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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.

In case you didn’t catch it in January, check out here what the PaperTigers reading Challenge 2008 entails: there’s still plenty of time to join in!

We are running three in parallel in our household as my boys decided they wanted to complete it on their own, as well as do one as a bed-time readaloud… so here are our comments about Book Number One!

Back in October, I wrote a post about I Am Jack by Susanne Gervay - the time to read it came at the end of January when Big Brother had a few issues with bullying (now, I’m glad to say, resolved). As usual, I turned to stories as a springboard for discussion and we read it all together as our first Reading Challenge readaloud. Big Brother’s situation had been squashed very early on and certainly never got anywhere near what poor Jack has to endure but reading the book opened up comparisons and empathy. It brought home the importance of talking - and being available to listen. A couple of bedtimes were prolonged to read an extra chapter; and we had a very late night as we arrived at the end – we couldn’t possibly have left it hanging. Once again, I really recommend this book…

Meanwhile, Big Brother* (aged 9) chose Mga Kuwentong Bayan: Folk Stories from The Philippines edited by Alice Lucas and illustrated by Carl Angel. It is published by Many Cultures Publishing, a division of the nonprofit San Francisco Study Center. The book contains three stories: A Creation Story, The Monkey and the Turtle and Aponitolou and the Star Maiden. Here’s what Big Brother has to say about it:

I thought it was brilliant – especially the story where all the stars came onto the ground. It was about a star woman and a human man who fell in love with each other and the husband already had a wife on earth so he had to spend half a year in the sky and half a year down on the ground. I thought it was quite fun to have a different kind of book to read, with almost black and white pictures. I tried reading the Tagalog version but I didn’t get very far!

Little Brother (aged 6) had chosen The Birdman by Veronika Martenova Charles and illustrated by Annouchka Gravel Galouchko and Stéphan Daigle. It is the poignant true story of a Calcutta tailor who buys and sets free the sickly birds that are left at the end of a day’s trading at the market. You can read PaperTigers’ review of the book here, and here are Little Brother’s comments:

I really liked the pictures because they looked very artistic with lots of bright colours and dots on them. I really liked Noor Nobi’s idea of making a flock of poor birds. He set them free and they didn’t go far away because they loved him. I liked that it was a true story because something like that is very good and kind.

We will keep you posted on Number 2 of our Reading Challenge selections. In the meantime, do let us know how you’re getting on, if you’re already on board; or let us know your book choices, if you’re just starting.

* I have Here and There Japan to thank for helping me finally to come up with what to call my children in my blog postings: other possibilities had been commented upon and others were too much of a mouthful… I think this now works?!? So thank you, Annie!

The 1970’s marked the coming of age for Australian children’s literature, says YA writer Susanne Gervay. “There was a new breed of children’s authors and illustrators reflecting a confidence in an Australian identity and its landscape in all its diversity.” Contributing to the subsequent explosion of “best selling wickedly irreverent kids’ books” was the writers’ use of quirky Australian humor.

Among the writers of those “innovative, brazenly Australian” early books for children, Gervay cites Di Bates, a prolific writer who is still a bundle of energy. Bates produces a fortnightly online newsletter, Buzz Words, with industry news for writers, editors, illustrators and librarians. Subscribers also receive Books Buzz, a monthly compendium of reviews of new books by Australian children’s writers. Alliteration-loving Bates’ latest books are Big Bad Bruce and The Hold-Up Heroes.

Gervay’s own recent innovations in children’s literature are cross-media and inter-generational collaborations. After publishing frank and open YA books treating disability (Butterflies) and bullying (I Am Jack), her most recent book, That’s Why I Wrote This Song, was inspired by her rock musician daughter Tory’s lyrics and tune. Tory and Susanne now do speaking gigs together, and Susanne’s website features links to MySpace and YouTube. Her expertise on Cutting Edge YA Literature was featured in the July PaperTigers update. And here’s Aline’s recent blog post, with more details on Gervay’s cross-media innovations.

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…