tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60939212169202174222024-03-17T20:03:37.495-07:00Dog EvalsWorking to save you quality dog-time!skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.comBlogger847125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-85076128203478039502024-03-10T04:04:00.000-07:002024-03-10T04:04:13.375-07:00Book Review: Nel and the Fling! (children's book)(OT)<p><i>Nel and the Fling! A Story about Responsibility</i>, by Julie le Cornu (Brok Pty Ltd, 2019, $19.95 Australian, 30 pp HB) First in a series</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJ78zqCzSqVTGoUkeeeQGn-Hb52LNfBaFMXzFdxLtxhe-0DgPat1unWEo3OCaywpZ0rzYGd29yNj-CHzDYfohlBuV73V5Ojtyyc7yhv3awPyl0V9ymAkXEnWalNug96NsAPQKehuboPTb18PxYjVCZlPERoLOfIVIxAuYZp1q3cQIsNg0S2ivCPrOLdbo/s640/IMG_4037.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrJ78zqCzSqVTGoUkeeeQGn-Hb52LNfBaFMXzFdxLtxhe-0DgPat1unWEo3OCaywpZ0rzYGd29yNj-CHzDYfohlBuV73V5Ojtyyc7yhv3awPyl0V9ymAkXEnWalNug96NsAPQKehuboPTb18PxYjVCZlPERoLOfIVIxAuYZp1q3cQIsNg0S2ivCPrOLdbo/s320/IMG_4037.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>Flings are adorable. Doesn't everyone want one? So, when Nel manages to catch one, she is elated until she finds out how much work it is to care for another being. Nel also finds out that not all animals or flings like living in captivity. Some shrink.</p><p><b>Quandry</b></p><p>Nel dearly loves her fling but, ah, the work involved and no matter what she does to help give her fling a happy, comfortable life, Nel just doesn't succeed. What to do is a lesson in responsibility. When Nel frees her fling, she also frees herself!</p><p>Reminiscent of <a href="https://shop.carlemuseum.org/house-jack-built">This is The House that Jack Built</a>, <i>Nel & the Fling!</i> will be a fun book for your child to learn as it repeats each paragraph.</p><p>Other books in the series include <i><a href="https://dogevals.blogspot.com/2024/03/book-review-groobs-childrens-bookot.html">The Groobs</a> </i>and<i> <a href="https://dogevals.blogspot.com/2024/03/book-review-lady-of-rara-jou-childrens.html">The Lady of Rara-Jou.</a></i></p><p>---------------------------</p><p>Review by Skye Anderson</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-23623194559968072032024-03-09T06:52:00.000-08:002024-03-09T06:52:35.480-08:00Book Review: The Groobs (children's book)(OT)<p><i>The Groobs: A Story about Many Things,</i> by Julie le Cornu (Brok Pty Ltd, 2019, $19.95 Australian, 30 pp HB) 4th in a series</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f0ptMpi14g0xh9UzU6ae4nrw_U3vUn1IypdRXekZ2yeuIcvG4xqYHWSMuQ87BORDvLp6xcKejVVRieDii0tzecWeUqBosVmRZqpoQfBQyTIpi0npFiCQvGyy2uo3dy8c3sar395A_VRJLnEEnjMBU3tuX_2l6lpc3o4LJz9xh37Ywww2KLIS6R7JJ8po/s640/IMG_4036.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f0ptMpi14g0xh9UzU6ae4nrw_U3vUn1IypdRXekZ2yeuIcvG4xqYHWSMuQ87BORDvLp6xcKejVVRieDii0tzecWeUqBosVmRZqpoQfBQyTIpi0npFiCQvGyy2uo3dy8c3sar395A_VRJLnEEnjMBU3tuX_2l6lpc3o4LJz9xh37Ywww2KLIS6R7JJ8po/s320/IMG_4036.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>Groobs* are simply lovely creatures who come in shades of yellow and orange and tan and red until we see blue and brown and green and purple groobs - and more. But groobs obey their leader, the multi-colored groob, until he starts giving orders that destroy. The groobs sill obey - that is, until a brave little groob asks a question and changes their lives for the better.</p><p>"A story about many things" will challenge the reader to look carefully at each page to see whimsical items the author has stashed there, from a baby groob in mother's pouch like a kangaroo to standing on people's hands as they are shaking hands (both hands at the same time).</p><p>Other books in the series include <i><a href="https://dogevals.blogspot.com/2024/03/book-review-lady-of-rara-jou-childrens.html">The Lady of Rara-Jou</a></i> and <i>Nel and the Fling!</i></p><p>Review by Skye Anderson</p><p>-----------------------------------</p><p>*Groobs look like colored snowmen but furry. You want to just hug them, antennas and all.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-71498354073761900332024-03-08T10:57:00.000-08:002024-03-08T10:57:26.160-08:00Book Review: The Lady of Rara-Jou (children's book)(OT)<p><i>The Lady of Rara-Jou: A Story about Giving</i>, by Julie le Cornu (Brok Pty Ltd, 2019, $19.95 Australian, 30 pp HB) 6th in a series* </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCYUSRfQO0qNB-vS6Whq1YuUhgDW4FTeXPuqnxRBYyUsrNUCtjmvo6CalcvMuOP6kJwOJrHNHF2sIKSR-_3QZ1UAvJ0cnsAe4OtWqSXrn8FXxvLqTwxFcykLyyIyAKIhHAGQS8waQKjlnj3-a9JLu1NIKBfEGPUC3crfMYnQUKcS5rPLLIyKWXI5lcoodV/s640/IMG_4038.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCYUSRfQO0qNB-vS6Whq1YuUhgDW4FTeXPuqnxRBYyUsrNUCtjmvo6CalcvMuOP6kJwOJrHNHF2sIKSR-_3QZ1UAvJ0cnsAe4OtWqSXrn8FXxvLqTwxFcykLyyIyAKIhHAGQS8waQKjlnj3-a9JLu1NIKBfEGPUC3crfMYnQUKcS5rPLLIyKWXI5lcoodV/s320/IMG_4038.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>A rhyming book with the final word of each line in color, <i>The Lady of Rara-Jou**</i> is an experience your child will have fun with, learning some Australian words and spellings to boot!</p><p>The lady of Rara-Jou has a hole in her heart that she tries to fill with things that belong to other people, things that the reader will love to point out and name, even the Teddy Bear with one leg.</p><p>How the lady learns that taking things from others will not make her happy in the long run is a story to remember.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------</p><p>*Other books include <i>The Groobs </i>and <i>Nel & the Fling!</i></p><p>**Rara-Jou is a solar system and the lady is blue in more ways than one</p><p>PS - giving is the opposite of taking</p><p>Review by Skye Anderson</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-55881739129168828752024-03-06T14:23:00.000-08:002024-03-06T14:23:26.818-08:00Book Review: Soldier Girls (three deployed National Guard women, Afghanistan, Iraq)<p><i>Soldier Girls,</i> by Helen Thorpe (Scribner, 2014, $28 HB, 432 pp) Best book of the year: <i>Publishers Weekly</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6VwTEMSDrtgvND5389ITZznsGwRi1fTG32uCVlLgKVj9nuHbkTM1s8B9ShG2L2mpTAy7xzMVjTvBHGLhK7HbHeo4q2zEZTdWNBqS1PhFkudVxO8u5CTeQVFjqFnKCJkT_kYbc9OhliTsSY7rjdhYDpPjwkF5m0NGLMOFrow2Koil8Z7wCF8DABwe6bxn/s522/71pDhKuk3KL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="342" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6VwTEMSDrtgvND5389ITZznsGwRi1fTG32uCVlLgKVj9nuHbkTM1s8B9ShG2L2mpTAy7xzMVjTvBHGLhK7HbHeo4q2zEZTdWNBqS1PhFkudVxO8u5CTeQVFjqFnKCJkT_kYbc9OhliTsSY7rjdhYDpPjwkF5m0NGLMOFrow2Koil8Z7wCF8DABwe6bxn/s320/71pDhKuk3KL._SY522_.jpg" width="210" /></a></i></div><p></p><p>If you have worked in a hospital or for a college or have served in the military, you know that that experience is more than just a job. It is a culture. </p><p><i>Soldier Girls</i> is a long yet fascinating book about three women soldiers' lives in the Indiana National Guard: three women of different ages, with different jobs. They deployed together to Afghanistan in 2004-05, returned home to various experiences, and two of them also deployed to Iraq in 2008, then returned home. This book chronicles their friendships, the trials of working and living in a man's world, operating in a combat zone and also returning 'home,' changed, to family and friends.</p><p>The National Guard is a unique career, whether full-time, or, more likely, part-time. One can stay with the same unit of soldiers for an entire career. On the other hand, we are more familiar with the larger national military services - Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force - where one is transferred as an individual every 3-5 years, but in smaller job classifications, may work with the same people years later at a different duty station.</p><p>So, being in a state national guard unit, soldiers may form long-lasting bonds. And, if deployed together, a group quickly establishes relationships* that may last a lifetime. Or not.</p><p>Our group of three women were truck drivers and weapons repair technicians, two were married, one had children, one was in her 50s while the others were in their 20s and of college-age. Different, yet when living and working together, formed stable long-lasting relationships</p><p><b>So Different and Yet, So Much the Same</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTdCVflZoEShMP6PnAF57hbhA-pOEzKC3lyn4UERE9x9M6eK2rWV5O8nsmPtsklOwhvpnW8gsVoyhgoXvqyNTHELm-7wP0LXMcduSo-WpnGy2WmckSfmMLHrM0UbegjPf3ST6G-iODQTnUop2-GE5I6ZszkOiathVS4Esyz1hm4xoRQBgJgLFHOVHx3Q_/s522/71pDhKuk3KL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="342" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTdCVflZoEShMP6PnAF57hbhA-pOEzKC3lyn4UERE9x9M6eK2rWV5O8nsmPtsklOwhvpnW8gsVoyhgoXvqyNTHELm-7wP0LXMcduSo-WpnGy2WmckSfmMLHrM0UbegjPf3ST6G-iODQTnUop2-GE5I6ZszkOiathVS4Esyz1hm4xoRQBgJgLFHOVHx3Q_/w131-h200/71pDhKuk3KL._SY522_.jpg" width="131" /></a></b></div><p></p><p>Everyone in the military shares some of the same experiences. Every combat soldier has had some experiences in common. And yet, each one is different. This reviewer spent several days of her deployment at the military base where these three women spent a year, in Afghanistan, albeit a couple of years after the incidents in the book, when some rules were relaxed and others tightened. </p><p><i>Soldier Girls</i> traces the lives of the three women from the day they enlisted to twelve years later, after deployments, marriages, divorces, IEDs, injuries, leaving the Guard - but mostly focuses on the friendships, the training, the culture, the dogs each base 'adopted,' the housing (tents) and PXs, the weather and the food. If you, dear reader, have been deployed, you will relive your time 'down range' in the 'sandbox' and remember, amid the differences.</p><p>Uniforms erase differences: on a deployment, one does not have kids or a mortgage to pay. Your laundry is taken care of, your meals are provided and you do not have to go grocery shopping. Life is simpler. And military friendships differ from civilian ones - some last outside of the deployment and others do not. The military changes people and deployments really change a person for the better - in some ways.</p><p><b>Writing Style</b></p><p><i>Soldier Girls</i> is a keeper!</p><p>Review by Skye Anderson</p><p>*Some readers may feel this book should be R-rated for the frequent accounts of affairs. Rest assured this is not as frequent in all deployments.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-84689886694463989732024-03-02T12:02:00.000-08:002024-03-02T12:02:42.567-08:00Book Review: The Healer's War (a nurse in VietNam)(OT)<p><i>The Healer's War</i>, by Elizabeth Scarborough (Doubleday/Bantam, 1988, 320 pp HB, $26.99) Winner of the Nebula Award for science fiction or fantasy in 1989. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYMcg1oDlfYjbsDb8a9dl_llQ5aFIJ5464xwjUqanIPidf-CO5Luoprl3YYk2DvxNeuyvRAAYkLvMU0l2HAyBB-lJ9KW312hv4jY3DCE4OEn0sfCYuUuoctgMHvbI8rfQ1jpsmsV9pL4uLMP5bNowfwPDiYLAzODWsBJMBRou7ppi7Ote_gsvHlnMK6o8/s522/81x1ld+I2zL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="348" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYMcg1oDlfYjbsDb8a9dl_llQ5aFIJ5464xwjUqanIPidf-CO5Luoprl3YYk2DvxNeuyvRAAYkLvMU0l2HAyBB-lJ9KW312hv4jY3DCE4OEn0sfCYuUuoctgMHvbI8rfQ1jpsmsV9pL4uLMP5bNowfwPDiYLAzODWsBJMBRou7ppi7Ote_gsvHlnMK6o8/s320/81x1ld+I2zL._SY522_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Irreverent Woman at War</b></p><p>No holds barred, this novel is unusual and captivating, as well as often irreverent - quite often, as a matter of fact. In three parts, the first, "The Hospital," being the longest, followed by "The Jungle" and finally the shortest "Coming Home," <i>The Healer's War</i> is about an Army nurse in Vietnam, written by an Army nurse who served in Vietnam.</p><p><b>For the Veterans - Different War, Same Stuff</b></p><p>A fast read this book is, that details memories, the same yet different of just about anyone who has been deployed to a combat zone, but how times have changed, how the Army has changed - more formal today though some aspects are still the same, especially in the boonies where protocol takes a back seat to staying alive.</p><p><b>Part One, "The Hospital"</b></p><p>Fortunately, author Elizabeth Scarborough gets the Army right, at least an Army hospital in a deployment zone. Living in a small small hooch, sweating, working night shifts, getting to "know" the GIs, taking care of wounded Americans as well as Vietnamese, one of whom seems to be a holy man who gives Kitty his necklace as he is about to die. </p><p>The necklace is magical and shows colors around people to warn Kitty of their intentions but the necklace also gives Kitty healing powers. After all, this is a fantasy novel.</p><p>You might want to read this lively part of the book with pen and paper to remember the names the characters. In addition, the diary of a combat nurse's shifts, colleagues, and patients may bore the reader, though those with some hospital experience will eagerly devour the stories and recollections.</p><p><b>Part Two, "The Jungle"</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KQ-Af_kkg0Yn4mgsvsBKWulRgpKM6FlJGwiSfd0QUkDQft0mpOZbcCUR-cRJzyLlChLHSRepJrAIY8sykLNYbxQ0Epzt0SxHd-474PkPQiFzSLpS2xu8fxUMW0LES_XFUOHxg_F5XIDil8wtorlF-Nhtaewi8Fl9JZFVevpjpJo_9nu-qJdHYLNMwHgm/s390/The_Healer's_War.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="257" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KQ-Af_kkg0Yn4mgsvsBKWulRgpKM6FlJGwiSfd0QUkDQft0mpOZbcCUR-cRJzyLlChLHSRepJrAIY8sykLNYbxQ0Epzt0SxHd-474PkPQiFzSLpS2xu8fxUMW0LES_XFUOHxg_F5XIDil8wtorlF-Nhtaewi8Fl9JZFVevpjpJo_9nu-qJdHYLNMwHgm/w132-h200/The_Healer's_War.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></div><p></p><p>Surviving a helicopter crash, Kitty and her young patient must navigate the jungle and along the way they meet a snake, villagers, and the VietCong.</p><p>This part must be read carefully so as not to mix up days.</p><p><b>Part Three, "Coming Home"</b></p><p>Home, finally, Kitty, though disilusioned, experiences what many returnees experience after returning from combat - a culture that doesn't understand. How Kitty finally finds peace and a new meaning to her life closes out the novel.</p><p><b>Drawback</b>: Although the author includes a two-page glossary of Vietnamese terms, she writes, "My apologies to any Vietnamese speakers for inaccuracies. I wish I had had your assistance when compiling this." That is no excuse, especially when this reviewer was a Vietnamese speaker, and finding one in 1988 would have been easy.</p><p>Review by Skye Anderson</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-69190493412532021662024-02-23T04:56:00.000-08:002024-02-23T04:56:39.599-08:00Book Review: Treasure State, A Cassie Dewell novel (mystery, Montana) (OT)<p><i>Treasure State</i>, by CJ Box (Minotaur Books/St. Martin's, 2022, 286 pp, $28.99), Book 6 in the series. Review by Skye Anderson</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOWNYM9QUdSgtk2omyfcfWjRr6TZzYeFwU5sTymQSygQHSt7VVMIdE8YF13ckS6jyI8Ml9JFMSEloF7xL4d592uMGn8zj2G2F3lmSMci4mfXhXJN5K-1bh5sKd0BudpIPt1jbsyjP25fsuOAaUlC1KtPa0YEIvr5amkmUWzoZEE49GSeQ6-7K3qtD3k0j/s522/81UMpyqx4tL._SY522_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="340" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOWNYM9QUdSgtk2omyfcfWjRr6TZzYeFwU5sTymQSygQHSt7VVMIdE8YF13ckS6jyI8Ml9JFMSEloF7xL4d592uMGn8zj2G2F3lmSMci4mfXhXJN5K-1bh5sKd0BudpIPt1jbsyjP25fsuOAaUlC1KtPa0YEIvr5amkmUWzoZEE49GSeQ6-7K3qtD3k0j/s320/81UMpyqx4tL._SY522_.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Montana Murder Mystery</b></p><p>CJ Box' <i>Treasure</i> <i>State</i> only gets better with each chapter (in other words, it starts out slowly) as it ties nearly all the many loose ends together. However, you may not want to read this at night, alone in the house.</p><p>Yes, there is a Manhattan, Montana, and most of the other towns are very familiar to me, being from northern Idaho. Even the historical facts of copper mining are 'right on.' However, I'm so glad it took place in Montana and not my Idaho, and though the most well-known nickname of the state is Big Sky Country, The Treasure State is also a nickname (which fits in so well with the plot).</p><p>Our PI (private investigator), Cassie Dewell and the other characters are not ones the reader can necessarily identify with or want to be but they are real, even the old bag lady who simply walks from one end of town to the other. Cassie lives with her 16-year-old son Ben and her mother, who doesn't get along very well with Cassie but works as her receptionist, at times. Fortunately, Cassie also has an assistant, a PI wanna-be, a 20-something from Wyoming whom Ben has a crush on.</p><p>Like many mystery series, Box' weaves in previous characters which only serves to whet your appetite to read the earlier five in the series.</p><p><b>A Doozy of an Opening</b></p><p>The first chapter is a doozy. An overweight and laconic PI, JD Spengler from Florida arrives in Montana and is close to solving his case in the first chapter only to have that chapter end with "JD Spengler had no idea he would never leave this place alive." (p. 7)</p><p>And then you find out that Spengler is not the protagonist but it takes several more pages to get to know Cassie Dewell, PI.</p><p>All in all, a suspenseful story by an Edgar winning author - with a strikingly beautiful cover.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-49858585851839944512024-02-22T00:07:00.000-08:002024-02-22T00:07:02.207-08:00Book Review: The Bee that Can't See (children's, eyeglasses)(OT)<p><i>The Bee that Can't See</i>, by Cynthia Ng (printed in Australia, ages 3-8 [pre-K to lower primary], 2021, 36 pp PB) Review by Skye Anderson</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlhWOMtbz1CPtoI0n3pLP86-tvRW6AsTAHXgREfum8FQTmZWT6eZvS2T32zxBfvLZbDS-PHoPjhuPl2ZjwAFc8__Umbw7nbj_Q8bST-vMOlVGPvj3m5SP6BGevoKZr5B2tCNo2KyXHI8pzMiQ608fHnXkygU2KjX-jY-_8DZ2Y6IXcbyKJtJc1F5ucKop/s596/cynthia-ng-the-bee-that-cant-see.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSlhWOMtbz1CPtoI0n3pLP86-tvRW6AsTAHXgREfum8FQTmZWT6eZvS2T32zxBfvLZbDS-PHoPjhuPl2ZjwAFc8__Umbw7nbj_Q8bST-vMOlVGPvj3m5SP6BGevoKZr5B2tCNo2KyXHI8pzMiQ608fHnXkygU2KjX-jY-_8DZ2Y6IXcbyKJtJc1F5ucKop/w161-h200/cynthia-ng-the-bee-that-cant-see.png" width="161" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>A Bee Who Can't See? A Travesty!</b></p><p>When you hear of a bee who can't see, what is the first thing you think of? </p><p>We thought that maybe bees can't see at night so they stay home in their cozy hives, but, no. This bee, named Bella, crash lands because she literally cannot see very well at all. Everything is fuzzy. She lands in a pond one day and hits a large animal another time but fortunately she always gives a warning buzz. </p><p>Her friend Salvatore the snail suggests they go see Ming the mantis, the optometrist on the hill, because that is what friends do - they help each other. And that visit will explain the front cover.</p><p><b>We Like This Book!</b></p><p>Friends Salvatore Snail and Ming Mantis (in addition to Bella Bee ) display behaviors that snails and mantises and bees actually exhibit.</p><p><i>Bee</i> is a short book with a lesson of love and some humor tossed in with clear illustrations.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-45478163881900455462024-02-21T04:54:00.000-08:002024-02-21T04:54:59.001-08:00Book Review: Bendy Bones and Stretchy Skin (children's book about an invisible illness)(OT)<p><i>Bendy Bones and Stretchy Skin: An Ehlers-Danlos Book</i>, by Pey Carter and Abigail Bailey (Wise Ink, 2024, $18.95, ages 4-8, 31pp HB) Review by Skye Anderson</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpI0UZtyzVNBKectTJrnxxOHY3ofhZLTbIL1I5mhuK9PsKCwxd938zBtscJPOWKraUqBAdDkFDhVB1YBHFDZvyCY8Av8Vtwyoh7FH1GuvLLyGXtHMTmRP_I8IsrXnICneikXFFJqHvJubdVwLpOGGE9LlOdRh2JamdNytZRiDmWylIAf7c_WAfjZOmzla/s605/81QIK+cjjbL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="605" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpI0UZtyzVNBKectTJrnxxOHY3ofhZLTbIL1I5mhuK9PsKCwxd938zBtscJPOWKraUqBAdDkFDhVB1YBHFDZvyCY8Av8Vtwyoh7FH1GuvLLyGXtHMTmRP_I8IsrXnICneikXFFJqHvJubdVwLpOGGE9LlOdRh2JamdNytZRiDmWylIAf7c_WAfjZOmzla/s320/81QIK+cjjbL._SY522_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>What a Title!</b></p><p>Written by mother Pey and daughter Abigail, <i>Bendy Bones and Stretchy Skin</i> is an unforgettable title that explains a very rare genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos. Both mother and daughter exhibit the condition but the book follows daughter Abigail as she receives her diagnosis and as both explain the condition to Abigail's school chums.</p><p><b>The Value of Friendship</b></p><p>Pey wears knee braces to help support her when walking and sometimes has to use a wheelchair while Abigail needs to sit in a soft chair and sometimes must leave class to walk a bit but other than that, she is as normal as ever. This is a condition that can be an invisible disability so the students then brainstorm what they can do to help their friend. They decide to run on grass rather than asphalt or concrete, and to play basketball when Abigail feels too weak for races.</p><p><b>Lovely Illustrations</b></p><p>We also love the watercolor illustrations and Abigail's red hair but mostly we love the zebras - count them and see if you can find one on nearly every page. Just as some cancers have associated colors (pink for breast cancer), Ehlers-Danlos has an animal, the zebra, with a story behind it that can be found by googling.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-29782618532709174772024-02-20T11:21:00.000-08:002024-02-20T11:21:47.205-08:00Book Review: The Tales of SCUBA Steve: Isfjell Point (campers, environment, the Arctic)(OT)<p><i>The Tales of SCUBA* Steve: Isfjell Point</i>, by Steven Kamlet (Fulton Books, 2023, 102pp PB, ages 7-9, $19.95) Review by Skye Anderson</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFiHZW7M1DK0F1gK4_wwrEDCh_rf-gW4wTgrRaiRnck5qiOabcCdovXCbe9NMw1JnDptK9QO7KTUwOgyjgpPLgu5dnnQCvkKqyILnVBdXy_t6-if58cXHzt07krHGf9BLHI8a1Mh7LM1H2gzh1Z3XcM7DKFLkZIDgcRi4RA3Ii3LSVpbj6jEdJCdGTF3b/s522/3rd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFiHZW7M1DK0F1gK4_wwrEDCh_rf-gW4wTgrRaiRnck5qiOabcCdovXCbe9NMw1JnDptK9QO7KTUwOgyjgpPLgu5dnnQCvkKqyILnVBdXy_t6-if58cXHzt07krHGf9BLHI8a1Mh7LM1H2gzh1Z3XcM7DKFLkZIDgcRi4RA3Ii3LSVpbj6jEdJCdGTF3b/s320/3rd.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p>Third in a series, <i>Isfjell Point</i> magically transports** half a dozen advanced swimmers (boys and girls both) at a day camp to exotic locales, a la <i>The Magic Treehouse</i>, but doing so is more subtle for the swimmers and rather than a history lesson, the campers learn respect for the environment and SCUBA* safety.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwF0Tja7h_l2WlqG9t_oBc3ChDWv0-AftwhhvzBxM5XTysJR9YtngIHzk2N4MfTFzgj13tvMrU4wp0-vgJ57_9gOFdCB80tSop1_WVSQgG-w95CfykDXKSmMK-F1wdMTy6QyvRq0ufYD8hQ2aF7meYdtqSlAMPUGVXZxCr24d8a__dTlXZTrchyphenhyphenIcpA8Lk/s522/HonuReef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="373" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwF0Tja7h_l2WlqG9t_oBc3ChDWv0-AftwhhvzBxM5XTysJR9YtngIHzk2N4MfTFzgj13tvMrU4wp0-vgJ57_9gOFdCB80tSop1_WVSQgG-w95CfykDXKSmMK-F1wdMTy6QyvRq0ufYD8hQ2aF7meYdtqSlAMPUGVXZxCr24d8a__dTlXZTrchyphenhyphenIcpA8Lk/w143-h200/HonuReef.jpg" width="143" /></a></div><br />The first book involves Hawaii and sea turtles - animals caught in fishing nets<br />while the second features Carcharodon Island. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJIsp3Aw-rf40jWTmwd5-amPET1n46fSRiFCyD-L5JaD_QVobvm4l9QkZkKqAbw5F4-Y5Aejudp-9QK0syP-9m6BjnXQCTAEhk2Cfg5Ujba4sQBCPXN0T_S6N6itUUC5TpXHsuPzfq22shPrYZo8kuLPXBOgHHcSZmhg9fnnWPk2Ze9OSM2WUnUIcCSRHp/s522/CarcharodonIsland2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="326" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJIsp3Aw-rf40jWTmwd5-amPET1n46fSRiFCyD-L5JaD_QVobvm4l9QkZkKqAbw5F4-Y5Aejudp-9QK0syP-9m6BjnXQCTAEhk2Cfg5Ujba4sQBCPXN0T_S6N6itUUC5TpXHsuPzfq22shPrYZo8kuLPXBOgHHcSZmhg9fnnWPk2Ze9OSM2WUnUIcCSRHp/w125-h200/CarcharodonIsland2.jpg" width="125" /></a></div><br /><i>Isfjell Point</i> brings our group north of the Arctic Circle to meet playful seals and helpful narwhals. Along the way, our intrepid pack is reminded of SCUBA safety and how to act around wild animals, even those who live underwater.<p></p><p>But what do they find in the Arctic waters and what do they think of the <i>aurora borealis</i> and polar bears and glaciers calving? And what do they do about the garbage they find even way up north - all the plastic from populated regions around the globe?</p><p>*Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus</p><p>**Camper Ben and his friends with counselor "SCUBA Steve" swim to the bottom of the camp pool and into the drain, coming out in exotic locales where their assistance is needed by marine animals.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-48889045283092324532024-02-17T07:29:00.000-08:002024-02-17T07:29:49.300-08:00Book Review: Recipe Road Trip (young reader)(OT)<p><i>Recipe Road Trip: Cooking Your Way Across the USA</i> by Nanette Lavin (Kitchen Ink Publishing, 2023, $24.95HB, 252pp, ages 6-10 years, grades 1-5) Review by Skye Anderson. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfwjVgYgryYY07kTItZVzwRxZeYFlDK-jwBBjDpga3yS_avK9oohcY4Vkuba8z4iQKJE9camKUiPzfZI74oamA56OTRco_S6eLYN61JUzCnyCLficQM_FSQAWyrABkkYAOBs8YnpT7Y8VLtn68ygXgaVrcGzpulgJO75LfcXS3HQDcLOj4WtbZMeEXgqT/s522/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="444" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfwjVgYgryYY07kTItZVzwRxZeYFlDK-jwBBjDpga3yS_avK9oohcY4Vkuba8z4iQKJE9camKUiPzfZI74oamA56OTRco_S6eLYN61JUzCnyCLficQM_FSQAWyrABkkYAOBs8YnpT7Y8VLtn68ygXgaVrcGzpulgJO75LfcXS3HQDcLOj4WtbZMeEXgqT/s320/cover.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>A Keeper, Whether You Have Kids or Not</b></p><p>So, you're not a cook. Or, so you need something fun to keep your kids occupied and learning?</p><p><i>Recipe Road Trip</i> is a creative way to learn cooking and geography with plenty of good jokes thrown in for laughs. Travel through the US from the northeast to the territories, one state at a time, stopping over to cook easy, intermediate and advanced recipes while learning fun facts and jokes about those foods.</p><p><b>Cook Your Way Across the USA!</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgq887FtXBOwPLNafJiphAfyBH7yeSgO2ulQkI_TGchckGRkA7SBQA2FEkN39_s0AGtoPtKxolOAL7nmyVzo28kEn-nVRiMlz9APdSfOOvQSnobLDBpmY6okMOvNGD0hDIQshOVKLBvuypxS6B6meawAxez5duNimPaLpiEPELS-Rc8TdInXrDCVrk9AJU/s1000/NE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="1000" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgq887FtXBOwPLNafJiphAfyBH7yeSgO2ulQkI_TGchckGRkA7SBQA2FEkN39_s0AGtoPtKxolOAL7nmyVzo28kEn-nVRiMlz9APdSfOOvQSnobLDBpmY6okMOvNGD0hDIQshOVKLBvuypxS6B6meawAxez5duNimPaLpiEPELS-Rc8TdInXrDCVrk9AJU/s320/NE.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p>With more than 120 delicious recipes, this book will last a long time! A bonus is meal menus from the various regions with a recipe for each level of difficulty for each meal so all three kids can all participate!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenbJIJNwQaG2UtwwAFPwh-E5OedU-M0kNTBhyphenhyphenc34dmQ3ZImDZlZAuiWNqMtmqEMjKpFHevZL90g84_ww2FC5xGcJk7dZrOejMe7K9CbmptlWiXxkzVNDOOE0ihwsNw5ayIDMdB4wyBfP4fbWOdns_zohqOoMEtkGfxMe5l0pXsE_IZuN_aGnRFzHB8A07/s1000/menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="850" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenbJIJNwQaG2UtwwAFPwh-E5OedU-M0kNTBhyphenhyphenc34dmQ3ZImDZlZAuiWNqMtmqEMjKpFHevZL90g84_ww2FC5xGcJk7dZrOejMe7K9CbmptlWiXxkzVNDOOE0ihwsNw5ayIDMdB4wyBfP4fbWOdns_zohqOoMEtkGfxMe5l0pXsE_IZuN_aGnRFzHB8A07/w170-h200/menu.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><p></p><p>We started with Maryland, then went to Washington and Idaho and Arizona and Hawaii - then all the others. Maryland dishes are crab cakes (level 1, beginning cook) and Berger cookies (level 2, intermediate cook) while Washington's are wild mushroom barley (level 2) and Emma's applesauce (level 1). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTS5eyGL30LtsCgPL9FollLv0g3_yCFktgxmy7jAavfOsiXlhEPp-QluAaEiM4ugk8Qi6zSasxXlfqoJ3Yb0skYDwGDRFeg4dqk4NXnXEh1eJUGuWTNKB0DXmQX-9-Wl8c8E3sn84wFWkxYRoDKywQ_1ZL2B4ICTWzDn_Apc_In07JQ-QiLNrJAtzWCnVz/s1000/KS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="850" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTS5eyGL30LtsCgPL9FollLv0g3_yCFktgxmy7jAavfOsiXlhEPp-QluAaEiM4ugk8Qi6zSasxXlfqoJ3Yb0skYDwGDRFeg4dqk4NXnXEh1eJUGuWTNKB0DXmQX-9-Wl8c8E3sn84wFWkxYRoDKywQ_1ZL2B4ICTWzDn_Apc_In07JQ-QiLNrJAtzWCnVz/w170-h200/KS.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Suggestions</b></p><p>We would suggest, for the 2nd edition, that the book be spiral bound for ease of use and for some of the recipes we simply did not 'get' the connection with the states they are listed under, but then we are not real foodies. We loved the jokes but a couple were forced and before we passed them on, we reworded some of them slightly. One favorite: Q: What do you call a pig who gets fired from his job? A: A canned ham.</p><p>For Washington: Q: What did the apple skin (peel) say to the apple? A: I got you covered.</p><p>And why couldn't the teddy bear finish his muffin? Because he was stuffed already!</p><p>Maybe add a diary page so readers (and cookers) can write down their favorite recipe, a new joke, and make this book really theirs.</p><p>All in all, this book is a keeper for kids and adults as well.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yhw5pyvx5hpkeJVUv5t-XMxUXwaNg6_IdIKnv7gAHDnktSv4vY8QtTzgrmXldIrWXZMejAE1NwNMJM2c8Cz0KFY0-k3pNxNDFCvMcTy0L4P8Cb-8_61YETEh22JCWLDutHkqsWhtG3iYv4_Y8IOfgsm8Tnu39P-td22XAOZXpSbrmT3UHf3ycAMh-W8z/s1000/toc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="1000" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yhw5pyvx5hpkeJVUv5t-XMxUXwaNg6_IdIKnv7gAHDnktSv4vY8QtTzgrmXldIrWXZMejAE1NwNMJM2c8Cz0KFY0-k3pNxNDFCvMcTy0L4P8Cb-8_61YETEh22JCWLDutHkqsWhtG3iYv4_Y8IOfgsm8Tnu39P-td22XAOZXpSbrmT3UHf3ycAMh-W8z/w578-h188/toc.jpg" width="578" /></a></div><br /><p></p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-41764054263062222142024-02-16T03:54:00.000-08:002024-02-16T03:54:12.854-08:00Book Review: Teaching Tornero: The True Story of a Sloth Superstar (OT)<p><i>Teaching Tornero: The True Story of a Sloth Superstar</i> by Georgeanne Irvine (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Press, 36pp, $14.99HB, ages 6-10) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5JHYFb4Gj-0LRBApshU3KmN0-y1eEV7GLp3mhspdFBvTdG1ggmyb81R0QsYe2KLNgWZQKMfq_34L9o83yIl_njj5AZLoaleoPr_RyT8dXbeMaELr_WzSD3kZISyaWqoEL8cCTLRRXoHyN7Hf6_v7UO2v1e0zCsNekamtUBIcO3BpSupwQBy5KY7z0VaX/s522/61lYrWAkUgL._SY522_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="521" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5JHYFb4Gj-0LRBApshU3KmN0-y1eEV7GLp3mhspdFBvTdG1ggmyb81R0QsYe2KLNgWZQKMfq_34L9o83yIl_njj5AZLoaleoPr_RyT8dXbeMaELr_WzSD3kZISyaWqoEL8cCTLRRXoHyN7Hf6_v7UO2v1e0zCsNekamtUBIcO3BpSupwQBy5KY7z0VaX/w199-h200/61lYrWAkUgL._SY522_.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Surprise!</b></p><p>Tornero is like Topsy from <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i> - he just appeared one morning and was named Nugget until the zoo found out he was a boy. Soon the little sloth became a superstar as he was trained to be a wildlife ambassador for the San Diego Zoo. He was slowly given exciting adventures and opportunities away from his mom Xena, a wildlife ambassador, when he could handle the separations and in the first few outings he was given a stuffed sloth to hang on to (but he soon graduated from that).</p><p>The young reader will see Tornero's foot prints on the inside covers and read what even families can do to help conserve wildlife, such as feeding birds, keeping cats indoors, and planting native plants rather than invasive exotic species.</p><p>But the most fun is following the little sloth and learning about this unusual animal through the trips he will take to visit schools to teach children about nature - and he will travel by Slothmobile! But so far, he has only been on TV.</p><p><b>Life Upside Down</b></p><p>The sloth, a slow animal, spends a lot of time hanging on tree branches, upside down!</p><p>Even though you might like a pet sloth to eat your broccoli, they are wild animals and we need to respect that. This book will help educate people about animals and what families can do to help in conservation efforts.</p><p>I can't wait for more books in this series like <a href="https://dogevals.blogspot.com/2024/02/book-review-amazing-omeo-baby-koalas.html"><i>Amazing Omeo, A Baby Koala's true Story of Survival</i>.</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs9grTnpQVUVu8bPptAj7JqKN0FmPIQ-XQhfZESvyY76aEjcMXUI75c8a1Z6ZoHiWstvpUyRgFtk_HqP9nT1hyphenhyphenyLqKUL-yD3KPK2Cumx_hOTi5eqv4z46fpmmpjrL3YRGvoTFR662-1ng3YqTmumR72W8WCBXgNv30Z7ieeuAw8cbX4uoXenZjyLDhReA6/s522/cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="522" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs9grTnpQVUVu8bPptAj7JqKN0FmPIQ-XQhfZESvyY76aEjcMXUI75c8a1Z6ZoHiWstvpUyRgFtk_HqP9nT1hyphenhyphenyLqKUL-yD3KPK2Cumx_hOTi5eqv4z46fpmmpjrL3YRGvoTFR662-1ng3YqTmumR72W8WCBXgNv30Z7ieeuAw8cbX4uoXenZjyLDhReA6/w200-h200/cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-73030056426316370232024-02-14T05:23:00.000-08:002024-02-14T05:23:18.960-08:00Book Review: Angela and Lulingu: Two Gorillas, a World Apart (OT)<p><i>Angela and Lulingu: Two Gorillas, a World Apart</i>, by Brenda Royce (Blue Sneaker Press, 2023, ages 6-10, 36pp, $14.99HB) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTJlXtx3x0IQ1TMnVklFhWylE7HknPV9lVZADIq6CgPwhg245XyosYRF8GVlD0yhXslG1QJtrW_OMwIs6D76kJPh3TTlOmJAi6yz_pGFQIw8sKzE_df4s_oSrzKyU0EuckP7DS_jSCfv9R6mgPMns7GBWmlU6O3c7iUAJa6-f364yN-6PT_4OZ8zZNHAk/s614/cover.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="614" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTJlXtx3x0IQ1TMnVklFhWylE7HknPV9lVZADIq6CgPwhg245XyosYRF8GVlD0yhXslG1QJtrW_OMwIs6D76kJPh3TTlOmJAi6yz_pGFQIw8sKzE_df4s_oSrzKyU0EuckP7DS_jSCfv9R6mgPMns7GBWmlU6O3c7iUAJa6-f364yN-6PT_4OZ8zZNHAk/s320/cover.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>Two gorillas, different yet similar, live "a world apart." One lives in a zoo in California (Angela) while the other, orphan Lulingu, lives in a sanctuary in Africa. They are different species but closely related.</p><p><i>Angela and Lulingu</i> opens with the story of Angela, the zoo baby, then shares the Lulingu's story and concludes with a few pages comparing and contrasting their veterinary care, night nests, favorite foods and daily life. </p><p>Author Brenda Royce includes just enough photos to balance the words and even though many pictures do not have captions, it is easy enough to title them yourself! A combination of photographs with fern and flower artistic artwork in purple, orange and green, bordering on comics, is a unique approach to keep the reader's interest.</p><p>Most pages also have a vocabulary word and definition like 'orphan' and hopefully your child will notice that Angela's color is green, Lulingu's is red-orange and the several pages in the back of the book are blue-purple where the two gorillas are brought together in prose and photo. Lulingu's sanctuary, GRACE, has even selected her to become an ambassador for gorillas and conservation.</p><p>Angela's mom had not been a mom before so the zookeepers used a stuffed gorilla to teach her what to do. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81MK_EHN48yTQrs8qw2d7c4-rmeOnwFpR4dUeWt7-tq1_JBAiCSFPVOmBuhk8qSqbanBeqiz75wHQa3zwWKjSNK3fJclgRv9o2kYw388E_xpNi6v4Cs2BpZICSIu2IV7fT81Dmrm450RxCCH19_JkmmWSCeEaNhzgkKZjTxpA2nn4kIFtfEO28RiX78G8/s1500/Gorilla-Angela-with-Flower-uncrop-JEP_6237.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj81MK_EHN48yTQrs8qw2d7c4-rmeOnwFpR4dUeWt7-tq1_JBAiCSFPVOmBuhk8qSqbanBeqiz75wHQa3zwWKjSNK3fJclgRv9o2kYw388E_xpNi6v4Cs2BpZICSIu2IV7fT81Dmrm450RxCCH19_JkmmWSCeEaNhzgkKZjTxpA2nn4kIFtfEO28RiX78G8/w200-h133/Gorilla-Angela-with-Flower-uncrop-JEP_6237.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Angela</td></tr></tbody></table><br />And Lulingu, without a gorilla mom, had two human caretakers 24/7 until the baby was old enough to meet the other gorillas in the sanctuary.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFjFjrpwPi3dEtCMoZdX5bFFR39rsAy4TkkRLIn-k9cuIZJ2itvGyG5LZ6v9nqG61DniwwnJVW91WtQuaBpitVvbxY4TnnaUNY-RSHGNcEK1c1WDEWD_d7ADDk1Bjdd9EmjUtaUalMFkvF61SAPtautjvpX7m2S9txvQc1L4ewpJtDCcrplfKrBcEmH9Y/s1500/Lulingus-rescue-Adam-Kiefer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1184" data-original-width="1500" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFjFjrpwPi3dEtCMoZdX5bFFR39rsAy4TkkRLIn-k9cuIZJ2itvGyG5LZ6v9nqG61DniwwnJVW91WtQuaBpitVvbxY4TnnaUNY-RSHGNcEK1c1WDEWD_d7ADDk1Bjdd9EmjUtaUalMFkvF61SAPtautjvpX7m2S9txvQc1L4ewpJtDCcrplfKrBcEmH9Y/w200-h158/Lulingus-rescue-Adam-Kiefer.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Lulingu</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>With an emphasis on what gorillas can teach us and what young readers can do to help endangered animals, perhaps some of these students will someday work in the fields of animal conservation.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-2668351658788204682024-02-13T04:48:00.000-08:002024-02-13T04:48:02.218-08:00Book Review: The Rescue of Eddie and Elliott: A Bald Eagle Adventure <p><i>The Rescue of Eddie and Elliott: A Bald Eaglet Adventure</i> by Keith Ross (Book House Publishing, 2023, book and plush toys $65, 672-piece puzzle $19.99, 38 pp PB) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj113FEikLA5Q1_wY07HzFc9tkEZyPTTkJg9PhgBoCFRhO5wbb6aEloZxg330-gTCAE39qem_6ACEi55lSyLpXJuQXTkYV7E13hxFLOWlEhOA9qzrr2TRvzcWVHFD2k2-X-gXj1kIvgephPELALaoO6c9r8BVT7W44VKbpLeDO_Jckg_rutlFahoySPJfO1/s1498/cover.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1498" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj113FEikLA5Q1_wY07HzFc9tkEZyPTTkJg9PhgBoCFRhO5wbb6aEloZxg330-gTCAE39qem_6ACEi55lSyLpXJuQXTkYV7E13hxFLOWlEhOA9qzrr2TRvzcWVHFD2k2-X-gXj1kIvgephPELALaoO6c9r8BVT7W44VKbpLeDO_Jckg_rutlFahoySPJfO1/w200-h158/cover.webp" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>A Gem!</b></p><p>Little baby eagles, eaglets, are so ugly they're cute! And this is a book about two eaglets and how they were saved from possible harm.</p><p><b>Saved by a Dog!</b></p><p>It all started with a dog. Mom and Dad Eagle didn't make a very good nest so one day the eaglets found themselves not in a tree top aerie (eyrie) but on the ground where dangers lurk for little birds who can't yet fly (or walk very well). A little dog walking by with his human one fine early May morning noticed the birds and 'told' his person that he saw, heard and smelled something out of the ordinary. Human goes to investigate and finds two baby eagles on the ground, not in their tree top nest where they belong! She calls a large volunteer corps into action to treat the little eaglets and climb their tree to put them back into their nest.</p><p><b>Home at Last!</b></p><p>With beautiful prose - sometimes suspenseful - by author Keith Ross, and incredible photos of the day* in May that the birds were saved, also by Keith Ross, <i>The Rescue of Eddie and Elliott</i> is inspiring and educational for students and families alike. Ross has included pages of fun facts plus a bonus page of questions and answers that tell the reader what to do when finding a baby bird: this page is worth making into a poster!</p><p><b>Stuffies, Too! (Plushies)</b></p><p>You can get your own Eddie and Elliott who are velcro'd together, or a jigsaw puzzle to make and frame - and Youtube also has the story to watch.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_w0ZIGIorJntvWzpTWuuN7qRT2mtwLXCV88ZMmstWLKkE9hh1mpHmAkioNZNfOH54wEDhVBhAmmA6KMPYzD3gP92NhOSb9qzGzSGuklC0XkTmBmBye_Wumtg2W1HEFcoPEN2ism1v7b3_NElOyuEZXYDPMNAz0sRkTj3iZyWqLmrnvZ3HPemo9JjfxziB/s756/Eagle%20Plush%202.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="756" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_w0ZIGIorJntvWzpTWuuN7qRT2mtwLXCV88ZMmstWLKkE9hh1mpHmAkioNZNfOH54wEDhVBhAmmA6KMPYzD3gP92NhOSb9qzGzSGuklC0XkTmBmBye_Wumtg2W1HEFcoPEN2ism1v7b3_NElOyuEZXYDPMNAz0sRkTj3iZyWqLmrnvZ3HPemo9JjfxziB/s320/Eagle%20Plush%202.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>All in all, a book to remember taking place in a little, barely known town in Washington - Sequim.</p><p>*<i>The Rescue </i>is probably about one entire day when knowledgeable volunteers sprang into action to do what needed to be done to save our national birds.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-44662917922080286032024-02-12T10:04:00.000-08:002024-02-12T10:04:47.963-08:00Book Review: Amazing Omeo: A Baby Koala's True Story of Survival (OT)(children's book)<p><i>Amazing Omeo: A Baby Koala's True Story of Survival</i> by Georgeanne Irving (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Press, 2023, $14.99HB, ages 6-10, 36pp) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6W2bwN4-wirCSFLq6taBsxXnXJctQN8Bl4SGfh4xzkBGPErImn9Z2c2UOgLL6FbrinnIT7BR-skSeoUvQAJN1BtTguzVffgW0Lf3OJHa5jCsVYE157KFbymItt3B_WvgnIvw-0yMS8Z22N9ZbcAKAj_81Cs5JmHQ87B2UI9Y6YiSyzJqc7QDglfuayCP5/s522/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="522" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6W2bwN4-wirCSFLq6taBsxXnXJctQN8Bl4SGfh4xzkBGPErImn9Z2c2UOgLL6FbrinnIT7BR-skSeoUvQAJN1BtTguzVffgW0Lf3OJHa5jCsVYE157KFbymItt3B_WvgnIvw-0yMS8Z22N9ZbcAKAj_81Cs5JmHQ87B2UI9Y6YiSyzJqc7QDglfuayCP5/w200-h200/cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p>With the most adorable cover, <i>Amazing Omeo</i> tells the story of both one baby koala and of koalas in general as well as a bit about wildlife and conservation with baby foot prints on the inside front cover and grown-up footprints on the inside back cover. </p><p><b>Jelly Beans and Roller Coasters</b></p><p>Did you know when a baby koala is born, he is the size of a jelly bean and is called a joey? He lives in his mom's safe pouch for about six months until he grows.</p><p>Omeo's first few days were truly a roller coaster ride healthwise. As a found orphan, he had to be fed around the clock every few hours and sometimes he wouldn't eat. It would seem as if something was wrong but then he would revive and look strong. </p><p><b>Teaching a Koala How to Be a Koala</b></p><p>Omeo's zookeepers slowly taught Omeo everything - from drinking out of a bottle to eating eucalyptus leaves. And other koalas eventually helped by being good role models. </p><p>Koalas are the only animals who can eat eucalyptus and it is their only food. These Australian marsupials can eat the leaves because they have a certain bacteria in their gut that they get from their moms. Without a mother, Omeo had to depend on the zookeepers to be able to get other koalas to 'donate' some of that bacteria in 'pap' from poop soup for Omeo to grow and prosper. And grow he did: on his second birthday he loved his 'cake.'</p><p><i>Amazing Omeo</i> is balanced with just the right number of words and photos - and colors. Pink is Omeo's color framing many of the pages and pictures. The young reader will also learn amazing fun facts about koalas and also learn how they and their families can help conserve wildlife.</p><p>If you liked <i>Amazing Omeo</i>, you will also like <i>Teaching Tornero: The True Story of a Sloth Superstar</i>! And there are more titles in the series from the San Diego Zoo.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlhtgJyVtGVF1bULbXvz7ZmX194x3llRT-LyYXdkWeUe3hj9Ar_KfkAG24AxGYKrYinxeXiw0nlzKzI1nMc-SLlZM3nQygiqIQ0WbbxibZDTxc8deqC8sXQ2Gx0hbxfa0y3FU1eUZvYuF4PBSBrJJEe-ofqoRjUB8r0KOLADCcPnyVVSYv1914rakhnTY/s522/61lYrWAkUgL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="521" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlhtgJyVtGVF1bULbXvz7ZmX194x3llRT-LyYXdkWeUe3hj9Ar_KfkAG24AxGYKrYinxeXiw0nlzKzI1nMc-SLlZM3nQygiqIQ0WbbxibZDTxc8deqC8sXQ2Gx0hbxfa0y3FU1eUZvYuF4PBSBrJJEe-ofqoRjUB8r0KOLADCcPnyVVSYv1914rakhnTY/w199-h200/61lYrWAkUgL._SY522_.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><p></p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-17530459561785102542024-02-12T03:09:00.000-08:002024-02-12T03:09:00.900-08:00Book Review: All About the Moon Landing (OT)<p><i>All About the Moon Landing</i> by Chris Edwards (Blue River Press, 2023, $7.99PB, 128pp, ages 9-12, grades preschool to grade 3) Review by Skye Anderson. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwn230wUDpAnsMRJgWmIPGK7dT0kbE8frcTW_NsPybaVOwQkfmHYlJTc_CIU3VaOvF9q1m3xfa9OzxgnuMMvrGR0o-t7vNLhwmiFGjFrxBB36-tlMhZy0TFvQBYD8TLAQHJOsGw8XXtjnPwB8RhJcjjdzApNXooFvXeCiAQd9oLDfAChHBHeu_deVnHWI3/s522/cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="364" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwn230wUDpAnsMRJgWmIPGK7dT0kbE8frcTW_NsPybaVOwQkfmHYlJTc_CIU3VaOvF9q1m3xfa9OzxgnuMMvrGR0o-t7vNLhwmiFGjFrxBB36-tlMhZy0TFvQBYD8TLAQHJOsGw8XXtjnPwB8RhJcjjdzApNXooFvXeCiAQd9oLDfAChHBHeu_deVnHWI3/s320/cover.jpeg" width="223" /></a></div><p></p><p>One in a series of unrelated books about history, <i>All About the Moon Landing</i> is recent history (if there is such a thing). The young readers' grandparents will remember some of these space flights beginning in the 60s.</p><p><b>Ask Grandpa! (Or Grandma)</b></p><p>President Kennedy promised to send us to the moon in 1960 - it was a race between us and the Soviet Union, now Russia, and they seemed to be winning. But before the young reader gets into all that, he must first understand the history behind the history and that appears in chapter 1 and World War II. Of course, grandpa and grandma are also good people to ask about events since they lived through them.</p><p><b>About the Book Itself</b></p><p>We love the table of contents (ToC) and the drawings and maps. Also included is a timeline starting in 1939 and a very helpful list of acronyms and glossary. This, however, is a book that must be read in order, chapter by chapter: you really can't just open it anywhere to start or pick an interesting chapter from the ToC unless the reader has a specific person or year or flight to find out about. Then, the index comes in handy.</p><p>If the reader gets bogged down in chapter one, just skip it and come back to it later for the background. </p><p>It's a handy little book, chock full of information, including illustrations (their captions can be hard to read, however since the font is cursive and small).</p><p><b>What's It All About?</b></p><p>You will learn about the first seven US astronauts and the Soviet ones, as well, including the dogs who went into space and, of course, Sputnik. You will learn about the accidents and the near-accidents. And you will be able to place these events in relation to world events happening at the time.</p><p>All in all, a good reference book for the interested student.</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-8965614354681282892024-02-11T15:34:00.000-08:002024-02-11T15:34:54.558-08:00Book Review: Nurse Florence, What is a Heatstroke? (children's bok)(OT)<p><i>Nurse Florence, What is a Heatstroke?</i> by Michael Dow (Dow Creative Enterprises, 2023, 114pp, ages 8-12)(OT) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jMI9USDl6j7-LncT3zV3xUCEZ66FTWljIDs5UZSl7vWw-v2AjfGk-GhBYEl1y4DDyGfyfPxM0uw3WJgDfXJFcsBvE4PjEfxZwghjztyszb3wGvnbjvN_hShj9EQ5KQ3bCsF5zKGXUPL27mc6DBPVlu0krNNmpkuiqEUuqY3ASFs4WWP_dhHl-q59a9Jq/s522/cover.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="328" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jMI9USDl6j7-LncT3zV3xUCEZ66FTWljIDs5UZSl7vWw-v2AjfGk-GhBYEl1y4DDyGfyfPxM0uw3WJgDfXJFcsBvE4PjEfxZwghjztyszb3wGvnbjvN_hShj9EQ5KQ3bCsF5zKGXUPL27mc6DBPVlu0krNNmpkuiqEUuqY3ASFs4WWP_dhHl-q59a9Jq/w126-h200/cover.jpeg" width="126" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Starring Girls!</b></p><p><i>Nurse Florence, What is a Heatstroke? </i>is the latest in the Nurse Florence (named for Florence Nightingale) series of educational health books for kids with an emphasis on minorities. And girls! The three protagonists (main characters) are girls who are all different - two little Black girls and one red-headed, freckled White girl. The nurse herself is probably of Indian descent with a red dot, the bindi, on her forehead.</p><p>The four eat lunch together at school while conversing about heatstroke - what the symptoms are and how to prevent it. </p><p><i>Heatstroke</i> is a real story, with a beginning, a middle and an end that are all so realistic. I'd love to see some of the accompanying coloring books, too.</p><p>With so many titles in the series (and some in French or Spanish, too), with 99 titles to choose from, your child will select many of them to learn about.</p><p><b>However, . . . . </b></p><p>This reviewer would suggest deleting the 'A' in the title and, although some pages have lovely illustrations (the oscillating fan, e.g.), others seem as if created by a child.</p><p>Although somewhat costly, the <i>Florence Nightingale</i>, a hardcover book, will surely last a long time being passed from child to child.</p><p>Other books in this series reviewed include <i>Nurse Florence: How Do We Feel Hot and Cold Things? </i><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmJgxUw9zXrrhOoaXbJHoF0W4FBGxJ_IIv5F9LltO87fu1n1Co8NehKnNTjOJuwGxkRBvoQ-KK3hGNmGnW5T6txuSktKqBGwThPa9T2OpsQ0OIiGoGFj7aFJXLOJC0ZAP0IsJWuBYlQTb_U2T2FZ-yJvPvAsxKMk-dokkW_WEMERw0Fl-W_lWEcPEY5tI/s522/hotcold.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="328" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmJgxUw9zXrrhOoaXbJHoF0W4FBGxJ_IIv5F9LltO87fu1n1Co8NehKnNTjOJuwGxkRBvoQ-KK3hGNmGnW5T6txuSktKqBGwThPa9T2OpsQ0OIiGoGFj7aFJXLOJC0ZAP0IsJWuBYlQTb_U2T2FZ-yJvPvAsxKMk-dokkW_WEMERw0Fl-W_lWEcPEY5tI/w126-h200/hotcold.jpg" width="126" /></a></i></div>and <i>Nurse Florence: What is Bacterial Meningitis?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nA8MOvYc54sVzTQGGA33yRzD6tqlIYYfzitQ-FnABTm4s9b-7300TZhg5xPIQ7zFUWT9YMQrTTAxRLMUMyH7ZrTpF7zo8rpNN7wOnDWwepkfNV3IgrzcVb7S7CwAhl0xvDGkd1KmmIg9hhldWodDyMcttOIy9OMSBHAjzc1qKqc7S-z19A0j1zD7JAA6/s522/meninges.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="328" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nA8MOvYc54sVzTQGGA33yRzD6tqlIYYfzitQ-FnABTm4s9b-7300TZhg5xPIQ7zFUWT9YMQrTTAxRLMUMyH7ZrTpF7zo8rpNN7wOnDWwepkfNV3IgrzcVb7S7CwAhl0xvDGkd1KmmIg9hhldWodDyMcttOIy9OMSBHAjzc1qKqc7S-z19A0j1zD7JAA6/w126-h200/meninges.jpg" width="126" /></a></div></i><p></p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-32419116586671375912024-02-10T16:55:00.000-08:002024-02-10T16:56:20.553-08:00Book Review: Body Talk Animated (kids read body language)(OT)<p><i>Body Talk Animated, The Big Kid's Course in Body Language</i> by James Pyle and Maryann Karinch (Armin Lear Press, 2023, 98pp, $16 PB)(OT) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3eJK9DhEq0k2HFQqM3Io81P2rCIRK77fG2JVitPj0FUz7VD1OzCOKm2CeEGhlndPOQlumFhGZ7mRTJ9M951PEwbM9uArdug-MA3eUIrBRtqyFOkKNK5pZOjujUQdqAY-bwnf5OZvceXz2eQY-uLeQDzBf47uqeADsFDaMllBPCBu6P2FB7T8D9ghdp1p/s522/cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="326" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3eJK9DhEq0k2HFQqM3Io81P2rCIRK77fG2JVitPj0FUz7VD1OzCOKm2CeEGhlndPOQlumFhGZ7mRTJ9M951PEwbM9uArdug-MA3eUIrBRtqyFOkKNK5pZOjujUQdqAY-bwnf5OZvceXz2eQY-uLeQDzBf47uqeADsFDaMllBPCBu6P2FB7T8D9ghdp1p/w125-h200/cover.jpg" width="125" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Start with Emojis!</b></p><p><i>Body Talk Animated</i> is a book for everyone. Just as the subtitle says, it is either a course for big kids, or, with poetic license, a big course for kids. Or, even a big course for big kids! But, definitely a course.</p><p>It starts explaining the FUN fundamentals of reading body language, which stand for Face, Upper body and Naval down: F for how the eyes, mouth, eyebrows, forehead ("wrinkle and crinkle"), etc., move to show what a person is feeling and what you would do if the signals conflict with one another. U is for the 'Upper body' - shoulders, etc., while N for 'Navel down' draws your attention to the legs and feet, among other parts.</p><p>Four types of expressions are then described and even the scientific names for a few of the 600 muscles! (Kids will remember the darndest things!)</p><p>And finally the reader will learn a 4-step process to use with real people, with movies and even with cartoons. With a movie trailer, first watch it for enjoyment, then with the sound off followed by a rerun with the sound on but your eyes closed (can you recognize the characters by their voices only?) and finally with everything intact but scrutinizing for details. </p><p>It's a little book but so chockful of information that you will have to take it slowly and do the exercises (fun homework to practice feelings and snap the expressions with your camera).</p><p>Knowing body language will come in handy in life situations, especially for kids, and, as a bonus, the authors occasionally give warnings. For example, if you receive conflicting signals from a stranger, get out of there, leave, go find an adult.</p><p><b>And Finally. . . . </b></p><p>Pages of animated movies* with what to watch for. For example, could Snow White have been saved from being 'poisoned' if she had been able to read the facial expressions on her stepmother's face?</p><p>*Youtube has 6 minutes of "The Bad Guys" to practice on. . . .</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-5519174967632530172024-02-04T15:31:00.000-08:002024-02-04T15:31:00.542-08:00Book Review: Oh My Mother! (OT) A Memoir in Nine Adventures<p><i>Oh My Mother! A Memoir in Nine Adventures</i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connie_Wang">Connie Wang</a> (Penguin Random House, 2023, $28, 240pp HB) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-iQB3mw-5UEyx2VMPX0LvOymP7XZQ_Uvqaq5Ju_ErOlSZSBg6tSj25EJ5oNUc87ZqoKOT2tuJLzlaPUgE3tsk8lh5PRhXdicREUiB9pF_PbYPUQsE9xUFLEWcSJCmWcDjWcK3w2myOprPkaA3jxyNqgY_uUANFLw_2cRtjoLRSAVz6Vjdp4Ge_hWdRo2/s522/cover.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="346" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-iQB3mw-5UEyx2VMPX0LvOymP7XZQ_Uvqaq5Ju_ErOlSZSBg6tSj25EJ5oNUc87ZqoKOT2tuJLzlaPUgE3tsk8lh5PRhXdicREUiB9pF_PbYPUQsE9xUFLEWcSJCmWcDjWcK3w2myOprPkaA3jxyNqgY_uUANFLw_2cRtjoLRSAVz6Vjdp4Ge_hWdRo2/w133-h200/cover.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Funny (But Maybe Not Meant to Be)</b></p><p>Author Connie Wang, born in the US of parents from mainland China, has written a memoir of growing up that is primarily about her mother, whose English is not flawless but who tries to be as American as possible - sometimes getting things wrong (and funny).</p><p>You will smile as you remember growing up in your own family, fighting with siblings, trying to pull the wool over your parents' eyes and sometimes getting away with it. Wang remembers and writes things about her childhood that you don't, until you read <i>Oh My Mother! </i></p><p><b>And the Title?</b></p><p>We all know the meaning of OMG but did you know the 'translation' of OMG into Chinese is <i>Oh, My Mother!</i>? It loses something in the translation of the title, however. On the other hand, the use of the word, <i>mother</i>, is perfect since Wang writes about her mother on every page, in every chapter, as if the book were about her mother or her relationship with her mother or her mother's idiosyncrasies in trying to adapt to life in the US and raise American children in Alabama and Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities.</p><p>Wang's mother is an accountant but her main passion in life is fashion which she passed on to Wang (Wang's 4-years-younger sister is a psychiatrist) who becomes a fashion editor in New York City.</p><p><b>The Flow</b></p><p>Wang takes us through nine episodes in "life with mother," (probably chronologically), starting with her early childhood and including a trip to China when she was twelve. A couple of the chapters (Las Vegas and Versailles) were less entertaining, especially to male readers I suppose, but even with an emphasis on international fashion and fashion shows during Fashion Week in New York and Paris, etc., most men will be able to skim over those parts and recognize themselves on nearly every page.</p><p>Even the reader who has not traveled abroad will smile at the incidents Wang chooses to include, sort of like writing about a vacation through the eyes of a 7-year-old who remembers Denmark as the place she lost her doll and Scotland as the place she got sick. . . . </p><p><b>Universalities</b></p><p>Even though our protagonists are Chinese Americans, they are a typical family with embarrassing situations and angry outbursts. I love Wang's sentence structure with some pages consisting of only one paragraph. But I would not attempt to read this book out loud, however, for so many sentences go on and on and on - but Wang does this lovingly and with humor*.</p><p>There is much serious food for thought in this book, about family, about immigrants, about DisneyWorld, about belonging. I look forward to more Wang books!</p><p>------------------------</p><p>*typically (?) studious Chinese student's humorous snippet - "I had scored well enough on my tests and papers that it no longer burdened me, which meant l could forget everything I had learned and spend the rest of the holidays decompressing, relaxing, not caring." p.67</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-76780686676130193432024-01-29T18:30:00.000-08:002024-01-31T12:08:55.758-08:00Book Review: The Bastard Brigade (WW2, scientists) Part One (OT)<p><i>The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb</i>, by Sam Kean (Little, Brown and Company, 464pp HB, 2019, $30) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-YD_r4zJskIJPv3tCtlZaGYRziOtNetwhbPq2ur3sEvvYQ5WBftwWjT0PAXsPiGJz19Y8HLM59MgwE2GWhawnzchi551Yzh3Ed38qWeTjNilzvRFX9wdzB9ZAJFbDQVS-PyTMMmPYDJiICalcskU6mhxwIeTlTR2rJlo1xsbjMdD3A2PIcP0OuQtybVy/s522/81VRWoPd0nL._SY522_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="352" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX-YD_r4zJskIJPv3tCtlZaGYRziOtNetwhbPq2ur3sEvvYQ5WBftwWjT0PAXsPiGJz19Y8HLM59MgwE2GWhawnzchi551Yzh3Ed38qWeTjNilzvRFX9wdzB9ZAJFbDQVS-PyTMMmPYDJiICalcskU6mhxwIeTlTR2rJlo1xsbjMdD3A2PIcP0OuQtybVy/s320/81VRWoPd0nL._SY522_.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Can a Physicist Ever Be Funny?</b></p><p>One time I started writing a book review before I had finished reading the book but never just about 10% through the book so I titled this, Part One. I may not be able to finish it for a couple of weeks* but I wanted to sing the praises of <i>The Bastard Brigade, </i>a book I would not pick up myself if I didn't have to but I am so glad I did - for several reasons. </p><p>Would you believe 59 chapters? At first I thought I could skip around but then I read that I couldn't because this book is linear so it would not have made any sense if I had: the first few chapters don't even get to World War 2 but they are fascinating in that I know the names of the scientists but nothing else about them as people, only their formulas or discoveries. </p><p><b>Niels Bohr, Heisenberg, Enrico Fermi, Oppenheimer, General Groves, Wild Bill Donovan, Wernher von Braun, . . . .</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpPErqwA0KOnYPCIBl9SaxKAAQK3qOg-CPt_2w6gmArbvvZ0OXZYnszk80D5yc3U9c3CHIFx1QWltKdZG7HSXTaai0Zp64mLak2Dm2FsD2-EmI5ye_Qs3iJ5jN-3gz-Kj8l5fPlblCaOUNzqm-ElhyphenhyphenSg7pCliR0k6iKVknu125RgnWpI3qeti7Sv8TxDd/s522/Hedy.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="348" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpPErqwA0KOnYPCIBl9SaxKAAQK3qOg-CPt_2w6gmArbvvZ0OXZYnszk80D5yc3U9c3CHIFx1QWltKdZG7HSXTaai0Zp64mLak2Dm2FsD2-EmI5ye_Qs3iJ5jN-3gz-Kj8l5fPlblCaOUNzqm-ElhyphenhyphenSg7pCliR0k6iKVknu125RgnWpI3qeti7Sv8TxDd/w133-h200/Hedy.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>If you found the Hedy Lamarr story (review here**) fascinating, you will love <i>The Bastard Brigade. </i><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If you liked <i>The Monuments Men***,</i> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHwbYhNBbalidaiiHa7sAr7D7vGIgM1WzFB6jxuPtdepNJw1UX9VnA5WZpoJRC_N4yx2QOHbi2vjm1JdOZ0rUUD1qfdOy_4lNAx4N8sLryEkK3Hfw9nsZI2QlADKB_i_EV6echCb4LOFvMbnIKKyPDUOS_dUPePfrR5EuBEhoDdzz8WFG0K-4x1tUN1v8E/s679/monumentsmen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHwbYhNBbalidaiiHa7sAr7D7vGIgM1WzFB6jxuPtdepNJw1UX9VnA5WZpoJRC_N4yx2QOHbi2vjm1JdOZ0rUUD1qfdOy_4lNAx4N8sLryEkK3Hfw9nsZI2QlADKB_i_EV6echCb4LOFvMbnIKKyPDUOS_dUPePfrR5EuBEhoDdzz8WFG0K-4x1tUN1v8E/w148-h200/monumentsmen.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>you will be on the seat of your pants reading <i>The Bastard Brigade </i>(when you are not laughing****). I never knew Heisenberg stayed in Germany and worked for Hitler (actually he worked for Germany - there was a difference).<p></p><p>"Bastard" because the scientists and soldiers were not your ordinary soldiers taking orders from above (reminds me of one of my Army Reserve units). Their mission was to find the Nobel Prize winner scientists, mostly physicists, and kidnap them or help them escape to the States: also to ascertain the locations of the Nazis' stores of uranium plus their notes, in order to find out how far along they were in making a nuclear bomb, which the US was also working on, but with a later start.</p><p>And one of these 'soldiers' was Moe Berg, the professional baseball player who became an attorney and knew several languages proving that this book is full of surprises and humor. All of the scientists are well known to any chemistry or physics major and several are Nobel laureates.</p><p><b>The Story</b></p><p>You know that Joe Kennedy, Jr., was killed flying a plane in Europe in World War 2 and his little brother John (our future president) became a hero in the Pacific Theater commanding a PT-109 but were you aware of the animosity, envy and competitiveness between the brothers? You will be, after reading <i>Brigade</i>. And I had previously heard that that Great Dane, Niels Bohr, reluctant to leave Europe, was spirited over the Pyrenees but now I find that he went to Sweden and England, a version I tend to believe.</p><p>Written to grab and keep your interest, <i>Brigade</i> is told chronologically, so chapters jump around from one person's 'story' to another, then the next part of the book continues on with each soldier or scientist or incident, and so on. And you will discover how many SNAFUs there really are during combat! Sometimes it is a wonder that we won after all.</p><p><b>Clues Hidden in Plain Sight</b></p><p>The long chapters have sections marked with little icons which represent the theme of that chapter. See if you can guess why each icon was used.</p><p><b>Writing Style</b></p><p>Author Sam Kean, who also wrote <i>The Violinist's Thumb</i> (about DNA) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLkScAUbgJQZ94MkU07xkrCpWa5rzt5dyUqg-PT-h2Ba48sleUmnGasyh5p-nnCCqnwTa0KgYrjvHYltaIAw8nvqaGxBhly9eaOlgt2PWtvR51HM1nUGNGuyM_UcAlzP3HgDv2eWYE-P0448-Ql6uocV6ZA9D8__xMlDzD3x-T4UjpcCrHA8v6HemAYtM/s522/violin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="330" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLkScAUbgJQZ94MkU07xkrCpWa5rzt5dyUqg-PT-h2Ba48sleUmnGasyh5p-nnCCqnwTa0KgYrjvHYltaIAw8nvqaGxBhly9eaOlgt2PWtvR51HM1nUGNGuyM_UcAlzP3HgDv2eWYE-P0448-Ql6uocV6ZA9D8__xMlDzD3x-T4UjpcCrHA8v6HemAYtM/w126-h200/violin.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>and <i>The Disappearing Spoon </i>(about the periodic table) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLelsAbdYwBKIRxisJlfU-c1ERh6piDjtRi-i83BV-tQY8_UWjJlAYwnmyOZJXiT7gskKr08if2xXI3VBw2vHcy4VeCEkRI-AkDhh4bo9CbNUMfz1-L92CcAEFJhREot8XDvOf4J_TMo5CL-7Qvnxm9zUeNAyz96mb_1dcKpdEhSotWxAeTrzgUiaricsS/s522/spoon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="337" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLelsAbdYwBKIRxisJlfU-c1ERh6piDjtRi-i83BV-tQY8_UWjJlAYwnmyOZJXiT7gskKr08if2xXI3VBw2vHcy4VeCEkRI-AkDhh4bo9CbNUMfz1-L92CcAEFJhREot8XDvOf4J_TMo5CL-7Qvnxm9zUeNAyz96mb_1dcKpdEhSotWxAeTrzgUiaricsS/w129-h200/spoon.jpg" width="129" /></a></div><br />majored in physics and finally writes about it. The non-science reader, however, can skip those paragraphs about heavy water and thorium and uranium-235 and -238 and fission and dirty bombs and neutrons and V-2 rockets, e.g., and still fall in love with this well-written and exciting book.<p></p><p>Though long, <i>The Bastard Brigade</i> reads like fiction. You will not be able to put it down!</p><p>*Correction: There is no Part Two. I ended up reading <i>Bastard</i> quickly!</p><p>**read the review <a href="https://dogevals.blogspot.com/2019/03/rook-review-only-woman-in-room-ot-hedy.html">here</a></p><p>***watch <a href="https://www.netflix.com/watch/70283196?trackId=255824129&tctx=0%2C0%2C715f8331-719d-4bda-974e-e19463345a0c-358327626%2C715f8331-719d-4bda-974e-e19463345a0c-358327626%7C2%2Cunknown%2C%2C%2CtitlesResults%2C70283196%2CVideo%3A70283196%2CminiDpPlayButton">The Monuments Men</a> on Netflix</p><p>****"Moving on to his [German physicist, son of a Nazi diplomat] office, they found the door locked so several stout fellows lowered their shoulders and slammed into it. It didn't budge, so they started kicking. When that failed, they grabbed an axe. Only after smashing through the wood did they realize the door opened outward and hadn't been locked at all." (p. 360)</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-78629148037415224442024-01-10T16:00:00.000-08:002024-01-10T16:00:25.679-08:00Book Review: The Best Possible Experience (stories)<p><i>The Best Possible Experience</i>: Stories, by Nishanth Injam (Pantheon Books, 2023, $25, 224 pages) Review by Skye Anderson.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYntKBNT2kM066HVxjgdL4NF1ZOgBx34ZML6sddeDR4EIM1gk_9hZ1dhyTAuh06iQi83ROVJhTnsB58pDz_m-ZGVQfuD4eU3cY28DIVwBrEd3Z-EDvDlRHcrfIxXFVUso6feC2Gl2fbLyHCSZ4Yh8l9MdhPUe0Vpa3aMZujDHyFaSy8haaVuFmxpm7Nk3-/s522/918jQMgZbeL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="356" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYntKBNT2kM066HVxjgdL4NF1ZOgBx34ZML6sddeDR4EIM1gk_9hZ1dhyTAuh06iQi83ROVJhTnsB58pDz_m-ZGVQfuD4eU3cY28DIVwBrEd3Z-EDvDlRHcrfIxXFVUso6feC2Gl2fbLyHCSZ4Yh8l9MdhPUe0Vpa3aMZujDHyFaSy8haaVuFmxpm7Nk3-/w136-h200/918jQMgZbeL._SY522_.jpg" width="136" /></a></div><p></p><p>Eleven stories speak to the universality of human nature, set in India and the United States. . . but with a few word changes, could also portray Italians or Irish or Jewish or. . . .</p><p>An excellent book club selection, even for only a few of the short stories, <i>Best Possible Experience</i> will captivate the readers and start many a discussion. Some readers will fill in the blanks and 'finish' the stories that seem to end rather abruptly - without an ending (cliff hangers). Other readers will reminisce about their exchange student experiences. Some will reflect back on graduate school and discussions will ensue about families and laws and immigrants.</p><p><i>Best</i> is well-written though it is obvious the author is not a native-born and raised American. And readers will have fun guessing at some vocabulary: is that the word for a fruit or mother or cart? </p><p><b>Families</b></p><p>Leo Tolsty's Anna Karenina said, "Happy families are all alike: every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." A comparison of some of the families in <i>Best</i> reveals nuclear families (mother, father, siblings) whose composition differs around the world. We have a grandfather in India raising his granddaughter who returns every summer from her tech job in the US to find more changes in her small village, we have a family newly settled in the US whose son invites a school buddy home for lunch but the family doesn't know what to cook for this very American kid and they want to make a good impression so the mother cooks a practice meal. </p><p>And through it all is a certain foreshadowing of sadness and the belief abroad that America is the land of milk and honey for everyone, which doesn't materialize but the transplant doesn't want to disappoint his family back home with reality. And the marriage to a US citizen in exchange for money, in order to qualify for a green card but first the couple has to answer questions about each other, proving they really know the other. (This situation is also the basis for the movie, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Proposal_(2009_film)">The Proposal,</a> among others.)</p><p><b>And the Title is. . . . </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE5JwZ0qiB29dubKEFvTKLs9ya0hsYcq3589tfpwOxgSeDyd6yVCGoKTaZfHEfZne0S-wk7_rWrKTuKPJ-Bn_OnXyL2HhBtV4yhY-w5BJukl4n3r4DOLPnQ3sJ19iDwocXxPgXrqQjh0DccKu1XgrqKesSQfhqhUPCpNM2LgR0GAGYrXlWa6agl2NPqKc/s522/918jQMgZbeL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="356" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGE5JwZ0qiB29dubKEFvTKLs9ya0hsYcq3589tfpwOxgSeDyd6yVCGoKTaZfHEfZne0S-wk7_rWrKTuKPJ-Bn_OnXyL2HhBtV4yhY-w5BJukl4n3r4DOLPnQ3sJ19iDwocXxPgXrqQjh0DccKu1XgrqKesSQfhqhUPCpNM2LgR0GAGYrXlWa6agl2NPqKc/w136-h200/918jQMgZbeL._SY522_.jpg" width="136" /></a></b></div><p></p><p>For those readers who focus on the title of books (and read parts like the Acknowledgements) and attempt to find out why a book received that specific title, <i>Best</i> will prove to be easy - it is the book title and also the title of the final story!</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-52663128623309957822024-01-06T17:29:00.000-08:002024-01-06T17:29:05.563-08:00Book Review: A Fever in the Heartland (The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them)<p><i>A Fever in the Heartland* (The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them), </i>by Timothy Egan (Viking - Penguin Randomhouse, 2023, 432 pp, $30) <i>New York Times</i> bestseller. Pulitzer and National Award-winning author. Review by Skye Anderson.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAXSfNxlCwph34gjY_UdbOgwwUpzvRBabATMjY8mFyulCB5hWuF9_phyOP-xZhGOXnegS6pNUnmY5bLzsrC47PncMS7aksDjNdyzlL2gC8nCWgsIFyRYfpLs9tU4lf_g0bw2d66U3DiKUYKbfwrDWoPio7XD0FX7g7CAo2MJaHx0RWONHMePO8Z2VeF9u7/s522/91V+sdbaPBL._SY522_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="346" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAXSfNxlCwph34gjY_UdbOgwwUpzvRBabATMjY8mFyulCB5hWuF9_phyOP-xZhGOXnegS6pNUnmY5bLzsrC47PncMS7aksDjNdyzlL2gC8nCWgsIFyRYfpLs9tU4lf_g0bw2d66U3DiKUYKbfwrDWoPio7XD0FX7g7CAo2MJaHx0RWONHMePO8Z2VeF9u7/w133-h200/91V+sdbaPBL._SY522_.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>The Rise and Fall of the Ku Klux Klan</b></p><p>The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) rose and fell in just four years during the 20s, due to one very charismatic character: D. C. Stephenson in Indiana, reminiscent of Harold Hill in "The Music Man," though the Meredith Wilson musical took place in Iowa, not Indiana. Both star an itinerant con artist who simply appears out of nowhere. Harold Hill eventually disappears while D.C. Stephenson (KKK) becomes incarcerated.</p><p>Why was this decade of the 1920s so ripe for a movement to spread widely and rapidly, a movement of hatred and hypocrisy, graft, and 'crime'? Why did it blossom in Indiana? </p><p>That charismatic Indiana leader, Stephenson (Steve), turned out to be brilliant financially in the beginning and at one point ruled a mob of 400,000 in Indiana, the most Northern home of the KKK. Did all that power and money go to his head or did he end up in town after having skirted ethics elsewhere or was he always a psychopath? Most KKK members never saw the real Steve, but those who did were in it so deep that they ignored the rapes and kidnappings (perhaps much like our current political situation?) After all, this was during Prohibition.</p><p>We think of the KKK as being active in the South, not the North, and being directed against Blacks even though their acts of hatred were also directed towards Jews, Catholics, Chinese, Japanese, Italians, etc. </p><p><b>Style</b></p><p>The first approximately150 pages could so easily be condensed into about 30 pages and more effectively so. This section details the history of the rise of the KKK in various towns and states (and the women's section and the Ku Klux Kiddies) and reads like a report. Much of it could be omitted.</p><p><b>Did You Know. . . ?</b></p><p>Famous people are mentioned by author Timothy Egan as being members of or sympathetic towards this mostly secretive organization with white sheeted uniforms and pointy hats: Henry Ford, Presidents Wilson and Coolidge. Others were affected by being 'on the other side' - Louis Armstrong, Malcolm X, Kurt Vonnegut.</p><p>Reading <i>Fever</i> may depress and disappoint you but in the end you will see the masses springing back to become wholesome welcoming ethical people once more. Thank goodness!</p><p>-----------------------</p><p>*Also a <i>Washington Post</i> Notable Work of Nonfiction, an NPR Best Book of the Year, a <i>Kirkus Review</i> Best Book of the Year, a <i>Chicago Review of Books</i> Best Book of the Year, a New York Public Library Best Book of the Year, and a Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-58323366677833274252024-01-03T05:51:00.000-08:002024-01-03T05:51:14.357-08:00Book Review: The House of Doors (a novel based on real events, Somerset Maugham's The Letter)<p><i>The House of Doors,</i> by Tan Twan Eng* (Bloomsbury, 2023, 320 pp, $20) International bestseller, longlisted for the Booker Prize. Reviewed by Skye Anderson.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZ2RxwqqrGLU4TVZEmRJjoBh8-JYW3ImbxeH-EplXlIdsHGDxZ0WRWdGoOtUY-5g1xX7adW7Lyl-qRLYJOMLKqE27k6A6jf-AeTvMC3_Og_vp_5hMpBy6pMJ-j8Rrk2LHVQ2ZU4TbYa4OghDbZ1-iIpVOmHJ6iJU_KM2EOUlCBpBtSKu6fAIHTdtrF-IE/s522/Cover.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="343" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZ2RxwqqrGLU4TVZEmRJjoBh8-JYW3ImbxeH-EplXlIdsHGDxZ0WRWdGoOtUY-5g1xX7adW7Lyl-qRLYJOMLKqE27k6A6jf-AeTvMC3_Og_vp_5hMpBy6pMJ-j8Rrk2LHVQ2ZU4TbYa4OghDbZ1-iIpVOmHJ6iJU_KM2EOUlCBpBtSKu6fAIHTdtrF-IE/w131-h200/Cover.jpeg" width="131" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Unforgettable</b></p><p><i>The Letter,</i> by that extremely prolific author**, playwright***, editor**** and short story writer*****, Somerset Maugham is unforgettable. But this is not <i>The Letter</i>.</p><p><b>Intriguing</b></p><p>This is <i>The House of Doors</i>, by Tan Twan Eng. Set in Penang, Malaysia (Malaya, at the time of most of this book), the story by author Tan Twan Eng relates a 2-week visit in 1921 by an author, Willie, to old friends Robert and Lesley in 'the colonies.' But is it truth or fiction as it takes us from 1910 to 1921 (and back) and on to contemporary times?</p><p>When you realize that Willie is actually William Somerset Maugham, you will want to read more about him. You will find he wrote <i>The Letter,</i> <i>Of Human Bondage</i>, <i>The Casuarina Tree, The Razor's Edge, A Marriage of Convenience, . . . .</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooby36yO3ImZsyBcpmujIovlC6yxd2cydMSFIZfCCRUaiR59-3d0YYnkcZz5MpBHHiwohkrVVQSlOrbzJoNT8JfCfXH9R6vTb_wujGuYjA95gPfRGnsog3e2lP3vRM5y89OviSk9z7_uemRQNkAMoXL1-oLyZykdt3SfxL2U06EUuGqaoxAq8Pl8E1vuK/s522/OfHumanBondage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="366" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooby36yO3ImZsyBcpmujIovlC6yxd2cydMSFIZfCCRUaiR59-3d0YYnkcZz5MpBHHiwohkrVVQSlOrbzJoNT8JfCfXH9R6vTb_wujGuYjA95gPfRGnsog3e2lP3vRM5y89OviSk9z7_uemRQNkAMoXL1-oLyZykdt3SfxL2U06EUuGqaoxAq8Pl8E1vuK/w140-h200/OfHumanBondage.jpg" width="140" /></a></i></div><p></p><p><b>The Backstory</b></p><p>With more-than-cameo appearances by Dr. Sun Yat Sen and his deportation from Malaya (and abduction in London), and with mentions of Oscar Wilde (<i>The Picture of Dorian Gray </i>and<i> The Importance of Being Earnest), The House of Doors </i>takes us on the historical tale of the story of <i>The Letter</i>. Author Somerset Maugham (Willie) plays a minor role in the book but at least the title becomes clear, though I would have named the book something else.</p><p>Chapters are told from the viewpoint of Willie and of Lesley and alternate between 1910, when the murder/rape/whatever takes place, and 1921 when Lesley tells Willie about it. Williie has a habit of writing fiction based on real life and is, fortunately, extremely prolific - fortunate since he lost his lifesavings in an investment deal early in the book.</p><p>Which version - the original in 1920 or the related retelling of 1921 (both as appear in <i>The House of Doors</i> or even the version in <i>The Letter)</i> do you like best? As for me, I prefer <i>The Letter</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAE8bRVeLD15JKjTHKcQFqIAw-PMTNIvBcD-vMBqnAKnbqE353979on1aZtm6n3Te5HwnYHNEPHHWcgAOFkbgJCpGROwAgtyGpGk7Q2znYKEO7WbmSH34rguB5q0OG7cbylMrTDAu4Xrw8OGSP9Lser6C100rIgiskbLaqkbWOONl7VuQ7l3hPrYcYd77F/s522/Letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="339" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAE8bRVeLD15JKjTHKcQFqIAw-PMTNIvBcD-vMBqnAKnbqE353979on1aZtm6n3Te5HwnYHNEPHHWcgAOFkbgJCpGROwAgtyGpGk7Q2znYKEO7WbmSH34rguB5q0OG7cbylMrTDAu4Xrw8OGSP9Lser6C100rIgiskbLaqkbWOONl7VuQ7l3hPrYcYd77F/w130-h200/Letter.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>*Booker Prize shortlist author. Best Book of the Year - NPR, <i>The New Yorker,</i> Slate, <i>The Financial Times. </i>Notable Book <i>(The Washington Post). </i>Editors' Choice <i>(New York Times).</i></p><p><i>**</i>16 books and 20 novels</p><p>***25 plays plus 11 unpublished plays</p><p>****19 books</p><p>*****189 articles and 16 collections</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-81580589438534680392023-12-30T16:33:00.000-08:002023-12-30T16:33:49.002-08:00Book Review: The Red Hotel: Moscow, 1941. The Metropol Hotel and the Untold Story of Stalin's Propaganda War<p><i>The Red Hotel: Moscow, 1941. The Metropol Hotel and the Untold Story of Stalin's Propaganda (Disinformation) War</i>, by Alan Philps (First Pegasus Books, 2023, 451 pp, $29.95), a Washington Post 50 Best Books of 2023. Review by Skye Anderson</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibrLEaRODZ3A2f9T348FS2oI0T7TBJde-P38k_gyss9tYVMdzb7LwVGzTtJRxVWPC83ZUGJlNpJbWZhqj-_RsJirLzq2lIvjSoMekMd3lOyjY7jgKEQWwqggXeyGNINUk23cvGVU2EK58UJG5fA-kHWT_NWdXrbvGOuQp2hn2YLx5xioEwL4FQ8RqKN8Cq/s522/RedHotelCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="344" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibrLEaRODZ3A2f9T348FS2oI0T7TBJde-P38k_gyss9tYVMdzb7LwVGzTtJRxVWPC83ZUGJlNpJbWZhqj-_RsJirLzq2lIvjSoMekMd3lOyjY7jgKEQWwqggXeyGNINUk23cvGVU2EK58UJG5fA-kHWT_NWdXrbvGOuQp2hn2YLx5xioEwL4FQ8RqKN8Cq/w132-h200/RedHotelCover.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Mistitled?</b></p><p>If you read and loved Amor Towles' <i>A Gentleman in Moscow</i> (I tried but couldn't finish it), you will love <i>The Red Hotel</i>. The first is a novel and the second is a long piece of non-fiction (451 pages) but both are centered around the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Metropol_Moscow">Metropol</a> hotel in Moscow (365 rooms). The red cover with yellow-gold letters is mirrored when you take off the cover and find the book is red with yellow-gold front and back inside pages. Red is the color of communism, after all.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFSCI7M6QsAH8JNgJrWlRFE5PKFsY0HRj3X2W-H3okIDGJ0heXCpvWEMleUyh48c4GKr85F2IVV5LNiGTk69zZWmh9SWF3re0QFtURfrTIGXPeq26jPyoiqcwObwyQU-YHW9FanJb_YOx5gjTNkICwkXgNnNSrRGcXGwRtiQ3ku9qWyfbsQ1WKbjbCCRF4/s522/GentlemanInMoscow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="340" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFSCI7M6QsAH8JNgJrWlRFE5PKFsY0HRj3X2W-H3okIDGJ0heXCpvWEMleUyh48c4GKr85F2IVV5LNiGTk69zZWmh9SWF3re0QFtURfrTIGXPeq26jPyoiqcwObwyQU-YHW9FanJb_YOx5gjTNkICwkXgNnNSrRGcXGwRtiQ3ku9qWyfbsQ1WKbjbCCRF4/w130-h200/GentlemanInMoscow.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><br />However, like Russian novels with too many characters and too many pages for the uninitiated, <i>The Red Hotel</i> covers too much that is not relevant to the hotel (and thus the title) so the book title is a bit misleading but fortunately the subtitle says it all. It could have so easily been a trilogy or just edited down to incidents at the Metropol (less background of the characters) and those residing and working there during WW2.<p></p><p>If you thought the "Dog and Pony Show," The Five O'Clock Follies during the Vietnam Conflict, was a farce, you haven't read <i>The Red Hotel</i>. Most foreign correspondents and reporters lived in the Metropol with nightly banquets and caviar inside for the foreign journalists, freezing and starving outside for the Russian citizens. . . .</p><p><b>Disenchantment</b></p><p>Few of the reporters were fluent in Russian, so the government supplied them with translators who would read the daily papers to their assigned person (and, since these young women were transcripted into service, they also reported back on their reporters' questions and conversations. Some of them even moved in. Both people were issued ration cards that permitted them to shop for delicacies like sugar that the populace could not obtain. The young translators were idealistic communists but many of them soon lost their enthusiasm for their government's doings and changed sides in their minds. It was so hard for both parties to live 'the life of Riley' in the midst of poverty.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAyEt7mtcCFk7JqVhdXZ0ZgxfImeOrxDQhR6cGw0xGWLebeGsexHj-xjQak-Q_5IzQsio_CAxmjbHbpWDjPRJ1iydcFCEV0vzWZJBQP-5EHMgGBIRHkDkJvGWzHKe07IoKTMLAJk_1FeiwqqYOtofjJrdeGPpt38P-_M9u3ZaJD0waAqDWco568re2EUG/s522/RedHotelCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="344" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeAyEt7mtcCFk7JqVhdXZ0ZgxfImeOrxDQhR6cGw0xGWLebeGsexHj-xjQak-Q_5IzQsio_CAxmjbHbpWDjPRJ1iydcFCEV0vzWZJBQP-5EHMgGBIRHkDkJvGWzHKe07IoKTMLAJk_1FeiwqqYOtofjJrdeGPpt38P-_M9u3ZaJD0waAqDWco568re2EUG/w132-h200/RedHotelCover.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><p></p><p>Nightly parties alternated among the reporters' rooms but were always liquid (read: vodka). And the biggest complaint was the fact that the bored reporters were not permitted on the battlefield so they not only had to depend on government 'news' in the official Russian papers, but their stories were sent to the censors before they were permitted to be sent to their home countries' papers. Consequently, little news came out of Russia.</p><p>In many of the 29 chapters, we follow the lives of perhaps half a dozen Russians and foreign reporters, with the most interesting chapters being about the women. And the reader will learn that the wife of JBS Haldane, that brilliant geneticist, was one of the very few foreign female journalists!</p><p>At the end of the book author Alan Philps brings us up to date on the major players and what happened to them during the 50s and even to this day. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRvh43j3KAJbGKyTrcRMMFn4PvpMb4Y6mb-DAACFgANZqQBpGSzEsXoSojMNzV2mZiJf_9qdIGhilZ7hQVs5VkuMP935gSFHL2TwQ3INJcIDGnOSOi5pDlKLYNdMhkZYEHMZMwdGSWd49XC3o45MKIPnUUiWB20T9GQeQ4Gcu6UK9v2NRUYbXXhAuj05o/s580/author.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="580" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRvh43j3KAJbGKyTrcRMMFn4PvpMb4Y6mb-DAACFgANZqQBpGSzEsXoSojMNzV2mZiJf_9qdIGhilZ7hQVs5VkuMP935gSFHL2TwQ3INJcIDGnOSOi5pDlKLYNdMhkZYEHMZMwdGSWd49XC3o45MKIPnUUiWB20T9GQeQ4Gcu6UK9v2NRUYbXXhAuj05o/w146-h146/author.jpeg" width="146" /></a></div>And, as the pages are turned, the reader's interest is piqued by accounts of spying and the gulags.<p></p><p>It would help to have a pretty good knowledge of Russia and the Soviet Union for you will run into Averell Harriman, Shostakovich the composer, Edgar Snow, Margaret Bourke-White, Molotov, . . . .</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-81348604502458929512023-12-28T16:40:00.000-08:002023-12-30T16:42:43.302-08:00Book Review: Banyan Moon (three generations of strong women)<p><i>Banyan Moon</i>, by Thao Thai (Mariner Books, 2023, 336 pp, $30), a "Read* with Jenna" selection. Reviewed by Skye Anderson. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtlISWfLWITzuCWgXHC3ttQMO3v-yoQVWECTY9WnyagQXjWl2xuHHAMe81m4dgSDdxQH3YCO5ZEJ2y-sWGNzqbajqzsY54jy42NdKOtYyp0DUuj3xzhbNdJa6iKR0pRf1A6ZMAaRRonIznKU50Ue4Lwpb90vV1FrgRAFGILiMxBspK2H4alejLVGseyMG/s522/Banyan._SY522_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="346" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtlISWfLWITzuCWgXHC3ttQMO3v-yoQVWECTY9WnyagQXjWl2xuHHAMe81m4dgSDdxQH3YCO5ZEJ2y-sWGNzqbajqzsY54jy42NdKOtYyp0DUuj3xzhbNdJa6iKR0pRf1A6ZMAaRRonIznKU50Ue4Lwpb90vV1FrgRAFGILiMxBspK2H4alejLVGseyMG/w133-h200/Banyan._SY522_.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>A Book Club Read</b></p><p><i>Banyan Moon </i>is a lovely, lyrical sweet book (yet leaving the reader a bit apprehensive in parts) about three generations of strong women living in Vietnam, Florida, and Michigan, with lives intertwining and repeating, with the youngest being so very brave and the eldest even braver. They attack each other with word weapons and still live together in a big old decrepit house in the country with a huge old banyan tree in the front yard. Both the house and the tree seeming to be major characters. . . .</p><p>Our <i>Banyan</i> women survive so much; deaths and relocations and betrayal and inheritance and abuse and objects saved and especially the secrets women withhold from each other but slowly either reveal or destroy as they learn to accept each other a little bit more. We live the three generations along with Ann and Huong and Minh yet also glimpse the grandmother's mother and the granddaughter's child-to-be.</p><p>The reader will be surprised by several events but then realize that all the loose ends become tied up nicely with a bow in a lovely package for the reader, that there is only one way the various events can turn out and not in the way the reader may expect.</p><p><b>Mothers and Daughters (reminiscent of Turgenev's <i>Fathers and Sons</i>): Universal</b></p><p>Does a mother ever cease being a mother to her daughter even when she grows up? Can a daughter become mother to her mother? Does understanding and acceptace skip a generation sometimes with grandmother and granddaughter closer to each other than to the one in the middle and vice versa? They may love one another but do they really like one another?</p><p>The reader will relive her own childhood and the relationship she has (or had) with her own mother (and daughter). The complexity of the relationships in <i>Banyan</i> are focused on the complexity of the stories with the grandmother narrating from her grave, with chapters alternating among the three narrators, with skipping from place to place and time to time. And yet, the reader does not easily become lost in the stories. </p><p>You will see yourself in one of the women at times. You will see your mother in one of them but not the same one all the way through the book. Men will also see their mothers and their wives and their daughters. If you don't see your family, you will see the family you dream of. I would not be surprised if, after reading <i>Banyan</i>, some relationships are mended.</p><p><b>Writing Style</b></p><p>Author Thao Thai could have written this saga of a family over time and geography, wholely set in America or, instead of using the Vietnamese experience, used the Italian experience or the Irish, or the Scandinavian, or the Jewish or - pick any US city and you would love that story just as much as this one.</p><p>Her choice of words to describe everyday things is unique and memorable.</p><p>Readers will argue about the characters and the choices they made. Readers will disagree about the paths a character takes but will realize the inevitability of it all. And what about the minor characters, the men? And the significance of the house itself? Where is the study guide for <i>Banyan</i>, the reader's guide for book club discussions?</p><p>What would I change? I would add a small glossary to explain some of the Vietnamese pronouns that represent a person's status such as little one, or older "sister," or em, chi, anh, ba, con, co, ong (I don't have access to tone marks or diacritical marks in this font). These pronouns reflect the age, gender, closeness to the speaker or place in the family.</p><p>And I wonder about the meaning, if any, behind the choice of Huong's brother's name: Phuoc. . . .</p><p>*Jenna Bush Hager</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093921216920217422.post-46661671156095408222023-12-21T14:28:00.000-08:002023-12-21T14:35:47.812-08:00Book Review: Biscuit's Christmas Storybook Favorites (collection of nine)<p><i>Biscuit's Christmas Storybook Favorite</i>s, by Alyssa Capucilli (Harper, $13.99 HB, 2000 [books from 1997 onward], ages 2-6, preschool - grade 3, 192 pp) Review by Skye Anderson</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9bddbn4cPBTHMymFognHqb1I4Du4Uf5UCeEq16EDK1JBfHBYGa2PQ1jQXLmUiFrRiQoLRi9AlotVxfnfTGG9jcgjZKligpASY45-0OV2qt1gfX3QKSFybLNJGWld9d-pLoshKcpVYiz2F-xAixoOfyM_hNEwkeooye_ft-QQDwFJ8-bTQazK2OBmLStr/s522/817MPfe9eKL._SY522_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="522" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9bddbn4cPBTHMymFognHqb1I4Du4Uf5UCeEq16EDK1JBfHBYGa2PQ1jQXLmUiFrRiQoLRi9AlotVxfnfTGG9jcgjZKligpASY45-0OV2qt1gfX3QKSFybLNJGWld9d-pLoshKcpVYiz2F-xAixoOfyM_hNEwkeooye_ft-QQDwFJ8-bTQazK2OBmLStr/w200-h200/817MPfe9eKL._SY522_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><p>Everyone's favorite puppy, Biscuit, stars in a collection of nine (well, at least five) Christmas books, hard cover (built to last), all in one. <i>Biscuit's Christmas Storybook Favorites</i> is sure to become a well-worn favorite of you and yours.</p><p>Biscuit is a well-loved golden puppy belonging to a little girl (whose name we never find out). Biscuit only woofs but, nevertheless, the illustrations by Pat Schories depict exactly what is going on and the words are written to be read easily by little ones. We know when Biscuit is afraid, when he has done something wrong, when his tail wags in excitement at seeing Grandma and Grandpa</p><p>We all know Biscuit and have loved that little pup for three decades. </p><p>Biscuit's body language is expertly depicted in all its different forms, from "Let's Play!" to getting into trouble as all puppies do. Biscuit's human, the little girl, takes care of him and teaches him all about Christmas in such a loving manner. She also forgives all his little puppy shenanigans like pulling down the tablecloth, falling into the pond and shaking off too close to his little girl, tugging on mittens, snatching a gingerbread cookie or two meant for Santa.</p><p>Mom and Dad will remember how much they loved Biscuit and his antics as they read to their little ones about families and helping others.</p><p>We all want our own little Biscuit!</p>skyehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09642676808656102047noreply@blogger.com0