Not all your problems are your own

The book starts with a court scene which is resumed after 2/3d of the book. In between you learn of a dad with cool abilities like fixing up cool old cars, coming up with unbelievable stories. And his kid with extreme passion for cards and chemistry. And all the fun things they do together riding trains and fast cars. While you are happy for the duo for managing the life well despite Aspergers, you are jolted back to the nasty court scene.

In ‘My Dyslexia’  Philip Schultz found very late that he suffers dyslexia like his son. With that understanding of their and their kids problems, the fathers were able to understand their kids and support them.

The Big Wave

It definitely is poetry. 'Earth is not water. Earth is a bell'.
A good blend of Japanese culture, literature and the tsunami tragedy.
I recall this particular tsunami effects in Japan. Huge boats on tops of houses. loads of cars washed off. The author talks to many people in the wake of the disaster and helps many of them. And were the animals forgotten. Basho poems. Poems about the wave.
there is a reference to Tendenko where you run to the higher land instead of looking out for others in the face of tsunami. This is how 'Wave' by Sonali Deraniyagala begins.

Glitter wand

Two little birds sat on a wall
one named peter, one named Paul
Fly away Peter, Fly away Paul
Come back Peter, come back paul

After the analysis of baa baa black sheep in

I started thinking about this rhyme and thought

Two little birds, peter and Paul

sat on a wall

Come back Peter, Come back Paul

Fly away Peter, Fly away Paul

In the rearranging the rhyming ends, obviously the sequence of come back - fly away didnt work unless you moved away from the wall and did another round of come back after the fly away.

Fly away Beater

Fly away cheater

Fly away Eater

Fly away Feater

Fly away Heater

Fly away Jeter (you know somebody by that name?)

Fly away Kiter

Fly away Lighter

Fly away Mighter

Fly away Nighter

Fly away Righter

Fly away Sighter

Fly away Tighter

Fly away Whiter

Fly away Fighter

Fly away Xaxor (from Escape from Pipemen)

Ahoy

Science fiction has come a long way from Tommy and Margie in ‘The Fun they had’ wondering of a human teacher to Ryan and Becky in ‘Escape from the Pipemen’, very comfortable traveling in the space.

The initial salutations reminded me of yoga poses and an ad with five eyed monsters helped me imagine the 16 eyed monster.  Your entry into the book will be denied if you do not accept yourself as a  from (like muggles of Harry Potter). If you can leap to become the ‘from’, then joy ride is at your behest.

The different font for the aliens made the book live like a play. Like the absence of illustrations, leaving the imagination to work full throttle. After reading the book, kids can be encouraged to enact part of it, draw their versions of the characters or design them for Halloween costume.

Tragedy on stage

Having read 'How to teach your children Shakespeare' recently, i was hoping this book to add a new dimension to Shakespeare writings. The authors have connected the plays to a wide range of subjects. As long as it was in the realm of main character Hamlet and theories of Freud, it was refreshing the memory with the Oedipus Rex. But beyond that to understand the connections of other characters, I felt I would have appreciated the book better with prior reading of the play.
Most chapters were very interesting with info like the difference between the ancient tragedy and modern tragedy, relation between tragedy and theater.
Having just read 'North of Hope' on grief of loss of a father, I could connect some of the experiences.

Diversity

Once Elvis enters the picture, the book goes along swimmingly. You dont want to miss out adventures with a team who have the mystery of the one and only lug nut of a spaceship given to Benji by his dad, adventurous Taisy and Alex who cant wait to be in a team like this. The alpha of this team is a smart dog who can talk apart from shielding Benji on his seizure stricken days. Setting the stage for why Benji needs Elvis is a long walk but once the team is formed there are some surprises, one real surprise involving a bully. The cover is cute with all the graffiti.

What colour do you feel today?

Who would have thought Danny the Penguin could accomodate 3 batteries. But other than that, the soft glow of the likeable penguin comes in colours - yellow that reminds me of the duck, cool icy blue like the glacier, red like the Christmas lights and others. Music would have been better. But whats stopping the little DJ from making visual music flipping colours.
Utile doll with no big hassles of cord.

Kaddish

Having watched ‘The Grizzly Man’ by Werner Herzog, I was interested in how the surviving family deals with the unfavourable turn of events in nature.

The author Shannon Huffman Polson with her trip to the campsite where her father was attacked and killed by a bear also takes us on a journey of her life with her father. While the book starts with a look at state of grief in the modern world, traveling in a desolate place, she weaves life out of all the memories with her father and grandfather and returns home with a beautiful mental tapestry of life enriched with the beauty of music and nature.

In the ‘Wilderness of grief’ the author manages to say Kaddish, and praise God and nature.

After Yarnell fire accident that resulted in loss of 19 firefighters, I had learnt that a person takes care of dead bodies as a sign of respect until burial. The author's  grandmother's end of life reminded me of John Price's grandmother deciding to close shop which end up teaching the grandkids about the beauty of fragile life.

What we need to write

1. A new song for every fall (like Inuit in 'North of Hope')

Confessions to a Diary

Boys and birds. The story starts with a boy and the control of his actions - else where, his friend. There is no slingshot but the damage to the bird yes. At the behest of his English teacher, Julian is required to write of his actions past and as he continues on the assignment, thinking of his everyday life and going back to what he's written to understand what he has done, Julian gets a handle on his life. How many fifth graders can boast of 'Confessions of a ..'
Unwantingly Jillian manages to rub on himself, some of the Shakespeare that he is avoiding.
The book is believable about what goes on within a tween environment, peer and real life expectations (bar Mitzvah, racing).

Observed life

As kids, stuffed toys are our first connection (if you don't have pets) to the animal world. I still remember the weekend in high school, when the local weekly magazine had a center page article about Panda. In our modern life, we can still learn of nature being open to all life that crosses our sight.
Nature conservation - recognition does not have to be limited to long weekends and national parks. The price household leaves no creepy crawlie unobserved in their jar on display. Learning of the pyramid of life and its rare reconfiguration in their little lab of glass.
Alongside the author delves into the history of his ancestry.
The author's connection to Prairie land can be seen in his first book `Not Just any land'.

Fort Dodge, Iowa

The Waltons

half gainer

Gamma camera

Born Free

question mark butterfly

Wolf spider

Cellar spider

Trapdoor spider

Ra : Egypt :: Inti: Peru

I still remember the day I learnt of Ra, Isis and the snake. Myths are so interesting to know. And be ready for one such ride into a foreign land.
Author Leanne Statland Ellis wins the trust of the readers always following native words with common words. In that brief time of a space of a word or two, the reader can imagine what the word might mean, dive and still land in the very pool we know.
I recognized the words chasqui and quipu.
The myths and the stories turn us to imagine red feathers woven into a woolen coat, a man transformed into a stick and so on.
Just like the Chasqui, ever on journey, Micay too takes a journey to the sacred sun city to heal her scars. Instead she learns of her past and the future she is worthy of.
The author's Beyond is believable.
In a brief span of time, the reader is given a primer to Peruvian mythology.

Tell me a story

Doordarshan

After reading Odessa again, I was reminded of a sunday serial on DD India in which a teenager does time travel.
The elements of fantasy in Kahani Chandrakanta Ki.

What place

Learnt of a new city El Centro, CA from a kid in the park.