Saturday, November 21, 2009
Coffee Table Books
Do you love coffee table books? I do! Guess why? I love the pictures. When one teaches elementary school too long, their vocabulary goes to pot so maybe that's why I love the pictures so much. Honestly, not all my books on the coffee table, hearth, floor, and end tables are just pictures, but very close! I have three new ones, perhaps you are interested. The first one is Ruin Photographs of a Vanishing America by Brian Vandren Brink. Brink is a much sought after architectual photographer. This book contains pictures of abandoned structures in America. Their beauty is ehanced by Brinks' amazing photography. The beautiful photos, in both black and white and full color photography highlight Brinks' PURE talent in this field. The book is quite large and has some real weight to it, imagine a small atlas and is a historical comment on buildings once so useful and stunning, now lost amongst grass and apathy. On a lighter note, I purchased, at VLA, Golden Legacy by Leonard S. Marcus. This book is the how, when, why anniversary book about Golden Books! I have been collecting old Golden Books for years so this book was an instant purchase! Two hundred forty four pages chock full of history and information about the pheno called Golden Books. It was 1942 and these little books cost 25 cents. I wonder if your favorite one is pictured inside?? Last one for tonight's post is compiled by Anita Silvey who will be one our keynote speakers at VEMA next year. I have been a fan of hers for quite some time and then when I read the title, I knew this book had to be in my personal collection as well. Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book. She has interviewed many people, written about them, and used quotes from the interviews to hightlight their favorite children's book. This is lots of fun and I would have shared this with all my teachers when I was an LMS. Anita Silvey is on fb and has a website, www.anitasilvey.com, in case you are interested. Think Christmas gifts today as you finish this post or perhaps your personal Christmas list would be more appropriate. Lots more thoughts to share with your before the holidays kick off. See ya, Roxanne
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Latest reads
Hi,
I have some new titles to share with you. I wonder if you have already read them as sometimes I am a bit behind some of you and then again some of you are behind me. Funny, how reading books works out that way. The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi was very engaging. It put a human face on the Nat Turner uprising. Told from the perspective of a young lady who was living on a plantation with her dad's ex-wife ( not her mother) she befriends Nat Turner and unwittingly gives him critical information. Rinaldi is an excellent writer and I think this book shows off her talents very well. I also finished Return to Sender. This book also brings a human face to the story, but this story is current realistic fiction. Return to Sender is about illegal migrant workers from Mexico. Several different sides to this story are presented through the eyes of the youngsters who are living this story. Using alternate chapters, the author uses a young farm boy and a young Mexican girl whose family is working his family's farm. His father has suffered a heart attack and is in danger of losing the farm without workers wiling to work the fields. Numerous events occur in this book which strength the relationships between the white family and the migrant workers. This is such a hot topic in the news right now so this book could spark some excellent pro/con discussions. Both these books are from my readings for my multicultural grant work. Both will be part of our workshop at ODU next month. I hope some of you will come over and check out our extensive book collection. ODU is the Southeastern Regional Examination Center so publishers send wonderful books to the Learning Resource Center. I have been very busy reading as many as I can. Next I will share some of the picture book titles with you.
I have some new titles to share with you. I wonder if you have already read them as sometimes I am a bit behind some of you and then again some of you are behind me. Funny, how reading books works out that way. The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi was very engaging. It put a human face on the Nat Turner uprising. Told from the perspective of a young lady who was living on a plantation with her dad's ex-wife ( not her mother) she befriends Nat Turner and unwittingly gives him critical information. Rinaldi is an excellent writer and I think this book shows off her talents very well. I also finished Return to Sender. This book also brings a human face to the story, but this story is current realistic fiction. Return to Sender is about illegal migrant workers from Mexico. Several different sides to this story are presented through the eyes of the youngsters who are living this story. Using alternate chapters, the author uses a young farm boy and a young Mexican girl whose family is working his family's farm. His father has suffered a heart attack and is in danger of losing the farm without workers wiling to work the fields. Numerous events occur in this book which strength the relationships between the white family and the migrant workers. This is such a hot topic in the news right now so this book could spark some excellent pro/con discussions. Both these books are from my readings for my multicultural grant work. Both will be part of our workshop at ODU next month. I hope some of you will come over and check out our extensive book collection. ODU is the Southeastern Regional Examination Center so publishers send wonderful books to the Learning Resource Center. I have been very busy reading as many as I can. Next I will share some of the picture book titles with you.
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