Deb Nance
Noah Strycker sets out to break the record for the number of bird species one person has seen in a year as he travels around the world—Antarctica, South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. In each hot spot he visits, he has a local guide to take him to the best locations and to help identify the birds he sees. Of course, even with the best of plans, things go wrong, and it's the come-to-fruition of the best of plans and the blips along the way that make for the charm of this adventure story.
Little Jesús is headed out with his Papá this Saturday to work in the family business, lawn maintenance. Papá puts Jesús in charge of what Papá calls “the magical water-jug clock,” a water jug that will indicate—when empty—that the two are finished working. Jesús takes this responsibility seriously, and proceeds to lavish water upon not only the two workers, but also the animals they meet and upon their tired and hot faces. It's time to go home, Jesús says, but it's still morning and there are lots of houses to go...has the clock stopped working?
A charming and fun little story of everyday life, with a great dad and a sweet kid as characters.
I remember reading the Bobbsey Twins books when I was little. I felt compelled to buy this book when I ran across it a few years ago.
Not only do I remember reading the series, but I remember reading this very book. I remember the kids making “pasteboard” houses and wondering what pasteboard was and wanting to make some of these houses and asking my mom to help me do this and actually doing it. (Crazy, right?!)
It would be an interesting exercise to read this aloud to children and see what they find odd about the story. There are some elements—sexism, racism—that are sadly apparent to me in ways I didn't notice when I was little. But many parts of the story—bullying, kids getting lost—are still things that children deal with today.
“Mr. and Mrs. Gagleson-Bittle were missing something...” The two were living happily in a big house, but they both wanted “...something a little bit lick-your-face-play-fetch-roll-over-rub-your-belly-and-chase-your-tail.” So they decided to get...a snail. They enjoyed the snail, but they thought they would like something more, so they decided to get...an elephant...And off the story goes. A complete delight for all of us who love animal friends.
Baby Animals First Sounds Book is a first introduction to the sounds animals make for very young children. The text is simple rhyme, and the illustrations are photos of baby animals. An especially cool feature of this book is the QR code on the back which gives adults access to the real sounds that baby animals make.
Jack Wong was discouraged as a child by his fearful mother and his own fears of looking different from others in Canada from learning to swim. When he learned to swim later in life, and when he dared to swim out in nature, he discovered the joys of swimming in different settings, and it is these delights that he shares with us in this beautifully illustrated, beautifully written book.
It's 2020, and the pandemic has hit. Marisol and her family are stuck at home. To pass the time, Marisol invents a game, a riff on I Spy, in which family members search the community for those whose work is essential. Written in English and Spanish, this book is a tribute to all the people who worked so hard to help us during a difficult time.
What is more glorious than dreaming about the future? And how important is it for kids to be thinking about the future and what their parts in it might be? That, then, is the greatness of this book: This book highlights twenty-five people who set a goal to have their dream job and achieved it. Not only does the book tell each person's story, but it tells related stories about young people who are still children but who are already starting to work to achieve their dreams. The book also shares pro tips for achieving one's dreams, suggestions to try now in one's early pursuit of the dream, and spin-off jobs one might consider. Those chosen to share their stories are a diverse group of people, and that's delightful.
Fear is a hugely debilitating force in the world. In this book of twenty-five poems, written by the Waterstones Children's Laureate for 2022-2024, Joseph Coelho encourages children to take action against fear, to act with courage—to dare to jump from the diving board, to say no sometimes, to dare to be a friend, to stand up when you fall and try again, to apologize, to cry when you need to, and to write stories and poems of your own. Coelho writes a lot of different types of poems—pantoums and limericks and ballads and more—and he encourages his children readers to try these, too. This is a fabulous collection for all of us who would like to face and overcome our fears in the world.
This is the book I have most wanted to read over the last year, but, sadly, I was able to find a copy in my usual book places. I was joyous, exuberant, ebullient to see it at the Enchanted Lion booth at TLA this year, and how happy I was to be allowed to buy a copy and take it home. It did not disappoint. Written in Spanish and translated into English, this is a book of thoughtful and surprising questions from one of the world's greatest poets of the last century, Pablo Neruda. The illustrations illuminate the questions and add to the complex simplicity of this amazing book. I can see this book being read by children, of course, but also by adolescents and young adults and middle-aged folks, and even old ladies aged 66. This book is a keeper.
Favorite foods? Near the top of my list is butter.
I indulge in butter. I refuse to eat anything less than real butter.
And so I read this book. Author Khosrova takes us to Ireland and Tibet and England and France and the US to serve us up the history of butter as well as telling us the story of the way butter comes about, and adds a lovely side dish of recipes that feature butter.
(Probably) more than most people would ever want to know about butter.
I have no idea where the four CDs of In Their Own Voices came from, but I found them when I was cleaning out some drawers recently. It is National Poetry Month, I thought.
So I listened to this collection yesterday when I was driving.
And what do I think? I think it's wonderful to hear poets reading their own poetry. If you haven't heard it, I urge you to find a way to listen to Dylan Thomas read his poem, “Do Not Go Gentle.” Beautiful.
On the other hand, I was shocked to hear Langston Hughes' poem, “Mulatto.” I know it's a poem of its time, that it was written by a Black man, that it is based on Hughes' own experiences with racism—but, nevertheless, it's hard to hear.
Robert Frost. E. E. Cummings. Theodore Roethke. Wallace Stevens. William Carlos Williams. Langston Hughes. Lots of my favorites here.
Poetry (my opinion) is best when listened to.
I raced through this novel over the weekend in preparation for Leila Mottley's appearance at Inprint in Houston on Monday night.
It was a grueling read. Children and teens are left to fend for themselves by the grownups in their lives. Almost everyone makes poor choices in life that lead to jail time and fights and unemployment and exploitation and other awful outcomes.
But the poor choices are, sadly, made from a slate of possible choices, all of which are poor choices. People let each other down. People bail on others. People openly use other people. People physically hurt other people. The only word is grueling.
Still, I'm glad I read this, and I'd urge you to read it, too. Lots of people in our world are living awful lives, and we can't try to make things better unless we know about those lives. And I'd like to start with the children, like those in this book.
This is a perfect introduction to what is considered classic English/American poetry; it makes poetry approachable, I think.. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I'm not sure it is available in any other format. Each poem is briefly introduced with a little information about the poet and the poem and then the poem is read. Don't look for any diversity here...it's strictly old white guys. But I ran across a couple of poems I'd almost completely forgotten, and now I'm off to add them to my personal collection of favorite poems.
Brené Brown shares what she has learned about vulnerability, authenticity, shame, courage, wholehearted living, and resilience.
Here are my notes from this book. My book club will be discussing Brené Brown and her work at the next book club meeting.
Wholehearted living - people who do this DIG deep. They Deliberate in their thoughts and behaviors through prayer and meditation...They are Inspired to make different choices. They Go—they take action.
Brown encourages us to recognize when we are in a shame storm. What should we do when we are in a shame storm? Tell someone who will offer compassion. It takes courage to do this, to speak honestly and openly, to risk being vulnerable and disappointed.
We have to start by setting boundaries, holding people accountable for their actions, not shaming and blaming them.
Connection is the energy between people when they feel heard and valued. Connection occurs when one can give and receive without judgment, when those involved can derive sustenance from the relationship.
Shame is the fear of being unlovable. To build shame resilience, Brown says we must tell our story and avoid the negative ways to deal with shame—moving away (silent, keeping secrets, withdrawing); moving toward (appeasing, pleasing); moving against (using shame to fight shame, aggressive, gaining power over others).
Authenticity allows us to be vulnerable, to set boundaries, and to be imperfect.
Brown encourages us to cultivate creativity, cultivate play and rest, cultivate calm and stillness, cultivate gratitude and joy, cultivate meaningful work, and cultivate laughter and song and dance. She suggests we need to trust our intuition.
Danny and his friends in Tortilla Flat spend their lives hanging out, telling stories, drinking wine, fighting, and spending time with women.
It's a simple story of simple friendships that takes place in a time when people could scrounge for a bit of work, scrounge for a bit of food, and scrounge for a place to stay, and when people could spend most of their time doing the things they like to do—and that was enough. Jail time is an expected part of life. Drinking sprees are an expected part of life. Fist fights are an expected part of life. And friendship is the central value of all the men in the story.
The Osage of Oklahoma unexpectedly became wildly rich when the land to which the tribe had been relocated was discovered to contain a huge and valuable oilfield.
The headright each tribe member owned could not be sold. It could only be inherited. And this, along with greed and the lack of respect held for Native Americans in early twentieth-century white culture, led to a series of murders in the Osage community.
The murders themselves were horrific, but the way the murders were ignored, covered up, and minimized was just as horrific.
This is yet another story from history that I was never told in school. It's a horrific story, and it's a story that reminds us of the horrific things minority cultures in America have had to endure.
Brad Montague sets off on a Listening Tour, visiting 100 schools in 50 states, asking children questions about life and listening carefully to their answers, and then stopping to talk with Better Grownups and to discover their ideas about how to live a good life.
And what does he learn?
A lot.
Montague comes away from the experience with the desire to be a better grownup and with lots of ideas about how to do that.
The most important thing he learns about being a better grownup is that children would like for grownups to show up and listen.
The author shares several good stories in the book: lobsters and how they grow; an asteroid aims for earth and the solution is a tiny nudge; and Grandma takes his new bike for a ride. I'll let you read these for yourself.
A few good quotes from the book:
“Everything from lower levels of substance abuse to higher grade-point averages and stronger self-esteem were correlated with kids' spending small amounts of quality time with caring grownups in their lives.”
Montague, Brad. Becoming Better Grownups (p. 46). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
“I grew up on a farm and remember my dad explaining the play of puppies as “practice.” For puppies, being aggressive with one another is a way of being social. It's a way of play-acting real situations that might come up in the future for them. They're practicing. I grew up to find that my father's definition of play as “practice” was actually scientifically correct.”
Montague, Brad. Becoming Better Grownups (p. 66). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Whew. This quote gave me chills.
“The absence of play was a major factor in predicting criminal behavior.”
Montague, Brad. Becoming Better Grownups (p. 67). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
“When we're children, we communicate like musicians who are still learning to play their instruments. Imagine the supremely talented Louis Armstrong with a song fully formed inside him, yet with no way of bringing it out into the world. We hit the wrong notes and play in the wrong key. Sometimes we can't even find our trumpet.”
Montague, Brad. Becoming Better Grownups (p. 139). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
You can't hear this one enough times:
‘“Love is at the root of everything, all learning, all relationships—love or the lack of it.” Like most of the elemental things I've learned in my life, this was taught to me by Fred Rogers.'
Montague, Brad. Becoming Better Grownups (p. 140). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
“It was also a lovely reminder that many things are contagious—anger, fear, yawns. But hope, love, and joy are the best kind of contagious. Good can, and does, spread.”
Montague, Brad. Becoming Better Grownups (p. 194). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
The first line is ominous:
“For the first six days of William Waters's life, he was not an only child.”
The first paragraph notes the event that changes the lives of the family members for generations:
“...they found her dead in her crib.”
William's parents close down. William is emotionally bereft.
It's shocking to me to see how this one death leads to the emotional deaths of so many. It is only when new life comes in the form of love and caring and compassion that a slow, fraught healing can begin.
A few of the things I took away from this book...how a life can have great importance to many through small acts of love, even though the life may not be recognized for this at the time...emotionally shutting down can devastate others...the power of love to revive a soul...
I'm glad I read this one. I will continue to think about William and the Padavano family.
A child is taken by her father to live with relatives. The contrast between the foster parents and the child's real parents is strong, and the child thrives in the love she receives. But then she must return home.
Foster is a tiny novel of less than a hundred pages, and every word counts. It almost feels like a meditation.
So happy for those who told me about this author...
The Viceroy is coming! The Viceroy is coming! The people in the monastery must scurry around and prepare food that will impress the most important man in the colony of Mexico.
And so they do, but in the midst of making five different sauces and two desserts, a young boy who works around the monastery collides with the cooks and—Oh no!—everything is accidentally mixed together. And the Viceroy will soon arrive. What a mess!
But is it a mess? Can good things come from bad?
A lovely little story based on an old folktale from Mexico that explains the origin of molé, a thick savory sauce containing chocolate that is served atop chicken or turkey!
I love this book!
Who knew that the wonderful Dan Santat who writes and illustrates such fantastic picture books had a rough time in middle school? But, then again, doesn't everyone have a rough time in middle school? And isn't that rough time in middle school a time that is made up of some of the worst days of a person's life? And isn't it (whew! thank goodness!) true that things will gradually start getting better once you learn a few tricks for dealing with mean people and awkward situations? But isn't it sad that no one knows any of this until we have suffered through agonizing days of cruelty and humiliation?
But isn't it great that Dan Santat can share the most shudder-worthy of those experiences with kids right now, right when kids need to hear it, that this-too-will-pass and truly-things-will-be-better-tomorrow, not by patting kids on the shoulder and saying some meaningless words, but by writing about one's own despicably awful times as well as the wonderful surprises of unexpected friendship and first love and a wise teacher that help us get through all that miserable stuff?
The Last Karankawas is a collection of loosely-linked short stories, all set in Texas, most in Galveston. The characters are both longtime Texas residents (if you recognize the Galveston status, BOI, then this is probably a book you will like), some claiming a Karankawa heritage, and recent immigrants. There are old characters and young. Many of the characters are bilingual: some Spanish-speaking and some Tagalog. The characters look back at their pasts and reflect upon the present day of the story, September of 2008, with Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico.
I enjoyed hearing all the details of this story—UTMB, Bishop's Palace, Broadway Street, the oleanders, live oaks, and more—some of which I was listening to while I was driving past UTMB, past Bishop's Palace, on Broadway Street, seeing oleanders and the newly-planted live oaks to replace those Ike's deluge of salty water killed. I am disappointed I haven't heard more about this book. It's beautifully written.
It was recommended to me by my writing teacher, a Galveston resident, and I thank her for the recommendation.