hello, baby!

my oldest son received this book as a gift when his baby brother & sister were born almost 2 years ago.  (my oldest daughter got a sisters book) I love reading this to my kids and talking about the animals.

do you have this book?

Electric reads

I love to read. I love the feeling of a book in my palm, pen in hand and the smell of printed, delicious words. When Randy asked if I would want a Kindle, I really had to think about it. Now, you know we love technology, so that wasn't the issue as much as the sensory love I have for books.

His motivation may have been the overflowing basket of books on my end table - sometimes I nibble instead of ravage - or perhaps the knowledge that this is where books are headed. I downloaded the Kindle app first and started playing with it, and I liked it. Then I downloaded it on the computer and when it synced my spot from my phone I fell in love. I could read in different places, on different devices and it would automatically move me! I can highlight, annotate, and share those notes. I can lend a book to a friend. I know I can't sit in Barnes and Noble and read any book for free, but I can try sample chapters.

I've always been a reader, voracious at times, and now I am electric...and I love it.

Reaquaint yourself with Roald Dahl.

I have a collection of books from my childhood, in a box my mother gave me when she cleaned out her basement. Some were beloved storybooks, some were random teen angsty junior novels (Sweet Valley High, anyone?) and a few were more mature, but still beloved, classics - Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, Flowers in the Attic...oh wait. Skip that last one.

One of my favorites is Roald Dahl. He wrote for children, but he doesn't talk down to them. You get the distinct feeling that he's like an eccentric uncle who expects you to understand more about the world, and you want to try and please him. My favorite was a collection of short stories called The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. Very mature, but still fit right in with the early teen precocious reader that I was. I didn't need the beefy, superhuman heroes of comic books. I needed antiheroes, real people who managed to win, in their little corner of life.

So when I started pulling out classics for my kids, we found we love Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory of course, James and The Giant Peach, too. All stories of an underdog coming out on top, in less than perfect ways. And just recently, I dug out The BFG.
(Instead of linking 10 times, here's Roald Dahl's page at Amazon. Much easier! Also, most of these are easy to find at your public library.)

The BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant. Sophie, an orphan, befriends the big oaf who inadvertently kidnaps her, and together they search for ways to make his life better. It's not unlike another favorite, Where The Wild Things Are. Children confront their fears, and find the things they fear have fears of their own. Everyone wins.

It may be a few more years before I dig out The Bitch, however. Ahem.

About our story

Don Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years changed my perspective on life. I won't go as far to say "life changing" but pretty darn close. He challenges us to live a life that is story worthy - screenplay worthy. He introduces us to people, real, "life"people, who are living screenplay worthy lives, not because they want a movie, but because they want life - true, passion-filled life. They desire life so much that they make their purpose, instead of waiting for it. They reach for goals that are well out of their reach fully aware of the struggles that will ensue. They face those struggles with hope and confidence, because they know a story without struggle is no story at all.

Miller tackles our fear of living full on as he faces his own fears and inadequacies, He says, "fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life." and "...once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can't go back to being normal; you can't go back to meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable thread of wasted time."

Miller is a Christian, I don't know if you remember, but he gave the DNC prayer, so be ready for some God talk in there - the nice thing is that it isn't over the top, it isn't ridiculously right or left, it just is. It is one guy who, humbly, is working through this world and finding his best life.

This read made me consider how I live, how I talk to others, how I parent, how I work, and how I dream. It is, very much, worth checking out.

Jeanette Walls brilliance

Oh my, is she. Between The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses she has me mesmerized. The first is her memoir about growing up with her parents. The second is told from Lily's perspective, Jeannette's maternal grandmother. Both treat hardships and set backs with hope and perseverance, and still gives a raw, realistic view of the challenges these families faced.

Rosemary, Lily's daughter, is a free spirit lost in the practicality of Lily's life, and yet Lily's gumption is admirable and inspiring. The pairing of these books adds such an enriching understanding of families and how each generation affects the next. It offers a study of human nature, the will to survive, and the fragility of emotions.

Both are available on Kindle here and here.

Enjoy!

inspired

L.A. breathed around me, always a breath ahead. I loved it - the beach, the weather, the smell of fall air - even though it wasn't that much different from winter air. It was this book that helped me find my way when I left L.A. for Oregon.

Johnson's tale of education left me on the edge. It left me looking for the place to sign up. It showed me that there was a place for me in the workforce - because I wasn't quite sure. Up until this time I tended bar and guarded lives. Both important - one I helped people drown, the other I prevented it. Both involved people, both involved teaching or guiding, and both gave me a love for humanity. Johnson, however, tapped into my creative side that lifeguarding and slinging drinks just couldn't satisfy.

Every day is different and yet, the same.

People need to know they are valued and loved first and foremost, before they will fulfill any classroom parameter. And I teach with this at the forefront of my mind.

It is a great read about compassion, healing, love, and heartache. It is a read full of truth too big to swallow, so it can merely be observed. It is full of the fodder I needed to push into education and say, "Indeed. Here am I, send me."

summer reads

Drew's favorite is anything nonfiction. He picked up Into the Rain Forest, part of the Jeff Corwin Experience series from Scholastic. If it isn't nonfiction, it isn't cool for the 6.5 year old.

Owen's taste is a bit different. He wants to be entertained. He wants to LAUGH. Our favorite is Russell the Sheep. He received this for his birth day from his aunts Stef and Kara.

As for me, I'm all over the place for summer reading. I heard from a friend that American Wife is a must read. Right now I'm trying to finish Before you Know Kindness, but it is moving slow for me. I keep trying to will myself to get into it, but I. just. can't. Which is odd for me. Usually I have to finish a book if I start it, but this one...I might not finish. I have East of Eden to start next, and I'm really ready for that read - excited!

Most importantly, we are reading. Every day and every night - which is key during our hectic and busy summer days. We slow down for a few minutes to pick up a good book.

What my kids are reading.

I was a major bookworm as a kid. Seriously, I even have this friend from elementary school that I reconnected with as adults, and she has these memories of coming over to ask me to play and I'd always say no because I was reading something, which didn't really compute with her. But anyway, Deoxyribonucleic acid ain't just a spelling bee word, because my nine year old son is not just an avid reader, he's a vacuum. He hoovered his way through all seven books of the Harry Potter series last summer -in about 8 weeks total.
I was both overjoyed and suddenly panicky when I realized that summer that his reading appetite was so voracious. It was glorious to see him so excited to get a new book, or reach a new chapter, or understand a new character being developed. I worried at first that some of the themes were a little too dark for an eight year old, and educators may say Erickson's theory would agree, but he handled it pretty well and we talked it through when needed. But then there was a little warning lamp that started glowing in the back of my brain - Uh oh, what's he going to read next? After book seven, what I am going to feed the beast? We can't exactly go back to Encyclopedia Brown now.

So one afternoon I swung by the school librarians desk. She gave me a whole list of books and authors appropriate to age and reading level, especially for boys who like series.

Before I start listing them here, let me just point out that the school librarian is the most undervalued warm body in the entire building of most elementary schools. They do not just obsess over the Dewey Decimal system, they know everything about what your child should, could, or would read. Seek them out whenever you can.

Anyway, a not very comprehensive but good jumping off place for boys (and some girls may like these, too, I don't know, I only have boys) in 3rd-5th grades who enjoy series books with modern characters:

• Harry Potter, JK Rowling
• Percy Jackson and The Olympians
• 39 Clues
• Artemis Fowl
• Stormbreaker series - Anthony Horowitz
• Warrior series - Erin Hunter
• Redwall series - Brian Jacques
• Tucker series - Paulsen? (Inkheart, Eragon)
• Charlie Bone - Jenny Nimmo
• Keys to the Kingdom - Garth Nix
• Avi is an author with lots of books at this age range, not necessarily series builders though

My seven year old likes to read, too, but is really only in it for the snuggling in mommy's bed. Some of his favorites, however, include the now classic Magic Tree House series, Jigsaw Jones series, Bunnicula (and others by James Howe) and Hank the Cowdog. For the record, Hank the Cowdog is, I believe, the best damn audiobook series for kids available.

Higher Higher

Our normal Thursday post has been to recommend a book or two that we have read that captured our attention and our kids. Instead of recommending book, I want to recommend an author.

Leslie Patricelli has written a bunch of board books that are a delight for your toddlers and pre-schoolers. She has great illustrations that leave me laughing and John engaged... his current favorites are Higher Higher and the Birthday Box. Pick them up at the local library (except you won't find them at MY local library - I keep renewing them!)

Anything by Michael Pollan

When I was pregnant I was incredible careful about what kind of food I put into my mouth. For whatever reason (as if taking care of myself wasn't enough), knowing that what I ate would nourish my baby (or not nourish, depending on my choices) had a huge impact on me.

A self-avowed carnivore, I began eating a lot more vegetables, taking ideas from my former vegan roommate and eating lots of legumes and greens. Lunchmeat had always been an easy midday meal for me, but the nitrates...not something I wanted to contribute to the growing babe. Finding new meals was difficult for me for two primary reasons: time and money. (And, also, I'm picky. Fine, I admit it.)

"Food" that isn't really food is cheap and tasty and already prepared. Think Pringles and fast food.

A couple of years ago, I discovered Michael Pollen's In Defense of Food and it immediately rang true. I love his tag line: "Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much." That sums it up perfectly!

Now I'm working my way through his previous book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, which is equally convincing. Both books, however, are a bit academic. He doesn't shy away from the science which means they're not always a quick and easy read. They're provocative, though, and as parents I think we owe it to ourselves and our kids to at least consider what he has to say.

For a quick peek into his ideas, read Food Rules, a cheat-sheet of sorts to the other two books.

Happy reading and bon appétit!

The Book Thief

I am in this book right now, and I can't put it down. I get so irritated when I fall asleep reading it, because it is that good. Death is our narrator during holocaust Germany. It is riveting, sad, touching, read, poignant, and a touch humorous, but all in good taste.

The language is thought provoking and the style whimsical, and yet meaningful - much like our narrator. Zusak has captivated me in a few short pages, so I can only imagine what my review will be like when I am finished. I'll let you know :).

nostaligia

i was given this book by a good friend while in the hospital last summer after the birth of babies 3 & 4. i didn't read it because being extra hormonal i figured it would make me cry so i waited.

i waited a few months and read this beautifully written short story about your baby growing up. {and cried of course}

The inside cover reads:
" A mother's love leads to a mother's dream - every mother's dream - for her child to live life to its fullest. "

The first page reads "One day, I counted your fingers and kissed each one."
A page in the middle I love reads " Someday your eyes will be filled iwth a joy so deep that they shine."
A page toward the end reads "Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair."

it's truly an amazingly well told story of how i feel and dream to see my kids grow.