What are the first children reading?

Everyone is interested in Malia and Sasha Obama - role models for American girls - and children around the world. What are they wearing? (pretty and tasteful) Where are they traveling this summer? (Europe) What flavor of ice cream do they like (vanilla custard). But there's something else that's much more important and revealing: What do they like to read?

 

It might be difficult to find out the names of their favorite books, but there are certain books they will probably be reading this summer... Their School, Sidwell Friends, has a summer 2009 reading list for each grade. For Malia, who is entering grade six in September, the recommended reading list includes 45 novels, five collections of short stories, nine non-fiction titles, five books of poetry and six biographies: Sidlist6. In addition to selecting from these titles, incoming sixth graders are asked to read one of the following for literature circle in the fall:

A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass 

Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer 

Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan 

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt 

The Misfits by James Howe 

For Sasha, who will be entering third grade, the summer reading list is divided into categories: Six books of Animal Tales, four Fantastic Adventures, five Stories about Friends and Families, eight non-fiction books, and five books of poetry: Sidlist3.

The recommendations for both grade levels include classics like The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett and Stuart Little by E. B White, along with contemporary writers, like Alexander McCall Smith, who has written a series of books about an African boy named, Akimbo. If Sasha chooses, she could read a book by Judith St. George - So You Want to be President?

More on the Obama girls summer reading list coming up! There are glaring gaps in my own knowledge of the canon - so I'm selecting certain books from their lists for my own summer reading and blogging. I'll keep you - how should I put this - posted.

Titlenomics?

There was an interesting story about book titles in the Arts section of the New York Times today, called: Titlenomics, or Creating Bestsellers: Titlenomics. It's all about catchy book titles - especially, copycat titles, adapted from successful books - like the new release, Womenomics, borrowing from the bestseller, Freakonomics. Among other books mentioned, six had titles that hijacked the phrase, "the end of the beginning" - including three novels, two histories and a children's book, The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant): The End. It was a treat to come across this book by Newbery Award winner, Avi. Published in 2004, it's whimsical and funny, in the most absurd and timeless way. It's about adventure, friendship, beginnings, endings, and a song that can be sung from the middle. And its title capitalizes on the clever phrase - the end of the beginning.

As for adapting successful book titles, more on that to come. Of course, that's what I was trying to do when I knocked off On Beyond Zebra in naming this blog. Pretty transparent. Maybe some day it will gather momentum. For now, it will just have to languish in obscurity.

Two views of an expectant bird

Here are a couple of sketches I did from an upstairs window. Sort of - a bird's eye view of a bird's nest. A little while ago, I went outside to visit the current tenant of the nest. She ignored me. Obviously, she knows I'm a benevolent observer, but she has no idea how much her nest has been a  focal point of my existence for the last few weeks. (see below)

The Nest

Early this spring, I was enchanted to discover a bird, building a nest in the tree outside my window. I monitored her position as she stuck to her duty, hour after hour, ever diligent, warming her eggs. She shifted, facing one way, then the other. Even she, of little brain, needed a change of view. Trying to be unobtrusive, I sketched her and took photos. Was that stalking?

One day she left for a moment, revealing two small pale blue ovals. When they hatched sometime after - two fluffy blobs - mama fed them. She was diligent about that too, stuffing something unappetizing down their fragile gullets with determination. A feeding process more aggressive than nurturing, but then, I'm no judge. 

At last, time for flying lessons. It took the babies a couple of days to muster the courage - jumping from a branch to the glass ledge above the window - a convenient launching pad. Mama came over to maneuver them into position. She shoved them toward the edge. When they took off, leaving bird traces, I was surprised to realize I missed them, like an empty nest aunt.  

Since then, the nest has been sublet by two more mamas in succession. I'm a little detached these days. It's more of a bird factory. Plenty of unsightly evidence left on the window ledge. I'll need a power hose to clean it off. I've become somewhat jaded about the advent of spring. Still, it inspired me to write a new picture book, and begin the drawings. I'm calling it, The Nest.

Etymology of a blog

On Beyond Zebra, the classic picture book by Dr. Seuss, might be a suitable point of departure for launching a blog - or anything really. The premise is brilliant and it's absolute nonsense. The reader explores a new world fashioned from an alphabet that starts after the letter Z.