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

Books your toddlers can read by themselves

Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you see by Bill Martin and Eric Carle

You will see the crescendoes in your child's voice when they repeat the starting lines, and recognize the animals in the next page.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

After a few readings, the kids will practically read this book to themselves. One question that was wormholy is the page of 'Goodnight House' where my daughter asked me Whats in the house? Then we recalled all the tings in the house.

The Alphabet Book by P D Eastman

Once your kids are able to recognise some animals and things, this is an easy book for them to read and connect two of a same kind or not.

For my daughter, everything is a story. She points to the reindeer soft toy in the car and asks me if I told her the reindeer story. One saturday mornign she wakes up and wants to heat papa story and then the whole family and neighbors story. In that vein, this is the alphabet story according to her.

Bruno Munari's Zoo

Bruno Munari's Zoo

Butterflies like Clover, Hover on every page.

The illustration have a special style of having an animal in smaller size afar and  a bigger one in the front, with some color dabbled in spots. The text adds energy to the drawings with observations and pictorial metaphors.

BlueBird

by Bob Staake

Some readers feel that this book is similar to the film Red Balloon.

Personally I did tumble a bit reading the picture book. I like the circle approximation of trees. The rest of the city buildings lend to square and rectangles.

Hide and Seek

According to the book by Il Sung Na, the illustrations were created by combining handmade painterly textures with digitally generated layers, which were then compiled in Adobe PhotoShop. They are very reminiscent of Eric Carle's illustrations.

Usually counting books have gimmicky animals but his one has care not butterflies. My daughter is just beginning to learn the concept of hide and seek. This book is a good companion in that aspect.

The kids learn a bit about one thing resembling another, Chameleon's ability to blend with the environment.

The Eyes of a Snail

Looking at the back of the snail
she asks
"Where are its eyes?"

Hunters of the Great Forest

by Dennis Nolan

The Hunters of the Great Forest set out with many tools - looking glass, scope, spear, walking stick, bag and camp bed. They help each other on their journey just like us. There's only one difference. They belong to a place like Whoville in 'Horton hears a Who'. They are double the size of ants. Its like Gulliver Travels but instead of Gulliver in the Land of Lilliputs. Its Lilliputs in the Land of Gulliver, who is actually a sweet girl enjoying her marshmallows by the campside. After running into a bunch of hostile, huge animals like frog, a blue jay, the campside is the success point of their mission. After their find, they go to their village and party. Their tools are now the find of a band of ants.
If the girl were to trace the route of the hunters back to the village, it would be a 'Walk in the Woods' from her perspective. You dont realise that it is a picture book, with the illustrations speaking for themselves. Each page has a clear agenda.

I would have thought that I would be bored of reading the same story book again. But its amazing to see how many new things are seen on a reread. In the first reading, we were concentrating on whole mushrooms and frog. In the second reading, we realised that there was a foreshadowing of these elements partially in the previous page.

Buzz

Should bees fly?

Bumble Bee Tumbles the Fact

in Buzz by Eileen Spinelli

I didnt know about this myth that 'Buzz cant fly'. That aside, the illustrations and clear pictures of the sky, mountains, hills and brambles make it an amazing game to identify. The elements of the illustrations in each page are limited, so its easy to get your toddler to interact with it, by pointing to and asking them to tell what they see. Buzz has friends she care about and swoops to them high and low, as they are not all who can fly. In an emergency, she 'rises' up to the situation despite the professors's words.
For grownups, this will lead you to a concept called 'Dynamic Stall' that begins with “Aerodynamic bodies subjected to pitching motions or oscillations exhibit a stalling behavior different from that observed when the flow over a wing at a fixed angle of attack separates”.
Oh well, I think you will like the Buzz saving his friend at the end of the day better..

Just for curiosity sake, I asked my daughter if the snail could fly. She said No. When i asked why, she had it all pat down about it not having wings. I was surprised that she could infer it from our everyday conversations about birds and planes being able to fly by having wings. But in all honesty, when we reread the book, I noticed that the text too refers to the snail being unable to fly.
She retained the word flipped from this book.

Prisms in the hair

Sunlight through hair
Tons of Prisms

Feral

George Monbiot referred to the wild life extinction a an artist work in gallery burning and wanting it to preserve before it vanishes.

Bad Address Fee

Bad Address Fee

This was new to me. After calling the bank, I found out that they had a very old address. I regularly get their mails showing their love through loan approvals and all, so didnt see any broken link. But that could have been because of the USPS address forwarding. 

Tracking package

Do you track your packages? The route they take is fascinating. If it is taking long and toping at too many places, then you learn of many new places like this packagw which started in Dallas TX and went through
Merkel, TX
Odessa, TX
Monahans, TX
and then Tucson, AZ which is a known city.