Read: Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs & Ham. Seuss, Dr. Random House Books for Young Readers.

One of the most beloved books that has ever been penned by Dr. Seuss is Green Eggs and Ham.

The story revolves around two characters, Sam-I-Am and the unhappy focus of Sam’s attention, unnamed and kind of cranky. What is it that Sam is trying to get the character to do? Why, try green eggs and ham, of course!

Like many mothers, frustrated with children’s penchant for refusing new foods, Sam tried every way possible to get the attention of his friend. He offers the delicacy on a train, and with a goat, in a house, and many other variations of company and place. Each time the offer is made it is grumpily turned down, and yet Sam does not give up.

There are only 50 words total in this story, and many are rhyming. The suggested reading level for this book is grades one through three, although many adults enjoy the memories this story holds for them

Follow-Up Activities:

Try singing the following silly tune with your little ones:

 Runny Eggs (tune: Alouette)

Runny eggs, funny, runny eggs!

Runny eggs are such a yucky food!

Do you have them on your face? Yes, I have them on my face!

On your face? On my face o – o – o – oh!

Runny eggs, funny, runny eggs!

Runny eggs are such a yucky food!

 Repeat with:

Do you have them on your sleeve?

“          “          “          “  pants?

“          “          “          “  socks?

“          “          “          “  shoes?

“          “          “          “  hair?

 The Official Dr. Seuss website has a ton of great activity ideas. Try one of the following for Green Eggs & Ham:

• http://www.seussville.com/titles/greeneggs/placemat.html (make a placemat)

• http://www.seussville.com/printables/geah_recipes.html (recipes for green eggs and ham)

• http://www.seussville.com/printables/geah_critters.html (craft idea - using egg cartons to create various “critters”)

• http://www.seussville.com/games/pdf/eggstravaganza.pdf (colour/decorate your very own picture frame)

• http://www.seussville.com/games/pdf/pintheeggs.pdf (“pin the eggs on the plate” activity)

• http://www.seussville.com/games/pdf/tictactoe.pdf (tic tac toe board using eggs and ham)

I think I stumbled across this title in a bookstore.  Century is book 1 in the series Ring of Fire by Pierdomenico Baccalario.  He’s an Italian author, so I think the series may be already written, but they have only translated the first book in the quartet so far.  Book 2, Star of Stone, will be published in English in September. While I didn’t find book 1 in VPL’s catalogue, I was able to find it in another system.

The story is set in Rome.  11-year-old Elettra’s family runs a hotel but her father’s absent minded ways have struck again, resulting in a triple booking.  All the hotels in Rome are booked, as it is the end of year so the family pulls together to find room for the families.  Elettra ends up sharing her room with the other three kids, Harvey from New York, Mistral from Paris and Sheng from Shanghai. 

The first night as the kids are getting ready to go to bed, they discover something odd, that they all share the same birthday, February 29.  At that moment, the power goes out and something even stranger happens.  They end up going out into the city and while crossing a bridge, a man mutters 29 and gives Elettra a briefcase asking them to take care of it until he returns.

The next morning, the kids learn that this stranger was killed shortly after they saw him.  They open the briefcase and find clues that lead them all over the city looking for the Ring of Fire, something so powerful that according to legend, “even a Roman Emperor couldn’t control it.”   And as one final hook, here’s the other line from the book…

“Every hundred years, four kids from four cities must save the world.”

 On March 2nd the Pierre Berton Resource library decided to bring back the Golden Age of Hollywood to celebrate the movie industry’s biggest night, the Academy Awards.  Librarians and circulation staff came out in their most glamorous threads (seen here) to celebrate the occasion, providing photo and interview opportunities to customers, refreshments, trivia and a screening of Best Picture nominee Up (which took home the award for Best Animated Film on Sunday).  It was fun for film buffs and novices alike, as everyone got the red carpet treatment. 

The Awards themselves aired this past Sunday, and there were enough surprises, laughs and touching moments to make the time fly by.  The Hurt Locker took home the top prize for Best Picture, upsetting Avatar fans everywhere (and there are a lot of them, given the records-shattering box office draw the film has so far taken in).  Locker’s director, Kathryn Bigelow, became the first woman to ever win Best Director.  Acting awards went to Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart, Mo’nique for Precious, Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds and, in a big surprise, Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side.  Especially surprising seeing as how she had won a Razzie a few days before for All About Steve.  Still, if Halle Berry can win both awards, so can Bullock.

And now, gentle readers, what were your impressions on the awards?  Did hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin leave you in stitches?  Did you enjoy the special tribute to John Hughes, and the shout-out to horror movies?  How about Neil Patrick Harris quickly cementing his status as award-show-go-to-guy by kicking everything off with a big musical number?  And the red-haired lady pulling a Kanye West moment?  Please share your thoughts below, and keep your eyes peeled for more movie programs at VPL.

Last Friday evening I got to take part in one of my absolute favourite cultural activities: a trip to the ballet!  The National Ballet of Canada was performing a mixed program of three short works.  They made for a fantastic evening of entertainment.  The first piece was a modern ballet danced to 24 preludes by Chopin.  The second was a series of short pieces danced by one male soloist who was on stage with a cellist, the lone musician.  The final piece was one of my all-time favourite ballets, danced to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. 

While I loved the dancing, the music also stayed with me, and I found myself humming it while I drove home, and wanting to listen to more once I got there.  Sadly, I don’t own any of that music on CD,  and it was late at night, so the library was closed.  What to do?  That’s when I remembered about Naxos.  Naxos is a fantastic database you can access through the library’s website.  It allows you to stream huge amounts of music from the Naxos library.  The sound quality is incredible, and the selection grows every day.  They have a lot of classical music, but they also have jazz, folk, soundtracks, world music, and children’s music.   So, late Friday evening, I was able to listen to both Chopin’s 24 Preludes, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons from the comfort of my own home. 

Naxos also has some fantastic resources for people studying music.  For Opera lovers, there are libretti and synopsis notes available.   They have glossaries and pronunciation guides, podcasts of music lectures and discussions, audio content for graded exams, and more.  For school support they have curriculum support materials at most grade levels, not to mention a fantastic children’s area with information about the history of music and various musical instruments. 

I love this database.  There are so many times when I hear a piece of music on the radio, on TV, or at a live theatre performance like this week, and want to listen again.  Nine times out of ten I’m able to find it right away on Naxos, and can listen as often as I choose without ever leaving home.   Both the lazy person and the music lover in me think that is a pretty sweet deal.

Hi everyone!  Sorry for my general absence throughout February.   There was a holiday, then a series of unfortunate events kept me away from work and thus this weekly post!

Let’s get right to it, shall we?

Naoki Urasawa is the undisputed master of suspense in Japanese comics (manga).  For those of you who think manga is just over-the-top martial arts, giant robots, cute creatures with big eyes and virginal girls with more hair than clothes, Naoki Urasawa will blow. your. mind.  Our “Mondays are murder” title for the week is his serial mystery Monster.

Kenzo Tenma is a highly gifted Japanese neurosurgeon working in Germany.  Like McDreamy, he seems to have it all - tapped to be next chief, dating the boss’s beautiful daughter, flawless work from healing hands.  But one fateful day is all goes sideways.  Dr. Tenma forgoes operating on a local VIP to save the life of a young boy who came into the hospital first with a gunshot wound to the head.  But this single selfless act of compassion yields wholly unintended consequences.

What is a doctor to do when the patient he saved turns out to be a monster?

Monster is collected in 18 volumes - the first 11 are available at VPL.  Each quarter we receive several more volumes in the series.  I have now finished reading those 11 volumes, and with each volume, my anxiety ratchets up a notch or 12.  As Tenma pursues Johan (the boy-cum-serial-killer whose life he saved), he accrues a motley bunch of lovable supporters, each one of whom might just become Johan’s next hapless victim.

I invite you to join me on this journey through the darkest psyches of man.  Each volume not only brings us closer to the truth of who or what or why Johan is but also brings Tenma and his comrades to the edge of darkness and back and perhaps beyond.  And if you can’t possibly wait to finish the series, feel free to submit a suggestion that we purchase volumes 12 through 18 immediately.  (If you do, be sure to post a comment here so I can put myself second in line for all of them!)

For the first time in a long time I am living without TV. Actually I still have one, I just don’t have cable and haven’t gotten around to trying out rabbit ears.  As a result, I have to say that if it wasn’t for newspapers plastering Oscar related news above the masthead for the past few days, I think this year’s Oscars would have totally passed me by.

About the two hosts: I do have a soft spot for Steve Martin (although I wish he would choose better roles, funnier films more often) but even that isn’t enough to get me to watch. Alec Baldwin is riding a wave of popularity on the back of 30 Rock which I suspect is a pretty funny show but have yet to see more than a few episodes so he too is not enough to lure me in.

But most importantly it’s the nominated films themselves I have don’t know much about.  There are a few films which managed to filter through my pop culture ignorance and register with me. Not surprisingly, the list starts with Avatar, but also The Hurt Locker, Crazy Heart, Up, Up in the Air and A Serious Man.  District 9 I actually saw already (it was shown in flight) and thought it was quite good.

Hmm..I started this post thinking I didn’t have much interest in seeing many of the films but now that I look at the expanded list of nominations, I’m starting to feel differently.  With all the attention spent on Avatar the other movies are a bit overshadowed. I’m sure at some point I will go see Avatar. It is a bit of an odd feeling that I still haven’t seen the highest grossing film of all time. Growing up, the first three Star Wars films (i.e. the good ones…) or the Indiana Jones trilogy or even Terminator 2 and Titanic were all big cinematic events and I saw every single one in the theatre…but maybe the chasm between real and digital finally caught up with me..or maybe it was James Cameron’s insane ego…I’m not sure…but there was a time when I never would have taken so long to see Avatar ( confession: I did try to go see it on December 27^th but it was sold out and I never managed a second attempt)

So I’m blindly going into this event hoping that The Hurt Locker at least gets Best Director…I mean it’s been 82 years now and not a single female director has won this award so it would be nice to see Kathryn Bigelow win. And it seems like Jeff Bridges is a lock for Best Actor…the Academy apparently likes films about down and out country singers as they gave the 1984 Best Actor award to Robert Duvall for his portrayal of hurtin’ honky tonker Mac Sledge in one of my favourite films Tender Mercies. It seems most reviewers pick Avatar for Best Film and I’ve even heard that Sandra Bullock may win Best Actress for Blind Side…which is sad to think about as I’ve silently passed judgment on that film from a position of total ignorance. I mean…Meryl Streep can never have too many awards can she?

I realize not everyone is as grumpy about the Oscars as I am…perhaps if they edited the speeches and the fashion out (which are the two main things a lot of people care about) I’d watch…but I doubt it. However, if you enjoy the spectacle, I hope you a great time on Sunday night. If you want a warm up to The Big Show, why not stop by the Pierre Burton Resource Library for a Road to the Oscars celebration on March 7^th at 2 pm.  George Clooney won’t be there but on the bright side, neither will James Cameron…which is a good thing since the host room probably can’t accommodate his ego. 

Fire is the second book by Kristin Cashore, which is set in the same world as her first, Graceling.  There is only one character who is in both stories and since its been some time since I read Graceling, I had to get Kathleen to tell me which character it was!  So clearly if you haven’t read the first book, it doesn’t impact the enjoyment of the second.

This story is set in the country on the other side of the mountains from Graceling.  The Dells have monsters, which are incredible beautiful creatures that attract humans.  Fire is the only human-shaped monster alive since her cruel monster father, Cansrel, died.  Fire has to keep her hair covered to try to camouflage herself from unwanted attention.  She has the power to control people’s minds and the day comes when the King and his brother request her help to keep the kingdom safe and she has to decide what she can do to help without compromising herself and behaving the way her father did.

Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey

Here’s another example of a book I wouldn’t have picked up on my own. Thank goodness for friends’ recommendations!

In this case, it’s not that the cover is particularly terrible - I’ve seen much uglier, more awkward, ‘what were they thinking’ kind of covers floating around the library. What really gets me about this one is how misleading it is. Like I said, I wouldn’t have picked it up on my own, despite what I should have learned by now about not judging books by their covers. The cover of this book makes it look, how can I put this… rather introspective. Gentle and dreamy. Even the title kind of suggests something kind of soft - Kushiel’s Dart… Kushiel… Cushy.

This book is anything but that. If anything some parts of this book were almost too harsh to read. Harsh and intense. Once the story really got started I couldn’t put it down, and I’m working my way through the rest of the series as we speak.

The story starts with a girl being sold to a brothel at the age of four. Trying not to spoil anything, I’ll just say that no, it’s not as gut-wrenching as it sounds… the book takes awhile to build to that. Following the girl through her childhood and into her early adult years, the story sees her entering into the household of a minor lord, who arranges for her to be trained as both a courtesan and a spy. Here the story’s stage opens up; a renaissance-era world mirroring our own, full of intrigue, danger, cruelty and love. A gripping tale unfolds as the girl uncovers a plot to take over her country’s throne. Betrayed and kidnapped, she is again sold into slavery and taken to a harsh distant land, where she must find a way to endure, escape, and return home to reveal the conspiracy before her entire country is invaded and ravaged.

It’s not a light read by any stretch, and I have to say I found it absolutely riveting.

Read: Where The Wild Things Are

Where the wild things are. Sendak, Maurice. Programs and Genres Publishing.

This is the story of Max, a little boy who takes an imaginary journey to a land of “Wild Things”.  As Max’s imagination unfolds, his bedroom is transformed into an entirely new world.  When he sails to the land of the Wild Things, they quickly make him their ruler.  The Wild Things are tamed under Max’s fearless leadership and enjoy a “wild rumpus” planned by Max.  Ultimately Max leaves the land of the Wild Things, despite heir loving protests, to return home where he finds his dinner waiting for him. 

Follow-Up Activities:

Have a “wild rumpus” like Max and the Wild Things.  You and your child can choose different movements to make (such as jumping, rolling, dancing, clapping, etc.).  Then, let your child play the part of Max, who says in the story, “Now stop!” and the movement freezes.  You can play this game repeatedly, allowing your child to suggest different movements and taking turns playing the role of Max.  Look at the illustrations together to determine what types of movements the Wild Things used during their “rumpus”.  This activity is even more fun if you add music: You can control the music, encouraging your child to dance while the music plays and “freeze” when he/she hears the music stop.

Make a Wild Thing mask.  You will need a paper plate, paper, scissors, glue, crayons and whatever collage materials you can find around the house, such as yarn and fabric scraps, buttons, cotton balls, glitter, sequins, pasta, tissue paper, wrapping paper, ribbon, etc.  In advance, cut eye holes in the paper plate for your child.  Then encourage your child to use the collage materials and his/her imagination to create a monster mask, the wilder, the better. 

Cook up some “Wild Thing pancakes”.  You will need pancake mix, food coloring, fruit pieces, and whipped topping.  Have your child help you mix the pancake batter, adding food coloring along with the package ingredients.  Talk about the package instructions, ingredients, and the preparation steps with your child as you mix the batter together.  Cook the pancakes for your child.  After the pancakes are cooked, help your child to decorate his/her pancake with the fruit pieces and whipped topping to create a “monster face”.

http://cf.nwf.org/beoutthere/docs/beoutthere_kidsguide.pdf -  check out this website for a free printable activity booklet based on the movie released that was released in Fall 2009. Kids can make a mobile, create their own creature, play a game of BINGO, and so much more!

http://www.freekidscoloring.com/books_and_authors/where_the_wild_things_are/ - check out this site for some free colouring pages.

I recently finished the book Eon: Dragoneye reborn by Alison Goodman.  While in the midst of reading it, I was checking online to see if the next book was available!  It turns out that the Australian, British and North America titles for this first book are different,  so I checked the author’s website and unfortunately, she is still in the midst of writing the sequel.  There are times when I totally understand not reading a book until the entire series is published!

This story is set in an Asian fantasy world.  The main character’s name is Eon.  She’s a 16 year girl disguised as a boy.  She’s in training in the hopes of being selected as the next dragoneye apprentice, something only males are allowed to do.  If she is chosen by the dragon, she’d be the main interpreter for the dragon and responsible for directing the dragon’s energy.  When her friend is picked by the dragon, her hopes are crushed until a dragon not seen for 400 years appears.