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And Biblio File has always been here, sometimes more active than others, but always here. It’s changed over the years. The first month or so, it was just me generally talking about what I was reading. Then it was very informal reviews and then more formal ones. And then I tried to review everything I read. I've reviewed over 1600 books here. As of this morning, my backlog is over 200 and I just don't want to deal with it. It’s time to change again.
I’m burned out on reviewing here. I’m reviewing for other sources and want to take on new projects and the thought of reviewing everything I’m reading and catching up on all my backlog... It’s not fun anymore. And I don't know why, because I'm not burned out on reviewing for other sources. Maybe it's because the books are assigned? That it's only a small percentage of the books I actually read?
I thought of a few directions--maybe only review the stuff I wanted to review or felt like it? Eh. In reality, right now, I don’t feel like reviewing anything for the blog, even stuff I love.
I could drop the blog, but I don’t want to. So much of my growth as a reader and my professional growth has been because of Biblio File. (I can actually connect the dots from the blog to some opportunities that turned into other opportunities, that turned into... etc) It taught me how to review. It's made me a better reader. It gave me exposure. It gave me a way to talk with other book people. I love this blog.
So, instead, I’m shifting focus a bit. I’ll still talk about what I read, but in a much more general, less review-y way. It's actually going to go back to the way I used to review 8-9 years ago. I’m also going to start posting more about general trends/issues I’m seeing in what I’m reading. Some bigger picture stuff. So, expect regular round-up posts of "what I read this week/month/lately" and some thoughts I've been having on deciding age range (sometimes the hardest part of an SLJ review!) or how authors show respect for their teen audience. And maybe there will still be some more formal reviews on here. Who knows. That's the great part about a blog--it can change and grow and can change and grow back.
(I find it's interesting that as I'm putting the finishing touches on this post I've been writing for a week, Kelly's tweeting about some of these same issues. If I could figure out how to link to a series of tweets, I would because you should read all of them.)
I am personally committed to reviewing the Cybils books I’m reading and I have a handful of reviews that I’ve already written, so I’ll go ahead and post those. But after that, we’ll see what happens and where it goes and how it develops.
Thank you so much for being with me these past 10 years. I hope you’ll stick around for the next 10.
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
0 Comments on Happy 10th Birthday, Biblio File! as of 12/9/2014 11:37:00 AM
“It was Boa’s birthday. It was going to be the best one ever. Or so he hoped. He invited his friends round. They would all bring him presents. Or would they?”
Opening
“It was Boa’s birthday.”
Review
Ah, birthdays. That one day of the year, that belongs only to you. Everyone who sees you will say, “Happy Birthday!” Throw a birthday party—the best way to celebrate your day—and everyone invited will bring you a present. Since they are all your friends, each one will know exactly what you like. It will be a grand day, indeed!
Today is Boa’s birthday and his mother is throwing him a birthday party. All of Boa’s friends are invited and each brings a present. Orangutan’s present is so big he lugs it on his back. Boa hopes against odds that the gift is not what he thinks it is. It is. What was Orangutan thinking? Boa’s mother said,
“It’s the thought that counts.”
An excited Monkey told Boa, “You’ll love it!” Boa doesn’t. Mom said,
“Third time lucky.”
Friend after friend forgets to think about Boa when getting him a birthday present. Now, one friend remains and mother and son are certain Dung Beetle brought a pile of, um, of . . . well, it isn’t a pile, but a big ball of . . ., um, must I say it? Dung Beetle? Okay? Good. Boa and his mother are right. Dung Beetle did bring a huge ball of, uh, yeah, that stuff. Poor Boa. I could say the nicely written, fun to read aloud, birthday story is the most fantastic birthday story ever written for a boa . . . if only the author had thought about Boa when she wrote in the presents. Kids will love the terrific illustrations, but the images also could have been fantastic . . . if the artist had remembered to think of Boa.
From Here on, Some, Not All, of this Review is Written in Jest – No Spoilers
Willis and Ross have collaborated on at least four other books. Those books must be fantastic else the publisher would not offer Boa’s birthday story. What went wrong? Do they not like Boa? Did they have a big fight and take it out on Boa? The awful mood made the writer so testy she had Dung Beetle leave his gift . . . then makes it rain. Dung’s ball stinks up Boa’s world as it slowly washes away until, only a small mound remains. The mound will forever leave reminders of Boa’s Bad Birthday.
Young kids will love Boa’s story. Parents can easily read Boa’s Bad Birthday in such a way as to make their children laugh. So may animal voices to use. A big orangutan, a funky monkey, a sleek jaguar, a happy, athletic sloth, and a, um, a . . . dirty dung beetle all offering an array of voices kids will love. Ah, but there is more. Willis and Ross made Boa’s already bleak world rain. Dung Beetle, being the last animal placed into the story, noticed the foul direction of Boa’s Bad Birthday and took to spying on Willis and Ross. What did Dung find out?
Dung has never liked the way creatives portray him. This time, Dung learns it’s his friend Boa who will be disappointed. Mad, the mischievous Dung decides to stop Willis and Ross’s total destruction of Boa’s birthday. “Let it rain,” said Dung to no one. Inside the ball of . . . that stuff Dung had to bring, he hides something. That something will turn Boa’s Bad Birthday into a fantastic birthday. Dung’s only disappointment is in his the inability to change the title. Still, I imagine—with a big smile—that the writer and artist are not happy Dung hijacked their story. Why? Because they once more captured the last word. The two countered by adding one more spread. I just don’t understand what a child has to do with Boa’s Bad Birthday?!
End of Jest
Boa’s Bad Birthdayis cute. I love the alliterated title. Actually, I like the entire story. When Boa tries to use each gift, it will bring belly laughs from young children. I’ll admit Boa made me smile. Readers will understand Boa’s unhappiness and feel bad for him. Kids will also start to learn the importance of thinking before giving someone a gift. Parents should not mind reading Boa’s Bad Birthday multiple times. The story does not waste words. The illustrations add understanding to the text. Willis and Ross made a, dare I say, a “Fantastic” birthday story. Boa’s Bad Birthday contains an opportunity for children to empathize with Boa, laugh, and enjoy a terrific twist—Dung Beetle’s present. By next year, Boa’s friends will have learned the lesson of this story and Boa will have a fantastic birthday. One endnote, Mr. Tony Ross, considered one the world’s best illustrator, has illustrated a mind-boggling “over 800 books for young readers.”
Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me!
Birthdays are great but I haven't been totally excited about it this year. This blog giveaway is a way to build excitement for me. In real life I haven't been this OMG BIRTHDAY! about it. (Which is a bit weird, because I'm usually OMG SQUEE about anything that involves Fudgie the Whale. My going away party at my last job involved Fudgie for breakfast and may have therefore been one of the best days of my life.)
It's not that I'm dreading being a year older but, it's not a milestone year (it ends in a 2, not a 0 or 5) and there's so much else going on right now-- like my new job (which is awesome, but it's a huge [very positive] change in a lot of different ways) and the Kung Fu Princess is really keeping me on my toes lately-- she just gained a ton of new skills that allow her to create even more mischief and she's going to start walking any second now, and then the world is doomed (you may want to start boarding your windows now).
But, today's the day. I'm going to get my free yogurt from Red Mango and my present from Sephora. I'm going to get a pedicure. I'm going to chill at home and watch the opening ceremonies.
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
0 Comments on It's my party, I'll give books if I want to... as of 7/26/2012 1:51:00 PM
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
0 Comments on Win an Autographed Copy of Fake Mustache! as of 1/1/1900
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
1 Comments on Fake Mustache Giveaway!, last added: 7/24/2012
It's Aaron's birthday and Grandpa gives him the gift he has always wanted, a horse. Aaron doesn't live on a farm so where will he keep his horse? In his house of course! The challenges of living with a horse in the house are many and even the horse isn't happy. What is the answer to this nagging dilema? To find the answer you will have to read the book.
BOOK REVIEWS Aaron is thrilled when Grandpa Roy gives him a horse for his birthday. After all, that's what Aaron wanted more than anything in the world. However, living with Horace the horse isn't as easy as Aaron predicted. To start with, Horace eats Aaron's strawberry cake and is incredibly messy. He spills food and drink all over the place. To make matters worse, Aaron has to clean up after him. But that's not all... Since Horace has the remote control, now they're all stuck watching horse racing. Aaron would rather watch cartoons! But sweet Horace pushes this further, stealing Mom's toothbrush and even Aaron's bed. Poor Aaron must now sleep on the floor!Perhaps keeping a horse at home isn't such a good idea, after all. Or is it? You'll have to read the book to see all of Horace's naughty antics and to find out what Aaron decides. A Horse of Course is the latest children's picture book by talented Oregonian author Shari Lyle-Soffe. Soffe really knows what appeals to young children and this is portrayed in her delightful books. The story is cute and quirky and will keep children's eyes glued to the pages as Horace's antics grow from silly to outrageous. I loved the artwork in this book, it just goes so well with the story. The illustrations, done in colored markers, pens and crayons, have a cartoonish style and are as whimsical as the tale. This book will not only be enjoyed by children who love horses, but by all, young and old, who love a good humorous story.
Sounds like a familiar story. When our daughter got her first horse at age 14 she literally had no place to keep it. We lived on a mission base in Brazil and had to get permission from all the others in our community to tether the horse in our yard. We received many a middle of the night phone calls about our (her) horse being loose in someone else's yard. Most of them were false alarms. Never occurred to me this might make a humorous story.
Where do you come up with all your good ideas anyway?! This one definitely looks like a winner.
My daughter is almost 16 now, so themed birthday parties are a thing of the past. That makes me a bit sad! I can honestly say she had the BEST birthday parties growing up! They were always homemade, inexpensive and creative. I dug out these old photos, which are almost 11 years old (way before digital photography) and took photos of the photos with my digital camera. I wanted to share them with you.
We always had small parties so they would be manageable, less stressful and more fun! I used to go crazy when I’d take Rachel to parties years ago where there were dozens of kids running around and parents yelling. And who wants all those gifts all over the house? We actually attended one party for a 3 year old with more tan 80 guests. It was horrible, and we left as soon as possible. No one was having fun. And I’ve never seen so many gifts scattered all over the place! Can you imagine a 3 year old opening 80 gifts? It really repulsed me. I think parents forget that young kids can get easily overwhelmed. A good rule to follow is to invite around the same number of kids of the age of the birthday party child. So when or child turns 5, have 4 guests plus your child to equal 5 kids for a 5th birthday party.
Now, back to the party….I remember that first I sent out invitations that looked like a treasure map. I drew water and a pirate ship and land with squiggly lines that led to our house. (You can use clip art if you like.) There were only 6 invitations, so I made each one by hand. (You can make 1 and take it to a copy center also.) I did them on yellowish/cream paper and them burned the edges to make them look authentic.
I made this cake to look like a pirate ship, with the back end starting to sink a bit. I always started each cake by making a sheet cake first and then cutting it up and stacking it to look like whatever I wanted it to be.
I bought a cardboard treasure chest from a catalog that came with pirate related finds and I also added more goodies for the kids. They had to play a game and do a treasure hunt to find the chest. I hid clues all over the house. First I gave them one index card that I aged and crumbled a bit. It had a rhyming clue that would lead them to the next rhyming clue on an index card and so on. I think I had about 10 clues before they found the chest. One was hidden in the dishwasher, another in a flower pot in the back yard, in the shower, pillow case, etc. The kids were running all over the house and were so excited when they figured each one out. The parents were following them back and forth across the house and yard. It was a blast.
I dressed my husband up in this homemade pirate costume and pinned a stuffed parrot to his shoulder, and he held some sort of hook in his hand. He came out of the bedroom in costume playing his guitar, singing “yo ho ho…” and since the kids were only 5, they did not recognize him as Rachel’s Dad. They REALLY thought he was a pirate. All the parents were hysterically laughing. We even had a pinata of a pirate filled with candy. We blindfolded the kids and let them take several whacks at it. They loved that! The pinata was so hard to bust, that my husband had to do it at the end with his hook hand!
I hope you try a pirate party. Not only will your kids have a great time, but so will you!
I’ll be sharing many more party ideas with you. Stay tuned!
0 Comments on Pirate Theme Birthday Party - A Blast from the Past as of 1/1/1990
Every year it is my goal to use the skills I developed while working full time at my last job (I was there for four years and the company sold gift bags, childrens books, greeting cards and other fun things to quite a variety of companies including Walmart, Costco, American Greetings and many a dollar store among other places). One of the downsides of selling to these big companies was that the end results of my work (the actual products) weren't sold or created in Canada. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem, but I am a very far drive away from our nearest border (which for me is Montana, a beautiful state packed with mountains and sweet smelling forests)... and for those of you who have had the wonderful experience of seeing your work in stores it's so so satisfying to see it being touched and admired by real people, even if they are standing on it while it's on the floor (this, by the way, happened to me when I was lucky enough to be able to go on a business trip to Nashville. In a dollarstore in the middle of the city people were frantically searching for the "perfect" Christmas gift bag all the while tossing things on the floor where the faces of my paintings were being covered by the mud on the streets beneath customers boots).
This story reminds me of the reality of commercial illustration, or perhaps illustration in general. We create art that is essentially disposable. Our paintings get admired for seconds, perhaps a few days at most then is thrown away or recycled. There are exceptions to this rule: Children's books can be cherished and read over and over, some greeting cards are saved for years and I've heard of people framing copies of art they've clipped from magazines.
While I know that not every child who gets a card I've created in their mailbox will treasure it I can't stop trying to make similar images than those I loved when I was little. Greeting cards and childrens books were the first things I could call mine and they were certainly evidence that an artist could influence and brighten my world. Not to mention it dispelled the idea that if you wanted to be an artist you had to be "starving". Someone must have been paid to create the cards I got for my birthday and there was no way the artists behind the Lion King weren't being compensated in some way (although at the time I would have licked dirt to have been one of their artists, forget paying me!).
So I'll continue to illustrate and create concepts that might, if I am so lucky, be turned into cards that are eventually thrown away (or at best recycled). Because heck, people might like my design so much that they will buy my card and fill it with money. If that doesn't make my card worth more to someone, I don't know what will!
By the way: Here's the concept sketch:
4 Comments on Disposable Art?, last added: 3/12/2008
Crystal! I couldn't agree more with the whole "disposable" art thing. This is a great piece also BTW. Your work is always filled with such charm and cuteness.
Also, on a note from the last post you had, fill me in on how that's working for you, or why you decided to go that route. I've also considered that site before.
Keep up the great work old (but younger than me) friend!
-Mike
Gina Perry said, on 3/1/2008 12:46:00 PM
Well put Crystal! It is nice to think of work not just being worth a quick look (and smile!), but something attached to learning and being a bit more permanent. Cute card as well.
donna said, on 3/1/2008 7:51:00 PM
I too agree! But it is nice to know that it at least brought a smile to someones face, even for just a second. Piece turned out great BTW :)
mike r baker said, on 3/3/2008 6:11:00 PM
Charming piece! Love it!!! I hope you walk into a shop one day to find me hugging your artwork. :)
According an article on MSNBC.com by the Associated Press, Doctors need to stop being polite when it comes to obesity in children. Apparently the group of experts organized by the American Medical Association, and funded by federal health officials, including the Centers for Disease Control, recommend that doctors start using the term “obese” instead of “overweight or “at risk of being over weight” for children who are obviously too heavy.These terms do not adequately define the problem, according to the group of experts. The non-binding recommendations are designed as guidelines for pediatricians, and other medical professionals who work with children.
There is isn’t any doubt to the validity of their claims that childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, and doctors need to address this issue head –on. However, does it matter what they call it?Children know when they are over weight; kids that suffer from obesity live with the undeniable reality of their illness each day. It seems what you call it has little to do with the problem.Dr. Reginald Washington, a committee representative and member of the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics said, “Some Doctors avoided the terms for fear that we’re going to stigmatize children, we’re going to take away their self-esteem, we’re going to label them.”
It seems labeling is probably already going on in the life of an over weight child, and we as a society need to start setting examples for them.Advertisers need to be mindful of who they are targeting with food and beverages high in fat calories,celebrities and other role models children hold in high esteem need to portray healthy attitudes toward food. Parents, teachers, friends, all of us need to look at obesity as a health problem and not a personal failure.It seems when society rejects or projects an attitude of indifference toward people with sociably unacceptable illnesses; we reject the idea that it is an illness, and until we change that attitude, not much is likely to change in the lives of these kids. According to this article the American Medical Association has "no plans to endorse" these recommendations. I’m afraid of what consequences over weight children, and their over burdened parents may have had to endure if they agreed to the make it a point to label over weight children anything. I think we should refer to children who are over weight as obese, however obese should not be a dirty word , but a medical term used to diagnose an illness threatening our children's future. Children are precious and should be regarded with compassion especially when they are battling an illness.
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A Nice Place In The Sun
I knew it was coming up! Happy Birthday!!!