SUPER WHY!

SUPER WHY! is a free app from PBS Kids. Well, it's free right now. At some point in the future it will cost $2.99.

So why am I recommending SUPER WHY!? It's a children's reading app, that's why!

The description bullet points:

-Play four original games that help build literacy skills
-Practice the alphabet, rhyming, spelling, writing, and reading
-Interact with main characters from the TV series SUPER WHY!
-Learn from your mistakes in a fun way
-Please note that this application requires an additional 17MB download

There aren't many reviews yet, but so far reviews are good. It looks like a fun set of games and it's hard to go wrong with free.

Celebrate Día De Los Niños in San Antonio (or anywhere)!

From the press release:

REFORMA, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, and Scholastic will host a FREE "Dia de los Niños Celebration" with music, dance, storytelling, crafts, food, and a free book give-away, courtesy of The Caravan. The Caravan offers storytelling, family literacy activities, and free books for kids. The celebration also includes dancing by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Folklorico dancers, crafts presented by various organizations, and refreshments for all. Join us to celebrate children, families, books, and reading!

Friday, April 29th
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Guadalupe Theater
1301 Guadalupe Street
San Antonio, Texas

2011 is the 15th anniversary of Día de los niños/Día de los libros. Check out the ALA page about Día for more resources, such as a map of events across the country and a list of books. If you've never celebrated Día before, this is a good year to start.

Review: 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth

By Matthew Inman (the Oatmeal)
Available now from Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review copy



Okay, I often don't talk about what format I read a book in. I read the epub version of 5 VERY GOOD REASONS TO PUNCH A DOLPHIN IN THE MOUTH, which is relevant because the resolution wasn't all that awesome. You couldn't really zoom, which meant some bits were almost impossible to read. Judging by the reviews on Amazon, that hasn't been fixed. So printed is the way to go. Not that I expect many people to be more interested in the e-version of this. It's easier to browse through the random comics with a book or on the site than in an ebook.

I was excited for 5 VERY GOOD REASONS TO PUNCH A DOLPHIN IN THE MOUTH because I'm a big fan of the Oatmeal, author Matthew Inman's humor site. There are great infographics about such things as grammar, vocabulary, cheese, and coffee. There are also fun quizzes and some delightfully surreal comics, such as the eponymous work. It's nice to have some favorites collected and at hand.

At the same time, when idly browsing on the internet I never noticed how often Inman jokes about hookers. Not particularly good jokes, either. It got kind of uncomfortable after awhile.

Between being underwhelmed by the format and overwhelmed by (dead) hooker jokes, I was less impressed by 5 VERY GOOD REASONS TO PUNCH A DOLPHIN IN THE MOUTH. I'll continue to check the website, but I don't think I'm going to purchase the book for myself or as a gift for friends.

Contest: A Discovery of Witches Book and Buttons

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness is a thick tome, suitable for using to defend yourself in case of a home invasion.  That thickness also allows for a skyline to be printed on the spine.  Pictured are some of the most famous buildings in Oxford, including the Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera.

Below is one of my pictures of Radcliffe Camera:

It's a strange building, and not just because it is architecturally striking.  It was a library, funded by a man who didn't believe in book learning.  Then a tunnel was built to connect the two libraries.  Now, it's mostly used as reading rooms for the Bodleian.  In A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, "a distracting horde of daemons, withces, and vampires [descend] upon the Bodleian's reading rooms." (Quotation taken from book blurb.) 

For five weeks I lived in Radcliffe Square, my home a neighbor to both Radcliffe Camera and the Bodleian Library.  How can I resist a novel that engages my mind before I even reach the first page?  How can you?

Here's your chance to win Harkness's New York Times bestseller and a set of buttons.  Fill out the Google doc below.  I'll choose the winner in two weeks.  This contest is sponsored by Penguin, and thus restricted to US addresses, no PO Boxes.  As always, you can get someone else to mail it to you if you're international.

Review: Rage

By Jackie Morse Kessler
Available now from Graphia
Review copy
Read my interview with Jackie



I think I'm the opposite of most people. I prefer RAGE, the second Horseman of the Apocalypse novel, to its predecessor HUNGER. I understood Missy more. Missy's going through a rough time: she's broken up with her boyfriend and her cat just died. Then her boyfriend betrays her. Her method of dealing is to let it all out by cutting. Even before Death makes her the new incarnation of War, she's already trying to find a healthier method of self-control.

Missy also spends less time traveling than Lisa did. One battlefield is enough to let Jackie Morse Kessler's description shine while allowing things to remain focused on Missy and her problems. Her issues feel less like an analogue for the world's issues. Instead, the damage of one person relieving her anger is amplified.

The part I was most unsure about was Death and War's relationship. Death's relationship with the previous Wars was sexual. He's got a type. Missy's attraction mostly seems to be based on his looks. Kessler managed to make me mostly like their relationship. but I felt uncomfortable with it for awhile. I like my couples to see each other as people.

I had issues with Missy's sister too. Missy doesn't know where her sister stands and by the end of the book I wasn't sure either. Part of that's the first person point of view. Part of it is that the sister seems to want Missy to quit, but she also says some incredibly cruel things. Some of her actions could be loving, but she sounded so callous.

Overall, I thought Missy was a well-defined character and her emotional arc was clear.  Those who are looking for a true urban fantasy novel probably won't like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse series.  But if you enjoy real world issues combined with fantasy, Kessler's work will be right up your alley.