Thought for the Day:
"If there's a book that you want
to read, but it hasn't been
written yet, then you must write
it."
~
Toni Morrison ~
Through
the Tollbooth has a very useful post HERE on writing from the antagonist’s
point of view. It’s worth your time.
Writer’s
Helping Writers has an excellent post HERE called Will Your Readers Find Your
Protagonist Worthy? This is an important question for writers.
Joyce
Scarbrough has a great guest post on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University that can
help you burnish your dialogue. Click HERE to see it.
Last week I promised one of you a copy of My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!) by Alison DeCamp. This week's winner is Jenni Enzor. Congratulations, Jenni! She is a writer and a blogger. You can find out more about her by clicking HERE and going to her site. Jenni, I will get the book out to you this week. For the rest of you, keep reading. I have another fun book giveaway this week.
This week I want to tell you about a most unusual poetry collection for kids. It is Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse written by Leslie Bulion and cleverly illustrated by Mike Lowery. Kids are going to love this. I mean, just put the words "Body Parts," "Gross," and "Riddles" in the same sentence and you've got yourself an audience. Here is the 5-star review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.
Let’s see.
How could one go about getting kids interested in science, specifically
anatomy, and poetry? That can’t be an easy assignment, yet author Leslie Bulion
and illustrator Mike Lowery took on this task and came up with the answer. One
uses riddling poems full of outrageous humor and lots of gross word images
interspersed with short bursts of facts written with lively language and full
of interesting evidence. Illustrate it all with really silly drawings and
occasional photographs.
“This
spongy, pulpy doodad hoards
At
least a cup of blood,
Removing
each red blood cell that’s
An
aging, worn-out dud.
 |
| Leslie Bulion |
This short
book will have kids reading, sharing, and laughing. All the while they will be
learning, but that can be our little secret. This is a really fresh way to get
kids thinking and working ideas out for themselves. In addition to the clever
riddling poems and educational sidebars, there is good back matter that
includes a very complete glossary of the body part terms covered by the poems,
a silly drawing of human anatomy, and a good explanation of the forms and
inspiration of each of the poems. Middle grade readers will love this book, and
parents and teachers will as well.
 |
| Mike Lowery |
I have a gently-read hardback copy for one of you. To win, all you need do is have a
US address, be a subscriber or follower, and tell me that in a comment
you leave on this post. If you are reading this in your email, click
HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. If you would like
extra chances, please spread the word by posting the link on a Tweet,
blog post, Facebook, or any other way you like. Let me know what you
have done in your comment, and I will put in extra chances for you for
each that you do.
Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.
