Review #91: Clementine

We tend to focus our family group reviews mostly on picture books -- it's easy to pile everyone up on the couch and read three or four of them together in a single sitting.  But the kids do plenty of reading on their own as well.  So I've decided that from time to time we'll check in with the kids individually to see what books they've been enjoying for their own pleasure reading.  These will be books that I haven't read with them, so I will be learning about the stories right along with all of you!  Today Lily is going to share a book she recently finished:

Dad:  Alright, Lily.  Time for our One-On-One Bookie Woogie review!  Go ahead and tell me about your book.
Lily (age 8):  Well, it's called "Clementine."
Dad:  Do you remember who the author is?
Lily:  It is written by Sara Pennypacker.  And pictures by Marla Frazee.  The book is hilarious.
Dad:  What kind of girl is Clementine?
Lily:  She is a wild idea'ed person.  She's creative.  She's crazy.  She's a trouble maker.  And she memorizes shoes.  They live in the basement, so out the window they see all the feet.  And Clementine memorized every shoe of every person.
Dad:  Tell me about some of her wild ideas.
Lily:  I will tell you a few funny things.  And naughty things.
Dad:  Naughty?
Lily:  Naughty.  She tries to do good things -- to help people and to make them feel better.  But sometimes the things she does turn out to be bad.
Dad:  Gottcha.
Lily:  Yeah.  So, Clementine was doing art class with her friend.  I don't remember her name - it is hard to remember.  Margaret.  Margaret got some glue in her hair.
Dad:  Hmmm.
Lily:  I don't know how she got glue on the top of her head.  But sometimes I don't even know how I get frosting on my forehead... so...
Dad:  Things just happen sometimes.  You are messy too, huh?
Lily:  Margaret tired to cut the glue off.  But she cut some of her hair instead.  Then Margaret decided she wanted short hair like Clementine, so Clementine started cutting her hair for her.  She cut Margaret's hair... her beautiful hair.  Then the principle came in and saw them.
Dad:  Uh-oh.
Lily:  So she got in trouble.  Really big trouble.  Then they went to Clementine's house.  And they got out markers, and they colored Margaret's hair orange.  She wanted hair like Clementine.  They wanted to match.
Dad:  This is the same friend?
Lily:  Yes.
Dad:  Oh dear.  I'm surprised their parents still let them play together.
Lily:  So the next thing -- Clementine cut her own hair.  Margaret had been sad, so Clementine cut her own hair to make her feel better.  It was already short, but she cut her hair even shorter.  Then Clementine told Margaret that she could color her hair any color she wanted.
Dad:  Why?
Lily:  Because Clementine had colored Margaret's orange.  So Margaret colored Clementine's hair.  Bright green!
Dad:  Do any of your friends remind you of Clementine?
Lily:  Hmmm.  No.
Dad:  Who does remind you of Clementine?
Lily:  Me.
Dad:  I know!
Lily:  Tee hee hee!
Dad:  The way you are describing her sounds exactly like the kind of trouble you've gotten into in the past.
Lily:  When I was three I cut my hair.
Dad:  Yep.  You were hiding behind the chair in the living room, cutting your hair, and stuffing it into Mom's shoe.
Lily:  Hah ha ha!  Yeah.  I even cut my bangs too.
Dad:  Right down to the nub.
Lily:  It was NOT a good haircut.  I couldn't reach the back, so there was a strip of hair in the back that was long.  So it went around -- short, short, short, long.  But actually my hair was even.  Except for the long part.
Dad:  Yeah, evenly too-short everywhere!
Lily:  Okay... Now I'm moving to another thing.  Let's stop talking about this!
Dad:  Instead of talking about naughty Lily, you want to go back to talking about naughty Clementine again?
Lily:  Yeah.
Dad:  Well, tell me about illustrations in the book.
Lily:  They are black and white and really good.  They are detailed and cartoony at the same time, which I really like.  The pictures helped the story a lot.  I want to show you a funny part...  (starts flipping through the book)
Dad:  Oh dear.  I just saw a picture of her short hair.  That is very short isn't it.
Lily:  I know.  (Flipping, flipping)  That picture.
Dad:  So that's your favorite?
Lily:  Yeah.  She's yelling, and one eye is smaller and one eye is bigger.  It's my favorite because of her expression.
Dad:  So why do you think it's fun to read about Clementine's troubles?
Lily:  It would be kind of boring to read about a good girl just walking around her house.  But it is cool and funny to read about a mischief maker.  You can learn about all the things you shouldn't do.
Dad:  And who would like a book like this?
Lily:  Eight year olds.  Like me.  And people who have good imaginations.
Dad:  Thanks for telling me about your book, Lily!
Lily:  You are welcome.

Clementine's hair: orange, cut, green, & under a hat; by Lily

Author: Sara Pennypacker
Illustrator: Marla Frazee
Published , 2006: Hyperion
Like it?  Here it is

Review #86: We Are the Ship

Gracie (age 10):  Kadir Nelson, if you are reading this, you have the coolest book ever.  Your book is definitely on my top favorites list.
Isaac (age 12):  "We Are the Ship" is about Negro League baseball.  Before African American people were able to play baseball with the other leagues, they invented their own league called the Negro League.
Lily (age 7):  It is from history.
Gracie:  This guy, Rube Foster, took all the people that weren't allowed to play, and he put them on professional baseball teams of their own.  And that's called the Negro Leagues.
Lily:  The book tells the whole history of it.  From the beginning to the end.  It didn't skip a bit.
Gracie:  It's all about what the Negro Leagues were like, and how the players had to live and travel from town to town.
Isaac:  It was kind of hard for them because they had to get on these smelly buses.  And nobody would let them sleep at regular places, so they had to go to these special hotels, but the hotels weren't very good at all.
Gracie:  And the book gives you all the best Negro League baseball players.  Like Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell - those are my two favorites.  I like Satchel Paige.  No one can hit anything of his.  He's got a really good fastball.  He's a pitcher.  Even his slowballs are fast.
Dad:  After we finished the book, you and Isaac were playing baseball in the living room with wadded up paper balls and rolled up paper bats, and you guys were being your favorite players.
Gracie:  We played "paper baseball."  I was Satchel Paige.  Except I can't throw fastballs.  So I was, like... Satchel Paige Junior Girl Version... who isn't very good at throwing stuff.
Isaac:  They invented a lot of the baseball things that players use nowadays.  They invented the helmet because they were throwing way too close to one guy's head, so he would put a miner's helmet on.  Another guy invented shin guards.  He tied these wooden boards to his legs when they played against white players because everybody was trying to hurt him.
Dad:  What is the art in this book like?
Isaac:  The art is amazing.
Gracie:  It is really detailed.  Really awesome.
Isaac:  Kadir Nelson really knows how to make faces and clothes look like faces and clothes.  You can see all the wrinkles and details and grass stains.  He makes them all look like real photographs.
Gracie:  Kadir Nelson...  You ROCK, Kadir Nelson!
Dad:  And what was the cool thing we got to do after reading this book?
Lily:  We went to his art exhibit.
Gracie:  We went to an art museum that was throwing a party for Kardir Nelson's "We Are the Ship."  We went and ate awesome eggroll things.  We got to see all this cool Negro League stuff.  I got to see a signed Satchel Paige baseball and actual newspaper articles about Satchel Paige.  Satchel Paige is my favorite.
Dad:  I can tell.  So, there was memorabilia there.  But it was an art museum -- what else did we see?
Gracie:  Art!  Kadir Nelson's original art.  And it's actually really, really, really big.
Lily:  Huge.  He made big, huge pictures.  They were even bigger than you Dad.  It would have been a gi-normous book if they made it the actual size of the paintings.
Isaac:  These were giant, huge life-size pictures.  We didn't know they would be so big until we got there.
Gracie:  He paints it on, like, a 10 foot canvas.  Gi-gan-tic!
Dad:  What was it like to look at the originals in person?
Isaac:  It made me want to go paint.
Gracie:  The colors actually looked brighter closer up.
Lily:  Here's one thing about his pictures.  The baseballs -- the stitches look like real yarn!  I don't know how he does that!  It looks like real yarn stitches!
Gracie:  I loved this picture where Josh Gibson is swinging the bat around - he has three bats in his hand.  I love that picture.
Isaac:  We also heard Kadir Nelson give a speech.
Gracie:  You are a very good speaker, Kadir Nelson.
Dad:  What do you remember from his talk?
Lily:  The people in his paintings have bigger hands than they are supposed to, because Kadir Nelson likes hands.
Gracie:  He accidentally made them all a little too big because he loves drawing them so much.
Isaac:  He was saying that it's not just people's faces that show expressions.  Hands can show expression as much as faces can.
Gracie:  He had to do tons of research for the book.  And he didn't really like reading that much until he read Negro League baseball books.  Now he loves to read and write.
Isaac:  He made up most of the poses for the players in the pictures.  Only a couple of them he did from original photos.
Gracie:  He said, " I got this really handsome guy to pose for me.  He's really great and he works for free.  Here's a picture of him."  And then he shows some pictures of himself posing.
Lily:  He was posing for all of the pictures!
Gracie:  Ha ha ha ha!
Lily:  He also told a secret.
Dad:  Yeah - he shared some of his mistakes in the book.  Things we would have never noticed.
Lily:  He didn't put the right number of stars on one of the flags.  But don't tell anybody that!
Dad:  Do you feel any different about Kadir Nelson's books -- now that we have heard him talk and have seen his originals?
Lily:  WAAAY different!  I really liked them before.  But now I like them more.  Now I really, really like them.
Gracie:  You know what?  Every time we review a book, I kind of feel like from now on I know all the authors and illustrators personally.  But I really don't.
Dad:  You feel more of a connection to them after taking a closer look at their work.
Gracie:  That's how I kind of feel like with Kadir Nelson.
Lily:  Now I know him.  I don't really know him.  But I heard his talk.  And he's so nice.

Negro League baseball player, by Lily

sketch of Josh Gibson, by Isaac

Satchel Paige, by Gracie

Author/Illustrator: Kadir Nelson
Published, 2008: Hyperion
Like it?  Here it is


If any of our readers are in the Michigan area and can get to the Muskegon Museum of Art, I highly recommend you go for it -- it is WELL worth the trip.  The "We Are the Ship" exhibit will be showing until March 13.

Review #75: Oh No

Isaac (age 11):  "Oh No" is illustrated by Dan Santat.
Gracie (age 9):  Dan Sanitizer.
Isaac:  And it is written by...
Gracie:  Chuck Duckerman!
Isaac:  Written by Chuck Duckerman?
Gracie:  HA hee hee heehee!  No - That's what I think the robot's name should be.  Chuck Duckerman.
Dad:  "Oh No" is written by Mac Barnett.
Gracie:  Macaroni Barnett!
Dad:  Great.
Gracie:  Dan Sanitizer and Macaroni Barnett.
Lily (age 7):  This is a weird and wacko book.  But the people that made this book are smartypants, because they could build this story.
Isaac:  They have crazy imaginations.
Gracie:  They are crazy... in a good way.
Isaac:  "Oh No" is about this girl who builds a super hi-tech robot.
Gracie:  Chuck Duckerman.
Isaac:  Robot.  She makes the robot for a science fair.  It wasn't that hard for her to win first place because this is what she was up against -- "Cup of Dirt."  "Just Hamsters."  And a little teeny volcano.  Those were the other entries, so she creamed them.
Gracie:  If I entered a Science Fair, I'd probably do something about aerodynamics.
Dad:  Do you even know what aerodynamics is?
Gracie:  Flying.
Dad:  Wow - you know a big word.  Where'd you learn that big word?
Gracie:  I made it up.
Dad:  You didn't make it up.
Gracie:  Well, then where did I hear it?
Dad:  I don't know - that's what I asked you.
Gracie:  I would make a replica of a model of a plane.
Dad:  So you wouldn't just make a model plane?  You'd make a replica OF a model of a plane?
Isaac:  Ha ha!
Gracie:  Or I could just do a project on cows.
Dad:  Aerodynamics... or cows.
Gracie:  I could teach people how to dissect cows.
Dad:  Wow.  This has nothing to do with the book.  Let's get back on track...
Gracie:  Has Macaroni Barnett ever dissected a cow?
Dad:  What happens to the robot?
Isaac:  It escapes.  It was a science project catastrophe.
Gracie:  The robot has a laser eye and super claw.  The robot's name is Chuck Duckerman.  And Chuck Duckerman starts destroying the world.
Lily:  If kids are afraid of lasers, they shouldn't read this book.
Isaac:  The robot also has hypnotizing-dog-power.  The robot made dogs think they were robots destroying the world -- little teeny chihuahuas dressed up with hats.  If I could control a dog's mind, I would make it Riverdance.
Lily:  So then the girl made a giant frog to defeat the robot, and the giant frog saved the world.
Isaac:  She turned a little frog into a giant monster frog with a machine.  With a Froginizer.  A Grow-inator-inator.  The Biginator.
Gracie:  The giant frog destroys Chuck Duckerman.
Isaac:  But now she has to make another thing to stop the frog.  I don't know what's going to stop it... but I'm going to make it.
Dad:  So, that's the storyline.  What did you think of the illustrations?
Isaac:  The pictures remind me of a movie.  An old scary movie.  It looks like Godzilla!  I bet they were trying to make it resemble an old Godzilla movie.
Dad:  Have you ever seen an old Godzilla movie?
Isaac:  I'm just guessing.
Dad:  How do you even know who Godzilla is?  I suppose it's just part of our cultural make-up.  Everyone knows Godzilla.
Lily:  Yes.  He's a giant monkey.
Dad:  That's King Kong.
Lily:  Oh.

hypnotized puppies dressed as robots, by Lily

a new giant robot to defeat the giant frog, by Isaac

Gracie had a different idea of how to attack the frog:

make a fly grow giant with the Biginator machine...

but...  that might not work...

Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Published, 2010: Hyperion
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Review #69: Percy Jackson & the Olympians

A special treat this week!  For a year and a half we've reviewed books that we read together as a family.  But the kids are all voracious readers on their own as well.  So I thought I'd chat with them one-on-one to find out about the books they are reading for their own pleasure.  These are books I personally know nothing about, so I'm learning too!  We invite you to check back later this week as well to hear from each of the kids.  Here's the schedule:

Today: Isaac with the "Percy Jackson" series
Tomorrow: Gracie with the "Just Grace" series
Wednesday: Lily with the "Cobble Street Cousins" series

And now, heeeeeeere's Isaac!


Dad:  Hello Isaac.
Isaac (age 11):  Hi.
Dad:  What books are we going to discuss?
Isaac:  Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Dad:  By Rick Riordan.  Did you like them?
Isaac:  Yes.  Tons.  I loved the action and adventure of them.  They are based on all the Greek myths.  Like, Zeus and the Big Three, and the 12 other gods...
Dad:  Who are "the Big Three"?
Isaac:  The Big Three are the greatest ones -- Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
Dad:  Are they good guys, or bad guys, or a mix?
Isaac:  Zeus is the highest of the three, so he has the most authority.  He is really solemn.  Poseidon is really kind.  And Hades just really doesn't care that much.  He's angry at all the other gods.
Dad:  And who is Percy Jackson.
Isaac:  He's the main character through the whole series.  He's the son of Poseidon.
Dad:  I gather from the covers that he's got some special powers?
Isaac:  All the people who are half-gods have powers.  He can use water.  I guess you could call him a water-bender.  He can make huge tidal waves.  He can breathe underwater.  And if he wants, he can make himself never get wet.
Dad:  Go, go, gadget umbrella!
Isaac:  No, he does not have a giant robotic umbrella arm come out of his head.
Dad:  Is there one storyline that goes through the series, or is each a self-contained story?
Isaac:  Kind of both.  There are different adventures, but they tie into each other.  Especially the last two books.  They definitely go together.
Dad:  What storyline ties them together?
Isaac:  Kronos is trying to come back and take over.
Dad:  Kronos is the father of the Big Three if I remember my Greek mythology right...
Isaac:  Yeah, he is the Titan.  Percy has to stop the monsters because Kronos is trying to take over.  In myths, the gods have to send people to fight for them.  Not just in these books, but in real myths.  So Percy and his friends have to fight, because the gods can't do it by themselves.  But the gods would never admit that.
Dad:  Did you have a favorite book in the series?
Isaac:  The last book was really good.  It had a ton of action in it.  But I was really mad that one person died.  I was so mad.  And then you find something out that made me even madder -- the thing he died for was just a decoy, so he didn't die for any purpose.  It made me really mad.
Dad:  You really got into these books.  Now, why did you love them so much?
Isaac:  I'm not sure.  The first one was hard to get through...
Dad:  Yeah, you started it before you were a big reader.  It was a daunting task to finish that whole big book.
Isaac:  I almost stopped three times.
Dad:  But what happened when you finished it?
Isaac:  It was just so good I wanted to read the next one.
Dad:  And then you started reading them day and night!  Every time you finished one, you couldn't wait to get the next.
Isaac:  These are the books that got me into reading.  Now I read tons of 300 page books.
Dad:  You are a reading machine.  But tell us -- what happened when you finished the final Percy Jackson book.  Was life wonderful and cheery?
Isaac:  Uh, not really.  They are such good books -- so awesome.  But there were no other books like them.  No other books that good.
Dad:  As long as there are additional books in a favorite series, it's a safe bet you'll like them.  But when you're done, every other book you try is a roll of the dice...
Isaac:  You have to go searching, but you could never find another one just like them.
Dad:  You were such a good reader after finishing the series, I thought -- Yea! We have a house full of books! Go at 'em!  I gave you book after book after book.  But you always said, "It's not the same...  It's never going to be the same...  I'll never find a book as good as these..."  For a few weeks, you were such a sad little puppy.
Isaac:  I tried though.
Dad:  You tried a lot.  You began book after book.  And finally you found one that stuck.  And now you are a voracious reader again.  What was the book that finally broke the spell and set you back on the reading path?
Isaac:  "Leepike Ridge" was the book I finally found.  N.D. Wilson wrote it.  That was really good as well.  It had lots of adventure.
Dad:  And now you devour books like crazy again.  And I'm amazed.  But I'm actually kind of sad.  You are reading all these books that I've always wanted to read.  Up until recently, we've always read books together.  And now you are having all these adventures without me!  I'm jealous.  But you are a reader.  I guess that's how it's supposed to be...
Isaac:  Yeah.
Dad:  Now, I want to ask you about "The Shadow Thieves" from the Cronus series.  I specifically hunted that book down for you because I knew it was supposed to be similar to Percy.  I think the first books in both series came out right around the same time.
Isaac:  It's pretty much the exact same thing as Percy Jackson.
Dad:  I knew they were both based on mythology but set in modern times.  Did you like it?
Isaac:  At first it was extremely hard to get into.  The first half was really hard to get through.  It didn't really have any action.  It was just talking.  The book goes slower.
Dad:  But you finished it.  And it was a huge book.
Isaac:  Yeah, I did finish it finally.
Dad:  There are more books in that series.  Would you read those?
Isaac:  Someday.  I liked the first one.  At the end.
Dad:  Aww... so it took until the very end before you liked it!
Isaac:  Yeah.
Dad:  Do you ever think you'll read through the Percy Jackson books a second time?
Isaac:  I'd like to read through them again.  But I already have so many other books I want to read now.  It may take a while.
Dad:  And what are you reading at the moment?
Isaac:  100 Cupboards.  That is also really good.  Also by N.D. Wilson.
Dad:  Well this has been fun!  I've enjoyed talking with you one-on-one for Bookie Woogie!
Isaac:  Yeah!  It's really nice.
Dad:  We'll have to do it more often.  You don't have to divvy up time with other kids.
Isaac:  Yeah, I get to talk as much as I want.
Dad:  Thanks for sharing your favorite books with us, Isaac!
Isaac:  You are welcome.

Percy Jackson, by Isaac

Author: Rick Riordan
Book 1: "The Lightning Thief" published, 2005: Hyperion
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Review #9: "I Love My New Toy" and "I Will Surprise My Friend"

Dad:  This is going to be a very different review.  A package I ordered just arrived, and we are recording the the unveiling in real-time.  What could it be?  (Opening...)  Ta-da!
Isaac (age 10):  "I Love My New Toy" and the other one is "I Will Surprise My Friend."
Gracie (age 8): ...by Mo Willems.  I love Elephant and Piggie!
Dad:  Which is your favorite book in the series that we've already read?
Isaac:  I like "Bird on Your Head!"
Gracie:  Oh yeah, "There Is a Bird on Your Head" - that's my favorite.
Lily (age 5): ...that's the one that goes: "there's a bird on your head."
Dad:  So which of these new ones should we read first?
Isaac:  This is our second Double Bookie Woogie!
Lily:  Start with "I Love My New Toy."
Isaac:  That is a very weird toy.  It looks like a weird alien greeny-bluey thingie.  Hey - where's the pigeon?  There's a pigeon in every book....

reading of "I Love My New Toy" begins...
....reading of "I Love My New Toy" ends.

reading of "I Will Surprise My Friend" begins...
...reading of "I Will Surprise My Friend" ends.

Gracie:  That was HILARIOUS!  "I will save you, Piggie!" "LUNCHTIME!"  That's my new favorite!
Dad:  Even more than "Bird on Your Head"?
Gracie:  YES!
Lily:  That's my new favorite too!
Isaac:  It's funny!
Gracie:  No, it's hilarious!  "I will save you, Piggie!" "LUNCHTIME!"
Dad:  Who's your favorite character?  Gerald or Piggie?
Gracie:  Piggie!
Isaac:  I like piggie.
Lily:  I like piggie!
Dad:  I like Gerald.  You guys all like Piggie?
Gracie:  Piggie is the winner!
Dad:  Why do think that is?  Do you think Gerald is more like the grownup and Piggie is more like the kid?
Gracie:  Like in "Today I Will Fly" Gerald says, "Today you will not fly.  You will not fly tomorrow.  You will never fly!"
Dad:  You think that sounds like a parent?
Gracie:  Well, it's very, very serious.  Piggie is dramatic and she's funny like me.
Isaac:  The pig is a she?
Gracie:  Yes!
Dad:  Both of these books had lots of emotions...
Lily:  Piggie was embarrassed because she did some bad things - she was yelling at Gerald.  Another time they were both surprised.
Gracie:  Angry!  Sad.  Worried that Gerald wouldn't be friends anymore...
Isaac:  Once Piggie was shocked/sad/mad all combined into a thing where her eyes are little dots.
Lily:  Piggie felt hungry.
Isaac:  When she's mad, the guy draws this black tornado thing on top of her head.  I never knew how to do that until now - I realized he just takes the side of the pencil and pushes down hard into a tornado shape...
Dad:  I think I've seen smoke come out of Gracie's head before.
Gracie:  You could tell the character's emotions by their funny faces.
Isaac:  And you could tell by their ninja moves!
Gracie:  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Dad:  What do you mean by ninja moves?
Isaac:  I'll show you... (flipping through the book)
Dad:  What?  There are actual ninja moves in there?  Where?
Isaac:  That picture!
Gracie and Isaac reading together:  "I will save you!" "LUNCH-
TIME!"
(Hysterical laughter by all)
Dad:  I bet you guys are going to be quoting that all the time now aren't you...

Piggie and Elephant, by Lily

lots of new toys! by Gracie

the squirrel strikes again, by Isaac

Author/Illustrator: Mo Willems
Published, 2008: Hyperion
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