Articles of Interest.

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

• Music of Kindness: Playing Together Strengthens Empathy in Children - Creative Boom
• Does Computer Engineering Barbie Discourage Girls From Pursuing Math and Science?- GOOD
• A Mr. Rogers Mashup on the Importance of Make-Believe - PBS
• Sargent Shriver = The Epitome of A Good Man- Maria Shriver
• How to integrate literacy with STEM  - The Answer Sheet
• Author Nathan Englander Writes A Love Letter to The Moth - The New Yorker

Happy Reading!

Empowering Video: Adora Svitak

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

No matter your position or place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away.

Child prodigy Adora Svitak schools us on what adults can learn from children in her 2010 TED Talk.

bold ideas + wild creativity + optimism + high expectations = innovation

Book Review: Dog Loves Books

Now that AB has discovered the joy of chapter books, she tends not to look at picture books as much. But there was one in particular that caught her eye, Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates. I asked AB why she picked this one up, especially since she hadn't really seemed interested in picture books lately, and she said rather matter-of-factly, "I love dogs and I love books." Fair enough.

Dog Loves Books is a story about a dog who, well, loves books. He loves books so much that he decides to open up a bookstore. He works hard to set up the shop and is really excited for the Grand Opening. Unfortunately, no one comes. He putters around trying to keep busy until he finally gets a potential customer. Yay! But the woman thinks he's operating a tea shop and is not interested in books. After a long wait, another customer arrives. Yay! But the man is only asking for directions. So, to Dog's dismay, his first day is not turning out so great. But then he remembers that the best way to pass the time waiting for customers is to read. So, he gets lost in a few good books. Before he knows it, another customer arrives who is actually looking for a book. And since Dog is such a booklover, he know exactly which on to recommend.

The message of this book is that reading is not just a solitary activity. Sure, we read the books by ourselves, but then, we share it. If we loved a book, we tell everyone we can about it. We cannot shut up about it. We find threads of the books theme throughout our relationships and everyday existence. We benefit from other people being the same way. We love recommendations: blurbs on a book we picked up by chance, a booklist  the school librarian, the book review section of the newspaper, online literary magazines, or you-should-reads from friends/family/acquaintances/strangers. The sharing of a great book is part of the fun.

So, here's a challenge: share a book that you have enjoyed (or that your kiddo has enjoyed) with one other person. Spread the book love.

Empowering Video: Neil Gaiman

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

The old rules are crumbling and nobody know what the new rules are. So, make up your own rules.

Neil Gaiman's (Fantastic, Amazing, Wonderful) Advice 

1. When you start out on a career in the arts you have no idea what you are doing.

 (And this is a good thing.) 

2. If you have an idea of what you want to make, what you were put here to do, then just go and do that.

3.  A freelance life, a life in the arts, is sometimes like putting messages in bottles, on a desert island, and hoping that someone will find one of your bottles and open it and read it, and put something in a bottle that will wash its way back to you: appreciation, or a commission, or money, or love. And you have to accept that you may put out a hundred things for every bottle that winds up coming back.

4. Make mistakes. If you're making mistakes, it means you're out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful....Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art. 

5. Make your art. Do the stuff that only you can do.

6. People keep working, in a freelance world, and more and more of today's world is freelance, because their work is good, and because they are easy to get along with, and because they deliver the work on time. And you don't even need all three. Two out of three is fine.  

7. Let go and enjoy the ride, because the ride takes you to to some remarkable and unexpected places.

*

Needless to say, this speech is an instant classic that will go up there with David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water" and Steve Jobs' "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish". The speech is chock-full of inspiration, regardless of whether you have a career in the arts or not. Your "art" is your thing. The thing that you do better than anyone else. The thing that makes your heart sing and time stand still. So, we should all take this advice (or rather, reminder) to heart. 

Go forth and do great things. 

Maker Faire Excitement.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at GE, I got complimentary passes to the Maker Faire Bay Area. I took AB and my sister. It was fantastic. We were able to see all sorts of things. Some of the highlights included:

• A great talk by Kipp Bradford, an engineering professor and   online tech editor at Make magazine, titled, "Where Are All The Black Makers?"
• The Bazaar Bizarre filled with tons of crafty goodness
• Holistic Hula Hooping, which is an great concept because after you hula hoop, you can help but be happy and have a bit of a brighter view of life
• Extremely tasty food (I had quite the love affair with my cheeseburger)
• The Pedal for Power Music Stage powered by volunteer pedalers
• A Trojan Horse built out of cardboard by PenfoldPlant

The best part about it was the welcoming and jovial atmosphere. Even if you are not an engineer-y, tech-y, STEM oriented type of person you couldn't help but marvel at the things that people had created. The kicker was that those people wanted to explain their creations to you in the kindest, least pretentious, most educational, inspiring way. The crafters wanted to explain their process to you, why they use the materials they use, and what inspired their pieces. It was truly a makers' fair. You walked away from it thinking, "Wow, people are really doing some amazing stuff in the world."

AB's excitement about everything made me excited for everything that she has the ability to do and learn. (It definitely made me certain that enrolling her in a robotics camp this summer was a good idea.) She likes to make things and she loves her HexBugs. Make even sells a kit for making a DIY version called BrushBots from a toothbrush, pager motor, and coin cell battery.

Kipp's talk about the seeming absence of "Black Makers" was really interesting. Not every awesome thing that happens in this world needs to be tied to race. Audience members commented that Black Makers are everywhere, but a lot of them don't want to be known for being a Black Maker, they want to be known for whatever product or device they are making or the creative solution they are providing. However, I think that he was making a valid point that it is important for young minority kids to see themselves reflected in their role models. Therefore, it is important to see prominent minority Makers, whether they be engineers, scientists, programmers, mathematicians or crafters.

Overall, Makeput on a beautiful event. Who knows, next year I may be tagging along with AB as a Young Maker extraordinaire.

Book Review: Mrs. Noodlekugel

Daniel Pinkwater's Mrs. Noodlekugel lives in a "cute little house" with a "cute little backyard". This is not so much out of the ordinary. However, all this domestic cuteness is surrounded by high rise apartment buildings. Nick and Maxine live with their parents in one of the numerous apartments in one of those tall buildings. Maxine notices the house and backyard from her window. As most city kids presented with green open space would, they decide to figure out a way to get down there. They ask the janitor who explains that the house and yard belong to Mrs. Noodlekugel and you get there by going through the boiler room. But he emphasizes that they should not tell their parents. Later that day, their parents insist that they are not to bother the nice old lady who lives in the house in the back. They are not to go into her yard, and especially not onto her porch. So, of course, Maxine and Nick defy their parents. They must go and see the house, yard, and old lady, for themselves.

They are met by the delightfully kooky Mrs. Noodlekugel , her talking cat Mr. Fuzzface, and four nearly-blind mice. After the kids willingly fess up to their parents about their visit to Mrs. Noodlekugel, they learn that she is their new babysitter. Their parents have used the oldie-but-goodie trick of reverse psychology. The kids go back the next day to bake cookies with Mrs. Noodlekugel. But baking cookies with Mrs. Noodlekugle turns out to be anything but ordinary. 

Mrs. Noodlekugel is a silly and simple story that was easy for AB to follow. It is a great book for kids who are transitioning from easy readers into chapter books. Adam Stower's illustrations were enjoyable, especially his depiction of Mrs. Noodlekugel as a plump grandmotherly type with a polka dot apron, striped socks and red sneakers. What kid wouldn't want to hang out with someone like that all day?

Mrs. Noodlekugel is a lovely new character with a fantastic name (AB gets the giggles each time she says it). We look forward to her next adventures.

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.

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.

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.

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: Oddfellow's Orphanage

Oddfellow's Orphanage by Emily Winfield Martin

I am a fan of The Black Apple, so I was quite excited when I saw that Emily Martin had written a children's book. When I read, "With artwork gracing every spread, this book is truly a delight to read - or to read aloud," I couldn't wait to read it aloud to AB at bedtime. But after a couple of nights, I found myself disappointed. It seemed to lack a clear story line. There was no villain. I thought that the newest child to the orphanage, Delia, would be the main character, but it began to appear that there was no main character at all. While AB was quite happy with the book (granted, I could read the papers of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce aloud to her at bedtime and she would be content), I began to get frustrated as a reader, so I abandoned it.

A few days ago, I decided to give it another chance, but on my own. After reading that the book came about from a series of portraits the author created, I looked at the novel through fresh eyes. I realized that it is more a collection of character vignettes. Oddfellow's Orphanage is a peek into a fantasy world where unusual orphans are loved and accepted. Delia is the main character because we get to see her transformation from outsider to belonging to a family. However, she is not the main focus. She is simply a conduit through which we get to meet all the delightfully strange, yet normal, new members of her family.

It goes without saying that the illustrations are wonderful. The portraits, and their accompanying stories, are the highlight of the book. In addition, there are some really stellar sentences that just make your heart happy. Sentences that are full of imagery, but still simple enough for young readers to understand. Miss Martin has created a beautiful imaginary world where all are welcome.

Reading Oddfellow's Orphanage served as a reminder that for a book to be interesting, it doesn't always need to involve fighting evil or battling against the end of the world. Sometimes, all it takes is the simplicity of friendships and family.

Garden Surprise.

{image via we heart it}

                                                                                                                                 

This afternoon, I watched as AB flitted around the backyard like a woodland sprite, gathering flower blossoms, pebbles, pine cones, leaves, and blades of grass into her basket. These were the ingredients for her famous dessert, "Garden Surprise". Every so often she would pause, step away from her "work", and twirl as fast as her little feet could manage until she collapsed onto the grass, giggling uncontrollably in the hazy sunshine.

I marvel at her ability to find such joy by simply combining nature with the limitless possibilities of imagination.

Oh, to be six years old again.

Gifts for the Creative Girl.

1. On the Go Coloring Wallet from Spotted Stone Studios

2. Charley Harper Coloring Book

3. Natural Beeswax Crayons from Anthropologie

4. The Coloring Book by Herve Tullet

5. Woodland Branch Colored Pencils from LEIF

6. My Wonderful World of Fashion: A Book for Creating, Drawing and Dreaming by Nina Chakrabarti

When you learn, teach. When you get, give. -Maya Angelou

Just A Pen.

{image via flickr}

At breakfast this morning, AB angled a pen on a thick wicker placemat. The following exchange occurred:

"Hey Mom, the pen looks like a slide!"

"You're right! And you know, that's what is called an 'incline'."

"Or a pen."

Well, alrighty then.

There is so much that I want for her to learn. There are teachable moments all the time. However, in my earnest quest to expose her to as many cool and wonderful things as possible, I sometimes forget that she's only five. I don't need to take every single opportunity to introduce a concept or emphasize an idea.

Sometimes a pen is just a pen (that looks like a slide).