Thursday, January 14, 2010

Today I Will


Booklist (November 15, 2009 (Vol. 106, No. 6))
Grades 5-8. The popular husband-and-wife authors join together in this new direction for both: an advice book. Arranged in a chronological format, with one page dedicated to each day of the year, the book features three sections in each daily entry: a quotation from a children’s book, a short passage of advice, and an affirmation. March 29, for example, features a quote from Paula Fox’s novel Western Wind (1993): “You can’t take words back . . . They sit there like big damp frogs.” The following advice speaks about regret for something that was said, and the closing affirmation is, “Today if I feel myself about to release a word I’ll regret, I’ll bite my frog.” Subjects cover a broad range of topics, including contacting grandparents, buckling seatbelts, resisting peer pressures, and turning off the TV. Readers can dip in at random and read a page per day or as many as they choose. The advice, while often humorous, is practical and age appropriate. Young book lovers will delight in the quotations (as will teachers and librarians), and fans of the Chicken Soup series will eat up this appealing offering.

No comments: