Bayou Vol 1 by Jeremy Love

by Carol11 Comments
Bayou Vol 1 by Jeremy Love I don't read many graphic novels, but after seeing reading wonderful reviews I couldn't resist this one. The heroine of the story is Lee, a young black girl living in Mississippi in the 1930's. She lives with her father a sharecropper until the day when Lee's white playmate  disappears in the Bayou. Lee's father is accused and put in jail, and it's up to Lee to find Lily and prove her father's innocence. The horrors Lee has to face are real, racism, hatred, lynchings, but they're also mythical, magical. The monsters are real, some terrifying, some helpful. This is where, if I'm honest I kind of got lost in the swamp myself. Jeremy Love says in an interview that the story leaves the real world  and "we then move to the world of Dixie. Dixie is a strange Southern neverland that exists parallel to our own. The world was formed from the blood,...
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But the wolves say

by Carol11 Comments
"But the wolves say that Man's first gift is imagination. And that is a kind of sight. They say that some of the humans have even flown with the birds of the air in their imaginations and dived with the mighty blue whale to the very depths of the deepest seas. But it is at the altar that you could find out." (pg. 341, The Sight by David Clement-Davies) I'm probably going to start this later today. Talking animals are not usually my choice, but it's for a discussion in one of my on-line reading groups, so I want to at least give it a chance. Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers. I...
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Alphabet Woof! by Sherrie A. Madia

by Carol1 Comment
Alphabet Woof! by Sherrie A. Madia, illustrated by Patrick Carlson (Suggested age range: pre-school - grade 2. It's a nice one to read aloud.) I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the PBS cartoon Martha Speaks, but when I read the summary of this picture that's exactly what I though of. I mean really, how often do dogs gain the ability to speak by drinking soup. That's were the similarity ends though. Moxie, the dog in Alphabet Woof! talks a lot, about everything and anything. "You know BONES," he began, "may not be ideal. I mean, sure, they're delicious, but are they a meal?..." This started another long session of noise. Of collars, the mailman, and his most-loved chew toys. ( pg.15) Eventually, Moxy gets his fifteen minutes of fame,but in the end Moxy and the reader remembers that those you love and who love you are the ones who really matter. It's a cute, rhyming story, with bright illustrations.  I read it with...
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Game Night – Infinite City

by Carol2 Comments
First, a reminder. I have a game giveaway going on, one copy of Rowboat. Enter here. Infinite City Designers Brent Keith Manufacturer: Alderac Entertainment Group Artist: Charles Urbach Players: 2 - 6 Time: 45 minutes Ages: 10 and up We played this game twice last weekend. One of our friends brought it up to the cabin with him, but since he's from out of town I'm not sure when the next I'll get to play it is and I wanted to write my thoughts while it was fresh in my mind. Here's the blurb. Sometimes, the whole theme of the game is easy to tell from the part and rules, sometimes it isn't. I think this is one of those half and half times. The architects of the future have drawn inspiration from every age. The cities of the future grow as quickly as the population demands and stretch endless miles. Control of the Infinite City means power and wealth but the...
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Winners!

by Carol6 Comments
Congratulations to the two winners of Tracy Anderson's 30-Day Method by Tracy Anderson. Lori Barnes angela I hope you find Anderson's method useful. I think she's got a lot of great stuff in there. I'll be e-mailing you shortly. I just need your mailing address to pass on to the publisher....
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The Bremen Town Musicians by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

by Carol6 Comments
"The Bremen Town Musicians" by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Today's story features four old animals, a donkey, a dog, a cat and a crow. All are going to be killed by their respective masters because they are too old or tired to do their jobs in the household. The donkey is the first animal. He decides that he will run away and be a town musician in Bremen. Along the way, he meets the other critters and they each join him. The friends stop for the night and find a little house, who's light gives them the hope of a warm place to sleep and a bite to eat. Looking in the window, though, the donkey sees that, while the table is covered with good things to eat, the house is filled with robbers. The animals come up with a plan and stand at the window, each on top of the other as in the statue above. When this was done, at a given...
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