Hello Book Bums families!
The new year is almost upon us. Here at Book Bums we are excited to be with you for another year exploring language and books and doing all we can to help you raise great readers and writers!
This week in the newsletter we share some inspiration - books, resolutions, quotes, a TED talk, and more. Enjoy!
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Word of the Week
resolution (rez-oh-loo-shun) noun/person, place, or thing - a decision to do something or to act in a certain manner or the outcome of decision making.
My New Year's resolution is to read two new books each month.
Literary Calendar
• January 3 is the birthday J.R.R. Tolkien.
• Tolkien is the beloved creator of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Middle Earth.
• He was a professor at Oxford and good friends with C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia.
From our Bookshelves
Brene’ Brown is a professor, author, and podcast host who shares what she’s learning about shame, vulnerability, and leadership. Because Brown is an outstanding storyteller, her readers learn about themselves and about how they might best engage with those around them.
Dare to Lead is for professionals who serve in leadership positions, but this book is great for parents who serve as leaders in their families, too. Whether in businesses or in homes, Brown challenges us to motivate and inspire others to become their best selves. When we are vulnerable and approach life with curiosity, open-mindedness, and courage, we can enjoy working together in safe spaces with honest communication.
If you haven’t read it yet, you may want to begin with Brown’s book, Daring Greatly.
The following quote hangs in a prominent space in my office. Anyone who leads in some way can fall prey to the fear of failure. I know I can. Life is richer and I can better achieve my goals when I stop fearing the critic and find the courage to strive valiantly.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again... who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Tips for Families
Have you heard about the early New Year’s Eve countdown for kids? Celebrate with the kids, send them to bed, and then you can celebrate with the grown-ups when it’s really midnight. Here’s a fun countdown video you can play on your television whenever you’d like. Chances are your kids will never know the difference.
Tips for Readers and Writers
Make a resolution. Sure, it’s that time of year. But this one’s for your kids.
Strive, the whole year long, to have a tempting book within easy reach for each of your family members. Whether you pick up armfuls of books from the library, download books on Audible, or have them delivered right to your door by that nice Amazon driver, find a way to have lots of books that are downright tantalizing on hand for your kids. Don’t nag them to read the books. Rather, strive to inspire your kids to read the books you’ve stashed where they can’t ignore them. I'll mention, again, that you have a captive audience in your bathrooms. It’s sneaky, and it works.
We’ll do our best to keep good titles coming in this newsletter. If you have some suggestions, share them by replying to this email. We’d love to hear from you!
Here are a few books we recommend you set around your home during holiday break to inspire some reading time:
For toddlers:
Press Here, Herve Tullet; Where’s Spot, Eric Hill; Tuck Me In, Dean Hacohen
For young kids:
Grumpy Monkey, Suzanne Lang; Actual Size, Steve Jenkins, The Three Ninja Pigs, Corey Rosen Schwartz
Read alouds for early elementary kids:
Calvin Can’t Fly; Keith Bendis (the power of being a bookworm); The Day the Crayons Quit, Drew Daywalt; Tacky the Penguin, Helen Lester
For beginning independent readers (series):
The Princess in Black, Shannon Hale; Dragon Masters, Tracey West; Mercy Watson, Kate DiCamillo
For elementary kids, picture books:
P is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever, Raj Haldar; One Day, A Book of Infographics, Steve Jenkins; Lifetime, The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives, Lola M. Schaefer
For elementary independent readers (series):
Ranger in Time, Kate Messner; Shredderman: Secret Identity, Wendelin Van Draanen; The Trumpet of the Swan, E. B. White; My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
For older elementary kids:
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett; Wonder, R. J. Palacio; The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate
For junior high kids:
Holes, Louis Sachar; The Land of Stories, Chris Colfer; Fake Mustache, Tom Angleberger
For young teens:
Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan; The Book Thief, Markus Zusak; The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien
For older teens:
Most Likely, Sarah Watson; The Voting Booth, Brandy Colbert; You Should See Me in a Crown, Leah Johnson
Did you get a book for Christmas? Here’s a flowchart that just might help you decide if someone can borrow it after you’ve finished.
Wordology Workshop
• The root tri means three in both Greek and Latin!
• Give your family a challenge in honor of 2023 and see how many tri words you can think of.
• We'll share our list here next week.
Practical Grammar
Do you use the interrobang? This unconventional punctuation mark is used in many written languages. It combines the functions of a question mark (also known as an interrogative point) and an exclamation point that printers and programmers call “bang”.
Though it is a bit eccentric, it comes in handy when conveying shocked incredulity or an excited query.
Can you believe it?!
You’re wearing that to the New Year’s party?!
Remember that New Year’s is written with an apostrophe unless you’re writing using it as a plural.
I love that all new years provide a fresh start.
That’s awkward, and your computer will want you to change it.
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