We got a great comment from someone who said they would like us to post books about poetry. But none come too mind so instead we’re going to have to post poetry about books. Enjoy!
Books
Author Unknown
I like books
I really do.
Books with stories
And pictures, too.
Books of birds
And things that grow.
Books of people
We should know.
Books of animals
And places, too.
I like books
I really do!
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznik
realistic fantasy 608 pages – don’t be frightened by the number. Each page will make you think and wonder, what else would a good book do?
Have you ever had a hard time explaining how or why you like a book? I have vivid memories of past students dragging their fingers across their faces, “Ooooohhh, re – flec – tion! Ugh! Why do we always have to explain it all?” Or this year, a student wrote, “It is funny. It is cool.” And then dropped his head to the table, “Ahh…that’s not enough.” I have a similar feeling – how can I possibly explain the wonders of Wonderstruck?
I want lots of kids to read it. I want to talk to them about how it is written and what happens when the two stories collide. I wonder what readers will love most? The Cabinet of Wonders? Learning how museum displays are created? Deaf culture through time? Thinking about memories, what they mean and how they return? Will they love the quote from the book “Wonderstruck” within the book Wonderstruck – “Some collections grew beyond the confines of a single cabinet and took over entire rooms. The viewer was able to walk into one of these rooms and, as if reading a book, understand the wonder of the world just from the stories told by the collected objects and how they were displayed.”
Wonderstruck is a book I would love share with a book club. In addition to how stories from 1927 and 1977 come together, I want to talk about how the author/illustrator’s idea emerged. I want to wonder how we could put things together like that to come up with a totally original idea in a book. Maybe I can do that, but if I can’t do, I hope that you will take the time to be totally wonderstruck! And then let me know …
Click on this link and scroll down to the Meet Brian Selznik video clip. You’ll be glad you did.
“I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and that’s the truth, the whole truth. The unvanquished truth, is how Freak would say it and for a long tine it was him who did the talking. Except I had a way of saying things with my fist and my feet even before we became Freak the Mighty, slaying dragons and fools and walking high above the world.”
–Freak the Mighty, Chapter 1, The Unvanquished Truth
The first time I finished this book was when my Aunt Patrice read it aloud to us at our Beach House. At first nobody, not even me looked forward to the read aloud at the end of the day, but when we got into it, or at least I got into it, I was hooked. This book is about a oversized boy and undersized boy both going into eighth grade. The two have vague childhood memories together but no other connections to each other. They form a deep friendship that no one would expect to become of them. Max and Freak (Kevin) are two peas in a pod they quickly morphed into Freak the Mighty. I highly suggest Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick.
Click here for RodmanPhilbrick.com on Freak the Mighty.
Click here to buy the book from Amazon.com.