No Time for a Long Blog Post

I have no time for a long blog post today as I am trying to think up ways to get a copy of this book, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, into the hands of every nine to twelve year old girl in America. It is fantastic. I'll have you know that I cried on page 47, page 181, page 252, and on page 323. It was more of a lump in my throat than full on sobbing, but I was moved and it wasn't the perimenopause talking. It is a lovely book and Calpurnia's love for her brothers and grandfather reminds me of how I felt about my own brothers and grandfather at her age. More on that later; I'm off to at least convince my own nine year old daughter to move this book to the top of the pile on her bedside table.

School Nurse Books

Were you the kind of kid who frequented the school nurse's office or avoided it like the plague? As a kid, I was never a big fan of visiting the school nurse. Do not misunderstand; my elementary school nurse, Mrs. Koch, was a lovely woman. I even played her in a tribute/school play when she retired. I think I landed the part because my own mother is a nurse and had a uniform, complete with nurse's cap, for me to use as a costume. Despite that, I didn't want much to do with the nurse's office. I always failed the eye test and feared failing the scoliosis test (Deenie, anyone?). So I was a little shocked yesterday when my daughter was upset that she missed the school nurse's visit to her classroom. Head lice are apparently running rampant through my town's public schools. The nurses are coming in to check all of the kids' heads. (I apologize if you are now hypochondriachally scratching your head as you read this.) My daughter was out of the room as her class was being checked. When I asked why this bothered her, she told me, "The nurses puts these like chopsticks on your head and it feels so good." I love her, but that kid is strange sometimes!

It got me to thinking that I don't know of any school nurse books besides The School Nurse from the Black Lagoon. I also imagine that there might be a Cherry Ames: School Nurse, but that's all I can come up with off the top of my head. That is kind of odd considering the big role the nurse plays in the lives of many schoolchildren. I am curious if anyone out there knows of a good school nurse picture or chapter book?

I Know, I Know, It's Not Called The Movie Bench

This past weekend, I went to see "Earth" with my sons. I like animals and I recycle and try to be green, but nobody would accuse me of being a tree -hugging Green Peacer. Therefore, I didn't know if "Earth" would keep my attention. Holy humpback whales, did it ever! It's fantastic, and we all loved it. I was a bit worried that my six year old son was bored midway through when he leaned to me and whispered, "I like to look up famous things and stuff on Google." I was all, "Welcome to America. Join the club. Now look, at what that wolf is about to do." He went on, "Daddy helps me Google." And again, I answered along the lines of, "Fantastic, Mr. Non-sequitir. Wow! Check out all those caribou!" And then he whispered, "Can we Google all these animals and places when we get home?" Oh, now I got it. That was the effect of "Earth" on all three of us. We were so interested we wanted to know more. The BBC and Disney put out one heck of a documentary with this one. Often when I enjoy a movie, I tell people it's good, but you can wait until it's a rental and watch it at home. Not this one. Its sweeping aerial views of the Kalahari, the Himalayas, the Arctic Circle and so on ought to be viewed on a big, big screen. An added bonus: "Earth" is narrated by James Earl Jones, aka Darth Vader to my sons. That made for some silly rewrites on the car ride home such as "Luke, I am your elephant!" Go see the movie, but don't feel envious of my drive home.

Fascinating Nonfiction

I just completed a very satisfying read of Atul Gawande's fascinating book, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. Medicine may be imperfect, but this book is pretty near flawless. It's not surprising it was a finalist for the 2002 National Book Award for nonfiction. Gawande combines his experience as a surgical resident with his easy, informative writing talents in this book of essays which examine the fallibility of doctors and the challenges and mysteries of working with the human body. Rather than creating a sensationalized account of the mistakes doctors make, Gawande presents the variety of challenges they face along with the philosophy, science, ethics, and even economics involved in practicing medicine today. I am so glad I gave this one to my sister for her birthday back in January (insert evil genius laugh here). I knew it would make it back to my night table eventually.

Speaking of putting nonfiction reading in the hands of others, I have been selectively sending out my resume hoping to go back to teaching in the fall, and my ten year old son got hold of my resume. I've never seen him so intrigued by anything in his life. He even requested a copy of his own. He seems fascinated by and skeptical of any experiences I had before his birth. Moreover, he had never really thought about the fact that grownups have to work to find work. So I guess that's a good thing, but it's kind of weird at the same time.

Garden Plans

Michelle Obama's got nothing on me. Oh, okay, there are those degrees from Princeton and Harvard as well as her wonderfully toned upper arms. Oh, and one more thing. She's got 1,100 square feet just lying around the yard, unharrassed by deer and waiting to be planted with vegetables. I actually think the newly planted White House vegetable garden is a brilliant idea. I hope it does serve to showcase seasonal vegetables and healthy eating. I love that some of the bounty will be shared with DC soup kitchens. My mom recently told me about a New Jersey elementary school near us that had students bring in apples to donate to a local soup kitchen and food pantry to honor Johnny Appleseed Day. That story made me feel good all day as did the one about the new White House vegetable garden.

Unfortunately, I pretty much have two brown thumbs, a mostly shaded yard, and sometimes as many as a dozen deer at a time walking through that shade eating everything green in their paths. These factors are working against a successful garden here on the grounds of The Book Bench estate. My husband and kids have worked some agricultural magic in the past, but it's a struggle as the little patch has to be surrounded by four feet of chicken coop type fencing. That does detract from the aesthetics a bit. I've got the answer this year: the kitchen windowsill! We'll be planting lamb's ear, polka dot plant, sensitive plant, spearmint, lemon balm, and cinnamon basil thanks to "Sprout Your Own Leafy Wonders" and "Sprout Your Own Sweet Scents." Put out by Chronicle Books, each set comes with planting trays, peat pellets, seed packets, and well written booklets. The booklets provide instructions on planting and later repotting (very ambitious), information about the plants in particular and growing things in general, and growth logs. As an added bonus, it's all environmentally friendly, using biodegradable planters and 100% recyclable packaging. Take that, Mrs. Obama! Actually, I'm wishing success to all of this year's gardeners and recommending these little kits as great birthday presents for kids who may have an interest in growing things but less available lawn space than Sasha and Malia.

What The World Eats for Foodie Friday

This is a long post, but I cannot restrain myself. This book is too amazing to be brief.

Back when I was teaching high school English literature, creative writing, and journalism, a social studies teaching friend of mine and I used to say we could easily use The New York Times in place of textbooks to teach our courses. I don't think this was a lack of humility on our parts; rather we felt the Times provided such a daily wealth of material that we'd have more than enough from which to lesson plan. Sometimes at lunch we'd point out articles or features that would be great to use in other disciplines as well, let's say an article from the Science Times section for a health class. It was a fun mental exercise.

Recently, I've come across a book that I am convinced every school teacher in America, from kindergarten through high school could make use of. It wouldn't substitute for a textbook, but it would be a wonderful supplementary material. What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Alusio could easily be used to help teach biology, chemistry, math, nutrition, geography, sociology, writing, public speaking, art, music, economics, world languages, health, and much more.

What the World Eats is a child friendly version of 2005's Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. Peter Menzel took stunning photographs and Faith D'Alusio wrote the informative text for this gorgeous book in which they visit 25 families in 21 countries to document what each family eats in a typical week. Each chapter begins with a photograph of a family surrounded by their groceries for a week. To look at those 25 portraits alone is fascinating. My children and their friends who have picked up this book immediately begin comparing the diets of these families to their own. They quickly notice that families from countries with lower incomes rely heavily on grains, fruits and vegetables. They easily see that families from wealthier countries consume more meats, dairy products, packaged foods and beverages.

Each chapter includes interviews with the families and detailed grocery lists, broken down by type, cost, and quantity. Each chapter places the featured country on a world map and presents facts such as population, average income, and life expectancy. There are also photos of the families obtaining the food (whether at a supermarket, open air market, or on a seal hunt), preparing it, and eating it. This too is quite enlightening to young readers.

As I've said, What the World Eats would make a great addition to any classroom library, but it would be equally at home on a coffee table or older child's bookshelf. Its information about nutrition and the global economy are timely and valuable, and the photographs are truly captivating.

My son happened to read the author blurb on the book's jacket and is very excited to check out another book by Menzel and D'Alusio, winner of the 1999 James Beard Award for References and Writings on Food. It's called Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects. Talk about a catchy title!

What to Read After the First Snowfall of the Year

It snowed here in northwestern New Jersey yesterday. The first snowfall of each year is, of course, the most magical one. It begs twirling and touching, and leaning one's head back with a tongue out for collecting flakes. The first snowfall of the year reminds us that miracles and mysteries are happening in the sky. Subsequent snowstorms, at least for adults, are more about shoveling than sharing. In our family, we love a beautiful and inspiring picture book called Snowflake Bentley, which captures the wonder of snow. This Caldecott medal winning book written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated with woodcuts by Mary Azarian, tells the story of Wilson Bentley. He was born in Vermont in 1865, and in the author's words, "Willie Bentley's happiest days were snowstorm days. He watched snowflakes fall on his mittens, on the dried grass of Vermont farm fields, on the dark metal handle of the barn door. He said snow was as beautiful as butterflies or apple blossoms." As a boy, Bentley observed snowflakes under an old microscope and drew scores of snow crystals. Often the crystals melted before he could record them. As a teenager, he longed for a camera with its own microscope. Part of the beauty of this book is its illustrations, part is Bentley's enthusiasm, and a great part is the fact that his dairy farming parents spent their savings to help him buy that camera. Over the years and with much experimentation, Bentley was able to make hundreds of pictures of snow crystals even though his Vermont neighbors laughed at the idea of photographing something so common. Though he never became wealthy, in his lifetime he did publish a book of his photographs and receive recognition from scientists for his contributions. It was he who revealed the hexagonal shape and infinite possibility of designs in snowflakes. Snowflake Bentley is the perfect book to read once warm inside after enjoying the first snowfall of the year. It's also ideal in any season to encourage children to follow their passions and interests.

Books About Apples

We spent several hours yesterday picking apples at the beautiful Pennings Orchard in Warwick, NY. The weather was perfect, the view of the fall foliage was stunning, and the apples were crisply scrumptious. I wish I could share some of my apple pie with you, but that doesn't really work via blog. Instead, I've included a photo of some of our massive bag of apples and a selection of a few of our favorite apple books. There are dozens of apple books to choose from. Apples show up frequently in preschool and primary grade science lessons as well as in library story hours, so we've been exposed to a great number of apple picture books over the last few years .The Apple Pie Tree, written by Zoe Hall and illustrated by Shari Halpern, is ideal for children from preschool to grade two. Its text and paint and paper collage illustrations follow two siblings following the cycle of an apple tree over the course of a year. The book includes the contributions of bees and weather, the family of robins who nest in the tree, and a delicious apple pie at the end. Nancy Elizabeth Wallace's Apple, Apples, Apples is another charmingly illustrated picture book introducing young children to the science of apples. Wallace's Leave! Leaves! Leaves! and Pumpkin Day are worth checking out during the fall as well. For slightly older children, I highly recommend How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. In it, a young baker considers how to gather up ingredients for an apple pie if the market is closed. It will involve taking various modes of transportation to get to Italy for the semolina wheat, Sri Lanka for cinnamon, Vermont for apples, Jamaica for sugar cane and so on. It is a lovely combination of geography and whimsy that shows readers that our food doesn't just magically appear, shrink wrapped in plastic, in our grocery store. (As you might remember from my Aug. 4 post "Of Books and Blueberries," this is an issue for me.)
For second through fifth graders, here's a book that we use throughout the year, not just during apple season, in my house. Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta and illustrated by Rob Bolster enlists adorable elves to divide different types of apples into fractions. Some interesting apple facts are presented along with a math lesson in fractions. For example, on two facing pages showing the elves dividing up a Gala apple into five equal parts, using miniature wooden tools, the text treads, "A Gala is a medium-sized apple. It is about the size of your fist. The largest apples are as big as grapefruits. The smallest are the size of cherries. This Gala is cut into five equal pieces. Each piece is one-fifth. One fifth plus four-fifths equals five-fifths. When the numbers above and below the line are the same, the fraction equals one whole."
Finally, the award for best children's book with apple in the title goes to Deborah Hopkinson's Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains. And don't forget that there are literally dozens of books at all levels from easy reader to young adult about Johnny Appleseed. How about them apples?

Here's A Little Trick I Picked Up At The Doctor's Office

One morning last week I had to pick my daughter up from school and bring her to the doctor's office. Her teacher had accidentally poked her in the eye. Normally, a long stretch of time in the waiting room sees Hayden reading a book or Highlights magazine and me furiously catching up on what's happening with Brad, Angelina, Britney and the rest of the gang in People magazine. However, since Hayden's eye was hurting from the poke and swelling from the subsequent crying, she asked me to read to her. The Hollywood scuttlebutt didn't seem appropriate, so I read to her from a parenting magazine, the kind with lots of ideas for crafts that I could never complete and healthy recipes my kids would laugh (or cry) at. Hayden is much craftier in the pipecleaner and glue sense than I am, so she loved it. We read the coolest article with camera tricks- easy but impressive ones. Our favorite recommends putting colored Post It notes in front of the flash of your camera and snapping for cool colored effects. We only have yellow Post Its at our house, but we have tons of flyers sent home from school printed on obnoxiously bright paper. Once home from the doctor and pharmacy, we cut a bunch of those flyers into little squares to tape in front of my camera's flash and got down to experimenting. My five year old, as you can see from the pictures, loved being our model. It helped us happily pass what could have been a miserable afternoon. We've got big plans to take some spooky Halloween pictures with our new trick.

Best Books for a Nine Year Old Boy (This Week)

That title may be a bit misleading. I am going to tell you about the books my son enjoyed this week, not necessarily the best in his whole life. My husband recently posited a theory that I would get more readers if my posts had the word "best" in the titles. I titled this one to humor him, but if I really wanted to use the titles to gain readers, you would now be reading a post entitled "Banish Cellulite Forever" or "Easy, Delicious Meals in Ten Minutes or Less." As I am clearly unqualified to write about either of those topics, let me tell you about J.C. Greenburg's Andrew Lost books instead.
My son Aaron spent this past week enjoying the first three books in this series. He is a very strong reader and the reading level, probably about second grade, was not challenging for him, but he loved the subject matter. In the first book, Andrew Lost On the Dog, Andrew builds a shrinking machine which accidentally shrinks Andrew, his cousin Judy, and his robot Thudd down to tiny specks. The specks end up in the nose of the neighbor's dog. So begins a race against time to get back to normal. Aaron loved the plot, the gross details, and the four pages of related facts (about dogs and fleas) at the back of the book. Each book has a cliffhanger ending leading to the next, a style to which Aaron is unaccustomed. He's not sure if he likes it or not, saying that it is good if you have the next book, but "it stinks" if you don't. Luckily we had the next two books, Andrew Lost In the Bathroom and Andrew Lost In the Kitchen to keep him occupied in his downtime this week. We'll have to see if the library has more in the series. These are a good choice for readers who enjoy science and adventure.

The Truth About Poop

Flip through most family albums and you'll find pictures of smiling children posing on Christmas morning with new bicycles, sleds, dolls, and so on. Go through my 2006 album and you'll find a picture of my then seven year old son next to the tree and grinning as he holds up his favorite gift from Santa Claus, a book named The Truth About Poop. The novelty has not worn off yet, and I must admit that the book is fascinating.
Since I wrote about scatological humor yesterday, I figured I should write about fecal history and science today. In The Truth About Poop, author Susan E. Goodman treats her subject with humor but never resorts to outright silliness or gross out humor. One of the sections most frequently read and quoted in our house is "The World Pre-T.P." On hikes and at the lake, my kids will point out leaves, stones, moss, and mussel shells, reminding me that all of these were used for wiping. Here is some American history for you, "And soon after the Pilgrims learned to grow corn, they figured out what to do with the cobs." Think about that at your next barbecue.
Are you more of a physics buff? Perhaps you will enjoy the section called "Waste in Space." Goodman explains that astronauts in space must swing a bar across their legs to stay put when having a bowel movement. Why, you ask. She explains Newton's third law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. A downward push would result in the astronaut shooting up off the toilet. I remember a college professor of mine demonstrating this law by wearing roller skates and shooting a fire extinguisher at the same time. As he shot the extinguisher, he rolled in the opposite direction.I was about 20 at the time. My elementary school aged children have an equally good understanding of Newton's law and it makes them giggle. But it's not just children interested in astronaut waste. Remember last year when the news was full of a female astronaut who went on a cross country drive to confront the other woman? All of the late night talk shows joked about the adult diapers she wore on the trip to cut down on bathroom breaks. Goodman mentions the efficacy of such "maximum absorption garments" on spacewalks.
She also presents many facts about poop in nature, history, even warfare. Did you know that sharks produce spiral poop? Or that beaver poop often floats because it contains so much undigested wood? There's plenty more where that came from. Maybe you'll get lucky and Santa will leave it under your tree this year, the book that is, not poop.
My apologies to any readers who may be offended.

The Penguin Fun Continues

We have just finished another penguin book, Penguin Chick by Betty Tatham, illustrated by Helen K. Davie. This contains much of the same information as Penguins, but is considered vastly superior to my readers for two highly subjective reasons. First, it is inscribed, "December 2006, Merry Christmas to Ethan! Love, Grandma and Grandpa" in my mother's exceptionally neat printing. Her printing wows them every time. How does she get those letters so perfect?! Second, this book presents the following information about Rockhopper penguins, "The mother lays two eggs but can raise only one chick. The stronger of the two chicks survives." My children could spend hours debating which of them would survive if humans were like Rockhopper penguins in this way.

What I really like about this book, in addition to the illustrations, are two extension activities suggested by the author at the end. She explains how to lie on a smooth surface and attempt tobogganing like a penguin and putting a raw potato on your feet and shuffling forward like a penguin father carrying his egg.
These would be fun to try in a classroom or library storytime setting as well as at home.

Creepy Crawly Characters

Here in our very wooded corner of northern New Jersey, caterpillars have been literally thick on the ground these past few weeks. It happens each year around this time- their gauzy tents appear in the trees. Soon they begin to break free and can be found, fat, hairy, and surprisingly quick, on any and all surfaces. Everywhere we go, I hear parents saying, "Leave them outside" and "Not in the car!" They're talking about the fistfuls and Dixie cups filled with writhing caterpillars. My own children collected 14 in a matter of minutes at a recent teeball game. In about a week, they will be gone, turned into moths or butterflies or smooshes on the bottoms of sneakers. We won't see them for another year. In the meantime, we can content ourselves with our three favorite literary invertebrates, a caterpillar, an inchworm, and an earthworm. One is very hungry, one is very clever, and one is very human.

Of course the go to caterpillar book is Eric Carle's classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Oh, how we have loved this book! Clearly many other readers have as well, judging from the toys, card game, baby clothing line, and other products inspired by it. Educationally, it is a gold mine, teaching the days of the week, counting, and the process of metamorphosis. It's also just a delightful read. I have yet to meet a child who does not love the list of foods the very hungry caterpillar eats on that fateful Saturday. And, of course, they all love when he turns into a beautiful butterfly in the end.

Also on the list of invertebrates we love is the very clever green inchworm protagonist of Leo Lionni's Inch by Inch. Inchworm as underdog. He outwits the vain nightingale and saves his own neck in the process.

Finally, for school age children is the baseball cap wearing earthworm in Doreen Cronin's Diary of a Worm. The entries are fresh and witty as are Harry Bliss' illustrations. My children particularly enjoy the worm's June 15 diary entry which reads, "My older sister thinks she's so pretty. I told her that no matter how much time she spends looking in the mirror, her face will always look just like her rear end. Spider thought that was really funny. Mom did not."