Coming Soon, Literacy Lava 5

Literacy Lava 5, a free pdf for parents and literacy lovers, will be published on June 1. Watch for an announcement right here on The Book Chook blog. Literacy Lava 4 is still available, or search the archive for earlier editions.

Making a Book at ToonDoo

Recently, I tried the bookmaking feature at one of my favourite online spaces, ToonDoo. I often use ToonDoo to make a quick illustration for a blog post, and told you about it in Sharing Stories Using Online Editors. I love it because it allows we artistically-challenged people to make a neat cartoon by providing art work for us to choose from. And it's a great place for kids to experiment with creating stories.


There are several online places where we can make cartoons. Most involve an editor that allows you to choose backgrounds and characters, then add dialogue in speech bubbles. ToonDoo is similar, but I think it has the greatest range of choices in the galleries, and it has so many extra tools, like TraitR, DoodlR, ImagineR and the Book Maker. I also like the way the site admin has good support in the form of a wiki, and they try hard to keep inappropriate material out of the site, so it can be "a safe and fun place for people of all ages."


The ToonDoo Book Maker uses individual cartoons you've made and combines them. You need to either have individual, differently themed cartoons you want to combine into an anthology, or individual cartoons you've planned in sequence which make a whole story when put together. Cartoons can be single frame or more.


I decided to create single cartoon frames on purpose for this book project, and to sequence them into a story. I settled on a simple story line with which most kids will be familiar - one character searching for another. I made five quick single page cartoons. First I looked for and chose a character that had multiple poses, so it wasn't the same static figure in each frame. Then I chose different backgrounds, added characters for my Boffo to meet, and added speech bubbles and dialogue. Once I'd saved each cartoon, I opened the Book Maker widget which offered me all the cartoons I'd made. I scrolled through to find the five, dragged them one by one and dropped them onto the widget screen, then published my book with a title, Where's Tiny.


Hopefully, the book will be embedded below, or you can link to see it at the TooDoo site.

bookchook

Where's Tiny? by bookchook | Make your own at www.toondoo.com

This is an excellent way for kids to practise sequencing. They could use ToonDoo Book Maker to retell a story they are familiar with like The Three Pigs, or a folk tale, or a favourite rhyme like Humpty Dumpty. Older kids might like to think of things that are important to them, things they believe in, and create illustrations/cartoons to communicate them to an audience.


I am really impressed with ToonDoo. The free part of the site is very generous. ToonDoo Spaces is the paid part of the site, and is ideal for teachers or parents who need more security and the ability to moderate. I have just enrolled in their free trial, and will have an article about it for you next week.

Book Review, Duck for a Day

I sometimes read reviews that describe a book as "unputtdownable". It's not so much that you can't put Duck for a Day down, as that you lose track of time and reality because you are totally swept up into this delightful story. I enjoyed it so much, and predict that children will too.


Duck for a Day was written by Meg McKinlay, illustrated by Leila Rudge and published by Walker Books Australia (2010). I would classify it as a junior novel - it is a chapter book, but it has more white space and larger font than most chapter books for older kids. It is also enlivened by Rudge's charming sketches which offer support to readers who need it, and humour to those who don't. Walker Books target it at "primary school age", and I think that's about right. I would suspect more junior than senior primary kids will grab it.


As you may have guessed, with that lightning-fast wit that Book Chook readers are renowned for, the novel is about a duck. But what a duck! His name is Max, and he arrives at Abby's school with new teacher Mrs Melvino. The kids are enthralled with this new class pet, and hope they can take turns to bring him to their homes. But it turns out that Max has demands about the sort of homes he will go to.


To a girl like Abby who aches for a pet of her own, the prospect of Max coming to her place for a duck sleepover is enough to fill her every waking thought. Noah next door wants Max too, and so do the other kids. Will Abby meet Mrs Melvino's stringent conditions about duck comfort? Will everything go SWIMMINGLY?


This book was just pure fun. I loved the delightfully quirky Mrs Melvino, and Abby and Noah are so real and believable. But with my love of all things feathered, of course Max stole my heart. Who wouldn't love a strawberry-eating duck with the skills of Houdini? Max is also a duck who knows how to build bridges between people. But I want you to read this book, so no more details! As for me, I am off to read more about Meg McKinlay and her books!

Let's Eat Our Way to Literacy (2)

In Let's Eat Our Way to Literacy (1), I suggested we capitalize on two things that go together really well: food and literacy. I gave you some ideas for starting your own family cookbook, and somehow got caught up in the idea of making a Book Chook Cook Book. Read all about it at this post, and send your recipes soon! 


Literacy activities related to food don't need to be as big a project as a Family Cookbook. You might just encourage your son to list his favourite foods, or see if your daughter would like to create a small personal cookbook of her favourite recipes. Another writing activity is to describe your least favourite food, or what foods a pet monster might eat. When kids are small, if you have time, write out some simple recipes using words and pictures or diagrams, and have them help you cook.


A note in the lunchbox is a nice way to involve your child in a bite-sized bit of reading. It might be a joke to tickle his funny bone, or a reminder that he has soccer practice after school. Perhaps your kids might like to take on some responsibility for the shopping list - or if that's a bit radical, for part of the list? (Why not go all MeanMum, and make them responsible for the vegetables!)


One fun activity that involves kids in making choices and creative thinking is to design a box, a wrapper or an advertisement for something yummy. Find a box template, discuss how advertising works and decorate your box in an enticing way. To follow up, if your children seem interested in advertising, you might introduce them to Admongo, an online game where they will learn about how ads work.


You could research and read about solar cookers, and either build one or invent your own.


Kaboose has some great ideas about cooking with kids (no, kids aren't the main ingredient!) including videos about making food fun.


Here's a mad lib called Let's Bake Together, and one called Dinner Shopping. 


Just for fun, here's a point and click toy I found at Amanita Design where kids can explore a pantry. 


Food Fun activities at the University of Illinois Extension.(Thanks Susan!)


I found some videos online that have a food theme. Here's a fun one I just loved where some people in a food court in LA start improvising a musical in front of unsuspecting patrons and here's a video revealing the secrets of a food makeup artist that might spark some discussion in your family.

Another great idea is to link books and food by having a book-themed party. PBS has book-themed parties with invitations etc. Or you could create your own. For instance, kids love pirate parties. You could read pirate books like The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate or The Castaway Pirates, play games like walk the plank and pin the parrot on the pirate, follow a treasure map to find chocolate coins, and of course eat pirate themed food. 

I know your kids will have plenty of ideas for party food, but challenge them to think of a book tie-in, and you'll know you've sneaked a little bit of literacy, and a whole lot of fun into their lives.

(Cartoon made by Book Chook at ToonDoo)

Q and A with Anthony Horowitz

Here's a fascinating insight into author, Anthony Horowitz, and the whole Alex Rider phenomenon. If you live in Australia or New Zealand, it's not too late to enter the Alex Rider Giveaway at The Book Chook. There's also an Alex Rider Giveaway right now on the Kids' Book Capers blog - double your chances!


Q and A with Anthony Horowitz


1. So here we are fast approaching publication of the eighth Alex Rider novel, CROCODILE TEARS. Does each of the Alex Rider books get easier or harder to write? How does the challenge differ from when you were writing the first book(s) in the series?


In some ways the books do get harder to write. I want each one to be better than the one before . . . my greatest fear is that I’ll somehow disappoint my readers. And the books may be a successful formula but I don’t want them to become “formula” books. That means thinking up new ways of getting Alex into the adventures, new bad guys, new gadgets, new action sequences . . . and I sometimes think there can’t be many left. On the other hand, I know Alex and his world so well by now that it feels a bit like meeting an old friend.


2. Next year will mark 10 years of the Alex Rider phenomenon. How does it feel to be approaching that milestone?


God. I must be getting old. Some of the kids who first read Stormbreaker may well be in their first jobs by now. Some of them may have kids of their own! All in all it’s probably best not to think about these milestones. I just need to keep going.


3. Tell us about your latest baddie, Desmond McCain . . . the man named after a brand of frozen chips!


Well, he got his name after he was found abandoned as a baby in a supermarket trolley, wrapped in a bag of McCain’s finest. I think in many ways he’s Alex’s nastiest opponent yet: an ex-Tory MP, jailed for fraud and now back as a born-again Christian and the head of a huge international charity. I would like to make it clear that he’s not based on anyone specifically!


4. At one point in the story, McCain says “World domination has never seemed particularly attractive to me”. If the villains no longer want world domination, what is the prize they are seeking?


There are one or two sympathetic elements to McCain and I agree that given the state of the world, only a madman would want to dominate it! McCain is the first Alex Rider villain who is simply after the one thing that everybody wants . . . money. His motives are fairly ordinary. But his methods make him the monster he undoubtedly is.


5. At the start of CROCODILE TEARS, Alex Rider looks in the mirror, dressed in black tie for a posh New Year’s Eve party and thinks he looks like “A young James Bond. He hated the comparison but he couldn’t avoid it.” Then again, the card game at McCain’s New Year’s Eve party feels like something of an homage to CASINO ROYALE. How do YOU feel about comparisons between Alex and James?


I wasn’t sure about that James Bond reference. But it seemed unavoidable. After seven missions for MI6, Alex finds himself in black tie. Who else would he compare himself with? And the poker game (which Bond never played) does tread rather close to Casino Royale, I know. It’s my son’s fault. He’s a gambling addict and plays Texas Hold’em online. He’s even taken me to a club to play for real. So that’s why it’s there. I hope, after eight books, people will agree that Alex now exists in his own right and I have no need to steal from Fleming.


6. There’s a decidedly dodgy journalist on Alex’s trail in CROCODILE TEARS, you’ve been in the media spotlight yourself for 10 years now. How far is Harry Bulman representative of your own thoughts/feelings about the media?


I needed Harry Bulman as a means to lever Alex into the story and I think he works very well. I really like the chapter “Invisible Man” in which he gets his comeuppance. If you go back to question 1, you can see that this is a new approach, a way to vary the formula. But I certainly have no animus against journalists myself. Politicians, on the other hand . . .


7. CROCODILE TEARS contains some of your most spectacular action sequences to date. Do these come easily to you now or are you under pressure to raise the stakes each time? If so, how do you achieve that?


I really enjoyed writing the last chapters of CROCODILE TEARS. As soon as I’d brought together all the ingredients (the dam, the jungle, the Kikuyus, the wheat field, the bomb) I knew I was going to have a lot of fun. The secret, if there is one, is simply to find new ground, new rules of engagement. I think to myself — “I’ve done the Alps, Air Force One,nuclear submarines, a hot air balloon over London, an oil rig and a space station. Where can I go next?”


8. What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked by a fan?


Do I have a tattoo? Is Horowitz my real name? Do I like rhubarb? (maybe his parents had a farm).


9. You are always meticulous in your research. Where did you go to research CROCODILE TEARS and how did this research impact the story?


I was in Kenya last Christmas but this was a holiday as much as a research trip. I visited Sizewell B in Suffolk (a nuclear power station) to work out how to destroy a nuclear power station. I was in the Western Highlands of Scotland both for the opening sequence and for the climax at the end (with the Monar Dam standing in for the one that Alex blows up in Kenya). I visited a GM Crops Research facility in Norfolk. And I surfed the net! The research is vital to the books. It makes all the locations come to life and gives me ideas that I might not otherwise have had.


10. You must qualify as the most prolific writer in the business, what with Alex Rider, The Power of Five, the Diamond Brothers, Foyle’s War and now Collision. How on earth do you keep all those plates spinning and, on a practical note, get all that writing done?


Obviously, I have no life at all. Well, that’s not quite true. I just love writing and therefore write a great deal . . .sometimes as much as ten hours a day. In a way I was lucky that nobody noticed what I was doing for a very long time. So I was never pigeon-holed. I did lots of different things and still do.


11. CROCODILE TEARS ends with Alex looking forward to his imminent 15th birthday party. You’ve said many times that the sequence will end when Alex turns 15. How worried should fans be getting at this point?


You’ve given away the ending! Never mind. There are two more books in the series. But I have one surprise up my sleeve . . .

(reprinted with permission, Walker Books Australia)

If you missed reading about the Alex Rider Giveaway here on The Book Chook blog, AND you'd like to win a  set of 8 Alex Rider books, plus badges and bookmarks, AND you live in Australia or New Zealand, check out the details at this Book Chook post. Last days to enter!

Book Review, When No-one's Looking On the Farm

Isn't it fascinating to think about what happens when no-one is looking? I'm still not sure what goes on in the dead of night when the toys on my study shelves are all alone. And as for the farm -  what do all those animals get up to?


When No-one's Looking On the Farm was written by Zana Fraillon, illustrated by Lucia Masciullo, and published by Hardie Grant Egmont (2009). It is a lovely picture book for children that exposes - the secret life of farm animals! The book designers have included a fold-out flap to reveal those animal antics, building tension before we can open the flap and see. I predict kids will chuckle over the revealed animals acting completely out of character.


The ducks in the pond
swim and paddle all day.
They dip-dive and swirl
in fountains of spray.
But when no-one's looking...


Fraillon's rhyming text is simple but effective. Children will love to join in with the repeated: "But when no-one's looking..." Fraillon uses words full of colour and personality too - scritch-scratch, squelch, snort-snuff, stomp-clump. The final page prompts kids to ponder what it is THEY do when no-one's looking.


Masciullo's illustrations are colourful and textured with the look of acrylic on canvas. They are not only tactile, but immediate and spontaneous, with lots of movement. They also encourage children to "see" from different perspectives. Teachers and parents who are keen to develop visual literacy skills in their children will love this aspect of When No-one's Looking On the Farm. At times we are even underneath the animals, looking up. Something to notice, and experiment with in their own art work.


Curricula often include a unit on The Farm. This picture book would be an excellent choice for that, for school and public libraries, or for parents who want a visual and poetic treat for their children.

Introducing: Monster Maddie

I try not to get swept up in hatred or intolerance. I try to catch myself before making generalizations about groups of people, and substitute something more reasoned and accurate. But I am here to tell you that I really really really don't like bullies. I have witnessed bullies in schools and in the workplace, and I have seen the devastation their actions cause.


Then one day I saw a child acting in a bullying way and discovered she really had no idea how to make friends with the other kids. The more she tried to get their attention with mean pranks, the more they shunned her. And that was the day my first picture book was born. 


Monster Maddie (written by Susan Stephenson and illustrated by K.C. Snider) is about a little girl at a new school, who wants to make friends. Unfortunately, she does bratty, monsterish things in a desperate effort to be noticed. When Maddie makes a little girl cry, she finally realizes she IS a monster, and feels sad and ashamed. Befriending a kitten shows her the way back to forming healthy relationships with the other kids.


This children's picture book was published by Guardian Angel Publishing, which has an excellent reputation among Homeschool and Christian parents for providing stories that are wholesome but not “preachy”. One great feature is the activities section found at the back of many GAP books. After Maddie’s story, I provide all sorts of follow up activity suggestions, a reader’s theatre script you can use with your kids, and other practical learning ideas to get the maximum value for your money. Monster Maddie is also available through Amazon.


There's a wonderful review of Monster Maddie on its Amazon page, and here is a new one, just in, from Kelly Burstow @ BeAFunMum. Kelly is running a giveaway for a signed copy of Monster Maddie until Friday May 28. 


(If you buy my book, or borrow it from your library, and want to write a review on your blog or at Amazon, please send me the details, as I'd love to link!)


UPDATE: Read the latest review of Monster Maddie on A Peaceful Day blog, by Jeanne Grant Webb. Or check out the great video preview Kim Chatel made about Monster Maddie. 

The PBSKids Reading Activity Calendar

I think this is VERY cool! Over at PBSKids, there's a calendar that gives parents ideas for literacy activities they can do with their kids on each day of the year.


There are lots of suggestions for activities and discussions, language enrichment and ideas that will develop literacy skills. It's a calendar format with an online or printable version. Here's an example:


May 29 Pickle Week: It’s Pickle Week! To celebrate, find a pickle recipe either online or in a cookbook to make with your child. Make the grocery list together and have your child pick out as many as the ingredients as possible. At home, be sure to read the instructions together.


I think this would be useful to teachers too, especially preschool or playgroup teachers. I can imagine it would make a nice short tip to add to a newsletter, or something to use as a prompt when developing further activities. And if your library has a screen you use with scrolling pics and ideas, it might be good there too. I plan to check it out often and drive my readers crazy by telling them what day it is! (Coming soon, Cow Appreciation Day!)


The PBSKids site is truly wonderful, and the calendar is only a tiny fraction of its splendour.

( Clipart ©2000 Denise Van Patten )

20Q

I love games and puzzles, especially ones that involve words. One of my favourites is 20 Questions. Do you know the board game? One person gives a category and the others have a total of 20 clues to try to work out the answer. That sounds matter of fact maybe, but it truly is such fun.


Today I thought I found 20 Questions online. I got excited because I decided if ever I can't find a family member or friend to bully encourage into playing the game with me, I can resort to cyberspace.


Alas, it's not exactly the same as the game I know. Instead, I had to think of an answer, and the game got twenty questions to try to work it out. But I think your kids might enjoy it, and it's a great way to slip a little incidental reading and decision making into family life. It's a bit like Akinator, which concentrates only on famous people.


Once you choose your language, (I went with British English, Australian wasn't offered) you then choose a theme like Doctor Who, Star Trek, UK Music, UK People, Disney. I chose the Classic 20Q. I had to think of something and the game asked me if it was animal, vegetable, mineral or other. I clicked on the correct one, and the game asked the next question, trying to narrow it down and work out my answer. It took 13 questions to work out my "giraffe".


This might be a fun way to introduce your kids to a game you can play in the car or as a board game around the table. You might have known it by the title Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. If you don't know the traditional game, you can find the full directions for that version online. It's an excellent activity to develop deductive reasoning, for getting kids to think about starting with general questions, and narrowing down to work out a clue.


The 20Q site also has a neat Hangman and a Memory game. 


If you would like to find more ideas about word games to play with your kids, I have some in The Book Chook Bag of Tricks.  Playing games with words, sharing riddles or limericks, collecting knock-knock jokes and even favourite words and expressions is a great way to involve our kids in the wonder and magic of language. And it's such good fun!

The Book Chook Cook Book

Are you in? After my post about eating our way to literacy, and the dummy cook book cover I made, Eva M from Eva's Book Addiction commented, "Great idea! And with a cool rhyming title like 'Book Chook Cook Book' I absolutely think you should get a cookbook published!" Thus a challenge was born. I have always been one for a challenge. And before I got cold feet, Tif from TifTalksBooks jumped in, full of enthusiasm, and even said she would help! How about you? Like to be a part of the Book Chook Cook Book?


Here is what I would love you to do: sometime in the next two weeks, send me one recipe that is quick and easy to make, so it gives you more time to spend reading, writing or creating. Let's try for some conformity and start with ingredients, then go on to method. Along with that recipe, I want your favourite quote about literacy or creativity, your name (can be just a christian name or screen name if you prefer), your blog name and url if you want me to link to you.


It would make life easier if you emailed the recipe and details requested above as an attachment in Word or Rtf, and put BookChook Cook Book in the subject line of your email. You can email me via the Contact Me tab up near my blog banner.


Tif had a great idea. She suggested the recipes be ones we use when we cook with our kids: "I was thinking it would be great to even include recipes that are fun to make with your kids ... ones with few ingredients and easy directions. I've got some great recipes I've collected through the years from very, very simple to those a little more complex that I've done with my kids!! This could be really fun and a big hit!!" Since not all of us have young kids, I thought I might make that a special section in the Book Chook Cook Book - Cooking with Kids. If you'd like to contribute to this section, email Tif : tiftalksbooks at gmail dot com


The book will be a digital one, a pdf a bit like Literacy Lava. Be aware that your submission may need to be edited by Tif or I due to the constraints of publishing.  


So, what do you say? Are you in? 

(Cartoon made by Book Chook at ToonDoo)

Book Review, Your Mother Didn't Do That

Here's a gorgeous picture book. Your Mother Didn't Do That was written by Sharon Holt, illustrated by Brian Lovelock, and published by Walker Books Australia (2009).


As in most excellent picture books, Holt's story is deceptively simple. When Holly doesn't want Mum to go out, Dad promises to tell her a story about the night she was born. Holly and Dad embark on a shared narrative, discussing all the ways Holly WASN'T born. She didn't hatch, wasn't kept in dad's belly like a baby seahorse, or protected in a pouch like a joey kangaroo after birth. When Dad finally reveals that when Holly was born, "your mother held you close to her heart and cried and cried", Holly worries that Mum was very sad but learns that they were happy tears. Dad and Holly decide they must have been the happiest parents and baby in the world. I love the way Holt has captured the dialogue between the pair, making us feel as if we are privileged to be part of a loving family story time.


Lovelock's illustrations add another dimension to the book, as well as complementing the people Holt reveals. He's given the pictures a textured flow by using what looks to be a dry brush though paint over marbled paper. This really adds movement to the pages. And his people are lovely. We can tell by Dad's words he is a loving father, but his eyes especially bring him to life. Lovelock also illustrated Roadworks, which I reviewed here at The Book Chook.


This is a beautiful book, with a lovely message for kids about loving families, and that people can cry with happiness. It would make a great choice for a baby shower gift or be a good focus for discussion about parents and babies. One follow-up activity to reading Your Mother Didn't Do That would be to have your kids explore the techniques Lovelock uses in the illustrations. If you need a start, Walker has a colouring page available at their website. You could also ask them to think about other ways human mums are different to animal mums (for a start, are animal mothers as keen on kids tidying their rooms?), or create their own books about animal mothers and their babies.

Zooburst

Zooburst is a new online space where you and your kids can create a book. It's still in Beta mode, which means you need to apply for an invitation to use it, but I found that an easy process. Here is the book I made at Zooburst: (Uh-oh, it is wider than my blogger screen, and I am not clever enough to change the code. If you receive my posts via email, it won't be a problem, but if you are here on the blog, I am sorry, the scrolling arrow to change pages is hidden. Try Bits and Pieces Place for a better look.)





Once you arrive at the site, you choose a title for your book, then read some instructions.


Use the screen below to edit your book. You can add new items to a page by using the panel on the left - simply search for a picture in the public domain by using a keyword ("cow", "bird", etc.) or use "upload a picture" tab to use a picture from your computer.


Basically, you click on a picture to add it to the current page of your book - from there you can move the picture around by dragging and dropping it on your stage or working screen. You use the panel on the right side of the screen to change the size, rotation and color of your pictures.


You can make your pictures "talk" by clicking on them and filling in the chat bubble that appears above their head. You can also describe what is happening on a page by using the text box below the book. You can add a new page and switch pages by using the window at the bottom of the screen.

When you are finished just click on the 'Save Book' button to save your work. You can then click on the 'My Stuff' link at the top of this page to see your book in action!


Take a look at Bits and Pieces Place where Steph has made a very cute book.


There is also an augmented reality component of the site that uses your webcam. I wasn't able to get it to sync with my webcam, but Zooburst creator, Craig Kapp, says it is a little fiddly to get it to work, depending on how much/little light is in your room., and the quality of the printed page symbol. Here is a screencast of how it is supposed to work. Craig also says he is going to be making changes and adding more features, so Zooburst is definitely one to watch.

Giveaway - Alex Rider Books

Today I'm delighted to tell you about a giveaway here at The Book Chook. It's one set of eight Alex Rider books from Walker Books, plus Alex Rider bookmarks and badges. This is for residents of Australia and New Zealand only.


In 2000, the first Alex Rider book, Stormbreaker, introduced reluctant teenage superspy, Alex Rider, and his creator, Anthony Horowitz, to teenage boys looking for adventure and heart-pumping action. Since then, there have been seven more Rider missions: Point Blanc, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, Ark Angel, Snakehead and the recent Crocodile Tears. The books have just been re-released with new covers and a new afterword from Horowitz himself containing explanations and insider secrets that I for one find fascinating.


Are you wondering whether your child would enjoy the books? I've only read Stormbreaker so far, and I know I am not the target demographic ie teenage boy. But I love thriller books and movies, and found Stormbreaker to be tightly written with twists and turns that had me glued to its pages. I think kids as young as ten, both boys and girls, and on through to adults would love the read, and the ride!


Here's what you need to do to enter this giveaway: write Alex Rider on one thousand pieces of paper that you then fold one thousand times and distribute over your city one evening when a yellow moon is rising. Ask someone to take a photograph ... okay, okay, I was joking. All you need to do is use the Contact Me tab up near my blog banner to send me an email with Alex Rider Giveaway in the subject line. That's it! Remember, Walker Books will only send to Australian or New Zealand addresses. One entry per email address, please. 


At the end of two weeks, I will ask a random chicken to choose one winner, notify them, and get their postal details which I will forward to Walker Books, who will send out the books. I think this set of all eight Alex Rider books, plus cool bookmarks and badges, is a wonderful prize, so please let your friends know, especially if one is a librarian who wants to share with a whole school full of kids!

UPDATE: a winner has been chosen. Thanks to all who entered!

Book Review, Hailey Twitch Is Not a Snitch

Here's a new junior novel, just right for those readers who are not quite ready for middle-grade chapter books. Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch was written by Lauren Barnholdt, illustrated by Suzanne Beaky, and published by Sourcebooks (May 2010). My copy is an Uncorrected Advance Copy from the US publisher.


This book is not exactly an easy reader as it is longer, and doesn't have such restricted vocabulary and sentence structure as educational publications. I am seeing more of these junior novels and applaud publishers for catering to the needs of younger readers without dumbing down. The book has large font. Not all pages have illustrations, but many do and Beaky's quirky sketches add charm to an already charming story.


Hailey Twitch's voice grabbed me immediately. She is an authentic second grader, who loves pink sparkly pencils and bending rules.


But Hailey also has a secret: she's friends with Maybelle, a sprite that's visible only to her. And Maybelle is on a special mission to help Hailey have fun.

The problem is that Maybelle keeps getting Hailey into trouble.


I think kids will enjoy Hailey's adventures as much as I did. I seemed to be either grinning or laughing aloud as I read the book. Hailey struggles to get what she wants while staying out of trouble, and I think kids will relate to that. It will appeal to girls who like stories about fairies, but it might grab some boys too as it is a school setting with characters of both genders, and lots of action and humour.


Judging by the book's ending, where we read Hailey's conversation with a certain Mr Tuttle from the Department of Magic, Bernholdt has more adventures in store for our feisty seven-year-old heroine. Fun, fun, fun!