Hanukkah books

Barnes and Noble

McSweeney Books

Little Simon; Brdbk edition (September 25, 2007)

theteach

Perks of Reading

Via al.com:

Creating lifelong readers

Posted by tscarrit November 25, 2007 3:31 AM

If you are reading this col­umn, chances are you are more successful than the average person, more involved in your community and less likely to be in prison.

That is not because of anything I have written. It is because you have chosen to read.

A new study by the Na­tional Endowment for the Arts suggests that reading transforms lives. "Regular reading not only boosts the likelihood of an individual's academic and economic success -- facts that are not especially surprising -- but it also seems to awaken a person's social and civic sense," wrote Dana Gioia, chairman of the NEA.

While correlation is not the same as cause and ef­fect, it is clear from the new report, "To Read or Not To Read," that all kinds of posi­tive measures go along with voluntary reading. Those who cannot read, or choose not to read, do not fare so well.

After considering data from a number of studies, the NEA reports three conclusions: "Americans are spending less time reading. Reading comprehension skills are eroding. These declines have serious civic, so­cial, cultural and economic implications."

Read more

theteach

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allburg

If you're thinking of buying books for your children this Christmas don't forget to include

The Polar Express.

A magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa. "As always, the forms are sculptured, the perspectives as dazzling as they are audacious, the colors rich and elegant, the use of light and shadow masterly." -- Horn Book


Tom Hanks stars in the film of the same name.

the teach

Norman Mailer dies

Via NYTimes.com

Photo: Christina Pabst

Norman Mailer, the combative, controversial and often outspoken novelist who loomed over American letters longer and larger than any writer of his generation, died today in Manhattan. He was 84. He died of acute renal failure at Mount Sinai Hospital early this morning, his family said.

Photo: Harry Ransom Center

After the publication of The Naked and the Dead, Mailer, then a 25-year-old literary novice, was suddenly famous and at the dawn of a prolific career in which he would loom as one of the major U.S. writers of the twentieth century. He would also continue to be measured by others as well as by himself against his 1948 success.

In 1969 Mr. Mailer ran a second time for mayor of New York City. He was a secessionist advocating that New York City become the 51 state.

Gay Talese, left, with E. L. Doctorow and Norman Mailer at a gathering in support of Salman Rushdie held by the PEN writers' group on February 22, 1989. (Photo: Getty Images)

In 1984 Mr. Mailer was elected president of PEN American Center and was the main force in bringing together writers from all over the world for a much publicized literary conference called “The Writer's Imagination and the Imagination of the State.”

Mr. Mailer's last novel was The Castle on the Forest.

theteach

A Unicorn Is Born by Trinie Dalton

Ursula is a pregnant unicorn awaiting the birth of her first baby to whom she's already given the name Uma. Ursula is a Forest unicorn with many friends: Quinn, the squirrel and Arf, the gray fox, with whom she talks about very special herbs, beautiful rainbows and unicorn lore (a unicorn's horn can counteract poison).

While Ursula awaits the birth of her baby colt she thinks about her life and what parenting will be like and how her relationship with Uma will develop. As the time draws near for Ursula to give birth she looks for an appropriate place to have her baby. She chooses the Perfectly Symmetrical Canyon as the ideal magical nursery.

Ursula takes to motherhood immediately and begins teaching and entertaining little Uma. Uma learns all about the forest and its creatures and all the mythical and wondrous things unicorns do. Young Uma learns magic and the arts of transforming and alchemy as well as how to be kind and care for the forest animals.

There is much to learn about the remarkable unicorns in this book, but the love between mother and child, the true affinity between them, is central. The story of warm and loving fantasy and myth will please children of all ages. The illustrations by Katherin Ayer are gorgeous and delightfully painterly. Has a collection of stickers at the back of the book.

A Unicorn Is Born at Amazon.com

theteach

PBS to show Austen films on Masterpiece Theatre

'Complete Jane Austen' features all her novels
By Steve Brennan

Nov 2, 2007
Jane Austen fans in the U.S. can be grateful for what appears to have been something of a local feud between the U.K.'s ITV and the BBC over filmed versions of the author's English classics. The rush to production over recent years has made it possible for PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre" to air adaptations of all six of her novels for the first time in what amounts to an Austen festival beginning in January.

Fans in the U.S. have been busily blogging for months with chatter about the upcoming series, "The Complete Jane Austen." But full details of the event are now being outlined by U.K. screenwriter Andrew Davies and "Masterpiece" executive producer Rebecca Eaton, who are on a multicity tour to promote the series and meet sponsors.

"Complete Jane Austen" offers new productions of "Northanger Abbey," "Persuasion," "Mansfield Park" and "Sense and Sensibility." The lineup also includes "Pride and Prejudice," starring Colin Firth, as well as the version of "Emma" that stars Kate Beckinsale.

drawing above: Austen at Bath, England

theteach

The Sandbox

Via NPR:

All Things Considered, October 18, 2007 · The Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau has never been to Iraq or Afghanistan. But for years, his strip has chronicled the wars in those countries, with the stories of characters like Ray Hightower and B.D. — the football coach and Vietnam vet who went to Iraq with the National Guard.

Trudeau's latest project involves real-life soldiers. Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox is a compilation of writings by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan that were posted on a blog at Doonesbury.com.

Trudeau tells Michele Norris that his goal was to provide a general audience the "flavor" of what life is like for troops overseas.

Soldiers' Stories:

Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox collects dispatches from nearly 40 contributors. In all, nearly 100 soldiers have contributed to the military blog, or "milblog," at Doonesbury.com.

1st Sgt. Troy Steward, 38, is from Buffalo, N.Y. He recently returned from Sharana, Afghanistan. Troy reads a post titled "Lost Innocence," which tells the story of a young boy whose father has been murdered by the Taliban.


Sgt. Owen Powell, 40, is from Yellow Springs, Ohio, and recently returned from Iraq. He blogs under the name "Sgt. Roy Batty" — a character from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. He reads from "The Keep," a post about what daily life is like for a soldier deployed in Iraq.

You can listen to these soldiers' stories at NPR's web site.

theteach

Doris Lessing Wins Nobel Prize for Literature

Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- British author Doris Lessing, whose latest novel The Cleft depicts a world without men, won the 2007 Nobel literature prize, the Swedish Academy said.

Lessing, 87, is an "epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny,'' the Stockholm-based academy said on its Web site today. The Golden Notebook, her breakthrough novel, ``belongs to the handful of books that informed the 20th- century view of the male-female relationship,'' the academy said. (Bloomberg.com)

theteach

maryt

Orange Prize for Fiction

Orange Prize for Fiction

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie holds the “Bessie”*

The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction is one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious literary prizes, awarded annually for the best original full-length novel by a female author of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK in the preceding year.

The winner of the prize receives £30,000, along with a bronze sculpture called the *”Bessie” created by artist Grizel Niven, the sister of actor/writer David Niven.

Winners

• 1996: Helen Dunmore - A Spell of Winter
• 1997: Anne Michaels - Fugitive Pieces
• 1998: Carol Shields - Larry’s Party
• 1999: Suzanne Berne - A Crime in the Neighborhood
• 2000: Linda Grant - When I Lived in Modern Times
• 2001: Kate Grenville - The Idea of Perfection
• 2002: Ann Patchett - Bel Canto
• 2003: Valerie Martin - Property
• 2004: Andrea Levy - Small Island
• 2005: Lionel Shriver - We Need to Talk About Kevin
• 2006: Zadie Smith - On Beauty
• 2007: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun

theteach

Via maryt's Manic Monday post

Purging prison libraries of books of faith

Check out my post on Work of the Poet for today.