Monday Reading - Books You Should Not Miss!

   

        Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Nearly done, but reading for the Cybils is both wonderful and takes time. Remember the final winners will be announced on Valentine's Day. Happy February!

          Many books satisfy my reading life because they show me fascinating ways of thinking, new ideas for research, and incredible approaches to telling a story. Daniel Mason has written one of them in this book, North Woods. Two young people, in love, escape their Puritan home and land in this one small part of the North Woods of the "new world", later called New England. Their raising of one small cabin begins an amazing journey of that land, which includes a wide variety of land dwellers, some humans in various forms, some little-known and known creatures, and the vast, many-layered life of the woods. In various ways of telling the story, including prose and poetry, letters and art, Mason entertains and educates us while we travel the many years and watch a variety of people live their lives. Perhaps you'll make personal connections; perhaps not, but it's a wondrous tale!

        For a child on the autism spectrum, change isn't easy. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Tanaka, who keeps a calendar on the wall that shows every day, every week, the same. Until this Monday, Mrs. Tanaka announced that there would be a parade on Friday, so sharing day would move to Thursday. This is not what Henry wishes, and musical instruments handed out for parade marchers add to his frustration. They are too noisy! How he navigates the week through some thinking time and a discovery in the quiet closet brings a good ending, not only for Henry! Jenny Bailey and illustrator Mika Song start this easy reader series that Henry and lots of others will enjoy, "like always"!

Thanks to Candlewick Press
for this copy!

       In a debut publication, the background story is that Uma Menon wrote this book at the age of sixteen about her own household. She had been unable to find a similar book that told "her" story. It shares about a young girl named Sumi, whose mother, she tells, can speak two languages, Malayalam and English, and can "switch between them at the speed of sound". The power of being multi-lingual is celebrated as Sumi shares her mother's story of immigrating from India as a child and how she now has "two tongues" woven together. One early scene shows them at the grocery. Her mother asks the grandmother in Malayalam if they needed more milk, turned to Sumi, and spoke in a combination of both 'tongues,' then turned to the cashier and asked how she was doing in English. 

       I've seen, as Sumi calls it, this "superpower" several times through the years, once watching a guide on a boat tour switch from English to Spanish and back with expertise while presenting and answering questions.  Rahele Jomepour Bell's illustrations fill the pages with diverse groups of people, living in various places, Sumi practicing her own Malayalam when they travel to visit family, hoping she will soon have those two tongues woven into one, like her mother. She mentions varied accents, too, that "every person's voice is unique and important." It's a marvelous book inspiring everyone to learn to become multi-lingual. 

1st published in the UK, now thanks to Candlewick
Press for this copy published this year in the U.S.

        A young boy appears to listen to words of wisdom as illustrator Clara Anganuzzi takes us along with him and his animal companions, from elephants to leopards, parrots and penguins, gorillas, and giraffes. There's even a little mouse. Karl Newson's words tell about being brave and that sometimes, "We all have moments when we need to take a step back. . . while sometimes, fun and friends find us." It's filled with life's moments and supporting words, a lovely book to share with children or to give to them to read and think about each part. My favorite: "And every new experience/means a new memory is made!" 

Currently: Starting a mystery, All The Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby and Mexikid by Pedro Martin

       I've also been reading The Winter Army by Maurice Isserman, a history of the Tenth Mountain Division, very slowly. I discovered it at the used bookstore where I work, and because Camp Hale is here in Colorado and I've been there, I wanted to know more about its beginnings and the part soldiers from there played in World War II.

Poetry Friday - A Good Taste

       It's Poetry Friday, and Mary Lee Hahn is hosting HERE on her blog, A(nother) Year of Reading, with some intriguing words about 'secrets'.  Be sure to see what she and her 'inklings' have to say about them. 

       And, it's Groundhog Day! I don't have a poem about that, but I hope that someone will! Thanks for hosting, Mary Lee!     

         It's rather nice that Mary Lee's hosting from "A(nother) Year of Reading" because I have a poem about books. You probably know I work at a used bookstore. It's a non-profit run entirely by volunteers. And, it is a membership store, though you do not have to be a member. People join for a year and receive a certain number of credits to 'spend' on nearly all the books in the store, and when some are priced (we list on Amazon), they get 15% off of that price. It has hundreds of titles and is a place one seems unable to leave without a book! We rely entirely on donations which, if you donate, you can add to your credits! We do purchase a few best-sellers for one shelf and take special orders. I wish each of you could come visit!

one small area - paperback trade fiction

My Appetite

 

Books give a soda fizz,

sweet icing on a cake,

salt and pepper in a stew,

a chocolate ice cream shake,

 

Books taste like lollipops,

mint by the garden wall,

first strawberry ripe and read,

pasta with a huge meatball.

 

Books know the tang of lime;

they don’t forget the spice.

They flavor dim sum pages.

Their menu’s worth the price.

Linda Baie © 

I'm ready for another year of reading! 📚

Monday Reading - Books to Love

        

        Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Nearly done, but reading for the Cybils is both wonderful and takes time. I'll be able to share my reviews after Valentine's Day, when the winners are announced! Here are a few from the previous two weeks.

         In the nineteen-seventies there was Pottstown, PA; nearby was Chicken Hill, full of negroes and immigrant Jews, others from across the ocean, turning to America for its promise; sadly, as James McBride writes, they were "moving into an American nothing". Yet, like today, they are a society of good people with a few despicable and frightening ones in the bunch. It begins with a mystery when, years later, a skeleton was dug up with no means of solving this whodunnit! But as readers know, when you put a gun on the mantel, that gun has to be used sometime in the story. When finished, remember to return to the beginning and re-read it. It'll give you a big, big smile! It is a marvelous story, unfortunately with parallels to today, over fifty years later.

Thanks to Candlewick Press for these next two! 

            This was published a few years ago by Walker Books, but thanks to Candlewick Press for a new copy. This Little Donkey loves grass, will only eat grass, and sad to say, he turns green, and only realizes it when he's thirsty and dips into a stream for a drink, then sees his reflection. Oh, my, he needs to find something else to love! Anushka Allepuz's brief poetic words, even letting this little donkey make a rhyme or two about his love(s), give us a fun, but cautionary tale, with bright, colorful illustrations. Wait till you see what his next food choice is! 

         Jyoti Rajan Gopal was inspired to write this poetic story through her experience of balcony singing in Italy during the Pandemic. One note begins and it swirls throughout the neighborhood in musical poems. One can almost hear the notes with the fabulous full-color pages illustrated by Sonia Sánchez. It is such a delightful inspiration to, at least, hum along while reading! Here's one example toward the end: 

           Ten notes swirl

            and whirl and wing,

            sparkling, glittering,

            a living thing."

From my library!

         Here, readers learn of three families who celebrate their children growing up by sharing about hands, ones that fit inside the parents' hands, but soon, seems so fast, before one realizes, those hands won't fit anymore but move on to learn and create, bring love, too, but inside and outside the family. They are diverse families, and one child is deaf; there's a small glossary showing some of the sign language used in the story. Elizabeth Lilly's illustrations fill us up with family life, the fun and the foibles that happen every day, and then the future grown kids and how they're doing now, all with brief, enjoyable text by Jonathan Stutzman.  I'm sure adults will love this, too!

Poetry Friday - About Piñatas - Sort of

 

            It's Poetry Friday, and Susan Thomsen is hosting HERE on her blog, Chicken Spaghetti for Poetry Friday.  Susan also has taken the challenge described below and written about the "Passaic piñata"! Thanks for hosting, Susan!     

         It's already the end of January - wow! Time really does fly! Tanita Davis of those creative Poetry Sisters wrote this at the end of December for this month's challenge:

 Poetry Peeps! You’re invited to our challenge for the month of January! Here’s the scoop: We’re writing ekphastic poetry on… piñatas. No, really. Those hollow-hearted paper beasts we love to beat might not be something you think are poem-worthy – usually – but you’ve NEVER seen piñatas like these. Featured on PBS’s fabulous Craft In America series, we’re celebrating the humble piñata as elevated by Robert Benavidez. Check out his work. Are you game? Good! Whichever of his creative creatures and absolutely out-there works of art that you choose, you have a month to craft your creation and share it on January 26 in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals.

       At the risk of saying what others must also be saying, these Piñatas are fabulous, though I can't imagine taking out a long stick to break them open! Surely it's a no-no! You can find the page of all of them here!

Grateful

 

pinatas mostly hold sweets to eat

now imagine they’re doggy treats

                                 for dogs deserve our gratitude                                

for warmth when cold in solitude

as hiking partners through the night

they give protection from a fright

and comfort when we stroke their coat

soft, inviting, worry antidote

when you need a body stretch 

instead of playing games like fetch

the latest in the best of show

their downward dog shows how to go

 

Linda Baie ©

            Thanks, #PoetrySisters for giving us wonderful challenges. This was fun and the pinatas. as I wrote earlier, too, are wonderful! 

             Last, thanks to those whose postcards I've received already! I'm saving them up for a big post later. They are a light in January!  ~Linda

Poetry Friday - Getting Outside!

 

It's Poetry Friday, and Robyn Hood-Black is hosting HERE on her blog, Life on the Deckle Edge for Poetry Friday. Be sure to visit her today, to enjoy a cup of tea, along with poetry!

               Obviously, I don't need to remind everyone that it's been cold! I hope that everyone made it through this "weather event" with little mishap! Our Wednesday in Denver was the first day it became a day to #getoutside, the hashtag I'm often reminding everyone to do on social media. I went to our City Park where our beautiful Nature and Science Museum sits, with a lake, broad views of our mountains, and so often, gaggles of geese (poetic, right?. ) Among them, this is one view I noticed. In our year of political woes and foes, I do wonder what qualities make a leader? And how does it work with animals? Some are the fiercest, others are the largest, and perhaps we can't know because of language barriers, could some be the wisest? 

           

Three geese flying in,

wander wiggle into line,

trusting the leader

to find the way 

to good eating.

A grassy field waits.

          Linda Baie ©

Where they were headed.