Junie B., on trying to stay calm until Show-and-Tell:
“Yeah, only I don’t actually know if I can do that,” I said, “‘Cause I’m already trying to be calm. And this is how I’m turning out.”
— from Junie B., First Grader “Aloha-ha-ha!”
Dear, dear readers,
It is a sad day for a parent when her child outgrows Junie B. Jones and Elmo. (more…)
We received a copy of “Lost in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy,” at a book swap recently. (I like this trend for birthday parties — spares the parents of the birthday child from having to create yet another imaginative goody bag. Gimme books, anyday.) This charming picture book, by wife and husband team Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick ($19.95) is a winner — you will fall in love with the baby fawn and the cast of woodland creatures.
“Shhh…
shhh,”
hushed the mouse.
“I think he’s lost.
Just let him sleep.”
Will his mother return? I think she will.
Do you all know Barbara Park? Of Junie B. Jones fame? Her latest, a picture book, takes you along on the adventures (or lack thereof) of a growing, mouthy, in-utero bebe. “MA! There’s Nothing to Do Here! A Word from Your Baby-in-Waiting,” is illustrated by Viviana Garofoli ($15.99, Random House). Cute book — sassy and imaginative, and the drawings are funny and colorful.
“I’m all in a heap here. My feet are asleep here. I’m flat out of space. I’ve got knees in my face…”
And… the Look-Alike books. We cannot get enough of these books, especially the youngest of our tribe. Thank you, Joan Steiner, for “Look-Alikes Around the World: An Album of Amazing Postcards” ($15.99, Little, Brown and Company).
“Mama, it looks like a hot-air balloon, wight? Wight? It’s not. It’s a lightbulb.” (Or a cooky, or a handful of dice. Or pencils, all in a row.) Next thing you know, you think you’re looking at the Arc de Triomphe, or Big Ben, a French chateau or “Nessie,” the Loch Ness monster. My favorite favorite absolute favorite thing about these books is trying to guess what all the pieces are made of, then looking at the key in the back. Hours of entertainment.
Happy reading!
I love doing book reviews, you all know this. But sometimes a few books in a row land on my desk, and I think to myself, “Self, where are you going to go with these ones?” Then later — they turn out to be something I really do need to write about.
First off: (more…)
At first I wasn’t too sure what to make of this Skinny Bitch series by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. I especially have issues with the proposed title for the authors’ new cookbook, “Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven.” (Please tell me this is a joke. Please tell me we are not encouraging pregnant mamas to be skinny. Girls, when you are pregnant and nursing, really, you need to eat. Eat as healthfully as you can, but eat.)
Anyway, their recipes are alright. Especially since you know I’ll go low-fat, but I am not so keen on the vegan cheese. But vegan does not have to be scary! OK, I’ll go for it if you will. You first. Who doesn’t want to “Start Looking Hot!”?? Sure, that’s all of us, right? Blech. Let’s start right here with… (more…)
Reviewed today, in three seconds flat:
Why am I doing three-second book reviews? Because I haven’t written any fiction in, I don’t know, all week?? Most of break? I need to write, Internets. (more…)
Reviewed today:
Now comes Holly Hobbie with a new Toot & Puddle book, complete with four ornaments — “Let It Snow.” The book is the final in the series. (Little, Brown and Company, $16.99.)
“I wish I could take this morning and put it in my pocket and keep it forever,” says Puddle.
Christmas is just around the corner — what should the best friends buy each other? Nice story, lovely drawings. Pigs can ski? Who knew?
Sandra Magsamen just authored two new board books — part of the Snuggle-Me Stories series (LB Kids, $7.99). Both come with their own charming little finger puppet. It’s funny, but even when you have “big kids” living in your house, they are still reluctant to let go of the puppets and the baby books and more than happy to “review” little kid books. (Our tiny puppets and board books are now packed in the attic, waiting for the day my “big kids” might have little kids of their own.) I can see that these two books will be popular — they have bright, candy colors, the pictures are nicely done and the little stories are sweet (“Love bugs are snuggable/and lovable that is true…” and “Bees buzz along/birds sing a love song…”)
(PS — Speaking of board books — I recently came across the Brimax Books series — spectacular. “Bedtime,” “Mealtime,” “Playtime,” “Knowing,” “Doing,” etc. There are a dozen or more of them. They were first published in England in 1976 and have been reprinted off and on since then. Available through eBay or Amazon.)
Perfect picks for belated Christmas gifts for any little ones you may know.
Reviewed today:
The Fed Ex girl was the most popular visitor at our place this week. She arrived with a couple of boxes of books and games from Little, Brown and Company for review, just in time for the holidays. I’ll review three at a time, so no one gets overlooked. We’ll make it a family affair.
“Hug Time,” by Patrick McDonnell, stars Jules, the sweet little tiger kitty. (Click on the Little, Brown link above to hear Patrick McDonnell read from “Hug Time.”) We’re big fans of the Mutts comic strip over here (Grandma likes Mutts, too, especially Jules, aka “Shtinky Puddin'” and his little pink sock). In this artfully painted and written children’s book, Jules travels the world, collecting as many hugs as he can, from as many creatures as he can find along the way, including a wombat, a humu-humu fish, and a polar bear. We’d hug him, too, if he stopped by here.
On to Cranium… If you call yourself “The Ultimate Book of Fantastic Fun & Games,” then you’d better hurry up and live up to your title. This set does. It includes plastic frogs for flipping, an egg timer, a deck of Cranium cards, a dri-erase pen, a spinner, a pull-out game board, and purple modeling clay, so you can sculpt tiny brains or anything else you feel like sculpting.
It’s for ages six and up, but the five-year-old at our house was extremely taken with the set, especially once he figured out that the whole book is rewritable, so you can play the games over and over.
Steve and Wacky Boy, on Ed Emberley’s “Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug!”:
WB: It’s very funny.
Steve: What happens? Can you say, without giving away the end?
WB: No.
Steve: Do you like the Big Bad Bullybug?
WB: No, I like the queen ants and the flying bugs.
Steve: They’re flying bugs, for sure.
WB: They’re queen ants, silly!
The pages are die-cut, with each page revealing a little something from the next page. It’s a clever device for the younger set, as the Big Bad Bullybug is gradually revealed, in all its comical horror.
And now, some big news — I have so many goodies to share that Melissa Lion (who, like me, is a North Portland blogger and writer) and I are going to throw a meet ‘n’ greet. We’ll do it sometime in January. We’re thinking… a coffee house in North Portland. Just for something a little different.
I’ll give away kid books for door prizes! Ms. Lion may bring copies of her young adult novels to sign and sell. I think she should, don’t you? I think once you’re a published author you should just carry a stack of your books with you everywhere. That’s what I’ll do, if and when I get a novel published. I’ll be all, “My name, see? On the cover. Woo!”
Additionally? Melissa managed to teach me what no one else has been able to: I now know how to purl.
Melissa’s books:
Richard Avedon took some pictures on January third, 1961 in Palm Beach, Florida. They were nice photos. So nice, in fact, that people are still poring over them, almost fifty years later. They were of the most famous four of the Kennedys — Jack, Jackie, Caroline and little John-John, and he took them at the family’s compound. They were gorgeous photos, of course. Have you ever seen a bad photo of any of them? You’ll find sad photos, sometimes, but never bad ones. So you have a brilliant photog, coupled with one of the most photogenic families of all time. Excellent set-up. The original pix ran in LOOK and in Harper’s Bazaar, and you’ve seen a few of them here and there. But the entire shoot, with proof sheets? That’s something you haven’t seen before, and that’s what you get with this collection from the Smithsonian. (Collins Design, $29.95, 127 pages.)
It’s the ultimate coffee table book and a nice holiday gift, for yourself or someone else.
Next up for gift ideas: Feng Shui — a complete house re-do would be nice, or at the very least one of those sweet little ceramic tiles that says JOY or BLISS or something. Those are good — they look nice just about anywhere — on a shrine, in the entryway, on a nightstand, paired with one perfect white tea light. Yes, dear, as long as we’re at it, let’s talk about the concept of feng shui. Mine is a mess. Nancilee Wydra gives us “150 simple solutions for health and happiness in your home or office.” (McGraw-Hill, 276 pages.) The cure for my karmic twist-up can be found on page 26:
“To be in the Tao is to be connected. Whether your home is rural, suburban, or urban, to feel deeply at peace you should feel positively enmeshed with your surroundings.”
I. Do. Not. The immediate surroundings? Yes, enmeshed. Beyond that? No.
Thus, we continue packing. We’ve moved more things into storage. We’re still hashing out the whole do we or do we not decorate for the holidays? I say, no. Hockey God and kids say, yes. I’ll let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, how do you feel about pre-lit, fake Christmas trees? Yay or nay? Please advise.
Lauri Ward’s book, “Downsizing Your Home with Style: Living Well in a Smaller Space,” was just the handbook I needed and received a few weeks ago. (Collins, $24.95, 182 pages.) Turns out when you’re packing and repacking, painting and patching up, pruning, mowing, raking and tidying — you can get burned-out pretty dang fast. I’ve got a second burst of adrenaline from reading Ward’s tips. (I appreciate, too, that she gave buying tips — stores, prices — for furniture, containers, screens, etc., but was discreet about it, with product round-ups at the ends of the chapters.) I have been devouring this book. And it’s a little mis-titled. It could have just as easily fit under the categories of simplifying your life, home decor, or “how to get your tail in gear and pack to move.”
A few suggestions:
*If downsizing, stick with a bed that does not have a footboard. (Also nice if you’re looking for clean lines in a room.)
* Using artwork properly means not hanging things too high and not scattering it all over the place, and always leaving one blank wall for the eye to rest on. (Extra tip: Hold up the art where you think it should go, then lower it three inches.)
* Try for multi-sectioned furniture when possible to add versatility.
* With limited space, a writing table can take the place of a larger desk and offer a comfortable place to work on a laptop or write thank-you notes.
Happy reading.
WM
Reviewed today:
Well, well, well. What should appear recently in the Wacky Mailbox but “How The Grinch Stole Christmas!” by our dear Dr. Seuss (Random House, 52 pages, $14). (Yes, I know it’s too early for Christmas for some of you. Please bookmark this page and come back in a month.) The story of the Grinch is fifty this year — how can that be? That makes Cindy-Lou Who fifty-two. Yikes. And her anntennas are still so darn cute.
We received the “Party Edition,” which means, “brand-new clean and no Christmas cooky crumbs.” My favorite page? This one:
“And the one speck of food
That he left in the house
Was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.”
Wacky Girl’s favorite page? The last one, of course:
“…HE HIMSELF…!
The Grinch carved the roast beast!”
We also received a commemorative Christmas ornament, which is just about perfect, and as if that weren’t enough, a copy of “How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The 50th-Anniversary Retrospective” (by Dr. Seuss and Charles D. Cohen, 85 pages, $24.99). My son is partial to this brand-new edition, but he cannot have it, it is all Mama’s. It contains everything a Grinch addict like myself could possibly want, including info on his international appeal (he’s der Grinch in Germany, il Grinch in Italy and o Grinch in Brazil, did you know?), details about the route Dr. Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel) took in creating the Grinch (he wanted to combine Santa, his reindeer, the Stork, the Sandman and the Boogeyman — why mess around with so many characters when one would do?), and background on how Chuck Jones storyboarded the book. The old drawings are spectacular.
These are both great additions to my, I mean, our Christmas book collection — I think you’ll enjoy both copies as well.
I heard about “The Book of Story Beginnings,” by Kristin Kladstrup (Candlewick Press, 360 pages) when my daughter read it for the first time, when it was released last year. Her review went something like this:
“There’s this kid, Oscar, and he uses a magic potion and a book, The Book of Story Beginnings, to make an ocean appear. In Iowa. In Iowa!! Mom, there’s no ocean in Iowa!”
I told her I’d love to read it, too, but then someone else had it on hold, I forgot to reserve it again and you know. It’s a year later. But we’re finally re-reading it — it’s as fantastic and magical as she told me.
Now, Wacky Girl:
“It’s interesting, because Oscar turns into a cat, and then turns back into a boy and wooooooooooooo… woo-woo! Ha ha ha. Erase that woooooooooooo ha ha ha part, okay?”
(me: “No.”)
“And my favorite part is when they ride on the boat to…”
Yes, the ocean comes back, along with Oscar. Now, I must stop her because this book — I am not going to spoil this book for you. The plot? Amazing. The writer? It’s her first book and she gives us this? More, more, more. The writing about writing? I love writing about writing. I love a book within a book, a play within a play, a poem within a poem. The characters? Well-developed. The heroine’s parents? Always in a fight. (One of the biggest conflicts in the book is how the heroine, Lucy, grapples with how much she should do independently and when (and how???) she should ask her parents or other family for help.
Fabulous read, your kids (boys or girls) will love it. Best for ages five or six and up. (To adulthood.)
“The Daring Book for Girls,” by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz, with illustrations by Alexis Seabrook, was just released. It’s a partner to “The Dangerous Book for Boys,” (Collins Books, 279 pages). Wacky Girl got her mitts on it and I hadn’t seen it since — until today. I spotted it on an end table where she had carelessly left it in my grabbing distance. I will now review, with help from my dear daughter, before it disappears again.
What do we like about it?
You can learn how to read palms (my daughter wants to know how), or play fourteen kinds of tag (“That looks cool!” sez one Wacky Girl). You can figure out how to put your hair up with a pencil, perform first aid, learn about Zenobia, Queen of the East, do yoga, build a tree swing, or learn to spy. And there is much, much more, but I will not be able to tell you because there goes the book again, out the door.
, Barnes and Noble or Powell's Books.
Also available for Kindle
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