Now by Morris Gleitzman
The third book in the series, this one is set in modern Australia and Felix is now an old man turning 80. Zelda is his grandaughter named after his childhood friend. This time Felix has to survive a bushfire. ‘Now’ is every bit as gripping as ‘Once’ and ‘Then’ were, yet I felt the ending was more positive and hopeful than ‘Then’, which I found very sad. It traces Felix’s survival and story through the eyes of his grandaughter.
I love the way Gleitzman uses the perception of a child in these books and shows the thinking processes from Zelda’s point of view. It is similar to the other two books in this way. He is a great writer. I had to wipe the tears away again with this book. The whole bushfires setting is quite close still, after all.
I noticed in the news yesterday the CBCA have been announced and I feel very shabby in that I haven’t read any of the shortlisted books this year. I think being at the senior campus and not participating with the students in the Premiers Reading Challenge, has taken me away from the habit of reading so much as I once did.
This book was recommended to me in one of my students wide reading oral presentations last Friday. I still insist my year 10s only read novels for homework and they have to either write a blog post on our class blog or make a presentation to the class. Friday’s presentations were especially sweet for me as one students commented that reading a certain author had influenced his writing style. They are the kinds of unprompted comments that I love to hear from my students.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Girlo’s Check this out
One of my favourite authors for young women attempting to navigate their way in the world is Anthea Paul. Her Girlosophy books are a great read and I’ve never given one to a young woman at school without having her rave about how much it made her feel better about herself. That is surely all that needs to be said to recommend them to you.
There is a new Girlosophy website! There are some great links and articles on there as well as groups. I can’t rate her and the work she does highly enough.
I think girls of all age deserve to indulge themselves in Anthea Paul’s philosophy on living on your own terms.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
This book is subtitled “How Little Things Make a Big Difference” and since I’m always interested in doing more with less (by product of being lazy I think), I was very engaged with this book. I really like the variety of examples he uses to make his points about things like what makes something take off. They range from books to educational experiments to epidemics.
There is a summary of the book on wikisummaries: The Tipping Point but I enjoyed hearing all the studies in a bit more detail than I would have just getting a summary of the theory. It really made me think. I especially enjoyed the findings about Sesame Street and the idea that once an organisation has more than 150 people to deal with it loses it’s effectiveness. I could relate to the information about having zero tolerance for smaller crimes such as vandalism and fare evading helped to reduce more serious crimes of violence. I think I am seeing something like that happen in our school as we focus on issues like uniform and stick with our standards, the overall tone of the school improves and there are less of the larger issues to battle.
I recommend this book. There is a whole lot more than I have mentioned here. It’s very thought provoking. Now I have to wait for him to write another…
Popularity: 1% [?]
Smelly Bertie by David Roberts
“Smelly Bertie” is probably a bit young for J(8), but the entire family have really enjoyed it. It’s hilarious. Nothing describes it better than the back cover blurb:
“Bertie likes making smells. When he trumps it makes his mum cross, embarrasses his dad, upsets his gran and offends his siter. But they all have a secret – and Bertie know it!”
I remember when Tom was at Harkaway Primary School, his teacher lured reluctant readers with “The Story of the Little Mole Who Went in Search of Whodunit”, which is a German import by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch. The kids and parents alike loved it. There’s nothing like humour, even if it’s a bit ‘off’ or rather especially if it’s a bit off, to lure people to books.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
There is nothing more blissful than snuggling up on the couch with R (3) and reading ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’. We have read it so many times now that I leave the last word in the sentence for her to complete. She knows it off by heart as the cliche goes. She loved this book so much that when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, it was a tiger.
We first got this delightful picture book about a tiger who eats it’s way through a delightful tea party from the library. R(3) loved it so much that I had to get it for her for Christmas. My favourite idea is that the tiger (after drinking all the tea, the milk, the orange juice and all Daddy’s beer, drinks all the water out of the tap. So much so that she can’t have a bath! What a concept!
Judith Kerr has an interesting life story. She also wrote the Mog books which you may be familiar with. I just like her surname 
because my longest friend shares it.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor
Having 3 young children in my life again, has allowed me to indulge one of my greatest pleasures in life… picture books! I bought them a book each for Christmas (amongst things they said they wanted )and whilst I was reading them to them over the weekend for perhaps the 100th time (hyperbole!), I realised I hadn’t blogged about these treasures. So I have to share with you.
‘Fancy Nancy’ was the perfect choice for E(5) who is a bit fancy really and has brought that little girl glamour back into my life. She adds glitter to everything, will wear a frilly dress oblivious of the weather or need for comfort and epitomises ‘Fancy Nancy’ in her day to day life. It’s just gorgeous.
There is a whole series of ‘Fancy Nancy’ books which are just a monument to that stage in a little girl life when glamour is paramount! If you want a taste of what I mean, take a look at the Fancy Nancy Books site. I remember Asha at around this age surrounded by fairies and star wands and glitter of course. It’s such a magical time.
I have just ordered the I Can Read “Fancy Nancy Sees Stars” for E. I can’t wait to read it to her.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell explains what outliers are on his website Gladwell dot com. His audiobook, read by him (bonus) was full of interesting stories to demonstrate why people experience success and how it is not so random or bizarre, but a natural result of practise, their cultural heritage and the times they were born into. He draws on examples from almost every field you could think of. I couldn’t help but be interested in it… even when he was talking about sporting successes.
He is convincing. He tells his stories well and I am reminded that if I practise something for 10 000 hours, I will be an expert. I have recently downloaded ‘The Tipping Point’ and am looking forward to listening to that during the holidays. His writing facinates and engages me and I find my self thinking how obvious what he says is, and I’m glad he has investigated it enough to prove it.
My favourite quote for my students “Repetition leads to discovery” by Buckminster Fuller remains current. I have been amused at how many year 12 students that I taught in year 7 remind me of it still with a smile on their faces as though they have discovered the truth of it for themselves. I’m not sure if I have for myself though and that could be why I keep learning about it.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss
I love the confident tone of Caroline Myss when she speaks about the invisible. ‘Sacred Contracts’ is about the agreements we made before we came to planet earth. It’s about purpose and is in no way the flakey or soft stuff that I’ve read so many times before. I enjoyed it. I learnt more about archetypes. I have a lot more to learn.
Caroline’s site has a ‘ Gallery of Archetypes’ that I intend to explore. I love listening to the audiobooks, yet they lack the appendices that ‘real’ books have. I’m glad I found the online reference, it makes up for it. There are 70 archetypes listed so I hope I will be able to find the 12 that are working in me if I put the time into it. Archetypes are ancient patterns basically and have both light and dark forms. I’m quite facinated with the idea right now.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Disquiet by Julia Leigh
Disquiet tells nothing directly yet reveals a world of pain in the simple descriptions of a very macabre story. It’s a story I could have lived without, yet once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down. I needed the conclusion, the funeral to take place so I could feel it was done with. The testimonial on the front cover says it all….
‘Julia Leigh is a sorceress. Her deft prose casts a spall of serene control while the earth quakes underfoot’. Toni Morrison.
It’s a short book taking me a couple of hours before I slept over two nights. I won’t reveal anymore.
Popularity: 6% [?]
The Language of Archetypes by Caroline Myss
Yesterday I finished listening to “The Language of Archetypes” from Caroline Myss. I have read ‘Anatomy of the Spirit‘ by the author many years ago and found it facinating. This talk was enjoyable also. I loved her directness and humour. She spoke confidently and forcefully about the archetypes. She is born the same day as me, although some years earlier. It’s no wonder I found her so easy to listen to!
I’m still musing on what my archetypes and lessons are. This review by Janet Boyer describes in more detail what the series is about if you are interested. Unlike Janet, I haven’t read everything there is to read by Caroline Myss so I was rather captivated by this series and frequently laughed aloud whilst listening. I think I will get my hands on ‘Sacred Contracts’ in the near future, hopefully as an audio because I really enjoyed her voice.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Falling Brick-
- Stumbles
- Seths Blog: Little lies and small promises
- 10 Tips Before Seeking Intuitive Counsel | Evolve - The Human Experience
- the only thing you need to know about soul mate love... & danae sinclair
- Why did the chicken cross the road? | Dancing with Frogs
- Billionaires vow to give away half their fortune
- Life balance still not working
- Food memories | Jill Dupleix, Table Talk Blog
- The Green Bough: Coming Home To Myself
- Saturn in Libra: Committed : Moonkissd by Jessica
- Suspended | poohduck
- My Favourites on Watch and Learn Magnify Channel
Subscribe
Recent Comments
- Michael J Flannery: Queenslander never give the seasons a second thought thereis no human meddling with the clocks...
- Jessica Shepherd: Hi Joh, Thanks for the sweet mention of my site, Moonkissd.com. It warms my heart to know folks...
- Kristy yr 9: i read the book and loved it im now doing a reveiw on it for a school assignment but i have lost my copy...
- PlanningQueen: I have heard goog things about Breaking Bad and it is on my list to check it out.
- Snoskred: I am a huge fan of Breaking Bad awesome show!
