{"id":39840,"date":"2021-08-12T22:47:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T02:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39840"},"modified":"2021-08-12T22:47:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T02:47:37","slug":"celebrating-20-years-of-sonderbooks-favorites-from-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39840","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating 20 Years of Sonderbooks: Favorites from 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve been writing Sonderbooks for 20 years<\/a>!<\/p>\n

This month I’m celebrating by revisiting old favorites from each year I wrote reviews. Today, let’s look at 2008<\/a>. That was the year I began working full-time as a librarian, the first I’d worked full time since 1990. It cut into my reading time! But at least working at a library, I was still around books.<\/p>\n

Highlighting some favorites:<\/p>\n

Chalice<\/a><\/em>, by Robin McKinley<\/strong><\/p>\n

A new Robin McKinley book is always a treat! (And this is reminding me, it’s time for a rereading of this one.)<\/p>\n

The Arrival<\/a><\/em>, by Shaun Tan<\/strong><\/p>\n

This graphic novel helps you understand what it would feel like to be a stranger in a strange land. By using strange symbols for the language on signs and strange creatures for pets, everything seems alien.<\/p>\n

The Prophecy<\/a><\/em>, by Hilari Bell<\/strong><\/p>\n

A delightful fantasy story about a misfit prince who takes on a quest.<\/p>\n

The Wednesday Wars<\/a><\/em>, by Gary D. Schmidt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s when I became a fan of Gary Schmidt. The Newbery-Honor-winning story of Holling Hoodhood and his adventures with Shakespeare.<\/p>\n

Mozart’s Ghost<\/a><\/em>, by Julia Cameron<\/strong><\/p>\n

A light-hearted story about a romance being interfered with by the ghost of Mozart.<\/p>\n

Italian Lessons<\/a><\/em>, by Peter Pezzelli<\/strong><\/p>\n

A warm and wonderful novel about going to Italy.<\/p>\n

Stardust<\/a><\/em>, by Neil Gaiman<\/strong><\/p>\n

An original fairy tale by Neil Gaiman! Need I say more?<\/p>\n

Timothy and the Strong Pajamas<\/a><\/em>, by Viviane Schwarz<\/strong><\/p>\n

This picture book still delights my heart. Timothy’s mended pajamas make him super strong!<\/p>\n

Millie Waits for the Mail<\/a><\/em>, by Alexander Steffensmeier<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looks like 2008 was a stellar year for picture books! This one, too, is one of my all-time favorites — about a cow who loves to hide and ambush the letter carrier. It’s from Germany, too!<\/p>\n

A Visitor for Bear<\/a><\/em>, by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of the best read-alouds ever, working well for audiences from a broad age range. Bear does not allow visitors — but he reckoned without small, grey, and bright-eyed Mouse.<\/p>\n

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes<\/a><\/em>, by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of my favorites for Baby Storytimes, made by two of my favorite picture book creators. Delighting in sweet babies in an almost musical text.<\/p>\n

Are You Ready to Play Outside?<\/a><\/em>, by Mo Willems<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of my favorite Elephant & Piggie books — it’s a brilliant sermon on contentment in a picture book. Be sure to read my blog post about what really brought it home for me<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stay Connected to Your Teenager: How to Keep Them Talking to You and How to Hear What They’re Really Saying<\/a><\/em>, by Michael Riera<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m glad I read this book toward the beginning of the time when it was just my teen and me in our home. The book helped remind me that what I want is connection, and reminded me we’re on the same side.<\/p>\n

This Is Not the Life I Ordered: 50 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water when Life Keeps Dragging You Down<\/a><\/em>, by Deborah Collins Stephens, Jackie Speier, Michealene Cristini Risley, and Jan Yanehiro<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is another book about coping when life doesn’t go as you expect and coming through with joy.<\/p>\n

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball<\/a><\/em>, by Kadir Nelson<\/strong><\/p>\n

This came as I was beginning to be familiar with Kadir Nelson’s work and his amazing paintings. A beautiful and informative book.<\/p>\n

Knucklehead: Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories About Growing Up Scieszka<\/a><\/em>, by Jon Scieszka<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jon Scieszka’s hilarious memoir for kids. He tells about life as a mischievous boy growing up with five brothers.<\/p>\n

Greater Estimations<\/a><\/em>, by Bruce Goldstone<\/strong><\/p>\n

I always like the math books<\/a>! This photo-illustrated book gives tips and techniques for making good estimations of large groups of objects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been writing Sonderbooks for 20 years! This month I’m celebrating by revisiting old favorites from each year I wrote reviews. Today, let’s look at 2008. That was the year I began working full-time as a librarian, the first I’d worked full time since 1990. It cut into my reading time! But at least working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[411],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39840"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39848,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39840\/revisions\/39848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}