Listen with me

 

The Swallows' Flight by Hilary McKay

I've read several of McKay's books before, so I'm interested to see how she handles multiple characters in the era of World War II.

Non-fiction book review - Bugs for Breakfast

 

Bugs for Breakfast by Mary Boone

If you have any interest at all in the idea of eating insects, this book is an excellent resource. Boone lays out the environmental impact and nutritional content, as we would expect. But we also have chapters on  cultural and sociological influences. We explore the history of eating insects and why it is taboo in some cultures. There's even a hole section on vegans and insects. While the approach is fairly scholarly, it is quite readable.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Strangeville School is Totally Normal

 

Title: Strangeville School is Totally Normal

Author: Darcy Miller

Genre: humor

Similar books: Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

                     The Kids of Cattywampus Street by Lisa Jahn-Clough

Rating:

 

not for me but I can see the appeal

Summary (provided by publisher): Harvey Hill just wants other kids to think he’s normal. So he’s happy to start fresh as the newest kid at Strangeville Middle School. Except Strangeville is anything but normal. Something sinister swims in the drinking fountain, the cafeteria could swallow you whole, and a giant rat named Cuddles is on the loose. And don't even get the vice principal started on the third-floor supply closet. In fact, don't even think about it. What supply closet?
At least Harvey has his guide and sort-of new friend Stella Cho to show him the ropes. School newspaper reporter, first chair flugelhorn, and hiding a secret of her own, Stella shows Harvey that maybe "normal" is overrated. But when Stella goes missing while trying to solve the secret of the supply closet (oh that supply closet!), Harvey must embrace what makes him unique to save his new friend and his new school.

My opinion: "Strangeville" is certainly an accurate name for this book. We are presented with a wide variety of events, mostly unexplained. We simply accept them as the reality of this world. There is some heavy handed hinting at secrets that got annoying as the book progressed but a kid will likely ignore that. You can see the influence of Wayside School on this book though Miller has included a stronger central plot driving all of the weirdness. While I found it perhaps a bit too strange I can certainly imagine that a young audience will enjoy it.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 1

 I thought long and hard about how to end this countdown right. I wanted to share a project that I really enjoyed and that really captures Christmas. I decided on a puppet. For my subject I went with one of the magi. I've been toying with the idea of a full puppet version of the Christmas story, so this is my first attempt at a puppet for that. I used the same design as I used for my Dobby puppet. No process photos here, since I sort of just cut and glue on the fly for these puppets. It will probably need a little refinement in future but I think he looks surprisingly regal.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 2

 I normally don't shop for toddler clothes but this shirt caught my eye at a thrift store. The image is weird enough that I felt the urge to craft with it. 

 

T-shirts make excellent tote bags but since this one was toddler sized it didn't work to simply cut off the sleeves and collar. Since I was doing so much extra designing anyway, I lined it with more knit fabric to keep it from over-stretching. Not pictured here: the strap. I have a clip on strap I use for such bags that I'll swap onto this one as needed.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 3

 I have two clay projects to share with you today. 

The first is an ornament I made for my niece. Like me, she is of the opinion that adding a bow or holly to anything makes it Christmas themed so I made her this tater tot ornament. There will be a hole legend to go along with it but that is taking more time than I have right now. Stay tuned on that.

While I was making the ornament, I also made this little pendant for myself. This seems to be Marfalfa's dinosaur Christmas.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 4

 I was messing around with watercolor paint and managed to put together a decent night sky. Once the paint dried, I thought it might make some nice bookmarks. I added some trees with permanent marker and stars and sayings with white paint pen.