As I get ready to leave for ALA Midwinter and the announcements of Newbery awards, I feel I should post my recent reading of Lois Lowry's The Willoughbys. Since she already won two Newberys (The Giver, Number the Stars) and this book appeared on several lists of potential winners, it might have a chance of winning. I don't think so, however. It was funny and the way she wove several plot lines together was again masterful. There's the orphaned four Willoughby children and their nanny; the baby on the doorstep and the supposedly widowed eccentric candy mogul, and the mother and son lost in a Swiss avalanche. There are many references to other books with "appealing orphans," i.e., James and the Giant Peach, Hansel and Gretel. Lowry also includes a glossary to define some of the vocabulary words she uses throughout the book. "Alabaster is actually a kind of mineral used for sculptures. But it can also be an adjective meaning white like that mineral. See if you can remember where the word alabaster appears in "America the Beautiful." Then you can be a Jeopardy! contestant, as this author once was." It's funny - an "old-fashioned parody." It's great book for teachers as they discuss adjectives - with upper elementary students.
P. 22 - When the Willoughbys find a baby in a basket, they drop her off on a neighbor's doorstep and then name her Ruth. "Because... we are the ruthless Willoughbys." That line made me laugh out loud. I guess if I had to create a reading ladder (like I make my students do) it would hook up with the Lemony Snicket books.
P. 22 - When the Willoughbys find a baby in a basket, they drop her off on a neighbor's doorstep and then name her Ruth. "Because... we are the ruthless Willoughbys." That line made me laugh out loud. I guess if I had to create a reading ladder (like I make my students do) it would hook up with the Lemony Snicket books.
