Back from a week of seminars

My frequent flyer miles have certainly been added to this week! I have done seminars in Memphis, Lafayette and Savannah. A big shout out to all those great people I have the pleasure of meeting this week. Amazingly, all my flights were on time and my bags didn't get lost once. Actually, the only flight I had a delay on is the last one. I had one more plane to get home and was really looking forward to getting in my car and going home. But the Atlanta to Manchester flight was delayed for 3 hours!! And why was it delayed? Because the flight attendant who was supposed to work the flight was ill and they had to get a replacement. Now you would think that in Atlanta -- Delta's hub -- there would be one flight attendant who could do the flight. But no. We had to wait for a flight attendant to fly in from Cincinnati!! I don't get it. There were a lot of upset passengers on that flight! When I finally got back to New Hampshire at around 2:00 AM, I found that wheels off one of my bags had been broken off. So, imagine a very tired woman dragging 2 heavy bags around long term parking in the freezing cold. It took awhile to find my care. It had snowed and they were all covered. I had written down where my car was but I couldn't find that section of the lot!!

I had planned to upload this week's podcasts during my trip but things just didn't go as planned. But, they are up now.

Spinelli, Jerry. LOVE, STARGIRL

Stargirl has left Arizona and is trying to find herself again in Pennsylvania. But she can't stop thinking about Leo. And how she got lost in Arizona. She is back to being Stargirl. She's left Susan behind. She's back to home schooling. She won't take a chance on the school. And she is trying hard to find joy again. If you know Stargirl, you know that she has found some unusual friends but Leo still haunts her thoughts, Read her letter to him as she tells him about her adjustment and coming to terms with her feelings.

Trumbauer, Lisa. A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO DRAGONS

The cover clearly states "Warning: Do not open this book! It's filled with everything I've learned about dragons in my apprenticeship with the great wizard, Maddoc. And it's the private property of my Aunt Moonbeam. Everyone else: KEEP OUT!"

OK, what would you do if you had this book? Probably the same thing I did. I opened it up and read it. Well, I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to know all about dragons. And boy did I learn a lot. I mean, did you know that Black Dragons prefer to hide and then ambush their victims? And that Copper Dragons would rather tell a joke than fight? And that White Dragons aren't particularly smart creatures? Well, it's all in this book. Pick it up and read it -- if you dare.

Weaver, Tess. CAT JUMPED IN!

Oh no! Someone left the window open. And the cat jumped in, in, in! And everywhere the cat goes, he seems to get into something and makes a mess! What will happen when the home owner comes home? Will cat be put out, out, out?

Wheeler, Lisa. WHERE, OH WHERE, IS SANTA CLAUS?

Where, oh where, is Santa? He is missing! What will Christmas be without him? The reindeer are very worried and go out looking for him. And the arctic hares, the seals, the arctic fox and even the polar bears are looking as well. Will they find him? Wait. What's that? Boot tracks!! Will they lead to Santa?

Off to present for Otter Creek

It's been 4 days since we had any snow. Amazing. But not to worry. We're supposed to get 6-12" tonight!! I wonder if spring is ever coming. And I wonder where they are going to put this new snow. It is so hard to walk to work between the ice on the sidewalks and the 6 foot snowbanks hiding people entering the crosswalks.

I'm taking off for warm climes Monday during school vacation week. I'm doing a series of workshops for Otter Creek Institute. Tuesday is Memphis, Wednesday Lafayette, Thursday Savannah. Oh I hope I can feel the warmth of the sun. And meet some great new people. Anyone who wants to spend a day talking about children's literature is surely someone I want to know.

My eye problems continue but I have to keep hoping that I'll get my full vision back someday. At least I have one good eye!! I'm running out of one eye jokes for the kids though.

The latest podcasts highlight some new nonfiction books.

Sandler, Michael. TOM BRADY AND THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS : Super Bowl XXXVIII
Imagine. Five touchdowns had already been scored. There are only 14 seconds left and the score is tied! Now that was a Super Bowl to remember. The Patriots had the ball as the clock was ticking down. The young man with the ball was Tom Brady. The young man who was the back up quarterback just a short time ago. He reaches back to throw! Wow! Don't know what happened? I'm sure you'll want to find out.

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/sandler_tom.mp3


Sartore, Joel. FACE TO FACE WITH GRIZZLIES
Can you imagine coming face to face with a wild grizzly bear? OK, he may look kind of cute on the cover of this book but take a look at this picture (pg. 4). Those teeth are huge!! I certainly wouldn't want to meet him up close. Joel Sartore is a photographer for National Geographic Magazine and these are his photographs of close encounters with these incredible animals.

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/sartore_face.mp3


Scherer, Glenn. J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER : THE BRAIN BEHIND THE BOMB
You may know that World War II ended when the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. What you may not know is who invented the atomic bomb. And how did he feel about the use of the bomb? J. Robert Oppenheimer was the lead physicist on the team that developed the bomb. They worked in secret on what was called the Manhattan Project.

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/scherer_j.mp3

Pelley, Kathleen. INVENTOR MCGREGOR

Pelley, Kathleen. INVENTOR MCGREGOR

Hector McGregor is a famous inventor. He has invented peppermint pencils, glow-in-the-dark books, and lots of other unusual items. He loved working at home and loved having his family around. One day the president of the Royal Society of Inventors, Nigel Withers, came to call on McGregor and invited him to join the society. And to come to work in their laboratory in the city. McGregor isn't sure he wants to work in the city but decides to give it a try. Will he be happy in the city?

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/pelley_inventor.mp3

Cybils winners!!

The Cybils winners have been announced.

http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/2008/02/the-2007-cybils.html

If you are looking for some good books to read and share, this is a great list.

Back from Wisconsin

I've been in Wisconsin for the past week. Well, actually, I was only in Wisconsin for a couple of days and the rest of the week was spent getting there and getting home. My eye injury prevented me from flying as I had planned to do. So I took the train from Boston to Wisconsin. It took 26 hours to get to Madison. And when I got there, it was cold!! Very cold. With the wind chill, it was -25!! But the people were warm and fun. I did an IED/BER seminar on Wednesday in Madison and another on Thursday in Milwaukee. It was a great trip. The train home was delayed several times for weather so it took longer. I left Milwaukee on Thursday night and arrived home on Saturday morning!!

My next trip will be a bit warmer. I'll be doing 3 seminars for Otter Creek at the end of February. Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee. Sounds lots warmer. Then in March I'll be doing more IED/BER seminars in New York State.

I came home to find that my webpage was moved to a new server and I'm not having great luck figuring it out. It would help if I could see! So, I have not been able to update my podcasts and my email is acting flukey. I hope to be back on board the tech train soon.