Day 16!
We’re officially past the halfway point (yeah, barely!)
And we also have a winner!
That would be CAROL MUNRO!
Woo-hoo!
Carol, email me @ kathyellendaviswriter@gmail.com
so I know where to send your book!
Speaking of books, on to today’s. 🙂
I love words.
Probably not surprising because I’m a writer.
Some of my favorites include:
plethora,
cornucopia,
abundance,
and enthusiasm.
I just like the way they sound.
Hmmm…seems to be a theme in my word choices, huh?
I once got offered an interview for a job SOLELY because I used the word plethora in my cover letter. For real.
But I don’t love words as much as this guy.
Here’s another NF title that will knock your socks off.
You’ll never look at the dictionary the same way again!
Title: Noah Webster and his words
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012
Written by: Jeri Chase Ferris
Illustrated by: Vincent X. Kirsch
(fun fact found out from that link: He grew up in Massena, not to far from where I grew up, in Plattsburgh, in Northern NY!)
Word count: 1769
Pages: 32
In one word: Defining
In one sentence: How did all those definitions get into a book you ask…read on to find out!
Favorite pages:
Likes:
- I love how words are defined in the story. Yeah, right in the middle of the story. It’s great!
- The illustrations are so playful.
- It’s a compelling NF story…Noah’s life is so interesting!
- Love the timeline of Noah and the USA in the back and how they correspond too.
- This, in the front matter: “The illustrations were made with ink, watercolor, and graphite. And love.”
Learns:
- Everything has a story behind it, even the dictionary!
- NF done well is just as awesome a story as something fictional.
- Noah Webster worked REALLY HARD!
Read any awesome NF lately?
I try to read as much as I can, or as much as my library has 🙂
Keep up the good reading work everyone!
Until next time,
KE and SS
That’s a great book–read it for the first time last week, and I love the definitions in dictionary format embedded into the text.
I read THE TREE LADY, a biography by H. Joseph Hopkins, illustrated by Jill McElmurry. Of course I forgot the name of the lady–terrible, I know. 🙁 She goes by Kate and is the one responsible for all the trees at Balboa Park in San Diego. Lyrical text includes facts and follows a pattern that highlights the ways Kate broke the norm in her life.
Thanks for sharing that book. I will be reading it in the next 20 minutes.
Today I read THIS IS THE ROPE: A STORY FROM THE GREAT MIGRATION by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by James Ransome. The picture book is multi-cultural with 508-words. The illustration depicting at least three different generations of an African-American family and the rope that has passed on down through the generations. My favorite quote from the book and the justification and symbolism of the rope was,
“This is the rope my daddy used when he showed me the way to tie a sailor’s knot – ‘two times aroun and pull it real tight. You want whatever you make or do in your life, my daddy said, to last…”
This was powerful to me. I loved this book. It is amazing.
YAY! YIPPEE! I won a book! **happy dancing!** Thank you!
I can’t wait to read NOAH WEBSTER AND HIS WORDS. I’ll be reserving the book on my library’s website as soon as this post is done. THIS IS THE ROPE is also on reserve. I love this group. We’ve been reading and sharing some great books. Thanks for managing this, Kathy Ellen.
This morning I read
Congrats Carol….Woo-hoo!!!
Thanks! **sits on curb, waits for mail**
oops…technical difficulties, or spastic fingers.
This morning I read THE HIGHWAY RAT by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, 2011, Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic Inc.), 875 words.
The illustrations are bright and colorful, cute characters, interesting scenes. The text is done in verse. Great rhythm and rhyme. (Good job, Julia!) Initially, the pattern of breaking rhythm and repeating words bothered me, but I let go and went with the flow — and was happily surprised at how it fits into the whole. To summarize quickly, Rat is a highway robber, stealing food he doesn’t really want (sweets and pastries would be better than clover blossoms and acorns). Until he meets clever Duck, who attempts to stop the highway robbery. Hmmm…how will it all end?
Today’s book is “Little Blue Truck” by Alice Schertle and illustrated by Jill McElmurry.
Today I finished reading bunny books with the one you have all been wondering about that makes me cry. For those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, it’s “The Velveteen Rabbit.” As always it made me cry, but this was the first time I fought back those tears, realizing how much I want to read it to a group of children. The absence of constant tears throughout the story helped me look at it in new ways, relating it to my current life instead of just my past. It also allowed me to practice reading some of my favorite lines dramatically. Maybe I’m becoming a new kind of real.
I read “Scaredy Squirrel at Night” by Melanie Watt. The cover on this one glows in the dark, although I haven’t had the chance to see it yet. I had a book that did that, and I must say it was freaky, especially as I was not aware when I bought it.
I also checked this one out from the library. I know there is at least one more in the series that I have not yet read. The character definitely has some interesting fears and ways of dealing with them. This time around we learn about his fear of unicorns and fairies.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE “Noah and His Words!” I’m working on non-fiction so I read a lot of them, and Jeri Chase Ferris did such an excellent job with that story. Love it. Whenever someone asks for examples of good PB biographies, I always start my list with this one.
Today I read “Jo MacDonald Had a Garden” by Mary Quattlebaum, Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. (Dawn Publications, 2012) It’s a take on Old MacDonald about kids who grow a garden. I love gardens, so I enjoyed this book. And she has great back matter.
I can’t believe I missed half the month. For some reason I stopped getting your emails!! I have signed up again! URGHHHHH!
Noah Webster sounds like a really good read! I’m headed to the library tomorrow, so I’ll have to check it out. Today I read The Monstore by Tara Lazar. What a cute concept and I loved ending!
Tara is one of my Facebook friends. She is having a drawing for a Skype session with her on Halloween. You should enter.
Today, day 17 challenge, I read LOS GATOS BLACK ON HALLOWEEN by Marisa Montes. This Halloween Picture book is written in rhyme with Spanish words attached and a glossary in the back. It has 357-words. I like the story of all the Halloween creatures – witches, werewolves, skeletons – all gathered for a monstrous ball. But when the children interrupted by trick-or-treating, the creatures are the ones who are scared of the children not the other way around.
I read a blog post by the author where she stated that she was advised to change the ending of the book, but she stood firm and it still sold. I liked it. I thought it was great.
Today I read The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. When Duncan opens up his box of crayons, he finds letters of complaints from each crayon. Crayons have feelings too. This book is so clever and hilarious. I too want to read Noah Webster and His Words.
That book is on my list to read.
Today I read a nf book Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds. I liked reading a different perspective of the Rosa Park story from a young boy who sat in the back of the bus observing it. Great book!
I love Noah Webster and his words and was reading it today myself! How about that, great minds huh!
I will be checking this out!
For day 16, one of our books was “Ping Pong Pig” by Caroline Jayne Church. A silly (and very adorable) pig won’t stop jumping and trying to fly, causing havoc on the farm! His animals friends come up with a clever way to help Pig achieve his dream while also helping out on the farm.