Thought for the Day:
Just because it cracked me up. “A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.”
~ Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
Adventures in YA Publishing is reposting a good post HERE with 40 Questions to Help You NAIL Your Manuscript.
Steven Pressfield has a very useful post HERE that reminds us of the importance of the Hero Cycle in our writing.
The Editor’s Blog has a spectacular two part posting HERE and HERE on Going Deep with Point of View.
Last week, I promised a copy of Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko to one of you. This week's winner is Nancy! Congratulations on getting your house ready to sell. I know how hard that is! I will get your book out to you this week. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. For the rest of you, I have a fun book to offer again this week, so keep reading.
This week, I am featuring a book about dinosaurs. I mean, who does't love dinosaurs? I do. I know whenever I get a chance to review a dinosaur book, I grab it. This one did not disappoint. It is the Dinosaur Dictionary for Kids by Bob Korpella. Here is the review I wrote for the San Francisco Book Review.
Probably nothing in the world fascinates kids as much as dinosaurs. There are plenty of books out there, but this may be one of the best to come along in quite a while. This should become the go-to book for middle-grade readers and above who have an interest in dinosaurs. After an excellent introduction with a note on using the dictionary and basic terms of the Mesozoic Era, it is neatly laid out in three major sections — Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Each section covers the dinosaurs in that period with an illustration, short write-up, name properly spelled with the pronunciation, when it lived, size, weight, where it lived, and what it ate. Interesting sidebars are scattered throughout, and each section has a period-specific article. But what else lived in the Mesozoic Era? Lots of things, and another section shows the fish, birds, bugs, and more with the same kinds of details. An article on how the dinosaurs became extinct is followed by an activities section, bibliography, and index. The
writing is snappy and the information fun and fascinating. Kids will love this book and will wear it out reading it over and over. A winner!
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| Bob Korpella |
I have a gently-read paperback 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.
