Missing everything....

Note: This post was written in August. As I was at the start of my student teaching, I was even too busy to find a picture and post this. What's missing here (gloss, graphics) says more than even the words I wrote...


I miss reading....for fun - not for information

I miss writing....babbling away with my keys clicking

I miss my brain.  It used to be mine, but I donated it to the education department this year.

I miss sitting out back in the shade watching my boys play.

I miss biking, hiking, and fishing.

So many things I need an entire 'nother summer to catch up on.

Just a few days of summer left and I will be reaching the final hurdle in becoming a teacher - student teaching.  I keep wondering how I will manage. Will I be good? Will I flop and have that big "growing" experience?

I just keep thinking that soon my life will be mine again - all mine.

I will read for fun - out back in the shade while the kids jump on the trampoline.  I will transition from retail supervisor to substitute and tutor until I get that golden contract.

I think I need to make a paper chain and tear off a link each day until graduation. Maybe place a stack of books under it that I'm going to dive into .....

Where she went....

     If you are a long-time follower, you may remember this post : Just Jump . I had decided to take a leap and get a degree. I intended to become a children's librarian.  To my surprise, one does not just become a librarian, one must level-up from a teaching degree.
     Here I am, four and a half years later......

Finally!!!

     Even though I needed to take the time to read all those textbooks and write all those papers, I miss, miss, miss my fiction!!!  I am looking forward to reading and writing for fun!  For now, I'm reading some quick, fun YA reads during this busy holiday time:

. January will be all about NOT sleeping.... 

  I've been saving this one. I just read the caption on Goodreads that says it's "The Shining #2". Nope, no sleeping happening during that read!

Merry Christmas everyone!   And GOOOOO BOBCATS!!!!

Bring it on Jack Frost!

I love the way the light goes
through the panes.

So, it's a little "nippy" this week. Who would have thought it would make the city even more beautiful?





Just look at the sculpture walk at the library.......breathtaking!

 Speaking of breathtaking -.................

For some reason, the cool, crisp air makes everyone a little hyper. What do all those Bozemanites do on days like today?

I kid you not, they are out walking their dogs, wearing shorts to campus, and taking their kids and senior citizens to the library.

                   

Proof!

Ultimate chill-spot

     

And now that I have good traction with my new tires, it's a      

great day to chill in Bozeman.    

                                   

For the Rowling fans....

 

Hogwarts?

"The tube"

   I can't go to Oxford, England and not connect with one of their finest author's, J. K. Rowling. I have to be honest, although I'm not a fan of books where children become witches and wizards, I do love her writing style. She creates her own vocabulary with words like "quidditch" and villian names like "Voldemort" (which is French for Flight of Death). Her writing is so descriptive that when Voldemort finally revealed himself I was really creeped out! 

Platform 9 3/4 is REAL - this is at King's Cross station
You can get your picture wearing the scarf and pushing it!

 Her life story is equally inspiring - full of struggles that turned to success. She describes riding the train in England when she thought up the character Harry Potter and started his story. I am waiting for her next release and wondering what worlds she's creating at this moment.

Hogwart's (Oxford)  Stairs 

    

The Great Dining Hall

Oxford students really eat here among portraits of kings. I half expected an owl to swoop down on me!

Anyone want to go to Narnia?

Beautiful Oxford England!

 

   C. S. Lewis's home at "the Kilns" is not a museum, but a place where you can sit on the furniture, walk around the back pond, and stand in the little attic room where he would look over his flower garden and write. Students come there to study for months at a time and live in the rooms.
      At the time of his writing, Lewis was not well loved in England. He retreated into a world all his own. He loved to sit and smoke, drink tea, and have healthy discussions with his brother, Warnie, and his writing friends, "the Inklings"(Tolkien, Hugo Dyson and other philosophical types). They would work up "a good fog" of smoke and he would dump the ashes into the carpet  yuck! He let his house go to the point that restorers had to remove anything fabric!  It was Tolkien who convinced him to turn from Atheism and embrace Christianity during their long smoke-hazed, tea guzzling chats. I loved learning that Warnie also converted to Christianity at the same time, but he was out of the country exploring Buddhism. Both wrote each other a letter announcing their decisions, but the letters crossed in the mail!

Looking for the wardrobe...

     When he was young, he and his brother began making up stories about other worlds full of talking animals like "the world of Boxen" and the future world of Narnia was born. He had a home with pass-thru closets and built outside stairwell access to the upper room. Walking through his back garden, I expected an armor-clad rat to jump out and poke me with a little sword!  For C. S. Lewis, there was little else but world-making, playing scrabble with family in multiple languages, and meeting at the pub.  For some, there is no other life but the one you create.

Narnia....?

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." - C. S. Lewis

Tolkien and Lewis's pub

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Bonjour! I have returned from England and France....

....from France where the culture is as rich as the food and England where history is living and breathing in the Buckingham and Windsor palaces. Blending literature, art and presence gave me a new perspective on how to really understand life. Peeking into C. S Lewis's dark, shadowy attic that appears in the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, then eating Turkish Delights or standing in the Tower of London at the exact place where Anne Boleyn was beheaded and buried are just some examples of the possible collisions of art, literature, and being there.
      I think my biggest connection was through Skyping with Jennifer Donnely about her book Revolution, going to the Palace of Versailles, and viewing Monet's debut impressionist painting "Impression Sunrise" which I will post my thoughts on being a revolutionary soon.
       That said, reading is still the easiest way to transport your mind.....Join me as I share some connections between literature and art from the land of the Brits and French.

Vive la littérature et de l'art !

(Long live literature and art!)

Open Minds is FREE - Yes, FREE from Susan K. Quinn

If you haven't opened your mind to the Mindjack series yet - here's your chance. Need a reminder about the books? Click Here Get your fingers ready to download a FREE copy of Open Minds to your e-reader. 

Susan - You are the BEST!!!!

Visit Susan and check out the Mindjack trilogy and her brand new Debt Collector series. CClick here to visit her blog.

My new addiction.....

.....free ebook links from Bookblast!


That's right - a website ( http://bookblast.co/ ) that will email you links to Amazon.com for free and super-cheap ($.99-2.99) ebooks all from Young Adult Fantasy and Paranormal or whatever genre you select to have included in your daily email.  Did you see that - I said DAILY! 

What could be better than coffee and browsing personally selected FREE ebooks?  Can you think of anything? 

                                         ...okay, free hugs maybe....

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British Literature Tour

     Coming this summer - it's going to be all about British Literature coming to life!  I am so looking forward to blogging next summer about the study abroad course I'm taking in the late spring/early summer. My children's lit instructor has opened her overseas British Children's Lit course and we will be heading for Paris. As a bonus - an art expert will be coming along to help us appreciate what we'll be seeing in the Louvre.
     So far I have a list of about twenty stops we will be making: C.S. Lewis's house, Beatrix Potter's farm, Oxford (Harry Potter), Stonehenge, the Louvre - even the Crown Jewels. I just have to get through the my Spring 2013 semester and we will be on our way. So if you'll hang in there with me while I study in all things "teacher-ly"  and blog in between writing papers and cramming for tests, we are going to have a great 2013 summer on Reading, Writing, Raisin' Boys.

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Mom Monday - the emergence of a literary expert

     Last November, I blogged about spending the day at the Children's Festival of the Book in Bozeman. My 10 year old Wyatt's favorite writer was Jeanne DuPrau - especially since she signed his books. Even though he was laying on the floor when she was giving her presentation about how City of Ember came to be, I knew he was taking it all in.

sample Paper Bag Report

     Fast forward six weeks and he's about to turn in his quarterly project in language - the "Paper Bag Book Report". For 4th graders it helps if they break a book report down into section cards and tape it to something that they can decorate. The fun part is filling with things that relate to the character. Sometimes it's a box or a coffee can that becomes Tony Hawk (his project from 3rd grade).  Over the Christmas break he agonized over building his paragraphs - even asking for a thesaurus to find the right words. So exciting and excruciating it was watching this young writer at work!

     When he finished he was on top of the world. We took a minute to talk over the steps he took in making it and when we looked at the big picture, this is what HE ended up accomplishing (not me, he was in charge of this whole endeavor):

• met the author and got signed books
• listened to the author present on how the book came about
• read the whole book (which is a selection more than double the AR reading level for 4th grade)
• read the graphic novel
• watched the movie (he had seen it when he was 7 so it was a faint memory)
• compared the three and found the differences

He has become an EXPERT on City of Ember and I am SO proud of him!  

What other ways can you help kids make that connection?

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Making the case for graphic novels

     You either love them, hate them, or love to hate them. So many people just assume reading a graphic novel is like reading the comics. BUT, could there be more to it?  

     My young adult lit class started off with a doozey - Zahra's Paradise  by Amir and Khalil

     Like most people I started off thinking - oh, quick read - likely little real content and probably just a cultural interest book. Then a few chapters in I was mortified!  Foul language, disgusting pictures, immoral situations - how could this be in a young adult class?

     Since it was going to be for our first class discussion, I hung in there and finished it, but by the time I was done - it had won me over. I see a huge shift in graphic novels - they are more like art.

     How many people try to impress you by interpreting art? How it gives you a feeling about something - that's what I saw in Zahra's Paradise. You could feel the character's fear through what you hope are over-exaggerated drawings, but then you have to process that the torture that Iranian's went through for challenging their government was real. Also it was easy to see the characters as representations of Iran and their government- like impressionist art.

(Still, I would not recommend this book to any young people unless I was certain they were emotionally mature and would have to be sure their parents were okay with it.)

     I also bought Outlander- The Exile  graphic novel version. When I first heard it was going to be a graphic novel I was horrified. Then I found one in a bargain bin and have to admit, it was fun to read, but to my disappointment, still had the characters drawn like barbie on steroids.As an Outlander fan, it lost so much of its character depth, it really is more just for a change.

       Our class wrapped up with another graphic novel with a much lighter tone Middle School - The Worst Years of my Life by James Patterson. This might make you think Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but it's a got a plot and deeper topic. It was fun to read, but you still got a better feeling for how a middle school-er sees his world - especially the dragon-lady detention teacher.


Anyone else recently converted to graphic novels?  Any recommendations? Love them? Hate them?

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Did you reach your goals in 2012?

Reading goals for 2012:

Gah! Why can't I EVER make my goal?  47 and a half books and I'm still 6% short!!!  The average is 58 for Goodreads. The only thing that makes me feel better is that my stats on Goodreads show I have 13815 pages for the year PLUS at least 35 children's books I didn't count. At least I have that.....

Anyone make their goal????

2012 Reading Challenge

Montanamarynotmartha has read 47 books toward a goal of 50 books.

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47 of 50 (94%)

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Children's Festival of the Book

 
     Bozemanites love their books!  For a city of 40,000 people they recently built a 50,000 square foot LEED certified library. That's just under 1 square foot per person. With the average novel having a one inch spine, I'd say they have 12 books per person in Bozeman.

     So, what to do with all that space? CELEBRATE! The 5th annual Children's Festival of the Book was out of this world! Caldecott winner Paul Zelinsky gave a wildly entertaining presentation about how he became an illustrator and how illustrating a book happens. Here he is signing Z is for Moose for my son, Dakota.

     And Ernest Hemmingway's grandson who is a fantastic children's author and illustrator, Edward Hemmingway is signing Bump in the Night for him too. He looks so much like his grandfather!

Both are unique stories - Moose is taking over the boring alphabet book, Bump in the Night is about a good monster who captures all the other monsters for the boy who is afraid of the dark.

And for young adult literature fans, Jeanne DuPrau's City of Ember novel and graphic novel adaptation. What was even more fantastic than having her sign them, was sitting in on her presentation titled, "The Road to Ember".

Word of wisdom shared by Jeanne for the audience who may want to write:

• Know your grammar
• Write about what you like
• Write about what you dislike
• Write about what you know
• Write about what terrifies you

...and all those people and things important to you will come to the surface.

Her presentation was followed by a hands on circuit building session with light bulbs and wires - so cool! 

After listening to Jeanne DuPrau, my 9 year old told a wild story all the way home about HIS ideal underground city. I tell you, he didn't stop with one novel idea but told about each book in his series. The boys and I can't WAIT for the next festival!

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Banned Book Week Wrap Up

     Having given Banned Books Week a shot this year, I'm trying to put it someplace in my head - someplace concrete, like yes, I agree, no I don't. Looks like I'm still on the fence. I still think school libraries need some censorship based on maturity - a parent permission shelf would be a good idea for over-the-top novels. In my opinion, public libraries should only have censorship when it comes to the safety of others. For example, books on bomb making at home and books written by pedophiles really shouldn't be bought with public tax dollars for citizens use. 

     In our class session we learned that the state of Arizona is banning all curriculum and library books that support multicultural education on the basis that it is "Anti-American". Wow-that's progress. Here we are taking courses designed to make us be culturally literate teachers and have Indian Education for All requirements for our lessons. We are learning to teach with a completely different approach and there they are in Arizona - de-evolving! 

     How about this for food for thought -  Three books I was really surprised to see on the banned list are Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain and Are You There God? It's me Margaret. 
     I read an article recently that someone was proposing to write a censored version of Hucklberry Finn for classroom use (with good intentions due to use of the N word). And almost every girl between the ages of 30-45 loved Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's me Margaret. So there you have it! The answer to the most often challenged author is Judy Blume with 5 books on the banned list.  

Which book surprised you the most?

all images sourced from goodreads.com

Banned books prove that....

.....the written word is more powerful than movies.

What? How could that be when people spend millions to see box office hits every week, but many people don't read at all?

Hilarious, yet highly offensive & challenge-worthy!

The simple fact that people take the time to submit challenges for and protest and even burn books is proof. When's the last time anyone legally challenged a movie in a public library?*



What do you think? Can you disprove it?


                            Do you see the POWA'?

                                                                   WORD!




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*Credit to Sheila at MSU library for hinting at this

More on Banned Books Week

     So, in our Children's Literature class today we had a good half-hour presentation all about the history of censorship and the processes of challenging a book in a school and it was really interesting!

I won The Perks of Being a Wallflower

     Book banning goes back a long, long way and sometimes you can see why, for the time period, a book would be challenged. It was even more interesting because she focused on specific Montana challenges. Imagine your teenager graduating high school in Butte, MT and writing a book calling their hometown residents "dry and warped" -  banned!

     She helped us make sense of it all and I feel much better knowing that books in school libraries have to have certain criteria to be included in the collection. So, no, my teenager probably won't find a copy of Shades of Grey in his high school collection and write a book report on it. And yes, teachers can have some say if a student chooses something that's way above their maturity level for an assignment. Still, the amount of backup required for a teacher's choice is incredible.Whew! 

   And, just for fun she had trivia and prizes and I answered this question correctly and won a banned book I know nothing about, lets see if you can guess:

What children to adult author is most currently challenged?


Here's a link for hints - this author has 5 books on the top 100 Most Challenged books.