Read, Write, Repeat.

We held our holiday gift exchange early this year. And, of course, books were involved.

So here are a few photos of the bookish fun. First Rebekah displays three middle-grade favorites — The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z., Touch Blue and The Teashop Girls.

And here’s Daniel, who has a scientific bent, with National Geographic’s Satellite Atlas of the World.

Sonia and a friend are reading Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar. Or possibly Wayside School Stories. She got both books.

Even adults got into the fun. Pam showcases the long-lost last opus of Anne of Green Gables author L.M. Montgomery, The Blythes Quoted.

And it couldn’t be the holidays without Harry Potter.  Gwen saw the movie and then revisited the series. Here, she’s reading the second book.

And the best news is, the holidays aren’t even over yet. So more books could still appear.

Which books are you giving or hoping to get this year?

Never fear, we’ll return to author interviews and kid book reviews shortly.

But for today, here’s a collection of some interesting things I’ve seen online lately. I’ve even sorted them by category for your browsing pleasure.

Picture Books

• How much is too much? Lisa Von Drasek responds to the often-cited argument that picture books are too expensive by comparing the cost and value of picture books to other things parents frequently spend money on for their children.
• Is there a silver lining? Monica Edinger shares the good news she sees about picture books.
• Which books should you check out now? The Book Review has identified its picks for the best-illustrated books of each year since 1952. This is the 2010 list. And Amazon shares its top list, too.

Writing — for children and others

• Tips to improve your business writing from Bonnie Budzowski. Although they’d apply for almost any type of writing.
• Seven ways to ensure your reading is helping your writing from Daphne Gray-Grant.
• SCBWI Metro NY News presents: What are picture book editors looking for?

Books I want to read

• Soar Elinor by Tami Lewis Brown
• When Stella Was Very, Very Small by Mary-Louise Gay
• Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner

Miscellaneous fun

• Season of Love and Hope. An auction supporting author Bridget Zinn. Bridget was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2009. After receiving treatment in Portland for 18 months, Bridget and her husband, Barrett, are now traveling to Phoenix for one week every month for innovative treatment at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Not all their costs for this promising treatment are covered by insurance. Bridget and Barrett’s friends and family are rallying to help them pay the bills. Artists, authors, and others have donated items in the spirit of love and hope.
• Blogger Jama Rattigan posts on cats in literature!

Jessica Doyle, the first lady of Wisconsin, has a statewide book club for students and book-lovers.

It’s called Read On, and here’s how it works.  

Mrs. Doyle picks books for readers of different ages using input from educators, librarians and the students themselves. Then, through the club, students, teachers, and parents can read and discuss the books in and out of the classroom.

And every month, there are Reading Days at the Residence at the governor’s mansion in Madison, Wisconsin.

There’s also a handy website that features different books on the list each month. It has a web log where readers can share their thoughts on the books and suggest other titles for consideration.

I always like a good list — especially if it’s a list of good books. So here are the books from Mrs. Doyle’s list. I’ve added comments after some of the titles I’m familiar with. And some of these titles will be reviewed on this blog later in the school year.

Preschool (Ages 0-4)

• My Garden (By Wisconsin author Kevin Henkes, who was once described as the Mick Jagger of children’s literature.)
• Boo to You!
• What Can You Do With A Paleta?
• What Will You Be, Sara Mee?
• Yes Day!
• I Can Help!
• Pouch!
• Never Smile at a Monkey
• A Beach Tail (Watch for a kid review of this title.)
• Dog’s Colorful Day

Primary (Grades K-2) 

• Shark vs. Train
• Z is for Zombie
• The Village Garage
• Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia
• Tiger and Turtle
• Beautiful Moon / Bella Luna (Illustrated by Wisconsin artist Bonnie Leick.)
• My People
• Book Fiesta!
• A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk, a Forest of Poems
• What If?
• Pigs to the Rescue (Watch for a kid review of this title.)

Intermediate (Grades 3-5) 

• Justin Case: School, Drool, & Other Daily Disasters (Watch for a kid review of this title.)
• American Chillers: Wisconsin Werewolves
• Going Home, Coming Home
• Odd and the Frost Giants
• Dream
• Dr. Kate: Angel on Snowshoes (Watch for an interview with the author of this title.)
• Looking Like Me
• Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel
• Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection
• Hip Hop Speaks to Children
• Top of the Order
• Volcano Wakes Up

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

• One Crazy Summer
• Wednesday Wars (A 2008 Newbery Honor selection that is one of my all-time favorite reads.)
• Boys Without Names (Excellent book by Wisconsin author Kashmira Sheth.)
• Out of My Mind
• Red Glass
• The Reinvention of Edison Thomas (This author was interviewed earlier.)
• My Life With the Lincolns
• Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie (A really good story about a family facing the illness of a child.)
• Shooting the Moon
• All the Broken Pieces
• More About Boy
• Albert Einstein

High School (Grades 9-12) 

• Hate List
• The Latehomecomer: A Memoir
• Stitches
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Rush
• Funny in Farsi
• Bruiser
• Shooting Star
• Liar (Good book, which generated much discussion in the book world over its cover.)
• Partly Cloudy
• Crossing Stones
• Marcello in the Real World (Touching and moving.)
• Candor
• Shiver

Which of these have you read? Share your favorites in the comments.

When the school year ended, some of my favorite readers …

sent me a collection of thank-you cards talking about how much they enjoyed reviewing books this year …

making me very happy!

If you, like me, were enough of a word geek to watch the National Spelling Bee recently (The brainpower! The drama! The quirkiness!) you probably noticed that in the vignettes featuring the spellers, they asked them their favorite words.

The spellers’ choices included words like schadenfreude, pfeffernuss and onomatopoeia. As each speller named the word, he or she spelled it out using giant letter tiles. So, of course, this prompted conversation in our house. What were our favorite words? And were we picking them based on what they meant, how they sounded or a combination of both?

Apparently, choosing a favorite word is not that uncommon. In Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert describes how she learned to speak Italian and fell in love with the word ”attraversiamo,” which means “Let’s cross over.”

And, in one of my favorite “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strips, Calvin and Hobbes are using modeling clay and Hobbes is going on about how much he likes his smock. Then he says, “Actually, I just like to say smock. Smock, smock, smock, smock, smock, smock.” To which Calvin replies, “What on earth is wrong with you?”

Well, rest assured, you’re among friends. If you tell me your favorite word, I will not ask what’s wrong with you. So leave a comment if you wish and share YOUR favorite word.

I’m still trying to figure out my favorite word. “Perpetuity” is fun to say. So is “litigious.” And I like “bassoon” for reasons I can’t fully describe. Then, there’s “bibliophile.”

So get out your own giant letter tiles and tell us. What’s your favorite word?

I love to see my daughter reading. Fortunately for me, she does it a lot. Here are just a few of the poses I’ve caught her in.

1. Reading with our cat, Vince. In case you’re wondering, the book she’s so focused on is The Case of the Mixed-Up Mutts, the second in Dori Hillestad Butler’s series The Buddy Files. (For a review of the first book in the series from Cora, read this post.)

2. Reading in the laundry basket. Why? I have no idea. It doesn’t look very comfortable to me. This is a book of scary stories one of her school classmates lent her. In general, I am not a fan of scary stories, so I don’t remember the title. My apologies to the author.

3. Reading in the bathtub. I have to admit it. She gets this habit from me. I’ve cropped the photo judiciously, so she doesn’t hate me when she’s older. Here, she’s hanging out with Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans.

I’ve also walked in on her sound asleep on the floor of her room hands still holding whatever book she’s been reading. I’ll have to remember to take a photo next time.

Where’s the most unusual place you’ve ever read a book or seen a child reading a book?

To my mom, Jean Zietlow, who is wonderful in more ways than I could list here. Case in point. She never told me to stop reading and do something productive and has always believed I can do anything I might attempt.

To my friends’ moms who were especially nice to me while I was growing up. Here’s to you Mrs. Gosz, Mrs. Weber, Mrs. Lajcak, Mrs. Schallhorn, Mrs. Stowe and Mrs. Boushley.

To my friends who are moms and encounter the same joys and struggles I do. I always learn things from you. And, OK, sometimes I laugh, but only because I can relate.

And to my two daughters who help me put life in perspective on good days and bad and who write me things like the poem below:

Mommy
Snuggling, reading, baking.
In our house.
In the library.
In my heart.
Best mommy ever.

Oh, and finally, a song to put the day in perspective from Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone.

Photo courtesy of Anna Cervova.

I like lists.

Whenever I take those personality tests, I come out as a confirmed list-maker. I think it gives me the illusion that I have some level of control over my life.

Plus, there’s something so satisfying about crossing off an item on my list. It’s over. Done. Time to move on.

I hesitate to admit this, but I’m even one of those people who will add items I’ve already completed to a list just so I can cross them off.

Lately, I’ve seen lots of posts and articles and heard lots of conversations about words that annoy people. Maybe they’re over-used. Maybe they show the user is trying too hard. Maybe they’re words that break commonly held beliefs about proper language use (turning a noun or adjective into a verb, for example). Maybe they’re just … really stupid.

Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, even puts out an annual list of words it thinks should be banished. The 2010 list includes nods to pop culture (“chillaxin’”) politics (“stimulus”) and corporate life (“transparency” and “shovel-ready”).

My personal list of words that should be banished includes:

• Synergy – If people are really trying to sound impressive, they say “synergistic.”
• Utilize – Try “use” instead.
• Key – It’s fine as a noun, but adds no value as an adjective.
• Strategic – Sounds important, but is it really necessary?
• Within – “In” almost always works instead.
• Prior to – “Before” is much more conversational.
• Disconnect – OK if you’re discussing electricity, plumbing or computers. Not OK if you’re talking about ideas as in, “I sense a disconnect here.”

Please note that I’m talking about an ideal society. I know many of these words won’t go away. I edit articles every day that contain lots of these words. I try to reduce their use, but sometimes they’re still in the final copy. And I can live with that.

So here’s YOUR chance. What words would you be happy never to see in a manuscript or hear in conversation again?

Books are some of my favorite holiday gifts — to give and to receive. Here are some that passed under our tree this year.

• Lost Time by Susan Maupin Schmid
• Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes
• Christmas Mouseling by Dori Chaconas
• Perfectly Arugula by Sarah Dillard
• Several of the Science Solves It series
• Several of the Rainbow Fairies series by Daisy Meadows
• The New Moon Movie Companion

What books did you give or receive this season?

Books are my all-time favorite holiday gift, but I also like things that are book-related.

That’s where the American Library Association (ALA) Store comes in. They have a paper catalog, or you can visit them online. They carry all the cool reading posters you see in libraries, plus reading and book-related clothing, prizes and stocking stuffers.

Their obvious audiences are librarians and teachers. I’m not either of those things, but I still love their site. In fact, the two posters on my office wall, came from them.

The first one, shown at the left, is by noted children’s illustrator Kadir Nelson. He is a two-time Caldecott Honor Award winner, and he also won the 2009 Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball (Jump at the Sun, 2008).

Below to the right, is one by illustrator Rosalind Beardshaw. She’s written and illustrated several children’s books. This poster comes from a picture book called Lola at the Library (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2006) written by Anna McQuinn.

What I like most about the ALA Store is that they have something for everyone. They feature the work of a wide variety of authors and illustrators plus celebrities. Whether you like “House” or The Disney Channel, “High School Musical” or ”The Hobbit,” The Food Network or the NBA, you’ll find something for you.

And their products are wonderfully diverse — both in the people they feature and the languages that are available —  showing, without a doubt, that books are for everyone.

Visit their site as part of your holiday shopping.

What books or book-related items are you planning to give this year?