Wrapped in Foil

July 15, 2010May 24, 2012

Trivia Volume 3 Answers

Here are the answers to last week’s trivia questions.

Question 7. This author obtained a law degree and practiced law for nine years in order to finance his true passion, writing. On the way to his degree, he did a stint as a “yard teacher.” Who used this experience to write a successful series of books?

Louis Sachar was the author who turned his experience as “Louis the Yard Teacher” into the popular Sideways Stories from Wayside School series, featuring guess who, Louis the Yard Teacher. The stories are wacky, but speak to how people can get caught up within a school culture.

Hey, adults out there: have you read these books?

Find out more at Louis Sachar’s website.

Question 8. Following in his father’s footsteps, this author won the Newbery medal only two years after his father won for his own book. Watch what you write about him, he founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to English. Who is this author and grammar watchdog?

Okay, I made this one pretty tough. Paul Fleischman won the Newbery Medal for his book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices in 1989, two years after his dad, Sid Fleischman won for The Whipping Boy in 1987. Talk about keeping it all in the family.

Question 9. This author credits her bittersweet childhood growing up poor in West Virginia as a source of material for her books. She felt it was both a curse and a gift. Who is this versatile children’s book author?

This was the toughest of all. Would you believe it is Cynthia Rylant, award-winning author of every type of children’s book imaginable?

For more info, check her biography at the Educational Book & Media Association.

July 12, 2010September 6, 2010

Poetrees

We’re continuing our salute to trees this month.

If you are a fan of Douglas Florian, then you probably know he has a new book of poetry, aptly named Poetrees.

For once, I’ll let the author’s words speak for themselves:

This book is ripe with poetrees,
They’re grown to educate and please.
You’ll see a cedar.
Oak tree too.
Birch and banyan,
Pine and yew.
Palm and gum
And willow tree,
Plus more you’ll love tree-mendously!

I love that Florian chose trees from around the world like the banyan, not just common North American ones. He also uses and explains many common botanical terms “to educate.” As usual there is an element of gentle humor, both visual details and the word play of the poems.

The layout of this book shows how much thought went into its design. The entire book consists of vertical, two-page spreads, giving the feel of looking at a tall tree. If you are familiar with Florian’s illustrations, you will recognize his unconventional art.

Given the spare words and whimsical illustrations, Poetrees has sometimes been mislabeled as a picture book for very young children. For example, I found this book in the children’s section at my local library (we have a juvenile section for older children), and Amazon says a reading level ages 4-8. This is too bad, because most very young readers will probably not be ready to enjoy this book. Booklist suggests grades 3-6, which I think is much closer to the mark. Older children and adults will appreciate it more thoroughly.

Poetrees definitely deserves an appropriate audience. It is a fun way to learn more about trees.

Reading level: Ages 4-8 (according to Amazon, I’d recommend at least 9-12)
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Beach Lane Books; 1 edition (March 9, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416986723
ISBN-13: 978-1416986720

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. For more information, stop by Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday page. This week’s post is at Abby (the) Librarian.

July 8, 2010May 24, 2012

Children’s Author Trivia Volume 3

How well do you know your children’s book authors? Want to try your hand at some new questions?

Let us know what you think.

The answers are now posted.

July 8, 2010May 24, 2012

Children’s Author Trivia Volume 2 Answers

Answers to last week’s trivia:

Question 4. What author was inspired to write is book about an island when he made a map of an imaginary island to entertain his stepson? He said, “It was elaborately and (I thought) beautifully coloured…as I pored upon my map of …the future characters of the book began to appear there visibly among imaginary woods;…”

Zann was absolutely right, this is a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson, talking about what inspired him to write Treasure Island. I thought the spelling of “coloured” might be a useful hint.

Question 5. This beloved children’s author produced many detailed watercolor illustrations of fungi early in her career and would have considered a career in science if she hadn’t been discouraged by others. Who was this budding mycologist turned author?

Eilonwy and Pann both got this one correct. Beatrix Potter studied fungi, but was disappointed after the results of her first paper were discounted. Later she was proved correct, but by then she was a famous children’s book author.

If you haven’t checked the Peter Rabbit website, it has a lovely page of Beatrix Potter’s fungi.

Question 6. Who spent her early childhood in China and four years in Japan, before taking up writing? (Two of her books were given Newbery Awards.)

The tricky question last week was about Katherine Paterson, author of Newbery Medal winners Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved. She also wrote the Newbery Honor book, The Great Gilly Hopkins. For more about Katherine Paterson, check her website and this video.