Monday Reading - All Kinds of Holiday Gift Ideas!

         

    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!

     However you celebrate, I wish everyone a Happy Holiday with family and friends. This is going to be a busy week, but at the end, my son and family will be here. It will be great to see them, and then celebrate Christmas together, along with my daughter and family who live here. Have a great week everyone!

          It's a debut young adult speculative fiction novel, which is terrific! Rachel Byrne happens to be a parent of a former student of mine, and I am grateful that she gave me a copy! Because she is a mom, I imagine she knows some of what it's like for kids to feel somewhat outside the group, never fitting in. Not that her own children experienced this. I don't know that. But as a mom, she does understand kids growing up with all kinds of feelings about self, which she shows so beautifully in this book! 

          In Predestined, the story that is told to us by Catalina, called Lina, sixteen, about her days filled with conflict, some with her parents or at school, though it's clear she loves her parents and her younger sister, Emma Claire. Although the outcome means a lot of trouble, being grounded at home or suspended at school, often the acts Lina does are for good reasons. She's alone in a sea of upset!

         And that is how Rachel Byrne lets us readers begin to know this new young woman, and the final conflict she loses is a surprising and intriguing invitation to spend her summer at an exclusive academy nestled in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Haverford Pines. Lina was counting on a summer job at the local rec center, doing a lot at the climbing wall, but she finally gives in, and off she goes to a summer she doesn't want, yet one that gives her more than we readers will ever imagine! Just wait until you see!

         This school has a history of educating many famous people, both the good and the bad, and its prime purpose is to help those just starting to find their own, special, purpose and train in all ways to perfect it! Lina bonds surprisingly with her roommate, Brittany, an aspiring model, and as the days' extraordinary, often not so fair, challenges increase, Lina finds other friends who help, encourage, and as teens say, "have her back"! Along with Gabi, Charles, Hayden, and Eric, mysterious information about the school's history is discovered. The activities seems to find Lina especially singled out in harmful ways by others who have hopes she will leave or be kicked out. She fights back, but some of those who are in charge appear to support those who've become her enemies. The mysteries and challenging rules continue; Lina and her friends keep questioning and helping each other!

           The action becomes one for breath-holding as I watch Lina and the other strong characters add to both hope for some and disgust for others. As I did, I'm sure other readers will continue to ask, "What in the world is going on?" 

         I enjoyed the story very much, and cannot help but wonder, maybe hope, that we'll see these kids a little older and wiser, but ready to tackle still another challenge. The story may not be quite over yet!

         Thanks for an amazing book, Rachel!

      Note: I shared for Poetry Friday last week, too! It's not a book of poetry, yet the story is so poetic, I wanted to make each of you aware of it if you haven't seen it yet. James Norbury offers a story of sacrifice and friendship. It's an adventure with young dog Amaya who is searching for her parents and is nearly destroyed by a wolf pack until its leader saves her. They go on a journey to find her family, and along the way, the words they, really James Norbury, show us life lessons of friendship, taking a path that may only seem to be the way, and not giving up caring for the feelings of each other, whether it's worry or grief. That moon is their touchstone, and Norbury's illustrations are stunning as the wolf and Amaya travel together. I say it's a love song for humans in such disarray this year. 

      And, I can never resist a book about the moon!

     As part of being a U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón wrote this poem that will travel into space on NASA's Europa Clipper, heading to Jupiter. The poem will be engraved on the ship. Her words show what it might be like to go outside our world, to explore and ponder. Peter Sis has illustrated with extraordinary imaginative art, showing and imagining human connections with other animals, the sky, water. It's Limón's debut picture book, which will make a marvelous gift for those you know who love poetry and the pictures from the words that have been created by a wonderful artist! 

         Thanks to Candlewick Press for the following books, except at the older ones at the end!

      For the littlest child, a lover of trucks, what could be more fun than to learn about twenty of them. All in rhyme and in bright, bright colors, kids will see a variety of trucks who help. And what do they help? They're part of the story of finally getting the wonderful town Christmas tree displayed! All the expected players are there, including a snowman, a holiday band, kids playing in the snow, and Santa! There's a funny ending, too, to solve a problem! 

These two ahead are great ideas for gifts! 

          Remember the stories about Dasher by Matt Tavares? Here is a gorgeous boxed set, just perfect for a child on your gift list! 

           Ruffles loves those kittens and so many more things, like scratching and eating, digging and sleeping, BUT! In this story, David Melling shows us in fun illustrations of Ruffles' life with kittens that there are problems, this time with "snow"! What he does outside and inside makes a lovely animal story to read with a group or with one child "inside"! It was first published by Nosy Crow Ltd. in the UK! 

          Aaron Becker creates with new ideas for looking on every page. This time, in a brief poem with soft color-washed illustrations, he brings us to look more closely at what IS 'Winter Light'. There are crystals and sunlight through trees, candles and glowing embers in a fireplace! Sit with a young one and enjoy, perhaps finding other kinds seen, too!

     A shout-out to two favorite, older holiday books, one for Hanukkah and one for Chrismas! I just wanted to share. If they are unfamiliar, find them and enjoy!

Now Reading: Nearly finished with Pete Hautman's Answers to Dog. It's really great!

Poetry Friday - Keeping On

        It's Poetry Friday, and Linda Mitchell is hosting HERE at A Word Edgewise.  Along with her post, I'm using the Poetry Friday art she designed! Be sure to visit Linda to read her mash-ups! (Don't know what they are? Go visit! Thanks for hosting, Linda!

I hope your holiday time has been moving along with delight this year! 

        I wrote of my favorite things, trees, last week, and this week, another favorite thing popped up, a marvelous book about the moon and so much more!

      It's not a book of poetry, yet the story is so poetic, I wanted to make each of you aware of it if you haven't seen it yet. James Norbury offers a story of sacrifice and friendship. It's an adventure with young dog Amaya who is searching for her parents and is nearly destroyed by a wolf pack until its leader saves her. They go on a journey to find her family, and along the way, the words they, really James Norbury, show us life lessons of friendship, taking a path that may only seem to be the way, and not giving up caring for the feelings of each other, whether it's worry or grief. That moon is their touchstone, and Norbury's illustrations are stunning as the wolf and Amaya travel together. I say it's a love song for humans in such disarray this year. 

      And, I can never resist a book about the moon!

early morning moonglow

thoughts of years of moon tales

what stories will you tell?

Linda Baie ©

Monday Reading - Find A Special Book!

        

    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!

           It's the National Book Award winner this year, and oh, so great a story! From the cover: "If Kareen could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness." Yes, for each chapter, Shifa Saltagi Safadi has offered a football definition, bringing the poetry of Kareen's life to football in a verse novel of both sad and happy changes. Even being born in the US isn't enough. Kareen is born to a Syrian family, cruelly called "Cereals" by those who ignore or tease them just because of who he is. He loves football but ends up in a moral dilemma because one enemy, Austin, lures him into doing work for him with a promise to help him get on the team. His father promises that Kareen will help a new refugee get settled into school. His only friend has moved away! More and more pile-ons bring no touchdowns, only penalties. Kareem's actions gain nothing but what football calls "sacks". Safadi shows the hidden emotional tolls of what it is like for kids "between". I loved her honest portrayal and wish it wasn't so true for them. Readers will give Kareem hope all through the story and keep wondering if he will bring a win at the end of this "game" called middle-school life.

       This is a wonderful, full-of-heart, story by Stephanie Ellen Sy, with enticing, colorful illustrations by Daniel Tingcungco. After a stormy night, young Maya looks out her window and sees a roof! The Philippines experience many storms, typhoons, and more. Their homes are easily torn apart, and most put their names and addresses on the roofs so they can be returned! Through this journey, Maya and her father take the rolled-up roof and go on a search for the owners. Along the way, Sy shows the obstacles, and readers see all the people who help them on the way, like a farmer with his carabao (a draft animal) helps clear a blocked path, and fishers take them across a raging river because the road has been swept away. The examples show the gathering of a Bayanihan, which means "being in a community."  A note at the back shares this spirit "when ordinary Filipinos turn into a bayani, someone who does something courageous for their community." This is Maya and her father's story, but I imagine there are many like this in real life, perhaps recently in the wake of the recent hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina! With the note at the back, Tingcungco creates the line of people in this Bayanihan and names them with their English and Filipino names, like "Farmer (Magsasaka) and Shoemaker (Sapatero).  I enjoyed it very much! 

      Bit by bit, Kyle Lukoff shares the journey that young Jack needs to learn when saying "Sorry" to a classmate for pushing down her castle. Simple words in the notes and Julie Kwon's beautifully emotional illustrations bring the classroom to readers as day by day, Jack tries, with his teacher gently guiding him to arrive at the three things that must be written in his apology to succeed! The text is written entirely in notes, simple and powerful words! Watching Jack's expressions while reading his notes tells all that's needed to know! It may be written for young readers, but everyone needs to know these steps for apologies! 

       I did not know this inspiring story of Junko Tabei by debut author Anita Yasuda, and now I'm glad I do and happy to share the book. It's filled with her life, from the early love of climbing to her triumphant accomplishment of being the first woman to conquer Everest. Before, women were denied permits. It wasn't easy; she and her team (the first all-women's team) nearly died from an avalanche on the way up. Thanks to Sherpas, who rescued her! And, she carried on! Anita Yasuda tells Junko's story from beginning to end, with the choices to keep going "Up, Up, Ever Up! in both mountain-climbing and starting other nature-related work. Showing her adventurous spirit in her desire for climbing for women are the fabulous illustrations of Junko who is ever on the move by Yuki Shimizu. She also illustrated The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham, which won a Caldecott Honor. 

         There is a timeline at the back, along with a glossary, source notes, and a bibliography filled with both books about her and about Everest and its climbers. A final note: Junko was also the first woman to conquer all seven summits! (Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson, and Puncak Jaya). It's a terrific biography that will undoubtedly be loved here in the Colorado Rockies! 

         Eighteen poems celebrate these eighteen dogs, written by David Elliott, accompanied by eighteen marvelous illustrations by eighteen different illustrators. Each page is interesting because Elliott adds some extra notes to his poems, and delightful the varied way the illustrators create "their" dogs. Do you know the tallest dog, one bred for hunting rats, or one who never wants to stop working? Those answers and more are in the book! The ending includes "Mutt": "A little this./A little that./A little everything but cat." And bios of the artists with memories of their own special dogs. Endpapers stretch across both pages with "Anatomy of a Dog". It's a gem for pulling out memories as readers laugh along with the humor and enjoy all the facts! 

         I've loved other books by Lesa Cline-Ransome, like Finding Langston, her debut novel, and Before She Was Harriet, another picture book. This time, she's taken the days in the week and placed this young slave doing something both admirable and frightening, helping his people learn to read! It was a forbidden act and punishable by either whippings or sometimes death! In gorgeous warm-feeling illustrations, James E. Ransome illuminates Cline-Ransome's tale of brave people who are working hard to learn, even late at night after a long day at their other work. As you see from the title, they call him Teach (a secret name.) He learned because he grew up as a companion to his master's son, learning what that boy learned. Now, he works at his master's general store, writing receipts, keeping notes, and delivering packages. When he's caught looking at his master's newspaper, he realizes he must care more about what he's seen doing. The rest of the times are his own. Mondays, he's teaching kids at night in a stable, each with a slate he keeps hidden, letter sounds in quiet whispers. Tuesdays find him delivering to his master's cook who has a secret note, asks what it says. He tells her of the words, North, Yankees, soldiers (whispers of a war coming). As he tells her, he also teaches her some of the letters! That's how his days continue, learning and helping people learn. He is Teach! 

       There's an Author's Note and a list of additional books on Resistance at the back. 

Now reading: A YA sci-fi titled Predestined by Rachel Byrne, trying to find time to read has been a challenge this past busy week, but soon, I'll finish! It's quite intriguing so far, about a prestigious private school with scary secrets! And, I just started Pete Hautman's Answers to Dog!

Poetry Friday - A Memory that Grows

    

       It's Poetry Friday, and Carol LaBuzzeta is hosting HERE at The Apples in My Orchard.  She's bringing the love and joy from our lives to us! Stop by! 

        Some of you will remember that I found my new home in the city, nearer my daughter and family and my work, in 2012. It's down a block from the library, a couple of blocks from the neighborhood town center with many shops and a grocery. However, the best thing is that it is surrounded by trees, and inside my yard is this over-a-hundred-year-old Cottonwood. Why did I grab this place right away? Well, near my daughter was first, but the tree, yes, the tree was second! 

       I lived in a little town until I was about twelve and spent a lot of time with my maternal grandparents. In their backyard was a maple tree, which was easy to climb and not too large then. It was called Linda's Maple! I dragged old cushions up it, and sat there and read many summer afternoons. We did not have AC, of course, thus being outside in the shade was the best place, at least for me. When I go back to Missouri to visit my brother, we visit several places, including the cemetery, and also drive up an alley to check on "my tree."       

        It's not a new poem, but I just had an arborist out to check on my trees, all fine again, and I am thankful! They prefer to check when most of the leaves are down! I always worry until they tell me all is well, thus the poem fits future goodbyes. I know that many have lost trees because of the hurricanes in recent months and also grieving for special trees! 

       I just shared David Harrison's poetry book, A Tree is a Community on Monday here. It's lovely! I do have trees on my mind! 

One Tree

I know now I’ll no longer see

a poem we call maple tree.

 

That tree grew here for eighty year.

It saw homes rise; paved roads appear.

 

We lingered in its summer shade,

the growing green where nests were made.

 

Its twirling seeds were nature’s toys,

the autumn’s crimson blazing joys.

 

While slumbering in snow and cold,

it showed no hint of the evil hold

 

of poisons placed in earth and air.

We knew only the beauty there.

 

The tree is down, memories depart.

It lies in pieces, like my heart.

              Linda Baie ©

       How are you doing? The political fervor is a challenge, but my holiday prep has been fun. Wishing everyone good things for your holidays!

It's Monday! Ready for Winter Reading!

          

    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!

     I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, if you celebrated. And, if you're in that eastern over-the-top snow fall, hope you've managed to stay safe! Pictures of the amounts are hard to believe! Have a nice week ahead! 

Thanks to Candlewick Press
for my copy!

       Cousins Owen, 12, with Vivian, almost 12, and little sister, Amy, 8, are on a camping trip with parents and finally have talked them into camping further on the trail and by a lake, alone, for a night and a day! They're certainly excited and have experience, are ready! But in that night, an earthquake happened, pushing huge rocks into the lake, awakening them up wet, and destroying the trail back to their parents. What to do, what they did, and how they managed is an adventure of accomplishment for these young kids. Anne Nesbet shows the characters face fears, not because they want to, but because they must, to help themselves make it, and to help each other! It's a treasure of a story to watch them travel "The Long Way Around"! 

   from Goodreads: "A celebratory and empowering story from young trans activist Gavin Grimm, two-time Stonewall Award-winning and Newbery Honor-winning author Kyle Lukoff, and illustrator J Yang follows the true story of how a young boy stood up for himself--and made history along the way."

             When a kid, named Gavin this time, grows up and realizes he has a choice to make, he does, first told to his mother, and supported. Gavin, as written above, with trans author, Kyle Lukoff and trans illustrator, J Yang, shows readers all about the choices for trans people, those supporting and what's supported, and by whom. This time, it's a focus on his school. It's the journey that led Gavin to choose to stand for what he thought was his right, to use the bathroom as himself! He has continued his fight, working for everyone's choices, and working with the ACLU.
Notes from Gavin and Kyle are at the back! I wish this book could be accessible to all kids. It's new to me, but out in 2022. I'm so glad to have found it!

       I've had the pleasure of working with David L. Harrison at the Highlights Foundation and admire his poetic abilities very much. He writes a blog post every day and has published many, many picture books of poetry in his life, plus numerous books about teaching poetry in the classroom. Each of his books for children will enhance studies about poetry and often are science-based, like double learning for the writers! He is currently the Poet Laureate of Missouri. 

       This time, having collaborated on two other books, David and Kate Cosgrove celebrate trees, from their beginnings to that time of taking a break in winter, then back starting again, a tree's all around the year with David's poetic voice and Kate's charming illustrations. A few favorite moments are these: "the rain/SHOUTS,/"Wake up,/you lazy roots!" And they do, welcoming the water and the "Leaves UNFOLD/like a/new dress." Pages of springtime fill with green welcoming ants and bees, beetles and butterflies. I think you can imagine the rest of the journey, except it's much better to read, perhaps "hear" David's words and see Kate's art! For those who want to start a study with young readers, perhaps in autumn to view the end, then the start in the spring, this book will be terrific for studying again and again! 

        At the back, David tells of a hackberry tree in his yard, "his" tree, that he watches day by day, all the year. Perhaps a class or a parent and child would like to find their own tree. Maybe it's already there, waiting for a friend? It's a beautiful book! 

     It's fun to discover an older book published by McSweeney's. George Sanders tells of hree neighbors, whose small houses are by the sea and whose children are tasked constantly to brush the Gappers (something like larger cockleburs) from their goats. Otherwise, the goats would stop giving milk, thus no milk or cheese to sell, and no money after selling. It may seem like a ridiculous tale, yet the lessons come home when the main character, a young girl named Capable, tries so hard when ALL the Gappers move to her goats. She cannot keep up, finally begging the neighbors for help. How that goes, and then the later action will bring readers to discuss and wonder at the attitude of not helping because it's not one's problem. Lane Smith's thoughtful illustrations bring the story's emotions to the page wonderfully!
This is Saunders' first children's book!

Nearly Finished: The National Award Winner, Kareem Between, by Shifa Saltagi Safadi, so good! Then, next, a book by a former student's parent, a sci-fi titled Predestined, by Rachel Byrne. 

Poetry Friday - Poetry Pals Gather Us

   

       It's Poetry Friday, and Tanita S. Davis is hosting HERE at {fiction! instead of Lies}! It's time for a Poetry Sisters challenge, 

       Here's is the challenge I copied last month from Laura Purdie Salas: 

            If you’d like to write with us in November, here’s our mission: Pluck a line or a theme from Jane Hirshfield’s “Two Versions,” and let that inspire your poem. I don’t find an online version easily available, so I’ll give you the first two lines:

“In the first version I slept by a stream.
All night awake things traveled near.”

Be sure to share your poem on Friday, November 29th, and use #poetrypals if you share it on social.

Stream at Longcarne Farm -
geograph.org.uk - 3958015.jpg

      I wrote about my husband last time, too. November and December bring more memories of him. This year's end bring his birthday, other family celebrations, and the holidays, so full of the traditions and special times we created together. Here is the poem, dear Poetry sisters, from the prompt you gave us.

More of November

 

“In the first version, I slept by a stream.

I dreamed.
And there you were, cuddled close,

Warming me, keeping us safe 

From the world’s dangers.

Then, the second version took over.

My back chilled.

You were swept away, they said

Into a journey all alone, no goodbyes

That time, but this I know: 

Someday, I’ll find the right stream,

and we’ll lie down together, 

Like that first version!

            Linda Baie ©

Monday Reading Recap - Love these Books!

          

    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!

     For those of you celebrating, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! We have some snow coming to Denver, but a lot in the mountains, moving in from that big California storm! If you're traveling, hope all goes well for you! 

              Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin's collaboration for this new book about the time in Bletchley Park gives a new personal perspective of this quite secret place formed to combat Hitler's march to capture Europe! I write "personal" because they have introduced imagined characters, a brother, Jakob, and sister, Lizzie, and new friends who happen to already live in that area or who work there. There's also a host of essential characters in charge whom we have known from history, like Alan Turing and Dilly Knox. Jakob, a whiz at math, is already working in secret to break the codes. Lizzie, 14, is on her way to escape to America, ordered there by a wealthy grandmother. She manages a swift escape in order to stay, much to the outrage of her grandmother. 

            This family has an American mother, Willa, working at the American embassy, who's last known to be in Poland, but many believe she's been killed. Others suspect she has betrayed the British and become the enemy. Lizzie keeps faithfully denying, ever pursuing the truth. In alternating chapters, the events of Jakob's and Lizzie's lives are told as month by month, the Germans get closer, and stories of some unravel, both sad and wonderful to discover. Occasionally, there are photos included of the Enigma machines, newspaper headlines, war pictures. It's a book of a time kept secret, some finally allowed to share decades later, and some who never told. Let Sepetys and Sheinkin take you time-traveling eighty-five years to Great Britain preparing for war. You'll be fascinated by their story! 

        For everyone who has adored the intriguing humor of the books by Edward Gorey, here is a picture book highlighting this man who entertained readers and playgoers throughout his life. Matthew Burgess shares, at the book's beginning (of Gorey's early years), when toddler Gorey saw a train and created his first art, "a sausage train," which his mother kept. Readers learn of Gorey teaching himself to read at three and a half, eventually reading Dracula before he was six! Later in life, he designed the sets for the Broadway play Dracula! He led a singular life, eventually retiring to an old home on Cape Cod. It's a fascinating book about him, brought to us in dynamic, intriguing illustrations by Marc Majewski! 

    When I looked, this evidently was created from a Webcomic, and its spooky tale from Blackwater, Maine, full of high school teen troubles, kept me wondering, "Oh no! What horrors could be next?" Two boys keep it all going, along with a goth girl, a ghost fisherman, and creepy changes page by page shown so wonderfully. I wasn't sure if they were real or a sad reflection of teenage emotions crying out for a lot of help. It's an all-inclusive tale that feels very real, pulls at one's heart for these young ones who need a lot of understanding and help. 

          With the dryest of humor and the most intriguing and inventive illustrations, Alex London and Paul O. Zelensky have created a book for quiet viewing while smiling a lot and then laughing out loud! Most of us readers know what a still life is, however, discovering also what it is not, what it does not do, lies in the hilarity of their new book. Remember, when a candle is placed into a still life, "The candle does not flicker, glow, or drip." There is more, and I would love to read this aloud! Be sure to find this book!

Currently Reading:  I did finish Anne Nesbet's The Long Way Around and it is very good, but no time to write a review! I'm not sure what's next. 

Monday Reading - New and Old!

         

    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!

Thanks to Candlewick Press
for my copy!

         A return to Norendy, where the Puppets of Spelhorst lived, and a new setting at the Hotel Bazaar where young Marta lives with her mother who works as a maid there. Each morning when her mother goes to work, Marta is left to her own days, counting up and down the stairs, watching a cat chasing a mouse (on a clock) and wondering about a painting with one wing in the ocean. However, all is not at all lost when a mysterious countess arrives, with a parrot. With magical stories and the loveliest of light, the tales move, from one to seven, helping Marta begin to have hope that her longlost father could, at last, be returning. Line art by Júlia Sardà enhances the imagination as each story is told; readers will want so much to hurry, to find out "What's Next!" I can imagine reading this, part by part, every day to a young class. It will become a favorite read aloud!

           I so enjoyed this book by Jilanne Hoffmann, the beauty of its presentation, the scientific information given in the picture book story, and more extensively explained in the back matter. The flap summarizes that the dust of the Sahel–a ribbon of land between the Sahara and the savanna– lifts with the harmattan wind each winter season. The dust from both mixes and travels thousands of miles westward, across the African continent and the Atlantic Ocean, to reunite with its unforgotten home deep in the Amazon basin. This is all new to me, and the story illustrated so beautifully by Eugenia Mello carried me along just like the dust is carried, landing at home! Told by the dust itself, readers will be mesmerized by the journey and, fortunately, will get to know more from the back matter, including NASA's observations, continental history, and an Author's Note. There, Hoffman relates that at publication, new research changes some of the earlier findings. It's terrific!

        It's a simple but arresting counting book by Tanya Tagaq, a Canadian Inuk, imagining a grand parade of polar bears, shown in both English and Inuktitut. The first is joined by another, and as they gather, they're sniffing, hunting, playing, dancing, and more. It will be much fun to read aloud, both enjoying the text and the art by Lee Pootoogook, a carver and printmaker. The ending offers a wonderful laugh.

      Buffy Silverman's books are a must when studying nature, along with using them as inspiration for writing. After a trip outdoors, readers can write prose or poetry and perhaps this book, or others from Buffy, can inspire some nature sketching, too!  This time, she offers poems to accompany some observed thrilling evening sounds while connecting the songs to musical instruments! For example, the second verse of one poem ends with "Oo-week, oo-week! Wood duck calls,/She flaps away/as darkness calls." The call is connected to an oboe. 

        The photos, credit given to numerous people, are marvelous to see, and may offer their own inspiration after reading and viewing! 

      There are two sections in the back matter filled with great information: "Meet the Musicians" and "Meet the Instruments".  Don't miss this book when studying the out-of-doors or just enjoying a taste of Buffy's "Starlight Symphony"!

        This is a re-read, but I wanted to share again to offer a new look at how all of us can help Stillwater and Koo "Save The World." My review on Goodreads is here! 

         Mo Yan is the first citizen of China to win the Novel Prize in Literature, which he won in 2012 for Red Sorghum. This picture book comes from his novella of the same name, a poignant story of the time this seven-year-old boy rises early to go with his grandfather, Yeye, to gather grass for drying and animal feed. It's quite a journey, showing such courage and resilience, eventually in a massive windstorm, the "GALE".  As you see from the cover, Zhu Chengliang's illustrations bring the story to life so that readers feel they are also right there with this pair. An excerpt from the novella at the end adds a bit more of their life story. It's a special book! 

Now reading: Sepetys' and Sheinken's The Bletchley Riddle! 

Poetry Friday - In the Night

  

       It's Poetry Friday, and Karen Edmisten is hosting HERE at The Blog With The Shockingly Clever Title! You'll need to visit so you can see just what she's named it! Thanks for hosting, Karen! 

       We all have those special dates that we remember when they come. It's most often a loved one's birthday, and often they have passed on, but I also note the birthdays of extended family, ones I don't see very much anymore.  

         This coming Wednesday, November 20th, is my husband's birthday. He hasn't been with us for eleven years, but I'm sure you know that I will always remember and keep him close especially on his day! This week, Poem a Day shared a poem that touched me deeply. It is new to me and I want to share it, for all of you, and for Arvie, "my love", a Happy Birthday! 

At the head of the table, probably a holiday
long ago! 

At The Mid Hour of Night 

        by Thomas Moore

1779 – 1852

 

At the mid hour of night, when stars are weeping, I fly 
To the lone vale we loved, when life shone warm in thine eye;
And I think oft, if spirits can steal from the regions of air, 
To revisit past scenes of delight, thou wilt come to me there,
And tell me our love is remembered, even in the sky. 

Then I sing the wild song ’twas once such pleasure to hear! 
When our voices commingling breathed, like one, on the ear;
And, as Echo far off through the vale my sad orison rolls, 
I think, oh my love! ’tis thy voice from the Kingdom of Souls,
Faintly answering still the notes that once were so dear.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on November 9, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

 You can access the entry here which includes the audio, too.