Wilber revisited

In February, I posted about a former marionette I as updating, Wilber the camel. At the time, I wasn't sure what form he would take as a puppet. I've since decided that he really is too big to be practical as a marionette. I'm simply not that tall. Instead, I've given him a head rod made out of an old knitting needle and a back support handle, repurposed from a leggings hanger.

You may notice, he now also sports leg warmers. Not pictured: a cowboy hat

I've wrapped his head rod in a layer of duct tape to give it a better grip

This makes him a sort of combination rod puppet/pseudo marionette. It's taking a little bit of messing around to figure out how best to make him move. Expect video some time in the near future.

Book review - The Dollar Kids

Title: The Dollar Kids
Author: Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: The Unforgettable Guinevere St Clair by Amy Makechnie
                      Lemons by Melissa Savage
Rating:

gentle, but with depth

Summary (provided by publisher): Twelve-year-old Lowen Grover, a budding comic-book artist, is still reeling from the shooting death of his friend Abe when he stumbles across an article about a former mill town giving away homes for just one dollar. It not only seems like the perfect escape from Flintlock and all of the awful memories associated with the city, but an opportunity for his mum to run her very own business. Fortunately, his family is willing to give it a try. But is the Dollar Program too good to be true? The homes are in horrible shape, and the locals are less than welcoming. Will Millville and the dollar house be the answer to the Grovers’ troubles? Or will they find they’ve traded one set of problems for another?

My opinion: I like a number of the elements in this book. I like seeing this severely economically depressed town, the levels of poverty and desperation. These are folks barely getting by but they still have their pride. They love their town and their traditions. They resent the need for help and the people who are providing it, giving context to their treatment of the Dollar families. And I appreciated that while the new families introduce a new level of diversity, they don't come in and teach the small town people a better way of life. They're not opening the town's ignorant eyes. If anything, they're all learning from each other. They're all learning new ways to approach life. I struggle with some of the plot elements, which I found a bit too convenient, and some characterization quirks that seemed from the wrong time period. Most of the plot focuses on finding your place in a new town, but the heavier topics of grief and guilt don't get forgotten.

More information: The Dollar Kids releases August 7.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Picture books for everyone

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

Tacky has been one of my favorite picture books for years now. It will always be one of my favorite read-alouds. The plot is straightforward enough for the very young to understand. There is enough humor to appeal to even more cynical older kids. For the adult reading the book aloud, there are myriad opportunities to play with the narration. Personally, I love to contrast the way I narrate Tacky's actions and choices with those of his companions and to affect a gruff voice for the hunters' chant. This book delights every young audience I've shared it with. And if young readers enjoy this book, Lester has written several other Tacky books, each with it's own focus and source of humor. Please, if you haven't yet discovered the joys of Tacky, find a copy ASAP.

Non fiction book review - Brush Pen Illustrations

Brush Pen Illustration by Sho Ito

Step by step guides for art are a tricky thing. On the one hand, you want clear directions. On the other hand, if the directions are too detailed it can narrow your focus, causing the reader to learn only how to draw a few particular items. The nice thing about this brush pen book is that it first teaches the reader a few key stroke styles. Each illustration, then, shows you how to combine those key strokes to create a particular image. A creative person can extend those concepts out to other images. There's also a guide to brush pen styles, but I found that to be a little narrow-focused. It addressed the disposition and options for a few sizes of pens in particular brands. Still, I look forward to trying out these techniques with my own brush pens.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Silence

I picked up some rocks at my parents' house, intending to paint them in the coming weeks and months. I was examining one, planning out what I might do with it. I was thinking it might be a hedgehog. Then someone suggested that the shape resembled the face in Edvard Munch's The Scream. It only followed, then, that the stone might also be the Silence from Doctor Who. That idea really took hold. Luckily, I had a fine tip permanent marker in my bag.

 

Summer applique

Friends, it has been hot here the last few days. So all my half finished craft projects are still half finished. Just the idea of handling yarn was most unpleasant. I whipped up this simple appliqued decoration over the weekend to replace the Doctor Who snowman I've had hanging, but that's about all I could handle.

 

Graphic novel spotlight - The Secret Science Alliance

The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis

The Secret Science Alliance starts out in pretty familiar territory: a kid, new to town, is looking for a way to fit in with his peers and trying to hide his true interests which have made him an outsider in the past. He's fascinated by science in general and invention in particular. When his efforts fail, he's resigned to loneliness. Then he happens upon two vastly different kids who share his interests. Together they work on inventions and discover a conspiracy of scientific theft. The plot moves in relatively expected directions, though the final act goes pretty far afield. The multiple messages of self-acceptance and expression are important once but the real appeal, so far as I'm concerned, is in the illustrations. There's a magnificent level of detail, lots of extras packed into most pages. And the splash pages - friends you could spend an hour exploring the details in a single spread.