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Are We There Yet? Written by Nina Laden Illustrated by Adam McCauley Chronicle Books   3/01/2016 978-1-4521-3155-9 32 pages    Ages 3—6 “We’ve all been there. Or more accurately, we’ve all been with kids in the backseat clamoring (over and over!) Are we there yet?” [back cover] Review It’s time for a trip to grandma’s. …

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Claude at the Beach

by Alex T. Smith

Peachtree Publishers        4/01/ 2014

978-1-56145-703-8

Age 7 to 9           96 pages

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“Claude and Sir Bobblysock pack their bags and go on vacation to the beach. After carefully squirting sunscreen from the tip of his nose to the toes of his sensible shoes, Claude is ready for a relaxing day on the sand. Things do not always go as planned, however, and soon he finds himself rescuing a man from a shark, competing in a sand-castle-building contest and hunting for pirate treasure!”

Opening

“At 112 Waggy Avenue, behind a tall front door with a big brass knocker, lives Claude.”

The Story

Claude and Sir Bobblysock live with Mr. and Mrs. Shinyshoes. Each day, after the couple head off to work—at precisely half past eight—Claude and his best friend, Sir Bobblysock, head out for an adventure. Today is a beach day. Wearing his favorite red sweater, Claude packs his travel case, pops on his beret, and leaves the house with Sir Bobblysock hopping behind him.

The beach is busy with lots of things to do. Claude spreads his blanket and Sir Bobblysock falls fast asleep. Wanting to fit in with those at the beach, Claude put on his beach attire, and covered himself in sunscreen and whipped cream—for the beret. This is the normal part of Claude’s beach adventure. From then on, the day took a few strange turns.

There was a shout from the sea, a preoccupied lifeguard, and a hungry shark. A sand castle contest, fantastical castles, and a surprise win. A pirate family invitation, a treasure map, and a small rouge pirate, carrying a big sword, and looking for a lampshade. Claude and Sir Bobblysock must make it home. Mr. and Mrs. Shinyshoes expect to find Clause asleep in his bed. Would Claude and Sir Bobblysock make it home in time? What will be their next adventure?

Review

Claude at the Beach follows on the heels of at the Circus and in the City. Claude goes off on a new adventure, not sure what to do, having never been to the beach. For a first timer—and a dog—Claude finds ways to fit in and even to excel, when he is not causing a bit of trouble. Sir Bobblysock experienced this new adventure as easily as he did the last two.

I like the air of innocence Claude projects, right before he pulls off some heroic act, then goes off for ice cream, and as if what he did, he does every day. How he does this is amusing as much as it is amazing. Wearing water wings and Mr. Shinyshoes’ underwear for a bathing trunk (held up with duct tape), Claude looks like he should be back at the circus. His perseverance is enviable as is his imaginative reactions. If only cats would act more like Claude.

The illustrations look more like graphic art than chapter book images. I like the black and white and red illustrations. The red adds a bit of color to the scenes and diverts your eye to certain areas of the image. The characters remind me of French movies. The clothes and the exaggerated actions reinforce this idea. I think kids will like these digitally created characters and their crazy antics.

Claude at the Beach is as hilarious as the third book. Many times the first book is terrific and those that follow it, eh, not so hot. This is not true of Claude. His adventures are fresh, hilarious, goofy, and over-the-top extravaganzas that are great reads for beginning chapter book readers. Claude and Sir Bobblysock make the most unlikely team, but work well, with Claude doing most of the work. Sir Bobblysock rallies Claude on, as he creates adventures kids will like to read.

CLAUDE AT THE BEACH. Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 by Alex T. Smith. Reproduce by permission of the publisher, Peachtree publishers, Atlanta, GA.

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Learn more about the Claude series HERE.

Claude in the City

Claude at the Circus

  Claude on the Slopes
(coming Fall 2014)

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Buy Claude at the Beach at Amazon—B&N—Peachtree Publishers—your local bookstore.

Meet the author/illustrator, Alex T. Smith, at his website:  http://alextsmith.blogspot.com/

Find more books at the Peachtree Publishers website:    http://peachtree-online.com/ 

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Also by Alex T. Smith

Foxy Tales – The Cunning Plan

Hector and the Big Bad Knight

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5 Stars Santa’s Eleven Months Off Mike Reiss Michael G, Montgomery Peachtree Publishing 32 Pages   Ages: 4 to 8 (+) Cover & Jacket:  From December first through Christmas, Santa Claus got down to business, making fifty zillion toys for the world’s good girls and boys. All that month, he worked his rear off. Then he [...]

Vacations and short breaks away from our work give us a chance to rest and recuperate from our daily immersion in water. Without our goggles, we can view our work with a new perspective. We can let our mind relax, step out of routines, and explore new pathways. We can rest on the side of the pool or float on a raft instead of swimming. There’s a certain pleasure in feeling the

I'm a little nuts: I love packing and planning for trips. Our recent family trip to Paris was no exception. Here are five little investments I'm so glad I bought and brought:

1. My red Merrell Lorelei shoes. Half sneaker, half sports shoe, all cute, these were SO comfortable. The red, surprisingly, went with almost everything. Or at least I thought I did, so that's what matters! There I am, at left, posing as if for a Merrell shoe commercial...!

2. The Rick Steves Paris guidebook. Not only are there great tips about transportation, how to order food in French, and travelling with kids, but there are FANTASTIC walking tours. We used the Historic Paris, Left Bank and Monmartre tours. I felt like I was getting an insider's view of Paris. And I left feeling like I hadn't missed any of the essentials in those areas. You can actually preview some of those tours on his website, and also download free audio tours of Paris and Versailles. I didn't even try those--since we had kids riding along it didn't seem realistic to pop earbuds in for an hour-long tour. But I bet they're as awesome as the book.

3. My PacSafe TourSafe Travel tote. At a steep (at least for me) $100, I was reluctant. But I wanted a biggish zipping tote with theft protection--and one that was at least a little cute. This more than delivered. It has ant-slashing fabric and handles, plus zippers that are tough for someone to open without you noticing (say, on the Metro). The side outside pockets were especially awesome--big enough for a large Vittell bottle or a decent-sized umbrella. Here is a shot of me descending the Sacre Coeur dome steps, carrying that tote... and even managing a smile. The straps were so comfy that I barely noticed I was dragging around my thick guidebook and all that random mommy stuff like...

4. Wet Ones Wipes in 20-sheet travel packs. I thought I was done with these things since my kid is nearly a second grader, but I brought them along and I was so glad I did. Public bathrooms were frequently lacking soap, and we also made a lot of meals out of ice cream and crepes purchased from streetside vendors. I felt like a champion mama everytime I broke one of these babies out for the kids.

5. At the risk of being a PacSafe shill, I also loved my Toursafe Petite handbag, which was basically a reddish mini version of the travel tote. I scored mine on deep discount (about $30) from eBags. It had the same antitheft features as my tote, but this one converts from a shoulder bag to a crossbody. It was also small enough to pass the "small bag" requirement of some places in France, including Versailles. The tote would have been too big. Here, at left, I am at a pond in Versailles, with my purse (and those red shoes!) I have no idea what thing I am contentedly gazing at. That is pretty much the happy look I had on my face the entire time at Versailles, which was one of my very favorite spots we explored!

Coming soon: 5 spots around Paris where your kid WILL be glad they came...

Dear Friends,


Beginning with our move to Harbor Springs, Michigan in April to my road trip to Philadelphia in May to a bevy of creative activities both personal and professional this spring...I've barely had time to catch my breath, but catch it I have. Breath after breath of "Pure Michigan" air...and it is so good for me! 

After our awesome trip and then an intense day-job trip, I spent almost 3 weeks in a row without writing. That's a very long time for me.

And now, I pay.

I like my current project. But I can't make myself sit down and WRITE IT (see how I'm blogging instead?). I feel like I was carrying a very heavy stone around, and then I set it down for a break--and the last thing I can imagine doing is picking that stone back up, let alone carrying it around. 

I'm not going to pretend I have fantastic tips for how to get back in the writing groove. I even googled, trying to find some tips to share--and instead found myself enraged by tips like "get plenty of sleep" and "take the time to stock  your fridge". 

Here's what I'm going to try.

1. Treat myself to some new music. I love writing to soundtracks, so I think I'll buy a new one that gets my energy and inspiration flowing.

2. Revisit / revise my synopsis. Even though this is my least favorite part of writing, it should give me a chance to remember the overarching themes and plot of the story before I dive back into writing chapters. 

3. Do not stint on chocolate. Now is not the time to be worrying about a post-vacation diet. Chocolate makes me happy. Chocolate makes me write. And so I will be treating myself while I work. 

How do you get back in the creating/working mode when you've been away from your desk for awhile?

We recently got back from a wonderful 7-night cruise of the Mediterranean, starting in Barcelona and going to Cannes, Cinque Terre, Rome, Naples, Mallorca and then back to Barcelona. And yes, we brought our six year old along. I think some of our friends thought we were nuts, but it was a great trip with him. That being said... here are my top 5 tips for bringing a first grader along on such a trip:

1. People will tell you that Rome is hot and crowded in the summer. You will likely say "OK, thanks for the tip." But you will not understand what they were trying to tell you until you are shoulder-to-shoulder at the Trevi fountain, hoping nobody pings you in the head with a penny. (See that elbow in the below shot at the fountain? I did not know that dude at all but I suspect I am also in HIS Trevi fountain photo...). I know everyone in our group found it overwhelming, even the adults. But to be a foot or two shorter than everyone else, in that kind of crowd, is especially scary, I think. We got in and out as fast as we could.

2. Unless a guided tour is especially for kids, it's probably not going to engage them. Exhibit A: our six year old repeatedly dabbing the blood from his loose tooth on his tie-dye (thank God) t-shirt for about a half hour during our Colosseum tour. I don't think he picked up a single word of the tour! But he did manage to leave behind a drop or two of blood on the floor of the Colosseum. Just like the gladiators, I told myself... (erp). 

3. Cruising on a ship with a great kids' program (we did the Disney ship) is worth every penny. Little Dude cheerfully stayed for most of a day at the Oceaneer Lab while we hiked Cinque Terre, and again when we toured Sorrento and Pompeii. He also dashed off to the Lab as soon as he finished dinner, which let us drink coffee and have dessert without worrying about his patience unravelling.

4. Bring Clif bars or other tasty meal-replacement bars with you when you're in port. This was a lifesaver one day that we got tapas in Barcelona. There was nothing that interested Little Dude except plain bread--but since he ate a Clif bar instead, I didn't worry that he was starving. Of course a regular course of gelato in every port helps with this too!

We also pumped that kid full of lemon Fanta. I'm not proud but I'm not apologetic either. If that was the fuel it took to keep him smiling and marching down Las Ramblas... I'm buying. Even if it's ten bucks for a liter. (The straw provided about an hour of entertainment too...)

5. The best ports for Little Dude were the ones without a Big Plan--ones where we could wander and discover things. For him, at least, a leisurely pace was the best. This of course is exactly counter to what most of us do when we have ONE DAY IN A PORT GO RUN GO HURRY MUST NOT MISS THINGS! For example, we had a great time just playing in the water at the beach by the Cannes ferry terminal (at right). 

If you have the chance to go on a big overseas trip but think your elementary-age child is too young, I say GO FOR IT. Just be ready to make space for their needs and pace in your travel plans. It's totally worth it.

I've written before about my love-hate relationship with deep water (http://crossyourts.blogspot.com/2010/05/deep-water.html).  Add in the fact that - after the Japan tsunami - news in our region focused repeatedly on the fact that our beautiful coast was in the same geological boat as Japan - but less prepared - and I must admit to some lost sleep in the nights leading up to our coastal Spring break vacation. 

Like many families, summertime for us often means traveling by car for long distances. (I’ve learned that going anywhere in Texas means traveling a long distance.)

This summer I re-read an old post on writing while traveling and decided to practice what I preached. I packed the laptop and my novel notes, and we took off.

The Realities

Did I like working on a laptop in the front seat of a compact car? No. I don’t like typing with my elbows close to my waist or trying to find angles where the sun won’t glint off the screen. Happily, we were driving in the dark a good bit of the time, so the sun wasn’t a huge problem.

Did I like writing with the radio blaring? No–I like total quiet to write. Despite the less-than-ideal writing conditions, I was able to write a whole chapter going and half a chapter on the way home. That was about 4,200 new words of a rough draft. If I hadn’t written, what would I have done otherwise? Daydreamed. Napped. Stared out the window.

Additional Benefits

Besides getting the words down, the words written in the car will be very helpful to me later today. When I sit down to write, I won’t have to go back and see what I wrote three days ago and try to remember the emotions of that scene or where I was headed with it. It’s still fresh in my mind from writing in the car last night. I can pick up where I left off with little trouble.

(By the way, I readily admit that writing with no small children in the car is MUCH easier! When my children were little and I didn’t own a laptop, my writing in the car was done with pencil and notebook, using a flashlight after dark. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!)

Dare to Be Flexible

All our best laid plans for setting up a writing schedule can go out the window during the summertime. We don’t live on islands, but instead in families that require our flexibility. So learn to build that flexibility into your writing life.

By all means, have a set schedule and a favorite place that is most conducive for your writing. But learn to go with the flow too–and fit the writing in whenever and wherever you can. Later, you’ll be glad you did!

During the summer and vacation time, what are some other places you’ve discovered that you can write? I’d love to hear about them.

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell

When Gen’s mother signs the family up for Camp Frontier, they don’t know what they are getting into.  Now they must live like they are 1890s pioneers.  Which means wearing authentic clothing, cooking on a wood burning stove, milking cows, raising chickens, and living in a tiny cabin in the woods with an outhouse.  All of their electronics are confiscated when they enter camp, but Gen manages to sneak in her cell phone.  From there, she texts her best friends one of whom turns her texts into a blog for an assignment.  All is not dull work on the prairie, there is handsome Caleb who seems interested in Gen but might like Nora, the daughter of the owners better, and then there is the competition between the families and the drive to not keep being in last place.  Maybe this family bonding thing isn’t so bad after all.

Bell has created a book with a sharp wit and yet a homely warmth.  Gen is a great protagonist whose texts are fun to read.  Bell also has a feel for humor with the killer chickens and the cow milking scene.  Both are worth reading the novel for.  She writes best when dealing with modern teens juxtaposed with the world of 1890.  Bell’s writing is stilted in other scenes where there isn’t humor.  Her scenes with Nora and Caleb don’t flow with the same effortlessness as her humor.

Another issue is her characterization of the secondary characters.  Caleb, the love interest, is rather dull and quite normal though nice.  I don’t see why Gen who is bright, funny and complex would be entranced by this boy.  Nora, the homeschooled daughter of the proprietors, is also a disappointment.  Left to be rather cardboard and mean, she could have been a great example of a homeschooled kid.  Instead, she is envious and lonely.  What a missed opportunity she was a character!

One of the big successes of the book is that it never becomes a moral story about the dangers of modern technology and the isolation of modern family life.  Just as the book was approaching that, it veered into an unexpected direction that kept the novel fresh and interesting.

Despite the issues with the book, I could not put it down.  The humor and Gen kept me reading.  Recommended for readers who enjoyed Little House on the Prairie but also modern teens who wonder what would happen if their cell phones, iPods and computers were taken away.  Appropriate for ages 12-14.

Reviewed from ARC received from Bloomsbury.

Also reviewed by Semicolon.

Nothing like summer memories! And if you are like Luke there is the one place that you hunger to return to summer after summer. For him it is the cottage at the lake. Every year he and his parents escape for two weeks. Luke tells about those weeks starting when he is 13, then 14, then 15 and finally 16. The lake is the same each year. Are the neighbors? Is Luke? I am not even going farther. I do not want to spoil it for you. But you will laugh, grit your teeth, and hope for the best for Luke and his take on the world!


ENDERS Rating: hard to put down!

One of the great side-effects of homeschooling/having an entrepreneurial husband is that you can wake up one day and say, "Let's go to the beach."

Laguna Beach, CA to be exact. Ahhhhhh. Beautiful. Rejuvenating. Warm. Peaceful.

Perfect.

(More about our trip to come.)

Since it’s August, most of us are thinking about vacations. We live on the Jersey Shore, so it’s not like we don’t see vacationers all around us. They are the families who look really, really stressed at the beach with little kids running around and plastic toys spilling everywhere. Since we live here, they are kind of a seasonal oddity to us along with ticks and mosquitoes.

Of course, we want to go on vacation, too. While I was teaching and working on fall syllabi, I decided the kids should have some kind of vacation until we leave for Virginia in a few days. There’s a campground a few miles from us, so I went on a mining expedition in the basement and found a brand new tent. I remember buying this tent about ten years ago while in a postpartum haze with Emma strapped to me in one of those cotton papoosey slings. I had no idea what I was thinking at the time since I can barely stand in the yard for fifteen minutes before the bugs and the humidity get to me.

“What is that?” Christopher asked as I dragged it up from the basement.

“A tent. I think we should go camping.”

“Camping.” He looked at me for a second. “Mom, do you sit around and think up these ideas for us? And don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s like you’re getting early dementia. Your ideas are getting worse and worse.”

“I don’t have dementia because I want you guys to get close to nature. It would be good for you to leave your computer and video games for a night. I think you should consider it.”

“So now, exactly why do you want us to pretend we’re homeless?”

I never looked at camping in quite that way. But I decided to put the tent up in the backyard. Maybe if they fooled around with the tent back there, they would want to go to the campgrounds.

Now I have never put up a tent before, and this slept four so it wasn’t that big. Emma had a couple of friends over and we took the box and some poles out to the backyard.

We struggled for about half an hour. One of the girls looked at the box. “There’s a door!” she exclaimed, “I don’t see a door on this tent.”

“Maybe we have to cut a door,” the other girl suggested, “you know, just cut it out.”

“Really?” I asked, “I never saw anyone do that,” I said. "They just zip them, don't they?"

“I think the door appears magically once the tent is up,” Emma suggested hopefully. "Remember the closet to Narnia?"

I looked at Emma. “I think I better see if there are directions.”

Of course there weren’t. The box was nearly ten years old, and it had been snooped in a few times and there were no directions. I stared at the box for a few minutes trying to figure out what went where.

We were still out there without a tent when Philip and a friend came into the yard.

“Oh,” Friend said, “we used to camp all the time. I love putting tents up!”

After a few minutes, Friend looked at me. “Umm, you know why this isn’t working?”

We all looked at her blankly.

“You guys are putting the tarp up. This is only the piece you put up when it rains. This isn’t a tent.”

We did find the tent in another part of the basement. Philip and his friend put it up. No one went near it. It's still out there, now being used as a trampoline for our psychotic squirrels. I am waiting for that friend to return because I have absolutely no idea how to disassemble the thing.

We have found a lovely hotel in Virginia where you slide a card into a slot to get to your room.

I think that’s a really good idea for me.

Vacation fun! This is 'Tea for two'.
Sorry I'm behind on posts, but I'm trying to keep up.
Debbie

Well, this isn't what I did on my summer vacation. It's what Teen and Teen's Best Friend did - designed and built a giant paper mache dinosaur, which they then pulled through the local parade.

Now we're all at my mom's house. Her health is so much better than it was in March. [Full disclosure: if you or a family member is on statins and begin to have problems with muscle weakness and pain - have it evaluated immediately. In rare cases, it causes side effects that may be fatal. Thank goodness my mom got off it in time.]

Yesterday we hit all these gourmet food places - Rougue Creamery, Lilli Belle Chocolates, and then Pete's Gourmet Marshmallows, which I had read about. It's like the marshmallows to the stars or something. The guy moved here from LA because Medford, OR has the perfect low humidity. Embarassingly, it turned out not to be a retail operation, but the guy - Pete himself! - was charming and offered us a tour. He gave us a ton of marshmallows and even a huge container of melted chocolate and wooden skewers for dipping. I said I wanted to buy something, and he very sincerely said I didn't have to. But I felt kind of guilty - we had a mountain of marshmallows - so I bought what turned out to be some very expensive cocoa and marshmallows. Presumably the stars can afford it.

Portland is not feeling the effects of the housing slump so much, but here the paper is full of foreclosure notices, and when I went for a walk with my brother and his family we saw houses where the yard was full of weeds, houses where the price had dropped 25% and still had no takers, and houses where notices had been stapled to the door about how the bank was trying to determine if anyone was living there. Scary stuff.