Thought for the Day:
"Because this business of becoming conscious, of being a writer, is ultimately about asking yourself, How alive am I willing to be?"
– Anne Lamott
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
In honor of the great David Bowie who, it turns out, was quite a reader, HERE is the list of his 100 favorite books. What an extraordinary list!
Have you been dangling modifiers lately? If so, Janice Hardy’s post HERE will help you out.
Do you ever struggle with setting? K. M. Weiland has an excellent post HERE to help you out.
Now a quick report on my experience with the amber glasses from the link last week. I got mine on Monday and tried them three times this week. I got such a colossal headache from wearing them, I couldn't sleep! 8-(
Last week I offered a copy of The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall to one of you. This week's winner is Mima Docken. Congratulations, Mima! Thanks for reading and commenting regularly. I do appreciate it, and I will get your book out to you this week. For the rest of you, please keep reading for another giveaway this week.
There are a lot of different triggers for me as I decide what books to read. When I get the list of available books for review, I'm like a kid in a candy store, but I never quite know what it is that will attract me. When I was going through one list a few months ago, I came across a book called My Teacher is an Idiom by Jamie Gilson. The word Idiom is what caught my interest. I love idioms. I love finding out about them and how they come about. We have had five exchange students over the years, and I had a boatload of students for whom English was their second language. Idioms were always part of fun conversations with them. So, when I saw the title, I had to choose that book. I'm glad I did. It's very cute. Here is the review I wrote for the Manhattan Book Review.
Richard is having lunch, but it isn’t much fun since he lost both of his front teeth just the day before. It was because Patrick tricked him into biting into a gummy octopus. Now, Patrick is back, and Richard knows not to trust him. There is no one left in the lunchroom, except the two boys and the new girl, Sophie, who just moved from France. Patrick talks Richard into eating his soft gelatin through a straw, and to say it doesn’t go well would be an understatement. Things are at their worst when the vice-principal shows up. In the discussion that follows, Sophie gets an introduction to American idioms. Things get more interesting when the boys’ punishment is meted out.
“Patrick and I were standing in the lunch line. It wasn’t
moving. Some kid threw up, and they had to call
a custodian to bring a mop and pail.”
Jamie Gilson has written a fun story for early-elementary schoolers. The first-
person narrative is pitch perfect with details — burps, bugs, and barf — that will make youngsters laugh. Paul Meisel’s cute, cartoonish illustrations are a perfect complement to this funny story. The lesson in idioms will have kids learning an important language lesson without them ever knowing it, and a lesson in manners is equally well-hidden. A perfect chapter book for young, independent readers.
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| Jamie Gilson |
I have a gently-read hardback copy of this book 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.
