It's Poetry Friday - About Memorial Day

 

             It's Poetry Friday! Thanks, Patricia Franz at Reverie here, for hosting. She and her husband are celebrating a special wedding anniversary and she celebrates with a beautiful cento. 

The #poetrypals are writing ghazals today yet I chose to write about Memorial Day, a day important to me this time. But I did write a ghazal in April for poetry month if you'd like to see it! You can find it here! It certainly wasn't an easy form so I'm really looking forward to these newly crafted ones, imagining they will be terrific.

          Memorial Day is special to me. My father died in World War II, was a pilot shot down in the Pacific theater, never found. Other family members were in combat during that war and those since. Thankfully all survived. Every year, the memories return when I see the iris blooming and the peonies popping up. Those were the flowers we took to the cemetery, for remembrance of those we held in our hearts always. 

Monday Holiday - Sharing New Books

              Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with others who post their favorites.  Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading!
          Share with the hashtag #IMWAYR

     
           I hope all of you are doing well and doing the best you can during this time. 





               Thanks to Candlewick Press/Walker Books for the advanced copy of this seaside adventure, out last week! Thomas Taylor has written a second wonderful adventure set on Eerie-on-Sea. The illustrations in the book are by Tom Booth, not all finished in this ARC, but those included add much to the exciting, sometimes scary atmosphere of Eerie-on-Sea. 
               Here is Herbert Lemon, still the Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, teaming up again with Violet Parma, whom Herbie met in the last adventure. This time another 'thing' has washed up and found by Mrs. Fossil, beachcomber even in storms, owner of the Flotsamporium where she sells her finds. It's a mysterious bottle that happens to gleam with light, sometimes. The whole town, especially the fisherfolk, are ablaze. They see the bottle has "Eerie Script" written on it, know that it belongs to the ancient Gargantis who has been waked up and is causing the terrible storm that's coming, that might finally destroy the town. And they all claim it as theirs!
             Again, Herbert and Violet are the center of the tale, but Taylor's included regulars from the first book like Mrs. Fossil as mentioned above, and Dr. Thalassi, owner of the town's museum. Even characters met earlier that appear only a few times are memorable, like Seegol of Seegol's diner, serving up the sumptuous fish-and-chips and new fascinating characters like Blaze, captain of the Jornty Spark, helper in this adventure and persistent searcher for his uncle, Old Squint Westerly. 
            I love reading Taylor's stories, the details are extraordinary from the frightening to the descriptions that ensure we see everything in our imaginations. He introduces a villain named Deep Hood who seems to have a tentacle that can lash out from his hood and a sidekick called a clockwork crab. There are bits of solid friendship and support between Herbert and Violet that show the good feelings that come when a friend always has your back, no matter the danger. He even left a few questions, meaning there's bound to be still another trip to Eerie-On-Sea, and certainly with Herbert and Violet. I can't wait!

       I hope that my family and I can make it to the beach late in the summer and though we might not create a castle that looks like this one, it is fun to imagine new ways to build when reading this amazing book by Einat Tsarfati. Sad to say considering the social distancing we are supposed to be doing, the opening page of many, many people hanging out on blankets by the sea makes me sad and nostalgic for the way it used to be. But the illustrations are true-to-life from before, detailed and filled with color! 

       A young girl gazes at the sea, then sits and begins, saying "I love building castles in the sand. So I built a sandcastle." And what a castle she created! Wow! You can see from the cover that this isn't just "any" castle. She is that little one way up on top! People come to visit from all over the world, and they love it. I'm reading an e-copy and must imagine the glorious double-page spread of the interior, so many details show the private bedrooms, the public rooms like the library, the inner workings in the lowest "cellar" part, etc. Evening brings a wonderful party, but in the morning, ugh, trouble. The food looks elegant, yet guests stick out their tongues, complaining of sand, yes, in the food! This problem remains, in athletic contests, in sheets where they sleep. One Egyptian princess says it's even worse than a pea under a mattress! The ending, well, you must read to discover how this little girl who loves sandcastle-building solves it all. 

Every day Celebrations

            

      Celebrating today with Ruth Ayres and others who share. I haven't written a celebration post since early April, first caught in the throes of a poem a day in April, then it didn't happen week after week. I have been much more busy at the bookstore where I volunteer. For those of you who don't know, this is a used bookstore that is run entirely by volunteers, and I am the volunteer coordinator. It's great to work with all these people, but takes time, and some finesse I think, too. I celebrate the more than forty volunteers who keep our bookstore going for book lovers!

     It's been a strange weather year for us. We've had winter when we expect spring, and summer when we expect, yes, spring. I hope things settle down soon! But whatever has happened, the flowers seem more beautiful than ever and I celebrate that something worked very well for those flowers this year.
     Ingrid (3rd grade) came home from a three-day overnight on Friday and was so excited about her time in the woods, she wanted to do something else on Saturday, our day this week together. So, we traveled to a favorite lake and loved our walk, seeing beautiful birds, sketching in our notebooks and hearing the concert they gave to us. I don't have a picture of Imogene (kindergarten) who went for one night last week. I celebrate the teachers willing to take their classes out into the wild, to show how wonderful it can be. 
     And finally, many of you know that my father was killed in action during World War II. I celebrate those in the military who keep us safe, today and long ago. The sacrifice of lives taken or years of service given is something we don't always think about, and this Memorial Day holiday is one that helps us remember. 
     It is the start of summer vacation for many of you. Wishing you one filled with rest and a slowing down of your lives so you can take time to celebrate the good things in each day.

Celebrations - The Future and The Past

Tweet @ #CelebrateLu

         Celebrating with Ruth Ayres and others at Discover Play Build.  





         I just spent most of Friday with the grand-girls. We went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for lunch then an Imax movie. It was a new experience for the girls and they loved it. This time, the movie seemed to make a good end to the week for Imogene because on Tuesday she and I went to the zoo for a couple of hours and saw some of the same animals in this movie, Wild Africa! I always have fun with both girls, but this week I celebrate Imogene, who "graduated" from kindergarten at her Montessori School Thursday morning. It was a sweet and short ceremony. The kids sang, recited a poem, and received their certificates after they "crossed over" a little bridge. Sarah, Imi's mother, told me that Imi said it was the best day of her life. I wish her to have lots of best days ahead.
I celebrate the future. . .

Imi's under the atrium, crossing the bridge.

Book Pleasures

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is hosted by Jen and Kellee at TEACH.MENTOR.TEXTS.  Head over to find plenty to choose from!  And, also visit Sheila at BOOK JOURNEYS that offers more reviews of all kinds of books, adult and children.   

             Don’t forget to tweet at #IMWAYR

      On this Memorial Day, I wonder how we are approaching books that are about war?  Our elementary-aged children have never known when we were not at war, and that we have military men and women serving for our country in various places all over the world.  Some of our students have parents far away.  It is time to look for books that help all students try to understand, perhaps so they can help find peace in the future. 

      I haven’t read it yet, but want to thank Tara Smith of A Reading Life for sharing about The Breadwinner Trilogy by Deborah Ellis, about the time in Pakistan and Afghanistan with the Taliban and the war, still going on today.  I have the books and look forward to reading them, was happy to hear about them. 

     I hope that we do not forget the sacrifices that have happened, and are happening today because of the conflicts.  My father gave his life in World War II, my stepfather served in several fronts all over the world, as did uncles on all sides of my family.  I am grateful. 

CHAPTER BOOKS

The Pull of Gravity – Gae Polisner

            I am embarrassed that I have not taken the time to read this wonderful book.  It’s been on my TBR shelf a long time.  I enjoyed seeing the main character Nick Gardner learn that he has more strength of character than he thought he had in both the death of a good friend, Scoot, and his parents’ divorce.  With his new friend Jaycee Amato’s persistence, he especially shows that he doesn’t have to keep his feelings stuffed inside, but can act on them.  Through Polisner’s use of both Steinbeck’s and Yoda’s wisdom, these two young teens face some rough challenges, and together, find some good things to be grateful for.  I think that any younger teen will find parts of himself or herself in this book.