Happy Birthday...

…Johnny Marr! 45 today.

NPR announced his birthday today as "Johnny Marr, guitarist with Modest Mouse". Technically true, but couldn't they have at least mentioned The Smiths??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2NrIALcNOw

Everybody read some Ramona tonight. Beverly Cleary turns 100 today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM0MUcc5OKE

I'm going to be straight up about this…I hate ramona!
Probably the only kids book in the house I put my foot down on that I would not read

the mouse books and henry higgians stuff was great


NPR said it best…..Beverly Clearly sold 90 Million books in her life time
the rolling stones have only sold 80 million records

SideBurner wrote:
I'm going to be straight up about this…I hate ramona!
Probably the only kids book in the house I put my foot down on that I would not read

the mouse books and henry higgians stuff was great


NPR said it best…..Beverly Clearly sold 90 Million books in her life time
the rolling stones have only sold 80 million records

Why do you hate Ramona? Because her author sold more book than the Rolling Stones sold albums?

I hated the (behavior of the) girls in Blubber (I know, different author). But it still made for some compelling reading.

I loved Cleary's books… not as much as Dahl who was by far my favorite ,but I still enjoyed them… then again I always loved reading, books and libraries…

I was partial to Judy Blume, I don't recall ever having read a Ramona book

I loved Judy Blume too….I liked them all.. except maybe the one who wrote about horses or unicorns.. madeline l'engle or whatever….

I also liked CS Lewis a lot..but did not ever read the Tolkien stuff..still have not read it….

I think the only Cleary book I read as a kid was the Mouse and the Motorcycle and/or Runaway Ralph. Are they the same book?  I don't recall my parents ever reading to me (was that commonplace back then, after the kid has learned to read for themself?) But I do recall having an appetite for reading books myself.

I think my daughter identified a bit with Ramona and hence enjoyed that series.

Cleary - Mouse&moto and Runaway Ralph I think are the same mouse, but different books…don't quote me on that. 
As far as my hate for ramona, I just realized I was mistaken…for Junie B. Jones's
and not for the Rolling Stones part…that was just to show she is a freaking rock star when it comes to book sales

as for Junie B…
We started the series and I just wanted to smack that kid upside the face.  She was annoying, stupid, mean, shellfish, had incredibly poor grammar/spelling (I know I'm the last person to criticize that)  They were books my oldest wanted to learn to read with and I got to a point where I told here I would not help her learn to read with those books and we needed to find a different series.  We did and she loves reading now

I do think we did do some of the ramona and they were good

madeline l'engle…Wrinkle in time.  That was one of my first favorite long form books…didn't read anything else from her.

I think it's odd for a boy to read Judy Blume…but that's me.  My understanding is they are very tailored for young girls.

I don't recall my parents ever reading to me after I learned to read either…but My oldest still likes me to read some pages before bed (and I do too) but she reads about 50 pages a day on her own, so it's not because she can't, just become the rhythm of bedtime

SideBurner wrote:
  She was annoying, stupid, mean, shellfish, had incredibly poor grammar/spelling (I know I'm the last person to criticize that) 

I hate it when girls are shellfish.

Space wrote:

SideBurner wrote:
  She was annoying, stupid, mean, shellfish, had incredibly poor grammar/spelling (I know I'm the last person to criticize that) 

I hate it when girls are shellfish.

D'oh…that was planted so one of you would point out

SideBurner wrote:


I think it's odd for a boy to read Judy Blume…but that's me.  My understanding is they are very tailored for young girls.

I didn't read Blume as a kid, but have enjoyed the books I've read with my daughter. The stories we have read (Sheila the Great, Blubber) have been from a girl's point but seem to be no more tailored for young girls than books told from a boy's point of view are tailored for young girls. Then again, we haven't read them all, including the one where the girl gets her first period.

The Fudge series, told by Fudge's sister, are essentially tales of the little boy Fudge, so again not really tailored toward girls…Fudge was a character based on Blume's son, who is one of the founding partners of City Winery.

SideBurner wrote:
I think it's odd for a boy to read Judy Blume…but that's me.  My understanding is they are very tailored for young girls.

depends…  "then again, maybe I won't" "superfudge" and "tales of a fourth grade nothing" were boy books.

"are you there god, it's me Margaret" "blubber" and "otherwise known as Sheila the great" were def girl books.

SideBurner wrote:

I think it's odd for a boy to read Judy Blume…but that's me.  My understanding is they are very tailored for young girls.

Nah. I think that it kind of helps you better understand from an earlier age how girls think. And if you're a gay boy, they're great reads. If you're a straight boy, it begins the blueprint of helping to better appreciate the opposite sex. Either way, it's entertaining. And yeah, "Then Again, Maybe I Won't" was a total boy's book.

Holy 2008 thread resurrection batman!

bob72 wrote:

SideBurner wrote:
I think it's odd for a boy to read Judy Blume…but that's me.  My understanding is they are very tailored for young girls.

depends…  "then again, maybe I won't" "superfudge" and "tales of a fourth grade nothing" were boy books.

"are you there god, it's me Margaret" "blubber" and "otherwise known as Sheila the great" were def girl books.

What this gay guy said.

Amazing, Bob your memory of something read presumably many years ago is more clear than my memory of what I've read in the last year.

bearman wrote:

SideBurner wrote:

I think it's odd for a boy to read Judy Blume…but that's me.  My understanding is they are very tailored for young girls.

Nah. I think that it kind of helps you better understand from an earlier age how girls think. And if you're a gay boy, they're great reads. If you're a straight boy, it begins the blueprint of helping to better appreciate the opposite sex. Either way, it's entertaining. And yeah, "Then Again, Maybe I Won't" was a total boy's book.

What this gay guy said, too.

brennser wrote:
Holy 2008 thread resurrection batman!

Never really got into Batman comics, or any comics, as a kid. But that's another thread. Watched the tv show as a kid though.

Space wrote:

bob72 wrote:

SideBurner wrote:
I think it's odd for a boy to read Judy Blume…but that's me.  My understanding is they are very tailored for young girls.

depends…  "then again, maybe I won't" "superfudge" and "tales of a fourth grade nothing" were boy books.

"are you there god, it's me Margaret" "blubber" and "otherwise known as Sheila the great" were def girl books.

What this gay guy said.

Amazing, Bob your memory of something read presumably many years ago is more clear than my memory of what I've read in the last year.

my memory is not always the greatest, but I do find it odd what I tend to retain. I read all six of the aforementioned books and could pretty much give a high level synopsis. Considering Superfudge was published in 1980 (age 8 ) and I read it as soon as it hit the shelves, yeah it's been a while.

edit: and yes I truly believe Judy Blume helped define my gayness… I mean "then again, maybe I won't" was all about boners, masturbation and wet dreams. What's not to like as a soon to be flowering gay boy?

within two years I was thoroughly addicted to Stephen King.