Falling In and The Doghouse

Okay, I finished Falling In by Frances O'Roark Dowell and it was very good. Isabelle Bean has always been a little different than other children. In fact, she believes she is a changeling and when she falls into a different world through a closet in the school nurse's office, she discovers that she's not entirely wrong. The world she falls into is like a fairy tale, where children live in fear of being eaten by the witch in the woods. But the witch has gotten a bad rap and employs Isabelle to help her overcome her reputation. In the mean time, Isabelle discovers a family secret and that she has a special skill. This was an enjoyable read, face-paced and light hearted. Isabelle is fearless and very likeable. I'd recommend this for grades 4 and up.

I'm becoming a big Jan Thomas fan. I'm already in love with The Rhyming Dustbunnies and in The Doghouse, Ms. Thomas uses the same combination of bold, saturated illustrations and simple text to create terrific read-a-louds for beginning readers. In The Doghouse, Cow, Pig, Duck, and Mouse loose their ball in the scary doghouse. Each takes a turn going in after it ... and not coming out! The suspense builds until the end when we find out they weren't ever in any danger. This book is fun to read out loud. I read it to two classes today and they loved it! The AR reading level of this book is 0.7. It's amazing what can be achieved with such an economy of words!

I don't have any knitting updates, really. I'm working on a cardigan. I'll post pictures when I have them.

Here are the best things kids have said to me about my new haircut:

"Whoa! What happened to your hair?"

"Are you wearing a wig?"

"Your hair looks weird."

Kid: "Did you color your hair with a crayon?"

Me: "No, I colored it with hair dye."

Kid: "Is that what happens when hair gets old?"

One last thing, the Patrick Marleau signed puck, courtesy of the Sharks Foundation, is on display in the library. If you ask me nicely, I might let you touch it!