Navigating Early
by Clare Vanderpool
Delacorte Press, 2013
review copy ARC provided by
Cover to Cover Books for Young ReadersIt's been a long time since a book has grabbed me by the collar and sat me down in a chair and refused to let me up until I finished it.
Navigating Early wiggled its way into my school bag and forced me to read during SSR time, as I ate lunch, and while my students were at art.
I fell in love with Jack, from flat, wide open Kansas, who pukes the first time he looks at the ocean. And I fell in love with Early, who listens to Billie Holiday when it rains. I fell in love with the stories within the story -- the travels of Pi that match both the digits of Pi as well as the adventure Jack and Early have in the backwoods of Maine.
I couldn't help myself -- I dogeared the page corner at Chapter 21 -- the first time I can ever remember encountering fly fishing in a children's book (not to mention a spirited argument about why Jesus could possibly have been "a likely candidate for fly-fishing").
Navigating Early is mysterious and magical, brimful of surprising characters, and with an ending that's a sigh of satisfaction.
Move Navigating Early to the top of your must-read list. You won't regret it.
Also reviewed by
Kevin at
Kevin's Meandering MindKatherine at
Read, Write, ReflectColby at
Sharpread
There are so many great books from 2010, that I can't possibly choose the one book I hope to win the Caldecott and Newbery medals. This is a list of books I've loved that seem like contenders. I'd be happy if any of these books won an award. They are all deserving. There are others too but these are the ones that come to mind first.
Caldecott
Chalk
A Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Deborah Frasier
City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems
All Things Bright and Beautiful by Ashley Bryant
Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli
Mirror by Jeannie Baker
Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Phillip Stead
Newbery
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Keeper by Kathi Appelt
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
A Million Shades of Gray by Cynthia Kadohata
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord
As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins
Countdown by Deborah Wiles
The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt
Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder
As Franki reminded us all last week, predicting the Newbery was the reason this blog was born 4 years ago.
We started by trying to predict the winner.
That devolved to having read the winner.
Then we decided that it was good enough to have the winner in our Amazon shopping cart.
This year, Bill and Karen at
Literate Lives are putting us to shame with their series of Newbery posts.
Here are my favorite books of 2009. I'd be happy if any of them won!
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
The Sweethearts of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg
Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graf
The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan (I'm glad it already won a shiny sticker!)
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Mare's War by Tanita Davis
Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes
Wild Things by Clay Carmichael
Last year was the first year I ventured into Caldecott territory, when I was cheering for River of Words from the moment I set eyes on it. Because of that one "honorable" pick, I'll give it a try again this year. Here are some of my favorite picture books for 2009:
The Lion and the Mouse, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
14 Cows for America, illustrated by Thomas Gonzales
All the World, illustrated by Marla Frazee
Day is Done, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Tsunami, illustrated by Ed Young
First, the entire Kidlitosphere community is counting down to the announcement of the Cybils shortlists on January 1. The bloggers who have read through all the nominations in their category to create these shortlists deserve pats on the back and sighs of relief. (We know; Franki and I have both been there!)
Second, over at
Literate Lives, Karen and Bill are counting down to the announcement of the
Newbery with a daily post on a possible winner. Go check your reading and your opinions against theirs.
So, as you all know, we are never right in predicting the Newbery and I have learned that I can never read all of the books that I read about that are possibilities for the award. But I do think it is fun to read and guess and pay attention to all of the conversations going on about the award. I have been following several Mock Newbery sites and cannot possibly read all of the books that are listed on multiple sites. Really, I have no idea how the committee does this work. To narrow the list for myself, I really want to read those books that will make good additions to our library collection. So, I've decided to set my goal on reading a few that sound like they'd be great for the kids at my school. So, here are the five that I am hoping to read before the Newbery is announced in late January. I'll keep you posted.
What People Are Saying About the Recent SCBWI New York Conference...
In my recent newsletter (click here to subscribe), I asked to hear from writers and illustrators who attended the SCBWI Mid-Winter Conference which took place in New York February 8-10. I was not able to attend so this was my way to live vicariously through those of you would did.
These bloggers alerted me to their posts about the conference: Kristi Valiant; Mary Cronin; Donna McDine; and Darcy Pattision whose blog includes links to other attendees conference reports.
I'm keeping me fingers crossed that I'll get to attend the SCBWI Conference in LA this summer.
If I do, I'll be blogging like mad, just as I have the past two years. (See my August 2007 and August 2006 archives if you're interested. I just now relived the last conference as I read through my old post. It was lovely to think about being in sunny Los Angeles, abuzz with children's book people, instead of here in cold, snowy, icy Cincinnati.)
I loved Moon Over Manifest - and this one looks just as marvelous.
Mary lee,
I read this review early Thursday morning and it was the perfect anchor text for teaching the power of persuasion! My third graders and I looked at your powerful language in this review, We loved your bold beginning and how you ended the review! I told them that it influenced me to buy this book! Thanks for the recommendation AND for a great connection to our persuasive writing unit:)
Wow! My writing as an anchor text! What a compliment!!
I'm so glad you mentioned Chapter 21, because I did the exact same thing! Groan. Everything else about the book was perfect, really. I absolutely loved it.