Frida - Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

Viva la vida! Long Live Life!
Illustrated with Kahlo paintings and a few photos
Published 2007
Marshall Cavendish Children
$18.99
Written for children, good for all ages
64 pgs.
Rating: 5

This is my favorite of all the Kahlo books I've been reading this week. It's a biography, but written in first person free verse and illustrated with Kahlo's own paintings. Each painting includes the title, date, and an interesting caption. I learned a terrific amount of information about her life, her loves, her misfortunes and illnesses. She had a "messy" life, but there sadness is not overpowering, it stresses more a joy in living than the anguish of many heartbreaks - which were very real.

San Francisco

Women in slinky dresses and pert little hats
stare at my frilly skirts, my sun-shaped earrings,
the ribbons of purple light adorning my braided hair,
the thousand-year-old jade necklace Diego gave me.
I giggle, enjoying the attention!

Diego disappears for days,
painting a mural at the San Francisco Stock Exchange,
another at the California School of Fine ARts.

I hardly paint.
Instead I play at being his wife.
Frida Kahlo de Rivera
--"de" Rivera, "of" Rivera--
I belong to my owner.

I got a wonderful feel for this woman, she became flesh and blood for me. The verse is powerful, telling, illuminating and illuminated. Good stuff.

42. The Cowboy Rides Away - Betsy Thornton

#1 Chloe Newcomb/ Dudley (Bisbee), Arizona
Published: July, 1996
Adult Murder Mystery
232 pgs.
St. Martin's Press
Rating: 5 Loved it, couldn't put it down - luscious writing, here's a totally random passage:

"I drove back to Dudley through the red dirt desert slowly, my headache still there but better. The heat would soon be turning the silver-green grasses to gold and the little frogs on the edges of the rain ponds at Randall's would be dead, little dried-up husks, after all the lying watery promise. The air still smelled burnt, but I couldn't see flames, smoke, anywhere, more like the air itself was not air at all but colorless fire."

Chloe Newcomb has moved to small town (TINY town) Dudley in the very southeastern corner of Arizona, in the middle of the desert, but surrounded by the mountains. It's late summer, monsoon season, and Betsy Thornton's descriptions of the landscape, the weather, the town/s, are equisite, rich. Chloe is a volunteer "Victim Witness", helping the Cochise County Sheriff's department notify and help victims of violent crimes and their next-of-kin. This also entails giving the "bad news" to families. And this story is about one such notification, one that becomes very personal and keeps you guessing and wondering....and sometimes smiling....until almost the very end.

Leroy Harris/Randall Hartmann has shot himself in the head, but of course, since I've already crowed about this being a great murder mystery, it does turn out to be murder. But there's so much more, since the dead guy ends up being Chloe's first love, from college, and she keeps this a secret, telling no one. We're introduced to a great cast of characters, an interesting community, and the start of a series that I'm excited to dive into!

41. Savvy - Ingrid Law

Published: May, 2008
Newbery Honor Award
Grades 5-8 (Tween)
348 pages
$16.99
Dial Books for Young Readers

Hmm. This was a fun book. However, it seemed endless. It took forever to read it, and I had to force myself to go back to it every time I put it down. But I enjoyed it - its quirkiness, and it's great storytelling. I guess it was just a little too long-winded for me. It's been out for over a year and none of my students has read it, or even talked about it. I wonder how one of them would enjoy it? I'll have to put it "out there" next year, see what comes of it.

What I call a "realistic fantasy" that takes place in the Nebraska/Kansas area. Good setting. I wanted a map to go along with the story, and one of the websites below has a good one. And why a map? Because Mibs Beaumont, two of her four siblings, and the two teenaged "preacher's kids" sneak onto a bus and go for a RIDE. Mibs is hoping to get down to Salina, Kansas, where her poppa is in a coma from a car accident, but Lester, the driver, had other stops to make before Salina. And quite the riproarinest adventure ensues.

And why realistic FANTASY? Because everyone in the Beaumont family, upon their 13th birthday, has been given a SAVVY. They never knew what it would be, and as Mibs' birthday approached she was quite excited about it. Her mother's savvy that she did everything perfectly. Her brother, Fish, created hurricanes, winds, rains. Her oldest brother Rocket's savvy was electricity, which he had a difficult time controling. Of course Mibs' savvy is nothing she ever dreamed it would be. And as it appears, she and her companions are on the pink bus, making the world a much more memorable place.

For more details, take a look at one of the websites below. They're very well done. In the meantime, I'm gong to have to decide how to rate this book. I wonder if I would have liked it more if I'd listened to it? Another hmm.

Official Savvy Website (the audio review is particularly good) including a downloadable teacher's guide.

Listen to the book! (Or at least the beginning of it) and play games - an interactive site.

Kid's Read Review

One Hen - Katie Smith Milway

How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference
Illustrated by: Eugenie Fernandes
2008
Kid's Can Press
$18.95
Rating: 4.5
32 pages
Endpapers: Bright yellow

This story is based on a true story from Ghana, West Africa. When Kojo's mother is given a community loan, she buys a cart to transport firewood for sale in the market. She has enough left over to lend Kojo enough to buy one egg-laying hen. He begins to sell his eggs, earning enough for more and more hens, until he has 25, and he can affort the cost of school. He goes to college in Israel, learning more about business and marketing, and upon returning to Ghana is able to receive a small loan from a Ghanan bank. His business...and his life....thrive from there. As a grandfather he employs hundreds on his huge egg farm, and begins a business to give small loans to people with nothing who'd like to start a small business themselves. He's had a 97% repayment rate!

The book ends with information about current agencies that lend small amounts to help people get on their feet. It also shows how a small donation to an agency like Heifer Project can go a long, long way, as well as how it all works.

Vibrant, brightly colored illustrations with lots of yellow and yellow-gold--no white--with all the text on a yellow-gold background. Very attractive.

Exceedingly interesting.

Take a look at One Hen's webpage - which includes pages for teachers and librarians, accompanied by great African music. A+

Listen to NPR's "All Things Considered" March 6, 2008 -a great review, as well as an interview with the original Kojo, Kwabena Darko. EXCELLENT.

The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood - Agnese Baruzzi & Sandro Natalini

Published 2007, in US 2009
Templar/Candlewick
Rating: 4.5
Ages 3+
$14.99

This is a prequel to the originial Red Riding Hood Story with letters to pull out of envelopes, doors to open, sheer shower curtains and gingham aprons to peek behind, pages of books to turn, tabs to pull, paper wheels to rotate , popups and popouts and glitter - altogther 16 pages, plus endpapers, of interactive entertainment with a good story to boot!

Wolf want to be good, so he asks the nicest person in the forest, Little Red Riding Hood, to teach him how. First on the list is to stop eating meat. She teaches him well, he soon becomes the nices person in the forest -- to Riding Hood's chagrin. So she decides to change him back (and we know the rest of the story to come....)

Delightful!

40. The Incredible Shrinking Kid - Megan McDonald

Stink Series, Book #1
Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
102+ pages (Last 12 pgs. are upcoming book)
Candlewick, 2005
$4.99
Rating: 5 (Yup, 5. Can't wait to read another.)
Reading Level N

This book has references to poetry, figurative language, research, acrostic poetry, and six pages of graphic novel/comics at end of each of the chapters. It's REALLY well written. James Moody ("Stink") is Judy Moody's younger brother. She figures prominently in the book. "You're only as short as you feel." How can you beat that?

Okay, I'm sold. I love Stink. (Does that mean I'll love Judy Moody?)

Stink is certain he's shrinking. He's certainly not getting any taller. Then he gets to be the person that brings home the class newt for the weekend, and it slips down the drain. He celebrates James Madison for President's Day (he was 5' 4" tall), likes school, enjoys homework, writes poetry and songs - well, what's not to love?

The illustrations are the same as Judy Moody. Black and white and fun.

It looks like there are four books in the series so far:
1. Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid, 2005
2. Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker, 2006
3. Stink and the World's Worst Super-Stinky Sneakers, 2007
4. Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express, 2008

Some Things are Scary - Florence Parry Heide

(No Matter How Old You Are)
illustrated by Jules Feiffer
Published 2000, revised 2003
Candlewick
32 pages
$12.00
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Silvery purple

26 scary situations, each illustrated humorously.
26 scary situations that I could relate to as well---
A few:
....getting hugged by someone you don't like
....holding onto someone's heand that isn't your mother's when you thought it was
....brushing your teeth with something you thought was toothpaste but isn't
....playing hide and seek when you're IT and can't find anyone
....reaching under your bed for shoes and grabbing something - you don't know what -
....having people looking at you and laughing and you don't know why

I bet you can think of many more yourself, right this instant! I can. And so could kids. What a great extension - make a class book! Or....Some things are funny.....or...Some things are puzzling.....on and on adn on......ideas are limitless.

The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School - Laurie Halse Anderson

Illustrated by Ard Hoyt
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009
$16.99
Rating: 5
For: ages 4-8
PERFECT for first grade
Endpapers: Bright purple

"Zoe Fleefenbacher had one blue eye and one green eye and bright red hair that went on...forever."

Zoe's hair had a life of its own, and everyone lived happily with that, right through kindergarten. But first grade was another matter. Ms. Trisk didn't fool around, and couldn't stand Zoe's hair doing what it wanted. "School ha rules!" she insisted. The hair must be tamed. They tried. They really did. But when all the scrunchies, barrettes, pins, and holders exploted from her hair during science, everyone discovered how helpful and handy Zoe's hair could be.

A happy ending (of course): "Zoe Fleefenbacher had one blue eye and one green eye and handy, helpful, amazing hair...that found a place in first grade.

Great font.
Illustrations are pen and ink with watercolors. Beautifully curling, twirling; bountifully floating, cuddling; orange-red hair!

Mexico & Central America - Mary C. Turck

A Fiesta of Cultures, Crafts, and Activities for Ages 8-12
Chicago Review Press
$14.95
148 p.
Published 2004
A must have if teaching Mexico or Central America - you could base your entire unit on this book

40+ Projects
3 Short dramatic plays
Maps and loads of information about past and present, culture, history, politics
Don't be decieved by the format, this looks like a craft and activity book. Yes, it's full of both, but it's also chock full of information and history written in a clear, informative, INTERESTING way!

Chapter titles:
1. Ancient Roots (particularly Maya and Aztec)
2. Country by Country (informative map and information about each):
....Mexico
....Belize
....Costa Rica
....El Salvador
....Guatamela
....Honduras
....Nicaragua
....Panama
3. Life Above the Clouds (Contemporary lifestyle)
4. On the Atlantic Coast (African and Indian influences)
5. Going to school (looks at schools in Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala)
6. Art and Poetry
7. Daily Grind: Corn and Coffee (Food, Agriculture)
8. Celebrating Life (family celebrations)
9. Religious and Patriotic Holidays

SPANISH lessons and vocabulary throughout (at least once per chapter)
Much information about Hurrican Mitch (Oct. 1998)
Quincenareas
Border crossings and immigration
Large resource list

Some activites I plan to do in the first month of school:
Creating an Aztec calendar
Creating a hieroglyphic name for yourself
Map-making
Soap carving
Music makers: Drums/maracas/guiros/claves
Making a mola
Yarn Painting
Murals - and Diego Rivera
Poetry writing
Tree of Life (I've seen some beautiful ones, this gives ideas for making one...)
Papel picado (cutting paper)
Making a pinata
Luminarias !Ojo de Dios (God's eyes)

39. The Rule of Won - Stefan Petrucha

Published 2008
Walker & Co.
227 pages
For: Middle School up
Rating: 5

This is a read-in-one-long-sitting book. Once begun, you have to find out where it's going.

Caleb Dunne is a self-proclaimed slacker, perhaps a sophomore or junior in high school. His perky girlfriend, Vicky, is running for student body president, and not happy with his uncaring attitude. So she invites him to a "Crave", a meeting of students who have read The Book of One. The Crave is led by Ethan Skinson, new to the school, and an "expert" on the teachings of the book. And what are those teachings? That the universe only gives you what you ask for. Good or bad.

So, as a unit, the kids decide to come up with a crave and chant for it over and over, together and alone. When the school gets funding, everyone thinks it's because of them. And when they win a basketball game (the NEVER win), they think it's because of all the chanting and belief in The Book of One. But when Caleb, who is still not sure he believes in any of this, challenges Ethan to let them vote on the next crave, the corner turns. They end up choosing the wish that everyone passes the upcoming Algebra test. It happens - but because the algebra teacher is in a bad car accident. Things start getting darker and darker and more and more out of control. And although Caleb is a slacker, he is wise and unafraid and proceeds with honor and humor.

Humor. There's lots of it in this book. I enjoyed it greatly. There's a prologue that I wish I'd gone back to once or twice during my reading, it gives some interesting foreshadowing, and I wonder how it would have changed my thinking as the reading progressed.

Thought-provoking. Gang mentality. Following blindly. Having a mind of your own. Yippee, Caleb. You're very endearing. I'd love to know what you're doing now.

While hunting for a decent bookcover to add to this, I came across a pretty cool website for kid's book reviews. And it has a
great, much more detailed review.

38. Ivy & Bean - Annie Barrows

Book 1 in a series
Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Published 2006
For: 6-9 year olds
$5.99

This book is about 7 year-olds, and currently has five books in the series.

After reading The Guernsey Literary/Potato Peel book (I can never remember the correct name) which was co-written by Annie Barrows, I researched her a bit. This Ivy and Bean series looks like it has become very popular with the younger crowd, so I decided to try one. WHAT A WONDERFUL STORY!

Bean is messy and lively and loves playing tricks. Her new neighbor across the cul de sac, Ivy, looks neat and bookish and boring. W r o n g!

In this fast-pace, humorous story, Ivy and Bean discover how much they have in common and become fast friends by the end of the book. Laugh-out-loud funny, very clever, and very real. No a bit boring or simplistic, either in writing style or plot. It doesn't talk down to kids at all. Totally delightful.

MOVIE - The Proposal

Charming and really, really funny - a feel good movie!
PG-13
108 minutes
Released June 19, 09 (Dede and I tried to see it in LA on opening night, but all had were first row seats, so we declined.)
7/6/09 at El Con by myself
RT: 46% cag 90%
EW: B+
Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Betty White, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen

Lots of good, loud laughs go along with this movie. You can't take it too seriously, and you can certainly enjoy Bullock and Reynolds sparring with one another. Great timing, perfect smirks, incredible bodies, and Betty White is.....hysterical!

Sandra Bullock is the executive editor of a high powered publishing firm in NYC, Reynolds has been her executive assistant for three years. She's one scary boss- sort of like Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada, but toned down a tiny bit. The whole company is afraid of her. Reynolds loathes her. But when she discovers that she's about to be deported to Canada, she instantly comes up with an idea to marry him so that she can stay in the US and keep her job. Enter the Immigration service with all their questions, send the couple to Alaska for "Granna's" 90th birthday, and you more or less have the major premise of the storyline. Bullock in her high heels and tight ass are a little over-the-top when they arrive in Sitka, but I guess they really want the audience to see her mellow out, so there has to be a big difference. These two actors really "work" together.

Alaska, for this film, was actually Bearskin Neck, Rockport; a mansion near Singing Beach in Manchester, and Gloucester - all in Massachusetts. What fun it must have been for the residents to watch the film. The set/setting was great.

Totally enjoyable, I didn't want it to end. The "interviews" at the end during the credits were really fun, too, but I ended up not reading the credits because of listening and laughing through them. Full audience (smallish theater, but it was Monday night...), very noisy before the film started. Loads of laughs and no squriming or talking during the 108 minutes. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Epistolary Novels

Ahhh, a new word for me, and it's appeared over and over this last week. I keep getting it turned over on my tongue and my mind: E-Pill-Is-Tory, E-Paw-Still-ary...blub.... Eh-PISS-Tuhl-Airy, right? Am I the only one that's never heard of this classification category?

So, an epistolary novel is one that is written in letters by either one character in a book or many. I finished Dying to Meet You and the author calls it a graphic epistolary novel. Hmmmm. I've read more than a few of those.

That means that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Shaffer and Barrows falls under this category. Jacklyn Moriarty's books (I particularly loved The Year of Secret Assignments does, too, but only if you include emails. Oh, and 47, Charing Cross and The Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantock----and what about the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series? To update the definitions to contemporary times, you'd have to add email, wouldn't you?

Whaddya think?

2/21/15: Diaries, emails, newspaper articles, texts....these are the stuff that epistolary is made of!

Here are some that I've read:

Adult Epstolary Novels:
Dear Lily  (Drew Davies) 2
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (Shaffer & Barrows) 5

Kid's Epistolary Novels:
Dying to Meet You (Book 1) (Kate Klise) 4
Same Sun Here (House & Vaswani) 4

Kid's Picture Books
Boxes for Katje (Candace Fleming) 5
Dear Vampa (Ross Collins) 4.5
First Year Letters (Julie Danneberg) 4
My Pen Pal, Santa (Melissa Stanton) 3
Seven for a Secret (Laurence Anholt) 4
Snail Mail: With Pull-Out Postcards (Sharon King-Chai) 5
Thea's Tree (Alison Jackson) 4

Kid's Picture Books still to review:
Ask Dr. K. Fisher about Weather - Llewellyn
Chain Letter (Babysitter's Club) - Martin
Day the Crayons Quit, The - Jeffers
Dear Annie - Caseley
Dear Peter Rabbit
Dear Polar Bear - Ablett
Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin - Tonatiuh
Diary of an Ant - Cronin
Diary of a Spider - Cronin
Diary of a Worm - Cronin
Gardener, The - Stewart
Help Me, Mr. Mutt!
I Wanna a New Room - Orloff
Kate on the Coast - Brisson
Love from Your Friend, Hannah - Skolsky
Love, Mouserella - Stein
Memoirs of a Goldfish - Scillian
Memoirs of a Hamster - Scillian
Quiet Place, The - Stewart
Small Dog's Big Life, A: Around the World with Owney - Kelly
With Love, the Little Red Hen

Kid's Chapter Books still to review:
Dying to Meet You (Book 2)
Dying to Meet You (Book 3) Till Death Do Us Bark - Klise
Dying to Meet You (Book 4)
Dying to Meet You (Book 5) Hollywood Dead Ahead
Letters to Leo - Hest
Naked Mole Rat Letters - Amato
Regarding the Bees - Klise
Regarding the Fountain - Klise

Other's I've heard of but have not yet read (with links to the Goodreads review):
Love, Rosie (Celia Ahern) Adult
My Most Excellent Year (Steve Kruger) YA
Letters from Skye (Jessica Brockmole) Adult HistFict
Address Unknown (Kathrine Kressmann Taylor) Adult HistFict
I'll Be Seeing You (Suzanne Palmieri-Hayes) Adult HistFict
The Tattooed Map (Barbara Hodgson) Adult
More Than Love Letters (Rosy Thornton) Adult Romance
The Lawgiver (Herman Wouk) Adult

Ancient Maya Civilization

NONFICTION NONFICTION NONFICTION NONFICTION NONFICTION

The Ancient Maya
by Lila Perl
Franklin Watts/Scholastic, 2005
Gr. 5+
PCPL 972.81016 P42a
Full of photos
This is the book that gave me the most historical data in the easiest form to digest and enjoy. Beginning my Maya unit each year with a reread of this book will refresh (and interest) me perfectly. Recommended.

The Maya: Activities and Crafts from a Mysterious Land
by Arlette N. Braman, 2003
Gr. 3-8
118 pages
John Wiley & Sons
PCPL Library, read 0709
972.81016 B7318m

This book is both full of information and loaded with activites and projects. Chapters and projects include:
Daily life: at work, at home, and at play (There's a great board game, Bul!, and an animal whistle that looks pretty complicated
Society: farmers, warriors, and kings (planting an aluminum pan herb field, making a jaguar shield and macaw headdress
Food: sacred food, fire food, and food of the gods (with recipes for corn cakes, chicken chili, and a chocolate drink
Art and Architecture: weaving, mask making, pottery, and building a temple/pyramid
Science, Math, and Writing: with math activities, personal glyph rubbing, making a code book, and a glyph amulet

A good glosssary and index are also included.

See the projects one girl created using this book

Mexico & Central America
A Fiesta of Cultures, Crafts, and Acctivities for Ages 8-12
by Mary C. Turck
See the separate review I wrote for this great activity/information book.


Your Travel Guide to Ancient Mayan Civilization
by Nancy Day, 2001
Gr. 4-8
96 pages
Runestone Press, Minneapolis
PCPL Library, read 0709
972.81016 D3329y
Excellent source.

Lots of information, presented as if you were to be a traveler to the civilization during the period of 600-800 AD. It doesn't mince the sacrificial aspects of the culture, and includes some facts kids would consider gross---and love----like cures for sickness: "If all else fails, have him remove one sandal, urinate in it and drink the urine." There's trivia that kids (and adults) would love, explanations of jewelry, tatooing, clothing (or lack thereof), their writing system, still existing pyramids and how they were used, games.... I read almost every word, and I am definitely a nonfiction skimmer, not reader.

Illustrations: Photographs of Mayan antiquities, including pyramids, carving, and reddish-orange paintings.

Mystery of The Maya
Peter Lourie, 2001
Gr. 4-7
48 pgs.
Boyds Mills Press
PCPL Library
972.75016 L934m

Peter Lourie accompanies American archeologist Ed Barnhart who is uncovering the ancient Maya city of Palenque, located in the Mexican state of Chiapas on the border of Guatemala. Filled with photographs of the site, flora, fauna, and contemporary Mayas who are helping with the excavation, his first person narrative is interesting, reading like a story. Here's a nonfiction to read from beginning to end, without skimming. Very interesting and informative.

FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION FICTION

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow
by James Rollins
Gr. 5-8
402 pages
Fantasy/Adventure

See my review from July 2009.

Opening lines:"The man fled down the steep slope of the jungle mountain. His boots slipped in the muck of wet leaves and slick mud. Clinging branches and snagging thorns sought to catch him, but he ripped straight through them."

The Corn Grows Ripe
by Dorothy Rhoads, 1956
Gr. 4-7
90 pgs.
Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Dionisio, called Tigre (Jaguar), takes over the preparing, sowing, and harvesting of his family MILPA (cornfield) when his father gets hurt. This worked really well in my fourth-grade classroom. The setting is richly described and we get a close look at the culture of a primitive contemporary Maya village that still has ties to the "old ways" of the ancient Maya.

The Most Beautiful Place in the World
by Ann Cameron, 1988
Gr. 2-4
46 pages
Contemporary realistic fiction

A look at life in modern-day Guatemala. See my review from April 2009.

Beginning lines: "My name is Juan. I live in Guatemala, in the mountains. My town, San Pablo, has three huge volcanoes near it, and high cliffs all around it, and steep, bright green fields of corn and garlic and onions growing in the hills, and red coffee berries growing in the shade of the big trees in valleys."

The Bravest Flute
by Ann Grifalconi
The Story of Courage in the Mayan Tradition
Published 1994
Little Brown & Co.
My review can be found here.

I haven't found too many picture books out there (as yet) that are primarily about the Maya. This one is about a contemporary Maya village and gives some insight into the current traditions of the Maya.

FOLKTALES FOLKTALES FOLKTALES FOLKTALES FOLKTALES

How the Peacock Got its Feathers
Based on a Mayan Folktale
by Sandy Sepehri
Illustrated by Brian Demeter
Published Sept. 2006
Rourke Pub. (Vero Beach, FL)
32 pgs.
$28.50 ! ! ! (Library Bound? Small Press?)
PCPL has ONE COPY of it

Peahen has a beautiful voice, but wants the beauty of Chaac's (the rain god) feathers. So she steals them, and is punished by having to live with them permanently - and now only squacks instead of singing. Five highlighted vocabulary words and pronounciation of Mayan words in the glossary.

Illustrations are big, colorful, bold - not too detailed, but they appeal to my love of a "stained glass" look in art.

The Moon Over Star - Dianna Hutts Aston

Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Published 2008
32 pages
Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin)
$17.99
Rating: 4.5

Here's another picture book that incorporates a good story with great historical facts.

Mae (the future astronaut?) visits her grandparents' farm in STAR during the summer of 1969, and together they watch the Eagle take off and land on the moon, while listening to Walter Cronkite's voice on the news, and watching Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins take the first historic steps of the world's first moon mission. Dianna Aston and Jerry Pinkney make you feel THERE, with them. So many facts, so much imagination, dreaming, and reflection about the past and the future make this book a top read for this, the 40th anniversary of this first visit to the moon. 40 years!

President Obama read this book to second graders at a public school in Washington. There's a cool picture here. I would love to hear the discussion after he read it!