I love the internet.

Twice in the past week, I have posted pictures of my sick little ones and almost immediately, I’ve gotten tons of messages wishing them well. And then today, I was reminded of how great the internet is for making connections with fellow readers. Sure people asked how Caroline was doing when I posted the picture above but a couple of them also asked what she was reading. Which began a dialogue about books, reading preferences and favorite authors.

Doesn’t get much better than that.

And in case you were wondering, Caroline is reading Thirteen by Lauren Myracle. For those of you who have been following my long and sometimes painful challenge to get Caroline to read anything other than series books based in the present day about tween girls, it may look like I am loosing my battle but fear not… We have a new system and it is working. Caroline chooses a book and then I choose a book. More on our plan to come because interestingly, it involves the Kindle…

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When Sally at my favorite children’s book store, Books, Bytes and Beyond, told me there was a book I had to read, I bought it immediately. Sally has never steered me wrong. But I was not totally convinced this time. The book she gave me was Endangered by Eliot Schrefer. A book about a young girl, Bonobos and the war-torn Congo.

It’s a good thing that a trusted recommender (I know this isn’t a word but it should be) called my attention to the book because I never would have read it. And the once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. The story is sad and overwhelming at times but the message is so overwhelmingly empowering that it is possible to get through all the yucky stuff.

A must read- even and maybe especially if it seems like it’s not.

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C. Christopher Smith of the Huffington Post has issued readers a hefty challenge. He proposes that for every current book you read, you read a classic.

Pause for heavy sighing…

As I read on in to his post, however, I felt a bit better. Smith quotes John Ruskin who says, ” “All books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all time.” and goes on to define classics as books that are “not books of the moment.”

In looking at books this way, the challenge actually becomes exciting. For years, I have thought back to books that I read when I was younger. Little Women, The Secret Garden, Tuck Everlasting and on and on. Each of these are books that could be read again and again, years and years after they were first published. There are many books like these that I remember loving but that I do not in fact remember at all.

Perhaps, this year I will take the challenge and read the ‘classics’ of children’s literature.

For now, I have begun with A Bridge to Teraibithia. So far, so good…

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The other day, as a stood in the kitchen, I wondered why the girls were being so quiet.

And so I walked in a beautiful discovery. Katherine was reading a book on her own for the very first time.

Well, maybe not the first time…

I was just looking through old blog posts and I found the following in January 2010…

“This morning, Katherine insisted that we leave her alone. When I snuck in to see what she was doing, she was “reading” a chapter book.” (January 2010)

So glad that now, there’s no need to put quotation marks around the word reading although I am bit sad that there are also no more footy pajamas…

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“If you want to ask yourself one question each night that would be the best barometer of how well you’ve parented that day, use this one: If my child had only my actions to watch today, what would he have learned? Your honest answer will be your signal as to what behavior you should consciously tune in to the next day so you are the best role model for your children.”

-Michele Borba (12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know: Getting Back to the Basics & Raising Happy Kids)

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I love turning the calendar to January for a number of reasons. I love the feeling of a fresh start, the excuse to look through pictures and to think back on the year that has passed.

And I love Cybils season. This will be my third year with the Cybils and my second year as a second round judge for the easy reader/early chapter book category.

The link for the complete list of finalists in all categories is here. And the list for my category can be found here.

In case your To Be Read pile needs to grow, there are many amazing choices among these lists. Enjoy…

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* Image: Nishant Choksi

I spent the holidays pouring over new books and old. My Christmas gifts consisted primarily of books, both the real kind and a new Kindle Paperwhite so I can read outside and in the dark. And my list of Best Books of 2012 just kept growing and growing. Check out this great list from NPR for just one list that has recently caught my attention. Each one results in more notes scribbled into the back of my notebook, more holds placed at the library and more books added to my Amazon cart.

In an effort to control the chaos of my book piles (real and virtual), I am going to write a measurable reading goal for the year. Around the web, readers set goals for themselves, often to read 100s of books for the year. I am overwhelmed by daunting goals like these so I plan to keep my goals a bit simpler. On average, I read one to two books per week. I try to alternate between adult and children’s book but am not always quite that organized.

So, for a measurable reading goal for 2013, I plan to read 3 adult books and  3 middle grade/young adult books per month.

Doable or too much? Only time will tell…

 

 

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*Image courtesy of Elisa Kleven

In place of resolutions this year, I have chosen a word.

Peace.

As I thought about what my word would be, the word peace jumped immediately to mind but I wasn’t sure why. I knew I want to see, live and know peace in the world and in myself but I still couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it. And then I read one of my favorite blogs this morning and the image above was the first I saw. It looked like peace would indeed be my word.

As I began to think and read more about peace, I googled the word along with the names of some of my favorite authors.

I found the following:

“Instructions for living a life.

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

-Mary Oliver

So that is what I will do. I will pay attention to all that is peaceful in this life. I will remember to be astonished by it and by all other beauty. And I will come here and to my notebook to tell about it.

Happy New (and peaceful) Year to all…

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The blogosphere has been quiet this week. Blogs have observed moments of silence and the tragedy in Sandy Hook is all anyone can write about. Cooking blogs, decorating blogs, mommy blogs, children’s lit blogs. They are all filled with thoughts, prayers and memories. It is hard for me to transition from it. I sat down to write a review of a book and couldn’t. I began to write about a great new game we have discovered and couldn’t. It all seems quite trivial.

Perhaps this picture of Christmas magic will serve as a transition…

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Last evening, I received an e-mail from Caroline’s fourth grade teacher that brought a new round of tears to my eyes.With each correspondence from the girl’s school I am more and more impressed with how beautifully they are handling the tragedy in Newtown with our children.

Caroline’s teacher had thought the day might move forward without talking about Newtown but as the day progressed she felt that the mood of the room was somber and sad. She brought the children close after a read aloud and told them that they had all had a lot to think about over the past few days. She asked them to give her a thumbs up if they knew why she was saying this, beautifully and privately assessing the knowledge base of her classroom. Understanding that she could move on, she let the class know that she and her aide were there for them, that if they needed an extra moment or a hug they were there, that they were always there. She told them that their feelings were okay, whatever they were. She told them that talking or writing about what they were thinking could help.

And then, with the mood obviously lifted, they moved on with their day. Because they could.

I responded to her with such graciousness for all that she is. I know many people who were scared to send their children off to school yesterday. I honestly wasn’t and as I read this e-mail last night I knew why. I knew I was sending my girls in to classrooms that were safe and more importantly classroom that made them feel safe.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to thank a teacher or a principal yet, please do. I know it made me feel like I had done a little something to make this yucky world a little bit better.

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