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This year in celebration of National Poetry Month, I want to celebrate by featuring books written in verse instead of books of poetry. I can't think of a better way to start this off than with Robert Paul Weston's marvel, Zorgamazoo. Written entirely in quatrains and couplets, Zorgamazoo screams to be read out loud, although is just as entertaining read on one's own. But, before I share the
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Julie Sternberg and Matthew Cordell, author and illustrator of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, respectively, have teamed up again as Eleanor finds
Why did you decide to write the story in a sort of prose poetry form? Was it just to give Ivan a believable voice, or was there another reason?
I am not entirely sure. I tend to look at structure before I look even at plot,* which is probably why plot is a struggle for me.** I think about what the book looks like and how it feels.*** Maybe that discipline is helpful for me in terms of finding the right words.
But when I look at big sprawly novels, sometimes… my husband just finished [writing] 500 pages. I marvel at it, because it’s so symphony and I’m so chamber music.**** I just don’t think that way, and it seemed really appropriate that since I was working with an animal voice that it would be small and poetic.
Read the rest of the interview at School Library Journal's
Meet the Latest Newbery Winner: How Katherine Applegate Created a Modern-Day Classic
*yes
** oh, yes
*** yes siree
****exactly!
The Lightning Dreamer. Margarita Engle. 2013. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 182 pages.
Books are door-shapedportalscarrying meacross oceansand centuries,helping me feelless alone.But my mother believesthat girls who read too muchare unladylikeand ugly,so my father's books are lockedin a clear glass cabinet. I gazeat enticing coversand mysterious titles,but I am rarely permittedto touchthe enchantment of words. (3)
I definitely enjoy Margarita Engle's verse novels. Her newest is a verse novel about Cuban abolitionist poet, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, who was nicknamed Tula. For a young girl--a young woman--who dreamed so big, wanted so much, her environment was quite oppressive. Her family wanted, NEEDED, her to marry well. But. Tula had different ideas. She held onto the notion that she could have ideas of her own:
Girls are not supposed to think,
but as soon as my eager mind
begins to race, free thoughts
rush in
to replace
the trapped ones. (4)
Tula discovers a whole new world within the convent library, and once she begins her journey, there will be no dissuading her...
Opinions.
Ideas.
Possibilities.
So many!
How can I choose?
Between bursts
of lightning-swift energy,
I enjoy peaceful moment
when the whole world
seems to be a flowing river
of verse
and all I have to do is learn
how to swim.
During those times,
I find it so easy to forget
that I'm just a girl who is expected
to live
without thoughts. (41)
The novel is rich and descriptive. I love the writing...
"I feel certain that words
can be as human
as people,
alive
with the breath
of compassion." (26)
So many people
have not yet learned
that souls have no color
and can never
be owned. (69)
Love is as tricky as a wall
of mirrors that make
narrow hallways
seem open
and wide. (146)
I would definitely recommend this one!
Read The Lightning Dreamer
- If you enjoy verse novels
- If you enjoy historical novels based on real people and events
- If you enjoy Margarita Engle's works
- If you are looking for YA books set in Cuba
© 2013 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 2/13/2013
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As I mentioned in the previous post, sod walls were typically two-feet thick. If you compare the exterior window pictures to this one, you'll see a generous ledge on both sides. Also notice the plastered walls. In MAY B. I make mention of this nicety through a conversation with Mrs. Oblinger, the new bride from the city, and May, the frontier girl.
from poem 29:
"I hate this place," she whispers.
Before I think better, I say,
"He's left a shade tree out front,
he's plastered the walls,
and he's putting in a proper floor."
"What'd you say?"
Does she even remember I'm here?
"Mr. Oblinger's a good man," I try again.
"He wants to make this home for you."
She stands over me now.
"You think plaster makes a difference in this place?
Look at this."
She holds out her mud-caked skirt.
"It's filthy here!
The ceiling leaks.
Sometimes snakes get through!"
The cool sod's where they like to nest.
"They help with mice," I offer.
She glares.
Sod houses were one room with little to no privacy. Here you see a bed right up against the stove, a tree trunk meant to support the roof also used to hang clothing.
These benches are made from hewed logs and are a great example of the wood used for puncheon floors (the proper flooring May mentions above -- many lived with packed earth underfoot) : the smooth side of a log faced up, the curved side down.
One way families kept dirt from falling from the sod above was to cover the ceiling in muslin.
How would you fare living this way?
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 2/11/2013
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In the years I've been blogging, no topic has drawn more visitors here than sod houses. I hope this post, showing the exterior of a Kansas soddy, and the next, its interior, will satisfy the curious!
My mother took these pictures while on an Elderhostel tour in 2009, just as I was putting some finishing touches on MAY B.
This sod house is located outside Gaithersburg, Kansas. You can see the family had access to enough wood -- perhaps a sawmill nearby? -- to build a door, frame out several windows, and lay lumber for a roof (though they still chose to place sod on top).
A pitched roof would have made rainstorms more comfortable, as it was typical for water to seep through flat-roofed sod houses, where it would continue to "rain" inside well after a storm.
Sod bricks were typically 1' x 2' x 4". They weighed roughly fifty pounds and were stacked, grass-side down, so that walls were two-feet thick. These sturdy homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Structurally, they weren't especially neat and tidy. This poor wall looks like it's melting.
While researching for MAY B., I'd read about women who'd left comfortable lives determined to make this new world as familiar and lovely as possible. My mother included a note with this picture, the words of her tour guide:
Bird cages were kept to show some gentility or civility attesting to their previous lifestyle.
I included a stanza in MAY B.'s poem 80 that was inspired by this bird cage picture:
I button Ma's fine boots.
I wish I had insisted on keeping Hiram's old ones,
but I know Ma gave me hers
for herself as much as me,
a message to Mrs. Oblinger,
fresh from the city,
showing that women out here still have some grace.
My feet will hurt, I reckon,
before I make it far.
Come back Wednesday for views of the interior.
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 10/3/2012
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My most recent verse novel manuscript is told in two voices. Without giving too much away, I'll say it's a story of friendship forged in the midst of hostile circumstances. For most of the story the friends, Alis and Kimi, aren't together.
Working with author Darcy Pattison's idea of a shrunken manuscript, editor Cheryl Klein's idea of a book map, and my verse novel as quilt metaphor, I created what you see below.
After finishing my initial draft, I "quilted" the division of voices within the story. You've probably noticed the same thing I have: Alis's voice dominated this draft.
With the second draft, I added more opportunities for Kimi to speak, but it's still pretty heavily dominated by Alis.
With the third draft, Alis is still the voice heard most often, but Kimi's poems have increased, and the blending is better. Notice in the first two drafts I ended with a dual voice poem. I figured as it's a story of friendship, things had to end that way. But now I'm not so sure. I start the manuscript with Alis making her way in the world and end in a similar place. I feel like this is the best way to tell her story and Kimi's, too.
Of course, this is all subject to change. I've taken the story as far as I'm able alone. As my critique partners respond to this draft, I'll be curious what they have to say about this aspect of the story. And I plan to quilt the story in terms of sub-plots before it goes to my agent next month.
Are there any visual techniques you use during revision?
As I've mentioned here before, I'm fascinated by the visual representation of stories. Attending
Darcy Patison's
Revision Retreat in 2009 introduced me to the idea of a
shrunken manuscript -- a condensed printing of an entire book that is then laid out so you might see the story from beginning to end.
The idea isn't to read it in this state (which is single spaced and microscopic) but to get an overall sense of where the story stands.
With the entire manuscript before you, you can determine what's working and what needs work.
There are a limitless number of ways a shrunken manuscript can be used. Grab a few markers, create a key, and use it to determine:
- story strands
- changes in voice for stories told in multiple points of view
- instances of conflict
- the story's movement through dialogue, thought, and action
Darcy's activity nicely paralleled the work I'd just completed before her retreat: the final drafting of May B. As I'd never written a verse novel before (and had only read two before trying!), the idea of a quilt unfolding square by square -- or poem by poem -- was largely what kept me moving forward. I trusted that certain themes and ideas would resurface as I wrote, just as certain patterns emerge as a quilt takes shape.
I've just finished drafting another historical verse novel and have kept this quilt concept in mind. On Wednesday I'll show you how I've used it in revision.
Confession: I know nothing about quilting. It's the metaphor that counts.
Little Dog Lost. Marion Dane Bauer. 2012. Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell. Simon & Schuster. 208 pages.
Little dog,lost.Little black dog with brown pawsand a brown maskand a sweet ruffle of brown fur on her bumjust beneath her black whip of a tail.Buddy is a dog who used to own a boy, but when her boy had to move to an apartment in a faraway city, well, Buddy was given to a nice-enough woman who didn't much care about having a dog for a friend. Buddy has a food bowl, a water bowl, a bed to sleep in. But companionship and attention and love? Not so much. So one day, she decides to run away. Of course, at the time she's more curious and wanting to explore the world outside her fenced yard that doesn't feel like home. But once she's out and about, once she's tasted freedom she's not particularly anxious to find her way back to her not-home.
Mark is a little boy who wants a dog, NEEDS a dog. He's tried just about EVERYTHING to get his mom's attention. So when Mark hears Buddy's "bark, bark, bark" he hears "Mark, Mark, Mark" and he's determined that this dog is destined to be his dog. But he's not the only one who hears Buddy, and he's not the only one in need of companionship.
I enjoyed this one. It is set in a very small town, and readers do get a glimpse of most of the town. And there are some interesting characters in town--some human, some dog, and one very opinionated cat who thinks she rules the town.
It is a verse novel which makes this one a very light read. I liked the novel. Yes, in a way it was sad, in that Buddy is mourning the loss of her boy and she doesn't understand why he had to move away with his family and why she couldn't come with them. But it is a novel about new beginnings too.
Read Little Dog, Lost
- If you're a dog lover, if you like reading dog books
- If you like family-friendly children's books, books that make you feel-good
- If you like books with small town settings
© 2012 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
Sisters of Glass. Stephanie Hemphill. 2012. Random House. 160 pages.
I feel Giovanna's fire as Mother prepares me for suitors,polishes mewhile Giovanna polishes glass. Sisters of Glass is a historical novel told in verse. It is the story of two sisters struggling to find happiness. The second daughter, Maria, if she follows her father's wishes and the terms of his will, is to marry nobility. Maria knows her older sister, Giovanna, begrudges her this so-called privilege. But what can she do? Doesn't she owe it to her father's memory to marry well? Doesn't she owe it to her mother, her sister, her brothers, her uncle? As a sign of respect and duty. So she goes along with the training, the preparation, the new rules. But is she happy about the situation? Not really. The family meets with several potential suitors before finally agreeing on a match with Andrea Bembo. The family visits Venice several times during this engagement. Giovanna seems more thrilled with Venice, with Andrea, than Maria.
And then there's Luca, a glassblower, who works for the family, who has just become a partner in the second fornica. She loves sneaking out to visit with him, to watch quietly as he works, to discuss his work, his art. She misses being involved in the work, in being a part of the family business. She misses helping, misses watching art happen.
Can "true love" find a way for both girls to be happy?
Read Sisters of Glass
- If you enjoy historical fiction
- If you enjoy historical romance
- If you enjoy verse novels
- If you enjoy books set in Italy
© 2012 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
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By: alethea aka frootjoos,
on 7/2/2012
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Category: Young Adult Verse Novel
Keywords: Kidnapping, friendship, forgiveness, compassion, camp
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased from
Vroman's BookstoreFrom the jacket copy:
When Wren Abbott and Darra Monson are eight years old, Darra's father steals a minivan. He doesn't know that Wren is hiding in the back. The hours and days that follow change the lives of both girls. Darra is left with a question that only Wren can answer. Wren has questions, too.Years later, in a chance encounter at camp, the girls face each other for the first time. They can finally learn the truth—that is, if they’re willing to reveal to each other the stories that they’ve hidden for so long. Told from alternating viewpoints, this novel-in-poems reveals the complexities of memory and the strength of a friendship that can overcome pain.Alethea's Review:I once had a parent tell me that she did not want her daughter (14 at the time) reading verse novels as they were "too short" and "too easy". I tried to tell her they are just
different--that the form of the novel does tend towards brevity, but that extracting meaning from verse is sometimes a more difficult skill for kids to pick up. The parent was adamant, and I felt bad for her child--she'd be missing out on some great stories just because they were told in poetry format, or would at least until she is able to choose her own reading material.
I hope that girl gets to read Hidden
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 4/27/2012
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Things officially wrap up here tomorrow, with my participation in t
he Kidlit Progressive Poem, but for today I wanted to share my reading experiences, thank my guest post authors, and give out some prizes during our
Month in Verse.
Reading Experiences:
For the month, I planned on reading three verse novels: THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN (which I decided wasn't a verse novel but was a lovely book nonetheless), SONG OF THE SPARROW (which made it back to the library, to be read another year), and NEW FOUND LAND (which I'm close to finishing).
NEW FOUND LAND: LEWIS AND CLARK'S VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY is told in the multiple voices of the explorers' expedition and even includes Lewis's dog, Seaman. As I've read, I've marked figurative language I've especially enjoyed. Here's a taste:
The arrows passed through him as if
his body had been river mist.
Sandbars began to rise from the water like huge loaves of bread.
And the squirrel,
wet as a fresh turd, is humping it up the slope
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 4/25/2012
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My 4th grade daughter, PickyKidPix, came home furious a few weeks ago. She said that she was the only person in her grade that got poetry for her MCAS open response standardized test. Worse, I had kept her home sick during the one day they practiced poetry open response essays at school.
I'm sure it went fine, but she will be forever scarred associating poetry as something designed to confound her for a multiple choice Common Core Standard test. I had felt the same way about poetry too until just a few years ago. Sharon Creech's Hate That Cat novel in verse had completely blown my mind. I had no idea that 1) novels in verse existed, 2) that novels in verse could tell a story and 3) that I would actually enjoy it.
I read Love That Dog next also by Sharon Creech (out of sequence, I know) to see if I'd feel the same way about another novel in verse. And, yes, the water was fine!
5 Comments on Poetry in Motion, last added: 4/28/2012
For me, verse is all about atmosphere. I don’t know why other authors choose to write in verse, but I choose to do it because it helps me to create an atmosphere I can’t get with regular prose.
It also allows me to get to the emotional truths of the story, and to accentuate them.
My strength is not beautiful, flowery prose. At times, I wish it were. I seem to do well trying to convey scenes, thoughts, emotions, etc. in a sparse, poetic way. I have always loved music, and in some ways, writing a novel-in-verse feels like writing a giant song to me. The rhythm and the flow and trying to say a lot in a few words – it’s challenging, absolutely, but my brain works well that way.
I didn’t choose verse as much as it chose me, and with each book I’ve written in verse, it added to the story rather than detracted from it. Not all stories are going to work in verse. In fact, I’d probably argue, most stories won’t work in verse. But when it does, it’s a beautiful thing, I think!
The verse format is a literary close-up; it strips away the fluff that so often clogs up traditional prose in order to get down deep to the guts of the story. It goes beyond the telling—or even showing—of a story, and invites the reader to draw closer until he or she can (almost) experience the story right along with the main character.
5 Comments on Falling for the Verse Novel, last added: 4/25/2012
My new novel in verse, THE WILD BOOK, was inspired by stories my grandmother told me about her childhood. She grew up on a farm in Cuba during the turmoil that followed U.S. occupation of the island after the Spanish-American War. She also suffered the inner turmoil of dyslexia. Choosing verse rather than prose gave me a chance to distill that complex historical and personal situation down to its emotional essence. How did my grandmother feel? What were her choices?
Poetry forces me to be brief. All the facts and figures won’t fit on an un-crowded page of free verse, so I have to choose only details that mean the most to me. Historical research is painstaking and meticulous, but poetry is expansive and imaginative. My hope is that the two moods will blend, offering a glimpse into the life of a young person who found hope in times that must have seemed hopeless.
Margarita Engle is the Cuban American winner of the first Newbery Honor ever awarded to a Latino.
How are you doing, readers?
I've read one of my three titles, THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN. It was a lovely, quick read told in the voice of a gorilla. Yes, you heard that correctly. Author Katherine Applegate was inspired to write IVAN after learning about a gorilla who for three decades lived in a tiny cage at a mall. Now the real Ivan lives at the Atlanta Zoo (Katherine has created a website for those interested in finding out more about this remarkable fellow).
I'd heard great things about this book before beginning. It was included on the Winter 2012 Kids' Indie Next List as well as Amazon's Best Books of the Month for Kids (January 2012). IVAN is making waves as a contender for the 2013 Newbery Medal.
But is it a verse novel?
The Wild Book. Margarita Engle. 2012. Harcourt. 144 pages.
I really do love Margarita Engle's verse novels set in Cuba. They almost always impress me. I love her poetry. I love the emotion behind the poems. The
way she tells a story. The Wild Book is no exception. Set in Cuba in the early twentieth century, the heroine is based on Engle's grandmother. (I believe the novel is set around 1912?)
Josefa, or "Fefa", is our eleven year old, word-blind heroine. Her inability to read isn't from lack of focus or desire. More than anything, Fefa wants to be able to read and write. She's dyslexic at a time when no one really understood what that meant. Her mother gives her a present, a blank book, and tells her to practice, to take things slow, slow, slow. To keep trying. To not give up. And that is just what our heroine does. She writes--as slowly and carefully as she can--about her life. And it's an interesting time to be sure....since Cuba has won its independence from Spain and is being occupied by the United States...a time with many dangers and risks.
GuessingI memorize all the littleguess-me riddlesin my schoolbook:
A bird has a little whitetreasure chestthat everyone knowshow to openbut no one can close.An egg!
Why does an unlucky shrimpswim backwards?To return to a time before he lost his luck!
I dream up new riddlesand write them all downin my wild book.
My slow handwritingwith its careful swirlsand loopshas almost grown beautiful.
Am I patient?What has changed?
When I write riddles,the pen in my handfeels mysterious.
I feel as powerfulas a girl in a fairy tale,a brave girl who climbsdangerous towersand sips waterfrom magic wells.
Is this how it feelsto be smart? (46-47)Read The Wild Book
- If you're a fan of Margarita Engle
- If you're a fan of verse novels
- If you're looking for historical fiction set in Cuba
- If you're looking for books with dyslexic characters
© 2012 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
April is poetry month, and the focus around here will be on (gasp!) verse novels. I've got plans, friends, and I hope you might join me!
reading goals: I plan on reading three verse novels during April, two young-adult historicals and one middle-grade contemporary.
blog posts: I'll run posts reading and writing verse novels, share quotes from verse novelists, include comprehensive lists of books out there, and share my thoughts on the books above.
your part: Want to participate? Here are a few ways you can join in:
- Commit to reading three verse novels during April. Sign up below, linking to a blog post where you list your three titles.
- Consider writing a guest post about verse novels. The possibilities are endless: reviews on one of your three titles, what you do or don't like about verse novels, favorite stories in verse, quotes on poetry -- anything! Though my blog has a modest following (462 through Blogger and 485 through Feedburner), guest posts are a great way to draw attention to your own blog. Email me with ideas if you'd like to participate.
- Spread the word! If you're reading along, be sure to link below. Talk it up through all your social media venues. Let readers know verse novels are accessible by writing about titles you love.
goodies: All who sign up and read their three titles* will be entered into a drawing.
By:
Becky Laney,
on 3/13/2012
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Under the Mesquite. Guadalupe Garcia McCall. 2011. Lee & Low. 225 pages.
I am standing just insidethe doorway, watching Mami talkto the television screen.As the latest episodeof her favorite telenovela unfolds,the soap opera drawing her in,the skins from the potatoesshe is peelingdrop into her apronlike old maple leaves...Lupita is the heroine of Guadalupe Garcia McCall's verse novel Under the Mesquite. It's an emotional coming of age story. Lupita struggles with the ordinary things of growing up, it's true, but she does it all the while watching her mother die of cancer. She does it while trying to be both mother and father to her younger sisters and brothers. She becomes an adult all too soon as she tries to cope with the devastating news--the diagnosis, the treatment, and the cure that just didn't last long enough. Where does she find the strength to face the day? How does she hold it all together? How does she keep things together enough with her family? Well, it's a mystery to her too. But taking those drama classes sure does seem to be helping. And her coach wonders why she can cry on demand...
If you're looking for an emotional 'cancer' book that is more than just a cancer book, then Under the Mesquite may be just what you're looking for.
Read Under the Mesquite
- If you're looking for a good multicultural read
- If you're looking for an emotional book with very human characters
- If you're looking for a good verse novel
© 2012 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
Here's my plan for March: I commit to writing four poems five days a week on my new verse novel. I'm twenty or so poems in at this point, and if I hold to this schedule, will have a manuscript that resembles something book-ish by the end of the month.
I've always found word-count goals -- especially with verse novels -- utterly defeating. This feels challenging but realistically doable.
What are your current goals?
Inside Out & Back Again. Thanhha Lai. 2011. HarperCollins. 262 pages.
1975: Year of the CatToday is Tet,the first dayof the lunar calendar.
Every Tetwe eat sugary lotus seedsand glutinous rice cakes.We wear all new clothes,even underneath.
Mother warns how we act todayforetells the whole year.
Everyone must smileno matter how we feel.
No one can sweep,for why sweep away hope?No one can splash water,for why splash away joy?Inside Out & Back Again is a verse novel with wow-factor. If you like compelling novels with great narrators, then it's definitely a must-read. The heroine of the novel is a young girl named Ha. Her family faces a difficult choice, but they make the only choice they feel they can make at the time, they choose to leave war-torn Saigon. They could apply to go anywhere, they could try to find a sponsor in a number of countries, but they choose America. The family ends up in Alabama. For better or worse as Ha herself can tell you. For this sensitive, well-spoken young girl is made to feel ridiculous, stupid, and worthless. She's bullied by many of her classmates. There are days Ha feels that even a war-torn country would be a better place to live than Alabama. But the novel isn't without hope. For Ha's life isn't hopeless, good things can and do happen to her and her family.
I definitely recommend this one!!! I loved it SO MUCH MORE than Dead End in Norvelt. (Have you read both books, which one did you like better?!) I thought the poems were so well-written. Here's one called "Two More Papayas"
Two More Papayas
I see them first.Two green thumbsthat will grow intoorange-yellow delightssmelling of summer.
Middle sweetbetween a mango and a pear.
Soft as a yamgliding downafter three easy,thrilling chews. (21)And one called "First Rule." It is one of many, many, many poems about Ha's experiences learning English/English grammar.
First Rule
Brother Quang saysadd an s to nounsto mean more than oneeven if there's already an ssitting there.
GlassGlasses
All dayI practicesqueezing hissesthrough my teeth.
Whoever invented Englishmust have lovedsnakes. (118)Read Inside Out & Back Again
- If you are interested in Vietnam
- If you are interested in historical novels
- If you are interested in verse novels
- If you are looking for heroines with heart
- If you are looking to read this year's Newbery honor book
- If you are looking for books about grieving and healing
- If you are looking for family books
- If you are looking for books with school settings and bullying
© 2012 Becky Laney of
Becky's Book Reviews
By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 2/17/2012
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May B.
by Caroline Starr Rose
Intermediate, Middle School Schwartz & Wade/Random 233 pp.
The verse novel form is particularly well suited to this spare survival story set on the homesteaded Kansas prairie. In late August, young May’s parents send her off to work for a newly married couple on their isolated farm fifteen miles away, promising she’ll be back by Christmas. But when the homesick Mrs. Oblinger runs away and her husband sets off to retrieve her and doesn’t return, May is stranded alone in their sod hut, snowed in, unable to get home, unable to send for help.
Dwindling supplies of food and fuel, evidence of wolves, and a blizzard are the external threats that make up the tense plot, but equally dangerous are the psychological challenges of claustrophobia and despair. Only when May chooses to live fully in the present can she gather her resources for a life-saving plan. A backstory involving May’s dyslexia parallels the themes of abandonment and potent effects of small, rare kindnesses. Author Rose uses a close-up lens and a fine sense of rhythm to draw us into her stark world, Little House on the Prairie without the coziness. “It’s the noise that wakes me / in the darkness close as a shroud. / Wind whips around the soddy; / I imagine I hear the walls groan.” sarah ellis
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Husband and 6 year old daughter started this one tonight - the report so far is 2 big thumbs up! I think I'll need to read along with them on this one!
You should read along! It's really fun, great illustrations and you'll probably end up pulling out your dictionary now and again...