Monday, November 11, 2024

It's Monday - New Books & 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!
    I have quite a lot to share but the snowstorm in Denver, south and north and east, kept me busy. We had about a foot, and it'll be around fifty degrees all week, the melting time! It was very wet and heavy, did a lot of damage to trees, thus some lost electricity. My area was fine. Our lines are underground!


        I finally found time to finish the new Richard Osman mystery, We Solve Murders. What a delightful group of the good and the bad, a complicated plot that takes readers all over the world. The many-layered characters, even the ones Osman indicates we'll meet again, are not always perfect, yet bring new ways to look at lives being lived, whether honest or dishonest. If you've enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club books, you'll enjoy this fresh group who do "solve murders"! In the acknowledgment, there is a promise for a return to the older group, too, AND more from this new one! 



        I am laughing at myself because I grabbed this book from my library's shelf, loving Blue-Footed Boobies, and wanted to see what Nancy Vo had to say! No, I didn't know until I read it that it isn't about them at all but about mammary glands and other related things. It's an enticing picture book for younger readers that will entertain, educate, and delight. Nancy Vo keeps the information clear and the child-friendly illustrations close to reality. She starts with the fun fact that Blue-Footed Boobies don't have boobies at all. They're avian, not mammalian, thus begins the explanations of where and why, and how many, all about "boobies" or none. Children wondering about their bodies and changes that will happen with growing older will have an excellent first look at them, in addition to learning about various other animals and plants, with or without boobies! I enjoyed it, but I will have to discover another book about those Blue-Footed Boobies I love!

          Cary Fagan, the author, grew up in Belgium, but his journey of escape during the Nazi invasion kept him out of school, fleeing with his family to Paris, through Spain to Portugal, then, fortunately, across the ocean to a refugee camp in Jamaica. He's created HIS story by telling of a boy named Maurice who has a goal to become a lawyer, but he is not getting to be in school and is very worried about his learning. He finds a professor to teach him and eventually becomes a fine student who is accepted to a college in Canada. His English dictionary that you see him holding on the cover illustration becomes a tool for his life.
         It's a powerful graphic novel illustrated by Enzo Lord Mariano, who uses lights and darks with subtle changes of emotion and scenery to show times spent both happily and in danger. Maurice is courageous and does not quit learning and pushing for better. 
          There is a poignant author's note at the back about Cary Fagan's family, with pictures of them and that fabulous, special dictionary! 
        

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Poetry Friday - How It Works

 

       It's Poetry Friday, and Cathy Mere is hosting HERE on her blog Merely Day by Day! In the poem she shares, we learn some good steps for what is certainly next for us all. I am inspired and grateful to start this special Poetry Friday after Tuesday's election with all of you. Thanks for hosting, Cathy!

       Since Tuesday, and during the days before the election, I watched Vice-President Kamala Harris become a woman whose actions I appreciated so much for my grandchildren, a grandson and two granddaughters, to see. She showed resilience, strength, and oh, so much intelligence in her explanations. She had great responses, and especially when questions felt charged with the goal of catching her out, perhaps in a contradiction from previous words. It looked tough, but she was tougher!   

       I enjoyed learning about Kamala Harris's childhood, and seeing the photos of her as she grew up. And, I began to imagine when babies and toddlers in early childhood begin to have agency. If you've experienced that, you might recognize what I wrote and perhaps have your own examples! After this poem's stance, I have hope that every young one will carry on!


My two granddaughters, journaling on a zoo trip quite a few
years ago.

              How It Works

 

I learn by one to watch Mama’s eyes

to see if I’ve cried enough to solve the problem

of thirst.

My puzzle at two is to assess the room 

to discover a strategy for escaping from the crib.

The problem at three is to wait until both parents are asleep

and won’t reverse my decision to crawl in bed with them.

My flexible brain at four uses my memory of problem-solving

in order to use my abilities to fetch anything I want,

like the cookies high in the cupboard.

At five, anything can happen.

 

Linda Baie ©