Monthly Archives: February 2018

Feb25

JUST LOVED READING: Ghosts I Have Been

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JUST LOVED READING: Ghosts I Have Been

Just Loved Reading:

Ghosts I Have Been

Middle Grade Fiction

Peck, Richard. Ghosts I Have Been. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1994.

Blossom Culp is a troublemaker. Understandably, no one in Bluff City wants to cross her especially when she recently revealed that she has Second Sight. This only serves to increase her isolation from the town folks but that doesn’t stop Blossom or shut her up, either.

She was bluffing…or was she? It turns out that she does have Second Sight! Blossom “sees” a car accident, a future moon landing and finds herself on the Titanic … after it sunk! While she is on the famous ship, she witnesses the drowning of a British boy and his crossing over to the Other World. But what happened to bring Julian Poindexter to his death on board the Titanic? Why wasn’t he one of the survivors?  Blossom the Ghost can find out if anyone can.

Returning home, her revelations of her adventures make her a local and national celebrity. Heck – soon she becomes known as far away as England where she travels to see herself in wax at Madam Tussaud’s and meets the Queen. Life will never be the same for Blossom Culp.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

Blossom Culp packs a lot into her spunky young life. Her adventures are fun to read and want the reader looking for more. Ghosts I Have Been is a fast-paced read, evocative of its era and funny (even though a boy drowning isn’t funny).

It’s a little surprising that Blossom Culp isn’t as well-known a heroine as Pinkalicious, another fictious character who marches to her own drum beat.  However, Peck has written other Blossom Culp novels: Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death and The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp so fans of Blossom Culp can continue to follow her adventures.

For More Information on the Titanic:

www.history.com/top www.history.com/topics/titanic

https://www.thoughtco.com/little-known-facts-about-the-titanic-

www.titanicpigeonforge.com

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Feb19

Tales from the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Dog (Project & Book Review)

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Tales from the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Dog (Project & Book Review)

Characters from the Year of the Dog

Chin, Oliver. The Year of the Dog, Tales of the Chinese Zodiac. San Francisco, CA: Immedium, 2006

Daniel was born on New Year’s Day. Shortly after his birth, Lin, his family’s neighbor, came to visit. Lin and Daniel became best friends and loved to explore their neighborhood and the countryside.

Daniel’s parents reminded him that as a dog, it was his duty to protect Lin from strangers especially during their adventures.

One day, Lin and her parents and Daniel and his parents went on a picnic in the forest. Lin wandered off and Daniel went to look for her.

Daniel found Lin just as a tiger loomed in front of her. Frightened, the animal roared and scared Daniel and Lin. But Daniel remembered his duty as a dog and barked loudly at the tiger.

Their parents heard Daniel and came running and shouting. Their noise frightened the tiger who ran way. Everyone praised Daniel for his bravery.

Lin hugged Daniel. “You are my best friend!”

SHADOW THEATER PROJECT BELOW INCLUDING LIST OF CHARACTERS:

SHADOW THEATER

Shadow Theatre

SHADOW PUPPET CHARACTERS:

Daniel the dog

Lin, a girl

Lin’s parents

Daniel’s parents

tiger

MATERIALS FOR SHADOW PUPPET THEATER:

(1) Large cereal box 13 ½” x 7 ½”

Scissors

Box cutters

Masking tape or packaging tape

White glue or double-stick tape

Colored papers, i.e. construction paper, scrap booking papers, or material like craft foam or felt

Tracing paper or translucent papers

Small lamp

PROJECT: SHADOW PUPPET THEATRE

  1. Measure the large cereal box and cut out the back. Tape down the sides of the box.
  2. Cut out a window in the front leaving 2” width wise and 1” lengthwise.  Discard   cardboard scraps or save them to use for another time.
  3. Select papers or felt or craft foam to cover the front and sides of the stage. Be colorful. The top, bottom, sides and the front of the stage do not have to match. Contrast colors and/or patterns.
  4. Select papers or felt or craft foam to cover the front and sides of the stage. Be colorful. The top, bottom, sides and the front of the stage do not have to match. Contrast colors and/or patterns.
  5. Measure the width and length of the window. Select either tracing paper or translucent paper and measure and cut it a slightly bigger than the window. Glue behind the stage so the ends of the paper won’t show.
  6. Test the lamp: does it work? The lamp will illuminate the puppets from behind.
  7. Add more embellishments such as columns or curtains.
  8. The Shadow Puppet Theater is (almost) ready to go!

MATERIALS FOR THE DOG:

White glue

Popsicle sticks

Dark paper

Scissors

Free clip art websites

PROJECT FOR MAKING THE DOG:

  1. Using free downloadable clip art, look up easy to follow instruction for tracing and cutting out the animals.
  2. Glue to a Popsicle stick and recreate the stories for friends and family. Charge a small fee and open the plays to the neighborhood.
  3. As a challenge, rewrite the endings to the stories or add or drop minor characters to make the stories unique!
  4. Act out the stories for friends and family!
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Feb11

JUST LOVED READING: A Long Way from Chicago

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JUST LOVED READING: A Long Way from Chicago

Just Loved Reading:

A Long Way from Chicago

Middle Grade Fiction

Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997.

In A Long Way from Chicago, the protagonist reminisces about his annual trips as a child from Chicago to his grandmother’s house in a small town in rural Illinois during the Great Depression. Joey  (9) and Mary Alice’s (7)  mother informs them that they will be spending a week every August with Grandma Dowdel – as it turned out, every year from 1929 to 1935.

The narrative consists of eight short stories with Joey, Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel at the center of the action. Grandma Dowdel is gruff, practical and has no problem telling people where to go. Her unique outlook on life merely embodies her small town values and her insistence on living in another era. Her adventures run the gamut from newspaper reporters to Civil War veterans.

Joey and Mary Alice share each of those experiences thanks to Grandma Dowdel.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

A Long Way from Chicago is an easy read. The characters Peck draws are real and funny and will remind the reader of the odd-ball characters we may all know in our own lives. Peck is a master at infusing humor into his novels, able to make a serious narrative lighthearted and poignant. He is also a master at evoking the era in which A Long Way from Chicago takes place. The last chapter, “The Troop,” will bring a lump to the reader’s throat.

A Long Way from Chicago was  – justifiably – nominated as a National Book Award finalist.

 FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CHICAGO:

www.cityofchicago.org

https://www.choosechicago.com

https://www.facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in-Chicago-Illinois

 

 

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Feb4

JUST LOVED READING: A Christmas Memory

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JUST LOVED READING: A Christmas Memory

A Christmas Memory

by

Truman Capote

Middle Grade/Fiction

 

Capote, Truman. A Christmas Memory. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956.

Seven-year old Buddy and his older cousin and best friend live with other cousins of his mother’s in Monroeville, Alabama. He also has a dog named Queenie.

The story begins one cold morning when the cousin declares that it is time to make fruitcakes for Christmas. They have spent a whole year saving their money to buy the ingredients which includes whisky made by a Native American named Haha Jones. They give the cakes to people they have met once or twice or not at all like Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States.

The effort to make the cakes takes four days including distributing and mailing them.

When that task is completed, they take a walk far into the woods and cut down a pine tree and enough boughs to make several wreaths for the windows. The family is poor so Buddy and his cousin make the decorations for the tree.

Their next effort is to make the Christmas gifts for each other and the other relatives. Every year Buddy and his cousin make kites for each other and this year is no different even though they want their gift to be a surprise.

Christmas morning, they try to eat the flapjacks and other treats made for the holiday but they are too excited. They want to open their gifts.The usual gifts of clothes and hand-me downs disappoint Buddy but he loves his kite. Later, he, his cousin and Queenie go out to the pasture and fly their kites and eat oranges. Queenie buries the bone they bought for him for Christmas.

Ominously, this is the last Christmas the three will spend together.

WHY i LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

A Christmas Memory is based on Truman Capote’s childhood memories living with his mother’s relatives in Monroeville, Alabama during the Great Depression. Few people were immune from its effects and the repressive atmosphere of Jim Crow that pervaded the South. But this story is really about two outcasts who loved and supported each other during difficult times.

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