The Predator Paradox

I picked this book 'the Predator Paradox: Ending the War with Wolves, Bears, Cougars and Coyotes' as it was categorised under Science & Math. I was curious what science was about to bring to the ecological situation. Numbers are a very good lens to use on this problem of whos depleting what by their actions. With all the studies and statistics, 'perception-blight' hypothesis, 'compensatory mortality' show the fallacies that we are prone to without quantisation. Even putting a number on how much less time an animal spends foraging under the fear of a predator shows the role of predators.

And Away we go

Compared to the sly fox in The Fox and the Stork, its a merry fox in 'And Away we go' that lets all animals join the hot air balloon ride and enjoy friends company.

I know its Autumn

'I know its Autumn' is a human version of Little ferns first winter, where the kid recounts all things different in autumn - acorn art, picking apples, raking leaves.

Little Fern's First Winter

While playing hide-and-seek and taking turns to hide, rabbits Fern and Bracken learn how all animals prepare for winter. This informative book is connected with the frame of these little rabbits, knocking at every animals door, if they can hide where they stay.

Come Along Daisy

The other day, I was telling my toddler that dragonflies are found near water. She goes 'No. Ducks are in the pond'. 'Come Along Daisy' is the perfect book to refute that with Daisy duckling playing with dragonflies.
The illustrations, zoomed to a duck's view are amazing.

How Do Dinosaurs Love their Dogs?

I am just wondering how would 'How Do Dinosaurs Love their dogs' have been, had the author interspersed the questions of how Dinos treat their dogs with how they do instead of bunching all the bad behaviour in one section and all the good in another. Wouldnt the 'They dont this, they do this' work better on the same spread?

With each page and a dinosaur in it, my toddler kept asking for the name of dinosaurs. Noticing the suffix 'saurus' of every name, she goes 'What does Saurus mean?' We were going to look up in the iphone and then recognised this to be a good time for cracking the dictionary open. She wants to stop at every illustration and find out what it is.

What is guessing?

My daughter and her friend came up with guessing game of putting something from the food basket or legos in a cube made of foam alphabets. Then they ask us to guess whats in there but as soon they tell off whats in there.
I told my daughter that needs to keep it a secret or else we wont be able to guess as we already know it.
she says "I am guessing about it"
I - "Guessing is telling without knowing"
She - "Whats that mean?"
She - "What is guessing"
I - You have to give us clues.
Until then she kept putting a tennis ball and give it off that its a ball.

She went into her play room and put something in the box. When asked for clues
She - Lunch
I - Can we eat it?
She - not now. later (We just had breakfast)?
I - Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Bread?
She - Pasta and Rice

Looks like she got the hang of providing clues and let others guess.

Hands on Crafts for Kids

Crafts for kids

How Much is the Doggie in the Window

How Much is the Doggie in the Window story by Iza Trapani

My daughter has read this story with us for about four times now. After coming to the page, where the doggie is no longer in the window, she pointed out that there is no doggie. The shopkeeper gives the boy a lollipop to assuage him. Looking at that she says, he does not want lollipop. Then I asked, what does he want,
She goes Doggie!


When you scan the page where the kid is lying on a bed, you find the baseball at the bottom of the table, but there's a baseball next to it, that is the same colour as the table and becomes invisble.

The Seed and the Giant Saguaro

The Seed and the Giant Saguaro is a cumulative tale like  This is the House that Jack Built. The brown tones reflect the desert landscape very well.
Looking at the bird feet tracks, our young reader called them footprints.
Whose?
birdie.

The Small Heart of Things

Smew

Squacco heron

Do Lions live on lily pads?

Do Lions live on lily pads by Melanie Walsh.

Its an odd book in that, its half a puzzle. It has these amazing pictures of goat in a nest and other mixed up habitants and habitata. But you dont know where everyone lives. You only know where some live.

Where Are You?

Where are You by Francesca Simon

Its amazing how, when a search begins among people, its not one but two stories of parallel searches. Grandpa and Grandson duo mistake others for their lost and are finally united in the SuperMarket, where it all began.

On second rereading, we noticed that the page with Harry's shadow also has Grandpa's shadow, towards the back.

Tallulah's Tutu

Tallulah's Tutu by Marilyn Singer

A book with great illustrations. My daughter was doing twirls and lifting her legs all day. I thought this would be a great read. But something was off. Tallulah thinking of the tutu on every page got boresome.

Who wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?

Who wants a Cheap Rhinoceros by Shil Silverstein

Its an everything but the kitchen sink kind of story with all the things that a rhino could do in a house. A theme would have made it more palatable.

Wild About You

Wild about you by Judy Sierra

The story is fine. What out me off about the book is the background print in places which make sit hard to find where the text is, at one glance. 

Every bit Dyno Mite

The Dyno-Mite Dog Show
Agnes is the kind of girl who is famous in the school. Principal knows her name and that in a not good way. she and her club have good intentions of community service, by the way of a dog show at a retirement village. Its a good thing that I dont register the turns and twists of plot after having selected a book to read. It was there in my mind that there might be some disaster, but when the dog show began in time, I had to retrack if anything like 'pests' on posters instead of pets was the underplayed disaster. An then the winning dog goes missing. Hidden from the owner, it doesnt cause as much mayhem.
There is lot of word play. Many metaphors. Bus like a shark.
Agnes is slightly mean what with framing the freckles on a boy's face as 'connect the dots'. The pictures are interesting. Wow, a bubble gum in the form of a fish. It is fun to watch how the kids begin resenting each other and then become great friends having worked on something together. In very few pages, the author has done a portrayal of wide number of characters and events. Enough to sustain the weight needed for a series.
As a character, Agnes is resourceful like a Wedding Planner. And also the girl Dennis.

Lady and the Tramp

While reading this story, my daughter stopped on the alligator page and referred to the green liquid as oil and wondered why there are no coins like in the alligator pond at Rainforest Cafe in Mill Avenue.

One page, shows a sinister lady without showing her face, dressed in grey overalls. My daughter pointed to her as an elephant.

Yesterday at the sky harbor airporrt, we saw lots of service dogs and their companions. Must be off to some event. We petted a 4 month old puppy at the parking lot as she couldnt pet the service dogs.

Duckweed Lake walk

Last night, was so beautiful. The nice breeze. while I lay on the grass,tiltillating. If its about to rain, the first thing that comes to my mind, apart from the feeling that its going to be so beautiful, the wet drizzle on the road is if my wallet is secure from the rain, if all the things I am carrying need to be protected from rain. Once I realised, I had a plastic cover which could be used as a shield for all the things I had on me, I just moved on, not worrying if the rain's going to hamper anything. Getting ready for the rain. I was all prepared.
I was next to the lake. The clouds were in the form of a  horseshoe. although there was a drop or two on me to indicate that its going to rain, I was pretty sure it wouldnt. As it seemed like they were no clouds above me. Also I was thinking, that may be I should have been slightly  away, clear from the clouds. I would have to be on the lake. As I kept walking, I could feel the clouds moving along with me, I thought probably I should stop and see the clouds move. This went on for a while. It got darker. I kept on going. I came towards a bridge. At this point, I saw the water in two colors, one deeper than the other. Arouns sunset, this has happened before. But I was taken aback to see it so in the dark. When I looked onto the eastern side, it was so scary, I did not have the nerve to make myself look at the whole picture. The whole lake on one side was filled with this green sheet. I could not brace myself to look at the whole thing. I have not seen something so scary. I kept walking away, following the strip of green moving towards the west. I was half expecting a monster to come out of the green, any moment.
I went towards the steps, to see what was it that got washed onto the bank and stuck to it. I could not do it. I just moved on, found a dark spot on grass.lied down and while turning, I realised the huge golden globe with its halo.So caught in the distasteful way the lake was claimed, I didnt realise, all the while, the beauty behind me.
I lay there for long.

8/18/2005

Sugarcane

Isnt it fun to pull your chair and find some gift. A zip lock bag full of neatly cut foot long sugarcane stalks. My colleague told me that he had it growing in his backyard. I showed interest in them and told him about the memories of a sugar factory in the town I grew up. When carts full of sugarcane doled in from surrounding villages to the mill, there would be some people whizzing by their bicycles, but not before pulling out  a sugarcane or two from the load.
Sugarcane juice with its lime and ice has always been a refreshing drink of childhood. Rasna with its adorable size and color did give it a run. The allure of natural drinks prevails.
Bhogi pallu
This tambulam, a paper leaf has tiny packets of haldi and kumkum,betel nut glued to it. I am very proud to know that my neighbour made it herself.

Richard Scarry's Busiest People Ever

I didnt know that today would be the day my daughter learns about her parents professions. In the story, cat grocer calls the police station, that a thief made it good with something from the store. On the next page are a horde of people going about their work with their tools of trade. A man shown managing a briefcase with wads of money is labeled as a lawyer. I pointed to my child that her papa is a lawyer too. With that down, I told her that I am engineer. Next she was supposed to tell her papa that she knows that he is a lawyer. After some prodding and ear-whispering we got it out. Then her papa asked her about mom. Without hesitation she said, 'Mama is a fire fighter". Recently, they had a fire engine come to their school for demonstration.

From the time I remember, I remember my mom as a teacher. The life in the village revolved around mom being a teacher, and all he people who took care of us were her students. it took me a while to realise what my dad. His company and their perks of an exclusive ride in the company van, when I missed the bus were enough of a status. I later learnt that he is a field assistant in a crop research institute an he cross-pollinated chickpeas. 

Anthon Berg dark Liqueurs with Original Spirits

A friend got this Anthon Berg Dark Chocolate Liqueurs with Original Spirits as a Christmas gift. he doesnt like dark chocolate much but enjoyed these nevertheless.

Making Art easy

Woven circle mat

Looking at the ingenuous method of weaving, using everyday objects is inspiring. 

Passing through

"If the water were clear enough

... but its not clear "

Great Maps

Old Venice map by Jacopo De Barbari still in use

Portolan charts

Rialto Bridge
First map of America
Map of Augsburg - first map of Northern European City
The Selden Map
John Snow cholera map
Booth poverty map
Wet Compass

Your Life is a Book

Decorative Wall Hooks for Coats | 4 Hook Coffee Mug Wall Rack | Hooks Rack/Holder for Grill Accessories Kitchen Utensil | Wall Mounted Key Holder Key Rack Key Hanger | Bathroom Towel Hooks | Hat Rack

Forced relationships

How is a cloud like a coat hanger?

A cloud can look like a coat hanger
A cloud holds rain, A hanger holds coat

Toddler world

She feels a button on my shirt
hiding under a jacket
and calls it 'Cheerio'

In 'Go Dogs Go!' by
PD Eastman
a trapeze is a swing


Learning from her,
a ladder being transported looks like the
railings on the city hall steps in
'How to hide a Lion' by Helen Stephens

Dog party

PS: I usually point to the 'Thank you Lion' banner on the last page. Today when I skipped it. She read it.

According to the Born reading book by Jason Boog, we should also look at the emotions of the baby while we are reading to them.

3 Sections

What inspires your poetry?

Review

poem after 9/11

prompt: 

"  A shimmering as in a mirage.

A darkening, as in an aftermath"

How strange would it be if you met yourself on the street?
still young enough to return a gaze