Two for Two: My Latest Book Recommendation

Given that my time to read has decreased significantly in the past 3.5 years (since the birth of my first child), I am a bit more particular about the books that I pick up these days.  While I like to try new authors, I admit that most of the books I read tend to be books by authors I already know I have liked in the past.  That being said, there are some first novels that I have loved so much that I hesitate for a bit before delving into the second - for fear that it will not be as good and that I will have my love of the author tarnished forever.  It is the reason that I have always been secretly grateful that Harper Lee never followed To Kill a Mockingbird up with anything - it may have just been too much of a disappointment.

This is why I was conflicted when I found out that Jamie Ford had recently published a new novel (well, not that recently, it came out last September, but I'm a bit behind the times these days!).  His first novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, was absolutely wonderful on every level.  I simply loved it.  And then a couple weeks ago, my mother pointed out to me that he had a new one (this irked me for reasons my blog post on the first reveals).  So, after hemming and hawing a bit, I picked up a copy of Songs of Willow Frost.  Let's just say, I was not disappointed.

Songs of Willow Frost takes place in Seattle and tells the story of 12-year-old William Eng, who has lived at the Sacred Heart Orphanage since his mother was taken away from him five years earlier.  He becomes convinced that an actress he spies on-screen, Willow Frost, is his mother and is determined to track her down and learn the truth about why she abandoned him.

This book is incredibly heartbreaking on so many level.  The narrative switches back and forth between Willow's tragic story, and that of the the children in the orphanage left behind during the Great Depression.  While I was eager to keep reading to find out what happened plot-wise, I was also filled with a sense of dread knowing that there was likely something even more terrible with each turn of the page.  Given this, however, I did not find much about the story exaggerated, just depressing in its reality.  Because I have an often depressing job, I do find that I don't want to spend my time wallowing in tragic stores.  But, I have a soft spot for novels about families, particularly Asian families.  I also love Ford's straight-forward story-telling approach.  Even going between time periods, everything was easy to follow - he just tells a good story without any unnecessary bells and whistles.  It's been awhile since I almost missed my train stop because I was too engrossed in my book, or stayed up far past my bedtime because I wanted to read just one more chapter.  

So, all this to say that though I usually reserve my list of "favorite authors" for those who have written at least four or five novels, I think I may have to add Jamie Ford to the list.  I truly cannot wait for his next one.

Celebrating Diwali

I love holidays.  I celebrate National Days whenever I can.  I prolong birthday celebrations.  If it involves food, music, lights, and festive decorations, I love it.  So, we're getting into a really great time of year for me - where not only are there a lot of holidays that I grew up celebrating (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), but there are so many others to learn about from friends and classmates who come from different countries, cultures, and religions.

One of the best holidays I've learned about in recent years is Diwali, the Festival of Lights.  Diwali is a five-day Hindu, Jain, and Sikh festival celebrated every autumn, with the main celebration on the third day.  This year, Diwali begins on October 23.  I am so grateful to my friend, Nisha, who introduced me to Diwali, which she celebrates as part of her Jain faith.  In the Jain tradition, Diwali marks the day Lord Mahariva attained Nirvana.

Diwali celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil.  One of the most popular stories of the history of Diwali is the Ramayana.  Anyone who has traveled in Southeast Asia is probably very familiar with the the Ramayana.  I have wonderful memories of traveling throughout Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos and seeing the story of Ramayana painted on temple walls.  

According to the Ramayana, Rama, the prince of Ayodhya was ordered by his father, King Dasharatha, to go away from his country and come back after living in the forest for fourteen years. So Rama went on exile with his devoted wife Sita and faithful brother, Lakshmana. When Ravana, the demon king of Lanka abducted Sita and took her away to his island kingdom of Lanka, Rama fought against and killed Ravana. He rescued Sita and returned to Ayodhya after fourteen years. The people of Ayodhya were very happy to hear of their beloved prince's homecoming. To celebrate Rama's return to Ayodhya, they lit up their houses with earthen lamps (diyas), burst crackers and decorated the entire city in the grandest manner.

This year, Ben's school is celebrating Diwali for the first time (early on October 7 - which is great because that means we can celebrate it again on the 23rd!), and I have signed up to help out in his class while we read books, do art projects, and cook food for the celebration.  In preparation, we borrowed a few books out from the library so I can start introducing my kids to the holiday.  I found a couple nice books for providing factual background about Diwali:

• The Story of Divaali - Valmiki
• Celebrate Diwali - Deborah Heiligman (National Geographic)

But what I really wanted was a fiction storybook depicting a family celebrating Diwali.  We came across a couple:

• Lighting a Lamp - Jonny Zucker
• Amma, Tell Me About Diwali - Bhakti Mathur

Another book I came across while searching for Diwali resources was one by Priddy Books (a publisher that our family really enjoys) called Bright Baby Touch and Feel Diwali.  I love the colors and images in the Priddy books and this one would be perfect for an infant. 

In closing, I'd like to leave everyone with this festive tribute to Diwali by Michael Scott from The Office.  However you choose to celebrate through the rest of the year, I hope everyone's days and nights are filled with great food, laughter, and light.

 

One Hundred Board

Last night Ben told me for the first time about something called a One Hundred Board that some of the kids at his school work with during Montessori time.  I had never heard of it before, so we looked it up on-line.  Ben explained to me that it helps people learn how to count to one hundred, but he had never used it because "I don't know how to count that high".  He was very excited about the idea of the board, but clearly concerned that he might not be ready for it or know how to use it correctly.  So this morning we made a simple one hundred board.

We used an old cardboard box for our board.  We then measured out squares for the numbers on construction paper.  I had Ben count along with me as I wrote in the numbers on each square.  With a little help, he surprised himself by realizing that counting to 100 wasn't going to be as monumental a task as he'd originally believed.  He then helped cut out the individual numbers which was good scissors practice for him (and a reminder to me that he needs a little more practice in that area).

And that's all we needed.  We then played around with the board and the numbers.  The first time, I placed all the multiples of 10 on the board for him (10, 20, 30, 40, etc) so he would have some reference points for filling in the rest.  I then gave him nine numbers at a time (1-9; 11-19; 21-29) so he would not get overwhelmed and could just concentrate on filling in one line at a time.  After doing that once, we played around a bit with filling in multiples of 5.  As we placed numbers on the board, he (and I) started to see some useful patterns.  Even though he felt like he didn't know the names of all the numbers, he could start to tell what the next number should "look" like. 

I can see a lot of value to the number board for teaching simple addition and subtraction, and it reminds me of a more complicated square I used for learning my multiplication tables.  I feel like many of us are used to learning numbers by listening to them and then counting out loud or counting physical items.  Having this visual reference of the numbers themselves was really fascinating to me. There are a number of videos on-line showing people using the One Hundred Table (and Ben tells me there is a Two Hundred Table and a Five Hundred Table), but I'm curious to hear if others use this board and how they have found it useful with their children - and any fun games you may do with it.  It feels like a really simple but powerful tool.

Now that he has seen a little bit of how it works, Ben is looking forward to trying out the "real thing" at school.  We'll see what he comes home to teach me this week!

Legos & Castles: Encouraging Creative Building

It's no secret that my husband is a chronic home remodeler.  He comes from a family of contractors, construction workers, painters, and building creators of all kinds.  He loves This Old House magazine and HGTV would be on in our house 24/7 if the kids didn't demand that we watch Frozen or Despicable Me every once in awhile.  He is always fixing something or thinking of a better way to design or build something.  Looking at the world in this creative problem-solving way is fascinating to watch, and I constantly find myself wondering what I can do to encourage this quality in our children (hopefully genetics will play some role, as well as the constant exposure).

Ankgor Wat, Cambodia

Like most children, my kids all love playing with legos.  Given their ages, we are still in the Duplo phase - which I appreciate since the pieces are big enough not to get lost everywhere and clean up isn't too difficult.  I invested in a couple baseplates to give them more a more sturdy foundation for their houses, garages, castles, and bridges.  I have also been steadily introducing them to various famous landmarks around the world - so far the Golden Gate Bridge (post specifically on bridges to come!) and the Sphinx have made the most lasting impressions - in the hopes that they will come to appreciate great architecture and perhaps find some inspiration for their own building.  I have shared various travel photos in front of famous landmarks also in the hope that this will inspire a love of travel.

And then I looked into some books about building just to give them some context for the creations they've been making.  A couple of the ones we explored include:

• Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty
• Building by Philip Wilkinson
• The Story of Buildings by Stephen Bietsy

Alice has also recently become obsessed with castles.  Her initial inspiration was the Disney castle she first saw on-screen before one of her favorite movies, Wreck-It Ralph.  She then discovered that the same castle was on the cover of a book she received as part of a set last year for her birthday.  She carried one of the books from the set around with her everywhere on our recent trip to England and slept with it every night, referring to it as her "Castle Wreck-It Ralph book".  

So while I'm not eager for her to get too obsessed with princesses, I am perfectly fine with a castle obsession.  To promote this, I borrowed the following books for her:

• Castle by David Macaulay (he has a whole series of super cool building books)
• Castle by Christopher Gravett

We also stumbled upon a fun little castle for her to put together at The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse - a fabulous store near us filled with all kinds of treasures for all kinds of projects.  Building materials are all around us - from mud and sticks for outdoor villages to sand for sandcastles to pillows and blankets for forts, and everything in between.  Between all this and my husband's encouragement, I hope to have all my kids working on constructing a personal private retreat for yours truly very soon!  

HAPPY BUILDING!!

Santa vs. The Penguins

We have an on-going interest in our house in the North and South Poles.  Ben likes to look at maps and ask about where Santa lives and whether it is colder or warmer than where the penguins live.  So, I decided to get us a bit more focused on learning about what's going on at the ends of the Earth.

Firth, we revisited one of our favorite children's books, The Polar Express - which, of course, doesn't tell us too much about the North Pole, but introduces it as a wonderfully cold and magical place where Santa lives.  For our weekly chapter book, I picked one about the South Pole, Mr. Popper's Penguins - a fun little book about a man who is fascinated with explorations to the South Pole and finds himself with a house-full of penguins.  Both these books have been turned into movies (starring Tom Hanks  and Jim Carrey, respectively).  I haven't seen either of them, but look forward to seeing them, along with Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two (featuring the voice of Robin Williams), when the weather gets a bit colder.  I also wonder if the kids would enjoy one of my favorites, March of the Penguins.

We've also explored a few children's books about Inuit culture, as well as others about animal migration, and a few random fun ones just set in the North or South poles.  They include:

• The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale - Lydia Dabcovich
• Ookpik - Bruce Hiscock
• The Adventures of a South Pole Pig - Chris Kurtz
• Nothing Ever Happens at the South Pole - Stan & Jan Berenstain
• Thank You Aunt Tallulah - Carmela LaVigna Coyle (also good for encouraging the writing of thank you notes!)
• The North Pole Penguin - Christopher Payne

For more scientific information, we visited the non-fiction section of the library and checked out the Eyewitness book, Arctic and Antarctic where we learned more about the differences between the two poles and a great deal about the animals that live there.  We also learned about how climate change is affecting the polar ice caps.  North Pole, South Pole is also filled with fun and easily accessible factual information.

The muskox is one of the few mammals to live in the Arctic year-round

 I anticipate that as winter and Christmas approach that we will revisit many of these books, and a great deal more.  There are also so many fun holiday crafts that incorporate ice and penguins, so while I'm enjoying the last of the summer weather, there is certainly lots to look forward to in the coming months!

Book of the Week: Around the World with Mouk

A recent favorite in our house is Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant.

This colorfully illustrated book follows Mouk, a large-headed bear, as he travels the world.  Ben has recently been fascinated by maps and learning about new countries - who lives in them, where they are, and what different people do in different places.  This book has been a welcome addition to our travel literature.  Each page is filled with such intricate details that I think one could read the book a hundred times and still discover something new.  As we learn about specific new countries, it has also been nice to pull out this book and look more closely at specific pages.  The other day, for example, after a meal of Greek food, I opened the book up to the page below and shared stories of my own travels to Greece.  The bright colors and adorable animals on each page are an invitation to discussion and imagination that cannot be ignored.

Mouk in Greece

Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl

I have been choosing chapter books to read with Ben just by remembering books I enjoyed as a child.  I haven't gone back to read them before sharing them with Ben, and while I can read ahead a bit as I go and censor the books here and there, Danny the Champion of the World is probably a good example of why I may need to start reading books to myself in their entirety again before sharing them with Ben.  Not to say that this isn't an amazing book, but just that I only really remembered just loving it, not quite the fact that some of the themes may have been a bit too much for a three-year-old.

On the heels of Charlotte's Web, I was ready to leave death behind and move on to a nice story about a boy and his father.  Danny the Champion of the World is the story of young Danny and his father.  They live modestly in a trailer next to their gas station, and one day, Danny discovers that his father is a pheasant poacher.  As his father takes him into the fold of the poaching world, with the secret that pheasants love raisins, the two begin to scheme about how effectively to steal all the pheasants from the rich man who owns the nearby Hazell's Wood.

Well in the first couple pages of the book, Danny's mother dies.  I actually tried to skip over that paragraph, but right away when Danny revealed that he lived with his dad, Ben asked where his mom was.  When I revealed that his mother had died, Ben then spent the next couple chapters obsessed with what would happen to Danny if his father died.  Of course that fear wasn't totally unfounded as early on Danny's dad does disappear into Hazell's Wood and Danny has to go after him.

We then had to address the issue of the keepers in the woods who carry guns.  Ben wanted to know if they would shoot Danny's dad?  What were their names?  Why did they need guns?  After all, the ENTIRE book is about hunting and shooting, so I should have anticipated this conversation!  We also had a few interesting discussions about why Danny's father needed to take the pheasants, and we delved a little into the idea of wealth disparity and whether it is ever ok to take things that do not belong to you.  Admittedly, it is difficult to have gray area conversations with a three-year-old without causing too much confusion.  Well, at least with my three-year-old, so I tried to keep it as simple as I could while still addressing the issues he seemed to find most fascinating.

All in all though, this is such a nice book about the relationship between a boy and his dad, that I liked when we settled into the plot and started to focus on the positives.  I made the decision not to abandon the book just because I didn't like all the hunting and stealing.  I was rewarded a week or so later when we traveled to England and stayed at a property with pheasants where people do a lot of hunting.  Ben recalled instances from the book and kept asking me if I remembered when Danny went to the woods and when the pheasants ate the raisins.  Then one morning at breakfast, as we were all suffering from jet lag, some of our relatives were discussing various sleeping pills - Ben got a kick out of the conversation and explained how sometimes pheasants eat sleeping pills (this was described as a way to catch pheasants in the book).  Everyone else was a bit confused, but I was glad to see that he had been listening to the story and was eager to talk more about it.

My lesson about reading ahead has been learned, but I've also learned that sometimes when you think certain subjects are over your kids' heads, they might still get something fun and useful out of them.