sad but hopeful

Just finished reading Eaarth: Making a life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben (Henry Holt and Company, 2010). I was practically crying reading the first half because it laid out a dire situation for our life on earth, some of which I already knew but the majority was eye-opening and cause for despair. The second half of the book suggested solutions that seemed possible if unlikely so I came away from reading this book with a renewed committment to live lightly on our beautiful earth. We live out in the country so car travel is inevitable but I can stay home more days than I go out especially if I have a pile of books. The other thing I know I can do is make the most of each trip out to get library books or groceries. I recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about the environment. This book is awesome, and it has an extensive index and list of notes.

Juster, Norton.  The Odious Ogre.  Pictures by Jules Feiffer.  Scholastic.  2010.

An Ogre munched regularly on the people of a village, and the terrified residents did not think they could do anything to stop him. One day, the Ogre comes across a small cottage, and he veers over to see what tasty treat might await him. He meets up with a young girl working in the garden, and does his best to scare her but she just looks up at him and says, “Oh, pardon me, I didn’t realize anyone was there. I’ll be right with you.”

The surprised Ogre mumbles, “What’s going on!” The girl invites him to “sit down and have a cup of tea” with her. Now the Ogre feels terrible and he asks the young girl why she is not scared of him. “Oh, you’re not really so terrible,” she says, “Overbearing perhaps, arrogant for sure somewhat self-important, a little too mean and violent I’m afraid, and a bit messy”. The girl offers to help him tidy up and the poor Ogre becomes totally discombobulated because she is nice to him which the Ogre complains is “bad for business”. In the end, the Ogre expires from kindness, and the “townspeople…arrived to celebrate and bury him. The humor of this original fantasy is cleverly detailed despite the scary premise in the deliciously funny illustrations. The cover is an absolute draw as it shows a hapless young  man dangling from the Ogre’s hand. This is a picture book for children, ages 5 and up and can be shared in a group setting.

Yum, Hyewon.  There are no scary wolves. Farrar Straus Giroux. 2010.

A young boy is anxious to go outside but his mother tells him that he can go out later when she can go with him because otherwise it is too dangerous. The mother is busy doing house chores so the little boy replies, “No, I’m a big boy! I’m not even afraid of scary wolves.” When they finally get ready to go out first to a Chinese restaurant, and then to a toy store, the mother cannot find her keys. While she is searching, the little boy imagines going out alone; and everywhere he goes he meets up with scary wolves: the cook in the Chinese restaurant is a wolf and the owner of the toy store is a wolf. By the time, his mother finds her keys; the little boy has scared himself into not wanting to go out at all. His mother reassures him that he is a big boy, and she will be with him so he does not need to be scared, and of course, the scary wolves are gone when they go out together; or are they. The illustrations of wolf faces are mildly scary but charming nevertheless. The little boy is dressed in a red cape, and his imaginative adventure is clearly expressed as he visits the kitchen of the Chinese Restaurant: the cooks are wolves, and goes by the toy store: the clerk is a wolf.  

McCully, Emily Arnold.  The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux.  Farrar Straus Giroux.  2010.

This is a wonderful picture book story about the discovery of the famous Lascaux cave by some French school boys. Based on memories collected years later, the information about its exact discovery is considered fictional although the cave is real as is the incredible prehistoric art the boys found by exploring the cave. Interestingly, during the war, the Resistance used the cave “as a secret storehouse for munitions” The cave was reopened for visitors in 1948 and two of the discoverers “guided the first visitors and were appointed official guardians and guides. One remarkable fact about this cave is that because it was sealed for over 17,000 years, the artwork was vibrantly colorful. As time went by, the presence of so many visitors began a process of deterioration. Subsequently, the original cave was copied and then closed to all but scholars. The illustrations are stunning, and show the sequence leading up to the discovery of the cave art; a few examples of the cave art are included. The author’s note is very informative, and she includes a brief bibliography for readers interested in learning more about this remarkable discovery.

Poetry Friday

from Shel Silverstein's "Falling Up" 

Crystal Ball

Come see your life in my crystal glass-
Twenty-five cents is all you pay.
Let me look into your past-
Here's what you had for lunch today:
Tuna salad and mashed potatoes,
Green pea soup and apple juice
Collard greens and stewed tomatoes,
Chocolate milk and lemon mousse.
You admit I've told it all?
Well, I know it, I confess,
Not by looking in my ball,
But just by looking at your dress.

Shea, Bob.  Dinosaur vs. the Potty.  Disney/Hyperion.  2010.

Using the same formula he created so successfully in “Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (Hyperion, 2008) Shea has turned the subject of potty training into an amusing story. Children will giggle as Dinosaur declares victory over several liquid opponents: lemonade, a sprinkler, a three juice box lunch and roars aloud but then a victory dance turns into an all out dash for the bathroom, and the potty wins at the end when Dinosaur just makes it in time. Shea’s mixed media illustrations are colorful and humorous depictions of this delightful story.

Elya, Susan Middleton.  Rubia and the Three Osos. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  Disney/Hyperion Books.  2010.

The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has been turned into a multicultural story with the addition of some Spanish words, all understandable in the context of the familiar story; although, there is also a glossary at the end. Goldilocks is named Rubia in this cute version, the bears go for a slimming walk before eating their soup, and Rubia makes up for her mistakes and becomes good friends with the three bears by the end of the story. The mixed media illustrations are colorful and filled with humorous details. This is a star performance.

List of books our library system owns that include a recipe

Picture Books with recipes included.

Beil                  A Cake All for Me

Bertrand          The Empanadas that Abuela Made

Castaldo          Pizza for the Queen

Cheng              Lemon Sisters (lemon ice from snow)

Cooper            Pumpkin Soup

Cooper           Dog Biscuit (human treats)

Devlin             Cranberry Birthday (strawberry cake)

Devlin             Cranberry Easter (cranberry cobbler)

Devlin             Cranberry Summer (punch)

Devlin             Cranberry Thanksgiving (cranberry bread)

Dooley           Everybody Bakes Bread

Dooley           Everybody Cooks Rice

Ehlert              Pie in the Sky (cherry pie)

Elya                 Eight Animals Bake a Cake (pineapple upside-down cake)

Falwell             Mystery Vine (pumpkin apple bread)

Frasier             A Birthday Cake is no Ordinary Cake

Geeslin            How Nanita Learned to Make Flan

Gibbons           The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree

Gourley           Bring me some apples and I’ll make you a pie

Hall                 The Apple Pie Tree

Hippely           A Song for Lena (apple strudel)

Iwai                 Soup Day

Kaplan             Monsters Eat Winy Children (cucumber sandwiches)

Kleven             Sun Bread

Krudwig          Cucumber Soup

Langston         Remember, Grandma (Mile High Apple Pie)

Lazo Gilmore  Cora cooks pancit

Lewis              No More Cookies (chocolate-covered bananas)

Lin                   The Ugly Vegetables (Chinese Vegetable soup)

Lipson             Applesauce Season

Mitchell           The Rainforest Grew All Around

Peck                The Giant Carrot (carrot pudding)

Pierce              Blackberry Banquet (blackberry smoothie)

Posada             Dandelions: Stars in the grass

Priceman         How to make an apple pie and see the world

Pushker           Toby Belfer and the High Holy Days (honey  cake)

Rattigan          Dumpling Soup

Rouss              Sammy Spider’s First Simchat Torah (candied apples)

Rylant             The Cookie-Store Cat

Segal               Carrot Soup

Shoulders        Goodnight Baby Bear (honey oatmeal cookies)

Shulman          The Moon Might be Milk

Van Hecke      An Apple Pie for Dinner

Wellington      Crepes by Suzette

Wellington      Pizza at Sally’s

Wheeler           Ugly Pie (Apple/Raisin Pie)

Wilson             Whopper Cake (chocolate cake)

Wing               Jalapeno Bagels

Yacowitz         Pumpkin Fiesta  (pumpkin soup)

Zalken             Papa’s Latkes

Sis, Peter. Madlenka Soccer Star. Farrar Straus Giroux. 2010.



Humor abounds in this sweet story about a little girl who loves to play soccer. She kicks her ball around her neighborhood, getting skillfully and playfully past a mailbox, a dog, a parking meter and a garbage can: Sis amusingly presents them as characters that interact with her as she guides her ball around them. Then she ends up playing a game with a bunch of cats, dressed in soccer outfits; the soccer net is created from a tree. She scores a fantastic goal and the “crowd” cheers. Finally, she meets up with her friend Cleopatra and they start playing a game. Soon a neighborhood of children is playing soccer on a grassy lot between the houses. Sis presents a dramatic backdrop of blue houses, and in front of them, the characters and actions take place in bright colors. Delightful!

A poem from Ogden Nash

A Caution to Everybody

Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.

I just finished reading Judith Rock's well written historical mystery called, "The Rhetoric of Death". The setting  and main character are well developed: the mystery takes place in 17th century Paris, and the main character is a Jesuit who sets about trying to figure out who has murdered a young student at the school.

The sun keeps peeking out between black clouds and threatened rain. Our passive solar house heats up, then cools down with the sun's appearance and disappearance. My husband is meditating as I sit here watching a red headed woodpecker eat from our big bird feeder. What a beautiful bird. Earlier, the chestnut backed chickadees were out in a group eating from our bird feeders.

Greetings, and welcome to my new blog

I deleted my old blog, and now want to start a new one since I can't recover the old one.