A Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck
Age: 11+
Interests: Great Depression, small town life, grandparents, high school, poverty, bullying, romance
Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
08 Jan 2018 Leave a comment
in Books, books 9+ Tags: England, fantasy, folktales, King Arthur, Magic, Wales
by Susan Cooper
Book 4 in The Dark is Rising series
Age: 9+ (advanced reader)
Interests: magic, fantasy, folklore, King Arthur, England, Wales
01 Jan 2018 2 Comments
Happy New Year! Or as my daughter put it at midnight last night: “Happy Totally Random Reason to Celebrate!”
The year ahead looks full of projects and new initiatives, but I pledge to continue reviewing and sharing my thoughts with you on this humble little blog. After all, if my calculations are correct, I’m only 14 reviews away from finishing ALL the Newbery medal winners! And after that I’ve still got Carnegie winners to cover, so (happily) the work goes on and on.
My bedside table.
My own writing projects outside this website can be followed on my official authorly blog here. In a nutshell, I am at the moment writing a play, developing a fiction podcast, finishing a book about early childhood development, and researching a particularly rich historical fiction topic. Plus another half dozen things, including the most important job of all: being an Awesome Parent… or at least a Not Entirely Out of Touch, Embarrassing and Hopeless Parent.
And another stack over here. (I’m out of cookies!)
If you’d like to follow along with my admittedly eccentric reading list, I’m on Goodreads, where I’ve just set myself the audacious goal of reading one hundred books in 2018. (gulp) Look me up if you are a Goodreader too.
Wishing all of you exciting projects and prospects this year, along with the good health and energy to tackle them all, as well as peace, happiness, and many, many good books to read!
cheers!
Kim
07 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in Books, books 5+, Uncategorized Tags: art, artists, biography, city life, New York
by Javaka Steptoe
Age: 5+
Interests: artists, art, biography, New York, city life
04 Dec 2017 Leave a comment
in Books, books 10+, Uncategorized Tags: animals, California, dogs, history, independence, indigenous peoples, island, strong girls, wilderness survival
by Scott O’Dell
Age: 10+
Interests: survival, strong girls, indigenous peoples, history, independence, island life, animals, dogs
06 Nov 2017 Leave a comment
in Books, books 8+, Uncategorized Tags: diary, divorce/separation, family, loneliness, new kid, school, single parent, writers
by Beverly Cleary
illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Age: 8+
Interests: being the new kid, school problems, divorced parents, single parent, loneliness, writing
23 Oct 2017 Leave a comment
in Books, books 11+, Uncategorized Tags: dragons, fantasy, Magic, Princess, romance, royalty, strong girls, violence, war, wizard
by Robin McKinley
Age: 11+
Interests: fantasy, magic, princesses, strong girls, dragons, war and violence, romance
17 Oct 2017 4 Comments
in Books, books 5+, books 7+, Classics, Uncategorized Tags: animals, community, country life, farm, nature, rabbits
written and illustrated by Robert Lawson
Age: (read to) 5+, (independent reading) 7+
Interests: animals, rabbits, farms, country life, community
10 Oct 2017 Leave a comment
in Books, books 12+, Uncategorized Tags: family, friendship, mental illness, orphans, poverty, responsibility, siblings, strong girls
by Cynthia Voigt
Age: 12+
Interests: family, siblings, strong girls, friendship, poverty, orphans, mental illness
30 Sep 2017 Leave a comment
in Books, books 9+, Uncategorized Tags: history, orphans, politics, Russia, soccer, sports, U.S.S.R.