National Book Foundation blogs a book a day

The National Book Foundation is blogging a book a day on the Fiction winners from 1950 to 2008, starting July 7 and running through September 21st. The first two books blogged are Nelson Algren’s The Man with the Golden Arm and The Collected Stories of William Faulkner. Maybe some good summer reading ideas?

What’s in Mina’s Book Bag?

We just got back from our vacation in Turkey a few weeks ago, along with six kilos of Turkish books for Mina. Yes, and that is AFTER I left some THERE! I found a nice Turkish children’s website and made up a wish list. Everyone just bought from there and it made it easier of everybody. Last year, we all went to a very tiny tiny little bookshop to quickly find some books, not really knowing if they were any good. They had quite a nice selection of books that had been translated from English. I tried to find some that Mina had read at TKE so that she would instantly want to sit down and listen to the Turkish version. The most translated author was Julia Donaldson, an English writer. I first saw her Gruffalo book in the baby section as a board book. I had no idea that she had so many books out! We got Mina the Turkish version of The Gruffalo (Tostoroman) and Room on the Broom (Superge’de Yer Var Mi). Everyone got a kick out of the crazy storylines.

Upon returning home, I realized that the author also put out a story/song cd of The Gruffalo. Who knew the Gruffalo could sing? Will that become part of our collection–I haven’t decided yet.

I did return to that tiny tiny bookstore to see what they had and found a very cute little book and animal set. It is called Minutka: The Bilingual Dog.  It is written in English and Turkish (you can find it in many other languages as well) and it really helps a bilingual child feel OK with knowing two languages. Sometimes, kids might feel singled out for being different, but this book eases the child into feeling comfortable about their abilities.

While I was there, I asked the girl at the register if they had any books in Italian. They had German, French, and English books, so I thought I would just ask. The girl said no, and I left it at that. As I was paying, I looked up and there was The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear, in Italian!! I had to get it for my friend who is having a baby this month. I was so excited to have found that because it is one of Mina’s favorite books. Even though I was very excited about my purchase, I exuded EXTREME self-control and didn’t spoil the surprise until we returned to Salt Lake. Of course, the day after arriving, I drove to Vincenza’s house to give her the present and said, “Please open before I burst and tell you what I found!”

Before I sign off of the blog, I want to make a small mention of one the best story development purchases I have made. I have purchased two of Eeboo’s story card sets. They are a deck of cards with just pictures all relating to a theme. We have the fairytale one and the circus set. They are wonderful. Not only does it promote storytelling, it also becomes a memory game. We pick four or five cards from the deck and lay them out in front of us and Mina tells me the story of what she sees. They worked well on the plane and also in Turkey. There is no language attached to the cards, so the stories can be told in any language. Mina loves them so much, she will pick them up on her own while I am cooking, spread out her cards and tell stories to her babies. She lines up her babies against the wall and begins her own storytime. They are just wonderful.  ~Elif

My Book Group is {}er Than Yours

I’ve never had my own book group before. Ever. But the offer of leading this year’s Summer 13+ group for the store was just too tempting — especially when I realized I’d get to pick the books. It was hard in that I could only pick four. FOUR! Out of so many good ones to choose from!

With the help of the indomitable and incredibly book-club-savvy Margaret, I settled on: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (a teen classic if ever there was one), The Arrival by Shaun Tan, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (my love for Sherman Alexie knows no bounds), and The more-people-must-read-this Adoration of Jenna Fox by the amazing Mary Pearson.

We’ve now hid the mid-point, and I must declare: my book group is better, smarter, savvier, creative-er, articulate-er, amazing-er, and awesome-er than yours.

Our Uglies discussion ranged from the correlation between physical appearance and identity, to choice vs. peace, to political structures and what makes them work/not work, to whether or not uniforms are a good idea for schools. And The Arrival discussion this past Tuesday night! Wow. We talked metaphors and symbolism, art media, refugee camps and immigration, what makes art art and a book a book. We even discovered hitherto unknown (at least to me) parallels inside the book (the opening pages for the first and last chapter alone are a study in brilliance).

I can’t wait for next week’s Part-Time Indian discussion, or Jenna Fox for that matter. So much to talk about, so little time!

What’s in Mina’s Book Bag?

When Mom came for Christmas, she brought with her my old book, The Gingerbread Man. It was love at first sight. Mina ran and still runs around the house chanting “Can’t catch me, I am the ginger man bread, I am I am!” That proceeded into one morning around 7 a.m.: “Mama, can we make ginger bread man I am I am cookies?” Hmmm… I need a recipe! Thank goodness for the Internet! I was kind of picky because I wanted one with real ginger, not powdered. We whipped up a batch and cut them into shapes. The same day, ironically enough, we were downstairs reading another book, an anthology of world stories, and another version of The Gingerbread Man popped up: The Runaway Pancake. It was in the book by Valeri Gorbechev called Silly and Sillier. Interesting, I thought, but are there any more? I googled the story and found a site appropriately called “The History of the Gingerbread Man.” 

I guess the story hails from Germany and was originally called The Runaway Pancake. When it hits England, it turns into The Runaway Johnny Cake, and, finally, becomes The Gingerbread Man when it crosses the Atlantic to America.

As I was on a Turkish book website one day, what pops up: The Gingerbread Man translated into Turkish. Curious as to how a rhyming story could be translated, I ordered it. The translated title: The Biscuit Man! Slightly different, but contains the same essence. It was an instant hit in Turkish as well and became the favorite story for Mina’s Turkish grandmother to read. Now both grandmothers can share the excitement, and eat the cookies, of the ginger man bread, I am I am. ~ Elif

Review | Operation Redwood

Operartion Redwood is an intriguing and sensational book. Everything starts with one e-mail, nine words and a pair of curious eyes. Julian Carter-Li finds himself doing things he’d never even dreamed of doing. With the help of Robin and Danny, Julian goes on a dangerous quest, to save the tallest trees in the world. S. Terrell French turned a boring nonfiction into a delightful fantasy. I LOVED THIS BOOK! – Abigail, TKE Customer