Let me tell you, I am having a blast reading all the nominated titles in the fiction picture book category.  And even more important, my little boys are having a blast!  I’m almost halfway there and have read about 80 of the 176 books.   Right now I’ve reviewed only about ten of the books but I have so many that I want to review.  I have no idea how in the world we are going to create a shortlist.  I already have like 25 books in my working shortlist!

My piles!  The left hand stack is the review copies I’ve received so far and the right hand side are the library books I currently have checked out from two different library systems.

You can always see how I’m progressing as I have this list on my sidebar but I thought it would be fun to let you in on how I’m doing.

1. 1000 Times No by Tom Warburton
2. Abigail Spells by Anna Alter
3. All Kinds of Families! by Mary Ann Hoberman
4. All in a Day by Cynthia Rylant [MY REVIEW]
   
5. All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon [MY REVIEW]
   
6. Alleycat by Marilee Crow
7. Almost by Richard Torrey
8. Always My Brother by Jean Reagan [MY REVIEW & AUTHOR INTERVIEW]
   
9. Archie and the Pirates by Marc Rosenthal
10. Bee-Wigged by Cece Bell
11. Before You Were Here, Mi Amor by Samantha Vamos
12. Bella & Bean by Rebecca Kai Dotlich
13. Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem by Mac Barnett
14. Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman
15. Boo Hoo Bird by Jeremy Tankard
16. Book That Eats People, The by John Perry [MY REVIEW]
    
17. Book, A by Mordicai Gerstein
18. Brown Bear, White Bear by Svetlana Petrovic
19. Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy
20. Busiest Street in Town, The by Mara Rockliff
21. But Who Will Bell the Cats? by Cynthia Von Buhler
22. Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas
23. Carousel Tale, A by Elisa Kleven
24. Chaucer’s First Winter by Stephen Krensky
25. Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer
26. Circus Ship, The by Chris Van Dusen
27. Clever Stick, The by John Lechner
28. Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore
29. Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman
30. Crocodaddy by Kim Norman [MY REVIEW & AUTHOR INTERVIEW]
    
31. Crow Call by Lois Lowry
32. Curious Garden, The by  Peter Brown [MY REVIEW]
    
33. Davy Brown Discovers His Roots by Keely Alexander
34. Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library! by Vicki Myron
35. Dinosaur Woods: Can Seven Clever Critters Save Their Forest Home? by George McClements
36. Dog and Bear: Three to Get Readyby Laura Vaccaro Seeger
37. Duck and Cover by Jackie Urbanovic
38. Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal [MY REVIEW]
    
39. Dunderheads, The by Paul Fleischman
40. Egg Drop by Mini Grey
41. Elevator Man, The by Stanley Trachtenberg
42. Enemy, The by Davide Cali
43. Erika-San by Allen Say
44. Family Huddle by Peyton Manning
45. Finding Lincoln by Ann Malaspina
46. Finn Throws a Fit by David Elliot
47. Firefighter Ted by Andrea Beaty
48. First Come the Zebra by Lynne Barasch
49. Fool Moon Rising by Kristi Fluharty
50. Friend, A by Anette Bley
51. Gingerbread Man Superhero! by Dotti Enderle
52. Goblin and the Empty Chair, Themby Mem Fox
53. Goldilicious by Victoria Kann
54. Great Dog Wash, The by Shellie Braeuner
55. Guess Again! by Mac Barnett
56. Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School, The by Laurie Halse Anderson
57. Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp
58. Hello Baby! by Mem Fox
59. Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi
60. Hermit Crab, The by Carter Goodrich
61. Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli
62. Hook by Ed Young
63. Horse Of Course, A by Shari Lyle-Soffe
64. Hot on the Range by R.D. Jentsch
65. How Do You Wokka-Wokka? by Elizabeth Bluemle
66. How Robin Saved Spring by Debbie Ouellet
67. Hugging Hour! by Aileen Leijten
68. Hush, Baby Ghostling by Andrea Beaty
69. I Always, ALWAYS Get My Way by Thad Krasnesky
70. I Call My Grandpa Papa by Ashley Wolff
71. I Love Christmas by Anna Walker
72. I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll
73. I’m Your Peanut Butter Big Brother by Selina Alko
74. In Our Mothers’ House by Patricia Polacco
75. In the Garden by Peggy Collins
76. In the Snow by Peggy Collins
77. Jack the Bear by Christina Leist
78. Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty [MY REVIEW]
    
79. Just Like a Baby by Juanita Havill
80. Kick the Cowboy by Joe Gribnau
81. Kisses on the Wind by Lisa Moser
82. Land of the Left Sock by B. P. James
83. Legend of Ninja Cowboy Bear, The by David Bruins
84. Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister
85. Let’s Do Nothing! by Tony Fucile
86. Lion & the Mouse, The by Jerry Pinkney
87. Listeners, The by Gloria Whelan
88. Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosentha
89. Little Pot, The by Dawn Stephens
90. Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
91. Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big by Chris Paul
92. Longest Night, The by Marion Dane Bauer
93. Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes by Margie Palatini
94. Maggie’s Monkeys by Linda Sanders-Wells
95. Magic Box by Katie Cleminson
96. Martha Doesn’t Say Sorry by Samantha Berger
97. Me With You by Kristy Dempsey
98. Mighty Fine Time Machine, A by Suzanne Bloom
99. Mom, I Fired The Babysitter by Colleen H. Robley Blake
100. Monkey with a Tool Belt and the Noisy Problem by Chris Monroe
101. Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli by Barbara Jean Hicks
102. Moon Theater by Etienne Delessert
103. Moose and Magpie by Bettina Restrepo
104. Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban
105. Mrs. Mcgee’s Coconut by Allia Zobel-Nolan
106. Muriel’s Red Sweater by Dara Dokas
107. My Abuelita by Tony Johnston
108. My Goldfish by Barroux
109. My Little Round House
110. My Mom Is Trying to Ruin My Life by Kate Feiffer
111. My Name Is Sangoel by Karen Williams
112. My Name is Buttonz by B. Lee Schmidt
113. My People by Langston Hughes
114. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems
115. Naomi’s Tree by Joy Kogawa
116. Ned’s New Home by Kevin Tseng
117. Negro Speaks of Rivers, The by Langston Hughes
118. New Job for Dilly, A by Rena Jones
119. No Snow for Christmas by Jill Kalz
120. No! by David McPhail
121. Not all Animals Are Blue by Beatrice Boutignon
122. Olu’s Dream by Shane W. Evans
123. Once Upon a Twice by Denise Doyen
124. One Wolf Howls by Scotti Cohn
125. Otis by Loren Long
126. Otto Grows Down by Michael Sussman
127. Peep!: A Little Book About Taking a Leap by Maria van Lieshout
128. Penguin Story, A by Antoinette Portis [MY REVIEW]
     
129. Pennies for Elephants by Lita Judge
130. Persephone by Sally Pomme Clayton
131. Please Pick Me Up, Mama!by Robin Luebs
132. Posy by Linda Newbery
133. Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide
134. Put It On the List by Kristen Darbyshire
135. Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains by Dawn Menge
136. Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
137. Rita and Whatsit by Jean-Philippe Arrou-Vignod
138. Ron’s Big Mission by Rose Blue
139. Saying Grace: A Prayer of Thanksgiving (Traditions of Faith)by Virginia Kroll
140. Scaredy Squirrel at Night by Melanie Watt
141. Seven Spirals: A Chakra Sutra for Kids by Deena Haiber
142. Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli
143. Sleepy Little Alphabet: A Bedtime Story from Alphabet Town, The by Judy Sierra
144. Sneezy Louise by Irene Breznak
145. Snickeyfritz by Andrea Skyberg
146. Soap, Soap, Soap / Jabon, Jabon, Jabon by Elizabeth O. Dulemba
147. Spells by Emily Gravett
148. Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
149. Stanza by Jill Esbaum
150. Star of the Show by Della Ross Ferreri
151. Talent For Quiet, A by Kim Chatel
152. Tess’s Tree by Jess M. Brallier
153. The Scarecrow’s Dance by Jane Yolen
154. There Are Cats in This Book by Viviane Schwarz
155. There’s a Bear in my bathing suit by Uncle Tee
156. Thumbelina: The POP Wonderland Series by Michiyo Hayano
157. Thunder-Boomer! by Shutta Crum
158. Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, The by Ammi-Joan Paquette
159. Tree for Emmy, A by Mary Ann Rodman
160. Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell
161. Tsunami! by Kimiko Kajikawa
162. Tushy Book, The by Fran Manushkin
163. Two at the Zoo by Danna Smit
164. Two of a Kind by Jacqui Robbins
165. Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser
166. What REALLY Happened to Humpty? (from the files of a hard-boiled detective) by Jeanie Franz Ransom
167. When I Wore My Sailor Suit by Uri Shulevitz
168. When It’s Six O’Clock in San Francisco: A Trip Through Time Zones by Cynthia Jaynes Omololu
169. Where Teddy Bears Come From by Mark Burges
170. Who Wants to Be a Poodle I Don’t by Lauren Child
171. Who Will I Be, Lord? by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson Wig
172. gens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant by Leslie McGuirk
173. Wink! The Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed by J.C. Phillipps
174. Yankee at the Seder, The by Elka Weber
175. Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
176. You’re Mean, Lily Jean by Frieda Wishinsky

Whew.   If you haven’t checked out the nominated titles in all of the categories, definitely do so:

• Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
• Fantasy & Science Fiction
• Fiction Picture Books
• Graphic Novels
• Middle Grade Fiction
• Non-Fiction Picture Books
• Non-Fiction: Middle Grade & Young Adult
• Poetry
• Young Adult Fiction

As a way of highlighting a few books, these are the books that I’ve previously reviewed in the above categories:

• The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
• Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carmen
• Fade by Lisa McMann
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Girl in the Arena by Lisa Haines
• Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight
• Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell
• Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look
• Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
• The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
• Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation by Jacqueline Jules
• 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy
• Because I am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
• The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
• Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr
• Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
• Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott
• The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith
• Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

And man.  I have a few books in the “read but not yet reviewed pile” (which is huge right now) which includes When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Dessert First by Hallie Durand, Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott (I swear I reviewed this one!), Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles and Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart.  This week I’ll also have a review of Birthday for Bear as well as a guest post from Bonny Becker.  I’m sure that my few reviews of Cybils nominations isn’t as many as other kidlit bloggers out there, but it’s really fun to look at the lists.

Shortlists will be announced on January 1st.  Any picture books that are your favorites?

For me, I’ve always read.  I don’t remember  a time where I didn’t read.  My memory doesn’t go that far back.  One of the first lines of my journal is, “I’m eight years old and I’ve read all the Little House on the Prairie Books.”  I remember staying up late reading books, getting excited about the book fairs, begging my mom to buy me another Archie comic at the grocery store (which she always let me do), and going through the entire Steinbeck shelf at my local library in high school.  And then college.  Ah, college.  For six years (yes, I just said six years) I didn’t pick up any books for pleasure.  Oh, I lusted over my photography books that’s for sure.  But fiction didn’t get read at all.  And then graduation day.  It’s like I gave myself permission to read again.  So many books out there!  But I didn’t read then like I do now.  Blogging changed my reading habits a lot.  I’m reading WAY more than I did before and the variety of books which I’m reading has changed as well.  It’s been amazing.

So, have you always read since you were little or did it come later to you in life?  My dad hated reading until he was in his fifties while I always remember my mom reading.  Is reading such a big part of your life that you can’t remember a time where you’ve put them aside?  Or can you go months or even years where it’s not a top priority.  To tell  you the truth, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep the pace that I’m reading now without serious burnout in the future.  And I have a lot of other projects being neglected.  While I’ll always be a reader I suspect that I’ll continue to have my ups and downs of interest.

So what about you?  What type of reader are you?

Halloween has been a month long event here at our house.  We got dressed in our costumes no less than a billion times and attended at least half a dozen parties as well as hosting one for all of my little guy’s friends.  I’m now raiding the boys candy stash and recovering by convincing my husband that I need to take long naps.

We’ve been reading a lot of Halloween picture books about monsters and other spooky things this month.  I reviewed Jeremy Draws a Monster, Goodnight Goon, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Where’s My Mummy, Dear Vampa, and A Very Hairy Scary Story.  I had many more books in my pile that I thought for sure I would also review this month including Billy Bones: The Road to Nevermore,  Frankenstein Takes the Cake, There Was An Old Monster!, Gris Grimly’s Wicked Nursery Rhymes, Thirteen O’Clock, Three Little Ghosties, and Spooky ABC.  There’s always next Halloween right?  I’m also halfway through Frankenstein by Mary Shelley which I didn’t finish for my face-to-face book club and Heather’s Dueling Monster’s Read-a-long.  I’m still planning  a review of that one.

As many of you know from the past photos of my husband that he’s a bit crazy about Halloween costumes.  The past few years he’s dressed up as Edward Scissorhands, Willy Wonka, and the Joker.  He pulls them all off and looks great!  Normally he works on the costume all year but everything changed this time around when Michael Jackson died.  So yes, we succumbed to one of the most popular costumes this year and each of us dressed up as a different era in Michael Jackson’s life.

I know many of you have asked if Taylor won his office Halloween costume contest this year after winning two years in a row.  In the morning he arrived as the black Thriller Michael Jackson and then at lunch time he changed to the white Billy Jean Michael Jackson (as seen in the pics above).  It was hilarious because he came out dancing.

But did he win?  Well, he got second place.  Just take a look at the following photo and take a wild guess at who won (my husband even spent two nights helping his friend out with the winning costume – I swear I want to borrow it one day, it’s so cool).

I’d love to share some video with you of my husband dancing because he danced a ton!  We are putting one together and I’ll add it in here and tweet the link as well when it goes up.  It was really nuts.  He really pulled off the look!

And well, to make the post a bit more bookish, guess who we ran into during our Halloween activities?  Brandon Mull:

It was a fun time with the Jackson Four at our house!

What’s your favorite Michael Jackson look?  Favorite song?  So many kids didn’t know who we were!  Luckily, we brainwashed our kids.  They loved it.  And know quite a few dance moves themselves.

*ahem*  Can I just mention that my husband lost 40 lbs for this role!  He looks fantastic!  Now I need tips on how to convince him to get rid of that ponytail . . .

I have not read anything by Muller and, even more embarrassing, am not familiar with this author at all.  I said the same thing last year.  I guess I’m not very well read.  What about you?  Have you read anything by Herta Muller?

I just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl tonight and couldn’t help but quickly post the Mike Teavee song lyrics as written by Dahl (who also wrote the screenplay for the Gene Wilder version).

First half of the song omitted. This is the second half:

“All right!” you’ll cry. “All right!” you’ll say,
“But if we take the set [television] away,
What shall we do to entertain our darling children? Please explain!”
We’ll anser this by asking you,
“What used the darling ones to do?
“How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?”
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY . . . USED . . . TO . . . READ? They’d READ and . . .
READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half of their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be!
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The Younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty totter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and -
Just How The Camel Got His Humbe,
And How The Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless by soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole -
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks -
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they start – oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
P.S Regarding Mike Teavee,
We very much regret that we
Shall simply have to wait and see
If we can get him back his height
But if we can’t – it serves him right.

And for your viewing pleasure the Gene Wilder version of the Mike Teavee song:

And the Johnny Depp version of the Mike Teavee song:

Now I think I may put in the movie while I write up my review of the book.  Which movie do you like best?  And too bad those bookish lyrics didn’t make the cut for either movie.

Banned Books Week!!!  I love this week!  (Although I wish we didn’t need it in the first place).  Today is the beginning of Banned Books Week which runs from today, September 26th, to October 3rd.

From the American Library Association:

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment.  Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Don’t think that challenging and banning books is something that doesn’t go on anymore.  Check out this map which details where book censorship’s are taking place. Weird, how there is nothing in my home state of Utah!  According to the ALA, in 2008 more than 500 cases of challenged books were reported with 70-80% go unreported.

I’ve been watching both Ellen Hopkins and Laurie Halse Anderson with interest as both are dealing with their books being challenged in the past few weeks. Hopkins just had an author visit (which she donated!)  canceled at a middle school after a parent complained about her newest book Glass. She’s been tweeting her way through the challenge and canceled visit.  Anderson’s (one of my favorite authors) books aren’t new to the banning circuit but is under a new round with Twisted and Speak and you can read her response.  Fuel for the fire leading up to Banned Books Week!

Puppet video!

I was looking through a bunch of lists of challenged books and decided that I would quickly pull from my shelves books that I haven’t read yet (or way back in high school).  In just a few short minutes I pulled the following:

I also realized that I have reviewed a lot more challenged books then I thought!

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
• Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
• How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
• Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
• Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
• Journey to Topaz by Yoshicko Uchida
• Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
• The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
• What Jaime Saw by Carolyn Coman
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
• Letters from a Slave Girl by Mary Lyons
• The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman
• Out of the Dust by Karen Hess

So yes, I read banned books.  Do you?

Linkage galore:

• ALA:   Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read – September 26-October 3, 2009
• ALA:  About Banned & Challenged Books
• ALA:  Banned and Challenged Classics
• ALA:  Most Frequently Challenged Authors of the 21st Century
• ALA:  Activity Ideas for Banned Books Week
• School Library Journal:  Celebrate Banned Books Week, September 26–October 3
• Random House:  Censorship Causes Blindness Poster
• Random House:  First Amendment First-Aid Kit
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign:  Challenged Children’s Books
• American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
• Banned Books Week website
• National Coalition Against Censorship – The Kis’ Right to Read Project
• National Council of Teachers of English: Anti-Censorship Center
• Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association,  American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression,  American Library Association,  American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers and the National Association of College Stores.  It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.
• J.C at The Bibliobrat is hosting a reading challenge during September to read banned/challenged books.  Do check it our for some great linkage of banned book reviews from bloggers.

Last year I read and reviewed one banned book a day for Banned Books Week. At the end of the week I rounded up all the bloggers who also took the challenge to read banned books during the week.  I think I’ll let J.C do the rounding up this year (see linkage above) as she’s doing an awesome job already.  I had a great time last year and am committing myself to do the same this year.  It was busy crazy as I didn’t read ahead and I haven’t read ahead this year either  So I need some great cheerleading this week to get one done a day!  I’m going to choose from the books I’ve listed in the photos above.  Likely, the short ones.

I went back and looked at my post for Banned Books Week last year and I really don’t have much to add to what I already said, which was:

I for one, don’t like everything that I read (I’ve always admitted my dislike for harsh language and graphic sex) but everybody has the right to choose for themselves what they want to read.  I don’t want anybody to tell me what I can or can not read and I certainly couldn’t imagine making that decision for others.  I wholeheartedly admit there is a lot of trash out there amongst a lot of great books, but one should never take away someones agency to choose what they can or can’t read.

As a parent, it’s my responsibility to  know what my children are reading and help them choose books appropriate for their age and maturity level.  And then when the time comes, trust that I have taught them well enough to make those decisions on their own.

So, what about you?  Are you planning on reading a banned/challenged book this week?  Let me know if you are!

Except for today.

I couldn’t help myself.  A lot of people have asked me how in the world do I blog with two small children (my oldest turns four today and my other is two).  I use a small notebook to keep track of all of my notes.  I’ve pasted in a yearly calender to keep track of important dates.  Let me show you what September and October currently look like:

That folks is what blogging is like in this house.

P.S.  Maybe not the post you were expecting, but highly amusing to this mama.

This past January, the bloggers who live nearby me had their first social, which I hosted in my home.  Since then I’ve been astounded with other bloggers who just seem to come out of the woodwork and then happen to mention to me that they live in Utah.  Is there something in the water here?  I was excited to host another social because our numbers have doubled.

These are the bloggers who were able to make it!

We never left a light on for him at night and he was fine wandering around with all the lights off.  A few weeks ago, I took my boys camping at Bear Lake and Yellowstone, and once it got dark, he told me it was too scary because of the monsters. Tonight he wouldn’t walk up the stairs up to his bedroom because it too was scary.

So what changed?  Why would he all of a sudden be scared?

I’m blaming it all on the camping books that we checked out from the library to prep my boys for the trip.

I must admit that I thought this was a simply brilliant idea of mine.  And my boys thought so too.  They LOVED the camping books.  They had never been camping so were completely clueless on the whole thing.  We read the books each night and then set the tent up in the backyard.  As soon as it was up, they asked for the fire and marshmallows.  They only knew about this activity from the books, so they were playing close attention!

When we went on the actual trip they were beside themselves with excitement and had a fabulous time.  We spent a lot of time at the beach, went boating, cooked over the fire, roasted marshmallows, slept in the tent (highlight for the boys) and saw all the wildlife of Yellowstone.  Might I add here that I did this WITHOUT my husband who instead was at Comi-Con, either I’m really crazy or superwoman.  I survived unscathed, so I’m shamelessly calling myself superwoman.

I can’t help myself.  Must quickly share some photos:

Okay, back to the subject at hand.

I couldn’t help but notice in almost all of the picture books that I read about camping there was a commonality between them:  the woods are so scary and full of monsters that they always run back home to sleep in their backyard instead.

Case in point:

Camping Day by Patricia Lakin with illustrations by Scott Nash.  In this picture book, four crocodiles decide to go on a camp out, grab their things, pack the car and speed off.  They had a great time putting up the tent, roasting smores, singing songs and telling stories.  But as soon as it gets dark they all yell, “Scary!” and huddle in their sleeping bags. They see monster shadows on the tent wall and then . . .

“Let’s scram!” cried Sam, Pam, Will and Jill.  They grabbed their things.  They ran and ran.  They sped away in their small van.
“Stop!” said Sam.  “Safe!” said Pam.  “Home!” said Will.  “Let’s camp!” said Jill.

“ZZZZZZ!” snored Sam, Pam, Will and Jill.

The closing illustration shows them sleeping in the fenced in backyard under the lights of their living room.

Duck Tents by Lynne Berry and illustrated by Hiroe Nakata.  Okay, this picture book is ADORABLE.  My boys loved it so much.  It’s got really cute illustrations and fun text.  This one is slightly different in that the camping is already taking place in the backyard and even so, it’s STILL scary.  There are five ducks and each one is sleeping alone in their own tent (right next to the house in a stone fenced-in enclosure) and the text reads:

Five ducks sigh, full of marshmallow goo.
Five little ducks hear a whoo-whoo-whoooooo.
Ducks all dive for their tents in a row,
Zip up tight, and lie down low.

Two little ducks poke out two beaks.
“I’m not scared,” one little duck squeaks.
“I’m not scared,” quack two, three, four.
The fifth little duck pretends to snore.

Yet five little ducks can’t help but hear
Sounds of the nighttime, loud and clear.
Whoo! Whoo!  Whoooooo!

One by one, four little ducks creep . . .
“Not scared now,” ducks sigh and peep,
And snuggle up tight and drift to sleep.

This last stanza is shown with an illustration of all five ducks snuggled in together in one tent.

Jerome Camps Out written and illustrated by Eileen Christelow. This book was actually a bit above my boys interest level so we only read it once.  But the premise is the same.  Jerome and his friends go on a weekend camping trip with their school and decide to play a trick on somebody by convincing him that there is a monster in the lake.  The illustrations show the boy quivering underneath his sleeping back unable to sleep the entire night because he’s so scared of the lake monster.  The next morning, Jerome finds out that the supposed monster wasn’t as imaginary as he thought.  The ending illustration is that of a monster (a very friendly looking monster actually) waving goodbye from the lake.

Mr. Bear’s Vacation by Debi Gliori.  This is a fun, little book about a family of bears who want to take small bear on her first camping trip.  They pack a picnic, a tent and head out.  Everything is great until it got dark:

“What’s that?” said Mr. Bear.
“What?” said Mrs. Bear.
“That snorting sound,” whispered Mr. Bear.  “Outside, listen . . . ”
The bears fell silent.
Flora’s ears twitched.

“Look,” said Mrs. Bear in a trembly whisper.  “There on the wall.”
“AAARGH!” screamed Mr. Bear.
“It’s a monster!” wailed Small Bear.
“MoooOOOO,” said the monster.

The illustration shows what is really a cow falling into their tent.

“Quick! Let’s go!” yelled Mr. Bear, quickly putting out the fire, stuffing the little bears into the backback, and pulling Mrs. Bear and Flora after him.

They run home and declare that they need another vacation from their vacation.  Again, home is much safer than the outdoors.

Now to be fair.  Of the six books that I got from the library (which I found simply by searching for camping under juvenile picture books) two of them were fine and were not about how camping is scary.  In Let’s Go Camping with Mr. Sillypants by M.K. Brown, Mr. Sillypants sleeps in and misses the start of his camping trip.  The other, Stella and Roy Go Camping by Ashley Wolff, a book mainly about bear safety, was actually my oldest’s favorite of the six because he LOVED learning about all of the animal tracks.  And it paid off too.  During our camping trip, he was on the look out for prints the whole time and was excited when he found them.

SO.  Like I mentioned earlier, while we were camping and after the sun went down, my oldest told me that the dark was too scary and he wanted to go to the tent and sleep.  Fortunately, unlike most of the characters in these books, he was never scared inside the tent.  But being scared of the dark was something that never really occurred to him before we read these books.  The four that I mentioned above all explore the idea that when it gets dark, the monsters come out and they all hightail it back home where it’s safe.

Why would a child think that the dark is scary or that there are monsters under the bed or in the closest?  In my case, they learned it from the picture books.  My boys are still to young to understand the concept that monsters are imaginary.  If a book says that there are monsters in the dark when we camp then it must be so.

Do you think that we teach our kids to be scared when it’s all supposed to be fun and games?  We use books to correct our children’s behavior so to me it makes total sense that they also can teach incorrect behavior as well.  And why in the world do I want to create more work for myself in the future by trying to unteach these behaviors?  Thoughts?

(And on another note, I’m thinking of putting my oldest in preschool and was checking out this list of books for preschoolers compiled by Reading Rumpus.  Many are about being scared and missing mommy.  Perhaps I should avoid those ones.)

To make a long story short, after my hosting company continually suspended my blog for using too many resources on their server, it was time to move on. This was easier said than done and the switchover took much longer than expected.  It didn’t help matters any that I also had a planned camping trip in the middle of the whole thing.  But my sister Leisa is a miracle worker and got things up and running in my absence.  Seriously, you all should wish that you had a sister like mine.   There may be a few glitches (I still have to retrieve my tags and categories and figure out email notifications) so please don’t hesitate to let me know if things are not working normally. 

With that said, I hope that my readers are still here!  It’s been a strange and busy summer and blogging has been more difficult for me to manage.  I’m seriously behind on everything and have many to-do items to cross off on my list as well as many emails to respond too.  My posting has been a bit irregular and it’s my intention to bring back all of my regular features and series that have taken a hiatus during the summer in September.

So I hope that everybody hasn’t jumped ship.  I must admit that it felt a bit lonely around here.  The good thing that came out of all of this?  I think I’ve been able to refocus myself and that’s a good thing. 

Still time to enter giveaways for The Year the Swallows Came Early and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.