I took a break from my kid-reading in favor of David Mitchell's Slade House. It's most definitely not kid friendly, repeat, not kid friendly, but He's Just Such A Genius. SIGH.
Sweet mother of monkey milk, Kazu Kibuishi is my FAVORITE right now (I warned you about the gratuitous capitalization, didn't I?). Amulet: The Stonekeeper is the first book in his series, but not the first book I read - after scanning through a copy of the second book scavenged from my fifth-grader's backpack, I pretty much immediately hopped on Amazon and ordered all seven books currently in the series, as well as the three books in his absolutely delicious Explorer series. Sidenote: Yes, I am literarily compulsive, and no, I do not see this as a problem.
My forays into the world of the graphic novel have been relatively few. My personal tastes run to more words being better than fewer words. But I know graphic novels are a thing, and I know kids enjoy them, so I have made a sort-of effort. I picked up Bone at the recommendation of a wise librarian, but didn't really love it and couldn't be bothered to read the next volume. I read graphic adaptations of Lego Ninjago books to and with my kids until I wanted to throw them out the window. Ditto that for Captain Underpants, no disrespect meant to Dav Pilkey who is a very funny and versatile writer. I, as well as my boys, really enjoyed Raina Telgemeier's graphic memoirs, Smile and Drama, but her Babysitter's Club books didn't have the same depth or appeal. So I picked up Kibuishi's book thinking, ho hum. Nope. The Stonekeeper begins with that well-used but serviceable trope of an upended family leaving their familiar lives and moving into a drafty, secluded old house. Yes, we've seen it before, but think about how many great stories begin there! And, just like in the Spiderwick Chronicles, or My Neighbor Totoro, or Jumanji, (or Beetlejuice!) the children begin to explore their mysterious new surroundings and make a discovery that sets the story in motion. No spoilers here - but if you decide to follow siblings Emily and Navin through that creepy door in the basement, you're in for rare adventure. The characters are nuanced and believable, the monsters are terrifying, the action doesn't stop, and Kibuishi keeps just enough unanswered questions hanging around to keep us interested, but not enough to make it confusing. Also, there's a gratuitously adorable talking pink bunny robot called Miskit. And did I mention the artwork? Holy cow. I would read this for the story alone - it's a thrill. And then on top of a brilliant adventure is such lavish, gorgeous, evocative artwork that I would catch my breath, stop reading, and just stare at a page. The settings in particular are astonishing. Among Kibuishi's many gifts, and among the many pleasures of this book, is to illustrate a place more vivdly and imaginatively than I could have pictured it in my mind. So it's with starry eyes and a heart a-flutter that I recommend The Stonekeeper to you. Can't wait to hear what you think! It's March! Everywhere else, people are obsessed with basketball (and maybe the Presidential primaries) but in the world of education, March is all about reading. Dr. Seuss, the secular messiah of elementary school, was born in March, and his birthday is widely celebrated by wearing pajamas to school, inviting parents and guest readers, and reading all day. We have school reading challenges, we have inter-school reading challenges, we have Read-Across-America challenges, and it's totally acceptable to suspend instruction for an hour now and then to just sit around and read (which is a lovely and humane practice, and should be applied to all professions, in my opinion. Pardon me a moment while I go write my Congressperson).
Anyway, what better or more auspicious month to launch a book blog than March? |
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Mild-mannered elementary educator by day, rabble-rousing literary firebrand by night. Archives
August 2019
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