Every house should have an elf

I was looking to make some new puppets this weekend and was looking for inspiration. And I kept circling back to Dobby. I couldn't think how to make him work as a sock puppet (which had been my plan initially) so I reapproached it. 

I had some plastic balls lying around from something else and I always have bamboo skewers in my supplies.

2 more puppet bases for future projects!

With some scrap plastic and fabric, a pipe cleaner, and a little craft foam, I have a happy little Dobby. He is particularly happy with his sock.

 

Graphic novel spotlight - Three Story Books

BirdCatDog FishFishFish and SheHeWe by Lee Nordling and Meritxell Bosch

To my way of thinking, the real pinnacle of quality graphic novels is a strong wordless book. Any graphic novel that can tell a complex story without any text is worthy of our attention. These three books are built on the same idea: they tell a story, simultaneously, from 3 perspectives. We see through those perspectives how every story has multiple elements, how events seen only in one thread affect the events in the other two. Personally, SheHeWe is my favorite but all three have their merits. 

 

Non-fiction Book review - Unstoppable

Unstoppable by Art Coulson

I'd heard of Jim Thorpe. I'd heard of the Carlisle Indian School and the prowess of its sports teams. I can't say that I'd ever heard the connection between the two. This book is more about Thorpe than about the school. Coulson gets a lot of credit for not whitewashing the reality of the Indian schools or systemic racism, even for a young audience. The reality is softened; Coulson discusses the cruelty of taking children far from their families and stripping them of their culture but doesn't go into rampant abuse and neglect. Readers are told that the schools were "sometimes cruel" rather than truly criminal. The focus is certainly more on the early days of organized sports. Pair this book with something on the history of football.

More information: Unstoppable releases August 1.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Avatar. The good one

I've been rewatching the first season of Avatar: the Last Airbender (for like the third time) and was struck with some ideas for craft projects. This particular craft was inspired by a scene of Aang playfully airbending.

like so

I knew I had some marbles left over from another project. A little polymer clay and now I have my own Aang.

Book review - Pizzasaurus Rex

Title: Pizzasaurus Rex
Author: Justin Wagner
Genre: graphic novel
Similar books: Sci-Fu by Yehudi Mercado
                      Wrapped Up by Dave Scheidt
Rating:

rather odd

Summary (provided by publisher): Meet Jeremy Duderman, the most extremely awesome scientific mind of his generation. Too bad everyone’s too busy bullying him or just generally disliking him to realize it. But that all ends today.  Jeremy has invented the Reality Alternative Dimensionator (R.A.D. for short), a device that allows Rex Raditude, the Pizzasaurus, to enter our dimension. He’s a guitar-shredding, pizza-loving party animal with only one thing on his mind: BEING TOTALLY RAD, DUDE. But is that enough to stop Emperor Buzzkill and his horde of hapless minions who are bent on ending pizza parties, skateboarding, and all things rad?  And can poor, pitiful Jeremy Duderman, quite possibly the dorkiest dude in the universe, help Rex in defeating them?

My opinion: At face value, this feels like a comic I'd have seen in the mid 90s, what with the popped collar and high tops wearing dinosaur and the focus on being "rad". Lots of dated slang. Clearly, Wagner is playing with genre and expectations. It's a borderline spoof. The plot is relatively complete, just ridiculous and bearing some plot points that come rather out of left field. There's certainly an audience for this book but I feel like it's a narrow one.

More information: Pizzasaurus Rex releases July 24.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Pick 6: Survival stories

Ever since reading Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, I've been a fan of books about struggles to stay alive. Talking with middle grade readers, I know I'm not alone in this preference. Publishing companies know this too. Book catalogues tend to feature at least one survival story. Here are six new stories of survival published in the last six months.

6 new survival novels

1. Big Water by Andrea Curtis

2. Chasing Helicity by Ginger Zee

3. Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth

4. Blood Will Out by Jo Tregiani

5. Wild Blues by Beth Kephart

6. Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe by Jo Watson Hackl

Book review - Megabat

Title: Megabat
Author: Anna Humphrey
Genre: magical realism/early chapter book
Similar books: Under the Bed Fred by Linda Bailey
                      Tales from Deckawoo Drive by Kate DiCamillo
Rating:

maybe a little too weird

Summary (provided by publisher):
Daniel Misumi has just moved to a new house. It's big and old and far away from his friends and his life before. AND it's haunted . . . or is it?
Megabat was just napping on a papaya one day when he was stuffed in a box and shipped halfway across the world. Now he's living in an old house far from home, feeling sorry for himself and accidentally scaring the people who live there.
Daniel realizes it's not a ghost in his new house. It's a bat. And he can talk. And he's actually kind of cute.
Megabat realizes that not every human wants to whack him with a broom. This one shares his smooshfruit.
Add some buttermelon, juice boxes, a lightsaber and a common enemy and you've got a new friendship in the making!

My opinion: The new kid struggling to find his place plot can be hard to keep fresh, especially for a very young audience. I can't say that it would have ever occurred to me to parallel the new kid with a talking fruit bat. It's a rather odd twist but works surprisingly well, as the desire to help the bat transitions Daniel into a friendship. Now, that doesn't make the plot any less strange. It takes some decidedly bizarre turns. Additionally, there's a conflict, that with the "common enemy" of the description, that felt like a missed opportunity. Characters are fairly flat. Still, it could be a solid choice for kids open to a truly unique experience.

More information: Megabat releases August 7.
Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley