Top 50 Baby Boy Names England 2012

To contact us Click HERE
Based on my sister and I's collection of more than a 1500 English baby boys' birth details since January 1st 2012. All possible variant spellings have been taken into account when calculating any name's popularity to give you truly accurate results. Look out for a top 75 published here in early October. In the meantime look out for other themed posts on English baby boy names. For an alphabetical list of all names being used in Great Britain at a frequency of 1 in 300 births or more often please see my other blog Unusual Names and do a search foer Great Britain 2012. That info is updated monthly.


1.)Harry
2.) Oliver
3.) Noah
4.) Thomas
5.) Jack
6.) George
7.) William
8.) Oscar
9.) James
10.) Alfie
11.) Edward
12.) Henry
13.) Riley
14.) Max
15.) Freddie
16.) Ethan
17.) Jenson
18.) Zach
19.) Leo
20.) Charlie
21.) Joseph
22.) Mason
23.) Harrison
24.) Callum
25.) Dylan
26.) Tyler
27.) Samuel
28.) Kai
29.) Charles
30.) Isaac
31.) Daniel
32.) Jude
33.) Frederick
34.) Connor
35.) Luke
36.) Logan
37.) Benjamin
38.) Jacob
39.) Bobby
40.) Aaron
41.) Finlay
42.) Archie
43.) Cayden
44.) Jake
45.) Hayden
46.) Harvey
47.) Leon
48.) Toby
49.) Arthur
50.) Evan

Good names for "Irish" cats to be adopted on St. Patrick's Day?

To contact us Click HERE
Hi,





Our local animal shelter is having a St. Patrick's Day adoption celebration for cats. Do you have any good Irish names for cats? I know for people they say "Patty O'Furniture, etc. Thank you.|||Erin, Shannon, Siobhan, Fergus, Aislinn





O'Shea, Shaunessy, Killian, McDonough, and for any cat with whte feet: McMittens|||It you want the names to be really Irish, it's Paddy (not Patty) and Seamus (not Shamis)





Most Irish first names are crazy weird. Irish surnames are better. Here a list: http://www.namenerds.com/irish/last.html





I like Guinness.|||http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Drink鈥?/a>





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Cat_Bo鈥?/a>





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Laughs|||Claude O'Furniture might be more fitting lol. Some Irish names are: Murray, Seamus, Sean, Erin, Colleen and Tara.|||Lucky, Clover, Patrick|||Shamis|||a great name for an irish cat is paddy or shammy...............

Old School Sunday: Review: Dancing Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

To contact us Click HERE
Dancing Shoes. by Noel Streatfeild. 1957. Random House. 224 pages. ISBN: 9780679854289

Like Ballet Shoes and Theater Shoes, Dancing Shoes is another novel by Noel Streatfeild about children in show business. The setting for this story is a dancing school run by selfish, demanding Cora Wintle, who calls her students Wintle’s Wonders. Rachel, the main protagonist, is Cora’s niece, and she and her adopted sister Hilary move in with Cora after their mother dies and leaves them orphans. Rachel has no interest in dancing, but Hilary has talent for it, and indeed the girls’ mother wished for Hilary to enroll at the Royal Ballet School. Rachel worries, therefore, that Hilary’s training with Mrs. Wintle isn’t serious enough. On top of that, both girls must contend with the obvious favoritism shown to Cora’s spoiled daughter, Dulcie.

Though I enjoy Noel Streatfeild’s writing very much (and Elizabaeth Sastre’s narration even more), I think this is the weakest of the three “shoes” books I’ve read. The plot structure was very similar to that of Ballet Shoes and Theater Shoes, and the characters weren’t as interesting to me as either the Fossils or the Forbes children. Cora Wintle seemed almost cartoonish in her role as antagonist, and I had a hard time truly buying Rachel’s motivation for preventing Hilary from becoming a Wonder. Characters like Pursey, the girls’ nurse, and Mrs. Storm, their teacher felt like poor imitations of supporting characters in the previous books (namely Nana and Doctor Jakes and Doctor Smith). I also grew weary of Dulcie, who probably could have used a redeeming quality or two.

What was interesting was how much more up-to-date this book felt than the previous two. It was published in 1957, the same year as other still-relevant books like Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary and Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat , and aside from a few dated references, it is the kind of story that could still be published today. In fact, girls who read a lot of middle grade fiction would recognize the rivalry between Rachel and Hilary and Dulcie as very similar to the “mean girls” stories written for tween girls here in the 21st century. In that sense, it might be easier to sell some kids on Dancing Shoes rather than the more old-fashioned “shoes” books.

This is, sadly, the last of Streatfeild’s book available in an audio format. I may not have enjoyed this last book as much as the others, but I will definitely miss listening to Elizabeth Sastre’s wonderful voice, which will forever be the voice of all of Streatfeild’s characters in my mind.

I borrowed Dancing Shoes from my local public library. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.

Short Story Spotlight: Fat Girls Don't Run by Lynea Bowdish

To contact us Click HERE
Today I’m introducing a brand-new feature here on the blog. This one is devoted to an oft-overlooked format of literature for kids: the short story. My library’s shelves are pretty well-stocked with short story collections, but they are much less likely to circulate than the novels shelved on either side of them. I’ve started trying to include them more in activities, especially for older readers who can sit and listen to a story that doesn’t have many illustrations. As I get to know the library collection and other kid-friendly short stories, I’ll be sharing them here, in the Short Story Spotlight. Each Monday, I’ll introduce one short story, give a brief review and, where applicable, suggestions for how to use it with kids, or how to get kids reading it.

I begin this week with "Fat Girls Can’t Don’t Run" by Lynea Bowdish.


"Fat Girls Can't Don't Run." by Lynea Bowdish. From Lay-ups and Long Shots. Darby Creek Publishing. 2008. ISBN: 9781581960785

This story comes from a collection of sports-themed stories entitled Lay-ups and Long Shots. It definitely fits in well with the second part of that title, because the main character of the story, Carla Anders, doesn’t see herself as the kind of person who can run, let alone win a race. Instead, she sees herself as a fat girl for whom dieting and exercise are equally hopeless. “The point,” she says, “is to stay as invisible as possible” because otherwise, she will be teased about her weight. One day in gym class, though, Carla forgets about trying to blend in and does what actually feels good to her - pushes herself harder to actually run competitively against a classmate.

This story deals with such an important subject in a gentle, yet empowering way, but I’m not sure the kind of reader who would appreciate it the most is necessarily the kind of reader who would choose to read a book with a basketball hoop on the cover. I would have loved this story in middle school, but there’s no way I’d have picked up such a sporty book. But the story is in there, just waiting, and I think every teacher and librarian can think of at least one girl who can benefit from the message that being “fat” doesn’t automatically exclude a girl from living life and trying to be healthy.

Another plus is that the story is quick and easy to read. It relates just this one small achievement in a girl’s life, draws its conclusions, and moves on. Skeptical readers will barely have time to scoff before the story is over. I’m not sure I’d use this as a read-aloud, but I will keep it in mind the next time a parent asks me for something about weight and self esteem.

Lynea Bowdish, whose name is new to me, is the author of a few other, vaguely familiar books. According to her author bio in the Layups and Long-Shots anthology, she was also a “large” kid, and “firmly believes bird watching and computer games should qualify as sports when it comes to school fitness tests.”

I borrowed Lay-Ups and Long Shots from my local public library. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat. 

Review: Double Dog Dare by Lisa Graff

To contact us Click HERE
Double Dog Dare. by Lisa Graff. April 12, 2012. Philomel. 304 pages. ISBN: 9780399255168
Double Dog Dare is the story of a dare war started between two members of Auden Elementary School’s media club. Both Kansas Bloom, the new kid in school, and Francine Halata want to be the anchor for the morning news. When their teacher says they can settle the matter in any way that doesn’t break school rules, they immediately decide to dare one another to do various tasks until one of them gives up. In alternating chapters, titled after the objects involved in their dares, readers come to understand both sides of the rivalry, and they get to know some of the issues Kansas and Francine deal with outside of school, especially when it comes to their divorced parents. Who will win? How far will they go? Will Kansas and Francine always be enemies or will their secret commonalities finally reveal themselves?

I think the subject matter of this school story is interesting, and many of the dares are silly and made me laugh, but I had a hard time believing a teacher would be so lax as to let kids work out a decision like this on their own, with no adult guidance. I’m sure many readers could suspend their disbelief on that point, but that detail was a bit of a hang-up for me as I tried to get into the story. What did work for me, though, was the slow growth of a friendship between Kansas and Francine. I like that they get carried away with the dares for a little while, but begin to recognize the good in each other and ultimately rise above their petty rivalry for the sake of the media club. I also think the design of the book is great. I love the initials in the corners of the pages that indicate the character whose point of view we are in, and the fact that these letters remind the reader of the tallies kept on the chalkboard, showing who has completed the most dares. It was also a great idea to name each chapter after an object relevant to the story. I enjoyed reading them in the table of contents and using them as a map to move through the story.

Double Dog Dare will appeal to kids who like realistic fiction, and are ready for longer books, but might not want a lot of the stereotypical tween content. It reminds me a lot of Andrew Clements’s books, especially No Talking, due to the school setting, the plot revolving around a rivalry, and the fact that it can appeal equally to both boys and girls. It’s a solid story, with memorable characters, and one that families can happily read together, or teachers can read aloud to their upper elementary classes.

I borrowed Double Dog Dare from my local public library. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.