From The Mixed Up Files...The Book vs The Movie

It was really fun to watch the movie with the Ashburn Kids Book Club readers (and assorted siblings, friends, parents, etc.). Here are some of the comments and comparisons I received:

---The kids meet Mrs. Frankweiler earlier in the movie than in the book.

---Claudia meets with the museum curator in the movie but not the book.

---Jamie doesn't take money from the fountain in the movie.

---There are three Kincaid kids in the movie but four in the book.

---Claudia writes a letter to the museum curator in the book but phones him in the movie.

---In the movie Claudia has an argument with Jamie and he leaves (but Claudia goes after him).

---The Kincaids had banana splits in the movie.

---The kids spot the Michaelangelo sign on the bottom of the angel statue while ducking down to hide; in the book they only see the imprint on the velvet after the statue is moved.

---The book has more plot involving Jamie and his money.

---Claudia doesn't take a bath at Mrs. Frankweiler's house in the movie.

---In the movie, the kids get picked up from Mrs. Frankweiler's house by their parents but in the book they get driven home by the chaffeur.

---In the book, the children never meet Mrs. Frankweiler at the museum like in the movie.

---In the book, Jamie never got sick and was made well by the angel, as was implied in the movie.

---In the movie, the kids never rented a post office box.

And here's one that I noticed: in the movie, the statue is sold at auction for $25,000 but in the book, if I remember correctly, it's only $250. Inflation!

There was an even split between kids who liked the movie more than the book and the reverse--liked the book more than the movie.

Elaine Lobl Konigsburg, Author Extraordinaire

Personal Information:
E.L. Konisburg was born February 10, 1930, in New York City. She spent her childhood in growing up in the small mill towns of Pennsylvania. Her family was poor but she really wanted to attend college, so she devised a plan to combine part-time jobs, scholarships, and work-study opportunities to pay for school. She attended Carnegie Mellon University where she earned a B.S. in Chemistry. She then married David Konigsburg in 1952 and together they moved to Florida, where she taught science for several years in an all-girls school. Konigsburg left teaching when the first of her three children was born and she became a full time mother. In 1962, the family moved to New York City and, with all her children in school, Konigsburg began her writing career. She says that she read all her work to her children first. If they liked it, she would continue. But if they didn’t find it interesting, she would revise and rewrite. She is now 77 years old and lives on the beach in North Florida. She continues to write and publish.

Books:
Her first two books were published in 1967 and were a phenomenal success. The first, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth, was a Newbery Honor Book. Her second book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, won the Newbery Medal the same year! Konigsburg is the only author to have two books on the Newbury list in the same year (1968). She also drew the illustrations for these books. Kongisburg won a second Newbery Medal in 1997 for The View From Saturday, 29 years later, the longest span between any two Newberys awarded to one author. She has published more than 20 books for children and 2 books for adults and won numerous other awards. Her most recent book was just published in 2007 and is titled, The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World.

From The Mixed Up Files...

Hi Readers!

We will meet for our December book club meeting on Thursday, Dec. 6. Hopefully you all know by now that my intense searching has paid off and I was able to locate the video of the 1995 Hallmark movie based on the book, "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." It is out-of-distribution, so it's very difficult to locate. I think you'll really enjoy seeing the movie and comparing it to the book. Here's the details:

Time: 7-8:30 pm -- The movie is 90 minutes long, so we will start promptly at 7. Please come early so you can get your snack and get settled to enjoy the show.

Where: We will meet in the front two meeting rooms so we have plenty of space and also have the big screen for the movie.

Who: This is a great family movie and we will have the space, so please invite family members to join us.

Bring: You can bring blankets, pillows, etc. or whatever will allow you to be comfortable to spread out for the movie.

Donate: Please consider donating back your copy of the book; I'd like to get at least six!

See you all on Thursday!

Next Book Club Meeting!

Don't forget that our next meeting of the Ashburn Kids Book Club
will be Thursday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. We will be discussing the book,
"Mr. Popper's Penguins," by Richard and Florence Atwater. I've
got a fun activity planned and maybe we will discover that not
everything Mr. Popper believes about penguins is really true.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

I hope it has been fun for you to read Mr. Popper's Penguins! This entertaining book was published a long time ago, in 1938. That's sixty-nine years ago! The truly remarkable thing is that this book has NEVER been out-of-print since it was published. There are only a handful of books that can make this claim. It has been translated into over fourteen languages, even Braille!

I wonder, though, if you noticed anything in the book that seemed really different from the way it is today? For example, the Popper's rely on their radio to get important news. That's because they didn't have any televisions in 1938! And there was no such thing as a computer or the Internet! Do you think that's why people didn't even know what a penguin looked like?

What other differences or oddities did you notice in the book? Leave us a comment and share your ideas!

Author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor -- Live!

Readers! I just found out about a very neat opportunity! Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the author of Shiloh, will present a program for ages 8 and up entitled "Shiloh and Other Stuff" this coming Friday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m., in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax. This program is being sponsored by the Fairfax County Library to celebrate National Children's Book Week, November 12-18. Books will be available for sale and signing. For details and to reserve a seat, call 703-324-8428 or e-mail libraryevents@fairfaxcounty.gov.

I hope some of you get the chance to go and see Ms. Naylor in person and get your Shiloh books signed. I've driven from Ashburn to the Fairfax Gov't Center several times. It's about a 30 minute drive. If you do go, please write a comment for our blog and share the event with all of us.

Shiloh -- A Beagle

Shiloh is a beagle, a member of the hound family. Beagles are medium-sized dogs and have a keen sense of smell and a strong tracking instinct. This makes them especially good at hunting small animals like rabbits. They are also used by police and airport security as detection dogs. They are even-tempered with a gentle disposition and popular as pets.

Does this sound like the dog, Shiloh? What do you think?

What's in a Name? A Dog's Name, That is!

Shiloh, the dog at the center of the story in our October book selection, is named after the West Virginia town of Shiloh. But "Shiloh" wouldn't even make the top-50 list of most popular names for dogs. The #1 most popular name for a male dog in the U.S. is . . . MAX! The #1 most popular name for a female dog is . . . MAGGIE!

Here's the top 10 most popular dog names for male and female dogs.

Top-10 Male Dog Names: 1. Max 2. Jake 3. Buddy 4. Bailey 5. Sam 6. Rocky 7. Buster 8. Casey 9. Cody 10. Duke

Top-10 Female Dog Names: 1. Maggie 2. Molly 3. Lady 4. Sadie 5. Lucy 6. Daisy 7. Ginger 8. Abby 9. Sasha 10. Sandy

What's your favorite dog's name? If you have a dog, what is its name? Post a comment and tell us!

October Book Club Selection -- Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

In the book, Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, we read about a boy's love for his dog and what lengths he will go to protect his pet.

Do you have a pet?

How do you feel about your pet?

If you don't have a pet, would you like to have one?

What kind of animal would it be?

Post a comment and tell us your thoughts and ideas about having pets!

A Whole Lot of Similes!

Author Grace Lin make great use of the similes through out the book, "The Year of Dog." Do you know what a simile is? A simile (which is pronounced sim-uh-lee) is a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by "like" or "as". The author puts a simile on almost every page.

Here are some examples:

p. 9 "Like the smell of roast pork, the news of Grandpa's good work spread..."

p. 80 "They sat there like a line of birds on a telephone wire, gossiping and sharing tea."

p. 104 "I felt like a thistle in a rose garden."

p. 120 "Like a creamy chocolate in my mouth, a warm feeling melted through me."

p. 130 "Like a rabbit hearing a gun fired, I jumped away."

Can you find anymore similes in the book? Can you write some of your own? Post a comment and tell what you found or share a simile of your own. Here's an idea to start with: complete this sentence "Coming to the end of summer is like ______"

The Chinese Zodiac Calendar

The title of the book comes from the Chinese tradition of assigning a certain animal to each year. There are twelve animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig--one for each year in a 12-year cycle. The tradition says that you take on the characteristics of the animal for the year you were born. So, for example, I was born in the year of the sheep, so my zodiac sign says I will be "Righteous, sincere, sympathetic, mild-mannered, shy, artistic, creative, gentle, compassionate, understanding, mothering, determined, peaceful, generous, seeks security." Sounds pretty good to me!

What year were you born in the Chinese zodiac calendar? Use the picture to figure out your animal, then if you like, make a "comment" to let us know. Your moms and dads can find their year and animal, too!

Welcome to the Ashburn Kids Book Club Blog!

Hi everyone! I'm excited to start another school year with the book club. Our first meeting will be Thursday, September 6, 7-8:15 pm. We will be discussing the book, "The Year of the Dog," by Grace Lin. It is a fun and very readable book.

This blog is meant to be a fun way for all of you to participate in the book club. It's easy to make a comment-- just click where it says "comments" and then type your comment in the box and click "publish your comment." You can preview it first if you like. Also, let's just use first names and no last names.

Every week or so, I'll post something on the blog for you to answer or think about. Moms and dads are welcome to participate in the blog and make comments, too.

Oh! One more thing! Blogs are a bit tricky to read at first. The most recent post is always at the top of the page, so if you want to read post #1, scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Well, that's it! I'm new at this blogging thing and maybe you are, too. But it seems like a fun way to get everyone involved in the book club. Let me know what you think!

Mrs. Jackson, Ashburn Youth Services Librarian