Thank you to everyone who entered the Ramona giveaway! Random.org has cleverly selected Natalie H. So, congratulations, Natalie! You’ll be going to see Ramona and Beezus this summer!  If you are Natalie H., please leave a comment on this post, and I will get that prize to you right away!

And now, for another announcement!  How many of you saw Toy Story 3 last weekend? Well, we saw it, and it was fantastic (aside from the fact that a man—with lots of facial hair—told me he was a little kid when the first Toy Story came out, and made me feel old, since I wrote my junior year undergraduate research paper on Toy Story when it came out!).

But what I was really excited about during that movie was . . . can you guess? The trailer for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!! Now, this is important, everyone. I love those Narnia movies.  They make me happy. And we’ll all be very sad if they don’t make another one, so make sure you go and see it in December.  See it 10 times, even! And tell everyone you know about it.  Tweet it from the rooftops!  In case you haven’t seen the trailer yet, here’s a quick look:

Now, I have no idea why all four Pevensies make an appearance in there, but I am not complaining. You know how I feel about King Peter. And did you see Ben Barnes? I’ll be grinning the entire movie—yum!

Comments to this Giveaway are now closed. Thank you for all your entries.  I will announce the winner on Monday. Come back then to learn more about a cookie contest on my other blog.

My seven-year-old learned to love reading this year, and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me.

Sadly, my mother couldn’t say that about me when I was young. Though I loved certain books here and there, reading never ranked high on the list of things I wanted to do until I was a grown-up. I was a worried my little first grader was headed in the same direction when she got off to a rough start this year.

For the first few months of first grade, she was the new kid in school and felt like the only kid with parents getting a divorce amongst a sea of happy families. She had trouble holding her pencil right and getting her homework done. That was why, in February, when she picked up Superfudge and read it cover to cover in about a week, I was ecstatic. She read most of Blume’s books in that series, and then turned to tackle a 500 page anthology of classic children’s tales. I can thank a patient first grade teacher for this, and a school that works hard to instill a love of reading—not by pushing deadlines and homework and book reports, but by letting each child be free to choose the books they are naturally drawn to.

A couple weeks ago, I saw the new trailer for the Ramona and Beezus movie, and then remembered how I actually enjoyed the Ramona books when I was young, and hoped my daughter would as well. She finished finished the first book in about a week, and now can’t wait to read the next and  see the movie.

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My mom sent us this book a couple of years ago, and for some reason it was the only board book that made the journey here to Utah and didn’t wind up in storage. Needless to say, it is now a favorite. I love it because it uses Margaret Wise Brown’s lilting style, very similar to her book Goodnight Moon, which has been a favorite of all my kids. Another reason I love it is that it has been newly illustrated (well, newly, as in twenty years ago) by the wonderful Felicia Bond, who illustrated the favorite If You Give a Mouse a Cookie books.

I interviewed my son about why he likes the books today.  Sorry some of the pictures’ exposure is a bit off.  My son didn’t want to put on his shoes before going outside, and then when I asked him to stand in the shade, he told me his feet were too cold.  It’s a miracle I got the shots I did.

Anyway, this is how that conversation went:

me: What is the book about?
ckr: Barns, barns, barns.

me: What else is about?
ckr: Animals, animals, animals.

me: What is you favorite part?
ckr: When the animals say, (He makes a breathed in hiccupy sound)

me: Oh yeah?
ckr: Yeah

me: Which animals make that sound?
ckr: The roosters.

me: Hm. What other animal do you like?

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Calamity Jack, the sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge, is written by Shannon and Dean Hale, and illustrated by the awesome Nathan Hale.  It is a modern retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, complete with giant villains and giant vegetation.  It even brings in a few new characters.  I like the fantastic new adventures, and Jack seems more cool in this book.

Calamity Jack is well written and magnificently illustrated.   It’s even funnier than the first book.

—Mr. Book Reviewer (That’s me up there, reading the book!)

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann, has been a big hit at our house since we bought it at a Scholastic book fair last year. My daughter likes to read it over and over, so we did a little interview about it together.

And click here to make your own pinkalicious cupcakes!

me: What happens in the book?

ser: A girl turns pink.

me: How does she turn pink?

ser: She ate too much cupcakes.

me: What color were the cupcakes, were they green?

ser (smiling): Pink!

me: Is it a bad thing that she turns pink?

ser: Yes.

me: Why?

ser: Because Dr. Wink said.

me: Who is Dr. Wink?

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My little guy hardly looks like a “sensitive outsider” in this picture, and he’s not really. He’s as cheeky as they come.

So I suppose this book could really be for anyone who has ever felt they have something to offer, but no one around them seems to appreciate or understand.

Frederick, by Leo Lionni, is the story of a mouse who is a bit out of place in his family, but finds transcendence through words and imagination when he and his family face hunger during a long winter.

The other day, my three-year-old found it, and when I read it to him, I couldn’t stop crying. It’s one of those books where the words are very simple, very straightforward. And yet, as you read it, you know the story is speaking volumes between its pages. It resonates, and you believe that somehow, it will leave you better off for having read it.

What books resonate for you like that?

Here’s a chance for your kids to help you comment!

What have you read this summer so far?

What have been your favorite books? Which ones would you have rather left at the library?

On September 1, I will have a drawing for a $25 gift card to Borders. Starting today, every time you or your child reads a book, come to the comments section of this post, and tell us what book it was and how you liked it.

Then, on September 1, we’ll see who the winner is.

The more you read, the greater your chances will be, so have fun, and get reading!!!!

Here’s a book my mom and I found last year while browsing through Borders in Plymouth, Massachusetts (going to a book store with my mom, without kids, is probably my most favorite thing in the whole world).

My son wants to be a writer when he grows up, but before I hand this book off to him, I have been holding on to it myself to bask in all its good advice. Gail Carson Levine (author of Ella Enchanted, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Fairest) takes young writers on a straight forward path to writing their first stories. The guidance it gives, however, is so pertinent that even we old gals trying to write would be wise to sit down for an hour or two and read it through. She makes writing sound fun and achievable, which, of course, it is.

My favorite chapter is called “Suffer,” in which Levine explains how we must, as writers, be vicious to our main characters.  It’s a wall I am trying to climb up in my own writing right now, but the chapter is so simple, so to-the-point, I can get up from the book, sit down at my computer, and make my characters’ lives cruel with much more ease than I could before.

Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly is encouraging, funny, and an absolute must for anyone trying to write a novel.

Here’s a little interview I did with my son after we went out and bought him The Last Olympian, the fifth and final book in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan.

sm: How did you first find out about the Percy Jackson series?

srr: Last year, I won a reading contest at school and got a $50 Barnes and Noble card as a prize.  With the money, I bought books 1, 2, and 4.  I bought the rest later.

sm: Tell us about the books.

srr:  There are 5 books in total, written by Rick Riordan (pronounced “ry-er-don”).  They’re about a kid who is half Greek god, half mortal.  He goes on different quests in each book.

sm:  How did you like them?

srr:  They’re the best books ever!

sm:  Even better than Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia?

srr:  (nods his head with his thumbs up)

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I am very sorry to say that after four daring attempts, I have been unsuccessful at developing a recipe for pomegranate Turkish Delight.  I was going to have this big Narnia celebration, and we were all going to be so happy.

Forgive me, Connie!   And thank you to my good friend Marcia who toiled with me in my kitchen on attempt #3.

Well, today is the release of Prince Caspian.  I bought the Three-Disc Collector’s Edition this morning.  I used to say that if I were a teenager, I would have a crush on Peter.  Who was I kidding?  I have a crush on King Peter.

For all of you who are smart enough to just buy Turkish Delight, I did find Loukoumi, the New Zealand company that made the candy Edmond ate in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  They have a bunch of flavors, including pomegranate.  Click here to go to their American distributer.