Burris's Blog for Bibliophiles

One thing that I love about books has to do with another of my passions – words.  I am a philologist – a lover of words – and I always appreciate authors who are adept at using words well.  It is one of the reasons I read so much – I love to see how an excellent writer chooses just the right words.  I delight in finding words like tantalizing, mellifluous, and tintinnabulation in a book.  The book, The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter is one such book.  It is about a boy who loves everything about words and voraciously collects them.  The list of words used in this book can inspire you to expand the vocabulary in your own writing.  If you are interested in taking a look at a copy of this book, just ask me!

It’s not just individual words that I love, but how words and phrases are put together in harmonious ways.  Remember the section of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler where she uses metaphors to describe how Claudia and Jamie become aware of a conversation they are overhearing?  The conversation is compared to an oncoming storm, where the words “rained in softly” then “continued to drizzle.”  Next, it “showered down upon them” ending in a “small cloud burst” as their classmates nearly came upon them.

I have just started to read the new Newbery Award winner for this year, Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.   I haven’t decided whether I like the content yet – I’m not far enough into it – but I do like how she uses words.  She grabbed my attention from the very first line, “The movement of the train rocked me like a lullaby.”  What a peaceful, safe mood she elicits with those few words.  She is also very clever in her dialogue, using humor that may be over the heads of young readers, but that I enjoyed immensely!  I’ll let you know how I like the story when I finish.

Are you reading anything now that has words or phrases that jump out at you?  Most good literature has excellent vocabulary and uses literary devices such as similes, metaphors, alliteration, etc. in order to enhance the writing.  Please share with me some of your favorite words, phrases, or passages from either a book you are currently reading or one of your favorites.  I want to know what inspires you!

As a teacher I get so excited when my students make some kind of connection to a book we read in class, and the book is able to impact their lives.  I saw this with our last novel, From the Mix-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.  I could tell that the book was a hit as we read it – your reactions and cries of “Can we read one more chapter?” said it all.  I was understandably most excited when several students who were heading to New York for the Carnegie Hall trip said they were going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the setting of this wonderful book.  I couldn’t have been more pleased when I received an email with a picture attached of several students posing with the bronze cat that was pictured in one of the book’s illustrations on page 57.  The museum provides a scavenger hunt based on the novel, where you can hunt for artifacts mentioned or pictured in the book.  What a great way to connect literature to real life!

I want to hear from you!  For those of you who went to the museum, tell me how reading the book beforehand enhanced your experience.  If you were not fortunate enough to go, I’d still like to hear your impressions of the book.  What did you like about it?  What did Konigsburg do well?  What made you want to keep reading?  Does this book make you want to read more by this author?  As writers, did you get any tips for being a better writer from reading this book?  Enlighten me!