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Mailbox Monday #452

November 6, 2017 by

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog. To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links. Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Martha, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what my daughter received from her school book fair:

Owl Diaries: Eva’s Treetop Festival by Rebecca Elliott

This adorable early chapter book series is perfect for young girls who love friendship stories starring animal characters!This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Eva Wingdale gets in over her head when she offers to organize a spring festival at school. Even with her best friend Lucy’s help, there is NO way she will get everything done in time. Will Eva have to ask Sue (a.k.a. Meanie McMeanerson) for help? Or will the festival have to be cancelled? This book is written as Eva’s diary.

Owl Diaries: Eva Sees a Ghost by Rebecca Elliott

Is there a ghost in Treetopolis? Eva sure thinks so!

This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

In this second book in the series, Eva sees a ghost! Or at least, she thinks she does . . . With her friend Lucy by her side, Eva goes in search of the ghost. Eek!

Owl Diaries: A Woodland Wedding by Rebecca Elliott

This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Eva’s teacher, Miss Featherbottom, is getting married. All of her students have been invited to the wedding. And Eva starts a Secret Wedding Planners Club! But before Miss Featherbottom walks down the aisle, her necklace goes missing. Eva wants to help! She quickly turns her Wedding Planners Club into a Detectives Club. Can Eva track down the missing necklace before Miss Featherbottom’s wedding is ruined?

Owl Diaries: Eva and the New Owl by Rebecca Elliott

Pick a book. Grow a Reader! This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow! In book #4, a new owl named Hailey starts in Eva’s class at school. Eva is always happy to meet new people, and she’s excited to make a new friend! But the new owl befriends Lucy instead of her. So Eva gets jealous. Lucy is Eva’s best friend! Will Eva lose her best friend? Or can Eva and Lucy BOTH make a new friend?

Pet Charms: Here, Kitty, Kitty by Amy Edgar, illustrated by Jomike Tejido

In this Level 2 reader series, a magic charm bracelet lets Molly speak to animals! In the third book, Molly’s bracelet is missing! Molly and her best friend, Lexie, look everywhere for it. Also, the girls notice that Molly’s pet cat, Stella, isn’t acting like herself. They are worried about her. But without Molly’s bracelet, Stella can’t tell Molly what’s wrong. Can Molly find the bracelet in time to help Stella? There is a cute, cuddly surprise in the end! *A real charm bracelet is packed with each book in this magical series!*

Runny Rabbit Returns by Shel Silverstein

Runny Babbit Returns, a collection of 41 never-before-published poems and drawings, features Runny and other woodland characters who speak a topsy-turvy language all their own.

This carefully compiled work from the Silverstein archives is filled with spoonerism poems that are both playful and poignant. With tongue-twisting word play and uproarious characters, the endearingly befuddled Runny Babbit and his friends embody Shel Silverstein’s singular style, the one we all know and love.

Fans of all ages won’t want to miss their chance to follow their favorite Runny in this book of laugh-out-loud adventures!

Creepy Pair of Underwear! by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown

Jasper Rabbit is NOT a little bunny anymore. He’s not afraid of the dark, and he’s definitely not afraid of something as silly as underwear. But when the lights go out, suddenly his new big rabbit underwear glows in the dark. A ghoulish, greenish glow. If Jasper didn’t know any better he’d say his undies were a little, well, creepy. Jasper’s not scared obviously, he’s just done with creepy underwear. But after trying everything to get rid of them, they keep coming back!

What I received and reviewed — forgot to post in last MM:

A Vintage Victory: Memories of Old Antique Shop Book 2 by Cat Gardiner

** Book 2 in the Memories of Old Antique Shop Series **

A romantic, modern/20th Century Pride & Prejudice-inspired novelette honoring Memorial Day.

Charles Bingley is suffering from cold feet as his wedding day approaches. Can his new friend, Will Darcy help him to stay the course or will he dissuade him? Perhaps their trip to Memories of Old antique shop will help the young man find his missing spine. Perhaps Will may also come to learn a few things about love.

Travel back in time to WWII with Will and Charlie where love for their sweethearts, their friendship and their honor carry them through battle, making them the bravest of men.

What did you receive?

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254th Virtual Poetry Circle

May 17, 2014 by

Welcome to the 254th Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s book suggested.

Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Today’s poem is from Shel Silverstein:

Dirty Face

Where did you get such a dirty face,
My darling dirty-faced child?

I got it from crawling along in the dirt
And biting two buttons off Jeremy’s shirt.
I got it from chewing the roots of a rose
And digging for clams in the yard with my nose.
I got it from peeking into a dark cave
And painting myself like a Navajo brave.
I got it from playing with coal in the bin
And signing my name in cement with my chin.
I got if from rolling around on the rug
And giving the horrible dog a big hug.
I got it from finding a lost silver mine
And eating sweet blackberries right off the vine.
I got it from ice cream and wrestling and tears
And from having more fun than you’ve had in years.

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle Tagged With:

Guest Post: My Favorite Poet by Allison Winn Scotch

April 6, 2012 by

The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch will be published on April 12, and she’s become a favorite author of some wonderful bloggers I know.  Don’t you just love this vibrant cover!

While I’d already dedicated the entire month of April on the blog to poetry, I had to decline reviewing her prose, which is raved about.

However, I was happy to hear that she would love to write a guest post about her favorite poet.  And we have a giveaway for my U.S. readers.

First let’s check out a little bit of The Song Remains the Same:

One of only two survivors of a plane crash, Nell Slattery wakes in the hospital with no memory of the horrific experience-or who she is, or was. Now she must piece together both body and mind, with the help of family and friends, who have their own agendas. She filters through photos, art, music, and stories, hoping something will jog her memory, and soon, in tiny bits and pieces, Nell starts remembering.

It isn’t long before she learns to question the stories presented by her mother, her sister and business partner, and her husband. In the end, she will discover that forgiving betrayals small and large will be the only true path to healing herself-and to finding happiness.

Without further ado, please give Allison a warm welcome.

When I’m asked to cite my favorite poet, I know that I should cite a heavyweight, a Whitman, a Frost, an E.E. Cummings. But here’s the truth, I can honestly say that I think that my favorite poet might actually be Shel Silverstein. Why? Because as a child, I fell in love with Silverstein’s words and books, and I’d like to think that he played a part in my love of writing and my love of reading.

I think I was first introduced to Silverstein at around the age of seven or eight. I was obsessed – obsessed! – with Where the Sidewalk Ends. From the very opening poem – “The Dreamer”, a poem which, I should note, was the inspiration for the arc of a screenplay that I recently completed – to “Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too” – to “Lazy Jane”– to “The Gypsies are Coming”, I was hooked. I read, and reread, and reread again, such that now, when I recently purchased the book for my own seven year-old, I could still cite many of these poems by heart, like an old friend, like an old comfort.

Poet Shel Silverstein from Culture Vulture.net

Poetry can, at times, feel daunting to me. It can feel almost exclusive, but Silverstein’s writing was the opposite of exclusive – it was welcoming, warm, relatable, and for a child who is just getting her literary footing, it was everything to me. The kids (and the parents) in the poems were gawky and silly and flawed and normal . . . and often hilarious. And yet there was, obviously, a real art, a total genius to his writing: it is no easy feat to become a beloved literary hero among both children and adults, and Silverstein is, to this day, just that. When A Light In the Attic was published after Where The Sidewalk Ends, I gobbled that one up too, along the rest of his works. (The Giving Tree is still wonderful after all of these years.)

Honestly, there are few things that remind me of the total innocence of childhood more than Shel Silverstein. If you haven’t picked up one of his books recently, I highly recommend that you do so again. You can be eight or thirty-eight or fifty-eight, and I bet you’ll love them just as much as ever.

Thanks, Allison. Shel Silverstein is one of my favorites as well, and “Wiggles” is going to get to know the joys of his books as well.

Now, I wonder how she feels about Dr. Seuss.

Author Allison Winn Scotch

About Allison Winn Scotch:

She is the bestselling author of The One That I Want, Time of My Life, and The Department of Lost and Found. Her fourth novel, The Song Remains the Same, will be released in early 2012. Prior to delving into fiction, she was a frequent contributor to numerous magazines and websites including Cooking Light, Men’s Health, Fitness, Glamour, and Redbook, and now focuses on celebrity profiles for a variety of magazines. She lives in New York with her family. For more about her and her books, go to allisonwinn.com or follow her on Twitter at @aswinn.

***For Today’s National Poetry Month Blog Tour post, hop over to Trouble With Hammers and My Friend Amy.***

To enter for 1 copy of The Song Remains the Same (US Residents only):

1.  Leave a comment naming your favorite poet.

2.  Spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, and/or your blog and leave links for up to three more entries.

Deadline is April 15, 2012.

Filed Under: giveaway, guest post Tagged With: , , , , , ,