Yorked Up Schmootz

  I often frequent the library. It's a great place to get some books, books on CD or music without having to shell out the money. If I really like it a lot, I'll buy my own copy down the road. Well, I know some people are squeamish about getting things from the library because you never know what they've done with them. I mean, really. What is that brown smudge on page 12? And what caused all the moisture damage to chapter 16? And, is that a hair in between pages 42 and 43? I try not to think about it and rarely have I come across anything disgusting.

You can see where this is going, can't you?

Well, I got out a book on CD. And you would think that the worst you could do to a CD was scratch it up so it didn't work right. I've had that happen before and have missed small chunks of a story. But in this case, it wasn't scratched up. It was rather as if someone had yorked up in the box. Every CD was filmy and covered in some sort of schmootz. Now, I exaggerate - it wasn't lumpy, orange, half chewed schmootz. It was more like it had been dropped into a dirty puddle, but in any case, before using any CD, it had to be wiped clean. I shy away from actually thinking about what happened to these CDs. I'm happier in my ignorance. But if I wanted to speculate:

Barf or other bodily fluids?
A short trip into the toilet?
A swim in a swampy mud puddle?
A set of teething rings, perhaps?
A toddler's place mat?

Needless to say, I tired of cleaning each CD and the story wasn't that entertaining so I returned it unfinished. But I must say, although the story wasn't that exciting or entertaining, the speculation about what happened to it certainly was.

Quack!

Reading a Story to the Neighbors

  We read to the kids most nights before bed. Sometimes I read to them. Sometimes the hubster does. For the past several months it's been the hubby. And when the weather is warm we will read out on the back deck before bed. The hubster has a nice loud voice so the neighbors all around get to hear the story too. I'm sure they love it.

As some background, when we read, we insist that everyone stays in the same room so they can hear the story. As frequently happens, one of us (usually, Doodlebug, SweetPea or I) get in trouble for talking or fooling around during the story. Occasionally someone gets upset and stomps off in anger (usually Doodlebug or SweetPea), but they aren't allowed to go far. If we had to stop everytime someone got angry and stomped off we would never read more than a paragraph a night. So we insist that everyone stay in the same room and listen - ie don't spoil it for everyone else. Usually it's only a matter of seconds, minutes at most, before the anger/grumpiness is forgotten and they are totally engrossed in the story again.

So, the other night we were out on the deck, in our plastic deck chairs, listening to the melodious sound of the hubster's voice echo around the deck. Something got Doodlebug upset (I can't remember what any more) and he stomped off in anger. The Hubinator told him to get back to his chair and listen to the story. So, crying and moaning, he walked to his chair, picked it up, carried it off several yards and sat down.

Everyone began to laugh. And Doodlebug cried, then laughed, then cried, then laughed. I have never actually seen anyone cry and laugh at the same time. You've seen those comedy/tragedy theater masks - one happy, one sad? Well, that was him, both at once. Tears streaming down his cheeks and his mouth and eyes alternating from sadness to laughter. It was very funny.

And as is usually the case, within a few minutes it was all forgotten and we were all engrossed in the story again. 

Quack!

I Don't Know What The Heck He's Reading! (What We're Reading - Part 5 of 5)

  I'm ending this series of posts on a disappointing note. What is the hubster reading? I have no idea. How's that for a let down? Sure, I could ask him. Or just glance over at the bedside table and read the title. But most of what he reads I don't find interesting. (You might, but we'll never know, will we?)

We have a lot of interests in common, but reading material isn't really one of them. He seems to be a fan of high fantasy - dragons, dungeons, mages, etc which I sometimes like and have been known to read, but lately it holds little interest for me. He also often enjoys science fiction. I've never been a fan of science fiction. Not sure why. And then there's the zombie, vampire type stuff. Again, not usually my cup of tea although I did enjoy "The Forest of Hands of Teeth" which has a lot of zombies. I'm not too sure that Hubby would appreciate it though - it's definately aimed at the teenage girl market ala Twilight. (and no, I haven't read Twilight, or seen the movies.)

While he reads David Eddings, Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, Harry Turtledove and George Hebert I steer toward juvenile and young adult fiction, Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Patricia McKillop, David Almond, Kate DiCamillo and Kathy Appelt.

And that's the end of this series on what we're reading. At least for now. Hope you weren't too bored.


Quack!

Novellas, Series, the Classics, Oh My! (What We're Reading - Part 4 of 5)

  I got two new books for Christmas and I just recently finished the first - Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars. I generally enjoy Stephen King's books quite a bit. I own just about all of them and wouldn't think of not reading something he's written. This particular book is comprised of four novellas much like his Different Seasons from 20-odd years back. For some reason, I don't usually enjoy novellas. It's like a short story that needs some editing, or a novel that's not quite long enough. After finishing the first story in this book I confirmed my suspicions about how I feel about novellas. It was a good story, but I kept flipping through the pages to see how much was left to read. It seemed to ramble on too long in parts and I kept looking for the cohesive thread that tied it all together. Judging from the reviews I've seen I'm in the minority on this one.

But things picked up with the other 3 stories. The second one was enjoyable, the third was as well, but the main character wasn't likeable at all and that made it not quite as fun to read. And the last one was good. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it certainly isn't a favorite.

And up next is the final installment in the 'Keys to the Kingdom' series by Garth Nix. I really enjoyed this series and am anxious to read the last book in the series. However, I stopped at the library and ended up with a stack of books, including a kettlebell book, that I now need to hurry up and read before they are due back, so Garth Nix will have to wait a month or two.

And, thanks to Snickers and Doodlebug, I'm now planning on reading Jane Yolen's Devil's Arithmetic and Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist (I haven't decided yet if I'll read a full, original version, or if I'll stick to Doodlebug's edited, kid-friendly, cliff-notes version. :)


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Scary Stories Give me Goosebumps! (What We're Reading - Part 3 of 5)

  Sweet Pea enjoys a scary story. (Not too scary, but a well-placed ghost or witch, monster or evil step-mother is a plus). She's always enjoyed the Goosebumps books and TV series and has read quite a few of them. The Secrets of Dripping Fang series by Martin Greenburg was also a big hit. The books are silly, fun and gross with just the right mix of 'ick' and 'ew' and 'what if' to keep her entertained. She is currently hooked on Cynthia DeFelice's The Ghost of Cutler Creek.

Sweet Pea is a good reader, but doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as the boys. She reads each night before bed, but sometimes I think it's more for the purpose of staying up late rather than because she really wants to read. But hey, to each their own.


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Beasts, Quests, Book Reports, the Holocaust (What We're Reading - Part 2 of 5)

  Snickers, 9 years old now, has been whizzing his way through the 'Beast Quest' series. They are relatively short books written by many different authors under the name 'Adam Blade'. There are 54 of them in the series and from what I can see without having read them, they involve the main character going on a quest and battling some fantastic beast. Over the last couple of months Snickers has managed to get through the first 15. Awesome! He is really enjoying them - in part because he likes the stories and in part because he can finish them quickly. At this age, struggling with a huge book for weeks on end is daunting. So, while he could certainly pick something more challenging to read, this at least gets him reading.

He also took a short break from Beast Quest. He had a book report to do for school on a historical fiction book. He chose Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Jane Yolen is a prolific author with some truly great books under her belt for children, young adults and adults. (How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, for one). This particular book is an award winner and is about a young girl who travels back in time to the Holocaust. Sweet Pea read it a year or so ago and really enjoyed it. As soon as Snickers is done with it I think I will read it as well.


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My Six Year Old is Reading Dickens! (What We're Reading - Part 1 of 5)

  Doodlebug, almost 7, enjoys Junie B Jones. (Who doesn't? Those books are a hoot!) She's silly and she's also a first-grader. He can relate. He started reading one of the Junie B. Jones books himself but for whatever reason it fizzled out and he hasn't picked it back up after the first chapter or two. Maybe it was too challenging? Not interesting enough? Maybe because the main character is a girl? Maybe she's too silly. Who knows, but a couple of weeks ago when Doodlebug saw a collection of 5 or 6 small books that we own, he was intrigued. They are just the right size for his hands (about 3 inches by 4 inches) and are classics that have been re-written in a more kid-accessible way.

These things are also old - the hubster must have had these for almost 30 years. They were originally 99 cents, but were marked down to 50 cents each at Kay Bee toys back in the late 70's or early 80's. There's Jack London's Call of the Wild, Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Dicken's Oliver Twist. For whatever reason, Oliver Twist caught his eye - must be the illustration of young boys on the cover. It has 25 chapters and he feels very grown up to be reading a chapter book that has even more chapters than what Snickers is reading. He very much likes to be 'smarter' than other kids his age and with his natural abilities and the fact that he has an older brother who loves to teach him about math, science, mythology, dinosaurs, etc, etc, etc, he knows a lot of things that many first graders don't.

But seeing him sitting there with Oliver Twist !! in his hands, finger gliding along each line of the story, mouth sounding out the more difficult words, oblivious to the world around him, is wonderful to see. I mean, even I've never read Oliver Twist, or any Dicken's for that matter. I'm familiar with some of the stories, but haven't actually read them. Maybe it's time that I did.


Quack!

And They All Fell Down and Died. The End.

The other day the kids were on each other's nerves. It had been a busy weekend and I had been busy and not giving them the attention they deserved. Everyone needed a break. So, I sat down on a kitchen chair, pulled out one of the many library books I had recently borrowed and began to read. I started with Sleepless Beauty by Frances Minters - a rather cute retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story in modern times and in rhyme. There was some confusion over the end because it ended differently than the original, but I think everyone was OK with that.


Then we went on to Grandma Chickenlegs by Geraldine McCaughream - a retelling of the Russian folk tale of Baba Yaga. It was cute and colorful and everyone enjoyed that as well.

Then, last, we went onto The Tinderbox by Hans Christian Andersen. It's a tale about a soldier who acquires a magic tinderbox that summons three dogs to do his bidding. I vaguely remembered the story from my childhood, but not in detail, so I had borrowed it from the library. Well, let me tell you it's quite the story! And not necessarily in a good way. I rather expected the soldier to be a good guy, but by the end of the story, amid my exclamations of "My Goodness!" And "This is not at all like I remembered it!" we were all amazed. (and not necessarily in a good way.)

When the soldier killed the witch - well, OK. She was a witch (or was she just a harmless old lady?). Things like that happen in stories. But at the end, when he has his dogs brutally slaughter the king, the queen and the court, that was a little much. The king and queen weren't bad - they were only trying to keep the princess safe. Afterall, some crazy guy was kidnapping her. (The kids really got a chuckle out of the "and they were all tossed up into the air and they all fell back down and died" part. That was where I said "Oh my goodness!". They made me read that part twice.

Then, what does that stupid princess do? She happily marries the soldier! What sort of a crazy fool is she?!?! This detestible, psychotic, homicidal soldier comes along, kidnaps her, slaughters her family and she looks up at him with doe eyes and says "Oh, my hero."??? What sort of nonsense is that?!?! The kids were as appalled as I was in a 'what-a-stupid-story' kind of way. That was a couple of weeks ago now and Snickers in particular keeps bringing it up. The sheer stupidity of the ending and the overall lack of morals of the soldier is really bothering him.

I'm glad to see that my kids have some sense! Sure, it's a classic, but bah! Utter crap! Time to go back to the library to find some new stuff to read.
 
Quack!

Hip-Deep in Books and Oblivious to Everything

Doodlebug brought a book home from the library once about Anansi the Spider. Anansi is a character from a western African folk tale. For whatever reason he loved the book! It really struck a chord with him. It was all bright colors and a simple yet fun story. And there was a spider named "Cushion' which really struck him funny. So, we've gotten that book from the library several times.

Well, I realized that the author, Gerald McDermott has written many stories of a similar vein - old folk-tales retold. Among them are Zomo the Rabbit (A Trickster Tale from West Africa) and Jabuti the Toroise (A Trickster Tale from the Amazon). So I stopped by the library to pick them up. And wow! Let me tell you! Get me in the library and it's hard to drag me out. I spent an entire hour in one row of books. (I'll have to tell about the time I spent almost an entire hour on one shelf. The shelf with the books about the old west no less. How strange and unusual! I didn't even know I was interested in that stuff. And if you asked me, I'm not particularly, but for some reason, it was interesting that day - from Montana homesteaders to the Kansas dust bowl to Tombstone Arizona to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee I was hip-deep in books and oblivious to everything.)

But back on topic. I spent an entire hour in the "Juvenile Non-Fiction" section in the aisle with the fairy tales and tall tales, trickster tales and folk tales. (Why this is considered non-fiction I don't know.) Wow, there's a lot of stuff in that aisle. From the original Grimms fairy tales to modern retellings, African folk tales, American mid-west tall tales, Korean sky tales (wha?), princesses, coyotes, spiders, castles, kingdoms, grails, kites, rice paddies. Scottish and Jewish and Korean and American Indian, Carribean, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, you name it. Stories from everywhere, every time about everything. All beautifully told and illustrated. Wow! I managed to read 4 or 5 there (these are children's books afterall) and borrowed about 10. Some for me, some for the kids.

For Doodlebug (and me too) I found a set of books by Eric Kimmel, illustrated by Janet Stevens, about Anansi the Spider. They are very cute! I really like them. I hope Doodlebug does too. I read Anansi and the Talking Melon right there in the aisle and it is a great story! Very cute and wonderfully illustrated.

But, overall, that's pretty good - me coming out with only 10 books. That's good for me. When I go to the library I almost always come home with about twice as many as I can possibly read in the amount of time I have. Even considering that I have 3 weeks and can renew 3 times for a total of 9 weeks! I still get too many and end up returning about half of them unread. I guess my eyes are bigger than my reading time, or something like that.

Maybe when I'm old and crotchety I'll spend every day at the library reading my way through every book. I have so many books at home I want to re-read (my entire Ray Bradbury collection for one) but who has the time when there are so many books I haven't read yet? Not to mention who has time when there is crafting and scrapbooking and drawing and painting and writing and playing and exercising and baking and dulcimer-ing, etc, etc, etc to be done.


Quack!

15 Awesome Children's Books

I love children's books. Even before I had children I loved them. The stories, the illustrations, the huge variety of awesome titles to choose from. Any topic or style that you can imagine. Over the last ten years or so I've had a wonderful opportunity to explore a lot of great children's books. I have an excuse - I have kids. But you know, you don't need an excuse to enjoy these. They are so much fun. Here are some of our favorites through the years (in no particular order).

1. Hondo and Fabian - written and illustrated by Peter McCarty
I love the simple story and the beautiful, soft illustrations. The kids especially love when Fabian unrolls the toilet paper. Fabian Escapes is also a big hit.

2. Bear Snores On - by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman
I love the fun rhyming tale and the incredible illustrations.

3. Dirt Boy - by Eric Jon Slangerup, illustrated by John Manders
The story is so much fun and the illustrations are awesome - just the right amount of ick. The kids absolutely loved this one.

4. Guess How Much I Love You - by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
Very very sweet story and the bunnies are so cute! A favorite of my daughter's when she was very small.

5. Kittens First Full Moon - by Kevin Henkes
The simple illustrations and amusing story are perfect.

6. The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear - by Don and Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood
Very cute and beautifully illustrated.

7. Where the Wild Things Are - written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak
A classic. It's popular for a reason.

8. Corduroy - by Don Freeman
Cute story and illustrations. The kids used to love this one.

9. Small - written and illustrated by Clara Vulliamy
Another cute story with super cute illustrations.

10. No Matter What - by Debi Gliori
We have always loved the little wooden, wheeled rooster in this story!

11. Mouse's First Halloween - by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Buket Erdogan
It's just spooky enough for real little ones. (All of the "Mouse's First ---" books have been hits).

12. Anasi the Spider : a Tale from the Ashanti - by Gerald McDermott
Different than a lot of the others on this list. The bold colorful illustrations catch the eye and the kids love the story.

13. The Quiltmakers Gift - by Jeff Brumbeau, illustrated by Gail de Marcken
A very nice story and beautiful full-page illustrations.

14. The Chocolate Cat - by Sue Stainton, illustrated by Anne Mortimer
A cute story with beautiful illustrations. I can just smell the chocolate when I read this.

15. Russell The Sheep - by Rob Scotton
An awesome funny story with cute illustrations. I love Russell's hat and his froggy friend! Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton is also a favorite.

And a few more:
Anything by Sandra Boynton, but a few favorites have been Snoozers : Seven Short Short Bedtime Stories for Lively Little Kids, Snuggle Puppy, Pajama Time, Moo Baa La La La and But Not the Hippopotamus. These are all classics. We've never met a Boynton book we didn't like (with the possible exception of Doggies (a Counting and Barking Book), which the kids loved. I, however, got somewhat sick of reading all the barks. But it's still a fun book!)

Snickers has been especially fond of anything Dr. Suess and Doodlebug will enjoy anything with even a passing reference to a cat.

I'm sure I'm missing some great ones that we've enjoyed through the years, but this is a good start. What are some of your favorites? Post a comment and let me know.


Quack!