MORE POSTS
Lip Service I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. Duke Ellington And oh, it does take energy and stubbornness, ‘cause if you laugh, you lose. My cousin warning “You don’t pull in that lip a little bird is gonna come along and do something on it.” The hero of […]
There was no new news yesterday. Not true, but easier than confessing that in the midst of our Summer Reading Party planning madness and a quickie viewing of Stardust last night (the thumbs have turned decidedly upward on that one) I’ve been lazyish. Here are a couple trifles in the meantime. The Wizard of Oz […]
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban. Harcourt, Inc. $16.00. On shelves September 1st. Humor is just so hard in children’s books. You either crash too hard on the adult side of the equation (see: The Manny Files) or you end up going too far the other direction and end up ridiculously scatological (see: […]
(CONTINUED FROM PART ONE) If the book has a problem it probably concerns the lack of dramatic tension. For example, one day Wheeler’s mildly pissed about something and yet the next time Zoe sees him she says, "I thought you might not come back here ever." It’s a rather extreme sentence considering the two of […]
Well, perhaps not lonely. But cold? You betcha. It’s positively autumnal which, let’s be frank, is the best possible weather. Unfortunately it’s also rainy in the Big Apple these days. Spirits being slightly dampened, let us see what the daily round-up can provide. Someday I may move to L.A. (a very great possibility). It’s just […]
If I were smart I’d save these for a day when I’m busy. But I can’t help it! Look at even MORE cool stuff I found! This will perhaps be of the most interest to school librarians. Know a teacher? Then check out the Chris Van Allsburg Writing Contest. Any classes in grades 2-8 can […]
Scribble by Deborah Freedman. Knopf (a Random House imprint). $15.99. On shelves now. I like "Scribble". No, I don’t think you understand. I reeeeeeally like "Scribble". I like its art and its style and its "message" (or whatever the equivalent term might be) and pretty much everything about it. The only problem with "Scribble" is […]
(CONTINUED FROM PART ONE) I found myself thinking about a couple things from Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics when I read this book. McCloud states that people who read comics identify more readily with cartoonish characters than the ones who look more realistic. In this book, Lucie and her sister are relatively realistic with the princess […]
Summer’s winding down. The wild look in your parental patrons’ eyes as they search desperately for any copies you might have of The Pigman and Me (32 holds and rising) isn’t going to go away for at least another week. My advice? Speak softly to them. Be kind. Find the items that you DO have […]
Several months ago The Longstockings played around with the idea of creating The Flappies; an award that would go to the best written flap copy on a book. If they ever feel like doing so again, I’d like to nominate the flap for E. Lockhart’s upcoming novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. I’m going […]