ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! REVISED AND EXPANDED: A HISTORY OF EARTH, DINOSAURS, RULERS, ROBOTS, AND OTHER THINGS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION — Review

Thought for the Day:

“Inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.”
~ Brenda Ueland ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Sometimes we want to convey a passage of time without just stating it. HERE Lisa Hall-Wilson has a really good post on Deep Dive Authors Club called 5 Tips to Show Time Passing in Deep Point of View.

Are things just too easy for your characters? HERE Natalie Hart writes for Writer Unboxed called Don’t Let Your Characters Give Up — and Don’t Yourself, Either. This is an excellent post with great examples.

No characters — no story, right? So we all need to build characters. HERE author Karen Rose shares her 6-Point Character-Building Process in a Writer’s Digest article.

Last week, I promised a gently-read copy of TISH by Edwina Wyatt to one of you. This week’s winner is Sue Heavenrich. Congratulations, Sue! I will get your book out to you soon. If you don’t know Sue, she is a wonderful science writer, and you can learn more about her and her terrific books on her site HERE.

I had my RSV vaccination the other day, and I am still so tired. And not much happened around here this week, so time for some puns. Try hard not to groan too much. Sorry. I just can’t help myself.

Dad, are we pyromaniacs? Yes, we arson.
What do you call a pig with laryngitis? Disgruntled.
Writing my name in cursive is my signature move.
Why do bees stay in their hives during winter? Swarm.
If you’re bad at haggling, you’ll end up paying the price.
Just so everyone’s clear, I’m going to put my glasses on.
A commander walks into a bar and orders everyone around.
I lost my job as a stage designer. I left without making a scene.
Never buy flowers from a monk. Only you can prevent florist friars.
How much did the pirate pay to get his ears pierced? A buccaneer.
I once worked at a cheap pizza shop to get by. I kneaded the dough.

Kids are curious. I don’t think anyone would deny that. And if we can put books into their hands that will feed that curiosity, we are liable to help create lifelong readers and lifelong learners. When I ran across ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! REVISED AND EXPANDED: A HISTORY OF EARTH, DINOSAURS, RULERS, ROBOTS, AND OTHER THINGS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION by Christopher Lloyd, I knew I wanted to read it. It was on the list for review from the Seattle Book Review, so I requested it. What a fun book! I love everything about it. I love the way it’s organized, I love the way it’s written, I love the graphics and the subject matter. It is simply a great book for anyone who is curious. Here is the review I wrote for SBR.

The title and subtitle of this incredible book really do not exaggerate what is in it. This is the kind of book that will be wonderfully satisfying for curious youngsters. It is the kind of book that will start many on their roads to becoming scientists, historians, paleontologists, engineers, archeologists, mathematicians, biologists, botanists, and many other careers.

Christopher Lloyd takes readers on a journey through time from the Big Bang to modern times, and he does not use a small lens. He takes a fairly global view. With any event or person or culture or religion he examines, he looks at what else is going on at the same time and how those things affect each other.

The writing is lively and very conversational. The fine research shines through on every page. The book is filled with excellent photographs and illustrations to support the text as well as maps and timelines. And there is nothing daunting about this. Youngsters will be completely captivated and read sections that are of particular interest over and over. It will be fun to take along on a long road trip to read aloud. It is simply a delight for readers eight to eighty.

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