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While ANGEL GIRL says on cover that it is BASED ON A TRUE STORY that the Rosenblats told to author Laurie Friedman as a third party who did not live through those times, you should also know that some observers, Jewish and non-Jewish, are calling into question the exact “truth” of the backstory that Herman and Roma have been telling the media for the past 10 years. Some are calling into question the fact that there was ever really an apples over the fence episode involving these two people. Might be just fiction. Still, it’s good fiction and heartwarming. But might not be a true story. Google for more info and see info at snopes.com

Sarah Ellis wrote A Prairie as Wide as the Sea, which you mention, and if only I’d known about Lucy’s new favourite series, I could have let you know that Sarah herself was in Lucy’s home town only just last week to talk about her newest Dear Canada book, Days of Toil and Tears!

Darn! That’s the second close call we’ve had with Sarah Ellis — Mark was moments away from interviewing Sarah following her keynote at ALA last year.

Lucy has already begged us to pick up Days of Toil and Tears so watch for her review here this autumn…

Thanks for listening, Carol. I’m sure our paths will cross sometime, seeing as we’re at the Green Door every Friday for dinner!

Put the question out to Twitter. Here is a taste of the response:

@terriebittner: Children need to see the book in hand to help them love books. Anything else is just tv in disguise.

@kaymathews: The teacher-librarian I was says: book in hand. You’re creating a common experience, you want to pull the kids into your circle, create a sense of intimacy and close connection with the book/with you as story teller. It’s also part of storytelling — you can use the book to pace yourself, to create tension, in a way you can’t otherwise. But it’s still putting another layer between teacher/storyteller and students/listeners. I’m sure it has place…

[…] the help of a document camera and projector, but we did put the question out to Twitter and the few responses we received were highly in favour of book-in-hand group reading and the tactile pleasures of the […]

Is it okay for me to weigh in?

Technology becomes a “middle-man” and interrupts the flow and experience. I’d say to get down in the middle of all of the children, walk around with the book or pass it around. The reading activity is about the connection between the listener, the reader and the book, not about focusing on a televised version of the book.

I recently saw a class where every kid had a copy of the book (a small class of 15 kids, and they were paperback copies) but that was ideal - every kid got to follow along. Maybe the idea is that you read the same book a couple of ways to the same kids - they actually LIKE the repetition. So maybe read it first the old fashioned way, book in hand, casting that magic spell over reader and listener. Then, another time, read the book again, and do it on the big screen. Kids get to read along now, and see it HUGE. That might be worth a try…
Lee

[…] The Donkey of Gallipoli (A True Story of Courage in World War I) […]

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Smart pick! Here’s my review (as posted on from Jacketflap.com):

“Silly, cartoony, just plain funny-fun illustrations fit flawlessly with this story about being kind to your neighbors. It’s presented in a woodland setting where our main character, a rabbit has a new family of beavers move in. He accepts the mantra of “do onto otters as you would have done to you”… and winds up taking us on a journey of exactly how he’d like to be treated and we see the rabbit/beaver dynamic in full swing. Lots of fun! My favorite line happens in the front matter before the story has even begun… Rabbit hops around with a hearty “DOO-DEE-DOO!” Kids will no doubt be hopping around doing the same!”

Laurie rocks! Thanks for the fun audio!

Great podcast-sounds like a book that would be popular around here!

Oh, Laurie Keller is one of my favorites! She’s a hoot and a half! I saw a reviewer call her a “goofball and a genius” once. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

My favorite page of this book is when the rabbit is contemplating having otters move to the neighborhood. Otters? Otters? My new neighbors are OTTERS!

ohhhh hahahaha! Good times. If you like this book you should really be the proud owner of Arnie the Doughnut too. It’s a classic tale of adoption and family…sort of.

[…] #6 Twilight)82. Jennifer (The Five People You Meet in Heaven)83. MFS (National Book Festival)84. JustOneMoreBook! Podcast (Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners)85. Stephen (The Suspicions of MR Whicher)86. Wendy (A Garden of Earthly Delights)87. Wendy (Ships […]