Readers' Favorite: Picture Books

A post by Abby

In language arts, we were doing a unit in children’s books, and sometimes all we did was read children’s books and it was really fun! But that made me think, what are the readers' favorite children’s books? I mean, almost everyone read children’s books when they were little, right? So why not find out their favorites? So I asked about everyone I knew what their favorite was, and this is what I got:

1) Green Eggs and Ham , by Dr. Seuss
2) The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
3) Good Night Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
4) Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
5) The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss
6) Oh the Places You’ll Go, by Dr. Seuss
7) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett
8) One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss
9) Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr., and Archambault
10) Whinnie the Pooh, by A. A. Milne

So, that’s the top ten, but feel free to comment and tell me what your favorite is.

TOP MOVIES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BOOKS FIRST

Post by Up North Girl

I know, I know. Long title. The point is, I was watching a movie, and the thought struck me; Hey, this would have made a really good book. I don’t mean the novelizations that are written after the movie is out; those never do it justice. I mean, the real thing. Good books that were written before the movie was a movie. So here is a list of the movies I think would have made good books. Each one will contain a short synopsis of the plot from netflix.com, and why I thought it would make a good movie.


5. Wicked Little Things

When a grieving widow moves her two daughters to a rustic house in the Pennsylvania mountains, she hopes the solitude will help them work through feelings of abandonment. But they hardly have time to reflect, as they discover unexpected neighbors. As it turns out, the ghosts of children who were killed in a tragic accident more than 90 years before are still "playing" in the mine shaft nearby, and would love to have the neighborhood kids join them.

This movie was, well, just plain creepy. But I like those kinds of movies. I prefer them as books, though, because then there aren’t things jumping out and scaring the crap out of you. I made the unfortunate mistake of watching this at midnight… yeah. I think it would have been a very good book. If you like scary movies, definitely check this one out.


4. Despicable Me
Villainous Gru (Steve Carell) lives up to his reputation as a despicable, deplorable and downright unlikable guy when he hatches a plan to steal the moon from the sky. But he has a tough time staying on task after three orphans land in his care.
OK, this one is just for funzies. I loved this movie. Yes, I am in eighth grade, and yes, I did love this little kid movie. I am not ashamed to say it. I think it would have made a pretty amazing book, too. Since most of the movies on this list are horrors, I decided to lighten it up by throwing this one in.




3. Sherlock Holmes (2010)

London sleuth Sherlock Holmes, joined by Dr. Watson, face off against the villainous Blackwood.
Yeah, I know what you’re going to say. “But Sherlock Holmes is already a book!” I know. I’ve read them. But this movie was a really phenomenal story line, and I think it would have been a really great book. I always loved when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle threw possible paranormal phenomena into his Sherlock Holmes stories, and this one was especially good.




2. Frozen

Three friends hit the slopes for a weekend of skiing and snowboarding. But when they convince the chairlift operator to let them take one last run before closing, Parker, Joe, and Dan find themselves stranded in midair, alone and freezing. It'll be days before anyone returns to the slopes, and their chances of survival are looking slimmer by the minute.

Wow. That is really all I have to say about this movie. It gave me shivers (No pun intended) and I was on the edge of my seat for the whole movie. I won’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of it; it’s an Indie film. I love books that keep you biting your nails throughout the whole thing, and I think this movie would do just that, had it been a book. Out of all the movies on this list, this is one of the ones I would most want to see as a book.


1. Season of the Witch

In 14th-century Europe, a courageous knight leads a group of weary warriors across impossibly treacherous terrain in order to transport a suspected witch believed to be responsible for spreading the devastating Black Plague.
This. Movie. Was. Amazing. I loved this movie! Can I say anymore? The whole movie I was thinking THIS NEEDS TO BE A BOOK! It was so suspenseful and perfectly balanced action with plot. Some movies have too much action and no plot, but that is not the case with this. It had an amazing plot, and amazing action. It’s definitely not for the squeamish, though.

So there you have it. My top five movies that should have been books first. I recommend you check out these movies if you haven’t, especially Frozen. But Frozen, Wicked Little Things, and Season of the Witch are definitely not for the faint of heart. Until next time, happy reading!

If You Could Meet an Author...

If I could meet any one author, I would be torn between meeting Brandon Sanderson and Scott Westerfeld.

This is what some of my friends and teachers said:

Ms. Nordskog, our crazed, chocolate-loving science teacher, said that she would like to meet Isaac Newton (despite the fact that he's dead) because he wrote one of the most important scientific papers of all time.

Ms. Filippini, our awesome, crazy band teacher said she would like to meet either Dean Koontz or Stephen King, the latter because she thinks he would be an interesting guy to meet.

My good, crazy, weird buddy Flann thought meeting Jay Asher, the author if Th1rteen R3asons Why, would be cool for reasons unknown to the rest of us.

A pair of 8th graders (also known as Sara and Skylar) would like to meet Kazuki Takahashi, their favorite manga author.

My dog-loving, awesome, crazy friend Abby would like to meet Pseudonymous Bosch, the author of The Name of this Book is Secret.

The eighth-grade Kaila would like to meet Anne Rice, who is the author of the books The Vampire Chronicles.

The cello-playing, awesome Kyra would like to meet Kathy Reichs, the author of many books, one of which is is 206 Bones.

Lachelle, another of my peers in this blogging elective, would also like to meet Jay Asher because he wrote her favorite book.

If you could meet any one author, who would it be? Why? What if you have two authors you couldn't decide between? Reply in the comments, please!  :)

--Ellie

Why do teens like dark fiction? 8th graders respond.

The New York Times recently ran a "Room for Debate" discussion in which a number of writers gave their opinions about why teens are reading books with dark themes and post-apocalyptic settings.  I introduced this question to my 8th grade class and had them discuss whether they enjoy these kinds of books, and if so, why?  Then I gave them a chance to read the articles and the comments and take some time to think.  The next day, we spent some time writing and discussing the trend and the types of books they would publish if they were in charge.  Here's a sampling of their thoughts.

“[The articles and the comments] kind of made me laugh since most of those people were probably adults arguing about what people like me feel….  If I were asked to write about why teens love dark fiction, I’d say it’s because I think we love the reaction and emotion it causes us to read about…[creepy/violent things] we highly doubt we’ll ever see…and never thought how we would react to it.”  --YamiHeart

“I agree with both the idea of escapism and the idea that we read them because it is happening in our world…there are bad things in our world, but it’s not like a book—there’s no hero.”  --Kathryn

“We aren’t always all dark and scary.  I know that my favorite books, and almost all of my friends’ favorites, are books about real life.  It helps us learn, when we see how other teens (even if fictional) deal with real life problems.” --WhatcyoNameIs

“We want to hear and think new things…we want more adventure than what our normal lives have to offer.”  --Zari

“My argument would be that the hype and the popularity of these types of books makes teen read them.  I would publish happy comedies—I like biographies and autobiographies, and also happy books.” --Jafra

“Teens like to escape into a world where there are troubles more vastly dangerous and deadly than dating and bad hair days.” –DJ

“I think teens are attracted to the parallel of the characters; they’re so different, and yet so much alike.  It’s interesting to compare ourselves to them.”  --Kyra

“I thought there were some good thoughts [in those articles], especially about how people read these dystopian books that are filled with drama, adventure, etc…to escape our everyday world.”  --Caitlin

“I would publish scary, exciting, full-of-action types of books.  I would try getting YAs to read my books by making them interesting, action-packed, full of explosions on the covers.” –Abbey

“Our daily lives are boring so these books are like a chance to get away and think, “What if life was actually exciting like this?” It’s fun to put yourself in the main character’s shoes.” –Brynn

“Teens like to think that they could possibly be in a dark situation and be strong enough to get out of it.” –Sophia

“These articles all sort of captured why I read books like these.  We watch too much violent TV.  I would publish funny books with a good storyline.”  --Matt

“Teenagers are bored of their normal lives, so they read books about ‘dark’ places and people….  Usually the characters are very different from me, but I love to imagine myself in their situation.  I would publish books that are mysterious, gripping, and dramatic.”  --swimfreak110396

“I would publish fantasy, mostly medieval.”  --Jarrid

“Because our teenage lives are just so drab and boring and just plain old blech, we want to escape.” –Jess

“People want to imagine what if I was in this?  What would it be like? Teens don’t like reading about things and people that are like them in books because they are trying to get away from that.  But some people who are having hard, difficult, dark times might read them to know they aren’t alone…” –Eva

“Maybe people who do go through a tough life everyday like to read these books because it’s not real.  They can escape into the life that’s not real, and if they are okay at the end, it might give them hope.”  --Emma

“We like to read about the unimaginable, the creative, creepy things excite us more than our old same routines.” –Alexis

“Well, it’s not that all teens are dark and vivid, it’s just that when you do have a lot of things going on, or if your life is just plain boring, you use these dystopian or dark books as a getaway.  You just kinda blend into everything in the book.”  --Amanda

“My opinion is that teens enjoy darker themes because it may be something they can relate to.  If they read a book they can relate to, it may make them feel like people do understand or they’re not so alone.” –Augezt Fire

“It’s a way for us to read about something that’s never going to happen.  Just to think about what it would be like if that actually were to happen.”  --Caleb

“I would focus on war books—sci-fi war books.”  --Logan

“Teens would like to read about things that aren’t real…. I would publish the dark fiction because that seems the most fun to both read and write.” –Skylar

“Teens do like scary stories with darkness and death.  They don’t have to live in this fake world.”  --Jason Huntington

ETA: if you're ages 10-18, you should go fill out this survey about what you like in your favorite kind of Middle Grade or Young Adult books!  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BV3365M

Favorite places to read!

Hey! Twistar here, and I'm going to talk about your favorite place to read.

So I went around and talked to a bunch of teachers and students and got a bunch of different answers. One person that I talked to was Mr.Achartz.  He said that he likes reading in his hammock or something like that. Mrs.Heins said that she liked reading by the lake. Finally Ms.Hoole said she liked reading in her bathtub. :)

I also talked to a bunch of students, and for a lot of them, their favorite places were in their rooms away from drama and their siblings. One person who I talked to said that they liked reading in their car. They also said that it was one of the only chances that they had to read because their life was just that busy. I think that those people either need a little more time to themselves or they need help finding a good books.

There are lots of books that are out there--go to your local library and just let your mind wander! You never know what you will find!

I also had some people say that they hate reading! One person said that any time they look at a book they get sick, (that sounds fake but trust me, it's been said!) That really makes no sense to me! How can a book make you wanna throw up? But anyways, those people must not have found a good book for them.

My word of advice is to again let your mind go, and stop thinking about books making you throw up!

Now...I'm off to my favorite place to read...how about you?  Where do you go when you want to get lost in the middle of a good book?

Red pyramid

I read The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. It is a very good book, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes action, adventure, and a pinch of sibling humor. The two siblings,Carter and Sadie, are very different. Sadie was raised in England and has an English accent. She also has a cat named Muffin and lives with her and Carter's grandparents.

Carter, on the other hand, has traveled the world with their Dad, an Egyptian mythology professor, and has never actually gone to school.  He has been home schooled from his dad, who only taught him the things he thought were important. Carter and Sadie both lived normal lives until one night every thing changed...........

-Watergirl444

I rate this book 4 and a half chocolate bars

Vermonia

Have you ever read manga? If you haven’t, you should--it is a style of writing from Japan. It is like a graphic novel, but you read it backwards. It might seem strange, but you can really get into it.

Recently I started reading Vermonia, a book about four kids who travel to Vermonia, a different universe. The kids are Naomi, Mel, Doug, and Jim. The four kids receive a gift, a creature from Vermonia who has unknown magical powers.


The plot is pretty generic, but it's a good story. I would not recommend it for kids age 9 or younger because it is extremely difficult to read (look up "how to read manga" on the right hand side of the Vermonia website; it is very important or else you will not understand it). The drawing in these comics is superb, and I think that the costumes are creative. This is a good book for a rainy day; I give it 3 out of 5 chocolate bars.



rating:3 out of 5 chocolate bars
appropriateness: faerie princess
difficulties:vampire

Favorite Books?

Hey! Stev is posting with a question about books! I was just wondering what books are the current fave! My personal faves are Percy Jackson and The Olympians (all of them, by Rick Riordan) and Ranger's Apprentice (again, all of them)

Ranger's Apprentice (by John Flanagan) is about a fifteen-year-old boy named Will who lives in the castle ward with the other orphans of Redmont Fief. On Choosing Day, none of the Craftmasters want to choose him...except one. The mysterious Ranger Halt gives a note about Will to Baron Arald. Any more info would be spoilery!! You'll have to read it to find out more! HAHAHA!

Comment, please, readers who read, and tell me all about your favorite book(s). ;)