Picture Books: Mem Fox

In where I talk about the sampling of picture books I got from the library this week.


Picture Books: Mem Fox

Where is the Green Sheep

This picture book was one of my favorites to read to Sera. One it has sheep and I like sheep. Two it has a nice rhythm when you read it, and so it is fun to read. Three, it moves at a quick pace and has interesting pictures. In the book we meet all kinds of sheep in couplet type pairs.

Here is the blue sheep

And here is the red sheep.

Here is the bath sheep

And here is the bed sheep.

Yet there is the eternal quest for the green sheep. Where is he? Well you have to read to the end to find out.

Hattie and the Fox

This little story is about Hattie the hen who lives on a farm with a bunch of other animals. One day she spots a nose coming out of the bushes. The nose is quickly joined by two little eyes. The animals react as a fox slowly inches out of the bushes and into the barn yard. Who will save the day and chase away the fox?

This was a fun little book to read. The animals repeat the same chorus over and over as each new body part of the fox appears out of the bushes. This was a fun little tale, but I didn’t really have a huge preference for it.

Hunwick’s Egg

I didn’t like this one so much as the others. Hunwick, a bandicoot, lives in a desert and on day he finds a smooth oval egg. Hunwick asks around, trying to figure out if anyone lost an egg or knows someone who lost an egg. No home is found for the egg so Hunwick takes the egg in and waits for it to hatch. He keeps waiting, and waiting, and waiting but it never hatches.

The twist ending is that the egg is a rock and not an egg. I was excited to see the egg hatch, and see who this new little egg person would be, so I was disappointed when my expectations were let down when the egg turned into a pretty rock at the end of the book.

Guest post by Joseph Vasicek

I am currently in Utah for a family reunion. So this week I conveniently have a guest post by Joseph Vasicek. I met Joe during my BYU days while participating in a writing group there. He is currently doing a blog tour for his most recently indie-published book Genesis Earth, which I critiqued while in progress. Visit his awesome Blog here. You can find reviews and buy his book here on amazon.

Do Mormon writers of science fiction and fantasy have a unique perspective because of their faith? certainly!

One of the most obvious examples of this would be Eric James Stone's Nebula Award winning novelette, That Leviathan Whom Thou Hast Made. In that story, an LDS character quotes from the Book of Mormon while trying to save a sun-dwelling alien convert to the church from religious persecution. That is certainly a story that only a Mormon could have written.

I think it goes a lot deeper than that, though. You don't have to include explicitly Mormon themes to have a unique perspective; if you're living close enough to your beliefs, I believe it will come out naturally. I see this in works by such authors as Dan Wells, Dave Wolverton, Orson Scott Card, Stephanie Meyer, and Brandon Sanderson; even though their fiction might not refer to explicitly Mormon concepts or ideas, their spiritual sensibilities certainly inform how they address universal issues such as the problem of evil, the meaning of free agency, the importance of love and the power of redemption.



Science fiction in particular is one of the best genres for addressing issues related to faith. Even more than mainstream fiction, sf probes for meaning and depth, exploring new worlds of possibility while at the same time relating everything back to the human condition and our place in this boundless universe. Because of this, it's no wonder that so many works of science fiction refer to religious ideas or include religiously motivated characters--sometimes to promote an anti-religious bias or agenda, but more often than not to provide an extra layer of depth and meaning.



I wrote an article on the origins of the science fiction and fantasy community at BYU last year for Mormon Artist magazine, in which I was fortunate enough to interview several influential Mormon writers. From that experience, I realized that there's an urgent need for more LDS voices in sf&f--that we have so much of value to offer the community.



Certainly, we shouldn't be preachy or overzealous about it, since all that does is drive people away. But the more we write, and the more we write honestly, the more we enrich the genre and thus enrich other people's lives.



When I wrote Genesis Earth, I didn't set out to write about faith or sprituality. I did want to write about the human condition; to question whether we're all just automatons moving about in a predictable universe, or whether we're infinitely creative free agents in a universe of boundless wonders.

Quite unconsciously, the story of my main character (Michael) became a journey of faith. As the son of two well-renowned astrophysicists, he grew up with a deep devotion to science. Unfortunately, this also means he feels a tremendous amount of pressure to live up to his parents' expectations--a conflict that underscores the entire novel.

Michael's mission partner, Terra, is almost the exact opposite of him. She's a rebel who does not share his views on science and openly question some of his deepest, most personal beliefs. But I didn't just want this to be a story of disillusionment; I wanted Michael's faith to grow and mature, not just wither away and die. I suppose that was my LDS sensibilities speaking to me. So Michael's story became a deeply personal journey of discovery, and when he found the thing that helped him to come to a new realization of his faith, it surprised me just as much as it surprised him.

No matter what you believe, I think it's important to write honestly, especially when writing science fiction. If you do, your beliefs and values will inevitably come out in your voice, often in ways you would least expect. That's the way to be unique, and the best way to "let your light so shine."

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

 Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt

"What if your first love was literally sitting right in front of you?
According to her guidance counselor, fifteen-year-old Payton Gritas needs a focus object-an item to concentrate her emotions on. It's supposed to be something inanimate, but Payton decides to use the thing she stares at during class: Sean Griswold's head. They've been linked since third grade (Griswold-Gritas-it's an alphabetical order thing), but she's never really known him.

The focus object is intended to help Payton deal with her father's newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis. And it's working. With the help of her boy-crazy best friend Jac, Payton starts stalking-er, focusing on-Sean Griswold . . . all of him! He's cute, he shares her Seinfeld obsession (nobody else gets it!) and he may have a secret or two of his own." (summary from publisher website) 

 

At first I was a little worried to read Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt. I had read the first book in her princess series and really enjoyed it, but it was more along the lines of fantastical fiction. Sean Griswold’s Head sound serious and heavy. A father gets diagnosed with MS. Then the summary gave me some strange vibes. Focus object? Therapy? I felt hesitation.



Then I read a positive review of it by Janssen at Everyday Reading and decided to take the plunge. I am very glad that I gave the book a chance. I ended up enjoying it. I really liked Payton’s voice. She has a very funny way of describing her feelings mostly with odd and self-conscious metaphors that are charming. The author does an excellent job of showing how Payton’s life was impacted by her father’s MS. The author manages to convey the depth of Payton’s distress without the book feeling like a pity party. In fact I really sympathized with Payton and was willing to watch her as she tried to figure out how to cope with her distress.


In the middle of all her stress and grief Payton’s focus object—Sean Griswold—brings a bit of light heartedness to the book. Payton does a bit of gentle mocking of Sean’s big head, but finds herself inspired to get to know him better as a result. What results is a genuine and honest teenage romance story. I also loved the fact that the author had a light touch with the romance plot line. Not too sappy and just the right amount of sweet.


So, next time I see a contemporary novel by this author I will not hesitate, but leap to give it a chance.

Lindsey Leavitt's Blog

Picture Books: Eric Carle

Picture Books: Eric Carle


I’ve been reading a lot of picture books to the baby girl recently, and not as many novels as I would like. So, I realized that I’m not really that qualified to review pictures books, but I wanted to keep a record of what I read to the little one so that if/when I decide to build a library of children’s books I’ll remember which ones that I thought were worth reading .



The Very Quiet Cricket

This is the story of a newly hatch cricket. He has a little bit of trouble making noise at first. Each time another bug greets him he tries to chirp back, but he can’t make any sound. At the end he meets a pretty little cricket and when he rubs his wings together to greet her he finally makes a sound.

I find this little story to be satisfying and cute. The last page has an electronic chirping sound to simulate the sound of our brave hero’s first chirp. This is one I could read to the girler often.

Will You be My Friend?

This is a unique book about a mouse looking for a friend. The book has no text, and the reader is supposed to make up the story as they go along. The book is intended for children just learning to read and learning how books work. As in they have to physically turn pages in order to find out what will happen next. Eric Carle uses the art work as cues to aid the child by putting the tail of the next animal in the story on the page before it appears. This also leads the child to predict what animal will appear next, which is reportedly an important reading skill.
The girler wasn’t developmentally ready enough for this one. At, you know, two months old. Though, part of the reason I record what I am reading is that perhaps a book like this can serve her better later. At least I know books like this exist.



The Very Hungry Caterpillar




This was a book given to me at my shower and I really love it. It tells the story of a newly hatched caterpillar, who is very hungry. Each day he eats more and more food until he is huge and goes into a cocoon and becomes a butterfly.




I have read this one over and over to the girler. She seems to like it a lot. I don’t know if it is because of the brightly colored pictures, and unique page sizes that makes it more interesting, or if she enjoys listening to me read the text. It is short and sweet so it is very easy to finish quickly, which is important in the short attention span of a newborn.

She doesn’t seem to like Goodnight Moon as well, though it is similar, and I wonder if it is because it has too little text. She doesn’t get to listen to the cadence of my voice as much and turning the pages in between short lines makes the sound choppy.
The Grouchy Ladybug
This book tells the story of a Grouchy Ladybug that refuses to share aphids with another ladybug. He challenges the Ladybug to fight, who accepts the challenge. In a fit of bravado he claims that he needs to fight a bigger opponent and runs off.
So, the book continues as the Ladybug goes off to find bigger and bigger opponents to fight. Very similar to the Hungry Caterpillar, but the pages are set up with the times of the clock instead of the days of the week. A lot longer than the Hungry Catapillar, and a bit more complex.

I didn’t like this one as much as the hungry caterpillar. The book ran a bit too long for me. I got bored of the same thing about half way through. Girler didn’t show a negative or positive preference for it either way.

Papa, Please get the moon for me

This was a cute little story, but was kind of annoying to read. The daughter requests her father to go and get the moon in the sky. Her father follows her request and gets a huge ladder, and climbs all the way up to the moon.
This book is unique in that is has a lot of pages that fold out to show huge pictures of papa’s ladder, his climb to the moon, and the moon. I found the fold out pages to be a little bit annoying to deal with, and I kept thinking about how easily they would tear if girler wasn’t a newborn and instead a toddler who handled books roughly.
What age are these types of books appropriate for? Mature enough not to tear a book to pieces, but immature enough to still enjoy a picture book. Does anyone out there have an answer?

Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl

Prisoners in the Palace: How Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel by Michaela MacColl

“London, 1856. Seventeen-year-old Liza’s dreams of her society debut are dashed when her parents are killed in a tragic accident. Alone and penniless, she accepts the position of a lady’s maid to the young Princess Victoria and steps unwittingly into the gossipy intrigue of the servants’ world below-stairs as well as the trickery above. It is possible that her changing circumstances my offer Liza the opportunity to determine her own fate, find true love, and secure the throne for her future Queen?”

This really is a wonderful historical novel. From the first page I was interested in the plight of Elizabeth Hastings, whose parents have just died. She then discovers that her father has left behind large debts, including the bill for the hotel at which they were currently staying. Desperate, she follows the first job lead that comes her way—becoming a maid to Princess Victoria at Kensington Palace. As the daughter of a successful business man and minor nobility she enters into a whole new world as a servant. It takes a while for Eliza to get the hang of her new duties, especially since they include keeping her mouth shut, but the Victoria’s governess decides to keep her around because she can speak German. This makes it possible for her spy to on Victoria’s mother and her man, John Conley, who want to discredit Victoria and become her regents.

I had a hard time putting this book down once I started reading. The author makes you sympathize with Liza’s new status and portrays the detailed life of a servant in historic Victorian England. She also portrays Princess Victoria as a clever and strong character, though as a bit thoughtless because of her inexperience. Her Mother and John do not let Victoria have a moment alone and she really does lead a miserable existence, so it is interesting to watch her form a friendship and alliance with Liza to combat the scheming and plots of Sir John and her Mother.

In addition the novel also portrays the plight of orphans on the street, and the working class. A significant sub-plot is dedicated to Annie Mason, a servant that is dismissed as Victoria’s maid without recommendation. She is forced into prostitution and then a reform house, a very tragic storyline that shows the reader just how much Liza stands to lose if she is fired from her position, and the harsh realities of the Victorian world. I enjoyed the fact that the author showed not only the complexities of class and wealth in the Victorian world, but made interesting and sympathetic characters at all levels of society. So, while this is a fabulously plotted and superbly detailed historical novel parents/teachers of young teens should be aware of the heavy issues in the novel, and be ready to talk about the unfairness of the historical predicaments that sympathetic characters face.

Still a wonderful read and I find myself wanting to go read more about the life of Queen Victoria.

Author Michaela MacColl’s website

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Marry Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Society by Marry Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I am not usually interested in reading popular literary fiction. I am very much a genre reader, but I saw the book trailer for The Gurnsey Potato Peel Pie Society, and I found myself very interested in the premise of the book.
The Channel islands were occupied by German troops during WWII, and this book tells the story of the occupation through the lens of a literature society formed hastily one night in order to hide the fact that the participants were feasting on an illegally acquired pig. This varied group of party goers then has to keep up the pretense to throw off the German authorities. Very few of the party goers were naturally readers, but all of them end up finding meaning in the literature they read to help them through the brutal German occupation.

The entire book is told in the format of letters. Much of the story is told through the voice of Juliet, a writer, who is looking for a new story idea after her popular war time humor column. She receives a letter from a man named Dawsey, a member of this literary society. Juliet becomes interested in the literature society and the plight of the entire Island during the war. This correspondence spreads to include the entire literature society, and several of the Island inhabitants. The book often reads as first hand historical accounts of the German occupation of the Channel islands during WWII, and since Juliet is collecting information for her book there is a ton of different perspective and stories.

I found the characters and format of the novel interesting. Each character has a strong personality and voice of their own, and so many of the letters have unique flavor, which makes them pretty fun to read. The literary society is such a random group of people with weird personalities that hearing about how they interacted is pretty amusing at times. Yet it can also be sad as they remember the trials they had during the war time, and how the struggled to get through it.

That said I felt like the book didn’t have that strong of a plot because of the format. The letters were interesting to read because of the characters and history, but it felt like the book went on forever because there was not a huge plot line linking everything together. Some letters were very heavy on history and background. So, some of the book dragged on for me. Yet, by the end I was won over and I still had the characters wandering around in my head for couple days afterward. I felt like the novel did a good job of transporting the reader to another time and place, and I was disappointed when the story ended. I wanted to hear more little anecdotes about the lives of these funny, beloved, and flawed characters.

So, if you like history (especially WWII) and are game for a unique storytelling style this really could be an enjoyable read.

Cross My Heart by Julie Wright

It was Easter last Sunday and so I decided everyone in the house got a book and some candy. Except Sera— she, of course, can’t have candy, but she did get a book. (Olivia by Ian Falconor) The husby requested I don’t want to kill you by Dan Wells. So, while I shopped online for an Easter book for me I settled on Cross My Heart by Julie Wright. I had read the first chapter on her website and was so incredibly charmed that I could not resist. Since I had a good excuse to buy a random book just for me it became my girly Easter purchase.
My husband laughs at me when I read girly books (read: chick lit novels), and this book was full of enough drama, romance, and humor to keep me entertained. I even skipped my afternoon nap for this one. High praise indeed from a sleep deprived mother of an exhausting newborn.
This book snatches you from the first pages with the witty, and sometimes scathing voice of the main character Jillian, a successful designer at an advertising agency. She fled her literary hometown—Boston to escape her fiancé, Geoffrey. He stole one of her ad ideas and got a promotion based off of it. She ended up in L.A. until her boss transfers her back to the Boston office with a mission to uncover who has been stealing the ad agencies accounts.
On the way there she meets a dentist named Allen, who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend for a hotshot advertising guy. She soon discovers they are connected in an unlikely way. Her fiancé is engaged to his girlfriend, but she will have to discover if this connection will help the form a relationship or only stand in their way.
As stated before the voice is charming, and I really liked the main character Jillian. She was hilarious, smart, and sympathetic. She really makes the entire book, and the plot has several enjoyable comedic twists that makes the romantic comedy genre so much fun to read. Sometimes, you just need a drama fest to feel better about life! So, if you are looking for a light, fun romance. I would totally recommend you pick up this book.


Author's website

Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie
"In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion."

Okay so, I finally get around to writing my review of matched. This was one book that I looked forward to reading all year. I saw so many ARC reviews of it on other book blogs that I almost got sick of hearing about the book! So when November rolled around I dropped by the bookstore to pick up a copy finally I was really excited to read the book. I was in the middle of my pregnancy reading slump, but I was immediately drawn into the setting. Condie managed to find a perfect balance between description, voice, and foreshadowing to bring me right into her dystopian world from the first chapter.

It was such a relief to enjoy a book again! I actually even liked the love triangle! Love triangles usually annoy me, but I could see why Cassia loved each boy, and I felt sympathy for both of them. They were both strong and interesting characters and I found myself wanting to know more of their background. The author hints at a curious relationship between Ky and Xander, and I found myself wanting to know more about these two boys, and their experience living in the society. I don’t think I have wanted to get a longer background story about the characters in a novel since the Harry Potter Series. That is high praise indeed. There is an air of mystery about these two, and feeling that there is more to be said about their relationship than the novel hints at, and so I found the relationships dynamics entertaining and fascinating.

My only problem with the novel was the ending. Cassia is determined to find Ky, but she ends up in a random work camp unrelated to any other part of the plot. It seemed really odd and was a little bit dissatisfying to not see her not make more progress on finding Ky. It was more of a set up for the next installment rather than a satisfying end to the story line. Still I expect the rest of the series will be excellent, and I am excited to see what the author will present us with in the next installment, Crossed.

Author Allyson Condie's Website

Baby girl is here!

On March 24th our beautiful baby girl was born at 11:54 pm. She is already two weeks and 4 days old, and already growing by leaps and bounds. She is a good little eater and I am very pleased with her progress. She has dark blue eyes, and ashy blonde hair on her head.

So, this little tyke has been the reason why this blog has been dormant for the last few weeks. I hope to start posting reviews again either this friday or next friday. Still trying to recover and organizie life around a demanding little newborn. I still have books to read and review. I also have been working on other interesting projects that I shall reveal at a later date.

until later!

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
“Matt Cruse is the 15-year-old cabin boy aboard the Aurora, the 900-foot luxury airship he has called home for the past two years. While crossing the Pacificus, Matt fearlessly rescues the unconscious pilot of a crippled hot air balloon. Before he dies, the balloonist tells him about the fantastic, impossible creatures he has seen flying through the clouds. Matt dismisses the story as the ravings of a dying man, but when Kate de Vries arrives on the Aurora a year later, determined to prove the story is true, Matt finds himself caught up in her quest. Then one night, over the middle of the ocean, deadly air pirates board the Aurora. Far from any hope of rescue, Kate and Matt are flung into adventures beyond all imagining. . .” (summary from author’s website)

So, it has been several months since I finished this book, and I am now just sitting down to write a review. I was originally attracted to this series because I heard it was steampunk. I was immediately hooked at the beginning when the Aurora stumbles upon the damaged air-balloon, during a routine flight. The man inside the basket is seriously ill, and taken to the ship’s infirmary. A short-time later he dies, but not before he confides to Matt that he has discovered something out there in the sky. I found this mystery to be very intriguing, but I had a hard time reading the book for a while afterward because the mystery is dropped for a while until this man’s granddaughter, Kate, appears on the ship trying to discover what her grandfather last saw.

The action picks up again when pirates cause the ship to crash land on an island. The island that Kate’s grandfather described in his air log, while there they discover more than the strange creatures that her grandfather described. I really liked this section of the book. It has a bunch of adventure and discoveries, as Kate and Matt discover the really cool creatures that her grandfather drew and mentioned in his log book.

So my reaction to this book was mixed. It had some slow parts that gave me some difficulty, but had some really fun action-adventure, and age of discovery type feel to it that was enjoyable. This would be a great novel to hand over to a young men, but tis also enjoyable for girls, as Kate is a spirited and unique character in her own right.

Kenneth Oppel's website