Review of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, by Eric Litwin and James Dean

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

story by Eric Litwin
created and illustrated by James Dean

Harper, 2012. 36 pages.
Starred Review

I’m afraid I resisted Pete the Cat a little bit. Even after our brilliant Early Literacy Coordinator demonstrated reading the book at a Youth Services meeting. It clearly will make a good read aloud, but I found out about it right before I was laid off from the library, and I haven’t done a storytime since. The second Pete the Cat book was Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes, and it was good, too, but I still wasn’t won over.

I was convinced enough that I had to check out Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, and this time, yes, I’m completely a fan.

It’s got the same ingredients as the others: Teaching simple concepts and a song that repeats to which kids are absolutely sure to sing along. This time, the concept is math! Huzzah!

Here’s how the beginning goes:

Pete the Cat put on his favorite shirt with four big, colorful, round, groovy buttons.
He loved his buttons so much, he sang this song:

“My buttons, my buttons,
my four groovy buttons.
My buttons, my buttons,
my four groovy buttons.”

POP!

OH NO!

One of the buttons popped off and rolled away.
How many buttons are left?

THREE
3
4 – 1 = 3

Did Pete cry?
Goodness, no!
Buttons come and buttons go.

He kept on singing his song:
“My buttons, my buttons,
my three groovy buttons….”

You get the idea! It’s catchy, it’s got math, and it even teaches a lovely lesson in being content.

Best of all, silly me, I was surprised at what Pete found after every single button had popped off! A simply perfect touch, and I should have seen it coming. It’s definitely all good!

And the lesson at the end is one we will all do well to take to heart:

I guess it simply goes to show that stuff will come and stuff will go.
But do we cry?
Goodness, NO!
We keep on singing.

What better reminder than this catchy picture book?

Keep on singing!

petethecat.com
ericlitwin.com
harpercollinschildrens.com/petethecat

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/four_groovy_buttons.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Sonderling Sunday – Chapter Nine – The Seltsamen Sonderlinge’s Squires

It’s time at last for another issue of Sonderling Sunday, where I play with words by looking Der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, the German translation of James Kennedy‘s The Order of Odd-fish, and find translations that give interesting insights or are simply fun to say.

The title of this post is a warped German-English hybrid to say The Squires of The Order of Odd-fish. I plan to look at only the beginning section of Chapter Nine. We’ll see if I get carried away….

We’re beginning on page 78 in English, Seite 100 auf Deutsch.

Interesting. Here’s a pretty direct translation:
“homelier” = heimeliger (I wonder which word meant “ugly” first?)
“arched brass ceiling” = verzierten Messingempore (“ornate brass gallery” says Google)

I like this one. It’s so obvious:
“vines” = Schlingpflanzen = “sling plants”

“unidentifiable fruit” = undefinierbaren Früchten (“undefined fruit.” This appeals to my mathematical brain.)

This sentence has a candidate for longest word at 16 letters:
“It was as if they had all been stolen from different places.” = Die Teile schienen von überallher zusammengeklaubt worden zu sein.

More fun to say in German:
“filthy black robes” = schmutziger, schwarzer Roben

Here’s the word for Squires:
“Squires” = Knappen (Ah! So my sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Knapp, may have had a squire in his ancestry. Only in German, the K is pronounced.)

“precisely knotted bow tie” = einer sorgfältig gebundenen Fliege (Interesting. The word for “bow tie” is also the word for “fly.”)

Better in English:
“teetering trays” = beladenen Tabletts

Better auf Deutsch:
“rushing back and forth” = hin- und herhuschten (“there and here scurried”)

I’ve mentioned this one before but love it:
“tiptoe” = Zehenspitzen (“toe points”)

“discredited metaphysics” = Ungnade gefallene Metaphysik (“disgrace-befallen metaphysics”)

“a beloved eccentric.” = ein hochgeschätzter Exzentriker

“flash photography” = Fotos mit Blitzlicht (very descriptive, nicht?)

More fun to say in German:
“wooden stool” = hölzernen Hocker

“one weirdly birdlike” = der einem Vogel unheimlich ähnelte

“an unfortunate nose” = eine knubbelige Nase (“knobbly nose”)

I like this better in German, too. You could say your kid is in this, and it sounds mysterious and important:
“growth spurt” = Wachstumsphase

“perpetual stoop” = ständig gebückt

“babbling” = plapperte

“the Silent Sisters” = der Stummen Schwestern

Shorter in German!:
“a tattered tan corduroy jacket” = ein verschlissenes Cordsakko

Maybe a little more dignified in German?:
“the wispy beginnings of a mustache” = der erste Flaum eines Bartes (“the first fuzz of facial hair”)

That’s the end of the first section, and all I have time for tonight. To sum up:

Most logical: Schlingpflanzen
Most fun to say: hin- und herhuschten
Most descriptive: Fotos auf Blitzlicht
Best German short form: Cordsakko
Best Euphemism: der erste Flaum eines Bartes

Armed with this knowledge, I can aspire to be ein hochgeschätzter Exzentriker!

Review of A People Tall and Smooth, by Judith Galblum Pex

A People Tall and Smooth

Stories of Escape from Sudan to Israel

by Judith Galblum Pex

Cladach Publishing, 2011. 219 pages.

A People Tall and Smooth tells the stories of many Sudanese refugees who have ended up in Israel.

Judith Galblum Pex and her husband John run a hostel in Eilat, Israel. She introduces the situation that developed in 2007 with these words:

“People from over one hundred nations intermingle in Israel. Besides Jews from Kazakhstan and Kansas, Burma and Belgrade, Calcutta, Congo and places in between, over a million tourists every year add to the mosaic. Include in the mixture two hundred thousand legal and illegal workers from countries such as China, Thailand, Philippines, Nepal and Ghana, and it’s clear that the average Israeli is used to seeing faces of all colors and shapes.

“In 2007, however, a new group appeared on the scene whose appearance and status was unlike any other till this time. We began to notice men, women, children and babies on the streets in our town of Eilat who were exceptionally black and strikingly tall.

“‘Where do they come from and who are they?’ My husband John and I asked ourselves. ‘What language do they speak?’ Having managed The Shelter Hostel in Eilat on the Red Sea since 1984, we are used to interacting with diverse people groups and were eager to meet these new arrivals.

“Our questions were answered when a tall, dark man walked through our front gate one morning. ‘I’m Gabriel, a refugee from Sudan,’ he introduced himself in perfect English. We then had even more questions. How did these Sudanese get to our city of Eilat in the south of Israel? What made them want to come to Israel of all places? Were they refugees from the genocide in Darfur that we’d been reading about lately?”

Their questions were answered by the refugees that came streaming to them. I was fascinated by how many Sudanese believed this passage from Isaiah 18 applied to them:

“Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go swift messengers to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech whose land is divided by rivers … At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty … to Mount Zion.”

Judith Galblum Pex writes:

“Whatever the original meaning, many Sudanese took this passage as a personal encouragement in their complicated struggle as refugees in Israel. Still, life with uncertainties in Israel was better for them than what they had endured in Africa.”

This book tells the stories of several Sudanese refugees, of different backgrounds, who wound up on their doorstep and became their friends. The writing is a little uneven. I would have preferred less about how they got the stories and the author’s reaction to the stories, and a focus on just the stories themselves. However, the stories are so compelling, you can get past that distraction.

This book contains amazing true stories of powerfully resilient people with a strong faith in God who have come through incredibly difficult events. The stories are both eye-opening and inspiring.

cladach.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/people_tall_and_smooth.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a book sent to me by the publisher.

Top 100 Children’s Novelists #2 – E. B. White

# 2 Children’s Novelist – E. B. White, 365 points.

Nobody’s surprised about this one. The author for the second highest number of points in Betsy Bird’s poll of the Top 100 Chapter Books of All Time is E. B. White.

What might be surprising is that while J. K. Rowling, the #1 author, got there with votes on all seven of her books, E. B. White pulled off second place with votes on only two of his books.

Charlotte’s Web was Chapter Book #1, with 349 points.
And The Trumpet of the Swan had two people vote for it with a 2nd place and a 4th place ranking, for a total of 16 points.
I was surprised that Stuart Little got no points at all.

Now, I personally didn’t vote for Charlotte’s Web, but I might have if I’d thought for a moment it wouldn’t win. I have to admit the book is practically perfect. I have wonderful memories of Charlotte’s Web, since it was my 3rd grade teacher, Miss Kita, who introduced the book to me when she read it to our class after lunch. I remember being completely enthralled.

I was never enamored with the other two books, though my husband ended up making me fond of them. That Stuart Little was a mouse, I always found completely creepy. A small human would have been interesting. But a mouse? The open ending didn’t help for me, either.

Then there was The Trumpet of the Swan. I didn’t encounter that one until I was an adult. It’s a good story, but, come on, a trumpet? Really? I know enough about brass instruments to know that you really do need lips to play one. Playing a trumpet with a beak? I’m sorry, but my imagination doesn’t stretch that far.

Even though you’d think that would bother him, my ex-husband, a tuba player, had loved all three books since he was a boy. He read all three to our sons, and I get warm feelings just remembering that. He and our older son were working together on a sequel to Stuart Little called Margalo.

Then there was the Hanna Barbara film of Charlotte’s Web. My son watched that over and over and over, as only a preschooler can. And yet — I did not hate it, even after hearing it uncountably many times. Most of the dialogue was straight from the book, and the fact is, that’s good dialogue.

Come to think of it, Charlotte’s Web, though completely brilliant, is unconventional, like the other books. Perhaps that’s what blocked it from a Newbery Medal in the end. It starts out as a realistic book and then switches into fantasy with talking animals, though never going all the way there, staying firmly grounded in reality.

I recently read Michael Sims’ brilliant book, The Story of Charlotte’s Web. It turns out that E. B. White studied spiders for a full year before writing the book. His impeccable research is reflected in the book. These animals — and that immortal spider — are real and grounded in reality.

Review of Summer of the Gypsy Moths, by Sara Pennypacker

Summer of the Gypsy Moths

by Sara Pennypacker

Balzer + Bray, 2012. 275 pages.
Starred Review

I wasn’t really attracted to this book by the cover. It looks like a feel-good story about girlfriends spending a summer at the beach. However, since I already think Sara Pennypacker’s a genius because of her brilliant writing in the Clementine books, I knew I did want to read it. And since it was nominated for Capitol Choices, I read it sooner rather than later.

In the first 50 pages, I learned that this is actually a book about two 12-year-old girls planning to hide a dead body!

Stella came to her Great-Aunt Louise after her mother had been charged with neglect and was off on an adventure following what she said were job leads. Great-Aunt Louise had also taken in a foster child, Angel, to be company for Stella. That didn’t work out very well, since the two were like oil and water.

“From the living room, I heard Angel snort. She snorted every time I mentioned Heloise, which just went to show what kind of a person she was, since Heloise does nothing but good for people with her household hints column, helping them get their lives in order.”

But then, it’s almost the end of the school year, and Stella and Angel come home from school to find Louise sitting in her chair with the TV on, but it’s the wrong show. Louise is dead.

Angel is not ready to go to another foster home. Stella doesn’t have anywhere else to go. At first they’re just going to put off having to leave, but one thing leads to another, and they decide to stay. They tell crazy fibs about what’s wrong with Louise, and Stella, who’s used to taking care of things for her mother, has no trouble with Louise’s task of keeping the four summer cottages tidied up between customers.

This book is funny and sad and outrageous and poignant.

Once again, Sara Pennypacker’s characters seem like completely real children. The way they react to the dead body that was Louise struck me as completely real. Here’s where they try to prepare her for burial by bringing out all the jewelry she bought from the Home Shopping Network:

“When it came to doing it, though, we couldn’t. Neither one of us could touch Louise’s neck or ears or wrists. In the end, we just tossed everything over her robe and then jumped back to the doorway. Her lap looked like a pirate’s treasure chest, with necklaces and bracelets spilling all over her, and I thought, who wouldn’t like that?”

I’m glad I’m not on the Newbery committee this year, because I’d have an awful time deciding between this book and Wonder and The One and Only Ivan. On the other hand, I’d have to read these brilliant books several times, which would be a treat.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/summer_of_the_gypsy_moths.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Librarians Help! Conference Edition

It’s been more than a month since my last Librarians Help! post. During that time, I went to ALA Annual Conference. What did I learn there? More ways to help, of course!

Librarians:

— Help parents build early literacy skills in their little ones.
— Help older kids learn to read.
— Help show kids the fun side of reading.
— Provide a place to come in from the heat.
— Provide conversation about technology and privacy and ethical use of technology.
— Provide exposure to technology.
— Show how to use technology to promote learning.
— Help people trace genealogy.
— Help people find their next book to read.
— And, of course, promote great books by giving prestigious awards.

I’ve got notes from some of the people I helped before I went to California for the conference (and vacation with family and friends), so I’ll post a few of those.

— Lots and lots of requests for specific books or specific topics
— Got out some old photos of a local high school from the rare book room.
— Ordered microfilm from the Library of Virginia.
— Figured out the title of a book from a fragment on one copied page.
— Answered the question: What were the top three companies (by any criteria) in 1939?
— Helped someone copy a pdf file on the public computers.
— Helped someone load library books onto their Nook.
— Helped a customer format her resume.
— Answered question about salaries of congressional staff.
— Provided a definition of “cognitive dissonance” over the phone.

And here’s a link to an excellent article on Kentucky Teacher about the value of School Librarians: “Why You Need Your School Librarian.”

Have I convinced you yet? Librarians Help!

Review of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

by E. Lockhart

Hyperion, New York, 2008. 345 pages.
2009 Printz Honor Book
Starred Review

I took an online course about the Printz Award, and the course finally got me to read this wonderful book.

Frankie’s father is sending her to the exclusive prep school where he attended. Her Dad still meets with his buddies and talks about their secret society, the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. Unfortunately, it was only for men, so he can’t reveal to Frankie where they hid their record of their escapades, The Disreputable History.

When Frankie’s new boyfriend invites her to a party after curfew and the invitation has a seal with a picture of a basset hound, it’s pretty easy for her to figure out what he’s up to. She doesn’t like it when he won’t tell her anything about his involvement. He thinks of her as a pretty little thing, and that what he does with his friends shouldn’t concern her.

Here’s the letter that opens The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks:

“To: Headmaster Richmond and the Board of Directors, Alabaster Preparatory Academy

“I, Frankie Landau-Banks, hereby confess that I was the sole mastermind behind the mal-doings of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. I take full responsibility for the disruptions caused by the Order — including the Library Lady, the Doggies in the Window, the Night of a Thousand Dogs, the Canned Beet Rebellion, and the abduction of the Guppy.

“That is, I wrote the directives telling everyone what to do.

“I, and I alone.

“No matter what Porter Welsch told you in his statement.

“Of course, the dogs of the Order are human beings with free will,. They contributed their labor under no explicit compunction. I did not threaten them or coerce them in any way, and if they chose to follow my instructions, it was not because they feared retribution.

“You have requested that I provide you with their names. I respectfully decline to do so. It’s not for me to pugn or impugn their characters.

“I would like to point out that many of the Order’s escapades were intended as social criticism. And that many of the Order’s members were probably diverted from more self-destructive behaviors by the activities prescribed them by me. So maybe my actions contributed to a larger good, despite the inconveniences you, no doubt, suffered.

“I do understand the administration’s disgruntlement over the incidents. I see that my behavior disrupted the smooth running of your patriarchal establishment. And yet I would like to suggest that you view each of the Loyal Order’s projects with the gruntlement that should attend the creative civil disobedience of students who are politically aware and artistically expressive.

“I am not asking that you indulge my behavior; merely that you do not dulge it without considering its context.

“Yours sincerely,

“Frances Rose Landau-Banks”

How does Frankie manage to out-prank the pranksters? What are these intriguingly named escapades? In what sense were they social activism? And what happens when she pulls them off?

All is revealed in this delightful book. It’s amazing how gripping the plot is, even when you’re told what happens right at the outset. You can’t help but love Frankie and will keep reading to see what clever stunt she accomplishes next, and if her boyfriend and his buddies will learn to take her seriously. Along the way, she has lots to say about our patriarchal society.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/disreputable_history.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

#1 Picture Book Author and Illustrator – Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak
#1 Picture Book Author, 570 points
#1 Picture Book Illustrator, 607 points

I should point out that Betsy Bird’s Top 100 Picture Books Poll happened before Maurice Sendak’s death. So these numbers were not inflated by the news of his death. I can’t help but wish he’d seen this one more triumph, but I imagine he knew he was on top with the last poll, so this was simply one more honor to a picture book genius.

Now, this name won’t come as a surprise, since Where the Wild Things Are all by itself was #1 with 533 points. As it turns out, no other author or illustrator got a total that passed that one. But he had another book in the Top 100, Pierre, at #79 with 25 points. What other books showed up on the poll for Maurice Sendak?

Higglety, Pigglety, Pop! got 5 points.
In the Night Kitchen got 5 points.
Chicken Soup With Rice got 2 points.

And for illustration:
Little Bear, by Else Holmelund Minarik, got 17 points.
A Kiss for Little Bear, by Else Holmelund Minarik, got 7 points.
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, by Charlotte Zolotow, got 5 points.
A Hole Is to Dig, by Ruth Krauss, got 4 points.
A Very Special House, by Ruth Krauss, got 2 points.
What Can You Do With a Shoe?, by Beatrice Schenk deRegniers, got 2 points.

So you see, Maurice Sendak well deserves the Number One spot!

I should confess that when I was a little girl, I didn’t really like Where the Wild Things Are. I’m afraid I was a real goody-two-shoes who didn’t like that Max was being bad. However, years later, as a mother of boys, I came to appreciate the need for a Wild Rumpus at times.

Though my truly favorite Maurice Sendak books are A Hole Is to Dig, Chicken Soup With Rice, and Little Bear. His children are truly ready to jump and play and dance. I so love the way the child laughs when the words say a tablespoon is to eat a table.

Truly Maurice Sendak was a genius and left the world a richer place.

Review of Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, by Anna Quindlen

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake

by Anna Quindlen

Random House, New York, 2012. 182 pages.
Starred Review

Anna Quindlen is just a few years older than me. So I love reading her musings on turning 50, on aging, on being the mother of young adults. Because she tells me what’s to come. I feel for her, but I can tell myself that is still far in the future, but as I read, I begin to look forward to it.

Anna Quindlen wrote a “Life in the 30’s” column when she was in her 30’s. She wrote about everyday things, and people wrote back to her. In her foreword, “Life in the 50’s” she talks about those letters:

“I feel like I’m not alone,” some of those who wrote to me said, and that sentiment changed my life. That’s what’s so wonderful about reading, that books and poetry and essays make us feel as though we’re connected, as though the thoughts and feelings we believe are singular and sometimes nutty are shared by others, that we are all more alike than different. It’s the wonderful thing about writing, too. Sometimes I would think I was the only person alive concerned about some crazy cul-de-sac of human behavior. Then I would get the letters from readers and realize that that was not the case, that we were not alone, any of us.

I love Anna Quindlen’s outlook on aging. She makes it sound so much fun! And she makes me so ready for it.

Many of us have come to a surprising conclusion about this moment in our lives. No, it’s not that there are weird freckly spots on the back of our hands, although there are, or that construction guys don’t make smutty comments as we pass, although they don’t. It’s that we’ve done a pretty good job of becoming ourselves, and that this is, in so many ways, the time of our lives. As Carly Simon once sang, “These are the good old days.” Lots of candles, plenty of cake. I wouldn’t be twenty-five again on a bet, or even forty. And when I say this to a group of women at lunch, everyone around the table nods. many of us find ourselves exhilarated, galvanized, at the very least older and wiser.

So take a ride along with Anna Quindlen, a superb essayist, as she explores thoughts about life, aging, growing, learning, being a friend, and living well.

AtRandom.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/lots_of_candles_plenty_of_cake.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

#1 Chapter Book Author – J. K. Rowling

#1 Chapter Book Author: J. K. Rowling
445 points.

Tonight I’m beginning my posts of the Top 100 Chapter Book Authors from Betsy Bird’s Top 100 Chapter Books Poll with something of an upset. I hadn’t looked at the totals in awhile, and in the back of my mind, I simply thought that of course E. B. White, having won the top slot so decisively with Charlotte’s Web, would naturally be on top.

But I shouldn’t have been surprised. We all know how much the books by relative newcomer are beloved. Though this time most of us simply voted for the first book in her beloved series, not only was that book #3 in the Chapter Book Rankings, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was #12, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was #98, and yes, every single other book got at least one vote.

Just a little background. Betsy Bird did a poll on her Fuse #8 blog asking people to write in with their Top 10 Chapter Books of all time, ranked in order from 1 to 10. Each book was given 10 points for first place, 9 for second place, and so on. Then she gave us a ranking of the top 100 point-getters. I helped tally up the points, and I was interested in what authors would be on top, since with some it was so hard to choose just one book to vote for. Hence this series of posts.

Here are Betsy’s posts about J. K. Rowling’s three books in the Top 100:

#3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

#12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

#98. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

And here are my own reviews of all the books:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I am very proud that I gave the first book to my son Josh on his eleventh birthday, and just as soon as he finished reading it, he urged us to read it as a family at bedtimes. (His little brother was five years old, and we’d started reading them books together, when we could find a book both would like.) The next year, before the book was famous, we gave the book to several other people. One of those was Josh’s fifth grade teacher, and he said it was the best present he’d ever received. When controversy began breaking out over the book the following year, his class put up big “We Love Harry Potter” signs on the classroom windows.

I confess, when my husband told me he wanted a “trial separation” a few months before Harry Potter #6 was due out, I said, “But then you won’t be there to read Harry Potter!” and burst into tears. (He did stay through the purchase of that book, but it was clear his heart wasn’t in it.) He had been the principal reader for all the earlier books, and I had treasured that family time. By #7, my son Josh was away at college, and my ex-husband was in Japan, but I talked my young teenage son who remained to let me read it aloud to him. Sigh. Now I just have to read them on my own. But I will always ALWAYS treasure those memories of reading Harry Potter together, at home and on vacation in England (one year we got the book earlier than everyone else by going to England) and in Germany (we spent a whole day of our vacation in Bavaria reading the end of The Goblet of Fire rather than going sight-seeing).

We also have a collection of Harry Potter books: American, British and German editions of all the books except the last (In case you’re wondering, that’s my childhood collection of Black Stallion books next to the British editions of Harry Potter.)

And we have copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in many different languages: Hebrew, Chinese, Czech, Bulgarian, Japanese, and French. As well as, of course, American, British, and German. (I’ve read the American, British, German and French ones. Not the others.)

Yes, I must admit I’m pleased that J. K. Rowling has the Number One Chapter Book Author spot. She deserves it!