The Dr. Seuss Books That Scared Me

Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday! Like you didn't already know that. Like every preschool in town isn't calling you up wanting you to come do a storytime as part of their Dr. Seuss celebration. Or maybe that's just me...

Now, I loved Dr. Seuss as much as the next kid. Particular favorites were Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book and Yertle the Turtle. But today, I want to talk about two of his books that scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. (I mean, c'mon, everyone is talking about the Seuss books they liked today!)

The first book really needs no explanation, I think. Bartholomew and the Oobleck.*shudders*

What? You want to know what scared me about this book? I think the better question is what DIDN'T scare me about this book!

Oh, the book starts out peacefully enough. The king's bored. He wants some new, interesting weather.

Enter the first scary thing about this book: the king's magicians. Tell me they're not creepy, marching around their cauldron in the bowels of some creepy dungeon place.

And then there's the oobleck itself! I understand that the king didn't mean to do so much harm, but it's so green! And sticky! And it starts off tiny and then grows and grows and GROWS. And pretty soon everyone's all stuck to everything else and no one can move. I'm feeling suffocated just thinking about it!

Now that I think about it, it reminds me of the purple smooze from the My Little Pony Movie. What do you think?


Scariest Dr. Seuss book ever. (This plot should be a post-apocalyptic YA novel. Seriously.)

The other book I want to talk about today is a little harder to explain. When I read it as a kid, the most distinct memory I have is a vague sense of unease, but when I picked it up to reread it, I couldn't pinpoint exactly what had made me so nervous about it.

There's a Wocket in My Pocket.

In Wocket, a boy goes about his house describing the fantastical, rhyming creatures that happen to live there. There's a Wocket in his pocket, a Gheir under his chair, etc. etc. Now that I've reread it, I realize that many of the creatures are friendly! He enjoys the company of some of them.

But I guess it's the other creatures that preoccupied me as a kid. I mean, imagine if your house was filled with various imaginary creatures. Just... watching you. It's a little creepy, you have to admit.

And there you have the Dr. Seuss books that scared me as a kid.

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!
(And did any Dr. Seuss books scare you?)

AudioSynced Roundup!

Don't forget to head over to Stacked today and submit your posts about audiobooks for this month's AudioSynced roundup! Or you can leave a link in the comments of this post and I'll make sure Kelly gets it. Kelly will have the roundup posted later today!

Book Review: Independent Dames

Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner. Grades 2-6. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, June 2008. Review copy provided by my local library.

You know about Paul Revere and his ride, right? Well, did you know that during the American Revolution, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode 40 miles through the night to warn American militia of a British attack? Yeah, Paul Revere's ride was 16 miles.

Or how about Prudence Wright and Sarah Shattuck who led a group of women that captured a British spy as they guarded their village after the men were called off to a battle? Ever heard of them?

No? Well, have you heard of Elizabeth Burgin who led 200 American prisoners of war to escape from a British ship by crossing the frozen New York Harbor? She had to flee when the British put a price on her head. Did you know?

If not, you should pick up Independent Dames  by Laurie Halse Anderson. In this book, Anderson provides brief facts about many, many of the women who spied, protested, collected goods, nursed, fed, donated, and fought during the American Revolution. Women wanted freedom, too! And women contributed to the Revolution in many different ways, documented in this book.

The text and illustrations have much for kids to pore over. In addition to the main text, there are sidebars highlighting the contributions of specific women and a time line runs on the bottom of the pages, chronicling the path of the Revolution. Little jokes are set into the illustrations with cartoon speech bubbles. I can certainly see kids coming back to this book again and again to glean facts about these extraordinary women.

Anderson rounds out the text with a large bit of information at the end of the book, including a discussion of some of the myths (or possible myths) of women in the revolution. For example, "Betsy [Ross] was an upholsterer who sewed tents and uniforms for the Continental army, but her involvement with the first flag is questionable." (pg 36) Brief sections at the end of the book also talk about Loyalists, African-Americans, and Native Americans. Anderson includes an author's note (and Faulkner includes an illustrator's note) as well as a substantial bibliography.

This book will add much to units on Women's History and the study of the Revolutionary War. It's a great one to have on your home or classroom shelves for kids to come back to again and again. Due to the sheer volume of facts, kids may not sit down and read this one cover to cover, but the format makes it easy for them to pick up and put down the book at will.

Read more reviews at The Reading Zone and The Imperfect Parent Bookshelf. And hey, happy Nonfiction Monday, all. Simply Science has the roundup this week.

In My Mailbox #22

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren! Head on over there to see what books bloggers received in the mail this week.

I've been a lucky little blogger this week - many great books in the mail! Here's what I received:

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. Philomel Books, April 2010.

Summary from publisher:

In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. G.P. Putnam's Sons, May 2010. 


Summary from ARC: What if fairy tale magic really existed? 

Elizabeth's after-school job is far from ordinary. In her workplace, the New York Circulating Material Repository, some things are modern, others are ancient, and a guarded few are secret - for in the basement lies a room of magical items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Just as Elizabeth starts to accept that things like seven-league boots and a sinister mirror that talks in riddles could actually be real, she discovers that the treasures have been disappearing. Not everyone can be trusted with magic, after all, and soon she's caught up in an exciting - and dangerous - adventure.  

The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows by Jacqueline West. Dial Books for Young Readers, June 2010. 

Summary from ARC: 


Old Ms.  McMartin is definitely dead, and her crumbling Victorian mansion lies vacant. When eleven-year-old Olive and her dippy mathematician parents move in, Olive's right to think there's something odd about the place - not least the walls covered in strange antique paintings. But when she finds a pair of old glasses in a dusty drawer, Olive discovers the most peculiar thing yet. She can travel inside these paintings to Elsewhere, a place that's strangely quiet... and eerily familiar. Olive soon finds herself ensnared in a plan darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. It's up to her to save the house from the shadows, before the lights go out for good.

The Horrors of Andersonville: Life and Death Inside a Civil War Prison by Catherine Gourley. Lerner, April 2010.

Summary from publisher:


The Confederate prison known as Andersonville existed for only the last fourteen months of the Civil War - but its well-documented legacy of horror has lived on in the diaries of its prisoners and the transcripts of the trial of its commandant. The diaries describe appalling conditions in which vermin-infested men were crowded into an open stockade with a single befouled stream as their water source. Food was scarce and medical supplies virtually nonexistent. Designed to house 10,000 Yankee prisoners, Andersonville held 32,000 during August 1864. Nearly a third of the 45,000 prisoners who passed through the camp perished. At the end of the war, outraged Northerners demanded retribution for such travesties, and they received it in the form of the trial and subsequent hanging of Captain Henry Wirz, the prison’s commandant. Relying heavily on first-person reports and legal documents, author Catherine Gourley gives us a fascinating look into one of the most painful incidents of U.S. history.

And I got a box of books from Bearport, too!

 

  

Leveled by an Earthquake by Adam Reingold and Erased by a Tornado by Jessica Rudolph from the Disaster Survivors series,  Tricky Tree Frogs by Natalie Lunis from the Amphibiana series, Capybara: The World's Largest Rodent by Natalie Lunis from the More Super Sized! series, and Katydids: Leaf Look-alikes by Natalie Lunis from the Disappearing Acts series.

Yes, a very exciting mailbox week for me. How about you?

100k Winner!

Thanks to all who entered my 100k Giveaway, celebrating 100,000 visitors to my blog! The random number generator has spoken and

Kathy is the winner of the 100k prize package!

Congratulations! And again, thanks to all who entered!

Audiobook Roundup: Thirty Nine Clues

I've discovered a new joy: the audio recordings of Scholastic's 39 Clues series. I've only listened to the first two so far, but I am finding them extremely enjoyable.

The 39 Clues are super popular at my library. We can hardly keep them on the shelves! And, though I don't generally care for series or mysteries (heh), I felt I should give them a shot. I'm so glad I picked up the audiobooks because I really enjoyed them!

Each book is written by a different, big-name children's author and the first book in the series is The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. When orphaned Dan and Amy Cahill's beloved grandmother dies, they've lost the last blood relative who really cared about them. And they're also thrown into a deadly scavenger hunt, The 39 Clues. Members of the enormous Cahill family can choose to receive a million-dollar inheritance or the chance to solve the 39 Clues and inherit the power and fortune that the Cahills have built up over hundreds of years. Dan and Amy choose the clue and thus begins their whirlwind journey. 

The Maze of Bones takes Dan and Amy to Paris and their journey continues in One False Note by Gordon Korman. One False Note sees Dan and Amy off to Vienna to continue the hunt for clues. The deck is stacked against them with a dozen or so wily and unscrupulous relatives trying to beat them to the next clue.


Now, when I tell you that these books include information about such famous figures as Ben Franklin and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, I don't want you to think that they are boring. In fact, the action is pretty much nonstop. Yet, as I listened to Dan and Amy's antics, I found myself intrigued by what I was learning. I'd venture to say that some kids will really dig that and may be inspired to check out some nonfiction books to learn more. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to pair The Maze of Bones with a travel guide to Paris and a biography of Ben Franklin. 


So, all that's about the text. Let's talk about the narration. Um, it's awesome. David Pittu gives a full-voiced performance and the number of accents he includes is impressive. These would make great family listens for road trips with the lively narration and the fast-paced plots keeping the interest of everyone in the car. 


I really can't recommend them enough if you're in search of something that'll keep you in your driveway just to listen to a few more minutes. ;) 


Full disclosure: copies provided by my local library.


Hey!  I'm an Audible affiliate, so if you make a purchase after clicking on affiliate links on my site, I will receive a referral fee. 

Reminder: AudioSynced!

Here's your reminder that the AudioSynced Roundup is coming up on Monday, March 1 over at Stacked! If you've written a post about audiobooks over the past month, you can head over to this post and put a link in the comments or tune in on Monday to add your link to the roundup Kelly will be hosting.

If you're looking for audiobook reviews and recommendations, Monday's AudioSynced Roundup will be the place to go! I'm looking forward to seeing what great audiobooks everyone's been listening to this month!

A Day in the Life of a Children's Librarian

8:30a - Arrive at library, put stuff away.

8:35a - Go through the stack of catalogs in my mailbox. Most of them get recycled, but a few are placed on the bookshelves in our office. We keep the most recent publisher and supplies catalogs.

8:37a - Open the department (turn on the lights, turn on computers, feed fish & frog, etc.).

8:45a - Set up the program room for my morning program (set up chairs, get my books and felt pieces ready, pick out some books for the book display, etc.)

9:10a - Chat with one of our Technical Services staff members about cataloging some new books.

9:20a - Check my email. I've been off for a few days, so I have a lot to wade through.

9:58a - Open the doors to the program room for Mother Goose on the Loose. MGOL is a weekly program for under-2s. If you get a chance to attend a Mother Goose on the Loose training, I highly recommend it!

10:00-10:45a - I do Mother Goose on the Loose. It's a 30-minute program of rhymes, books, and activities and then I bring out some toys and we have a 15-minute playtime. Our patrons love it and we've had great attendance since we started it last month.

10:45a - I clean up the room a little bit and then go sit on the desk while my staff person takes a break. While on desk I answer a call from a local preschool wanting to schedule a librarian to do storytime there and I help a patron find a book she's looking for.

11:30a - I finish cleaning up the program room and chat with my evening staffer who's just coming in for her shift.

11:40a - I call the preschool back because I accidentally scheduled the visit at the same time as another visit. We reschedule the visit.

11:50a - I start to plan for next week's Mother Goose on the Loose. A lot of the program is repeated from week to week, but I change about 5 or 6 things each week.

12:10p - I walk a few books over to Technical Services so they can be changed from Bookmobile status to Main Library. Sadly, our Bookmobile has been parked for several years due to budget cuts. At some point I'll get the books off there and either withdrawn or into our collection (many of the Bookmobile books were donations).

12:15p - I clean up around the department, refilling displays and putting away blocks and puzzles.

12:30p - Lunch time!

1:15p - I'm back from lunch. I start planning for our After School Adventures program that's starting next week.

1:45p - I decide the planning will go better if I create a planning sheet to work from, so I do this and share it with my coworker who will be doing the program with me. The program will run for six weeks, so I'm planning three and she'll plan three.

2:35p - I go up to the business office to drop off copies of our March staff schedule.

2:45p - Back in my office, I work on publicity for the After School Adventures program. It starts next week and we only have a few kids signed up. I create a flyer to fax or email to the schools in hopes that they'll post it or distribute it and help us spread the word!

3:20p - Cookie break!

3:30p - I read PUBYAC emails.

4:00p - Back to planning for After School Adventures and Mother Goose on the Loose, but it's getting pretty busy, I go out to help on the desk. While I'm sitting on the desk, I finish up planning my last After School Adventure program. H and I will meet together next week to put everything together.

4:40p - It's died down a little bit, so I go back into the office and finish up my plans for next week's MGOL. I pick out fingerplays and songs. Then I (attempt to) clean up my desk.

5:15p - Time to go home!

Around the interwebs

At PBS.org, author Cheryl Willis Hudson gives parents some tips on how to celebrate Black History year-round. Definitely worth a look. Thanks to Fuse #8 for the link. 

Ohhhh, it's that time again! Time for SLJ's Battle of the Kids Books!! Fuse has the scoop and be sure you're following @SLJsBoB for the latest news. It all starts March 1 (next week!!!). Color me excited.

So, next week the Battle of the Kids Books starts. The week after that is the Share a Story - Shape a Future Blog Tour. This fabulous event encourages all of us to think about and post about the role that literacy plays in the lives of children. If you're interested in participating, head on over there and drop them a line. Thanks to Sarah at The Reading Zone for the head's up.

There's a new Magic Under Glass cover! What do you think? Thanks to Reading in Color for the info. 

Like Barbara O'Connor? Check out her post at the MacKids Blog about her very first book (written when she was 12), Just a Little Willpower. 

If you need a giggle to get you through the last of February's dreary, snow-covered days, head over to College Humor where "I think RL Stine is phoning it in..." Thanks to 100 Scope Notes for the link.

Janssen at Everyday Reading posts about a mock-Caldecott activity she did with her fourth and fifth graders. It sounds like a great program and a great way to get those older kids poring over picture books. Save it up for next January or do it any time (who says you can only talk about the Caldecott during Awards Season??)

Interested in becoming a children's book editor? Alvina Ling posts some tips over at The Blue Rose Girls. 

I took a mini-vacation

I don't post every day, but I always end up feeling a little strange when I go several days in a row without posting. And I just did and that's because I was on a little vacation to Atlanta to visit my brother who is a grad student at Georgia Tech (a detail you probably don't care about, but I'm so proud of him that I mention it whenever I get the chance...). We had a fabulous time and did lots of very fun things including book shopping at The Little Shop of Stories*, seeing fish at the Georgia Aquarium, and eating at The Brick Store Pub, Cypress Street Pint & Plate, and Paolo's Gelato.

ANYhoo, this is all to say that I had a fabulous, non-bloggity weekend and I will be back to post about books 'n stuff after I get my ducks in a row.


So, what were you up to this weekend?

*OMG, cutest bookstore ever. If I lived in Atlanta, I would be there all the freakin' time. Seriously.