BizKid$

Confession: I'm a daytime Emmy entrant?
Just got this confirmation from the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Organization:

You have been submitted as an entrant team member into the 36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards. You are confirmed as an entrant team member for: Category: 45. Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling.

The producers of BizKid$ have entered my name in the pool of entrants for Costume Design. . . Thank you Erren, Jim, Jamie, and J9!!!

Book Club Thursday: BOB Blog

School's back in session and I recently received from Mothertalk.com the first level of the BOB (BOB Books Set 1-Beginning Readers) early reading series by Bobby Lynn Maslen (Author), John R. Maslen (Illustrator). It's packaged in a wonderful way . . . very similar to the "Weekly Reader" I knew from grade school, inviting the instructor and young reader to master each level with an assortment of stories and simple cartoons to facilitate easy learning.

As I flipped through the pages of the first level, I thought ". . . hmmmm maybe too easy?" Some of the reader reviews on Amazon.com concurred. The stick figure cartoons were a little too simple and the stories were usually just a couple words in length, each reemphasizing the the vowel in the middle of two consonants.

Since Ella is too young for these books I thought it best to ask an expert who had "hands on" experience. Yvonne Waldbillig-Lutz was highly recommended by my sister in law Kelly who knows Yvonne as both a teacher with over twenty years experience, and as the director of Tiny Talking Hands Preschool. Yvonne has used all four levels of BOB, and is currently using BOB in her classroom "to introduce the reading process." Here's an excerpt from our interview:

Questions for Yvonne Waldbillig-Lutz, Director of Tiny Talking Hands Preschool, Seattle WA.

Q: BOB books include simple cartoon characters meant to enhance the early reading experience. Would you rate the value of these cartoons as: Very helpful, Somewhat helpful, Not helpful in teaching young readers. Please explain:

A: I would rate the pictures as somewhat helpful. I think young children are more drawn to full figured and colorful pictures.

Q: BOB books use repetitive vowel sounds to facilitate early reading skills in Level One of the Series. Would you rate the value of this content as: Interesting, Somewhat interesting, not very interesting to young readers? Please explain:

A: I think the content is rather boring to the child. Recently, I was working with a 3 year old who is very quick to learn. . . .He quickly understood the lesson and read the stories with ease. I tried to enhance the stories by asking him what he thought would happen next and how did he think the characters felt. At the end on the story I asked him if he liked the story. He said it was boring. This is a child who is continuously read to using inviting and interesting text with ongoing explanation of the vocabulary in the literature. Of course the Bob Books were boring to him. But they do teach that first lesson easily.

Confession: I'm partial to a couple of characters in this months summer read 44 Scotland Street and look forward to the installments that feature them. The main voice of Pat, the twenty-something Scottish student on her second "gap year" strikes a cord. . . the adage: life is something that happens to you while you're busy making other plans, applies to her outrageous misadventures. Her part time job at a small gallery is full of intrigue including a misplaced masterpiece (?) and ensuing interactions that offer a delicious "slice of life" as she prepares to return school.

The frustrations of her neighbor Irene, are too wicked! Comically portrayed as the misguided mother of a protege in the making, her over involvement in his preschool and subsequent melt-down leads to a visit to the local psychotherapist. . .but for who? Another story altogether!

Hope you're well into 44 Scotland Street, and enjoying this little trip to Edinburgh!

Confession: I'm already half way through this month's book: 44 Scotland Street, by Alexander McCall Smith. It's true. . . in one sitting, just couldn't put it down!

44 Scotland Street was initially serialized daily for the newspaper The Scotsman. Each installment reveals more plot and tells the tales of an interesting, and mostly unrelated group of people who's lives intertwine curiously: "Characters, all of who reflect human types I have encountered and known while living in Edinburgh," writes the author.

If you liked Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, try 44 Scotland Street for a late summer read, and let me know what you think?

Ed. Note: This month's Book blog is dedicated posthumously to Sylvia W.
Sylvia, you shared your enjoyment of 44 Scotland Yard with me but left before I could convey my heart felt appreciation to you. RIP