Of Books and Boys and Other Stuff » booklist

The Super-Long Father’s Day List of Books

W.H. Beck — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:53:04 +0000

Image from BarelyFitz's Flickr Creative Commons

So, it was Father’s Day last Sunday. Per usual, I’m approximately 4 days behind the rest of the world’s calendar. That’s not to say I didn’t give my dad a hug on Sunday (we had him over for a cookout), but I didn’t exactly get his gift to him that day. I delivered it last night.

What do you give a dad who has everything? Who is retired and financially comfortable enough that he has the time and money to get and do whatever he’d like, when he’d like it*? Well, I’ve been giving him booklists. A few years ago, desperate for a gift, I gave him a bookmark with a list of books that sounded “like him.” He carried it around for a year and when he’d come in to volunteer at my school library (yes, he’s that great of a dad), he’d often have one of the books on the list under his arm. He wondered out loud to me once how I had compiled a list of so many great books that tickled his interest.

Ha! Finding books for readers is kinda what I do for a living, Dad. Probably my favorite part.

So, this year, it was time for a new list. And here it is: The Super-Long Father’s Day List of Books. It IS long, in no particular order, a strange mix of nonfiction, mystery, and science fiction/fantasy, and it includes some series halfway through because that’s where my dad is in them. I don’t know why I’m posting it here, except it’s books and it’s a list and I’m a librarian, so pass it on I must in the hopes that someone else somewhere might find their “just right” book.

Enjoy! (And please, I’m always looking for suggestions for next year’s list. Send them my way!)

* Not that he necessarily does. He’s pretty frugal, my dad. Which only makes gift-giving harder because if you give something too extravagant, it might be construed as, well…extravagant.

* I’ve already waxed on about my dad and reading here.

Favorite Reads of 2009

W.H. Beck — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:03:32 +0000

According to my bookshelf on Goodreads, I read 143 books in 2009. It’s actually more than that because I didn’t start adding to Goodreads until partway through the year. The rest of my list is here. But anyway… I gave 18 of them 5 stars. They are:

So you’d think these would be my favorites of 2009, right? Um, kind of. While I do still really like all of these books, when I consider my favorite-favorites, I always think about how much the book stuck with me. How much I remember it later. How much I’ve thought about it since I finished it. To me, those are the Truly Best Stories. And those are here:

And just in case you can’t read the covers, that’d be…

All the World

The Mistress of the Art of Death

One World, One Day

The Frog Scientist

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

When the Whistle Blows

Beka Cooper

The Dunderheads

Heart of a Shepherd

Ain’t Nothing But a Man

Ways to Live Forever

Home of the Brave

Fast Five: Holiday Read Alouds

W.H. Beck — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:30:04 +0000

I know, school’s already out for most of you, so this post is a little too late. But most of these books are not actually Christmas stories. Instead, they have broader themes of what it means to give and receive. So they can make wonderful read alouds any time of year, right?

(All titles guaranteed to bring contented sighs and/or applause when you finish them–and what’s a better holiday present than that?)

Silver packages: An Appalachian Christmas story by Cynthia Rylant

A poor boy never gets what he wants but always what he needs from the Christmas train in the Appalachians.

Lesson Notes

Find the Appalachians on the map and talk about what it’s like to live there (4th graders study US regions).
How is Frank paying back his debt?
Share photo of the Christmas Train today: http://www.soentpiet.com/images/silver%20packages%20railroad%20magazine.jpg.

The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau

A magical quiltmaker won’t give the greedy king a quilt until he gives away all his treasures. But will he even want it then?

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson

Stick Man must find his way back to his stick Lady Love, their stick children three, and the family tree.

Lesson Notes

Brainstorm what kinds of things sticks can be used for.
Have student help with the “I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, that’s me” chorus.

My Penguin Osbert by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Lesson Notes

Questions: What do we know about penguins? Have you ever wished for a present that wasn’t what you thought it’d be?
Color bookmarks from: http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/PenguinBookmark.htm. Students can list the books they read over break on the back.
Silly penguin video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-pDuBg1r-8.
Read Alikes:A Mother’s Journey, A Penguin Story, And Tango Makes Three, Antarctic Antics: a Book of Penguin Poems

Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming

Katje, living in war-devasted Holland in 1945, gets package from Rosie, who lives in America. As their long-distance friendship grows, their communities come together.

Lesson Notes

Find Indiana and Holland on the globe.
Read the setting on the inside cover. What was going on in the world in 1945?
Show pictures of Europe after the war:http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-med…
http://millerpla.net/wp-content/Pictures…

Fast Five: Read Alouds about…Chickens!

Trading Books for Bathrooms

W.H. Beck — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:48:46 +0000

I have a new gig. I’ve started reviewing for Booklist. Yes, I’ll be getting sneak peeks at new picture books! But what I’m really, REALLY excited about is that Booklist is going to be cleaning my bathrooms!

Huh, you say? Well, stick with me here….a while back I banned myself from all other kinds of writing except middle grade fiction so I could actually have time to write middle grade fiction. And then I publicly declared it–well, in front of Husband, anyway. So when this Booklist opportunity came up, he–in a chivalrous efforts to protect my writing time from myself–pointed out that writing reviews really wasn’t my Writing Goal. I said: yes, but!–how about if I take the money from the reviews to hire a house cleaner? In the amount of time I spent each week scouring toilet bowls (we have way too many. And way too many boys with bad aim. And somehow, I always get stuck doing them. <–I could do another whole post on THAT), I could instead be writing reviews. No Writing Goal time lost!

Isn’t this a brilliant plan? Especially because right now, my bathrooms rival any I saw and used in China. Ew.

(photo from Flickr creative commons–admiller)