It's kind of hard to believe that it is the 1st of December already, this year seems to to have gone by so fast. I'm going to try to complete a Christmas blog challenge again this year, and blog about one seasonal book each day - I did this last year and at first asked myself if I have another 25 books to blog about - but a quick scan of my shelves reassured me that yep I certainly do!
I'm going to start with a gorgeous picture book, The Snow Dragon written by Vivian French and illustrated by Chris Fisher. Any story about dragons is already a winner with me and this one certainly lives up to the promise of its title. Evul Fire Dragons have taken over the land , in order to prevent a prediciton from Book that a towleg would bring an end to Fire Dragons. The twolegs have been driven underground and there is only one snow dragon left, the Most Royal Snow Dragon who is fast asleep in an ice cave. A young twoleg called Little Tuft finds Book and travels through some very difficult conditions to find the Royal Snow Dragon and beg for her help. His act of selfless bravery persuades the Snow Dragon to help and she flies into the fire that the Fire Dragons rely on for life, killing the evil dragons but giving up her own life at the same time. The twolegs can then return overground and live in peace. The illustrations are just gorgeous and fully convey the coldness of the Snow Dragon and the heat of the Fire Dragons. I love the fact that Book is an important 'character' and his grumpiness is amusing. I felt a little sad at the end , the death of the Snow Dragon means they are now extinct but this would be a good conversation starter with children about the importance of conservation so that we do not lose animal species. A good one for promoting empathy as well and focussing on kindness towards others and bravery. All in all a delightful read that is sure to be treasured for years to come. (You can see videos of The Snow Dragon on Jackanory here)
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31/10/2016 0 Comments Upcoming coursesI have a very busy month coming up and will be meeting lots of new friends all over the country - places still available on some of the courses at the moment!
7th November - Online Librarian - Heanor Gate Science College, Derbyshire 8th November - Reading for Pleasure using Accelerated Reader and other means , Shropshire School Library Service 9th November - Online Librarian afternoon course, London SLA 17th November - Apps for All talks, Trinity School Croydon 24th November - Reading for Pleasure using Accelerated Reader and other means, Eccles Library 29th November - Reading for Pleasure using Accelerated Reader and other means, Walthamstow School for Girls 30th November - Online Librarian, The King's School Worcester 31/10/2016 0 Comments Halloween reads
Happy Halloween all! Here's some suggestions for suitably scary books to read today, reading treats not tricks!
6/10/2016 0 Comments National Poetry Day
So today's one of my favourite days of the year - National Poetry Day! I love poetry and find it both soothing and uplifting. I've been running a poetry event on the Write Path ning today with poems started by fantastic poets/writers - Tony Walsh, Tommy Donbavand, Andy Robb, Dom Conlon, Stephen Williams and Matt Windle and I can't thank them enough for their generous contributions. Our participants are always amazing but I think this year has been the absolute best, a couple of the continuations even caused me to shed a tear. Do read them , the talent shown by our young poets will amaze and delight you I'm sure. I hope you've all had a great Poetry Day, here's a video from one of our contributors, Tony Walsh to end your day with a smile:
Not long now until the summer holidays (hooray!) when hopefully most of us will get the chance to start to make inroads into our to be read pile .....or mountain if you're anything like me. I've already read lots of great books this year though, if you're looking for suggestions here are my top six so far:
A Library of Lemons, Jo Cotterill - not to be too hasty but I think this will end up being my favourite read of the whole year, I haven't felt this strongly about a book since last year's One love affair! It's a gorgeous, sensitive story about grief and the difficulties young carers faced and it's packed with book love and literary references. This book deserves to win all of the prizes out there. A Boy Made of Blocks, Keith Stuart - Fascinating story drawn from the author's own experiences of connecting with his autistic son through the medium of video games, specifically Minecraft in the book. A few touching scenes will have you reaching for the tissues but it is ultimately a very hopeful story and I really enjoyed it. Bad Apple, Matt Whyman - Set in a world where 'trolls' are real, being almost human, under the earth dwellers, this book has a lot to say about overcoming preconceptions and accepting our differences, a theme that seems particularly pertinent at the moment. Very valid points about not judging books by their covers and violence not being the answer are conveyed with a light touch and it's a damn good read. Ink and Bone, Rachel Caine - Librarians, books, adventure, love and pain - what's not to love?! A rewrite of history where the Great Library of Alexandria not only still exists but is a powerful force in society. There is a thriving black market in books and main protagonist Jess comes from a family of dealers but wants to become 'legit'. Thrills spills and adventure abound, I will definitely be reading on in this series. Introducing Teddy, Jessica Walton - This delightful picture book introduces us to Errol and his teddy friend, Thomas. When Thomas is sad one day Errol is nonplussed to realise this is because Thomas feels he should be a girl teddy not a boy teddy. This doesn't bother Errol at all - "What matters is you're my friend" Just lovely with beautiful illustrations. Starve Volume 1, Brian Wood - Excellent graphic novel for older readers set in a dystopian future when global warming is out of hand and man has been the reason many animals & fish are extinct. Main protagonist is a chef, creator of a cooking show called Starve. He dropped off the radar years ago due to deserting his marriage when he came out as homosexual but now he's been brought back to compete in the show. The images are so powerful and striking and the story gripped me to such an extent that I can't wait for the next volume. Happy reading summer all, please do leave your must reads in the comments section. 23/6/2016 0 Comments #TommyVCancer
I first met Tommy Donbavand several years ago when we were both presenting at a conference for Renaissance Learning. I'd already heard of Tommy's books, they were popular loans in my school library, the boys I worked with absolutely loved them. Tommy's presentation was absolutely hilarious, he is such an entertaining, engaging speaker, I even forgave him for wrapping me up in toilet roll to play a mummy during a subsequent meeting. Tommy has been very supportive of the international collaborative writing project I run, even filming a video as his story starter one year :
The news of Tommy's throat cancer came as a real shock, and I can't imagine what having no voice means to this eloquent funny dear man. I'm not going to review just one of Tommy's books, instead I'd like to recommend a series, Space Hoppers. These are quick but not necessarily particularly easy reads, perfect for reluctant readers that want a book to be fast paced and not too long. They are all full of Tommy's irrepressible humour and are all fun reads but you may find 'Undead of Uranus' is particularly popular....especially with primary age children. Look out for the zombie rabbit and enjoy the gross out thought of biting zombies in order to turn them back into human beings!
Tommy is a proud man and this dreadful disease is taking away his ability to provide for the family he so obviously adores but you can help. Any amount you can spare on Tommy's Patreon giving page would be very much appreciated and the resources subscribers are being sent are top notch and very useful. Get well soon Tommy, so many people are thinking of you and willing you to recover, sending multitudes of hugs from me over t'internet. |
AuthorMy blog is a collection of thoughts and I hope you will learn something about me from the ramblings as well as finding some useful links. I'm Bev Humphrey and I'm a Literacy, School Libraries and Technology Consultant. I am self employed so views expressed are solely my own. CategoriesAll Android Apps Authors Bett Book Giving Day Books Cats Childrens Books Christmas Christmas Challenge Conferences Dickens Dyslexia English Games Geography Graphic Novels Images Inspiration International Women's Day Ipad Ipad For Education Libraries London Mfl Picture Books Podcasts Poetry Poetry Day Primaries Reading Resources Revision Twitter Urls Video Visits Wbd Wordcloud Wordle Workshops Write Path Writers Writing YA Youtube |