Erm... anyone else think that cat is gigantic?

So, I know our Time Travel theme ended earlier this week, but I hope it’s not too late to tell you guys about one of my favorite books, Yesterday’s Doll by Cora Taylor.

(Once Karen shares with me her secret of how to travel through time, I’ll make sure to mention it in the podcast. For now, this blog entry will have to do.)

In Yesterday’s Doll, while main character, Meg* recovers from an illness, she’s given an old-fashioned doll that’s been in her family for generations. And whenever she falls asleep holding the doll, she dreams that she’s Morag, a girl traveling across the Canadian prairie in a covered wagon… decades ago! Slowly, Meg/Morag discovers why she’s being pulled to the past by this mysterious doll.

By the way — unfortunately, this book’s publisher is not printing new copies any more, so it might be kind of hard to find (I’d lend you a my copy, but… I like it.) So look for it in libraries or ask your parents to track it down… it’s a must-read!

— Nancy

* Um, do you get a Time Travel Card once you’re named Meg or something? WHY WAS I NAMED NANCY? … WHY?!

February is a month full of holidays — you’ve got Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and the Lunar New Year. But let’s not forget the all-important holiday that just happened a couple days ago: that’s right, people, Tuesday was Groundhog Day.

Personally, I don’t have much faith in a groundhog’s weather predictions, but I do love the old movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. You’ve probably never seen it because you’re not as ancient as I am (the film came out in 1993), but the basic premise is that Bill Murray’s character is forced to live the same day (Groundhog Day, obvi) over and over again until he can figure out how to escape the loop.

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

It’s a hilarious movie, but it’s rated PG. So if your parents guide you not to watch it, I’ve got the perfect book equivalent for you: 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass! In the book, Amanda is forced to live the same day (her birthday, obvi) over and over again until she can figure out how to escape the loop.

Unfortunately for Amanda, it’s a pretty miserable birthday — the first since a huge fight with her former best friend, Leo (who just happens to have the same birthday). How will Amanda finally make it to the next day? And could Leo be in on this weirdness too? To find out, read the book! (And if you like it, why not get into the spirit and read it over again once you’re done?)

Or if you’ve already read 11 Birthdays, leave me a comment with your take!

— Karen

What happens when you take a group of kids who hate sports, and you force them to play soccer against actual teams from other schools? Disaster, that’s what.

Watch the video for this week’s mystery book to see how their first game unfolds, and then send in your guess of what book it’s from. We’ll name the first person to get it right in our next podcast!

Kids: Ask your parents or teachers for approval before you submit anything to us, and read our Privacy Policy Statement.

Your First Name ONLY:

Your Age: State: ---AlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthern Marianas IslandsOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaVirgin IslandsWashingtoWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingOTHER  Girl Boy

My Mystery Book Theater Guess:

Our latest podcast is all about books involving time travel — and this week we’ve REALLY embraced our theme. How so? Well, let’s just say that at the end of this week’s installment, one of us is going back to the future…

Tune in to see what we mean:

Part 1: To Infinity and Beyond! (Our time travel wishes, and a new mystery book revealed)
  (6:36)
Download the MP3 (6.1 MB)

Part 2: Gardens and Windows (Our book picks for this week, plus a stellar review from one of YOU!)
  (6:18)
Download the MP3 (6.0 MB)

And don’t forget: in celebration of the Super Bowl, our next topic is sports books! So watch our latest Mystery Book Theater video and check out these sports books that’ll have you doing your own touchdown dance!

— Nancy and Karen

Please don't send us any personal information such as your last name, address, or phone number. Read our Terms of Submission below before you submit your article.

Kids: Ask your parents or teachers for approval before you submit anything to us, and read our Privacy Policy Statement.

Your First Name ONLY:

Your Age: State: ---AlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthern Marianas IslandsOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaVirgin IslandsWashingtoWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingOTHER

Book Title:

Author:

My Book Review:

Give it a rating: 11.522.533.544.55 out of 5 stars.

Terms of Submission
Before being published, your submission will be reviewed. It will be checked to see that it does not contain any inappropriate language or personal information. By sending us your submission, you are giving Kidsmomo permission to edit, promote, and put it up on our site and/or read it in its entirety in our podcast. However, because lots of kids send us submissions, we won't be able to publish all of the submissions that we receive. Also, it's really important to send us only your own writing and not anything that you copied from somewhere else. Thank you.

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, we figured we should stock up on some sports books in addition to the snack food and soda. And no, these aren’t all about football. Actually, these picks cover a range of athletics, from hockey to wrestling to synchronized swimming! (Yeah, you heard us — synchronized swimming!)

Consider these the MVPs of the sports book world (not necessarily in medal order):

Fiction:

1. Out Standing In My Field by Patrick Jennings (Karen’s pick)
2. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner (Nancy’s pick)
3. Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica
4. Baseball Card Adventures series by Dan Gutman
5. There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli
6. Football Hero by Tim Green
7. Summerland by Michael Chabon
8. The Kid Who Only Hit Homers by Matt Christopher
9. The Melting of Maggie Bean by Tricia Rayburn
10. The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John H. Ritter
11. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
12. My Thirteenth Season by Kristi Roberts
13. Surfer Dog by Elizabeth Spurr
14. The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane
15. Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff
16. Skating Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
17. Skinnybones by Barbara Park

Nonfiction:

1. Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics written by Sue Macy, photos by Peggy Fleming
2. How Hockey Works by Keltie Thomas
3. The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Walter Dean Myers
4. Nascar (DK Eyewitness Books) by James Buckley
5. The Greatest Moments in Sports by Len Berman
6. Sports Illustrated Kids Year In Sports 2009

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite sports book!

Please don't send us any personal information such as your last name, address, or phone number. Read our Terms of Submission below before you submit your article.

Kids: Ask your parents or teachers for approval before you submit anything to us, and read our Privacy Policy Statement.

Your First Name ONLY:

Your Age: State: ---AlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthern Marianas IslandsOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaVirgin IslandsWashingtoWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingOTHER

Book Title:

Author:

My Book Review:

Give it a rating: 11.522.533.544.55 out of 5 stars.

Terms of Submission
Before being published, your submission will be reviewed. It will be checked to see that it does not contain any inappropriate language or personal information. By sending us your submission, you are giving Kidsmomo permission to edit, promote, and put it up on our site and/or read it in its entirety in our podcast. However, because lots of kids send us submissions, we won't be able to publish all of the submissions that we receive. Also, it's really important to send us only your own writing and not anything that you copied from somewhere else. Thank you.

That’s right, folks, it’s time for the next round of KidsmomoMo Pictionary! It’s Nancy vs. Karen in another battle of epic propotions…

Well, not really. If you watched our first game, then you know it’s not exactly an even match: one of us is a talented artist, and the other has the illustration skills of a potato — and not like a lively Mr. Potato Head potato either, more like a cold, moldy lump of potato.

But tune in anyway — and play along! All the answers are titles from our booklists for past themes. How many titles can YOU guess?

Guess what happens when I have a lot of spare index cards, markers, and a circular stencil? That’s right, folks! I’ll be continuing my crazed overlapping circle drawings today:

Fun Owl Fact: Their eyeballs are fixed in their sockets, which is why they've evolved to be able to turn their heads all the way around.

I probably thought of this because of D (above). *Hooo... Hoooo...*

It's not just the difference in species of bird (swans and pheasants)... Pick up the books and find out!

And magic, of course. Hagrid is also much less delicate with his pink umbrella.

The main characters being Bone and Squirrel -- not to be confused with an actual bone and squirrel. Hey! Bone and RIBsy... Darn, I wish I caught that earlier.

Submit your book Venn diagram in the comments!

— Nancy

Imagine this is your life: you always feel out of place at school, your little brother gets picked on all the time, and your father has been missing for years. If you were suddenly offered the opportunity to find your dad, you’d probably jump at the chance, right? But what if you had to travel through time and space to get to him? And what if that kind of transportation wasn’t exactly… comfortable?

That’s exactly the situation for the main character in this week’s mystery book. Watch the video to see her experience hurtling through time and space, and then send in your guess of what book it’s from. We’ll name the first person to get it right in our next podcast!

UPDATE 2/2/10: Wanna know the book? Listen for the answer in our “Time After Time” Podcast, all about books involving time travel.

A liverwurst-loving cricket. A waddling raccoon. And, of course, a funny bunny (yep, that’s him over on the left).

These are just a few of the creatures we’ve rounded up for our latest podcast, all about unusual animals (in other words, animals other than cats or dogs)!
  

Part 1: Sink your teeth into this week’s mystery book (pun intended!)
  (6:54)
Download the MP3 (6.4 MB)

Part 2: It’s a zoo in here — thanks to book picks from us and you guys
  (6:41)
Download the MP3 (6.2 MB)

And don’t forget: our next topic is books involving time travel! So watch our latest Mystery Book Theater video and check out these time travel books that are so good, you’ll lose track of the time while you read them!

— Nancy and Karen

Welcome to the Kidsmomo Time Machine! Where would you like to go today? Ancient Egypt? Shakespearian England? Maybe even the future? Well, you’re in luck! These books involving time travel (in no particular order) will transport you through history and into the beyond:

1. The Time Garden by Edward Eager (Karen’s pick)
2. Time Windows by Kathryn Reiss (Nancy’s pick)
3. Time Warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka
4. Molly Moon’s Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure (Molly Moon Book #3) by Georgia Byng
5. Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander
6. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
7. For All Time by Caroline B. Cooney
8. The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
9. King of Shadows by Susan Cooper
10. Stonewords: A Ghost Story by Pam Conrad
11. Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
12. The Doll in the Garden by Mary Downing Hahn
13. 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
14. Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
15. Bed-Knob and Broomstick by Mary Norton

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite time travel book!

UPDATE 2/2/10: We revealed the answer to our Time Travel Mystery Book Theater in the “Time After Time” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in if you want to meet a messenger from the future! (Kind of…)