A book review: Picture the Dead

Yesterday I posted an announcement about the release of a book called Picture the Dead. Today I would like to share my review of the book with you. If you have an interest in the paranormal and/or in the American Civil War, then this is the book for you.

Picture the dead

Adele Griffin

Illustrated by Lisa Brown

Fiction

Ages 14 and up

Sourcebooks, 2010, 978-1-4022-3712-6

   Ever since the death of her parents, Jennie Lovell’s life has been complicated. Living with her uncle and aunt, neither of whom want her, has not been easy, but at least she has always had her brother, Toby, with whom to share her trials and worries. Now Toby is dead, a casualty of the Civil War, and Jennie lives in fear that Will, her cousin and her fiancé, might also be killed.

   One night Jennie is woken up by the arrival of a carriage. Jennie hopes the passenger is Will, but instead it is Will’s brother Quinn, who is grievously ill and wounded. One look from Quinn and Jennie knows that Will is dead. Quinn tells everyone that Will died honorably on the battlefield, and for a time Jennie accepts this. Then strange things start to happen and she begins to wonder if Quinn is telling the truth.

   Jennie, Quinn, and Quinn’s parents have their photograph taken by a photographer who specializes in photos that are supposed to help connect the living with their dead loved ones. When she sees the photo that the photographer took, Jennie knows at once that the so-called angel in the photo is a hoax. However, the wreath of black irises that appears on the photo some time later is not a hoax at all. It is a message from Will, and Jennie has to figure out what he is trying to tell her. What she discovers turns out to be more terrible than she could ever have imagined.

   This extremely powerful and sometimes disturbing book will very likely cause readers to experience a spooky shiver more than once as they read. The author beautifully captures the sadness and fear that filled the hearts of family members and sweethearts as they waited for their loved ones to come home from the American Civil War. All too often, all they got in response to their prayers was a letter on condolence and perhaps, if they were lucky, a few of their loved one’s personal effects. Beautifully merging fact and fiction, Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown give their readers a haunting story that is likely to stay with them for a long time.  

Bedtime for Mommy - A contest

Bloomsbury Books sent me an email recently announcing that they are holding a contest inspired by their book Bedtime for Mommy. 

Here is the information about the contest:

Bedtime Story Contest

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3 – read to me!

Send in a photo of your child reading to you (jammies on, preferably!), and you
could win your own delightful bedtime for mommy—or daddy—story time session.

In Bedtime for Mommy, New York Times bestselling author Amy Krouse Rosenthal puts her signature twist on a time-honored childhood experience, turning the bedtime routine on its head. A child puts Mommy to bed – but Mommy procrastinates by stretching each nighttime ritual: brushing teeth, laying out clothes, and, of course, reading one last book (Anna Karenina?).… The gentle humor of the story, paired with award-winning artist LeUyen Pham’s cheerful illustrations, is sure to solicit plenty of “read it one more time!” requests come bedtime.

Reenact the story in your own house and take a photo of your kids reading to you---or whatever their own spin on the bedtime routine may be—and you could win a bedtime story phone call from Amy Krouse Rosenthal along with a bedtime basket of goodies (cocoa, cookies and more!) from Dylan’s Candy Bar® and a selection of read-aloud favorites from Bloomsbury. Three winners will be selected at random by the author from entries received between April 15, 2010 and October 31, 2010. How do you enter? Email your photo to childrens.publicity@bloomsburyusa.com, subject line “Bedtime for Mommy Contest”, along with your contact information.

Book Release Announcement From Sourcebooks

Book Release Announcement

On Thursday, May 6th at 7:30pm PST (10:30pm ET) two-time National Book award finalist Adele Griffin and co-writer Lisa Brown (best selling author/illustrator) will be hosting a virtual book launch for their new book, Picture the Dead in conjunction with the wonderful independent bookstore, the San Francisco Booksmith and the also independent author resource RedRoom.com (Sourcebooks, by the way, is also independent!). 

Lemony Snicket spokesperson (Daniel Handler) will be reading a statement of introduction to this horrid story! Both the authors and Mr. Snicket himself will be in costume.

SEE IT LIVE AT: http://www.redroom.com/picture-the-dead-book-webcast

DOWNLOAD A FLYER FOR YOUR LIBRARY, SCHOOL OR COFFEE SHOP:

http://teenFire.sourcebooks.com

Any questions for the authors can be posted in the launch discussion forum on the TeenFire website prior to the event. You can also use the TeenFire chat room to discuss the event in real time!

Questions for the authors can be posted in the comments section on Red Room or in the discussion forum on the TeenFire website (TeenFire.Sourcebooks.com) in the days leading up to the event. 

Picture the Dead—an illustrated mystery story in the gothic tradition with graphic elements—is taken straight from the pages and photographs of history. This paranormal mystery follows Jenny as she uncovers the mysterious circumstances surrounding her fiancé’s death in a prison camp during the Civil War.

Find out more on www.PictureTheDead.com.

If you want to hear about a new, scary story to read in the dark—and learn about the rich illustrations and wonderful history surrounding the book—you can just log in and watch!

You can use this event to meet other YA addicts across the globe right on our TeenFire Chat Room—7:30pm PT, 10:30pm ET.  BE THERE!

Storyline Online has a new book!

In the past I have written about Storyline Online, a program created by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. Storyline Online is a online streaming video program featuring Screen Actors Guild members reading wonderful children's books aloud. The tiles that have done so far include Stellaluna, Guji Guji, the Polar Express, and Somebody Love you Mr. Hatch. Each story includes activities for children to do, and lesson ideas for teachers. Yesterday I got an email from them that I would like to share with you.

Dear Storyline Online Friends and Family,

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our newest story, the classic Harry the Dirty Dog, read by the treasured Betty White. We will be premiering the story on Friday, May 7^th at 10am (Pacific) with a special introduction from another wonderful actress, Betty’s dear friend Valerie Harper.

We hope all educators, parents and grandparents will be able to join us for this special launch and watch our newest story with their students, children and grandchildren the moment it goes live. Immediately following the premier, the story will begin streaming at www.storylineonline.net and, along with several activities, will be available 24 hours, 7 days a week for all to view.

Harry the Dirty Dog was written by Gene Zion and illustrated by two-time Caldecott Honor winner Margaret Bloy Graham over 50 years ago. We are delighted that HarperCollins has given us the opportunity to share this story with you. There have been many requests to feature classics for young children and we are pleased to add yet another quality story to our library of books.

Please know that funding remains a concern for this important effort in the SAG Foundation’s Children’s Literacy Initiative and that we are truly grateful for your encouraging comments and financial assistance. As we continue approaching companies and organizations to underwrite Storyline Online, we will try to fulfill the many requests and suggestions we receive from teachers, parents and children around the world.

From all of us at the SAG Foundation, thank you!

Remember to visit us at www.storylineonline.net on
May 7^th, 10am (Pacific).

Read On!

I hope you take a look on Friday, and don't forget to look at the other books that they have in their library.

The new issue of Through the Looking Glass is now online

The May and June 2010 issue of Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews is now online. I hope that you enjoy this issue and find lots of books that interest you.  

For this May and June issue I have chosen to focus on books about farms and farm life for the special feature.  Young children in particular love to learn about farm animals, to explore life on a farm, and to read stories about what it is like to live on a farm. The In the garden feature also ties in with the farm feature, exploring books that look at gardens and gardening.

May and June are the months when summer finally makes itself felt. Winter coats and sweaters are put into boxes or are tucked away on high shelves, and bathing suits are tried on to see if they still fit. The sun is warm, and children are happy to spend their play time out of doors. There is a delightful collection of books about summer on the Summer Days page, with books for readers of all ages. Of course, if you live in the southern hemisphere you might prefer to look at our Winter Days feature!

For this month’s Editor’s Choice title I selected The Story of Cirrus Flux written by Matthew Skelton. Matthew wrote Endymion Spring a few years ago, and he is definitely an author to watch in the years to come.

-:Bookish Events for May and June:-

May 12th to 18th is Reading is Fun Week (USA)

May is "Get Caught Reading" Month (USA)

Children's Book Week is May 10th to 16th (USA)

I hope you find a way to celebrate some, if not all, of these bookish events. If I have missed an important bookish event, please drop me a line to tell me about it.

Don’t forget to look at the Bookish Calendar page for reviews about Walt Whitman, hurricanes, fairies, Anne Frank and much more. This calendar is a great tool to use at home and in the classroom to help children incorporate books more fully into their lives.

At the beginning of this year, I launched the new website, and all the new content for every issue is on this new website. However, a large part of the old content is still on the old site. You can still get to this content, but it is not integrated into the new site. Moving the 4,000 reviews over is going to take some time, and I appreciate your patience while I work on this. 

I hope you enjoy this new issue, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Poetry Friday - A review of Poetrees

It's Poetry Friday again, and it is also the last day of National Poetry Month. Enjoy!

Poetrees

Douglas Florian

Poetry

For ages

Simon and Schuster, 2010, 978-1-4169-8672-0

Many of us walk past trees without even noticing them. If we do stop to notice these wonderful plants, we often find ourselves asking a lot of questions about the trees that we see. For example, how did they get here, what are their names, and what do roots do?

   For this unique book, master poet and illustrator, Douglas Florian, have written eighteen poems about trees. Some of the poems are about specific species of trees, including yews, baobabs, giant sequoias, paper birches, and weeping willows. Other poems are about certain parts of a tree. For example, he begins the book by looking at a seed. Using one long sentence that is twisted into a figure eight on the page, Florian reminds us that seeds are just part of an ongoing cycle. Later he tells us about roots, which anchor a tree into the ground “so it won’t slip,” and which provide trees with the means to drink “rain that pours.”  Bark protects trees from “fire, heat, and cold,” and it comes in “an array of hues.”

   At the end of the book the author gives his audience further information about each of the topics that he has covered in the book. In addition, he uses an author’s note to tell us why trees have a special place in his heart and in his life.

You can get to know Florian Douglas better by taking a look at his blog. 

Duck! Rabbit! - a video and a review

Every morning I walk my dog Pinot on the trails around my town. I do a lot of thinking during these walks, and often write book reviews or stories in my head while Pinot eyes squirrels and sniffs things. This morning I was thinking about how things look different, depending on your point of view. So many of our problems exist because we refuse to consider the fact that there is another point of view. Here is a little video of a story that beautifully shows us that what might be a duck for one person is clearly a rabbit for another. The video is from the book Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. I loved this book and am delighted that Chronicle books made this video for those of us who don't have a copy of the book. My review of the book is below the video. Enjoy!

Duck! Rabbit!

Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Illustrations by Tom Litchtenheld

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 8

Chronicle Books, 2009, 978-08118-6865-5

Have you ever been looking up the clouds when you saw a cloud that looked like a cat? And did your best friend tell you that the cloud looked like a car and not a cat? If this scenario sounds familiar to you, then this is a title for you. On the pages of this book you are going to meet – in a manner of speaking – two people who look at the same object and who see two very different things. When one person looks at the illustration on the page, they see a duck, and when the other person looks at the same illustration, they see a rabbit. Hmmm. What an interesting situation.

   With splendid humor and creativity May Krouse Rosenthal, who brought us Little Pea and Little Hoot, explores the idea that there are times when there is no right answer. Sometimes we just have to accept that someone else sees things in a different way, and that is perfectly all right.

   With wonderful artwork and a memorable text, this is a picture book that readers of all ages will enjoy.

The Professor Garfield Foundation

I recently ran across a website that I would like to share it with you. It is a learning portal created by the Professor Garfield Foundation. Here is a little information about the foundation:

The Professor Garfield Foundation learning portal is a fun interactive online environment where children can safely explore, learn and creatively express themselves. The Foundation (PGF) was formed in 2003 as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization to provide children, parents, and teachers an opportunity to enhance and support classroom learning in new and innovative ways.

Who Runs It?

The PGF Learning Portal is a partnership between Paws, Inc., the world headquarters of Garfield the Cat, and Ball State University, one of the preeminent educators of classroom teachers in the world. 

Why a Learning Portal?

For over 25 years, Garfield creator, Jim Davis, has been encouraged by countless letters from parents telling him how Garfield has helped their child learn how to read. Numerous educators have also used Garfield and his comic strip friends as a powerful tool to teach and motivate children in the classroom. As a result, Jim has long held that the comics be not only a way to a child’s heart and funny bone, but also a student’s brain.

Jim’s vision was to create a learning portal where children would want to visit because they would have fun, express themselves, and learn simultaneously.

Content ranges from traditional subjects, such as reading, writing and arithmetic, to career goal exploration, art and activities created expressly for kids with LDs.

Our partners include some of the finest corporate, technological, and educational organizations in the world including Ball State University, the Charles and Helen Schwab Learning Foundation, Pearson, Scholarship America and The National Institutes of Health.

Who is Professor Garfield For?

PGF offers fun, engaging and transforming educational content for school children between kindergarten and 8th grade. The educational content is upgraded continuously and presented in a popular culture entertainment format. All of the content has been reviewed by educational experts and tested in classroom settings.

There are all kinds of wonderful things on the site. If you have a small child or children in your house you might like to take a look at the free toon e-books that they have online. Your children can have the books read to them, and they can choose from five languages.

April is Save the Environment Month on TTLG - A review

Here is another environmental title that I think parents and teachers will find very useful.

Simple steps toward a healthier Earth

Molly Smith

Illustrated by Tad Carpenter

Nonfiction

Ages 10 and up

Chronicle Books, 2010, 978-0-8118-7141-9

   Almost every day we are bombarded with news articles, television shows, and radio programs about the state of our environment. The situation can seem overwhelming, and many young people wonder how they can “possibly make a difference.” The truth is that one person can make a difference simply by implementing “little choices every day” that can help our planet.

   This book is full of activities that will help young people to better understand how their everyday choices both help and harm our home. There are five chapters in all, and at the end of each there is a list of “simple steps” that we can all follow to make our lives greener and more environmentally friendly.

   The author begins by looking at “Energy and Climate.” There is a short introduction about energy and climate and how they are related, and then the activities begin. These include coloring pages, a crossword, a word jumble, experiments, and much more. By the time readers have completed the chapter, they will better understand (among other things) how to conserve energy and what a carbon footprint is.

   Other chapters in the book look at “Water and Oceans, “Land and Animals,” “Health and Food,” and “Waste and Recycling.”

   Both teachers and parents are sure to find this book very useful as they try to find informative and interesting ways to help their children better understand their relationship with our planet.

An Interview with Saci Lloyd, the author of the Carbon Diary books

A few months ago I read The Carbon Diaries: 2015 by Saci Loyd. The book blew me away, and I was delighted when a second book, The Carbon Diaries: 2017, came out earlier this year. Both books are about what could happen should we continue to ignore the threat of global warming. The books are powerful, often humorous, and they will certainly give readers a great deal to think about.

I was so intrigued by the books that I contacted the author and asked her for an interview.

Marya: How did you first get the idea for this book?

Saci: I'm not sure... I think that ideas are quite mysterious. They kind of furple about in the ether and suddenly hook you up.  I remember thinking I wanted to create a gripping story about climate change that was funny too. I had Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones roaming about in my mind. Wondering how they'd cope with a rationing card.

Marya: When you were a child, you spent a lot of time “wandering around the lanes and fields with dogs and horses like some kind of mythical bog child.” Did this immersion in nature make you sensitive to environmental causes when you were young, or was this something that came later?

Saci: Yes, very much so. When I was young I would literally spend every waking hour fishing down on the rocks about a mile or two away from my house. And so there I was, sitting, not catching very much, and all around me is the sea, the sky, birds, rockpools. It sinks in, you know, so that later when you realise the damage that's being done, you feel very protective. But having said that, I would never describe myself as an environmentalist. The damage done to the natural world is a symptom of the lack of global justice in the world. I believe we need to find a better, fairer and more stylish way to live ... and we need to do it fast. 

Marya: Your lead character, Laura, is pretty flawed, which makes her easy to identify with. How did you decide what her flaws would be, or did she decide those for you?

Saci: No conscious decision really. Characters tend to have strong ideas about their own development. Laura pretty much appeared fully formed once the first sentence was written. She just wasn't taking any guidance off anyone, least of all me. 

Marya: So many people are ignoring all the warning sighs that global warming is a reality. What do you have to say to these people?

Saci: Sort your heads out. 

Marya: In your book the chaos and upset in Laura’s home is mirrored by the chaos going all around her because of global warming. Was this something you planned?

Saci: Er, well ... these people are going through a huge transition. Of course they're going to be all over the place. Climate action has become a reality, not something on a march or in a newspaper or on a website.  

Marya: Though it may seem an obvious thing to ask, what was your intention when you decided to write this book?

Saci: I wanted to be part of a movement for change and I wanted to make people laugh.  The characters aren't speaking some pre-ordained preachy dialogue, they are truly facing up to what i believe will be a near future reality. 

Marya: In the second book, The Carbon Diaries 2017, the global warming crisis is escalating. Not only are the world’s sources of fresh water drying up, but social unrest is rife. Laura comes face to face with anger and violence on the streets. This is pretty dark stuff. How did this darkness find its way into your story?

Saci: Well, I didn't intend for it to be dark ... it was a natural extension from what had gone before. As in the first book, everything in this book is meticulously researched and has mostly already happened. If the book is dark it's because reality is dark. Laura herself remains undimmed, though, I hope. She is living through big times, but she is facing it all with fire and scathing wit. 

Marya: At first, the reaction of the British government to the crisis seems unrealistic, but after a while one can see how the authorities, or “feds” as they are called in the books, might indeed take a draconian approach to the situation. Why did you decide to explore this more political aspect? Do you feel that it is important for young people to take part in the political process?

Saci:  It's funny, because I think the first book is just as political as the second, but because it's set in a family and is more domestic in theme, it seems to escape the dreaded 'political' name tag. Many countries in the world already have controlling regimes as described in the book and it's kind of funny to think people consider it shocking that this could happen in the democratic west also. In terms of my research I was very interested in the time around the First and Second World Wars, when Europe became highly polarised.... in essence the battle of whether to work together, internationally and share - or to protect what's yours at all costs. We're seeing this battle writ large in American domestic politics right now. In my experience young people are extremely interested in issues, they are just not interested in a corrupt political system. Yes, it's vital that they get involved. 

Marya: I imagine that many readers are going to want to know what happens to Laura and her friends. They will also want to know what happens to the world. Are humans able to undo some of the damage that the planet has sustained at our hands? What will you say to these readers?

Saci: Ah! Well I think I've left them in a good place... riding off into the smoke of battle! They are young, passionate and their lives are before them. Of course we can undo the damage, but we need a lot of Laura Browns to do it. 

Marya: Is there going to be a third book in the series?

Saci: Not for now. I've left Laura in a GOOD place, off to face a new life. I wouldn't mind coming back to her when she's fifty. See how fiery she still is, heh.

You can find out more about Saci on her website. Make sure you also visit the Carbon Diaries website.