I’m fairly remiss in my book posts. For some reason, I just haven’t been organized about remembering and writing about our books recently. Here’s what you’ve missed out on hearing about:
The Wicked Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House by Mary Chase, was Carbon’s Halloween pick. It would be fine the rest of the year also, it just had a “spooky” aspect to it that fit well with the holiday. The heroine is an awful little girl who yells and hits and throws fits, and she runs up against a family of unfeeling, wicked ladies, who haunt a local old mansion. The story was spooky without being too intense for Carbon, and I think it walked the line between a good spooky story and being too much for little kids really well. And it has an almost It’s a Wonderful Life kind of ending, with the little girl realizing how much […]
Original post by learningumbrella
We have a cache of holiday books that come out every Christmas, but one in particular is worth a mention: Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present by John Burningham (Candlewick Press). The story begins as Santa Claus arrives home after a long night’s work on Christmas Eve. After tucking the reindeer into bed and slipping into his pajamas, an exhausted Santa discovers that there’s one present in his sack that somehow didn’t get delivered. It’s for Harvey Slumfenburger, and “Harvey Slumfenburger only ever got one present, and that was the present that Santa Claus brought him”. The remainder of the book chronicles Santa’s heroic efforts to get that all-important gift to its intended recipient. Still wearing his pajama bottoms, he uses every method of transportation imaginable to reach Harvey’s house on top of Roly Poly Mountain. This is a book about Christmas, but it’s also a book about going to great lengths […]
Original post by paradisefound
We went a little “unschooly” for the past two weeks, for a few different reasons. In these two weeks kiddo made LOADS of *connections* by herself - from reciting the names of the week in order but backwards (thus confirming she does know them forward), to counting by 5’s to 100, to making other math connections in her head, to graduating from Level A to Level B in piano (alone!), and the BIG one? Making that *reading* connection! One day last week she sat by herself for nearly two hours and just READ. She read 8 books in total, 3 of which were level 3 readers at over 40 pages each.
We have a reading rainbow in our hallway and kiddo had a first goal of reading 16 books by herself. Well, she has surpassed that so her “reward” was to go out and buy the […]
Original post by mar
About the book:
It’s back! The Story of Christmas, the innovative Advent calendar, story book set, and tree-trimming keepsake.
Wonderfully illustrated and brimming with holiday spirit, the calendar features 24 jewel-like miniature board books nestled in a three-paneled, stand-alone backer. The books are numbered 1 through 24, and, like the peek-a-boo windows on an Advent calendar, are meant to be opened one per day from December 1st through Christmas Eve. Read in sequence, they capture the magic of the first Christmas, from Gabrie’’s visit to Mary (Book 4) to the Three Wise Men gazing at the star (Book 9) to Jesus’ birth (Book 24). Each book is one of four different trim sizes and features a gold thread loop so that after it’s read, it can be hung on the Christmas tree.
About Mary Packard:
Mary Packard is a freelance writer who also wrote The Nutcracker Story Book Set & Advent Calendar.
About Carolyn Croll:
Carolyn […]
Original post by carrie
Our local children’s museum had a library day today: free admission to anyone with a library card, crafts at tables set up in every room, and a reading and book signing by children’s author Matthew McElligott.
Most of the crafts and activities had a general reading theme, including lots of tables to make bookmarks and one featuring Curious George. Since Matt McElligott’s two most popular books are about Backbeard the Pirate, several of the tables had a pirate theme. At the first table, just inside the doors, the kids could make pirate flags by putting fun foam stickers onto pieces of felt. JediBoy chose to make his a pirate ghost flag.
In another room was a fantastic activity. The library staff had photocopied black and white pictures of Backbeard, and brought along a whole bin full of fabric scraps (from a librarian’s personal quilting stash) so the kids […]
Original post by piseco
Thanks to supportive comments, a good night’s sleep, and a happy, sunny Thursday, we’re all doing a lot better here today. I had to laugh, though, when I came into the living room this morning and saw a mound of books. While I had been coping with my negative emotions, JediBoy was coping in his own way. With “fluff.”
The mound contained 21 Sesame Street picture books, 15 Curious George picture books, 26 Berenstain Bears books, 12 Clifford books, 7 Dora and Diego books, 16 Magic School Bus books, 5 Little Critter books, 3 by Robert Munsch, 3 by Ezra Jack Keats, 8 by Frank Asch, 4 by Kevin Henkes, 27 other miscellaneous picture books (mostly 8×8 paperbacks), and a handful of chapter books (Magic Tree House, Arthur, and Pokemon) - more than 150 books in all, almost entirely fluff! Twaddle! Drivel! And exactly what JediBoy needed to get through the […]
Original post by piseco
1. Natalie and I went to see High School Musical 3: Senior Year Saturday night - and loved it!
2. The Seahawks’ season is a constant source of depression. You may wonder why I keep watching every game. I’m nothing if not loyal.
3. I can’t believe it’s time to start working on the Christmas program for church already! I’m singing in the choir at our new church, and we’re doing some fun music - Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir style.
4. I’m very. very. angry at NBC for cancelling My Own Worst Enemy.
5. Life is one of the best shows on television right now. Are you watching it?
6. A woman came to look at our house today. First person interested in months. She seemed very interested, but we’ll see. If she is, we have no idea where we would move to - right now there aren’t any 4-bedroom houses available in our […]
Original post by carrie
I will begin with apologies to whoever mentioned this book. I know I saw it on someone’s blog and immediately requested it from my library. It took several months for me to get far enough up the list to read it and in the meantime the origin of the recommendation has disappeared from my memory.
Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World by Timothy Brook is a fascinating account of the early development of global trade, particularly between Europe and China, but taking in the Americas and Africa as they bear on that topic. Brook is a historian of China but in this book uses Vermeer’s paintings, and a few other cultural artifacts of 17th century Delft as “doors” into a wider discussion of global trade relations in that period. Each chapter focuses on one painting (or artifact) beginning with a discussion of the painting itself […]
Original post by jove
Just so you know it’s not always a bed of roses around here…
I’ve been in a bit of a funk since my children acted like monkeys at the doctor yesterday. The poor PA was trying to have a decent conversation with me - it was the first time we’d seen her and she was actually being supportive and helpful about JediBoy’s allergies. She was trying to talk through all the symptoms, including the cat allergy that has developed since we had JediBoy tested a couple of years ago. She was patient, kind & thorough, intelligent but not condescending. And she encouraged the kids to open up, smile and talk to her.
Whoops.
The kids opened up! JediBoy insisted on: carrying BabyGirl piggyback, practicing his white belt kata, tickling BabyGirl, crawling under the furniture, and talking loudly to BabyGirl in a sing-song voice. Even after he had […]
Original post by piseco
So I had four days without the kids, while I went to my cousin’s wedding. I finished four books in that time, giving me a slim chance of finishing my 8×8 in 2008 challenge this year. (11 more books to go)
A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut is a short book of essays, which only took me 2 1/2 hours to read on my first plane. I loved all of Vonnegut’s books when I was 19-21, and I enjoyed this sort-of-memoir. Recent history (Bush, Patriot Act, etc.) have left him a “man without a country - except the librarians”. If you ever liked Vonnegut, or if you enjoy a wry take on life, this is worth the time.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. This book introduced the idea of the “paradigm shift”, and it is itself a landmark in the intellectual paradigm. I’ve meant to read it […]
Original post by learningumbrella
It’s another birthday weekend for us. Josiah, our youngest, turns 7 tomorrow. I’ve searched through my archives, and I’ve never written his birth story. If you’re not interested in that sort of thing, scroll down for the links.
After I had Jonathan, Kevin was ready to be done having babies. Jonathan’s birth was traumatic for me, traumatic for Kevin afterward because of the complications, and he just felt done. I, however, felt like I missed a bunch of Jonathan’s newborn experiences because I was so sick with the epidural headache. I wanted one more. So I prayed that God would change my mind, or change Kevin’s. He changed Kevin’s, and one month later, we were expecting number four. Waiting for him to change his mind is why the length of time between the last two is the longest - 26 months. (18 months between Natalie and Noah; 15 months […]
Original post by carrie
Yesterday’s mailbox held Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy by Karen James. I read a large chunk of it last night and finished this morning.
Holding Fast is the story of three mountain climbers who were overcome by an accident and then a terrible storm near the summit of Mount Hood in December, 2006. The book was written by Karen James, widow of Kelly James, one of the climbers who perished on the mountain. Holding Fast has just been released in hardcover by Thomas Nelson, publisher of Christian books and Bibles.
I was concerned that the religion would be heavy-handed in this book since it came from a Christian publisher. I was glad to find that although Karen James speaks frequently of her relationship with God and her husband’s beliefs about God and heaven, she does so in a personal way which doesn’t […]
Original post by piseco
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Headed to the Big Screen!
Now, if they would just call me about casting…
Original post by carrie
I live in a house full of bibliophibians.
This week, the local branch of a large publishing company is holding its annual warehouse sale. It turns out that our community is full of bibliophibians.
Yes, I need more practice on adjusting-one’s-camera-settings-in-the-dark. But the photo above shows a small portion of the line of traffic waiting to get in to the warehouse.
Once we got in, we were greeted by piles and piles of empty boxes waiting to be filled, and rows and rows of remaindered, overstocked and returned books piled on pallets.
Books with a cover price of $9.99 or less are $1 after tax. From $10-$14.99, the books are $2, up to $24.99 are $3, and so on. Nearly half the sale is kids’ books - paperbacks, hardbacks and board books, DK readers, DK Eyewitness, Caldecotts and Newberrys and more. We restrained ourselves greatly and only bought two […]
Original post by piseco
Just Kiss Me and Tell Me You Did the Laundry: How to Negotiate Equal Roles for Husband and Wife in Parenting, Career, and Home Life by Karen Bouris.
I’m working my way through this book, and trying to see if I can come up with some strategies to make things work a bit better between my husband and myself.
Irony #1: I’m reading the book, and just giving him the summary version, because he doesn’t have time or interest in working on this
Irony #2: I’m reading this book at a time where he has just taken a new job that involves more travel and a 60 mile each way commute
But, we shall proceed regardless.
Section One: Strengthening Yourself
I actually think I’m doing pretty well here. Here’s the self-analysis quiz from the book:
1. Do you accidentally talk in the third person about yourself, such as “mommy wants another glass of wine”? No, never.
2. Name […]
Original post by learningumbrella
So, look what I got from Michelle yesterday:
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland - on audiobook!
Plus, a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble, where Kevin and went last night. I came home with:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Irish Girls Are Back in Town - short stories by various authors
The Professors’ Wives’ Club by Joanne Rendell
Leonardo’s Swans by Karen Essex (and yes, I’ll be removing the dustjacket when I read this one!)
Original post by carrie
(Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars, Volume 1 was provided to me by the publisher for the purpose of review.)
Last year, I loved Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars (my review). I haven’t read the sequel, Seeing Redd, yet, but I’m looking forward to it - and I’ve read some great reviews on other blogs.
Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars, Volume 1 is a graphic novel by Frank Beddor, Ben Templesmith, and Liz Cavalier, based on The Looking Glass Wars. In the novel, Hatter M is charged by the queen of Wonderland to find her daughter, Alyss Heart, and bring her back to Wonderland to take her place on the throne. The only problem is that Alyss is lost in the real world, and Hatter M has no idea where.
This is the first in a graphic novel trilogy that will tell of Hatter M’s adventures in the real world as […]
Original post by carrie
I’ve been doing some research for a lesson plan I plan to use for MLK day in February. Viola Liuzzo was a white woman from Detroit, who went down to Selma to help and march in the Voting Rights march. After the march, she was gunned down while driving down the highway with a black teenager in her car. What I found facinating in my reading was that after her death, there was backlash against her for being there at all, for not being home with her five children, for being a “crazy woman”, for being immoral, and for not following the rules of the South. Even her husband was attacked, for not “controlling” his wife, and for supposedly being a communist/gangster (he was a Teamster official).
A very interesting American story, and a forgotten American hero.
From Selma to Sorrow by Mary Stanton, and a documentary called Home of the Brave.
P.S. - […]
Original post by learningumbrella
this piece by john g miller is excellent! i got permission from him to post it - thanks, john! i highly recommend his books.
QBQ! QuickNotes™ may be forwarded by email to others or printed in their entirety with full credit given for personal and group use. © QBQ, Inc. 2008. All rights reserved.
What If Your Guy Loses?
By John G. Miller, author of QBQ! and Flipping the Switch.
(Complete contact info below)
Well, every four years in America we vote for the POTUS (President of the United States), and every four years on the day after there is weeping and gnashing of teeth by the losing side. And the truth is, the losing side is just about as large as the winning side. Amazingly, there could be 60 million people who vote for the ticket that does not win on November 4th, 2008. That’s a ton of people who’ll have a choice to […]
Original post by morethanfine
I don’t have many links to share this week - I’ve been too busy to do much surfing. I will say that we watched the election returns and speeches on Tuesday night. The kids and I watched Schoolhouse Rock, particularly the song “I’m Going to Send Your Vote to College” and talked about how the electoral college works. We tracked the votes on our map, with red and blue stickers. Since we live on the West, they were able to stay up long enough to see almost all of president-elect Obama’s speech, but Noah was nodding off toward the end.
I cried often, with true amazement that our country has elected a black president. Only fifty or so years ago, Barack Obama would have not been allowed in certain restaurants, would have had to sit at the back of the bus, would have gone to a segregated school. But this is […]
Original post by carrie
Originally posted in January 2006:
I just read Buddha Mom by Jacqueline Kramer. The book is organized around Buddhist themes, such as meditation, simplicity, service, and unconditional love, but all of these practices are discussed through the lense of motherhood and how to make motherhood a spiritual practice. Regardless of your religion, this is an amazing level of integration between everyday life and the pursuit of your own spiritual growth. I was really inspired to see how my everyday life could be made so much richer and more meaningful. For instance, I am now inspired to view my time spent slowly exploring with Carbon as a chance to practice patience and receptivity. And her discussions of attachment struck a cord with me, since I know that loving my children also means letting them go. This book is yet another reminder to me that I don’t have to accept the dominant values […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Here’s my stack of picture books for celebrating this month of Thanksgiving.
Over the River and Through the Wood by Lydia Maria Child. A classic poem about heading to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, written by the same Unitarian who wrote the lyrics for the Battle Hymn of the Republic. There are lots of versions out there with illustrations by different artists.
Merrily Comes Our Harvest In: Poems for Thanksgiving selected by Lee Bennet Hopkins, illustrations by Ben Shecter. This book is out of print, which is a shame. These are some amusing little poems.
The Thanksgiving Door by Debby Atwell is a favorite story of mine. An elderly couple burn their dinner and head down to a new restaurant on Thanksgiving - not realizing the restaurant wasn’t open. A very sweet story of hospitality.
Nickommoh! A Thanksgiving Celebration by Jackie French Koller, illustrated by Marcia Sewall
Giving Thanks! A Native American Good Morning Message by […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Sweeping Beauty: Contemporary Women Poets Do Housework wasn’t quite the book I was expecting. The poems don’t really seem to be about housework, but rather just loosely related to domesticity and women’s traditional roles. I was hoping for poems about the zen of dishes, the pain in the knees of scrubbing a floor, etc, but I did not find them here. But there were a few poems I liked, including this one:
What I Learned From My Mother
I learned from my mother how to love
the living, to have plenty of vases on hand
in case you have to go to the hospital
with peonies cut from the lawn, black ants
still stuck to the buds. I learned to save jars
large enough to hold fruit salad for a whole
grieving household, to cube home-canned pears
and peaches, to slice through maroon grape skins
and flick out the sexual seeds with a knife point.
I learned to attend viewings even […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I know I said that I mostly read books by women authors, but if I’m going to read men, it is usually Canadian men. I read something by Lesley Choyce several years ago and really liked it. I was reminded of him recently when looking through that magazine at the children’s librarian’s desk (apparently he writes a lot of YA stuff) and went and looked on the shelf. The Sea of Tranquility looked promising.
I really enjoyed it. It is very character driven, which I like. Set on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia, it focuses on a small group of what might be considered eccentric characters. Choyce explores themes of aging, love, knowledge, economics, and community through the interwoven stories of these people. Some biting commentary on eco-tourism and ethical investing is neatly woven into the story, too. There is also a short section that deals very sympathetically […]
Original post by jove
I’m giving away four more books at Books and Movies, if you’re interested.
Original post by carrie
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