Book Bowl

Declan is on the Book Bowl team this year for school and has a huge amount of books to read for it. 40 in total.

Here's the list:
The Door to Time Baccalario, Pierdomenico 240 pages
Wright 3 Balliett, Blue 352 pages
Hiromi's Hands Barasch, Lynee 30 pages
The Secret of the Painted House by Marion Dane Bauer 112 pages
The A+ custodian by Louise borden 40 pages
No Talking by Andrew Clements 160 pages
The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech 336 pages
Theodore Roosevelt: The Adventurous President by Lisa DeMauro 44 pages
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo 228 pages
the Broken Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street by Sharon Flake 144 pages
The White elephant by Sid Fleischman 112 pages
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke 224 pages
The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman 176 pages
Ida B and her Plans to Maximize fun, Avoid Disaster, and (possibly) save the word by Katherine hannigan 246 pages
Sheep by Valerie Hobbs 128 pages
Babymouse: Queen of the World by Jennifer Holm 96 pages
Penny from heaven by Jennifer Holm 288 pages
My Brother Made Me Do It by Peg Kehret 144 pages
The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock 64 pages
Horrible Harry and the Goog by Suzy Kline 64 pages
The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin 160 pages
Drita, My Homegirl by jenny Lombard 144 pages
Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry 96 pages
Edward's Eyes by Patricia macLachlan 128 pages
Judy Moody & Stink: The Holly Joliday by Megan McDonald 96 pages
Away West: Scraps of Time by Patricia C. McKissack 128 pages
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo 96 pages
How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor 176 pages
My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen 144 pages
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker 160 pages
Ben and the Sudden Too-Big Family by Colby Rodowsky 128 pages
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick 544 pages
The Treasures of Weatherby by Zilpha Keatley Snyder 240 pages
My Name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton 128 pages
Dragon's Egg by Sarah L. Thomson 272 pages
Crossing Bok Chitto by Tim Tingle 40 pages
The Silver Spoon of Solomon Snow by Kaye Umansky 304 pages
Shredderman: Secret identity by Wendelin Van Draanen 144 pages
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 128 pages


For those of you who are counting that's 6,692 pages!!!!!!!!!!!! over under four months.

There is a real variety of books and some very interesting topics as well as some more lighthearted ones.

Sometimes I read alongside Declan (to give him a morale boost, or when he wants to take lots of notes). I'll read a chapter and then Declan will read one. All the while, he actively scribbles away lots of notes, so that he'll be prepared for the Book Bowl event/quiz.



This evening we read The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Many times in reading this book we were moved to tears. It also tells about the race differences in San Francisco at that time, and children's crossing and breaking down those barriers. Henry Travis' family is wealthy and hires Ah Sing, who is Chinese and lives in tenement housing, to be their houseboy. He son Chin and Henry become friends. Not only does this book describe in great detail what was taking place in San Francisco that day at the three Great Fires combined, but it also tells of how class and race issues were set aside because of children and their ability to overcome biases and stereotypes. It was a wonderful book and very educational. I wouldn't recommend it for kids younger than 8 as it is quite graphic in places. Declan was busy chewing on his lips anxiously at points during our reading.

I have really enjoyed the opportunity to explore books with Declan while he has been working on this. He is such a great reader and has a large appetite for books. (just like his momma).

Time is running out on us and he still has a large amount of books to read. He refuses to skim the books and takes pages of notes and likes to discuss what is happening along the way. It has been delightful spending time with Dec doing something that I love so much. There have been many nights where I have stayed up all night to finish a good book. I remember as a child reading the Secret Garden and setting my alarm at 5am so that I could get up early and read as much as possible before school started. It would appear that Dec and I have something in common, besides our fiery tempers.