Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua is a personal memoir of one woman’s raising her children in the “Chinese way.” My initial takeaway of the “Chinese Way” is that it is to insult and torment your children, to be self-centered and project yourself on your children, and to be more than overbearing
My son (age 4) and I really enjoy the rhymes and the stories in Anna Dewney’s Llama Llama books. Llama Llama Home with Mama (Viking, August 2011) is no exception, and I particularly related to it since I was sick for much of the summer due to my early pregnancy. In this story, Llama Llama
When all the lights in Brooklyn go out one summer night in Blackout by John Rocco (Hyperion, May 2011), families are suddenly not busy, much to the delight of the young child. Without power, the family cannot work on computers, or otherwise engage in their many tasks. When their powerless home gets too hot, they
Leap Back Home to Me by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Margaret K. McElderry Books, April 2011) reminded me of Margaret Wise Brown’s Runaway Bunny: a young one goes out on his own, but always must come back home to his mama. The difference is that in Leap Back Home to Me, the
Mitchell’s License by Hallie Durrand and illustrated by Tony Fucille (Candlewick, April 2011) is a fun father-son bedtime book. Mitchell does not want to go to bed, so Dad lets him have a driver’s license, Dad being the “car” as Mitchell perches on his shoulders. This is a true-to-form picture book, meaning the pictures are
Shhh! by Valeri Gorbachev (Philomel, September 2011) is perfect for a soon-to-be big brother. A big brother informs us that when his baby brother is asleep, he is quiet. Beyond walking on his tip-toes, he tells the clown to stop laughing, the tigers to not growl so loud, the train to stop making loud noises,
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook, August 2011) is the story of a past generation through the eyes of a great-grandson. The young great-grandson knows Grandpa’s story because Grandpa, a gardener, has created a topiary garden with statues that remind him of the past. My son (age 4) and I loved the story of
I was probably ten when I first began experimenting with WordPerfect’s fonts on our family’s personal computer. I typed the name of each font, highlighted it and selected the font from the list (because, of course, this was before you could see the font on the menu) and then I’d print out the list of
Time for three more RIP Stories! I am loving the Ghost Stories collection I have from Everyman’s simply because they are addressing so many different kinds of ghost stories. I’ve really enjoyed the majority of them so far. Saki’s “The Open Window” (1914) was my favorite ghost story from my collection so far. It’s was
Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale by Karen Henry Clark and illustrated by Patrice Barton (Knopf, November 2010) tells a magical version of an adoption of a baby girl from China. In China, the family knows they cannot provide for their newborn. They say wistfully, “She should have pretty things. She should learn to read.”
I wonder if my recent news about my upcoming arrival prompted me to notice this book on the New Books shelf. Possibly. Baby Monkey is a GIRL! and I’m delighted and excited that Raisin will have a little sister. At any rate, when I saw the biography of the two foremost proponents of women’s rights
The first time I experienced Wilkie Collins’s masterpiece two years ago (gushing positive thoughts here), it was via an amateur audiobook recording at Librivox and it took me more than a month. I loved the unknown suspense as I tried to anticipate what was coming, I loved the plot, I loved the well developed characters,
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