Darth Bill (in full
battle suit)
Vs.
The Lagomorph (with restored foot)
Hi, all my many adoring fans (or maybe not), it is I, the Sith with the mostest, Darth Bill once again. I have recovered very nicely from the vicious
"Dictionary Incident" of last week, but all is not well. I am still being stalked by the most fowl Lagomorph. For those of you out there who believe that the monstorious "Bunny" known as the Lagomorph is not real, I have the following video to show you. Take a look at it, then tell me I'm crazy:
Lagomorph
Not that I'm scared or anything (although those teeth are rather large). Well, enough of that, lets talk about great reads.
The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck by Don Rosa – If you are a fan of Uncle Scrooge of Disney Fame and of his famous relatives Donald, Huey, Louie and Dewey, this Graphic Novel is a read that you will really enjoy. In this Graphic Novel we meet Scrooge McDuck when he is but a wee lad living with his parents and two sisters in Scotland. The family is extremely poor, which is a situation Scrooge vows to change and make them all fabulously rich and wealthy. The story tells of how he makes his great fortune. The story follows Scrooge throughout his life as he makes his way to many different places and locales across the globe in the search for his fortune. Some of the many places and jobs he takes are America’s mighty Mississippi as a Riverboat Captain, its Wild, Wild West as a Cowboy, a Prospector in the American West, the wilds of Africa, down under in Australia, the great Klondike and many other locations. Along the way he makes many friends and enemies and also has many grand adventures. This book is great fun and the art work outstanding, so do yourself a favor and give it a read.
The Boy who Dared: A Novel Based on the True Story of a Hitler Youth by Susan Bartoletti – This is an inspiring story about a teenage boy named Helmuth growing up in Germany as Hitler rises to power and the Nazi Regime comes to power. At first Helmuth, his family and friends are inspired and thrilled as Hitler rises to power with promises to the German people of a better life, which has not been that great since the end of World War I in which Germany was a loser. However, things quickly change as Hitler starts persecuting the Jews in Germany, taking away Germans' personal rights, invading surrounding countries and arresting any Germans who speak out about the Nazi Party or himself. When these things start to happen, Helmuth and some of his friends start to stand up to the Nazi Government and the lies it spreads. This is very dangerous as such acts can lead to imprisonment or worse. This story is based on the true story of Helmuth Hubener and does depict some of the very sad things that happen in war and under dictatorships, but it is an important story that should be told.
Well give these books a try and let me know what you think!!!
Take it easy guys and beware the Lagomorph,
Bill
Two odd things have come my way in the past week. One is an ad for a "simplified" Alice in Wonderland, which apparently we need because: "The original Alice in Wonderland is too difficult for children to read so parents usually read it to them. This volume solves that problem."
Parents reading to their children. Truly, a problem crying out for a solution.
The other I could barely read through the massive layers of html text, but it appeared to be an ad for a tool allowing parents to block websites during Shabbat.
I find myself thinking of the phrase on MotherReader's blog, about good children's literature lying somewhere between unbearable grief and a flatulent dog.
Rebecca OUP-US
Hanna Diamond, author of Fleeing Hitler: France 1940, is Senior Lecturer in French History at the University of Bath. She lived and taught in Paris for many years and has spent her career researching the lives of the French people during the twentieth century. Fleeing Hitler shows how the mass exodus from Paris was a defining moment in the war for the French. In the original piece below Diamond reflects upon how difficult it was to get into the French psyche.
When I was approached by OUP to write a book on the exodus in France I had already read Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Francaise and I jumped at the chance. Aware that official archives, police reports and other documents drawn up by officials were not likely to be available since most had left their posts along with the rest of the population, oral history seemed an ideal way of reaching this experience. (more…)
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The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck by Don Rosa – If you are a fan of Uncle Scrooge of Disney Fame and of his famous relatives Donald, Huey, Louie and Dewey, this Graphic Novel is a read that you will really enjoy. In this Graphic Novel we meet Scrooge McDuck when he is but a wee lad living with his parents and two sisters in 
The Boy who Dared: A Novel Based on the True Story of a Hitler Youth by Susan Bartoletti – This is an inspiring story about a teenage boy named Helmuth growing up in Germany as Hitler rises to power and the Nazi Regime comes to power. At first Helmuth, his family and friends are inspired and thrilled as Hitler rises to power with promises to the German people of a better life, which has not been that great since the end of World War I in which Germany was a loser. However, things quickly change as Hitler starts persecuting the Jews in 
Maybe the phrase will catch on far and wide. That's what I live for.
I had to speak to your Alice in Wonderland thing because I was asked just recently if there was maybe a picture book version of the story for younger readers. I looked in the catalog, praying that I'd be correct and that there wasn't. The mom seemed horrified that there wasn't something for her little girl to digest right now - "like a pop-up book, isn't there a pop-up book?" I replied, that there may be one, but not at this library. And then I took two Advil.