Moo - a review

I recently reviewed the audio book version of Moo by Sharon Creech.

I'm not permitted to repost my review here, but you can easily hop over to AudioFile Magazine and read it there. [http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/117341/moo--by-sharon-creech--/]

Sharon Creech's customary poetic frugality with words is evident in Moo, a story of two siblings, a family's move to Maine, and an obstinate cow named Zora. The audio version is read by Brittany Presley. You can't go wrong with Sharon Creech, and the brevity of her offerings makes her a perennial reluctant-reader favorite.

• Read a sample of Moo Read a sample of Moo here.

• Listen to an excerpt of Moo here. 

Other Sharon Creech books or short stories featured on Shelf-employed:

• The Unfinished Angel (one of my favorites!) 
• The Great Unexpected
• The Boy on the Porch
• Love that Dog
• "The Raven" in Acting Out  

Can you tell that I'm a big Sharon Creech fan? 😊

The Unfinished Angel

Creech, Sharon. 2009. The Unfinished Angel. New York: Harper Collins.
(a booktalk)

Highly recommended.

Acting Out

Chanda, Justin (Ed.) 2008. Acting Out. New York: Atheneum.

Acting Out is a compilation of six plays by noted children’s authors, Avi, Susan Cooper, Sharon Creech, Patricia MacLachlan, Katherine Paterson, and Richard Peck. Besides being written by talented authors, the plays have something else in common. Using a technique used in improvisational acting, editor Justin Chanda asked each author to submit a word that must be used in each play. The resulting words, hoodwink, dollop, raven, knuckleball, panhandle, and Justin appear in every play. Part of the fun is noting how the author works in the unusual additions.

Note how “raven” appears in Richard Peck’s play, “Effigy in the Outhouse,” which takes place in the year 1910. One of his characters, Edna, the eldest and bossiest student in the one-room school house, yells out, “Stop all your rantin’ and raven. I declare, you’re all like hogs turned into an orchard.”

The plays are varied in style and content. The plays are mysterious, life-like, whimsical, environmental, historical, and more. Although Richard Peck’s humorous look at children in a one-room schoolhouse is my favorite, Sharon Creech’s spoof on the publishing industry is a hoot as well! A young Edgar Allen Poe, is trying to seal a deal with a modern day publisher,

TRISH: Ah yes, strategies, et cetera. The two-word title is OUT. Out, out, out!
POE: Out?
TRISH: Quite, Out. Your use of “The” is fine, mind you. Absolutely terrific! But we need “The something-something.” You follow? … “The Raven Code,” perhaps? “The Raven KNUCKLEBALL”? Or better yet. “Something-something and the something-something.” Let’s say “Polly Raven and the Silver Chalice, “ mm?

This book is perfect for older reader’s theater groups or school groups. A note of caution, though – although its title is Acting Out, any group wishing to perform these plays, must obtain written permission from the publishers. Performance rights will, however, be granted without charge to non-profit groups.

Love That Dog

Creech, Sharon. 2001. Love that dog. New York: Harper Collins.

I recently finished reading this book with a discussion group whose members vary in age from young teen to young adult. The book went over fairly well and all members seemed to enjoy it, as we alternated between reading aloud, reading at home, and listening to the audio version.

Love That Dog tells the story of a young boy coping with the death of his dog, Sky. The story is written in the form of a school journal in which the protagonist, Jack, writes notes or assignments for his teacher, Mrs. Stretchberry. Mrs. Stretchberry is teaching poetry. Over a period of months, Jack learns to cope with the death of his dog and becomes more confident and self-assured in his own writing ability through a series of writing exercises. The book introduces the reader to famous poets and poetry, notably Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams. Much of the book is also centered around poet and author, Walter Dean Myers, who visits Jack's school.

Several of the group members professed a liking for the audio version, read by Scott Wolf.