Super Six! {Take Two}

Bewitched Bookworms is back with a new Super Six Sunday linky:

Six books that make you laugh!

Jennifer Cruisie is about the funniest author out there.  And her funniest, by far, was Wild Ride.  Written with her sometimes co-author Bob Mayer, Wild Ride is totally different than her other books.  Maybe that's why I find it the most memorable.  Definitely anything by Jennifer Cruisie is worth the time - I know I'll be laughing out loud.

Speaking of laughing out loud, Meg Cabot's books are also guaranteed to get me going!  The Boy Next Door, the first book I ever read by Ms. Cabot, remains my favorite!  Written entirely in emails between the characters, I read it in one night and have re-read it twice since then.  (Which is a huge thing; I almost never re-read books!)

 Another favorite author is Sophie Kinsella.  Wedding Night almost caused me to get into an accident - I was laughing so hard as I listened to it in my car. 




As for kids' book that make me giggle, it's hard to narrow the choices down to just three!

My favorite read alouds that keep the kids in stitches are Lois Lowry's All About Sam and Roald Dahl's The Witches.  I defy you to read either of these books aloud and not have to stop to wipe a tear!  The best part is listening to the kids laugh - every class loves both of these books!

Finally my suggestion to nearly every student who asks for a funny book is most often Mudshark by Gary Paulsen.  So cleverly written, especially the subplot narrated by the principal at the beginning of each chapter.





I can't wait to add to my TBR pile for the summer when I check out everyone else's books over at bewitched bookworms!  Check it out!

Half Price Books and 2 New Fairy Tales

Today I went to Half-Price Books.  I really need to stay out of there... but some days I just can't resist.  Turns out,  today was a great day to give into my craving for cheap and new books; HPB has massive amounts of kids' clearance tables out right now!!  I do want it on the record that I did not buy any adult fiction for myself - even though that cart was calling my name, and there were at least three books that caught my eye and tried to come home with me.  I was strong.  I will not go back.  Maybe.

Anyway, by the end of my hour in the store, I had amassed a collection of about fifteen new-to-my-library books and three or four that I just needed one (or three) more copies of for my classroom library.  (I can't seem to keep copies of Love That Dog on my shelves!  I can't imagine that kids are that much in love with it; when they review it, most of them tell me it's about a boy whose dog dies.  Um... and??)

Falling for Rapunzel 

Leah Wilcox 

illustrated by Lydia Menks

December 2005

Two of the new stories I brought home fit in with my fairy tale unit, and I read them right away.   FALLING FOR RAPUNZEL by Leah Wilcox is a delightful picture book illustrated by Lydia Menks.  Written in a sing-song rhyme that lends itself to oral reading, it tells of a Rapunzel who is overheard whining about a bad hair day.  The prince mistakenly thinks she is wishing to be rescued and calls up to her to 'throw down your hair!'  Being so far away, Rapunzel can't quite hear the prince and instead throws down her underwear!  The mistakes continue with hilarious consequences.  

What kid doesn't love a book in which underwear lands on some poor guy's head?  I know the 5th graders will get a giggle out of this book.  I'm only sad that I should wait until next spring to share it!  This was a super fun book with silly pictures to go along with it.  

         

Cinderella (as if you didn't already know the story)

written and illustrated by Barbara Ensor

July 2011

This second fairy tale was cute, too.  Barbara Ensor has rewritten the original Cinderella with some endearing twists.  At about 113 pages, this story is perfect for young readers who like predictable text and are ready for a short chapter book.  

In CINDERELLA (AS IF YOU DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW THE STORY), the poor young maid writes letters to her recently deceased mother.  Through her letters, we learn more about Cinderella's thought and emotions that we are usually given.

The illustrations are black and white silhouettes that are cleverly created and positioned on the pages.  Paired with crazy and fun fonts, the overall look of this book drew me in as much as the story. 

This would be a great book to compare with the original.  The differences are few but really change the reader's understanding of the characters' motivation.  Perhaps a good old-fashioned Venn?  I think I will create a center with the Venn cards already created and let the students sort them. (Hula Hoops - here I come!) It'll be interesting to see who are my careful readers; these two books are quite similar.  Students who don't read carefully could be misled by the nuances.

                                                        

Buy Falling for Rapunzel at Barnes & Noble

Buy Cinderella (as if you didn't already know the story) at Barnes & Nobel

 

               

Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It

Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It

False Apology Poems

by Gail Carson Levine

Matthew Cordell (illustrator)

March 2012

From the book:

"This Is Just to Say

If you're looking

for an nice

happy book

put this one down 

and run away 

quickly

Forgive me

sweetness

and good cheer

are boring

Inspired by William Carlos Williams’s famous poem ”This Is Just to Say,” Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine delivers a wickedly funny collection of her own false apology poems, imagining how tricksters really feel about the mischief they make. Matthew Cordell’s clever and playful line art lightheartedly captures the spirit of the poetry. This is the perfect book for anyone who’s ever apologized . . . and not really meant it."

Each year my 5th graders complete a poetry book.  But at my school, they have done all the formula poems (haiku, cinquain, etc.) in third grade, so I just focus on word choice, figurative language and playing with English.  By the end of the unit (done in April - National Poetry Month), each student has written over a dozen poems and created a cover page which I bind into a keepsake book.  And every year, the best poems are by students who don't get a lot of chance to feel successful!  It's a huge hit.

FORGIVE ME, I MEANT TO DO IT is a great addition to that unit.  The poems I love best are from the point of view of a literary character, like this one:

 This Is Just to Say

I have shortened 

my nose

with your saw

because

honestly

telling lies

is so much fun

Forgive me

I don't care

about becoming

a real boy

Super clever, right?  I know!

I love, love, love the pencil drawings that go with each poem, but the best part of the whole book is the cleverly place Introduction in which Ms. Levine persuades readers to become writers of their own false apology poems!  And isn't that what we all strive for?  Genius.

Buy it now at Barnes & Noble

Mudshark

Mudshark

Gary Paulsen

May 2009

Mudshark is cool.  He doesn't mean to be cool; he just is.  Lightning quick reflexes and a photographic memory have made Mudshark a legend in his own time.   His fellow students know he is the go to guy for missing items - Mudshark always knows where they are!  When the school's supply of erasers start to go missing, the principal is desperate and, naturally, turns to Mudshark for help with this school wide mystery.  With help from his friends and a strange new addition to the school library, Mudshark works diligently to put things to right again. 

Laugh out loud funny, Mudshark should be on everyone's must read list!  Slightly too hard for most of my fifth graders to read alone, I read it aloud and they love, love, loved it!  The language is perfect for a read aloud - lots of sarcasm that would be lost on most children if they didn't hear it out loud.  I have taught this book as a small group novel, but it really worked better as a read aloud.

Buy it now at Barnes & Noble.