Literary Endeavors

Here are some of our favorite recent reads:

Children’s Picture Books:

Ruthie Bon Bair: Do Not Go to Bed with Ringing Wet Hair by Susan Lubner and Bruce Whately. This book was very creative. I found it a delight to read. The illustrations were wonderful, and the notion of plants growing out of long and crazy hair is something that any five year old who doesn’t like to get her hair combed can relate to. Fantastic.

Rooftop Rocket Party by Roland Chambers I love the collision of imagination and creativity with hardcore science in this book. Ms. CP liked it so much she asked me to read it three times in a row. The language was playful. The ideas were fun. The characters were wonderful. The author did a fantastic job of showing details in creative ways. This is a great read for preschoolers.

Camilla Chaemeleon by Colleen Sydor Another extremely creative children’s book, this book is about self discovery. I loved how the author weaved in strange pregancy cravings!

The Night Pirates by Peter Harris This was a riveting read for Ms. CP and Destructoman. Any young lover of pirates and adventures will devour this book. I love how the protagonist’s ship is disguised as he sneaks up on the pirates.

The Patch by Justina Chen Headley Not only were the illustrations in this book whimsical and fun, the plot great and the use of language very fun, this book brings to light an important issue that I haven’t ever run across in children’s picture books: kids that need to wear a patch to strengthen one eye. I’ve known a couple of kids who needed to wear patches, and reading this book, I really felt that their feelings of social insecurity were addressed so carefully. The main character is so resourceful in overcoming the questions of her classmates about her patch. I highly recommend this book.

Upper Elementary Chapter Books

Just for You to Know by Cheryl Harness: This was a mediocre book, I felt. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t strike me as extra special either. The plot seemed a bit predictable, but I still kind of enjoyed reading it, especially more toward the middle. It was amazing to me that such responsibility would be put upon a seventh grader, and almost unbelievable, but I’m sure that in some families such situations do arise.

Grown Up Nonfiction (I read a lot more nonfiction that usual the past six weeks)

Two Little Girls: A Memoir of Adoption by Theresa Reid: This was very interesting! I couldn’t stop reading it one Saturday morning and ended up neglecting my children until I was done at 2:00. (I did stop to give them lunch.) The author chronicals her journey to Russia and Ukraine to adopt two young girls, her frustrations and joys in the adoption experience. I appreciated that she really told the story like it happened. She was brutally honest in some places, and yet so appreciative of her daughters even though there were some major struggles to overcome.

Rumspringa: To Be or Not to Be Amish by Tom Shachtman This book was fascinating to me. I learned so much about the Amish culture. It was an eye opening and mind opening book for me.
There were several aspects of the writing that I really appreciated. First of all, the author, I felt, was amazingly objective and fair in his reporting about the Amish. He did not try to sway the reader toward or from the Amish way of life. He seemed to appreciate the culture while bringing to light some of the interesting issues that the simple way of life envokes. Second, the author did a fantastic job of not only explaining and examining the concept of rumspringa (a time when Amish adolescents are allowed to experiment with the worldly way of life), which in itself gives the reader a LOT to think about, but he also gave a very thorough background of the structure of the Amish church, their beliefs, the history of anabaptism, and the education of Amish children and how it affects the culture. Living in central Wisconsin, we often run into Amish people, and this book really explained some of the questions I had about the things I’ve seen (Why for example, an Amish couple was chaufferred in a pickup truck to a garage sale on my street, and why I often see a blue tractor toodling up to Walmart with an entire Amish family inside the cab). Read this book if you want to know more about the Amish!