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Bridge books: Weird Stories from the Lonesome Cafe
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From: Steven Engelfried <sengelfried>
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 13:09:09 -0700
Life has been much easier since the recent boom of new first chapter book series. You can't give "My Father's Dragon" to every kid (though I try...), and between Junie B Jones, Magic Tree House, and others on the shelves, we're able to offer many choices these days. Does Patricia Reilly Giff deserve some credit for the pioneering "Polk Street Kids?" I have had a harder time thinking of individual titles that really stand out for these readers, though. An offbeat choice that has strong kid appeal (and booktalks very nicely) is "Weird Stories from the Lonesome Cafe" by Judy Cox. In each chapter an unusual visitor drops by a desert cafe where supposedly nothing ever happens. The visitors include Santa, Bigfoot, Elvis, and Dorothy from Kansas, but they're all incognito. It's very funny humor that the age group will get, and also a nice break from the conventional "school story" settings of so many of the series.
-Steven Engelfried, Children's Librarian Beaverton City Library 12375 SW 5th Street Beaverton, OR 97005 ph: 503R6%99 fax: 503R6&36 e-mail: sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Tue 16 Oct 2001 03:09:09 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 13:09:09 -0700
Life has been much easier since the recent boom of new first chapter book series. You can't give "My Father's Dragon" to every kid (though I try...), and between Junie B Jones, Magic Tree House, and others on the shelves, we're able to offer many choices these days. Does Patricia Reilly Giff deserve some credit for the pioneering "Polk Street Kids?" I have had a harder time thinking of individual titles that really stand out for these readers, though. An offbeat choice that has strong kid appeal (and booktalks very nicely) is "Weird Stories from the Lonesome Cafe" by Judy Cox. In each chapter an unusual visitor drops by a desert cafe where supposedly nothing ever happens. The visitors include Santa, Bigfoot, Elvis, and Dorothy from Kansas, but they're all incognito. It's very funny humor that the age group will get, and also a nice break from the conventional "school story" settings of so many of the series.
-Steven Engelfried, Children's Librarian Beaverton City Library 12375 SW 5th Street Beaverton, OR 97005 ph: 503R6%99 fax: 503R6&36 e-mail: sengelfried at ci.beaverton.or.us
Received on Tue 16 Oct 2001 03:09:09 PM CDT
