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With the passing of Encyclopedia Brown author Donald Sobol, I've been thinking about all the things I've learned in life from the Boy Detective. Here goes:
Penguins don't live in the Arctic (and if there's a stuffed one in an Arctic exhibit, a thief has probably filled it with stolen money).
Even-numbered book pages are always on the left.
Tennis players have one forearm that is bigger than the other.
Bugs Meany is the best bully name ever.
Don't mess with Sally Kimball.
What do you remember learning from Encyclopedia Brown?
And some links:
The Ten Most Ridiculously Difficult Encyclopedia Brown Mysteries
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sad Readers
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By: Caroline Starr Rose,
on 7/29/2011
Blog:
Caroline by line
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Classroom Connections is a recurring series meant to introduce teachers to new books.
Gae Polisner's THE PULL OF GRAVITY
YA contemporary fiction
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
released May 2011
“Polisner’s first novel begins with a bang and ends with another . . . . There is a great deal to enjoy throughout, and literary kids will surely enjoy a subplot involving John Steinbeck.” –Booklist
“Characters feel real . . . and the plot zips along, championing strength in adversity.” –School Library Journal
“She [Gae Polisner] is a writer young adult readers will surely want to hear more from.” –examiner.com
“Although the teens’ best laid plans go oft awry, they discover that the force of the universe is with them—or at least friendship, family and romance. Pulls the heart in all the right places.” –Kirkus Reviews
Please tell us about your book.
The Pull of Gravity is about two teens who, armed only with the wisdom of Yoda and a rare, first-edition copy of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, set off on a secret, whirlwind journey to keep a promise to their dying friend. I wrote it as an homage to the character-driven fiction I loved as a tween and teen. I hope I’ve done those wonderful books justice.
What inspired you to write this story?
First and foremost, my own boys. We had always read aloud nightly from the time they were babies into their early teens (they’re 15 and 13 now. I still read aloud with my 13 year old once in a while; the 15 year old, not so much).
From the time we started chapter books and then novels, they loved realistic, contemporary fiction, and weren’t really interested in most of the genre fiction (sci-fi or fantasy or magic like Harry Potter which frightened them). We enjoyed endless Kate DiCamillo, Sharon Creech, Deborah Wiles, Lynne Rae Perkins, to name a few. But the older they got, the more they wanted their books to have male MC’s – characters they could directly relate to in body and mind. And, outside of genre fiction, it got harder and harder to find those relatable male protagonists in contemporary MG and YA. So much was told from a female lead character. So, I decided to write a book for them, narrated by a teen boy. Your average teen boy, who is extraordinary only in the quiet way we are each capable of being.
Could you share with readers
This post originally ran as a guest post at Steady Mom on January 4, 2010.
Is there such a thing as a boy book?
As a mother and former teacher, I cringe at the idea of boy books, which imply there are titles meant for some children and not for others. While I feel strongly books are for everyone, I can’t deny there are books boys tend to gravitate to and others they typically avoid. Here is a list of middle-grade and young adult titles (and authors) that have a proven track record in the classroom.
The Bizarre: (middle-grade)
Boys love weird things. These titles that might grab your son’s attention:
Whales on Stilts! By M.T. Anderson
The Curse of the Campfire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales by David Lubar
The Wayside School series by Louis Sachar
Anything by Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Anything by Bruce Coville, author of My Teacher is an Alien
Anything by Daniel Pinkwater, author of The Hoboken Chicken Emergency
Mysteries: (middle-grade)
The Hank the Cowdog Series by John Erickson
The Chet Gecko series by Bruce Hale (noir lizard detective)
The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart (MG/YA because of length and reading level)
Stories About Everyday Kids or Extraordinary Kids in Everyday Situations: (MG/YA)
Anything by Andrew Clements, author of Frindle (MG)
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, by Jeff Kinney (MG)
Holes by Louis Sachar (MG)
Anything by Jerry Spinelli, author of Eggs (MG)
Schooled by Gordon Korman (YA)
Adventure/Survival: (middle-grade)
Anything by Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet
Anything by Roland Smith, author of Peak
Anything by Harry Mazer, author of Boy No More
Anything by William Durbin, author of The Broken Blade
Anything by Will Hobbs, author of Far North
Anything by Sid Fleishman, author of The Whipping Boy
Fantasy: (MG/YA)
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (MG)
The Secrets of the Cheese Syndicate, by Donna St. Cyr (MG)
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques (YA)
The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling (YA)
The City of Ember series by Jeanne Du Prau (YA)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (YA)
What books have your boys enjoyed?
LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech, HarperCollins, 2001.
Dear Ms. Creech,
Thank you for LOVE THAT DOG,
for making my teacher heart
imagine lessons,
think of ways to connect language
to life's small moments
(like a dog lolling in the afternoon sun)
and give voice to the big
(like losing that dog so loved).
I admire the way poetry became
an everyday
classroom event
and
by the end of the story,
wasn't something just for fluttery girls
but was accessible and meaningful
to any child.
Thank you for giving Jack
the room to experiment with language,
for pushing him beyond his comfort level
with his best in mind,
for letting him dream
an Important Poet cared --
and then letting that dream come true.
I wish I'd discovered your book
while still teaching.
I know just how I'd share it.
But now,
I hope others might catch the same
hopefulness I've found
here, in your story,
and share the
freedom,
possibility,
and
beauty
poetry can bring.
Even to boys
like Jack.
Sincerely,
Caroline Starr Rose
Click here to learn more about the Verse Novel Challenge.
When school ended, my husband announced he wanted to start a family read aloud. Every evening before bed, he wanted to share a few chapters from one of his favorite books, WATERSHIP DOWN. If you've never read it before, here's the premise:
Watership Down has been a staple of high-school English classes for years. Despite the fact that it's often a hard sell at first (what teenager wouldn't cringe at the thought of 400-plus pages of talking rabbits?), Richard Adams's bunny-centric epic rarely fails to win the love and respect of anyone who reads it, regardless of age. Like most great novels, Watership Down is a rich story that can be read (and reread) on many different levels. The book is often praised as an allegory, with its analogs between human and rabbit culture (a fact sometimes used to goad skeptical teens, who resent the challenge that they won't "get" it, into reading it), but it's equally praiseworthy as just a corking good adventure.
The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come. --Paul HughesDid you catch that first sentence, the one about this book being taught in high school? My boys are seven and nine. I was pretty skeptical about their interest in this big, fat, difficult book.
But guess what? We finished last weekend.
My little guy didn't get every scene, but he followed a surprising amount of the story and often finessed a second or third chapter out of my husband. My nine-year-old (who loves to read but often needs to be pushed to pick up challenging books he hasn't read before) finished before the family did. He's gone on to read TALES FROM
WATERSHIP DOWN, too.
16 Comments on Dads and Reading, last added: 7/15/2010
New Picture Book for Author/Illustrator Nathan Clement
For the few of you who are reading, I'm remiss in announcing that July 20, my editor from Boyds Mills Press emailed me to say they want to publish another book idea I proposed:
"We'd love to publish Job Site, and propose that we do it under the terms of
the previous contract. I'll give you a call either later today or tomorrow.
I'm very excited about this. I think it will be a strong follow-up to Drive.
This is an idea that he himself suggested: "why not a book about a bulldozer." I took it and made it a book about construction equipment on a job site. Hence my title will be Job Site. This week, my main tech editor was at our house: my brother-in-law, Bob, who is a heavy equipment operator. Really, he's a crane operator. Since I don't seem to write about topics I actually know about, a tech editor is important. He had me reorder my storyboard to make a little more sense of what happens when on a job site.
My deadline is set for May 2010. I can only hope it will be in the Fall Catalog, but they don't commit to those things until they have project in hand.
This will follow the art medium (digital) and style of Drive.
6 Comments on Life Imitating Art, last added: 8/15/2011
I just remember how much I loved this series when I was a kid. How he was so smart and it was cool!