The Froggy Books
Weekly Low Down on Kids Books
Title: The Froggy Books
Author: Jonathan London
Illustrator: Frank Remkiewicz
If I never have to read another one of these books that would be fine by me! BUT, that’s not going to happen as the kiddo so kindly nominated these as the must read series for the last two weeks running.
I picked up ten titles in the series at the library and have not had a break from them since. She saw frogs on the cover, so frogs we had to have, and we checked out everything available in the series.
They aren’t bad, they’re very toddler friendly actually, I’m just tired. Any time Froggy goes somewhere he has to flop, flop, flop. When he puts on his clothes it’s with a lot of zips, zats, and znats. There are bonks and clangs, lots of “Froooooooogggggy!” and “Whaaaaaat!” exchanges between Froggy and his parents. Then of course, there’s that defining moment in each story when Froggy “more red in the face than green” discovers he’s doing something ridiculous.
The kiddo loves them and I cannot sit down to read a Froggy book without reading at least three Froggy books. This week, on multiple occasions, Froggy has gone to school, learned to swim, gone to bed, played T-ball, eaten out, gone to Hawaii, played in a band (kiddo’s favorite), gotten dressed (my least favorite), had the best babysitter, and had a sleepover.
They don’t have to be read in any particular order, but if you happen to find them in order you will definitely benefit. London does a good job of bouncing previous lines from previous stories into a later book. For instance, if we had not read Froggy Learns to Swim I would not have understood why in Froggy Goes to School the characters start chanting ‘bubble bubble toot toot chicken airplane soldier’ and think that it has anything to do with swimming. I guess I missed out on that swimming lesson as a child. But thankfully, I’d been to Froggy’s swimming lessons, so it wasn’t too weird.
There’s a lot of Froggy books and I’m sure we shall read more of them in the future as we come across them. As I said, great toddler titles… for the toddler. Parents: you’ll be longing for the days when you were reading Eric Carle twenty times instead.
Interview with Author Rhonda R. Dennis
Author of the Green Bayou Novels
Rhonda on the right at HPB Humble last year.
I met Rhonda R. Dennis while booking her and Melinda McGuire for A Southern Saturday – an event we put on at the Half Price Books in Humble. It featured southern authors, southern goodies, and all around a lot of southern hospitality. We had a blast. Rhonda was friendly, donated a lot of her own books to raffle off to customers, and kept a professional attitude.
Another signing is the works now, with details to follow later. But since I can’t quite have her in the store again just yet, I’ve arranged an interview! (So exciting! As I’ve said before, interviews and guest blogs make me feel like Oprah.)
- Your books are set in Southern Louisiana, and you’re also from there. What were your favorite things about the state when growing up? What are your favorite things about living there now?
First, I want to thank you for having me as a guest! I absolutely love reading your posts.
While growing up, I never gave much thought to how different my culture is to others. I assumed that everyone ate tons of seafood, celebrated Mardi Gras, and had the innate ability to pronounce French names. I started traveling, and realized that was far from true! I love visiting new places and I have a huge appreciation for their traditions, but South Louisiana will always be home to me. It’s definitely a place that everyone should visit at least once.
- Your books are Romantic Suspense/ Mysteries. Is this the genre you typically read as well? What authors or books are on your ‘favorites’ shelf?
I enjoy most genres. My favorite book is A Confederacy of Dunces
- Do you have play lists of mood music you write to? If so, which artists/songs generally make the cut?
My music choices are even more eclectic than my reading preferences. Depending on the mood of the scene I’m writing, I will listen to anything from Red Hot Chili Peppers to Bruno Mars. I’ve been listening to a lot of 80’s and 90’s music lately, as well as the Les Miserables soundtrack. A lot of times, I have to turn the music off because I spend more time belting out tunes than getting my story down!
- What do you find to be the easiest part of the writing and editing process? What is the hardest for you?
The easiest part is coming up with the general direction I want to take the story. Generally, I type a skeleton version then rework it until I’m happy with the manuscript. The hardest part is when I actually put it out there for the public to read. I believe in my stories, my beta readers are generally enthusiastic about the books, but until I get that feedback from the readers, I’m waiting with bated breath. Please leave reviews people!! You have no clue how important they are to authors, not for an ego boost, but for validation that we’re on the right track. J
- When you complete a book and it goes to print, how do you celebrate?
It’s generally a quiet, personal pat on the back kind of thing. Although, the series will be wrapping with book six at the end of the year, so I anticipate a book launch/series finale party for that one.
- I’ve met a lot of authors with drastically differing views on this… would you ever be interested in a TV or movie deal for your series? If so, how involved would you want to be? (There every step of the way? Or hand it over and let the film people do their thing?)
I have so many people tell me that they strongly feel the series needs to be made into a movie/movies. I’m all for it! I’d love to have lots of control over it, but I’m realistic enough to know that that probably won’t be likely. My only wish is that they would do the series justice.
- I’ve read in other interviews that you’ll write this series as long as Emily has stories to tell. Do you have any other projects in mind at this time?
I do have some projects lined up after the last book of The Green Bayou Novels series is released. I want to branch out a little bit. I have plans for a couple of stand-alone novels, as well as a book about local ghost stories.
- You’ve been featured on Melinda McGuire’s Southern Creatives segment of her blog, been involved in joint book signings, and contributed to a project she edited (Rich Fabric) [I’ll link to Rich Fabric]. How did you meet?
That is one of the wonderful things about technology! We met online! I want to say it was the Goodreads website? Anyway, being that we are both writers of Southern fiction, we instantly bonded, even though our writing styles are quite different. She writes from a historical perspective, whereas my novels are set in modern times. I’m pretty sure she’ll agree that we have a mutual appreciation of each other’s enthusiasm for all things Southern. I’m a definite fan of her work.
- Every reader or writer has a favorite bookstore (and if you don’t, please don’t spoil my delusion!). Now is your chance for a shout out! Tell us who you love and what you love about them.
While I could easily spend loads of time and money in any Barnes and Noble store (or any other major retailer for that matter), I prefer the feel of the small Mom and Pop bookstores. I love walking into a place where you know the staff is there because it’s their passion, not just a job. We had a quaint little bookstore in Morgan City, but unfortunately, it shut down. I continually hope that someone will try to open another one.
I should also mention that we don’t have any Half Price Book branches in Louisiana, but based upon the reactions of my husband and son when I had my joint signing with Melinda McGuire in Humble, we’d be spending lots of time in there, too!
- Outside of writing and Southern Louisiana, what are your passions?
I am very passionate about giving back to others. I’ve donated many copies of my books, t-shirts, and other prizes to raffles and auctions to raise funds for injured or ill persons. My favorite charities revolve around cancer research/children’s charities: St. Jude’s, the Shriner’s Hospitals, American Cancer Society… At this moment, I’m in the process of working something out for our local Relay for Life.
I’m also passionate about treating others the way I would like to be treated, and doing all I can to help make this world a better place for my son to grow up in. I love to promote the good things that are happening around us. I feel that we often get bogged down in the bad news. Just as many wonderful things occur in a day, however, it’s not often considered “newsworthy”.
Rhonda R. Dennis posing for the St.MaryNow Franklin Banner Tribune fifteen months ago. Click on the image to visit the article.
Magic Tree House Adventures – Knights!
The Kingfisher Atlas of the Medieval World
(… Castles! And Medieval Times!)
Today we read up on everything Knights and Castles
“A Feudal System has four parts! From top to bottom it goes: King, Barons, Knights and Serfs!” Sadly, I’ve already forgotten the tune to which we were singing/chanting this bit of information, maybe one day it will come to me again, or maybe we’ll find a new tune. Either way, munchkin was climbing in and out of the laundry basket this morning singing, “King! Baron! Knight! Serf!” so I win.
It was at this point that I decided: in addition to reading through this pairing and prepping kiddo’s future education (when she’s old enough to tackle these projects properly with crafts, writing assignments, and vocabulary tests), I’m going to blog our prepping routines… separate from the Weekly Low Down on Kids Books installments. I know I will find it handy for when we repeat this reading exercise in a few years, but maybe someone else can find it handy now.
I can’t wait to take the kiddo to Medieval Times. I’ve always enjoyed the place and once she is old enough to go, I think it would be a great way to end an educational adventure. As she’s only two and today’s reading was somewhat (though not completely) impromptu, I took her to the closet thing to a castle we have readily available.
The Spring Community Playground, part of Liberty Park looks like a giant, wooden castle to me. It has several keeps, a palisade, horses to ride, and all sorts of castle/fortress styled fixtures. According to the park’s website:
This playground was built by the Spring community for the betterment of the Spring community ultimately for the enjoyment by our children with community donations and community volunteer labor. It was built in 5 DAYS from January 29th to February 2nd 2003 with over 900 community volunteers. A large majority of the volunteers were parents, grandparents and friends of students from Hirsch, Smith and Jenkins Elementary Schools. We also had volunteers from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Kingwood, Conroe, Laredo, and Mexico.
Obviously, there’s a huge difference between this and an actual castle! But it’s fun to walk the park and read the engraved pieces of wood that tell who donated what. I want the kiddo to grow up with a strong sense of community… our neighborhood is our manor, and all that.
When she’s older, we’ll be able to spread the study over the course of a week and add more books and activities. For instance, on day two we could read The Time Warp Trio
This unit would also be a great opportunity to spend the week going through one Sir Cumference book a day for the start of math lessons.
For lunch, I’ll take the opportunity to serve “feast foods.” I found an entire web page dedicated to recipes of the day, and I love to eat to match our educational themes. Plus, I want my daughter to know her way around the kitchen before she goes off to college, unlike me. So as she gets older, we’ll be making all our meals in the kitchen together – themed or not.
I would definitely try to work in her first horseback lesson during this week if she hadn’t started them already, after all knights, caballeros, Ritters, and chevaliers, are all just soldiers on horseback, as the MTH Research Guide will tell you.
Click image to visit a lapbooking tutorial website.
For the most part, though, we will spend our days reading, making lap books, journaling what we’ve learned, playing dress up, and gearing all our artistic energy at the topic. Homeschool Mom and Blogger of My 2 Small Boys has images of her kids’ notebooks on Knights and Castles here: http://my2smallboys.blogspot.com/2012/01/middle-ages-knights-and-castles.html.
When the weekend roles around, if the study lands in the summer, perhaps we will go to the beach and build sandcastles; If in the fall, maybe we’ll head out to the Texas Ren Fest.
Knights and Castles Library List
Saint George and the Dragon (a great precursor to have on hand for Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, we’ve already read it quite a few times)
Castle Diary by Richard Platt
The Knight at Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne
Knight by Christopher Gravett
Knight ~ A Noble Guide for Young Squires
100 Things You Should Know About Knights and Castles by Jane Walker
If You Lived in the Days of Knights by Ann McGovern
Castle: Medieval Days and Knights by Kyle Olmon
Knights in Shining Armo by Gail Gibbons
Knights and Castles by Seymour Simon
The Usborne Book of Castles by Lesley Sims and Jane Chisolm
What If You Met a Knight? By Jan Adkins
Imagine You’re a Knight by Meg Clibbon
Take Care, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas
The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie DePaola
In the Castle by Anna Milbourne
The Castle That Jack Built by Lesley Sims
The Tournament by Heather Amery
Some more ideas: http://www.angelfire.com/dc/childsplay/castleunit.htm
Weekly Low Down on Kids Books – Dinosaurs!
I read Magic Tree House #1: Dinosaurs Before Dark
We had to stop a few times to draw a rhinoceros onto our ‘R’ page, check out whales and their sizes in relation to dinosaurs in our encyclopedia, and to correct behavior as she climbed in my living room window sill that is about three and half feet off the ground. We even had a brief whistling lesson after reading how the wind was whistling around the tree house. Overall, she enjoyed it, so we moved onto the Research Guide
Mary Pope Osborne and her husband Will Osborne joined forces and started writing nonfiction companion books to the fictional Magic Tree House adventures. When I first discovered this, I started purchasing them in pairs, vowing to use them as fun assignments while home schooling. I’d like for kiddo to grow up in the habit of reading a nonfiction title that somehow relates to every fiction title that she devours, expanding both her facts and her imagination. What better way than to start with research guides to her first chapter books?
Why am I reading these to her so early? Frankly, it’s quite hilarious to watch a two year old run circles in your living room chanting, “Fossils! Minerals! Dinosaurs!” at the top of her lungs, while her dog (who happens to be the biggest one we own) lays in the center rolling his eyes.
Chapter three of the research guide Dinosaurs talks about iguanas and how Gideon Mantell though the dinosaur teeth he and his wife found were giant iguana teeth. Of course, we had to stop to re-read I Wanna Iguana
All in all, we had a good ‘school day’ this morning, something we have been working on being more diligent about now that kiddo is two and it has actually managed to get too cold to venture out as much.
A Dubious Review
I get offers to review e-books all the time, it is the most efficient and affordable way for an author to get their work out there. However, I do not own an e-reader just yet. So as per my Review Policy, I found a guest blogger to read and review the book for me.
Lavois is an intelligent, honest gal that I’ve know most my life. She’s an intuitive reader, a good friends, and happens to own the device needed to help sort through pending e-book review requests.
I hope to feature more of her reviews and guest articles in the future.
Title: A Dubious Artifact
Author: Gerald J. Kubicki
Publisher: Self-published/ Indie
Format: E-book
Let me begin by letting you know that I am not an experienced reviewer of books. In fact, this is my first. I’ve always been a voracious reader, even to the point of having to avoid reading certain books during certain times in my life, knowing that the book would consume all of my attention and free time. I had recently allowed myself to really start diving into reading full time again when my wonderful friend Anakalia offered me the opportunity to review a book for her. The book she sent me was A Dubious Artifact by Gerald J. Kubicki, the sixth novel in his Colton Banyon mystery/adventure series.
I think it’s also incumbent upon me to let you know that I have not read the first five novels published by Kubicki. I began with the sixth. I feel that it’s important for me to let you know this because I believe I may have connected better with the novel had I been involved in the rest of Banyon’s adventures. I initially wanted to chalk this up to weak character development but after thinking about it, I realized that these characters had been involved in five previous adventures together. Kubicki probably assumes that his readers would have started with book one and routinely references past adventures and past characters with only minimal explanation in A Dubious Artifact. For this reason it may serve you to start from the beginning. The first in the series, A Dubious Mission, can be found on Amazon by following the title link.
I must admit, had difficultly staying engaged while reading A Dubious Artifact and I believe that this can be remedied in large part by another round of editing. Kubicki’s story had some true potential, and at times I could feel myself slipping into the story, forgetting that I was reading a book, but then a spelling error, misused word or clumsily written sentence would yank me back into the reality of my reading chair. This was somewhat frustrating for me, not only because I so badly wanted to get into the novel, but because these were completely avoidable issues. Eventually, I had to set the book aside because I couldn’t get past this. It may be a good time for Kubicki to take stock of his entire series and come out with a newly revised second edition. While I had some difficulties with the novel this time around, I did get to know the characters enough that I can genuinely say I would give them another go in a revised edition.
The Series I Couldn’t Finish
I genuinely enjoyed Wicked. I read it a few years ago when there were about a hundred copies floating around in the fiction section I was running. As a bookseller, if I see a dozen of something, I take it home and read it so I can tell my customers about it. You can’t sell a book you know nothing about, right? And Wicked was neat. I thought it was so neat, I added it to the list of things to do with my daughter when she’s older… a month of Oz: Read the original Wizard of Oz, watch Judy Garland sing and be awesome in the old movie, read Wicked together, go see the musical, and so on.
I pumped the series during an Earth Day event too: Go Green with the Wicked Witch of the West! I thought I was being cute, most of my co-workers just thought I was being weird. I’m ok with that.
Then, I read book two: Son of a Witch. I struggled, plodded, and pulled hair through it. Three quarters of the way through the book I realized that I didn’t really care for the story, Maguire’s intricate world no longer resembled Oz in any way except in name, and frankly I was bored. I was reading for the sake of the series.
I bought Lion Among Men off a clearance table at Barnes & Noble when it was still a current publication. I had the first two in hardback, it only seemed appropriate to be complete. Besides, a lot of series have a saggy middle and then perk up quite nicely in the end. I was under the false impression that this was going to be a nice little wrap up for a trilogy. Still, I was unmotivated to read it. It sat on my shelf for a couple of years, all crisp, shiny, and new. I read the first 5 pages about a half-dozen times and put it back.
At the beginning of 2012 I set some reading goals for myself. I do this every year. I typically decide that I should read anywhere between 60 and 80 books a year, but steadily hit in the 70 to 75 range (except for the year I was pregnant). This year, I was overzealous and was shooting for 80 or more, I am currently reading my 70th title if you don’t include children’s picture books, which I don’t, and clearly not going to read 10 books by the end of the month. With these goals, come little notes to read through x amount of already owned titles, or to finish such and such series. Lion Among Men fell into both of these notes, so creeping on December I gave myself the final push and said, “It’s now or never.”
I checked it out from the library on audio, thinking it would be an easy thing to listen to while doing chores. Kill multiple birds with one stone and all that.
Despite John McDonough’s excellent reading voice, ah I could die listening to that wonderful voice, I have yet to finish the book. And, I will be turning the audio book back into the library having listened to the first disc in the course of a month.
Sadly, The Wicked Years is just not for me. I don’t feel it in my bones, I am not enraptured in its essence and all those other over the top feelings I get when I am enthralled with a series. Simply put, if I were to ever finish this series (which, by the way, has a 4th book too!), it would be by the sheer force of my insane will to get things done. I don’t care about it that much to be that willful.
This is a series that shall remain unfinished.
Do you have a series of books like that in your life? Talk to me.
What series have you read lately that you simply could not have lived without?
A Review of Michael Grant’s Gone
Title: GONE
Author: Michael Grant
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult/ Science Fiction
Length: 558 pages
Take the horror of Golding’s Lord of the Flies
My niece handed me this book, she’s in the third volume of the series, and loving it. She’s into the dark and twisty books these days, I remember being into them at that age too. And though I’m hooked on these as an adult as well, I find these a little too dark and twisty from the perspective of a parent.
Kids killing kids, babies starving to death trapped in homes without care, fires, dark demon-like creatures on the hunt, it’s a little too much when I think of it with my own kiddo in mind. It puts my obsessive crazy brain on a mission to ensure my child is a self-sufficient survivor with some mad Kung Fu skills under her belt as soon as possible. It reminds me the value of teaching my kid about God, love, and the makings of good leaders; how to recognize right from wrong and good from bad without having an adult there to tell you. In case of crisis, this is the plan…
When it comes down to it, Grant is a great writer for this genre. He is dark and twisty, but he does limit his descriptions as to leave plenty of room for the imagination. So although there is a dead baby that’s needs taken care of, a twelve-year-old is less likely to visualize the entire process of a baby being alone for eight days and then found dead. Grant addresses the smell of the house, the fact that the main character has to clean it up and take care of the child, and the emotional trauma of the situation, but he doesn’t go into a gross CSI style detail that would move me to guide a twelve-year-old away from the series. That’s what keeps the book so intriguing rather than nauseating.
Well, that and the fact that I’m a sucker for dystopian societies and coming of age stories.
My recommendation if your kid picks this up: Read it WITH them, and be ready to discuss.
The Long-Awaited Lily
Well, it felt like a long time, because I was so anxious for it. In reality, Smith is quite the efficient authoress.
Title: Seed Savers
Author: S. Smith
I read the first installment of Seed Savers early this last summer. I loved it. I was so excited to find a new “undiscovered” young adult author and immediately blogged about it. Illegal gardening, fresh produce, dystopian society, kids on the run… how much more exciting could it possibly get? Way more, that’s how much.
With the arrival of Lily, I expected to get “the further adventures of Clare and Dante,” but what I got was much more. Lily, a side character in the first book, Treasure, tries to continue the mission of saving seeds in her hometown after the disappearance of Clare and Dante. Rather than getting “Treasure” all over again, a common fault in sequels in general, Lily is a book all its own and full of secrets, secrets, and more secrets. Not only was Lily hiding plants from Dante and Clare, she has a past she wasn’t even aware of, a past that could change everything.
Smith succeeded, again, in writing a fantastic and educational adventure that I cannot wait to share with my nieces and nephews, and later with my daughter. It is so fun and refreshing to read something new, something real, that doesn’t have anything to do with vampires, werewolves, or zombies. Although there is a time and place for such fantasy fiction for young adults, it’s nice to know that there are authors out there that have something more on the brain than the latest (recurring) fad that has swept the nation and the world.
Seed Savers is about using your brain, questioning the world around you and how it should be, becoming a better person, and making the world a better place. These are things every kid should be encouraged to do. And for the adults reading these books, it reminds us that many kids want to when they are given the chance.
Now Time to Detox
The other night I finished City of Glass
Sigh. I feel as though I can rest and breathe now. The series isn’t over, but the ending of City of Glass serves for a solid intermission. Well done, Cassandra Clare, well done. If you have been following my blog this last week, there is not much more I can share regarding my feelings about this series. Pure cotton candy for the intelligent teen, it is lovely and exciting. However, I need a little detox after all that sugar before I dive back in with books 4, 5 and the 2nd of The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Prince.
So, my intentional break until the weekend (when I plan to whole-heartedly go on another bender) is a steady diet of meat. I’ve been leisurely reading through Merchant Kings
The Naked Olympics
Who else is down for a mind and body detox? Grab a good book, mix yourself some vitamin water (http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-vitamin-water-479989) and don’t shower until you’ve done 50 jumping jacks, 30 crunches, 20 pushups, all your stances for at least 30 seconds each (if you’re in martial arts), and had a good long stretch!
Here’s another earn your shower workout routine, and may I note that its been a good long while since I looked anything like this lady – man, she’s awesome. http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/02/12/earn-your-shower-workout/
Indulging My Latest Addiction
*Spoilers!*
Title: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: McElderry Books
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Length: 453 pages
My obsession for these books goes against every fiber of my being, but I love them. I blew through City of Ashes in just a few hours and am pausing to write this review against the deep urge to blow it off and just start the next book. But the kiddo is napping and my blog is being neglected, so I have no excuse, and will sit and spout off a few thoughts before I move onto City of Glass.
First of all, the Jace and Clary business hasn’t been resolved yet and my impatient self likes to get past the angst and the romance and on with the war. It’s that deep inner girly desire to lunge head on into adventure *with* the love of my life, rather than struggling with all the defining the relationship business. I was never good at that, I married my best friend and soul mate after years of waiting for him. The angsty waiting should be reserved for books like Persuasion, for me, not warrior demon-slaying sagas. That’s probably what hooks me with Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series, Jamie and Clare are married. I get why that’s not applicable for a young adult series though.
Second, and mostly notable because its fresh on my mind (being in the epilogue), I love the Harry Potter reference. It is fantastic. Although, the subject matter puts this series in the sub-genre of Meyer’s Twilight Series, I find it more comparable to Harry Potter or the wonderful works of Robin McKinley. There’s a fine line, but it makes a huge difference. For those who read McKinley’s Sunshine as an adult, and perhaps read the Hero and the Crown, these books will suck you in.
Third… well, actually, I’m done here, I have more reading to do!
Anakalian Whims 