Books and Angry Birds!

Come to the Angry Birds Party this Saturday at 11 a.m.! It's for kids of all ages and we're going to re-enact the Angry Birds game in real life. First, kids will divide into teams and build structures from boxes for the pigs (green plastic balls) to hide in. Then, they will use beach towels to launch the birds (red plastic balls) at the buildings to try and knock the pigs to the floor. Snacks and drinks will be served. Please sign up if you are interested!

I recently read a new picture book I really liked called Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin. I used it with my Baby Lap Time group, but it's a great, versatile book that can be used with a wide age range. The concept and basic story is simple enough for two-year-olds, but the dialogue on each page and the small jokes in the illustrations would be enjoyed by kindergarteners or first graders. I also liked that Austin incorporated rhyming words, but I wondered if kids might be confused by the abstract concept of how rhyming words can also be colors: he says that blue is the color of "scribble, and dribble, and nibble, nibble, nibble!" Still, overall that's a small quibble, and I did like the book.

I also read a great middle-grade novel recently that's on the 2014 Rebecca Caudill list called Close to Famous by Joan Bauer. I liked this book as much as I liked Wonder, so that's really saying something. Here's my Goodreads review:

I really, really enjoyed this story about a girl with a great memory and an incredible talent for baking who also struggles with an near-inability to read (her difficulty stems from dyslexia or something similar). She and her mom have fallen on hard times since her father was killed in Iraq, but find some good friends in a small West Virginia town. This book touches some deep emotional issues but never gets bogged down with them, and has a lot that kids can take from it. Recommended for fans of Cynthia Lord and Barbara O'Connor, and especially for older fans of Sarah Weeks's chapter book Pie.