This quiet, simple story illustrates some common zen concepts: living in the moment, being kind and pleasant without regard to reward, and letting go of past unpleasantness to enjoy the here-and-now. A girl is angry and upset about losing an earring. One of two boys gets dirty while searching but finds the jewelry. The girl is rude when he returns it and stomps off. The boy’s friend cannot understand why her behavior does not upset him. His reply is that the event happened a while ago, the girl is gone, the day is beautiful, and they should be enjoying the moment, not stewing about the past. Worrying and thinking about the event will not change it so letting go prevents the girl’s negative behavior from affecting his. This story presents one more tool for children to try when dealing with problems. Large, uncomplicated illustrations are a good match with this calm approach to conflict.
Author Archives: SSBRC Former Member
Ol’ Mama Squirrel
Ol’ Mama Squirrel is a valiant protector of her babies. She chases off cats, dogs, kites, airplanes, and repairmen with her loud and scolding, “Chook chook chook!” One day a grizzly bear was unaffected by her zeal or barrage of nuts. Instead of being frightened, Ol’ Mama Squirrel voiced an alarm all over the park. Just as grizzly approached Grandpappy’s nest, Mama returned with her angry “Chook chook chook!” – along with a hundred other furious mamas, scolding and throwing nuts! Grizzly ran away, never to return and Ol’ Mama Squirrel’s babies were safe. The townspeople were so grateful to be rid of the grizzly they erected a plaque next to her tree – which you should go see… if you can get near it! David Stein’s humorous ink and watercolor illustrations are a great combination with the action and passion of the text. This fun story would be a great read-aloud, too!
The Impressionists
This reference begins with a definition of Impressionism and a timeline before a detailed study of four famous Impressionists: Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Cezanne. The section on each of the artists’ contains information on the world in their time, their family, finances and friends, influences, a discussion of what their paintings said, how they were made and what the critics say about them. The images are beautifully reproduced, including specifics about the paintings and close-ups of details in the paintings. It is an excellent introduction to Impressionism.
Top Stories 2010: Behind the Headlines
This reference takes the ten most significant stories of 2010 and provides in-depth coverage rather than just the headline and a sound bite. For example, the chapter on the Gulf Oil Spill includes incredible photographs, charts and graphs on government flowrate estimates and major oil leaks in the Gulf, diagrams of blowout preventers, dome pipes and lower marine riser package caps, as well as maps and a timeline of events. Each section also includes additional sources for research and exploration. Chapter title: The Afghan War: The Surge, the Taliban, and Corruption; Chilean Miners’ Rescue: A Dangerous Business; Global Economic Crisis; Gulf Oil Spill: The Business of Energy and Oily Birds; Haiti: Earthquake & Aftermath; Iran’s Nuclear Program: Energy or Weapons?; Islam in the West: Headscarves, Mosques and Cartoons; Mexico’s Drug War; Migrants, Immigrants & Refugees; and Security in the Digital Age. This could provide useful information to students doing research on one of the topics. Although all of this information can be found online, having it collected and at your fingertips is convenient. Still unless, you got this reference immediately after publication, it is unlikely to be more than an additional reference.
Game Changers
Eleven year old Ben McBain loves football and has the skill and passion to be a great quarterback. The problem – he is small. The coach is an ex-NFL player who selects his own son Shawn to be quarterback. The problem – Shawn is inconsistent, moody, and although he doesn’t want to disappoint his dad, does not want to be a quarterback. Ben exhibits more maturity than most eleven year olds but the reader is drawn into the game and relationships between friends, teammates, and family. Mike Lupica’s skill creating interesting characters incorporated with knowledge of the game results in an action packed quick read.
Ellray Jakes Walks the Plank!
Third grader Ellray Jakes seems to continually mess up. In this book, he is taking care of the class goldfish during spring break when his little sister overfeeds it and it dies. Although Ellray is worried about what his classmates and teacher will say, he takes the blame. The situations are realistic and conversations are believable. The class bully is Cynthia, who tries to look perfect while accusing Ellray of causing all sorts of problems. Ellray speaks up for himself even though he does not seem to be heard. His character is revealed in pieces throughout the book. Black and white illustrations and occasional font changes add to the interest and fast pace. This is a good beginning chapter book for both reluctant readers and those who enjoy a good story.
Bambert’s Book of Missing Stories
Reminiscent of The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, Bambert’s Book of Missing Stories is a collection of stories that has mysterious origins. A back story was created about the mysterious Mr. Bambert, a man whose deformity causes him to become a recluse. His only outlet is sitting on the roof and talking to the moon. The moon gives him ideas for stories and Bambert writes them. Finally, Bambert decides to set his stories free to find their own settings. He sends out the stories, including the last four pages of his book which are still blank in the hopes that the last story will write itself, and requests that the people who find the stories return them with the finder’s address to Bambert so he can learn each story’s proper setting. This book is the story of Bambert’s life, the collection of the stories with the places where they were found, and Bambert’s notes about each story and its setting. There are stories about princesses and court jesters, Tsars, revolutions and wax museums. The illustrations are charming. This book is fantastic; it could be used as prompts for a creative writing class, and it has a place in every library.
The Lions of Little Rock
In 1958 Little Rock, Marlee Nesbitt is painfully shy and not very unhappy. Then she meets Liz, the new girl at school, and finally Marlee has a true friend. And that friendship is put to the test when Liz leaves school abruptly and the rumors are that it is because she has been “passing.” But Marlee will not give up on her friend. The two meet in secret, which could end disastrously for both. Although it is Liz who is the outspoken, never at a loss girl at the beginning of the book, by the end it is Marlee who finally finds her voice and the courage to stand up for what she believes in. appropriate for age 10 and up.
The Book of the Gods
A wonderful, tongue-in-cheek encyclopedia of gods from all over the world by the creators of godchecker.com. The book is set up by region and provides a short biography of all of the most important gods of the area with loads of dirt, too. The Celtic goddess Sheela-Na-Gig? The goddess of fertility is “lewd, rude, nude and very crude, displaying her most intimate parts to scare away death” and there is picture of her doing just that. Not a bad reference for high school mythology students.
The Vampire Stalker
Three high school friends wait in line for the next book in their favorite vampire hunter series to come. Luisa and Kat are in love with James, the charming, kind vampire hunter who has fallen in love with a vampire. But Amy is in love with Alexander, the brooding, tireless hunter whose entire family was murdered by the vicious vampire Vigo. And then one night, Amy is attacked by Vigo and saved by Alexander. Time/space portals, literary physics and a bad ass librarian as well as a totally improbable (almost silly) plot line and love story almost certainly guarantee that teen girls who can’t get enough vampires will love this one.