The Sea of Trolls

Well, it's not even a week into Summer Vacation and I've lost track of what day it is already. I think it's Wednesday. I've walked 4 mornings in a row, including the regular Sunday walk, so therefore, it must be Wednesday. Speaking of Wednesday, did you know that Wednesday is named for the norse god Odin? It's Odin's day. And Thursday is Thor's day. I have norse mythology on the brain these days because I've just finished listening to Nancy Farmer's The Sea of Trolls while at the same time reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods (which I finished ahead of schedule) for the One Book One Twitter experiment.

The Sea of Trolls is an epic tale of a young boy named Jack who becomes the apprentice to the village Bard and is just beginning to learn magic when his village is attacked by viking berserkers and he and his younger sister are kidnapped to be sold as slaves. When the leader of the berserkers, Olaf Onebrow, learns of Jack's talents, he decides to keep Jack as his own personal bard. Thus begins Jack's many adventures with the brutal vikings, including traveling to Jotunheim in order to save his sister's life. Jack's good deeds serve him well on his adventures and by the end, he gains the confidence of a full fledged bard. I actually read some of this and listened to most of it. Either way, it was a wonderful adventure story and the audio book was well done. One interesting aspect of the story is that Jack eventually comes to respect and care for his captors as friends and has to reconcile his affection for Olaf with his repulsion for the violence the berserkers commit against the innocent. And I should say, the violence is brutal, no sugar coating it here. This book is the first of a trilogy. Book 2 is called The Land of the Silver Apples and book 3 is called The Islands of the Blessed. There are many references to norse myths and the Beowulf story in this book. It might be helpful to read D'Aulaire's Norse Myths to get some back ground before picking up The Sea of Trolls. And if you enjoyed it and are into norse mythology, you might also enjoy Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, a story in which Odin, Thor, and Loki are main characters.

While I was listening to The Sea of Trolls, I was working on several knitting projects, none of which are quite finished. I have a sweater that needs buttons, a sock that needs a mate, and a pair of fingerless opera gloves that needs it's loose ends woven in. As soon as something is finished, I'll post a picture.

Having had my fill of fantasy, lately, I'm now in the mood for some science fiction. I've started reading The Doom Machine by Mark Teague so I'll talk about that next time.

Something to do this summer

Hey kids! You like cartoons? You like graphic novels? Of course you do! So here is something cool for you to do this summer! Tell your parents to take you here, the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco to see the Storytime! Graphic Novels for Kids of All Ages exhibit. Whether your parents like cartoons or not, they can't say 'no' because it's a museum! Therefore, if you go there, you will become smarter! Plus, who doesn't love a fun day in the city? Did I mention that Jeff Smith's Bone will be in the exhibit and so will Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggie? I am going! And you should, too.

While you are here, leave me a comment and tell me what graphic novels you'd like to see added to the library's collection.

Ordinary Tales

Some time ago, I promised I would post my final project for my Kid Lit class, which is a picture book written and illustrated by me. I finished the project and turned it in and got an 'A' on the project and an 'A' in the class and have since graduated with an A.S. in Library and Information Technology. Yeay me! However, I'm having a hard time embedding my book project on this blog in a format that is readable and I'm tired of messing with it so here is a link to it on my Wiki. You have to manually click through the slide show, which is fine, you can look at the child-like pictures as long as you please.
Ordinary Tales: Or When Fairytale Characters Behave Themselves and Mind Their Manners.

The story was inspired by a class discussion about fairytales and how some of the discussion participants thought that fairytales were too violent, unsavory, or otherwise inappropriate for children. Fairytales can be strange but that's what I love about them, and I started to think, what would the stories be like if the characters were all kind and polite to each other? My guess is that they wouldn't be very interesting.

And speaking of fairytales, you should check out Neil Gaiman's new picture book for all ages Instructions, illustrated by Charles Vess. It tells you what you should do if you should happen to find yourself inside a fairytale world. Absolutely gorgeous illustrations. You could really get lost in them.

So that's all I have for now. I know the school year is winding down and the library is closed but the public library is still open so keep reading!

New books!

Just a quick post to let you know that the new JLG shipment is in and ready for check out. Take a look at these titles:

The Moon Over Star

I was just under 4 years old when the world watched Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon for the first time. I have vague memories of launches and moonwalks being broadcast on television. I don't really remember the first one. The Moon Over Star by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney (2008) tells the story of one family's experience watching that first moon landing. It starts with the family in church praying for the safety of the astronauts, then, back at the family's farmhouse, Mae, the narrator of the story, and her cousins build a rocket in the backyard with found objects and pretend they are astronauts. Gran calls the children in to gather around the television to watch the launch. Mae is inspired to dream of becoming an astronaut herself but Gramps does not share in the excitement. He says the space program is a waste of money when there are so many people in need on Earth. After the launch, the family has a picnic dinner under the stars, gazing at the moon and wondering what the astronauts are thinking. Later, they gather around the television again to watch Commander Armstrong step out onto the moon and speak his immortal words. The graphite, ink, and watercolor illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, especially the two-page spread of the rocket launch which is informed by footage of the actual launch. In the end, Gramps comes to appreciate the amazing feat of human endeavor that he has just witnessed and encourages Mae to hold on to her dreams. I absolutely love this book. It recalls a moment in history when the world stopped and watched as humans flew into space and traveled to another world and a generation was inspired to dream of great things.

The Lambkins

A student brought this back to the library the other day and told me she couldn't finish it because it was "too freaky" for her. Well, that piqued my curiosity and I had to know what was it about this book that freaked her out? Well, I've read the book and I have to admit, it is little creepy. The story begins with the kidnapping of Kyle Wilson, regular kid, aspiring artist. He is taken by a woman whom he later in the story refers to as 'the shepherd' and describes her hair as 'that funny, artificial red that I guess some women think is pretty.' That made me laugh! Anyway, this woman has the ability to shrink people to the size of dolls and she adds Kyle to her collection, replacing John, who made her angry. The shepherd calls her little people 'lambkins' and she just wants to love them - and for them to love her - forever. I don't know how far the student got in this story, if it was the shrinking people that freaked her out or the shepherd wanting to force her captives to love her. The part that creeps me out is the woman's idea of a loving relationship - keeping kids prisoner and trying to make them love her by giving them time to practice their talents, though the youngest one does appear to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. The kids' situation seems pretty hopeless, but they never give up and eventually escape their dollhouse prison.

3rd grade and up.

ETA: Just finished listening to the 2010 Newbery Medal winning When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I had several false starts with this book. It was a little slow starting so I'd get distracted by something else, but I finally stuck with it and it turned out to be a very good book. I think I would recommend reading it, though, rather than listening to it. I didn't care much for the reader's voice and I found myself wanting to turn back pages to see if I missed something. This is because the book has a time travel theme. So it's important to pay attention to the little details that don't seem important at first. Kids: you might want to ask you parents (or your grandparents) about the $20,000 Pyramid and who Dick Clark is. Also, there are several references to Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time throughout the book so you might consider reading that first if you haven't read it already. I don't want to say too much more about it because I don't want to spoil the mystery. I'll just say, if you don't get into it right way, stick with it! It's worth it!

5th grade and up.

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!