BR 1-03: Hairy Maclary (Dodd, 1983)

Another favorite story with animals!

"'EEEEEOWWWFFTZ!' said Scarface Claw" (n.p.).

Hairy Maclary is an animal adventure story from New Zealand (NZ). It was a gift from a friend from . . . , you guessed it–NZ! It's a great story for pronunciation practice because of all of the rhymes. My favorite line from the book, the quotation above (no page numbers), is a bit of a challenge to pronounce. Can you say that big word, and make it sound like a . . .  (a four-footed animal)?

Reference

Dodd, Lynley. (1983). Harry Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. Wellington, NZ: Mallinson Rendel Publishers Ltd.

[106 words]

BR 1-02: The Cross-with-Us Rhinoceros (Bush & Geraghty, 1988)

Photo of book cover, 2014.04.17

"Poor Tilly was so scared she couldn't speak" (Bush & Geraghty, 1988, n.p.*).

This is a children's book that I've read again and again. It is a great story about four children who went out together and had an adventure. Like the last book I reviewed, BR 1-01: Dear Zoo (2014.04.16), this one features animals. The ending was surprising, but I'm not going to tell you what happened. You'll have to read it for yourself.

Reference

Bush, John, & Geraghty, Paul. (1988). The Cross-with-Us Rhinoceros. London, England: Hutchinson Children's Books.

____________________
* This story doesn't have page numbers. If it did, I'd use "p. #" instead of "n.p." (no page number).

[117 words]

BR 1-01: Dear Zoo (Campbell, 1982)

I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet.... So they sent me a .... He was too grumpy! I sent him back. (Campbell, 1982, n.p.*)

Dear Zoo is a children's book. It is short and easy to read. It tells a story about animals coming from the zoo. There are little windows to open to see surprising things. If you like zoo animals, or easy books to read, I recommend this story.

Reference

Campbell, Rod. (1982). Dear Zoo. London, England: Campbell Books.

____________________
* This story doesn't have page numbers. If it did, I'd use "p. #" instead of "n.p." (no page number).

[106 words]

My Start-Up Labels (2013)

This post is a derivation from a previous post on the Writing Studio Blog, Start-up labels (2012), April 22, 2012.

Here are labels that you will need to use for required posts on your blogs:

• books, brainstorms, drafts, essay prep., essays, fiction, free-writing, graphics, links, media, mind-maps, movies, non-fiction, outlines, quickposts, references, reviews, revisions, typing, websites (20)

For example, on book reviews, you will need to use at least four (4) labels, including:

• books, references, reviews, ... (all comma-spaced values [CSVs]); plus:
• fiction, OR
• non-fiction.

The label "references," and the minimum number "four (4)" for book reviews (above), are new for 1st semester this year. All book review posts will need APA-style references, for which your instructor will provide models and templates, from 1st semester onward.

Please feel free to use other suitable labels, as well. For example, genre labels like "adventure," "biography," or "history" (one or another, without quotation marks) are welcome. That is, as long as they reflect the content of individual book review posts.
For details on how to use other required labels, please see Sheet 1 in the Labels and Links page on the Writing Studio Blog.

Now, to jump-start your labels collections, please:

1. Copy and paste the 20 labels in the first list above into a new draft post on your own blog;
2. Entitle the new draft post, "My Start-Up Labels" (in title case, without quotation marks);
3. Copy and paste the labels in the list above into the Labels field on the draft start-up labels post;
4. Publish the start-up labels post on your blog; and then
5. Add a labels gadget to the sidebar of your blog.

____________________

Note: At present, the maximum number of labels that you can put on a post is twenty (20).

Once you've published your start-up labels posts, with 20 labels in the label field as well as in the body of the posts, the labels will show up in your Labels gadget. Then, when you compose new posts, you will be able to choose appropriate labels for required posts, rather than having to type them in by hand.

[357 words]

My Startup Labels

books, brainstorms, drafts, essay prep., essays, fiction, free-writing, graphics, links, media, movies, non-fiction, outlines, quickposts, reviews, revisions, typing, websites

[20 words]

BR 1-02: I Can Do It!

Now I can do it. Nearly... ([Watanabe,] pp. n-m).

I chose another Puffin picture book, because they're easy to read. This one is about a bear who is learn[ing] to do things on wheels: a tricycle, a bicycle, ....

This book is very short, and too easy for me. I'm going to try something more challenging next time. I recommend harder book[s] for you, too.

If kids learn like this, maybe they will become motor-heads. If President Obama heard this story when he was young, perhaps he was inspired by the "I can..." parts.

Reference

Watanabe, Shigeo. (1984). I Can Do It. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

[101 words]

BR 1-01: A Difficult Day

Melinda felt as if she were lost in space[,] and nobody even cared (Fernandes, [n.p.]).

I picked this book because I like the Puffin picture book series. This is a story about a girl who has a real bad day. It was easy to read, and I enjoyed the ending. I think you'll like it, too.

Reference

Fernandes, Eugenie. (1990). A Difficult Day. Harmondsworth, England: Penquin Books.

[64 words]