In the meantime, I ordered Storey's 101 One Yard Wonders. I don't have much (any) time to sew these days, but eventually, I'll get the machine back out. And when I do, I know I'll be making many of the fun projects in this book. The 101 One Skein books have been wildly successful for Storey (I've contributed to 3 of them, including the new one coming out soon), and I wish equal success for this branch of the franchise.
Though I've praised him before, I don't remember if I mentioned Neil Gaiman's Coraline here on the blog. It's an intense book, with a story line that is much less gentle than many children's books (I haven't seen the movie yet, but plan to soon). Last week, I read The Graveyard Book, which, in terms of intensity, is Coraline x10. In a nutshell, it's the story of a young boy who barely escaped the murder of his entire family, and who was raised and protected by ghosts in a graveyard. To tell more would be to give too much of this amazing story away. It's like no other book I've ever read. And it won this year's Newbery Medal.
A caution about the story: while it's aimed at younger readers, I would be wary of recommending it to anyone too young. Voracious Reader is eight, and she reads far above her grade level, but I think I'll hold off giving it to her for a couple of years. Older readers, those ready to handle the fact that real evil exists, will love it.
Oh, and the ending made me cry.
2 comments:
Me, too. Sad and hopeful. Mr. Gaiman said at the Newbery dinner that it was, to some extent, a story about raising children and then letting them go, an element all parents can relate to.
I recently read both of those books and I agree, they are amazing stories, and unlike anything I've ever read.
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