Reviews : )

 Poetry Unbound edited by Pádraig Ó Tuama (Adult Nonfiction - Poetry)

Prior to reading this anthology, I hadn’t heard of Pádraig Ó Tuama or his podcast. I was thrilled by the poetry he selected for this anthology and found myself even enjoying his commentary. At the beginning Pádraig Ó Tuama writes, “... every time a poet writes a poem, they give a shade of themselves a voice.” This is one of those rare books where I was placing sticky notes on the commentary as much as I was specific lines of poetry and favorite poems. My favorite poems from this collection are “Worm” by Gail McConnell and “Why You Missed that Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade” by Brad Aaron Modlin.

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain (Adult Fiction)

Heartbreaking but oh so hopeful and sweet. Albert, a postman who lives a lonely and fearful life, loses his only companion, his cat, Gracie. He realizes he can no longer continue living without friendship, connection, and answers to what happened to his long lost love, George. 

He discovers so much on his journey to find George - friends, people who need him as much he needs them, and most importantly, he discovers himself. His journey to feel comfortable and proud openly embracing himself is at times incredibly painful. But there’s so much hope. 

At first his progress feels slow as he is mired in grief over losing Gracie. Then he just takes off in a whirlwind of happiness and self-acceptance, and the reader knows that whether he finds George or not, Albert is going to be just fine. Included in the back are conversations Matt Cain had with real people who inspired Albert’s story. These stories are incredibly tough to read but bring so much depth and thoughtfulness to Albert’s story, in addition to awareness of those who really lived Albert’s life. 

Mrs. Peanuckle's Bug Alphabet by Mrs. Peanuckle and illustrated by Jessie Ford (Board Book)

After reading Mrs. Peanuckle's Ocean Alphabet, I've been scooping up all the books in this series and reading them with extreme excitement. I love them! The Bug Alphabet is at the top of my favorites list and includes beautiful illustrations (Check out the Elephant Hawk-Moth!) and delightful facts like how some people eat bugs like grasshoppers and yellow mealworms (Not me though!). I was also overjoyed to see the rhino beetle, which is one of my favorite beetles.

Mrs. Peanuckle's Flower Alphabet by Mrs. Peanuckle (Board Book)

Delightful, informative, and beautifully illustrated. My favorite flower from this book is yarrow, because "it has lots of funny names: little feather, nosebleed plant, old man's pepper, seven years love, and woundwart."

Darwin's Super-pooping Worm Spectacular by Polly Owen and illustrated by Gwen Millward (Nonfiction Picture Book)

If the title, "Darwin's Super-pooping Worm Spectacular" doesn't make you laugh out loud, reading about Darwin's obsession with worms is guaranteed to bring you much laughter. Weird, utterly captivating, and hilarious are three words that came to mind while reading this. Darwin knows worms must have a superpower, and his journey to figure out their superpower is a wild ride that involves playing music for worms, offering them strange things to eat, and enthusiastic worm narrators who provide a lot of helpful worm commentary.

Romance & Beetles

My latest collage has completely consumed me and all of my free time the last few weeks.  Today I finished it!  No pictures yet, because I haven't sealed it, but I have some other lovely things to share.

Last weekend Robert and I travelled to Hermann to be a part of his sister Abby's proposal.  She said yes!  It was a special weekend with a lot of family time, relaxing, and drinking copious amounts of sparkling grape juice.  

On the way to Hermann (but not really on the way), we stopped to see dad, who was having a garage sale.  It was a short and hot visit, but so good to see him.

Robert and I stayed at the Inn at Hermanoff, which was adorable.  The room was beautiful and quiet, and I enjoyed the rare opportunity to stay in a Bed & Breakfast.

Robert and I had a little time to walk around town the evening we drove in.  Everything was closed (a lot of shop hours are 10-2), but we enjoyed the beautiful town and all the interesting architecture and gardens.  Mostly we enjoyed watching this squirrel lay down and eat a peach.  

Robert's sister, Abby got engaged.  Her now fiancé, with the help of project coordinator, Jennifer (sister) planned a really thoughtful proposal that included a dozen family members from Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Washington D.C.  

From left (here we go!): Me, Robert, Lou (Jennifer's boyfriend), sister Jennifer, Riley (Teddy's fiancé - they just got engaged about a month ago), brother Teddy, Joseph (the mastermind of this family gathering and Abby's fiancé), sister Abby, Suzy (mom of Jennifer, Abby, and Teddy), Doris (Joseph's mom), Felipe (Joseph's stepdad), Larry (dad of Jennifer, Abby, Teddy, and Robert), and Larry's wife, Ruth.  Whew!

We visited three wineries in one day and were easily the biggest crowd of people in Hermann.  That's a whole lot of love and support for two very special people.  So cheesy and sweet and wonderful.

All the siblings and their partners:

While we were in Hermann I gave Jennifer a gift I've been working on for a couple years.  

I spent a ridiculous amount of time finding beetley beads and buttons.  I spent even more time sewing them on.  And then it took an expert time to frame it.  Definitely the longest I've spent with an embroidery piece.      

If you're wondering about that déjà vu feeling you're having, it's because this is the second beetle I've made Jennifer.  She may be having regrets about telling me she loves beetles.  But no matter, she's too nice to say anything.  It's only a matter of time before I find a bead that looks like the perfect beetle head...

Reviews

Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends by Kaz Windness (Juvenile Graphic Novel)

I appreciate how this series has a spread that introduces readers to comics, which early reader graphic novels do not always have. This book was very sweet with a great lesson about how our best friendships are often with others who are different from ourselves. I thought the text flowed well, and the font was bold and easy-to-read. The illustrations were fun, quirky, and powerful enough to make me a little teary when caterpillar is inside the pupa and worm doesn't understand what's going on or what happened to his friend. I will definitely be recommending this book to kids and am hopeful this is the beginning of a series.

October, October by Katya Balen and illustrated by Angela Harding (Juvenile Fiction)

I was thrilled to be plopped right in the middle of October’s world, living off the grid with her Dad, enjoying all their tender and beautiful rituals. I was equally devastated when October was ripped from that world due to a tragic accident and thrown into the chaos of living in London with a mother she didn’t know. The writing is dense, poetic, and a little bit wild just like October. October is such a lovable, resilient character who eventually finds a tiny wild niche on the shores of The River Thames mudlarking with new friends.

Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme by Avery Monsen and illustrated by Abby Hanlon (Picture Book)

This hilarious book will encourage readers to help Chester Van Chime to match up sounds. If you're not hollering out the rhyming words with each of his attempts to rhyme, it's because you are laughing too hard to say anything.

Fire Chief Fran by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (Picture Book)

I loved spending a shift with Fran as she raced to help others. I enjoyed reading about the variety of emergencies her fire department responded to and also learning about what she did during her "down" time, which included training, giving a tour of the fire station, and exercising. Included in the back is an exciting fact page about firefighting. You can read about the different kinds of calls firefighters respond to, whether fire stations have poles, the different uniforms firefighters wear, and a lot of other fascinating information. 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley (Adult Fiction)

At first, I thought Patrick needed more parenting than his niece, Masie and nephew, Grant. In his defense, the sudden guardianship of these two kids comes without any warning. Patrick has a lot of growing up to do, but I found myself sending silent encouragements and hoping he could handle the enormous task of taking care of two children who lose their mom to cancer and their Dad to drug rehab (but only for three months and the kids don’t know this last part). 

I think I was rooting for Patrick because his love for the kids was present in his actions, and he had clever ideas and didn’t talk down to the kids. Most importantly, he was involved every step of the way. He didn’t find a nanny or ignore the kids. Having said all that, my feelings were all over the place. Everyone was lugging around a lot of grief and trying to process it with each other. This coupled with the weight of uncertainty created a lot of angst and sometimes turmoil for me. Thankfully, there is so much humor here. Yes, his conversations with the kids were at times appalling, uncomfortable, and inappropriate, but sometimes this had me laughing uncontrollably. 

Their family was incredibly messy with big problems, tragedy galore, and adults who didn’t have it together at all. But there is so much love here, and I think that love shines on every page. My favorite moment happened when Patrick received the note from a couple at the restaurant telling him, “Every parent has these days. You’re very good with them. Your breakfast is on us.” Though this moment was particularly lovely, there were many lovely, real-life moments like this where I wondered just how much of this book was plucked from truth.

Zen Circles

This latest piece is available on Etsy.  I had a lot of fun watching these two circles meet each other.  

a relaxing day with the exception of the copperhead

We are wrapping up a two-day weekend, which doesn't happen very often for us.  We spent Saturday hiking, working on personal projects, and ending the day with a much-anticipated board game I bought for Robert's birthday back in June (USPS: The Great American Mail Race).  It took over a month to get here!

We started our day at Dutch Bros and became instant fans because look at these pupachinos!

Our hike was beautiful, humid, muddy, a little scary, hilarious, and peaceful.  I walked away with blisters from swinging sticks to keep spiderwebs and their spiders out of our faces.  

Though it took a few tries to call the girls away from this charming copperhead, he calmly tolerated their dancing steps.  The dogs had no idea what was beneath their feet!  We got so lucky!  I barely had the word, "snake" out of my mouth before Robert disappeared, scrambling through the woods back to the car.  Without me and my spider stick to protect him!

These two rocks together gave me another chuckle.

I picked out my next embroidery project.  I am currently working on four and have two coming out of timeout for another look.  But there's always room for another project!

The game was worth the wait!  Robert had a good time winning, and I had a good time drinking tea and enjoying his return to grace after the hike.

Book Reviews!

Bringing Heart and Mind into Storytime by Heather McNeil (Adult Nonfiction)

I’m not sure I’ve ever used songs for a storytime from a book that I’m not even done with, but that’s what I did while reading this. I couldn’t wait! I loved a couple songs from this book SO much, I found myself singing them pretty much nonstop. I instantly connected with Heather McNeil’s storytime style. While my storytimes are slightly different, and I’ve never been able to have serious conversations with a puppet, I’m always looking for ways to incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL) into my storytimes. Heather McNeil goes above and beyond delivering all kinds of exciting plans, songs, books, and ideas relating to social-emotional learning. This is a book you will highlight, cover with sticky notes, and carry with you so it’s ready to read any time you’ve got a spare moment.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (Adult Nonfiction)

I enjoyed this in both book and audiobook format. Both are excellent! Though the early stories are just as charming and hilarious as the rest of the book, I thought this was one of those books that gets better and better as you go. I read it slowly until about halfway through, and then I couldn’t put it down. Herriot’s attention to detail is outstanding and incredibly immersive. The passion he has for Yorkshire, his job, and his life is deeply evident, whether he’s describing the remote and beautiful Yorkshire landscape or the vibrant characters, both animal and human. He not only looks at everything with the perspective of a writer, he also has a wonderful sense of humor and timing. Though his exasperation is evident during his humorous trials with both the Yorkshire people and animals, he sees the value of the humor, even when it’s at his expense. I don’t read many books that are this long, so I’ll be the first to admit I was skeptical when I began listening to this hefty book. But there is nothing but treasure here. The pages will slip by too fast.

Stirring the Mud by Barbara Hurd (Adult Nonfiction)

A quote from this book: 

"The mud of the swamp reminds me of what I daily forget: something is always stirring, nuzzling, and trying to lick us into shape. We are more malleable than we know, more flexible and lithe, still 90 percent water, still pliant enough to be stirred, congealed into something we can only guess at. This notion of our concrete selves-I, you, they-as beings within our rigid armor, it’s all clumsy, a brittle scaffolding.”

How to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander & Deanna Nikaido and illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Nonfiction Picture Book)

The first thing you see when you open this book is a wonderful snippet of a Nikki Giovanni poem. I thought, how is it going to get better than that? Giovanni's poem is either the wheel or connector or both, but it propels this book into a beautiful exploration of writing poetry. The journey is all sorts of profound, and at times I fell off the bicycle and had to go back a few pages to rediscover the connection. I'm glad I read this straight through, but it was an entirely different journey to write the words out like a poem on one page. Try it! But also return to the book too. You won't be able to read it just once. Your mind will be chirring like the wheels of a bicycle as you ride these pages and their beautiful illustrations again and again. 

Beneath by Roland Smith (Juvenile Fiction)

Beneath is an intense adventure story for kids looking for a thriller they won’t be able to put down. I highly urge you to make sure you have the second book ready to read after you finish this, because there is absolutely no resolution at the end! Though it’s only a two-book series, I think that’s about all my heart can take. I really connected with the main character, Pat. Just like Pat, I had an older brother I idolized, and he was a charmer just like Pat’s brother, Coop. But Coop is his own character. He’s eccentric with interesting habits and an unstoppable desire to dig holes and disappear into tunnels. When Coop disappears in New York City, Pat sets out to find him. This begins a dangerous journey beneath New York City, and both brothers have to fight to survive if they ever want to make it to the surface alive.

I Spy

It's time to play I Spy - Josie style!  How many toys do you spy buried beneath Miss Jo Pie?