![]() ![]() ![]() A reward, if you will, for meeting your children’s needs with books rather than just finding the first firetruck-related YouTube video out there and planting them before it. To these parents and guardians I bestow a gift. I know that these parents will literally pull any work of dreck off of the shelves if it has even a tangential relationship to firefighting. These are children for whom there are not enough firefighting books in all the world enough to satisfy the void inside them that demands more more MORE MORE MORE!!! I know these children. ![]() There are kids out there for whom the term “obsession” runs mild. But as I am a children’s librarian, I am aware of an entirely different part of the spectrum. He didn’t obsess over them, but rather found them a rather delightful diversion, and why not? Fire trucks and engines are big, red, loud, and save lives. Now my kid’s love was what I’d call on the moderate side of the equation. I say this because, like millions of other adults, I have a child that liked fire trucks. I don’t want to intimidate you fine, upstanding citizens, but I fancy myself a bit of a firefighting picture book expert. ![]() Paula Wiseman Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) ![]()
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![]() ![]() In 2020, the most challenged book was “George” by Alex Gino. To compile the list, the ALA tracked and analyzed the challenges brought against libraries, schools, and universities of 273 books for the ones that faced the most challenges and bans.Īmerica is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. With Banned Books Week coming to a close, the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual list of the most frequently banned books reveals the 10 most commonly challenged books in the United States. ![]() In 2020, the most-banned book was “George” by Alex Gino.The American Library Association compiles an annual list of the 10 most commonly challenged books in the United States. ![]() ![]() ![]() I read more for comfort than I did for reading challenges or book tours. I am always a moody reader, but between quarantine and general malaise, I would pick up my Kindle only to put it back down after a page or two. ![]() One of the things that did suffer was my reading mojo. Having my family home more, having fewer commitments and obligations, and having more home-cooked meals around the table were definitely in the win column for me. I can’t say that I am sad to see the backside of 2020, but honestly, I also had some good experiences this year. I rediscovered my love of baking (which added a few quarantine pounds to my love handles), took more walks around the neighborhood than I ever thought possible (to combat the aforementioned comfort baking), and made delicious cocktail concoctions with my husband (salted caramel vodka is my new favorite ingredient, in case you were wondering). Speaking of 2020-oh, what a year you were!įor me, this year has been about comforting myself as well as my family through the anxiety, uncertainty, and a little bit of homeschooling. Sitting down to compose this post as the last ‘task’ before a new year begins is one of my favorite things to do. It’s the last day of the year, so that means I finally get to post my list of the must-read and best romance novels 2020. ![]() ![]() ![]() But school is also where “the Mac” can be found, Langston’s resident rapping, dragonfly-loving, red mohawk-wearing librarian and Nick’s favorite adult. Throw in the twin eighth-grade tyrants who relentlessly want to pound him and weekly lessons at Miss Quattlebaum’s School of Ballroom Dance & Etiquette, and his life at Langston Hughes Magnet School of the Arts is pretty hectic. For one thing, his mother wants to move away to pursue her dream of training race horses, and his linguistics professor father is pressuring him to improve his vocabulary by reading the dictionary. Besides the big game, Nick has a lot of other things on his mind. ![]() Pepper Dallas Cup, the renowned world youth soccer tournament, even though they will be playing on opposing teams. ![]() Twelve-year-old Nick loves soccer, and he and his best friend Coby have big plans for winning the Dr. Mission impossible? Not with an author like Kwame Alexander. Alexander’s sizzling second free-verse book, Booked, was the perfect fit. It needed to be fast-paced and action packed enough to interest middle-grade male readers, with the character-driven and three-dimensional characters that middle-grade female readers crave. The book needed to be short enough not to frustrate readers working on their skills, but challenging enough for even our best readers to push themselves. Finding a book exciting and interesting enough to captivate both 5th and 6th graders, boys and girls, with a wide variety of interests and reading levels, is no easy feat. ![]() ![]() The characters are all well developed, with great arcs and personalities that set them apart. This book also has one twist that seems somewhat obvious, but then brings up with back to back surprises that completely threw me. The plot is fast-paced, with plenty of suspense to add to the thrill. The world is vague, with the land politics and places not really mentioned, but life on the sea is shown in vivid descriptions. ![]() This book is an extremely fun read, full of romance, action, adventure, and secrets. The only thing in her way- the attractive first mate who is assigned as her interrogator. After she gets ‘captured’ by enemy pirates, she must try to discover their secrets in order to find the map to a legendary treasure. “Oh, the ridiculous things one has to do when one is a pirate.”ĭaughter of the Pirate King takes place in a world filled with ruthless pirates who will do anything for control of the seas, and follows the Alosa, the daughter of the reigning pirate king. ![]() ![]() "I've never thought of myself as a great singer," she writes. ![]() She certainly thinks she's a big star, an "icon" as she counts herself, yet she humble brags through everything, trying to convince us she's just "one of the boys" and that her cast members adore her by gathering around her dressing room door before each performance. Rivera's main problem is that she is a true diva who holds grudges forever and rehashes so many aspects of her life that you have to roll your eyes when she mentions the same incident or phrase the fifth or sixth time. But by the end of the book you don't want to cross "Delores," her catting demeaning alter-ego (and her real first name) that often wants to "slap people." ![]() Mixed notices for this very theater-heavy memoir that scrimps on much of her private life and tries to convince us that she's really not the mean, horrible diva that he has the reputation for. ![]() ![]() In 2006, the ARL became part of The Walt Disney Studios, and in 2014, it was renamed the Walt Disney Animation Research Library. In 1989, the ARL was officially established as a department within Walt Disney Feature Animation, with the mission of preserving and cataloging the artwork. The collection grew over time as more films were produced, and eventually moved to a separate facility with temperature-controlled vaults and security measures. Walt Disney wanted to save the art for future reference and inspiration, and called it a "morgue". The ARL traces its origins to Walt Disney's personal collection of art created by his animators for films and shorts. ![]() It is located in a nondescript building near Disney's Los Angeles studios. The Walt Disney Animation Research Library (ARL) is a facility that conserves and preserves the artistic heritage of Walt Disney Animation Studios and serves as a resource to The Walt Disney Company for creative inspiration, research, brand enhancement, and product development. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() There is a joyless, abject quality to this 1953 lower grades chapter book, similar in feel to another children's book written 9 years before this one, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. Right around this point, my daughter contributed, “This is like having Bellatrix Lestrange for a mother.” ![]() Madam Snickasee also denies her daughter food and screams that she's “useless” and “disobedient” and calls her “stupid girl.” I read through the first few pages, cackling whenever I read Madam Snickasee's part of the dialogue, but after she threw several objects at her daughter and shouted “Sissy!” in her face, I started to get a stomachache. So, we got the book, and I was thrilled that the story was about an actual witch, named Madam Snickasee, who lives with her daughter, Minx, in “the ugliest, most rickety house in town.” We've attempted a few books after finishing Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, but nothing inspired even a spark of interest until a friend on here reviewed Little Witch, and I thought. Searching for the meaning of life in a post-Harry Potter world. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I think this book will become one I read every year before Halloween to help me get into the spirit of the season. Bradbury takes us and his characters on a informative but thrilling ride while offering a heart warming, humbling and beautiful story. I will keep this review, like the book itself, short. It’s a beautiful tale of friendship, steeped in the history of Halloween – I can completely understand why it has been called the Halloween version of “A Christmas Carol”. ![]() If you pick up this book expecting a short horror story, you will be disappointed. ![]() I believe they worked together on a lot of other projects too. This edition also features some truly incredible illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini which help you conjure the hugely visual scenes that Bradbury wants you to see. The writing style seems slightly disjointed at times and certain bits I had to read again for it to make sense in my head, but this in no way took away from the overall experience though. While aimed at a younger audience, the depth the story has means is easy to enjoy for all ages. A great short story written by one of the heavy weights of American Literature, Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree follows a group of friends going from trick or treating, to travelling through time with the mysterious and magical Mr Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud learning the history of Halloween while trying to save their friend Pipkin who was snatched by a nefarious spirit on his way to meet them. ![]() ![]() ![]() But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she had left behind. The book The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology 1) by Holly Black released on January 3, 2023. He's on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren's help. The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology 1) Release Date. Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful and manipulative. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world, where she lives feral in the woods. ![]() There she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge. Summary: Return to the opulent world of Elfhame, filled with intrigue, betrayal, and dangerous desires, with this first book of a captivating new duology from the 1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth, has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. And a quest that may destroy them both.Įight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. ![]() |