B.C. Dee's Blog, page 3

Bubble Trouble

Bubble Trouble, an Illustrated Children’s Book by Margaret Mahy and Polly Dunbar

Our local library happened to have this on the shelf last week! It is one of my favorite children’s books ever. It is a fun story with cute pictures, and an unbeatable rhyme and meter. Any one of those elements would make this book a winner, but Bubble Trouble embodies all three.

The story begins “Little Mabel blew a bubble, and it caused a lot of trouble. Such a lot of bubble trouble in a bibble bobble way.” And as her baby brother is wafted away inside of one of her bubbles, I too was swept into their world for forty short pages. For those of you who like The Book With No Pictures, you are sure to love the oral gymnastics of this read aloud that just feel good.

I’ve read some grousing about a few of the words. I mostly put this down to unfamiliarity with Great Britain’s (i.e. Australia’s) peculiarities. I admit that the word “cavil” threw me, but I love learning new words. Too, if you don’t like made-up words, you might take issue with “bibble bobble” and “wibble wobble.” My daughter asked me what “bibble bobble” meant, so it was a chance to use our imaginations. We decided that it means to act like a floating bubble–she demonstrated and I put words to her movements.

The book listing targets four to seven year olds. I think two year olds would enjoy the pictures and the rhythm and the rhyme. I know that my three year old did.  And although the action of chasing the baby in the bubble might seem inappropriate for bedtime reading, there is a nice family hug at the end that has proved to be very calming for my daughter.

Next week, I will be able to borrow the illustrated children’s book Beekle, the Unimaginary Friend. I expect grand things.

Have you read Bubble Trouble? What did you think about it? Have any books to recommend? Please let me know in the comments.

 

Age Range: 4 – 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool – 3
Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (May 14, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547994834
ISBN-13: 978-0547994833

Full Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small commission if you use the link above to purchase the book. My vested interest has had no effect on the content of my review. I have given my honest opinion about a book I love, and have provided the link as a convenience to you.

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The Celebrated Jumping Frog Nears the Finish Line

The Celebrated Jumping Frog is in the last stages of pre-production. I’m very excited to see it all come together.

I would really appreciate your comments on the cover, particularly constructive criticism.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon Teaser

While I’m on the subject of frogs…

This is a mighty girl! Fearless hunter of earthworms, grasshoppers, spiders, toads and frogs. This is the first toad she found and caught all by herself. The pictures say it all.

How does one bottle all of that joy to use at a latter date? I know, I’ll write about it

Do you have any memories of your fantastic firsts with nature? Let me know in the comments.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog

I’m just two illustrations away from having all of the material for The Celebrated Jumping Frog. The artist did such a good job–he really brought Dylan, Zoe and Michael Banks to life.

SCBWI Write This! Contest

This month, the prompt was: write a character description for a children’s book in 50 words or less. Integrate the word, sense, or theme inspired by “wart.”

I wrote

 

He hangs his heavy head, mossy beard alighting on the ground. Birds in his leafy hair rustle their wings at the disturbance. Mordecai once walked the land, but for years now, ages, he has been waiting for you to take his warty hand and share your wonder of the world.

Close Shaves I Have Had

Lenin points to the future.

The badge of the crusty traveler is their hair: for men, facial; and for women, underarm.  When you’re away from home for an extended period of time, it’s nice to have a sense of belonging or place.  Joining the union of long-termers gives you scoffing rights at mere tourists, their cold beers and warm beds while you spend important hours comparing brands of instant ramen (wei-wei, your friend for life) in order to save two cents.  In the end, it’s the principle of the thing and it all goes towards lasting a day longer without a job. At the same time, one is always behooved when abroad, to recall that you are a goodwill ambassador from your country.  And, with that in mind, I’ve occasionally budgeted the extra fifteen cents to buy some time from the local barber.

Ah, the corner barber.  Captured by Norman Rockwell and known to all men of my father’s generation as a social gathering and refuge from women.  Sadly, in the West, this is a dying tradition.  But in the East it continues with bold assurance from the Himalayan peaks of Nepal to the bottoms of the concrete and glass canyons of Japan.  Sampling barber’s shaves has become almost as integral to my travels as sampling the local liquor; although I caution against mixing the two experiences lest the alcohol slow your tongue just before a crucial snip.

All you need is a barber’s chair and scissors…really just scissors

I started my fascination with barber’s shaves long before I had reason to own a razor myself; the hot facial towels looked so appealing, I suppose.  Later, the image of that “perfect shave” was enough to impel me to try the open air, street side cardboard mat of a Delhi blade runner.  Amongst the garbage-grazing cows, bare feet, punjabi suits, saris, washer women, vegetable hawkers, speeding tuk-tuks and beetle-nut spit, I sat while my new friend (believe me, you don’t want anyone with a knife at your throat to be your enemy) lathered my face from his dented, tin cup and changed the blade on his straight razor.  My heart pounded in anxiety.   The cattle lowed.  The tuk-tuks tukked.  The beetle-nut chewers spat.  And, to that third world symphony, the thin, brown man danced a smooth and gentle dance upon my face.  My first shave was a tarantella.

I’m always amazed, when I get a straight razor shave, that I can walk out not only alive but with most of my blood still in my veins.  If I shave myself, I always buy the super-saftey razors and still end up with tissue paper on my bloodied chin.  Never the less, when I’m in The Chair I can’t shake the image of Medieval, blood-letting barber-doctors or Sweeny Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street.  Imagine then my trepidation at finding myself in the chair of a one-eyed barber near the roof of the world and far from any medical assistance.

Barber’s shaves are great.

I don’t want to overstate it but barber’s shaves are great.  I’ve dodged the heat in air conditioned shops in Malaysia.  I’ve hit seedy, backroom shops in Bangkok with barber’s chairs and moldy walls.  I’ve sat in a chair in a room with no walls in Indonesia and on a mat with no roof in Delhi.  I’ve been cut and beaten in back alley shops of Bombay, and I keep going back.  Even the fifteen dollars for a treatment in Japan isn’t a deterrent.  The shaves are just that good.  Good for the body, good for the soul, good for the economy and good for my reputation as American traveler cum ambassador.  Also, there’s nothing wrong with trying to impress the girls with a hairless forehead.

foods i won’t eat

she’s the cheeseburger of my life

with a pickle and an onion slice

she’s a fish fillet

chicken souffle[image error]A cheeseburger. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

filet mignon, cooked just right

but i’m a vegetarian

doodley yadda

i’m a vegetarian

the heisenberg uncertainty principle

hello you

outside the subway

or

inside the train

are you really

real

or

did i

by looking

destroy your beauty

deconstruction

an elephant’s trunk

can hold two monks

and a bushel of golden hay too

why those monks

would sit on that trunk

is entirely up to you

[image error] “Blind monks examining an elephant” by Itcho Hanabusa. LOC description: Ukiyo-e print illustration from Buddhist parable showing blind monks examining an elephant. Each man reaches a different conclusion based on which part of the elephant he has examined. 1 print : woodcut, color. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)