books – Page 5 – Peaceful Reader

Let it snow, Let it snow (so we can build a snowman)

{young groovy girl with two snowpeople creations}

We don’t have any snow here. A relative has shared gorgeous snow photos of Colorado but no snow here in the Midwest or at least in our corner of Iowa.

This is unacceptable for Groovy Girl. She believes snow is part of what makes Christmas magic. She loves pulling on her tall furry boots and heading out into the snow to play still. But the snow has to come for her to do that. She is the only one of my kids who loves winter weather.

In order to help her out I’ve read books about snow and snowmen at school to kindergarten classes. Here is a list of my favorites:

1. Alice Schertle’s All you need for a snowman (2007): softly illustrated by Barbara Lavallee with flowing text that moves you forward from one page to the next. The pictures make you want to linger though. I love everything that Alice writes. The cover art above makes you want to flip inside.

2. Alison McGhee’s Making a friend (2011): Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal with soft wispy pictures and text that tells the reader the simple water cycle as the boy builds the snowman and watches it melt only to come back to life the next winter. Great for seasonal conversations as well.

3. Lois Ehlert’s Snowballs (2001): My classic go to story of a snow family taking on new life with a variety of crazy fabrics and household items. Kids love the end pages that shares all the items Lois’ used to create her snow family of kids, dog, cat,mom, and dad. Will inspire you to grab your craft bag and head out into the freezing cold to create the perfect Ehlert snowman.

4. Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick’s Stranger in the woods (2000): With exquisite photographs we see woodland animals all trying to discover who has come through the woods. The lyrical text is filled with kid-catchy sounds making the pictures come alive. I love reading this aloud with the chick-a-dee-dee-dee and the stuttering porcupine. The mystery is bigger than just the snowman though so keep turning the pages. I love ending with a few suggestions on how students could help feed local animals through winter.

5. Daniel J. Mahoney’s A really good snowman (2005): I like this book because it’s more than just a snowman story. It’s about family and sticking together. Jack wants to build a snowman with his friends for the annual snowman competition held at the town park. His little sister wants to help but they send her off to do her own thing. When Jack realizes she needs his help he leaves his friends behind to stick with his sister. It’s a lovely story, cute illustrations, and a good lesson in teamwork.

6. No snowman post of mine would be complete with out mentioning my favorite snowman movie…Jack Frost with Michael Keaton as the aging rocker who is killed in an accident after playing a gig on Christmas Eve. Sounds tragic and their are tearful moments but the story is a light-hearted look at a young boy dealing with grief and a father-turned snowman dealing with leaving his family behind. Love to watch it every year.

Most links for books lead you to Red Balloon Books in St. Paul, MN when available. Buy independent this holiday season. Buy everyone on your list at least one book. And send us some snow…

Reading retreat bliss

Our journey to Little Rock was a success. We drove first to Mountain View, AR for a bluegrass festival at the beautiful Ozark Folk Center. I enjoyed listening to the music and I was able to read while listening, which was important as I was desperately trying to finish Lucy Dillon’s A hundred pieces of me for our reading retreat.

From Mountain View we headed South to the Little Rock area, staying in a gorgeous and new Best Western, picked because it had an indoor pool area. Groovy Girl loves to swim and we love the hot tub. I had one lovely night sleeping there and a relaxing morning before my friend V. picked me up for the first leg on the reading retreat. We relaxed at her house for just a few minutes, waiting for A. to pick us up.

{cheers}

Our next stop was their local Whole Foods, a spectacular-looking store, basically a prettified Wal-Mart for natural food shoppers. It doesn’t give me the same healthy feeling to be in there like Whole Foods used to, it is different but it did have many of the picnic-type items we were looking for so we picked and chose carefully. Oh, to eat like this all the time! We had rice crackers, good hard cheese, a seedy hearty bread, a mix of olives, two delicious bars of chocolate, pears, apples, a box of salad greens, and two bottles of wine. Except it was a Sunday and we could buy everything BUT the wine. Drats!

A. luckily had a friend living nearby that had a bottle of wine, the funny part was that the wine had been a gift from A. so she borrowed her own bottle of wine back. We could live with one bottle of borrowed back wine and we headed to the hills of Greers Ferry. I sat in the back and pulled out my book again to continue reading. I wanted to finish before we made it to the cabin and they wanted me to finish so we could talk about the book. It seemed to be the crowd favorite.

Our cabin was lovely with way more space than we needed. The best part was the large back porch that looked out on the lake. It was a perfect spot to talk, enjoy the weather, and share a meal, family-style.

We had a great time. It was rejuvenating for me. We talked about our books, friendship, the world (and all the world’s problems). We talked about ourselves, our husbands, and our children. Everyone has joys and trials, let me tell ya’. We did a little bit of yoga. We sat outside and inside. We stayed up later than usual. We laughed. We drank just the one bottle of wine. We shared chocolate with fruit. We had 24 hours of solitude with each other; three strong women.

{breakfast}

And the morning was filled with sunshine and hanging in our jammies. And then A. got the phone call. The one where her husband told her that their borrowed cat had been hit by a car. It was a sad note to end on yet it illustrated how life just keeps happening around us. The cat was a hard loss for her family-hopefully they’ve found joy in their shared memories of their friendly feline mate.

I hope we will get to do this again in a year or two. The theme of A hundred pieces of me by Lucy Dillon is about what’s real and important to you and the memories of our reading retreat are high on my list.

What I'm reading…the number might amaze you.

How many books do you read at one time? Usually I prefer just one but often I have more than one going at a time depending on circumstances. For most of the year I’ve been able to balance my student book club books with a few that I’ve already read so I can discuss without the need to read.

I did have to read most of the Gregor series with my boy’s group and I’ve read most of Christopher Paul Curtis with another group and we are reading The Mighty Miss Malone right now. It is an amazing and intellectually stimulating book for all of us. I’m so happy Curtis turned to writing as he is a talented story teller. If you haven’t read his new historical fiction about The Great Depression you should. Next up for this group is Shannon Hale’s The Princess Academy, one of my favorite girl power books. Luckily I’ve already read it 3X’s so I can just re-skim and ask good questions. I blogged about my boy’s group in my weekend cooking post and I did make the cranberry oatmeal cookies, they were tasty but flat. Sadly two of the boys were missing from our meeting today. Suspended over a fight they had with EACH OTHER. This is the horrible hard part of where I teach. I think I reach them and then things like this pop up. My soul cries almost every day for the kids I work with at school.

Onward.

Monthly I have my own adult book club to keep up with and we are reading Anthony Mara’s lengthy novel A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. I downloaded this to my Kindle as the price was right and I am interested but it is not a quick read. I have to kick it up a notch though as we meet next week. Maybe I should look for the Cliff Notes on this one.

I also started something easy the other night as my Kindle needed a charge. The Lying Game by Sara Shepard has been on my to-read pile for awhile and I picked it up and read three pages. I will finish but those 3 pages were all I needed to fall asleep. No reflection on the rest of the book I hope.

I also started The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin about a week ago to help me get in the mood for Spring cleaning and reorganizing my house and my thoughts. I am anxious to get back to it but it will have to wait until the book club book is done.

While I was upstairs reading (Daughter of Winter by Pat Lowry Collins) to Groovy Girl I realized I am “reading” another book on my phone through Audible as I drive back and forth to work; Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss. It has me so hooked that I listen to it as I make dinner. I’m only on the fourth chapter and yet still quite disgusted how the food industry works. I am someone who cooks almost all meals from scratch and still I shake my head at the mystery of it. How can people go to work every day to purposely make people sick. Why worry about real drugs when they are giving them to our children daily in pre-packaged form. Yuck.

Seven books. Can you beat me? Let me know your total.

Weekend Cooking; Treats.

Wow. Two weeks flew by quickly.

And in that two weeks I’ve done some baking. Just because. Baking is good. Healing. A friend from work, my “egg man”, gave me a whole bushel of apples. Un-perfect, farm apples. Beauties that my camera won’t do justice. We’ve sliced them and had them as snacks yet their numbers didn’t diminish.

{Photo Source}

I remembered back to a recent Beth Fish Reads post about an apple cake that caught my eye. Oh my. I made it last week and that cake was delicious. The frosting-heavenly. I’m waiting patiently for a new occasion to arise just so I can make it again. Looking back at the post to link it I was reminded that it came from a King Arthur cookbook which makes perfect sense. Get some apples. Eat the apples because they are so good for you raw but then make the cake to reward yourself.

The next delicious treat I made is from Katie Workman’s fantastic book, The Mom 100 Cookbook. I needed a quick treat to make for my 5th grade book club. I searched through two or three books and happened upon this one on page 328 in the Bake Sale section. The kids loved them. Very rich chocolate taste without a lot of work. Perfect when you are making them at 9:00 at night.

Fudgy One-Pot Brownies
Makes 12 huge or 24 reasonably sized brownies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus butter for greasing the pan
Nonstick cooking spray (I used coconut oil to smear around)
3 ozs unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar ( i know that IS a lot!)
1/2 tsp kosher or coarse salt
1 T. pure vanilla
3 large (farm) eggs
1 1/2 cup (unbleached KA) flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 13 x 9-in pan.

2. Place the butter and chocolate in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat and let melt together, stirring until smooth. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder, sugar, and salt, then blend in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, stirring to mix quickly so they don’t have a chance to cook at all before they are blended in. Blend in the flour.

3. Scrape the thick batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until the edges just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

4. Let the brownies cool in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, cut them into 12 or 24 squares. (The side note says it is better to cut these the next day if possible.)

Brownies were so good I had to make a second batch for home and to share with the in-laws arriving this week. I have to keep slapping my own hand from taking the crumbles.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Stop over and have a look at the many other food-related posts.

My Vacation Reads

We just spent 15 days traveling and I can chart our journey by the books that I read. First up Strange but true by John Searles. I sat in the back of our Vue and loved the heck out of this thrilling book while I mentally thanked my husband and son for doing such a fine job of driving. Before leaving on our road trip I’d finished Boy still missing (his first book) which made me steal Strange but true right off my husband’s to-read book pile. I’m impressed with Searles’ creativity. His stories lean toward the bizarre and twisted yet are believable and oh, so crafty. If you have not picked up any of his books yet please do-you won’t be disappointed. He has a new book coming out in September, Help for the Haunted. I want an ARC of this book so much I would jump up and down to get one as I would be the perfect person to read and review it. Who do I have to beg…?

Next I read the historical fiction story The Sandcastle Girls so I could participate in my mother-in-law’s book club which gave me a reason to see Donna’s beautiful house. My review of Sandcastle Girls.

On the trip from DC to NYC I listened to my Audible downloaded copy of Tina Fey’s BossyPants. The last weeks of school I listened to this in my car and then summer hit and I let it slide. I’ve got to get used to working around my house holding on to my phone as I listen but as I’ve yet it’s more of a car activity for me. My son looked at me with his pitiful teenage eyes, shaking his head at me because I laughed out loud on the bus, subway, and street corner as we waited, rode, and walked. Laughed Out Loud. Now I want to go back and watch more 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live segments that feature her and Amy Poehler. I learned a great deal and found Fey’s life stories energizing and of course hysterical. Also she narrates which makes all the difference! I successfully clicked the finish button as we drove through Ohio on Monday.

College Boy read Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan while we lounged in Silver Spring. He read it quickly because he was engaged (a challenge…) and turned it over to me. This amazing tale combines the love of books with 21st Century technology and stirs them together with a great story. Clay Jannon, main character extraordinaire, finds a job at Mr. Penumbra’s book store where things are a bit weird and not many books are sold. Clay takes a closer look at the books in the back of the shop to discover why and with his quirky cast of friends ends up shaking up poor Mr. Penumbra and his bookstore! Excellent story!

Random Quote:

“To run Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore around the clock, one owner and two clerks divide the circle of the sun into thirds, and I get the darkest slice. Penumbra himself takes the mornings-I guess you’d call it prime time, except that this store doesn’t really have one of those. I mean, a single customer is a major event and a single customer is as likely to show up at midnight as at half-past noon.” (21)

I finished Sloan’s book and moved quickly into Sara Gran’s film noir mystery Dope. We swap books in this house like others share toothpaste. My husband read it on the way out to DC while College Boy drove, College Boy read it from DC to Penn Station and I read it on the car trip home. It’s only 243 pages long but packed with a slew of interesting characters and a gritty, intense story that takes place in 1950 NYC.

It begins like this:

“Josephine,”
Maude said my name flatly, like I was dead or she wanted me to be. I sat across from her at a booth in the back of the bar, where the daylight never reached and the smell of stale beer and cigarettes never cleared. Maude had been the mistress of a gangster back in the thirties and he’d bought her this bar to set her up with something after he was gone. It was on the corner of Broadway and West Fourth, and if you’d never been there before it would take a minute to notice that there wasn’t a girl in the place, other than Maude. {1}

And that’s it! This is why it is important to have good, long, wonderful vacations-to READ lots of great books (and to see a few amazing sights).

Happy March! One month closer to Springtime…

March is finally here and we have at least a foot of snow on the ground. The snow this time is beautiful. It is perfect building snow; you can easily roll it together to make a fort, a snow person, or simply throw some snowballs at your unsuspecting children as I did on Wednesday. It was a snow day for us and Groovy Girl and I played in the snow for like 2 hours. When teenage boy came back from snow blowing the neighbor’s driveway we pegged him with a few hand packed, triple stacked snow balls. It was the most fun I’ve had in weeks! Laughing and playing in the snow is what winter is all about, that and the delicious hot chocolate we drank after.

I’ve been listening to a fantastic audio book, The Secrets of Happy Families by Bruce Feiler, on my phone as I go back and forth to school. We already have a pretty happy family but I’m always of the mind that things could be better. If I could find some good parenting tricks to get my sweet Groovy Girl to remember her chores without CONSTANT reminders or for her to clean her room BEFORE it became a hazard zone – my life would be more “chill”. This book has many great tips and one that has already left a lasting impact on us has been dinner time conversation. We already make a huge effort to eat dinner together, and we do talk and ask “what was the best/worst part of your day?” but Bruce encourages you to discuss family history at the table. Last night we had the best conversation about where all the grandparents went to college. Research says that kids who know their background are less likely to get in trouble, this seems like an easy first step for us. Over the next couple of weeks we plan to implement more of Bruce’s suggestions.

I found this title on Audible.com while I browsed for a birthday gift for Teenage Boy’s Grandpa Dean. I picked out two excellent fishing titles that I knew he could listen to on his phone or iPad. If I joined Audible I could get a huge discount on both books and it seemed like the thing to do. I’m not as thrilled about this monthly fee now as every time I scroll through their sight I don’t find books that stand out and they are rather expensive. If I’m already paying a monthly fee why would I want to pay $22.00 average for a book? I’m probably going to cancel but it still saved me money on my original purchases. Anybody else have experience with this website?

I’m computer-less also (sort of) as my Dell laptop died a few weeks ago and I’m now left with (just) my Kindle Fire and my iPhone. I’m feel blessed to have those two to keep me connected but I have yet to be able to truly blog successfully using either one. Does anyone else blog from phone/tablet without a backup computer. I can’t get pictures to my Kindle and neither are very easy for extensive typing or adding links. Thoughts or suggestions on this process? For now I am using my work laptop on the weekends. I don’t want to rush into buying a new laptop and I don’t want to order from Dell again.

ready for Spring…

That’s all the news here…
Happy March…

Where has the month gone?

Oh, yes, my blog…

Sometime during August I completely forgot for days that a blog is something I do, or did. I love writing and getting responses and some weeks are busier than others but August-truly you slipped away from me.

My attention has been at school. My school began with teacher work week days creeping up on me like a bad cold. One minute your happily waking up late, making breakfast for everyone, and then sitting down and resting for like two hours with a book in your lap and then BANG-time to go back to work.

My attention has also been on getting Groovy Girl prepared for 5th grade. Mostly that’s me sulking for a few days on the fact that she is even old enough (how could it be!) to be in 5th grade. Where did that time go? She is sassy and smart and totally prepared for school days. She has a new backpack from Target with a matching lunch box. She has folders matched to notebooks in 5 different hues. She has new colored pencils, markers, a big box of Kleenex and a medium sized scissors for her 5th grade fingers. She has everything but a best friend ready for school. I don’t know why she has such trauma with friends she just does. Mostly many of the other girls are already bossy tweenagers while she is insecure and small-ish. She wants to play make-believe while other girls prance discussing training bra sizes or whatever and the others play kick ball. One or the other no in-between. She doesn’t like kickball. Yikes. It’s been a rough couple of years for her in the friend arena but that’s another story.

My attention has been on Teenage Boy who is going to grow out of his blog name soon. He started at a local community college on Monday. His high school began the process to close (big tears-me, not him) while he was a junior last year and he made the smart decision to graduate with the last seniors by taking two on-line courses. He finished on the last day possible to graduate and began his first week at HCC with four classes. Wow. That’s just about all the mother can say. Wow.

My attention has been on working out more as I’ve added ten pounds to my smallish frame. The summer of turning 50gave me an unusually shaped waistline and I’m not happy about it. My kids still say I’m the
“skinniest mom they know” but I can feel this lump like a perpetual baby bulge. I am trying to walk more and bring full time yoga back into my life. For now I’m wearing multi-colored muu-muu’s to school.

In other news:

My car was rifled through while I was volunteering at the Democratic office for two hours. The important objects taken were a very nice water bottle, my black sunglasses, a bag of quarters (about $18), and our Garmin GPS!! The strangest thing they took was a pair of Bob’s striped size 3 of Groovy Girl’s that we had ordered and then needed to return because she discovered a small tear in the canvas. “They” got a brand new slightly ripped pair of shoes-tags still on them! I hate the idea of someone going through my stuff and I’m not happy with myself about forgetting to lock it but they are just objects Lesson learned.

I finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn in like 3 days! Review will be forthcoming but know that it was GREAT. My women’s book group read James Joyce’s Portrait of an Artist as a young man. I couldn’t get through it and don’t know if I will ever go back. Joyce’s stream of consciousnesses was not enjoyable. It was my first free download to my Kindle Fire so there’s that to celebrate!

Most of all I’ve been paying attention to my blessings. This blog is one of them and I will bring myself back to it now. It was nice taking a short breather but I could tell I missed it the last two days.

What’s grabbed your attention this month?

28 Days of Things I Love; #4

I love curling up with a good book!

I love the words that I learn the sentence structure, the descriptions. I fall head over heals in love with characters. Claire Marvel by John Burnham Schwartz is a perfect example of good writing and memorable characters. I wanted to get home every day just to read another paragraph, another chapter yet not too fast lest the end come to quickly.

As a young girl I loved curling up in my room and reading the day away. Today is no different-I squirrel away moments to read as I make dinner, while I wait in line, as I eat lunch at work and especially while I soak in a quiet bath. I read with my two older children as they moved into middle school age and now read religiously with my youngest. I’m ~~slightly~~ interested in ebooks yet I know I will always journey with a book in my hand. I celebrate the printed word, especially stories as marvelous as Claire Marvel!

One quote:

I began to close the bag, then changed my mind. “Want a Life Saver?”
She cocked her head skeptically. “Depends on the flavor.”
“Butter Rum,” I said.
Brightening, she nodded-a girlish bounce of her head that sent a thrill through me. I peeled the damp foil back so she could take one.
“I forgot how good these are.” She was rolling the candy noisily around her tongue. (5)

I love this scene as it introduces both Claire and Julian. In this moment standing in the rain she holds a yellow umbrella and he is soaked. Their relationship in the beginning throes seems picture perfect except Julian hesitates unsure of himself and she waits expectantly. Oh-the thrill of a good book! This one is a keeper.

This is all it takes for me.

A few weeks ago my husband and I decided we needed to amp up the idea of date night in our relationship. What with kid activities, his many plays and meetings and my school life we some times don’t see each other much in a week. He sent me a text the other day and asked me out on a date and we went today for an early dinner at local sushi restaurant. We each had a salad, several sushi rolls and I had a glass of wine and he, a beer.

Because we like to be efficient we stopped pre-date at the running store downtown to pick up the sneakers he had ordered me for Christmas. After the date I had to stop at our local library to pick up a book for one of my student book clubs. My husband reminded me as we were going in that we had a time limit to get home to the kids.

Within 5 minutes in the library I was able to pick up this stack:

1. Fever; 1793-this is the book I needed for one of my students.
2. The Palace of Laughter by Jon Berkeley
3. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
4. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
5. The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule
6. The Parents We Mean To Be by Richard Weissbourd

Two, Three and Four were all very close to where I looked for Anderson, Laurie Halse and the last two just because I happened passed a display of parenting books. Wow. Just think if he’d given me 10 minutes.

All in all-two errands and a nice dinner made for a lovely night out and we were home by 6:30 with a pizza for the kids. Hope your day was blissful too.

Friday Feature; Top Ten Earth Day Books! (and a Fantastic Green Giveaway)

Image licenced by Carol Eldridge Designs

This first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970 and was the idea of Senator Gaylord Nelson. He brought the concept up to President Kennedy in 1962, who agreed to tour the country to raise awareness. I find it ironic that the idea for Earth Day-a way to draw attention to the ecology of our very own planet Earth-has been around since before I was born!
Earth Day facts

Wow…and we need it now more than ever BUT just think if we had really paid attention to President Kennedy’s call for change we might have made more sweeping changes, especially in the car industry! [stepping daintily down from soap box]

I digress when we have books to talk about…

Peaceful Reader’s Top Ten Books about Earth Day/Ecology w/ mini-synopsis:

10. It’s Earth Day! by Mercer Mayer (2008): Little Critter learns about the ice cap melting and polar bears losing their habitat, which gets him motivated to change his habits and invent a climate control machine!

9. Biscuit’s Earth Day Celebration by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. (2010) Biscuit and his owner attend a local Earth Day event and learn about many ways to celebrate and clean up our planet.

8. Dinosaurs Go Green!; A Guide to Protecting Our Planet by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown (1992, 2009). A lively romp through what every good dino or human should know about reducing, reusing, and recycling so we don’t become extinct…Told through easy-to-read panels and speech bubbles.

7. Fancy Nancy; Every Day is Earth Day! by Jane O’Connor (2010). After learning about Earth Day at school, Fancy Nancy brings the message home, but creates a bit of a mess when she goes over the top to teach them.

6. We are Extremely Very Good Recyclers by Lauren Child (2009). Lola discovers how much fun recycling can be with the idea that she can earn a free tree to plant and of course, she gets all her classmates to help!

5. What Planet are You From, Clarice Bean by Lauren Child (2002). When she finds out a neighborhood tree is going to be destroyed, Clarice Bean resolves to become an eco-warrior for Planet Earth.

4. The Earth Book by Todd Parr (2010). Everyday eco-advice told with his amazing artwork will teach kids to turn off the water while they brush and so much more!

3. Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg (1990). One young boy, Walter, doesn’t think one hoot about littering and generally messing up the environment until he takes a mysterious journey in his bed.

2. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (1971). Classic tale of creating a need for thneeds (a useless item for sure) and using up all kinds of valuable resources to create and distribute until our landscape is beyond polluted and drab. A must read for everyone!

1. Arthur Turns Green by Marc Brown (2011). A class project has Arthur turning green and D.W. in a panic when she thinks she might be next!

Which brings me to my Giveaway, Giveaway, Giveaway…
and since I’m very new to creating a google form-please leave me your totals and your email with your green comment. Ooops! Thank you Diva for clueing me in…