See Spot Run!

If you are of a certain age you will remember the Dick and Jane books.

Years ago when Miss Is was just a wee girl

we visited Prince Edward Island

and met a very nice mother and daughter.

The mother sang the praises of the Dick and Jane books.

I was surprised because they seemed so repetitive and frankly, boring,

and so backward...

I did not want Isabel learning all about that pre-women's lib behavior;

I am such a child of the 70's.

Long story short, this woman went on and on about how the books helped her

daughter learned to read.

So I searched used book stores and found 7 or 8 books.

We read them together but they were boring, just as I remembered.

It was fun as a flashback,

but wasn't really the thing for me or Miss Is.

So we went back to our daily ritual of reading aloud two or three

wonderful books

with interesting stories

and beautiful illustrations.

And these books sat untouched on the bookshelves

for years and years.

Until the other day.

Miss Is is always buying and selling textbooks on Amazon

What a brilliant idea.

Often I am going to the post office for her

and then the Eureka moment!

Sell those Dick and Janes.

Check out the illustrations below

and see how

Dick and Jane grow

with each revision.

Within 24 hours I had sold one

then another 5 days later

and another 5 days later

The ones that sold were the revised Dick and Janes from the sixties:

the kids are grown up and

and

the vocabulary is a bit more advanced

and

the layout of the books was different.

So I guess that is why these were the first to sell.

Check out the names - just like Madmen!

except this mother seems a little more maternal.

I have four more listed on Amazon.

Bye Bye Dick and Jane

pomegranate season is ending.

oh i am sad.

for the last 3 months these delicious seeds have brightened up my cereal in taste and color

i am hoarding them now.

you can keep them in the fridge for a month or more.

and do you know the easiest way to decant the seeds?

cut in half

tap the outside edge with the back of a wooden spoon and presto the seeds tumble out into your bowl - tip courtesy nigella lawson.

and persephone

do you know that story+

6 pomegranates and doomed to hades for 1/2 the year - hence the dark winter -

But the end of pomegranate season means

that spring is on the way.

Another new year resolution, (which has been on my list for years now)

read Edith Hamilton's Mythology.

I read D'Auliers Book of Greek Myths to Miss Is as a little girl

and we read another book, Classic Myths to Read Aloud by William Russell

and we listened to myths on tape...

Perfect background for understanding all the references in her english, history and art history classes - As a student, my knowledge of mythology was sorely lacking...but there is always room to grow.

Writer's Almanac reports: It's the birthday of economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen, (books by this author) born in Cato, Wisconsin (1857). He was an economics professor at the young University of Chicago when, in 1899, he published his book The Theory of the Leisure Class,in which he coined the phrase "conspicuous consumption."

Veblen used the term in a sentence of his book like this: "Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure."

There is not too much conspicuous consumption these days - the pendulum has swung dramatically: so many are just trying hard to get by.

The Writer's Almanac is a wonderful way to start your day - so many things in life are free - read a poem, listen to the birds, watch the trees move in the wind and feel the sun on your face - now that's a great start to the day and it did not cost a penny! Enjoy your weekend.

To carry on with the Children's Book Week theme....

Have you ever read the Inchmark Journal by Brooke Reynolds?

It is wonderful...

Periodically, there is post on library books

Here are some sample pictures from a recent post.

I love to follow the small hands

and imagine these sweet children reading their library books.

Takes me back to the library visits with Miss Is.

Our public library is a terrific resource.

library book photos from Inchmark Journal

Last season, I made these terrific frames and memento boards...

piles of books with titles like Good Night Moon

and

the wonderful zzzzzzzzz

I have lots of this fabric left

and

I have a great idea

I am going to make library book bags

a great way to tote all those great picture books home

and

a great way to keep them organized at home so they do not go missing...

more to come...

a summer project.

Finally, to end Children's Book Week, I toast my Hermione!

WELL DONE!!!

WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.^®

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor is one of my favorite sites. Every morning I am greeted with a poem and then a few interesting stories about authors. I highly recommend this daily morning ritual - what better way to start the day... a few of the poems have made it to my office wall... a little inspiration goes a long way.

And here is another daily read via little augury - read this book in daily installments courtesy of Diane Von Furstenburg ... no excuses for not reading a book - just catch snippets at your desk while you are reading other e-mail - it is like a piece of candy...

It's that time again

another installment 

from Maira Kalman's

Pursuit of Happiness

click here

or get a taste from below

Curiosity is the key to a wonderful life

and don't forget to take good, long walks

and reading

lots of summer reading planned

image: Maira Kalman, Elements of Style

Despite the snow, I was able to attend a fascinating lecture on Tuesday night.

Subject: Lincoln

Presented by Lincoln biographer: Ronald C. White, Jr.

A few interesting tidbits:

Lincoln had a great ear for poetry 

and a great ear for words.

For him, words equaled actions.

An important part of his writing and revision process 

was to read his speeches aloud, very slowly.

He also wrote regularly on small scraps of paper

 and tucked the scraps here, there and everywhere,

 in places like his hat, or a book or the pigeon hole in his desk. 

Children read aloud regularly in school until the 1920's.

So why don't they read aloud in school now?

Every parent is encouraged to read aloud to their children.

Just the other day, I read a letter from a writer to an aspiring writer:

here are the recommendations:

"write as much as possible, in as many ways as possible.

When your write, read it aloud before you submit it."

Just like Lincoln

and many other great writers before him.

I read to my daughter every night for years starting when she was a baby.

 We began with the Mother Goose rhymes.

a few pages a night at bedtime,

going through the whole book, then starting again.

Gradually, we moved on to Good Night Moon

and other picture books - 3 per night until the stories were too long - 

then we opted for just one per night or maybe two.

Our final read aloud book was the first Harry Potter.

When I got laryngitis and had to stop reading aloud for a day or two

miss is decided to finish on her own and hasn't stopped reading since.