Famous Last Words

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Posted by Misty | Posted in B's Books! | Posted on 31-10-2009 | No comments

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In an effort to support continued reading development in small children…here are 2 new book suggestions for you’re bitty bots! Happy Reading!

 

No, David!

David Shannon

nodavidClick Image For Complete Details

Amazon.com Review

Parents will be quick to jump to the conclusion that there can be nothing appealing in a tale of an ugly kid who breaks things. And certainly–from that adult perspective–there’s something off-putting about the illustrations of David, with his potato head, feral eyes, and a maniacal grin that exposes ferociously pointed teeth. But 3- and 4-year-olds see things differently, and will find his relentless badness both funny and liberating. “No, David,” wails the off-stage mother, as David reaches for the cookie jar. “No! No! No!” as he makes a swamp out of the bathroom. “Come back here, David!” as he runs naked down the street. Each vivid double-page illustration is devoted to a different youthful indiscretion and a different vain parental plea. Readers will be amused to know that the protagonist’s name is no accident: award-winning writer-illustrator David Shannon wrote the book after discovering a similar effort that he had made, again with himself at the center of each drawing, at the age of 5. (Ages 3 to 6) –Richard Farr


From Publishers Weekly

In this boisterous exploration of naughtiness, Shannon (How Georgie Radbourne Saved Baseball) lobs one visual zinger after another as David, a little dickens, careens from one unruly deed to the next?coloring on the walls, tracking mud all over the carpet, jumping on the bed in red cowboy boots. Meanwhile, all those timeless childhood phrases echo in the background: “Come back here!” “Be quiet!” “Not in the house, David!” and most vigorously?”No!” Shannon’s pen whisks over the double-page spreads in a flurry of energy, as he gains perspective on an image of a bare-bottomed David cavorting down a quiet suburban street or closes in on the boy’s face as he inserts a finger into his triangle nose, his button eyes tense with concentration, and perfectly round head looming larger than the pages. While Shannon gives David the purposeful look of a child’s crude drawings, his background settings (the kitchen sideboard, a toy-littered TV room) are fully rendered, effectively evoking the boy’s sense of displacement. This dead-on take on childhood shenanigans ends on a high note, with the penitent David (he broke a vase with a baseball) enfolded in his mother’s arms as she assures him, “Yes, David, I love you.” Readers won’t be able to resist taking a walk on the wild side with this little rascal, and may only secretly acknowledge how much of him they recognize in themselves. Ages 2-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.



David Goes To School

David Shannon

David goes to schoolClick Image For Complete Details

Amazon.com Review

David, the out-of-control monster-child from David Shannon’s Caldecott Honor Book No, David! is back… and ready to disrupt the class. Shannon remembers the word “no” all too clearly from his childhood, and, as he says in his introduction, “It seems that kids haven’t changed much over the years, and neither have school rules, some of which date back even further than the invention of sneakers.” In David Goes to School, young David shows up late to class, goes wacko at the blackboard, chews gum in class, yells answers out of turn, pulls pigtails, stares out the window, cuts in line, has a food fight (“I don’t care who started it!” says the teacher), lingers at recess, and draws on his desk. Colorful, hilarious, childlike illustrations examine our strangely appealing demon-boy at eye level, which is especially disgusting as David stretches an enormous mass of bubble gum from his pointy-toothed maw. After an intense day of exuberant misbehaving, however, he stays after school and washes all the desks until they sparkle. The day ends with a gold star and a pat on the head… something that any child (or adult) would find satisfying. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1999 by David Shannon. Courtesy of Scholastic, Inc.) (Ages 2 to 6) –Karin Snelson


From Publishers Weekly

He’s b-a-a-a-c-k! And better than ever. The rascal first unleashed in No, David! returns to wreak havoc in the classroom. Whether he’s goofing off at the blackboard (“Sit down, David!”), cutting in line at the cafeteria (“Wait your turn, David!”) or drawing on his desktop (“That’s it, Mister! You’re staying after school!”), David is clearly a handful. But when his teacher gives him a chance to redeem himself by cleaning the desks at the end of the day, he rises to the occasion (“Good job, David!”) and receives a gold star. Shannon foreshadows trouble right from the title page: the teacher stands in front of her desk, feet firmly planted, arms crossed and looming so large that her shoulders, neck and head don’t make it onto the page. As in the previous book, the adult voice provides the text, but her person is confined to the periphery of the action. David, meanwhile, with his round head, triangle nose and wide grin of pointy teeth, is the pinnacle of boisterous boy-energy. His antics take center stage visually while his teacher’s words act as the perfect foil for each spread. After David cuts the cafeteria line, for example, the next illustration shows food splattered all over the walls, floor, David and the boy who was formerly at the front of the line; the two boys point at each other and the text reads, “I don’t care who started it.” The exaggerated shapes and slightly cartoonish poses of an array of students in all-too-familiar situations will have youngsters crowding together over the book at recess. Ages 3-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Pat Down At Hyper Speed

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Posted by Misty | Posted in Sarcasm @ it's best! | Posted on 11-10-2009 | 1 comment

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cartoon-spider-clip-art-thumb3234401

Afternoon my fellow Kindle-ites, unfortunately due to a pretty serious rash of migraine headaches I have been unable to read as quickly as I normally do, so…keeping that in mind I thought I would bring y’all an oldie but goodie.  This was a post from way back in 2007 that still makes me laugh.  Happy reading!

It is a rare opportunity when I get to write about the follies of others, especially when it comes to my husband, but today y’all get a special treat.

As most of you (my wonderful blog readers) know by now I am afraid of June Bugs. It is a debilitating little fear that my husband loves to take advantage of at every passing chance, however this past week he got an alarming and quite entertaining turn of fate blown in his direction.

See, David is not that big of a fan of spiders, I would call it.. AFRAID! yep that’s a good word for it. My husband is afraid of spiders!

The other day as he was about to go outside to grab the mail he got a personal visit from Miss Charlotte herself. Just as he was opening the door a rather large (I will have to give him that..it was pretty big) spider decided that it was tired of the Texas heat and wanted to enjoy today’s most precious invention: air conditioning. Unfortunately for my husband.. the spider got so confused by the sudden rush of Artic Wind he encountered upon entering that he bolted…. right up my husbands pant leg.

Now I, who at this point was standing in the living room with a clear view of the mass chaos, decided that it was better to stay out of harms way. So, I did what every good wife would do. I sat …. and laughed.

Here was my husband.. in the front hall in complete FREAK OUT mode trying to jiggle the pesky little beast from his pants, when that didn’t work?? Next best thing ?? STRIP! Now if my husband had been a world famous Chippendale dancer this look would have been great for him, however instead all I saw was my dorky husband swinging (at a high velocity) his pants in a circle above his head hoping to banish the spider from his pants by slinging it against a wall.

When that didn’t work?? No spider emerged… his mind went into 2nd degree hysterics.. “Where is the Spider?” “OMG!!!! WHERE IS THE FUCKING SPIDER??!!??” (<—insert girlie scream here) Then starts the “Cops” version of the self-initiated pat down. With a quick (almost un-human speed) flapping of the hand he commences to slapping every part of his body to make sure that the spider has not ventured to the “Land of the Unknown.” Once he is certain that the spider has not decided to make a new home amongst the family jewels he picks up his pants again….when “SURPRISE” here comes Little Miss Muffetts best friend, out of his pocket. How this tiny little creature made it so far while fighting the spazmatic jolts equal to a small earthquake I will never know.. but one thing I do know? My husband is now in desperate need for a session of hypnotic therapy, and takes the long way around the house to get the mail.

Lesson Learned: I am not the only one in my family that screams like a girl! Which is odd considering I am the only girl.