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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
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since I teach at a middle school(grades 5-8; ages 10-14); I read a lot of fiction written for that age, and my favorites lately have been the Garth Nix trilogy Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen. great books.
I've also been reading Sherri Tepper, which I'm thinking really shouldn't be in a middle school library!
formerly known as etaoin...
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
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Let me suggest that, like several other books which masquerade as children's fiction, The Book of the Dun Cow is a serious book, written for adults, by a serious theologian, who grapples with altogether serious issues in it.
Surely it's a serious book. Never meant to suggest otherwise. I had no idea he was a theologian, but it makes sense given the subject of the book. I'm probably misusing the term "children's book." Maybe that's a loaded phrase that someone would find offensive. I guess I'm not sure I agree with the implication that Children's books can't be serious. Is A Wrinkle in Time a serious book? Or The Chronicles of Narnia?
Wait ... I think I missed the very obvious message on my first reading of your post. You're saying that it is OSTENSIBLY a children's book in maybe a similar vein as The Screwtape Letters or Chronicles of Narnia, but this is a vehicle for communicating a serious idea.
Okay, sure. I'll buy that.
k
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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i have just started to read Year of Wonders, by Gerladine Brooks.. a novel of the plague.. i have a list of words to look up and throw out already, some must old/archic, (snape-- some sort of rake for clearing cobblestones, and others just old fashioned, handkin for hankie..) but i am gobbling up the story right now!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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Master storyteller, Walt Wangerin, Jr., has been captivating both reading and listening audiences for two decades.
Pastor Wangerin is the author of more than 20 deeply spiritual and widely acclaimed books for children and adults. They include fiction, non-fiction and devotional material. He is writer-in-residence at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana.
Many have also discovered that Pastor Wangerin's story telling gift transcends the printed page. He belongs in that tradition of oral storytellers who have captured the imaginations of people of all ages, through all the ages. His stories, reflections, meditations and life experiences find God in common things and proclaim Christ in our lives. Since 1994 Pastor Wangerin has been joining story and Gospel as the Lutheran Vespers speaker, receiving acclaim from thousands of listeners.
Biographical Material
Born February 13, 1944, in Portland, OR
Reared, the eldest of 7 children, in various locations:
Shelton, WA
Chicago, IL
Grand Forks, ND
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Married, father of four children
Education
Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, MO; M.Div. 1976
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO
Miami University, Oxford, OH; M.A. in English Literature, 1968 (All course work and requirements for Ph.D. completed except the dissertation)
Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, IN; B.A. 1966
Concordia Junior College, Milwaukee, WI; A.A. 1964
Present Professional Activities
Professor and occupant of Emil & Elfriede Jochum Chair, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN (1991-present)
Speaker, Lutheran Vespers (1994-present)
Frequent lecturer at universities and professional conferences
Past Professional Activities
Was the regular columnist for The Lutheran, the official magazine of the ELCA, from 1988-2000.
Book Awards
New York Times' Best Children's Book of the Year, The Book of the Dun Cow (1978)
The American Book Award, The Book of the Dun Cow (1980)
Campus Life's Editor's Choice, The Book of Sorrows (1985)
Gold Medallion Book Award, Ragman and Other Cries of Faith (1985)
Gold Medallion Book Award, Potter (1986)
CSIA C.S. Lewis Award, Potter (1986)
Association of Logos Bookstores Book Award for Best Fiction, The Book of Sorrows (1986)
Virtue Magazine Book of the Year, As For Me and My House (1987)
Gold Medallion Book Award, As For Me and My House (1988)
Gold Medallion Book Award, Reliving the Passion (1993)
Gold Medallion Book Award, The Book of God (1996)
Association of Logos Bookstores Book Award for Best Book, The Book of God (1996)
Publications
NOVELS:
The Book of Sorrows, Harper & Row, 1985
The Book of the Dun Cow, Harper & Row, 1978
The Crying for a Vision, Simon & Schuster, 1994
The Book of God: The Bible as Novel, Zondervan, Lion UK and Zondervan, 1996
Paul: A Novel, Lion UK and Zondervan, 200 (Gold Medallion Book Award, 2001
CHILDREN'S BOOKS:
Elisabeth and the Water-Troll, Harper Collins Children's Books, 1991
In the Beginning There Was No Sky, Thomas Nelson, 1986
Potter, Augsburg-Fortress Publishers, 1994 (previously, David C. Cook, 1985)
Thistle, Augsburg-Fortress Publishers, 1995 (previously Harper & Row, 1983)
My First Book About Jesus, Checkerboard Press, 1983
Six Arch Books, Concordia Publishing House, 1972-1976
Probity Jones and the Fear Not Angel, Augsburg, 1996
In The Beginning There Was No Sky, Augsburg-Fortress, 1997
The Book of God for Children, Zondervan, 1996 (previously The Bible For Children, Checkerboard Press, 1981)
The Bedtime Rhyme, Augsburg Fortress, 1998
Mary's First Christmas, Zondervan, 1998
Angels and All Children, Augsburg Fortress, August, 2002
Peter's First Easter, Zondervan, 2000
COLLECTIONS OF SHORT STORIES & ESSAYS:
Little Lamb, Who Made Thee?, Zondervan, 1993
The Manger is Empty, Harper & Row, 1989
Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace, Harper & Row, 1988
Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, Harper & Row, 1984
This Earthly Pilgrimage, Zondervan, Spring 2003
PRACTICAL THEOLOGY:
Mourning into Dancing, Zondervan, 1992
As For Me and My House: Crafting a Marriage to Last, Thomas Nelson, 1987
The Orphean Passages, subtitled: The Drama of Faith, Harper & Row, 1986
Whole Prayer, Zondervan, 1998
DEVOTIONAL:
Measuring the Days, edited by Gail McGrew Eifrig, Harper San Francisco, 1993
Reliving the Passion, Zondervan, 1992
POETRY:
A Miniature Cathedral and Other Poems, Harper & Row, 1987
With Paul Manz-- Una Sancta: A Mass in Thanksgiving for the Unity of the Body of Christ; debuted and toured with the Seminex chorus in 1986 and 1987
PERIODICALS:
Book Reviews for The Washington Post Book World
Book Reviews for The New York Times
Articles in numerous periodicals
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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Whew! Father Steve - that's one prolific man!
Now, just to let you know I'm not filing my brain with fluff, I am also reading some serious books.
1. "Generally Speaking" by Claudia Kennedy - the first woman to reach the rank of Lt. General (three stars) in U.S. Army. Some intersting stuff and would be useful to any young woman embarking on a career in military *or* in "real life!"
2. "Good Morning Mr. Zip Zip Zip Movies, Memory, and World War II" a semi-memoir by Richard Schickel, the movie critic for TIME magazine. The book recalls his youth and all the movies, music and memories of the 1940s and onward. A bit heavy - here and there - on mentioning the writers of movies who were, or were accused of being, Communists - but otherwise enjoyable especially for those who recall the same times.
3. Last but not least, "Always Faithful: by Capt William Putney DVM, USMC Ret. It's a memoir of the Marine dogs of WWII - Family pets who were trained and then went to war and saved the lives of thousands of soldiers in the vicious fighting across the islands of the Pacific.
After the war the Army was going to destroy the dogs but Putney fought for re-training and won (!) so that nearly all the dogs were returned to the families who gave up their family pets for the war effort. Only a very few dogs couldn't be re-trained and had to be killed. Even if you do not like dogs it's a piece of history, and will leave you, if nothing else, with respect for those Marines and the dogs that saved so many lives.
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Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
If you're tempted to buy "The Shelters of Stone" by Jean M. Auel, don't bother. It's rubbish and I wasted £5.99. Gosh, how'd you get it so cheaply? An on-line bookseller has it for four times that much. One of their critics agrees with you, though: Soon the reader realizes that half of the book has passed with just about nothing of import happening. Auel spends so much time with the stories of Ayla's past that it often seems as if this book is meant to be a refresher course instead of a new installment. Auel's research is impressive, but when it comes to character development, the novel is frighteningly juvenile. I hadn't realized the fifth one was out; I rather thought she'd given up, or died, or something, after 12 years since the 4th. one. I read the first one avidly, the next 3 less so: I too agree that all that research is remarkable, but pretty soon you get tired of reading about the minutiae which, after all, must be a good deal surmised.
I plan to find a bio of Beatrix Potter; I went to her museum in the Lake District on my recent journey, and learned that she based many of her drawings on her actual surroundings at the time. What a talented lady she was! And now, thanks to Maverick, I know what foxgloves are, and can imagine Jemima Puddleduck and the "gentleman with sandy whiskers" even better.
On a different note: how do you people find the TIME, to read all these books?! You are making me absolutely drool, but to get to even half of them, I would have to a.) lock away my computer, and b.) hire a maid, cook, and chauffeur. And probably give up sleep, too...
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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how do you people find the TIME, to read all these books?!
Keep a book in the car for those "I'll just be a minute stops," at all the places you have to wait : MDs, stop lights and traffic jams, hairdresser, etc.
A good book holder for when doing dishes or ironing.
One on the table next to bed. (nothing too exciting)
And that boon to researchers and book lovers : Books on Tape!
Welcome back Jackie - missed you!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Thanks, Dear One. I always take a book to the doctor's office--that's how I'm getting through "The Professor and the Madman". Not sure about stop lights, but one time I was reading while waiting in line at one of those quick oil change places. I was vaguely aware of somebody yelling in the distance. Gradually I became aware that the yelling was still going on; when I finally looked up, the oil change guy was doing jumping jacks at the back of the bay, yelling and motioning for me to drive in!  Erm, speaking of time, I checked "The Shelters of Stone" out of the library this evening. That is one thick book!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
End of my book recommendations, then.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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Yeah, well, I expect to do a lot of skimming, like I did in the last three. But I'd like to find out what kind of reception Ayla gets.
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