Children's Book of Magic: 30 Magic Tricks for Young Wizards (Educational series for kids 4-9 years)

Children's Book of Magic: 30 Magic Tricks for Young Wizards by Konrad Modzelewski will change young and adult hearts and minds alike that they too can perform magic. There are card tricks, string tricks, coin and cool illusions. The format is such that the magic and fun of performance is maintained with the first page of a trick and the secret is unraveled only in the next page. The two performers of the magic, bright and funny kids maintain the energy of the book. This is a great book for kids to stage a surprise magic show for family, Mothers Day, Fathers Day or anyone birthday. The tricks are easy. They will have a sense of accomplishment after having practiced and performed.

Find Momo Coast to Coast: A Photography Book

Momo like the dumpling attracted em to this book. I didnt believe it when the book said 'Find Momo' that Momo would be in every page. But when the end of the book had circles on each page, I knew I had to get serious and look. I like the book for the fact that I can enjoy it with my kids.. looking for Momo.

Find the Cutes: Book 2: Festival Fun

Find the Cutes: Book 2: Festival Fun (seek and find books for kids, look and find books for boys and girls, fun look and find book) 

Find the Cutes with Festival Fun theme is like 'Where's Waldo' but triple fun because now not only do you search for some fun, cool things but you also are in a 3D world scanning people and surroundings up close in different parts of the world, learning how they celebrate their festivals. The figures are packed but not too much to overwhelm you. Its like you have the power of Bubba Jones to time travel. Great gift idea for kids. Binds fun and learning.

AI has peaked. pic.twitter.com/xYynF7azUt

— Brad Sams (@bdsams) August 10, 2018

Never Take a Shark to the Dentist: (and Other Things Not to Do)

Havent imagined when a Centipede and I might go hand in hand for a shoe shopping spree, but I know its gonna be a hassle.

Scholastic Reader Level 2: Super Fly Guy

Life is so much fun from a fly's perspective.
"He loved the dirty dishes.
He loved the smelly mop."
Dishes in the sink aint dirty anymore. Dirty socks aint repelling anymore. Not saying that you should embrace shabbiness but that it is very freeing and rewarding to be able to switch into a fly's mind even for a little while. What fun book with squiggles in the background and big round eyes on every character.

Out of the Blue: A book of color idioms and silly pictures

An Idiom is a very powerful thing. in English, it first happened to me in sixth grade in a lesson called 'I met a Bushman'. It was the narrator saying his car 'broke down'.
'Out of the Blue - A Book of Color Idioms and Silly Pictures' is a great creative book for kids. I myself walk out of the book with few new idioms - tickled pink, yellow bellied and so on.
The illustrations are neat and the colour is emphatic.
There is a good mix of culture - brown bag. Red tape and Red letters illustrations are different from what I have in my mind.

Noah Webster: Man of Many Words

I have read 'Frida & Diego: Art, Love, Life' by Catherine Reef and enjoyed it. Having read Ida M Tarbell by Emily Arnold mcCully, I have realised that biographies meant for tweens is a good way of quickly learning about some great people. All I knew about Webster before reading this book 'Noah Webster: man of Many Words' was about his dictionary.
But after reading the book, I am wondering how some things are just the same - his insistence on standing up (stand up desks) while working, he wrote letters for funding his magnum opus promising a copy (early kickstarter). Goodreads shows that webster has 127 books. It also seems like his fascination with getting the words right connects to compiling facts. Its this naming that starts off encyclopedic works. Words and Encyclopedia are two of my favourite things for all the new stuff you learn from and through them.
The book has many illustrations. some reviewers have done a good job of recognising how the major dose of American History was needed to show the man as a work of his times.

Scattered at Sea (Penguin Poets)

'The Dead Woman's Telephone' poem in the book makes for a good example of a line for Ars Poetica. Its at once specific and general. It resonated with me when I was reading John Berger's line on archives being another way of dead people living.
'Thoughts of Tree at twilight' is how we look at things and think things. Even in 'Bon Courage' when poet Amy Gerstler tries to guides us through the imaginary woods like a docent in a museum, where you are welcome to linger but there's more to look too - but you are there.
'but the forest is our subject, not this young girl'
That sense of being in the poem is what you should read 'Scattered at Sea' for.
The little squiggles on the cover are cute.

Voyage of the Sable Venus: and Other Poems

Robin Coste Lewis is a great poet. Read the Pen Ten with Robert Coste Lewis. I enjoyed reading On the Road to Sri Bhuvaneshwari as it was a common ground. The center big piece 'Voyage of the sable Venus' is an experiment in terms of the arrangement of the content from the titles of museum exhibits, but so is every poem. In one when poem, where every scene is in the 'not' frame, I knew something dreaded was coming.
In Verga, a jumbled pantoum, a reverse rubik cube where any move from the horror is only weirder.
Every word of her seems well strained. Most likely poems to be sent to moon, as they represent humanity.

Manifestation Wolverine

When I peeked through the book, I knew I would like the poems based on the slice and its optimum language.
As I read through, there are many lines that make me go back for example and consider

‘The river stood behind the sun’
how the universal ordering is different in different cultures

‘spider webs were in the air offering rides to the river’
This sentence made me go lookup grammar of 'parts of a sentence' . Main subjects become indirect objects

‘small black trains circling around her teeth’
imagination becoming too real. Reminds me of the time when clanking of plates reminded me of a two day ride to college

‘he caught a green light glowing in the pine-trees.
He released it after it had changed into a firefly’.
nothing more fascinating than transformation from an LED to a firefly. Object to life.



The poems too are ordered with connecting themes like
Night enemy – seeing at night
chip of a human bone at train tracks – tracks-

The action in the poem feels in your imagination like the leap you take before getting into the air paragliding and while getting down.

We move from spring to autumn with ‘winter must be here’.

Hands, fingers, window, snow are recurring elements in the poem.

As high school students, we read of Hiawatha but that was a by a Non Native american poet. I dont know much about the creation myths of Native American other than the smattering you pick up being in the southwest. I am introduced to a new genre (I say new genre because I have to switch my pattern of thinking of sun greater than river. I have to switch my pattern of thinking a spider web lesser than a river, as the spider web becomes a bridge to the river in the book, making motion another metric and not just the size of something. Even this one change in a poem, is a seismic shift to the reader making him/her think of every subject/object capable of anything ) of poetry rich with images, rituals and a celebrated way of life.

With such fast moving images and actions, I had a major urge to draw them to understand the action and motion. It seems like a good start for a mini thesis on Native American Culture, Meskwaki in particular.

My Hometown

The cover page is split into past of the city on the left in black and white and the current on the right in colour. In my first reading I would have sided with some of the reviews requiring words in the book. The Scrap Metal Drive page speaks to me. A while ago I saw the pictures about Chandler history with kids participating in scrap metal drive. A few weeks ago I saw the same picture blown up at a recreation center framing the past of the city. The past is shown in black and white.
On my second read of the book, along with my 3yr old, we had interesting things on few pages that we stopped at and talked about - town hall, library, parade, July 4 fireworks. Before we started, I told her that the left side is about when the town was baby. In the next pages, the newspaper reads..'A town is born'
The pictures show how transportation (horse drawn carriages and low duty cars) and dressing were 150 years ago. How you can let your voice be heard at the City Town Hall. That is enough of history common to any city.
The color pictures have the 3D feel of clear candy.

The Most Magnificent Thing

The Most Magnificent Thing is the story of a girl and a friend, who enjoy each others company. To overcome the species differences of the speed with which they move around is the ugly gadget tale of how it got its wheels after umpteen attempts and help from the helpful assistant.
The images show the frustration of the lost innovator very well and make the words redundant. And still its the crisp words and verbs that keep the Edison attempts going.

Mr. Postmouse's Rounds

Mr Postmouse's Rounds is a story that is a treasure trove of animal secrets. While one way of knowing someone, seeing them in their habitat is a way. You also get to know of what they eat (squirrels love acorns) and whats their treat, how they sleep (bats hang upside down) or how long their socks are (of a long snake). Each page has a lot of detail to take you into a branch of science. For example ants page can get you interested in Myrmecology.
The illustrations are zoomed in places of interest and generic elsewhere, drawing your attention to the noteworthy aspects of an animal's hidden life.

A Tower of Giraffes: Animals in Groups

Collective Nouns are cute. But the illustrations in the 'A Tower of Giraffes: Animals in Groups' are super cute. Filling the animal bodies with fabric designs is creative. Adds a collage feel to it. Like onomatopoeic words, the collection of animals reflects its words.. the flamingoes are very flamboyant.. pig and monkey illustrations with obvious paint and random paint are creative too.
I didnt know most of these collective nouns.. mischief of mice, parcel of penguins..
The text and illustrations blend well with each other, the artistic flair still maintained.

Peanut's Mistake (Pumpkinheads)

Peanut's Mistake is very lyrical. Both in terms of the language as well as the props in the story. The hyperzoomed pictures are adorable too. The choice of text placement blending in with the surroundings, under the ledge are creative. In this simple tale are huge lessons about owning up to your mistake and cleaning up the mess.

Children's book: Blackie’s magic coat

Besmall Pet Sweater for Dogs Cats Knit Knitwear Jumper Coat Clothes American Flag Style Winter Warm Stars and Stripes

Children's book: Blackie's magic coat: (Dog books for kids, Bedtime Stories for children ages 4-8, short stories for children) , as you see on the title page has a fleeting color on the page which lends character. There is symphony in the pages. The few props, the coat the stand on which the coat is hung standout like the emblems of gift of the magi or the tongs in the Hamid ka chimta story, where the centerpiece object hinges the story on itself. The rhymes too are natural. The emotions of fear and strength are well portrayed through the illustrations and text.

Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts

I wonder why I never heard of Lawrence Raab before. His poetry is thoroughly enjoyable. The language, images, common occurrence subjects - fortune cookie (if this is a subject in a poetry book, then you know the poet's work is very approachable).

Following is the excerpt from an article "How to Pay Attention to a Poem":
“Don’t worry about the consequences until you’ve noticed all you can,” Raab says. “With this poem, or any, it’s important to avoid being reductive. A good poem resists paraphrase, refuses to let its meanings become too simple, like an answer found in the back of a textbook or a truism in a fortune cookie. No good poem, especially one as mysterious and reticent as ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,’ ever exhausts itself, even as it turns itself over to you, the reader. So you may secretly carry it around, discovering—perhaps by surprise, as I have—that you know it by
heart and then, years later, remembering it as a kind of revelation and finding it has changed, since you yourself have changed.”

Elsewhere I have read about his process of revision for poems. All in all, Raab's poems will interest you in asking and wondering how a particular poem might have been made.

Lily and the Paper Man

I read Lily and the Paper Man with my Pre-K daughter. The illustrations in the book are very realistic. The up and down buttons of the elevator, so zoomed to life size, I wondered if I would move along. The book shows the everyday world of a kid going to school and some different elements. Even though Lily is apprehensive about the Paper Man, eventually she does what can be described as an act of largesse very much the scale of 'The Last Leaf' by O Henry.
The picture views like the bird s eye view with Lily letting the snow tough her tongue or the description of snow flying put you in the books of the pages. Where we associate kids being possessive of their blankets and all, Lily is an inspiration and reminder of a child's untainted generosity.

Spinglish: The Definitive Dictionary of Deliberately Deceptive Language

After reading Spinglish: The Definitive Dictionary of Deliberately Deceptive Language, you wont ask others if they hiked the Appalachian trail.
Some of the terms are very funny(actually you will start thinking twice while using the terms in the book - refer fun-loving in the book) for eg - engaging the enemy on all sides, many real estates terms like almost new like almost pregnant, with natural light..
Recently I read an article on affluenza but didnt appreciate the evolution of the word until I read of it in the book. That word was the inflection point for me to see how contemporary it is.

You Cant Have too Many Friends

With weird characters like Lady Ladder and Babbling Brook, 'You Cant Have too Many Friends' by Mordicai Gerstein is a book that has an optional challenge. Duck is on his way for justice and takes along as many friends, who all turn out to be helpful when he is placed in very difficult situations. Now it is your turn to remember who might be helpful in which situation. It is almost like a Greek myth where the duck can use his powers.
Usually I have seen a page divided into rows for fast pacing the book, but this book has casual vertical column slits for that purpose.

Drum City

I was reading 'Drum City' by Thea Guidone along with my preschooler and feeding the rice cereal to my infant. And I think I have hit upon a great ritual. It couldnt have started with a better book. All that rhyming. I like how every page on the book starts with DRUM which is like a big caesura but the rest on the lines that follow flow like waves. There's mystery too..
" people in banks,
people in shops,
everywhere, everything, everyone
STOPS"

and I wondered why...
On the next spread is the huge army of kids with their tubs and tins..
The illustrations are well done too. Catchy enough for preschoolers to call out what they see.

Second time around, I started singing it..

The real character

In Richard II: Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition, Volume 9, Charles Forker makes a great point.
"The truth is, here in Richard II is a play without a hero. Richard is constantly represented in an unfavourable light - as weak, dilatory and selfish. The character with elements of popularity, who might easily have been made the central figure of the play, is Bolingbroke, yet, only lightly sketched in as compared with Richard ..."

What the playwright shows is not what there is. You can only see it as one viewpoint. The playwright paints a character in one way, but the reader at the end should know the character for himself.

Hotel Chic at Home

Long time ago, when I joined a company, I was provided temporary accommodation at a hotel. What I took away from the conveniences was, how cool would it be to have your room as clean looking, meaning stuff not flowing out, everything hidden in its place, behind cupboards (slow down to imagine a closet with shelves for dishes, cups, etc. I am used to hearing of it as cubbard like old lady hubbard and hence at a disadvantage of not knowing the meaning through origin) or curtains.

Sara Bliss in her book Hotel Chic at Home: Inspired Design Ideas from Glamorous Escapes makes that time possible with her gorgeous picture book of how each room of the house could be decorated glamorously.

Each picture invites you into many details. This book doubles both as a design book as well as a travel diary. You look at not just the color and mood of the room but also the furniture, lighting, walls and the architecture. Each picture gazed at, so intently, becomes a diorama. The oblong ottoman in one picture brings to relief the half, wide column. Contrast this full bodied ottoman with a bare leg plain stool.
Wood relegated to the floor is put on a pedestal by being lifted to the adorn the walls.
"Fabric is second only to paint in its ability to immediately refresh a room or to make it memorable."
With Patterns and Statement beds, all the pictures makes museums out of rooms.

Icicles in carrot

Icicles in carrot

Who made the holes

For the water to freeze

Some larvae

Water fills holes

Traces Crevices

To make

Earth

New Animals. New language

The Fallen Star: The Nocturnals Book 3 by Tracy Hecht is a different approach to teaching kids about friends. usual characters are relatable to the children. Tracy Hecht introduces new characters to them, new language French showing the whole wide world outside. And did I say already that this is in a forest. What is more mystical than a forest? All the good makings for a great story. Thats not to say that the book is inscrutable. It is readable for a 7 year old albeit with a little effort, but it opens them to the new world where you look up words and things and learn about the ways of new animals. All this in the friendship frame. The book will increase kids vocabulary as well as curiosity and a penchant for learning.

Tree Boa, Gold Poachers and Pepper Tree

In Secret Agents Jack and Max Stalwart: Book 2: The Adventure in the Amazon: Brazil (The Secret Agents Jack and Max Stalwart Series), Jack and Max relax to their room to do Homework. But that is not all that meets the eye. They are GPF Agents with code names. They are called on a mission to find another missing agent and that too in the Brazilian jungles. Who knows what animals call that forest home and the mysterious trees?
With latest hi-tech gadgets helping them, our little courageous agents meet great troubles. How do they tackle the grave situations? What do they find in the jungle? Who doesnt want to go on this mysterious adventure?
The illustrations jibe with the text. The book manages to be fast paced within few pages. Action packed, Globe trotting.
A Master key maker which can fit into any lock. Hand print locked backpack.

Myology

According to dictionary.com Myology is

Orofacial Myology uses tongue tie as a measurement tool.

Coffee Cornucopia

According to dictionary.com Cornucopia is

Infant Jupiter was nursed by Goat Amalthea.


Amalthea is also an irregular shaped moon of Jupiter.

Akshaya Patra too is a never ending cornucopia.

Out of those goat horns, for the modern day coffee lovers, you can have a coffee mug. It was made by Goat story who were inspired by the myth that goat discovered coffee.

Anatomy of a Goat

There are very few chances that you will read Guide to Regional Ruminant Anatomy Based on The Dissection of The Goat but if you had the anatomy more readily available, you would eat, drink, sleep goat.

Diabetic shoes

In BioMechanics for Dummies, Steve McCaw explains how special shoes for diabetic patients. They eliminate high pressure areas that risk infection.

Mismatched Shoes

                                                                                       
Mismatched shoes are a trend this year according to Marie Claire.. The yin and yang, the summer fire and the cool ice to beat it are a great combination for this season.
When it comes to design, summer is a perfect time for some soothing green as well as bright pink of
the watermelon to grace your feet. Two colors shoes is great for contrast as well as wholeness.
Now I am thinking, couldnt you shape tiny watermelon shells into shoes like the big ones scooped out to look like  a basket.

Dress Design

A light pink jumper
with a pattern of
2 pink and a light blue
roses and small leaves together
intermittent smaller leaf pattern

The pattern was so becoming
it turned the whole fabric
into that pattern
breaking the monotony
and minimizing it

Is it easy for our brain to look
at little things?
Is that why we have designs?

KidKraft Florence Dollhouse

LE BLANC Serum Healthy Light Creator

Le Blanc Serum is Formulated with precious ume flower extract, exclusive TXC™ technology and fine pearl protein.

Ume is regarded as the most graceful flower by Japanese.
TXC was introduced in 2011 after 9 years of research by Chanel. It is said to regulate melanin production from start to finish."Existing dark spots are reduced and the formation of new ones is reduced"
Fine Pearl protein is from Akoya pearls grown specially for Chanel. According to Milad Darejeh, Akpya pearls were the first to be cultured in 20th century in Japan.

Le Blanc Serum is the Spring and Sea rolled into one for a Healthy light.

Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age

Innovation is easily the buzzword for companies. If they dont know it, then they are out of business.
We know many interesting stories of how things were invented by accident. Greg Satell in 'Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age' shows how innovation takes a village and more and dispels the myth of lone genius accomplishing it all. He traverses the path penicillin took to discovery from labs to the pharma industry. The author provides the reader, a foundation and conditions that were necessary for the famous inventions. From this he draws what can be used for current situation.
The provided framework is a Matrix of 'Problem Definition' Vs 'Domain Definition' which shows you clearly where your company fits and the kind of innovation it should be targeting. Depending on the kind of innovation you need disruptive, sustaining, breakthrough - there are various options of achieving them. Just this matrix should reveal if your approach to innovation is right for your company and the industry you belong to.
I loved the example of Experian and their Innovation Matrix which explains how Eric Haller made problem solving for customers, rocket into consulting business which feedsback into Experian's capabilities and growth.
With examples like Afisha, Experian and Children's Health, Gregg illuminates how companies can modify their business models to inject organic growth.
Its back to the basics with Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder and Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis
Three Horizons of Innovation with 70/20/10 lets you have all kinds of innovation instead of having to chose one by allotting time and resources for each. if you are familiar with Googles 20% for your pet project, then you get the drift.
P&G innovation matrix is a surprise with 'open innovation'. IBM and Microsoft examples show the advantages of courting 'open'.
With this orientation, you are well on your way to figure what works for innovation at your company.

Time, Talent, Energy: Overcome Organizational Drag and Unleash Your Team’s Productive Power

Time, Talent, Energy by Michael C. Mankins; Eric Garton is an inspiring as well as informative read.
It starts with the idea that in today's funding rich world, an organisation needs to take a good look at how its time is spent and how to gain it back from the bottomless meetings that drain it. How to rely on A player teams when it comes to business critical projects that will pave way for you organisation's jump to the next level. How engagement is very important, so your employees bring their best self to the organization and feel empowered.
I found the talent chapter most inspiring with how a new model of Boeing was done within 5 years, how an A team in the race car world can slash the pit time down to half.
there's a reference to another book Founder's Mentality - which I liked and the usual formula of supporting your arguments with studies, graphs and good visual aids of what are good leadership traits.