by Michael Rosen, a well known British poet.

Poems for the very young

Selected by Michael Rosen

Illustrated by Bob Graham

Poetry

For ages 3 to 6

Houghton Mifflin, 2004, 0-7534-5816-0

   Little children love to listen to rhythmic music and speech. Even when they don’t know what all the words they hear mean, they are drawn to sounds that go up and down, this way and that. Which is why nursery rhymes are so popular with young children.

   For this wonderful book of poetry, Michael Rosen has chosen poems that are perfectly suited to little children. The sing songy rhymes and verses beg to be read aloud, and little children will love the way that so many of the poems are about things that are relevant to them. For example, there is a poem about how a child is fed up with the problems associated with having hair. Who wants to have to deal with “all the fuss” of brushing, drying “curling / And twirling” wayward locks.

   There is a poem about a ticklish doctor, and a grandfather who “likes / a big dinner.” There is a poem about spaghetti, and one about hotdogs. There is a poem that tells you how to make a chocolate milkshake, and what you should do “If you’re no good at cooking.”  

  Then there are the story poems, many of which are delightfully silly and funny. If you haven’t heard the one about Somebody’s grandmother, then you are in for a treat. Then there is the tale about Mabel Murple (whose house was purple), and the story about someone who goes into the woods and gets lost.

   Throughout this book Bob Graham’s charming illustrations provide the perfect backdrop for the poems that cover the pages. 

Bookish Calendar: On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks took a stand (or rather a seat!)

On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks decided that enough was enough. When she was asked to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus so that a white person might sit down, she refused. For this crime she was imprisoned, and because of what happened on that bus, the leaders of the Montgomery civil rights movement decided to stage a bus boycott, which lasted for more than a year.

I recently read a wonderful picture book about the bus that Rosa rode on that fateful day, and about the pivotal role that it played in the civil rights movement. Here is my review.

Rosa’s Bus: The ride to Civil Rights

Jo S. Kittinger

Illustrated by Steven Walker

Nonfiction picture book

Ages 6 to 8

Boyds Mills Press, 2010, 978-1-59078-722-9

   Bus #2857 rolled off the General Motors assembly line in 1948. It carried people around Terra Haute, Indiana for a few years, and then it was taken south to Montgomery in Alabama in 1954. In this city, the bus acquired something new. A sign was put in place ten seats back from the front of the bus. The new sign read: Colored, and it meant that African American passengers could only sit at the back of the bus.

   If you were white you got onto the bus, paid your dime, and sat in one of the front seats. If you were African American, you got on the bus, paid your dime, got off, and got back on using the rear door of the bus so that you could sit in one of the rear seats. It did not matter if you were old and frail or if it was raining and cold. If you were “colored” this is what you had to do. If the white seats filled up, a whole row of African American passengers had to give up their seats because African Americans could not share a row with white people. “That’s just the way things were.”

   Then, on the evening of December 1, 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks got onto bus #2857 and she took a seat behind the Colored sign. At the next stop, all the seats for the white folks filled up, and the bus driver told Rosa and the other passengers in her row to get up so that a white man could sit down. The other African American passengers did as they were told, but Rosa refused to do so. She was arrested, and soon afterwards the Montgomery bus boycott began.

   The story of Rosa Parks’ actions on that famous day in 1955 has been told many times, but never in this way. The author tells the story from the point of view of the bus that carried Rosa Parks on that winter’s day. Readers will learn that Rosa’s bus did not end up on a scrap heap. Instead, it was saved so that future generations could see the bus that witnessed an event that helped to shape America’s history.

   Throughout this book, warm illustrations compliment the lyrical text. At the back of the book the author provides her readers with further information about bus #2857, about the events that led up to Rosa Parks’ brave stand, and about what happened after Rosa was arrested.

You can read about more Rosa Parks books on the TTLG Rosa Parks feature page.

Anniversaries - Louisa May Alcott and C.S. Lewis

On this day in 1832 Louisa May Alcott was born. Louisa May was an American novelist who is best known for her novel Little Women, which is set in the Alcott family home in Massachusetts. Little Women was loosely based on Louisa's childhood experiences with her three sisters, and it was published in 1868. I have reviewed a wonderful biography about Louis May Alcott which is called Beyond Little Women: A Story About Louisa May Alcott and you can also read my reviews of the four Little Women books on the Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews website


Sixty-six years after the birth of Louisa May Alcott, Clive Staples Lewis was born in Ireland on November 29, 1898. Commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was an Irish-born British novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. He is also known for his fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy.

Lewis was a close friend of J. R. R. Tolkien, and both authors were leading figures in the English faculty at Oxford University and in the informal Oxford literary group known as the "Inklings.” According to his memoir Surprised by Joy, Lewis had been baptized in the Church of Ireland at birth, but fell away from his faith during his adolescence. Owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, at the age of 32 Lewis returned to Christianity, becoming "a very ordinary layman of the Church of England.” His conversion had a profound effect on his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim.

In 1956, he married the American writer Joy Gresham, 17 years his junior, who died four years later of cancer at the age of 45.

Lewis died three years after his wife, as the result of renal failure. His death came one week before his 65th birthday. Media coverage of his death was minimal, as he died on 22 November 1963 – the same day that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the same day another famous author, Aldous Huxley, died.

Lewis's works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia have sold the most and have been popularized on stage, TV, radio and cinema.

Anniversaries - Louisa May Alcott and C.S. Lewis

On this day in 1832 Louisa May Alcott was born. Louisa May was an American novelist who is best known for her novel Little Women, which is set in the Alcott family home in Massachusetts. Little Women was loosely based on Louisa's childhood experiences with her three sisters, and it was published in 1868. I have reviewed a wonderful biography about Louis May Alcott which is called Beyond Little Women: A Story About Louisa May Alcott and you can also read my reviews of the four Little Women books on the Through the Looking Glass Book Reviews website


Sixty-six years after the birth of Louisa May Alcott, Clive Staples Lewis was born in Ireland on November 29, 1898. Commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was an Irish-born British novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist. He is also known for his fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy.

Lewis was a close friend of J. R. R. Tolkien, and both authors were leading figures in the English faculty at Oxford University and in the informal Oxford literary group known as the "Inklings.” According to his memoir Surprised by Joy, Lewis had been baptized in the Church of Ireland at birth, but fell away from his faith during his adolescence. Owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, at the age of 32 Lewis returned to Christianity, becoming "a very ordinary layman of the Church of England.” His conversion had a profound effect on his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim.

In 1956, he married the American writer Joy Gresham, 17 years his junior, who died four years later of cancer at the age of 45.

Lewis died three years after his wife, as the result of renal failure. His death came one week before his 65th birthday. Media coverage of his death was minimal, as he died on 22 November 1963 – the same day that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the same day another famous author, Aldous Huxley, died.

Lewis's works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia have sold the most and have been popularized on stage, TV, radio and cinema.

Poetry Friday - A review of Soup for Breakfast

This Friday I have a review of a book that is full of poems that are unique and often deliciously funny. 

Soup for breakfast

Calef Brown

Poetry

For ages 5 to 8

Houghton Mifflin, 2008, 978-0-618-91641-2

   For most of us, breakfast foods are pancakes, waffles, toast, croissants, bagels, or cereal. We definitely don’t consider cream of broccoli soup to be a breakfast food. However, a poem in this book introduces us to someone who “is not a fan,” of traditional breakfast foods. This person starts the day with soup, and what a “morning treat it is.”

   If you think this is odd, then prepare yourself for more. This book is full of poems about deliciously strange people. For example, there is a poem about Grandpa’s mustache. Actually, his mustache is not a mustache at all, it is nose hair that has grown incredibly long. It is so long that people don’t realize what it really is.

   Further along in the book, we meet an artist who uses a very peculiar medium; he paints on toast. After priming the toast with butter, the artist uses blueberry jam to create a “beautiful sky” that is dotted with cream cheese clouds. What other foods will this artist use to complete his painting?

   In this wonderful collection of poems, Calef Brown explores the ordinary and the downright peculiar, giving his readers a unique poetical experience.