Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 7 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Dan Gutman, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 22 of 22
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Dan Gutman in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
I had four new titles published this year. I'm very fortunate to have had the opportunity to illustrate these very different books. The first was the fourth in the "Memoir" books, Memoirs of a Parrot by Devin Scillian (Sleeping Bear Press).
This book was expensive. I don't mean the purchase price... but the story is about a guy who buys a parrot and plays a ukulele. So, I needed to buy a ukulele. That was the expensive part.
Plus, I was also inspired by another ukulele strummer, Emily Arrow. She visited a nearby school and I sat in on her excellent presentation. Great music...with a ukulele named "Bow".
Oh well, I could have purchased an African grey parrot. That would have been even more expensive.
My second book of 2016 was Rappy Goes to School by Dan Gutman (HarperCollins). No, I didn't buy a dinosaur for this one. They are way too messy... and hard to house train.
The third title for 2016 was Buddy's Bedtime Battery byChristina Geist(Random House). A cute story of getting a child to slow down for bedtime. "Beep!"
Then, dancing to the fourth book of 2016 is Footloose by Kenny Loggins (Moondance Press). Kenny Loggins (with Dean Pitchford) re-wrote the iconic song to become a kid's dance tune. A story about two children who discover that zookeeper "Jack" and the zoo animals wait until the sun goes down, then put on their dancin' shoes.
So, there you have it. With Christmas just around the corner, I can think of four really nice gifts for that special child in your life. I'll be closing out the year, wearing my dancin' shoes and strummin' my ukulele. This is November (turkey month) and I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.
That's all for now. I need to practice my ukulele.
0 Comments on Four more books for my bookshelf in 2016. as of 1/1/1900
I do not know where Monica Edinger found our first video today. All I know is that she discovered a video that is absolutely the most interesting thing you’ll see all week. It’s a young Maurice Sendak. He’d recently won the Caldecott for Where the Wild Things Are. I’ve never seen anything like this before. And who knew you could kinda sorta flip Pierre?
Thanks to educating alice for the link. If you have a Margaret Wise Brown interview hidden away somewhere I’d be happy to take it off your hands. Ditto a copy of Pinocchio illustrated by Mussino. He makes a strong case.
Not long ago I mentioned that Dan Gutman’s book The Kid Who Ran for President was notably talked up on Last Week Tonight (John Oliver’s show). Now I’ve heard that the book was reportedly the most read review on pw.com last week. It would be a shame not to show the video in question. Here it is then, in all its Gutmanesque glory:
This just in! “Carla D. Hayden will be sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress in a historic ceremony in the Thomas Jefferson Building Wednesday, Sept. 14 at noon. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Library of Congress YouTube channel. The YouTube broadcast will be captioned.” So it’s not up yet, but if you’ve time this Wednesday you might want to tune in and see it for yourself. She is, after all, the first Librarian of Congress to have an actual library degree in over 50 years.
Here’s a fun one for the Dahl fans. In this hour-long video, David Walliams presents a celebration of Roald Dahl’s children’s books, from The BFG to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It also happens to include contributions from Steven Spielberg and Julie Walters.
Thanks to Zoe Toft for the link.
Why did the PBS News Hour feature Christian Robinson recently? I care not. All that matters is that he’s great to listen to.
Thanks to Elisa Gall and Aunt Judy for the link.
And for the off-topic video of the day, I’m hat tipping Brian Biggs for passing this along. I like a video that doesn’t pound you over the head with its message. This sort of connects well to my recent interview with Mr. Biggs where we discussed gender roles in children’s books. As they say in this video, have a think in your head.
Thanks to Brian for the video.
1 Comments on Video Sunday: Have a think in your head, last added: 9/11/2016
Yesterday, for the first time in a long while, I submitted a Video Sunday for your approval. Trouble is, I may have failed to mention one of the most fascinating videos out there with a tie-in to books for kids, so I’d like to rectify the situation today.
The title of the article read, ‘Last Week Tonight’: John Oliver Turned a 20-Year-Old Kids’ Book with ‘Startling Parallels’ to Trump into a Bestseller. Naturally I tried figuring out what book they were talking about but I was coming up short. Turns out it’s good old The Kid Who Ran for President by Dan Gutman. That’s a title that is consistently on New York City public school reading lists every single year. Wouldn’t be surprised a jot if that’s how Last Week Tonight‘s writing staff heard about it (some of them must have kids). Glad to see it getting a bit of attention here and there. I won’t give away which candidate the “startling parallels” refer to (kidding!). Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf for the link.
A Gene Luen Yang comic piece for the New York Times simply called Glare of Disdain? Don’t mind if I do!
Horn Book came out with their 2015-2016 Yearbook Superlatives post once more. Fun bit. I wonder if they collect them throughout the year as they do their reading.
Tis the battle of the smarty-pants! Who did it better? Adam Rex and Christian Robinson at Horn Book or Jory John and Bob Shea at Kirkus? The choice is yours (though Christian Robinson probably sweeps the deck with his magnificent “Black people are magic” line).
See how I’m going from a Horn Book post to a Horn Book / Kirkus post to a Kirkus review? That’s why they pay me the big bucks, folks. In any case, usually when I post a review on this blog I like to link the books mentioned in the review to Kirkus. Why? Because they’re the review journal that has the most free archived older children’s book reviews online. Generally this is a good plan but once in a while it throws me for a loop. For example, a reviewer of the original Nate the Great back in 1972 had serious problems with the title. Your homework for the day is to read the review and then figure out what precisely the “stereotype” the book was faulty of conveying really was. I’ve read this review about ten times and I’m still baffled. Any ideas?
So I worked at NYPL for a number of years (11 in total). Of those, I spent about five or six of them working in close proximity to the original Winnie-the-Pooh toys. And in all that time I never knew them to look as good as they do right now. Oo la la! Goggle at that restored Kanga! And a Piglet where his skin ISN’T falling off his body? I don’t even know the guy now. No word on whether or not the restoration yielded more information on the music box in Pooh’s tummy (or if it’s even still there). Still, they look great (and appear to have a whole new display area too!). Thanks to Sharyn November for the link.
Did you know that Cricket Media (which runs Cricket Magazine as well as other periodicals) has a blog? I tell you this partly because I’m trying to contact someone at their Chicago location and so far my efforts have been for naught. A little help?
Did you know there was a children’s book award for science fiction? Yup. “The Golden Duck Awards, which are designed to encourage science fiction literature for children, have been given annually since 1992.” And as far as I can tell, they may still be going on. Check out their site here to see for yourself. You can suggest books from the previous year too, so have at it, peoples.
So I give up. Slate? You win. You do good posts on children’s books. I was wrong to doubt you. That post about how your son loves “bad guys” so you read him Tomi Ungerer’s The Three Robbers? That’s good stuff. And the piece on how terrible the U.S. is at translating children’s books? Also excellent. To say nothing of all the other excellent posts you’ve come up with and researched well. I doff my cap. Your pop-up blog is a rousing success. Well done you.
Question: How often has a documentary been made about a nonfiction children’s picture book about a true subject? Once at least.
Saw this next one on the old listservs and figured it might be of use to someone:
I just wanted to pass along an opportunity that I’m hoping that you’ll hope promote for ALSC. Every year, we give away four $600 stipends for ALSC members to attend Annual for the first time. Applications are open now and are being accepted up to October 1, 2016. For 2017, Penguin Random House is including one ticket for each winner to the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet. Here is some more information.
Daily Image:
Because I just cannot stop with the Stranger Things. This one came via my friend Marci. Look closely enough and you’ll see Will hiding in the Upside Down.
The only problem I can see her mentioning with Nate is that he’s a white male solving a girl’s problem.
Elizabeth Bird said, on 8/29/2016 6:50:00 AM
That must be it. Ah, the difficulties of a limited word count. And I’d agree if he just walked in and explained all her problems to her without her wanting him to but he’s a detective she specifically hired to solve a case. This seems less like mansplaining and more like commerce.
Erin said, on 8/29/2016 6:52:00 AM
Maybe that he is a white male solving an African American girl’s problem?
Elizabeth Bird said, on 8/29/2016 7:05:00 AM
Yep. I see that. But she hired him. I feel like that’s important. And for that matter, in 1972 how many white guys were solving black girls’ problems? Seems like they were causing the problems, not trying to solve anything. The reviewer calls this a “stereotype” so my question is how common a stereotype was it?
[I realize, by the way, that I’m arguing with a review that’s six years older than I am for a book that is so popular it’s still in print . . .]
Matt said, on 8/29/2016 9:21:00 AM
I wonder if it’s more than just the white-guy-solves-black-girl’s-problems issue. I must admit I haven’t read Nate (or if I did, it was when I was wee)—how are Annie and brother Harry portrayed? Are they stereotyped in the illustrations, or in their speech, or … ?
Elizabeth Bird said, on 8/29/2016 12:29:00 PM
Nope. The book could be published today and no one would blink an eye. I’m actually thinking of doing a post called The Weird Timelessness of Nate the Great. Most books from the past don’t age half as well as this one. Why?
It seemed like it was as simple as he’s a white person solving a black person’s problem. I guess the stereotype of the white savior? Though, that’s usually when the problem is related to race, if I’m not mistaken.
We’re soon to touch down in one of our absolute favorite literary states for theTexas Library Association Conferencein Austin! If there’s anything better than talking books, hanging out with authors and librarians, and enjoying sunshine and Shiners, then we don’t want to know about it.
If you’ll be in the Lone Star State, too, please swing by our booth, #1341, for galleys, giveaways, and face time with the HarperCollins Children’s Books School & Library team. We can’t wait to chat and put books in your hands.
But if you’re reading this thinking, “sure, you guys are nice, but we’re here to meet the AUTHORS, silly!” check out our top-notch signing schedule, here:
You don’t want to miss our coupon in the aisle by aisle guide, either! It points you to our booth for a free copy of BONE GAP, by Laura Ruby (*while supplies last), and a chance to enter to win a piece of framed original art by Jef Czekaj, from his upcoming picture book, AUSTIN, LOST IN AMERICA.
HarperCollins has established a new partnership with JetBlue. Henceforth, the content platform on JetBlue’s Fly-Fi (a special inflight Wi-Fi program) will feature content from HarperCollins books.
For this month, passengers will be able to read excerpts from Patricia Cornwell’s thriller novel Flesh and Blood, Amy Poehler’s memoir Yes Please, and James Dean’s children’s book Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses. Readers will have also have the option to purchase any of the available titles from a plethora of booksellers.
Here’s more from the press release: “At launch, JetBlue customers will be able to choose from excerpts of books by Daniel Silva, Martin Short, Anthony Bourdain, Patti Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, Carine McCandless, Paulo Coelho, Patricia Cornwell, Dorothea Benton Frank, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Dick Couch, Amy Poehler, James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton, Peter Lerangis, Herman Parish, James Dean, Nate Ball, Dan Gutman, Lauren Oliver, and Erin Hunter. Titles will change monthly. Books from these HarperCollins authors will be available to customers as e-samplers via JetBlue’s Fly-Fi Hub, which is currently accessible on 35% of their fleet.”
2012 marks the 100th birthday of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, and children's publishing is on the ball. There have been some lovely children's books published this year, focusing on the park and the team, and I plan to read and review them all!
I'm starting with Dan Gutman's Ted and Me, which is the eleventh volume in Gutman's Baseball Card Adventure series. The premise of the
0 Comments on Celebrating Fenway Park: Ted and Me by Dan Gutman as of 1/1/1900
One day a year he is Santa Claus, but the other 364 days Dan Santat works as a children’s book writer and commercial illustrator. He is also the creator of Disney’s animated hit, “The Replacements.”
Dan has written and illustrated his own books and books by other writers. His new graphic novel, SIDEKICKS came out in July and he has another wonderful picture book coming out this month that is written by Jill Esbaum titled, Tom’s Tweet which is a slapstick funny story that pays homage to the selfless act known as parenting. All in all Dan has written and/or illustrated nineteen books.
He graduated with honors from the Art Center, College of Design and lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids, a rabbit, a bird, and one cat.
For all you writers and illustrators who have wondered, what is the best way to develop and present a graphic novel, you are going to love this post.
Dan takes you through his process on developing his new graphic novel about SUPERHERO PETS! Captain Amazing, superhero and savior of Metro City, is getting old. He’s out all hours battling arch-villains, catching thieves, and helping little old ladies cross the street. He doesn’t even have time for his house full of pets. He needs – a SIDEKICK!
Captain Amazing’s four pets agree. But each one of them thinks HE should get the sidekick spot – and a chance for one-on-one time with the Captain. Get ready for sibling rivalry royale as pets with superpowers duke it out for the one thing they all want – a super family.
It began with a simple painting. Back in art school I took a class where we had to do a series of paintings that revolved around a theme. At the time I thought I wanted to go into the animation field so I decided to work on my character design skills and flesh out simple ideas of animals doing silly things. Towards the last month of the course I painted an animal super hero, which I called The All-American Beaver. The idea of a super animal really intrigued me and so I decided to paint another superhero animal. The next week I followed up with a painting of a cat who could generate large amounts of static electricity with his fur which I properly named Static Cat. Even though the term had ended before I could explore more possibilities I was suddenly obsessed and wanted to create more.
As I was sketching the characters over and over again I really didn’t think of a solid storyline until I had sold the manuscript to my editor. All I knew for certain was that they were all starving for attention and wanted to compete for the affections of their owner to find out who would be the favorite house pet of the house. In my mind I originally thought that Fluffy would be the leader of the group. He was going to be this arrogant loudmouth who wanted to just be bossy and give orders to everyone so he could wear a costume and be famous. Roscoe was the young naive kind hearted softie with massive strength (Think Lennie from “Of Mice and Men”)
A word of
1 Comments on Illustrator Saturday – Dan Santat, last added: 11/5/2011
I know, it seems crazy to talk about the holiday season already. But this is also the point where we start putting in book orders for the latest titles and replacing old books as well. So let’s jump in and talk about some of the newest books for the holiday season:
THE HAPPY ELF by Harry Connick Jr., illustrated by Dan Andreasen (On-sale now). Based on the song by Harry Connick Jr., this comes with a CD. You can also watch the video.
A CHRISTMAS GOODNIGHT by Nola Buck, illustrated by Sarah Jane Wright (On-sale now). In its starred review, Publishers Weekly said that this book “serves special status, to be kept off-season with other holiday decorations and then brought out each year at Christmas.”
THE LITTLEST EVERGREEN by Henry Cole (On-sale now). School Library Journal calls this “a fine Christmas choice with an environmental message.”
It’s that time of the year again: school time! Whether it’s the first day of school or the first day of a new grade, there is always an adjustment period. Excited, nervous, or shy, reading books about school, or stories that revolve around the classroom, can be a great way to begin switching gears from the vacation mindset. In this book list, you’ll find picture books, chapter books for the early fluent and fluent readers, as well as a novel for young adults.
We’re in ALA Annual Countdown Mode here in the office – it’s only one week away! Dozens of boxes have been filled with galleys and we can’t wait to share them with you. However, while galleys are certainly a huge incentive to come by Booth #1315 to say hi, we also want to offer up our OUTSTANDING list of authors and illustrators signing in our booth during the conference:
We’ve just returned from the IRA conference in sunny Orlando! We’re still getting our feet back under us and assure you that we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled programming soon. In the meantime, though, here are a couple of highlights from our booth at the conference:
Happy 15th Birthday to the adorable Biscuit!
Attendees received a free My Weird School book when they signed up for Dan Gutman’s My Weird Classroom Club.
Thanks to all the teachers, librarians, and media specialists who made the IRA conference such a great time!
My name is Dan Gutman, and I love teachers and librarians!
Hey, the most amazing thing in the history of the world just happened. But I’m not going to tell you what it is. So nah nah nah boo boo on you.
Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.
I had to wait a million hundred years, but HarperCollins just started the My Weird Classroom Club! It’s a club for classrooms, and it’s about My Weird School, so it has the perfect name.
“WOW!” (that’s “MOM” upside down) This is the greatest day of my life. If you ask me, HarperCollins should get the No Bell Prize. That’s a prize they give out to people who don’t have bells.
The My Weird Classroom Club is cool. So don’t be a dumbhead. Go to www.myweirdclassroomclub.com today and see it live and in person.
If you don’t, I’ll be so upset that I’ll have to go to Antarctica and live with the penguins.
You know Dan Gutman’s books, of course. He’s the author of the wildly popular My Weird School series and its offshoots, as well as The Baseball Card Adventures series as well. When I was a librarian, we couldn’t keep these series on the shelves so I was thrilled when I heard about…
It’s Dan’s new series and the first book is THE GENIUS FILES: MISSION UNSTOPPABLE, which is available now. The second book in the series, THE GENIUS FILES: NEVER SAY GENIUS is on-sale in January 2012. Check out the book trailer:
Booklistsays that “thrill seekers and Gutman fans alike will welcome the opening installment of the Genius Files series.” Here are some other links to check out:
Pink Me’s awesome review where she says, “I love books like this – a funny mystery appeals to just about everyone, and when that funny mystery is written with this kind of ease and confidence you feel like you’re putting those kids into good hands.”
Librarian Pirate says in her review that you’ll want this for your libraries.
Monica Edinger (Educating Alice) has her students doing blog reviews and this review says the book is “fun, weird, and original”.
I hereby present you with photographic evidence of the great time had in the HarperCollins Children’s booth at ALA:
"How Lamar's Bad Prank Won Him a Bubba-Sized Trophy
Lauren Oliver's upcoming DELIRIUM
Cynthia Hand's UNEARTHLY and hundreds of Inkpop bags
Our fun & fabulous new tween series!
Veronica Roth's debut dystopian novel DELIRIUM
the pageturn Post-Its
Robin, Laura, Stephanie, and Heather - the Harper team minus Patty the Photographer
And that doesn’t even begin to cover it! Books on display, hundreds of galleys in cupboards, posters for upcoming books by Kevin Henkes and Mo Willems…just a taste of all the fabulous loot we brought to the conference.
Spaceheadz overview: The perfect combination of the age old experience of holding and pouring over a physical book with newest media technology that kids love!
Michael K. just started fifth grade at a new school. As if that wasn’t hard enough, the kids he seems to have made friends with apparently aren’t kids at all. They are aliens. Real aliens who have invaded our planet in the form of school children and a hamster. They have a mission to complete: to convince 3,140,001 kids to BE SPHDZ. But with a hamster as their leader, “kids” who talk like walking advertisements, and Michael K as their first convert, will the SPHDZ be able to keep their cover and pull off their assignment?
Yes, indeed, guys, we're in a hot game now! I've just received 3 reviews from three new friends. Dakota T, a reader guy at SMS Guys Read, our brother guy-book blog, is the first:
No More Dead Dogs is about a completely honest boy, named Wallice, who becomes a football star just by pouncing on the loose ball for the winning touchdown. But when his English teacher asks him to write a possitive report on the book Old Shep, My Pal, he doesn't, and he's sent to detension until he writes. This is bad news for the football team, after three loses, some players are getting angry. After a while, he actually begins to enjoy watching the actors reherse and begins to make suggestions that turn the play around. The longer he stays though, a mystery person starts ruining the play, and people begin to point fingers at Wallice. Soon after they find all the scripts shredded to pieces, wallice isn't allowed anyware near the play. Meanwhile, on the night of the play, the mystery person attaches a bomb to Old Shep and Wallice is the only one who knows about it! Will it be too late to save the play?
This is a great read for all mystery lovers. Yet, it does include some curse words, so I'd advise it for eighth graders and above. Although it has some language, this book has kept me reading it from sunrise to sunset, until i finally figured out who the mystery person was and finished it. It has the chapters set up so that it switches to who's point of veiw your seeing which I thought was great so you got everybody's feelings. Overall this book was one of my favorites and I would rate it on a scale of one to ten, about an 8.4.
Thanks, Dakota T! Since you've reviewed a Three-Pointer book, you start out strong with three points! Good work. Keep them coming.
Our second reviewer is AXEL SIMONE:
I AM REVIEWING JACKIE AND ME BY DAN GUTMAN.IT IS A BOOK ABOUT BASEBALL TIME TRAVEL SEGREGATION AND OF COURSE JACKIE ROBINSON
PS IT IS A GREAT BOOK
Thanks, AXEL! Are you with SMS Guys Read too? Since this is your first Slam Dunk, you start out with one point. That's a good start--keep raining them in for more points. (hint--tell us WHY you do or don't like the books you write about)
And, third, we have a review by another new friend, Chandler:
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe is by Daniel Defoe. This book is about a man who is shipwrecked on an island. He gets all the supplies off the ship. When he gets back to the island he tries to find a place to sleep. He finds a hill with a spot worn away. It was like the start of a cave, so he built a roof and added wooden pillars to keep it up. When he finished he built a wall around it. After putting all the supplies in his home he starts building chairs and tables. He also planted corn, found grapes, and went hunting. One day he saw cannibals on the island. They were about to eat some of the prisoners they had captured. When Robinson saw one of the prisoners start running into the forest, he runs to help him. Read this book to find out if Robinson Crusoe can save the prisoner and survive on the island! I enjoyed this book because it has a lot of action and exploring.
By Chandler
Thank you too, Chandler! Robinson Crusoe is another of my all-time favorite books and I
0 Comments on The Competition Heats Up! as of 3/8/2010 12:54:00 PM
Yes, my friends, we have MORE reivews from Lee. This makes a total of eight so far!! Let's see the latest:
The Christmas Genie by Dan Gutman When a meteor comes crashing through a school window, and a genie is found inside, he agrees to give Chase and his classmates 1 hour to decide on a wish. I really enjoy Dan Gutman's books and this was the best yet!
The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle, book 9 My Life as Raindeer Road Kill by Bill Myers Santa on an out-of-control 4-wheeler? Electrical Rudolph on the rampage? Nothing new for the only walking national disaster area, Wally McDoogle. Wally dreams that an angel named Bartholemew invites him to a birthday party... for GOD! As Wally tries this and that and everything else to make money in order to get the perfect gift for God, he finally bumbles his way into the real reason for the season. I love Bill Myer's books. He's my favorite author. This was awesome! As a side note... Bartholemew reappears in book #28: My Life as a Supersized Superhero with Slobber.
My Weird School, book 15 Ms. Holly is Too Jolly! by Dan Gutman When Ms. Holly comes to Ella Mentry School, everything is Christmas related. There is one plus, though. Ms. Holly agrees that 2nd graders A. J., Ryan, and Michael can be Christmas Elvises in the school Christmas play. I love Dan Gutman's books, and this was really awesome. A. J. and his friends star in a brand-new series called My Wierd School Daze.
My Weird School Daze, book 7 Dr. Brad Has Gone Mad! by Dan Gutman When Dr. Brad, Ella Mentry School's counseler, picks 3rd graders A. J., Ryan, Michael, and A. J.'s rivals, Andrea, Emily, and Annete for his next expirement, the classmates are in for an adventurous time as A. J. hypnotizes Andrea and winds up climbing the school to save her. I really like Dan Gutman's books, and this is his newest. A. J. and his friends are also in a 21 book series called My Wierd School. Check it out!
Well done, Lee! Since you have written eight reviews, you can claim eight free books!! If you other readers guys want in on the action, click on the Comments tab under this post and send your reviews to us. Read the post of December 18 to find out more. And click on the "Dan Gutman" tab under this post to see what we and your fellow reader guys have said about some of his other books.
The CARLMAN
0 Comments on Amazing! Still More Reviews! as of 1/1/1900
Hey, gang, it's Carl and it's February 11. That means I should be dancing around the place with my new copy of The Demigod Files. Well, I can't because the library doesn't have one yet. It takes longer for the library to get books than it does for the bookstores and not even the Great and Powerful CARLMAN can bend the laws of time and space and get it here sooner. So I wait.
In the meantime, I just finished another book that I call a Good Quick Read. These are books that are short or that you could read quickly. This wasn't short (it was 232 pages) but the type was big and so there weren't that many words on a page. Anyway, the book was Getting Air by Dan Gutman. It's a survivial story about 14-year-old Jimmy and his little sister Julia plus Jimmy's friends Henry and David. They're all flying out to California to participate in a skateboarding tournament. What happens next? Well, I don't want to say because it took me by surprise. I'll just tell you that it took a lot longer to get there than they planned! You'll like it. And you can read it quickly. I read it in a couple of hours and that's an accomplishment because I read slsowly.
How did I like it? I thought it was pretty good. It wasn't terrific but was still good--good enough to make me want to keep reading until the end, but not so great that I wanted to drop everything else until I finished. Like the Percy Jackson books. Or the Akimbo books. Or the Barnstormers or the Erec Rex books. On the scale of 1 to 5 stars, I'd give it a 3. Try it and tell me what you think.
And if you want to find more Good Quick Reads, click on the Good Quick Reads tab (or lLabel) under this post.
Carl
PS--I updated the list of all books we and you have talked about. You'll find in the Links on the left-hand side of the page.
And be sure to vote in the poll to find out, during Valentine's season, what GUYS love!
0 Comments on Another (Pretty) Good Quick Read as of 2/11/2009 1:22:00 PM
Hey, guys, this is the great and powerful CARLMAN coming to you again with a couple of comments from our old friend cyber kid 303:
Hi, this is Cyber Kid again. I just read "Nightmare at the Book Fair" by Dan Gutman. You may have read some of his "My Weird School" books or some of his sports books like "Jackie and Me." They are all good. Back to "Nightmare at the Bookfair"...In this book, Trip Dinkleman is in the library moving some books in a crate when he drops it on his head. He wakes up in a carnival and is in a scary story, like in a book. This happens again and again, with him living through the stories in different books. The different situations are funny, scary, adventurous, and so on. I don't think the books he lived in are real books, but they were very interesting stories. I won't tell you how it ends, but it'll make your mouth water...or not!
My mom MADE me read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving. The story was bad (because it was a love story) and I didn't understand half the language in the book. My mom thinks it is a good way to work on and improve my vocabulary(no!!!!), but no one talks like that anymore. Nothing was scary about it no matter what you might hear. We even watched a 1999 RHI Showcase Hallmark Entertainment production of Sleepy Hollow starring Brent Carver, but it was lame. Mom promises the Tim Burton version of Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp will be better and scarier. I hope so!
Well done, cyber kid! The CARLMAN appreciates honesty! The Nightmare at the Bookfair really does sound good. All you guys are telling us about some interesting books. How will I ever find time to read them all??? You make them sound sooo good.
But would you believe it----I'm reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow now! I hate to disagree with such a faithful friend like cyber kid, but I'm enjoying it. But then, the great and powerful CARLMAN has been traveling time and space for many eons and has had the opportunity to learn the vocabularly and ways of people long ago. AND I'm reading an illustrated version (I'll talk about it below) To most boys, though, that old language is SO unfamiliar that it's almost like something from a foreign country. No wonder you couldn't enjoy it. That's why we don't usually recommend old, old books, even if they're good. Like Treasure Island. It's one of my all-time favorites and, to my mind, the greatest pirate story ever written. But I have a 14-year-old nephew who HAD to read it for school. The language was so old that he almost couldn't read it and I had to look up a study guide to help him get through it. You can't enjoy a book that way. We want to recommendonly things we think you'd like.
Having said all that, however, let me recommend this one particular version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This one's GOOD!!! It's richly illustrated by Gris Grimly--so richly illustrated that it's almost a graphic novel. The pictures are funny when they should be and spooky when they ought to be. They've left Washington Irving's original language in here, but they've cut it so it doesn't drag and there's more room for these great pictures. The pictures of Ichabod Crane dancing are too funny to believe! I'd recommend it to anyone--the pictures help the old words make sense, though you will still need a dictionary. But I'd especially recommend it to those of you who love great illustrations, think you're advanced enough to handle old-style language and unfamiliar words, or know someone (like an adult) who's really good at reading aloud. THIS version would be fantastic to listen to while seeing the awesome illustrations. (BTW, cyber kid, the CARLMAN may be great and powerful but he is nothing compared to the amazing cosmic powers of MOM and DAD. You were wise to listen to your mom and read that book! And I bet your vocabulary DID improve. The CARLMAN has strode the galaxy long enough to know that MOM and DAD ususally know what they're talking about!)
Well, I won't do this often. I like to talk about books you'd like. PLUS, I was in 8th grade before I had to read it for school, so I had more vocabulary and background. PLUS, I had seen the old Disney animated version, so I already knew the story. Have you guys seen it? No? Well, thanks to the miracle of You Tube, you can! In four parts, that is. It's about 35 minutes long, all together. Take your time, get in a comfortable spot, and enjoy! Can't think of anythiing better for Halloween!
3 Comments on New From Cyber Kid: Nightmare at the Book Fair and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, last added: 10/24/2008
Thanks for including these clips, I am a fan of the Disney version of Sleepy Hollow and was good to see it again. Makes it easier to understand the harder original text too.
Glad you liked it. Wasn't the "Horseman" scary? I think we know who it really was, though. Did you like the song that Bom Bones sang about the Horseman? I'm trying to learn it!
Glad you liked it. Wasn't the "Horseman" scary? I think we know who it really was, though. Did you like the song that Bom Bones sang about the Horseman? I'm trying to learn it!
HarperCollins has established a new partnership with JetBlue. Henceforth, the content platform on JetBlue’s Fly-Fi (a special inflight Wi-Fi program) will feature content from HarperCollins books.
The Sendak interview is a brilliant find! Thanks so much Monica and Elizabeth for finding and sharing. . .