Shhhhhh, Go Away Mommy's Reading Now

I get some of my very best book recommendations from teachers.  This should come as no surprise.  Most of us normal humans could not handle a class full of 28 rowdy children for an hour let alone an entire school day for an entire school year.  Special people with special super powers and an innate ability to understand children are teachers.  They get kids, they love kids and they know what they like. 

Recently, a third grade teacher and I were swapping our favorites for young readers.  I told her about Kate Messner's Capture The Flag an exciting adventure story about the theft of The Star-Spangled Banner from the National History Museum and the three kids who manage to find it again.  It's an exciting mystery with a little history thrown in for good measure.  I also told her about The Secret Zoo by Bryan Chick.  This is another adventure but has some fantastical elements as well.  A brother is on a mission to find his missing sister.  A zoo, with a magical twist and some pretty amazing animals, is the backdrop of this book.  Both are fun, exciting and well written. 

In return she told me about The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O'Connor.  Boy-oh-boy am I glad she did!  This amazing book knocked my socks off.  I picked it up one afternoon when I had an half hour or so to kill.  Almost two hours later I was still reading.  My poor kids were starving.  They were begging me for dinner and I couldn't stop reading.  I sent them away with a cheese stick and some fruit.  Dinner would have to wait until I'd read every last page. Luckily for them I'm a pretty fast reader and the book isn't very long.  Eventually they were fed a reasonably well balanced meal and sent off to bed but I was still thinking about Owen and his fantastic secret. 

Owen is a boy whose world has gone a bit sideways.  His grandfather is ill.  His father has lost his job.  He's had to move out of his house and into his grandfather's house.  Fortunately, the house is close to his old one so he still has his two best friends, Travis and Stumpy, to keep him company.  The house also comes with a nice big pond out back.  A pond where Owen manages to catch the "biggest, greenest, slimiest, most beautiful bullfrog."  Unfortunately, the house also comes with a housekeeper who doesn't particularly like children and a know-it-all girl named Viola for a next door neighbor. 

The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester is about all of these characters and one truly fantastic secret.  I can't tell you what the secret is - you'll just have to read it yourself.  But I can tell you that it falls off a train in the middle of the night.  Owen is the only one to hear it fall.  It's a story about adventure.  It's a story that uses creative problem solving and great teamwork.  It's a book about kids being kids making mistakes and learning from them.  It's about responsibility, ingenuity and understanding.  What falls off the train isn't just Owen's secret.  Owen needs the help of all of his friends, even terrible Viola, to keep this secret and to pull off a truly fantastic adventure.  I cannot be clearer than this: Read this book.  Maybe just make sure you feed the kids first.

Beware the Vampire Bunny

If I got my love of reading from my father than I most certainly got my love of children's books from my mother.  As a grade school teacher (and for a time librarian) she always knew the best books to read.  From picture books by Bill Peet to chapter books like Superfudge  she always knew funniest books to read.  There wasn't always a lot of money or toys or TV at our house but there were always books.  Lots and lots of books. 

One of the most beloved books in our house growing up was Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah and James Howe.  It is a hilarious tale about what happens to a normal, everyday family when they rescue a young bunny.  Discovered on a seat in a movie theater during a screening of Dracula, the young bunny may or may not be a vampire.  The Monroe Family seems oblivious to this possibility.  Fortunately for them their cat Chester is on the case.  Clever, well-read Chester will stop at nothing to protect his family from the dangers of one tiny bunny.  Told from the delightful point-of-view of Harold, the family dog (whom some may call a mongrel despite some pretty fancy bloodlines) and Chester's companion, this book will make you laugh out loud again and again. 

Recently I recommended this to a little girl who told me that it was too scary.  I was a little surprised but then realized I hadn't read it since I was a kid myself.  So I came home and dug up my old copy.  I reread Bunnicula curled up in one corner of the couch.  My seven-year-old son was curled into the opposite corner reading The Fenway Foul-Up (Ballpark Mysteries #1). As much as he was enjoying his book he was very distracted.  Every few minutes I'd laugh or giggle and he'd look up and demand to know what was so funny.   I didn't tell him because five pages in I knew it is going to the top his stack of books to read.  As I remembered, Bunnicula isn't scary. It is playful and witty.  It's a fantastic book to share with kids who love mysteries or animals.  It's perfect for both boys and girls.  It is also offers a great lesson in point-of view.  The suggested age is 8 to 12 years of age but younger readers with strong skills should do fine. I'm pretty sure I'm proof that older readers (and rereaders) will enjoy it as well.

James Howe wrote Bunnicula with his wife, Deborah.  It was originally published in 1979.  She passed away shortly after it's publication.  James Howe went on to write six other Bunnicula books as well as many other award winning books for children.  So if you love Bunnicula (and Harold and Chester and The Monroes) as much as I think you will be sure to check out his other titles. 

Just as a side note I am compelled to tell you that my two brothers and I loved this book so much that my parents bought us a bunny.  We of course named him Bunnicula. 

Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover...

We all know the saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover."  We've all heard and we've all said it.  One would hope that we all follow it but that bit is a bit trickier.  Some of the very best books I've ever read (and reread) were plain, hardbound books that my father passed down to me from his childhood.  They were fantastic mysteries about The Bobsey Twins and The Happy Hollisters.  The spines were hopelessly cracked and broken.  Pages would frequently come loose and have to be carefully tucked back into place.  They smelled a bit musty but in a way that wasn't unpleasant.  The paper was stiff and thick and so very different from the thin cheap pages of my own books.  I loved those old books and read them again and again.  Not just for the adventure and mystery I found in them.  I loved them because they were this very real, very tangible connection to my dad and his history.  If I'd have turned my nose up at those old faded covers I would have missed out on a lot more than a few mysteries.

However, I'd be fibbing if I didn't admit that I often choose books based solely on the cover.  Or even worse, sometimes I pick them based on the title alone.  The thing is that great cover art and clever, thoughtful titles are your first introduction to a book.  It is a chance for it to stand out from every other book on the shelf and say, "Hey, pick me!  I'm your guy."   The title, the font, the images are all designed to evoke the feeling or sentiment of a book.  I like that.  It makes me fell like we are already old friends.  A while back I noticed a book called The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall.  Now a title like that would be difficult enough to walk away from.  I mean, aren't you just dying to find out about those girls?  Or the rabbits?  What about that Very Interesting Boy?  And what kind of name is Penderwick anyway?  Truly, I was probably already hooked by the title alone but it was the cover that really sold me.  It was this beautiful pale yellow and blue cover with only the silhouettes of four girls in varying sizes, two rabbits and a great beast of a dog dashing through the grass.   The fact that they are bound for great adventure was without question.  I picked up that book and didn't put it down.  There was no chance it wasn't coming home with me. 

When I sat down to read The Penderwicks I was delighted to discover that the cover had not deceived me.  What could have been a sad tale of a widower struggling to raise four unruly girls was instead a joyful and often hilarious tale of family.  Each of the four Penderwick girls are fantastic characters.  Sometimes they struggle with life, each other or occasionally with The Very Interesting Boy but the struggles are real and genuine.  Their attempts at resolution are honest.  Mr. Penderwick is an equally flawed individual but loving and wise in his own way.  It's a lovely, timeless portrait of family.  It feels like it could have been published in 1955 rather than 2005.  Which is perhaps why it decided to pop up in the same blog as those Bobsey Twins or The Happy Hollisters. 

I guess the truth of the matter is you really can't judge a book by it's cover.  The most fantastic, amazing tales might be hidden inside a scarred, plain brown book.  But if a book makes you take a second or third look at it listen your instincts.  If something about that book, that cover or that title is screaming at you to pick it up and crack it open - DO.  Because sometimes the most fantastic, amazing tales can be hidden inside a beautiful book too. 

From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: The Favorite Book You Forgot

The conversation usually begins like this:

"Excuse me, Miss.  I'm looking for a book I read as a kid.  I really loved it but I can't remember the author or the title.  I just remember that it's about two kids who run away to live in a museum."

The book in question is of course, From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler written by the incomparable E.L. Konigsburg.  In 1968 this slender volume won the coveted Newbery Award.  It was equal parts childish rebellion, adventure and art history.  The fact that readers cannot remember the title or the author some 20, 30 or even 40 years after reading it is inconsequential. The title (while ridiculously fun to say) is undeniably long and just shy of cumbersome.  The author's name is perhaps equally difficult to remember if you aren't immersed in the world of kids lit.  But none of that matters.  It's the story that matters.  It's the story that leaves an indelible mark on the hearts and imaginations of young readers.  And From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler does just that. 

It is the tone of this novel that immediately sets it apart from every other kids book you have ever or will ever read. With unexpected acerbic wit and wry commentary Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler relates the story of the Kincaid children to her attorney whom we know only as Saxonberg.  She begins with Claudia, the eldest Kincaid child and only daughter, who after much planning and forethought decides to run away from home.  Claudia is attempting to escape the supreme injustices of her family position (i.e. doing the dishes and watching her youngest brother) and the boredom of living in a suburb of New York City.  She carefully chooses her destination - The Metropolitan Museum of Art (it is large, comfortable and beautiful) and her travelling companion - her second youngest brother Jamie (he is the richest of her brothers and owns a transistor radio) and sets out for the adventure of a lifetime.

What follows is a clever and funny portrait of a sister and brother surviving quite spectacularly on their own.  They travel, manage their funds and even do their own laundry on the streets of NYC.  They find food and shelter at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  They also discover a fantastic mystery involving the museum's newest acquisition, a sculpture of an angel that may or may not have been sculpted by Michelangelo. You cannot help but fall in love with Claudia, Jamie and indeed Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  It is a novel of family, of art, of history and of truly tremendous secrets.  There is little wonder that 40+ years after it's publication it remains one of the most beloved books you've ever forgotten. 

As a side note, E.L. Konigsburg won The Newbery twice.  She was only one of five authors to do so.  My personal connection to her goes beyond my childhood love affair with her books.  When she passed away this April it was at the same hospital where my kiddos were born.  So she has recently been on my mind and inspired me to re-read this classic.  I hope it will do the same for you and your children.