I found out the Toledo Imagination Station is on the finalist list for the 2016 National Medal for Library and Museum Service. One of the other finalists is The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (I would love to visit this museum). Today is Very Hungry Caterpillar Day. What could be more appropriate for this day than a book …
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By: [email protected],
on 6/9/2014
Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Edward Lear, poems, nonsense, children's picture book, book launch, Jackie Hosking, The Owl and the Pussycat, julia donaldson, Walker Books Australia, New Book Releases, Dimity Powell, Marjorie Crosby-Fairall, Book Reviews - Childrens and Young Adult, The Croc and the Platypus, Add a tag
By: Kathy Hare ,
on 11/11/2008
Blog: kathy hare illustration (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: nonsense, wise, little birds, silly dancing, qwl, Add a tag
" A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men."
By: Gina MarySol Ruiz,
on 6/10/2007
Blog: AmoxCalli (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: historical fiction, arthurian, 48 hour book challenge, lancelot, lady of shalott, free verse poetry, britain, lisa ann sandell, Add a tag
“Under tower and balcony,
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By: Sue Morris @ KidLitReviews,
on 3/19/2016
Blog: Kid Lit Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's Books, creativity, imagination, Picture Books, Eric Carle, nonsense, critical thinking, surrealism, Philomel Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, Library Donated Books, Very Hungry Caterpillar Day, 5-Stars, The Nonsense Show, Add a tag
Blog: Kid Lit Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's Books, creativity, imagination, Picture Books, Eric Carle, nonsense, critical thinking, surrealism, Philomel Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, Library Donated Books, Very Hungry Caterpillar Day, 5-Stars, The Nonsense Show, Add a tag
By: [email protected],
on 6/9/2014
Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Edward Lear, poems, nonsense, children's picture book, book launch, Jackie Hosking, The Owl and the Pussycat, julia donaldson, Walker Books Australia, New Book Releases, Dimity Powell, Marjorie Crosby-Fairall, Book Reviews - Childrens and Young Adult, The Croc and the Platypus, Add a tag
I commented recently on the Further Adventures of the The Owl and the Pussy Cat by Julia Donaldson and Charlotte Voake. Donaldson’s ineffable lyrical style does indeed take Edward Lear’s nonsense tale one step further and is a jolly expedition for the reader to navigate through. As you’d expect, it’s a very good picture book. Then I found an even better one.
With ute-fulls of respect to Donaldson and Voake, Jackie Hosking’s and Marjorie Crosby-Fairall’s debut creation of The Croc and The Platypus is a very, very good picture book.
Fans of Lear’s will relish the lilting musical quality of Hosking’s verse as she transports us as effortlessly as Julia Donaldson through the Australian outback with as an incongruous couple as the Owl and Pussycat; Croc and Platypus.
Hosking is spot on with this ingenious retelling of a childhood classic however, somehow makes it feel much more loose and flowing and bizarrely, even easier to read than the original. Her narrative sings with a down-to-earth gritty realism but is delivered with Lear’s same congenial, nonsensical joie de vive. Hub caps ring and didgeridoos blow as Platypus and Croc ‘play up a hullabaloo…baloo.’
I love Hosking’s incorporation of recognisable Aussie icons; Uluru, tea and damper and lamingtons to name a few as Croc and Platypus trundle across the plains eventually camping under the Southern Cross after cleverly procuring their tent. For those not so familiar with ‘click go the shears’ terminology, there’s even a neat little glossary.
Extra applause must go to Marjorie Crosby-Fairall for her truly epic acrylic and pencilled illustrations. The outback is vast and engulfing as are the illustrations of this picture book with gorgeously generous helpings of full colour, movement and sparkle on every single page.
Hosking’s appreciation of, commitment to and finesse with the rhyming word are self-evident. She works them all to perfection in this richly Aussie-flavoured celebration about embracing unlikely friendships and sharing stellar moments with those closest to you whilst enjoying a good old Aussie road trip.
The Croc and the Platypus has every reason to glow proudly alongside The Owl and the Pussycat, and dare I suggest outshine it. 
Discover and rediscover all three books here. For those in Sydney around early July, make sure you don’t miss Jackie’s launch of The Croc and the Platypus.
Walker Books Australia June 2014
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By: Kathy Hare ,
on 11/11/2008
Blog: kathy hare illustration (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: nonsense, wise, little birds, silly dancing, qwl, Add a tag
" A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men."Anonymous, Also used in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
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By: Emily,
on 12/7/2007
Blog: Deliciously Clean Reads (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, historical, teen, verse, Lisa Ann Sandell, review by Becky L., Song of the Sparrow, Add a tag
Blog: Deliciously Clean Reads (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: poetry, historical, teen, verse, Lisa Ann Sandell, review by Becky L., Song of the Sparrow, Add a tag
Sandell, Lisa Ann. 2007. Song of the Sparrow.
Review by Becky Laney, frequent contributor.
Becky's Book Reviews: http://blbooks.blogspot.com/
Becky's Christian Reviews: http://stand-firm-then.blogspot.com/ Reading With Becky: http://readingwithbecky.blogspot.com/
Becky's Christian Reviews: http://stand-firm-then.blogspot.com/ Reading With Becky: http://readingwithbecky.blogspot.com/
Song of the Sparrow is a wonderful verse novel that retells the story of Elaine the Lady of Shalott. While the literary tradition has her as beautiful but essentially weak and desperate, Sandell's Elaine is strong, brave, and while she, for a time, is lovesick on Lancelot, she is not too desperate or clingy. (Not, I'll die without his love desperate.) Meet Arthur, Elaine, Gwynivere, Lancelot, Tristan, and Gawain in this new telling of love and war. The poetry is powerful and quite effective in communicating the behind the scenes emotions as well as capturing the senses--especially the sights and sounds of battle camps and war.
Here is a snippet from the tenth chapter:
I wish I could go back to that time,
when my mother would smile
the gentle smile that told me,
all is right and well.
Back to that time when I was
young
and loved
and safe.
When we were all safe.
That things change,
that people change,
and die,
that we grow older,
that life brings the unexpected,
the unwanted,
oh,
some days it feels me with
a measure of lightness, for
I will be a woman soon.
But other days,
the very thought
of growing older,
of not being that small girl
who danced over river rocks,
whose brothers held her hands,
whose mother lived,
the very thought of itcrushes me,
till it is stopped,by the world
outside
my memories.
0 Comments on Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell as of 1/1/1990
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By: Gina MarySol Ruiz,
on 6/10/2007
Blog: AmoxCalli (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: historical fiction, arthurian, 48 hour book challenge, lancelot, lady of shalott, free verse poetry, britain, lisa ann sandell, Add a tag
Song of the Sparrow
Author: Lisa Ann Sandell
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 0439918480
ISBN-13: 978-0439918480
The first book I finished in the 48 Hour Reading Challenge (by the way forgot to mention I started Friday night at 10:00 p.m.) was Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell. Song of the Sparrow is the story of Elaine of Ascolat, otherwise known as the Lady of Shalott. Being a big fan of the Tennyson poem (it haunts me), I just had to read the book to get a little more story on this mysterious woman who floated down the river to Camelot in her boat named the Lady of Shalott.
Author: Lisa Ann Sandell
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 0439918480
ISBN-13: 978-0439918480
The first book I finished in the 48 Hour Reading Challenge (by the way forgot to mention I started Friday night at 10:00 p.m.) was Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell. Song of the Sparrow is the story of Elaine of Ascolat, otherwise known as the Lady of Shalott. Being a big fan of the Tennyson poem (it haunts me), I just had to read the book to get a little more story on this mysterious woman who floated down the river to Camelot in her boat named the Lady of Shalott.
“Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and Burgher,
Lord and Dame,
And around the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.”
In Sandell’s excellent YA novel set in Britain 490 AD, Elaine is a young girl growing up in a world of military men. Her mother has been killed and so she lives with her brothers and father in the moving camps of war, the only girl in a world of men serving under Arthur. Elaine is a tomboy, a good seamstress, gifted healer and has a big and caring heart. Her only other woman friend is Morgan, the sister of Arthur who sometimes visits the camp.
She is almost a mother figure to all the men in the camp even though some of them are starting to change the way they look at her. Sixteen and beautiful though she doesn’t know it, the men are starting to take notice. Elaine however, has eyes only for Lancelot her childhood friend. Lancelot seems to be leaning towards Elaine as well until the fiancée of Arthur comes to live in the camp, the beauteous but cruel Gwynivere who, though engaged to Arthur is deeply in love with Lancelot and he with her. The two girls are as different as can be and
The book is written entirely in free verse poetry and gives both a sense of the haunting poem and painting of the Lady of Shalott and is more hopeful, happier somehow. Elaine is a marvelous character – vibrant, fiery, brave and determined. Gwynivere, her rival is multi-layered and deeply conflicted. The men in the story almost serve as background to these complex and interesting women. The battle scenes, history and the wonders of nature all make this a highly entertaining and great read. Highly recommended.
She is almost a mother figure to all the men in the camp even though some of them are starting to change the way they look at her. Sixteen and beautiful though she doesn’t know it, the men are starting to take notice. Elaine however, has eyes only for Lancelot her childhood friend. Lancelot seems to be leaning towards Elaine as well until the fiancée of Arthur comes to live in the camp, the beauteous but cruel Gwynivere who, though engaged to Arthur is deeply in love with Lancelot and he with her. The two girls are as different as can be and
The book is written entirely in free verse poetry and gives both a sense of the haunting poem and painting of the Lady of Shalott and is more hopeful, happier somehow. Elaine is a marvelous character – vibrant, fiery, brave and determined. Gwynivere, her rival is multi-layered and deeply conflicted. The men in the story almost serve as background to these complex and interesting women. The battle scenes, history and the wonders of nature all make this a highly entertaining and great read. Highly recommended.
0 Comments on Song of the Sparrow as of 6/10/2007 11:03:00 AM
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wow! i love the action and the colors. very cute illo and wise quote.
erika
http://www.fluximagery.com
Wow! magical illustration, it really is fantastic!
Best Wishes,
Liz
This is incredible! Hahaha! I so love your version of "Wise". :)
This turned out wonderfully.
That quote explains why I am always goofing off! You think that will work with my boss?! :P
Awesome illustration, Kathy!
That center owl is so happy! I love this. It reminds me a bit of artwork from Mall ( http://nnayam.blogspot.com/ ).
This is a great way to represent the "Wise" theme from Illustration Friday.
Your illustration has lots of action. You do a wonderful job with color. Nice work.
Great orchestrated movement and the colors are marvelous! Bravo again, Kathy!
http://www.indigeneartforms.blogspot.com
Delicious! A very wise owl and such warm colour-work. Your blog is Fabulous!
Again you are a master of color! Also, that's one of a few favorite quotes from the movie that's stuck with me over the years - a good one to remember.
Hope you don't mind if I add you to my blogroll.
ooh... very nice... lovely color palette as always... :)
So pretty, and I love the shape of the owl's wings!
wow kathy... i'm blown away every time!... beautiful!
Gorgeous! Love those sparkling eyes on the Owl.
That's the first owl I've seen having so much fun! Great character!
Another gorgeous illo. Great composition and such beautiful colours. Just wonderful!
Each week you inspire with color and composition! I just love these little guys. I just can't stop looking at this. I just keep taking peeks to see all the delicious detail in here. It's wonderful and brilliant! You never disappoint! Great work.
Great colors and movement. Very nice!
Very nice...I like that you are able to do a whole new drawing every week for the topic.
and usually quite unexpected… wonderful work…
Yeah, what a colourful celebration piece:)
Crazy owl, look out :D
Lovely colours :)
Love your owls,the colours are fantastic,great illo
This is a fun and joyful drawing! Cute owl and little birds, like the colorful leaves too!
Beautiful illustration. looks like they are having a great time
Bellissimo, bellissimo, bellissimo.
Brava, Kathy!
Cata
Perfect as always!
Here you go again, another fabulous illustration for IF. I just LOVE your work!
rebecca woodward
http://justgiddy.typepad.com
Wonderful, Kathy! I love the feathers texture and the owl's face, it's superb!
I would love lying on that colorful mattress of leaves :)
This makes me SOOOOOOO happy, Kathy! I love the owl's eyes and expression. Truly magical. :D
Another great illustration Kathy, a very cheerful interpretation of the word 'wise', and I love the quote you've used :-)
Just beautiful! I like the colors and the softness of the paintings. very nice.
Flor
Woohoo! I couldn't agree more, & the illo is beautiful!
Hey Kathy, thanks for your comment! You have a whole hell of a nice, colorful blog here! Loved it all!
So so great!!!
the movements and colors are amazing!
Delightfully silly! Never knew the old owl had it in him!
Your art is so sweet and innocent. Beautiful work.
your work is sooooo delicious!! very charm and delicate
what a fun trio !!!
love that owl! I like how it looks like a cheerleader, holding it's makeshift pom poms in the forrest! lovely colour scheme
Very cute expression on the owl and nice choice of colors.
Gorgeous illustrations! I am in love with your artwork:)
~Jen
gorgeous!! I love your birds...