will I ever catch up?

Probably not. Behind on everything...school, reading, blog reading, cleaning, book reviews...

This is my "catch up" blog post. A quick mish mash of everything.

*The Southern Reading Challenge. Ended yesterday. I only read one of three books. But hey, it was a really good one!

*Never did write my final review for the Numbers Challenge. (A challenge I actually did finish on time...woohoo.) So here's the mini version:

The 6th Target by James Patterson.

Sixth book in the Women's Murder Club series. Typical James Patterson. Quick moving. Those short chapters that I love so much. Not the best in the series. While there was still some suspense, it was a tad predictable. Maybe it was just my mood or maybe my tastes are just changing, but I'm still kind of thinking that his recent books just don't live up to his earlier ones.

*Also have a couple of kids' book reviews to do. Again we'll go with the short and sweet version:

Little Bit & Big Byte by Craig T. Feigh.

Picture book with a computer theme. Pretty cute. Awesome, vibrant artwork. Lots of computer terminology thrown in, but not in a way overwhelming to a little one. Good message about careful use of the internet, but not written in a scary way. Boys both enjoyed it.

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett.

This was our August read for the Celebrate the Author Challenge. Fairly cute, funny story. The boys enjoyed it. I usually don't enjoy books written at this level...you know that level between picture books and longer chapter books...but this one caught me by surprise. Certainly not among my favorites in children's literature, but enjoyable nonetheless.

And the artwork, oh my! Done by Ruth Crisman Gannett. Absolutely gorgeous! She did the cover, which I adore, but she also did the incredible black and white drawings that are scattered throughout the book. This dragon is probably my least favorite of the drawings in the book, but it was the only example I could find. Still you can see the absolute charm in her work.
















*We had a marvelous time on our mini-vacation! One of the highlights was finally getting to meet my incredibly cool cousin-in-law, Jean. (Unfortunately, the boys were in rare form...and not on the "good" end of the spectrum...during our time in Gettysburg, but hopefully Jean has recovered by now!) Anyway, here's a picture of Rich and Jean. Notice the big smiles, as they exit the microbrewery that was right next to our hotel.
























*Rich conquers the bucking seahorse on the playground in Gettysburg.
























*And some photos from the battlefield and cemetery...











































































































































*The Philadelphia Insectarium was somewhat of a disappointment. I just expected bigger and more exciting. But still we had fun.












































































*And just a shot of Rich and his Mom that I really like.

















*Okay, I think that about gets me caught up with posting. We're off again in the morning for a few days, so I'll be all the more behind on my blog reading. Oh well, that's what summer's are for, right?

Stuart Little...random thoughts

Stuart Little by E.B. White.

Okay, I'm just going to keep this one short and sweet. Actually, probably not so sweet, as I really didn't like this book at all. And that's why I'm just going to keep it short. I don't look forward to the hateful comments I may receive for not falling in love with this beloved classic...obviously I'm kidding, as book bloggers are among the sweetest, most courteous people on the planet.

Anyway, I personally find it hard to believe that this story was written by E.B. White. I disliked Stuart Little nearly as much as I adored Charlotte's Web. Maybe my expectations were too high. But I didn't feel like Stuart Little held together as a cohesive whole...it felt more like snippets of stories thrown together. With Stuart as the thread that loosely tied them. And frankly, I didn't find Stuart all that charming a character. (And I certainly have nothing against talking rodents as characters, as I loved Despereaux and Mrs. Frisby and Templeton....) On top of these things, I found parts of the book dreadfully dull, particularly the couple of chapters about the boat race on the pond in the park. I'm sure boating aficionados would have no trouble with this section, but the boys and I didn't understand half the words in there as it was overloaded with sailing jargon.

But speaking of the boys, they had a different take on the book than I did. They rather enjoyed most of it. (Though they didn't enjoy the boat race either.) Gray thought the chapter where Stuart Little played substitute teacher for a day was particularly funny. Max, of course, loved any mention of Snowbell the cat (big surprise, huh?).

Something we all agreed on...the ending was just plain weird. I thought that maybe it was just the grown-up in me that objected to the ending. (Stuart has left his family without a word to them to go in search of a friend, and he obviously has no plans of coming back. This is a family who, by the way, has always cherished him and taken very good care of him.) But it wasn't just the adult viewpoint...Gray and Max both thought it totally weird, too. They simply couldn't believe that the book was over, and asked if there was a sequel.

Surely there is a reason why this book is so well-loved by so many, but it just escaped me. Possibly it was just my mood while reading it. And possibly I just totally missed the boat. But for whatever reason, this book just didn't do it for me. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

By the way, Annie and Rich arrived home from a jog just after the boys and I finished the book last night. She says, "Well, if you wanted to read another good one by E.B. White, you should have read The Trumpet of the Swan, not Stuart Little." Gee, thanks for the timely advice, Annie.

*****

If you have also reviewed this book, feel free to leave a link in the comments and I'll post it here. I'd love to see some other points of view! Thanks.

*****

Read for:

Celebrate the Author Challenge.

Well-Rounded Challenge.

Initials Challenge.

Read-aloud to boys.

The Storm and The Whale...random thoughts

The Storm and The Whale by Cynthia Rylant.

Since I'd like to get caught up on my reviews before we head out of town Wednesday morning, I'm going to try to keep these short and sweet. Anyway, months ago, when I was choosing authors and books for Becky's Celebrate the Author Challenge, I hadn't read anything by Cynthia Rylant. But I knew she was a well-loved children's author, so I thought she would make a nice choice. I went to the library's website, and picked the first book that caught my eye, The Octopus. What I didn't realize at the time, was that it was a part of series. So this month, when I went to the library to pick it up, I discovered my error and picked up the first and second book of The Lighthouse Family instead. (The Octopus is the fifth one, I believe.)

This series features an unusual family...Pandora, the cat, Seabold, the dog, and three little mice, Lila, Whistler, and Tiny. As the series begins, Pandora was long been the keeper of a lighthouse. It's quite a lonely existence, but one she feels called to. Seabold has long been a sailor, one who enjoys his solitary existence at sea. So when he crashes on the island where Pandora lives, he plans to head back to sea as soon as his leg heals and his boat is repaired. As Pandora nurses him back to health, and they develop a beautiful friendship. It becomes apparent that he can't repair his boat in time to be off before the winter weather sets in, so he reluctantly accepts the fact that he'll be staying until spring. Pandora and Seabold's friendship continues to deepen. And Seabold finds himself admiring Pandora greatly for her hard work and dedication to keeping sailors safe through her manning of the lighthouse.

Months later, they spot a crate floating offshore, and something tells them they should go check it out. And what should they find but three young orphaned mice. Easy to see where this is all going, right? Yep, the five soon become their own little family, and Seabold gives up his dreams of sailing the seas again.

In The Whale, the mice children find a baby beluga whale who has been separated from his mother. The book tells the tale of how the children save the day for mother and baby whale.

At this point, we've decided not to continue with the series. Not because they're bad, but just because there are so many other books out there that we'd like to try. Max enjoyed these much more than Gray. I think that maybe they are just a bit to young for him now. As for me, I thought they were okay. The stories were cute, but nothing spectacular.


What was spectacular, however, was the artwork! Oh, how I adore the beautiful pencil drawings by Preston McDaniels! I couldn't find any examples from this series on the internet to post here, and I'm afraid I've already returned the books to the library. But I did find another drawing of his, that really exemplifies the charm and beauty I fell in love with in his work. In fact, I think I'll now be searching this book out!

*****

If you have reviewed this series, feel free to leave a link in the comments and I'll include it here. Thanks.

*****

Read for:

Celebrate the Author Reading Challenge.

Read-aloud to the boys.

Peter Pan...random thoughts

I'm so tired right now that I probably shouldn't even be attempting this review (we had a garage sale today, and will be having it again tomorrow...ugh!), but since this is the last day of May, I figure I better get this in as it's for the Celebrate the Author Challenge.

So anyway. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. Hard to believe one can reach my age without having read this, huh? But true nonetheless. And what did I think? Well, I hate admitting, but I didn't fall madly in love with this story. I read this aloud to the kiddos, and that may have been part of the problem. Now that sounds simply awful, doesn't it? It's not that I don't enjoy reading aloud to them, I swear...I, of course, love our reading time. But this book simply wasn't an easy book to read aloud. I had a hard time with the flow. Which I'm sure wouldn't have been a problem if I'd been reading it silently to myself. On top of that, there were a lot of "big words" for the little guys. Some pages, they would interrupt as many as three or four times to ask what a word meant. I'm glad they want to learn some new vocabulary, of course, but whew...can that make for some loooong reading sessions just trying to get through a chapter or two.

This book also led to some interesting discussions. Particularly because of the less than flattering, stereotypical images of "redskins". I hate reading things like this in books and I hate even more having the kids exposed to them. But it's so much better encountering them together so we have a chance to talk about them. You know, those real life teaching moments.

I, of course, am a grown-up. And as everyone who knows anything about Peter Pan, that is not a good thing. So, my opinion of this book isn't the opinion that really matters, is it? From the mouths of the youngsters when asked what they thought:

Annie: I really loved it!

Gray: It was okay. Sometimes it was hard to understand.

Annie: I didn't think it was hard. I just thought it was a great story.

Max: I thought it was good. I'd give it a five if we were rating it. (We use a 5 point rating system with picture books.)

Gray: No, not a five, but it was pretty good.

So there you have it...the munchkins seem to think it was quite a worthwhile read.

*****

If you have also reviewed this book, please leave me a link in the comments and I'll add it here. Thanks.

*****

Read for:




Celebrate the Author Challenge.

Initials Reading Challenge.

A-Z Reading Challenge.

Decades Challenge '08.

Read-aloud.

Emily's Runaway Imagination...random thoughts

Well, I've finally finished up a few books. I'm sure you'll be thankful that I'm sparing you reviews of The Endocrine and Reproductive Systems and The Human Lifecycle. However, if you ever are in the market for some middle school level books on the subject, I can definitely recommend both.

Okay, now on to Emily's Runaway Imagination. It seems hard to believe, but I'm pretty sure this is the first book I've ever read by Beverly Cleary. While I was a pretty avid reader as a kid, I do not remember ever reading any of her books. It's possible I may have, but if so, they didn't leave an impression. The impetus for trying her out now was Becky's Celebrate the Author Challenge. Each of my selections for this challenge was made with the boys in mind. But I must admit that Emily's Runaway Imagination was not the book I had originally chosen. I had planned on reading Ralph S. Mouse, as that sounded like a book both the boys and I would enjoy. Well, wouldn't you know it, the very day we were going to start reading it, Gray's teacher started reading it to the class. But as luck would have it, that very day, Annie brought me up a pile of books to post on Paperback Swap. They were books she'd outgrown and didn't think the boys would like. And right there in that pile was Emily's Runaway Imagination...a book by Beverly Cleary to fill in the gap.

I admit I was a bit worried that the boys wouldn't like it. They are both at a very girl-a-phobic stage, and I didn't think having a female for a main character was going to go over very well! But they gave it a chance, and they both ended up enjoying it a great deal (though neither will actually admit it). Tell-tale hints: asking me to read an extra chapter, laughing aloud, asking multitudes of questions...

And I also admit, I wasn't sure I would enjoy it either. Books written for this age are just generally not among my favorites. I love picture books. And I love books written for middle/high school age. But in general, these elementary level books just don't do a lot for me. This one surprised me. I didn't fall madly in love with it or anything, but it was enjoyable.

Emily is a girl with spunk, and as you can guess from the title, a very vivid imagination. Each chapter is somewhat of a story in itself, another antic from Emily's life. By far, our favorite chapter was the one in which Emily innocently fed the pigs fermented apples and the drunken pigs caused quite an uproar at her mother's fancy party. But Emily's other adventures were amusing as well. And running throughout the book is the story of the library. At the beginning of the book, Pitchfork has no library. But through one little girl's desire to read Black Beauty, and much work on her mother's part, their little town not only sees a library born, but watches it grow. And I suppose it will surprise no one, knowing what a total sap I can be, that I was left with a tear in my eye at the sweet, tender ending of the story.

Thanks again, Becky, for hosting this...it's really been a lot of fun so far!

The Lorax...random thoughts

Dr. Seuss will forever be near and dear to many a heart. Mine is definitely included. Talent like his boggles my mind. Truly. I can't imagine a time when his books won't be favorites of children and adults alike.

There's his trademark rhyming and his nonsensical words that make perfect sense. His books are an absolute delight to read aloud. I can't imagine ever tiring of twisting my tongue with Fox in Socks. His illustrations and fantastical creatures. All of it adds up to pure joy.

But beyond all that, Dr. Seuss had meaningful messages to pass along. Messages as relevant today, if not more so, as they were when he wrote them. Gertrude McFuzz can teach us about the dangers of vanity. The Sneetches about the idiocy of bigotry. The Zax about the importance of compromise.

And my very favorite book of all, The Lorax, tells a tale of greed and the environment. Long before it was fashionable, Dr. Seuss was explaining to children the importance of each living species to those around it. The interconnectedness of life. The catastrophic consequences of not taking care of the world we live in.

This is one of those books that we read with the kids on a regular basis. This is a book I'll continue to read once the kids are grown and gone.

Many thanks to Becky for hosting the Celebrate the Author Reading Challenge. When it came to choosing authors for each month, March was definitely the easiest one of all for me! Believe it or not, this is also for the Banned Books Challenge...can you believe that?!! It was challenged in Laytonville, CA, because it "criminalizes the foresting industry".

total randomosity

*First up, a few words on the book I finished last night. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. I have to say it just didn't do much for me. I'm one of those who loved Judy Blume as a kid, but I honestly have no idea if I read this all those many years ago or not. It seemed to me that this book was written in such a simplified manner that it was almost insulting to kids. However, that being said, I still have to admit that Gray really enjoyed it. There were some very humorous moments scattered throughout the book. And I believe a lot of the appeal for Gray was the fact that he could relate so well to the main character and his never-ending troubles with a little brother. In Max's defense though, let me say, that he has never eaten one of his brother's pets. :)

(This was February's read for Becky's Celebrate the Author Reading Challenge.)

*My sweet husband. Rich and I get the kids a few small gifts for Valentines Day, but we decided long ago that we didn't need to be buying each other anything. We have a few little traditions around here...I make chocolate dipped strawberries each year for breakfast and I make the kids heart-shaped M&M pancakes for supper while Rich and I order pizza to eat after the monkeys go to bed. This year, unbeknownst to one another, Rich and I each planned a little surprise. I sent him an Amazon gift certificate that he would find when he checked his e-mail at work. (Nothing says "I love you!" like books, right?) Anyway, when he called to thank me, I could tell he was not only thrilled, but also quite surprised...which was my goal.

But late in the afternoon, he called again. He asked me if I'd gotten a call from UPS. I had no clue what he was talking about, but I told him "no". Then he spilled the story. See, he had tried to surprise me, too, and early in the week had ordered tulips from www.flowers.com to be delivered to me. (No, I'm not a roses kind of gal...really, I'm a daisy and black-eyed Susan kind of gal...but I do love tulips as well.) So all day long, he'd been expecting a call from me. When he didn't hear, he knew that something must have gone wrong, so he checked the tracking and found out that UPS had just marked it as rescheduled for delivery on the 15th. Rich was flabbergasted, and called flowers.com...but they were less than helpful, telling him that if they weren't delivered today, he'd get a discount on the shipping costs. Needless to say, he was livid! I mean how can you take orders for Valentines deliveries, and then just reschedule them for the next day, without even notifying your customer to boot?!! To be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less about the flowers...but I am so touched that he tried to surprise me. (And I do think that was really sleazy of flowers.com, too.)

*It's no secret that computers intimidate me. Technology and I just don't seem to relate on any kind of intuitive level. But I finally decided that since I managed to figure out Mr. Linkys for Annie's challenge blog, that maybe I could figure out google reader. Of course, I know you're all laughing at me now...as it turns out it couldn't have been any easier. But that's okay, I don't mind all that much when people laugh at me. And I'm just so thrilled to finally have done this...I can't imagine how much time it will save me not having to click on each of my links to see if you've all posted anything new and exciting for me to read.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH...random thoughts

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'Brien, was my January selection for Becky's Celebrate the Author Reading Challenge. And since today is the last day of January, I guess I'd better get my "review" written...

The rats living under the rosebush at the Fitzgibbon farm are anything but ordinary. They are extremely intelligent escapees from a research lab. Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, must turn to these rats to help save the life of her sick son, Timothy.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what to write about this book. I enjoyed it. I didn't fall madly in love with it. However, I think there's a very good chance that I would have fallen madly in love with it as a child...it really seems like the kind of book that would have captured me then.

All of my book choices for this particular challenge were made with "the boys" in mind. That is, I'm reading them aloud to my 5- and 7-year-old little monkeys. So, I thought maybe I should pass along their opinions of the book as well...

"It was good." Initial response from Gray. He is a man of few words. But upon further questioning, I did gather a couple more tidbits. He loved the adventurous nature of the book. He was very fond of one of the characters, a rat named Justin. But it bothered him that we didn't really know what happened to Justin at the end of the book ...was he one of the rats who died? (I admit that I really wanted to know as well, but would have to say that the way it was written was probably more effective and had a more realistic ring to it.)

Max enjoyed the book as well, though he did take issue with the fact that Dragon, the cat, was portrayed as a bad guy. In actuality, Dragon wasn't really the bad guy, but Max seems to think that every cat deserves to the hero.

The only other comment I could elicit: "How come every book we read has rats in it?" Of course, not every book we read has rats, but we have been on a roll lately, with Charlotte's Web, The Tale of Despereaux, and now Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

Hmmm...so there you go. Really living up to the title "random thoughts" today, aren't I?

guess what I did

O.K., that was too easy, right? Yep, I went and signed up for another reading challenge. Becky's Celebrate the Author Reading Challenge to be exact. But see, I've got a novel rationale for this one...all the books I chose are books I'm going to read to the boys. A win/win/win situation. It was easy to pick appropriate books for the boys because the concept of this challenge is to read a book each month of 2008 by an author who has a birthday during that month. So the kinds of books you can read for this baby are limitless. (I posted my actual list over on my reading challenges blog.)