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Cold coffee is good for you. Harriet Sammis
Humanism for Parents: 11/30/09
Humanism for Parents by Sean Curley begins with the premise that parenting is hard and even more so for parents who chose not to teach religion to their children. This 87 page primer strives to bridge the gap for struggling parents. The book begins with a definition and overview of humanism (reason, logic and scientific method instead of religious dogma) and goes on to cover: a non religious basis for morality, tenets of good parenting, spirituality, mitigating religious conflict, humanism for kids and teens and contemporary issues For a book that begins with "parenting is hard" and then promises to show how to make the process easier, I expected the "good parenting" section to be longer than six pages. In those six pages there's a anecdote from the author about his depression era father and how his version of good parenting involved providing money for the family and not beating the kids. Ultimately Curley renders down the "hard" aspects of parenting to two rules: teach children how the world works and set limits. So there you go; I guess all the other parenting books are now obsolete! For a book about humanism, I think there's way too much time spent on spirituality and religion. Twenty-three pages out of 87 are devoted to rites and rituals but not in any organized or well documented fashion. This section seems to assume that humanists / atheists are completely lacking in any understanding on religious practices since they don't practice them at home. I have a better and more thorough source of information on comparative religion by way of the internet and my local libraries So while there's probably a need for parenting books that embrace humanism or at least aren't steeped in religion, I think Humanism for Parents falls short. The book's heart is in the right place but it doesn't hit the mark I received the book for review and have since released it through BookCrossing. Comments (2) The Black Island: 11/29/09
The Black Island by Georges Remi Hergé is the seventh Tintin adventure. Like The Land of Black Gold, this adventure has been updated a number of times so it's difficult to know which version exactly one has read. An emergency landing of a small aircraft with no registration catches Tintin's attention. He quickly finds himself being shot at and then being framed for a crime. Meanwhile, a similar unregistered plane has crash landed on the Black Island in Scotland. Tintin knows he has to get their to solve the crime and clear his name From what I've read in posts at Tintinologist and Hergé's Tintin, Hergé's artwork for this story evolved from black and white (the 1937 serial version) to muted colors (1943) to being fully redrawn and recolorized for the 1966 English translation. The British publisher didn't think Hergé had done a very good job depicting Britain. Until 2008 the British reissue was the one English readers would have seen and read. Then a retranslated version with the 1943 artwork was published As it happens, I read the 2008 (1943) English translation, meaning I saw European cars driving around the British landscapes. Not being British and knowing full well that Tintin is Belgian, I didn't mind the artistic gaffs. The book feels like a late 1930s / early 1940s comic and has a goofy retro appeal to it. Comments (0) Swann's Way: 11/28/09
When I finished my weekly posts of my reading of Ulysses I asked on Twitter which book I should do next. The answer was a resounding In Search of Lost Times by Marcel Proust. It seemed to me like the perfect choice. It took me 19 weeks to finish the first volume, 0812972090?Swann's Way. In Search of Lost Times is like Don Quixote, written and published over a number of years and revised and translated. In the case of Don Quixote the book is manageable with onionskin paper to be squeezed into one thick volume (even with all the illustrations). Not Proust's work though. It's massive. It makes The Lord of the Rings look like a short story. The Modern Library edition that I'm reading offers the seven volumes in six. As there are seven distinct titles, I will treat Proust's oeuvre as seven separate books instead of one massive novel. I'm not doing this for scholarly reasons, just convenience In Swann's Way there are two stories. There's the one of a young boy growing up among important and well known adults, aristocrats, artists and other celebrities. As a young child he is in awe of the adults around him. When the book closes and he has grown into young adulthood he sees his heroes with a better understanding of human nature. The person who brings about the end of his hero worship is Charles Swann Most of this six hundred page volume is centered on Charles Swann and his courtship with Odette. She though isn't the idealized vision of beauty and sophistication he thinks she is. She is his equal in temperament, vanity and vices. She is best and worst thing that could possibly happen to Swann I have a brand new copy of Within a Budding Grove which I am now working my way through. I suspect it will be another five months to finish this volume. Swann's Way posts:Lisa's First Word, Baby Mine, I Sing the Body Electric, The Lady in Pink, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Caturday, Cherry Blossoms, Marge Simpson, Liana Telfer, Bender in Love, Margaret Dumont, Hyacinth Bucket, Rose, Mildred Krebs, Pepé Le Pew, Jack Harness, Cordelia Chase, Saffron, Thomas O'Malley. Within a Budding Grove posts:Nanowrimo, Cheers, Robert Langdon, Kif and Amy, Dead Weight, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, Paris is a Lonely Town, And Then There's Maude, A Cafe Terrace at Night, North by Northwest, Top Hat, Chez Deetz, Ah, My Goddess!, David, Auntie Mame, Brunhilde Esterhazy, Gusteau's, Shell Beach.
Comments (0) Chicka Chicka 123: 11/27/09
Chicka, Chicka 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin Jr. is the follow up to Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, a book I haven't read but Harriet has. This book is as the title suggests, a counting book. The numbers 1 to 100 are represented with most of the emphasis being on the numbers 1 to 20. For reasons unknown to me, the numbers decide to climb into an apple tree. Some climb just for the fun of climbing and some are after the apples. The zero, wants in on the fun but can't figure out how to participate The numbers are thwarted at the end by bees, thus bringing the number counting to a reverse. There's a trick though, the ten doesn't come down. Is he stuck? Is he immune to bees? The 10's disappearance is the zeros chance to come to rescue It's a cute book with predictable rhymes. What I like most about it are Lois Ehlert's bright illustrations. She also wrote and illustrated Eating the Alphabet. Comments (0) The Sun: 11/26/09
I'm grateful that my local library cares enough to have current science text books especially in the children's section. Never the less I feel a little sad and nostalgic over the once ninth planet, Pluto. The Sun by Ralph Winrich was published right around the time that Pluto's fate was in the balance. Eris was spotted in January 2005 and shortly after a number of other small orbiting objects. Pluto being smaller than Eris meant either the solar system had to grow by potentially dozens of new plants or shrink by one. The experts decided to shrink the solar system by one and define a new class of object, the "dwarf planet" In The Sun then, the solar system has eight planets. For Sean and Harriet it's normal for the solar system to have eight planets and a bunch of dwarf planets. I am still adjusting to the newly adjusted list. I agree that science should adapt as we learn new things but the sentimental side of me thinks Pluto should have been grandfathered in The book is part of astronomy books (First Facts Solar System) aimed at children ages 4 to 8. For the younger ones it has lots of wonderful photographs and is an easy to read aloud book. For the ones who can read there is enough variety in the language to teach to increase language skills while teaching science. Comments (6) Right to Remain Silent: 11/25/09
Last summer I bought as many of the Connor Westfall mysteries as I could find having read and enjoyed Blind Side and Silence is Golden. As part of my goal to read for fun, I pulled the first of my stash of the mysteries by Penny Warner that I could find. The one I picked was 0553579622?p_isbn">Right to Remain Silent. Right to Remain Silent is the third book in the series and comes two books before Blind Side. Fortunately Connor is a rather talkative protagonist so she fills in the details. The mysteries themselves are self contained, focusing on one piece of Flat Skunk's history or culture. I find the timeline easy enough to pick up even with reading the books out of order. This book opens with Sparkle Bodie waking up during an autopsy, scaring the small town medical examiner half to death. Before she can explain what had happened, Sparkle is murdered. Connor suspects the Bodie fortune might be the reason behind her death To complicate things further, the lead suspect isn't mentally handicapped as everyone in the town believes; he's deaf and uneducated. He has lived such a sheltered life he hasn't had a chance to learn how to read, write or sign. Connor's given the difficult task of communicating with him to see what he knows. Connor Westfall and her asides about deaf culture, ASL, and the gadgetry that makes living in the hearing world easier is a big part of why I adore these series. She's like a happy version of Kinsey Millhone. I'm guessing that she had a better childhood too. It's refreshing to have a well adjusted lead for a cozy mystery series. The second thing I adore about the series is the mystery itself. The murders start early in the book but the solution to the crime is obfuscated with red herrings and town gossip while still giving the feeling that the plot is moving along. Finally there is Flat Skunk. It's like every old town California. Anyone familiar with California history will recognize the bits and pieces that make up Flat Skunk. Sure, the town morphs a little between stories to fit the needs of the current mystery but I don't mind. It's a completely fictional town set no where specific except that it's in the Sierra Nevadas and in and old gold mining town. It's one of the rare gold mining towns to have survived the end of the gold rush. For Right to Remain Silent Flat Skunk draws on the mining history (minus the tragic fires of 1892 and 1932) of Bodie California. Bodie (named for W. S. Bodey) was founded shortly after Bodey and "Little Black" Taylor discover gold. The first recorded use of the misspelled town name is October 15, 1862. By the second fire in 1932 though and the Depression, the remaining inhabitants abandoned the city ruins. The dry air has preserved the town and everything in it. The town is now a state park. Mixed in with landmarks from Bodie, are some spots from Old Town Sacramento but that's the charm of Flat Skunk, California! The series:
Comments (0) Immortality Inc.: 11/24/09
Immortality Inc. is the story of a man suddenly in a future New York (2110). He had felt himself die in a head-on car crash back in 1958 and now he's in a new body with nary a scar on himself. His new body though will be harvested again for an aging wealthy businessman. Oh yeah, and there's a zombie after him. The novel is actually very funny and the future New York and future earth seems plausible. At just under 200 pages, it's a quick read Immortality Inc. unfortunately is forever tied to the very cheesy film Freejack starring Emilio Estevez. The film does have some points of similarity with the novel. It has the body harvesting aspect and the time travel aspect. It has the memory bank for the dearly departed. Everything else in the film has nothing in common with Sheckley's novel I see another (and much better) adaptation giving to a nod or two to Immortality Inc., namely, Futurama and it's vision of New New York. Here are points of similarities:
So I recommend fans of Futurama and aficionados of pulp science fiction read Immortality Inc. Comments (0) Haven Stones: The Last Unicorn: 11/23/09
Haven Stones: The Last Unicorn by Richard Carbajal is a YA fantasy set in a magical version of Las Vegas Nevada. Gilbert Foster, the young protagonist is running for his life. His parents are missing and his sister has been murdered. He doesn't know why and he doesn't know who he can trust. Fate, magic and perhaps good luck brings Gilbert to Dumpster who shows the boy into the magical world that resides in parallel with the normal world. He is like Door in Neverwhere who shows Richard Mayhew London Below In fact much of Haven Stones feels like Neverwhere but set in the desert heat of Las Vegas if it were mixed with The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. There's also a bit of Harry Potter in how magic is treated The setting and Carbajal's unique approach to magic are the strongest parts of Haven Stones. Carbajal lives in Las Vegas and that insider's point of view helps bring the city to life It suffers a bit from an abundance of flashbacks and info dumping in the last third of the book. Some of the motivation for the rivalry between the unicorn and the phoenix weren't clear to me I was sent a PDF to review Comments (2) Sahwira: An African Friendship: 11/22/09
When the initial uproar over the original cover for Liar was erupting over the book blogosphere I decided to give my library a test. I looked for recently published books for middle grades up through young adults that featured ethnically diverse people on the covers. Two that I picked up from that first test were The Kayla Chronicles (review coming) by Sherri Winston, a book I whole-heartedly recommend and Sahwira: An African Friendship by Carolyn Marsden, a book I could not finish. Sahwira is based on actual events. Phillip Matzigkeit grew up in the British colony of Rhodesia (now Zimbawe) as the son of Missonary parents. Like his nonfiction inspiration, Evan lives on the mission with his parents and is friends with the local pastor's son, Blessing. He has to find common ground between his life among the blacks with the racism of the white colonists at the all white school he attends. In his free time though, he and Blessing have James Bond inspired adventures and try to build a raft (Huck Finn anyone?) It's not the events that forced me to put the book aside, but the way in which they are told. First and foremost, there's no life to the book. Everything is told in a bland, emotionless, almost book report style. Secondly there is the Marty-Stu aspect to all the American missionaries. They are just too perfect except that underneath their actions and words is an unspoken but ever present air of superiority. They are always right because they are Americans and they have GOD on their side Now the novel is supposed to be told from both boys' points of view. Blessing though doesn't have a unique voice. He gladly pals around with Evan. He never questions anything Evan tells him. He never once in the pages I read shows any glimmer of having a personality outside of whatever attributes Evan and the other white missionaries assign to him After twenty four painful to read pages, I started skipping ahead to see if the book got any better. I could see that Evan went on to a boarding school and had even more confrontations with the children of the white colonists with his Marty-Stu superiority. The book ends with a "meaningful" exchange between Evan and Blessing and neither character seems to have grown or learned anything The book though has been nominated for a Cybil. Comments (0) Frozen Tears: 11/21/09
Frozen Tears is about Kale Weaver and how the events of her life help her change and grow as a person. Throughout the novel she's a hydrologist living and working in a typically rural Alaskan town near Denali National Park. There exactly isn't important. It's near an Innuit (or Ennuit as it's spelled in the novel) village. What does matter is that Kale's life is forever intertwined with the village after she meets Elliot, an Ennuit who helps her after she kills a moose with her truck. It takes a couple chapters for Frozen Tears to hit its stride. When it starts, Kale is written as a too perfect environmentalist. She's in tune with nature and loves all animals. She has come to save the pristine Alaskan wilderness. Elliot is handsome, charming and the typical blend of educated savage that shows up in fiction so often. Kale's boyfriend is likewise the typical redneck, racist, hunter and otherwise alpha male just there for everyone to boo and hiss at Thankfully though Frozen Tears gets the worst of all of this out of its system quickly leaving Kale widowed with a son and ties to the Ennuit village through her son that no one is quite sure what do with. She also has a new found appreciation for the wildlife, deciding to give sanctuary to wolves who have been injured Even the wolf sanctuary and her roll as a single mother of a boy who is struggling to find acceptance in both communities aren't exactly the point of the story. They are all just parts of Kale's journey through life. The writing is a little rough in places and the pacing is a little off but it's still worth reading. I'd like to see a second edition with tighter editing I ended up seeing connections between Kale's life and a friend of mine who has had a similar journey even though the exact details of her journey are different I got the book for review from the author. I have since released it through BookCrossing. Comments (0) Arrowsmith: 11/20/09
It's been a decade or more since the last Sinclair Lewis book I read. I went through a spate in school reading everyone I could get my hands on. Arrowsmith wasn't one of them but my local library had a copy and feeling nostalgic for an old favorite author, I snatched it up. Martin Arrowsmith, the title character, is a high spirited medical student, and later doctor. He's in constant fear of selling out while the women in his life wish for him to be a rich and famous doctor. Or at least successful The book covers his entire career from medical student, to resident, to country doctor, to researcher and his work down in Jamaica. My favorite part of the book by far was his time in college because Lewis managed to capture what college life is like in the sciences. Having been with my husband through his entire college education I saw a bunch of points of similarity between Arrowsmith's education (the lack of free time, the juggling of different papers, the research, the oddball advisors) that I was often laughing as I read through this section What fascinated me most though was how Arrowsmith compartmentalizes the different aspects of his life. There's Dr. Arrowsmith, world famous doctor, Sandy Arrowsmith husband, Martin the student and so forth. Throughout the book the plot pauses for Arrowsmith to have dialogues with the different aspects of his life and personality Like a typical Lewis novel, Arrowsmith ends without a pat resolution. Martin's life goes through good parts and bad parts as does his career and even when he finally has a huge success, becoming a household name, Martin Arrowsmith still isn't satisfied with himself or his skills. Thus the book ends with him just about to start another internal dialogue. Comments (2) Within a Budding Grove: Madame Swann at Home: Cheers: 11/20/09
Next week here in the United States it will be Thanksgiving weekend. As I will be too preoccupied with driving down to South Pasadena, eating turkey and basically enjoying spending time with my relatives, I won't be reading or posting about Proust next week. I'm now through page 60 of the second volume of In Search of Lost Time, Within a Budding Grove (A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs) and this section has me thinking of Cheers, that old NBC sitcom that ran 11 years (1982-1993). I basically grew up watching it, being in elementary school when it started and in college when it ended. Marcel now has gone from wanting to write but suffering from writer's block to just not wanting to write at all. So he spends his time listening to his parents shooting the breeze. Mostly he records his thoughts on the bullshitting sessions between M. de Norpois and his father. The escalating claims by M. de Norpois and the father's occasional tangential replies reminds me of Cliff and Norm who would spend nearly every episode of Cheers talking about stuff that had no practical use for whatever was going on in the bar or with the patrons or employees of the bar while drinking their beers. Despite being completely useless everyone seemed to like the two and M. de Norpois and Marcel's father seem to also be popular for no apparent reason. Now being French gentry, I doubt they're drinking the same cheep beer as Cliff and Norm but their conversations are just as off base. Slipped into the middle of "Cliff" and "Norm's" bar talk, there are also more thoughts on the new Madame Swann. After much debate, the general consensus is that the marriage must be a joke. No one can take the Swann pairing seriously (apparently not even Odette as some gossipers speculate). See you back in two weeks for my thoughts on pages 61-90. Swann's Way posts:Lisa's First Word, Baby Mine, I Sing the Body Electric, The Lady in Pink, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Caturday, Cherry Blossoms, Marge Simpson, Liana Telfer, Bender in Love, Margaret Dumont, Hyacinth Bucket, Rose, Mildred Krebs, Pepé Le Pew, Jack Harness, Cordelia Chase, Saffron, Thomas O'Malley. Within a Budding Grove posts:Nanowrimo, Cheers, Robert Langdon, Kif and Amy, Dead Weight, Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, Paris is a Lonely Town, And Then There's Maude, A Cafe Terrace at Night, North by Northwest, Top Hat, Chez Deetz, Ah, My Goddess!, David, Auntie Mame, Brunhilde Esterhazy, Gusteau's, Shell Beach. Comments (0) Resonance: 11/19/09
Resonance by A.J. Scudiere is a disaster novel wrapped up in some speculative science fiction. As with any disaster book, the novel has an ensemble cast: Drs. Jordan Abellard and Jillian Brookwood of the CDC who are seeing people with weakened immune systems dying at unexpectedly high rates; Dr. Becky Sorenson is following strange biological phenomena like mutated frogs, confused birds and bees making hikes in unusual formations and Dr. David Carter who can see changes in the geology of the rocks he studying. All of these things end up pointing to the magnetic drift of the Earth's magnetic field. These books typically have three acts: the portents of the disaster, the disaster itself and the aftermath. For Resonance the best part comes in the portents. When the focus is on the strange biological phenomena the book is a fascinating page turner Unfortunately during the disaster when the hotspots start getting big and dangerous the science behind them falls apart. Sometimes less is more. I would been willing to give the book more latitude if the focus had been on the creepy side affects and the danger getting larger instead of on the "hard" but wrong science If your suspension of disbelief is more flexible than mine, you'll find it a fun and sometimes creepy disaster novel. Other books and stories you might enjoy:
Comments (0) The Bungalow Mystery (Nancy Drew #3): 11/18/09
Edward Stratemeyer founded the Syndicate to publish mystery series aimed at children and teens. The author of each series was a made up person and the books were ghost written. The Syndicate series included The Rover Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. As my Mom grew up with The Hardy Boys and my grandmother grew up with The Bobbsey Twins, those are the series I read in elementary school. Mom had one Nancy Drew which I made a very lame attempt at reading. I don't remember which book it was. All I remember is that I didn't finish it As an adult I am challenging myself to read authors I missed as a kid or genres I don't normally select. I am also reading books my children recommend to likewise encourage them to read things outside their comfort zones. So when Harriet handed me a copy of 1557091579?p_isbn">The Bungalow Mystery I sucked it up and checked out the book Nancy and her best friend are rescued by a young woman when a wild storm blows in quickly and threatens to sink their boat. As it turns out, the girl is recently orphaned and has been sent to live with her long lost relatives. Unfortunately, they don't act thrilled to see her. Meanwhile her father is dealing with a case of his own involving forgeries and other financial crimes. As Nancy and Carson put their heads together they realize the cases might be related Nancy Drew has been through numerous revisions over the years. In the 1950s the series was white washed and Nancy was aged from 16 to 18. In recent years I think un-edited versions of the pre-1950s books were re-released. The 1991 reprint I read seemed to be firmly set in the 1930s: the Depression is hinted at, though not mentioned directly, there is at least one black servant. Nancy in this story is less perfect and more masculine than in the book I didn't finish. My guess is that the did not finish was one of the 1950s editions Over all I enjoyed the book even though I managed to figure out the basics of the plot before Nancy or her father did. It was good enough that I plan to read more of the early books in the series. I'm curious now to see Nancy evolve (devolve?) as a character as the 1950s approach. Comments (0) You Suck: 11/17/09
You Suck is the sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends bringing Moore back to San Francisco. Tommy Flood has been elevated from minion to vampire by Jody. It's time to find a new minion and what better place to look than Craigslist? You Suck captures the feel of San Francisco better than the original. Moore has since relocated to the City and it shows in how he captures the nuances of the different neighborhoods While most of the characters are repeats from the original, there are a few new memorable ones. My favorite two are Abby (their new Goth styled minion) and William and his huge cat, Chet Mostly though it's a further exploration of what it means to be a vampire: perfect skin, no more scars, and heightened senses. On the flipside: sleeping like the dead during the day, burning to ash in the sunlight and an insatiable appetite for blood You Suck was everything I was hoping Fool would be but wasn't. More Christopher Moore books reviewed here:
Comments (2) That's Not My Dinosaur: 11/17/09
That's Not My Dinosaur is a "Touch-Feely" Usborne book. It uses different tactile pieces to teach textures as a mouse tries to find his dinosaur. Each page features a different kind of dinosaur drawn in a cute cartoony fashion. In terms of plot, its repetitive like Have You Seen My Cat by Eric Carle While this is a short board book, it's one that usually ends up being read multiple times. First I will read it to Harriet and then she will "read" it to herself. Then she will "read" it to me and let me touch all the different textures. Comments (0) The Cave: 11/16/09
Homer described Hades as have entrances from the world of the living through special caves. Odysseus goes into Hades to bring back a fallen member of his crew. For young Ian in 1439223718?The Cave by Steve McGill, he will experience a similar journey into a cave and into the past to learn about many MIA service men from WWI. Starting with the first chapter and then peppered throughout the rest of the book are chapters set during WWI from the point of view of a soldier at the point of his death. They stand in for the stories that Ian is hearing from Gramps (his great-grandfather) who had lost his father at the age of five in WWI If the novel is set in contemporary times, that would make Gramps around 97. Frankly though there's not much in the way of clues to set when present day is for Ian. I can't recall any specific technologies being mentioned that would say for sure when the book takes place Ian likes to ride his bike, write in his journal and listen to stories of WWI. Near his home, but still enough of a distance away to make for a good adventure is an old cave. Ian would love to explore it but is scared to do so. A ghostly visitor first to his home and then to an abandoned ranch near the cave will give him the courage to enter the cave I've read other reviews that describe the book as a horror because of the ghosts. It strikes me more as an adventure with elements of classic mythology. Yes, it's a ghost story, but it's not an especially frightening one The Cave is a short and easy read. I ended up reading it in about three hours' time. Although tweens and teens will probably enjoy the ghost story elements of it, I'd recommend backing up the story with a quick jaunt through Edith Hamilton's Mythology or the relevant chapter from The Odyssey by Homer. Comments (0) Hurricane: 11/15/09
Hurricane uses the end of the Mayan calendar as a backdrop for a disaster thriller. Daniel Mayhew has a theory for bringing tropical depressions under control before they become hurricanes. Meanwhile Kelly Delany has a theory that global warming will create the need for a new class of hurricane: category six. Kelly and Daniel if they work together along with the navy might be able save lives and prevent devastation. Unfortunately for them, General Lowe is standing in their way as a member of the "Lucky Thirteen." Hurricane is an odd book. It has an interesting pair of lead characters with believable families and plausible back stories. Likewise Florida feels like Florida; it is both a setting and a supporting character What it lacks though is a firm footing in the disaster genre. It reads like a hybrid of a speculative fiction, a disaster story and spy novel (Cussler, Clancy, Flemming). The typical book has three parts: introduction of the characters and the possible disaster, the disaster itself and the fall out from it. Things are exacerbated by human nature: officials slow to move, so-called experts cutting corners, and so forth In Hurricane the human nature aspect is replaced by the "Lucky Thirteen" acting for reasons never fully established. They act like the villains who Dirk Pitt or James Bond go after novel without the heroes to come and take them down in a one on one fire fight. With the focus turned from the danger of the storm to the "Lucky Thirteen" the category six storm ends up being an empty threat My final reaction to Hurricane is mixed. I like the main characters and off the wall solution to the hurricane threat. I don't think "Lucky Thirteen" were fleshed out enough to be a successful foil to Daniel and Kelly. Instead they end up taking away precious plot development time from the novel. It would have been more interesting and more thrilling if Daniel and Kelly fail early on to call into doubt their solution when the huge storm is barreling down on Florida I received the book from the author to review. I have since released it via BookCrossing. Comments (0) If I Ran the Zoo: 11/14/09
Gerald McGrew in If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss explains to the zoo keeper how he would do things differently if he were in charge. The regular "exotic" animals would be out and a host of outlandish animals would take their place. The book is written in Seuss's typical anapestic tetrameter which makes it easy to read aloud with comedic flare My son who is an avid inventor of monsters loves this book for all the unusual animals. I personally thought most of Seuss's imaginary animals were a bit overwhelming as a kid but Sean loves them As a bit of trivia, If I Ran the Zoo is the first book to use the word 'nerd' though not in its modern connotation. The line is "And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo and bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep and a Proo, a Nerkle, a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!" (Fun Trivia) Dr. Seuss Reviews
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