Dear Zoo

by Rod Campbell

A child writes to the zoo asking for a pet. Each page has the shipping container, which open in various ways-  and usually there is a bit of the animal peeking out. Lift the flaps and see what arrived- but most of them are of course unsuitable as pets- elephant, giraffe, lion, etc and get returned to the zoo. They keep diminishing in size down to a monkey, frog and finally a puppy which the child decides to keep. I think it's really cute and my toddler likes "opening" each package to find the animal inside. She loves puppies right now, so it has the perfect ending. My favorite page is the one featuring a lion- the flap of the crate actually has gaps cut so you see the lion's body through it- as pictured on the cover- and my kid always points out (delightedly) that his tongue is showing as the lion roars!

Rating: 4/5 ....... 18 pages, 1982

Bunny Rabbit in the Sunlight

by Kate Endle and Caspar Babypants

I think this little book is so wonderful, even though my toddler doesn't (once again!) share my opinion. It has lovely illustrations by Kate Endle of What is Green? and apparently the text is also a song- you can hear a bit of it here. Very catchy and cute. And the book is pretty unique, for baby fare. It's not just about naming animals or recognizing colors, but shows individual animals in their different habitats, and names the kind of light they're basking (or sleeping, etc) in. So it's not just sunlight and moonlight but starlight (skunk wandering across a yard), fog light (whale by a lighthouse), lamplight, lantern light, candle light, dawn light, twilight and so on. I really enjoyed this one. I'm holding onto it for a bit even though my kid shows little interest and won't sit through it. Maybe she will if I sing!

Rating: 4/5 ........ 20 pages, 2011

The Big Eating Book

by Guido van Genechten

I seem to be making a round of poor choices, for my toddler's taste in books lately. This one I happen to almost agree with her assessment, though, which equals that of the last book. The book is about how kids eat, compared to other animals. First shows an infant nursing with a young boy looking on. Then shows a variety of animals eating different kinds of foods- the orangutan only eats fruit, the rabbit likes veggies, squirrel has nuts, the goat eats grass and so forth. I like that the last page of animals shows butterflies and says they get their food from flowers! Then we see the little boy again, eagerly raising his fork and spoon before a spread of spaghetti, salad, soup and bread. And on the next page he gets three desserts! I don't know why but something about the ending doesn't sit right with me. I like that it showed how we eat a variety of foods- but did the boy have to have three bowls of ice cream? I guess kids would find it delightful, though. And I do like the quality of the illustrations.

Rating: 2/5 ........ 20 pages, 2007

Egret

by Helen Collins

I really picked up this book by mistake. Probably because of the title, it was shelved among nature books on birds, where I found it browsing at the Book Thing. It was an interesting read, but not really my kind of book.

Egret is about a young woman named Jodi trying to make her way in New York City. She's an artist, and her experiences adjusting to city life, living in crowded apartments with roommates who don't share your interests, and the often-desperate embarrassment caused by feeling like you'll never get out of poverty were all things I could relate to (from my years as an art student). Her experiences with budding sexual awareness and entanglement with various love interests were foreign to me. She's lesbian, also a virgin and very uncomfortable when her roommates drag her along to bars and nightclubs. Then they convince her to accompany them to Long Island, using an older woman's interest in her and her desire to see the local wetlands and wildlife, to get into a party, where they promptly ditch her. Lots of strange experiences unfold. I could not comprehend the behavior of many characters in this story, and the apparent love-at-first-sight scenario between two people from opposite backgrounds and social classes seemed very unlikely to me. Even up until the end of the story, I couldn't always understand what was going on, people's reactions to each other just did not make sense to me.

The book did make a good point that stereotypes are usually incorrect, whether it was from straight people judging the homosexuals they knew, or the other way around. I found their constant misunderstandings of each other rather amusing, although sometimes a puzzle to work out. But there were other problems with the book, for me. The writing often felt awkward, unpolished. The characters' inner thoughts and opinions on each other were all over-explained, yet in a way that left me with really no sense of who they were. I kept getting her three main friends mixed up; even though they were very different people their characters were unclear to me for a long time. I enjoyed the parts that had to do with art, but felt disappointed there wasn't a bit more depth there. And the aspect of the story that had to do with wildlife conservation felt unrealistic, an extra thing tacked onto the story that didn't really fit. I wished it had fit in better, but most of the narrative seemed to be about who-thought-this-about-whom and which party Jodi was awkwardly navigating now or who she was having overwhelming feelings for (in spite of hardly knowing them) and I just didn't care for all that.

Anyhow, it was interesting and I liked reading about the life-in-the-big-city with an artistic bent, but it's not a reading experience I'll care to repeat.

Rating: 2/5 ......... 220 pages, 2001

Babies on the Go

by Linda Ashman
illustrated by Jane Dyer

This is another board book that my child just doesn't like, protests when I pull it out and we never get through more than a few pages. I however think it's lovely- all about how different infants are carried about by their mothers. The first page shows a baby in a stroller, then goes through a variety of animals: swan cygnet tucked under wing, baby bat clinging to its mom, lion cub dangling by its nape, anteater riding piggyback, kangaroo joey tucked in a pocket and so forth. It's got some nice rhymes and shows a wide variety of animals and methods of taking their babies from here to there. The last spread shows human infants once again, in different kinds of infant carriers, strollers, baby slings etc. The illustrations are nice with very gentle lines and colors, perhaps the lack of strong contrast, bright colors or general liveliness is what bores my kid. I'll try it on her again a few more times when we're in quieter moments, then back to the library it goes!

Rating: 3/5 ....... 32 pages, 2003

Garden Anywhere

by Alys Fowler

This is my favorite book right now. It has galvanized me into doing new things for my little garden. I was kind of dismayed at first at the lack of space and open ground I now have, living in an apartment. But I do have big windows with lots of southern light, and a decent-sized balcony. And suddenly I am excited about the prospects of spring again, I have all kinds of plans. Thanks to the inspiration that is Garden Anywhere.

I used to always kind of ignore the advice in gardening books about container and small-space gardening, but now that's what I need to learn, so this book was perfect. It's all about gardening in a city environment, in a rental unit or small space, when you don't have permanence to put a lot of effort into the soil, for instance. She talks about choosing containers, utilizing space, understanding the needs of your plants- light, soil, moisture, etc. Discusses aesthetics, recommends easy plants, pretty ones and tasty ones. Stresses the importance of being environmental-friendly, of saving your own seed, of growing organically, of learning to deal with the pests in ways that don't hurt others. She gave me enough info on making a worm bin that I am hoping to create my own plant food again, and taught me some new stuff about composting as well. Introduced me to a whole slew of new favorite websites. And even better than all that, she discusses all kinds of ways to re-use or find materials you need for your garden, or make it yourself. She calls it "scrap crafting" and this is my kind of thing! I got a lot of new ideas on things to use and make, and hers are usually attractive-looking to boot. I took tons of notes; if you're interested in the details they're over here.

rating: 5/5 ......... 192 pages, 2008

more opinions:
Eco-Library blog
apartment therapy
Folkways Notebook
Velvet nectar

Every Season

by Anne Love Woodhull 
and Shelley Rotner

This is a wonderful picture book celebration the seasons. It starts off proclaiming I love spring and subsequent text and pictures depict the joys of spring: fresh rainfall, sprouting seeds, eggs in bird nests, ducklings and flowers and baby animals galore. But then summer comes and I love summer too, it continues. Summer features visits to the beach, running barefoot on the grass, watching butterflies, tasting watermelon and lemonade, etc. Autum pages show the beauty of leaves turning colors, of seeing geese fly across the sky, picking pumpkins and enjoying pears and apples, feeling the wind. Winter has glittering icicles and fun in the snow, ponies with thick warm coats, the comforts of hot chocolate and bundling up warm. Then it cycles around again with I love spring and a picture of bright green, new leaves.

There are so many things I like about this book. The photographs are very nice. It shows not only how things change in nature and how the animals behave in different seasons, but also how we change our clothes, the differences in weather, and what foods are enjoyed fresh. There's something exciting, fun or wonderful to discover about each time of year. Perhaps my favorite page is the one with pictures of the lovely, secretive patterns animal tracks leave across the snow. My toddler has little patience for longer books but she will sit quietly through this one.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 32 pages, 2007

staggering list

It's been a while since I compiled a TBR list, so this will be rather long. These are titles I've discovered via the following bloggers, which I now want to read myself someday.

Books found in my public library system:

Lives of the Trees by Diana Wells- Garden Rant
The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire- Things Mean a Lot
The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins- Opinions of a Wolf
Brain on Fire by Susannah Callahan- Sophisticated Dorkiness and Shelf Love
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers - Farm Lane Books Blog
Rabid by Bill Wasik- Things Mean a Lot
Arcadia by Lauren Groff- Farm Lane Books Blog
January First by Michael Schoenfield- At Home with Books and Bermudaonion
Chained by Lynne Kelly from Presenting Lenore
the Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban- Shelf Love
Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky- At Home with Books
Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh- Opinions of a Wolf
Breasts : a natural and unnatural history by Florence Williams- Superfast Reader
Chi's Sweet Home by Konami Kanata from Puss Reboots
Book of Mormon Girl by Joanna Brooks- Sophisticated Dorkiness and Bermudaonion
A Country Life by Roy Strong- The Captive Reader
Fools Crow by James Welch- The Lost Entwife
Jane by Robin Maxwell- the Lost Entwife
Giant George by Dave Nasser from Shannon's Book Bag
Why Have Kids? by Jessica Valenti- The Book Lady's Blog
War Horse by Michale Morpurgo- Kyusi Reader
Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Gilman- At Home with Books
Comet's Tale by Steven Wolf from Diary of an Eccentric
the Unexpected Houseplant by Tovah Martin- Commonweeder
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall from Sophisticated Dorkiness
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman- At Home with Books
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin- The Lost Entwife
The Longest Way Home by Andrew McCarthy- Bookfoolery and Babble

Books not found there, which will go onto my TBR backlog ...

The Guests of War Trilogy by Kit Pearson- The Captive Reader
Notes from Walnut Tree Farm by Roger Deakin - A Work in Progress
The Dig Tree by Sarah Murgatroyd - Caroline Bookbinder
Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenger- Farm Lane Books Blog
Seasons on the Pacific Coast by Susan Tweit- Beautiful Wildlife Garden
Doppler by Erlend Loe - Jules' Book Reviews
Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh- Reading Through Life
The Skin Chairs by Barbara Comyns - A Work in Progress
An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie - Shelf Love
Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett- Iris on Books
More Baths Less Talking by Nick Hornby- Things Mean a Lot
the Roots of My Obsession edited by Thomas Cooper - Garden Rant
A Cat Named Squeeky by Vic Reskovic - Puss Reboots
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson- Opinions of a Wolf
The Half-Life of Facts by Samuel Arbesman- Things Mean a Lot
the Cow by Beat Sterchi - Farm Lane Books Blog
Settled in the Wild by Susan H. Shetterly- Garden Rant
The Surrounded by D'Arcy McNickle- The Lost Entwife
A Childhood in Scotland by Christian Miller- A Work in Progress
Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue- Iris on Books
The Voyage of QV66 by Penelope Lively - Indextrious Reader
We're Flying by Peter Stamm- Shelf Love
The War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen- Farm Lane Books Blog
City Foxes by Susan Tweit-  Beautiful Wildlife Garden
Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling- Cold Antler Farm
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy- The Octogon

double-dog dare

At the very last minute last night I decided to join once again in CB James' TBR Dare. It's a Double-Dog Dare this year. Basically to only read books off your TBR stack (I have many) until April Fool's day. I think I can make it this year, even though I fear I will not read a large number. I have been so slow at reading the past few books I got from the library were renewed two or three times, and some by the time I got around to reading them, I no longer had interest!

Well, for the duration of the Dare I'm still going to post (when it interests me to do so) about the books I read with my children, but the books I read for my own enjoyment or edification will be from my TBR bookcase (or one of the nearby piles on the floor).

You can read more about the Dare at Ready When You Are, CB.

Hothouse Kids

the Dilemma of the Gifted Child
by Alissa Quart

I found this book browsing at the library; the title and then the cover image really caught my interest. It's all about "gifted" children in American society. I found it quite interesting at first but slowly my involvement in the book started to lag. The author looks critically at the recent surge in popularity of products (think Baby Einstein) that claim to improve infants' learning ability or intelligence and the plethora of classes and intense instruction for the very young- I didn't know that formal soccer training was all the rage for three-year-olds! There are chapters that delve into the issues surrounding specialized education, others that look at competitions young kids are fiercely involved in- scrabble or chess tournaments and the like. She talks about the difference between kids who are intently interested in their specialized pursuits and others who are pushed into it by their parents. Most of the children she discussed seemed to either shine as a child prodigy and then turn out to be rather normal adults, acutely missing the former attention; or grew up resenting the loss of their childhood to the pressure to perform and schedules full of classes or structured activities. Very few, it appears, ended up successful in a field related to what they excelled at when young.

So... it was very intense but often the arguments seemed a bit unfinished to me, or the plethora of quotes and studies referred to simply lost me. I did pay more attention to the stuff about infants and very young children, probably because I can relate to that easier than the stories of parents pushing their kids into the limelight or prepping them for private preschools, or getting heavily involved in homeschooling when they feel public school systems fall short. I found myself agreeing with the author's position that baby-educating videos are probably a waste of time; children learn far better in their natural environment (taught by people and experience) than by sitting in front of a screen (and the idea that listening to Mozart benefits young developing brains is, she claims, based on two small studies whose results were never successfully repeated- it's more a cultural myth than anything).

However, she seems to also dismiss the benefits of teaching babies sign language and I disagreed. Admittedly I didn't teach my baby very many signs- I tried about eight or ten and she ended up learning and using half a dozen, but I found them very useful. I don't know if teaching her sign language necessarily enhanced her language development, or affected her later-in-life reading skills (that wasn't my goal anyways) but I do believe that it lessened some possibility of frustration, as she was able to communicate a few basic wants or needs before learning to talk: "more", "eat", "drink", "potty" etc. It did take a lot of patience. I know I repeated the first sign for two months, perhaps longer, before she first used it herself- so the author's criticism when observing a class of infants being shown a few signs -I wondered what the teachers and the parents thought their children got out of it- seems unfair to me. Most of those babies probably never made signs themselves in class, only at home and after their parents/caregivers repeated them many times in a familiar environment and appropriate context.

Anyways, I think I've gone off on a tangent here. The book is good- I got two-thirds read before realized I simply didn't want to go further. It probably doesn't help that I'm tired all the time lately (have a headcold). It's one I might come back to later, as I was particularly curious about the ideas of how early intensive education affected people's attitudes and emotions in their adult life. Either this wasn't addressed in detail enough to stand out to me, or I didn't get to that part yet. I ended up skipping the final chapters about youth competitions, child prodigies who preached religion (really?) and math whiz kids recruited to work for investment and finance companies.

Abandoned ......... 260 pages, 2006

more opinions:
Reading is My Superpower
Read the Other Day

what was 2012

Here's a look at what turned out to be a rather quiet year for me, in terms of book blogging. There was just so much change in my life that reading and blogging kind of took a backseat, and once again the numbers reveal how much my reading focus shifts from year to year. This was definitely a year of light reads and escapism. And more time spent snuggling with kids reading their choices, than spent reading my own. I started out intending to keep a running tally as I did in 2011, but lost track halfway through the year. So as usual, the count might not add up exactly (some books span two or more categories) but more or less here's what I read.

Total books read- 158
(including the baby/board books)

Fiction- 88
Non-fiction- 24
(this count doesn't include the baby books)

further breakdown:

Memoirs- 8
Gardening/Food- 7
Nature- 3
Parenting- 1
Animals nonfiction- 5
Other nonfiction- 4

Fantasy- 23 (I think most of these were Sandman volumes)
YA- 6
Animals in fiction- 50 (and most of these were Thornton Burgess books)
J Fiction- 56 (and most of these were comic books or chapter books read with my kid)
Picture books- 8
Baby books- 54

Short story collections- 1
Graphic novels- 46

Owned books- 50
Library books- 117
Borrowed from a friend- 1
From another blogger- 1
Review copies- 1

Abandoned books- 6
Re-reads- 5

Places I visited this year via books: England, Paris, Kenya, Tanzania, Canada and India.

These numbers are not impressive at all. A solid third of those books were baby books. Of the rest of the books read, half were J fiction and/or graphic novels, which is a lot of light reading. I am glad that I read many more graphic novels than I ever did before; that was enjoyable. Also glad that I continued to use the library a lot, as well as whittle away at my own piles.

The most memorable books of the year for me were Pride of Baghdad, Blankets (both graphic novels) and Wasted (not exactly a feel-good book but very powerful, one you can't stop thinking about). In terms of nature writing, I think my favorite book of the year was Swampwalker's Journal.

Bathtime for Twins

by Ellen Weiss
illustrated by Sam Williams

Entertaining little book about two toddlers sharing a bath. They splash and pour water, admire their toy boat, play with soap bubbles and generally just have a good time getting squeaky clean. Then there are towel rubs, squirming into pajamas and snuggling in bed. It's simple and adorable. The text moves in an easy rhythm with good rhymes patterns (not forced as some kid books can feel). The pictures are pencil drawings with watercolor wash (at least that's what it looks like to me); they have a nice soft feel and are yet very lively and fun. My kid really likes this book; it's currently one of her favorites. If I see one of the companion volumes -there's one featured on the back of the twins enjoying playtime- I'll certainly check it out.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 28 pages, 2012

Otherwise Normal People

Inside the Thorny World of Competetive Rose Gardening
by Aurelia C. Scott

Although it has (again) taken me quite some time to read it, I found this book about roses very interesting and engaging. In it, the author met with quite a few rose enthusiasts from different areas of the country, visited their gardens, learned how they grow roses, and attended a few rose shows. It was all quite eye-opening. First of all, I was pretty taken aback by all the work that roses seem to require. Especially if they're grown in cold areas and need winter protection- which ranges from simply covering them up to burying them in trenches (resurrected in spring) or finding ways to bring them indoors (usually a garage). But it seems that rose people love the challenge. Not only that, but roses also need constant tending whether in the form of pruning, pinching unwanted buds, complex feeding and spraying schedules, applications of insecticides, etc. This part upset me a bit, but it sounds like it would be impossible to grow perfect show roses without the use of chemicals to kill disease and thwart bugs. If the roses are grown well enough to be considered show quality, there is a whole 'nother round of meticulous preparation and grooming they go through to make it to a display table and possibly win a prize. Even the spacing between petals is carefully rearranged. It all sounds quite heady, and the show-rose people certainly seem obsessed. I do admire their ingenuity in devising things to protect blooms from the weather and safely transport cut roses, usually out of recycled materials. One guy even built his own sprayer.

All that was fascinating, but I found the very end of the book enthralled me most. I wish Scott had written more about this side, the world of old-rose enthusiasts. They are even more my kind of people. Instead of being interested in the perfection of form and visual beauty of the rose, they are all about the scent and the thrill of finding and rescuing hundred-years-old varieties. (Because you can't have both, a rose is either very beautiful or has an incredible smell). As roses are usually grown from cuttings, there are scions alive today that are literally from the same living tissues as roses that grew hundreds of years ago. These old-rose enthusiasts will hunt for roses growing at old homesteads or graveyards and take cuttings to grow them in their own gardens. Sometimes they rescue roses from sites slated for demolition. Then they try to identify what variety they have; some arguments of old-rose names in public gardens are ongoing! They are rose-hunters and rose-rustlers, definitely a more casual bunch than the show people. And the roses they grow have deep history, often have a mystery surrounding them, or a story behind them. In fact, while there were quite a few tender stories about roses in the lives of people among the show set, they didn't really touch me the way stories of the old roses did; one tale of a rose planted on an infant's grave brought me to tears... These old roses are wild, rambling, intoxicating and not at all persnickity about care. I think if I got into roses these would be my kind, the ones that make your head swim when you inhale, and don't require arsenals of chemicals to keep them healthy.

The only thing that would have made this book better would be the inclusion of some pictures of roses!

Rating: 4/5 ........ 235 pages, 2007

more opinions:
Pop Matters
The Hum of Desperation
Rose Garden Advice

Who Hoo Are You?

an animals book
by Kate Endle

This is one of those little books which I happen to find lovely, but my daughter doesn't seem to  like herself. It has the same charming cut-paper illustrations with wonderful patterns and visual textures as What is Green? Each page is just a picture of an animal naming himself: I'm a lazy lion, I'm a curious kitten, I'm a lovable little lamb, etc. They're really adorable. I especially like the tipped-over turtle; his shell has splotches that look like differently-colored rocks, with a nice patchwork effect. But for whatever reason when I open it and start reading about the animals, my daughter reaches out to shut the book saying "No!" and pushes it away. I think her opinion is made clear, though I'm puzzled at the cause. It's happened the past five or six times I've tried to read it to her (we've only once made it all the way through) so I'm going to take it back to the library and continue with other books.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 18 pages, 2010

Flip, Flap, Fly!

by Phyllis Root

Soft and bright pastel pictures illustrate this board book that shows various baby animals learning from their mothers their respective mode of locomotion. The little bird practices flying, the baby fish to swim, the snake wiggles, otter slides, duck paddles and so on. At the end of each spread the baby animal says "Look, I see a-" leading onto the next page of mother-baby pairs. Finally the little mouse sees a child, who isn't running or jumping but just getting a kiss from mom. Then the child ties it all together by observing all the baby animals around him. Nice book.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 32 pages, 2009

Touch and Feel Jungle Animals

by DK Publishing

Another one of the touch-and-feel variety, this board book features animals from the jungle with some foliage around them, and a texture patch on each page for little hands to explore. There's a fuzzy tiger, hairy orangutan, and nice scaly pattern on the snake. I did find it a bit disappointing that the toucan beak and frog skin were both the same- perfectly smooth- doesn't a frog skin have some kind of texture? but other than that it's a very nice book that keeps my kid engaged. Bright colors and very attractive-looking animals.

 Rating: 3/5........ 10 pages, 2001

Snowballs

by Lois Ehlert

This is one of the coolest board books I've seen in a long time. Cut-paper collage illustrates birds looking for food in the new-falling snow. Then the narrator shows an accumulation of things in bags and piles, names the anticipation of waiting for a really good snow day. And there follows a showcase of snowmen, suddenly spanning two pages and taking up the width for their height so you have to rotate the book ninety degrees to change the orientation. There is a snow dad, snow mom, snow boy and girl, snow baby and snow cat, even a snow dog (pretty shapeless but fun nonetheless). The cool thing is that the snowmen, made also of cut paper, have all kinds of real objects put on them besides the iconic scarf and carrot nose. And multiple items are used that will feed the birds. There are strawberries and corn kernels, sunflower seeds, berries, raisins, popcorn, peanuts, etc. Plus all kinds of curious objects like id tags, toy car wheels, bottle caps and so forth. The dog covered with many kinds of buttons is fun. My eighteen-month-old likes to point out the objects she knows: "Hat! Fork!" Each page also shows a (grateful you must think) bird or squirrel on or near the snowman, which will also provide it some winter food. The last few pages show the snowmen melting. a nice touch with a bit of rhyme.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 26 pages, 1995

Baby's Best Friend

by Rachel Hale

Like Hugs and Kisses by the same author, this book is full of absolutely beautiful photographs of babies paired with young animals. The simple text phrases describe attributes of being a friend, or of the animals- cute or furry, friendly, snuggly and so forth. There's puppies and kittens but also birds (perched on baby hats) and bunnies, even a duckling, sheep and turtle. (Funny thing, my daughter always says "ewww" at the turtle picture because once we found a smashed turtle shell outside and while looking at it with curiosity cautioned her against touching it because of possible germs. Now she seems to think all turtles are yucky!) This book has better phrasing than Hugs and Kisses, the rhythm doesn't feel so forced. Both baby and I like it a lot.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 20 pages, 2011

Hugs and Kisses

by Roberta Grobel Intrater

Cute book of close-up photos showing babies exchanging kisses and hugs with their parents. Kisses on the feet, belly, cheek (one leaves a lipstick mark!) etc. Of course my eighteen-month-old loves seeing pictures of other baby faces, and she recognizes the activity, often presents her own foot or face for a kiss as we read this book. She also likes to point out identities: "Baby! Mommy! Daddy!" and sometimes facial features: "Eye! Noo (nose). Eaw (ear)." The only question I have of the book is the choice of a black background for the pages. They just seem kind of dark and often the hair blends into the background. Not sure why that choice was made. But it is an adorable book regardless.

Rating: 3/5 ....... 10 pages, 2002

Good Morning Baby!

by Sabine Kraushaar

This board book is shaped like a flower. The pages are round and the petals make tabs, two or three per page, sticking out at different angles. It's really the only thing going for it, the curious shape. The gist of the content is just toys: each page shows a toy and names it while a sparkly butterfly appears alongside. That's it. I don't even know why it's called Good Morning, it could just be called My Toys or Let's Play or something else entirely and still work. I find it rather inane. But the flower shape is just so charming and original I forgive the book its otherwise silliness.

Rating: 2/5 ......... 8 pages, 2006

Do You Want to Be My Friend?

by Eric Carle

A book without pictures, this one shows a little mouse on each page greeting other animals. On each spread the next creature's tail is showing, letting you guess who the mouse will meet next. Mousie encounters a lion, elephant, peacock, seal, horse, giraffe and myriad other creatures before he finally finds another little mouse and together they find shelter in the hole of a tree. Just in time, as a thick green line that has been present on all the pages reveals itself at the end to be a very long snake! Lovely textures make the pictures enjoyable to look at and it's pretty easy to come up with some narration for the book, whether pretending to have the mouse talk to each animal, or just name the animals for your little one.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 30 pages, 1971

Baby Animals

In the Jungle
by Kingfisher Books

Beautiful clear photographs of cute baby animals introduce toddlers to creatures that inhabit the jungle. The book features an orangutan, frogs, tapir, gorilla, elephant, tiger and lemur (is that a jungle animal?) There's a little description telling something about each animal and a feature of its behavior: the tapir's spots help it hide in the foliage, a lemur likes to sunbathe, elephants cool off in the mud, etc. The text has some fun variations going on, with letters bending, changing shape and doing other irregular things to help emphasize the action or characteristic described. It's quite fun, very attractive and a bit educational all at the same time.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 14 pages, 2011

What Are You Doing, Maisy?

by Lucy Cousins

I remember reading Maisy books with my older daughter when she was small, and now I'm discovering them all over again for her little sister. Maisy is a little mouse with animal friends. She's featured in board books, often with lift-the-flaps (which is always fun but I have to guard against enthusiastic little hands tearing them!) The pictures are simple and bold with bright, clean colors. This one shows Maisy in each picture getting ready to do something, and the text on the facing page has little pictures of the objects involved. When you lift the flap it shows what Maisy does with all those things. For example, on one page it shows eggs, butter, flour and candles, Maisy on the facing page is stirring in a bowl. What is she doing? Lift the flap, and there she is looking proud with a finished cake! The teaching moment of deducing what activity might use each group of objects is only enhanced by the progression of all the pictures- it turns out that Maisy is doing things specifically to get ready for a big event at the end. My little girl loves these books so much that she even says the name; she'll bring me a book repeating "May-sie, May-sie" insistently until I read it. We're going to have to find more than just the three I've currently borrowed from the library.

Rating: 4/5 ....... 14 pages, 2003

Thumper Counts to Ten

by Kitty Richards

Cute little counting book full of adorable furry bunnies and other forest animal friends. The details of the background foliage, flowers and textures of grass, pebbles, water ripples etc really make it lovely. What is a very simple concept ends up being a book full of detailed pictures that give the young reader a lot to look at beyond just counting how many butterflies or ducklings are on the page. I'm not terribly fond of books that capitalize on popular films or tv characters, but this one has a nice quality that readily overcomes my reluctance to appreciate it.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 16  pages, 2007

My Very First Book of Motion

by Eric Carle

You must know that Eric Carle is something of a classic illustrator when it comes to picture books. At least, I think so. He's the one who did The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Well, this board book has the same lively, bright cut-paper collage illustrations. Each one simply shows an animal. The textures and patterns in the paper pieces that make up each picture are wonderful, but what makes this book really fun is that it has a double set of pages, top and bottom, so you can leave an animal page in place on the top and turn through all the words that describe actions on the bottom, until you find the one that matches. It's quite fun, especially as some can be ambiguous- does the caterpillar match with climb or crawl? which animal goes with strut? And you'll never guess which one performs the action flip- a creature I hadn't encountered in a kid's book before!

rating: 4/5 ........ pages, 1986

A Good Day

by Kevin Henkes

This cute little book shows four creatures, each with a simple problem: a bird has lost its feather, a puppy got his leash tangled up, the baby fox is missing his mother and little squirrel has dropped his nut. Each animal looks sad at his predicament but then a bad day turns around as they each find a solution or overcome their disappointment. At the very end there's a nice closing touch where a little girl finds the feather the bird had lost and runs with it to her mom in delight: what so dismayed the bird turned out to be a highlight of her day!

 Rating: 3/5 ........ 32 pages, 2007

more opinions:
Kate's Bookery
What Adrienne Thinks About That
readertotz
The Brimbank Book Shelf

Beach Day!

by Kristin Sorra

Cute little board book shows a redhead toddler enjoying a visit to the beach with her family. Each page simply has the words of her greeting a new activity or person: the lifeguard, the waves of the ocean, a seagull, a sandcastle. Hello, umbrella. Hello, towel. Hello, shells etc etc. Can be quite repetitive. But kids like that. One of my toddler's favorite words (at least it gets a lot of use) right now is simply "HI!" (she practically yells it at everyone we meet on walks) so she quite enjoys this book.

rating: 3/5 ........ 22 pages, 2009

Four Tenths of an Acre

by Laurie Lisle

I don't know why this book didn't sit well with me, but I just couldn't focus on it. And normally I like reading memoirs about gardening. Hers includes a lot about the history of her new town, and quotes from other writers (most famous names) about gardening. If I had been in the right frame of mind I could have enjoyed learning how a little town changed its face over the generations, and compiled another large list of books related to gardening and plants to read. The book is peppered with their titles. As it was I often found my attention wandering, or bored. Perhaps it's because my own focus has shifted; the challenges of creating a nice garden design in her oddly shaped narrow yard failed to capture my interest.  I suppose I relate more to the growing of houseplants now; I did find myself curiously attentive to the pages about her indoor plants, particularly a large jade which she tried unsuccessfully to coax into flowering. I actually thumbed eagerly through the pages to see if she ever managed that; having read on another blog last year about someone who did I wanted to say aloud to her: it's not just the dryness, it's temperature, too! Let it go dry and cold, and see if that works! But of course the author can't hear me talking aloud to her book.

So I really only skimmed the second half of this book, but perhaps you would like it better.

Abandoned ........ 219 pages, 2005

Picking Your Battles

by Bonnie Maslin

I find it difficult to write about self-help books without feeling like I'm exposing something of my flaws and failures. I also find it hard to know which books in this area are more credible than others. What makes one author's advice more solid than another's? And I often wonder if I am just liking a self-help book because its views already agree with my own; but what if my views are wrong? maybe a book that I didn't agree with but that taught me to do different would be more useful...

Anyway, I found this book helpful enough that right after finishing I wanted to turn to the front page and read it all over again, but I've already renewed it twice from the library. So I bought myself a copy. That in itself says a lot. I feel like the real test of the book's veracity will be how well its suggestions work when put into practice. I am trying, but still fall far short of where I should be as a parent. Here's some of the things that really stuck with me from Picking Your Battles.

The book describes methods of implementing discipline, being firm and sticking to the rules and standards you have made for your family, without caving into arguments. It helps you discern between what kinds of infractions are merely irritating to you and better ignored, which are impolite misconduct that should be corrected, and which are serious infractions that need to be acted on immediately. It tells you how to teach your child to be responsible, to recognize consequences, to understand the impact of their actions on others. Shows you strategies for managing anger, whether it be at your children, or anger they feel towards you. Points out that anger can be useful, as long as it is not expressed with aggression. Helps you recognize your own discipline strategy and realize if it is effective or not. And so on. Grounded in an understanding of child psychology, the author also tells you how to recognize when your kid is acting the way he does because of a developmental stage, not just because they're trying to be difficult or get under your skin. This is another thing I often need to remember. There's a lot more that I'm not even touching on here, but I don't really know how to describe it properly.

Well, I'm trying to implement some of the ideas from the book: to listen more, guide and direct more than demand and punish, give positive reinforcement instead of negative reprimands, and stem my irritation (I tend to nag a lot). But I think I'm going to read this book over again many times before I am done.

rating: 4/5 ......... 352 pages, 2004

more opinions:
Jesse's Girl

Busy Gorillas

by John Schindel

Guess what, I'm still reading the parenting book. And have a handful of gardening books I foolishly checked out from the library but have found no time to read. Life is busy now, hours always occupied. But I do happen to read lots of kid's books. So they're going to be the main feature here for a while! I have some catching up to do . . .

Busy Gorillas is in the same little series as Busy Kitties, one of my daughter's favorites that must be popular with other kids as well because I have never been able to find it again at the library. The board book shows gorillas doing various things: climbing, swinging, gnawing on plants, slapping their chest, pushing each other, napping, dashing about (blurry photo here- nice effect!) cuddling an infant, and my favorite, a big frowning face. That picture is just great! Each photo is paired with simply rhyming text. Sturdy little book illustrating to small readers activities that gorillas do- many of which are just like things we do ourselves.

rating: 3/5 ....... 20 pages, 2010

more opinions:
The Brainpan
the Well-Read Child

-ahem- more aquisitions

I just can't seem to help myself. When the books are free, I grab everything that looks interesting. Regardless of whether I've ever heard of it before. And I hadn't been to the Book Thing in several years, so I was extra-excited about the prospects. So... I brought seventy-two new-to-me books home this weekend. I won't make notes on them all, because I know so little about most of them- but really, how can you pass up titles like Wooden Fish Songs or The Grasshopper King? And things like Through the Eyes of a Young Naturalist look like they were written just for me.

Well, here they are! Some brief mentions about each stack just below it. You can click on any image to see the titles larger. If you recognize some of these books, please do tell me how wonderful (or awful) they are! I'd love to know.

Those three little black books on the top seem to be humorous accounts of a young physician's first years of practice. They look entertaining.
Lad: A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune. I read this wayyy back in the days when I was also going through all the Jim Kjelgaard books I could get my hands on. Like Lassie, it's about a remarkably intelligent hero-dog man's best friend yadda yadda. But I might still like it and get some nostalgia out of reading it again.
Snake by somebody Gody seems to be about a black mamba that terrorizes New York City. I probably won't be frightened but might get some good chuckles out of it.
The Kitchen Madonna and The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden- always anxious to read more Godden but I'm hoping Diddakoi isn't the one that I recall Jenny decrying as the worst Godden book ever....  !
The Mimosa Tree by Vera and Bill Cleaver- I picked this one up just because I am so delighted in the little mimosa tree in my windowsill, not that I have any clue what the book is about!
Love, Let Me Not Hunger by Paul Gallico- another author I've loved but read very few of his works. Never heard of this one before and curiously turning some pages it seems to be about a little circus that falls on hard times.

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville- I picked this up because I read some reviews about it who-knows-when and thought it looked interesting.

Egret by Helen Collins- is not about a bird, but about a young artist in New York City. I'm really curious about that one.
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera- remember the movie of same title, that was out some years ago? This seems to be the original story.
The Midwife's Tale by Gretchen Moras Laskas- when I got home I realized not only did I already have this book, but I tried to read it and didn't finish it. Oops! Anyone want a copy?
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx- I saw all the hype about this when it was a new film. I didn't realize it was at first a short story. I was surprised the book was so little. I'm hoping since it's so short there's not too many -ahem- explicit scenes so I might read it.
I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti- I still recall the moment when a roommate's friend in college recommended this book to me. And I put it on my list but never read it. That was roughly fifteen years ago. Yet when I saw it on the shelf I immediately recoginzed it and remembered who told me about it. How's that for memory!

A Zoo for All Seasons- published by the Smithsonian Institute, this book is about the National Zoo. I like books about zoos. And not only does it have photographs (a bit old fashioned, but still good!) but also some lovely drawings.
How I Photograph Wildlife and Nature by Leonard Lee Rue- I don't know who this guy is, and I don't know if his photography advice is still pertinent (maybe outdated, at least as far as equipment recommendations go) but just from thumbing through I saw that he had a lot of notes about animal behaviour, because he tells you how to get close enough to wildlife to get good pictures. That alone interests me.

The rest of this stack is mostly National Geographic books focused on various places in the world- mostly about nature, as you can see. I hope they're good reading! If not, the pictures will still be appreciated.

The Maine Woods by Henry Thoreau- I didn't know he wrote about the woods in Maine. Perhaps this one will be a bit more accessible to me than Walden, which I've tried a few times but made little headway...
Bodach the Badger- I'm stoked about this book! It wasn't until I got home and looked inside the cover more that I realized it was by the same author who wrote String Lug the Fox, an old favorite of mine that I found by chance at a used bookstore one day ages ago. Delighted!
The Searching Spirit by Joy Adamson- I did so like her books about Elsa the lioness, the cheetahs and leopard she also raised. Curious to read what else she has to say, although I think from what other sources tell me I should temper this by reading George's words as well (that's always been a goal of mine anyways).
Animal Liberations by Peter Singer- I think this is a classic in the animal-rights world.
Rosy is My Relative by Gerald Durrell- all the books I've come across by Gerald Durrell were about his forays around the world animal-collecting: I didn't know he wrote fiction. But of course, even his fiction features animals- at a glance this one seems to be about an elephant.
Donkeys Galore by Averil Swinfen- a book about a stud donkey farm. How fun is that?

The Giraffe by Marie Nimier- apparently a little fable about a zookeeper who falls in love with a giraffe. Sounds a bit bizarre.
Lie Down in Darkness by Williem Styron- this is one of those titles I have always recognized, it sticks in my mind for some reason. Now perhaps I'll finally learn what it's about.
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore- I assumed, as did the people who shelved this book in the natural history section, that it was about birds. But it's actually a short story collection. Hm.
Portrait of Jennie by Robert Nathan- this is an old favorite of mine but I got a second copy on purpose so I can give it to one of you when I finally write about this dear book!

African Violets by Helen van Pelt Wilson- mine aren't flowering. Maybe this book will tell me why!
In and Out of the Garden by Sara Midda- this book looks absolutely lovely. It's little notes and tidbits about gardening all with the most wonderful handdrawn lettering and illustrations. Here's a few samples I pulled offline.

the rest of that stack is mostly books about birds, especially birds of prey. I've always had a minor fascination with falconry. Picking up on that once again...

see anything you recognize? What should I read soonest?

Working

People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
by Studs Terkel

I can't remember the last time it took me so long to read a book. The length alone is not the cause. This book is an oral history, a compilation of essays, so it was easy to dip in and out of it without loosing focus. It's made up of interviews, where people from all across the nation, from all walks of life and all types of occupations, discuss what they do for a living. Some are proud of their work, others feel it's a meaningless grind. Their words express sorrow, longing, frustration, hope, contentment, even on occasion irresponsibility and there was one guy who sounded downright crazy. He was very much the square peg in a round hole. Working was published in the early seventies and this one essay I'm thinking of was a young hippy-type guy talking about how he'd do things at the office that others perceived as subversive. From simply wearing his hair long and ignoring the dress code to meditating in the middle of an office floor, just sitting there would work other people up into a fit! It was very amusing to read his words but also a bit alarming- for someone who professed to be a pacifist he sure did talk about violence a lot.

Anyway, you'll find here the words of firemen, chefs, doctors, store clerks, truck drivers, family farmers, business executives, waitresses, traveling salesmen, nurses, miners and factory workers, just about anything you can imagine people doing. Mechanics. Housewives. Hotel owners. Cabdrivers. Stockbrokers. Insurance and car salesmen. Doormen, policemen, mail carriers, meter readers, barbers, even a prostitute. And more. I think my favorite was the segment about the work of a bookbinder! Very interesting. Some interviews pair the voices of fathers and sons next to each other, or of husband and wife. People who have their dream job, a position they've worked hard for. Others who don't quite know how they ended up in that occupation but are stuck with it. People new to the country and those who had been here for generations. Old people looking back at the end of a lifelong career, young people talking about change and the future. Some get into discussing unions, organization and workers rights and strikes; others discuss prejudice and how the way people treat you or perceive your job can make it feel demeaning; yet others talk about the satisfaction of physical labor, of creating a well-made product, of serving people the best way they can.

Particularly interesting was to read the book with an attention to its time frame; a lot of the older generation in it talk about how things have changed since the Depression era, or since the thirties when they were young; but their description of how things were in their now (the seventies) compared to my now (the 21st century) gave it another perspective altogether. It is a fascinating book, a lively tome full of rich, varied voices. Recommended.

rating: 4/5 ........ 589 pages, 1972

Chick

by DK Publishing

This is one of my toddler's favorite board books right now. We got it from a library sale. I think she likes it so much because it's very small, so fits well in her hands and just by its size alone is charming. Plus, she loves chicks! Next to cats, I think they're her favorite animal. She learned to say "bock, bwak" before any other animal sound and when we go to the petting zoo she laughs and wiggles at the baby chicks. No other critter there gets the same reaction of delight.

The little book shows the mother hen sitting on eggs, then the baby chicks hatching. After that each spread shows the chicks doing something- pecking at seeds, sipping water, finding things (a seed and a nasturtium flower), or just standing around in groups looking cute. The text is very simple descriptions of what is going on for each page. It's a darling little book.

rating: 3/5 ....... 20 pages, 2003

Animals/ Animales

by Milet Publishing

This book is full of illustrations of animals with their names in both english and spanish. Each spread has a few animals in groups more or less according to their habitat; pets are grouped together, as are arctic animals, jungle animals, a fish with a crab, livestock animals, etc. The one odd grouping is of a zebra and giraffe with a kangaroo on the same page. A minor quibble, but it stood out to me particularly because the bottom edge of each spread has a graphic illustration showing the habitat: water, lawn, fenced pasture, etc. It's a nice little touch. But kangaroos don't live in the same place as giraffes. Neither do lions and tigers for that matter (except for the introduced ones!) but that doesn't bother me as much. Although they really should have put the lion on the page with the giraffe...

Anways. The book also is a curious mix of both photographs and illustrations. All the insects are illustrations, for example, as are the habitats. It works, though.

A bigger issue with this one is simply that my kid doesn't seem to like it! Maybe I need to talk up its charms  and say more about each picture ("look at the kitty! what is that kitty doing? does he want his tummy petted?  meow!") but for whatever reason after just a few pages of naming animals she's ready to move on to another book.

rating: 2/5 ....... 24 pages, 2011

Colors

by Michael Blake 

Another board book we picked up at the public library. Delightfully simple, each page or spread has a photograph from nature with a certain color prominent. Red shows some poppy flowers, green a frog on a leaf, pink a vivid flamingo, gray some seals snuggled in a pile, etc. All close-ups, beautiful photography. The final spread is of a mix of autumn leaves with many colors.

But what I really like about this book is something that puzzled me at first. The page edges don't line up. They're not all smooth in a block, but each gets an eighth of an inch shorter towards the center spread, then they each get a bit wider again to the final page. I thought it was an error or the book's spine had just got incredibly worn and loose, but then I noticed a label on the back said "easy-open, specially designed for little hands." And it is easier to turn the pages like this. I thought of how many times I've seen my toddler sitting there fumbling on the edge of a smooth, tight page block trying to get her little finger to hook the next page, and understood. Great idea for a little book!

rating: 4/5 .......16 pages, 2006

Stripes + Arrows

by Jill Hartley

I picked up this little square book because I so much liked another one by the same author, Circle + Square. For some reason this one didn't quite have the same appeal, though. There are twice as many pictures featuring stripes than arrows for one thing, so it feels rather unbalanced. The pictures aren't quite as colorful, at least not all of them. I do find it interesting how many different objects present stripes: cloth, shadows, patterned socks, candy, stairs, a zebra's hide. Whereas the arrows are almost all from signs and drawings. One stands out, it is a sign of a hand shape pointing. Regardless, my toddler doesn't find this book very interesting, at least not the two times I've picked it up to show her yet. So I think this one is going back to the library soon. The kid on the cover is really cute, though!

rating: 2/5 ........ 12 pages, 2008

Where is My Friend?

by Simms Taback

Wow, this blog is really languishing. I've just been very slow at reading Working. In the meantime, however, I've made the happy discovery that the new-to-me public library branch has a huge selection of board books, so we've been bringing them home in piles. The little one will run over when I say "let's read a story. Go get a book!" and pull one out of her bottom shelf. This is one of her favorites lately.

Where is My Friend? has, like most baby books, a simple premise. On each spread an animal (usually looking dejected) asks where is my friend? then you turn a flap, his face becomes a smile or surprised expression, and a second animal is revealed standing next to him. I like that the animal pairings match their environments: the zebra has an ostrich friend, the hippo a flamingo, the seal is with a penguin, kangaroo with a koala, moose with a turkey (who looks cross for some reason). As a final pair we meet a little boy who has a dog friend, and at the very end all the animals march across the page together. It's cute, but I don't really care for the artwork. It just doesn't appeal to me. However, my daughter really likes turning those flaps to find all the different animals, so for her it's a good book.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 16 pages, 1984