Reading with the Kids

We're out of our slump, and back in the flow of good children's literature. Here's what we've enjoyed recently:

Klimt and His Cat tells the story of the painter from the point of view of his cat. The illustrations are lush, just like his paintings.

Degas and the Little Dancer imagines the possible backstory of Degas' famous sculpture, of a young girl who wants to be a famous dancer but lacks the money for lessons. And then, through the sculpture modeled after her, she does become famous in a way.

Both of these books were good for art study, and we discussed the artists and their art.

Science Verse was popular enough that we had to read it two nights in a row. The book says "this is why scientists don't write poetry", but the verses are really quite clever. The kids enjoyed recognizing certain poems and songs such as "I've been working on the railroad" turned into "I'm in the foodchain".

What's a Wise Bird Like You Doing in a Silly Tale Like This? was a bit too silly for me, but the kids loved it and giggled like crazy. It makes no sense, so I cannot really describe it.

The Humblebee Hunter is another tale about Darwin, this time focusing on his family life and how he involved his children in his experiments. It inspired an evening of playing scientist.

The Capture is the first book in the Ga'Hoole series (now a major motion picture!). Not too much action, really, but the author really shows a love of owls and Carbon loved it. When we finished it, we had to buy the next one on the Kindle so we could just keep on going. :)

101 African American Read-Aloud Stories - we didn't read all 101, though. I picked it out because we have had some recent conversations about how Africans first came to America, and I wanted to follow that up with some reading about slavery and African American culture. Carbon has heard many African folktales both at home and at church, and then I got him the audio CD of The Tales of Uncle Remus, and he picked out the similarities. That sparked a conversation about the flow of story and culture from Africa to African Americans.

Here If You Need Me

Here if You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup

I had this book in a pile of about 6 other books that I was reading at the same time, but this book was too good and I found I just had to read it through to the end. Braestrup has written a memoir that reads like a novel, and has managed to touch incredible emotional and theological depths with a straight-forward "real people" tone.

In her own words, hers is the story of "the plucky widow" who, following the death of her state trooper husband, pursues his dream of becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister. She intends to be a chaplain to the state troopers, but instead ends up chaplain to the Maine Warden Service. This job means that she is the chaplain for search and rescue missions and for the game wardens who carry those out, so she talks about the times they find the lost child and bring them home, and the times when what is recovered is a dead body, and the times when no closure is ever found.

Reading this right after I read Eat, Pray, Love I was struck by the similarities. Both are memoirs written by middle aged women (with excellent writing skills) who lose (divorce, death) their marriages and find god. (Both authors use the "big G God", but I prefer small g, so I'm doing what I want here.) But while Gilbert chooses to divorce her husband and sets off with only her own emotional baggage on a trip around the world, Braestrup's husband dies suddenly in a car accident and she is left the widowed mother of four children. Braestrup's discussions of god are the kind of discussions that come from regular life - why do bad things happen to good people?, why do people do bad things?, how do we come to terms with the fact that we will all die? And the answer that she explains over and over again is that we will find our sanctuary and our meaning in the love that remains - in the people who will be there to support us and love us in hard times, and in the love that we give out to the world.

I liked Eat, Pray, Love but that book is destined to be passed along. I love Here if You Need Me and I want to keep the book near me, to return to this wise voice when I need to.

Little Dancers

Both children are now taking dance classes down at the studio in town that prides itself on being serious and doing classical ballet well. They both like their classes - in fact, after I had to drag Carbon in for his first class this afternoon, he emerged from the studio saying "that was fun", "I want to do it again", and "I want to go see the Nutcracker when they perform it". OK then.

This new extracurricular is in some ways more familiar and easier for me than our forays into team sports. With the team sports, I had no skills to offer, and no past history to draw upon. I never did team sports, at any age. I cannot throw or catch a ball - my efforts make them all laugh at just how bad I am.

But dance, especially ballet, was my life when I was young. I was so dedicated, such a dreamer full of hopes of being a prima ballerina, and it was such a heart break for me. As a disappointed dancer, I don't want to live out my dreams through my children. On the other hand, I don't want to be so bitter that I don't let them have the experience and the joy for themselves.

So I need to remember - as I do so often as a parent, teacher, or any other time I'm with children and youth - this is not about me. I will try to see what they need, want, and are experiencing, without letting my own experiences jump to the forefront. Yes, I draw on them - they make me who I am today. But when I am working with someone else, it's time for me to just shut up and listen.

If they want to dance, we will help them dance.

Blog Action Day topic just announced

If you blog, and you would like to use the power of your blog for collective action toward a better world, consider joining in Blog Action Day on Oct. 15th.

The topic has just been announced: Water

For more, go to http://blogactionday.change.org/register

An Interview with a Preschooler

How do you like going to preschool?

Good. (and then she tries to push buttons on my keyboard - "I'll push for you")

What kinds of things do you do at preschool?

Play, go to circle, go into the museum, have snack.

What have you learned at preschool?

A lot. We painted. We went to the museum. We had circle. We had snack. We goed (sic) to the museum. And we had paint time.

Do you sign your own name? Did you learn that there?

Yeah, on my first day. Are you typing out First Day? First day is a very long thing. Can I type now?

What's your favorite thing at preschool?

I like playing with the kitten cat. It's not alive, it's stuffed. At least Samantha is back from her vacation.

Who is Samantha?

A person from my class. Maddie has a best friend. And they sort of never play with me. But sometimes they play with me.

What is the worst thing about preschool? Why?

Circle. Because I can't do anything. Wibbly, wobbly, Woo - an elephant sat on you - squish! That part is fun. The wormy dance is fun. Mr. Scotty reads us books.

Circle doesn't really sound so bad.

Well, some of it is. Because I never can pick a card, unless it's my job, and that part I don't like.

OK, you can type.

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On miracles

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

A string of coincidences stretching far back in human history converge to place a young woman in a parking lot at the very moment when a murderer happens by. A similar string of circumstances place a premature infant named Michael in a high-tech teaching hospital where a gifted doctor works to save him. Why? Why not?

Anything could happen, but only one thing will. If it is what we desire, what we long for so badly we feel it burning in our bones, if by chance this is given, we will fall on our grateful knees, praise God, and call it a miracle. And we will not be wrong.

Kate Braestrup, in the book Here If You Need Me

This, and many other passages, have really stuck in my mind. More about this wonderful book that I love, love, love, in a later post.

a bit of our weekend

The sun came back out for a visit, we went to a nature festival that had cool activities (like impromptu parades in costumes) for kids, and we met up with friends.