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Hey, everyone, we have a comment from a friend over at the Guys Read blog regarding the Evil Bunny Lagomorph video:

Wow, now that video was weird. I agree with you, that had HUGE teeth.
Funny though....

Rick Ze Dragon

Guys Read

Thanks, Rick. You're right about those teeth. I would keep watching my back, Bill. You never know when it would sneak up on you "with sharp, nasty teeth!"

I also wanted to let you know that I have updated the list of books we've talked about. Check it out under the links on the left-hand side of the page. The list can be printed, so print one and impress your friends, parents, teachers, media specialists, and librarians.

Speaking of books, here are some I've liked that relate to Black History Month. Yes, I know that February is almost over but I thought that I'd make a contribution now and apologize for bieng so late. But the real reason is that I get very busy here; sometimes so busy that I don't have time to read chapter books!! Imagine that--too busy in a library to read! That's like working for Domino's and never getting to taste the pizza! (I worked for Domino's once and always made sure I got some pizza!!!) I don't mind, though, because I'm busy helping kids find things they need and that's a good feeling. Anyway, I said all that to let you know that I was trying to read this book for Black History Month but never found time until the last couple of days.

It's Uncle Shamus by James Duffy. (No picture available) The setting is Shanty Town, a row of run-down shacks on a dirt road. Akers Johnson has lived in one of those shacks with his mom ever since his dad ran off. It's not much of a life--his shoes fall apart and there's no money for new ones. Every night they have canned soup and beans for supper. Then one day an old blind black man moves into one of those shacks. He used to live there more than thirty years ago--so why would anyone want to come back there? And he seems to have plenty of money--where did it come from? Why does he hire Akers to show him around town and why is he so curious to know exactly where everything is? The author doles out just enough information about his mysterious past to made you keep reading. Then you really want to keep going after you find out the whole story and get involved in the plans Shamus has for Akers. I will tell you this much--one of the keys to the story was that "if a black man came walking by...[he] didn't even see him." The story is good and you'll learn about friendship and the importance of doing the right thing, even if it's 35 years later. If you don't, you could end up to be like Buddy Dupois.

Here is another good book for Black History Month:

Pappy's Handkerchief by Devin Scillian. It's a picture book, sure, but some picture books are meant for older readers. Besides, this book is part of the Tales of Young Americans series, which are not written for little kids. This story is fictional but based on a true historical event--the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1899. Young Moses and his family run an outdoor fish stand in Baltimore in 1899. It's March, the weather is freezing, and they aren't selling enough to make a living. One of their friends reads them a newspaper article which says that the government will give land free in the Oklahoma Territory to anyone who will farm it for five years. Everyone wonders if the government would give free land to black people, but the newspaper says it's for anyone. So it's worth a try. The trouble is, they have to be there by April 22. To do that, they've got to get the money to buy a wagon and then make the long journey to Oklahoma from Baltimore. Once they get there, they find hundreds of other people lined up to race out and claim land. Will the family be able to get to an area fast enough? Then their wagon crahses down a gully and Moses's father breaks his leg. Was the long journey for nothing? You will hardly stand the suspence as you read to find out. This is a terrific book that you'll really enjoy!!

Here are some others. I won't discuss them at length because it would take all day but, believe me, these are all powerful books full of people, places, and scenes that you won't ever forget. I've read them all and they've been among the best I've ever come across.

The Wagon by Tony Johnston; illustrated by James Ransome

Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree

King Mitchell; illustrated by James Ramsome

Very great picture books meant, once again, for older readers. I talked about them on the December 18, 2007 post.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Some of you may have read this before; it shows up on a lot of school lists--and with good reason!!! This story of an African-American family trying to get through hard times and discrimination in rural Mississippi during the 1930's is one that will hit your heart and gut. I've read it twice and never got bored either time.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Another one of the best books I've ever read. An African-American family in Flint, Michigan in 1963 finds that the older brother is starting to hang out with a bad crowd. The father decides that the best thing to do is take the family to spend the summer with the aunt who lives in the country outside Birmingham, Alabama. They are caught in a famous historical incedent that changes not only thier lives, but the whole United States. It's funny, it's moving, it's one you've got to read!

Well, let me apologize again for taking so long to get this posted, but then, these books are good any time of year. Besides, some things that are highlighted for a month should be celebrated all year, right?

Carl

Americans have two “super” events coming up on the national agenda: Super Bowl XLII on Sunday between the Giants and Patriots, followed two days later by Super Tuesday, when about half the country will vote in Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. Fox, the network that is broadcasting the Super Bowl, is even creating a Super mashup before the game begins, with two hours of coverage on Sunday morning mixing politics and football. It’s all quite super, some might say super-duper. So how did we get to this level of superheated superabundancy?

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Earlier this week I spent an enjoyable hour being interviewed on the Wisconsin Public Radio show “At Issue with Ben Merens.” Though our topic was ostensibly the New Oxford American Dictionary’s choice of locavore as Word of the Year, as well as other notable words of 2007, we soon ventured into other word-related matters when the lines were opened for listeners’ calls. One caller had his own coinage that he hoped might someday achieve the fame of locavore and other recent additions to the language. Since English lacks a singular pronoun that can be used to refer to a person regardless of gender, the caller suggested that O be used for this purpose (since I is used as the first-person singular pronoun). (more…)

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When Al Gore received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to raise awareness about man-made climate change, his acceptance speech featured a new word, or rather a new sense of an old word, that Oxford lexicographers have been watching closely: carbon, in the sense of “carbon dioxide or other gaseous carbon compounds released into the atmosphere.” As I wrote back in July, this extended sense of carbon can be found in all sorts of novel lexical compounds: carbon-neutral (2006 New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year), carbon footprint, carbon tax, carbon trading, and so forth. In his speech, Gore introduced another compound into the mix: carbon summer.
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It’s always an exciting time at OUP when the New Oxford American Dictionary’s Word of the Year is selected. As announced here on Monday, this year’s choice is locavore, meaning “a person who endeavors to eat only locally produced foods.” The word may very well strike a resonant chord for anyone who has mulled over how many miles a bunch of bananas has logged before it gets to the local grocery store. But unlike some of our previous Words of the Year — most recently, podcast in 2005 and carbon neutral in 2006 — locavore is very much “on the cusp,” not yet firmly established in widespread usage, despite its great potential. That means Oxford lexicographers will continue to monitor its progress to see if it eventually warrants inclusion in the next edition of NOAD.

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By Anatoly Liberman

The following dialogue takes place in the play The Heir at Law by George Colman the younger:

Dick. But what a confounded Gig you look like.
Pangloss. A Gig! umph! That’s an Eton phrase; the Westminsters call it Quiz.—Act IV, Scene 2.

The play was first performed at the Haymarket in 1797. The OED quotes Pangloss’s reply at gig, but it is the exchange that will interest us. (more…)

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Today’s an exciting day for OUP, as we launch the sixth edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. If this were a birth announcement, we’d have to give the vitals: Oxford University Press joyfully announces the arrival of twin volumes, weighing a total of 13.6 pounds (6.2 kilograms), with 3,800 pages, 6 million words of text, more than half a million definitions, and 84,000 illustrative quotations. Welcome to the world, Shorter volumes 1 and 2! (Oh, and your diminutive friend too, the Shorter on CD-ROM.) (more…)

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Ben’s column this week looks at the fascinating history of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. He explains how the OED, quite possibly OUP’s most important book (well, series of books), got trimmed to a manageable two volumes and why this development was important. Enjoy!

In 1902, a fellow named William Little took on the task of making a “shorter” version of the monumental Oxford English Dictionary. When it was finally published in 1933 (more than a decade after Little’s death), the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary took up two thick volumes totalling 2,500 pages. Still, the abridgment proved to be a more convenient (and more affordable) alternative to the massive OED. This month sees the publication of the sixth edition of the Shorter, and the two volumes now span more than 3,700 pages, packed with more than half a million definitions covering ten centuries of English. Little’s dictionary, it turns out, is far from little. And despite its name, it’s not getting any shorter! (more…)

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In “The Grammarian’s Five Daughters,” a fable by science fiction writer Eleanor Arnason, a mother bestows grammatical gifts to five daughters seeking their fortune in the world. The eldest daughter gets a bag full of nouns, the next gets verbs, the next adjectives, and the next adverbs. The youngest daughter is stuck with the leftovers, those “dull little words” overlooked by everyone else: the prepositions. But the prepositions ultimately bring order to a chaotic land, serving as the foundation for a strong and thriving nation organized under the motto “WITH.”
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By Anatoly Liberman

Cockney: in the 19th century, the origin of few words was discussed as much and as vehemently in both professional and lay circles. It surfaced in a text dated 1362, but the earliest known attempt to explain its derivation goes back to 1617. John Minsheu, the author of the first etymological dictionary of English, recounted an anecdote about a London child, who, after being taken to the countryside and informed by his father that horses neigh, heard a rooster and asked: “Does the cock neigh too?” Hence, allegedly, cockney, a derisive name for a Londoner. This story has been repeated innumerable times and can be found in both the OED and the multivolume American Century Dictionary. Of course, the anecdote was told tongue in cheek, for no one could grow up in London without knowing anything about horses. Yet even 200 years later some credulous folks, who touched on the origin of cockney, referred to Minsheu as their authority. (more…)

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