Educating Risa

Full Disclosure: The book links below are through the Amazon Affiliates Program. The first link (Canada) is to amazon.ca, the second (US) to amazon.com.  If you buy a book through a link, I get more books from Amazon to sate our bibliophilic tendencies. For more book recommendations, see the “Books We Love” tab at the top of my blog.

Here’s the best of what we read recently:

The Trumpet of the Swan (Canada) (US) is E.B. White’s least-known novel for children, behind his immensely popular Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, but is one of my all-time childhood favourites. It tells the story of Louis, a remarkable trumpeter swan born without a voice, and his ability to overcome his difficulties with the help of his father, a trumpet, his human friend Sam, and his own hard work and ingenuity. A heart-warming story, with complex moral issues (should Louis’ father help Louis, even if it means stealing a trumpet to do so?) addressed in a way that is never condescending to the reader. One caveat: there are some aspects to the book that may strike the modern reader as politically-incorrect, or outright offensive: a camp for boys only, Louis being referred to as “defective” or “deficient” with respect to his voice, and a brief mention of camp counsellors smoking. Here, we used these as launching points for discussion. My Teacher Likes To Say  (Canada) (US) is a playful book about idioms and common expressions, like “Do you have ants in your pants?” or “These walls have ears.” Each page features one idiom, with a literal picture of the idiom (ants running out the bottom of a boy’s pants, a girl with a large Q-Tip (cotton swab) cleaning giant ears on the wall), an explanation of what the idiom means, as well as other trivia about the idiom. The pictures made Gareth (age 5) laugh; Daegan (age 7) was curious to know the meaning of these expressions. And I was fascinated by the trivia: when was this expression first used and by whom, are there similar sayings in other languages, etc. This trivia led us to many other interesting conversations: what a gadfly is (“Is there a gadfly in your breeches?” was the 17th century version of “ants in your pants”), what an ‘early bird special’ is (from “the early bird gets the worm”), the Magna Carta, Shakespeare, Chaucer, WWII, etc. One of a series. Snow Party (Canada) (US) is a cute book about snow people (snowmen, snowwomen, snowchildren and snowbabies) having a party to celebrate the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Wonderful illustrations of the dinner, the dancing, the musicians, the kids playing hockey, etc. A good choice for younger kids as part of a solstice celebration.

Bird Talk (Canada) (US) is a quirky book that you’ll either love or think is rather odd. For our family, avid birders, it was superb. Each page features a variety of birds “talking”, using expressions bird watchers memorize to help identify birds by their calls (“birding by ear”). So we have the “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” call of the Barred Owl, the “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” of the black-capped chickadee, the ”maids, maids, maids, put on your teakettle-ettle-ettle-ettle” of the song sparrow, and the “poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody” of the white-throated sparrow (or, as the phrase is known around here, “Oh, sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada”). The calls are grouped by theme (e.g. the barred owl’s call appears on a page with other calls relating to food and cooking, with a pic of a family BBQ), adding another layer of humour. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but a sure hit with certain families, including ours.  A Father Like That (Canada) (US) is a sweet story about a boy telling his (single) mother all kinds of details as to the sort of father he would like to have. The pictures show what is inside the boy’s mind: the wonderful things he and his father would do, the utter joy his father would have in being a parent. The book ends with the mother telling the boy that even if he never gets a father like that, he can one day BE that father to his own kids. I was misty-eyed by the end. We’re Sailing to the Galapagos (Canada) (US) is a book we read to celebrate Charles Darwin’s 201st birthday. It features lots of the unusual animals of the Galapagos (the marine iguana, giant tortoises, frigate birds, etc.), one for each day of the week as they sail along, with simple rhyming text. There is additional information about the animals, the Galapagos Islands, and Charles Darwin at the back of the book. 

How Many Ways can you Catch a Fly? (Canada) (US) was one of the non-fiction hits of the week. The book groups animal facts in a unique way: by answering questions like the title. For example, one section asks the question, “How many ways can you use a leaf?” Answers: as a nest pouch (a tailorbird uses silk from a spider’s web to weave a leaf closed), as an umbrella (orangutans use large leaves during rainstorms to help stay dry), as a farm (leaf cutter ants grow fungus—their food—on bits of leaf they’ve carried to underground chambers), as an insect repellent (capuchin monkeys rub themselves with certain leaves), and more. Clear illustrations accompany the text. First The Egg  (Canada)(US) is a superb, very simple book—an uncommon combination. It features cut outs on each right-hand page that cleverly become an intergral part of a new picture (left-hand) when you turn the page, and all the pictures relate to one another. So we have “First, the egg” (egg-shaped cut out, white background)—turn the page—“Then, the chicken” (egg-shaped cut out becomes chick’s body, right-hand page shows a white, adult chicken.). And so on with other pages (e.g., tadpole, froglet, frog; seed, seedling, flower). The pages beginning paint, palette, picture (of a chicken!)…end up bringing the book to a humourous conclusion. Gareth LOVED this book and was very proud that he could "read” it to himself. A Caldecott Honor Book. Pirates Don’t Change Diapers (Canada) (US) was one of the funniest books of the week, and had my boys laughing so hard at points they were on the verge of tears. It’s the story of young Jeremy Jacob, left in charge of his sleeping baby sister while Mom runs an errand. Jeremy is visited by the band of pirates he had joined in How I Became a Pirate, as they needed to dig up the treasure that they previously buried in his backyard. Chaos ensues when all the pirates’ yelling about treasure wakes the baby, and the pirates are forced into a most unnatural role: babysitters. The pictures are outstanding—you don’t soon forget the image of a diaper caught on a pirate hook hand, or fierce pirates covered in strained spinach!

Punia and the King of Sharks (Canada) (US) is a Hawaiian folktale about a boy who manages to outwit the King of the Sharks to get to the tasty lobsters the he is guarding with his 10 other shark helpers. Has elements in common with other folktales, but the unfamiliar setting led to some surprising ways the boy succeeded. Incorporates several Hawaiian words into the story as well. The Story of Snow (Canada) (US)was a fascinating look at snow: how it forms around a speck of dirt, different types of snowflakes (stars, plates, columns), various imperfections snowflakes often have and how they are formed (e.g., 12-sided snowflakes, snowflakes with bumps or one “arm” longer than the others, etc.). Excellent photos, and a lovely message about similarity and diversity for snowflakes, flowers, and people at the end. The Squeaky Door (Canada) (US) was another book that had us laughing heartily. It’s based on a Puerto Rican folktale, about a grandmother who puts her grandson to bed, asking if he’ll be scared to sleep all alone in the big brass bed. “NO. Not ME!” is the reply. Grandma gives him a kiss, turns out the light, closes the door—squeeeeak!—and the squeak scares the boy, who (turn the page) cries: “Waaaaa!” So grandma comes back, and asks if the boy would like to sleep with the cat (“Yes! Yes! Yes!”), so she gets the cat (from his basket), tucks in the cat, asks about being scared (NO! Not ME!”), turns out the light, closes the door—squeeeeak!—(turn the page): “Waaaaaa!” “Me-owwwww!” So grandma repeats this again with the dog, the pig (who she puts in pajamas!), the horse—the repetitive text, playful pictures and silly crying noises had my boys giggling. Eventually the bed breaks, grandma puts the animals back where they usually sleep, and takes the boy to bed with her and grandpa. And in the morning, grandma fixes the squeaky door (oil can goes “glub glub glub”).  

Happy reading!