Jon J. Muth is a writer and illustrator. He hasn’t racked up near the number of books as Selznick and Hawkes, but his style is beautiful. My first encounter with his books was the Caldecott Honor book, Zen Shorts. Since, I have looked for all of the others. Each has something special to offer. The watercolor paintings are all lovely. The books are serious, with a lesson to teach, but also with simplicity and humor.

Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse. il Jon J. Muth

A Family of Poems ed by Caroline Kennedy

Mr. George Baker by Amy Hest. il Jon J. Muth

Our Gracie Aunt by Jacqueline Woodson. il Jon J. Muth

Putnam & Pennyroyal by Patrick Jennings. il Jon J. Muth (a novel for young readers)

Stone Soup retold and il by Jon J. Muth

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth

Zen Shorts by Jon Muth

Zen Ties by Jon Muth

My first review of the year is for A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. It is from ly yager’s Knock Your Socks Off Books list and a childhood favorite. Also on my time travel books. Not on my favorite’s list anymore, because so many excellent children’s books have been written since then.

REVIEW

The results are in for the Haiku a Book Contest.  The top 2 were hard to choose from, and our judges liked some of the others enough I want to mention them as well. Here are the top 6, with #1 being the winner.

1. Fiction is not false.
   Great truths are often revealed
   By ink on paper.
   by Jim
2. Consuming a book
   Ingesting words with our eyes
   Its food for the soul
   by pdhski
3. We all live and die
   but Charlotte saves humble pig
   before she passes.
   by Jim, about Charlotte’s Web
4. Firefighters torch books,
   ideas are dangerous.
   One wakes up, escapes.
   by Jim, about Fahrenheit 451
5. Most people in need
   Turn to comfort foods. But me,
   I have comfort books.
   by Sarah
6. Lots of words fill it.
   Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs.
   Find out what they mean.
   by redwall_hp, about Webster’s Dictionary

Thank you all for your participation. It was fun. I think we found, too, that it is much harder to haiku a specific book.

other haiku entries

My haiku contest inspired me to send haiku emails for the 12 days leading up to Christmas instead of cards. I meant to share on Twitter but forgot. The idea went over so well. I had haiku responses to ones I sent, almost like haiku dialogue. I have never received such a response from cards, not even when I was making my own cards.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Anahita’s Woven Riddle by Megan Nuttall Sayres

The Calder Game by Blue Balliett, art mystery series

Click by 10 authors

Firebirds Rising ed by Sharyn November

The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time series

The Freedom Writers Diary by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons by Ann Rinaldi

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson series

Lirael by Garth Nix, The Old Kingdom series

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Madapple by Christina Meldrum

The Other Teddy Roosevelts by Mike Resnick

Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time series

Something Rotten by Alan Gratz, Horatio Wilkes mysteries

Soul Music by Terry Pratchett, Discworld series

The Starry Rift ed by Jonathan Strahan

A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer, Gideon Trilogy

The Truth by Terry Pratchett, Discworld series

Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

<i>The Starry Rift</i> has 16 futuristic short stories by acclaimed authors. It’s marketed to young adults, but could easily have been for adults as well. The protagonists are almost all teens. The worlds and situations fit adult experiences also. The writing is excellent and compelling. Though I like some better than others, all of the stories are good and varied.

Note: I had to change my Favorites of 2008 to include it at the last minute, because I just finished it, and it is great.

REVIEW

Okay, playing catch up today. My last book for this challenge is Robert Jordan’s The Fires of Heaven. I’m posting now, because I’m running out of time. I’m not even halfway through this 683 page book.  I love the series. It’s complex with great characters and epic style. It’ll be a couple weeks before I’m likely to have a review, and I would encourage adults and young adults to check it out. I don’t like to play the game of  “If you liked Harry Potter…,” but in this case it is so true. The subjects are not alike, other than magic. It is more like The Lord of the Rings. However, the connections down to the smallest details are a part of Jordan’s writing. It is much more serious with some subtle humor. Definitely adult in weightiness, but not beyond teen reading.

The first Book of the Month for the year is a Knock Your Socks Off kind of book. It would probably be in my top 5 favorites for the year. Not the genre I normally read, but The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson is exceptional. The core of it is biomedical ethics that are pertinent to our times. The controversy surrounding the topic in the book is different from what gets the most attention in our time, but it will need to be considered at some point, since technology may very well head this direction before long. This is a book for both young adults and adults.

REVIEW

Current Pick and List of Previous

I’ve reviewed the 3rd and 4th books of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. The series is getting better and better. You can read the reviews at Fantasy Folder.

The Dragon Reborn

The Shadow Rising

Maddy is the misfit in her family and town. She has a “ruinmark” which immediately causes suspicion and has some abilities she keeps secret due to puritanical views in her world. The ruinmarks are a sign of relationship to the Norse gods which were rooted out by the Order after the battle for control (Ragnorak).

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