2008/2009 Bluebonnet Nominee

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Selznick's creation of words and pictures takes the reader on a journey through the life of a boy, Hugo. Hugo's dad is a clockmaker that works in a museum and has found a broken automaton. He and his son become obsessed with fixing it. Tragically, Hugo's dad gets locked in the museum and perishes in a fire. Hugo is forced to go live with his drunken Uncle in the train station. The only part of his dad he has left is the broken automaton and his dad's drawings of the thing. When his uncle disappears, Hugo is left to fend for himself. He finds himself befriending a toy maker's daughter and trying to fix the automaton. Through a twist of weird events, the automaton is fixed and the children find out it was invented by the toymaker. Hugo comes to live with the toymaker and grows up to be a successful magician.
WOW!! I loved this book. You just fly through a 520 page book. The pictures are captivating and enhance the story. I was transfixed!!! I know my readers will grab onto this book. Boys will be fascinated by the pictures, and will love the fact that they can read such a large book in such a short time!!

2008/2009 Bluebonnet Nominee

What You Never Knew About Beds, Bedrooms, and Pajamas by Patricia Lauber
This picture book takes the reader through time and what sleeping was like. It starts with the Stone Ages where they slept on the ground in a lean to. They used fur for cover and blankets. The Egyptians made beds out of wicker and later out of wood. They did not use pillows and they leaned their beds toward the ground. The Greeks and Romans had day beds and bedrooms the size of closets. In the Middle Ages they all slept on the floor on a bed of hay. Seperate bed chambers and poster beds made their way in the late 1100's. While sleeping away from home in the 1300's, several men would sleep in the same bed at an Inn. By the 1500's houses started having seperate bedrooms. Lauber also gives a timeline of nightclothes through the ages.
This book reminds me of the Bluebonnet book that was nominated last year written about Pompei. My kids loved it. This would be a great nonfiction book to put in their hands to do research on. Students will flock to the book because of its ease and beautiful illustrations!!

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulson
The main character in the story, unnamed, is given an old riding lawn mower on his 12th birthday by his grandmother. With summer looming and all of his friends away at summer camp, he decides to mow lawns for the summer. Soon he discovers that he can not keep up with all of the business. One of his customers, Arnold, a stock broker, can not afford to pay him. Arnold tells him that he will invest his fee and see what happens. The Lawn Boy expands his business and soon has 15 workers and a diverse portfolio. By the end of the story Arnold has turned his summer job into a wealth that will turn heads.
This is a great fast read. All I could think about was how many days I have wasted trying to get my 13 year old off the couch long enough to go outside!! Maybe if he knew there was $450,000 dollars waiting for him, it may motivate him! My entrepreneur nephew will get a kick out of this story.

2008/2009 Bluebonnet Nominee

One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia Defelice

Mr. and Mrs. O'Grady lived on a small farm in a run down shack. They were so poor that they shared one potato a day and were glad to have that. They also shared one chair, one holey blanket, one torn and ratty coat, one gold coin for a rainy day, and Mrs. O'Grady had on hairpin. More than any material object, the O'Grady's longed for a friend to share stories with. One day while Mr. O'Grady was digging up their last potato, he came upon a pot. He put the potato in the pot and carried it back to the house. When Mrs. O'Grady reached into the pot to pull out the potato, she discovered there were two. They had a great deal of fun turning one blanket into two, one coat into two, one gold coin into several etc. Over the excitement, Mrs. O'Grady fell into the pot and out came a second Mrs. O'Grady. They were so thrilled, they put Mr. O'Grady into the pot and out came a second one. They felt very fortunate to now have a new friend.

I liked the moral of the story in this book. The O'Grady's were not greedy and the only thing they truly wanted was a friend. This would be a great topic for a journal entry.