The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

- what was your favourite part of this book?
- hugo's world. where he lives. all the descriptions of where he lives. the train station itself, especially the secret apartment.

- you listened to this as an audiobook. did you feel like anything was missing or added?
- all the crazy sound scenes are actually just pictures in the original book. i don't particularly like that any better.

- would you go back and read the novel?
- maybe. because i already know the whole story, but i want to see the pictures.

- do you want to read wonderstruck (also by selznick)? audio or print?
- both. i want YOU to read it to me.

- you seemed to relate both to hugo and to georges melies. in what ways?
- i like doing magic. i don't know how to describe it, but hugo just seems like me, kind of.

- what did this book inspire you to do?
- MAKE MOVIES!

- you also watched melies' "a trip to the moon" on youtube. tell me your thoughts.
- it was amazing. i can't believe he did the first science fiction film in history. i really liked how the aliens looked.

- some people might wonder what the point is of books like this. try and convince parents and teachers that this book is a valuable learning experience.
- it displays the real magic of the normal world. because it could all have actually happened, even though you know it didn't.

danny champion of the world by roald dahl

- what was your favourite part of this book?
- the chapter when they did 'the big job' - the poaching trip that would ruin mr. hazell's poaching party. it was really hard to cope with. just so crazy. and stuff.

- this was more realistic than other roald dahl books. how do you feel about this?
- i didn't feel that it was one bit realistic. i would say that even matilda was more realistic. i thought it was silly how pheasants love raisins. i don't think they are crazy for them. and i think they would know if there was medicine inside.

- poaching pheasants is certainly against the law. and not very nice to mr. hazell. but is it wrong?
- i'd say he got what he deserved.

- danny was homeschooled for two years so he could learn to become a mechanic. what are your thoughts?
- i think he should have been homeschooled for his whole life. i think i would like to work alongside you. maybe. a little bit. we could be astronauts together.

- danny and his father live in a tiny caravan, with no running water and electricity only at the workshop. do they have everything they need? would you like to live like them?
- uh, well. sure. if that is the only life you know. yes, i would like to live like them. but i would find it hard to adjust. i'd like that it would be like camping all the time. but i would really miss having light and space and running water. i'd miss tv and computer too.

- what are your thoughts on hunting animals?
- well, it's pretty bad. but birds gotta fly, people gotta eat. after all that talking about roasted pheasant, it sounds pretty good.

- convince people to read this book.
- well, it was pretty great. yes yes it really was. wonderful wonderful wonderful. this is one of the best books i've ever read. you better read it. read read read. book book book. you better go to your library! or bookstore! get it now! danny, champion of the world. . .

banjo of destiny by cary fagan

- what was your favourite part of this book?
- i have no idea. but i really liked the process of banjo construction. and all the moments when he was so embarassed.

- in what ways is jeremiah similar to you?
- pretty much the same. no wait. i'm really not embarassed all the time. and i don't have everything i could ever desire. but i feel like he would understand me and i wish he was an actual person that i could meet.

- a lot of the book focuses on descriptions of jeremiah's family's wealth. were you impressed or envious? maybe just curious. what are your thoughts?
- half envious, half curious. i really want those high-tech floss dispensers. i want to tour their house and see everything. i would like to have a pinball arcade and all the other stuff that no other people have.

- would jeremiah have been just as happy if he had bought the banjo?
- he would not have been as happy. he wouldn't have felt as great. he felt good that he had to make it out of stuff he found.

- what about luella? what do you like about her?
- she's pretty much the perfect person. i don't have anything to say to make what i just said sound better.

- ok, so you are about to spend months of your life making your big dream come true. what should we build?
- my dream is to make a teeny tiny robot that looks like the nanobots in the pbs kids game. no, not just one, a twenty pack of them.

- this book was pretty realistic compared to most stuff we read. does it inspire you to read things more like it, or run away to the world of fantasy?
- fantasy! or at least things that would never happen. so if it has real people it should at least have crazy weird stuff like in roald dahl books.

- convince the world to read this book.
- this book is so amazing it is undescribable.

half magic by edward eager

- what was your favourite part of this book?
- i don't really know. i liked the whole book.

- quick! make a wish!
- i wish i had twice as many tickets for screen time and could do twice as much of all the things i love to do. and i wish it twice.

- of the four children, which are you most similar to?
- mark. because we are both boys. he treats martha like i treat daedae.

- would you have tried to explain everything to mr smith like martha did?
- yes. actually, i wouldn't have, just to make the time more interesting.

- which was the most disasterous wish?
- if the wish for four noses would have worked out, that would have been disasterous. martha being half-there was pretty bad. and all the wishes that involved the cat were funny and ridiculous. really disasterous.

- what are your feelings about the mom?
- i think all of her decisions, especially the one about hiring miss bick [the nanny], were terrible. so was thinking she was crazy. and how could she be so completely wrong about everything to do with magic?

- of the places they traveled to, where would you most want to go?
- medieval times. i would especially like to fight with swords. i've wanted to be a knight ever since i heard about knights and jousting and swordfighting.

- would you like to read the sequel, with the same characters?
- yes. partly because we own it, and partly because i like all this guy's books. read half-magic! and if you like it, read knight's castle! but if you didn't like the medieval part, don't bother.

- ok mr. advertizer, convince me to read this book.
- half magic is awesome! the medieval scenes will just cut you to pieces! partly because the characters themselves are being cut to pieces! if you love anything magical, it is all here. all these books are woooEEEEE! and if you liked this book, read everything by edward eager, because he wrote billions (actually only seven) of magical books. and stay tuned to my blog for other fantastic amazing chapter books and you should read all of them. and also go to forest dot awesome dot com for video games, tv shows, character lists and comics to amaze you all!

bone by jeff smith

- we spent almost a year reading all nine books in the bone series plus bone tall tales. was it worth it?
- yes. because they are the best comic books i've ever read in my whole life.

- i'll split your favourite parts into categories. what was the funniest scene?
- when lucius and phoney bone have a bet about who can run the tavern the best and phoney advertized by calling himself the dragonslayer.

- what was the most intense part?
- the final scenes of treasure hunters when thorn and fone bone are trapped in the dungeon. also when mermie frightens the armies with visions. then in the first book when we see grandma ben fighting the rat creatures as they are clawing her and biting her head. another intense scene was when rock jaw had them trapped in the cave.

- anything that made you angry?
- not really.

- let's talk characters. who was your overall favourite?
- smiley because he was really funny. phoney because he was really angry. and fone bone because he always knew everything was going to be okay.

- do you have a special place in your heart for any minor characters?
- roderick the racoon and the baby possums. and bartleby. they are just all really cute and great.

- you wanted to tell me about characters you hated.
- phoney bone, lord tarsil and the venu, queen mim (the locust) and of course briar.

- wait a second. you just told me that phoney was one of your favourites. AND you hated him?
- he is also kind of troublesome. all he cares about is treasure. and he didn't help at all, with anything. ever. and then there was that time he stole gramma ben's bloomers and nailed them to the side of the barn to make it warmer. [laughing] can we tell people what bloomers are? giant UNDERPANTS! ha!!

- what do you feel about kingdok? for me, briar is more purely evil, but i can't say that about him. . .
- i think kingdok was just poorly taken care of by briar. he trusted her and he shouldn't have.

- why would kingdok rather die than help thorn?
- he just wanted to because he was so hurt he didn't want to live anymore. it was just too hard.

- how well did jeff smith balance serious and funny?
- i think he should have done a little more funny. but it was really just one pebble more on the serious side of the scale. i think he did the best job with tall tales, especially when tyson vomited all the heroes and big johnson bone kept calling mr pip mr plop.

- you love the funny parts. tell me more.
- when the possums called the two stupid rat creatures "quiche munching old ladies". soleil loves that. also when the winter comes suddenly in the very beginning and at the very end. and when phoney realizes that smiley took all the treasure out and replaced it with stale bread thingies.

- speaking of the very end, did fone bone make the right decision?
- his decision was completely wrong. he should have stayed with thorn. and they probably never came back to visit because they don't know how.

- the "quest for the spark" books take place in the same world. are you interested in going back?
- YES! we need to request them from the library.

- write some ad copy for me - sell these books to the world:
- this amazing adventure will blow your head off! i don't mean literally, but when you read these your heart will start pumping. this is serious folks, the funny parts are very funny, the sad parts are very sad - all this ten times as much as it would normally be.

Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson

- are there any characters that you feel are similar to you?
- calvin.  i just feel that i had to say that.  i get the same feelings.  i feel things before they happen and after they happen.

- by the end, did you feel like most of the mysteries were answered, or were you still confused?
- only some of the mysteries were answered.  i still have questions about the black thing and about IT.

- speaking of IT - let's say for a moment that you were in the room with calvin, meg, charles wallace and mr. murry.  how would you resist IT?
- i would say some of my weekly memory verses and sing some of the junior choir songs that i learned.

- would you trust mrs whatsit, mrs who and mrs which if you met them today?
- yes.

- if they were staying in charlottetown, where would they be?
- the holiday inn.  they wouldn't even have to pay.  they could just tesser into a room and everybody would suspect that they had already paid.

- why do you think meg and calvin are falling in love?
- because i just think it was meant to be.  and i think mrs whatsit, mrs who and mrs which, since they are magical creatures, they just made it happen.

- dennys and sandy get left out of the whole adventure, seemingly because they do not have the special abilities that meg and charles wallace have.  is this fair?  would you have sent them?
- why were they even in the book if they didn't even go on any crazy adventure?????????????????????????????

- how do feel about the pictures?  is there anything you would have drawn differently?
- meg looks too young for her age.  and i think calvin should look more like me - just a teenage version of me.

- aunt beast thinks that vision, or the sense of sight, is very limiting.  do you agree?
- i do not agree.  i think vision is the most important sense of all.  why would there be figurines, decorations or anything without vision.  the world wouldn't be anything.  everything would be grey and dark with no colour at all.  you wouldn't even need colour.  why would you even have a pet?  if you don't have sight a pet is useless.

- pretend that i don't get the book at all.  describe for me the man with red eyes.  what is he?  why is he important to the plot?
- his function is helping you understand that IT is very powerful.  he is a zombie, basically, but he never died.  he just doesn't have a brain.

- the book makes a big deal out of a verse in the bible that talks about God using the foolish and the weak things in the world to defeat the wise and powerful.  does this happen in real life?
- yes.  it does.

- would you recommend this book to others?
- i would recommend it to everybody in the whole world who likes mysterious, magical, serious books.

- do you think you will eventually read the novel, without the pictures?
- probably not.  maybe when i am the kind of person that doesn't need any pictures anymore.

Oz [graphic novel series] by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

Oz - Nomes from the Nome King's palace.

Cowardly Lion, Toto and Dorothy from Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Jim and Eureka in the land of the Mangaboos, from Dorothy and the Wizard.

We usually don't do interviews about shorter books or comics. But I felt we needed to make a special exception for the Oz comics. Why do you think that is?
- Because the Oz comics are adaptations of chapter books. Novels, actually. And they aren't called graphic novels for nothing. They are pretty long.
It takes us at least eight hours to read an Oz novel, but right around three hours to read a comic, even with all the extra discussion and explaining. Do you think we are somehow missing out?
- No, because I think we should read both of every one.
So far we've read The Wizard of Oz, Ozma of Oz and Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. Which was your favourite?
- Ozma of Oz, the one with the Nome King. The pictures were particularly exciting - and the nomes were pretty cute. One of my favourite parts is when everyone has to guess what objects everyone got transformed into and they they guess wrong and they all get transformed. Then I loved how Billina the chicken was the hero.
I'm happy that Soleil is able to read graphic novels with us. She just doesn't have the attention span for chapter books.
- I like it too.
Next on our list is the The Road to Oz. Should we read the novel or the comic first?
- The comic.
The illustrator has made some bold choices. Which characters have surprised you, in a good way?
- Scarecrow. I love the Tin Woodman, but I wish he would have done him like in his first sketches - more robotic. I love the nomes. And Ozma.
Has the illustrator made any mistakes?
- Denfinitely with the Hammerheads. They should be bigger, with grass skirts instead of skin-clothes, have longer necks and more rectangular heads. They don't have arms!
How much do you think Oz can teach us about the real world?
- Two percent. I mean six percent. First of all, the characters had lots of courage and brains and heart before they got all that stuff from the Wizard. Like that kind of learning.
Pretend you are thinking of working together with a team to create a graphic novel version of something we've read. What is it?
- The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat. Because it is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
Of the four main jobs (writer, illustrator, colorist, letterer), which would you pick?
- I'd take three of the jobs - illustrator, colorist, letterer. Somebody else can come up with the script.