i adore children's books

I tried out this service tonight. It's pretty cool. You can view a large collection of children's books before you buy them (or decide not to). They don't have every book, and at times the text can be too small to read, but you really can read the entire book and see all the illustrations.

I think children's picture books are too often dismissed as for the under five crowd. Not only are they filled with beautiful art, but simple, yet important messages.

Lookybook is free to sign up. I think in addition to helping you find a new favorite book, it would also be great if you found yourself in need of entertaining a child on a rainy day.

on the night stand :: Zoe Sophia in New York

eleven years goes by so fast

Eleven years ago today, B went out with his friend to the Stanford bookstore. They were supposed to by a Mac. Instead, B came home with a copy of Photoshop (or was it Page Maker?) and a cow. How very Jack in the Beanstalk of him.

When he arrived home several hours later, he was ringing. Or rather the bag he was carrying was. When I asked what he had in there, he pulled out a black and white stuffed cow. She had a red and white ribbon around her neck, and attached to the ribbon was a bell.

The cow was included free with his purchase. It is a holiday promotion the bookstore was running.

He said she was for me. I named her Molly, and except for part of the first summer I spent in Austin, she has been on my pillow (or should I say her pillow) ever since.

We did have to remove her bell. It actually started to turn green. But beyond that, she still looks the same.

Molly is far from an ordinary cow. She has a blog of her own, although she hasn't been writing much. Instead she is working with her buddy, Zero (aka Browniecow) on another site where they will review children's books. Stay tuned.

on the night stand :: Spatulatta Cookbook

meeting mo willems

Since nothing really exciting happened today, it seemed like a good day to post about the Mo Willems' book signing I attended back in September. We had missed an opportunity to meet him when he was in Wisconsin (when we were in Chicago), so I really really didn't want to miss him this time around. In fact, in my moleskin planner, I wrote down every book signing he was doing on the western coast. Because this was around the same time B was interviewing in Seattle, I almost scheduled it so we would have caught him several times. Alas, that didn't work out. And in some ways it is probably just as well. B looked at my calendar and said anyone who didn't know might think that I was stalking the poor man. If anything had happened to him, I would have been a suspect.

We ended up seeing him in Irvine at A Whale of a Tale. There was a pretty good turnout, but not too large that things had to be moved outside. All the kids who came, sat down in front. Mo Willems really played to the kids. He read the new Knuffle Bunny book(it's K-nuffle, just FYI) and then took some questions. He reminded the kids that a question was not raising your hand and saying 'I have a pony.'

One kid asked if Mo had written Sponge Bob Square Pants. Mo laughed and said that he hadn't, adding that if had, he wouldn't be here. [The thing that brought him here and keeps him writing is his mortgage.] Another asked about his daughter. Apparently his daughter likes when kids ask about her.

Someone asked about the art in the Knuffle Bunny books. For those of you that haven't seen them, they are photographs with drawings. In the second Knuffle Bunny book there is an amazing spread of one of the circles in New York City at night. Mo explained that he took the photo in the middle of the night from the top of the Public Library. He didn't say how he repaid them for letting them be his tripod.

He also said that there is a lot removed from the photographs of Brooklyn. Things like trash cans and window box air conditioning units. It takes a lot of work.

He also read from one of the new Elephant and Piggy books. These are geared towards kids learning to read. He noted that they are especially hard, because the words he can use are limited.

We talked to him briefly during the signing. We mentioned that we were big fans of his show on The Cartoon Network,
Sheep in the Big City. He said that we were about 80% of the fan base. How sad. No one appreciates a good oxymoron any more.

In case you aren't aware of who Mo Willems is, in addition to writing children's books, he won several Emmy's for his work on Sesame Street. Two of his book are Caldecott Honor books. Here are some to check out:

Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late
Knuffle Bunny
You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons
Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct

He also has a website:

Mo Willems
Pigeon Presents
Mo's Blog


on the night stand :: Knuffle Bunny Too

an evening with jenna bush

Background Note: I am a democrat, but I did live in Austin, Texas for five years. During that time Jenna and her twin sister, Barbara, were in high school and then college (Jenna stayed on at UT while her sister headed east to Yale). Their dad was the still the governor of Texas and they attended public high school. They were notorious for getting in trouble, usually for trying to drink beer at Chuy's, a fairly famous Austin tex-mex eatery.

I attended this event mostly because I was curious. I never bumped into any of the Bush clan when I lived there. It is also nice to see someone turn things around. Or at least try.

The event was hosted by a small children's bookstore in Irvine, just across the street from UCI. It is called A Whale of a Tale. This is where we picked up the last installment of Harry Potter over the summer. The store was around when I attended UCI, but back then all my money for books was going to text books, so I don't think I shopped there.

To attend the book signing part of the event, you needed a ticket, which essentially was a copy of the book purchased from the bookstore. Anyone could attend the lecture, which was held outside in the courtyard. Seating was on a first come, first serve basis.

I received several email messages about the event. They updated the details as they became available. There were to be no questions. We could take photographs but no posed pictures. And for security reasons, no large bags, strollers, and all that jazz.

I would guess there were probably 150 people or so in attendance. I am never good at estimating crowds though, so I could be off. It was a mix of ages, although honestly I didn't see many of the 14-18 year-olds that the book is targeted. There were young children, and many of them were invited to sit up front, which Jenna pointed out and appreciated.

We were told to arrive by 5pm, if we wanted a good seat. We didn't make it over there until about 5:30 and so ended up snagging seats in the last row. We actually had to pull up our own chairs.

Security was pretty intense. In addition to the shopping center's security, members of the Irvine Police joined forces with the Secret Service. Everyone who had a book signed, had to empty their pockets and everyone was wanded. I attended a book signing in Chicago for President Carter, and things were not this tight. Really.

The good thing is that things started promptly at 6pm. The owner of the bookstore introduced Ms. Bush and thanked those that had made the event possible, among them the Irvine Company and In 'N Out. Then it was on with the show.

Jenna thanked everyone for coming. It sounded like she had made earlier visits to two local schools that day, and was pretty impressed by the turnout here. Jenna's friend, Mia Baxter, is responsible for the photography in the book, and was also in attendance, but was "hiding as she usually does."

Jenna talked briefly about how after her days in Austin she headed to DC and taught elementary school. Then she joined UNICEF and found herself traveling the globe. It was fairly clear that she was a bit shell shocked by the conditions she found in Latin America. She described how there were areas with beautiful homes just around the corner from the shantytowns where peoples homes consisted of scrap metal and wood.

When she met Ana, she knew little about her aside that she had been infected with the HIV virus at birth and was now a teenage mother. She learned more, including that Ana had lost both parents and her sister to the disease and that it was dangerous for her to share her status with most. Jenna was most impressed by the fact that despite all the hardship Ana had endured, she had such a positive outlook and tried to not dwell on the bad.

The book is written for the teen audience, so I tried to keep that in mind as I listened to Jenna. There has been much criticism of the book because it is written in simple language. The chapters are short and number over 100. One of the things that bothered me was that when she talked about how it was dangerous for people to reveal their HIV status, she mentioned that they could be stoned - "when people throw stones at them." I wasn't sure if she thought people might think of the other definition - being high - or if she really didn't understand the severity of stoning and that it usually results in death.

Part of Ms. Bush's mission in writing this book is to educate; she also hopes to motivate people, especially teens, to get involved. The end of the book, like her talk, includes action people can take to make a difference. The goal seemed to be to let people know that it doesn't take much, but again, it felt very dumbed down and over simplified.

I actually worked with n-stage AIDS patients back in the early 90's. Ironically it was one of the few jobs I could find after college. It is probably one of the more difficult jobs I ever had. Even in the US, even in San Francisco, there is still a stigma attached with this disease. All of my clients were gay men, but they were three of the most different people I had ever met.

Jenna did read from the book. She pointed out that the chapters she read seem very depressing. She wanted to assure us that it does get better and that there is hope. I actually look forward to reading the book. Many of the reviews are more a review of Jenna's father, and I honestly think that is very unfair. I think there are few of us who would like to be judged by our father's behavior.


on the night stand :: Ana's Story: A Story of Hope

losses

There was a break-in at our storage space in Emeryville. They stole about 30 boxes of stuff. Then they closed up the space and put another lock on it. We weren't the only victims-there were several others. It isn't clear exactly when it happened. The whole incident is still very upsetting. I am trying not to take it personally.

We lost many books. I have no idea who would steal books, or why. Resale isn't great. I just don't get it.

We also lost some Christmas ornaments. One of them is pictured above. We bought that at Anthropologie. Something to brighten up the house in LA. I hung them from the chandelier to be funny. It looked like they were swimming about. Of course, I took them down when B's parents came. And into the box, which was placed in storage, and which is now who knows where.

Another one that I packed away was from Smith and Hawken. They brought back the limited edition, hand painted ornaments based on works of art. They come in little wooden crates. They had stopped doing them for a few years and I was so excited to see them back.

Much of what was taken were things that we had bought in this last year to help keep us sane. To make us feel at home, even though we lacked a true place to call home.

In some ways I was planning ahead. Preparing for our home. It was a sign that I hadn't given up hope. I bought a framed print of an Asian woman with a Chicken. I got it at Builder's Booksource in Berkeley. It was a birthday present to myself. I had also seen one of her prints in the bathroom at Lovejoy's Tea Room. That one had the same woman and a baby in it.

We broke the glass taking it down to LA. I then brought it back up north and had the glass fixed at Cheap Pete's. We then decided to put it in storage for safe keeping. I don't even know the name of the artist.

Then there were the rooster cups. I saw them in the Sur La Table catalog and had been lusting after them. We needed something to drink out of, so I called a dozen Sur La Table stores to find them. They shipped me eight from Arizona and then they went on sale, so I think I bought two more at a local store.

I also ordered the matching teapot and creamer and sugar bowl when they went on sale. The teapot arrived without a lid. I called and then sent me another teapot. So I have one complete teapot, one without a lid, a sugar bowl and a creamer. I have no cups.

These were marking Kellogg's 100th anniversary. They were big white mugs with a simple red cutout of the rooster. They were great for tea.

As I mentioned, the bulk of what was taken was books and CD's. I was so good about using Vox to catalog the things I packed away in Chicago, but got lazy when we came to California. I don't have the heart to look and see what is in LA and do a matchup to conclude what is gone. I fear for Mr Pusskins (and many of my other children's books).

I also think the book, Why Moms are Weird, that Pamie signed for me at the Borders in San Francisoc, may be among the lost. Again, who steals books!!

The other side of this is that these folks may be more than just looking for household items to stock their home. There is the possibility they are looking to be far sinister. Before we realized this B got a call from one of his credit card companies that someone had tried to use his card. Thankfully the charge didn't go through. Then he got a call from his bank, which is Internet only, that someone used his ATM card in Mexico City. What was bizarre is that he a)had the card and b)didn't know the number himself as it isn't on any paper and everything on line simply refers to the last four digits only. Everyone suspected it to be a case where the card data was literally swiped and then put into a fake card.

To make matters more strange, the card that was used is also the one linked to pay for the storage unit. Since B had to get a new number, he went to the storage space to give them the new information. While he was there no one mentioned the break ins that had been happening. It never crossed our minds that this could be the issue. And it still remains unclear if this is all just random, and our number was just up.

We have taken precautions to try and prevent anything further from happening. More fun days spent on the phone. B had to have at least two forms notorized. One cost him $10 to do so. Life can seem so unfair sometimes. Still though, I try to see the bright side:

I will leave you with this quote from Superhero (who I randomly bumped into at the drugstore of all places the day before I realized this all happened):

It makes me of think of that quote from Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies:


“Carolyn Myss, the medical intuitive who writes and lectures about why people don’t heal, flew to Russia a few years ago to give some lectures. Everything that could go wrong did-flights were cancelled or overbooked, connections missed, her reserved room at the hotel given to someone else. She kept trying to be a good sport, but finally, two mornings later, on the train to her conference on healing, she began to whine at the man sitting beside her about how infuriating her journey had been thus far.

It turned out that this man worked for the Dalai Lama. And he said-gently-that they believe when a lot of things are going wrong all at once, it is to protect something big and lovely that is trying to get itself born-and that this something needs for you to be distracted so that it can be born as perfectly as possible.”

The above is from here.


on the nightstand :: Glimpses of Grace by Madeleine L'Engle (who died today)

new blogger

I hope this works. So far it has been pretty painless. Essentially I typed my gmail account information and waited two minutes.

Actually, I am in the early stages of creating a new blog. This one will have a specific purpose - reviewing children's books. I have wanted to do this for a while, but you know how these things can go.

It seems like a good time though. I certainly have enough books to review. It won't actually be "me" doing the reviews, but two cows. They have very distinct tastes and personalities, so it should be interesting to see what happens. They each already have blogs, but it has been a while since they updated.

On that note I should get cracking.


on the night stand :: The Library Lion