Plorringes as soft as cotton candy

I had another great group of listeners for this week's storytimes.  We read all three books in both storytimes and the kids were utterly engrossed in every book!

This week's theme was all about manners.

Books we read:

Bears on Chairs by Shirley Parenteau and David Walker

It's tough to pick a winner out of today's books. The kids were completely absorbed in each book. Bears on Chairs is a great rhyming/counting book in addition to being arguably my favorite picture book about problem solving and sharing. 

The Bear Who Shared by Catherine Rayner

One word: PLORRINGE! Norris, Violet, and Petunia all have their eyes on a single plorridge. Who gets to eat it and why is Norris just patiently waiting underneath the plorringe tree? Not only does this book have a fun word to say, it's also a sneaky and beautiful way to talk about kindness and how it helps form friendships. While reading this, one of the little boys in my first storytime squealed with happiness when I said the plorringe was as soft as cotton candy. And when I said cotton candy again toward the end of the book the same little boy shouted it rapturously and giggled.

 How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Yolen and Teague's Dinosaur series is always a hit during my storytimes, and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food was no exception. When I asked everyone in both storytimes if they wanted to sing a song or read another book they all chose this book. It was a great way to repeat the signs, 'Please' and 'Thank You.'

ASL signs: We've been signing manner signs the past few weeks so we did an overview today of Thank You, You're Welcome, Please, and Sorry. I think they're starting to learn Thank You, which I'll try to incorporate more in future storytimes.

Yoga/Meditation: I found these lovely yoga cards that are easy to see and understand. Unfortunately there have been a few duds in the pack. We tried to do a pose called 'the hill' today, and it was a bit of a flop. In the second storytime I did a meditation exercise with everyone instead, and it was a winner.

It's from one of my favorite books, Breathe Like a Bear and goes like this:

1-2-3 Clap!

Open your arms really wide.

Count 1 2 3. 

And clap your hands one time.

Rub your hands together 

and make some energy. 

Put your hands on your belly. Take a long breath in, 

and let it all out. 

Repeat with heart 

instead of belly.

Activities:

This week I changed things up and brought out the bean bags. No more parachute this season unless a kid requests it. Though the books were a bigger hit, the kids still enjoyed the bean bags. 

We did various warm-up activities:

* What color/shape beanbag did you choose? (This was the favorite activity. One boy had the most adorable look of bewilderment on his face as he studied his square and tried to find the right word for what shape it was. His square was also yellow, which is, hands down, my favorite word to hear a toddler/preschooler say.)

* High then low

* Right hand then left hand

* Toss and catch (surprisingly difficult)

* Beanbag on your feet/knees/elbows/shoulders (elbows were tricky tricky)

* Beanbag on your head and spinning in a circle while balancing it on your head (they were instant pros at this)

Then we sang a song together, which has no name and is to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down:

Place your beanbag on your head, on your head, on your head

Place your beanbag on your head, on your head today

Place your beanbag on your elbow

Shake your beanbag ear to ear

Shake your beanbag foot to foot

Toss your beanbag hand to hand

Toss your bean bag in the basket 

Tossing the beanbags in the basket worked so well. It was a nice reminder to find a way to incorporate putting away the beanbags/shaker eggs/musical instruments/scarves into the last song/activity we do.

Songs we sang:

Though we didn't sing a song at the end because dinosaurs trump songs, there were a couple songs that happened during storytime that were pretty great.

Each storytime I play a song on repeat for 5-10 minutes before storytime starts. This is a great time to share songs that don't necessarily lend themselves to storytimes very well but are still so much fun to sing or listen to. Occasionally after greeting everyone, I'll come into the room and the grown-ups and kids are singing or swaying to the music, so this will be something I continue doing in the future.

Today I shared an Ella Jenkins song I've always enjoyed. I just didn't realize how much I really really love it. I sang it again and again this morning as I set the room up, and by the time storytime came around, I decided to sing it with the first storytime. They didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but in their defense it was a change in routine and they really just wanted to get to the puppets who help sing the normal hello song. As soon as I put the puppet bag around my neck there was this look of relief on all of their faces. 

But I think I found my hello song for the fall season. Personally I'm a little over the puppet hello song, and I think Ella Jenkins' song will be a masterpiece once everyone learns it.

We also sang the handwashing song, which everyone really enjoyed. I have a handful of fun things planned next week but may try to squeeze this in because of how much everyone enjoyed it and how quick it is to sing.

 


Cute moment of the day:

One kid asked me where the elephants were, and even though I was thinking, you mean the elephants that scarred me for life two weeks ago? Those elephants?? I told him that I would bring them next week. So next week's theme is now officially Owls & Elephants.

book encore!

Both storytimes this week were a total success! I am so glad to have my storytime groove thing back. Before I went into storytime I reminded myself to take it slow, enjoy the moment, and if I felt frantic, which I didn't, to ask everyone to breathe with me. I enjoyed every minute of both storytimes and I didn't let my worry about everything going smoothly get in my way.

This week's theme was all about animals.

Books we read (We made it through all three books in both storytimes today):

Don't Wake Up the Tiger by Britta Teckentrup



My first storytime was huge so I modified the book a bit and took charge of touching the tiger's nose and belly, but still included the kids by asking where their noses and bellies were. My second storytime was smaller so I was able to go around and give everyone a chance to touch the tiger's belly and nose. This book was a huge hit in both storytimes. I really took my time with the books today (yay!), and at one point I noticed most of the kids in the first storytime were laying on their bellies with their chins resting on their palms. They were utterly absorbed in all three books. I'm not sure I've seen a better group of listeners.

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

Before I read this I told everyone how excited I was about this book because of its flaps. Because this is more of a toddler book I wasn't sure how the older kids would feel about it. Well, the older kids had a great time guessing the animals and the younger kids adored the flaps. Even with a few hints the older kids were stumped a few times, which made me feel better about choosing this book.

Five Fuzzy Chicks by Diana Murray and Sydney Hanson

I cannot even begin to tell you how much the kids loved this book. Oh wait, yes I can. When we finished reading this book a boy asked me if we could read it again. Really! A book encore. I love how much fun this book is to read aloud. It flows and rhymes so so well. There are also lots of opportunities to make animal noises, including whispering "cluck cluck," which everyone loved doing. 

Parachute Play: Same as the last few weeks. In the second storytime I had the shaker eggs ready because I started the storytime with one kid, and in the first ten minutes the number grew to eight. The kids loved the shaker eggs and I didn't forget to add the shaker egg activities to my slide. 

Songs:

In the first storytime one of the kids asked to sing Row Row Row Your Boat, which was perfect because we didn't have much time left. In the second storytime the kids asked for Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, which went ok enough.

Goodbye Rhyme: While doing the goodbye rhyme today I ran out of animals during the first storytime.

I felt a little like this on the inside:

But I asked the two kids which animals they wanted to choose to say goodbye to again. I then asked them if they could remember the rhymes from earlier and they did.

WHEW. I will say I've been brainstorming a couple more animal options so I have some back-ups in case this happens again.

Cute moment of the day:

I chose Larry the crow as my puppet greeter this morning. I came out of the office with him and the very first boy, who was just barely at the walking stage, saw him and shrieked with happiness. Larry the Crow gave a throaty CAW (probably my best caw to date) and the boy plopped right down on his bottom, kicking his feet and shrieking with happiness. 

songs that keep me afloat

There are a couple songs I play any time I need a reminder to slow down, live in the moment, and not be too hard on myself.



Just about every day I wake up super excited about life. I bolt out of bed, do my morning yoga, and walk the dogs. The whole time my mind is throwing ideas faster than I can catch them. Whether I'm heading to the library for work or working at home, at about 11 I realize I may not be able to get through everything on my list. It's actually pretty rare for me to get through everything on my list, but I always wake up thinking I will. 

This is when I remind myself that this is probably the reason I wake up excited every morning. I'm never finished. I'm always in the middle of something grand. And sometimes, though I'm irritated by it at the time, there are nights I wake up with the answers to the day's problems or a better way to do something that, thankfully, I had to leave unfinished.

Deb Talan's song is good for that midday slump. It's a reminder that I wake up each day in joy, and that my first purpose in life to be present - be a part of life, make connections with others, and stay connected to everything that feeds my enthusiasm for life.

Steffany Gretzinger's song is a reminder to be open to positivity. To sweep away the negativity with deep breaths and be there for myself and others.

 
When all else fails, when I'm feeling overwhelmed and I'm running into one obstacle after another, including ones I've created myself, I listen to "I Will Let You Down," and most of the time I feel a bit better. For me, the song is more directed at myself than anyone else. It's a nice reminder that I'm not always going to get everything done and done perfectly. I'm going to forget songs during storytime. I'm going to write such a cheesy poem, there's no possible way to unbury myself from the cheese. I'm going to accidentally let it slip how I much I loathe a character in a book Izzy and I read together. I make mistakes. I'm human. And my biggest critic is myself. When I listen to this song I get a little chuckle and move on. 

Doom Vs. Happy Chaos

Both storytimes this week felt like a bit of a train wreck. I fumbled with a few things in the first storytime, and though I managed to cobble together all my wits (and marbles) for the second storytime, the kids had way too much energy and it didn't matter.

My theme was all about counting this week.

Yoga Pose: Volcano (from last week), which was a hit in the first storytime, but the kids in the second storytime were much too quiet and shy for this in the second storytime. I'll let you know the second the peanut butter and jelly hit the fan here in a moment.

Sign Language: Last week we learned "thank you" and "you're welcome," which everyone appeared to enjoy learning. This week I taught the sign for "please," but nobody gave a fart about it. I got a lot of blank stares and very little grown-up participation.

Books we read:

Eggs 123 by Janet Halfman and Betsy Thompson

I thought the kids were going to have so much fun guessing the animals. It was definitely trickier than other guessing books we've read, but I thought they were ready for it. Only a couple animals were guessed. During the first storytime I received a lot of blank looks and incorrect answers (which I realize is better than nothing). Right as I picked this book up to read in the second storytime my small group of quiet kids suddenly had infinite amounts of energy and could not focus on this book. 

Ten Hungry Pigs by Derek Anderson

Both groups were too wound up to enjoy this much.

Parachute Play (during first storytime):

This was the same as last week and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Shaker Eggs (during second storytime):

I handed out the eggs and then my mind went blank. I couldn't remember a single shaker egg song. I think the chaos level in the room wasn't helping my brief memory lapse either. I finally cobbled together a song about shaking the eggs from "ear to ear" and other body parts the kids suggested. This turned out to be fun and one of the few moments the kids were engaged during the second storytime.

Magnetic Board Rhymes: 

Valentines, which I did last year. The first storytime enjoyed these. The second storytime didn't care one bit.

I also attempted to do the Five Little Elephants activity but I completely messed it up. Even with lots of practice, I still manage to bomb things. I didn't bring this out in the second storytime because A. I was still mortified. And B. They were too wound up to focus on this rhyme.

Songs: I changed up our first quieting down rhyme today with "Open Shut Them/I Have 10 Little Fingers by Kathy Reid-Naiman. The first group really enjoyed the first half of this song so I'm going to play that half next week. The kids in the second storytime were all sitting so sweetly and quietly I didn't think we needed a quieting down song. I am not exaggerating when I say these kids went from quiet and shy to crazy energetic in less than a second.

We also sang 10 Little Bubbles by Sara Hickman, which has been such a hit in the past. Sadly, one boy said it went too fast for him in the first storytime, and it was a total flop in the second storytime.

Learning Moments:

* Always have shaker eggs and shaker egg songs at the ready.

* Slow down and take deep breaths, even if it's in front of a crowd of children. Especially if it's in front of a crowd of children. I usually do a great job of asking everyone to take deep breaths with me, and today I totally forgot.

* Don't bring out any magnetic board activities when the kids are too wound up to focus on them. Even if it's close to Valentine's Day and I'm super eager to share my Valentines with them because it's a once-a-year thing.

* Lastly, I've decided to share this, because I think it's important. Like lots of people I sometimes struggle with anxiety. I don't talk about it much because I don't allow it to control my life. I've spent many years managing it and feel like I've made peace with it. Usually my anxiety only lasts a few hours at a time, and rarely does it last more than a day. When I struggle with anxiety I think of it as "The Doom." It's a mixture of things including dread, sadness, my brain trying to question nearly all of the decisions I've ever made in my life, and negative thoughts about nearly everything I do that I normally think I do fairly well.. Pretty much my brain turns against me, and it's a struggle to turn it off and/or re-focus. The Doom usually just happens. I've never been able to figure out if there's something that causes it. 

Though Rachel had some struggles last week, we created a path forward, which is all I ask for with her tendency to make poor life decisions and her off-and-on struggle with self-destructive behavior. She even came home over the weekend, which gave us all time to talk. I had a great day at work this past Saturday and came home feeling happy with pretty much everything, including two successful teen programs. Saturday evening The Doom hit. And it decided to stay for a few days. I think I'm finally escaping it, but this is one of the longest periods that The Doom has visited.

Izzy and I struggled with homework pretty much the whole day on Sunday, which gave me little time to tackle The Doom. It also put me behind a day. I never thought I would spend an entire day trying to teach someone what verbs/adjectives/nouns are, especially after going over them nearly every day for the past several months. Izzy's memory issues can be so tricky, and sometimes I just want to sit down and cry because I'm consumed by all theses questions about how she's going to make it in the world without all the lists and reminders and help she gets on a daily basis. She is making so much progress though and has tenacity for days (enough to carry me when I'm struggling). 

The Doom lasted for a couple days but I was super proud of keeping it together and getting so much done. Art projects like collaging are a no-go during The Doom, but carefully grooming an elderly golden retriever is almost cathartic. I try to focus on tasks that are black and white, nothing creative or difficult. I only yanked the tail off a paper quail I've been working on for a while. Then I moved on to other things. This is a huge improvement for me.

If someone had told me ten years ago I was going to give storytimes while struggling with The Doom I wouldn't have believed it. I also wouldn't have believed that a storytime, crazy or not, could make The Doom go away, but it's happened a couple times. I really enjoy toddler and preschooler energy and the crazy things they say. Their joy is infectious. So while these storytimes weren't amazing, I think everyone still had a great time, and shortly after storytime (and a lunch time nap) The Doom finally disappeared.

moments of peace

We've had a couple wonderful days off in the past few weeks.

We went on an icy but sunshiny hike with the puppies:

Have I told you how much I adore Margo? She's on the left in the next picture, and that's the face we have the joy of seeing every day (something I'm endlessly thrilled about and grateful for). For most of my life I've heard lamentations from a loved-one about how tough it is to be barrel-chested. Well, Josie is turning out to be rather barrel-shaped. She's kind of a cross between a burrito and a bullet. Like a really fast burrito kind of dog, with all her weight in her chest area. We've started calling her Josierrito, so it appears she has her first nickname.

Robert and I have been having fun figuring out my Sizzix machine, a holiday present from him and my brother, Jason. So far we have made enough circles and flowers to get us to the moon and back.

We've made a few delicious recipes together, including this pretty ham, bean, and veggie soup, a perfect January thing to eat.

Robert even got Ella out in her wagon on one gloriously warm and sunny day. Ella enjoyed every minute of it.

We also took the pups out too. Here is Ella A.K.A. Queen Thug Muffin with her loyal subjects, Goper and Josieritto, the fastest burrito dog in town (but tired in this picture from all her burritoing around).

Reading Aloud

Josie's expression says a lot about my feelings about Izzy's last book assignment, Lord of the Flies.

Since September Izzy and I have been reading aloud her required reading for school, and I am becoming a firm believer in the power of reading aloud. Izzy is taking her time and reading a lot slower now (very little comma and period neglect is going on) and not stumbling over so many of the words. We also stop often and have discussions about what we're reading. She's improved tremendously since we began reading together in September. I also have a better grasp of what foreshadowing is, which has been a humorous battle for this English major.

I cried my way through our first book, The Glass Castle while Izzy struggled to take everything in, her face a contorted puzzle the entire way through the book. I relished the metaphor-heavy Fahrenheit 451 while Izzy patiently waited for me to repeat every blessed phrase I loved. Catcher in the Rye resonated with Izzy and she connected with Holden Caulfield in a way I didn't know possible. Lord of the Flies has been the toughest for me. I read it last year or the year before with Rachel and loathed every second of it. I remember clearly the overwhelming joy of being done with it for what I thought was forever. I was horrified to learn it was one of Izzy's books this year, and not only that, it was her first time annotating, which meant that we'd be annotating it together. Annotating is a pain in the butt, but has really helped us talk about sentence structure, which is something Izzy struggles with. And if I'm going to be honest, sentence structure and I have never been close bosom buddies (this sentence alone took three rewrites). Annotating has also helped both of us read more critically. Not super helpful in my current job, where a big part of it is devoted to devouring all the children's books of the world and talking animatedly about everything but foreshadowing. I am imagining a reader's advisory interaction about say, The Babysitter's Club, and how a young reader would look at me if I started talking about foreshadowing.  But no matter, I'm sure my newfound skills of reading more critically will be called upon at some point in my future (just like mitosis and meiosis and the quadratic equation). 

Because reading together for school has been such a success, I chose a self-help book for teens to read with Izzy and we've been working our way through that as well. Reading aloud with her has made me wonder why we don't read aloud with our loved ones more often. Or perhaps other families do this and I'm just not aware of it. Sometimes, while Izzy and I read together, I notice our large house grow smaller and smaller until it is just our first floor living space. First, the dogs find us and settle in close. Oftentimes Robert will meander in, ever so quietly, and settle into a chair nearby with his work. Rachel has even magically appeared a couple times, setting up her homework at the dining room table. It probably helps she's a sucker for distractions and has the official title of The World's Most Renown Critic of High School Literature, and Really All Literature That is Ever So Beneath Her (this title permits her to interject a snarky comment ever now and then). Each time I look up from the book there's another family member sitting in the room with us. I keep expecting to spot Robert's mom, Audrey, who lives across the street, slowly making her way across the street, utterly transfixed by the sound of Izzy and I stumbling through words like "multitudinous" and "propitiatingly."

There's something magical about reading aloud with someone you love. I don't know what kind of voodoo magic it is yet, but every day I'm adding new words to my vocabulary, and it's possible some day I'll have all the right kind of words to figure it out.

using our inside voices to roar

This week's storytime was a special yoga storytime. Due to my back injury I was unable to do a yoga storytime last season. I'm still a bit creaky and wobbly but I managed to do yoga five times on storytime day. I did my morning yoga at home, ran through my two yoga books twice the morning of storytime and then did the same thing all over again for each storytime. I survived it all with only a little unhappiness from my back. Who knew yoga would be something I'd have to work for? I'm immensely grateful it's getting easier again. Nothing is quite like a yoga storytime, which is a nice treat to do every once in a while.

Books we read:

You Are a Lion! by Taeeun Yoo



I read this book the last time I did a yoga storytime and this week was just as successful as the last time. My only complaint is that the poses do not flow well. It's a little bit like yoga aerobics because it goes back and forth between floor poses and standing poses. As long as you get over that hump the book is really one of the best yoga books for children. My favorite thing about it is it gives the kids a chance to guess each pose. Robert suggested scanning the pages in both books for this storytime so that the grown-ups could easily see the poses (such a smart guy). This was a great idea. The grown-ups helped the kids with the trickier poses and I could see them looking at the screen a few times to do that. I also used my lovely book stand, which allowed me to hang out in the pose with them. 



Have I told you how much I love this stand? Well, it sits perfectly on my storytime chair, which is a decent height for everyone to see the pages, and it gives me an opportunity to participate in whatever movement the book is asking us to do (if I cannot hold the book and do the movement at the same time). 

*Side note: this stand is also perfect for eating and reading at the same time, which is the best way to eat in my opinion.

After each pose I made sure to pick up the book from the easel and read the little blurb about the pose. It's really tough to show kids you're "reading" the book during a yoga storytime because you're really not reading because you've memorized the dang thing so that you can do the poses with them. I struggled to balance this in the first storytime but did a much better job in the second storytime. 

Yoga Frog by Nora Carpenter and Mark Chambers

I chose five poses from this book that were different from the first book and the first storytime struggled to stay engaged, even during the volcano pose, which is probably the most exciting yoga pose ever. In the second storytime I cut one pose out and made sure to count to ten in the star pose, where you begin in mountain and then fling your arms and legs out. Then, during volcano, when we counted down from ten between squatting like a frog and jumping like a volcano, they were a little bit more prepared for the countdown. They loved these two poses. Loved them. The crescent moon was also a lovely pose to do because we were able to really focus on breathing, which was just a pain in the booty for most of the other poses (terrible I know). BUT everyone did such a great job breathing during crescent moon I nearly burst with happiness. The breathing was all very exaggerated of course, but since we did all the Yoga Frog poses twice, they automatically did the breathing on their own the second time we did the pose. The Tree and Chair poses were awfully tough so I wouldn't do them again any time soon. Personally, I curse a little when I do the chair pose at home, but for whatever reason I thought the kids would like it. Turns out we're on the same page about the chair pose.

Activities:

Parachute Play - We did the same parachute warm-up and Animals on the Bus song as last week but this week we also played popcorn with bean bags that are not only different colors, but also different shapes (these things are great). This was a huge hit. I did forget that the beans bags stay on the parachute so well that we really need a couple balls to throw on there too to make it tougher. 

The parachute was a huge hit this week. Before we put the parachute away all the kids went under it and made pretend snow angels while the grown-ups flapped the parachute above them. This was a lot of fun.

*Note: I have two bags of the bean bags, which is plenty for the smaller storytimes we've been doing. We also do not use the hexagon and pentagon, but I use them if we don't have enough shapes to go around. The whole popcorn game does get stalled though while we try to muddle through how many sides those shapes have. Thankfully I've only had to use them every once in a blue moon.

Songs:

We sang the dreaded hokey pokey and the ABCs in the first storytime. Thankfully the hokey pokey was cut short after hands and feet when I asked what we wanted to put in next and a little girl shouted, "ABCs," which everyone echoed enthusiastically. 

We sang "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" in the second storytime and no one suggested any kind of weird animal like legos. It was a pretty tame version of the song.

Cute/Awesome Moments:

* I was feeling mighty insecure after the first storytime. There were things I wished I had done differently and I didn't always have 100% participation with the poses, which initially baffled me. (You don't like the chair pose either whaa?) Just as I was sinking into a pit of insecurities and storytime despair a coworker who was manning the desk told me a grandma had raved about the experience.

* In the second storytime I had lots of participation and the kids really understood the poses. A couple grown-ups, including a grandma, did the poses along with the kids, and this really made my day. 

* Prior to reading the first book I asked if anyone did any yoga at home and a boy said he did yoga with his mom. This alone was such a cool response, but then each time we came to guessing a pose in the first book he knew most of them, including cobra!

* We weren't able to lie down and get completely quiet at the end of the first book in the first storytime, but we did it for a few seconds in the second storytime, which is just shy of miraculous. 

* We talked a lot about mountain pose and I tried to come back to it before a lot of the poses. In the second storytime when I asked them to guess what pose I was doing they were able to guess the mountain pose by the end of storytime. I also changed it up a bit and asked them to do the mountain pose a couple times and there were a few kids who knew it by the end of storytime. 

* Lastly, everyone roared very peacefully when I asked them to use their inside voices to roar. Nobody's roar made anyone else cry, and I really can't ask for a better response than that.

Favorite January Reads Part 2

Kindness Makes Us Strong by Sophie Beer (board book)

Simple language, large text, and illustrations that leap from the pages make a tricky subject easy to understand and encourages kind behavior. I will definitely read this at a toddler or preschool storytime.

Layla's Happiness by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin (picture book)

Reading Layla's Happiness is a great way to start the year. The illustrations are bold, happy, and full of life. The message is similar to a lot of books out right now about finding happiness in all kinds of places, and Tallie does a wonderful job making Layla's happiness unique (naming trees, listening to her dad's stories, looking at outer space flowers in her kaleidoscope). My favorite thing about this book, however, is the lettering. It's imperfect, wacky, and the most important words are bubble letters that are mostly yellow, but also other colors too, but they always stand out.  

Relish by Lucy Knisley (adult/teen graphic memoir)

I am super late to the Lucy Knisley party and I'm a little perturbed with myself. I cannot believe I waited this long to read Relish. It has a lot of things I love about a good book: 

- memoir   

- lotsa foodie talk 

- incredible illustrations 

- stories about malicious birds.  

I was hooked by page 8 when Knisley talks about having poached salmon in cream for her baptism day. 

Other favorite moments: 

* The hate writing on the wall of one of her childhood homes: "The former residents had split in a nasty divorce, prompting the furious wife to use olive oil to write 'Fred Stell is a drug addict and drag queen' in enormous letters on the brick of the kitchen wall." I can't even imagine trying to explain something like that to a child, but the thought of doing so cracks me up.  

* I love how Knisley illustrates  Grandpa coming to life through shared memories on page 14. 

* Little details like Lucy wearing her oven mitt while watching Sound of Music, how pickling can take over your life and home, the scariest miracle whip I've ever seen chasing after defenseless food things, (especially the broccoli's look of total doom), and the perfect croissant in a frame of equally perfect croissants. 

* Her small, but deeply-meaningful ode to McDonald's, where she mentions "comfort grease," and how "Anyone who can fail to rejoice in the enticing squish/crunch of a fast-food French fry, or the delight of a warmed piece of grocery-store donut, is living half a life." 

* The moment Knisley talks about how her mom worked the cheese counter while pregnant with her and perched big wheels of cheese on her pregnant belly. Included is a wonderful image depicting how Knisley was "imbued with a love of cultured dairy by sheer prenatal proximity." 

* Lastly, recipes! Adorably-illustrated recipes like chai and huevos rancheros. 

Knisley has it all - not only are her illustrations now etched into my food-loving soul (somehow she makes an illustration of a honey bear even better than the real-life honey bear), but her writing style, love of food, and humor have completely won me over. I'm ready to read and absorb everything she's ever written and illustrated.

Favorite January Reads Part 1

January was such a wonderful month for reading (two snow days helped) so this will be a double post. I enjoyed several great books and can only hope this means 2020 is going to be an awesome year for reading.

Favorite Recipes from Melissa Clark's Kitchen by Melissa Clark (adult nonfiction)

This recipe book has changed how we eat breakfast at my house. Prior to reading this we didn't put pesto or ricotta in our scrambled eggs or make heaps of garlicky chard (or any bitter greens) to go with our fried eggs. But these two things are now a breakfast must-have depending on how we want our eggs. The recipes are simple, easy-to-execute, and include a concise story, which I really like in a cookbook. Occasionally recipe introduction paragraphs can get really wordy or do not exist at all, so I'm thrilled Clark has included just the perfect amount of story for each recipe. My family and I are really enjoying making these recipes together and we cannot wait to try them all.

Voices and Poetry of Ireland (adult nonfiction)

I enjoyed both listening to the poems, which I did first, and then reading them. There were also lots of unknown words to look up, which I always enjoy.

Favorite poems and lines:

From "Speaking to My father" by Theo Dorgan: "How should I sit here and explain to his shade That, yes, this is the work I do you died for, This is the use I make of all that sacrifice, I move the words as you moved heavy tyres."

From "The Tree Speaks" by Cathal Ó Searcaigh (a tree is lamenting/rejoicing/accepting that it will be cut down the following day): "Everything I have stored in the marrow of memories will be destroyed..."

From "The View From Under the Table" by Paula Meehan: "The view from under the table was the best view and the table itself kept the sky from falling." And later in this poem, another line I love: "In the fridge, white ghosts. Black ghosts in the coal shed. In the bread bin, hungry ghosts."

Amazing Facts About Baby Animals by Maja Säfström (adult nonfiction)

I love Maja Säfström's unique approach to not only capturing animals in all their cute glory with her stunning illustrations, but also how she writes about them. I particularly enjoy how she imagines what the animals are saying. For example, the rhea, which is a related to an ostrich, incubate and take care of their chicks alone. The dialogue bubble above the rhea says, "Hey ladies, just leave your eggs with me, I'll take it from here. It's the least I can do!" I would wallpaper my home with the pages of this book if I could.

The Lido by Libby Page (adult fiction)

The Lido was equal parts quiet story and on-the-edge-of-my-seat page turner. Kate, a journalist assigned to cover the closing of a Lido in Brixton, forms this beautiful friendship with Rosemary, a lady who has been swimming at the lido her whole life (80+ years). Kate, who is struggling with loneliness and panic attacks, gets absorbed into Rosemary's circle of friends, and they even start swimming together every day. Kate decides to try and save the lido with the help of Rosemary, the Brixton community, and a photographer who works at the same paper as Kate. I loved how the friendships blossomed and how memories of Rosemary's loving marriage to her husband, George popped up here and there. This was definitely the quiet part of The Lido's story, and it offered much-needed respite from the constant anguish of not knowing whether the lido would close or remain open. I also really enjoyed the language and bookmarked several places. Page writes that George and Rosemary "were a couple, like the quotation marks around a sentence." When George and Rosemary married, Rosemary remembers thinking that "a small life was more than big enough for her if it had George in it, and if they could live in a flat by themselves where no one would bother them and they would be in each other's arms if they got woken by rain or dreams in the night." If you are looking for a read that feels like sitting down for tea with a new best friend but also takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, I highly recommend The Lido. You will laugh. You will cry. You will feel like you are getting the most wonderful, chlorine-scented hug ever.