Melissa Wiley's Blog, page 148
January 14, 2011
I Missed Poetry Friday
And yet there was so much poetry in our day!
Great rabbit trails today. We read Blake's "The Tiger" this morning because the picture in the anthology (whose name I can't remember and it's in the other room–the Oxford Something Something, maybe?) caught Rilla's eye. However, the shivery language of the second half was rather drowned out by Huck's Very Noisy Firetruck and also by Very Noisy Huck. Sorry, Tyger.
Serendipitiously, we happened upon a quote from another Blake poem later during a chapter of Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of the World (Early Modern Times). We've been exploring the Victorians, remember, as we enjoy The Strictest School in the World (Rubberbones is just sailing off the roof of the church toward the crowded village green), and today we read a little about the start of the Industrial Revolution, and the smoke-spewing factories blackening the walls of formerly charming English cottages. This grim depiction of the perils of profit-driven industrialization posed an interesting contrast to yesterday's chapter of Landmark History, in which clever Eli Whitney devises a way to mass-produce guns in a time when foreign armies are threatening this under-armed fledgling country. The ensuing discussion carried us all the way to lunchtime. Rose and Beanie told me this is why they prefer for me to read history books aloud to them—because of our talks. Which of course you know makes me deliriously happy. Even if the firetruck noise is hard to overtop, sometimes.
(I did eventually remember we had newish play-doh and that successfully distracted the young fireman.)
(Who, by the way, turned TWO yesterday. Can you believe it? Seems like only weeks ago I was posting in disbelief about his first birthday.)
There was a bit of Wordsworth in the Bauer chapter, too. And we've been revisiting Robbie Burns because of his namesake, the aforementioned Rubberbones.
Meanwhile, Jane finished Othello today. (Speaking of plans ganging terribly, terribly agley.) And Wonderboy enjoyed a nice big dose of Frog and Toad. Because really, who doesn't?
January 13, 2011
1809: Quite a Year
This morning I was reading some Landmark History of the American People with Rose and Beanie, a quite fascinating chapter about Eli Whitney, and it mentioned an event that happened in 1809. That year always rings a bell for me: it was the year Laura Ingalls Wilder's maternal grandmother, Charlotte Tucker Quiner Holbrook, was born—the Charlotte I wrote four novels about, and the mother of Caroline Quiner Ingalls (Laura's Ma) in the Caroline books by Maria Wilkes.
A number of notable folks were born in that same year:
• Abraham Lincoln
• Charles Darwin
• Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• Edgar Allen Poe (The cast of Snoopy bursts forth into song in my brain: "Poe, Edgar Allen, American poet, born in eighteen hundred and nine…")*
• Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Louis Braille
• Felix Mendelssohn
• Nicolai Gogol
…and no doubt a great many other memorable people. A lot of world-changers born that year, eh?**
* Doesn't matter that I've heard the Snoopy soundtrack probably five hundred times over the course of my life (between my own high-school devotion to it and the obsession of more than one of my kids)—I still laugh every single time Charlie Brown chimes in with what he's pretty sure are titles of Poe's most famous works, and one of them is "Dickens' Christmas Carol." Hee!
** This post doesn't really have a point. I just like to make lists.
January 12, 2011
Room by Emma Donoghue
Have you read it?
Do you want to talk about it?
I read it first on New Year's Eve, and then again immediately the next day, and I keep returning to sections of it, have found it difficult to shake off. It was strange to find myself completely incapable of committing to any other book for over a week after reading this one.
It's gotten a lot of buzz, so maybe you know the set-up: it's the story of five-year-old Jack and his mother, who have been imprisoned in one small room for Jack's entire life. Even longer, for his brave, broken, amazingly persevering mother.
"We have thousands of things to do every morning, like give Plant a cup of water in Sink for no spilling, then put her back in her saucer on Dresser. Plant used to live on Table but God's face burned a leaf of her off. She has nine left, they're the wide of my hand with furriness all over, like Ma says dogs are. But dogs are only TV. I don't like nine. I find a tiny leaf coming, that counts as ten."
It's Jack's voice that cuts my heart to bits: I don't think any book I've ever read has fostered such a strong visceral, emotional response in me—what I mean is that I kept having to put it down and go scoop up one of my children. The overwhelming tenderness. The ache.
I'm yearning to talk about it but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, so if you'd like to discuss it in the comments, I'm there.
January 11, 2011
Cybils Reading Challenge Update
We've been enjoying these two finalists in the CYBILs Early Reader category:
Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl by Tedd Arnold
We've been big Tedd Arnold fans ever since Green Wilma. This one is wacky and fun, and just a little gross.
We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems
An instant Rilla/Wonderboy favorite. They have adored every single one of the Elephant & Piggie books & this one—a Geisel Honor book, as announced yesterday—is no exception. Our first time through, I loved the way Rilla gasped and cried out, "They know???" when Elephant realized he was in a book and we were reading it.
Of course this book generates an even more earnest "Again please, Mommy!" than the rest of the Elephant and Piggie series—which is saying a lot—because when you get to the end, Elephant begs you to go back to the beginning. As I remarked on Twitter, this may well be the book that tips Rilla over the edge into reading, because she is determined to read all of Piggie's lines herself.
(Bet I'd read it six times before I realized that what Piggie is thanking us for in the front of the book is starting over.)
My running Cybils Shortlist Reading Challenge tally: 12 of 76
January 10, 2011
Mare's War Study Guide & a Giveaway
Author Tanita Davis has created an excellent study guide for her novel MARE'S WAR, full of inspiration for further discussion & rabbit trails. It's way cool. Much like Tanita.
Click through for details on a 1/11/11 giveaway!
Betsy-Tacy Booksigning at ALA Midwinter
Saturday at Midwinter was a happy day for Maud Hart Lovelace fangirls like me…HarperPerennial hosted a booksigning, giving away tote bags and copies of Carney and Emily to a crowd of happy conference-goers. Mitali Perkins and I signed our forewords in the gorgeous reissues, and I loved getting to meet so many fellow Betsy Ray devotees, including several lovely women I know from the Maud-L discussion list.
Me, HarperPerennial's Jennifer Hart, and Mitali Perkins
I think we're all card-carrying members of the Betsy Tacy Society!
January 6, 2011
ALA Midwinter & Some Book News
It's great fun to have ALA Midwinter happening in our own back yard this year! I'm looking forward to seeing a number of publishing pals and kidlitosphere chums this weekend. I'll be at the YA Blogger meetup on Friday night (details here), and on Saturday I'll be at the HarperPerennial booth (#2016) with acclaimed author Mitali Perkins from 11:30-12:30, where we'll be—as Mitali aptly put it—reverently signing our forewords for the beautiful reissues of Maud Hart Lovelace's Emily of Deep Valley and Carney's House Party/Winona's Pony Cart.
If you're attending the conference, I hope you'll stop by and say hello!
While I'm at it, this is a good time to mention that I spilled a little bit of news on my Facebook author page yesterday. 
I'm very happy to say that my early reader, Fox and Crow Are Not Friends, will be published by Random House in 2012. I've been bursting to tell for quite some time, but we had to wait until things were all official and tidy-like.
I also have a YA novel in the works—more on that in the weeks to come!
January 5, 2011
Recently Read to Rilla
Never Tease a Weasel by Jean Conder Soule
My very favorite book when I was a preschooler, made all the more wonderful by the art of the inimitable George Booth.
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo
Bink reminds me of Tib: tiny, fluffy, determined. Gollie is just this side of an Edward Gorey character. Which is to say: I adore 'em both. Rilla won't let me read this one to her just once. Gotta be two or three times in a row.
Mr. Pusskins and Little Whiskers: Another Love Story by Sam Lloyd
Poor Mr. Pusskins, tormented by that rogueish kitten, and blamed for his hijinks to boot. Wonderful expressions on the feline faces here. Rilla is smitten by cat and kitten.
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
My SIL recommended this one and I bet I've read it a hundred times so far this week. No exaggeration. Huge hit with the three youngest, especially Rilla who is in a big rhyme phase. Bonus: vacuum cleaner sucking noises.
How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
One of my favorites from my stint as a first-round CYBILs picture book judge in 2008. Now a repeat request from Rilla, who loves the quiet, earnest tone of this story about a boy who rescues an injured pigeon. The kind of book you pore over and talk about, heads together.
Hooray for Grandma Jo by Thomas McKean
A family favorite. Grandma Jo loses her glasses the night before Little Lloyd is due for a visit. That's how she happens to bring home an escaped zoo lion instead. She plies her furry visitor with ice cream and dancing, and they have a fine old time, managing to thwart a burglar while they're at it. Big belly laughs from my littles over this one.
Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .
Tweet
Wednesday Links
• GeekMom » Blog Archive » Get Physics Now!—Hey Jane, heads up! This sounds like something we gotta check out.
• Granola | Mark Bittman—via Brooklyn Arden. This is similar to a recipe I used for years, back when I made granola about 3 times a week. Why'd I stop? It was so tasty! Huh.
• GeekMom » Blog Archive » Your 2011 Meteor Shower Schedule
Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .
Tweet
January 4, 2011
Cybils Synchronicities
Synchronicity: 1. the quality or fact of being synchronous; 2. the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality
This list of similarities and coincidences among the 2010 Cybils YA Fiction nominees is humbly submitted to you by the seven members of the 2010 Cybils YA Fiction first-round panel. It is no way to be considered completely exhaustive, as we are certain some nominated books and coincidences will have been missed. This list developed as the seven of us read our way through the 182 titles. If you know of a nominated title that should be included in one of the synchronicities below, please feel free to submit it in the comments! To get the entire list, you'll have to visit all seven blogs:
• Amanda Snow, A Patchwork of Books [TW] 1-10
• Ami Jones, Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian [TW] 11-21
• Cherylynne W. Bago, View from Above and Beyond [TW] 22-32
• Jackie Parker, Interactive Reader [TW] 33-42
• Justina Ireland, The YA 5 [TW] 43-52
• Kelly Jensen, Stacked [TW] 53-63
…and I'm bringing up the rear with SYNCHRONICITIES #64-72.
64. Swim Lessons: The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin; When I Was Joe
65. Swingsets: Hold Still; Love Drugged; Will Grayson, Will Grayson
66. Taylor Swift: Friend is Not a Verb; Perfect Shot
67. Texting/IM Conversations: The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin; The Secret to Lying; Will Grayson, Will Grayson
68. Thieving Fathers: Compromised; The Daughters; Heist Society
69. Titles with a Little "Little" in Them: A Little Wanting Song; Dirty Little Secrets; Every Little Thing in the World; Little Blog on the Prairie
70. Verse Novels: After the Kiss; The Firefly Letters; Glimpse; Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs; Three Rivers Rising; Wicked Girls
71. War: Abe in Arms; Bamboo People; Revolution; Sweet, Hereafter; The Things a Brother Knows; Thunder Over Kandahar; Woods Runner
72. Non-book-Related: Kelly and Jackie came to the realization they are naming their first born daughters the same thing… And no, they aren't telling you what that is. (Wilma Grayson?) (Kelly says it's Xander!)
Tweet
