The Hunger Games. 2008. Suzanne Collins

Published by Scholastic, Inc
Date: October 2008
Age: 12 & up
374 pages

In what is left of North America, the rich Capitol city is surrounded by 12 Districts who are forced to support it. The Capitol keeps the 12 districts in line through poverty, starvation and terror with the crowning cruel tactic of the Hunger Games. (One boy and one girl ages 12-18 are randomly chosen from each of the 12 districts to participate in the The Hunger Games. It's a battle to the death leaving one lone survivor from the 24 children.) Smart, athletic sixteen-year-old Katniss with good survival instincts lives in District 12. When her little 12-year-old sister is chosen for the games, Katniss volunteers to take her place. A boy named Peeta is chosen from her district to go as well. Peeta has a secret that will change the games in a way no one anticipates. A tense, suspenseful, philosophical and surprisingly romantic story springs from the pages leaving you hungry for more.

The second book in the Hunger Games series is Catching Fire that is scheduled to be released September 1, 2009. The reviews I've read have said that the second book is wonderful and ends with quite a cliffhanger ending. AARGGH! The positive comments about how good Hunger Games is dead on. Don't miss this series.

A 2010 Young Adult Beehive Nominee

The Season. 2009. Sarah McLean

Publisher: Scholastic
Published March 2009
Age 12 - 16
336 pages

Seventeen-year-old Lady Alexandra Stafford has been dreading the time she is old enough to be presented in London for a social season. She can't imagine anything more boring than attending endless, crowded parties looking for some rich and respectable man to marry. Unfortunately, her mother has been looking forward to presenting her to London's social elite since Alex was born. Fortunately for Lady Alex, her best friends are coming-out with her as she uncovers plenty of danger, intrigue and romance between their dress fittings, lavish dinners, and dances.

I love Regency romances. The Season is classic Regency romance, and is a good introduction to historical romances for a young audience. I was worried that it might turn out to a "gossip girl" type book because of the cover. Whew....The Season turned out to not be a "gossip girl". (I'm not a big fan of reading about spoiled brats doing spoiled brat type stuff. The girls are wealthy, but not bratty.) Lady Alex did whine too much about how much she didn't like the parties and clothes at first, but slowed down when she discovered there was more to the adult world than she realized. I enjoyed the closeness of her family and her close friendships to Vivi and Ella. The mystery surrounding the Earl of Blackmoor added a little spice even though it was a little too predictable. A promising author of historical romances for teens. I'm looking forward to more.

Crocdile Safari. 2009. Jim Arnosky

Published by Scholastic, Inc.
March 2009
Age: 7 to 10
40 pages plus a DVD

Wildlife artist Jim Arnoksy takes us on ride through the mangrove creeks in the Florida Everglades to see how many of the elusive American crocodiles he can find. Diamondback rattlesnakes, toxic poisonwood trees, roseate spoonbills, and tree crabs are share the Florida Everglades with the crocodiles.

I love, love Jim Arnosky books. His gift as an artist and his love of wildlife comes through loud and clear in his books. He demonstrates the difference between alligators and crocodiles, how big crocs can grow and other interesting facts. (Jim Arnoksy likes to draw crocodiles best because of their teeth. SNAP!) A short DVD is included with the book where we are taken on boat ride to see the area (and creatures) that inspired the book. Jim Arnosky also sketches the image of a crocodile (and alligator) on paper. The area he traveled to find the crocodiles are in a public area that anyone curious enough can take a similar route as he did. Very cool and informative.

Beastly. 2007. Alex Flinn

Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: October 2007
Ages Young Adult
Pages 300

Fifteen-year-old Kyle Kingsbury has it all. He's gorgeous with plenty of money and lives in New York City with his famous father. Perfect. Life is wonderful until he meets a witch who changes his appearance to BEASTLY. Beastly is The Beauty and the Beast fairy tale told from the Beast's point of view.

I really liked this story, but I have a problem with the characters being so young. Find your true love at fifteen or sixteen? RIGHT. The age works in a medieval fairy tale, but I had a hard time swallowing the young age in a modern story. While many elements with the original story were kept, some elements that has never made sense were fixed. For instance the father was a drug addict who willingly dumped his daughter on the Beast to get out of a robbery charge makes more sense than a decent father exchanging his daughter's freedom for his. (The author discusses problems with the fairy tale at the end of the story.)

I liked reading the fairy tale from the Beast's point-of-view. He and his before friends are very sleazy and cruel. The before and after changes in Kyle was done well and makes the changes well earned. I also liked the bigger role the witch has in this story. A good fairy tale re-telling.

2010 Young Adult Fiction Beehive Nominee

A Mouse Storytime

Books


Tiny's Big Adventure by Martin Waddell - Katy Mouse teaches her younger brother, Tiny, the names of some of the things they see, including a boot, a snail, and a pheasant, when they go to the cornfield to play games.








Mother, Mother I want Another by Maria Polushkin Robbins - Mrs. Mouse is anxious to get her son to sleep and goes off to find what she thinks he wants. Just as Mrs. Mouse kisses baby mouse goodnight, he cries, "Mother, Mother, I want another!" His concerned mama rushes off to invite other mothers-Mrs. Duck, Mrs. Frog, Mrs. Pig, and Mrs. Donkey-to help put her son to bed.




Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh - Ten mice outsmart a hungry snake.

(An idea from a co-worker suggested to buy 10 cat play mouse toys and attach magnetic strips to them. Kids help count the mice during the story.)





The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood - Little Mouse worries that the big, hungry bear will take his freshly picked, ripe, red strawberry for himself.




Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young - Retells in verse the Indian fable of the blind men discovering different parts of an elephant and arguing about its appearance. The illustrations depict the blind arguers as mice.







Poem
Boing! Boing! Squeak! by Jack Prelutsky - A great poem to clap with that is about a mouse. (It is found in The New Kid on the Block)

Song
Five Little Mice
(Tune - "Five Little Ducks')

Five Little mice went out to play
Through the field and far away

Mama mouse called,
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
One little mouse played hide-n-seek!

(Repeat with four, three, two and one.
Then sing)

Five little mice played hide-and-seek
Didn't come home when their mama squeaked.

But the when the big cat started to hiss.
They all ran home as quick as this.
(Snap fingers)

Instrument Activity with Hickory Dickory Dock

(Have kids shake bells to the beat of the nursery rhyme)

Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck ONE*
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock

Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck TWO*
The mouse said OOHHHH!
Hickory dickory dock

Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck THREE*
The mouse went Wheeee!
Hickory dickory dock

Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck FOUR*
The mouse said, "NO MORE!"
Hickory dickory dock

(*Instead of using instruments clap how many times the clock strikes)

Craft
Lollipop Mice

(This is an easy craft that works well for Valentines Day or a mouse storytime.)

1. Cut a heart shape from construction paper that measures about 5 inches at the widest part.

2. Fold the heart in half to form the mouse's body then staple or glue together the edges from the nose to the back. Leave a space open at the tail end.

3. For ears, cut out two small hearts from construction paper. Fold them in half and glue them on both sides of the body. Draw on eyes.

4. Place a lollipop into the body so that stick becomes the tail with the pop inside.

Copied from Family Fun

Blog Improvement #12 Halfway Done

I haven't done much with the Blog Improvement Challenge the last couple of months. I stopped in April, but I would like to see what projects are coming up. This is what I have done so far....

* I've been better at commenting on other blogs, but I haven't had time to read many blogs lately so commenting has gone way down.

* I wanted to seek out good children's and teen author blogs, and I found a few I like. I don't want to add too many to my Google Reader. I don't have time to read what I already have on my Reader. Cleaning up my Goggle Reader is a project that needs to be done soon.

* I have changed and cleaned up the look of my blog. I added the Buchwald quote, the blog post categories, updated my profile and added tips on pre-reading to my sidebar that I like. I still want to tweak my blog layout. One of my kids drew the bookworm I use for my profile.

* I'm liking my book reviews on the short side. It still takes a while to write them, but not as much.

* I love writing out a preschool storytime. I am getting lots of hits on the preschool storytime posts.

* Keeping a notebook has been abandoned.

Questions that Kim from BIP has asked about Blog Improvement

1. What BIP task have you liked most? The Bingo was fun even though I didn't complete it. Least (including ones you have skipped)? Social media. It was interesting to find out about all the different types social media available, but yikes - I can barely keep up with what I have.
   
2. Which tasks have been the most helpful? Adding a different type of post was helpful. I also liked the tasks that helped me explore blog basics and what visitors are looking for. Least helpful? Hmmmm
   
3. What are the top three things you still would like to work on this year? a. I liked the suggestions Becky made about book review policies (how many pages, quotes, etc.) and blog design. b. I would also like to find out how to better use sites like statcounter or webmaster tools that tracks traffic on blogs. c. A blog clean up is due as well. d. Stop stressing about the blog. Blogging needs to fun again. e. I'm also considering blogging with one of my sisters. We've just talked about it, and I think it would be fun to do. I wouldn't be able to blog at work anymore though.
   
4. Are there any blogging-related topics you feel like you know a lot about and would be willing to write a BIP guest task on? I need to spend more time blogging before I could do this.
5. Any other comments about the BIP? Thank you Kim - blog improvement (or blog basics in my case) is a great idea. I have learned things about blogs that would have taken me forever to learn on my own.

The Roar. 2009. Emma Clayton

Published by Scholastic, Inc.
April 2009
Ages - 10 to 14
481 pages

Mika lives behind a huge, well guarded wall where people are safe from the aftermath of the horrible Animal Plague. Animals were infected with a man-made plague that caused all the vegetation to be destroyed in order to get rid of all the animals. Life outside the wall is suicide. Twelve-year-old Mika is grimly hanging on to his belief that his twin sister is not dead like everyone has told him. Mika takes a chance to play the violent arcade game the government is actively recruiting players for in the slum he lives in. He feels there is a connection between the game and the truth about his sister. The first book in a series.

A rip-roaring adventures that leaves your heart in your throat from the first page. I've read a few others (including my sister) say The Roar is for those who are not quite ready for Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. It's an exciting adventure with a cliffhanger ending that will hopefully have a sequel coming soon. Highly recommended for tweens looking for science fiction, adventure or speculating on what the future might hold.