Great Books » Bookworm Broadcast

I’ve talked here at The Bookworm Broadcast about how much I love the book, “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” and how excited I was (cautiously) that it was made into a television cartoon. There definitely was potential there, with all the goofy stories! As a bookworm, though, I have to admit it did make me nervous. As a perfect example of the way I feel about this, my town library once had a sign up that said, “Never judge a book by its movie”. I shared with you that I was pretty pleased with this book-into-TV transition. And I’m hopeful that at least some kids will be intrigued enough with the show to want to read the books! I can hope, right? Hey – I’ve always been that way – if I really, really like a movie/show, I want to read the book!

The basic story of this book is that The Wayside School was accidentally built 30 stories tall, with one classroom per floor, instead of one story tall, with 30 classrooms. The builder’s felt really bad about it and apologized a whole lot! On each floor of the building, in each classroom, is another crazy class – with another wacky tale to tell.

The main character, Todd, goes to school on the 30th floor and at recess time, he has to hurry as fast as he can to get down to the bottom floor, so that he can get one of the cherished playground balls from the janitor. It is first-come-first-serve and it’s hard to make it down all thirty floors quickly!

Todd’s teacher, Mrs. Jewl, not only allows the students to sleep – she encourages it! And when he tries to hand in his homework, he winds up in trouble – he gets detention or has to ride the kindergarten bus home!

The wackiness just goes on and on! So, while I definitely wondered if Wayside – The Cartoon could possibly measure up to the book, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised! They’ve added some things and taken some things out and it is, for sure, a different experience than the book. It is tons of fun, though! And the cool thing is that it is great fun for the whole family to watch! It is one of those cartoons that everyone in your family, no matter their age, will enjoy!

Wayside School: Season One definitely gets this bookworm’s seal of approval!

And just to appeal to my book-lovin’ heart, they actually included a copy of Sideways Stories from Wayside School with the DVD! Now, how cool is that?

I just love old muscle cars – the way they have those big, beastly engines in front of you, and the way they just roar. I used to pretend my ’77 Delta 88 was a muscle car, because, she had one of those big engines. Ha! I’m a dork. I did love that car, though. I miss her – her name was ‘Bertha’. She was a lot of fun. And she had enough back seat for the kids to practically do acrobatics while we were going down the road! They, of course, were safely strapped in their car seats and boosters, though. Too bad, kids.

Real muscle cars are so awesome, though. I didn’t truly appreciate them when I was a youngster, now, though, I have a true appreciation for the fine machines that they are. It’s funny, I think my parents always thought that my love for trucks that I had as a kid would eventually fade. The exact opposite has actually happened – it has grown and blossomed to include awesome machines of all kinds. I even love construction trucks now! That would be thanks to my boys and their early childhood obsession with them. They have, of course, outgrown it. Mom still goes nuts when a backhoe goes rolling by! Ha! The boys respond to my excitement over said backhoe with a monotonous, “Yeah, great, Mom.” They created a monster and don’t even truly appreciate this newest branch of my love for machines! Little hoodlums!

I would love to own one of those older beefy cars, though. Oh my gosh, that would be so much fun! John Schneider recently sold ‘The General Lee’ – how much fun would that be to drive around town?

I imagine, though, that owning one of those old beauties would come with a lot of need for repairs. It was definitely a handful sometimes, taking care of ‘Bertha’, and she wasn’t exactly a ‘fine machine’, you know? In my heart, she was, but, if I owned a Charger or something, it might need even more specialized care. I did find a very helpful book, for any budding muscle car enthusiasts that may be out there. The book is called Project Charger by Larry Lyles, and the reviews that accompany it on Amazon are nothing short of glowing. So I imagine this book would be extremely helpful in caring for a car like that.

Another thing I’m sure I would wind up doing is buying one Dodge Charger accessory after another. Oh boy, they have some nice ones, though! I’m serious – just look and you’ll see what I mean! The thing that most intrigued me was the port holes, but, I am not sure if that is only on the newer models. They sure do look cool, though.

I’m glad that there is a book for everything under the sun, because, that is part of my whole argument that every child can learn to love to read. You just have to find a book on a topic that they love! And if I can find a super-helpful book on Dodge Chargers, you can find a book that your child will enjoy, too!

I’m so excited about this book that I just picked up at the store. I wasn’t even intending to buy myself anything, but, a cup of coffee. I was taking my son and his friends to buy snacks and goodies for a party they are throwing tomorrow night. My daughter went along with us, and she and I went off wandering while we waited for the boys to pick out their stuff. We wound up at the books section, and that is when I saw it….

It’s called Speak and it’s by Laurie Halse Anderson. The librarian at my children’s last school (in Texas) had told me about this book at the end of our last year there. I’ve been meaning to pick it up ever since, and just haven’t done it.

There it was tonight, though, begging me to bring it home. It was calling to me… Really! Books do that, you know! I’ve got a bit of a tummy ache, so I think I’ll just go curl up in bed with my new book and relax.

The book covers a heavy topic, and it might be very depressing, but, I am very interested to read it after the glowing review from the librarian. I’ve been meaning to email her to say hello, anyway – now I definitely will have to, so that I can let her know I’ve finally read this book!

I’ll let you know my thoughts on it when I’ve finished reading it.

I have to say that I am so excited about these books! Ok, I know I get excited about a lot of books, but, come on! This is Laura Ingalls Wilder we’re talking about! I bought the first two in this series for my daughter and I can’t wait to dive into them myself!

Here’s the first one:

Laura Ingalls - On Wisdom and Virtue.jpg

It is subtitled, “On Wisdom and Virtue”, and in it Laura talks about living a life of integrity and helping others and keeping a positive attitude. Truth be told, some of her old ideas might actually rub me the wrong way. I’m not sure yet, as I haven’t read it. I’m willing to bet, though, that the core of her message I will not only agree with, but, I’ll be happy to be having my daughter read it. And should I discover something that is just an old ideal that I do not subscribe to, it will be a good jumping off point for a discussion with my daughter about some of those old ideals.

Here is the second volume:

Laura Ingalls - On Life as a Pioneer Woman.jpg

It is subtitled, “On Life as a Pioneer Woman”. Oh – this one should really be good! It will be full of great lessons for my daughter, I’m sure, about the value of hard work. I really can’t wait to read this one! (I need my teenage boys to read this one! Ha!)

I’m so glad to have two of my kids who completely fell in love with the Little House books. I don’t know that I can actually interest my son in these books, but, he really got a lot out of the main books. They both would love to visit Laura’s house! That would be such a neat trip!

My darling son, Shawn, brought me an early Christmas present the other day. How cool is that? My husband had taken the kids up to the school for the Santa Shop. If you are not familiar with this concept, a fund raiser retailer comes in to the school and sets up a shop full of inexpensive and varied items, so that the kids can easily shop for their loved ones. The shopping gets done all in one place, and the gifts are easy for a child’s budget to accommodate. It’s a really neat program.

Another thing happened to be going on that night at school, as well. The library was giving away books. Did someone say giving away books? I am so there! Well, I wasn’t – but, my boy was looking out for me! He brought me home a great book to read, and a very important one, at that! He brought me “The Long Black Schooner” by Emma Gelders Sterne. It is the story that prompted the movie, “Amistad”. I haven’t seen the movie, but, I am so excited to read the book. I think it will be a much more enriching experience to read the story first. That is how it usually is for me. The subtitle is “The Voyage of the Amistad” and the book was also later renamed to “The Slave Ship”. So the book kind of has three titles. Isn’t that weird?

Here’s a picture of my copy:

The round thing coming off the top of it is my booklight. I love that thing! My dad bought it for me last summer and it is the nicest one I’ve ever had – it rocks!

There is one about Shawn bringing me a book that is heartwrenching – if you’re a bookworm, that is. Do you know why the library was giving away their books? They were giving them away because they are…..eeks…..”discards“. Yes, discards. Isn’t that the saddest thing you’ve ever heard anyone say in reference to books? It’s even stamped inside the front of the book:

Ugh. So sad. Shawn said they were going to throw away whatever books they had left over. I’m hoping and praying his information is wrong – surely it must be, right? We have a brand new thrift store in town that would probably love them! I’ll have to ask the librarians about that, I’m sure the child was wrong.

I’m also sure, however, that the child was sweet – to think of me. And to bring me such a historically important book. When your child loves books enough to give you back books in return, then you know your book circle has come full circle. And that life is good.

Yes, I’m silly and sappy when I talk about books.