Read-Through Fridays
April Fool Phyllis! — reprise over at Susanna Hill’s
No foolin’! To celebrate the fact that Perfect Picture Book Friday is on April Fool’s Day, there’s a reprise of my post about Susanna Leonard Hill’s delightful APRIL FOOL, PHYLLIS! over on Susanna’s blog. (For those not in the know, Susanna is the originator and host of Perfect Picture Book Friday.) Thanks, Susanna! You are…
Read MoreOkay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt — Book Recommendation
Title: Okay for Now Author: Gary D. Schmidt Publisher: New York: Sandpiper, 2011, 2013. Genre: Late Middle Grade, early YA Audience Age: 11 to 14 years old Themes/topics: growing up with an abusive parent, trying to fit in at a new school, teenage illiteracy, the power of art Opening Sentences: Joe Pepitone once gave me…
Read MoreGracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky — Book Recommendation
Title: Gracefully Grayson Author: Ami Polonsky Publisher: New York: Hyperion, 2014. Genre: Fiction Audience Age: 9-12 Themes/Topics: Transgender child, theatre, bullying, hope Opening Sentences: If you draw a triangle with a circle resting on the top point, nobody will be able to tell that it’s a girl in a dress. To add hair, draw kind…
Read MoreWalking Home by Eric Walters — Book Recommendation
Title: Walking Home Author: Eric Walters Publisher: Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2014 Genre: Middle grade/early YA fiction based on real life Audience Age: 9 to 14 Themes/Topics: Determination, hope, unrest in Kenya, dealing with tragedy Opening Sentences: My father led the way through the dark, my mother behind him, my sister in her arms, and I…
Read Moregirl coming in for a landing — book recommendation
Sunday, April 12, was Drop Everything And Read Day. Beverly Cleary wrote about it in her book Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Now, each year on Beverly Cleary’s birthday, April 12, (and throughout the month of April) kids and adults are encouraged to Drop Everything and Read! (Mrs. Cleary celebrated her 99th birthday this year!) The…
Read MoreWord After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan — Book Recommendation
The minute I finished reading this book, I turned to page one and started again. I wasn’t ready to set it aside. Since it was published five years ago, I’m not sure why I hadn’t seen it before this. I’m grateful I saw it when I was in the library a couple of days ago.…
Read MoreA Gift of Reading
This year I have read many, many books. I’ve reviewed a few here on By Word of Beth, but my varied blogging schedule hasn’t allowed me to review them all, or anywhere close to them all. Even this post is by no means all the books I’ve read this year. I would like to tell…
Read MoreThe Once and Future King by T.H. White — Radio Dramatization
My friend Brian Sibley — who is a journalist, historian, expert on many different writers, and an amazing radio dramatist/playwright — has dramatized (dramatised with an “s” for Britons like Brian) T.H. White’s incredible series of books about King Arthur and the wonderful Merlyn, five books which are all clustered under the title The Once…
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