Why did I include the Grandma diagram? So you could get an idea of David Walliams' zany humor. Here's the premise. Ben has to spend one night a week at his Granny's. When he was little, he liked it, for Granny told rip roaring stories.Now, the only thing that "rips" is Granny. (She eats a lot of cabbage).Then Ben discovers that Granny isn't the Granny he thought he knew. She's an international jewel thief, and her next heist is going to to be the Crown Jewels.
It's a Middle Grade read, but a good read aloud for 1st grade up.

Two for One!

One book for Facetime and one for middle grade kids who say they don’t like to read.

First,

Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie

by Jon Stewart

Maybe the author, Jon Stewart, didn’t intend to write about bullies, but that’s how I read it. Dexter, the perfect name for someone being bullied, knocks himself out entertaining the Big blue Beastie. He has to, because the BBB is bored, and when he’s bored…he’s hungry! What I liked about this book was the fact the BBB has to look inside himself to find out what he really needs, which is, a friend.

Next,

Sea of Trolls

By Nancy Farmer

Shape-shifters, berserkers and trolls! A girl Viking fiercer than any warrior and a farm boy filled with magic he has yet to tame. They go on a quest to Jötunheimr , where they must battle monsters and the dark parts of their selves. (Hmm, I think I have a theme going with these books.)
I have now read every book by Nancy Farmer and am awed by the worlds she creates.
No surprise that she’s won…the National Book Award, been a Newbery Honor winner three times, and a Printz Honor winner.

I am thankful for good books!
Here is another...

Hippo! No, Rhino! 
Jeff Newman
An absent minded zookeeper posts the wrong sign outside Rhino’s cage. Poor Rhino suffers heroically as one visitor after another mistakes him for hippo. Finally, 
a wayward schoolboy sets things straight. There are few words here, but with engaging artwork like this, who needs them?

Stick by Andy Pritchett.
I count 6 words. I see 27 pages, crayola colored and dotted with dialogue bubbles. I see a dog with a stick, a cow, a chicken, worm, pig, and guess what, another dog. I think you get the plot, don’t you? So will your child, even if he’s thousands of miles away. The artwork and simple story appeals even when it’s on a computer screen. Oh, and if you have a beginning reader, this is great pick. (Remember, I said there are only 6 words.)

A surprise for monster lovers!

I just read this in the Smitthsonian magazine. I thought,
"Perfect for my monster lovers!"

An artist’s rendition of Acrotholus audeti. Photo: Julius Csotonyi
What’s 90 pounds, six feet long and has an adorable little bone-cased bump for a head? No, not Cubone. It’s this newly discovered dinosaur, Acrotholus audeti, which was dug up recently in the Canadian province of Alberta.
Like the dinosaur havens of the mountainous west, from Montana and Idaho to Utah and Arizona, Alberta is practically stuffed with dinosaur fossils. But by digging around in the the Milk River Formation in southern Alberta—a region traditionally not known for loads of fossils—researchers found something new: the dome-headed skull of Acrotholus audeti. Dated to 85 million years ago, this is the oldest-known North American member (and maybe the oldest in the world) of the big family of bone-headed dinosaurs.

The little dinosaur was an herbivore and, other than the occasional headbutt, might have been pretty cool to hang around. But more than just being a neat little dinosaur, says Discover, the finding is a hint that little dinosaurs may have been way more common than we think.
Most dinosaur finds are of the bigger brethren: big bones are less likely to get picked over and crushed by scavengers or destroyed by time. But, with their big-boned heads strong enough to survive the trials of millions of years, dinosaurs like Acrotholus audeti are helping paleontologists flesh out the record of little dinosaurs. The new find, says the Canadian Press, “ touched off further investigation that suggested the world’s dinosaur population was more diverse than once believed.”

Visit to Gouge Primary in Bakersville, NC

Just paste this link to see the fabulous drawings and descriptive paragraphs

http://readthiswnc.blogspot.com/

This is the drawing one of the students, Alexis, made of me. I am flattered!

Break rules when writing a book! Did I just say that? I did. R.A. Spratt shows how, and how to do it well. I’ve been told there are three types of books. Character-driven, plot-driven and dystopian. The Many Adventures of Nanny Piggins doesn’t fit any of them. One, Nanny Piggins’ character doesn’t change, not a little bit. Suspense doesn’t build, and each chapter is the same. (They are all hilariously funny.) Nanny’s brought into the Green Household as an emergency nanny. Unlike Mary Poppin’s whose heart swells with love for the children, Nanny’s heart swells at the sight of chocolate. Luckily, her chocolate appetite serves the children well and leads them from one crazy scheme to another.

PS Dan Santat’s artwork make me laugh out loud.