If there's one craft material most of us have in abundance, it's cardboard. I've got two quick(ish) projects here I threw together out of corrugated cardboard.
Desk organizer
This project came out of necessity. I have a mug on my desk at work that holds pencils, pens, scissors, etc. Then I started keeping some sugar packets and condiments in there as well, and it struck me as a potential problem. A pen dropped a little too hard on a packet of hot sauce could spell disaster. Not to mention contamination. A little bit of hot glue and duct tape turned this box into a handy second organizer for my desk.
Birdcage
I wanted to keep random action figures and figurines in a birdcage. But birdcages are surprisingly hard to come by. So I made my own.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
When The Bad Beginning first came out I was enamored. It wasn't the adventure or the mystery. It was the tone. A Series of Unfortunate events relied on a tongue-in-cheek, self-mocking, intentionally over-wrought tone. My brother and I devoured each volume. When the first movie was announced, I was thrilled. The dramatic, action oriented nature of the plot was well suited to film and the right cast could do justice to it's pseudo-serious nature. When they cast Jim Carrey in the role of Count Olaf, I figured it would perfection. The reality was ... less than perfect. In this case, I think it's a failure of the script, which combined several books and eliminated many of the best elements. It takes itself too seriously and cuts out most of the quirky narration. The cast does it's very best, of course, but there is little you can do to fix a poor script.
Fast forward a decade to the Netflix miniseries. After the disappointment of the film I wasn't thrilled by the announcement. Even when I found out Neal Patrick Harris was slated to play Count Olaf. This new effort is stronger. While the cast is a bit lackluster at times (particularly the children) it has the same charm of the original novels. Lemony Snicket himself is a more present character. There are new jokes that keep true to the sense of the source material. I don't know that it is as engaging as the book but is worth watching. I've only seen the first two episodes, those based on the first novel, so I can't speak to the series on the whole but it's a promising beginning.
Strange Medicine by Jon Farndon
Like many non-fiction books aimed at young readers, this is more a collection of trivia than any real informative text. It relies somewhat on the gross-out factor of folk remedies but Farndon takes pains not to be overly graphic. The text is gentle enough for an upper elementary reader. Use this one to what a child's scientific appetite.
Title: The Door in the Alley
Author: Adrienne Kress
Genre: adventure
Similar books: The Voyage to Magical North by Claire Fayers
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
Rating:
 |
| delightfully silly |
Summary (provided by publisher): Featuring a mysterious society, a secretive past, and a pig in a teeny hat, The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a new series for fans of The Name of This Book Is a Secret and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Knock once if you can find it—but only members are allowed inside.
This is one of those stories that start with a pig in a teeny hat. It’s not the one you’re thinking about. (This story is way better than that one.)
This pig-in-a-teeny-hat story starts when a very uninquisitive boy stumbles upon a very mysterious society. After that, there is danger and adventure; there are missing persons, hired thugs, a hidden box, a lost map, and famous explorers; and there is a girl looking for help that only uninquisitive boys can offer.
The Explorers: The Door in the Alley is the first book in a series that is sure to hit young readers right in the funny bone.
My opinion: A nice introductory novel. The scenario is easy enough to understand right from the start but clearly has complexity on the way. These complications are added organically. Characters are unique and imperfect. So while they may not be 100% relatable they are very likeable. The humor tends to be of the absurd variety, which won't work for everyone but I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact I'd say that those absurd moments were my favorite. It's not a must read, nail-biting adventure but is thoroughly enjoyable book with the potential to become even better with future volumes.
More information: The Door in the Alley releases April 25.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
It has become my habit every year to make a new skirt for Easter every year. Recently, I've taken to buying used skirts and modifying to better suit my style. This year I found a bright orange linen skirt at a thrift store. I liked the color but it was far too long to really suit my shape.
Once I cut several inches from the top, added an elastic waistband, and a ribbon embellishment I was all set for Easter Sunday.
Title: Rooting for Rafael Rosales
Author: Kurtis Scaletta
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: A Long Pitch Home by Natalie Dias Lorenzi
The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop
Rating:
 |
| So much to love |
Summary (provided by publisher): Rafael has dreams. Every chance he gets he plays in the street games trying to build his skills, get noticed by scouts, and—someday—play Major League Baseball. Maya has worries. The bees are dying all over the world, and the company her father works for is responsible, making products that harm the environment. Follow Rafael and Maya in a story that shifts back and forth in time and place, from Rafael’s neighborhood in the Dominican Republic to present-day Minnesota, where Maya and her sister are following Rafael’s first year in the minor leagues. In their own ways, Maya and Rafael search for hope, face difficult choices, and learn a secret—the same secret—that forever changes how they see the world.
My opinion: If you had told me that one book could make me care about bees, business ethics, the Dominican Republic, and the politics of baseball I'd have laughed. But Scaletta has put together a pretty remarkable story here. What strikes me most is that it's about caring - caring about people, the environment, and that hard to define "right thing". It draws a line between legal and right and asks the reader to consider complicated moral issues. These are big questions for a middle grade novel and Scaletta doesn't really try to answer them, only to get kids thinking about them, which is far more important to my mind. This a great book to discuss with a group.
More information: Rooting for Rafael Rosales releases April 25.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo by Drew Weing
Graphic novels about magic, monsters, and hidden realms are certainly nothing new. I like the approach in this one, the notion that monsters are, in fact, all around but seldom have dealings with people. Given the tile, I expected this book to be more horror based. Instead it is rather light-hearted, almost humorous. This is reflected in the art style, which is loose, almost sketchy. Weing does some interesting things with design, building Margo with lines and points, the boy with soft lines and curves. The muted color palette prevents it from becoming overly cartoony.
