Grace Lin's Blog, page 109
April 6, 2011
on the way to the grocery store
A dog drove in to pick up some milk (probably for the cat).
April 5, 2011
booktalk tuesday
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly ClearyIndieBound Description: Ralph the mouse ventures out from behind the piney knothole in the wall of his hotel-room home, scrambles up the telephone wire to the end table, and climbs aboard the toy motorcycle left there by a young guest. His thrill ride does not last long. The ringing telephone startles Ralph, and he and the motorcycle take a terrible fall - right to the bottom of a metal wastebasket. Luckily, Keith, the owner of the motorcycle, returns to find his toy. Keith rescues Ralph and teaches him how to ride the bike. Thus begins a great friendship and many awesome adventures. Once a mouse can ride a motorcyle ... almost anything can happen!
My Thoughts: A true classic that holds up to the test of time. I loved this book as a child, when my 1st grade teacher read it aloud to my class and I still love it now. Before reading this book, I never really had peanut butter (remember, my parents were Asian!) but after this book, I remember begging for peanut butter sandwiches.
April 4, 2011
April 3, 2011
Sunday Chinese School
Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!Today's word is:
rain
xiǎoyǔ
April 2, 2011
April Kid Review: The Ugly Vegetables
Last month, I visited the wonderful Winchester Thurston school, where the lovely librarian, Jennifer Kraar, not only warmly welcomed me but did such an incredible job preparing the students for my visit that it's inspired a new little feature here at the blog!
Jennifer had some students podcast reviews of my books and it was such a treat to hear directly what the real readers thought of my book. In my newsletter, I always include my favorite letter of the month, so, I thought here, on the blog, I would do the same!
Listen to this month Kid's Review of The Ugly Vegetables:
*If you have a review of one of my books that you would like to share, send it to Gracelin.manager@gmail.com! Multimedia (audio clip, youtube link, etc) is encouraged but not necessary.
April 1, 2011
fortune cookie friday
"Do not insult the crocodile until you've crossed the river. "
-Chinese Proverb
March 31, 2011
Where the Mountain Meets the School
When schools ask me do to my "Behind Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Presentation," I always make sure they read the curriculum guidelines. That is because it is a presentation that can go extremely well or...not. It's a presentation that needs the students to have actually read (or heard) the book. The better the students know the book, the better the presentation goes.
Which is why I was filled with great joy during one of my school visits in Arizona. Not only had the students of Zaharis School been read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, each class did a project on it.
In one of the younger classes, the students answered what they, themselves, would as the Old Man of the Moon:
And another class did an-depth study of the book and created this lovely board:
(It says"We are all puddles awaiting the rain of characters that create ripples which expands our boundaries until we become oceans")
character names are on the raindrops!
and the ocean is made of story line "ripples"
An older class wrote stories about meeting different characters from the book:
While another class wrote about their favorite part and what they learned from the book (I love the accompanying drawings!):
And other classes wrote poetry:
With all this preparation, the presentation went amazingly well and I was so thrilled how much my book was enjoyed. I'm hopeful that this will inspire other schools that request the "Behind Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" presentation.
Thank you, Zaharis School!
Which is why I was filled with great joy during one of my school visits in Arizona. Not only had the students of Zaharis School been read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, each class did a project on it.
In one of the younger classes, the students answered what they, themselves, would as the Old Man of the Moon:
And another class did an-depth study of the book and created this lovely board:
(It says"We are all puddles awaiting the rain of characters that create ripples which expands our boundaries until we become oceans")
character names are on the raindrops!
and the ocean is made of story line "ripples"An older class wrote stories about meeting different characters from the book:
While another class wrote about their favorite part and what they learned from the book (I love the accompanying drawings!):
And other classes wrote poetry:
With all this preparation, the presentation went amazingly well and I was so thrilled how much my book was enjoyed. I'm hopeful that this will inspire other schools that request the "Behind Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" presentation.
Thank you, Zaharis School!
March 30, 2011
kidlit4Japan
I've been watching all the devastation in Japan with a great deal of sadness. I'm hoping to do a little charity of my own for Japan in the future but in the meantime, I've donated 3 prints from my etsy shop to the KidLit4Japan auctions! There's lots of great stuff on auction, so don't miss out.
These are the prints I donated:
BID HERE for this print!
BID HERE for this print
Bid HERE for this print
These are the prints I donated:
BID HERE for this print!
BID HERE for this print
Bid HERE for this print
School Visit Photo Album, Arizona
I did a whole week of school visits in arizona and all the schools were very welcoming. See how welcoming they were?
Pretty good likeness, huh?
But what made me feel even more welcomed were how the schools used my books.
One school had a bookmark contest, where students designed bookmarks inspired by my books:
One class wrote moon poems in honor of Thanking the Moon:
Because of The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat there was a lot of interest in the Chinese Zodiac:
One class, inspired by The Year of the Dog wrote about their own family traditions:
And another class wrote their wishes for the year, inspired by The Year of the Rat:
It was great being brought to Arizona!
March 29, 2011
booktalk tuesday
Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee StewartIndieBound Description: "Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?"
When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?
Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.
My thoughts:Lots of fun! Action, adventure, and exciting mystery--what more could one want? These books are a bit long so might not be for the reluctant reader, but for the undaunted student who likes a nice thick book this is sure to be favorite!
