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Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Literally and Figuratively


This week, I have TWO words I want to talk about: literally [lit-er-uh-lee] and figuratively [fig-yer-uh-tiv-lee]. Both words are adverbs. Literally means "actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy".

The house was literally destroyed.

If I heard the sentence above, I would assume that there had been some disaster, a fire or a tornado or something similar, and that there was little to nothing left of the house.

Figuratively means the opposite: "not literally". When you are speaking figuratively, you are using a figure of speech, usually a metaphor.

Figuratively speaking, the house was destroyed.

In this sentence, I know that the house is still standing. Perhaps the children living there played baseball in the living room, knocking over lamps and furniture and accidentally smashing a window with a home run ball. Perhaps the family members were very messy and never put anything away after using it. Whatever the case, the sentence is an exaggeration. The house wasn't actually destroyed.

The house was destroyed.

With this sentence, a reader would have to look to surrounding sentences to find out if its author meant it literally or figuratively.


Tuesday, September 29, 2015

A Football Poem

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A Football Poem

A football poem
Should hit hard
Like a nose guard,

Or spiral through the sky
Like a down-and-out pass
On real grass.

A football poem
Should score
Inside the five
On fourth and four.

A football poem
Should sweat, talk trash, and grunt…
Or punt.

~ J. Patrick Lewis, 
from Countdown to Summer: 
A Poem for Every Day of the School Year

I am not a football fan myself, yet I love this poem! I especially like how Mr. Lewis uses rhyme and football lingo to give his poem the feel of the sport. 

I haven't come across too many poems about football in all of my reading. Can you think of an uncommon poetry subject that you could write about?

Monday, September 28, 2015

Paragraphs of staggering loveliness.

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An excerpt:

     You will sometimes write paragraphs of staggering loveliness. You will! Probably you already have. You'll want to have those paragraphs tattooed on your forehead where everyone will see them.

     Then you'll discover that they don't help tell your story. Do not do not DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT bend your story to accommodate your brilliant words.

     Revising and cutting take courage and self-confidence. You have to believe that you will write equally brilliant prose again. And you will. There's no doubt about it. And some of your new brilliant prose will have to be revised or cut. But some will actually fit your story. Hallelujah!

~ from Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly,
written by Gail Carson Levine

I really like this passage from Ms. Levine's book. I have definitely had to cut words, sentences, and paragraphs that I loved from my writing because they just weren't helping the stories I was trying to tell. It is very hard to cut lines that you feel are well-written, but sometimes it is necessary. As Ms. Levine says, it does require courage and self-confidence to make those cuts. But, in the end, your writing will be even better than it was before!

Sunday, September 27, 2015

It's Banned Books Week!

Image courtesy of the
  American Library Association

In case you don't know, Banned Books Week is an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read. This special week begins today, Sept. 27th, and goes through Saturday, Oct. 3rd.

The American Library Association says the following about the event on their website:

"By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. [...] While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read."

Later this week I will share a post about a few of the books that people have tried to restrict access to in recent years. In the meantime, I hope you will celebrate this week with me by reading a banned or challenged book! 

P. S. Need ideas for a book to read? Check out this link to Frequently Challenged Books. In addition, here are links to my previous posts about banned books:

We must dream...

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"To accomplish great things, 
we must dream as well as act."

~ Anatole France

This quote makes sense to me: before we can do great things, we must first dream of them. We must imagine what we want to do and how to go about doing it. Our dreams also help motivate us into action.

What are your Big Dreams?

Saturday, September 26, 2015

September

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September

Lo! a ripe sheaf of many golden days 
Gleaned by the year in autumn's harvest ways, 
With here and there, blood-tinted as an ember, 
Some crimson poppy of a late delight 
Atoning in its splendor for the flight 
Of summer blooms and joys­
This is September. 

~ Lucy Maud Montgomery

The imagery in this poem makes me smile -- the many golden days of September, all gathered together like stalks of wheat along with a few moments of poppy red, surprising and delightful. We must bid goodbye to summer but at the same time we say hello to autumn. Are there words or phrases in this poem that resonate with you?

Friday, September 25, 2015

Stories for Library Lovers

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If you have read many of my previous posts, it should come as no surprise that I LOVE libraries. Libraries are among my very favorite places to spend time in! I visit our local library at least once a week. I love the (relative) quiet, the smell of the books, the access to computers, printers, and other technology, the bright colors of the children's section (actually, our whole library is brightly colored!), and, of course, the rows and rows of books in every room.

While wandering around the children's section recently, I discovered a group of engaging books about libraries. Some of the books are silly and fictional. Others share true stories of real libraries, in this country and around the world. Do you love libraries, too?  If so, this post is for you. (And if not, the following books just might spark your interest!)

Picture books:

Wild About Books,
written by Judy Sierra
and illustrated by Marc Brown, 2004


Librarian Molly McGrew accidentally drives the bookmobile to the zoo. Before long, all of the animals are reading -- and even writing their own books!

This is a cute story, told in rhyme. I especially liked the haiku poems that the bugs in the insect zoo write, along with the stinging reviews from the scorpion! The fun illustrations complement the humorous story well.

***

The Librarian of Basra:
A True Story from Iraq,
written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter, 2005


Alia Muhammad Baker is a librarian in Basra, Iraq. In 2003, war came to Basra. Alia asked the governor for permission to move the books (which were "more precious to her than mountains of gold") from the library to a safer place. He refused, but Alia moved them anyway. Just a few days later, a fire burned the library to the ground....

I don't know much about libraries in other countries and hadn't heard of this story before reading the book. I found it interesting. Winter presents the facts in a way that is easy to understand. She also shares Alia's perspective, her thoughts and hopes for the books she loves. Winter's colorful illustrations help to tell Alia's story and depict the war without being too frightening for children. 

***

Biblioburro:
A True Story from Columbia,
written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter, 2010


This book is based on the true story of Luis Soriana, an avid reader who lives in northern Colombia. One day he decided to share his large collection of books with the people in isolated villages high up in the hills where books are scarce. He built special crates for the books that could be carried by his two burros, creating his very own Biblioburro -- or Burro Library.

Through her vibrant pictures and poetic narrative, Winter provides readers with a small slice of life in Colombia. I found the book a delight to read!

***

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise:
How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children,
written by Jan Pinborough
and illustrated by Debby Atwell, 2013


When Annie Carroll Moore was young, "many people thought a girl should stay indoors and do quiet things such as sewing and embroidery. But Annie thought otherwise." This is the tale of a woman who "thought otherwise" about many different things and wasn't afraid to fight for what she felt was right. Soon after libraries began hiring women as librarians, Miss Moore went to school to become one. Unlike many others in her field, she believed that libraries should be for children, too, not just for adults. She helped to create children's sections in all 36 branches of the New York Public Library and later went on to design (and then run) the Central Children's Room at Fifth Avenue and Forty-Second Street. Her work influenced other libraries around the country and around the world to create inviting spaces for children.

I was unaware of the history of children's libraries before reading this book. I learned a lot! I like how Pinborough brings this history to life with intriguing details and alluring text. Atwell's folk-art style pictures pair nicely with the story. This was my favorite of the picture books in this post.

***

"L" is for Library,
written by Sonya Terry
and illustrated by Nicole Wong, 2006


From "Dewey Decimal System" to "nonfiction" to "thesaurus", this book offers a different library-related word for each letter of the alphabet.

While I'm not a fan of the rhymes of the text (some seem a bit forced to me), I found that Wong's detailed, charming illustrations outweigh those parts, making this a book worth sharing with you.

***

Librarian on the Roof!:
A True Story,
written by M. G. King
and illustrated by Stephen Gilpin, 2010


This book is based on the true story of RoseAleta Laurell, a dedicated librarian who camped out on the roof of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library (the oldest library in Texas) for a week, in order to raise awareness and funds for its children's section. Town officials did not approve of her stunt, and Laurell endured some wet, scary weather up on the roof, but in just seven days, the town raised almost $40,000 for the library -- twice Laurell's original goal!

King's entertaining writing combined with Gilpin's amusing cartoon-like illustrations make this a fun book for children and adults alike.

***

Middle grade fiction:

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library,
written by Chris Grabenstein, 2013


Imagine a modern day Willy Wonka creating a library instead of a chocolate factory. It would be the best library ever, right? It would be Mr. Lemoncello's library. For the past 12 years, Alexandria, Ohio has been without a public library. Now the man behind Mr. Lemoncello's Imagination Factory (a company with the best board games, puzzles, and video games) is opening a library in the town. He picks twelve 12-year-olds (who write the best essays on "Why I'm Excited About the New Public Library") for a special library lock-in. There are games and prizes, plus the biggest competition of them all -- whoever can figure out how to escape from the library without using the front door or the fire exits (using only what's in the library to find their way out) will win the best prize of all, becoming a paid spokesperson for the Imagination Factory.

I loved this book and count it as one of my favorite middle grade novels of all time! It hooked me from the very beginning and kept me interested to the very end. It made me laugh out loud in several spots. I had fun figuring out the various clues to the games and I appreciated all the references to other books that appear throughout the story. While reading it, I knew that my son Ben would love it, too. I gave it to him when I finished, and, sure enough, he couldn't put it down. Between the two of us, we give this book four big thumbs up!

***

Have you read any of the books mentioned above? If so, what did you think of them? What are your favorite books about libraries?

Thursday, September 24, 2015

A friend

Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.net

"A good book on your shelf 
is a friend that turns its back on you 
and remains a friend."  

~ Author Unknown

Three cheers for all those friends sitting on shelves, just waiting to be opened and read! :)

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Succinct


This week's word, succinct [suh k-singkt], is an adjective that means "expressed in few words; concise; terse". I, myself, am not very good at writing succinctly. I tend to be wordy when I write. (When I am talking, however, I am much more succinct -- mostly because I freeze up and can't get all the words that I want to say to come out of my mouth!)

Here are a few examples I came up with using the word of the week:

I love how poets can take a story or an idea or an image 
and convey it to their readers in just a few succinct lines.

I have one friend who never stops talking, 
and another who is quite succinct.

Do you write -- or speak -- succinctly? Can you come up with a sentence using the word "succinct"?

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Puppy love

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An excerpt:

     I suppose there's a time in practically every young boy's life when he's affected by that wonderful disease of puppy love. I don't mean the kind a boy has for the pretty little girl that lives down the road. I mean the real kind, the kind that has four small feet and a wiggly tail, and sharp little teeth that can gnaw on a boy's finger; the kind a boy can romp and play with, even eat and sleep with.

     I was ten years old when I first became infected with this terrible disease. I'm sure no boy in the world had it worse than I did. It's not easy for a young boy to want a dog and not be able to have one. It starts growing on his heart, and gets all mixed up in his dreams. It gets worse and worse, until finally it becomes almost unbearable.

~ from Where the Red Fern Grows,
written by Wilson Rawls

I am more of a cat person than a dog person myself, but puppies sure are cute and hard to resist! I can understand this kind of "puppy love", having felt it when I was younger, only for a kitten. I wanted one SO badly. I had to wait many years, but my dream finally came true when our family adopted the best cat ever, Hobbit. :) How about you --  have you ever experienced puppy love?

Monday, September 21, 2015

What If?

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PublicDomainPictures.net

What If?

What if angry words
vanished like
soap bubbles
and punches landed light
as butterfly kisses?
What if guns
fired marshmallow bullets,
and bombs burst
into feather clouds
sending us into fits
of giggles?
What if
we all died
laughing?

~ Anna Grossnickle Hines, 
from Peaceful Pieces: 
Poems and Quilts About Peace

Today is the International Day of Peace. The United Nations General Assembly has declared this a day "devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples." I thought this was an appropriate poem for the occasion. Wishing you all a peaceful day!

Sunday, September 20, 2015

The Birthday Child

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The Birthday Child

Everything's been different
   All the day long,
Lovely things have happened,
   Nothing has gone wrong.

Nobody has scolded me,
   Everyone has smiled.
Isn't it delicious
   To be a birthday child?

~ Rose Fyleman

Today is my youngest son Ben's tenth birthday. Wow. I can't believe a whole decade has gone by since he was born! Where did the time go?

Birthdays were always so exciting when I was growing up.  I remember waking up early on my birthday each year, ready to jump out of bed and start my special day! I love Ms. Fyleman's last line: "Isn't it delicious to be a birthday child?"

My dear Benjamin, I hope you have a delicious day!

Saturday, September 19, 2015

An orchestra of sound

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“Words create the images 
that make poems come alive. 
And the possibilities 
for words are endless. 
You can shade and color them 
with meanings. 
You can mold them, like clay, 
in different ways. 
You can put them 
in nearly any order. 
And when you listen closely, 
words contain an orchestra of sound.” 

~ Jennifer Fandel, 
from Understanding Poetry: 
Puns, Allusions, and Other Word Secrets

I really like the image of molding words like clay and also the orchestra of sound found in the the words of a poem. Just reading this quote makes me want to grab a pen and paper and start creating!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Make haste to be kind.


"Life is short 
and we never have enough time 
for gladdening the hearts 
of those who travel the way with us.  
Oh, be swift to love!  
Make haste to be kind."

~ Henri Frederic Amiel

This has been one of my favorite quotes ever since I first heard it about 8 years ago. It is a much-needed reminder for me that love and kindness are goals to strive for every day. Nothing else is more important.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Effervescent

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This week's word is effervescent [ef-er-ves-uh nt], an adjective that can mean either "bubbling" or "vivacious, lively, sparkling". For example:

My favorite kind of grape juice
 is the effervescent kind.

Mia, with her effervescent personality, 
is a joy to be around.

I stood next to the little mountain stream, 
watching its effervescent water tumble over the rocks.

I like the sound of the word, as well as its meaning. Do you? How would you use "effervescent" in a sentence?


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Is six times one a lot of fun?

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Is six times one a lot of fun?
Or eight times two?
Perhaps for you.
But five times three
unhinges me,
while six and seven and eight times eight
put me in an awful state
and four and six and nine times nine
make me want to cry and whine
so when I get to twelve times ten
I begin to wonder when
I can take a vacation from multiplication
and go out
and start playing again.

~ Karla Kuskin

Math unhinges me, too! It has never, ever been my thing and I am so amazed when others (like my almost-10-year-old son) find mathematics easy and/or fun. How about you? Do you agree with the sentiment of this poem or are your feelings the opposite of Ms. Kuskin's?

Monday, September 14, 2015

Everybody gasped...

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An excerpt:

     Everybody gasped as they stepped into the Rotunda Reading Room and looked up. The entire underside of the dome looked like space as seen from the Hubble telescope: A dusty spiral nebula billowed up, a galaxy of stars twinkled, and meteorites whizzed across the ceiling.

     "Ooh!"

     The space imagery on the ceiling dissolved into ten distinct panels, each one becoming a display of swirling graphics.

     "Those are the ten categories of the Dewey decimal system," whispered Miguel, sounding awestruck. "See the panel with Cleopatra, the guy mountain climbing, and the Viking ship sailing across it? That's for 900 to 999. History and Geography."

     "Cool," said Kyle.

~ from Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library,
written by Chris Grabenstein

I just love libraries, and all I really need them to contain are books. But I would be especially thrilled to visit an amazing library like Mr. Lemoncello's, wouldn't you?

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Captured voices

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"To those with ears to hear, 
libraries are really very noisy places.  
On their shelves 
we hear the captured voices 
of the centuries-old conversation 
that makes up our civilization."  

~ Timothy Healy

Every book on every shelf in every library captures the voice of its author. That's A LOT of voices, all a part of our human conversation through time. Libraries are noisy indeed!

Saturday, September 12, 2015

The City

Alyssum in the sidewalk
by our house

The City

If flowers want to grow
right out of the concrete sidewalk cracks
I'm going to bend down to smell them.

~ David Ignatow

This is a short poem, but it says so much. We normally think of flowers growing in gardens or meadows, where dirt and space are in abundant supply. But sometimes they grow in the most unlikely of places -- a tiny crack in a slab of concrete, for instance. These flowers struggle to take hold, to find the water and the nutrients they need to grow. When at last they bloom, they deserve attention from poets and others who will take the time to stop and smell them....

Friday, September 11, 2015

Fiction for Animal Lovers

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Our family loves animals. You may have heard me say that my 16-year-old son Nick lives and breathes animals -- all day, every day. But the rest of us are fans of "all creatures great and small", too. We love our pets (a cockatiel, a leopard gecko, and two fire-bellied toads), we enjoy watching wildlife whenever we spend time outside, we visit zoos several times a year, and we all get excited whenever there's a bird or a squirrel at one of our backyard feeders. Are you an animal lover, too? If so, this post is for you!

Over the past few months, I have read several fictional books featuring animals. Some are realistic fiction and others are pure fantasy. A few of them are picture books and the rest are for older readers. I enjoyed all of these stories and am happy to share them with you here:


Picture books:

One Gorilla,
written and illustrated by Anthony Browne, 2012



This beautifully illustrated book counts primates, a different species on each page. I just love the vivid, lifelike pictures that make counting fun. This book wasn't around yet when my Nick was a toddler, but if it had been, I'm sure that we would've owned a copy and read through it daily!

***

Slow Loris,
written and illustrated by Alexis Deacon, 2002



Slow Loris is soooo sloooow. The people who come to the zoo -- and even the other animals -- all think that he is too boring. But Loris has a secret....

This story introduces readers to the slow loris, a real animal. It presents facts about the primate, but then offers a surprise and some very amusing illustrations of Loris, the fictional character. This is another book that Nick would've loved when he was younger.

***

Birdsong,
written and illustrated by Ellie Sandall, 2010



This story begins with one bird on a branch, singing its unique song. On every page a new bird with a different song arrives. When a large bird with a very loud voice arrives, it clears the branch... with comic results.

While both the story and the colorful illustrations in this book made me smile, my favorite part was reading the birdsongs aloud. Who can resist calling, "Kitcha kitcha Kee kee kee," or answering "Urrah! Urrah! Rah rah ree."?

***

Middle grade books:

The Wind in the Willows,
written by Kenneth Grahame, 1908


A story of the friendship between a Rat, a Mole, a Badger, and a Toad, this book has been a favorite classic of many readers for over one hundred years now. 

When I was a girl, I remember watching Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, partly based on The Wind in the Willows. I also had a big book of Disney stories that included Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, based on the movie. But I never read the full text of The Wind in the Willows until recently. My son Ben received the book Return to the Willows (shown below) from his grandparents. He wanted me to read it out loud to him, but after some discussion, we decided to read Grahame's book first and then Kelly's.

Written in the language style from over a century ago, this book is not an easy read -- despite the fact that it is considered a children's story.  There were many times when I had to pause in my reading aloud to explain the meanings of words to Ben, words such as "imperiously", "contemptuous", or "reminiscence". Once we moved past that difficulty -- or, at least, got used to it -- we both found the tale enjoyable. Ben especially liked hearing about the absurd Mr. Toad and all the trouble he gets into throughout the book!

***

Return to the Willows,
written by Jacqueline Kelly
and illustrated by Clint Young, 2012



One hundred and four years after Grahame's The Wind in the Willows was published, Jacqueline Kelly wrote this sequel to the classic story. She brings back all four friends, along with many other characters from the first book, and a whole host of new adventures.

I believe that Kelly did a wonderful job matching the rich language and the "feel" of the original story. It is clear that she knows and loves that story, and she pays homage to it while creating something new. The story can, in fact, stand by itself -- one would not have to read The Wind in the Willows before reading this one. I am glad that we read both books, but I have to say that Ben and I actually preferred this book to the first. The story seemed to go a little faster and many of the situations that Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad encounter had us both laughing out loud. In addition, Young's illustrations throughout the book are delightful.

***

The Underneath,
written by Kathi Appelt,
with drawings by David Small, 2008


Deep in the woods, where the only human is a violent, scary man called Gar Face, a pregnant cat befriends a lonely chained-up hound dog. She soon gives birth to two kittens and the four animals become a family.  Their world is a dangerous one, however, and the cats must stay out of sight, in the Underneath of Gar Face's ramshackle house. If the man discovers them, he will use the felines as alligator bait....

Though this is a middle grade book, I do not recommend it for children under age 10 -- even older children or teens may be bothered by some of the darker scenes. I found the book a little confusing at first, because the point of view jumps around. The story also travels back in time, thousands of years ago, and there is a magical element to the story that I didn't understand at first. Ultimately, however, Appelt's poetic writing and her message about the power of love drew me in to the story.

***

Young adult books (these are also filed as middle grade books at my library):

Redwall,
written by Brian Jacques, 1986


Redwall Abbey, inhabited by a community of peace-loving mice, is suddenly under attack by Cluny the Scourge, the evil one-eyed rat. Matthias the mouse must learn to become a warrior and somehow save his friends and beloved home. 

There are 22 books in the Redwall series and this is the only one that I've read so far, but I'm hoping to try more of them in the future. I was first introduced to this book about ten years ago, when we were visiting family and my father-in-law read the first couple of chapters to my kiddos at bedtime. I kept meaning to get ahold of a copy so that we could finish the story, but that never happened. Finally, this summer, I checked it out of the library and read it. I liked the story, though I think I would've liked it even more as a child. I knew it would appeal to my 9-year-old son Ben, so once I'd finished it, I recommended it to him. Sure enough, he loved it and can't wait to read more!

***

The One and Only Ivan,
written by Katherine Applegate, 2011


Inspired by a true story, this fictional tale centers on Ivan, a gorilla who lives behind a glass wall at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. He rarely thinks about his past life in the jungle, focusing instead on his friends Bob (a stray dog) and Stella (an elderly elephant) or on his finger paint artwork. But one day a baby elephant named Ruby arrives at the mall. Taken from her family, Ruby helps Ivan see their home, and his art, in a brand new way.

This is probably my favorite of the books in this post. I was drawn into it immediately and had to keep reading until I'd finished. I also shed a few tears before I was done. It is a touching, bittersweet story that has stayed with me long after turning the final page.

***

Silverwing,
written by Kenneth Oppel, 1997


The first of a trilogy that includes the books Sunwing and Firewing, this is the story of Shade, the runt of his Silverwing bat colony. While migrating south for the winter, Shade is separated from the others and thrown off course during a storm. He encounters a host of other bats on his journey to find his colony -- but are they friends or enemies?

Throughout this fictional story, Oppel presents many real facts about bats, which is one of the reasons I liked the book. I also enjoyed the characters and the adventure aspect of the book. I have not yet read the rest of the trilogy, but I plan to!

***

Hoot,
written by Carl Hiaasen, 2002


Middle school Roy has just moved to Coconut Cove, FL and already he's being bullied. One day he notices a barefoot boy running past. Roy sees the boy more than once -- always barefoot, always running. As he sets out to discover who the boy is, Roy finds himself caught up in an effort to halt the construction of a chain restaurant that would destroy the colony of burrowing owls living on the site.

This was another favorite of mine -- Ben and Nick are both big fans of the book, too. It was a quick, humorous read that kept my interest throughout.

***

Where the Red Fern Grows,
written by Wilson Rawls, 1961

Young Billy's dream is to own a pair of coonhounds to take hunting with him, but his parents can't afford to buy one dog, let alone two. Billy goes to work doing odd jobs to earn the money himself and finally, after two long years, is able to buy a pair of pups. Old Dan and Little Ann turn out to be the best dogs a boy could ask for and Billy soon begins training them to hunt for raccoons.

I remember classmates of mine reading this classic when I was in elementary school, and in my early 20's I watched the 1974 film based on this story, but I'd never read the book myself until just last month. I have to admit that it was difficult for me to get into the story at first. In most cases, I am opposed to hunting and I did not like reading the passages that were strictly about that sport. (I felt sorry for the raccoons!) When I was finally able to get over that aspect of the story, however, I liked the rest of it. I especially appreciated Rawls's descriptive writing of the woods where Billy lives and hunts, and of the deep love that grows between the boy and his dogs.

***

Have you read any of the books above? If so, what did you think of them? What are some other books about animals that you suggest reading? I am always looking for new books to add to my to-read list!

If you are interested in more of my animal book recommendations, please check the following links:





Wild About Animals? (This post features non-fiction books.)

You can also click on "Wild Things" and "Not-So-Wild Things" in the Labels section on the right to find even more.