Seed Dreams

 

Snow you say? A foot or so? Why let it get you down? There's always room to dream about a warm and fertile garden, seeds and shoots, and flowers and fruit. Here are a few books to stir those dreams up. All available at the school library. 

 

A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston: beautiful drawings to linger over, as well as information about the life cycle of plants.

 

The Gardening Book by Jane Bull: tons of information on what can grow in your vegetable garden and how to do it

 

It's our garden – from seeds to harvest in a school garden: a picture book featuring students, teachers, volunteers and community members as they harvest a garden on the grounds of a an elementary school.
 

  Packet of Seeds by Deborah Hopkinson: When a pioneer family moves west the mother misses home so much that she will not even name the new baby until her daughter thinks of just the right thing to cheer her up.

 

And then it's Spring by Julie Fogliano: Simple text reveals the anticipation of a boy who, having planted seeds while everything around is brown, fears that something has gone wrong until, at last, the world turns green.

2014 ALA Winners

     The winners of the American Library Association 2014 prestigious Newbery and Caldecott Awards are Kate Dicamillo and Brian Floca. 
      Kate DiCamillo has won the Newbery before for The Tale of Despereaus and a Newbery Honor for Because of Winn Dixie. She has been on the DCF list for her Bink and Gollie books and is beloved for her Mercy Watson series. She does not disappoint in her latest book. Her language is lovely and the story so sweet.
     While this is the first major award for Brian Floca, his artwork includes many titles we have in this library: the Marty McGuire series, Moonshot (a Red Clover pic a few years ago), and A Ballet for Martha.
     Below are synopsis (culled from Amazon)  of the winning titles. Both books are available in the library.

Locomotive by Brian Floca

It is the summer of 1869, and trains, crews, and family are traveling together, riding America’s brand-new transcontinental railroad. These pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and the thrill of travel from plains to mountain to ocean.

Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails, come cross the young country!

 

Flora And Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo

Holy unanticipated occurrences! A cynic meets an unlikely superhero in a genre-breaking new novel by master storyteller Kate DiCamillo.

It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry — and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart. From #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo comes a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format — a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black-and-white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell.

Give Aways

Looking for a good book, cheap? Free, even?

Check out the give away cart outside the library. I have been doing some mad weeding and there are lots of great, but old, biographies of famous people. The books are interesting and readable, just not very pretty.

Help yourself to whatever strikes your fancy.

Still Hungry

   It seems that winter brings on food cravings for me. So when I find a great book that has great recipes, I am sold. A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff has all the wonderful fixings for a satisfying few hours spent reading and then several more spent in the kitchen. Oh, and then there is the eating part!

     Told from multiple points of view, with a pinch of magic and a dash of mystery not to mention a sprinkle of adventure and intrigue, this story is about an orphan named Cady who has the special "Talent" of being able to bake a perfect cake for any person (recipes included!!!). The only person she can't bake for is herself, because she knows so little of her own life. In a tale that unfolds one tiny bite at a time, Cady's story is revealed, a villain is vanquished, "Talents" are stolen and restored, happiness is achieved, and readers are satisfied. Give this one a try if you like a sweet story that keeps you wondering to the very sweet end. And while you are reading it, you can eat:

Marigold's Lime Pound Cake

FOR THE CAKE

4 large eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. grated lime zest (from approximately 2 limes)

2 tbsp. lime juice (from approximately 1 lime)

1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temperature (plus extra for greasing the cake pan)

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with butter.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and the salt and beat, starting on low speed and then increasing to medium-high, until well combined, about 2 minutes more. Slowly add the egg mixture and beat until well combined, about 3 minutes.

4. Reduce the speed on the mixer to low, gradually add the flour, and beat ubntilk just combined.

5. Pout the batter into the pan and smooth the top. bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.

From A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff, Philomel, 2013

More good winter reads

When the weather is cold I always love to curl up with a thought provoking read and a nice hot cup of tea. Below are two to consider.



Desmond and the Very Mean Word is a picture book autobiography about an incident in Archbishop Desmond Tutu's childhood that inspired a life dedicated to peace and compassion. When he was a small boy, Desmond was taunted by a local bully who used a very bad word. Desmond is coached by Father Trevor, the man who was to become his lifelong mentor, to forgive, because "when you forgive someone, you free yourself from what they have said or done., It's like magic." This is a beautiful book about anger, forgiveness, and being human.    


Kate Messner's newest science thriller, Wake Up Missing,  is about genetic engineering on a group of unsuspecting 12-year-olds who think they are coming to a state-of-the-art hospital to heal their head injuries. The facilities are almost luxurious, the doctor is charming, and the treatments seems to produce real results. But then Cat, who is there because of a concussion sustained when she fell from a tree, overhears a curious and scary conversation. This is followed by the disappearance of two of the "patients". Slowly, more pieces of the puzzle fall into place until the 4 remaining kids know they must escape or die. If you are a Margaret Peterson Haddix Fan, this books is definitely for you.

Recipes for a cold winter's eve

Good-Luck Soup

(you have to love potatoes)

INGREDIENTS

Lots of potatoes peeled and sliced

(see what I mean)

A couple of leeks (No leeks? Chop up a little onion.)

Some good stock

A chunk of lard

WHAT TO DO

Melt the lard. Don't let it burn.

Don't let your fingers burn either.

Add the leeks and simmer a little.

Add the stock and all those potatoes.

Cook for only about twenty minutes.

(It's lucky that it's all so fast)

How about a little salt? A little pepper?

Done!

(From Gingersnap, by Patricia Reilly Giff , Wendy Lamb publisher 2013)

Why does Jayna need luck? She is trying to find some family. Her parents are both dead. She has been living with her brother who has been called into action during Work War II, and Jayna is supposed to live with her landlady while she waits for him to return. When she learns he has gone missing in action she sets out on a quest to find the woman she believes to be her grandmother. Armed with plenty of wonderful soup recipes (that you can find sprinkled like flavoring throughout this book), and a lot of perseverance, personality and luck, Jayna finds what she needs, though it isn't exactly as she thought it would be. This quiet and sweet book is a lovely winter read and if you like to eat soup, you will be finding yourself in the kitchen.