Bigfoot Reads

Three Minutes by the Sea

2012-02-20T13:16:00.008-05:00

Normanday #16: Tough guy

Write for three minutes about this photograph.

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of the day February 26 (put “Norman Never Spits When He Talks” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Here are the entries from last week when I asked you to write for three minutes about…

…the Nimble, Nearsighted Naglebury Newts.

Cranberly

Edith was walking through the park when she came upon a small creature. She has always been curious, so she squatted down to see it more closely. To her surprise, he looked up at her and talked.

“Hello!” he said.

“Hello,” Edith replied. She was embarrassed for staring and wanted to seem polite. “I’m Edith. Who are you?”

“I’m Nicholas, the Nimble, Nearsighted Naglebury Newt.” He smiled, proudly, and stuck out his little chest.

Edith saw a park bench near by and went and sat down. Quickly, Nicholas zoomed over and scaled the bench to sit next to her. Actually, he was sitting on the top of the back of the bench. She was happy he did that. She could see him better.

“Well, you certainly are nimble. I can see that,” Edith said. Nicholas seemed flattered. “As for nearsighted…how do you know?”

“Ah. Well, I can’t see far away. It’s because of this broad forehead, you see, and my cone-shaped head.”

“Hmmmmm…yes, it is quite cone-shaped,” Edith replied. Nicholas didn’t notice the slight crease that appeared on Edith’s own broad forehead. A clear sign that she has started thinking. “And Naglebury? Where is that?” She asked.

“Oh! It’s on the west side of the park! We have a large family there!”

“Really,” she said. “Is that near the pond?”

“No, no. Um…it’s quite dry on that side of the park. But very leafy.”

“Oh, that’s nice!” replied Edith. She squinted up into the sun, not blocked out by trees on this side of the park.

“I suppose you have lots of bugs to eat there?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m vegetarian. I would rather stay away from bugs. Sure, I have a cousin or two that may go for some insect or even a mouse, if hungry. But, not me.”

“That’s very healthy of you. I suppose that explains your beautiful green stripes.”

Nicholas laughed. “I have never thought of it that way. Maybe! I was just born with these.”

“And such lovely scales…” added Edith.

Nicholas paused. He looked down. “Um…well, thank you, I guess.” He was quiet. Edith supposed he looked troubled, as far as she could tell.

“I’m sorry. Did I offend you?” she asked, troubled.

“Well I like to think of my skin as soft, not scaly.” He mumbled. Edith saw the problem.

“Nicholas, I wonder…are you really a newt? I mean, I am sure your family is wonderful…but you seem a little more like a skink to me.”

Nicholas hung his head down and mumbled.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Edith asked.

“I don’t want to be a skink. When I was little…the others used to call me ‘Stinky Skinky.’ I decided to become a newt.”

“But Nicholas, you are who you are. You should be proud of being a skink. You are long and colorful and nimble. You have a beautiful cone-shaped head. You can be out during the daytime instead of night. And you can be away from water! These are not things to be ashamed of, Nicholas.”

“Oh. Well, you’re right. I suppose I should be proud. And I guess I should use the name I was born with.”

“Oh! Nicholas is not your name?” Edith said, with surprise. “What is it?”

“No, I used Nicholas because it sounded good with ‘newt’. My name is…” he swallowed. “Um…my name is…Kevin.”

“So there you go!” Exclaimed Edith. “You are Kevin, the nimble, nearsighted Naglebury skink.”

“Actually,” said Kevin, “I can see quite well.”

Schae D. Lane

It came down to just two teams, the Nimble Nearsighted Naglebury Newts versus the Clumsy Cross-eyed Castlebury Chameleons.

The final tiebreaker was a Lizard Leap Dance Off. The Newts approached the dance floor with a quiet confidence and took their place, then kept shifting position as they squinted down at the floor.

Whereas the Chameleons bumped and knocked tables and chairs, judges and one little old iguana’s cane out from under him in an effort to reach just the dance floor. One Chameleon accidentally tripped another, causing him to fall flat on his face as the others took their places.

The Chameleons turned and gave the Newts a sneer, but the Newts mistook it for a smile and one of them waved a friendly hello, making the Chameleons even madder and gesture rudely in the Newts direction, prompting one of the Newts to comment how nice those Chameleons must really be.

“Let the dance off begin,” bellowed the emcee, a distinguished looking Komodo dragon in a top hat and tail. He signaled the music to start with a flick of his tongue.

The Newts, in sync, moved gracefully, effortlessly from one dance step to the next. The crowd cheered them on. Joie de vivre vibrated from each Newt creating a magnetic effect on the audience.

The Chameleons were not as coordinated, but where they lacked in grace, they made up for in energy. They slipped on their backs, lifted themselves up with their tails and flopped to the floor in a rippled pattern like dominos, their skin flashing different neon colors with the beat of the music. The crowd cheered them on, too!

It was going to be a close dance-off. The judges appeared undecided. Who would win? Who would take home the top prize at this years’ 5th Annual Lizard Leap Festival?

The music stopped. The crowd went wild, cheering and throwing roses on the dance floor. Both the Newts and Chameleons put everything into their dance. Their chests heaved in an effort to catch their breath.

The Komodo dragon, who had been conferring with the judges, approached the dance floor. He raised one scaly palm to the crowd. An anticipated hush fell over the audience. Newt’s eyes squinted. Chameleon’s eyes shifted, one and then the other. Everyone held their breaths.

The Komodo dragon flicked his tongue and said in a booming voice, “And the winner of the Lizard Leap Dance Off is…”

Nice. I love a cliffhanger. Until next time, be good. And whatever you do, watch out for that rattlesnake I saw hanging around your…

Three Minutes with Acrobatic Amphibians

2012-02-13T20:38:00.016-05:00

Normanday #15: Nash, Nelson, Nicholas, and Norma

Write for three minutes about…

…the Nimble, Nearsighted Naglebury Newts.

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of the day February 19 (put “Norman is a Thumb-Wrestling Champion” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Here’s the single entry from last week when I asked you to write for three minutes about…

…that incredible invention that changed your life…

Cranberly

Ode to a Cotton Swab

Oh, Q-Tip® how you’ve changed my life

Easing me of all my strife

I use you nearly every day

Not just for ears, but in other ways

I use you to clean the moldy grime

Around my sink’s edge it climbs

In those small cracks you fit so well

How you do it, I’ll never tell

I use you for my makeup routine

For applying and for keeping clean.

In morning, you make eye liner smooth

And then, at night, you help me remove

And, finally, although I know it’s wrong

In my ear do you belong

Removing wax and other things

Making my heart and ears ring

So I thank you, cotton swab

For cleaning wax and grime and globs

In my house you will always be

My clean/dirty secret, just for me

Three Minutes with Sliced Bread

2012-02-06T20:28:00.013-05:00

Normanday #14: Inventive writing

Write for three minutes about…

…that incredible invention that changed your life…

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of the day February 12 (put “Norman’s Yam Soufflé is World-Renowned” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Here are the entries from last week when I asked you to write for three minutes about…

…what happened after you broke that mirror…

Penny C. Monster

What’s wrong with this mirror? It’s broken. I don’t mean it’s in bitty pieces on the floor. I mean it isn’t working. I’m looking into it, but I don’t see me looking back. Isn’t that weird? I know it was working before. I used it just last night while I was getting ready for my date. I shouldn’t have bothered with lipstick, by the way. Vlad was much more interested in my neck.

Briar the Psychic Beagle

What luck! I broke a mirror! That’s seven years good luck.

Uh. No. That’s seven years bad luck. Sorry.

Are you sure?

Definitely.

Pity. Here I was already counting on no more paper cuts.

That’s your idea of good luck?

What’s yours?

A unlimited supply of peanut butter cookies. Placing first in every competition. Never losing my glasses.

What good is any of that if you have paper cuts?

Touché.

Morzant the Alien

I tell you this not to lay blame, but as a matter of accuracy: I did not break the mirror. Mortimer did. Perhaps it was my fault. Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked someone of his diminutive stature to transport my field microscope. But I did and he, perhaps inevitably, dropped it. The reflecting mirror fractured; therefore, I was unable to examine the botanical samples we collected until returning to my laboratory. Although I was quite disappointed not to be able to immediately examine our fascinating assortment of petals, leaves, and needles, the breaking of the mirror was an advantageous accident. Without the distraction of examining the samples’ cellular compositions, we were afforded more time in which to search for and gather samples. Without that additional time it is highly doubtful I would have found the Wolffia arrhiza.

Writers, send me three minutes of writing this week and spare us all from any more of Morzant’s attempts at creative writing. If you have to suffer like this again, you have only yourselves to blame.

Three Minutes with a Broken Mirror

2012-01-30T13:53:00.003-05:00

Normanday #13: Reflections on bad luck

Write for three minutes about…

…what happened after you broke that mirror…

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of the day February 5 (put “Norman is Sensible” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Here are the entries from last week when I asked you to write for three minutes about anything as long as you used these three words…

…parsnip…forklift…gravity…

Bicycle Chick

I have two names: Parts Girl and Bicycle Chick. Those aviation types in the next building over (which happens to be the Air Station) gave me both names. And probably behind my back they sometimes add some not-nice-words to the front of those names. But they have to be nice to me because I supply all the parts that make it possible for their flying machines to defy gravity. They call me Bicycle Chick the most, because that’s what I do: ride a bicycle to and from the base.

I love my job, most of the time. I have mastered three forklifts and memorized the locations of the majority of parts in that vast three-acre warehouse. I still smile sometimes when I whip around in a tight space to maneuver a part off or on the shelves, remembering how terrified I was when I first trained on the forklifts. I was sure I’d get myself or someone else killed or maimed, not to mention the parts I imagined damaging. Now I was a pro.

If only I could master a recipe. At the end of the day, I come home to my lackluster cooking experiments. It’s hard to be motivated when you’re cooking for one. But at least you don’t have to worry about offending someone else’s taste buds. Looking at the parsnip in my hand, which looks like an anemic carrot, I hope it tastes better than it looks. I couldn’t even form a mental image of this vegetable before I came to the South, now I’m uneasily cooking with it. What will it taste like? Probably dirt, by the time I get done with it. Cooking and I aren’t on easy terms. Julia Child I am not.

That’s okay. I’d rather be Bicycle Chick.

Cranberly

My sister bet me I couldn’t figure out how many pennies were in her penny jar. She bet me a whole can of soda, but since I am not allowed to have soda (and she knows it!), I changed the terms. If I am close, she has to do my daily chore of emptying the dishwasher. If I lose, I have to fold and put away the laundry. (Her daily chore.) I looked at her penny jar. I had no idea. It was a quart mason jar about halfway full. Mom had used it to can green beans last summer and when we ate the last of them, she gave the jar to my sister to put pennies in. She has been collecting pennies since October, when someone gave her one for Halloween. (Really, who gives out pennies anymore?) It’s almost February now. So…um…that means? I have no idea. Maybe I should look it up online.

I asked Dad if I could borrow his laptop.

“What are you doing?” Penny asked, hands on hip.

“Calculating your penny jar using computer algorithms.” I answered, smugly. (Really, though, I had no idea. I was just going to search how many pennies a mason jar could hold and divide it in half.)

“Algorithms? That’s like using a forklift to pick parsnip. Can’t you just guess like a normal person?” She scoffed.

“Go away. I am doing research.” I type the question into the search bar and an answer came up right away. 532 pennies. Is there nothing the internet doesn’t know? And there are pages and page debating things like this. Weird.

“I’m telling Mom you are cheating! Mom! MOOOOMMMMMMMM!”

“I’m not cheating. We didn’t have any parameters. You didn’t say I can’t use the computer.”

“Oh! ‘Algorithms’. 'Parameters'. You think you are so smart. So, how many, then?”

“266.” I said.

She was quiet. I waited.

“Well?” I asked, impatiently.

“Well, I don’t know, do I? I never counted.”

“Then why did you ask me?” I was so frustrated. I ran to her room to grab her penny jar. She ran behind me, yelling, grabbing at my shirt. I picked it up, opened the window, and dropped it. Cold air beat at my face as I watched gravity do its work and smash the penny jar. “Ha!” I said, maliciously. "Go count them now."

“Mommmmmmm!” She cried, as she ran out of the room.

I don’t know why I did it. What I do know if that pennies are hard to pick up off a half-frozen driveway with gloves on. And that my sister sure can scream. She must get it from my mother. As I crouched on the cold concrete, snow blowing around me, all I wanted was forklift and a hot cup of cocoa.

Richard Skylar

Vivian dipped her hand into the rich dark soil. A moment later, along with Vivian’s hand, a parsnip emerged. The parsnip was no ordinary parsnip. It was from elsewhere. It had been suddenly procured via forklift in a fit of gravitational strangeness. Gravity. That’s where it came from. It could only have been acquired via forklift. Via a forklift which cannot function outside of a normal (i.e. Earth-like) gravitational pull; that is insofar as the parsnip’s origin is largely unknown. It likely came from Earth. But what sort of parsnip would require a forklift in Earthlike gravity? A heavy one. Vivian’s seemingly effortless plucking it from the ground can only mean one of two things: a.) Vivian is super mega strong or b.) the gravity which at present exerts its pull on both Vivian and the parsnip is super mega weak. Or some combination of the two, the numerous possibilities no doubt of which can only be extrapolated via gravitational forklift.

RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER (Picture Book)

2012-01-26T08:28:00.010-05:00

by Kathleen T. Pelley, illustrated by Paige Keiser

Charlesbridge, 2011

A Book Review by

Violet the Telekinetic Puppy

Hi, I’m Daffodil the Flower Shop Wolf except that I am just kidding and my name is really Violet and I am a beagle who loves to read. I am going to tell you about one of the books that I love to read and that book is called RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER.

RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER is about Raj and you probably think that Raj is a tiger because this book is called RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER but Raj is not really a tiger. Raj is a cat who thinks he is a tiger and the reason he thinks he is a tiger is because his person calls him a tiger because he is orange and has stripes like a tiger. His person is named Felicity and she has a bookstore. Raj likes being a tiger and because he spends all day in a bookstore that is why this book is called RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER.

Every day Felicity reads a story to the kids who come to the store and those kids love to see Raj and Raj loves when the kids pet him and call him a tiger. There is a man who works at the bookstore and he has a white cat named Snowball and the man starts bringing his cat Snowball to the bookstore. Snowball is cranky and not nice and Snowball says that Raj is not really a tiger and that makes Raj feel bad because Raj likes being a tiger. Raj is sad not being a tiger until Felicity reads him a poem about a tiger and that poem about a tiger makes Raj feel like a tiger again and then he is not sad any more. You might think that Raj would be mad at Snowball but you would be wrong. Raj is nice and wants Snowball to be happy and that is why he tells Snowball about white tigers. Snowball likes the idea of being a tiger and it makes him happy and then he isn’t mean and cranky and then the two tigers become friends. I am happy that Raj and Snowball are friends at the end of this story and that is why I love this book.

There is another reason that I love this book and that reason is because of the pictures. My favorite picture is the picture on the first page where Felicity is holding Raj and Raj is smiling with his eyes closed and you can tell that he is a happy tiger. My other favorite pictures are the pictures where you can see all the books that are on the shelves at the bookstore and I want to read the book that has a boy blowing a big bubble gum bubble on the cover and the book about an elephant named Bob. I like the soft colors in the pictures and when I read this book and look at the pictures I wish I could spend my days in the bookstore with Raj and Snowball.

Here is a list of who will like this book:

Readers who like cats.

Cats who like tigers.

Readers, cats, and tigers who like bubble gum.

Readers, cats, and tigers who don’t like broccoli.

Elephants.

Good-bye.

Briar’s Journal (January 24 to February 16, 2012)

2012-01-24T11:16:00.004-05:00

Dream Entry*

September 27, 2005

I’m trotting down a long, dark hallway with nothing to guide me but a trail of peanut butter cookie crumbs. When I eat the last of the crumbs, I start to panic because now I’m in a long, dark hallway with no smells or sounds or light. I have only my sense of touch to rely on. The stone floor is damp and cold. The walls are gelatinous and sticky. Just as I’m about to turn around to try to go back the way I came, I see a glow of purple light ahead. As I get nearer to it, it turns blue; nearer still, green. I reach the light—now red—and I see it’s coming from a scorpion-shaped night-light plugged into the dead end of the hallway. Its claws remind me of a lobster. It has a cotton swab where it’s stinger should be.

“I am the Book Keeper. You have only to answer a simple question and I will bestow upon you a vast treasure.”

I examine the night-light.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m a talking scorpion night-light. You want the treasure or not?”

“I do,” I say.

“What’s in psst ssss mmn?”

“What?” I ask.

“Mmrmn psst hsss mmr?”

When I lean in to hear him better, the scorpion’s cotton swab tail whips toward me and jabs at my ear.

“Dang those beagle ear flaps,” the scorpion says. “Let me in there!”

He keeps trying to swab my ears, but he can’t. I dodge him. Then I unplugged him.

“Books are the light,” he gasps as the glow within him dies.

I expect to be in total darkness again, but there’s light coming from within a room whose door has creaked open. I go inside, on the lookout for more scorpion night-lights. There aren’t any. There are only piles and piles of books, each radiating warm light. Moth-like, I’m drawn to them. I gather the treasure to share with my friends, some puppies, and a duck.

BIGFOOT’s share of the treasure:

THERE IS NO DOG by Meg Rosoff

[YOUNG ADULT]

Putnam-Penguin

January 24, 2012

THE EDUCATION OF JAY BAKER by Jay Clark

[YOUNG ADULT]

Henry Holt

January 31, 2012

GRAFFITI MOON by Cath Crowley

[YOUNG ADULT]

Knopf-Random House

February 14, 2012

WONDER by R.J. Palacio

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Knopf-Random House

February 14, 2012

THE DISENCHANTMENTS by Nina LaCour

[YOUNG ADULT]

Dutton-Penguin

February 16, 2012

THE FINE ART OF TRUTH OR DARE by Melissa Jensen

[YOUNG ADULT]

Speak-Penguin

February 16, 2012

MORZANT’s share of the treasure:

BLUE JEANS BEFORE THE STORE by Jody Jensen Shaffer

[MIDDLE GRADE—NON-FICTION]

Child’s World

January 28, 2012

BREAD BEFORE THE STORE by Jody Jensen Shaffer

[MIDDLE GRADE—NON-FICTION]

Child’s World

January 28, 2012

A BLACK HOLE IS NOT A HOLE

by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano

[MIDDLE GRADE—NON-FICTION]

Charlesbridge

February 1, 2012

SIR CUMFERENCE AND THE VIKING’S MAP

by Cindy Neuschwander, illustrated by Wayne Geehan

[MIDDLE GRADE—MATH STORY]

Charlesbridge

February 1, 2012

FIRST GIRL SCOUT:

THE LIFE OF JULIETTE GORDON LOW

by Ginger Wadsworth

[MIDDLE GRADE—NON-FICTION]

Clarion-Houghton Mifflin

February 6, 2012

THE COMIC STRIP BIG FAT BOOK

OF KNOWLEDGE by Tracey Turner,

illustrated by Sally Kindberg

[MIDDLE GRADE—NON-FICTION COMIC]

BLOOMSBURY USA

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

CITIZEN SCIENTISTS: BE A PART

OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY FROM

YOUR OWN BACKYARD by Loree Griffin Burns,

photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz

[MIDDLE GRADE—NON-FICTION]

Henry Holt

February 14, 2012

OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW:

A FIRST BOOK OF NATURE by Nicola Davies,

illustrated by Mark Hearld

[POETRY—PICTURE BOOK]

Candlewick

February 14, 2012

PENNY’s share of the treasure:

THE WAY WE FALL by Megan Crewe

[YOUNG ADULT]

Hyperion-Disney

January 24, 2012

ARTICLE 5 by Kristen Simmons

[YOUNG ADULT]

Tor Teen-Tom Doherty Associates

January 31, 2012

THE DEAD OF WINTER by Chris Priestley

[YOUNG ADULT]

Bloomsbury USA

January 31, 2012

CATCH & RELEASE by Blythe Woolston

[YOUNG ADULT]

Carolrhoda-Lerner

February 1, 2012

THE WEEPERS: THE OTHER LIFE

by Susanne Winnacker

[YOUNG ADULT]

Marshall Cavendish

February 1, 2012

HARBINGER by Sara Wilson Etienne

[YOUNG ADULT]

Putnam-Penguin

February 2, 2012

DEAD TO YOU by Lisa McMann

[YOUNG ADULT]

Simon Pulse-Simon & Schuster

February 7, 2012

THE BUTTERFLY CLUES by Kate Ellison

[YOUNG ADULT]

Egmont USA

February 14, 2012

SCARLET by A.C. Gaughen

[YOUNG ADULT]

Walker

February 14, 2012

THE VANISHING GAME by Kate Kae Myers

[YOUNG ADULT]

Bloomsbury USA

February 14, 2012

THE DUCKS’s share of the treasure:

EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN TRILOGY]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

January 24, 2012

INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN TRILOGY]

Katherine Tegen-HarperCollins

January 31, 2012

BLISS by Kathryn Littlewood

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Katherine Tegan-HarperCollins

February 14, 2012

NORMAN’s share of the treasure:

EARWIG AND THE WITCH by Diana Wynne Jones,

with illustrations by Paul O. Zelinsky

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Greenwillow-HarperCollins

January 31, 2012

HIGGINS HOLE by Kevin Boreen

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Charlesbridge

February 1, 2012

COLD CEREAL by Adam Rex

[MIDDLE GRADE—

FIRST IN THE COLD CEREAL TRILOGY]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

February 7, 2012

ABOVE WORLD by Jenn Reese

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN SERIES]

Candlewick

February 14, 2012

MR. AND MRS. BUNNY—

DETECTIVES EXTRAORDINAIRE! by Polly Horvath,

with illustrations by Sophie Blackall

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Schwartz & Wade-Random House

February 14, 2012

THE CASE OF THE DEADLY DESPERADOS:

WESTERN MYSTERIES by Caroline Lawrence

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN SERIES]

Putnam-Pengin

February 16, 2012

BEVERLY’s share of the treasure:

BAMBINO AND MR. TWAIN by Priscilla Maltbie,

illustrated by Daniel Miyares

[PICTURE BOOK]

Charlesbridge

February 1, 2012

CHOPSTICKS

by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

[YOUNG ADULT]

Razorbill-Penguin

February 2, 2012

THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST

by Emily M. Danforth

[YOUNG ADULT]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

February 7, 2012

SOMEBODY, PLEASE TELL ME WHO I AM

by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis

[YOUNG ADULT]

Simon & Schuster

February 7, 2012

THE GIRLS OF NO RETURN by Erin Saldin

[YOUNG ADULT]

Arthur A. Levine-Scholastic

February 14, 2012

SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE by Katie Dale

[YOUNG ADULT]

Delacorte-Random House

February 14, 2012

THE SANDAL ARTIST by Kathleen T. Pelley,

illustrated by Lois Rosio Sprague

[PICTURE BOOK]

Pelican

February 15, 2012

A DIAMOND IN THE DESERT by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Viking-Penguin

February 16, 2012

OLIVER’s share of the treasure:

THE BUNNY’S NIGHT-LIGHT:

A GLOW-IN-THE-DARK SEARCH by Geoffrey Hayes

[PICTURE BOOK]

Random House

January 24, 2012

FISH ON A WALK by Eva Muggenthaler

[PICTURE BOOK]

Enchanted Lion

January 24, 2012

ZOO GIRL by Rebecca Elliott

[PICTURE BOOK]

Lion UK

February 1, 2012

10 HUNGRY RABBITS:

COUNTING & COLOR CONCEPTS

by Anita Lobel, illustrated by Tim Bowers

[PICTURE BOOK]

Knopf-Random House

February 14, 2012

AND THEN IT’S SPRING by Julie Fogliano,

illustrated by Erin Stead

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook

February 14, 2012

HENRI’S WALK TO PARIS by Leonore Klein,

illustrated by Saul Bass

[PICTURE BOOK]

Universe-Rizzoli

February 14, 2012

LENNY’s share of the treasure:

HANS MY HEDGEHOG: A TALE FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM

by Kate Combs, illustrated by John Nickle

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

January 24, 2012

OTTO THE BOOK BEAR by Katie Cleminson

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

January 31, 2012

RANDY RILEY’S REALLY BIG HIT by Chris Van Dusen

[PICTURE BOOK]

Candlewick

February 14, 2012

VIOLET’s share of the treasure:

THE EASTER BUNNY’S ASSISTANT by Jan Thomas

[PICTURE BOOK]

HarperCollins

January 24, 2012

ANOTHER BROTHER by Matthew Cordell

[PICTURE BOOK]

Feiwel & Friends-Macmillan

January 31, 2012

CHOPSTICKS by Amy Krouse Rosenthal,

illustrated by Scott Magoon

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

January 31, 2012

PINCH AND DASH MAKE SOUP by Michael J. Daley,

illustrated by Thomas F. Yezerski

[EARLY READER]

Charlesbridge

February 1, 2012

LISTEN TO MY TRUMPET! by Mo Willems

[EARLY READER—AN ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

February 7, 2012

GIDEON by Olivier Dunrea

[PICTURE BOOK]

Houghton Mifflin

February 8, 2012

GIDEON AND OTTO by Olivier Dunrea

[PICTURE BOOK]

Houghton Mifflin

February 8, 2012

* The dream entries from Briar’s journal contain premonitions of books that will be published in the future. Briar’s dream self foresees the books’ summaries and knows which will likely appeal to each of her friends. Briar always wakes up before she can see whether her friends will enjoy the books.

Three Minutes with Random Words

2012-01-23T21:35:00.005-05:00

Normanday #12: Everybody loves to write about parsnip

Write for three minutes about anything, but include these three words…

…parsnip…forklift…gravity…

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of the day January 29 (put “Norman Looks Great in a Tuxedo” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Here are the entries from last week when I asked you to write for three minutes about…

…you got stuck washing the dishes even though it was your brother’s turn. You stuck your hand in the nasty sink water, but what you pulled out wasn’t a dirty fork…

Penny C. Monster

What you pulled out wasn’t a dirty fork…

…it was a noodle of spaghetti all stringy and gross and you gagged because it smelled bad, too, like worms on the sidewalk after it rains. And then you realized, it was a worm. And it was moving. It was alive! You dropped him back into the soapy dishwater and he started to swim. “Hey you, have you seen my rubber ducky?” he said. Of course you hadn’t, but you didn’t say so because you were too shocked to speak. “What’s the matter, have you got spaghetti in your ears?” he said. You touched your ears self-consciously, and discovered, yes, you did have spaghetti in your ears. You decided you’d had enough of washing dishes and let out the drain, being careful not to touch the gooey worm. “Curse you and your dishpan hands,” the worm yelled as he was swept down the drain along with soggy crumbs of garlic bread. Or were those lice?

Bigfoot

What you pulled out wasn’t a dirty fork…

…it was a tentacle! It wrapped around my wrist and squeezed so tight I dropped the dishrag. “Help!” I yelled. But my brother is a jerk and he called back, “It’s your turn. I did the dishes yesterday!” He totally didn’t, but there wasn’t time to argue as the tentacle pulled me into the sink. Water splashed all over the counter and the floor. Mom wasn’t going to like that. But I had bigger worries. There was a second and a third and a fourth tentacle, all wrapped around me so I couldn’t move my arms. They pulled me under. I looked to see what type of creature the tentacles belonged to, but I could only see tentacles. They were coming up through the drain. And they were pulling me down. It was all my stupid brother’s fault. I don’t care what he said. It was his turn to do the dishes.

Beverly the Other Half-Invisble Turtle

What you pulled out wasn’t a dirty fork…

It’s the Sink Genie.

“I’ll grant you three dishwashing-related wishes,” he says.

“I wish the dishes were clean,” I wish.

“You didn’t let me finish,” he says. “I’ll grant you three dishwashing-related wishes, with the exception of wishing the dishes were clean.”

I’m stumped. What can I wish for? I have an idea.

“I wish this cheese-covered fork was a hundred dollar bill.”

“Granted.”

Wow. I didn’t expect that to work. I fold the former fork and put it into my wallet.

“I wish the soap was snow.”

“Granted.”

Sweet. I pack the snow into a solid ball and bean my brother as he sits watching TV.

Then I’m struck by greater inspiration. Every Monday my little brother is supposed to wash the dishes. I wash the dishes on Tuesdays.

“I wish everyday was Monday,” I wish.

“Granted.”

Best. Wish. Ever. I’ll never have to wash the dishes again and my brother will have dishpan hands for the rest of his life.

Three Minutes with Dishpan Hands

2012-01-16T15:38:00.009-05:00

Normanday #11: A sinking feeling

Write for three minutes about the time…

…you got stuck washing the dishes even though it was your brother’s turn. You stuck your hand in the nasty sink water, but what you pulled out wasn’t a dirty fork…

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of the day January 22 (put “Norman is Debonair” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Here are the entries from last week when I asked you to write for three minutes about…

…your lucky pencil. You use it for every test, quiz, and exam. It hasn’t failed you yet. Thirty seconds into Mr. Dobson’s history class, he announces a pop quiz. No problem. You reach for your lucky pencil—disaster! You left it in your locker! Mr. Dobson’s not the sharpest pencil in the box, and your desk is right next to the door, so you decide to slip out to get your lucky pencil. But it’s not a hallway of lockers you find outside the classroom. You’ve stepped into another place and time. It seems familiar, though, like something out of your history book. Yes, that’s it. And holy cow! Check out who’s using your lucky pencil…

Oliver the Telepathic Puppy

Check out who’s using your lucky pencil…

I can’t write for three minutes. I don’t have my lucky pencil with me. I’m going to send my story telepathically instead………

Did you like it?

Okay, smart guy, very funny. Somebody’s been a bad influence on that puppy. Probably me.

Morzant the Alien

Check out who’s using your lucky pencil…

I would recognize the father of Zeentonian mathematics anywhere, even when he’s frowning.

“What’s troubling you, sir?” I query.

“I’m not troubled so much as bewildered. The moment I gripped this strange writing device, the Fourth Rule of Ebeezitan Equations presented itself to me like a gift on Grabletonzar Day. I would mark it a coincidence were I not highly skeptical about matters of happenstance.”

“It wasn’t a coincidence. That’s my lucky pencil.”

“I see. Well, that explains that. I guess I can retire now. Maybe take up jarventoshing.”

“Might I suggest you devote the remainder of your life to understanding the paradox of how a lucky pencil that didn’t yet exist at the time of the development of the Fourth Rule of Ebeezitan Equations can simultaneously be responsible for that rule’s existence. Furthermore, you might study the propitious pencil itself. Any length of consideration will make apparent that a pencil able to bestow good fortune is quite improbable.”

Time travel and lucky pencils, improbable. Morzant sucking the fun out of my writing prompt, guaranteed.

Kelly Bingham

www.kellybinghamonline.com

author of SHARK GIRL and Z IS FOR MOOSE (coming out in March 2012)

Check out who’s using your lucky pencil…

It’s Abraham Lincoln! You’d recognize him anywhere, from seeing so many pictures and paintings of him in textbooks. He’s so tall, and so thin. And he’s using your lucky pencil to write into a very modern-looking spiral notebook. He appears to be copying the weekly cafeteria menu, which is taped to the wall next to the lockers.

“Hello young person,” he says to you. Then he points at the menu and nods with a gentle, wise smile. “Tater tots today. You can’t ask for more.” He taps the paper thoughtfully. “Though I don’t like the division of tater tots from fish sticks, which aren’t being served until Thursday. I’ll have to see what I can do to unify the two. Everyone knows that fish sticks and tater tots belong on the same plate.”

He holds out the pencil. “I believe this is yours? I fear I snitched it when you weren’t looking. I was anxious to write this down while I could.”

You recall that people often nicknamed President Lincoln as “Honest Abe.” You take the pencil. “Thank you,” you manage to croak, still shocked.

“You’re welcome," Lincoln says. “My goodness, you have sweaty palms. By the way, can you direct me to the nearest restroom?”

You lead the way, hoping against hope that your best friends will spy you walking down the hall with him. But the only person you pass is the school nurse, who has no reaction to the tall man beside you, wearing a top hat. She nods at you and asks loudly, “How’s that tummy ache you came to see me about yesterday? Are you still gassy?”

You feel your cheeks burn and wish you could melt into the floor. “I’m fine, thanks,” you mutter through gritted teeth.

“What an attractive woman,” Lincoln says. “But I must say that her voice reminds me of a donkey.”

You flinch. The nurse is very touchy. You look back to see if she heard him, but she is still walking away, unfazed. You can see how this honesty thing could be bad or good.

At the restroom Lincoln solemnly shakes your hand. “Thank you again. I believe I will stop by the library on my way out, too. That would be…?”

“Around the corner.” You point the way.

Lincoln nods. “I love to read. Historical fiction is my favorite.”

“Me too,” you say.

“Really?” He gives you a kind but stern look.

You blush. “Well. Mysteries are my favorite, actually.”

He smiles. “I like mysteries too.”

You shake his hand. You notice how warm his hand is, how firm his handshake. “Don’t eat the hot dogs today,” he whispers. “Go for the spaghetti instead. The hot dogs are a bit off. Trust me on that.” He starts to walk away, then pauses. “Oh, and when you and Tommy Jones flip a coin later, choose ‘heads.’”

You part ways and return to class, dazed and dazzled. It’s only when you sit down that your teacher notices your distraction and says, “Are you with us, or are you on another planet? Please turn to page 128. We are studying President Lincoln today.”

You turn the page and stare at the pencil in your hand. What just happened out there? Lincoln time-travelling, and having powers of foreseeing the future?

“After history we’ll be writing a short story,” the teacher adds. “Anything you like, but it must be historical fiction.”

You clutch your lucky pencil happily. You know exactly what you’ll write about.

Got to run. I have a sudden hankering for tater tots.

A BALL FOR DAISY (Picture Book)

2012-01-13T16:44:00.008-05:00

by Chris Raschka
Schwartz & Wade-Random House, 2011

A Book Review by

Oliver the Telepathic Puppy

A BALL FOR DAISY is a wordless picture book. It has a simple story with big feelings.

This is the story:

Daisy has a red ball. Daisy is happy. The red ball pops. Daisy is sad. Daisy gets a new blue ball. Daisy is happy again.

When Daisy is happy you can tell because of how she looks in the pictures. She is wriggly and tail-waggy. When she is sad her tail is droopy and the colors in the pictures get darker.

The saddest picture is when Daisy is laying on her popped red ball.

The happiest picture is when Daisy is taking a nap snuggled up to her new blue ball.

I like books with happy endings.

Briar’s Journal (January 10 to 19, 2012)

2012-01-10T16:23:00.006-05:00

Dream Entry*

October 15, 2007

I can only remember fragments of my dream:

Morzant knitting snail socks.

A butterfly telling me to mind my own business.

A duck throwing a rubber ball at my head.

Two beagle puppies singing about clam chowder.

My friends building forts out of books.

BIGFOOT used these books for his fort:

BRENDAN BUCKLEY’S SIXTH-GRADE EXPERIMENT

by Sundee T. Frazier

[MIDDLE GRADE—SEQUEL TO BRENDAN BUCKLEY’S

UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING IN IT]

Delacorte-Random House

January 10, 2012

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green

[YOUNG ADULT]

Dutton-Penguin

January 10, 2012

THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE by Christopher Paul Curtis

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Wendy Lamb-Random House

January 10, 2012

NEVER EIGHTEEN by Megan Bostic

[YOUNG ADULT]

Graphia-Houghton Mifflin

January 17, 2012

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate,

with illustrations by Patricia Castelao

[MIDDLE GRADE]

HarperCollins

January 17, 2012

THE SILENCE OF OUR FRIENDS

by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos,

illustrated by Nate Powell

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

First Second-Roaring Brook

January 17, 2012

GETTING SOMEWHERE by Beth Neff

[YOUNG ADULT]

Viking-Penguin

January 19, 2012

MORZANT used this book for his fort:

THE CAMPING TRIP THAT CHANGED AMERICA

by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Mordecai Gerstein

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Dial-Penguin

January 19, 2012

PENNY used these books for her fort:

THE GATHERING STORM by Robin Bridges

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE KATERINA TRILOGY]

Delacorte-Random House

January 10, 2012

A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis

[YOUNG ADULT—SEQUEL TO ACROSS THE UNIVERSE]

Razorbill-Penguin

January 10, 2012

FRACTURE by Megan Miranda

[YOUNG ADULT]

Walker

January 17, 2012

ROBBIE FORESTER AND THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD ST.

by Peter Abrahams

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN THE SERIES]

Philomel-Penguin

January 19, 2012

THE DUCK used this book for his fort:

THE BOOK OF WONDERS by Jasmine Richards

[MIDDLE GRADE]

HarperCollins

January 17, 2012

NORMAN used these books for his fort:

HOW NOT TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT by Catherine Clark

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Egmont USA

January 10, 2012

ICE ISLAND by Sherry Shahan

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Delacorte-Random House

January 10, 2012

BEVERLY used these books for her fort:

A BOY CALLED DICKENS by Deborah Hopkinson,

illustrated by John Hendrix

[PICTURE BOOK]

Schwartz & Wade-Random House

January 10, 2012

CROW by Barbara Wright

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Random House

January 10, 2012

MAY B. by Caroline Starr Rose

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Schwartz & Wade-Random House

January 10, 2012

A TINFOIL SKY by Cyndi Sand-Eveland

[YOUNG ADULT]

Tundra

January 10, 2012

THE WHOLE STORY OF HALF A GIRL by Veera Hiranandani

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Delacorte-Random House

January 10, 2012

IN DARKNESS by Nick Lake

[YOUNG ADULT]

Bloomsbury USA

January 17, 2012

TRY NOT TO BREATHE by Jennifer R. Hubbard

[YOUNG ADULT]

Viking-Penguin

January 19, 2012

OLIVER used this book for his fort:

EXTRA YARN by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

[PICTURE BOOK]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

January 17, 2012

LENNY used this book for his fort:

ONE COOL FRIEND by Toni Buzzeo,

illustrated by David Small

[PICTURE BOOK]

Dial-Penguin

January 10, 2012

Three Minutes in History, Take Two

2012-01-09T16:03:00.002-05:00

Normandy #10: Use your lucky pencil for best results

There weren’t any entries for the amazing writing prompt I posted last week. I’m nice, so I’ll give you one more chance. Don’t let me down. A disappointed half-invisible turtle is a vengeful half-invisible turtle.

Write for three minutes about…

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of the day January 15 (put “Norman is Magnanimous” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Three Minutes in History

2012-01-02T13:20:00.008-05:00

Normandy #9: Keep your eyes on your own paper

Write for three minutes about…

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by the end of this Sunday (put “Norman is Modest” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Here are the entries from last week when I asked you to write for three minutes about this photograph.

Bigfoot

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Snow buddy.

Snow buddy who?

S’nobody’s business.

Knock Knock.

Who’s there?

Two Eds.

Two Eds who?

Two Eds are better than one.

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Icy.

Icy who?

Icy you’re starting to melt. Good-bye Ed.

Good-bye Ed.

Unknown

Wow! A two-headed snowman. What a delight! Oh, what fun those kids must have had rolling those snowballs until they were big enough to make the body, then the two heads. Oh, I remember, it was not too many years ago right in my front yard. What memories! My children all grown up and still having the time of their life playing in the snow. I hope to see them again playing in the snow. Perhaps they will add another head this time. Say, isn’t that my hat and scarf?

Kelly Bingham

www.kellybinghamonline.com

author of SHARK GIRL and Z IS FOR MOOSE (coming out in March 2012)

Snowman 1: Hey. Hey, hey. Look at that guy’s hat. WOW. It’s all striped and stuff. Why does HE get the good hat?

Snowman 2: Gosh, I really hate this hat.

Snowman 1: And what’s up with the attitude? I’m right here, and he can’t look at me?

Snowman 2: I mean, I really, REALLY hate this hat.

Snowman 1: Hey, pal! Look at me!

Snowman 2: In fact, I wish it would go away.

Snowman 1: Back here, guy. HEY!

Snowman 2: You know, it’s weird, but…I have this funny feeling I’m being watched.

Snowman 1: So that’s how he wants to play it. That’s how you want to play it, Mr. Stripey Hat? Fine. That’s just fine. Two can play at that game.

Snowman 2: I really, really feel like two stone cold eyes are boring into the back of my hat. If only I could turn my head and look. Maybe if I try really hard, I could…move…my…face……aghh, no. Nope, not going to work. I’m just a frozen lump of snow. Totally immobile. And unfortunately, I’ve been sculpted without ears. I wonder what else I’m missing?

Snowman 1: Look at that moron. Totally ignoring me. What a stuck up blob of foof. And to think I was going to offer him some of this hot chocolate I’m holding.

Snowman 2: I mean, I hate to go on about it. But I really wish this hat would disappear. And you know what? The other crazy thing is, I can SWEAR I smell marshmallows. And…bacon.

Snowman 1: Yeah, bud. How do you like them snow apples, huh? You don’t bother to look at me, or speak to me, you don’t get any hot chocolate OR this super scrumpty bacon biscuit that I……HEY!!!

Snowman 2: What??? Some kid just shoved a bacon biscuit into my mitten!

Snowman 1: TOTALLY UNFAIR!!

Snowman 2: SCORE ONE FOR SNOWY!

Snowman 1: What a freakin’ RIP. Hey wait…kid, no. What are you doing? No don’t……Hey!!

Snowman 2: Hey???!

Snowman 1: Holy Icicles!! YES! I get the GOOD hat!!

Snowman 2: The kid took that awful hat. And gave me a……wow. A totally cool pointy hat! And it’s blue!! I love blue!

Snowman 1: Merry Christmas Mr. Standoffish. Who’s got the cool stripey hat NOW, huh? Who’s the big guy NOW, huh? Yeah, that’s right. You may have gotten the biscuit, but I got the STRIPES.

Snowman 2: Wow, this worked out great. I got rid of the ugly hat, got a new one, and now a biscuit too. I guess it just goes to show. We’re not as alone as we think we are. Somewhere, someone is listening. And sometimes, we even get our wishes granted.

Snowman 1: I got the good hat and I still got my hot chocolate. So……I guess this worked out okay, after all. Not a bad day at all.

Snowman 2: This may be the best day I ever remember.

Snowman 1: Think I’ll power down for a nap now.

Snowman 2: In fact, this may be the ONLY day I remember……

Snowman 1: Night, night, stripey hat. I love you.

Snowman 2: Now if only I could lift my arms and take a bite of this biscuit……

THE END

Which Books From 2011 Would You Take With You to a Deserted Island?

2011-12-31T12:26:00.032-05:00

A Saturday with Morzant:

Morzant Poses a Hypothetical Question

to His Friends. Again.

MORZANT: Zulko, humans. No need to review your calendars. I’m indeed addressing you on a Saturday, rather than a Tuesday as I customarily do. I intended to ask my friends, as I did last year, what book released in the concluding year each would choose to take with them to a deserted island. Engrossed as I’ve been in my various experiments, I neglected to prepare this post before now. Given that this is the last day of 2011, I hurriedly assembled my friends.

Last year’s query was designed to enhance my understanding of hypothetical questions. The experiment rapidly dissolved into chaos as my friends insisted on altering the hypothetical question’s parameters. (That experiment is available for review here.) This year my friends have agreed to respect the question’s restrictions.

BIGFOOT: We’re ready, Morzant.

MORZANT: You’ve all signed the agreement, in triplicate?

BEVERLY: Yes. We’ve all signed your stupid papers. Now can we just get this over with? I’d like to get out of here before New Year’s Eve 2012.

MORZANT: Certainly. Each of you state which one book released in 2011 you would choose for your deserted island sequestration. We’ll start with the puppies.

LENNY: WON-TON: A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU and—

MORZANT: Excuse me, Lenny, but there can be no “and.” Just one selection please.

LENNY: But I loved a lot of other books, too.

MORZANT: I understand. However, as per the agreement you signed, you’re to choose only the one book you loved best.

BIGFOOT: Actually, the agreement says we’re each allowed to pick up to twenty-one books.

MORZANT: Nonsense. Is states clearly right here that…. Oh, for the love of milky kitten whiskers! Who penciled in the number twenty?

NORMAN: Why are you looking at me?

MORZANT: Who else would tamper with my experiment?

NORMAN: Good point. But really, it wasn’t me this time.

MORZANT: And what’s this other scribbling? “Furthermore, each cryptid may also select any number of books released in this year from their ‘to-be-read pile’—those books they planned to, but did not have a chance to, read during 2011.” I demand to know who’s responsible for polluting my experiment!

BEVERLY: If it speeds things along, I am.

MORZANT: Have you no respect for science?

BEVERLY: Not particularly.

PENNY: Beverly didn’t do it.

MORZANT: Then who? Penny? Not you?

PENNY: I’m sorry! I respect science, I promise. But I couldn’t pick just one. I mean, there are a bunch of books I liked this year. And there are so many more I didn’t even get a chance to read!

BIGFOOT: Then it’s settled. We’ll all just make a huge list of books—

MORZANT: Wait a minute!

NORMAN: You’re the one who insisted we sign the agreement, Morzant. Now we have to stick to it.

MORZANT: Fine. If anybody needs me, I’ll be in the Hortozapher containment chamber, weeping.

The cryptids would bring the following books published in 2011 with them to a deserted island:

Books BIGFOOT read and loved:

BAD ISLAND

by Doug Tennapel

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

Graphix-Scholastic

DARTH PAPER STRIKES BACK

by Tom Angleberger

[MIDDLE GRADE—SECOND IN THE ORIGAMI YODA SERIES]

Amulet-Abrams

THE END OF THE LINE

by Angela Cerrito

[YOUNG ADULT]

Holiday House

LEVEL UP

by Gene Luen Yang,

illustrated by Thien Pham

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

First Second-Roaring Brook

Books BIGFOOT didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while relaxing under a coconut tree:

DEAD END IN NORVELT

by Jack Gantos

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

THE FINGERTIPS OF DUNCAN DORFMAN

by Meg Wolitzer

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Dutton-Penguin

MAGGIE & OLIVER OR A BONE OF ONE’S OWN

by Valerie Hobbs,

illustrated by Jennifer Thermes

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Henry Holt

NURSERY RHYME COMICS:

50 TIMELESS RHYMES FROM 50 CELEBRATED CARTOONISTS

edited by Chris Duffy

[COMIC FOR YOUNG READERS]

First Second-Roaring Brook

TRUE (…SORT OF)

by Katherine Hannigan

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Greenwillow-HarperCollins

THE UNFORGOTTEN COAT

by Frank Cottrell Boyce

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

Books MORZANT read and loved:

(The experiment has already been tainted; therefore, I see no reason for me to comply with the original terms of my hypothetical question. Or, as the Earth saying goes: If you can’t beat them, join them.)

QUEEN OF THE FALLS

by Chris Van Allsburg

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Houghton Mifflin

SWIRL BY SWIRL: SPIRALS IN NATURE

by Joyce Sidman,

illustrated by Beth Krommes

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Houghton Mifflin-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

THE WATCHER: JANE GOODALL’S LIFE WITH THE CHIMPS

by Jeanette Winter

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Houghton Mifflin-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Books MORZANT didn’t get a chance to read,
but plans to after studying indigenous island snails:

THE DEAD

by Charlie Higson

[YOUNG ADULT—SECOND IN THE ENEMY SERIES]

Hyperion-Disney

THE INCREDIBLE LIFE OF BALTO

by Meghan McCarthy

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Knopf-Random House

THE UNDERTAKERS: RISE OF THE CORPSES

by Ty Drago

[YOUNG ADULT]

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Book MORTIMER read and loved:

GUINEA PIG, PET SHOP PRIVATE EYE #4: FISH YOU WERE HERE

by Colleen AF Venable,

illustrated by Stephanie Yue

[SILLY FUZZY BOOK]

Graphic Universe-Lerner

Book MORTIMER didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to from the comfort of his tiny island hut:

MOUSENET

by Prudence Breitrose,

with illustrations by Stephanie Yue

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Hyperion-Disney

Books PENNY read and loved:

ANYA’S GHOST

by Vera Brosgol

[YOUNG ADULT—GRAPHIC NOVEL]

First Second-Roaring Brook

THE GIRL BEHIND THE GLASS

by Jane Kelley

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Random House

WHITE CROW

by Marcus Sedgwick

[YOUNG ADULT]

Roaring Brook

Books PENNY didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while drifting along on a warm ocean current:

THE AVIARY

by Kathleen O’Dell

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Knopf-Random House

BLINK & CAUTION

by Tim Wynne-Jones

[YOUNG ADULT]

Candlewick

BREATH OF ANGEL

by Karyn Henley

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE

ANGELAEON CIRCLE TRILOGY]

WaterBrook Multnomah-Random House

THE ISLE OF BLOOD

by Rick Yancey

[YOUNG ADULT—THIRD IN THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST SERIES]

Simon & Schuster

THE NAME OF THE STAR

by Maureen Johnson

[YOUNG ADULT—FIRST IN THE SHADES OF LONDON TRILOGY]

Putnam-Penguin

RETURN TO DAEMON HALL: EVIL ROOTS

by Andrew Nance,

with illustrations by Coleman Polhemus

[YOUNG ADULT—SEQUEL TO DAEMON HALL]

Henry Holt

IMAGINARY GIRLS

by Nova Ren Suma

[YOUNG ADULT]

Dutton-Penguin

THE SCORPIO RACES

by Maggie Stiefvater

[YOUNG ADULT]

Scholastic

THE VISION

by Jen Nadol

[YOUNG ADULT—SEQUEL TO THE MARK]

Bloomsbury USA

Books NORMAN read and loved:

SCARY SCHOOL

by Derek the Ghost,

with illustrations by Scott M. Fischer

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Harper-HarperCollins

WITCHES’ BREW

by Mary Labatt,

illustrated by Jo Rioux

[GRAPHIC NOVEL—FOURTH IN THE SAM & FRIENDS MYSTERY SERIES]

Kids Can Press

Books NORMAN didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while lounging on a big hot rock:

ALIENS ON VACATION

by Clete Smith,

with illustrations by Christian Slade

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Hyperion-Disney

THE BOY AT THE END OF THE WORLD

by Greg van Eekhout

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Bloomsbury USA

BREADCRUMBS

by Anne Ursu,

with illustrations by Erin Mcguire

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Walden Pond-HarperCollins

MISSING ON SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN

by Elise Broach,

with illustrations by Antonio Javier Caparo

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN TRILOGY]

Henry Holt

MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE

by Anna Staniszewski

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIRST IN TRILOGY]

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky-Sourcebooks

THE ONLY ONES

by Aaron Starmer

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Delacorte-Random House

ZOMBIE MOMMY

by M.T. Anderson,

with illustrations by Kurt Cyrus

[MIDDLE GRADE—FIFTH IN THE PALS IN PERIL SERIES]

Beach Lane-Simon & Schuster

Books BEVERLY read and loved:

BONE DOG

by Eric Rohmann

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook

A MONSTER CALLS

by Patrick Ness (based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd),

with illustrations by Jim Kay

[YOUNG ADULT]

Candlewick

THE VISCONTI HOUSE

by Elsbeth Edgar

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

Books BEVERLY didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while sunning herself on the beach:

LIKE PICKLE JUICE ON A COOKIE

by Julie Sternberg,

with illustrations by Matthew Cordell

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Amulet-Abrams

THE MIDNIGHT ZOO

by Sonya Hartnett,

with illustrations by Andrea Offermann

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Candlewick

MY NAME IS MINA

by David Almond

[MIDDLE GRADE—PREQUEL TO SKELLIG]

Delacorte-Random House

MY NAME IS NOT EASY

by Debby Dahl Edwardson

[YOUNG ADULT]

Marshall Cavendish

SMALL PERSONS WITH WINGS

by Ellen Booraem

[MIDDLE GRADE]

Dial-Penguin

Books OLIVER read and loved:

A BALL FOR DAISY

by Chris Raschka

[PICTURE BOOK]

Schwartz & Wade-Random House

ANIMALS HOME ALONE

by Loes Riphagen

[PICTURE BOOK]

Seven Footer Press

BLACKOUT

by John Rocco

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

NO DOGS ALLOWED!

by Linda Ashman,

illustrated by Kristin Sorra

[PICTURE BOOK]

Sterling

I MUST HAVE BOBO!

by Eileen Rosenthal,

illustrated by Marc Rosenthal

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster

PERFECT SQUARE

by Michael Hall

[PICTURE BOOK]

Greenwillow-HarperCollins

WHERE’S WALRUS?

by Stephen Savage

[PICTURE BOOK]

Scholastic Press-Scholastic, 2011

Book OLIVER didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to while cozied in a quiet island cave:

DAISY DAWSON AT THE BEACH

by Steve Voake,

with illustrations by Jessica Meserve

[CHAPTER BOOK]

Candlewick

Books LENNY read and loved:

CAT SECRETS

by Jef Czekaj

[PICTURE BOOK]

Balzer & Bray-HarperCollins

EARTH TO CLUNK

by Pam Smallcomb,

illustrated by Joe Berger

[PICTURE BOOK]

Dial-Penguin

RAJ THE BOOKSTORE TIGER

by Kathleen T. Pelley,

illustrated by Paige Keiser

[PICTURE BOOK]

Charlesbridge

WON TON: A CAT TALE TOLD IN HAIKU

by Lee Wardlaw,

illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

[PICTURE BOOK]

Henry Holt

Books VIOLET read and loved:

APPLE PIE ABC

by Alison Murray

[PICTURE BOOK]

Hyperion-Disney

BEAR WITH ME

by Max Kornell

[PICTURE BOOK]

Putnam-Penguin

MINI RACER

by Kristy Dempsey,

illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo

[PICTURE BOOK]

Bloomsbury USA

ME…JANE

by Patrick McDonnell

[PICTURE BOOK]

Little, Brown-Hachette

MY NAME IS ELIZABETH!

by Annika Dunklee,

illustrated by Matthew Forsythe

[PICTURE BOOK]

Kids Can Press

SAY HELLO TO ZORRO!

by Carter Goodrich

[PICTURE BOOK]

Simon & Schuster

Book VIOLET didn’t get a chance to read,

but plans to read to her new friend, Orin the Iguana:

THE PRINCESS OF BORSCHT

by Leda Schubert,

illustrated by Bonnie Christensen

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook

Three Minutes with Frostystein, Take 2

2011-12-26T20:21:00.003-05:00

Normandy #8: Second time’s a charm

Last week I asked you to write about this photograph. There wasn’t a single taker. I guess you were all too bloated with egg nog and snickerdoodles to write. I hate to let a good snowman photo go to waste, so I’m giving you a second chance.

Write for three minutes about this snowman. Or his hats. Or the flamingo just out of the picture frame. For the love of mutant snowmen, write something!

Email what you wrote to woof at bright dot net by this Sunday (put “Norman is an Endless Source of Mirth” in the subject line). I’ll post as many of my favorite entries as I want next Monday. Include your first name (or, even better, use a pen name) and age (unless you’re tortoise-old). If you’re a published writer, include a biography to be posted with your entry.

Season’s Readings 2011

2011-12-24T14:12:00.037-05:00

A Message From Bigfoot:

It’s warm in my neck of the woods. Too warm. I’m no Abominable Snowman, but even Bigfoot wants a little snow on Christmas. Since that’s not going to happen, some of my friends gave me the next best thing—they rounded up their favorite snowy books.

MORZANT’S SNOWY RECOMMENDATIONS:

SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Mary Azarian

[PICTURE BOOK—NON-FICTION]

Houghton Mifflin, 1998

Zeenton does not experience the meteorological phenomenon of snow. On Zeenton, crystals form on vegetation during periods of extreme heat. If it were possible for one to gather enough of these crystals together to form a ball, and if, subsequently, one were to throw that ball in their friend’s face, the upset at the attendant searing off of facial features would be in stark contrast to the mirth exhibited by those participating in an Earth-style snowball fight.

Snow’s novelty has rendered it a tremendous source of fascination for me. Had I not read SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY, I would have assumed that a man as enchanted by snow as I am had come from a place where no snow existed—if not from the planet Zeenton, then from some region of the Earth untouched by the chilly crystals. But no, Wilson Bentley was born in Vermont, in the United States of America, where snow is plentiful. Mr. Bentley became obsessed with finding a way to preserve the beauty of the snow crystals he studied; he wanted to share their beauty with the world. Through determination and ingenuity, he perfected a method to photograph snow crystals. I would very much have liked to have known Mr. Bentley. I feel certain he would have been able to help me crack the mystery of Bigfoot’s photography impediment.

OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW

by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

[PICTURE BOOK]

Chronicle, 2011

Perhaps what happens to outdoor dwellers in winter is common knowledge to native Earthlings. I confess I never considered the issue beyond the ursine population’s well-publicized annual periods of extended slumber. I suppose I took for granted that woodland creatures migrated to gentler climes. OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW enlightened me, however. Apparently an abundance of activity transpires under the seemingly quiescent cloak of frozen precipitate. With poetic language, the book follows a little girl and her father on skis over the snow while the father educates his daughter as to the concealed proceedings taking place under the snow. The girl is a fine scientist, observing hints of life forms on the snow’s visible surface and extrapolating the unseen happenings under it. Her red hat and scarf stand out amid the illustrations composed in blues and browns that convey both the chill of the season and the snug warmth of the concealed “subnivean zone.” An addendum provides additional information about the animals appearing in the book.

BEVERLY’S SNOWY RECOMMENDATIONS:

MAKING A FRIEND

by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster, 2011

I hate snow. It’s cold and when the sun reflects off it, it hurts my eyes. If it were snowing now, you know what I’d be? Annoyed. Then I’d fall asleep and have nightmares about killer icicles. Or be eaten by a raccoon. Probably both. So forgive me if I’m not crying buckets because there’s no snow here right now. But who am I to deny the great and wonderful Bigfoot his snow book? This is the only one I like. The boy in it makes a friend, literally. He makes a snowman. The snowman isn’t magical. It doesn’t dance or have snowball fights with the kid. It’s just a regular stationary snowman that the boy loves. And then it melts. Now before you get all huffy and think I’m being a snow scrooge, it’s not the melting snow that makes me like this book. I like it because it’s beautiful. The boy is sad when his snowman melts. But then he takes comfort that the snowman is still all around him in the rain and fog. Was the tear I shed at this book’s lovely sentiment once part of a snowman? Give me a break.

OLIVER’S SNOWY RECOMMENDATIONS:

I like snow. You can play in it. You can look at it from inside your warm home. It’s quiet and soft.

NO TWO ALIKE

by Keith Baker

[PICTURE BOOK]

Beach Lane-Simon & Schuster, 2011

People who know a lot about snow say that every snowflake is different. I like to think about that when it’s snowing. This book is about how snowflakes are all different from each other and so is everything else. Like how Lenny, Violet, and I are all beagles but we’re not the same. I’m telepathic. I have freckles on my muzzle and tail. I can howl longer than Lenny and Violet. I’m different. I’m me. This book shows two red birds on a snowy day. They fly around and show how similar things are special. The pictures in this book are soft and cozy even though all the scenes are outside in the cold snow. Do you know what else are not exactly alike? Books about snow.

RED SLED

by Lita Judge

[PICTURE BOOK]

Atheneum-Simon & Schuster, 2011

I like this book. The only words are sound words. There are the sounds of footsteps in snow, the sounds made by a sled whooshing down a hill, and the sounds of animals gleefully shouting as they ride the sled. A bear borrows the sled from a boy without asking. He starts down the hill alone and lots of other animals pile on the sled as it goes. At the end of the ride, they all wipe out into a happy pile. The bear returns the sled. The boy watches for the bear to come back to borrow the sled again. When he does, the boy joins the animals on their next sled ride.

THE WINTER VISITORS

by Karel Hayes

[PICTURE BOOK]

Down East Books, 2007

There aren’t many words in this book either. The story is told through pictures in panels like in a comic book. The bears in this book borrow a whole house. They come to stay at a people family’s cottage after the people pack up and leave in wintertime. The bears take a sled ride. They use a canoe as a sled. My favorite part is when the bears invite all the other forest animals into the house for a big party. There’s music, cake, and decorations. The bears are good guests. They clean up the cottage before they leave in the spring. The people don’t know the bears were ever there. But they do wonder why the honey is all gone.

THE SNOWY DAY

by Ezra Jack Keats

[PICTURE BOOK]

Viking-Penguin, 1998 (1962)

The boy in this book is named Peter. He plays all day in the snow. He makes tracks and knocks snow off a tree. He makes a snowman. He lays in the snow and flaps his arms to make a snow angel. The best part of playing in the snow is when you get to go inside to warm up. Peter warms up, and so does the snowball he brings inside. It melts. It’s okay, though, because it snows again and he has more fun in the snow the next day.

HERE COMES JACK FROST

by Kazuno Kohara

[PICTURE BOOK]

Roaring Brook, 2009

You can have a lot of fun in wintertime. The boy in this book starts out bored. But then he makes a new friend who shows him how much fun winter can be. The friend is Jack Frost. He makes snow and ice. Because of Jack Frost, the boy and his dog can ice skate, sled, and and have a snowball fight. They have fun together all winter until the boy says a springtime word. That makes Jack Frost have to go away. But he promises to come back again next winter.

SNOW

by Uri Shulevitz

[PICTURE BOOK]

Sunburst-Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004 (1998)

This is about another boy and dog. They know all about winter fun, so they get excited when it starts to snow. There are just a few snowflakes and the gloomy adults say that’s all the snow there will be. The boy and dog are excited anyway. There are more snowflakes. Soon everything is covered in snow. The boy and dog dance in the snow with the Mother Goose and Humpty Dumpty characters from the town’s bookstore sign. The snow buries all the gloominess in pretty white. I hope this book makes Bigfoot feel better. The gloomies who say we won’t have snow could be wrong. If they are right, Bigfoot and I can still read these books together and pretend we’re having a white Christmas.

LENNY’S SNOWY RECOMMENDATIONS:

Sometimes snow is quiet and peaceful. Other times snow can make you want to have big, loud fun.

SNOWBOTS

by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by David Barneda

[PICTURE BOOK]

Borzoi-Alfred A. Knopf-Random House, 2010

Snowbots aren’t robots made of snow. They’re robots who know how to have big, loud fun in the snow. In this book the robots’ school is closed because it snowed so much. They spend the day playing in the snow in special robot ways. The robot with a chainsaw arm can cut ice into neat shapes like penguins and castles. The robots go flying down hills extra fast and shoot snowballs at each other like cannons. After awhile all their robot parts get frozen and their parents bring them inside to warm up with hot grease drinks by the fireside. There’s even a robot dog who wants to go on a snowy walk.

PERFECT SNOW

by Barbara Reid

[PICTURE BOOK]

Albert Whitman, 2011 (2009)

In this book the kids don’t get a snow day. They have to go to school, but they don’t mind because they’ll be able to play with each other at recess.

There are two kinds of pictures in this book. There are some drawings in cartoon panels and there are pictures made out of clay. My favorite clay picture shows the playground from above. You can see all the kids in their colorful hats, scarves, and mittens playing in the white snow. One kid wants to make a snow fort and another wants to make a lot of snowmen. All the kids work together to build a giant snow fort made out of snowmen. You can tell by the pictures that the kids are shouting and laughing and whooping it up and having a perfect snowy time.

SNEEZY THE SNOWMAN

by Maureen Wright, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin

[PICTURE BOOK]

Marshall Cavendish, 2010

Everybody likes to build snowmen when it snows. This book is so funny. Sneezy is a snowman who is always cold. Being cold makes him sneeze. He tries to warm up with hot chocolate and melts. So the kids have to rebuild him. They have to rebuild him again after he melts in a hot tub and another time when he melts next to a campfire.

The kids try to help him keep warm without melting by giving him a hat and a scarf and a coat. It sort of works, except then he’s too warm. He wants to take off the clothes, but the kids won’t let him because they know he’ll be too cold again. They come up with a good idea to cool him off. They give him an ice cream cone to eat.

I like the rhymes in this book and I like the pictures. There are a couple of birds in the background doing funny things during the whole story.

VIOLET’S SNOWY RECOMMENDATIONS:

SNOW HAPPY!

by Patricia Hubbell, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata

[PICTURE BOOK]

Tricycle Press-Random House, 2010

I love snow! It makes me happy to play in snow. When I’m not playing in snow, I love to read about playing in snow and I’m so happy when I read SNOW HAPPY! because everybody in this book is having fun playing in the snow. There are lots of kids and dogs playing in the snow because kids and dogs love snow. There is one special dog. He is the main dog in the book. And that dog is a beagle like me!

The kids and dogs play in the snow and there are some funny squirrels, too, who make snow angels and throw snowballs. The colors in the book are pretty. The snow is white but there are colorful mittens and hats and scarves and berries and cardinals.

At the end of the day the kids and the beagle go inside to warm up with some hot chocolate and to cuddle up by the fireplace for a nap together. Even the squirrel is snug in his tree, ready to take a nap.

THE SNOW BLEW INN

by Dian Curtis, illustrated by Doug Cushman

[PICTURE BOOK]

Holiday House, 2011

I love this book because even though I love playing outside in the snow, after I am done playing in the snow I love to be inside all cozied up and warm. In this book a little girl cat and her mom run an inn and an inn is a place to stay and sleep when you are traveling away from your home. The little girl cat is named Emma and she has her very own room and she is going to have a friend sleep over but there is a snow storm and her friend is late. Lots and lots and lots of other guests come and the inn gets really crowded with bears and frogs and mice and rabbits and pigs and dogs and skunks and goats who are looking for a safe warm place to stay for the night. Pretty soon all the rooms are full and Emma is such a nice girl cat that she lets a momma fox and a little girl fox have her room. And Emma is sad because her friend still hasn’t come yet but don’t worry because her friend who is another little girl cat does come soon and she and Emma and the little girl fox camp out next to the fireplace and eat popcorn and that’s the best way to spend a snowy night. Eating popcorn with your friends and reading books about snow is the best way to spend nights that aren’t snowy.

BRIAR’S SNOWY RECOMMENDATIONS:

DAISY DAWSON AND THE BIG FREEZE

by Steve Voake, with illustrations by Jessica Meserve

[CHAPTER BOOK]

Candlewick, 2010 (2008)

All the other books featured on this list are picture books. I chose a lovely chapter book that is part of a series about a special little girl named Daisy Dawson who can speak to and understand animals. All the animals love her because she is kind and helps them. She takes the two classroom gerbils out for their first joyful exposure to snow. Later, she helps a dog and a mamma sheep recover what they’ve lost. Because I’m psychic, I already know Bigfoot will enjoy this quiet, peaceful-as-a-snowy-day story.

Last year’s holiday recommendations: Season’s Readings 2010