All posts by Abby

Etc.

Wreaths

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Thursday morning before work, I took a nice long walk outside (something I haven’t done much of this winter, due to the constantly icy roads).  As I walked, I saw one Christmas wreath after another still hung on people’s front doors.  And those stupid little icicle lights hanging off gutters.  And ropes of Christmas greenery strung around poles and porch posts.

To quote a woman we met in Nantucket one February:  “Helll-looo – Christmas is O-VER!!“ 

Please, for the sake of incoming spring and Abby’s sanity, please take down those Christmas decorations.  Please???

Feltboard, Storytime

Where’s Spot, part 2

I meant to bring my camera yesterday and get photos of the additional felt pieces I’ve made for Where’s Spot by Eric Hill, but, of course, forgot.  But today’s post is more about the process of presenting this story in felt, because yesterday’s storytime was an excellent example of how a felt story can spark something in younger kids in a way that a story in print doesn’t.

For yesterday’s storytime, I loosened up my presentation of the felt story considerably, and did more of a storytelling/felt presentation than a precise retelling of the story.  I paid attention to the reactions of the kids, and drew out the suspense more than I do when using the book (I should note that I’ve used this book more times than I can count for storytimes, since it never seems to get stale for the kids).  It was amazing to watch their expressions as the story progressed, and to see how completely and totally involved they were in the story.  Very, very cool.

And the best part was that in the Quiet Time section of the storytime, which came right after the feltboard story, all of the kids chose to read Where’s Spot with their parents.  Every single one of them.  (Good thing I had multiple copies available!)  So seeing and hearing the story in a felt version actually inspired all of the kids to go back to the original print version of the story – who could ask for more than that?

Feltboard, Spare time - Culture, Storytime

Where’s Spot?

My longest-running felt board story project is the pieces for Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill.  I spent hours upon hours on several of the pieces last spring, and added one more piece last fall, and now have to scramble to finish off the pieces in time for the “Peek, Peek, Hide-and-Seek” toddler storytime this week.  These are tough to make because I’m trying to duplicate a lift-the-flap book in felt: it uses a LOT of felt, and requires a lot of patient gluing to keep the inner parts from sticking to the flaps.

So here are a few of the pieces from my collection – the staircase (with lion inside the under-stair closet) and the bed (with crocodile hiding under the bedskirt) are quite large and safely stored at the library, and so are not shown here.  Note that the left photo is the pieces as they are shown first (“Is he in the clock?”), and the right photo shows the pieces with the flap lifted; click on images to enlarge:

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Above are Spot’s mommy, Sally, the door with the bear behind it, the clock with the snake in in it, the closet with the monkey in it, and the piano with the hippo in it.  Still to be created are the box with the three penguins, the rug with the turtle underneath, the basket with Spot, and Spot and Sally’s food bowls.  Stay tuned for those photos!

Storytime

Funny, that

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One more bit of proof that the way we see ourselves isn’t the way the world sees us:

Halfway through a recent Mother Goose on the Loose storytime, a mother new to the storytime asked me, “Wow – when you interviewed for this job, did you have to do a singing audition?”

Me, with a laugh, “Actually, before this job I never, ever sang publicly.”

The mom:  “But you have a beautiful singing voice!!”

Book groups, Children's book reviews

Ranger’s Apprentice

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For last week’s Teen Book Group, we read The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan, first in the Ranger’s Apprentice series.  I’d been meaning to read this book for a while, just so I could know what the kids are so excited about (the series is extremely popular at the library), but hadn’t gotten around to it until C. suggested it as a book group book.  And now I am completely and totally hooked, and have read the first three books in the series (The Ruins of Gorlan, The Burning Bridge, The Ice-Bound Land) and am on my way to pick up the fourth book, The Battle For Skandia.

What’s so great about these books?  I’ll admit that they’re not the best-written or best-edited books ever, but that’s not what they purport to be: they’re bestsellers, and proud of it, and better written than many bestsellers that I’ve read.  Flanagan is a master of drama and plot, and also does a great job creating and developing his characters.  I love that his characters have very real flaws, like Halt, the adult who should know better, encouraging young Horace to beat up the bullies who had been tormenting him.  And his characters grow and develop and surprise even themselves (think Horace at the end of book two here).

But what I love most about this series is that Flanagan doesn’t fall into the Harry Potter trap of structuring each book the same way (i.e., each of the Harry Potter books covered one year of school at Hogwarts).  Flanagan could easily have had each of his books cover a year of Will’s apprenticeship, with each year culminating in a Big Battle of some sort, but instead he wisely chose to write the series as one adventure leading into the next.  Without giving too much away, I was pleased to see that Will and Halt are not existing as apprentice and master at the end of the third book; they are separated, and the story is the better for it.  I can’t guess where we’re headed in the fourth book, and that makes me want to read it even more (now I understand the frustration of the series’ fans who know the next book has been published in Australia, but not yet here in the U.S.).

The Teen Book Group also loved The Ruins of Gorlan, and several of the book group members have become hooked on the series.  We unanimously agreed that the books are engaging, fun, and exciting, and we all thanked C. for recommending them.  The group’s only complaint?  The cover art is too dull and doesn’t draw you in.  After much discussion, we decided that the cover art for the British versions of the books is by far the best (the Australian covers are too young, the American covers are too dark and boring).  Bad cover art, though, is a pretty minor flaw, and it was refreshing to have found a book that we could all agree on and enjoy.  And now it’s time for me to go pick up that fourth book…

Etc.

Thankfulness

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These days, it feels like we’re all living in a state of near-terror, as budgets crash and job disappear.  So here is a list of things that I’m thankful for, the small things that make life wonderful:

  • The sunshine streaming through our windows on a greyish March day
  • The deciduous trees that keep that same sunshine from coming into our house in the heat of summer
  • Jim
  • Ophy, the fat n’ fluffy sweetie pie lovebug of a cat
  • Pippa, the bit too skinny now but still beautiful lap slut of a cat
  • Our woodstove
  • Books
  • Scrabble games with Jim, even though I usually lose
  • Those a-ha moments for the students I tutor, when a new mental door opens up for them
  • The unadulterated smiles on the faces of the babies at the infant storytime
  • Being called “My Abby” by one of the toddlers who frequents the library
  • Discussions about books and reading with the elementary school kids who like to chat with me after school
  • The heart-pumping buzz of shoveling the driveway in a snowstorm
  • Dark chocolate
  • Mark T. Wendell Formosa Keemun Tea (try it, it’s the best)
  • Snuggling under loads of blankets on a cold winter night; warm everywhere but for the cold nose
  • Listening to Jim’s guitar
  • A fresh sweet orange in the middle of winter

Once you get started with a thankful list, it’s hard to stop…add your own list in the comments…

Etc.

Oh, the hair

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Serious book-related posts are put aside for today.  Today, it’s all about the hair.

I’ve been going to the same hairdresser, Mary, for about fifteen years.  Or maybe even longer, I’ve lost track at this point.  She’s almost exactly the same age as I am, just a couple of months older, so I was really happy for her when she told me she was pregnant with her first child.  And then, after I was happy for her, the reality of this situation for my little selfish self sunk in.  Pregnancy means maternity leave.  Maternity leave means Abby’s hair goes to pot.

Jim and I are very frugal people.  We work long hours, and spend most of our free time fixing up the house ourselves or reading books taken out of the library or playing guitar (Jim) or surfing the web or watching DVDs taken out of the library (we don’t even have cable TV) – you get the idea.  We don’t spend money on frivolous things.  Except for one frivolous thing:  my hair.  I’ve offered to give it up, but Jim, who has to look at me on a regular basis, has pleaded that I please continue taking care of my hair.  “It’s more professional,” he’ll argue, but I know that he also prefers me as a blonde.

I was a bit younger than I am now when Jim and I met, and still a blonde.  Shortly before our wedding, Mary suggested that I might want to get highlights for the wedding, and I did, and they were fabulous.  I looked like a movie star (in my own mind, at least), and I was hooked.  They’re expensive, though, so I usually wait way way longer to get my highlights done than I should (Mary always chastises me about my dark roots), but oh how wonderful it is when I’ve got fresh highlights.  Some might argue that I should color my hair myself, but those people don’t know how incredibly clutzy I am.  I don’t blow-dry my hair or use mousse, because I can’t handle it.  Back in college, my friend Mieke once asked me to cut her bangs for her, and I ended up snipping her ear – lots of blood.  The idea of me applying permanent hair dye to my own head…scary.

So I’ve been in a dark roots dilemma recently.  The hair is looking worse and worse, and I’ve been torn about what to do.  Mary is on maternity leave until early April.  I’d love to have Joe, one of the salon’s owners, do my highlights (he did those first pre-wedding highlights for me), but I don’t want to hurt the feelings of George, the other salon owner, who usually answers the phone there and knows my voice.  “I can stick it out!” I tell myself, then I catch a glimpse in the mirror and those freakish roots jump out at me, screaming, “We look terrible!  Terrible, I tell you!!!”

Last night my sister coached me through which hair color to buy, convincing me that I can do this.  Then Jim came home from band practice and looked horrified at the thought of me dyeing my own hair.  “Just call and make an appointment with Joe,” he told me, “and if you get George, explain to him that Joe did your hair once before and it looked great and you’d like to try him again.”

But when it came time to make the appointment today, I botched it all up.  George answered, I made the appointment with Joe, forgot my carefully rehearsed line that Jim had written for me, and ended up hurting George’s feelings.  It was obvious – he usually says hi to me on the phone and asks how I’m doing, but today he just confirmed my appointment and said goodbye.  I feel terrible.  Maybe I should have just stuck it out with the dark roots; it would have been better than hurting George’s feelings.

There are days when I wish I didn’t worry so much about other people’s feelings.  Life would be a lot easier if I could just bulldoze through without caring.  And I certainly wouldn’t have miserable looking hair today.  Sigh.

Storytime

Artwork

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As promised a while back, here are two photos of artwork created by the preschool storytime.  In the first photo, you see two examples of the confetti explosion project (black paper) next to the two murals created in the free painting project.  In the second photo, you can see a close-up of one of the painted murals; note the scratchboard-like quality the kids achieved by first painting a multicolored layer, then painting a top layer of blue, then using their fingernails to dig through and uncover the first layer.  Very cool, and it all came from the kids and their imagination.  (Click on images to enlarge.)

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Book groups, Children's book reviews

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

[attempting to recreate the mythical Best Written Blog Post Ever (see previous post)…although my frustration is such this will probably become quite truncated and brief]

After my disappointment with Envy, it was gratifying to pick up 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson.  Fresh, original, funny, and well-balanced, 100 Cupboards is a unique piece of fantasy, with some mystery thrown in.  Wilson spends a great deal of time letting his readers get to know his characters, most of whom are quirky, and none of whom are a “type.”  Our hero is Henry York, a twelve-year-old Bostonian who has been transplanted to his aunt and uncle’s farm in Kansas after the kidnapping of his travel-writing parents while on assignment.  Henry’s parents have over-protected and under-loved him, forcing him to do things like wear a helmet to gym class and sit in a booster car seat at his mature age, but never letting him enjoy the finer points of youth and indulge in such unsafe practices as playing a game of neighborhood baseball.

Moving to Kansas is an eye-opening experience for Henry.  Aunt Dotty and Uncle Frank have three daughters (Henrietta, Penny, and Anastasia), and live their lives in a state of happy chaos.  Uncle Frank – my favorite character – speaks little but wisely, and pursues interesting business opportunities like selling tumbleweed at auction online.  Aunt Dotty, a loving and kind woman, appreciates her soft spoken husband and loves her girls without smothering them.  The three girls range from older Penny to twelve-year-old Henrietta to the annoying (but sweet) youngest sister Anastasia. 

Though some blogging critics have complained that Wilson spends too long setting up the story, and too little time on the actual “action” of the story, I love that I’m given a chance to bond with these wonderful characters before the fantasy elements of the story kick into full gear.  Since I’d gotten to know Henry and Henrietta so well, the suspense was ramped up ten notches when they found themselves facing a wall of cupboard doors that open into other worlds.  Each time Henrietta carelessly opened that door to evil Endor, my breath caught and my heart raced.  When Henrietta disappeared and Henry had to plunge into another world in an attempt to find her, I was right there alongside him.  The story wouldn’t have been nearly so exciting if I hadn’t been so bonded with the characters.

But for me, the very best part of 100 Cupboards is the humor.  It is very, very funny.  At one point in the sixth grade book group meeting, one of the kids reminded us all of a particular funny scene, and the whole group fell into paroxysms of laughter remembering that scene.  Humor plus fully developed characters plus a dash of mystery (most of the kids in the book group kept referring to the book as a mystery) plus original fantasy – mixed all together, these ingredients make for one of the best books I’ve read in recent months.  And the book group liked it, too.

One final tidbit:  one of the library’s best-read kids, an intelligent and popular sixth grader who plows through every book that his mom and I can find for him, said this to me the other day when his mom told him that the sequel to 100 Cupboards was out and that I had put a hold on it for him:  “YES!!!!!!  Abby, you are AWESOME!!!!!  You are the BEST!!!!!!!”  And he said it loud.  And he said it in front of all of his cool friends.  Any book (and its sequel) that can garner that kind of enthusiasm from a sixth grader is a-ok by me.

Blog administration

Oh the frustration

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After the catastrophe a while back when I lost my entire blog due to cutting and pasting in an entry from a Word document, I’ve been very careful about writing my entries directly into my blog.  (I did briefly follow my brother’s advice to type entries into Notepad and cut and paste from there, but found that annoying and time-consuming.)  Today was the first time I’ve had an issue with directly typing into WordPress:  I just lost an entire entry when I clicked on “save and continue editing.”  Poof – gone.  Poof – I was logged off.  Poof – my blood pressure went up.

The really frustrating thing?  I had spent quite a while on this entry and had actually worked on word choice and taken far more pride in my writing than I usually do.  It wasn’t my standard quickie blog post – it was well-written.  And now it’s gone.  Oh the frustration.  Maybe I can recreate it after I eat breakfast.  Maybe.  Grrrrrr.

(for the record, I don’t think this lost post was due to WordPress, but rather our inconsistent wireless signal)