Ever Tales

I'd put money on it that (in a random poll), Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird would sweep the Book Most Often Named 'My Favorite' Book category. Not for nothing is it a book (and author) surrounded by speculation and myth, mocked (pardon the pun) and parodied, required and studied . . . and probably even avoided--by students who'd rather just watch the movie. It's most recent tribute comes from Paul Acampora's book I Kill the Mockingbird . Three students who adore Lee's novel decide to go renegade and start a reading revolution--by "disappearing" copies of the book in libraries and bookstores across their state. While they don't actually steal the books, things get out of hand as their revolution goes viral--books do get stolen, and the real reason behind their revolution gets muddied and confused. Acampora is great with dialogue, the book moves quickly and feels very honest and realistic. It's in the teen section, but I didn't s...

Tonight my toddler niece told me a bedtime story: "Once time, ittle uck (duck), a end!" While it could have used a tad more plot, I loved it. Another book I loved: Tyrannosaurus Wrecks by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. Bardhan-Quallen's rhyming story takes place in a dinosaur preschool, where a very energetic (and quite accident-prone) Tyrannosaur destroys, crashes, spills, and wrecks all the other dinotot's creative endeavors. The cute dinosaurs (you'll love Zachariah OHora's illustrations) give us all a little lesson on helping, kindness, and forgiveness. It's also quite a lesson on dinosaurs (I had a good time figuring out the pronunciations--which, of course, the kids always seem to just know ). I also like the fact that it is an early introduction to the preschool world--crafts, activities, sharing. And the rhyme; any author that can carry off a unique, clever rhyming story (with a plot!) has my enormous respect. Happy "wrecking"!