Book Review: Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire! by Mrs. Bunny

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire! by Mrs. Bunny translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath is a great book. It is a funny book. It is a quirky book. It is an imaginative book. It is a book written by a bunny. (That fact alone should pique your interest.) AB and I spent many nights laughing over the silliness of this story.

Madeline is the responsible daughter of hippy, laid back to the extreme, irresponsible parents. One night while she is at work, her parents are kidnapped by foxes who are trying to ascertain the location of Madeline's uncle, a famous code breaker. After her uncle falls into a coma (and can therefore be of no help), Madeline hires Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, empty nesters who also happen to be detectives, to help her find her parents. Hilarity ensues. The story includes the following: purple platform disco shoes, Prince Charles, a Bunny Council, used dental floss, a Smart car, a hat club, a rubber factory, marmots, an Italian restaurant, gigantic bottoms (AB giggled non-stop over that one), and bunnies dressed like hound dogs.

This book is like old school children's literature. Stories written in an adult way yet including enough creativity and imagination that it was still perfectly suited for children. At times, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny - Detectives Extraordinaire! had a lovely Alice in Wonderland quality to it. I had great fun reading this to AB. The exchanges between the characters were hilarious. I often found myself cracking up as I read. Thankfully, AB didn't mind. In fact, I think it made her enjoy it even more.

My favorite line is some wisdom that Prince Charles shares with Madeline, "The richness of our lives depends on what we are willing to notice and what we are willing to believe."

Indeed.

AB Pic of the Week.

When I was pregnant, this is the image that I often dreamed of:

My little one, lost in a good book. 

"Hey, AB, it's time to go."

"Just one more page, Mom." 

It turns out that dreams do come true.

Articles of Interest.

A round-up of interesting articles about books, parenting, creativity and education from around the web:

• When Do Kids Stop Being Cute? Babble

• How Technology is Ingraining Creativity at an Early Age - PSFK

• The Book Review is Dead, Long Live the Book Review - Book Riot

• 10 Great Green Books for Kids - TLC Parentables

• Narcissism in Pink and Blue: Gender-Reveal Parties - The New Yorker

• Multiracial Children: Teaching My Children to Check The Latino Box on Applications - HuffPost Parents

Happy Reading!

Empowering Video: Sir Ken Robinson

On Wednesdays I share a video that facilitates empowerment; because when you know better, you do better.

"Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. 

He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity

 and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence."

An animation of (my intellectual crush) Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk

 on changing education paradigms.

Book Review - Charles Dickens: Scenes from an Extraordinary Life

Confession: I have yet to read a Dickens book in its entirety. (Though I am determined for Bleak House to be my first.)

I love Charles Dickens. I love his style. I love his back story. I love that his pen name was Boz. I love that he is a Victorian author. I love the word "Dickensian". Therefore, I have been in absolute heaven with the festivities going on in honor of he 200th birthday this year. I am fully on board with the Dickens 2012 mania*. When I saw the recent picture book biography, Charles Dickens: Scenes from an Extraordinary Life by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom, I immediately picked it up. This book was the perfect way for me to share my obsession interest with AB. This book did not disappoint. Mick and Brita are a writing-illustrating duo that also happen to be married with four kids. Their illustrating style is reminiscent of Quentin Blake. (Interesting side note: He included their book, A Ruined House, in a list of his 50 all-time favorite children's books.)

Over the course of a week, this was our read aloud bedtime book. AB helped out by reading the dialogue. The authors use Dickens' own words to describe events in his life. Then using comic strips, they either describe a bit of Victoria Era history (i.e. what is a debtor's prison?) or tie the life event to one of his novels. They give just enough of the plot to get you interested in the book and then encourage you to find out the ending by reading the book yourself. The end pages provide an attractive map of "Dickens' London" including places that were instrumental in his life and prominent in his writings.

I didn't think it was possible, but this book has made me love Dickens even more than before.

*Check out podcast episodes about Dickens from Stuff You Missed In History Class, The Penguin Podcast, & The Guardian Books Podcast.

She Blinded Me With Science: The First Science Project

Today AB turned in her science project, "What Shapes Do Bubbles Make?" This was her first major school project so it was kind of a big deal. Since she is in kindergarten, participation was optional. But I chose for her to opt-in as a challenge. Her project was quite simple. She wanted to find out what shapes bubbles can make. So, we made different shaped bubble wands out of pipe cleaners. Then she went outside and blew bubbles to her heart's content. It turns out bubbles are almost always going to be round thanks to surface tension. She had fun and there were lots of references to scenarios and songs from fellow mixed kid Sid the Science Kid.

The only snag was the writing. AB began to complain if there were more than four lines of writing. But, I felt that it was important for her to actually write everything, as opposed to using the computer. She needs to practice her printing and grammar. This was the perfect exercise for it. In addition, I wanted to make sure that it was evident that she did the project, not me. While it was not as neatly presented as the kids (or parents) who typed their reports, AB was extremely proud of the finished product.

Here are a few sites to for you and your budding scientist:

• TIME for Kids: The news magazine has an edition specifically for kids. Many of the articles are written by their kid reporters. (Bonus: There are 4 different print editions available based on grade level. Check out a sample of the K-1 edition.)
• SciGirls: This is a show on PBS that is targeted at girls (just as the name suggests) and designed to spark an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
• How Stuff Works: This site answers pretty much any question that you could think of, as well as many that had never even crossed your mind.
• Science News for Kids: A great resource from the Society for Science and the Public. 
• Literacy in the Sciences: Reading Rockets' comprehensive guide to connecting literacy skills to math and science.
• National Geographic Kids: NatGeo provides 15+ science experiments that can be done with things you have lying around the house, as well as recipes and science news.

Happy Experimenting!

Out of the Mouths of Babes.

{image via we heart it}

A few weeks ago AB and I were sitting at the kitchen table. She was having a snack and I was knitting. Out of the blue, she turned to me and said, "I'm going to be a big sister one day." I said, "Really?" and continued knitting.

"Yeah, and you're going to have to go back to the hospital again."

"Why?"

"To get the new baby."

"Oh, I see." I smiled at her and continued knitting.

This past month two of her classmates have become big sisters, so this conversation wasn't really anything new. But then:

"And I'm going to get a new daddy, too. And he is going to be very kind to you."

Now, that gave me pause. I put down my knitting and gave her a huge hug. In that moment, I received encouragement from my child. She didn't know it. She was simply stating as fact what she believed the future held for us. But I needed it, because sometimes in the thick of things, it really does not feel like I am moving us forward at all. I feel that I am running in place. So, her unwavering belief that one day our family will expand was comforting. And the kindness of the new daddy. You could have knocked me over with a feather. He won't just be kind, he'll be very kind.

I know that it will not necessarily look like we envision it (i.e. the baby may come the daddy; the baby may not come from mommy's tummy,etc.) and it may take longer than we'd like (i.e. she may be in high school by the time the pieces fall into place), but it will happen.

Out of the mouths of babes often come gems.

Empowering Video: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

On Wednesdays I share a video that facilitates empowerment; because when you know better, you do better.

At TEDxWomen, reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon argues that women entrepreneurs 

are the overlooked key to economic development.

Book Review: Penny and Her Song

AB is a singer. She sings when she is playing. She sings when she is taking a bath. She sings when she is walking. She sing when she is brushing her teeth. She sings all the time. When she first started doing this, it was endearing. I thought, "Wow, my kid really loves music." The novelty of it soon wore off though as it began to wear off. So, we both identified with Penny and her parents in Kevin Henkes' new chapter book,  Penny and Her Song. AB is a big fan of Kevin Henkes. Her favorites are Chrysanthemum and Sheila the Brave. (Side note: I highly recommend the Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD with Meryl Streep reading Chrysanthemum. It is fantastic. It will really make you want to brush up on your read aloud skills.) The great thing about Kevin Henkes is that his illustrations are so distinct that AB will pick up his book based on recognition of his style, even if it is a new character to her. This is exactly what happened when she saw this book.

Penny is a young mouseling who comes home from school with a song that she can't wait to sing for her parents. But her parents tell her she cannot sing because she will wake up the babies. So she goes into her room to sing her song by herself, but she realizes that it just isn't as much fun without an audience. So she tries singing to herself in the mirror and to her toys, but that doesn't work either. At dinner, she tries to sing her song for her parents again, but they tell her that it is not the right time. Finally, after dinner, she is able to share her song with her family. Soon, everyone joins in (including the babies) and they give an impromptu performance complete with feather boas.

AB loved that there were lyrics that she could make up her own melody for, and I loved the gentle reminder that we need to make time to give our children our full attention as they share their excitement and interests. Sure, that song or dance or fascinating tidbit about lizards may get old after the 50th time. And it is definitely okay to set boundaries of when such sharing is appropriate. But, we need to make sure that we are putting down the smartphone/closing the laptop/turning off the television/putting down the book and shifting our uninterrupted focus to our kids. So, when AB sang Penny's song again (and again and again), I gave her my full attention and even joined in for the last round.

AB Pic of the Week.

Empowering Video: Caine's Arcade.

On Wednesdays I share a video that facilitates empowerment; because when you know better, you do better.

Caine is a awesome 9-year-old boy who built an arcade out of cardboard.

Motherhood is Not a Competition.

I adore the Scary Mommy Manifesto by Jill Smokler. I subscribe to every bullet point; therefore, I will definitely be reading her book, Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood: The Good, The Bad, and the Scary.

You can read the entire manifesto here, but here are my favorite parts:

• I shall not compete with the mother who effortless bakes from scratch, purees her own baby food, or fashions breathtaking costumes from tissue paper. Motherhood is not a competition. The only ones who lose are the ones who race the fastest.

• I shall shoot the parents of the screaming newborn on the airplane looks of compassion rather than resentment. I am fortunate to be able to ditch the kid upon landing. They however, are not.

• I shall never claim to know everything about any child but my own. (Who still remains a mystery to me.)

• I shall not preach the benefits of breastfeeding or circumcision or home schooling or organic food or co-sleeping or crying it out to a fellow mother who has not asked my opinion. It's none of my damn business.

• I shall remember that no mother is perfect and my children will thrive because, and sometimes even in spite, of me.

Amen!

Empowering Video - Imagine: How Creativity Works

On Wednesdays I share a video that facilitates empowerment; because when you know better, you do better.

Animation of the importance of frustration in the creative process by

 New York Pubic Library Artist-In-Residence, Flash Rosenberg.

{Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer}

Book Review: Looking at Lincoln

I am finally reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It has been on my TBR list for awhile. So, I've had Lincoln on the brain lately. AB, eve\r the mini-me, found Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman. (I wish that we found it earlier because it would have been a great addition to the Historical Biographies Booklist: Politicos.)

Looking at Lincoln tells the story of a little girl who is curious about the man whose unusual face is featured on our money. She heads to the library, of course, to satisfy this curiosity. She gives the reader a nice overview of the main points of his life, with a few fun facts and speculations in between. Apparently, Lincoln's favorite opera was the Magic Flute. His favorite dessert was vanilla cake, so perhaps Mrs. Lincoln made it for him on the day he was elected. "But maybe he forgot to eat his slice. He was often too busy thinking to eat." 

The author also makes sure to touch on some of the less pleasant aspects of his presidency, namely, slavery, the Civil War, and his assassination. It would not be a true biography without them. However, she addresses them in a way that I found refreshing. They were not glossed over. She beautifully illustrates prominent African-Americans of the time, former slaves Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass. She also depicts what slavery was with an illustration of slaves picking cotton under a harsh sun while a white overseer on horseback yells as he cracks his whip. The slaves pictured include children and women, one of whom has a baby strapped to her back. It is a truly arresting illustration that you don't normally see in a picture book. In addition, there is a soldiers uniform with a bullet hole over the point of the heart, a pistol, and a empty upholstered rocking chair with a stovepipe hat laying beside it.

Maira Kalman's amazing illustrations are a crucial aid to her story telling. Her modern style is a nice change from the traditional illustrations that usually accompany historical picture books. Her writing style is also effective. She never mentions John Wilkes Booth by name, but simply refers to him as a "wretched man who did not want slavery to end." On the other hand, she makes sure the reader knows the name of one of the first soldiers killed in the Civil War. After describing his uniform with the bullet hole, she writes ,"The soldier's name was Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth. Terrible things happen in a war." The numbers of those killed in the Civil War (or any war for that matter), allow a certain dissociation. The numbers are far to large to truly grasp that each and every person killed was somebody's child. That each and every person had a name. That each and every person lived and breathed just as we do today. 

Reading this book with AB forced me to discuss some less pleasant aspects of race and history with her. To explain that her ancestors were slaves. To explain to her that her ancestors were also likely slave owners. I didn't dwell on it, because she is only six. (I mean, it's not like I'm reading Roots to her at bedtime.) But, these are things that I want her to be aware of and I want to be the one to introduce her to them. Yet, at the same time, I do not want to burden her with race. As the black mother of a biracial child, I do not want to skew her perspective of the world to be "black" perspective. So, I struggle with finding the right balance to allow her to find her on way, hopefully as color blind as possible. 

We need more historical picture books that introduce history to younger readers in an interesting factual way that is not overwhelming. Books that encourage curiosity and research. Books that encourage discussion and engagement. Looking at Lincoln is a perfect example of that type of book.