books together

Leo's dad is reading him The Hobbit; both of them are enjoying it immensely.  There is something special about reading a favorite childbood book with your own child.  I'm not a Tolkien fan myself (I'll be reading the Narnia books to the kids, thank you), but I'll make an exception for The Hobbit:  I would love to live in a hobbit house.  This one, built to house someone's collection of Tolkien manuscripts and artifacts, is my favorite.  Check out the interior shots of the round door, the "butterfly" window, the fireplace, and the library.

While googling "hobbit house" I turned up a reference to a hobbit house practically in our own background.  The kids and I went looking for it at the Winkler Botanical Preserve in Alexandria, VA this morning.  I had never even heard of the place, but I'm so glad we stumbled on it.  There was a network of wooded trails (we're planning to go back and map them); a stream, waterfalls, and a lake; a Craftsman-style building called the Catherine Lodge; and a mysterious series of book-boxes at strategic points along the trail, each inscribed with a single letter (we found H, S, O, and several Xs).  Our real-life adventure seems to have criss-crossed with someone else's!  What could be going on at the Winkler Botanical Preserve?

Oh, and we also found an abandoned hobbit house, just Milly's size (she went in).  It was nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Our last-day-of-school tradition involves a trip to the bookstore to sign up for the summer reading program (we signed up for the one at the public library already) and pick out a brand new book. This year Leo, who has always liked realistic fiction (think Andrew Clements), surprised me by wanting what he described as "scary magical adventure books." Scary? That didn't sound like Leo. It did, however, sound like some of his friends. Fortunately there were a lot of scary (but maybe not too scary) magical adventure books to choose from, and in no time he had acquired a tall stack and was inspecting them before deciding which one to buy. He decided on 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson, on the strength (I think) of its gorgeous green cover. He hasn't read it yet.

I wanted to show you a picture of the stack of books in question (so shiny!), but a bookseller politely informed me that photography was prohibited in the store.Company policy. To keep customers from buying the books online or checking them out of the library, maybe? I was mortified, apologetic, defensive, and finallyunderstanding, if also unconvinced. Anyway, before I photograph the stack of scary magical adventure books we did check out the library (ahem), please let me know what you would recommend in that genre, for an almost-9-year-old boy going on his very first one.

[Updated to add: Charlotte is looking for 70s-era fantasy books for a nine-year-old girl today.  I am partial to the 70s myself, having done some growing-up during them; and I think fantasy books cross over gender (and time) well.  Check out her recommendations!]

Welcome to Nonfiction Monday at books together! I'm delighted to be hosting today (as always). Please leave me a comment with a link to your post for Nonfiction Monday; I'll update this post to include your links at various times throughout the day. Thanks for visiting, and for participating in this edition of Nonfiction Monday.

Good Morning!

Sarah N. of In Need of Chocolate posted about Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths, one of her family's favorite books about butterflies.

Kim Hutmacher reviews The DesertAlphabet Encyclopedia at The Wild About Nature Blog.

Fuse #8 reviews The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand New Colors by Chris Barton.

Jennifer reviews Sea Cows, Shamans, and Scurvy by Ann Arnold at Jean Little Library.

Lori Calabrese reviews Swifter, Higher, Stronger by Sue Macy at Lori Calabrese Writes!

Shirley posts on Not a Drop to Drink at SimplyScience.

[We're off to pick strawberries and will update at lunchtime. Thanks again!]

Lunchtime

The ACPL Mock Sibert Blog has posted its first reading list of non-fiction books to be considered fortheir Mock Sibert Award, to be awarded in January, 2010.

Amanda of A Patchwork of Books has a review up of What's Inside?

Robin ofThe Book Nosher is posting about I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer.

This past week on INK: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids -- "Out of a Tunnel" by Cheryl Harness; "Let's Give 'Em Something To Talk About" by Linda Salzman; "Just The Facts, Ma'am" by Susan E. Goodman; "Figs" by Barbara Kerley; "Some Observations on the History and Future of Informational Books" by guest blogger Jean Reynolds; and "Writing Children's Nonfiction Made Simple" by Steve Jenkins.

[Thenext round of posts will go up later this afternoon. Time to eat the strawberries!]

Afternoon and Evening

There haven't been any additional posts this afternoon, but there should be plenty to keep you busy here. I'll round up one more time tonight, just in case. Thanks for visiting!

Nighttime

On Wendie's Wanderings this week, Wendie has done a review of Melissa Stewart's new series, A Rainbow of Animals.

We celebrated Milly's fifth birthday with a Madeline party at home.  I think even Ludwig Bemelmans (who never actually wrote a book about Madeline's birthday) would have been pleased.  Milly was!  Miss Clavel (that would be me) made twelve little girls-worth of Madeline coats and hats for Milly and the party guests; we did a dramatic reading of Madeline's Rescue featuring a special guest appearance by Lord Cucuface (Milly's dad); and we hunted high and low for Madeline's dog Genevieve, who turned out to be a dog pinata (retrofitted with pullstrings to avoid the appearance of animal cruelty).  Then we ate cake.

All of this was surprisingly simple to put together, I swear.  It did take some thought and time (and the writing of a bit of / bad Bemelmans-esque rhyme); but if your child has a birthday coming up, I would definitely encourage you to plan the party around the book.  And if your child's favorite book is Madeline, call me.

Joyeux anniversaire, Milly!

Mozart is a perfect candidate for a picture book biography, and Diane Stanley's Mozart:  The Wonder Child, A Puppet Play in Three Acts (HarperCollins, 2009) is, in my view, a perfect example of one: informative and engaging text, well-chosen detail, lots of back matter, and--this is important--beautiful design.

Stanley, who has written and illustrated eleven other picture book biographies, is past master at this art.  She was inspired to present Mozart's life as a puppet play by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre (thus the strings).  I'm not convinced that this is a puppet play, although I like the three-act structure of the text; the art (minus the strings) is, however, exquisite, and of course everyone is lavishly dressed.  I particularly like the handwritten musical staffs that correspond to what Mozart is composing on a given page; and the way the footnotes, which are designated by quarter and eighth notes, are presented on scrolls by little cherubs.

With younger children, read Play, Mozart, Play (a play on words) by Peter Sis (Greenwillow, 2006).  For older children, pair this with Mozart: The Boy Who Changed the World With His Music (with reproductions of portraits and other paintings, and photos of places) by Marcus Weeks (National Geographic, 2007).

Most important, listen--or play!--some of Mozart's music.  After reading this together, Leo asked if he could learn to play something by Mozart on his violin, and was surprised to learn that Mozart had composed (variations on) his very first piece:  Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  Maybe you know it?

The winners of the 2009 E.B. White Read Aloud Awards for Picture Books and Older Readers were none other than my two favorite books in those categories last year.  I love it when that happens!

Picture Book:  A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (Candlewick, 2008).  I bought this book the moment I saw it (which is saying a lot given my limited book budget), and we've read it aloud many times since.  Perfect pacing, charming and expressive illustrations, a lovely last line.

For Older Readers:  Masterpiece by Elise Broach, illustrated by Kelly Murphy (Henry Holt, 2008).  I'm thrilled that this middle grade novel about frienship, values, and art will have a shiny gold sticker of on it (even if it's not the Newbery).  Our next family read aloud.  And maybe yours, too!

I tend to like the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award winners and honor books.  These are the 2009 winners (for books published between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009):

Fiction and Poetry:  Nation by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins).

Nonfiction:  A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming (Schwartz and Wade/Random House).

Picture Book:  Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy (illustrated by Polly Dunbar; Clarion).  You can preview this one at Google books.  Do the cadences of Mahy's rhymes remind you of Charlotte Pomerantz's The Piggy in the Puddle (illustrated by James Marshall), too?  They're both great fun to read aloud.

You can also read more about this year's Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards and see the list of honor books here.

Patricia Wrede's Thirteenth Child (Scholastic, 2009) has been on my to-read list since early spring, when I first heard it described as Little House on the Prairie meets Harry Potter.  Since then, I've heard it described as a lot of other, more problematic things, primarily due to Wrede's decision to eliminate Native Americans from the North American ("Columbian") continent: there are mammoths and other megafauna instead.  [Pause.]  A copy is waiting for me on the hold shelf at the library; I'm anxious to read it, if not for the same reasons I had been, and judge for myself.

Reviews by Jo Walton at Tor.com (many comments), Charlotte's Library (I heard it here first), and A Fuse #8 Production (Review of the Day).

Have you read it yet?  If not, does this controversy make it more or less likely that you will?

Milly and I read lots of retellings of the Russian fairy tale Firebird prior to seeing the Center Dance Company's performance of the ballet this afternoon.  You might want to put on some Stravinsky and read them, too.

Best before the ballet:  The Firebird by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Vladimir Vagin (Harper Children's, 2002).  Yolen's retelling follows the Balanchine ballet, so if you see a performance inspired by Fokine (as we did), you might be surprised by the business with the magical egg.  I really like the way Vagin illustrated the story at the top of the page and its performance on stage across the bottom.  N.b., Jane Yolen trained at Balanchine's School of American Ballet.

Lovely to look at:  The Tale of the Firebird by Gennady Spirin; translated by Tatiana Popova (Philomel, 2002).  So the Firebird looks like a peacock: Spirin's illustrations, full-page watercolors and delicate, detailed borders, are exquisite.  This is an original version of the Firebird story adapted from three Russian fairy tales and features a gorgeous gray wolf and our old friend Baba Yaga as well as Koshchei and, of course, the Firebird herself.

Milly's favorite.  The Firebird by Demi (Henry Holt, 1994).  If you like Demi (and we do), you'll love her Firebird. It's all red and gold and there are little animals everywhere.  The art doesn't feel Russian to me, but the text is based on Ransome's translation of Afanasiev, and it reads aloud nicely.  The paperback edition of this book was for sale at today's performance; we didn't buy it, but Milly did get to bring home one of the Firebird's red feathers [thanks, Brenda!].

What's your favorite Firebird?

I remember three French customs from A Brother for the Orphelines by Natalie Savage Carlson (pictures by Garth Williams, 1959):  masks on Mardi Gras, the April fish, and lilies of the valley on the first of May:

"The first of May is Lily-of-the-Valley Day in France.  People gather the flowers in the woods and give sprigs to their friends for good luck.  Even the president of France gets one, because ever since the days of King Louis IX, the head of the French government has been presented with a lily of the valley on the first of May."

The orphelines look for their lilies of the valley in the Ste. Germaine Woods outside of Paris, where they live in a falling-down house with Madame Flattot and Genevieve to care for them.  A Brother for the Orphelines is the third in Carlson's series of books about them:  The Happy Orpheline, A Pet for the Orphelines (cats, 12 of them), A Brother for the Orphelines (Josine, the youngest, finds a baby boy in the breadbasket), The Orphelines in the Enchanted Castle, and A Grandmother for the Orphelines.  I seem to have liked French orphans, too.  Happy May Day!