• Home
  • Style Guides
  • Blog
  • Author Index
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
READING STYLE GUIDE

My Kind of Book. My Kind of Girl

6/22/2016

2 Comments

 

Agatha Parrot and the Odd Street School Ghost by Kjartan Poskitt ill Wes Hargis

Picture

The Day Agatha Parrot Came to My House

One sunny morning Agatha popped up in my mailbox. Yup, brilliant red hair, over-sized clomping boots, star-studded shirt and all.
Although it was a sunny morning at my house, it was NOT sunny for Agatha. "It was a dark and stormy night on Odd Street."
These details are not odd at all for a young heroine who lives on Odd Street, where all of the houses have (of course) odd numbers.
She lives in number five which has (of course) a red door.
As soon as I began reading, I knew (of course) that Agatha and I were going to be great friends.
It didn't take me long to realize that I am absolutely, totally and completely enchanted with this book because:
  • It is the perfect size. It fits nicely in my hands. This book feels like it was made precisely for my small hands and fingers.
  • Agatha's unique voice is so fun. It's a book which is even better when read aloud. If you can keep from laughing as you read. Good luck with that.
  • Within the pages you'll find a mystery, a ghost, Fish Popz breakfast cereal, a vice principal who hands out leaflets teaching HOW TO SIT ON A CHAIR, and some exciting after-dark escapades.
  • It's a series! There will be more Agatha Parrot adventures.
Picture

Meet Agatha and her friends from the Odd Street School.
Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
Picture
Picture
2 Comments

Cooking by the Book

6/10/2016

2 Comments

 

Ten Treats Inspired by Childrens Books

I entered the ALSC sponsored Top Ten contest by combining two of my favorite things: food and children's literature. This list is limited to sweet treats found in books for young people.
​Some recipes are created by the book's author. Other desserts are inspired by some of my favorite books for young readers. Bon Appetit!

Picture
Cinnamon Apple Pie
Inspired by The Good-Pie Party by Liz Garton Scanlon illustrated by Kady Macdonald Denton.
I discovered this recipe years ago in the local newspaper. Instead of ground cinnamon, it is flavored with cinnamon oil.
Tastes like a cinnamon candy apple.
Picture
Picture
Cherries in the Snow
recipe is found in The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh.
Kat's book is chock full of fun recipes. Here is the dessert named after a lipstick color. I opted for individual serving goblets instead of the suggested large bowl. This made a visually stunning and refreshing ending to a meal.
Picture
Picture
Watermelon Limeade Float recipe is located in A Clatter of Jars by Lisa Graff
Similar to the original cake recipes she included in A Tangle of Knots, Graff offers a variety of beverages in her latest magical middle grade book which features frogs, friendship bracelets, and of course, jars.
Next I want to try making the Camp Atropos Sunset Punch.
Picture
Picture
Warm Gingerbread
There is nothing quite like squares of warm gingerbread, fresh from the oven. I like to top mine with fruit and whipped cream. (I like peaches, my husband prefers pears. Both are good.)
​It's the perfect accompaniment to Gingerbread for Liberty written by Mara Rockliff and illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch.
​
Picture
Picture
Freezer Strawberry Jam
This is a family tradition. Every year I mix up quantities of strawberries and sugar and then store jars of this fresh summer-tasting jam iin our freezer.
Just like Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban's Bread and Jam for Frances, you'll want more of this.
The easy recipe can be found on a box of Sure Jell Fruit Pectin.
Picture
Picture
Apple Tart
I had never made an apple tart in my life. But after reading Sarah Moore Fitzgerald's The Apple Tart of Hope I had to try. I used Ina Garten's recipe for French Apple Tart. It was so easy - even the pastry was a breeze. Although there is no cinnamon in this recipe and Fitzgerald's book is replete with references to cinnamon, it is an excellent dessert.
​
Picture
Picture
Caramel Corn
My friend from New Jersey shared with me this recipe from her mother in Michigan. Now my family in Texas makes it every year and sends to relatives out of state. Caramel Corn reminds me of Frank Asch's Popcorn, an all-time favorite read aloud.
Children never tire of reading this classic. Like the caramel corn, it is always a hit.
Picture
Picture
Homemade Ice Cream Drumsticks
I finally figured out how to make my own ice cream drumsticks and they are so so good.
I use a variety of chocolate: milk, dark, or bittersweet to match the flavor of ice cream that I use: from homemade vanilla to pistachio. I love to compliment the flavors with a variety of nuts and crushed candy toppings. The
Ice Cream Summer described by Peter Sis never has to end.
​
Picture
Picture
Party Cupcakes
Sara Varon includes lots of yummy recipes in her graphic novel Bake Sale. Be sure to check them out.
I use easy white and chocolate cake cupcake recipes from Southern Living when I make cupcakes for a crowd, Its fun to mix/match frosting and toppings for variety.
Picture
Picture
Molasses Sugar Cookies
This is my mother's recipe. Soft and chewy, they are perfect with a glass of milk.
It's difficult for anyone to eat just one. I'm certain that the Mouse featured in  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond would definitely be going back for a seconds.
Picture
2 Comments

Over the mountains, down the hill

6/7/2016

0 Comments

 
Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke
Picture

​Just when I think that Ben Hatke has reached the apex of his storytelling skills, along comes a goblin to prove me wrong.

Meet the most endearing little goblin ever and Skeleton, his Very Best Friend.  (He reminds me of the skeleton that Zita the Spacegirl encounters.)
The two are thrust into an adventure, beginning  deep inside the dungeon and taking them out into the world.
Is it true that Nobody Likes a Goblin?
Picture

​The illustrations are pure delight. In addition to a motley collection of goblins, readers meet assorted villagers and adventurers. (I spent a great deal of time pouring over the images of these sword-wielding, magic-staff-bearing marauders. So many details to discover.)
​
The dungeon, home to Goblin and the resident bat colony, feels cozy and welcoming.  Judicious use of lighted areas on the dark pages gives Goblin's home a warm glow. 
Picture
Picture
​Schools and libraries will find this a welcome addition to their collections. The story arc follows a natural rise and fall with prose that begs to be read aloud.  The storytelling voice rings true.

This picture book is destined to become a classic. Youngsters sitting on a lap will request repeated readings. It will become a storytime favorite.  For many young readers, this is a tale which will be learned "by heart". 
Adventure awaits!
0 Comments

Hope. Always Hope.

6/6/2016

0 Comments

 

When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin

Picture
How does Paul Griffin do it?
He takes the most depressing things that could happen in a young life: violent home environment, school bully, death of a parent, cancer, chemotherapy, and homelessness. He bundles them all into an uplifing middle grade novel about a boy named Ben Coffin. (Yes his last name is Coffin, a double entendre for coping with death and battling to breathe.)
​Somehow in a way that I cannot fully comprehend, as I read When Friendship Followed Me Home I am filled with a warmth that is better than the gooey center of a molten chocolate lava cake.
This story offers a huge helping of hope. Through tears, I am fully satisfied with the richness of the story, the tender way he explores the pain living inside young Ben and the constant fear haunting his one true friend Halley.
These characters: I love them, I cheer for them and my heart breaks for them.
In spite of disappointment and despair, hope remains.
​Always hope.
​
 Can we talk for a minute about dogs? The fascinating relationship which characters have with dogs is another of things that I love about Paul Griffin books. Dogs are dogs, not humanized characters. They are truly dogs.
Let's start with his incredible Stay with Me. I lost track of the number of times I reread the dog scenes in that book. Over and over and over again I marveled at the way that Mack could work with dogs.
Ben has a similar gift.
Ben's understanding of dogs brings out the best in his dog Flip, in himself, and in those who are a part of his world.
"Rarely have I seen such genuine trust between a man and a dog. I expect this exceptional dog and his equally exceptional handler will go on to mend many hearts. The world is about to become a lovelier place."
​
​
Picture
Griffin's use of language is precisely right.
The characters of Leo and Tess are revealed with the nickname each choses for Ben. There is a reason that Leo calls Ben "Champ". Each time Leo uses that name, its biting irony grates upon my senses.
Contrast that with the name given to him by his mother. "Traveler" is a description full of faith and hope. This loving appellation also becomes prophetic of Ben and his life journey.
​
Picture
"Some books change the way you see the world, and then there's the one that changes the way you breathe."
0 Comments
    Author/Illustrator Index
    Get the latest updates delivered directly to you inbox:

    powered by TinyLetter

    Category

    All
    Activity Books
    Adventure
    Alphabet Books
    Animals
    Anthology
    Art
    Asian
    Audiobook
    Author-interview
    Author-profile
    Awards
    Bilingual
    Biography
    Board Books
    Book Awards
    Book-club
    Book Stores
    Book Trailers
    Classroom Connections
    Comics
    Coming Of Age
    Cosplay
    Creativity
    Diversity
    Early Readers
    Fairy Tale
    Family
    Fantasy
    Food
    Friendship
    Girls
    Grahic Novel
    Halloween
    Historical Fiction
    Horror
    Humor
    Immigration
    Informational Books
    Latinx
    LGBTQ
    Library Activities
    Literacy
    Magical Realism
    Maker
    Math
    Memoir
    Middle Grade
    Music
    Mystery
    Mythology
    Nonfiction
    Own Voices
    Picture Book
    Poetry
    Prose-and-comic
    Read Aloud
    Reading
    Reading Writing Connection
    Realistic Fiction
    Romance
    Self Acceptance
    Series
    Social Issues
    Sports
    STEM
    Storytelling
    Texas Connection
    The Margin Project
    Wordless
    YA Lit

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Barbara Moon

    I like talking about books and  interesting ideas. I like thinking about how books affect my life. Not particularly interested in giving out stars or in rating books. 

    Audio Publishers Association
    2013, - present  Audies judge 
    American Library Association Book Awards and Lists 
    ​2017 YALSA Award Nominating Committee
    2016 Excellence in Nonfiction 
    2014 Margaret Edwards Award
    2012 Odyssey Awards.  
    2009, 2010, 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

    Professional Reader
    Picture
    Frequently Auto-Approved

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.