Nooks and Crannies by Jessica Lawson illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

A plucky amateur detective, secret passages, exaggerated characters, concealed identities, and dastardly villains equal a swell mystery.

Readers will delight in the unexpected twists and turns at every junction.

Three cheers for Nooks & Crannies, a book that elevates misdirection to an art form. When you think you’ve settled into familiar plot lines, think again. What fun!

Nooks and Crannies is a long (315 pages) and quite complex book but avid readers with perseverance will be rewarded when they discover, on the final pages, what is really happening at country estate of the reclusive Countess of Windermere and what are her motives for gathering together these six eleven year olds.

Tabitha and five other children, a total of three girls and three boys, all receive an invitation which says in part :

"No response is required as all children/parents are fully expected to attend.  I look forward to your presence and trust that it will be a profitable weekend for all.  Your discretion is advised, assumed and appreciated."

Tabitha Crum has a life like Matilda (Roald Dahl) - her parents seem to find her an irritating inconvenience.  In fact they have plans to send her to an orphanage but then this mysterious invitation arrives. Why are these children summoned by Camilla Lenore DeMoss, Countess of Windermere?

"Twelve years ago my son Thomas ran off and eloped with a woman of no education ... a little over a year later they both died in a boating accident.  Their six-month-old child was .... sent to an orphanage."

Camilla has discovered the name of the orphanage.  These six children were also dropped off there in May 1895.  None of the children know they are orphans but which one is the grandchild and heir to the Countess?

Oliver Appleby
Viola Dale
Frances Wellington
Barnaby Trundle
Edward Herringbone
Tabitha Crum

You will feel as though you are reading a book from England perhaps even an Agatha Christie mystery but Jessica Lawson is an American author.  The butler is of course not to be trusted and why does the 'Countess' wear gloves?  The house also has mysterious locked rooms and secret passages with spy holes.  One of the quirky aspects of this book comes from the little chapter headings taken from a fictitious detective book series with alliterative titles such as :

The case of the Speckled Spyhole
The case of the Galley Ghosts Gumption
The case of the bilious Banker
The case of the Enigmatic Encumbrancer
The case of the Maudlin Mariner

Each chapter also begins with a quote which links neatly with the chapter contents.

You can also see from this list of book titles that Jessica Lawson is not afraid to include quite complex words into her writing.  Here are a few examples from the first chapter :
jostling
obtrusion
mused
ludicrous
unavenged
despicable

Reading this book you may be reminded of The Mysterious Benedict society, The truth about Verity Sparks and  The mystery of the Clock Work Sparrow.

You can listen to a five minute audio sample here.  Take a look at some of the illustrations by Natalie Andrewson.  Each of the quotes at the top of this post will take you to reviews with even more plot details.

A friend like Ed by Karen Wagner illustrations by Janet Pedersen

"Mildred and Ed had been friends for as long as anyone could remember ... even though some thought Ed a bit unusual."

First a little warning this book from 1998 is out of print.  Here is the good news, though, the internet has given book people like me an easy way to source out of print titles from anywhere around the world and often quite cheaply.

With this in mind I decided it was time for me to find a copy of one of my all time absolute favourite picture book - A friend like Ed.  Just before Christmas my mint condition, hardcover, dust jacketed copy arrived!  Good timing for my first Blog Post of 2017!

In the illustration on the second page we see some of Ed's hobbies.  He collects :

• buttons
• feathers
• left feet socks
• string
• pennies
• pencil stubs

Making this page even more appealing especially to a librarian - Ed classifies these objects.  His buttons are 'shiney', cloth, glass, square, teeny tiny and antique.  His pencil stubs are under 1/2" and over 1/2". His string is wound into a huge ball but Ed's best talent is for making homemade, fudge-frosted, triple-layer cakes and Mildred certainly enjoys sharing a slice or two.

Mildred suggests they try inventing some poetry.  Mildred tries hard but Ed seems to have a natural talent.

Here is a poem by Mildred :
Sunset is beautiful
orange and purple.
Early evening
look so ...
yurple?

Here is a poem by Ed
Leaves are falling
winter's calling,
Before you know
There will be snow,
So let us should 'hurray'
For this warm and
sunny day.

Ed gets a little carried away with making rhymes and one day he recites a poem about lemons in the middle of supermarket.  Mildred is so embarrassed.  She goes home alone and that night has awful night mares filled with buttons.  The next day Mildred meets Pearl at the ice skating rink. Pearl looks perfect to Mildred but astute readers will notice something is not quite right about her even from her very first words "I can do anything. And I can do it better that anyone else" she declares.  Unfortunately Mildred is so swept up by the idea of a new friend she doesn't notice the true meaning here.  Pearl is a selfish and arrogant girl who will have no idea how to be a real friend.

Mildred goes to a costume party with Pearl but she is trapped at the end of the dragon suit. They go skating on the pond and Mildred asks Pearl to teach her how to twirl but Pearl tells Mildred she should just watch. Meanwhile Ed sits alone, he makes a cake but he cannot eat it so he sorts his buttons over and over again.

Mildred wakes up one morning with a taste for some fudge-frosted, triple-layer cake.  She attempts to make one for herself but on the way to buy the ingredients she sees someone skating on the pond. It is Ed.  When he leaves Mildred stares at what he has done.  He has carved one word in huge letters right into the ice!

Spoiler alert :  Mildred writes a letter to Ed and places it near his door with a small parcel.

"Dear Ed
You may think this is a pen but it is not.  It is a thousand poems waiting to be written. It is a pair of wings to help you fly.  
Love Mildred."

Ed goes over to thank Mildred and arrives just as she is putting the finishing touches on her very lopsided fudge-frosted, triple-layer cake. She is so pleased to see her friend Ed that she climbs onto a kitchen chair and recites a perfect poem just for him.

I hope that you can find a copy of A friend like Ed.  I will begin my school year by reading this to our Grade Two classes.  We will talk about being a friend, quirky collections and of course cake! I also appreciate the way it is not left to Ed or Mildred to 'fix' Pearl.  This aspect of the story will make a good discussion point for my classes.

Wagner compassionately addresses an issue that is vital to children—the wish to fit in and be accepted. 

Here is the cover of my copy :

And with great excitement I have discovered there is a sequel.  It is of course also out of print but I have ordered a copy and YES it has a dust jacket!

You might also enjoy Stanza by Jill Esbaum if you want to explore characters who are talented poets. Check out this review.

Paper things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

What do girls do who haven't any mothers to help them through their troubles? Louisa May Alcott

I have mentioned  this in the past.  People often ask me why I only read 'kids' books.  I reply with two answers - I don't have time with all the books on my reading pile and yes they are 'kids books' and when I do finally pick up an adult book that someone has told me is fabulous I am usually so disappointed.

Here is a book I need to give to every adult who has ever thought 'kids books' are a lesser species. Paper Things is a breathtaking book.  It is emotional, raw and utterly honest.  Start by listening to this audio sample which takes up the story from about page 4.

Ari and Gage have lost both their mum and dad.  Janna, a family friend, has become their guardian but she and Gage, now aged nineteen keep clashing and so Gage has decided to leave.  He takes eleven year old Ari with him and promises he has already set up an apartment where they will live. But "we didn't have an apartment. Not yet. We didn't have a home of any kind.  That was the beginning of February This is almost the end of March. We still don't."

Gage organises a different place to sleep each night and Ari learns to keep her most important possessions in her back pack. Some places where they stay offer a shower and laundry and food, others do not but through it all Ari stays so optimistic.  There are some truly heart breaking moments when you just wonder how she can keep going and some incredibly kind people who offer help, sometimes without knowing the real situation.  One of my favourites  relates to Ari's shoes :

"I was running as fast as I could, but my shoes has started to flap where the stitching is coming out, and it falls of easily."

"We head over to the door to get my shoes. ... and my finger pokes through the hole in the stitching. Gage ... doesn't want Janna to notice what sorry shape they're in."

"Ms Finch was giving me a free pair of shoes - of really cute shoes.  Why me? .... And suddenly I'm crying."

The quote above from Louisa May Alcott comes from an assignment Ari is working on.  She discovers she has some things in common with the famous author and so does Janna who introduced her to the book Little Women.

There is also so much that resonates in the title of this book.  Ari cuts paper people and furniture from junk mail catalogs.  She uses them in a comforting game of make-believe.  These paper things are so precious to Ari.  To get in to assisted housing Ari and Gage need to complete official paperwork - more paper things.  Ari wants to fulfill her mother's dying wish and attend Carter Middle School but she needs to fill in an application form and for that she needs an address - more paper things that all seem too hard.

If you have questions after reading this book Jennifer Jacobson has recorded a long and informative video where she talks to students.  Here is a review with more plot details.  Kirkus also have a good review but oddly did not give this book a star. I would give it FIVE stars!

Here is a brief set of teaching ideas.

Following this book I would recommend How to Steal a dog, Crenshaw, and Hold fast.  I also found a book list with a range of titles from Picture books through to YA on the themes of empathy and homelessness.

In this poignant view of one child’s experience with homelessness, Jacobson deftly shows how easily it can happen, an insidious downward spiral 

with heart-wrenching consequences.

The Book of Bees by Piotr Socha text by Wojciech Grajkowski

In a word this is a splendid book!  It is huge, easy to read, fascinating and each page has the most delicious illustrations.  I especially like the way some illustrations are numbered - it reminds of science books from my childhood and those special botanical books with glossy colour plates.

I read this whole book in one sitting and I discovered so many new and important facts about this curious, hardworking and essential little insect.

Did you know? (I could go on and on with this list)

• Bees were around in the times of dinosaurs
• An adult bee lives for about five weeks and during this time it may work as a cleaner, feeding the larvae, receiving the nectar, guarding the hive entrance and finally becoming a forager responsible for collecting nectar, pollen and water.
• Bees are the only insects who practice flower consistency which means the pollen ends up where it is meant to be.
• Emperor Bonaparte and his wife Josephine embroidered their capes with bees in gold thread and added bees to their flags, emblems and seals.

Now that I know how hard the bees work and how many flowers they have to visit I have a new respect for honey.  Here are some statistics which might amaze you :

• A bee can visit 15 -20 single flowers in one minute
• A bee can carry up to 1/3 of its body weight in nectar inside its honey stomach
• To make one kilo of honey bees "must visit over four million flowers flying about 110,000 miles in the process. This is the same distance as flying around the world four times!"

You can also read about honey in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and cave pictures of bees believed to be 8,000 years old.

The latest copy of The Literature Base features a series of lessons about bees.  This is why I bought The book of bees and The flight of the Honey Bee home to read.  I have now started a little Pinterest collection of non fiction books in our school library about bees.  Now I just need to plant some bee attracting flowers on my balcony.

I recommend you take some time to explore the web site of Piotr Socha.  We are so lucky Thames and Hudson selected this book to publish and translated it from Polish so many more children around the world can learn about the precious bee.

Designed like a coffee table book, yet containing the knowledge of an encyclopaedia, and reading like a fun newspaper, this is stunningly executed

Engaging, thoughtful, delightful, beautiful. 

Highly, highly recommended.

Return to the secret garden by Holly Webb

"Emmie stopped, rubbing her fingers over the smooth metal.  would it open?  Would she be able to get inside without the key? She stood hesitating, trails of ivy draped over and around her, not quite daring to turn the handle in case she was still shut out."

I read a few reviews of Return to the secret garden and some admitted they had not read the original book.  I guess Return to the secret garden can stand alone but really the reading of this 'sequel' is so much richer with a good knowledge of the original book by Frances Hodgson Burnett published in 1911.

Holly Webb sets up all sort of parallels in her book that match with the original story not the least is Misselthwaite Manor itself.

Mary is an orphan so is Emmie.  While we do know what happened to Mary in India Holly Webb never reveals why Emmie is an orphan or how she came to be living in a London children's home.

Mary is lonely and bad tempered and confused.  Emmie is evacuated from London to Misselthwaite Manor.  She is one of the older children from the home but the two boys who are of a similar age are not her 'friends.' They tease her and call her names.  Emmie is always getting into trouble and it seems grown ups will never answer her questions.  Her only friend is a little black cat but he has been left behind in London. Emmie is so worried he will be killed either by gas or bombs or even the adults who are putting animals down.

Mary makes friends with a little robin and he shows her the key and the way into the secret garden. Another robin (perhaps the great grandfather of the first) also shows Emmie how to find the door to the garden.

Mary hears a boy crying in the night and discovers Colin - they boy who will become her friend. Emmie also hears crying.  It is a boy called Jack, he is the son of Mrs Craven who owns Misselthwaite Manor.

Mary is helped in the garden by a local boy called Dickon.  Emmie is helped by one of the garden staff - a man called Mr Sowerby.  He has been wounded in WWI and his face and legs are damaged but in spite of his gruff manner he understands little Emmie is in need of love and gentle care.

Holly Webb does capture the moment of discovery in the same magical way of the original :

"She wandered breathlessly under the arches, reaching up every so often to touch a rose, laughing as they shed their petals on her face and shoulders. The summer had been long and hot and many of the roses had finished flowering already, with just the odd late blossom left here and there, but Emmie found it hard to believe there could be more flowers ... a great mass of lilies, so strongly scented that she could almost see the perfume in the air."

Emmie knows about Mary, Colin and Dickon because she finds three diaries in her room.  Over the course of the next months she reads these diaries and gradually discovers the true identity of Mrs Craven, her husband Lieutenant Craven and old Mr Sowerby and just like in the original she comes to a better understanding of herself, her place in the world and the important ways to show you are a true friend.

At the back of my copy of Return to the Secret garden there is an interview with Holly Webb  and she mentions The Painted garden by Noel Streatfeild - this is long out of print but I think I will try to find a copy.

I also recommend you read The Humming Room as another way to explore the themes and plot of the classic book The Secret Garden.  You might also enjoy Carrie's War by Nina Bawden, Vinnie's war, and  Children of the King.

Belle and Sebastien The child of the mountains by Cecile Aubry illustrated by Helen Stephens

I mentioned in a previous post that I loved the movie based on this book and television series.

Belle and Sebastien was first written in French in 1965.  This edition is an English translation published in 2014.  At times the writing style is a little complex so I would recommend older Primary students might watch the movie before reading this book.  Originally there were thirteen episodes of the television series.  This book introduces the little boy Sebastien who is found as a newborn baby lying with his dying mother and adopted by the kind and wise Cesar.  We are also introduced to Belle and discover why she has become 'wild'.  The movie goes further into the story exploring the heroism of the French resistance.

Here is the scene where Sebastien sees Belle for the first time :

"Sebastien wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.  There she was standing tall, motionless save for the plume of her tail as it beat the air. Vapour came our of the half-open chops with their long black outline; two more back lines made her eyes stand out in the golden whiteness of her fur. ... He called out to her very softly : 'Belle ... "

The people in the village are sure Belle has become a dangerous beast.  Sebastien seems to have few allies.  The authorities are set to destroy Belle but this little boy is determined to save his best friend.

Through kindness, perseverance and love Belle is gradually tamed. Sebastien runs through the mountains trying to find Belle because he overhears the adults who are planning setting out to capture him. Exhausted he falls into a deep snow drift.  It is Belle who rescues her new friend but there will need to be two more rescues before the authorities are convinced Belle is not dangerous.

"It was in this moment that a dog's passion for man was truly born in Belle.  In a few agile bounds she was next to him, lifting him with her muzzle, breathing her strength into the child, forcing him to hang on to the long frozen locks of her fur."

You might like to listen to the beautiful song if you have a memory of the television series.  You can read the first pages of this book here.  Dog lovers might also enjoy Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor Reynolds, A dog's life by Ann M Martin or Stone Fox.

There is also a second movie about Belle and Sebastien which I hope to see soon.

Grade Six students recommend 2016

A book I enjoyed reading ... Grade Six 2016

Each year I use our student Year Book to list here on my blog the favourite books named by our Grade Six students.

Below are links to some past lists. .  There were a lot of new choices this year and not so many of the obvious popular titles which I find quite exciting.

2010
2011
2012
2014
2015

It is interesting this year to see such a huge variety of titles.  Only a few titles were mentioned more than once.  Hatchet (3), Rain Reign (4), Alex Rider (2), Harry Potter (2) and Wonder (6).

I have linked to my reviews so you can read a little more about some of these choices.

Series listed by students :

A series of Unfortunate events Lemony Snickett

Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Michael Scott

Tom Gates Liz Pichon

Harry Potter JK Rowling

How to train your dragon Cressida Cowell

Friday Barnes RA Spratt

Heartland Lauren Brooke

Alice Miranda Jacqueline Harvey

Stuff Happens various authors

Storey Treehouse series by Andy Griffiths

WeirDo by Ahn Do

Kaboom Kid David Warner

Once, After, Now, Soon Morris Gleitzman

Novels I also read and loved :

Cartwheeling in thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell

Song for the Scarlet Runner by Julie Hunt

The war that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Out of the dust by Karen Hesse

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Rain Reign Ann M Martin

Bird Crystal Chan

The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander

Wonder by RJ Palacio

Floors Patrick Carmen

Other titles :

Blueback Tim Winton

Stay Well soon by Penny Tangey

Too small to fail Morris Gleitzman

Matilda Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl

Gangsta Granny David Walliams

Mr Stink David Walliams

Just Shocking Andy Griffiths

A room full of chocolate Jane Elson

Meet Grace (Our Australian girl series) by Sofie Laguna

Hatchet Gary Paulsen

I survived the shark attacks of 1916 Lauren Tarshis

Half a man Michael Morpurgo

Wonder struck Brian Selznick

George's secret key to the universe Stephen Hawking

Magnus Chase and the sword of Summer Rick Riordan

Alex Rider Anthony Horowitz

Fly away girls Julia Lawrinson

The Hobbit JRR Tolkein

Nick Riley's ninth life Bronwyn Blake

Magic Thief Sarah Prineas

Caro was here Elizabeth Farrelly

Quest of the Sunfish Mardie McConnochie

Extra Time Morris Gleitzman