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Archive for the ‘Children’s Books’ Category

Dale E. Basye–Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go (2008) [audiobook 2010–Bronson Pinchot]

Posted in Adventure, Audiobooks, Boredom, Bronson Pinchot, Children's Books, Dale E. Bayse, Death, Demons, Fears, Goths, Supernatural, Yuck! on December 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: December 2015] Heck

heckI read this book several years ago.  I remember enjoying it but not loving it.  But when we were looking for an audio book and I saw that this was narrated by Bronson Pinchot, I knew we had to listen to it.  And the kids liked it a lot (although Tabby didn’t love the ending, which is sad, but is more of a set up for volume 2).

The premise of the book is that Heck is where you go when you die if you’re under 18.  They’re not quite sure where you’re going to wind up, so you have to go through Heck, which is basically school, until they can sort out which layer of Hell you’re going to wind up in.  Needless to say Heck is full of bad kids (and bad demons).

Our two bad kids are Milton and Marlo Fauster.  Marlo is a troublemaker from way back.  She is a petty thief and is always up to no good.  Milton is a good kid.  He never did anything bad in his life, and he always gets abuse from Marlo.  As the book opens, Milton and Marlo are sprinting down the corridor of a mall where Marlo has just stolen something. She is planning on wreaking havoc with Grizzly Mall’s centerpiece: The State’s Second-Largest Bear-Themed Marshmallow Statue (that cracked me up).

The kids run to the center of the mall where they are cornered by security.  Marlo is trying to think of an escape plan when Milton notices his classmate Damian.  Damian torments Milton every chance he can get.  And now, he is standing at the top of the marshmallow bear with matches.  Milton also notices a fuse sticking out of the bear.

One explosion later, the kids find themselves no longer attached to their bodies, as they are rapidly sliding down to Heck.  Marlo deserves to be there, she’s a bad egg.  But what about Milton?  It turns out that Marlo had slipped an item into Milton’s backpack, and therefore he technically stole something as well.  A technicality but true nonetheless.

The rest of the book shows the kids in their gender-segregated classes.  The boys learn physical education from Blackbeard the pirate and ethics from Richard Nixon (the Nixon bits were hilarious, and yet I can’t imagine many kids getting the jokes).  The girls, meanwhile, learn home ec from Lizzy Borden (do kids know who that is?) and singing from an angel who is on a teacher exchange program. (more…)

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E. L. Konigsburg–From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968) [audiobook 1995–Jill Clayburgh]

Posted in Adventure, Art, Children's Books, E. L. Konigsburg, Funny (ha ha), Jill Clayburgh, Smarty Pants, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Travel, Word usage on December 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

mixeduop[LISTENED TO: December 2015] From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler 

I was sure that I had read this book.  I have a copy of it and I knew the premise, but clearly, after listening to this audio book (at Sarah’s suggestion) I learned that I had not.  And the book was awesome.  All four of us enjoyed it a lot.

The story was great, but it may have had to do with Jill Clayburgh’s reading.  I don’t really know anything about her and at first I wasn’t convinced that two kids from suburban Connecticut would have such strong New York accents, but they really worked.  Especially when the kids started fighting and she had subtle distinctions between Claudia and Jaime.

Of course, the book itself is masterful.  But there’s some really unusual choices in the book, which made me wonder how good it would be.  It begins with a letter from Mrs Frankweiler to her lawyer, Saxonberg, (a rip-roaring intro to a kids book, eh?).  This introductory device sets up the story in which Mrs Frankweiler tells the story of Claudia and Kincaid’s adventures in New York City.  And it works wonderfully. (more…)

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Mark Tatulli–Desmond Pucket and the Mountain Full of Monsters (2013)

Posted in C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Mariachi El Bronx, Mark Tatulli, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampires, Yuck! on December 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 puckettSOUNDTRACK: MARIACHI EL BRONX-Tiny Desk Concert #226 (June 21 2012).

bronx Mariachi El Bronx is an L.A. based band which plays Mariachi music.  They wear the full mariachi outfit (suits with great designs on them) and have traditional instruments.

According to Felix Contreras, NPR’s Alt Latino dude, their mariachi is quite authentic.  The biggest surprise to me is that the band started as a punk band.  So the lead singer is a bald Caucasian fellow and the accordionist has red hair!  That obviously doesn’t matter, it’s just surprising, especially since their music feels like the genuine article.

They play three songs,

  • “Revolution Girls”
  • “Everything Dies”
  • “Norteño Lights”

And they have trumpets playing, a great violin solo on the first track and the big fat bass instrument on all the songs.  Mariachi is pretty much always fun, and this is no exception.

[READ: December 5, 2015] Desmond Pucket and the Mountain Full of Monsters

This sequel to the first Desmond Pucket book pushes Desmond’s love for scaring people (and making monsters) to a logical extreme.  But it also adds a romantic interest and a back story for his nemesis, Mr Needles.

I said that the first book surprised me with its ending, but there weren’t too many surprises in this one.

The book begins with Desmond showing us his Top Secret Master Plan, which involves giving Tina Schimsky a note asking if she’ll go on the Mountain Full of Monsters Ride during the school trip.

But before he can get her the note, class bully Scot Seltzer steals it.  We get a brief story about how Desmond and Scott used to be good friends and how they became enemies (which is pretty funny).   He gets the note back, but when he gets to Crab Shell Pier and is ready to put his plan into action, he is grabbed my Mr Needles, the school disciplinarian. (more…)

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James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost–Gryphons Aren’t So Great (2015)

Posted in Adventure, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Andrew Arnold, Children's Books, First Second :01, Flaco Jimenez, Funny (ha ha), Horses, James Sturm, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert on December 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

gryphosnSOUNDTRACK: FLACO JIMENEZ-Tiny Desk Concert #250 (November 12, 2012).

flacoFlaco Jimenez has been playing button accordion for almost six decades.  He’s played with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Los Lobos, Willie Nelson and Ry Cooder.  His grandfather started playing an accordion in cantinas and family parties along the Texas/Mexican border around the late 1800s. Then Flaco’s dad, Santiago Jimenez Sr., carried on the family tradition when he released his first record in 1936.

The accordion that Flaco uses is so tiny and yet he is all over the place with it–fingers flying everywhere.  The NPR site describes his longevity as lying in the short bursts of improvisation in between verses.  He will actually not playing anything for a measure and then fly when it’s his turn.   He is accompanied by bajo sexto player Max Baca, who keeps a great rhythm and accompaniment.

They play three songs.

  • “Margarita”  was written by Flaco’s dad in “nineteen hundred and throw it away.”
  • “La Paloma”  is a fun instrumental.
  • “Cada Vez Que Cae La Tarde”  sounds German (many of these original melodies were but they had changed the lyrics to Spanish).

Before this final song he asks if they want a honky tonk (he plays a little riff), but he changes his mind and says lets polka.

[READ: December 9, 2015] Gryphons Aren’t So Great

I hadn’t kept up on my plan to read all of the First Second books, so as the year draws to an end, I decided to grab a few of the kids books, which I figured would be quick and would allow me to check off a few on the list (since they keep publishing more, I have to keep up).

I found two books by the creators of Adventures in Cartooning, a series of book which I haven’t read but which look like a lot of fun.

These two books are tiny graphic stories for very little kids–the art and story are very simple.  And they are both really fun.

Gryphons Aren’t So Great continues the story of the knight (actually the two stories are completely separate and can be read in either order).  As this story opens, the knight is riding Edward super fast down a hill.  When they get to the end…they jump! (more…)

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James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost–Sleepless Knight (2015)

Posted in Adventure, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Andrew Arnold, Children's Books, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Horses, James Sturm, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert on December 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

knights SOUNDTRACK: RENAUD GARCIA-FONS-Tiny Desk Concert #238 (August 27, 2012).

renaudRenaud Garcia-Fons plays the double bass.  He was born in France to a family with roots in the Catalonia region of Spain, and he’s fluent in French, Spanish and English.  He easily switches between classical, jazz and flamenco.  And he plays the double bass in a way that I’ve never seen before.  As “Aqua Jan” opens he is tapping the strings with his bow, creating a very cool hammering effect and what sounds like very fast picking (but with a bow).  Then the song switches to a more traditional bowing style and Renaud’s fingering is amazing to watch.  He returns briefly back to the bouncing bow at the end.

The second song is “Hacia Compostela.”  Compostela is a holy place in the north of Spain.  It is a song about going to holy city.  He opens the song with some harmonics (which he loops).  It never occurred to me you could do harmonics on a double bass.  And then he’s on to some lovely fretless bass playing.  Then it’s on to some more bowing–very high-pitched and almost electronic sounding–it’s very cool.   Back to some incredibly fast bowing and amazing finger work.  The loops (I’m not sure when he was recording them, but they kept changing), add some great bass notes and some sort of percussive elements too).

The final song, “Rock Wandering” he introduces as saying that since most of you are standing, I w ill play something that is dancing.

It opens with more of that tapping style (and feels like rock chords the way he plays it).  He makes them looping backing chords as he just goes to town with the virtuoso playing on the strings.  He gives any guitarist a run for his money on the solos.  It’s astonish to watch.

[READ: December 9, 2015] Sleepless Knight

I hadn’t kept up on my plan to read all of the First Second books, so as the year draws to an end, I decided to grab a few of the kids books, which I figured would be quick and would allow me to check off a few on the list (since they keep publishing more, I have to keep up).

I found two books by the creators of Adventures in Cartooning, a series of book which I haven’t read but which look like a lot of fun.

These two books are tiny graphic stories for very little kids–the art and story are very simple.  And they are both really fun.

Sleepless Knight is the story of the knight (who is a little stick figure kinda guy with a knight’s helmet on) and his horse Edward.  As the story opens they are planning for the best camping trip ever!

Poor Edward is laden down with so much stuff (including a cactus and a scooter).  And while the knights considers that maybe he over packed, it doesn’t stop him from filing up a huge sack full of stuff.

After a brief hike, they stop to camp (the visual joke is very funny). (more…)

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Ben Hatke–Julia’s House for Lost Creatures (2014)

Posted in Avi Avital, Ben Hatke, Children's Books, Ernest Bloch, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Short Books, Tiny Desk Concert on December 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

juiaSOUNDTRACK: AVI AVITAL-Tiny Desk Concert #239 (September 12, 2012).

aviAvi Avital plays a mandolin. But he doesn’t ply bluegrass. Indeed, much like the Punch Brothers covering Debussy, Avital uses the mandolin to play more classical type of music.  He is the first mandolinist to be nominated for a Grammy in the Best Instrumental Soloist category.

He has had this mandolin for about thirteen years and he loves it.  He has been using the same Israel lutier since he was 17, exchanging them until he found this one.  And he can really play the heck out of it.

He plays only two songs in the ten minute concert, but they really showcase his skills.

“Nigun” was written by Ernest Bloch in 1923 for violin and piano.  NPR says Avital’s arrangement, like the original, pivots between the ecstatic and the introspective, rising in intensity (and pitch) until finally disappearing in a mist of quietly plucked notes.  If you think of the mandolin as just strumming along to pop songs, you’ll be blown away by this.  He plays notes that I suspect were never meant to be played…sliding all the way down to the highest high notes on the highest strings.  I don’t know that it sounds better than a violin, but it is pretty neat.

“Bucimis” is a raucous Bulgarian folk tune in the odd meter of 15/16. “It’s almost 4/4, but not quite,” he says. “I can play it, but I can’t dance it.”  This song is absolutely wild, especially at the end.  While the first song was pretty, this song showcases just what you can do with a mandolin.  It’s intense.

[READ: June 19, 2013] Julia’s House for Lost Creatures

I don’t normally write about kids picture books (if I did my whole blog would be about them as we read so many).  But this one gets a special mention because a) it was published by First Second and b) I love Ben Hatke’s drawing style so much.

This is a delightful story which you have to start on the title page.  It shows a giant turtle with a huge house on its back.  And on the next page the text says “Julia’s house came to town.”

Julia puts in a mailbox and settles in by the sea. (more…)

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George O’Connor–Olympians 1-6 [Zeus, Athena, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Aphrodite] (2010-2014)

Posted in Adventure, Aphrodite, Athena, C., Children's Books, Cyclops, Death, End of the World, Fears, Feminism, First Second :01, George O'Connor, Graphic Novel, Hades, Hera, Heracles, Homer, Minotaur, Myths, PJ Harvey, Poseidon, Religion, Series, Supernatural, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Torres, Violence, Zeus on November 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

olymmp SOUNDTRACK: TORRES-Tiny Desk Concert #461 (August 10, 2015).

torresI’ve really enjoyed a lot about Torres’ music this year.  Mackenzie Scott has an interesting delivery which reminds me of certain aspects of PJ Harvey, and her songs are angry but measured.

Her songs seem to have a lot of low-end in them (without being bass heavy exactly–in fact in this Tiny Desk, there is no bassist).  And her singing voice is often rather low (and sometimes growly).  There’s a moment in the first song “New Skin” in which the music drops out and then Mackenzie Scott starts playing her guitar anew and it’s a sound unlike any in the song before (even though she has been playing all along).

Guitarist Cameron Kapoor adds cool sounds to what I think is her best song, “A Proper Polish Welcome.”  Erin Manning provides wonderful harmony vocals along with keyboards on this song which is as powerful as it is understated.  The song gives me chills.

“The Harshest Light” is a slow song that has glimpses of light as she sings slightly higher notes in the chorus.  And when her voice breaks near the end, you can hear the intensity in her singing.

It’s a great three song set that only leaves you wanting more.

I had resisted getting this album, but realizing just how good these songs are might tip the tables to a purchase.

[READ: Summer 2015] Olympians 1-6

While I imagined that I might read all of the First Second books this year, I paused about mid way through (more for me next year).  But one of the last things I read from First Second was this series of outstanding mythologies about the Greek Olympians.  It also turned out that a few years back I got these books for C., not realizing they were under the First Second imprint.  I was intrigued by them then, but I’m really glad that I read them now.

George O’Connor is a massive geek and Greek scholar.  He has done lots of research for these books, including going to Greece and visiting sites and antiquities as well as comparing all manner of ancient stories to compile the most interesting pieces. He explains that since these stories were orally passed down, they were modified over the years.  He doesn’t change the myths, he merely picks the story lines that are most interesting to him.  And then he adds a lot of humorous modern touches (and dialogue) which keep it from being at all stuffy.

O Connor’s drawing style is also inspired by superhero comics, so his stories are presented in a way that seems much more like a super hero than a classical hero, which is also kind of fun.

Each book ends with an author’s note which is hugely informative and gives plenty of context.  It also has a bibliography, but more importantly, it has a list of notes about certain panels.  Do not skip these notes!  In addition to providing a lot of insight into the myths of the characters themselves, there are a lot of funny comments like “Greeks raced in the nude (point and laugh)” which really bring new depths to the stories. (more…)

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Jeff Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School [#10] (2015)

Posted in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Children's Books, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Jeff Kinney, Khaira Arby, Nostalgia, Parenting, Poo, Short Books, Technology, Tiny Desk Concert, Toilets, Yuck! on November 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

 schoololsSOUNDTRACK: KHAIRA ARBY-Tiny Desk Concert #94 (November 29, 2010).

khairaA year ago I would have said I know nothing about music from Mali, but the shows at NPR have given me a greater appreciation of it.  And, while I wouldn’t say I’d have been able to pick this out as music from Mali, I definitely recognized the style of the what I’m going to call fiddly guitar that seems to be prominent in Mali music.

You can really hear how good guitarist Drahmane Toure is with the way he keeps up the constant soloing and fiddly bits.  It brings a cool distinctive sound to the otherwise steady rhythm from the bass and percussion (which looks like a beautifully carved salad bowl covered in duct tape).

The rest of the band includes an acoustic guitar, a bass backing singers and some other instrument that i can’t figure out.

Of course, this show is meant to celebrate singer Khaira Arby, the queen of desert rock.  And she is fine.  I don’t really have much to say about her.  She sings perfectly for this music, and sounds almost more like a prayerful singer than a professional one.

[READ: December 27, 2013] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School

Clark said that this book was the best Wimpy Kid yet (a claim he has made before, so this must be really great).  My story about this book is that I knew the cover was black and I know basically what the back cover looks like, so when we saw Age of Ultron this summer, imagine my surprise to see that the boy was reading this book (which didn’t come out until last week).  Movies are magic.

Anyhow, this book begins in September with some hilarious snark about “the good old days.”  I love Greg’s reaction, “I think they’re just jealous because MY generation has all this fancy technology and stuff they didn’t have growing up.”  And now Greg’s mom’s big kick is to get everyone to unplug.  To unplug and reconnect with the community. (more…)

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Jeff Kinney–Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul [#9] (2014)

Posted in Babies, Children's Books, Davíð Þór Jónsson, Family Frolic, Family Fun, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Jeff Brown, Jeff Kinney, Olof Arnalds, Parenting, Pets, Pigs, Short Books, Summer, Tiny Desk Concert, Vacation, Video Games, Walt Disney World, Yuck! on November 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

longSOUNDTRACK: OLOF ARNALDS-Tiny Desk Concert #93 (November 22, 2010).

olof Olof Arnalds is from Iceland and she sings in Icelandic.  She sings a kind of experimental folk, although in this Tiny Desk it is just her and a partner, Davíð Þór Jónsson, playing acoustic guitars.

And playing acoustic guitars keeps these songs pretty grounded.    Arnalds is a classically trained violinist, but she sticks to guitar on two of the tracks.

“Innundir Skinni” is a beautiful melody and our first exposure to Arnald’s voice, which is certainly unconventional.  Her voice is quite high and really rather lovely, just more Icelandic than Western.  Although even though she sings in Icelandic, anyone can sing along to the “la la la” part.

On “Surrender” she plays a churango made from an armadillo shell.  It brings a beautiful delicateness to this song.  I love the staccato chorus

“Crazy Car” sung in English as a duet, in which their accents and non-English delivery (especially Davíð’s) is most notable. The end, when she sings a different vocal melody is lovely.

Her voice might be off-putting to some, but I always like to hear someone with a bit of character.

[READ: November 10, 2015] Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

This has been my favorite Wimpy Kid book so far.   I tend to like the ones that focus on a single long event and the whole family more than lots of little episodes at school.  So this book, which follows the Heffley family on a summer road trip was perfect for me.

I also love the way Kinney taps into real things but modifies them just enough to make them somehow even funnier.  Like the way he creates the magazine Family Frolic (but uses the font of Family Fun magazine) and describes it perfectly–showing idealized family moments which no family can ever hope to recreate.   There’s also the hilarious way that trying to surprise kids with a trip can backfire (Manny is so excited to visit their aunt, that they have to delay their real trip to Disney World).

I also enjoyed the use of Flat Stanley (from the book by Jeff Brown) and the hilarious way he changed Captain Underpants to Underpants Bandits (by Mik Davies, rather than Dv Pilkey) which allowed him to make his own underwear jokes. (more…)

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Christopher Healy–The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw (Book III of The Hero’s Guide) (2014) [audiobook 2014–Bronson Pinchot]

Posted in Adventure, Big Books, Bronson Pinchot, Children's Books, Christopher Healy, Demons, End of the World, Fables, Fantasy, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Humiliation, Supernatural, Trilogy on November 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2014] The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw

outlawThis audio book was ten hours long.  We listened to it on a long car trip (from New Jersey to Canada).

I wasn’t quite sure how the title of this book would make sense since the heroes are heroes after all.  But we quickly learn that all of the good guys have been accused of killing Briar Rose (they didn’t even know she was dead!).  And her father has put a bounty on all of our heroes: Prince Frederic, Prince Gustav, Prince Liam, and Prince Duncan and Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Princess Lila.

Of course, it shouldn’t take anyone long to determine that there has been a nasty plot afoot and that someone from their past has some pretty evil plans to attend to.

However, the way the story is written–with each character getting his or her hilarious chapter–it does take a little time before the truth comes out.  But it takes only a few pages before the scary news comes out–Rundark, Warlord of Dar is back, and he is angry.  Well, he was always angry, but I suspect he’s even more angry. (more…)

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