Book Review: The Special Prisoner (WW2 and today, POWs)

The Special Prisoner, by Jim Lehrer (Random House, 2000, 227pp HB, $23.95)

Rarely do I not finish a book, primarily because I select good ones - except for the books I am required to read for the five literary awards I judge each year. I finished The Special Prisoner for several reasons: it is short, it is by a well-known author (yes, the Jim Lehrer of "The MacNeil-Lehrer Report"), it is a selection for the veterans book club that I am the token female in, and it takes place in a POW in Japan during WW2 (I am interested in Japan and WW2 and visited a former POW camp in Thailand years ago).

The Japanese used the term, special prisoner, for American GIs who bombed Japan and were subsequently shot down and captured. Their life in a Japanese POW camp was, to say the least, particularly unpleasant to brutal and gory, and author Jim Lehrer spares us no details. 

Young redheaded John Quincy Watson is a pilot during WW2 on a bombing run over Japan when his B29, Big Red, is shot down. The only survivor, Watson finds himself in a POW camp where, each day, one prisoner is selected to be beheaded while the others receive other forms of torture on a daily basis, the results of which follow the survivors throughout their lives while the most evil torturer, the camp commandant ("the Hyena"), at the end of the war, is - well, you will have to read the twists and turns of this book to find out the many ways to die.

Forgiveness, Retribution, Survival

Half a century later, Lieutenant Watson is now Bishop Watson who, in an airport believes he sees Hyena, recognizing him by his eyes, and tracks him down. The fight and conversations that ensue are only the beginning of loss of forgiveness, the main theme of The Special Prisoner.

So very unsettling to some readers, it may be important to discuss this book in a book club or safely in a group of veterans in order to recover from its story.

Book Review: Knit or Dye Trying (self-explanatory!!)

Knit or Dye Trying, by Allie Pleiter (Berkeley Prime Crime, $8.99, 304pp PB, 2022, book 2 of 3 [see the review of book one here) Review by Skye Anderson

Fast-paced Yet Slow at the Same Time. . . .

A long book that you only wish would be longer. . . . 

A book whose characters you really really like!

A book for knitting and mystery addicts!

Sisters are the stars of a small-town Maryland* coast festival called See More Than Seafood: one sister is a chef, the other dyes vegan (plant-based) yarns the loveliest of colors. The sisters argue, as they always have (for fun?), and now one sister is dead. 

Y.A.R.N.

Libby, fresh from a divorce, returns to her hometown and opens a knitting shop** with calming ambience, much like a cozy bookstore. Libby also organizes festivals and See More Than Seafood is one that she manages to bring in a famous yarn dyeing expert, one of the sisters mentioned above. 

Libby's mom wants to move in with her - a big mistake if it should happen for Libby's highschool flame is the mayor and they may have a thing for each other still.

The Cover

Covers give a clue to what's inside but here we have a dog in a chair looking out the window at spray-painted protest sheep looking in on their walk down main street. A shawl, some yarn and bottles of chemicals.

Murder, Suicide or a Threat Gone Wrong?

The guest of honor is dead. She was to give three workshops over the weekend. . . but, instead, she was invited to her death in the small town where the inn keeper knows the bakery guru whose best friend is the knitting entrepreneur who returns to date her hometown, highschool boyfriend who is now the mayor with a teen age daughter.

*"Our state has one of the largest sheep-and-wool festivals in the nation and you brought in someone sheep farmers hate." (a reference to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival)

**The shop's name, Y.A.R.N., stands for many things, depending on Libby's friends' and customers' mood: You're Absolutely Ready Now, or You'll Always Remember Nice, or Your Anger Rewards Nobody, or . . . . 

Book Review: I Deaf-initely Can, Rhett the Heeler (deaf dog and girl)(also in Spanish)

I Deaf-initely Can: Rhett the Heeler, by Karlie Waldrip (Karlie Waldrip, 2024, 29pp, ages 2-8, $16.99 PB) Reviewed by Skye Anderson

We LOVE this book. It's non-fiction but it needs an explanation. By looking at the cover, looking at the dog on the right, you might think, "What happened to him?" He is speckled and blue. But that is exactly how an Australian Cattle Dog looks, also known as a Blue Heeler or just Heeler. (Check him out in the photo on the last page of the book.) I think they are adorable.

As the story opens, and it's a real true story, we find a deaf Heeler in a dog shelter. He is a happy dog and one day a deaf girl comes to play with him but doesn't take him home. She does return a few days later though, and does take him home then.

Karlie the girl and Rhett the dog do everything together. They go everywhere together. Karlie is deaf, just like Rhett so they communicate using ASL (American Sign Language) - well, Karlie does, and Rhett learns to understand her signs.

But you don't have to be deaf to use ASL. One of my students uses it with her hearing dog! I teach hand signals in my dog training class but I could also teach ASL!

Karlie (and Rhett) loves to teach people about the fact that Rhett can do everything just like all of his furry four-legged friends - run, fetch, explore, swim. And so can Karlie.

We also love the illustrations by Lucy Rogers, also a deaf artist, and love Karlie's maroon T-shirt that says LOVE in ASL.

If you would like to try your hand at ASL, just look at the inside covers and copy the hand signals in three places in the book. Then, go teach your own dog!

We Deaf-initely Can! Let the Adventures Begin! is book two in the series. I can't wait to read it.

Book Review: Uncle Yossi's Grand Story Collection: A Treasury of Classic Jewish Tales for All Ages (OT)

Uncle Yossi's Grand Story Collection: A Treasury of Classic Jewish Tales for All Ages, by Yosef Goldstein (Jewish Learning Group, 2024, $29.95, 440pp, all ages) Review by Skye Anderson

About the Book

Look at that cover! And it's embossed, too. 

The title is right on! This is indeed a "grand story collection" of tales from Jewish history and culture. The book itself is the size of a Bible and the tales come from the Talmud, the Torah, the Midrash and Jewish lore.

About the Storyteller

Author Rabbi Yosef Goldstein, Uncle Yossi, lived to be 85 (1927-2013) and was well-known for 50 years for his teachings and stories on tape and on radio. His stories appealed to all and many ended with an explanation or discussion of universal truths, morals and ethics.

This collection of tales, both contemporary and traditional, collected by one of the Rabbi's ten sons, Zalman, will last a lifetime. The hardcopy version even has an attached ribbon to hold your place as you zip around from story to story. Many stories are suspenseful and will keep you wanting to read the next one, and the next one.

About a Story

One grand story is about King Solomon - a story that perhaps may be new to you, about an old woman who baked three loaves of bread. She gave two to beggars who knocked on her door (the woman "hosted guests" and "gave charity") and the third one just blew away. It turned out that loaf of bread plugged a hole in the boat of a wealthy man who prayed to God to quell the storm and he would give away half his wealth. I won't reveal the ending but I'm sure you can guess. (p. 159)

Book Review: Jagger and Bode Have a Field Day (books, library, dogs save the day)

Jagger and Bode Have a Field Day, by L. Ellis (Miriam Laundry Publishing, 2024, 34pp, ages 6-8, $11.99) Review by Skye Anderson 

Wow, just look at that front cover full of dogs playing tug of war, playing pin the tail on the kitty, playing frisbee, playing roll the tire, having sack races, and our dogstars, Jagger and Bode, are featured in the middle, having a field day, as well as on the back cover with their human and in an actual photograph!

You can even color the front cover if you go to https://doodlebrotherspublishing.com/activities/ and print out* one of the coloring pages.

Jagger and Bode are brothers but Jagger is the 'elder.' By six months. They love storytime at school when they gather round the teacher and sit on the floor (just like you!) and listen to the teacher read them a book. Sometimes it takes more than one day to get through a long book and that is just what happened with Biscuit and Bone - but a storm came up and flooded the school library ruining all the books, even the one the class was in the middle of!

Oh, no! What to do? The students want to know what happens in their story!

Suddenly, Jagger has an idea! "Let's raise money to buy new books by having a field day with lots of games!"

And so the story goes on with the planning and marketing of field day. Will the class raise enough money to buy their favorite books?

*Jagger and Bode are mini goldendoodles who want you to learn about how to act around dogs so they included pages in both their book and on their website - some do's and don't's. They even include how to act around service dogs. And the reader can try to guess the dog breeds.

What would I change?

I wouldn't refer to the vet as the "dreaded vet" but maybe the "friendly vet."

Book Review: Summer's Song, A Day in the Life of a Child (by the older girl in a family, full of activity)

Summer's Song, A Day in the Life of a Child, by Charlotte Rouse (Fancy Feather Press, ages 5-8, 2024, $24.99HB, 52pp) Reviewed by Skye Anderson

Family is Everything

Oh, to relive a summer's day from your childhood days gone by! Author Charlotte Rouse shares one such summer day with us "old folks" and gives the youngsters ideas of what to do with their siblings on a long hot summer day in the country. 

Perhaps you liked to ride bikes, play in the sandbox, slurp some watermelon, lie on your back in the grass and make up stories about the cloud shapes in the sky. Eat an indoor picnic lunch, pick blackberries that stain your shirt, catch tadpoles, make a dandelion necklace, trap fireflies - and let them go again - all before a bedtime story.

Rouse has created a big book, a bit long so we suggest you read half of it before afternoon naptime and the rest, right before bedtime. Written from the point of view of the older daughter (in the pink dress), Summer's Song is a book about a time gone by - and, of course, the family has both a dog and a cat!

Savor the sounds, the incomplete sentences that are just perfect. the memories dug up playing with the neighbor kids. . . . 

Bonus: a free comprehensive reading guide is available on the author's webpage - https://www.charlottetinsleyrouse.com/books

Book Review: Brandon Sets Sail - A Story about Sharing Success (OT)(chiildren's treasure hunt)

Brandon Sets Sail - A Story about Sharing Success, by Elton and Brandon Dean (Big Paw Publishing, 36pp, ages 4-8, 2024, $14.99 PB) Reviewed by Skye Anderson

Success is More Fun When Shared

Young Brandon sets sail with his crew, a couple of treasure-hunting buddies, to follow a treasure map indicating where a treasure is buried. Along the way he, Captain Brandon, learns how to get what he wants by being nice to his friends, a parrot, and an octopus. When we help others, they, in turn help us. 

When our intrepid heroes reach the last X on the map, they are temporarily stumped (again) until they work together - and taking turns can be considered helping others. And the surprising final sentence is worth all the treasure in the world!

Bonus

In this little book written y a 7-year-old and his dad, there are plenty of opportunities in Brandon Sets Sail to discuss the value of helping others, as well as never giving up.

With a page of Parody's Pirate Puns (Parody is the parrot) and a 'map' of their ship, the Goldhopper, with parts labelled, this book is a fun addition to your little one's little library.

Q: What's a pirate's favorite sandwich?

A: Peanut butter and jellyfish!

Book Review: Advice to 9th Graders - Stories, Poetry, Art and other Wisdom (OT)(an anthology)

Advice to 9th Graders - Stories, Poetry, Art and other Wisdom, by 118 young people (Out of the Woods Press, 2024, $21.95, 241pp, 14-18 years old and up) Review by Skye Anderson

Wisdom

The first year of high school is a turning point for many. Some look forward to it while others, later, reminisce about being a 9th grader. What if there was a roadmap for newly minted 9th graders to follow or at least refer to when needed? Advice to 9th Graders fits that bill. Written in prose mixed with poetry, letters, and other* means, by dreamers and rememberers, this book is one that can be highlighted. Pages can be dog-eared and read over and over again. 

"Somewhere between then and now. . . . " (p. 12)

Chemistry. . . . (p.26)

I hope you find an umbrella of a person to support you. . . Just remember that it is not only your first day

But others' too. (p. 29)

Freewrite to My Sobriety - This is Our Goodbye (p. 59)

Themes

Recurring themes are grades, be yourself, forgive yourself, join clubs and sports. And each chapter is preceded by a quote from a sometimes famous person: Lady Gaga, C S Lewis, Malala Yousafzai, Oprah, followed by artwork.

So fast, friends, emotions in motion, family, travel, finding oneself: it's all here.

Advice

Advice is a book to keep by your bedside, reading a few of your favorite pages each night, dog-eared though they may be.  There is advice herein for you, no matter what your age.

*including the front cover art, by a sophomore in high school

Book Review: Piper Learns to Serve (children's book, therapy dog)

Piper Learns to Serve, by Dave Osborn (Dave Osborn, 56pp, 2024, grades 2-12, $14.99) Review by Skye Anderson

Can you believe a hungry sickly homeless pup in south Texas can grow into a skilled dog caring for others, if given the right loving family? 

Enter Piper! 

One Ear Up, One Ear Down

Puppy Piper had one ear up and one ear down but with plenty of food, love and training, she turned into a miracle dog who helps others. For proof, see her Pet Partners therapy dog card* on page 47. Piper wrote the second part of her autobiography (after her one ear caught up with the other) to document her transition - she is not perfect, but nearly so and she and her human passed the certification tests to become a therapy dog team!

With short chapters and simple sentences plus photos of Piper, the young reader will soon love Piper, Piper's name and Piper's book and will understand the need for more therapy dogs to visit children in libraries, schools and hospitals, to visit college students during exam week, and to visit all people (even the doctors and nurses) in hospitals and nursing homes.

*note that the registration card is for a team not just for the dog. Each member of the team is trained - the person to work with only that dog and the dog to work with only that person, but a dog can be qualified to visit organizations with more than one individual (and vice versa).

Book Review: Say More: Consent Conversations for Teens (OT)

Say More: Consent Conversations for Teens, by Kitty Stryker (Thornapple Press, $19.95, 2024, 160pp, ages 11-18, grades 7-9) Review by Skye Anderson

Say more? Ah, consent conversations! And for teens or anyone who used to be a teen.

The term consent conversation may be new to adults but is probably in the vocabulary of teens today - difficult conversations or non-conversations about personal boundaries, be they of the sexual kind or just friendship/family kind.

Does a good friend monopolize the conversation? Does your mother rein you in too tightly? 

How do you approach these situations? Need help doing so? If so, this is the book for you.

Author Kitty Stryker is a friendly mentor who doesn't give answers but asks questions to help you arrive at your own answers and in a conversational way. She even uses four-letter words on occasion! 

 Is it Complicated?

Asking what we want/need, setting boundaries of yes and no, making mistakes, saving face and letting others save face, trusting ourselves to be brave and take chances of being misunderstood - all these are lessons to be learned on the way to adulthood and Say More can help.

The author even mentions CaptainAwkward.com: Advice and Commiseration. You don't have to be cruel to be cool and you don't need to be cool to be kind!

Also included are a glossary, tips, and a checklist of check-ins.

Book Review: The Fine Art of Camouflage (Air Force woman, Afghanistan)(OT)

The Fine Art of Camouflage, by Lauren Johnson (MilSpeak Foundation, 2023, 270pp, $18.95) Review by Skye Anderson

Once again is it premature to say The Fine Art of Camouflage just may be our Book of the Year!

A Seattle nurse and Army reservist is called up (for Desert Storm) for an indefinite length of time, leaving behind her family with three children. Fast forward nearly 20 years and we find her daughter, a public affairs officer in the Air Force deploying to Afghanistan (for Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF). This sets up the unusual story of a very close mother-daughter relationship that spans the entire US continent plus two wars in two countries, two different branches of military service, and two different jobs - yet, the similarities are woven together seamlessly as the author jumps from one time period to the other and back again.

Author Lauren Johnson has penned an exciting fast-paced memoir of her very close-knit family with a writing style reminiscent of Harper Lee's (To Kill a Mockingbird). I especially loved the final sentences in nearly every chapter - they keep you wanting to read the next chapter right away and several of them are surprises, showing the humanity of the author.

Set mainly in 2009, the same time as the battle of COP Keating (depicted in Red Platoon) and a couple of provinces* away, the reader can actually get a good glimpse of daily life on a base in active eastern Afghanistan on the border with Pakistan. Johnson's job also takes her outside the wire (off base) often to meet with Afghan dignitaries and to write about new schools and other construction projects funded by the United States, in the manner of Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea).

Johnson survives emotionally with the help of her boyfriend "Chris" and her team of wonderful soldiers and airmen. She grows with confidence and increased job skills but we also experience, with her, some disillusionment with the mission. 

The book also brings into the story events happening in the US at the same time and how they affect our troops, and Johnson's experiences upon her redeployment: it is often more difficult to reacclimate to the US than it is to live in a foreign country.

The Fine Art of Camouflage would make an excellent book for your book club with its many avenues of discussion.

*next to the province of Khost where Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in 2004. See Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. And next to the province of Paktika where Bowe Bergdahl walked off his base during the time frame Johnson was deployed.

Book Review: Nurse Dorothea Presents Why Coping Skills Work and What are Some that can be Done Anytime and Anywhere (OT)

Nurse Dorothea Presents Why Coping Skills Work and What are Some that can be Done Anytime and Anywhere,  by Michael Dow (Dow Creative Enterprises, 308pp, $33.62, 2024) Review by Skye Anderson

Having reviewed two other 'nurse-y' titles for kids by Michael Dow, about heatstroke and bacterial meningitis, I expected the same from this book on coping skills but was I surprised! It is quite good and extremely one of a kind with nearly 150 individual illustrations - each one very detailed and worthy of discussion and comparison with the text on the facing page. As they say, when one uses more than one sense, one tends to remember more easily and for a longer time.

We also like the age range: from puberty to 99+! The reading becomes easier with advanced age since the print is large and at least one page has only one sentence though that could also be a disadvantage. 

The Topic

Stress is common in everyday life and if we can teach youngsters how to cope, it would be a lesson for the ages, a lesson well worth learning. And nurse author Michael Dow does just that with plenty of examples, mostly offered by students themselves. 

Stress is defined as well as numerous examples for how to get rid of the reactions to stress, one being accepting yourself. The author uses students to relay some of the examples and each student has a different name and even looks different to appeal to a more diverse audience.

This book can be read by an individual or used as part of a therapy session or even as a group workshop. And the words are there for you already repeated verbatim when they segue into the next page.

What We Would Change

Although we love the idea of a related illustration on each two-page spread, the font size is a bit big but one does get used to it. We would, however, make the organization of the book easier to remember by including perhaps an outline in the front or chapters and chapter titles. And we caught the advice to see a dentist yearly (we had always known that advice to be, twice a year).

Book Review: Be a Scribe! Working for a Better Life in Ancient Egypt (OT)

Be a Scribe! Working for a Better Life in Ancient Egypt, by Miahael Joffen, Christian Casey, and Jen Thum (Callaway, $24.99, ages 8-14, 96pp, grades 3-7) Review by Skye Anderson

Wow, this book has everything! Starting with the cover of 12 possible occupations of the 18 illustrated (and with text) in this book about ancient Egypt, Be a Scribe! has magnetic appeal: a father is taking his son to a scribe school far away to learn reading and 'riting so that he may qualify for a good job rather than a labor-intensive, back-breaking job like the 12 depicted on the cover or the 18 with two-page spreads inside. Those occupations may experience unemployment and hard physical labor while scribes live at the royal court.

Being a Scribe, The Best Occupation

This is actually a true story! On the journey, the father tells his son all about other occupations plus a little about maps and hieroglyphs. On the way, the father also imparts some words of wisdom in the way of mind your manners, don't blab, follow orders, don't play hooky, control yourself and be gumptious.

The book starts with an introduction (maps, hieroglyphs, etc.) then starts the journey, illustrates the different occupations (with words, too) in a two-page spread each, and ends with words of wisdom the father imparts to his son - all well-organized. We also liked the final 10 pages with details of all the items illustrated.

On Hieroglyphs

If your young reader likes codes and mysteries, he or she may just soak up the information about hieroglyphs and learn to write like an Egyptian! For me, it was too hard though.

Final Question

Do you think it really is best to become a scribe if you lived in old Egypt?

Book Review: John Adams: The Voice Heard 'Round the World (youngsters) (OT)

John Adams: The Voice Heard 'Round the World, by Marian Carlson (Schoolmaster Press, 2010, $17.95, 52pp, ages 7-17) Review by Skye Anderson

Read, Think, Speak and Write

A short little reference* book that introduces us to John Adams in order to illustrate his importance in the early days of our country. A writer, he was organized and shares his methods of organization with the young reader who is called a patriot. One page even offers ideas how to become a better patriot** in our day and age by suggesting projects to do - and even take a quiz!

The Voice

Adams was the voice of the Declaration of Independence (while Thomas Jefferson was the pen) and served as George Washington's second most influential advisor (and vice-president) before he became President himself.

Author Carlson also includes a QRC for the audiobook with the narrator accompanied by the Boston Landmark Orchestra.

*includes timelines (one of Adams and one of the new country), resources (places, media, websites) and ideas for projects 

**Patriots help others, read and study, are organized and self-sufficient, and know their rights - all these have specific fun projects to do

Book Review: Auntie Aisha Answers: The Tween Muslim's Ultimate Guide to Growing Up (OT)

Auntie Aisha Answers: The Tween Muslim's Ultimate Guide to Growing Up, by Aisha Rasheed (Daybreak Press, $22.99, 2024, age 8-12, 108pp) Review by Skye Anderson

Written for a select audience - tweener Muslims - Auntie Aisha Answers is a book in which wisdom and gentleness shines through abundantly while explaining how bodies change with puberty (both genders).

The author has such an understanding writing style when she tackles the tough questions that we would have liked to talk with her in person or have her in our family or circle of friends. She challenges the reader to be good and better, all the while explaining that the Muslim's higher power is challenging but also forgiving.

Interspersed throughout are just perfect illustrations as well as short topics within dotted lines and even suggested tasks to undertake. Some terms appear larger, bolder, and in a different (flowery?) font for emphasis which will either enhance understanding or drive the reader crazy.

Author Rasheed begins explaining what happens physically as children go through puberty and also emotionally, socially and spiritually. Best of all, she remembers what it is like to grow through this stage and come out better on the other side, with the help of religion. 

The only deterrent was the frequent use of italicized Arabic terms and references to the Koran and even that was only because this reviewer is not Muslim (I did try, however, to find someone more knowledgeable, for their viewpoint on the book).

Book Review: Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul

Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul: Stories to Celebrate the Spirit of Courage, Caring and Community, by Jack Canfield et al. (Backlist, 2012, 363pp, $16.95) Review by Skye Anderson.

The Chicken Soup books are like Reader's Digest: everyone has read them at some time(s) in their lives, even subscribed to the Digest. Then you read other things and forget about them. When you return to them a few years later, it is like going home - very comforting. Maybe that is why so many Reader's Digests find their way into the hands of deployed troops far from home.

I read my share of Chicken Soup years ago (the first Chicken Soup book came out in 1993) but don't remember which one(s). So, it was about time I came back and when the opportunity arose to read and review Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul, I jumped at the chance and was not disappointed.

Nine chapters, each with a theme such as Defining Moments or Making a Difference, not really exciting section headings but the short chapter titles are more enticing: A Hug and a Kiss, A Tiny Denim Dress, Sap to Seedling.

And interspersed are full page comics to grin at, and numerous quotes to start each chapter - quotes that simply hit the spot, from the well-known to the Bible, to everyman. In the back of the book can be found a paragraph about each author, each volunteer.

And finally, since this is a book of true stories by volunteers, most chapters end with an editor's note telling the reader more about that particular volunteer's organization - just in case you yourself are looking for an opportunity to give back (the Red Cross, Big Brothers and smaller, more local organizations, etc.).

Who are the Volunteers? 

Volunteers are ordinary people, inspired. . . . 

You will meet the college senior looking for an easy grade who decides to volunteer (but procrastinates) and then finds the experience so rewarding that he skips his own graduation party. 

You will get to know the grandmother in hospice whose own child is expecting. Grandmother wants to leave her grandchild-to-be something memorable since she won't be around, so she starts a needlepoint canvas but then slowly weakens. Her volunteer works on the project and when there is only one stitch left to do, guides the grandmother's hands so everyone will know that she started and finished the picture with her heart.

Chicken Soup, A New York Times Bestseller from 1994-1998

I decided to learn more about Chicken Soup. I already recognized the name of Jack Canfield and wondered if there was a book in the series about what dogs teach us. The website, ChickenSoup.com, would surely tell if there was a dog book in the Chicken Soup series but was I amazed to find 232 books in the series! And yes, even television got into the act with 19 episodes.

On the website, you can sign up to receive an inspirational story each day (or week) and learn how to submit your own story to celebrate the spirit of courage, caring and community.

And here is a Chicken Soup dog book trailer!

And now, if you will excuse me, I need to go to the bookstore and pick up another dose of courage, caring and community (from dogs, of course).

Book Review: Wild and Woolly Knitted Animals: A Naturalist's Notebook (OT)

Wild and Woolly Knitted Animals: A Naturalist's Notebook, by Sara Elizabeth Kellner* (Stackpole Books, $24.95, PB 176pp, 2022) Review by Skye Anderson.

Do you like animals? Do your kids like animals (what kids don't?)? Do they have enough 'stuffies' to play with but are they teddy bears and puppy dogs rather than 'the real thing'? Wouldn't they love to play with a prairie dog, a rainbow trout, a badger, a bald eagle or another wild and woolly animal?

Author and designer Sara Elizabeth Kellner has crafted a one-of-a-kind knitting pattern book for you (and your kids) with instructions for 25 cute-as-a-button yet realistic animals - some from your backyard and others from the UK or Africa. But, more than just a knitting book, Wild and Woolly Animals also includes intricate color drawings and facts about the animals themselves with paw prints (tracks) in the background - simply incredible detailed drawings by her son Pat (photo on page 164)(sort of) like the timber wolf below. After all, the book's subtitle is A Naturalists's Notebook.

And here are three wolf  'stuffies.'

Realistic wolf 'stuffies'

As a matter of fact, I would simply love to be able to purchase some of the animal drawings which introduce each pattern!

But first, I need to work on my 'zoo': I think I'll make a chimp or the ever popular hedgehog or maybe an Asian elephant mama and baby or. . . . maybe start with a family of friendly rats!

-------------

*The author can be reached at RabbitHoleKnits.com - and check out her first book, Victorian Housecats to Knit, reviewed yesterday here.

Book Review: Victorian Housecats to Knit (OT)

Victorian Housecats to Knit, by Sara Elizabeth Kellner (Stackpole Books, 2024, 160 pp [HB], $29.95) Review by Skye Anderson. 

Oh, my! From the parlor cat to the porch cat to the window can to the library cat and the pottery shed cat and kittens to the fireplace cat,

Fireplace Cat

author and knitting designer Sara Elizabeth Kellner has done it all. And if you don't like cats, maybe you love knitting for someone who does like cats. Or maybe you just like to read about Victorian England.

Meet the Morgans (and their cats)

In the beginning is a two-page spread of the family tree of the Morgans* which makes sense as you read about the different cats and people in the different rooms - almost a historical story in itself (if you supply the plot).

The Morgans consist of cats, and twins, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Aunt Pru, the cook, . . . 

Each room in this Victorian house has its own type of cat with different color combinations and excellent unique photographs of cats in "their" rooms. For example, the porch cat is stretching out like in a dog yoga pose

Porch Cat Demonstrating the Downward Dog?

and the cook's cat is lapping up a saucer of milk. Three window cats are shown - one black, one orange and one gray - shown from both inside and outside the window.

There is a tortoiseshell, a tuxedo, a manx, a Persian and a ginger cat. I can't wait for the next book, hoping to see a Siamese cat and a calico cat! And each one has a story to go along with the knitting pattern and Victorian house room.

Author Sara Kellner recommends beginning knitters start with the window cat followed by the parlor cat (an orange one on the piano, a grey one on a coffee table and a black one next to a comfy chair) or Aunt Pru's Persian cat (three differently colored cats, each with a neck accoutrement like a bow 'necklace').

I can't wait for Sara's book of dogs to knit!

Tomorrow: Wild and Wooly Knitted Animals: A Naturalist's Notebook

Heads Up! (OT)

I was recently sent a couple of books that I simply love! They are knitting books (yes, I know they are not dog books) so they are OT (off topic) but I'm sure you will also find them unique and lovely so I wanted to give you a heads up to expect their reviews in this blog next, after I devour the books and their pictures.

If they don't start you knitting you will at least enjoy seeing the items and the colors and, oh my - reading the words! Each is truly two books in one.

And maybe you know someone who knits so you have an excuse to get these books (read them and then gift them!)

Repost: The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (today and tomorrow, in NYC and on TV)

I am reposting the blog from several years ago (February 15, 2015) which explains The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York. Enjoy it today and tomorrow.

-----------------

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about America’s Dog Show – Westminster

In Color and In Person!

The colors of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show are luscious grape-purple and sparkly gold on a backdrop of a rich green carpet. Westminster is a TV staple, a seemingly out-of-reach dog show where, yes! you can walk in off the street and, luck permitting, sit in a chair on the floor and theoretically even reach out and touch the competing dogs in the ring (a faux pas – but you CAN go ‘backstage’ and meet them with their owners’ permission – champions all!)

And did you know that the lights of the Empire State Building shine Westminster purple and gold during America’s Dog Show, this year on Sunday?

You’ve watched it on TV. This year is the year to attend in person. It’s nearby – in New York City AND Monday is a federal holiday, so you have no excuse! Here is all the information you need to have a grand time at America’s Dog Show! I take the train because Penn Station allows me to walk to the evening dog show at Madison Square Garden without even going outside!

Facts and Facts from Before

Last year, Sky, a Wire Fox Terrier, was declared America’s Dog, winning over approximately 2500 dogs in two days in New York City and on TV. The excitement was electric. The 2500 dogs competed in 7 rings, 7 groups, breed by breed. Group Finals were held each evening with winners from the day shows, and the final final was composed of one representative of each of the seven groups of dogs (Toy, Terrier, Working, Sporting, Non-Sporting, Herding and Hound).

Dogs are judged, not against each other, but against the written standard for their breed.

2015 Facts

Who: All the dogs entered are champions as of 31 October. The top five dogs of each breed receive an automatic ‘pre-invite invitation’ if their people choose to enter them. Other champions vie for the remaining of the approximately 2500 places by submitting an application during November and December of the previous year.

Highly populated (and popular) breed classes this year include 56 Labs, 58 Goldens, 43 Aussies (Australian Shepherds), 41 Frenchies (French Bulldogs), 38 Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and 33 Rottweilers, just to mention a few. Only one White Bull Terrier and only only Norwegian Lundehund are entered. The entry fee for dogs is very affordable and no fee is required for this year’s 88 junior handlers to compete although they must accumulate a certain number of wins prior to the show and be under a certain age.

Most of the dogs are American but this year you will also see champions competing from 48 states (none from Idaho or North Dakota), the District of Columbia, Canada, and 13 other foreign countries.

What: The 139th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the second longest continuously held sporting event in this country, just one year behind the Kentucky Derby (since 1877 – before even I was born!). A two-day event in New York City that is televised every year.

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York City (Penn Plaza, 7th and 8th Avenues, 31st to 33rd Streets), across from the Hotel Pennsylvania. Day tickets at The Piers are less than $30 and evening tickets are $40 or $55. You may even see someone famous (Bill Cosby and Lauren Bacall have attended in the past.) Some years the event sells out.

When: February 16 and 17, 2015 (always the ‘week’ of Valentine’s Day), 8 am to 11 pm. Hounds, Toys, Non-Sporting and Herding dogs (and junior showmanship) will be shown Monday 9 am to 6 pm at Piers 92 and 94) with their group finals Monday night at 8.

Sporting, Working, and Terriers are shown Tuesday with their groups Tuesday night as well as the finals for Best in Show on Tuesday night beginning at 8, preceded by the Junior Handling Finals from the afternoon sessions.

Make a week of it! There are related events starting the previous Friday and dog shows the weekend before, a reception at the AKC (American Kennel Club) Office Sunday afternoon, awards banquets galore, seminars, and celebration breakfasts the day after, as well as champion tours of the morning TV shows. And this year – the second Westminster Agility competition was Saturday with 330 dogs and their handlers competing as a team, including mixed breeds.

Red Carpet Treatment on a Green Carpet (and Purple, of course)

Watch live streaming video on the Westminster Kennel Club website and on the Westminster App, and social media. Monday and Tuesday’s competitions will also be shown live on CNBC and the USA Network during the day, as well as 8-11 pm each evening (Monday on CNBC and Tuesday on USA Network).

Why: Why not? It’s close by and an event you will always remember. You’ve seen it on TV, now catch it in person.

How:  Take the train for a comfortable, elegant, quiet, unrushed, scenic ride into yesteryear and arrive relaxed. Come just for the day or the week. Call Amtrak at 1-800-AMTRAK or visit www.amtrak.com for rates and schedules. If your train stops at Penn Station (trains from the south), where Westminster is located, you don’t even have to venture outside!

Details: General admission tickets will cost less than 30$ for one day or at little as $40 for an evening session (see www.westminsterkennelclub.org for much more information). And fortunately there is a huge TV-type screen that can be easily seen way up in the rafters during the evening shows. Since the event is sold out some years, you should plan ahead.

Breeds, Colors, Sizes, Varieties, . . . . 192 Breeds and Varieties in 2015

Some breeds have specialized classes for each variety. For example, black cocker spaniels are shown in a different class than parti-colored ones with a third cocker class, my favorite, being ASCOB (Any Solid Color Other than Black). On the other hand, black labs and yellow labs and chocolate labs all compete together.

New breeds this year include the Coton de Tulear and the Wirehaired Vizsla, in the Non-sporting and Sporting Groups, respectively.

So, a lab would compete against all colors of labs but a cocker competes only against cockers of the same color. Hmmmmm. . . . And I often wonder why our country’s favorite dog for years, the lab, has never won Best in Show. . . .

Benching

Westminster is one of the last benched dog shows in America. That means that dogs showing on Monday are required to be there all day, in the back, even when not competing. You can go ‘backstage’ and speak with the owners, breeders, and handlers, watch the dogs being groomed, and shop, shop, shop. However, it is very crowded and similar to the crowds during the holiday shopping season, winter coats and all.

Shopping

Ah, shopping! ‘Backstage’ at Westminster you can find leashes, books, jewelry, new gadgets galore. In the Hotel Pennsylvania and next door are even more vendors with canine first aid kits, T-shirts, artwork and demonstrations of Search and Rescue and agility. Plenty to do across the street! You can even mingle in the lobby as ‘dogs and their people’ check in Sunday afternoon at 3 and meet the hotel’s doggy concierge.

The required Westminster souvenir is the guidebook which you can’t do without (for only $20) but you can also pick up a poster, notecards, a print and DVD to watch over and over again. The catalog is $25 and allows you to keep score.

Judging

Word has it that the Best in Show (BIS) (the champion of champions) judge is selected a couple of years in advance and sworn to secrecy, his or her name revealed only six months before the show. During the preliminary two days of judging, this judge is sequestered backstage so when the finals begin, the BIS judge is as unbiased as possible. This year, that person is the Hon. David C. Merriam, originally a Bull Terrier person, of Bonsall, California.

Sensation – A Sensation!

Sensation, a Pointer, is the mascot of the Westminster Dog Show and appeared on the cover of the show catalog from 1936 through 1979. From 1980-1982, a head study of Sensation was selected for the cover, but in 1983 a foil embossed version of the full body engraving appeared on the cover and has been there ever since.

Charities

Veterinary school scholarships are presented Tuesday night and other charities are supported by the Westminster Kennel Club, including (in the past) the AKC Museum of the Dog, Take The Lead, the Animal Medical Center of NYC, the ASPCA, Angel On A Leash, Greyhound Friends, and Guide Dog Foundation For The Blind.

Two New Breeds

Two newly recognized dog breeds will be shown for the first time this year.

But, Only One Westminster

There is only one Westminster! Be there in person this year!

________________________________________________

You’ve seen it on TV, now come see it in person!

Read More: a series of six articles from 2014 here (and photo credit)

Book Review: Leia's Obedience School (children's book)

Leia's Obedience School: A Story of Mindset, by Faith and Derek Krasnansky (Independently published, 25pp, 2023, $10.75) Review by Skye Anderson

A big book for the little ones with just a few pages to tell the completre story of 'mindset' with the cutest dog in the world and, as a bonus, drawings to show you how to draw your own Leia.

After being adopted, Leia's human mom takes her to obedience school but it is so exciting that she can't stop talking (barking) and jumping around. Then Leia notices that the other dogs are quiet and still and she wants to be  good like them. But only with a lot of practice during the week at home and changing her way of thinking, can Leia succeed in finally having a positive mindset.

Also in the back of the book, along with the drawing lesson are a few questions to help with the concept of mindset so children can adopt Leia's lessons and success to their own.

Book Review: First Ladies Make History (OT)

First Ladies Make History, by Anita McBride and   (White House Historical Association, 2024, 24pp HB, $9.00) Review by Skye Anderson

First Ladies Makes History is a little book that packs a wallop of colorful information about the wives of our presidents.

We loved the inside covers: the inside front cover has a drawing of each of the first ladies along with the dates and their husbands while the inside back cover has the presidents - all in cartoonish drawings but easily recognizable.

First Ladies opens with a chronological few pages, introducing us to some of the ladies. Each two-page spread thereafter features a different topic that many first ladies had in common, mostly the issues they favored, such as diplomacy, education, and civil rights. 

We simply loved the incredible depictions of the ladies and could recognize nearly all of them, even though they sort of look alike. It will be fun to try to identify the first ladies on the back cover, too.

First Ladies Make History will rekindle your knowledge of history and spark an interest in government in your child. Author Anita McBride was Chief of Staff to a first lady and Giovanna McBride, her daughter, is an Education major and author.

Book Review: Ofi' Tohbi' Ishto' and The Chickasaw Clan Animals (OT)

Ofi' Tohbi' Ishto' and The Chickasaw Clan Animals, by WT Skye and Sarah Garcia (Chickasaw Press, 2024, $7.99, 24pp) Review by Skye Anderson.

Basically a book of elementary piano music which also portrays the Chickasaw people and their clans of animals, Ofi' Tohbi' Ishto' both educates and also entertains. The tune about a skunk delightedly gives us music for the teacher as well, so both student and teacher can play a fun duet.

This book contains six little songs, mostly in a minor key - one about each animal starting with the big white dog, then raccoon, woodpecker, deer, skunk, and alligator. Each animal has its clan or family of Chickasaws.

We can see so many ways this book can be used in a classroom or family. Children will have their favorite animal, perhaps due to the tune they like best. And there are paragraphs about the white dog and the other clan animals, as well as three Native American musical instruments and, finally, two pages of vocabulary and musical symbols - a lot of information and fun packed into six songs and a few pages.

And if you look closely, you will see the big white dog's body is wrapped around to the back cover! Give your child a star if they notice that!

Book Review: Red Platoon (COP Keating, Medal of Honor, Afghanistan, 2009)(OT)

Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor, by Clinton Romesha (Penguin Randomhouse, 2016, 400pp PB, $17) 

A Hard Book to Read

If this book doesn't change your life, it will at least be the book you think about for years to come. I know I will, not only because I was deployed to Afghanistan the year before COP Keating, but also because author Clinton Romesha is such a magnetic writer. The entire book but especially the beginning in which the stage is set, the soldiers introduced, and the command outpost described, is simply riveting.

Any Afghanistan or Iraq veteran will relive their deployment even though the years may be different, the weather may be different, the precise location may be different, and the geography - mountains or desert. Some things, however, remain the same: Hesco barriers, tent chow halls, MREs, guard duty, cleaning weapons, paper script.

A Hard Book to Put Down

Red Platoon is a warm book, a long book, but one you can't wait to get back to even as you know the ending. But take my advice and do not skip to the final pages until you have read the entire book preceding it or the writing and flow and suspense will be spoiled.

The reader will finally experience vicariously the meaning of 'band of brothers' even though other books explain it well also. When people live 24/7 through trying times, they become family, they take care of one another even though interpersonal scrabbles also exist. And they make best friends - for life.

The reader will also comprehend the roles of the soldier, the NCO, and the officer, and perhaps consider that young boys start their military training early in life by playing team sports like football where each team member has an important role and each must listen to and follow the leader.

What's it All About?

October 2009, the mountains of northern Afghanistan, a small outpost, not well located (makes you think of Dien Bien Phu* all over again). A day-long battle resulting in several deaths and a Medal of Honor (two, actually). 

The book starts by introducing each of several soldiers and their weapons and specialties - their backgrounds and who is best friends with who. I would suggest you tear out the map of COP 
Keating so you can refer to it often, and perhaps look up rank and weapons (SAW, claymore, M4, etc.) so the battle description is more memorable. I also wrote down the names of the soldiers who died that day. . . . 

Then you will google COP Keating and Medal of Honor and Romesha and discover that Jake Tapper wrote Outpost and a movie was made**. 

Red Platoon, however, will stay in your mind - written by the Medal of Honor awardee in a riveting book in which he remains humble. . . .

*Dien Bien Phu is a set-piece battle that ended France's domination of Viet Nam in 1953.

**Netflix also has a series called "Medal of Honor," in which session two is about Romesha and session six is Carter's story (the second MoH awardee from COP Keating)

Book Review: Cocktails with George and Martha (OT)(the play, the movie, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)

Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, by Philip Gefter (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024, $32, 347pp) Review by Skye Anderson

Who are George and Martha? Who is Edward Albee?

Not the Washingtons (the first president and his wife) but the very famous stars of the movie based on Edward Albee's play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 

'Cocktails' refers to the play and movie which takes place over only one evening and features cocktails and knock-down, drag-out arguments - and secrets exploding into the open. 

The Fight is On!

George, an established history professor, and Martha, his wife and the college president's daughter, meet the new, young biology professor and his wife and have them over for drinks after a faculty party. George and Martha have an explosive argumentative marriage - but, is that love? And can such a marriage survive an evening (til dawn) like this? With humiliation and verbal barbs?

Author Philip Gefter has written a humungous (347 pages) story that encompasses all - the play, the movie, the differences between a play and a movie (twice), plus how the players were selected and how the they interact in real life. It is an eye-opener that you simply can't put down, full of four-letter words, innuendos, and hurting those you love.

We follow Liz Taylor and Dick Burton (both British by birth) in the play and in their real married life in public and in private.  

Virginia Wolff also changes American film as it pulls society out of the Code Era and its niceties into realism.                          

Why Read This Book?

We can imagine a college course in which the movie is shown and discussed, followed by a reading and discussion of the book. This course would appeal to movie buffs, high society in NYC, grandparents and college students who contemplate the role of reality in marriage. 

Book Review: Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice (and a service dog!)

Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice, by David Tatel (Little, Brown and Company, 2024, 352pp, $32) Review by Skye Anderson

"If talking too much about my dog is a crime, . . . I plead guilty."

It's All About the Dog vs It's Not About the Dog!

A German Shepherd Dog (GSD) service dog graces the cover, along with a retired appellate judge - a cover you can't forget! 

We first heard about Vision (and Vixen, the dog) about six months ago, finally obtained a copy of the book last week and nearly read it cover to cover overnight. Of course, this reviewer is a dog trainer and wanted to read about Vixen's life with Judge Tatel, but the author acknowledges up front and sets us straight: although a dog appears in the book, this is not the dog's book primarily. Nevertheless, he mentions Vixen a few times before her chapter - at the end.

Disappointment?

Nevertheless, we had read a sample (and loved it!) so we started in and soon found an engrossing story of a man we would like to meet, along with his four children.

David Tatel is a brilliant attorney* who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, most times, to snag an exciting job opportunity. But starting at about age 15, he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a progressive type of blindness which is genetic. Tatel was embarrassed and didn't admit to being blind for many years. He learned to hide it by accommodating his condition and depending more on memory and hearing, but finally consented to using a cane.

Tatel worked to be known as a judge who happened to be blind - not to be known as a blind judge. And finally, decades later, he agreed to a service dog, Vixen, who changed his life and gave him (and his wife) more independence, even though learning to work with a service dog was the hardest thing he had ever done.

His book goes into detail, chapters of details, on the job of a federal appeals judge** (who happened to be, twice, considered for a Supreme Court Justice opening) and the decisions he made, as well as the evolution of the current Supreme Court which he does not totally agree with or approve of.

Tatel's writing style is so engrossing that you, too, may read it in nearly one sitting!

A fascinating tale of a fascinating man but if you are looking for a dog book, I just hope this last part of Tatel's book is turned into a children's book! Nevertheless, Tatel's personality and sense of humor shine through in his memoir. And on page 193, he gives advice to appeals attorneys on how to do a good job!

*educated at the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago

**appointed by President Clinton to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Court