Review: Kit Feeny: On the Move by Michael Townsend

Kit Feeny: On the Move
By Michael Townsend
Alfred A. Knopf (Random House)
ISBN: 9780375956140
$14.94
Grades 2-4
In Stores

*Recommended*

Joining the steadily-growing ranks of graphic novels for the 2^nd-4^th grade set, Kit Feeny: On the Move is a goofy winner.

Kit Feeny is a cheeseball-art-creating, ninja-fishing … well, it’s hard to tell exactly what kind of animal he is. Anyway, he partakes in his hobbies with his best friend Arnold. When Kit learns his family is moving, he’s (obviously) not pleased. Sneaking Arnold along in a moving box fails, so our hero sets about finding a replacement. Kit soon realizes it will be tough to find the exact replica he’s looking for. Hopeless, he is reduced eating beans out of a can and living the life of a “lonesome hobo” in his backyard. Eventually, the realization hits – an Arnold copy is impossible to find, but a new friend isn’t.

The tone is off beat, but surprisingly honest. Young readers will relate to Kit’s feelings about moving to a new town and leaving friends behind.

The sunny cartoon illustrations are in contrast to the oddness of the storyline. The black, white, and orange color palate (along with the small size) immediately identifies it as part of the Babymouse/Lunch Lady crowd. Not bad company.

Kit Feeny: On the Move will make a nice addition to your reluctant reader collection. Really, this quote from Kit says it best:

“It was weird and pointless. Of course I liked it!”

Review copy from school library.

Also reviewed by Unshelved, Kiss the Book, Riddle Reads, Book Trends.

Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.

Link Du Jour: Whatever You Do, Don’t Buy This

Really, nobody said it better than Dvice, who called the Performance Book Caddy “a cheap way to kill yourself”. Hey, I’m all for reading, but this is not a good purchase. Click the image to view.

(Thanks to Neatorama for the link)

Photo Diary: Weed This Not That

Weeding the library collection. For me, it never fails to be both a liberating and somber experience. Liberating because it’s improving the relevance and usefulness of the collection. Getting rid of dead weight feels good. Somber because I never like to think that I’m removing what may be the biggest point of pride in someone’s life – a published book – from the shelves forever (I’m gonna go ahead and call myself sentimental).

I’m in the midst of weeding the aging nonfiction collection in the 5th and 6th grade school where I work and I decided to take a few pictures of the process. When you see the books, I think you’ll agree with me that these should have been retired a while back. If you need convincing, may I direct your attention to the first sentence of this shot from inside Meter Means Measure:

I’ll say no more. Click here to view the gallery.

Cover Controversy: Marcelo in the Spiderwick Chronicles

As well reported at Jacket Knack, silhouettes are a cover trend on the rise. The following pair of covers both sport silhouettes, but with a couple additional elements that strengthen the correlation. Let’s take a look at the first cover:

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork.

And now, the counterpart:

The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Completely Fantastical Edition by Holly Black & Toni DiTerlizzi.

Side by side:

The low title, nighttime setting, the trees, and the lights (which are stars on the Marcello cover, but faeries (I’m assuming) on Spiderwick) give these two a similar feel, don’t you think?

Morning Notes: Banned Dictionary Edition

BOOK FIGHT! AMAZON AND MACMILLAN DUKE IT OUT OVER EBOOK PRICES

I have many mixed emotions about this – most of them not good. Click here to get the facts from EarlyWord.

‘CALVIN AND HOBBES’ CREATOR SPEAKS; RECLUSIVE WATTERSON GIVES RARE INTERVIEW

You have to give Bill Watterson credit for creating something great, ending on a high note, and never looking back. Click here to read the interview. Click here to find out how the interview happened.

DICTIONARY BANNED, UNBANNED

If you get your permission slip signed, you may use the dictionary at Oak Meadows Elementary School in Riverside County, CA. This is nuts.

100 SCOPE NOTES MOVING

…to a sharp-looking self-hosted site. More information to come soon.

The Newbery and Caldecott awards don’t just help the medal winners. This week, the honors also join the bestseller party (click here to see the entire list). My only question? Where is The Almost True Adventures of Homer P. Figg?

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon. #2 in Picture Books.

Red Sings From Treetops by Joyce Sidman. #9 in Picture Books.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Li. #7 in Chapter Books.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. #10 in Chapter Books.

Troubling news out of Washington.

How can you resist podcasts with great authors? Just follow the above link from @alscblog and start downloading.

On The Children’s Lit Project blog, Aurthur A. Levine talks about the early grassroots support for Harry Potter.

Review: Potty Animals by Hope Vestergaard

Potty Animals: What to Know When You’ve Gotta Go!
By Hope Vestergaard
Illustrated by Valeria Petrone
Sterling
ISBN: 9781402759963
$14.95
Grades PreK-2
In Stores March 2, 2010

*Recommended*

The landscape of books about etiquette is pretty desolate. For every solid contribution, like the recent Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant there are what seems like a thousand uninspired rule rundowns. So when a good one comes along, it’s all the more important to hold onto. I don’t know if I can be much clearer than this: Potty Animals should be PreK-2^nd grade required reading. And I don’t say this based solely on the information contained within, but because of the entertaining, interactive, and successful way it’s delivered.

Through spry rhyming text, we are introduced to the students of Sycamore Elementary. This varied collection of animals act out every conceivable bathroom issue that youngsters face, as the narrator describes each situation. Readers are encouraged to tell the animals what they should do, and each two page spread ends with a line (such as “Wilbur, always wash with soap!”) to be read together. The last page contains a list of these “read together” phrases.

It seems odd, but I think readers will be transfixed. There’s something about seeing a kid make the wrong choice that makes other younsters take notice. The fact that these choices pertain to a subject that is a bit taboo only increases the interest.

The field of digital illustration continues to surprise. Here the artwork comes across as created with a brush and paint, not the colorform-esque images often associated with the computer-aided medium. The results are pretty eye-catching.

It’s a pleasant surprise to read an etiquette book for young readers that exceeds expectations, and that’s what this one did. You know a lower elementary teacher? How about the parent of a child in that age group? You’ll be making a good move by picking this one up for them. Don’t hesitate to add it to your library collection.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.

Cover Controversy: Gears Are Turning

Is it fair to call two covers that appear similar a controversy? Probably not. Liar? Magic Under Glass? Mysterious Benedict Society? Now those are some legitimate cover controversies. What I put forth today is more of a gentle Cover Curio. Let’s take a look…

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.

Hot off the presses! This book (which has been garnering a good amount of buzz, as evidenced by this Publishers Weekly article) was just released in the U.S. this week. Now, the counterpart:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.

Side by side:

While the covers don’t have many elements that exactly match up (other than the gears), there is a similar mood struck here, don’t you think?

In case you’re interested, here’s the UK cover of Incarceron:

A Song Only Librarians Could Love

If you’re a librarian, and you like your music full of librarianship references, then you’re in luck. Reference Librarian by Rob Lopresti is just the song for you. A few of the topics covered: bibliographies, microfiche, CD-ROMS – the list goes on and on. And on. Click the play button below to listen. You’ll be chanting “I’ve got that M-L-S!”  before you know it.

Click here to head over to Rhapsody and listen

*Update* As I was writing this post, I saw that this week’s ALA Direct linked to Flavorwire’s 10 Best Songs About Libraries and Librarians. So now you can continue to enjoy the sweet library sounds.

Morning Notes: Sticky Edition

STICKY SITUATION MADE LESS STICKY; WHITEWASHED ‘BENEDICT’ COVERS TO BE CORRECTED

There has been plenty of talk recently about how the character “Sticky” Washington was Caucasian-ized on the covers of all three Mysterious Benedict Society books. Publisher Little, Brown just announced they will be changing the covers. School Library Journal has the scoop.

APPLE TABLET ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY

Today Apple announces their much discussed tablet computer, which is rumored to come equipped with Barnes & Noble ebook capabilities. *Update* the iPad will be connected to a new iBook Store. The world of electronic books may be about to shift in a big way. And if you’re a fan of independent bookstores, it might not be in the direction we’d like.

BOARD CONFUSES CHILDREN’S AUTHOR, MARXIST WHEN EXCLUDING SCHOOLBOOK

Real headline alert! Turns out there’s more than one Bill Martin. (Thanks to @PWKidsBookshelf for the link)

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. On shelves April 20, 2010.

It turns up on Collecting Children’s Books, it’s an upcoming Junior Library Guild selection, A Fuse #8 Production Spring Previewed it, and Publishers Weekly Galley Talked it. A sufficient amount of buzz, I’d say.

A while back I heard that Martin Scorsese’s company bought the rights to Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. From @PWKidsBookshelf, I see that the project is getting closer to becoming a reality, with Scorsese to direct. Click here to read the article in Variety.

Wes Anderson recently won a “Special Filmmaking Achievement” award from the National Board of Review for his film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Naturally, he accepted the award as a stop-motion… ferret (I think)?

Photo Diary: This $200 Ain’t Spending Itself

Recently, the parent organization at my school graciously gave each teacher $200 to spend on classroom needs. My classroom? The library. My needs? Books for students. So just after the new year, I headed to the bookstore. It struck me as a novel idea to snap photos along the way. Click here to see what went down.