When I was a teen I read a lot of the Baby-Sitter Club books, as many as were available at the time. I knew there was a graphic novel version of the series, and a television show- I didn’t know there was this graphic novel j-fiction series spinoff as well- about Karen. She’s the six-year-old stepsister of Kristy (the president of the baby-sitters club). This graphic novel is very cute and lively, with bright animated illustrations by Katy Farina. And this one is about Karen’s passion for roller-skating.
Karen loves roller-skating, especially trying new stunts and tricks. She’s bold and daring, always testing limits. Eager to try out a new trick she saw online, jumping over an obstacle. She succeeds, but falls when turning after her landing, and breaks her wrist (because she forgot to put on her wrist guards). The family all commiserates, she’s rushed to the hospital (I thought it kind of funny the dad carried her everywhere, even though her wrist was broken, nothing wrong with her legs) and gets a cast. Disappointed that she can’t use her skates for two months, but still has to go to school! The family keeps her company on the couch and helps her with things for a while, then the novelty wears off and she’s told to do things for herself now. Which makes her a bit cross, she was enjoying that extra attention (ha).
She meets a boy from her school who has a cast on his leg and is impressed with all the signatures he got on it. Determined to get a better collection of cast signatures, she pesters all her friends and family to sign her cast, then tries to find someone famous to sign it (does the ice-cream truck man count?) She gets paw-prints from dogs and cats, and braves visiting next door with her friend, to ask the old lady that lives there (they think she’s a witch). Each time she asks someone to sign, she tells what happened, making the story increasingly bigger and more dramatic, until everybody is rolling their eyes at her exaggerations. In the end, she learns to tell her story straight, and is nice to the other kid at school with the broken ankle, instead of bragging and showing off like she’s inclined to. I liked this story, even though it ended up being about dealing with an injury and the frustration of not being able to skate for a while!
Borrowed from the public library.
This is a puzzle I wanted for a long time, after seeing pics of it online. I just thought it was a fun image, plus the wavy color reflections remind me of a painting I did in art class long ago (bright colors, a girl on a diving board, and the reflection in the water showed her fear). It was a very easy puzzle, but I did it slowly and in stages to enjoy longer. Would be really nice to have this one as a 750- or 1,000- piece. Nice surface texture, great cut variety, some puzzle dust but not a ton. There was a piece that seemed extra-large, like the cut was missed in making that two separate pieces. Maybe it was just for variety though, because I’ve seen the same in a few other puzzles.
Collection of drawings and sketches by the author/artist. Delightful and whimsical and random. At least, they seemed random at first- but when you get to the very end pages there’s a little description and explanation by the artist, about what inspired the piece, or what other story it was a part of, or what he thinks about the depicted object. The intro and these end-pages explanation bits are lovely reading, it is so solidly insightful and makes me feel appreciative (of art). I need to get my hands on more Shaun Tan! and see the animations done from some of his books- I didn’t even know they existed, before. The artwork is all so much fun, even if some have sad or lonely overtones. Most of them are of everyday objects combined or personified into little beings that interact or have some symbolic meaning. Not quite sure how else to describe it. I had spent days poring over all the pictures, looked through them all at least twice, and then was super happy to find the text at the back to read about, but then I couldn’t. Someone else had this one on request so I turned it in having only read four or five pages of the explanations, but I want to borrow it again to go through the rest, and look at the drawings all over again, of course.
This thick, impressive coffee-table size book is all about the current state of elephants in Africa. As far as I can tell, the two compilers traveled the breadth of the continent collecting materials written about, and photographs taken of, elephants. The words are from conservationists, animal welfare workers, government policy makers, wildlife photographers, safari outfit organizers, big game hunting enthusiasts, field scientists, etc (probably some occupations I have got wrong and many others forgotten because I don’t have the book in front of me now). The photographs- many of them double-page spreads- are stunning and beautiful. The words are detailed, sober and expressive, though I have to admit some of them are on the other hand very straightforward and dry. The chapter written about policy makers and the problems caused when elephant populations cross boundaries of countries that have different ways of assessing and handling their numbers was particularly difficult to get through, if I recall. I did like best one chapter that was about two individual elephants, though now I can’t tell you anything about it. Personal stories always get me closer. And I was very struck by the section about how elephants and big trees co-exist. Namely, it was pointed out that the helpful work of people to provide more watering holes for elephants and other wildlife, actually has a negative impact on large trees- because if the elephants have easy access to water and stay in one place, they keep feeding on the same trees and damage them. In normal circumstances, they’d roam far between watering places, giving trees in one area time to recover and grow again, before they returned. And yet now they often can’t roam because of fences, roads, human habitation and other things blocking their path.
