Can you believe we made it all the way to 31?
It’s been a very VERY fun ride!
Today, doing a guest post, is Singe Singe.
But before we get to that, a few reminders:
Make sure you get your comments in!
A drawing will be done tonight, and tomorrow the winner of
Voyage to Bunny Planet, by Rosemary Wells will be announced,
as well as two winners of little idea books.
Have you signed up for PiBoIdMo?
It’s really fun and a great way to use all this knowledge we’ve learned
from reading excellent picture books.
And, did you have fun?
Let me know what you thought of the challenge, especially ways to improve it!
I think next year I’m going to bring in you guys as guest bloggers.
Soon the 31 in 31 page will be updated with all the links,
and I will go back over the posts and make a
MASTER LIST
of all the picture books we read!
I think there will be some fun stats in there too…
WARNING: This may not happen until December.
I’m doing PiBoIdMo AND NaNoWriMo, so…
you get the point 🙂
Ok, Singe Singe is bugging me, so without further ado, here he is!
Today’s book is really awesome because it’s Kathy Ellen’s favorite book of all time.
Also, it’s where I got my name!
First, let’s take a look at this book:
Title: Monkey-Monkey’s Trick
Published by: Random House, 1988
Written by: Patricia McKissack
Illustrated by: Paul Meisel.
In one word: Tricky!
In one sentence: Monkey-Monkey needs help, and he gets some from Hyena, but then monsters come and eat the stew and Monkey-Monkey doesn’t know what to do but then he figures it out and…I suppose this is what Kathy Ellen calls  a run-on sentence.
Favorite pages:
(Had to scan these, because the book is so well loved that it won’t lay flat on it’s own. Also, there’s more than three, and comments by Kathy Ellen, who was kind enough to let me interview her!)
SS: I like this page because it’s really cute and there’s lots of hearts and love.
KE: I like this page because of the same things,
and also because my parents ENCOURAGED me to read Picture Books all the time.
This is a Step 2 Reader, but when I read it (on February 26th, 1989, so I was almost 6)
I was already reading chapter books
(I remember LOVING Dr. Doolittle and Charlotte’s Web in Kindergarten…)
so, technically, it was “too easy” for me.
But my mom knew the power of a story and how awesome picture books are.
So I read them ALL THE TIME and still do 🙂
SS: I like this one because Monkey-Monkey gets mad at Hyena.
KE: I like this one because Monkey-Monkey stands up for himself and it’s toward the start of the book…
it made me really like him and really NOT LIKE Hyena.
And, the perspective is so tragic when we see Monkey-Monkey’s start of his house.
SS: I like this one because Monkey-Monkey is going to do a trick!
KE: I like this one because Monkey-Monkey is angry,
but he doesn’t just get mad,
he ends up getting even! (or maybe even ahead?)
I loved his trick…it’s what keeps me reading the book over and over again.
SS: I like this one because he did it!
KE: Me too, Singe Singe, my words exactly 🙂
SS: I like this because there’s a party!
KE: Me too. I wanted to party with all these animals.
SS: So this is the back of the book…
KE: I love it because it’s so beat up and it’s a good little hook…I love the “BUT GUESS WHAT?”
Instead of doing likes and learns, I’m just going to interview Kathy Ellen a bit about the book, ok?
I gave her some sentence starters (in bold!) and the rest of the words are hers:
I think this is my favorite book because the story is so timeless.
Turns out it’s based on an old African Folk Tale.
Also, the main character has TWO first names, like me.
I don’t hyphenate mine, but I think it was just SO exciting to find another character who had two first names. I’ve been thinking about writing a book about that actually…
I read this book about twice or more times a year.
When I’m around children, more….I like to do different voices.
I have this book with me wherever I move.
I did an AmeriCorps program once where I only could bring along two big bags worth of stuff, and this made the list. I also moved out on kind of an adventure and only packed a backpack once. This was in there, and my college textbooks that I actually needed were not!
My handsome sock monkey son, Singe Singe is named after Monkey-Monkey: True or False?
Ha! Yes, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.
It IS true.
Singe Singe is named after Monkey-Monkey.
As you may or may not know, Singe Singe was born in October 2007,
when I was learning how to make sock monkeys so I could make one as a present.
I knew I would name him Monkey Monkey, but without the hyphen.
He stayed named Monkey Monkey until the summer of 2009,
when he attended a summer language camp at Middlebury, VT with me.
Since I could only speak French, Singe Singe changed his name to Singe Singe, which means Monkey Monkey in French.
He was so popular there that he kept his French name.
I love the illustrations because they are so bright and colorful and childlike and amazing.
I think they must be watercolor.
I’ve seen this book only on amazon, never in a bookstore sadly.
Thanks Kathy Ellen, for your time, and my origin story.
That’s day 31 folks!
Here’s the finished bookshelf!
I had a lot of fun discovering new books.
How about you?
Until next time, I’ll be enthusiastically yours and trying to take care of Kathy Ellen during this busy November,
Singe Singe
I’m doing PiBoIdMo and 12 x 12. No Nano this year. That master list sounds excellent. Have a fun time with your November challenges. 🙂
Hooray! Awesome work this month, KE and Singe Singe!
For this final day I re-read IMOGENE’S ANTLERS. My favorite spread is the very last one when she walks in the room with a new surprise. I find powerful PB endings challenging to write, so I appreciate them in other people’s books.
I loved reading your post! What a great story! it is so amazing the power one book can have on a child. Plus, I am sucker for anything that has a birthday tie-in!
I enjoyed learning more about Singe-Singe too.
I think this challenge was fantastic! I looked forward to reading your posts and finding out what everyone else was reading. Your prizes were great too, I am so happy that I was lucky enough to win!
I would love to he a guest blogger next year. Just let me know.
Today we read PUMPKINHEAD by Eric Rohmann. I bought this book last summer when I met Rohmann at a conference. I had never read the book before I purchased it at the book store. Since, having this book signed, I have read it numerous times with my children, fell in the love with the unusual story, and used it to inspire my son and I to spend a morning making our own “pumpkinhead” guy. And tonight, I was able to read it as the last book in the 31 in 31 challenge!
Thank you so much Kathy for encouraging me to take a moment to reflect upon the picture books I am reading to my children.
Wow! 31, eh? Thank you so much, KE and Singe Singe. It has been a pleasure joining you in this challenge.
Life is a little upside down right now in NYC. I appreciate the challenge pushing me to escape with a PB everyday. I read John Rocco’s BLACKOUT tonight. I dedicate it to all of the people without power on thus very cold night. God Bless them all.
Great post, Singe Singe! (And thanks for sharing it with Kathy Ellen). I loved reading about that special book and about your origins, Mr. French Monkey Monkey Singe Singe!
Kathy Ellen — I think it’s so wonderful that your mother noted the day you first read that book in the inside cover. Mmmm, that gives me such a lovely feeling inside.
Today I read four… or was it five? picture books. Sort of like the Bam, Pow, KaBOOM! grand finale of a fireworks display. I wanted to find just the right book to end 31 in 31 with. I wish I were sitting in a library (other than my own) right now, because I’d like to go on reading more and more picture books.
However, all good things must come to an end (I have a score to settle with the person who invented that phrase and concept…) so I’ve settled on one picture book to add to the list. It’s a re-read from my own bookshelves. (Wish it could have been one from my own childhood!)
I re-read “Miss Lina’s Ballerinas.” Although I’m usually not keen on rhyming text, I enjoy the text of this book so much, and the illustrations by Christine Davenier are picture perfect. The beginning of the book has some of the flavor of “Madeline” with the rows of girls going to dance class. I wonder if Davenier echoed that in her art intentionally? I love how the girls danced when they did math, and danced when they read… and how they had to learn to dance in a different way in order to accept a new member into the class. Just a delightful book to end the month on.
(And like Eric, I’d love to be a guest blogger next year!)
Thank you so much, Kathy Ellen, for organizing this and being such a fun host. This has been such a delight each day, the reading and especially the sharing. Thanks.
Yes, I loved this challenge, Kathy! It was a perfect lead-in to PiBoIdMo…getting us all in the picture book groove.
Yes, I loved Singe Singe sharing the wonderful book pick for today…last, but certainly not least!
Yes, I would love to guest post next year…if there would be a place for me and you think I would add something of value to the 2013 31 in 31.
Yes, I am ready, willing and, hopefully, able for the November Challenge.
Yes, I just discovered that November is also Picture Book Month…founded by author Dianne De Las Casas…and I’ve put the Picture Book Ambassador badge on my blog.
Yes, I did read a picture book today…in honor of it being the last day of the challenge, I am sharing one of my favorites that I read during school visits. It also addresses an important topic, bullying and teasing…and today is the last day of National Bullying Prevention Month.
“Yes We Can!” written by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Charles Fuge, is a story about three animal friends who begin to make fun of each other and learn some important lessons about what makes a good friend. Lovely illustrations that really show the expressions of each animal…and a story line that every young child can relate to.
Thank you so much, Kathy…this was such fun! You did an amazing job hosting 31 in 31…I will look forward to doing it again next year. 🙂
I’ve never seen Monkey-Monkey, but it looks like a cute book. Thanks for the little interview. Since you mentioned Rosemary Wells, I decided to read her book “Bunny Party.” I just love Max & Ruby because my own 2 kids act like them! In this story, Ruby invites HER stuffed animals and dolls to a party for Grandma, and she doesn’t leave room for any of Max’s toys at the table. Max finds his own clever way to sneak his into the chairs.
Kathy Ellen,
This has been a superb, fun, easy challenge. I’m so grateful. Without it, I wouldn’t have read 31 pb’s in October! I hope I can keep up this record, reading 1 pb a day. Later today I hope to post my bookshelf on my blog with all the titles.
May God bless you in your writing career, and I guess I’ll see you in PiBoIdMo!
~Tina
Hi Kathy Ellen!
I’m disappointed I was physically unable to complete the task I set for myself to read all the lovely books. Technically I actually read them, just was unable to post…life got in the way. Can wait to see the master list!
Thanks, Kathy Ellen, for allowing us to get cozy with so many lovely picture books and I’m sure many of them will make it under some Christmas trees this year!
Donna L Martin
http://www.donnalmartin.com
http://www.donasdays.blogspot.com