The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid — Review

Thought for the Day:

“Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.”

~ Marianne Moore, poet ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Dialogue can make the difference between a great book and a mediocre one. HERE Audrey Wick writes in Writers’ Digest about Using Beats to Improve Dialogue and Action in Scenes.

One of my main characters suffers a terrible trauma. I want to make sure his reactions are realistic, so when I saw the post HERE by Lisa Hall-Wilson on Writers in the Storm called 9 Things Writers Need to Know About Trauma and Mental Health, I was interested. I hope you will find this useful too.

When we write novels, we all have subplots, whether we plan to or not. It certainly is something we should be thinking about. HERE K. M. Weiland has a post with 5 Tips for Organizing Subplots.

I am happy to report that we are finally getting some rain this week in the Sacramento Valley. We have had a couple days of rain that have lasted through the whole day or most of the day. The only problem for me has been I missed my morning walk. I am up to two miles now and feeling pretty much back to normal. I spoke to my rheumatologist last week, and she says I am officially in remission now from my auto-immune disorder. I still have to take medication for the next 18 months, and when I read the possible side effects, it was a little scary, but not as scary as what I have been through. I wonder if hair for a woman isn’t highly overrated. Yeah, one of the possible side effects is that my hair might fall out. Maybe it’s not a good idea to read all that stuff the pharmacy sends along.

Last week, I talked about a book that is perfect for starting a new Christmas tradition. This week, I want to give you a heads-up about a book that will be a great gift for any middle-grade kids you have on your holiday shopping list. I have a copy of the first Atlas Obscura adult edition and love to pick it up and open to a random page and read one of the many fascinating articles. When I saw The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid written by Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco and illustrated by Joy Ang on the review list for the Seattle Book Review, I was intrigued. I requested it and was not disappointed. Here is the review I wrote for SBR.

The Atlas Obscura has become quite a popular book with its seemingly endless list of unusual and fascinating places around the world. It was so popular that they brought out a second volume. Now they have an edition that is just for kids, and kids will be excited to read through and find out about strange and wondrous things in countries all over the world. It contains 300 interesting and unique places and things that one could visit or learn about. One can take an elevator down the inside of a dormant volcano or find out about monks who mummified themselves. People can swim in a freshwater lake that is filled with golden jellyfish or visit a house entirely built from and furnished with things made from garbage. Young readers will want to spend time reading this book over and over, learning about the many wonders found around the world and how they came about. In addition, readers are likely to be turned on to studying more about history and science by what they find in this book. This is a real winner and is not to be missed.

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.