Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

JoyMC said:

Aren't the Oz books wonderful? I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know there was more than The Wizard of Oz until I got a Kindle and discovered them all in the free books. We have had great fun reading them with our daughter, too.

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I got most of Baum's Oz books (including "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" itself) as a boy (maybe around six or so) as a present from my grandparents, and enjoyed them. Recently I've rediscovered them and had fun finding bits that I'd almost forgotten, such as a delightful piece of wordplay in one of the books: Dorothy is visiting the royal palace of Ev (a kind of sister-kingdom to Oz) and finds a notice at its entrance that all visitors need to go to the left wing. Her guide tells her that the left wing is really the right wing; the palace used to have three wings, but two were torn down, and only the right wing remains - hence, it's also the left wing in the sense of "the only wing left". (The misleading instructions were devised by the ruler to cut down on the number of unwanted visitors.)

I find it particularly enjoyable comparing "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" to the movie version and noting the differences. (How many people know, I wonder, that the Tin Woodman was originally a human woodcutter, and became the more familiar tin figure thanks to the Wicked Witch of the East - in the time before Dorothy's house landed on her - putting a curse on his axe so that it kept turning on him and cutting off body parts, which he had replaced with tin?)

Has anyone read The Mostly True Story of Jack? Or The Apothecary? I wanted to give them a go, but wanted to hear other AWer's opinions first.

I love Tik Tok of Oz!

I loved the Baum books as a kid. My mom was in charge of organizing a library for our church's new grade school. She got donations and went to book fairs, and managed to fill the library with books ... including every Oz book there was! I couldn't wait to go to church each week so I could borrow a new one.

Now I've moved on to Gregory Maguire.

Oh, my gosh! I can't decide if those covers are creepy or hilarious!

Well, I do rather like the eyelashes.

Kitty - you never cease to amaze me with the books (and covers) you find.

Still reading Breadcrumbs, but I'm sure I'll finish it tonight. It is sooooo depressing, but I can't keep away from it.

The Kidd said:

Has anyone read The Mostly True Story of Jack? Or The Apothecary? I wanted to give them a go, but wanted to hear other AWer's opinions first.

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I'm reading The Apothecary. Mixed feelings so far. I like the idea that it's set in a time period not usually done though I'm not sure how kids who don't know the history of the 50s, the Cold War, and the McCarthyism in the U.S. would really understand what is going on with the limited setup. I bought it for my 16-year-old because it seemed a little more YA than MG and he knows and likes history, but he didn't finish it.

Also, I feel bad for the author because the cover is sort of bland. I only picked it up because I was intrigued by the title, but again, how many middle graders know the meaning of the word "apothecary?"

I really want to hear what an actual middle grader thinks of it, but I can't get my daughter to read it, so I might loan it to one of her friends.

I've been able to read the Oz books without getting tired of them myself. And we've been reading them for a long time now. She gets one chapter at night, a second one is her option, a third chapter is my option. Sometimes if my voice wears out, I will us the text to speech on the Kindle.

I was also surprised at how different the Wizard of Oz book was from the movie. The movie departs from the book in pretty major ways, yet still is a classic itself. It is interesting Alice in Wonderland keeps getting remade, there's never been a definitive movie version. Usually the Disney version becomes the definitive version, but not this time, every year or so, it seems there is a new version. After Disney's version came out, there was a relatively long period where no other adaptations were made, their version came out in 1951, and aside from a British TV version in 1955, there wasn't another adaptation until 1966. Before 1951 and after 1966, adaptations were common.

But the Wizard of Oz seems different, the 1939 version is clearly the definitive version. Perhaps it is because there are so many differences between the movie and the book, and adaptations might have to be based on the book, and less people are familiar with the book. There have been adaptations, but they've always been seen as second rate compared to the 1939 movie.

I think the Oz books are worthwhile for parents to discover. They can be enjoyed both by parents and children. That's hard to underestimate, there are books that children might love, but make parents cringe. And there is another factor. I read her Doctor Dolittle, and I had to do some editing on the fly, there were some racist passages that I wasn't going to read to her as they were written. I didn't have any problem with that in the Oz books.

Thanks Kitty and Amarie! I think I will give them both a go. My 12, almost 13-year-old godson knows what an apothecary is, but he told me 'alchemist' would have been cooler. Lol.

The Kidd said:

Thanks Kitty and Amarie! I think I will give them both a go. My 12, almost 13-year-old godson knows what an apothecary is, but he told me 'alchemist' would have been cooler. Lol.

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He's right. Please post when you finish. I'd love to know what you both think.

Right now I'm reading the Dear Dumb Diary books to my daughter. I have to say they do have some one-liners that make me laugh out loud. My son is even sneaking in to listen, which is a rare treat.

I just bought The Fault in Our Stars by John Green on my Kindle. I read a very promising review in Time and then checked it out on Amazon. It had 5 out of 5 stars in 364 reviews. Haven't started yet, but it sounds very good. It's a YA novel about two kids dying of terminal cancers. Sounds depressing right, but it's supposed to be more about how they live life not die. Hopefully it won't disappoint.

jtrylch13 said:

I just bought The Fault in Our Stars by John Green on my Kindle. I read a very promising review in Time and then checked it out on Amazon. It had 5 out of 5 stars in 364 reviews. Haven't started yet, but it sounds very good. It's a YA novel about two kids dying of terminal cancers. Sounds depressing right, but it's supposed to be more about how they live life not die. Hopefully it won't disappoint.

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Oh my gosh, it's amaaaaaaazing. I haven't mentioned it here, because it's YA, but it's one of the best books I've read in a long time. Terminal cancer, yes, but I was grinning so hard for much of it. Very hard to describe, beautiful, funny, poignant, deeply philosophical book. I immediately read another by him which was good (Looking for Alaska), but it didn't touch TFIOS.

I love John Green, so of course I read TFIOS. And yes, it's an excellent book. And it's his first book from the POV of a female, which was nice to see.

But I think I liked An Abundance of Katherines and Looking for Alaska better. I just love his quirky male leads.

Read The Cheshire Cheese Cat (A Dickens of a Tale) last night. Rather cute, but it's full of talking animals in case you aren't into that.

Need recommendations for contemporary MG...

... that deals with death, especially the death of a close family member. More like Love, Aubrey than Olive's Ocean, for example.

Thanks!

Great list!

Also:
Walk Two Moons
So B. It
A Mango-Shaped Space

I've read a few of those, but you guys have definitely given me lots more to add to my list! Thanks.

I think the book Kitty might be referring to:
Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls.
(from a story idea by Siobhan Dowd, with illustrations by Jim Kay)

Okay, different books.


Smish - 'A Monster Calls' might still be the sort of book you are after - about a boy coming to terms with the impending death (cancer) of his mother (she dies at the end of the book).