Investigate the Possibilities

Many libraries are beginning to use YouTube and other such social networking opportunities to advertise. This is one of my favorites so far. Nice, simple production with a cute sense of humor. Whurd.

The Dogs uploaded 112606

I made a video!

Day Six

Day Six
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

This is a view into the ceiling, with some of the curvy bits up and getting ready to be a neat thing soon. They already look fairly neat, actually. Click through to see some more awesome progress. Part of the cloud skeleton is complete enough that it almost looks like what it'll be!

Day Five

Day Five
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

These curved pieces of metal will form the base for the clouds, the architectural feature that will bridge the transition between the formerly-inside-the-blue-room ceiling and the formerly-outside-the-blue-room ceiling. Click through to see more of them, some actually already adhered to the ceiling!

words

The kickass Fuse #8 alerted me to Julius Lester's new blog, where I read a very neat post about words in other languages that convey further meaning about feeling, time, environment, and so forth.

I just love this concept. Check it out or miss out on a really neat thing.

quizeroo

as seen on the :: New :: Misrule Blog

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Day Four

b
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

I missed Day Three (last Friday) but nothing too visually significant happened in our space that day (they mostly worked on another project in a different department). Monday was Day Four and they did quite a bit, including ripping out most of the carpet in the space. This letter tile was apparently crap to try to remove--as you can see they didn't get as far as the actual letter quite yet. There are only a couple of those in this area, but they're scattered all over the Children's Library, so woe to the carpet fellas when they get to our space and have to remove them all. They started bending the metal frames for the 'clouds' - the visual interest that will bridge the gap between the two ceilings - yesterday so hopefully those'll be going up very soon.

When Owen's Mom Breathed Fire by Pija Lindenbaum

When Owen's Mom Breathed Fire by Pija Lindenbaum
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

I've been seeing more translated picture books this year than I ever recall seeing before. Perhaps I've just not noticed them in the past?

This book had me right from the get-go: "This is a boy. His name is Owen, and he almost always wears that dragon head." Perfect! I already respect and admire Owen, and he hasn't even opened his mouth yet. I also have a degree of respect and perhaps sympathy for his mother since she's looking at her son under that dragon head all day every day. It's no surprise that "in the morning she goes completely crazy" trying to get herself and her son ready to go to daycare.

What happens the next day is hilarious and awesome and takes the rest of the book to tell. The illustrations are unique, quirky, loveable, expressive, full of motion and emotion, and hilarious. Laugh-out-loud on the basis of the illustrations alone, when combined with the text, this one's a winner for sure.

I Found a Dead Bird: The Kids' Guide to the Cycle of Life & Death by Jan Thornhill

I Found a Dead Bird: The Kids' Guide to the Cycle of Life & Death by Jan Thornhill
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

There aren't many books for kids that deal with death in scientific how-exactly, why-exactly terms. This book is chock full of facts and figures including very specific details on how and why and what next. Designed to be kid-friendly, the collage of text, illustrations, and photographs is appealing and unintimidating. This book will be easy to jump into per the reader's interest. There are some mega gross-out moments (the kind of pages I'd turn by the very edges to avoid touching when I was a kid reading Ranger Rick) which are absolutely effective and educational (ever see the six stages of decomposition as illustrated using a real pig?). Best of all, this is a book about death that doesn't get one bit maudlin. There's mention of how people deal with death and some basic info on how various cultures view death and the afterlife, but thankfully it's all just the facts. Highly recommended.

Day Two

Day Two
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Wednesday last week was Day Two of the demolition in our Blue Room-to-Tween Space project. Both walls are completely down! There's some smaller stuff left to do (which probably got done Friday while I was relaxin'), and today (Monday) they should start framing the transition between the two ceilings. We're rolling along and it's so exciting!

gift certificate goodness

yarn from Old Village Yarn Shoppe in Plymouth
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

M&D got me a hefty gift certificate for the Old Village Yarn Shoppe in Plymouth for my bday, and Saturday I went and spent it on all this delicious yarn. I'm into small projects these days (most of which are in the blocking stage and should be posted here as photos soon) so I got a variety of things that'll work for hats and scarves. Woot!

Sk88 show 12-8-06

Sk88 show 12-8-06
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Be there or suck!

Day One

Pardon Our Dust
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Today was day one of the renovation in the Children's Area. We're tearing down some walls to create a Tween Space. I'm really excited about it, especially now that it's actually happening! (Click this photo for more.)

Sci-Fi 6

As seen on Librarian In Black

Below is a Science Fiction Book Club list most significant SF novels between 1953-2006. The meme part of this works like so: Bold the ones you have read, strike through the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star next to the ones you love.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
*26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

Yipes, not too great on this one.

Hollywood Steve on My Name is Earl

Hollywood Steve on My Name is Earl
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

One of my good ol' band geek coconspirators from HS was on the teevee last night. Way to go Hollywood Steve! (my apologies for the ubercrappiness of this screencap)

Brodie with his new Frankentoy

Brodie with his new Frankentoy*
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Taking a cue from Susan, K assembled a brand new plaything for Brucius. The Frankentoy is his new favorite thing! Earlier he was just carrying it around by the nyla part so the Kong was just hanging off his face at a very jaunty angle. I tried to capture that with the camera but didn't quite get it. He absolutely loves it though, and keeps carrying around all over the house. Go Susan!

The Fountain

The Fountain
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

K won tickets for us to see a screening of The Fountain (in wide release 11/22/06). We went last night at the Emagine Novi.

I enjoyed the movie in terms of it being something pretty to look at, and it was semi-interesting trying to figure out what exactly the director was getting at, but overall it was pretty meh. The theater was filled with open-mouth-chewing, talking-like-it's-your-own-living-room, not-very-interested-in-the-movie-at-all savages, which was distracting. The movie wasn't enough to block those annoyances out, which I take as a sign that I wasn't as engaged as I should've been had the movie been truly engrossing. Even when the audience wasn't being loud, I still found my mind wandering.

The basic conceit (same couple, three different times) works only in the most shallow way. We just don't get to care enough about the individuals. Too much time is spent repeating scenes and drawing broad parallels between the eras and not enough on simply getting to know the characters. In a Big, Grand Love Story, it's not enough to know that one is upset because the other is dying--we need to know them enough to care that one is dying.

An aside: what a waste of the talented Ethan Suplee!

Going by their vociferous comments as the credits began to roll, the audience we were surrounded by 'didn't get it' and were frustrated that no one was willing to 'explain it' to them. Personally, I think there wasn't enough there to be explained. The ideas and characters weren't fleshed out, at least on the screen (was too much footage cut or never actually shot?). I'd recommend that those still curious wait until your local library acquires the DVD.

Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt, paintings by Gabi Swiatkowska

Waiting for Gregory by Kimberly Willis Holt, paintings by Gabi Swiatkowska
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

The illustrations in this book are, at first look, simply gorgeous. But after the reader spends a little more time with them, it becomes clear that they hold much rich detail and have a clever sense of humor. Swiatkowska combines rich, impressionist painting with crisp, technical diagram-style line drawings to create a unique and captivating world that is a perfect match with Holt's endearing text.

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven by Jonah Winter, Pictures by Barry Blitt

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven by Jonah Winter, Pictures by Barry Blitt
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

I am fast becoming a gigantic fan of Mr. Jonah Winter (see Dizzy for another mind-blowingly awesome picture book about a musician).

This book includes many facts (and 'facts,' told in the Colbertian spirit of Truthiness) about Ludwig van Beethoven, picking up "where history leaves off. " Winters takes full advantage of the few terrifically quirky things we do know for certain about Beethoven. Our stern, expressive hero is, as seen here, equal to the grandiosity of his compositions (his first appearance in the book is as an infant, screaming "Wah Wah Wah Wah").

The variety of page layout utilized is absolutely successful and there are several standouts: Beethoven is evicted for not paying rent and we see him being literally booted, piano keys ousted alongside him; Beethoven's neighbors are constantly irritated by how loud he is and in one double-page spread we see Beethoven's color-filled room, alive with his passion for composing, surrounded by the pale, vexed neighbors in nearby apartments, all focused on the larger-than-life Ludwig.

The concept of moving five (albeit legless) pianos between 39 apartments is beyond belief, as anyone who's ever tried to move just one standard-legged piano will tell you, and the constant trials of the piano movers will build readers' amusement with every new apartment.

This dramatic, funny, and entertaining book gets a big thumbs up from me.

More Books, Please! Children's Book Week 2006

More Books, Please! Children's Book Week 2006
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

If you haven't already heard, it's Children's Book Week! Huzzah!

16

Here's the grown-up version of that last list, via Big A little a

In 2005, Time magazine picked the 100 best English-language novels (1923-present). Mark the selections you have read in bold. If you liked it, add a star (*) in front of the title, if you didn't, give it a minus (-). Then, put the total number of books you've read in the subject line.

The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
*Animal Farm - George Orwell
Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara
*Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
The Assistant - Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds - Flann O'Brien
Atonement - Ian McEwan
*Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Berlin Stories - Christopher Isherwood
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
Call It Sleep - Henry Roth
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
*The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
-A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
A Dance to the Music of Time - Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather
A Death in the Family - James Agee
The Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance - James Dickey
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
Falconer - John Cheever
The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
*The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
Herzog - Saul Bellow
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Light in August - William Faulkner
*The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Loving - Henry Green
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children - Christina Stead
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Money - Martin Amis
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Native Son - Richard Wright
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
*1984 - George Orwell
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski
Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
A Passage to India - E.M. Forster
Play It As It Lays - Joan Didion
Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run - John Updike
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
The Recognitions - William Gaddis
Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Sot-Weed Factor - John Barth
The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John Le Carre
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
*Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
Under the Net - Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry
Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
White Noise - Don DeLillo
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys

Wows, that is sad. There are several that I did not count that I think I may have read some or most of for school assignments, but I figured if I wasn't certain I'd read it, I shouldn't count it. I suppose I can comfort myself that I almost all of my reading is books for children and teens.

86

via Fuse #8 (originally, I think, from bloomabilities)

Mark the selections you have read in bold. If you liked it, add a star (*) in front of the title, if you didn't, give it a minus (-). Then, put the total number of books you've read in the subject line.

*Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
*Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
-The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
*The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
*The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
*Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein
*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
-Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola
*Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
*The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
*A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
*How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
*The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault
*Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
*The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
*Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The BFG by Roald Dahl
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
*James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
*Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
*Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
-The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
*The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
*Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
*The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
*Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
*The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
*Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
*The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
*Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
*Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Basil of Baker Street, by Eve Titus
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
-The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
*Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
*Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
*Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
*Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
*A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
*Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
*Stuart Little by E. B. White
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
*Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
*The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
*The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch

There does seem to be some overlap within this list, but I counted them anyway.
I only marked the * and - titles of those I really feel or felt (when I was younger) strongly about.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

This book ranks up there with An Abundance of Katherines, King Dork, and It's Kind of a Funny Story as one of my favorite teen novels of the year so far.

The characters and situations are authentic and believable. The music scene as described here is absolutely spot-on. I truly enjoyed that fact that both Nick and Norah choose to be substance-free but do not both choose the label "straight-edge" (I've been part of that precise type of conversation before).

I realize that some people will be put off by the use of curse words but I believe that use is integral to the believability of the book. Neither character uses substances to make a statement about who they are (choosing not to is its own statement), they use language in a similar way.

The Really Big, Important Thing that Cohn and Levithan have done here is to write these characters with such respect. It's easy (especially in the music scene) to throw someone in a category and let that be that, but these characters are not paper dolls. Because they cared about the characters as they created them, the reader finds it impossible not to care, too.

Bravo!

(Next step: create the Acknowledgments Playlist in my iTunes)

PubWub

The Cybils just got noted in Publishers Weekly. Neat!

I Voted

I Voted
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Hopefully you did, too!

Ninety-Three In My Family by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Mike Lester

Ninety-Three In My Family by Erica S. Perl, illustrated by Mike Lester
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

From the author of the awesome Chicken Bedtime is Really Early (Abrams 2005) comes this so-fun-it-doesn't-feel-like-learning counting book. Our narrator is asked by his teacher (who happens to have the cutest purple flip hairdo) how many are in his family. He quickly does the mental math and comes up with this giant number and, of course, has to explain in detail how he came up with this number. These illustrations were drawn with pen and ink, scanned into a computer, and digitally colored. Digitally colored? Really? The watercolor effect Lester used is brilliant--I wouldn't have guessed it. The use of bold outlines combined with bright colors is slightly reminiscent of Mo Willems' work, but not at all derivative and completely distinct.

The people and animals in this book are so expressive; the reader really feels that she's getting to know all the many members of this family. It would be easy for an illustrator to half-ass the scenes in which there are so many of a particular creature but each individual has a distinct personality. The situations created by having such a large and various family are hilarious and the illustrations are a perfect match: "When all are finished bathing / We dry the pets with towels / My sisters mop the bathroom floor / While I blow-dry the owls."

This is one of those Whole Shebang books--the entire package is great, from cover art to end papers, every detail is carefully crafted and entirely effective. Run, don't walk, folks!

Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet's Life by Allan Wolf

Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet's Life by Allan Wolf
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

This book has a lot going for it, I think, in that the cover art and subject matter are of immediate interest to a certain segment of the teen population. It's also got great design, interesting and unique illustrations (which actually match the cover art--it's always a huge disappointment to me when the cover's great and the art inside is not), nice heavy slick pages, and --a big bonus to me-- it's really easy to skim through and pick and choose what to read bit by bit.

It's designed to be a fun book about poetry, not a textbook or report fodder (though it actually would be very useful there). It has a quiz ("What kind of poet are you?"), lists, short and manageable poem examples, writing prompts that don't feel like typical assignments, crafty projects, and even more.

I think that even those teens who are not into poetry would really enjoy this book. Actually, I think high school english teachers could probably use this as an alternate text in class. It feels like an in-depth magazine and hopefully it'll be released in paperback format soon. I can see teens carrying it around in their backpacks until it's well-loved and worn, but I think that a paperback binding would be preferable.

Highly recommended, even for non-poetry types.

Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3D

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3D
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Saturday night we went to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in Digital 3D. The tickets were an extra $2 each (though I did get a student discount by flashing my CMU Library Card of all things) which seemed pretty weak at first, but it was definitely worth it to see this movie on the big screen and in digital format. I'd seen TNBC in the theater several times when it came out but it definitely didn't come close to this digital viewing in terms of being able to see a myriad of tiny details and really getting to appreciate the skill and hard work that went into creating the film. The 3D elements that were added were not obtrusive and were really only in-your-face at the very beginning. I'd been concerned that they'd add a ton of animated things jumping out or some such, but thankfully no. We were also glad that there were a minimum of little kids there and their parents were fairly good (not entirely but not horribly either) about not talking out loud. If you've got a chance to see this version, I recommend it.

garage door sunday

garage door
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

So our garage door opener died earlier this week, just in time for the cold weather. I've been parking my car in the driveway most of the time as it's easier not to have to get out and open and close the gate all the time but of course as soon as the frosty weather appeared, the garage was temporarily unavailable. (We're planning to move the gate so that it is part of a yet-to-exist fence where the back yard meets the driveway, but that's a whole other project.)

K went out and got a replacement garage door opener for us and today we tackled it. It took what felt like forever but was actually more like three hours, if clocks are to be believed. He did all the work while I handed him tools every so often and helped keep the dogs out from underfoot. I have such little patience for reading directions, it's a truly great thing that K is very good about it.

I also planted some more bulbs, the last I'll do this fall. I'm really excited to see things come up in the spring (and they darn well better).

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Friday night a friend of ours came in from out of state and the group of us went to see Borat. It was absolutely hilarious. I've hardly cringed as much ever as I did during these 80 minutes (even counting the original Office and Extras). I'm at a bit of a loss to even describe this movie. It's simply astounding to see what assholes people are. Interacting with a total caricature seems to give them permission to be their truly racist/misogynist/otherwise prejudiced selves. Recommended viewing.

accent

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

The Scarves by Daniela Bunge, translated by Kathryn Bishop

The Scarves by Daniela Bunge, translated by Kathryn Bishop
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

This lovely picture book is illustrated with such care and attention to detail that it makes up for any cheesiness the story may possess (there is a little). The contrasts between Grandpa's reds and Grandma's blues are striking and the whitewash backgrounds accentuate this. All the rooms depicted seem absolutely huge but not unbelievably so, as the story is told from the child narrator's point of view. This vastness is reinforced by the fact that the book is composed entirely of double-page spreads (with the exception of the title page and final page which is an illustrated epilogue). There are little things happening just shy of the main action in each scene, little things that make reading and re-reading with someone else so much fun. These tiny details also foreshadow the conclusion of the story which, though predictable, is still entirely satisfying. As a bonus, there is knitting content!

The Featherless Chicken by Chih-Yuan Chen

The Featherless Chicken by Chih-Yuan Chen
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Right from the get-go the reader gets a sense of the title character. The wobbly eyes, the enthusiasm--it all comes through in these nuanced (though seemingly straightforward at first glance) illustrations. Every detail adds up: the thick, creamy paper this book is made with add a lush tactile experience to reading it, the combination of media used (pen and ink, charcoal, paint, collage, and more?) create a unique and entrancing world, and the classic typewriter font used is absolutely perfect. I have the feeling that this one will get labeled 'a bit weird' but that's precisely why it works so well.

The Opposite by Tom MacRae, illustrated by Elena Odriozola

The Opposite by Tom MacRae, illustrated by Elena Odriozola
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

This is one of those clever picture books, but, wonderfully, one that doesn't get smug about it. The main character, Nate, reminds me slightly of Edward Gorey's Treehorn, but in a way that is not at all derivative. That said, the characters in this book are all kind of creepy after you look at them for awhile. They seem to be made perhaps of marble or some other extremely pallid material. It works, though, and their rosy red cheeks make the children seem just so British. Nate himself turns out to be pretty clever, too, and finds a tidy solution to his dilemma. These quirky illustrations are just perfect for this fun story.

King Dork by Frank Portman

King Dork by Frank Portman
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

This is among my favorite teen novels of the year, and possibly ever. It's one of those books that I enjoyed so much while reading that I kept trying to read too fast since I was liking it so much (like eating something too fast because it tastes so good) and then I'd have to go back and re-read things because I realized I missed something (this is better than eating too fast, though, because re-reading a passage is easy compared with having food go down the wrong pipe and having a mini-choking episode, not that I do that on any kind of a regular basis).

Here's the Official Publisher Summing-Up:

Tom Henderson (a.k.a. King Dork, Chi-mo, Hender-fag, and Sheepie) is a typical American high school loser until he discovers the book, The Catcher in the Rye, that will change the world as he knows it. When Tom discovers his deceased father’s copy of the Salinger classic, he finds himself in the middle of several interlocking conspiracies and at least half a dozen mysteries involving dead people, naked people, fake people, ESP, blood, a secret code, guitars, monks, witchcraft, the Bible, girls, the Crusades, a devil head, and rock and roll. And it all looks like it’s just the tip of a very odd iceberg of clues that may very well unravel the puzzle of his father’s death and–oddly–reveal the secret to attracting semihot girls.
Being in a band could possibly be the secret to the girl thing–but good luck finding a drummer who can count to four.

Making up band names is a pastime of many musicians (even occasional ones like myself) and music-lovers. Tom and his best friend Sam come up with some truly spectacular ones in this book, and they're made all the more effective by the addition of line-up notes and album titles (one kickass example: The Medieval Ages; St. Moe on guitar, Samber Waves of Grain on bass and bodywork, first album That Stupid Pope).

I imagine it makes sense that John Green blurbed this book, as I like KD for many of the same reasons I like An Abundance of Katherines. The characters have authentic voices and are easy to identify with, the language and scenarios are realistic and don't shy away from sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll, and the writing is Just Plain Great. I'm sure some people will feel the need to have a problem with the frank language and descriptions of sex and drugs, but I do think that all the content is perfectly placed and written. None of it is gratuitous, and without it, these characters would not work (they'd seem sanitized). I also don't think that any of it is any more sensational or overt than the descriptions of similar activities in The Catcher in the Rye, which, as Tom points out, is beloved by high school English teachers everywhere.

I believe that teens will love this book, and not just the boys, or the music-obsessed, or those who get the cover art. Highly recommended--check it out at once!

Snow White & Wicked Stepmother

Snow White & Wicked Stepmother
Originally uploaded by annethelibrarian.

Halloween at CPL was great! I won an award for best costume and one of my awesome coworkers was my perfect counterpart! Yay for Halloween!