Weekly Low Down on Leprechauns… I Mean Kids Books 5/07/12
The Luckiest Leprechaun
The super challenge to parents: Read the whole thing with an Irish accent. I had to summon my inner Mrs. Paroo (from The Music Man), and I know that an actual Irishman would be ashamed of me, but I was quite proud of myself. Ayla may have just thought I was a weird-o, but she had me read it twice in a row even though its pretty lengthy for a kids picture book for her age, so I must have been entertaining.
I highly recommend this one. Justine Korman did a great job portraying a cynical, and somewhat rotten, leprechaun in need of an attitude change, unwillingly becoming best friends with the sweetest dog in the world (named Lucky). Its got the same illustrator as the Junie B. Jones books (Denise Brunkus) although I don’t know that I care for those books, the illustrations are awesome. I loved it. Ayla clearly loved it. It was an awesome library pick that I am sure to go buy, because I’ll be needing this every Spring for years to come.
Tardis Adventures in Seuss-Land
It doesn’t get much nerdier than this! Here’s my Book Love Art of the week, this one’s from http://www.collegehumor.com/.
Book to Film Fail
Remember my Water for Elephants review? I loved the book. It was wonderful. Read it in one day, and thought it was lovely. It was lovely in a raw and gritty circus animal way. At the end of my review I let you all know that I hadn’t seen the movie, but I’d let you know what I thought of it when I did. Well, now I’ve seen it and I’m royally disappointed.
It’s too clean.
The set looks clean, the characters are too clean. The magic of the gritty circus look is absolutely missing. I love Reese Witherspoon to death, but she was utterly wrong for the role of Marlena. Her acting is always impeccably perfect, but to no fault of her own she’s too blonde, too beautiful, and too old for the role. Vampire Boy/ Cedric Diggory/ Robert whats-his-face is entirely the wrong look as well. He should be a red head, couldn’t they have dyed his hair? Even the midget is too pretty of a midget. And the character that gets the Jakes should have looked a little more like Dopey from the 7 Dwarfs… no one looks their part. The train is too clean, the tents are too clean. Where are the dust bowls? Where’s the Depression?
In addition to all this clean-ness, the cinematography is too crisp. But not in a new movie way, its crisp like I’m watching an afternoon soap opera, or someone’s home movie. Everything is so bright, in the book I imagined the circus being a small series of twinkles in a long road of darkness.
The structure and mood of the movie is nothing of that of the book. If you’ve read the book, you remember the opening? The scene that sets up the premise for all that is to come – the scene that makes you want to read the rest of the book in the first place? That scene is completely omitted from the opening of the film. What’s so depressing about that is that they filmed it! You see it at the end! Why didn’t they edit it so that it matched the genius of the bookend style that Sara Gruen so brilliantly wrote?
As the last scene closes, my best friend, who waited to watch the movie with me because we both loved the book so much says, “That was lame.”
The movie had no umph.
Another Trigger for Inspiration
Inspired by a comment from Andi Klemm about smell being an inspiration for her in a discussion about the muse, I thought I would list some of the smells get my Southern writing MOJO brewing:
1) Limes, Vanilla & Coconut
Those mean that summer is HERE. I have so many memories tied to those three smells. One whiff and I can travel back to a thousand different places.
2) Sandalwood
I had a bottle of Sandalwood lotion in college. For me to be able to remember that should be proof enough that scent triggers memories 🙂 This smell is tricky though. I don’t like the incense smell of Sandalwood, but I like it in everything else.
3) Jasmine
One of my all time favorites. I love Jasmine, especially night-blooming Jasmine. When I had ventured too far from home when I was fresh out of high school, I had a pot…
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Why I Loathe Rating Things With Stars
A Review of Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
I’ve been a voracious reader my entire life and I’ve always loved the classics. So it didn’t surprise me at all years ago when my AP English teacher handed me the semester syllabus with a list of titles to read and I unwisely blurted “I’ve already read them all,” with disappointment. He said “Fine” and later supplied me with a new list, all contemporary award winners I’d never heard of, including Snow Falling on Cedars
I read it. I re-read it. I couldn’t figure out why I hated it, and why I wanted to read it again.
Until now, when watching the movie, which is, amazingly, incredibly accurate from what I remember of the book – scene for scene.
At my core I am a romantic and idealist. I love forbidden marriages, truly and unhypocritically, as I am in one. I love childhood sweethearts, best friends, having secret adventures in the woods and on the seashore. I’ve been in love with my husband since I was fourteen, have now known him half my life, and am raising a beautiful daughter with him.
What I hate? That Hatsue doesn’t marry Ishmael. That she willingly chooses another, after giving herself to Ishmael like a little slut in the woods. What is a beautifully written piece of timeless literature, becomes an irritating anti-love story to me, until it becomes the ultimate love story by him saving her husband anyway. Poor Ishmael! Why did she not marry him? There’s so many reasons, so many. I cannot mar the merit of Guterson’s work, it is so well done. But I hate him for falling short in my ideally romantic heart. I cannot comprehend giving myself so fully to my best friend and then saying No to his marriage proposal for some loyalty to culture.
I remember that somewhere I’ve rated this book with 2 stars. 2, just 2. But –
I haven’t read this book in over ten years and still it resonates with me. Even prior to watching the movie, I could recall various parts of the book in extreme detail, it’s actually why I chose to watch the movie this week. I knew I was in the mood for it. Now, with the movie so fresh in my mind, I think I should re-read it soon. The story is brilliant, and true to what I imagine life was like then. But I will always hate Hatsue a little more than I should, because Ishmael is one of the most beautiful human beings ever written and though it unfair to ask every character to behave as I would – I would have married him and lvoed him ’til the day I died.
So truth? I think I love Snow Falling on Cedars. I love it with a hateful indescribable passion. I hate Hatsue for being weak. I hate the United States for putting the Japanese into camps. I hate Kabuo for being so easy to love. I even hate Ishmael for being as Anne Elliot describes in Austen’s Persuasion, one of those who “love longest, when all hope is gone.” I hate it because I long to re-read it and every time I do I bawl like a baby, because every time I expect it all to be different.
I have a hard time rating things with stars. My initial shelfari review, where I gave it 2 stars, stated:
I didn’t like it is too strong a phrase, and I liked it also too strong. But I am committed to re-reading it eventually to see if my opinion has changed since I read it for school at seventeen. At the time, I found it awkward and sad. I do remember enjoying his descriptions, it was the storyline itself I was unsatisfied with.
Unclear, vague, and starless. But the book stays with you for so long, so how can I rate it badly? In all honesty, I can’t. Not anymore. I feel compelled to change the stars to 5, but tomorrow I’ll only want to give it 3. This is why I prefer to read full reviews, and not rely on stars. This is why I prefer conversations, rather than one-lined opinions.
David Guterson, if you read this, you are a brilliant writer. And I have a love/hate relationship with your book.
P.S. I adore Ethan Hawke, who plays Ishmael Chambers in the movie made in 1999. He is also an author, and I enjoyed his novel The Hottest State. I also have a copy of his book Ash Wednesday, but have never read it. If anyone is interested in reading it with me, let me know. I am also interested in reading Guterson’s book on homeschooling
The Mother’s Day Post
Mother’s Day is celebrated all over the world at various times in Spring to, obviously, honor one’s mother. In the United States, Anna Jarvis founded the day we know now that is celebrated on the second Sunday of May, in 1908. By 1914 it was made a National Holiday. By Jarvis’ death, she was renouncing her own holiday as having become too commercialized.
It is too commercialized. But, who wants to abolish a holiday that celebrates ones mom? No one. Its not like Valentines when you can commit to showing your partner you love them every day of the year. A lot of children (especially adults) don’t live anywhere near their mothers, and this is a good day to (of all days) let them know that you’re still thinking of them even from afar.
My proposal? Untraditional gifts. Token mother’s day gifts come in the form of Hallmark Cards and flowers. That’s all well and good, and if your mother loves those things, by all means, get them for her. But get her something more as well.
Always, I’m a fan of books, afterall I write a book blog. There’s always something special to be found at a bookstore. Whether its the latest and greatest of a beloved series, a funny gift book, a sappy gift book, a history book on a topic of interest that you both share, music, movies, or just a gift card so she can go have some time to herself and pick out something of her own choosing, there’s something for everyone at a bookstore.
For Dads helping small children, a newer (but not too new) overlooked title is Tomie DePaola’s My Mother Is So Smart. DePaola has been an award winning children’s author for years, but even I didn’t know this 2010 publication existed until I stumbled across in the library the other day. Its beautiful, as are all his books, and celebrates the love and awe he had for his mother as a child. Its sweet, and perfect for a young mother to read to her toddler… although I did notice how many things I’ve neglected to master as a mom, like the perfect cookie recipe, and the uncanny ability to always know why my child is crying.
Great Gift #2: I dream of having a cleaning service come through my house once a year. I keep a fairly clean house. I actually enjoy cleaning, when I find the time and energy to clean up blocks and toys that have been strewn everywhere for the 300th time that day. But the idea of having a cleaning crew come in every Spring and scrub my base boards, toilets, showers, and maybe also have my AC ducts cleaned out – that would be the BEST mother’s day gift EVER. (Aside from someone purchasing and installing all my hardwood floors over night without any assistance from me… that would be even better, but a little less practical as a mother’s day gift.) If this awesome treat proved unobtainable, I might settle for lawn fairies to come weed my gardens in the middle of the night.
Shop AKKlemm.scentsy.us
Great Gift #3: After books and a laziness enabler, I choose Scentsy products. I love candles and fabulous smells, but the wickless candle deal with mood lighting has proven to be the best choice when a toddler is running all over the place. When (I say when NOT if) your kid decides to lather themselves in hot candle wax and try to put every blessed thing you own under wax treatment, you want it to be low heat, no flame, I promise. My favorite spring scents available this year are Pixie and Cerise. The Just Breathe is also quite excellent and one of my year round favorites of all time. But you know your Mom and/or Wife, get what she likes.
Great Gift #4: Reloadable Starbucks gift cards. Who doesn’t practically live at Starbucks, or would if they could? Its become an American staple. Cliche, over-rated, over-priced, I agree, but hey, its pretty darn good coffee available on every street corner, I’ll take it. The reloadable gift cards are pretty sweet. Reload them a few times and you are an upgraded customer with free birthday drinks, free syrup add ons, free cups of coffee with your bean purchases, the list goes on. Buy the mother in your life a gift card and take the time to reload it for her a few times before the year is up and BAM! she is one happy caffeined lady.
Whatever you do, be sure to enjoy the day. Sundays should be lovely days anyway, but I hope one day Ayla will love to spend a lazy Sunday with me, reading, having coffee, or maybe picnicing in the sun if the weather is nice.
Les Miserables Readalong Update 5/04/12
I am currently reading Cosette. It is, of course, fascinating and full of all sorts of history and thoughts about the revolution and so on and so on. So of course, I had to put it down for a bit and am now reading Napoleon’s Wars: An International History by Charles Esdaile. So far its exactly what I hoped it would be, a broad picture of the world at large to help me better understand the smaller piece of France Hugo has us tucked away in for 1200 some odd pages. I am loving it and I hope that others participating in the Les Miserables 2012 Readalong join me with Esdaile as well. Full reviews of Cosette and Napoleon’s Wars to come.
To join this blog hop/readalong and follow the links to read Fantine: https://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/les-miserables-blog-hop-8/
To read my official Cosette review posted on 5/19/12: https://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/cosette/
I know, two reblogs in one week, but I just discovered the feature (because I’m slow with the technology) and this one speaks to me (because I too prefer book shopping over clothing shopping and I am also a Barnes & Noble addict, despite my employment with Half Price Books and my love affair with Good Books in the Woods).
I am not the sort of girl who shops for pleasure. Occasionally I will go and have an afternoon out with a friend at the mall. Most of the time, I go in with a game plan. I need a pair of jeans. I will go to Pac Sun, because I like their jeans, and I will go pick two pairs of volcom jeans because they’re one sale. Then I will buy them. Then I will leave. If I need a dress, I generally go shopping for a dress. I usually either get the dress or come home with nothing.
Don’t me wrong, I can browse as well as the next girl and if there’s a sale I can get it down to a science. I just don’t think of shopping as an….experience. There are very few stores that I frequent just because I like them. I love Anthropoligie, mostly…
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Mid Week Thrifting
I used to haunt thrift stores the way I currently haunt bookstores. In late high school and early college, its where I picked up all my clothes. There was nothing better than a 50 cent blouse and some $2 jeans. Unfortuneately with the recession, thrift store clothing prices have increased to an amount that (unless its the world’s most awesome thrift store find) I can often find similar cheapy items for less at Wally World (sacriledge, I know). In theory I hate WalMart, but sometimes a tight budget makes the decision for me. But when my best friend says she wants to check out the newly reopened Goodwill Select in the Heights, I’m game.
Of course, I found dozens of things I wanted (there were piles of amateur paintings done by the same unknown person), but only came away with a few of the most inexpensive but longest lasting items money can buy: books. I acquired a few nice copies of things off Ayla’s Classical Education list that I didn’t already have… Sophocles and such because I will need them eventually and haven’t seen copies in this nice a condition for this cheap. It looks like someone dropped off an entire school library in mint condition. And two things that aren’t as easy to find (not difficult, just not typically parading themselves around in large quanities):
Profiles in Science
Then, for me, I picked up The New Science of Strong Materials
For more on the exciting world of thrifting, follow Her Library Adventures, she too has a mid-week thrifting notice this week: http://herlibraryadventures.blogspot.com/2012/05/midweek-thrifting.html
Hurray for Spring! And Elephants!
Weekly Low Down on Kids Books 5/03/12
Title: Hurray for Spring!
Author: Patricia Hubbell
Illustrator: Taia Morley
Publisher: NorthWord
Genre: Childrens, Picture Books
Ayla has a wide assortment of books of her own, she can’t help it with a compulsive book buying mother. But going to the library and picking out special books for just the week is always fun. At a year and a half, she already loves books and spends a lot of time pretending to read or browsing illustrations. ‘Shopping’ at a library, however, is so much different than shopping at a store. For starters, there’s the Dewey Decimal System to contend with, something I honestly haven’t used in about ten years. Then, there’s the lack of beautifully merchandised end caps – you can ask my best friend, I’m a complete sucker for a pretty display. (That’s probably why I enjoyed making them so much in my merchandising days.) Still, we manage to find precious gems and exciting reads every week.
This week we haphazardly pulled Hurray for Spring! off the shelf. The poem tells of all the adventures one can have throughout the season and is accompanied by gorgeous illustrations of kids playing and dragon flies and flowers. There’s mice playing in the weeds, beautiful blue skies, and the book is an all around treat. We read it four times in a row before bed time Tuesday night because Ayla kept demanding, “More” as she turned the book back to the first page and patted the title, indicating a re-read.
I’d like to buy a copy to use to celebrate Easter every year. Its fresh, lively, and is a good way to get kids excited about playing outside, but if read softly the cadence of the words can still put a baby to sleep. We love Hurray for Spring! Even now Ayla discovered it in my hand and is hopping around, rummaging through the book bag, and begging me to read it again.
Title:
Busy Elephants
Author: John Schindel
Photographs: Martin Harvey
Publisher: Tricycle Press
Genre: Childrens, Board Books
In the past, we’ve tried Busy Penguins, which I loved, but Ayla had little interest in. This time, Busy Elephants was all the rage. Each page contains a photograph of elephants out in the wild, eating, running, bathing, etc. And after months and month of every blessed furry (or even some non-furry) animals being called ‘Dog’ its nice to finally see her point with recognition at the elephants on each page, listen to me say elephant, and then try the word out on her own mouth. So far, all we get is “lphn,” but that’s enough for me this week. She’s excited to learn new words, even if she can’t quite pronounce them properly. That’s what makes these kinds of books so great for babies: real photographs, repitition of a word, until by the end they’ve seen the world and added something to their vocabulary.
Anakalian Whims 