Book of the Month
"What the Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy"
by Gregory Maguire
In the midst of a Katrina-like disaster, 10-year-old Dinah and her siblings, teenager Zeke and toddler Rebecca Ruth, find themselves cut off from society, with only their distant cousin for company. To distract the siblings from their predicament, Gage begins to tell them the story of the skibbereen, the creatures generally known as tooth fairies. His story focuses on What-the-Dickens, an orphaned skibberee whose adventures bring him into contact with a house cat, a bird, a tiger, and a variety of humans, including Gage himself. What-the-Dickens meets Pepper, who takes him back to her colony, where he learns about his people's history and comes to understand their role in bringing wishes to humans. Maguire intersperses What-the-Dickens's story with that of Dinah and her family, interweaving the child's worries and experiences with those of the skibberee. The author's flair for language shows up in his detailed descriptions of characters and setting, such as What-the-Dickens's hair that "flew everywhere, as if eager to get off his scalp." The siblings' problems meeting their basic needs ring true, and their relationships with one another add depth to the story. There's much here to appeal to both Maguire's younger and older fans, and the immediacy of the story and combination of fantasy and reality will grip even reluctant readers.
Blog of the Month
Docere Est Discere: Musings on language and teaching
This is the blog of a recent English education graduate preparing for his first year of teaching at a small rural school in the Midwest. The blog title, Latin for “To teach is to learn,” is the ideal for which the musings herein will strive, which will meander from language (and the teaching of it), teaching and education in general, and the state of education at large. Teachers, students, and anyone else (if there is indeed any other subset) are welcome to join in on the discussions within.
Selected post: This post seems pretty indicative of some of the other stuff he does.
News Story of the Month
Texas Cooks the Texbooks
Who says school is boring? The Texas State Board of Education will make a final vote today on a long list of controversial changes to its textbook standards. The 15-person board, dominated by 10 Republicans, is expected to approve many alterations that give a conservative slant to the study of U.S. history and economics.
Funny Link of the Month
From an education textbook:
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