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Hey, everyone, it's Carl. I want to thank Bill and all of you for your kind expressions of sympathy. It's great to have friends at a time like this.

Cyber Kid 303 and his mom sent these notes:

Dear Carl,

Carl, I'm so sorry about your mother. Moms are so special and I know you'll miss her.

We were so sorry to hear about your mother. She must have been a very special woman to have raised a son who has become such a kind, caring and outgoing man. As a mother, I know our greatest joy is to see our children happy and healthy. I am sure you played a huge role in making your mother’s life a good one. A mother is never really separated from her children. They stay in our hearts and minds even when they are far away. Your mother is still watching over you and keeping you in her soul, and her spirit lives within you. We will keep you in our prayers as you go through this difficult time.

Carl, I'm so sorry about your mother. Moms are so special and I know you'll miss her.

Peace,
Bonnie, Tim & Joseph “Cyberkid” Stewart

Thanks, guys. That means a lot. Our friend Lord Vader also sent his sympathies along with a couple of cool reviews:

My family and I were sorry to hear about Carl's mom. He and his family are in our thoughts. I just finished two books that had references to this. One was Star Wars Boba Fett: Maze of Deception by Elizabeth Hand where Boba remembers a lot about what his father had told him about being a bounty hunter. He had to learn a lot of hard lessons and try to avoid another hunter that was trying to get her hands on what was left for Boba. This was my first Clone Wars book and I really liked it a lot. The other book I finished was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I liked this one as well, but having already seen the movie it didn't have the same suspense as the first Narnia book. I'll be reading the third one soon and plan to read Prince Caspien before I see the movie so it isn't ruined.Mikie (a.k.a Lord Vader)


Thanks, Mikie---I mean, Lord Vader. As I said, it's good to know so many people care.

And I'm glad you guys kept on reading. It's really important and will help you as you grow up. Reading is one of those unusual things that are both good for you and fun at the same time! Let me know how you like Prince Caspian--both the book and the movie. (did you see my review from June 6?)

Cyber kid also sent us a good comment:

I did read No More Dead Dogs because Mr. Bill suggested it on the blog. In the book, the character complains that all the dogs in dog books die. I noticed most of those books turned into movies. I found a dog movie the other day where the dog doesn't die! It's called Big Red.

I finally read Diary of a Wiimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. It's about a middle school kid named Greg and his friends and family. Greg and his friend, Rowley, go trick-or-treating,wrestle and get bullied by teenagers in this funny book. (Even though being bullied is never funny in real life.) It's a very popular book. When I requested it from the library system, I was 61 on the request list. It was worth the wait.After I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid I wanted to read the second one, so my friend across the street loaned it to me. It's called Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. It's like the first one, only better!

Thanks once again, everybody! It's good to have friends. I'll tell you all about some good stuff later, especially about our Percy Jackson Summer Book Club.

Hey, one and all, we have new comments from an old friend--Mikie, otherwise known as Lord Vader. He's been writing to us for a long time and good to have him back. (I wonder if he knows a five-year-old Sith wrote in yesterday) Let's hear what he has to say:



Dear Mr. Duggin,
Thanks so much for responding to one of my posts. My mom tells me she remembers you from when she watched wrestling and says you are one of the wrestlers she thought was a really good role model. I can't wait for the new Percy Jackson book either. I didn't know the name of it until I read your post. Sorry it took so long to write back, my whole family has been sick off and on for months and I can't go onto any site without my mom to watch what I am doing. I also just finished reading my first chapter book (on my own, the others I've posted about my mom read to me before bed). It was Da Wild, Da Crazy DaVinci by Jon Szeiska. I love Time Warp Trio books, reading them is great and then I can check out the episode I just read on television. I loved Leonardo's tank invention in chapter one. After I read about him in the book my mom took me to some websites about him to look at drawings of his inventions and also some of his art. I didn't know much of his art until I saw the Mona Lisa painting. I also want to know if I can place votes in for books in the series that I have read or if it has to be from the few you have on the blog site.
Mikie (aka Lord Vader)



I'm sorry your family was sick. Hope you didn't get anything bad. Is everyone else doing all right now? I'm glad that you're reading on your own. I'm also glad that your mom took you to some Leonardo sites--we've always believed that reading broadens your world and you just proved it! It also looks like you found out how our contest works:

My vote will be for Harry Potter series, I read some of the others but they didn't make it through. My vote would probably be for the Clone Wars though but I haven't read one of them yet. I plan on picking one up this week to check it out. I loved watching the series on television but I didn't know they had a book series as well. I'm also sorry to see Percy Jackson didn't make the cut, I didn't know about the contest until a little while ago.
Mikie (aka Lord Vader)

Yeah, I'm sorry that Percy Jackson didn't make it, but he couldn't have had a more worthy opponent than The Chronicles of Narnia. I really love those books. I can't wait for the Prince Caspian movie! BTW, Lord Vader, you can still get points by writing reviews! 3 points for each one!!! That applies to everyone else in blogland. Let's do it!!
Carl

Hi all,
Well, the The Boys Rule Boys Read Book Series Tournament has been interesting, to say the least. Some unexpected upsets and crazy twists, but, hey, that's how these tournament things go (look how far Davidson went in the NCAA Tournament--they almost even took out mighty Kansas). Well, now it's time to vote to see who plays in the championship. You, the posters in Blogland and paper voters via ImaginOn, determine who. Oh, there are also the really cool prizes to be won. Let the games begin:



Right Side Game:


The Harry Potter Series (seed 1) Vs. Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures (seed 3):



The Harry Potter Series

Vs.

The new school year has kicked in now so I was glad to spot A Year of Reading’s recommendation of Monday with a Mad Genius by Mary Pope Osborne as a good read-aloud to bring some excitement and magic to those first few days back at school. I was interested, too, to read Mary Lee’s method for getting her class back into reading after the long summer vacation:

Lots of my students haven’t read all summer long, and I am modeling what they need to do to rebuild their fluency and stamina: start with lots of quick, easy reads to build confidence and refresh skills.

My younger son can’t keep his nose out of a book (sometimes I even get exasperated): but my older boy, who is about to turn 9, is starting to need some chivvying and he hasn’t read as much this summer as I would have hoped. One way I’ve found to encourage him is to sit down and read the first chapter to him… except then we all get into it and it turns into a bedtime book!

I’m about to try out the technique with Susanne Gervay’s superb book I Am Jack. You can read the first chapter on Susanne’s website. She has also provided some good ideas and materials to download. Reading the book together at home and discussing it provide a valuable springboard for bringing up the subject of bullying. By writing the story, Susanne has put into practice one of the messages that underpins the book: the pen is mightier than the sword. It presents a well-rounded perspective from all angles, whether that of the victim, the bully, friends, onlookers, teachers, schools or parents… And it’s also a cracking good story that I think he’ll enjoy. Maybe we’ll read it together all the way through then he’ll feel inspired to pick up the sequel, SuperJack…