Of Books and Boys and Other Stuff » mr. e

Book Look: Cracker!: the Best Dog in Vietnam

W.H. Beck — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:59:27 +0000

Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata

Cracker starts out life as a championship show dog, but then a broken leg sends her to twelve-year-old Willie and his family as a pet. But when Willie can’t keep her, she becomes a U. S. Army dog, assigned to newly-enlisted teenager, Rick Hanski. And there, they bond so tightly that they both end up surviving the horrors of the Vietnam War.

Mr. E and I loved this book, although I think it was for very different reasons. It was a hard sell for me at first. The style it’s written in reminded me of books from when I was kid. More description, more characters, more shifts of points of view, more…distance from what is happening. I’m not sure how to describe it. But it took me a while to connect to the story. And, anyway, it didn’t seem to bother Mr. E in the least. He loved the action and the single-mindedness of Cracker. I loved this window into the Vietnam War. There aren’t many kids’ books that are set in Vietnam during the war (I think I’ve only read Fallen Angels) and because of that, it was powerful and eye-opening for both of us. It also made Mr. E and I give our two dogs some extra loving every night. Even if they barely come when they are called, much less sniff out booby traps and save hundreds of lives.

Book Look: When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton

W.H. Beck — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:34:46 +0000

With its moody, atmospheric cover, When the Whistle Blows may not be the first book boys and kids will reach for. Mr. E was skeptical when I first brought it home as our next read-together. But it didn’t take much convincing. As soon as I mentioned football championships, tricking the nasty school principal, and Halloween pranks gone awry, he was willing to give it a chance. Then we read the first chapter (we always read the first chapter and rank it from 1-10. Anything higher than a 6 from both of us gets a second chapter read). Chapter One was a secret society meeting with a corpse on All Hallow’s Eve! We were hooked.

Of course, that’s not all When the Whistle Blows is about. It’s also about a small railroad town on the brink of extinction with the coming of the diesel engines. It’s about a headstrong boy growing up. And mostly, it’s about a son learning to love and respect his father as a person. In fact, it was some of these deeper themes that made Mr. E stumble. He’s used to reading books with clear-cut obvious conflicts and goals: a quest to get the golden chalice!, defeat the evil villain and save the world as we know it!, solve the mystery before the clock runs out! When we finished When the Whistle Blows, Mr. E paused and said, “I liked it, but I don’t really get what that book was about. I mean, I know what Jimmy wanted in each chapter, but what was the point of the whole book?” And then we proceeded to have a wonderful conversation about characters and people changing and growing up. It was lovely. Thank you, Fran Cannon Slayton.

More About When the Whistle Blows

Book Look: The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook

W.H. Beck — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:40:38 +0000

The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Out of the huge stack of books my boys collected at the ALA conference last week, this was the very first one that Mr. E (10) picked up and devoured. I know why. With science gadgets you wish were real, a secret club with a way cool hideout/lab in a hidden basement, and three underdog kids saving the world from an evil genius–all told in a graphic novel format by the creator of the Geisel-honor Stinky, no less–it basically screams “boy book!” But even better, it lived up to all Mr. E’s expectations because he wasn’t letting go of it until he got to the last page.

When I got my hands on it, I had to agree with him. Besides all the cool stuff mentioned above, there’s lots of humor and details in the illustrations and three main characters who, despite their outward differences, really let their mutual love for science shine through. (There are really not enough books out there where the science stars and math whizzes get to be the heroes.)

Can’t wait to put it on my library shelves and watch other kids snatch it up.

View all my reviews >>

Of Boys and Books and Brains

W.H. Beck — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:31:13 +0000

Mr. E: [crunching breakfast] You know how boys aren’t smart at school?

Me: [slightly panicky and defensive] Huh? What do you mean? Boys are just as smart as girls.

Mr. E: Well, you know how boys in books are never “the smart ones?”

Me: Hmmm.

And this little conversation has got me thinking. He’s kind of right. You know, there’s Harry, who’s smart….but then there’s Hermione, who’s brilliant. Where are the smart boys? In recent books? So far I’m coming up with brave boys, boys willing to take a stand, resourceful boys, clever boys, but none who are just the plain, straight-A, good-at-school, “smart ones.”

I know they’re out there. Can you help me out with a list?

Keeping Our Critters

W.H. Beck — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:04:51 +0000

My mom’s a genius. (Most moms are—it just takes a while for us to realize it). Look what she made my kids for the lake.

Mr. E and the Critter Keeper

We’re calling it a “critter keeper.”

Some background: our cabin is very much a “cabin” and not a “cottage”. In other words, there’s no carpet, cutesy northwoods décor, or even a TV or a phone. It’s much more akin to camping than what most people call their “cabins.”

At the cabin, Mr. E and Colonel Mustard love sloshing around the weedy, muddy shore in their tall boots, exploring, fishing, and catching things. For the last few years, we had an old aquarium that we’d fill with water. They kept their critters there—snakes, toads, frogs, salamanders, fish, water bugs, you name it, for the weekend. But it was a pain to fill the tank, and we’d always worry about adding fresh water to it, feeding whatever was in it, or if it was in the sun and the captives were getting too warm. Not to mention that it had a big crack in it and we were waiting for the day it’d break.

But no more! Nana came through with the critter keeper, which she ingeniously designed out of some window screen, garden stakes, and a chain. She sewed a loop around the bottom, threaded the chain through, sewed the screen in a circle, and added sleeves for the stakes. There’s no bottom. All you do is unroll it and stake it where you want it—land or water. The weight of the chain pulls the screen down to the bottom. Of course, it’s not perfectly escape-proof, but since we always release our animals anyway, we’re okay with the occasional fugitive. Now we’re got a pen for our finds that stays cool, keeps fresh water available, and even give the critters access to a snack or two—all in their natural environment. And when we’re done, we pull up the stakes and roll it up for the next weekend.

Thanks, Nana!

Aunt Ruby, Nana, Colonel Mustard and the Critter Keeper

Night Light

W.H. Beck — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:23:51 +0000

That’s a camping headlight he’s reading by. I’d scold him about getting to sleep, but I was exactly the same way when I was nine. Related posts:Keeping Our Critters Book #3 = Done Related posts:

Rick Riordan

W.H. Beck — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:13:31 +0000

This is the face of one happy kid. For an early birthday treat, Mr. E and I took a road trip to the Red Balloon Book Store in St. Paul to see Rick Riordan and pick up a copy of the final Percy Jackson, The Last Olympian. We got there early, but the room (it was in a church) was already packed. Packed with kids reading away. It warmed the cockles of my librarian heart.

Read a full overview of the night on Publishers Weekly Children’s Bookshelf.

So, what author would you drive 1 ½ hours and wait in a sweltering church to see on a school night?

Book #3 = Done

W.H. Beck — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 05:33:56 +0000

I always think it’s funny when people say they neglect housework for their writing. About the only time my house is clean is when I have a deadline hanging over my head. The more pressure, the more I dodge. And polish, and clean out closets, and bake, and just plain goof off. Here’s what ended up in my notebook one night instead of research notes.

It’s Mr. E, who fell asleep next to my while I was working. The funny thing about this sketch is how his ear is the focal point. I didn’t plan it that way; it’s just how he was sleeping. But it made it a challenge for me. Besides ears being tricky to draw, Mr. E is deaf. His ear–and the cochlear implant scar you see behind it–define him for many people. So it’s really a portrait in more ways that one.

(Um, okay. I guess I also ponder a lot when I should be finishing something up, too. But hey, now the manuscript’s turned in and my house is clean. It all worked out.)