What another great year of reading! The great books didn’t seem to stop this year. My favourite read of the year was nearly tipped out by a trilogy and my big discovery of the year was Ben Aaronovitch and the Peter Grant series. So here it is my top 5 reads of 2015 (plus 5 […]
Add a CommentViewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: top 5, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 5 of 5
Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Book News, best books, Book Video, top 5, Book Bites, books of the year, 2015, Add a tag
Blog: Welcome to my Tweendom (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: favourites, Top 5, Add a tag
Source: fb, reddit, anthropolgie |
Well, here we are at winter break once again. Most of my time will be spent traveling and reading. Since I am not posting a top list this year, I am more interested than ever in hearing about your top picks for tweens! Please use the comments to list your top 5 of the year!
Happy reading to all!
Blog: Librarian Avengers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Connie Willis, child rearing, library, Books, science fiction, book, Librarianship, book review, Terry Pratchett, Research Obsession, moms, babies, bookshelf, top 5, Add a tag
eading has been a challenge lately, due to new baby and the delirium that accompanies around-the-clock breastfeeding. On the other hand, it has taken me three months to be able to comfortably leave the house, so I’ve had quite a bit of downtime.
My favorite book that I’ve read lately is, appropriately, about raising happy infants. Superbaby, by Dr. Jenn Berman was a gift from my mom the librarian, and has been a great help. It is a compendium of research and useful information from a variety of sources. So rather than an exhaustive study of, say, the positive effects of using ASL as baby sign, it dedicates a nicely summarized chapter and moves along. For the attention deprived among us, it is a quick way to wade through a pile of information.
When I was pregnant, I read about 500 Terry Pratchett books. I was emotionally wrung-out, and they provided just the right balance of humor and comfortingly happy endings to keep me going. If you haven’t read any of the Discworld novels, I often recommend Small Gods, or Guards, Guards!, but you can start anywhere. If it were possible, I and almost everyone I know would like to give Terry Pratchett a hug for being such a nifty writer.
Connie Willis. I’ve been working my way through everything she has ever written, novels, short stories, novellas, introductions and interviews. I don’t usually obsess this much over reading an author’s full catalog, but Connie Willis shares many of the same qualities that make me enjoy Terry Pratchett, in addition to a fantastic grasp of European history and a charming tendency to always turn the Most Frustrating character into the means of Everything Working Out in the End.
If you haven’t read any Connie Willis, I suggest starting with the short story
Blog: Welcome to my Tweendom (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: lists, Top 5, End of Year Lists, Add a tag
Blog: weheartbooks.com (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Non-fiction, Top 5, Add a tag
A guest post by Sarah, mum to Neve (10), Cissy (3) and Jemima (1).
I have had a difficult week, and it has led me to write what might seem a somewhat macabre list. In my bookselling days I have always said that it is so important to have a book about dying on the shelf because the moment that you need it is the one moment when you don’t want to be in the bookshop looking for it. Explaining death to very young children is difficult – and the real significance is often lost on them. I’m not sure that any books on my list are really for the under 4s, the subject is often dealt with in a very abstract way which is probably beyond them. Having said that here are the few that I think are worth considering – depending on your circumstances.
1. Badger’s Parting Gifts (Susan Varley)
This is the one I like the very best.
Badger is friend, advisor and the wise old creature of the woodland – and he knows it is his time to die. Badger’s friends are extremely sad when he leaves them, but find hope and comfort in their memories and also the gifts that badger has wisely given them before he dies. Their memories let badger live on.
This book is a bit of a tear jerker for the grown ups (unfortunately one of the traps of these kinds of books) but it is poignant and gently told. Highly appropriate for explaining the death of an older person – may not be so relevant for a more sudden loss.
2. Old Pig (Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks)
This is an Australian title and an award winner by Margaret Wild with gorgeous illustrations by Ron Brooks (of Bunyip of Berkley Creek and John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat). With the backdrop of the passing seasons, the story of Old Pig and Granddaughter unfolds. They live together and share everything. As the winter approaches, so does the inevitable passing of Old Pig. It is subtle, tender, gentle and beautifully illustrated. It is a book for the 4+ age group and its subtlety may be lost on some. Again it is more appropriate for explaining the loss of an older person – Old Pig has time to put her affairs in order and say goodbye to her life.
3. Lifetimes – or Beginnings and Endings with Lifetimes in Between (Bryan Mellonie and Robert Ingpen)
With the decline of religion in many of our lives, it becomes harder to find solace in the loss of a loved one. How do we take away any meaning – and try to convey this to our children? Lifetimes by Bryan Mellonie with illustrations from the wonderful Robert Ingpen (mentioned here just recently) is a book that goes some way to finding a religion-free, yet meaningful pathway through the topic of life: beginning, middle and end. And the book does exactly that, it takes nature and explains that everything has a life, a beginning and an end, with a lifetime in between – from the shortest life of a butterfly to the long life of a tree. Although abstract in nature, this book has a more general application and celebrates the lifetime – the living of life - which I think can be of some comfort to the grieving.
There are a host of other books out there for trying to explain death to children – inevitably it will be hard to find one that perfectly describes your situation at the time, but I hope one of the above might prove useful.
My last recommendation is for the grown ups – but it might help with the kids too.
4. Coping with Grief (Mal McKissock and Dianne McKissock)
This little book is really inexpensive ($11.95), written in Australia. It is a sensible, practical workbook to help you through the process of grieving. It has a section on Children and Grief and also has advice about how to cope with anniversaries, special dates and how to get support. A really good book to have on hand or to give to those grieving – it should be on all our bookshelves.
I hope this post doesn’t seem too much of a downer – I am taking comfort from the fact that the wonderful world of books has something for every moment in our lives, from the saddest to the most joyous and if we immerse ourselves in books the whole world is at our disposal!
[Editor's note... Sarah's post has reminded me that at the time Rowan's grandma died, we used a lovely book, which is perfectly pitched at the under 4 age-group. I'm adding it here as the final book in our Top 5 books on this topic.]
5. Ethan: What Happened to My Little Brother (Lisa White)
This little paperback has the look of a self-published edition, with simple line drawings and somewhat unconventional layout. But it is one of the best little books I’ve seen to help explain death to a toddler. It has been well-researched, adhering to the generally accepted advice available from early childhood and parenting experts. Toddlers are particularly prone to fears for their own death or the death of their mother or father after experiencing the death of a loved one, and this book helps to allay those feelings. It tells the story of the death of a little brother, who dies as a newborn in hospital. And although it depicts this particular scenario, we found it straightforward to adapt the story to our own situation of an older person dying after an illness. As part of the story, it includes a number of ideas for saying goodbye - such as letting off helium balloons and planting a tree - that younger children will be able to relate to. It might be a little hard to find a copy of this one, but it can be ordered direct from the publisher or via Seekbooks.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming
and so many more...always hard to pick just 5. I am reading Mo Wren, Lost & Found by Tricia Springstub and loving it and also The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Sigh. How to choose?
Okay for Now by Schmidt
Icefall by Kirby
Bigger Than a Bread box by Snyder
Sidekicks by Ferraiolo
A Monster Calls by Ness
I also loved Mo Wren, Lost and Found even more than the first one!