A Llama in the Family, by Mark Graham
Started 02.06.20 • Finished 02.25.20 / 5 stars
"There is a boy named Adam who [gets] a llama. They name it Ethan Allen. He gets lonely so Adam trades a nice crazy quilt for another llama. I liked it because the trade worked out, [and] when Ethan Allen stuck his face in the chocolate frosting of April's birthday cake."
I was able to snag quite a few fun books for St. Patrick's day at our library. Carolyn's favorites have been Fiona's Luck and Good Luck Bear.
• St. Patrick's Day in the Morning, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Jan Brett
• The Night Before St. Patrick's Day, by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Amy Summer
• Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato, by Tomie dePaola
• Fiona's Luck, by Teresa Bateman, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
• Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk, by Gerald McDermott
• Good Luck Bear, by Greg Foley
Most of these were new to us last year as many of our favorites were hard to get on hold from the library. Did you come across any new Irish folk tales in your St. Patrick's Day reading this year?
Master Cornhill, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Started 01.06.20 • Finished 02.25.20 / 4 stars
But at moments like this, with the evening pale about him and the clear, pure notes silvering the air, his heart swelled with shapeless longings until it seemed too large to hold in his chest.
"It all starts when Master Cornhill, a boy only at age 11, finds when he returns to London after the Plague that his family and friends are all dead. Later in the fall he met Tom, a ballad man who becomes friends with him quickly. Later the next summer it is hot. There are clouds that flash lightning without any rain. Later, on the night of September 2nd, disaster struck. The Great Fire of London began. It raged and roared for the next three days until the wind changed and the fire stopped. Master Cornhill began to learn how to draw maps after the fire from another friend Master Hass, who was a Dutchman." - Timothy, age 11
"Flauw! Men are fools - ja, Tom, it is so, eh? They grieve for what is worthless and cannot see what God puts beneath the nose."
"This story is about a young man named Michael who lives a very exciting life and survives the Great Fire of London. I like that he finds Susanna. I also liked that Tom was not pressed. I liked that Michael survived the Plague, and that Susanna and Master Hass were alive after the fire, and that Michael also survived the fire." - Neph, age 9
Always there was change, there was no preventing it and no undoing it either - and all arrangements were temporary. Everything changed except one's courage. But as long as that remained, a person - or even a city - could look ahead.