Picture Book - Pencils, Pens & Brushes: A Great Girls' Guide to Disney Animation by Mindy Johnson

Illustrated by Lorelay Rove

2019 Disney Enterprises

HC $18.99

78 pgs.
J 791.4334 Johnson

Goodreads rating:  4.150 - 106 ratings

My rating:  5
Endpapers: solid pink

My comments:  I totally enjoyed reading through this book, and learned so much!  I'm not a huge Disney fan, but all the information about the women associated through the years of Disney history is just wonderful. 
     I particularly enjoyed learning about Kae Sumner, who was 6' 3" tall, and because she drew for the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was written up in Life magazine.  She became popular, with many people of height contacting her, and she began a club for tall people called the Tip Toppers.  So cool!
     I was looking at this book because I wanted more information about Mary Blair, who I was researching.  So glad I found this book, since Bosler doesn't have it and I had to borrow it from Coy/Shippensburg.

Included:
Lillian & Edna, the two Mrs. Disneys (Walt and his brother Roy
Dorothy Ann Blank - founder of the Story Development Department, starting with Snow White
Nelbert Chouinard - Chouinard Institute teachers taught original animators at Disney
Marge Champion -

Goodreads:  Based on the critically acclaimed Disney Editions title, Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation, this nonfiction picture book is a fun and inspiring look at a few of the amazing women who have worked at Disney Animation over the years—from sculptors to inkers to painters to story artists, all with unique personalities and accomplishments, such as becoming a world record-holding pilot or creating an international club for tall people!

Poetry Picture Book - Superlative Birds by Leslie Bulion

Illustrated by Robert Meganck
J 598 Bulion (Simpson Library)

2019 Peachtree 

HC $15.95m 

56 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.66 - 53 ratings

My rating:  4.5
Endpapers:  hand drawn birds in mustard , black, and white, on pale mustard

My comments: 20 poems about superlative birds - the biggest, the smallest, the most numerous, the ones with the longest toes, the fanciest courtships.....all sorts of delightful birds with superlatives of one kind or another!  With each poem is a paragraph or two of "Science Notes," interesting science facts about the bird and their habitat which includes their scientific name.  Illustrations of the birds are great, and there's a chickadee that gives information with illustrations that are almost a little too "cutesy" for me. (Oh well.) This is a great book for the older-than-preschool crowd, and would make a super exemplar for a writing project.  She also includes, at the end of the book, an explanation about some of the poetic forms she uses for each of the poems, as well as an excellent glossary.

Goodreads:  Explore the fascinating world of superlative birds--from the bee hummingbird, the tiniest bird in the world, to the peregrine falcon, the fastest creature on Earth.
Ever wonder which bird has the loudest voice? Which one builds the biggest nest or has the most feathers? Get to know all about the best and brightest--and smelliest!--denizens of the bird world with this collection of nonfiction science verses. You won't need your binoculars to observe the superlative characteristics of these avian wonders.
Author Leslie Bulion includes a science glossary, notes on poetry forms, and resources for information about these extraordinary birds in the back of the book. Witty drawings by Robert Meganck add another layer of fun to this humorous and informative gallery of the world's most accomplished birds.

This is about an Emperor Penguin in Antarctica:

The Flying Leap

Built

to swim

not too slim

we don’t fly

wouldn’t try

waddle stop

belly-flop, slip

slide toboggan

glide - icy dash ends

with SPLASH! Wings

are fins for twirls and

spins, we plunge

below

pack ice and snow for

fish for krill for squid until

we’ve fished our fill.  Our

young ones will be overjoyed

if we avoid becoming meals

for leopard seals lurking grim

at ice floe’s rim.  We know they’re there

we’re well aware so we prepare:  our feathers trap air.

When we release bubbles our

swimming speed DOUBLES!

We jet from the sea

predator-free

we catch air – wheeeee!

77. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

listened on Audible borrowed from the library
read by the author
Unabridged audio (6:44)
2019, Knopf
252 pgs.
Adult Memoir
Finished 8/15/2019
Goodreads rating:  3.99 - 16,455 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: Contemporary

First line/s:   "When I was a girl I would sneak down the hall late at night once my parents were asleep."

My comments:  A memoir, read by the author, which is pretty cool.  I've always understood that the difference between a memoir and an autobiography is that in memoir you reflect on the things that happened in your life.  This memoir seemed to have a great deal of reflection, and had I been reading instead of listening I might have abandoned it.  I guess I'm not a philosopher.  However, the weaving of story and philosophy IS extremely well done.  And although I realize that I'm still not a nonfiction fan, I finished this and enjoyed both the story and the writing (though perhaps not quest so much the philosophical stuff, lol)

Goodreads synopsis:  The acclaimed and beloved author of Hourglass now gives us a new memoir about identity, paternity, and family secrets—a real-time exploration of the staggering discovery she recently made about her father, and her struggle to piece together the hidden story of her own life.
          What makes us who we are? What combination of memory, history, biology, experience, and that ineffable thing called the soul defines us?
          In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. She woke up one morning and her entire history—the life she had lived—crumbled beneath her.
          Inheritance is a book about secrets—secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman’s urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is a book about the extraordinary moment we live in—a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover.
          Timely and unforgettable, Dani Shapiro’s memoir is a gripping, gut-wrenching exploration of genealogy, paternity, and love.

64. Where Is Area 51? by Paula K. Manzanero

In the WHOHQ series for kids
read the book - Bosler - J. 358.417
2018 Penguin Random House
108 pgs.
Middle Grades Nonfiction
Finished 7/19/19
Goodreads rating:  4.04 - 100 ratings
My rating: 4

From the Back Cover:
--It's a Nevada air force base that keeps the public far, far away
--CIA agents do supersecret work there
--Some people believe aliens and their spaceships are stored there

First line/s: "On June 14, 1947, a ranch worker named William Brazel found a pile of strange items smack in the middle of an open field near Roswell, New Mexico."

My comments: Before these "Where Is" books came out, this series began with Who Is/Was.  I used these in my 4th grade classroom for a biography study, finding them to be much more interesting and readable than most other available biographies for middle schoolers.  I no longer teach 4th graders, but was completely caught up in Where Is Area 51?  It seems really well researched, and eye-opening ... I learned a lot!  I read this as an adult for enjoyment because I do NOT LIKE nonfiction, can't get through it, and this fascinating book kept my attention for all 108 pages!  Can't wait to read the next one.

Goodreads synopsis:  You'll find it on a map--but you'll never get anywhere near this top secret military base. What exactly is going on there? 
          Is Area 51 a top secret military base that lies in the middle of the barren Nevada desert? Or could it actually be a facility for examining aliens and their spaceships? People can't drive anywhere close to it; the US government rarely acknowledges its existence; and until recently, the airspace overhead was restricted! Conspiracy theories abound about what goes on at Area 51, especially since 1947 when strange objects were found in the middle of a field in Roswell, New Mexico. Author Paula K. Manzanero explains why Area 51 was established and reveals the mystery behind those unidentified flying objects in the sky. Check out this book and decide what you believe.

93. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

read by Julia Whelan
Listened through OverDrive - borrowed from Tucson Library
2018 Random House
334 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 10/17/18
Goodreads rating:  4.47 - 102,590 ratings
My rating:  4.5
Setting:  contemporary rural Idaho

First line/s:  "I'm standing on the red railway car that stands abandoned next to the barn."

My comments:  Well.  This was quite the memoir.  Totally believable, unlike some of the reviews I read.  Extreme religion, Mormonism, survivalism, bullying, huge families, brainwashing, abuse both physical and mental, conspiracy theories, and all sorts of atrocities that are the "will of god" ..... taking place in Idaho, in the same environs as Ruby Ridge.  Tara Westover escapes, but suffers, trying to rebuild and relearn a life that has harmed her greatly.  Powerful.  Memories relived vividly with the help of journals and journaling.  Read beautifully, a really good story to listen to.

Goodreads synopsis:  An unforgettable memoir in the tradition of The Glass Castleabout a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University
          Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.
          Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.
          Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
          Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.

42. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

read the book AND listened to on Audible...I really tried...
1994
386 pgs.
Adult Nonfiction
Stopped reading in May 8, 2018 after watching the movie and listening AND reading over 200 pages.
Goodreads rating:  3.91 - 186,079 ratings
My rating: 2.5/3ish
Setting: 1990s Savannah, GA

First line/s:  "He was tall, about fifty, with darkly handsome, almost sinister features: a neatly trimmed mustache, hair turning silver at the temples, and eyes so black they were like the tinted windows of a sleek limousine -- he could see out, but you couldn't see in."

My comments:   When this book first came out, everyone raved about it so, even though I have an aversion to nonfiction, I tried it.  I didn't get very far.  Las month, in anticipation of a trip to Savannah, I decided to try it again.  This time I listened to it, and I wonder if perhaps I wouldn't liked it better if I had read it.  I just didn't care for it.  I rented the movie on Amazon shortly before I left...although lots different from the book, I liked it better.

Goodreads synopsis: A sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city has become a modern classic.
          Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
          It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.

NonFiction I've Read

Nonfiction books are so few and far between for me, I think I'll make a (very) short list of them, because I'm proud of myself for actually finishing them!

Attracting Birds to Your Backyard by Sally Roth, 1998
Being Jazz - Jazz Jennings, 2016 (3)
Daily Five, The  by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, 2006 (4)
Educated: A Memoir - Tara Westover, 2018 (4.5)
Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets of My DNA by Richard Hill, 2012 (4)
Knitting for Peace by Betty Christiansen, 2006
Mason Dixon Knitting by Kay Gardner and Ann Shayne, 2006 (5)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, 1994 DNF/(2.5)
Where Children Sleep by James Mollison, 2010 (5)
Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain
Zentangle Untangled by Kass Hall, 2012 (3)

Middle Grades:

Where Is Area 51? by Paula K. Manzanero, in the WHOHQ series, 2018 (4)

31. Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets of My DNA by Richard Hill

read the book, came all the way from a college library in Indiana through interlibrary loan
2012, Creative Space Independent Publishing
249 pgs.
Adult nonfiction
Finished 4/4/18
Goodreads rating:   4.24 - 446 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  Michigan, USA

First line/s:  "All families have secrets, some bigger than others.  My family's secret leaked out in 1964, tee year I graduated from high school."

My comments:  I have worked on my own family tree since my late teens and really love genealogy.  So reading Mr. Hill's memoir has been fascinating, watching this mystery unfold in story form!  I can only imagine how he felt finding out about each new relation (he was adopted and new absolutely nothing about his birth parents or family) he discovered.  His story is clear and well written, interesting and thought-provoking.  Couldn't put it down.

Goodreads synopsis: Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA is Richard Hill's true and intensely personal story of how he pieced together the long-kept secret of his own origins. This highly suspenseful book is a page-turning saga of personal detective work that will appeal to anyone who loves a good mystery. But this isn't fiction. It's an engrossing account of an adoptee trying to reclaim the biological family denied him by sealed birth records. This fascinating quest, including the author's landmark use of DNA testing, takes readers on an exhilarating roller-coaster ride and concludes with a twist that rivals anything Hollywood has to offer. Easy to read and hard to put down, Finding Family is the first book to chronicle the paradigm-shifting application of genetic genealogy to adoption search. Whether you're searching for your own roots or just craving a darn good read, Finding Family is a book you will likely devour in one sitting...and wholeheartedly recommend to others. In the vein of a classic mystery, Hill gathers the seemingly scant evidence surrounding the circumstances of his birth. At his adoptive father's deathbed, he discovers shocking information that leads him to methodically chase down leads, which sometimes yield poignant glimpses of his birth parents, sometimes garner resistance, and as frequently flat-line in disappointment. As his resolve shores up, the author also avails of new friends, genealogists, the Internet, and the latest DNA tests in the new field of genetic genealogy. As he closes in on the truth of his ancestry, he is able to construct a living, breathing portrait of the young woman who was faced with the decision to forsake her rights to her child, and ultimately the man whose identity had remained hidden for decades. During the course of Hill's mission, Finding Family offers guidance, insight, and motivation for anyone engaged in a similar mission, from ways to obtain information to the many networks that can facilitate adoption searches. Best of all, the author demystifies how DNA and genetic genealogy can produce irrefutable results in determining genetic connections. In an intimate, personal voice, Hill sheds light on this new science that is helping adoptees bypass sealed records and similar stumbling blocks. It is certain to inspire those who are in search of their birth parents as well as others who are uncertain of their biological ancestry. Richard Hill's groundbreaking use of DNA testing in adoption search was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. His DNA Testing Adviser web site makes genetic genealogy understandable to all. Now retired from careers in science and marketing, Richard serves on the Advisory Board of the Mixed Roots Foundation where he is Co-Director of the Global Adoptee Genealogy Project.

PICTURE BOOK - Earmuffs for Everyone by Meghan McCarthy

How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs
illustrated by the author

2015, Paula Wiseman, Simon & Schuster

HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.59

My rating: 4

Illustrations:  a bit cartoonish, but they work okay.

1^st line/s:  "The word "muff" has been around since the Middle Ages.  Starting in the 1700s, people wore muffs on their hands to keep them warm."

My comments:  Excellent resource to teach kids about researching completely before writing informational/non-fiction.  Chester Greenwood is known - and celebrated - as the INVENTOR OF THE EARMUFF.  But his is not, not at all.  In these 40 pages we learn a little about Chester Greenwood and his life, about the history of earmuffs, about how history became "changed," about inventions and getting a patent for them, and then, by reading the excellent 2-page afterword ("A Note about This Book"), how much research went into correctly chronicling this history.  Includes extensive bibliography and acknowledgements.

Goodreads:  As a young boy, Chester Greenwood went from having cold ears to becoming a great inventor in this nonfiction picture book from the acclaimed author-illustrator of Pop! and Daredevil.
          When your ears are cold, you can wear earmuffs, but that wasn't true for Chester Greenwood back in 1873. Earmuffs didn't exist yet! But during yet another long and cold Maine winter, Chester decided to do something about his freezing ears, and he designed the first pair of ear protectors (a.k.a. earmuffs) out of wire, beaver fur, and cloth. He received a patent for his design by the time he was nineteen, and within a decade the Chester Greenwood & Company factory was producing and shipping "Champion Ear Protectors" worldwide!
          But that was just the beginning of Chester's career as a successful businessman and prolific inventor. In this fun and fact-filled picture book you can find out all about his other clever creations. The Smithsonian has declared Chester Greenwood one of America's most outstanding inventors. And if you';re ever in Maine on December 21, be sure to don a pair of earmuffs and celebrate Chester Greenwood day!

PICTURE BOOK - National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds: A Beginner's Guide - Kim Kurki

2014 Black Dog - Leventhal Publishing

HC $15.95

80 pgs.
Nonfiction picture book - dense with information

Goodreads rating: 4.53

My rating: 5 Stars - This is a grand book!

Endpapers:  green with simple, faint bird's footprints

This book is divided into four sections:
     Woodlands & Forests
     Wetlands, Shores, & Bodies of Water
     Fields, Thickets, & Backyards
     Deserts, Scrublands, & Rocky Slopes

My comments:  I can't say enough glowing things about this top-notch book.  As an adult who has only recently enjoyed watching birds, its useful information and fun, interesting facts are MUCH more  accessible than guidebooks or handbooks geared toward adults.  The illustrations are lovely and colorful, the occasional photo just enough, the quatrains written for each major bird are unforced and cleverly rhymed.  Usually I'm a little put off by a large mixture of fonts, but the many used inthis text are melded well and therefore avoid overwhelming jumble.  A really fine book!

Goodreads:  From the National Wildlife Federation, publishers of Ranger Rick, the popular nature magazine for kids, comes this exciting, dynamic, and wonderfully illustrated guide for young naturalists.
          National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds is arranged by habitat and identifies more than 100 birds. Kim Kurki¹s engaging and highly accurate illustrations give kids a true and close-up appreciation of each bird species, such as its size, shape, color, and markings, as well as its habitat, call, and behavior. Kids will learn to recognize the birds by their individual characteristics, such as the male cardinal¹s distinctive crest, the kestrel¹s helicopter hover, and the goldfinch¹s enchanting song. You¹ll also discover what makes each bird amazing, including which is the fastest flier, which lays the biggest egg, and which spends years of its life in the water, never touching land.
          The excellent illustrations, nontechnical language, and fascinating facts throughout make this an ideal guide for beginner bird-watchers—of any age!

PICTURE BOOK - The Shortest Day by Wendy Pfeffer

Celebrating the Winter Solstice
Illustrated by Jesse Reisch

2003 Dutton Children's Books
HC $16.99 when first published....  **must add this to my collection, love it

40 pgs.
TPPL 394.261P

Goodreads rating: 3.78

My rating: 5 - gorgeous - words and illustrations

Endpapers: purple

Title Page: Dark aqua with winter illustrations in an oval mid-page

1^st line/s: 
"In late autumn
in the northern part of the world
squirrels hide nuts,
foxes grow thick fur coats,
and flocks of birds fly to warmer places."

My comments:  Use in class....last day of school before winter break this year is 12/19/14.
          This is a wonderful book on many levels. The illustrations are delicious, full of rich purples, golds, blues.  The kind of loveliness I'd like to frame and put on my walls.  The book explains the "shortest day" - the winter solstice - clearly and simply.  It tells of several ancient cultures' discoveries about the solstices. The book ends with two pages of facts and six wonderful activities:  Making a sunrise/sunset chart, measuring shadows, using a compass, creating a sun and earth demo and having a winter solstice party - for kids AND for the birds!  There's a short list of resources at the very end.  I bet there are some cool books written in the ten years since this list that could be added to it (research time!)

Goodreads:  The beginning of winter is marked by the solstice, the shortest day of the year. Long ago, people grew afraid when each day had fewer hours of sunshine than the day before. Over time, they realized that one day each year the sun started moving toward them again. In lyrical prose and cozy illustrations, this book explains what the winter solstice is and how it has been observed by various cultures throughout history. Many contemporary holiday traditions were borrowed from ancient solstice celebrations. Simple science activities, ideas for celebrating the day in school and at home, and a further-reading list are included.

45. The Daily 5 - Gail Boushey and Joan Moser

2006 Steinhouse Publishers (I love everything this company publishes)

136 pgs.

Written for teachers/educators

NonFiction Educational

Goodreads Rating: 4.32

My Rating: 4/A great read to get me thinking about school again

My new principal/head of school gave this to me to read - he thought it was up my alley (it was....)

My comments:  I loved reading this book in its entirety...I've skimmed it and read about it previously.  It reinforces the way I think about teaching reading, especially in the intermediate grades, and gave me quite a few new ideas to try.  I'm feeling my own personal “Daily Five”  morphing into Reading Daily Three and Writing Daily Three because I will most probably have two separate periods for reading and writing.  This will still work really well for me.  I love trying out something new that entirely encompasses my beliefs and practices. 

Goodreads Summary:  Do you love teaching but feel exhausted from the energy you expend cajoling, disciplining, and directing students on a daily basis? If so, you'll want to meet “The Sisters”, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. Based on literacy learning and motivation research, they created a structure called The Daily Five which has been practiced and refined in their own classrooms for ten years, and shared with thousands of teachers throughout the United States. The Daily Five is a series of literacy tasks (reading to self, reading with someone, writing, word work, and listening to reading) which students complete daily while the teacher meets with small groups or confers with individuals.
       This book not only explains the philosophy behind the structure, but shows you how to carefully and systematically train your students to participate in each of the five components.
       Explicit modeling practice, reflecting and refining take place during the launching phase, preparing the foundation for a year of meaningful content instruction tailored to meet the needs of each child.
       The Daily Five is more than a management system or a curriculum framework; it is a structure that will help students develop the habits that lead to a lifetime of independent literacy

5. Mason Dixon Knitting - Kay Gardiner & Ann Shayne

The Curious Knitter's Guide: Stories, Patterns, Advice, Opinions Questions, Answers, Jokes and Pictures
(Created for Knitters everywhere who share the give 'em hell spirit of just picking up the needles and making stuff) - Now who can resist THAT?

This is #2 in a series - the second is called Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines

(read on my phone through Kindle) (audio read by…)

2006 Potter Craft (Random House) $22.99

158 pgs.

Written for anyone who has even a little inkling about knitting for wanting to...

Finished for the second time on 1/25/2014 - and scanned frequently

Genre: NonFiction: Knitting/Handwork

Goodreads Rating: 3.97

My Rating: 5/Love this book

Acquired years ago at Tucson Yarn Co.

My comments on Goodreads:  I love this book.  It's the second time I've read it.  It's inspiring, clever, fun and gets my creative juices soaring!  It's time for me to start a log cabin afghan.  Yup, gonna go pick out the yarn and needles right now.....

I've probably made over 100 sets of dish cloths and "scrubbies" over the past year.  Those dish cloths were inspired by my first reading of this book a couple of years ago.  It's got great patterns, true.  But the insight and information (including about knitting for charity) is extremely extra-enjoyable.

Goodreads Review:  Mason-Dixon Knitting authors comfort, inspire, amuse, and brighten the life of the lucky reader who steps into their world. This book features stories, patterns, advice, opinions, questions, answers, jokes, pictures, and more!

Zentangle Untangled - Kass Hall

Inspirantion and Prompts for Meditative Drawing
North Light Books, 2012
128 pgs.
$24.99 TPPL
Goodreads Rating:  3.62
My rating:  3/Liked it

I found the subtitle a little misleading,   - at least the "prompts" part.  I'm not sure what was meant by that, I don't really consider there are prompts, exactly, here.  However, I did learn from - and enjoy - this book - primarily as a gallery.  It's fun to see finished products that aren't part of instruction.  There are 12 tangles that are showcased, including 8 by the author and her friends.  Half the book is about adding color to your tangles, and her take is interesting.  I wouldn't consider this a beginning book, but one in which you can enjoy the art and the artist's thoughts.

Goodreads Summary:  Unwind, Tangle and Relax!In "Zentangle Untangled," Kass Hall introduces you to the fun and relaxing \doodling\" process of Zentangle(c)--an engaging art form that uses repetitive patterns to create striking works of art that anyone can achieve regardless of age or artistic ability.

Following an explanation of the Zentangle(c) process, inside you will find 12 step-by-step demonstrations showing you how to create enticing tangle patterns, followed by several examples of how to add eye-popping color to your pieces, as well as fun ways to use tangles in your art journals. Captivating pieces from Kass and a slew of other artists will further satisfy your craving for inspiration!

National Geographic Countries of the World SERIES

After hunting and hunting, reading through many different series of books about different world countries in the libraries and bookstores, I've decided that this series is the most accessible to my fourth graders.  Many are daunted by too much text - I think that is why I still dislike/d reading nonfiction.  This series is full of photos and maps (it IS by National Geographic!) and there's not one single page that is only text.  It's extremely readable and the information is interesting and seems current and well-researched.  I plan to use them in my classroom as literature circles, each group focusing on a different country and becoming an "expert" by reading this nonfiction book along with some fiction.
And in my reading from other sources, I've discovered that Afghanistan's largest income from agriculture is ..... opium!

Afghanistan
Susan Whitfield
2008, 64 pages


Population:  almost 32 million
Official languages: Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashtu
Capital: Kabul

37. Where Children Sleep - James Mollison

Chris Boot/London, 2010
120 pages
Rating:  5
$30.00
Shelved 770 in the library

Wow.  Rich children, impoverished children, and children in-between are shown in this book.  55 kids, ages four through seventeen, from one of ** countries including Israel and Palestine, Nepal, China, Thailand, countries in Africa, the U.S., Italy, Brazil....

A two-page spread for each child.  On the left, a photo taken on a neutral background, of the child. Below it, a paragrph telling a little of that child's life, with them filling in some of the blanks like how far away is there school (if they even go to school), what their favorite foods are, what they aspire to be when they "grow up." On the right, a photo of where the child sleeps.  For some it's a bedroom.  For some it's a field.  For some it's an orphanage.  For some it's a dirty floor.

 

"Home for this four-year-old boy and his family is a mattress in a field on the outskirts of Rome, Italy,  The family came from Romania by bus, after begging on the streets for enough money to pay for their tickets.  When they first arrived in Rome, the camped in a tent, but the police threw them off the site because they were trespassing on private land and did not have the correct documents.  Now the family sleep together on the mattress in the open..  When it rains, they hastily erect a tent and use umbrellas for shelter, hoping they will not be spotted by the police.  They left Romania without identity documents or work papers and so are unable to obtain legal employment.  This boy sits by the curbside while his parents clean car windscreens at traffic lights to earn thirty to fifty cents a time.  No one from the boy's family have even been to school.  His parents cnnot read or write."

"Kaya is four years old.  She lives with her parents in a small apartment in Tokyo, Japan.  Most apartments in Japan are small because land is very expensive to buy and there is such a large population to accommodate.  Kaya's bedroom is every little girl's dream.  It is lined from floor to ceiling with clothes and dolls.  Kaya's mother makes all Kaya' dresses - up to three a month, usually.  Now Kaya has thirty dresses and coats, thirty pairs of shoes, sandals and boots, and numerous wigs.  (The pigtails in the picture are made from hairpieces.)  Her friends love to come round to try on her clothes.  When she goes to school, however, she has to wear a school uniform.  Her favorite foods are meat, potatoes, strawberries,and peaches.  She wants to be a cartoonist when she grows up, drawing Japanese 'anime" cartoons."

Attracting Birds to Your Backyard - Sally Roth

536 Ways to Create a Haven for Your Favorite Birds
Rodale Press, 1998
paper $16.95
TPPL 598.07234

Well, for some reason after many grownup years of total disinterest in birds, I'm getting a boot out of watching the finches outside my study window. I went to Wild Birds and bought a niger feeder with a contraption to stick it onto my window. It sat for almost two months before I had any visitors, but now they've found it and are nibbling happily away. They're pretty cool to watch up close.

So I returned two weeks ago and bought a feeder and contraption that screws to the top of my wrought-iron fence out back. And to my great delight, last Saturday morning, amid finches and other birds, along came a CARDINAL! This was a pretty big deal to me. I do not recollect ever seeing a cardinal before. I may have, I just don't recollect it.

I'll miss the northeastern robins, though, that always meant that spring was finally, FINALLY coming to the coast of Maine!

I just finished reading/skimming this helpful, interesting book. It's full of information about different birds, different seeds and feeds, who likes to eat what, plants that are helpful and nutritious...all sorts of really nifty information. Groan, groan, I'm going to start a journal/notebook. I'm too old to hold all of this in my head. But at least I've gone from only being able to identify a chickadee, robin, pigeon, crow, seagull, quail, and owl to a fine purveyor of Tucson winter finches - of the house finch and goldfinch variety.. Cool colors, reds, and lime greens and yellows. Pretty fun!

65. Yarn Bombing - Mandy Moore & Leanne Prain

The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti
Arsenal Pulp Press, Vancouver, 2009
paper, $19.95
(TPPL 746.43 M7851y)
230 pages

I stumbled across this book last Sunday as I wandered through the Valdez/Main Library in downtown Tucson. I don't go there much, you have to park underneath in this huge echoing parking garage. But I do love, on an occasional Sunday, to drive up and down the uncrowded-Sunday-downtown-Tucson streets, not worrying if you make a wrong turn, and watching the oneway signs with a little more ease since it's not as busy as other times.

That being said, this book fit perfectly with my mood. And I've taken all week to read through it and check it out. This is all new to me. And newS to me. I want to see this myself! How could I possible have been missing it? I KNOW I would notice knit or crocheted pieces decorating a lamp pole, or car antenna, or chain-link fence. And sure, I've never been to Sweden (where it appears a lot of this takes place), but I have been all over the U.S., where it looks like it's been happening, too. I think it's time for me to begin a Tucson trend.....

What is yarn bombing? What is crochet and knit graffiti? Just what it sounds like! The easiest way to explain is to quote directly from the book:

On city street corners all over the world, yarn graffiti artists snake their work around telephone poles, wrap it through barbed wire, and flip cozies onto car antennas. Originally started in Houston, Texas by a crew named Knitta Please (a.k.a. Knitta), there is now an international guerrilla knitting movement embraced by artists of all ages and nationalities. Knit and crochet graffiti has been seen in countries from Canada to Chile to China. This book has been written to inspire you to take up the needles (or hooks) and join us in world yarn domination!

Merging the disciplines of installation art, needlework, and street art, yarn bombing takes many forms. It generally involves the act of attaching a handmade item to a street fixture or leaving it in the landscape; however, this varies from artist to artist. Yarn graffiti can be aw complex as a sweater that has been created to cover a statue or as simple as a crocheted rectangle wrapped around a lamp post. Some artists tag items as tiny as door handles, others create works large enough to cover a public monument.

Yarn Bombing blog (written by the authors of this book).
An austratlian fiber artists "bombs" a VW bug!
The Knitted Mile - installed in Dallas, Texas this very weekend, 9/25 & 26, I think....

One Big Family: Sharing Life in an African Village - Ifeoma Onyefulu

Illustrated by Photographs
Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 1996
28 pages
For: anyone interested in Africa or Nigeria
Rating: topnotch
Endpapers; Brown handmade-looking paper with large black stenciled designs

Of all the reading I've been doing about Africa, this has been one of the most informative and interesting.

Eastern Ethiopian villages have ogbos (or-BOs), which are groups of people of the same five-year age span. They exist as almost a part of the family unit, and members are always a part of that ogbo, no matter how old they become or where they live. Each ogbo has different jobs to help the community, from cleaning and tending and caring to building and ruling the village. In some villages, ogbos ange spans may be just one year, or two, but in Obioma's village of Awkuzu, ogbos have a five year age span.

So we get to see, and visualize (because of Onyefulu's lovely photography) what life in an eastern Ethiopian village looks like. This was a meanignful, helpful glance into a way-of-life that most Americans can only imagine, and it was like a gift. I loved it.

I'm on the way to the library right now to find more of her books. Thank you, Ifeoma Onyefulu!

The Spanish Missions of Arizona - Robin Lyon

Children's Press/Scholastic, 2010
Content Consultant: Kristina W. Foss, museum director, Santa Barbara Mission Museum
48 pgs., Library Binding

On the cover, Missin San Xavier del Bac, just south of Tucson. The White Dove of the Desert. I wrote poems about this place with my fifth graders in Maine. Now I live here, and the missions of California and the southwest fascinate me. The idea that a group of people would come into a place so foreign to them to convert non-believers to their beliefs....well.....

This is reasonable-to-read nonfiction for kids. Informative interesting history, telling of the twenty plus missions in Arizona, most no longer standing, and the few that are -- Tumacacori, Xan Xavier. Many photos, a few painting depicting times of the past, names and dates and pronunciations of some of the hard-to-pronounce words -

Good book. Kid-readable. Pefect for 4th grade Arizona history studies and kids who are fascinated with history - I'm finding lots of those!