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Hey. This is a live blog(that is why I’m talking in present tense) I am listening to David Macaulay talk about his sort-of new book Castle (now in color).

David used to draw all of his books in black and white, pen and ink. Someone called him though while he was eating “peanut M&Ms”(even artists eat ‘em!) and asked him if they could use a computer to incorporate color in his book, but he said no. He said he would rather redraw everything with color.

Castle. This book is about building his castle. It’s really interesting David goes through almost every step in making the castle. You can really see what is going on without looking at the text. There are different seasons that the castle is being built(it takes a long time, as I’ve learned) , Summer/Spring, and winter. David shows different parts being finished, while others may not even have been started. He shows how different things in a medieval town would work, drawbridges, fireplaces, spiral staircases, chapel, chambers (eww… and how they work), cemetry… ect. He has many bird-eye-views, I like that, It gives a lot information. I really like seeing how things work, that is one of the reasons why I like Scott Westerfeld(see Leviathan review) and Studio Ghibli(I don’t have any review for that, but eventually I will. Google it.).   Different wepons how and why they would work(awesome). Many diagrams. I like how he really takes a lot of time drawing every brick, every ceiling shaft. He showed us the difference between the old and the new, I like the new’s perspective. It’s funny, he gave people playing chess, while the castle in under siege.  The history in how “The English are coming, The English are coming!”.

Cathedral. Sad, but I like it. Building a new cathedral(he likes building stuff, awesome). This is about taking down an old cathedral, and building a new one. His art is really amazing. I can’t say much about this book because it’s sort-of unfinished.

“Don’t celebrate the ruin, celebrate the town.” DAVID MACAULAY.

I liked the book Impossible by Nancy Werlin. One of the reasons why I like it so much is because it is based on the song The Elfin Knight or otherwise known as Scarborough Fair, and I love that song. The song is mostly about a person singing if you are going to a fair and that he once had a true love that left him.  That is just the style of the song. I like the song. The book is also really good.

Lucy Scarborough’s family is under an ancient curse. Unless she can unravel the riddles in the song The Elfin Knight she will fall mad upon her child birth. Some of the ways Lucy tries to solve the riddles are funny, and I really liked that.

This book is for adults I think. They use some bad word, also most of the topics described are mature. I like how realistic the dialogue of the book is. They use words actual people would use, not words or sentences no one uses. Even though the book is not in first person, when people speak Nancy has people asking questions to each other, things parents would say to each other, and the way high school girls would talk to each other.

The book is already out and I would definitely recommend it(even my dad said he would like to read it).

The Clone Codes is a captivating science fiction book about Clones who go to a special school, where all of their classes are visual. That is all I am going to tell you about what happens in the book.

I like science fiction books, and I like this one, but it was a little short for me. It is for ages 12+ but it was a little short for me and I’m not 12+. I like how The McKissacks wrote the book in a visual journal type book and also how if you need to the have directory of rules clone are and are not allowed to do. The book is coming out February 2010.

I read the graphic novel Katman by Kevin C. Pyle and, even though it is not exactly my style, I really enjoyed it. This book is, like Where the Wild Things Are, hard to understand what age group it is for. It contains mildly bad words, but it seems a bit child-like to me. I don’t really want to say what it is about because I loved it so much, but you should really read it.

I like Pyle’s style (that rhymes!), and how he illustrates books. His writing style is really good, how a person would actually talk, but contains a thought of normal ’sappiness’. I can’t tell you anymore, just read the book.

Okay before you read this post just a few things to cover. Scott Westerfeld has been my favorite author for a very long time. Leviathan the book I posted on is now my favorite book (for now). Okay favorite book so if you can; read it.

Leviathan is an alternate past, it goes on during a world war. There are to big enemies the Clankers(those who do everything with machines) and the Darwinists(people who ‘fabricate’ or mix animals with different one which ends up with strange sometimes flying animals). Young prince Alek’s parents have been murdered. Alek and Deryn Sharp are the main characters. Deryn is a girl who wants to be a solider, more than anything. Girls aren’t allowed to be in a war so, she cuts of her hair, wears a boy uniform and becomes a soilder.

I love Scott Westerfeld’s writing style. I can’t really describe it, but I love it. Some of the other books he has wrote are; Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras (the Uglies Series), The Midnighters Series, and a lot of other one I cannot name. I strongly advise you to read this certain book because I loved it. This book would be enjoyed by boys more, but I’m a girl and I loved it. So just read it.

First of all, I love all of Diana Wynne Jones’ books. I absolutely adore the idea of Howl’s Moving Castle. This book was really enjoyable and like Howl’s Moving Castle. I really love this idea(not as much as Howl’s Moving Castle though). Here is just a brief summary because I love this idea:

Ever read A Midsummer Night’s Dream? If you have you probably remember Queen Titania and King Oberon fighting over a human child. This book is about Oberon wanting to kill that child when he is grown up. That is all i will say.

I said I liked Diana Wynne Jones’ books, right? Well I like her ideas not really her writing style. I normally enjoy books with more descriptions of the fighting scenes, because I don’t understand them very well, and books that describe what the character thinks and how they think it. This book is in third person, so the second choice is eliminated, so the first not many war scenes (awh man!).

Even though I’m a fast reader Diana Wynne Jones’ books take me a long time. They are just hard to get through. Ps. Some times my reviews are late cause I’m reading other books at the time(I’m obsessed!)

Oh, yeah; Due Date: April 6th, 2010.

Mr. Roger Sutton,

Your post “To ’see like a child’: all it’s cracked up to be?” rose some commotion. We don’t really like how you say every child is just going to go on and on. The BookBloggers (the book club at my school) don’t do that. You may see us saying a lot about something, but we might think that that certain part is important to our understanding of said book. Maybe only your summer reading club’s reviews were ‘painful’, but I know many kids and most of their reviews are anything but. I think that our reviews are very ‘illuminating’. If we use too much of a summary please tell me! I would like to know something that could make my reviews the best possible.

First of all, I really liked this movie and thought that many other people would enjoy it. It is rated PG and I think that it should be. It would be G if Wes Anderson, the director did not do a number of things. Some adult humor, not that bad, mature situations that a child might think a good thing to do. Also something that was supposed to be humorous was not really for me. Wes Anderson replaces every bad word the characters would say with ‘cuss’. I think it is good they replaced it, but still not the best. If Wes Anderson wanted the movie to be completely for young viewers, than it would be good to have none of the context at all.

The characters relate like normal people, for a change in kids movies. One of the characters, Kristofferson, does everything perfectly. This seems a little strange, but anyway, his cousin, Ash, Mr. Fox’s son, a main character, doesn’t like because he is not perfect. This changes some plans and the way they start to like each other is strange, but I really enjoyed. PS. Kristofferson is my favorite character.

Saying on how this movie relates to the book I can’t say because I read it (and it was read to me. Story Time!) in second grade. From what I remember this movie is much like the book.

I really loved this movie and I strongly advise you to go see it. Hey, tell me about it, if you liked it or not. If you didn’t I am totally okay with that, tell me why you didn’t. I don’t like a lot of books, you can too.

In The Path Of Falling Objects by Andrew Smith is a well-written adult book. Even  though it is fiction, it seems like science fiction. I really liked it, even though it was above my age group (most are!).

This book is about Jonah, a teen narrarating In the beginning of the book he is traveling with his little brother Simon, when his brother hitch-hikes a car Jonah never said he could which leads them to a load of trouble.

Andrew Smith’s writing is really good and I personally think that he does a very good job at narrating in Jonah’s perspective. One thing that confused me is that at the beginning of every chapter Smith says one name of a character. I am guessing that that character is the main character of the chapter, but Jonah is the main character of the story… soo. Well is still don’t get it. He also sometimes uses a different perspective which confused me also. I really enjoyed this book and I advise you to read it. If you liked or didn’t like it, please comment!

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs, coming out June, 2010, was a pretty good book, even though I don’t really like romance. Even though it would be labeled under romance, I think it has some comedy in it. I usually like comedy and something else that’s not romance, but Forgive My Fins was alright for a certain .

Forgive My Fins is about Lily-a Thalassinian princess, a mermaid, that has discovered that she is half human. She is going to Seaview High, a high school that is about to have one of its dances. After admiring from afar, Lily decides to ask out Brady, who is the reson why she stays on land. But, when Quince, her annoying biker-boy neighbor, asks if she needs any help, she has to agree, because she just can’t ask Brady out. When mermaids kiss a person, they ‘bond’, which means that they fall in deep love, and the human (if there is one) will start to become a mermaid (or merman). This is what Lily plans to do with Brody, but with a twist of mistaken identity this book dramatically changes.

This book is ages 12+ and grades 7+. Well, thats what the book says it is. Tera Lynn Childs has a unique writing style, when she is talking through Lily’s perspective. She uses under-sea terms, like ‘flipper-fast’ or ‘Damselfish’, a mermaids vocabulary. I think she over uses it a bit actually.

All in all, this book was 6/10(It was sort of good, not my style, but good), and if you want to read it, go ahead.