There's a Dragon in your Book! Review

The writer and illustrator of There’s a Monster in Your Book have done it again with this cute children’s book. Tom Fletcher’s tale of a baby dragon and the havoc he wreaks on your book is fun and enjoyable for all ages. Each page is illustrated delightfully by Greg Abbott.

I was preparing for a children’s story time at the library where I work when this book came in and simply had to add it to next week’s line up of tales. The story is enchanting for both adult readers and youngsters. The kids will want to hear this tale over and over as they watch all that can happen if a baby dragon happened to hatch in your book. Be warned however you might just have your hands full with Fletcher’s book. You should also defiantly check out his first tale of a Monster in your book.

From Amazon.com

Fletcher’s words tell children to complete actions in an attempt to stop the mayhem the little dragon has begun on each page. Abbott’s colorful images bring each action to life with a turn of the page. 

The warnings offered in the text only come true as you turn the page to find yourself in a more hilarious situation because of each new accident caused.

I highly recommend this book for preschoolers on up to adults for a laugh and fun story. Children will enjoy having this read to them or reading it themselves to see what the dragon does next.

References

Amazon.com. (2018). There's a Dragon in Your Book Hardcover – September 4, 2018 [page image]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Theres-Dragon-Your-Book-Fletcher/dp/1524766380/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537566397&sr=1-1&keywords=theres+a+dragon+in+your+book

Fletcher, T. (2018). There’s a dragon in your book. New York: Random House Books for Young Readers.

Goodreads.com. (2018). There’s a dragon in your book [Cover image]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38398166-there-s-a-dragon-in-your-book

New Job! and encouragement for those still looking.

As a recent MLIS graduate, ok maybe for some December of last year is not recent but I still feel that it is. I have been seriously looking for a permeant job since then, and even though I did not find my ideal job I do have one now that I enjoy.

In my new position, I coordinate youth services for a small rural branch library while also helping at the main branch during the week. It is a lot of driving, but I’m used to it because I live in a small mountain community and a commute is normal for anyone with a career not in teaching, logging, etc. I’ve been on the job for about a week now and am still figuring out what I’m doing exactly.

Needless to say, my reading has taken another hit, I don’t read like I should and when I do I just don’t read long, which seems ironic I work in a library after all. But sometimes one just needs to step back and focus on something new. I’ve learned that the job search is tiring but training in a new position, while exciting, is just as difficult. For anyone looking for a position they love (or simply need) don’t give up there are library positions out there. My best advice is to be patient and in time the right group will come along. I am blessed because the director or the system I subbed in wanted me to stay and worked hard to find me a good place, even if it is not ideal for me, that could lead to a better position.

The idea is to never give up on your dreams. I am a step closer but still not there and will never give up on perusing what I want. I also follow my faith and seek the Lord’s will for my life in all I do. For some praying for a job may seem strange because they do not adhere to the same faith as I do so find something to have hope in and pursue it. Having grounding in Christ has helped me through my time of less than ideal employment and a focus or goal can help you too.

Some books I’ve been reading (I was working on preschool storytimes this week):

·         Have you Seen My New Blue Socks? By Eve Bunting

·         The Day the Crayons Quit By Drew Daywalt

·         The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt

·         A Monstrous Regiment of Women By Laurie King (my fun book I’m just starting)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of LS&S.

Review of Laurie King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice

As someone who doesn’t usually enjoy mystery books, I found this novel to be interesting and exciting. Sherlock Holmes is back again in this modern take on his adventures by Laurie R. King.

In The Beekeeper’s Apprentice readers are introduced to a spunky 15-year-old named Mary Russell who will keep Holmes on his toes as she follows in his footsteps. The writing is wonderful and detailed drawing readers into the early twentieth century and all of the excitement found there. Holmes is an old known character, even to those who (like myself) have not read any of the original works by Arthur Conan Doyle. Seeing this character navigate the new world he finds himself in, the world of being teacher/mentor, is interesting and provides a depth to the story by King. Along with Holmes other familiar characters populate the world of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice such as Dr. Watson, Mrs. Hudson, and even mention of Moriarty.

King artfully creates a novel full of different incidents in Mary’s life, told from her perspective, as she gets acquainted with Holmes at 15, through the war and into her first years at Oxford. Mary goes from a gangly girl, wearing boys trousers, into a young woman comfortable in dresses and gowns. King details the shift in Holmes’ mind of a confident teacher to uncertain how to perceive Mary when she shows up one day dressed as she ought to in a nice dress. Each interaction and shift in their relationship brings them further from mentor and student to equal partners on their adventures. King’s development of story and character is great and well-done drawing readers into a believable world where wit and cunning reign.

This book kept my attention and I was able to complete the tale of the Beekeeper and his Apprentice, instead of putting it aside as I typically do with mysteries. While the book does fit the mystery genre (because of Holmes and his work) it does not feel like a standard mystery with cases to be solved but provides character development and a story of friendship between Holmes and Russel.

References

King, L. (1994). The beekeeper’s apprentice: Or on the segregation of the queen: A Mary Russell novel. New York: Picador.

Goodreads.com. (2018). The beekeeper’s apprentice [Cover image]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1024275.The_Beekeeper_s_Apprentice

Review of Bilbo's Last Song

This short narrative poem by J. R. R. Tolkien details Bilbo’s final journey to the Grey Havens with the elves and his companions. Readers have the story brought to life by the beautiful illustrations of Pauline Baynes, whose uses great details and color to create a solemn atmosphere for this poem. Each set of two pages delights readers with a full-page illustration of the journey, some smaller images along the bottom and rhyming couplets from the poem.

I enjoyed this book, especially the subtle reminders of the Hobbit in the illustrations. Each new image illustrated page is impressive and was almost more delightful than the brief poem, considering it was the majority of the book. I highly recommend reading this poem, especially if you want to reminisce over other works by Tolkien.

For more information about this poem and its history visit Tolkien Gateway at this link. The poem is the final song of Bilbo after the Return of the King and completes his journey in Middle Earth (Tolkien Gateway, 2015). Baynes as noted before has illustrated the life of Bilbo and his companions in a beautiful way, when paired with the poem they create a wonderful introduction for new readers or conclusion for old. To read the poem in full check out some of the comments/reviews on Goodreads or the quotes section.

References

Goodreads.com. (2018). Bilbo’s last song (Middle-Earth universe). [Cover image]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67939.Bilbo_s_Last_Song

Tolkien, J.R.R., and Baynes, P. [Illustrator]. (2002).  Bilbo’s last song. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Tolkien Gateway. (2015). Bilbo’s last song. Retrieved from http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Bilbo%27s_Last_Song

Review of The Librarians (TNT) Season 4

IMDB

I was excited that I was finally able to watch the Fourth season, that is until I realized that it was not the same excitement as the first three but full of doubt and distrust between the Librarians, Guardian, and even the Library. This season feels that it falls flat for those seeking the adventure of the first two. Yes, season four is still good, especially from a character development standpoint, but the story is predictable and the villain/big bad is easily seen from episode one.

I liked the first three seasons because of the adventures took in each episode and the excitement seen. The characters were good and fit what they were expected to do. I understand how this season became the last, the writers did not provide the same thrill to audiences, in my opinion, as in other seasons.

[SPOILERS will be present below]

For the few readers who found this post without watching the fourth season be warned there are some key spoilers in this post.

So, my major dislike in this season was the way they ended the season, the big finale was nothing exciting. While characters had developed and even yes died, the ending nullified all growth and change in the season. Yep, you read that right, the writers chose to rewrite history instead of dealing with the crazy mess they had made in trying to break rules of their own universe, by breaking one of their rules. To me, Flynn going back in time to change history didn’t fit the Librarian we had seen in previous episodes, though possibly in the previous seasons. Also, another major plot point had Cassandra disobey Jenkins to resulting in them being trapped in a battle to the death or faced with the possibility of losing Jenkins. Finally, all of the season's mistakes were easily corrected not though resolution but by time travel, something they had been told not to do. Most of the time they heeded the Library and Jenkins’ warnings but not in the second to last episode which was the major cause of conflict and trials for the team and the Finale where time travel is used against Jenkins’ rules for the Library.

I do love it but much of the season was spent with the team split up instead of working together as they were at the end of Season 3. The inner conflict didn’t fit the team we had left with Cassandra healing from lifesaving surgery and Eve & Flynn finally together. So, you thought the season would offer good teamwork and more action, NOPE it only brought the near downfall of the Library because they were all too stubborn to work together. We are supposed to believe that they would listen to the advice of a former librarian who hasn’t seen what they’ve been through and have doubt driven between them by a Guardian turned evil. So, if you are already a fan you will watch the show only because of a thrill of seeing more of your favorite characters.

Should you watch it, YES but maybe skip the re-watch of this season. I was disappointed in it and would love more with the restored team fighting alongside one another and less of the wishy-washy doubt as for the main offender. Bring back the villains and evil enchantments, show more of magic’s rise in the world but don’t send the characters on a new journey of self-discovery we know who they are. Again, I do like the show but had hoped for more of the same from previous seasons not a journey into doubt and destruction of a great team.

References

IMBD.com. (2018). The librarians TV series (2014-2018) [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3663490/ 

TNT. (2018). The librarians [TV show]. Retrieved from https://www.hulu.com/the-librarians# 

Review of William Shakespeare: The Complete Plays in One Sitting

A few years ago I went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and saw this cute little book containing information on all of Shakespeare’s plays. I decided to pick it up and have been meaning to read it ever since. While this book is very compact, it fits easily in my hand, every play is summarized within its tiny pages. 

Cover page to Histories in Herr's book

The small volume contains “summaries for all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays” adapted for the modern reader (Herr, 2012, 10). If you have ever wanted to read the plays but struggled with the language, or sheer length, this little book is for you. Joelle Herr does a delightful job in condensing each play to a few short paragraphs providing highlights and key characters. The book is divided into three sections, one for each type of Shakespearian play: Histories, Tragedies, and Comedies. 

Herr begins the book with a basic introduction to the impact which the plays have had on modern language and culture. She states “[e]ven if you’ve never read a play by Shakespeare, you’ve probably quoted him countless times without even knowing it” (Herr, 2012, 8). The importance of Shakespeare in modern language is seen in this introduction, even though it is not as obvious in the summaries. Many of the plays also contain often quoted lines which are placed before and after the play summaries, some even have been often misquoted or only partially quoted. 

The second section contains a brief history of the life of William Shakespeare. I had already read about much of this information but for one who did not know about Shakespeare’s life Herr’s section on his life is good.

Characters & Story from Julius Cesar

I truly enjoyed reading each of the play sections, while this book is called a “One Sitting” book I actually read it more slowly as I had time. Some of the plays’ summaries were shorter only a couple small pages while others were a bit longer. Each play began with an image and quote from the play, this was followed by a brief character summary, and then the main bulk of the play. 

First page of Twelfth Night Summary

I enjoyed each brief reading this book because of the modern style commentary used for each play. Herr interjects modern ideas into the summary of Shakespeare’s plays making them accessible for those who do not understand the Elizabethan language. I highly recommend picking up this small volume for your collection, especially if you have always wanted to know about the plays but never quite understood them. Read this before seeing a play and be able to understand what is taking place on the stage.

References

Herr, J. (2012). William Shakespeare: The complete plays in one sitting. Philadelphia: Running Press.

Images of the book were taken by me. 

Picture Book: Don't Eat That Review

Cover Image

So, this summer I have been working at my local library during the children’s program and came across a fun little picture book. I have been reading many books for the program and this one is the most recent one. The book is a funny story about a hungry bear and an annoyed girl scout trying to gain her merit badge for being friendly/helpful to wildlife.

Endpapers of Don't Eat That!

In Don’t Eat That! Drew Shenemen uses a mix of traditional picture book art and comic book style panels to tell a funny story to entertain readers of all ages. The story begins when a bear is left in the wild from the city zoo on the front endpapers and the title page of the book.

Sheneman uses every available space to tell a brilliant story, and if a reader is not careful they can miss some of the key information being told.

Non-traditional comic panels

The story told between the panels is colorful and closer is made easily even between non-traditional panels or jumps. These are also enhanced by the color palette, which adds to the storytelling making it a fun comic-like picture book for children.

One element of this book I found funny was the use of puns in the text, while this may be too much for young readers, adults reading with a child or alone, will enjoy his sentiment. See the examplebelow where the word BEAR is highlighted in read. 

"UnBEARable" Pun

Come and laugh along with a little girl and a bear as they discover how Bear can fend for himself in the wild. Children will enjoy the silly bear and relate to the little girl as she tries to help him solve his problem, being hungry. The story has ups and downs in a quick read for all ages.

References

Sheneman, Drew. (2018). Don’t eat that!. Viking: New York.

Pictures of Endpapers, Non-Traditional Panels, and “UnBEARable” Pun are taken by me of illustrations/pages from Drew Sheneman’s book.

Book Cover Image from Goodreads.com. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36742000-don-t-eat-that