Story time: Superheroes

This was the the most energetic story times I've done so far. (I'm sure there'll be more to come!) So here's the run-down on yesterday:

THE TABLE

Before the library I opened, I set out what's-your-superhero-name print-outs: for you and your pet! Add fun dollar-store paper and markers, and you have superhero writing station. We ran out of time to find our hero names together as a group, but that's okay. I liked the table so well, that I didn't bother to clean it up. Hopefully, it will be a pleasant surprise for my boss. I've realized that I love independent activities coinciding with story time and I should simply ask her if I can officially adopt one of the children's table.

THE OPENING

Loudly clapped and sang "I'm in the Mood for Reading"  (To this tune.) We all got on the floor with the boys and introduced ourselves. (Six boys with two parents on the periphery.) And you have to chat about favorite super heroes: Superman, Batman, Flash, Hulk, Spiderman, Green Lantern.

THE BOOKS

Superhero ABC by Bob McLeod
I asked how many knew the ABCs and we sang the Alphabet as fast as we could! As we read, the kids who could read shouted the letters on each page. After the story, we chatted about which of McLeod's heroes we liked: the Volcano, Nightman, the Zinger.


I can't remember how I segued over to Batman. Maybe, I simply held up the book and asked them, "Who is this guy," to get their attention.

The Story of the Dark Knight by Ralph Cosentino
The boys almost crawled inside the book; I had to keep backing up and holding it above our heads. They got particular quiet when we reached the villians' pages, and as a grand finale I read the last few pages in the best gruff Batman voice I could muster. That held the wiggling boys attention until the end.

For some reason, one of the younger boys asked if we could stand up for the next story. That seemed like a good enough way to transition as any that I had planned. So we did, we stood. Finally, we read more Bathman! (Get it? Batman, Bathman?) Actually, it was...

The Amazing Adventures of Bathman by Andrew T. Pelletier.
The boys hadn't heard this story. Reading this is the with an action-packed, cliff-hanging attitude made it work well.

THE SONG

At some point I sang "Superhero, Superhero, Touch the Ground," and the kids acted it out. Actually, I know I sang it more than once! Two verses during storytime and another round to keep a boy occupied while checking out books.

Breathless with Anticipation

This trailer has left me breathless. I keep forgetting that Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea is getting made into a movie, and then something surfaces to remind me. If you haven't read this nonfiction book, do so! It is physically harrowing and psychologically fascinating. (Plus, it's not very long. You won't be saddled with a tome.) This will be a double-whammy, bibliophile film. Not only is it based on a book, it's about true events that inspired the American classic Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The movie version comes out in March 2015 which gives me time to reread and savor both the non-fiction and the fiction.

Baking by the Book

Yesterday, my 4-year-old and I accomplished our two Halloween goals: finish our costumes and bake cookies to share. Baking cookies was a project two weeks overdue, at least! It was awfully hard to keep walking past the M&Ms everyday.

Now, I'm cleaning off my desktop, and what do I come across? A book baking project! Gladys Goes Out to Lunch by Derek Anderson was recommended to me by a local grandma who came back into the library after she'd returned the book! She said she and her grandson found this recipe at the end of the story, and it was the best banana bread she's had. Now, she needed a copy of it for herself. Coming from a grandmother, I thought that was a stunning recommendation! While we've haven't made this yet, I can only hope that my search for the "best banana bread" will come to an end. That's not too much to expect, is it? Here is the recipe and an author's note by Derek Anderson:

"After first writing Gladys Goes Out to Lunch a few years ago, I sat down one Saturday to work on a sample painting of Gladys. My wife, Cheryl, decided to inspire me by baking a loaf of banana bread. I was painting away in my studio when I heard a a gasp of shock from the kitchen, so of course, I went running. Cheryl was standing wide-eyed, over an open cookbook. "Just look," she said. I looked at the recipe for banana bread and there, beneath the title was the author's name - Gladys. I'm not now, nor have I ever been a cook , so I'd never had a reason to pen this cookbook before. I'd chosen the name 'Gladys' for my gorilla only because I liked the name. And banana bread had always played a key role in the story. I don't know whether life imitates art, or art imitates life, but it seems this story was meant to be."

Review: The Ruby Red Trilogy

Ruby Red

Sapphire Blue

Emerald Green

by Kerstin Gier, translated by Anthea Bell

Young adult or adult, stay away from these stories if you’re not into conspiracy theories.  But… this series is fun, uneven, but fun. I couldn't find a way to review each book separately, so my review is about the story line which arcs over three books. The Ruby Red trilogy is an odd mash-up of romance, conspiracy, sci-fi, history, and downright silliness. Not all of these elements come together coherently. The protagonist – Gwyneth – seems younger than 16 years-old, which would appeal to tweens. However,  the whiplash between time-travel, intertwined bloodlines, and conspiracies is too complicated to for the 10-14 year-old set. I suppose, the “young adult” label is a compromise to land these books somewhere between teeny-bopper and full-fledged science-fiction.  

This hasn't cleared up anything, has it?

My main criticism is that this does not need to be a trilogy. If edited down to two books, this would've made a lean, tasty thriller. (If you’re already bogged down while reading these books, feel free to skim! There’s a lot of repetition that could be glossed over.) Where did this series succeed? For its flaws, I’m left admiring the author and her imagination. The cliffhangers could be abrupt, but that's exactly what propelled me through each book. Here it is - almost 3 a.m. - and I am considering rereading the whole darn thing! I might skip book #1 and dive back into books #2 and #3, but the trilogy’s epilogue left me breathless about a character introduced in book one. What is a girl who can’t get to sleep suppose to do?