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A manager at a hotel receives an alarming number of complaints from her guests that they have to wait too long for elevators. So she requests quotes for installing an additional elevator. Turned down by the price tag of that solution, the manager seeks an alternative and decides to give her guests something to do while they wait for the elevator, by installing mirrors or televisions or providing magazines.
We’re trying to make math cool … It’s for everybody and it’s everywhere. It’s a part of your life. — Billy Aronson
Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson are the team behind the award-winning PBS series “Peg + Cat”. Peg is a little girl whose life is a big math problem, which she solves with her best friend, Cat. Her world looks like math as the backdrop is graph paper and various items are made from simple shapes. The animated television series Peg + Cat has won seven Daytime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Animated Program, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (Jennifer Oxley), and Outstanding Writing in a Pre-School Animated Program.
Parents and teachers who want to continue the STEAM fun offline can turn to the Peg + Cat books written by the series creators. In this episode of StoryMakers Rocco Staino, Billy Aronson, and Jennifer Oxley discuss the creative vision for the series and several themes central to the series of books. Fun, simple mathematics, diversity, and a seamless flow are essential to the success of the books and television series.
Oxley and Aronson offer encouraging messages about mathematics that will inspire children, parents, and teachers alike.
We’re giving away three (3) sets of books for this episode of StoryMakers. Each set includes a of copy of Jennifer and Billy’s picture book, PEG + CAT: THE PIZZA PROBLEM and PEG + CAT: THE RACE CAR PROBLEM. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PM on June 7, 2016. ENTER NOW!
What do fractions have to do with pizza? The stars of the Emmy Award winning animated series “Peg + Cat” serve up a delicious new episode.
It’s lunchtime at Peg’s Pizza Place. Peg and Cat are excited to take their first order from the Teens only to learn that some of their customers want a whole pizza while one of them wants half a pie. How can Peg and Cat make half a pie when they don t know what “half “is? Luckily, Ramone and Mac are there to help, with a slice up the middle of the pizza. As more customers come in, things get entertaining, with Peg singing a jazzy song and Cat doing a dance. But soon there’s another problem: four orders, but only two and a half pizzas left. Peg is totally freaking out until Cat reminds her that when it comes to halves and wholes, it’s all in how you slice it.
Peg and Cat, stars of their own Emmy Award winning animated TV series, zoom into a picture book and put math skills to the test in a lively racing adventure. Peg and Cat have built an amazing car out of things they found lying around. They’ve named her Hot Buttered Lightning (since she’s built for speed), and they plan to win the Tallapegga Twenty. If they can make it out of the junkyard, that is. It’s a good thing Peg knows the best shape to use to make wheels and how to count laps to see who is ahead. And it’s lucky that Cat reminds Peg to keep calm when she’s “totally freaking out.” Will Peg and Cat be the first to complete twenty laps and win the Golden Cup? Or will it be one of their quirky competitors? Count on Peg and Cat to rev up young problem-solvers for an exciting race to the finish.
ABOUT JENNIFER OXLEY
Jennifer Oxley was born in Hollywood, California and caught the filmmaking bug early – she made her first film at the age of seven. Since then she has directed fifteen short films for Sesame Street, as well as the award-winning adaptation of Spike Lee and Tanya Lewis Lee’s children’s book, Please, Baby, Please.
Her latest film, The Music Box, was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art for their permanent children’s film collection. Her work in children’s television includes directing and artistic credits. Jennifer is the recipient of an Emmy Award for her role as director on Little Bill, and she created the look and animation style of The Wonder Pets!, which won an Environmental Media Award and the prestigious Japan Prize.
Most recently Jennifer teamed up with Billy Aronson to create Peg + Cat for PBS Kids, and is co-founder of 9ate7 Productions.
Billy Aronson is a playwright and writer. Aronson is probably best known for creating the original concept behind the Tony award-winning rock opera Rent. He’s written several plays and musicals. Also, he’s written for popular children’s shows, and cartoons including Courage the Cowardly, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Backyardigans, The Wonder Pets, and Beavis and Butthead.
Aronson attended Princeton University. He counts several plays by Shakespeare, Looney Tunes, and The Brothers Grimm among his influences. Billy Aronson is a co-creator of Peg + Cat for PBS Kids, and is co-founder of 9ate7 Productions, with Jennifer Oxley.
Learn more about his playwriting, television work, and here.
Solving complex problems requires, among other things, gathering information, interpreting it, and drawing conclusions. Doing so, it is easy to tend to operate on the assumption that the more information, the better. However, we would be better advised to favor quality over quantity, leaving out peripheral information to focus on the critical one.
Author Robin Newman reads her fractured fairytale, Hildie Bitterpickles Needs Her Sleep, on Read Out Loud.
Hildie Bitterpickles is a little witch with a big problem. Her neighbors! They’re terribly loud and don’t seem to care. What does a witch have to do to get some sleep? Stick around to find out how Hildie gets out of this pickle.
KidLit TV’s Read Out Loud series is perfect for parents, teachers, and librarians. Use these readings for nap time, story time, bedtime … anytime!
Hildie Bitterpickles is a witch who needs her sleep. Her quiet neighborhood has been turned upside down with the sudden arrival of the old woman in her shoe, big bad wolf, and other fairy tale characters. What will Hildie have to do to get a quiet night’s sleep?
ABOUT ROBIN NEWMAN
Raised in New York and Paris, Robin is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the City University of New York School of Law. She’s been a practicing attorney and legal editor, but she prefers to write about witches, mice, pigs, and peacocks. She lives in New York with her husband, son, goldfish, and English Cocker Spaniel, who happens to have been born on the Fourth of July.
Did you know that talking to yourself can be really helpful? It’s true! Researchers have long known that positive self-talk can be an incredibly helpful tool. The power of positive self-talk is something that… Continue reading →
If you’re looking for picture books exploring friendships of massive proportions, then these two latest delights are for you. Perfect for melting any sized heart! Blue Whale Blues, Peter Carnavas (author, illus.), New Frontier Publishing, 2015. On first glance, I noticed something different about Peter Carnavas‘ most recent creation compared to his previous works. […]
Series: Felt Finger Puppet Board Books Written by Sarah Gillingham Illustrated by Lorena Siminovich Chronicle Books 5/01/2015 978-1-4521-0640 10 pages 7” x 7” Age 0—2 x x “Turn the colorful pages of this irresistible board book to discover just what makes little crab’s beach so cozy. Is it the warm tide pool? Is it the soft sand? No, it’s little crab’s family! Bright pictures, a sweet, reassuring message, and an adorable finger puppet fi this book with reading and playtime fun!” [back cover]
Review On his beach, Little Crab relates a day of fun activities for readers. Ah, before you turn the cover, turn the book over. In the center of the back cover is an opening—a die-cut circle—waiting for you to bring Little Crab to life! He is actually a finger puppet crab.
“On my beach, I race over sand with my friends, “I hide between the treasures in the warm tide pool . . . “
Beginning with the first spread, each die-cut opening decreases in size (5” diameter on the cover down to 2 ½” diameter on the next-to-last spread—perfect for the 2” oval Little Crab. The circles might sound bland; they are not. Smooth circles alternate with wavy circles, much like the pattern waves leave as they return to sea. I really love this eye-pleasing, 3-dimensional pattern. I think young children will also like the different textures.
Little Crab decides to race over his beach with his sea creature friends. Helping him navigate the beach puts children into the story. Without them, Little Crab could not navigate his way through the sand and water. Upon reaching his destination, Little Crab enjoys a nap with . . . sorry, only Little Crab can reveal his companions.
I think young children will enjoy becoming Little Crab and wiggling him through seaweed and splashing the orange crab in a wave pool. One caveat: little hands might find holding the book, while playing with the finger puppet, awkward. On My Beach is a good size for a board book story, with traditionally thick, glossy—difficult to tear, easy to clean—cardboard pages. The 7” x 7” book is a perfect fit for my hands, enabling me to navigate Little Crab through his story while easily turning the pages. Young children might need to adjust—every confidence they will—using problem solving, imagination, and dexterity.
The varying seascapes and critters, rendered in collage, are bright and inviting, working perfectly with the cover. Young children will love the combination of story and an interesting puppet. The stuff that interest young children and their enjoyment of books include a good story, an interesting character, including play, and becoming part of the adventure are all found in On My Beach. The latest title in the (first published in 2009), will entertain young children. From a barn to a pond and patch, the Felt Finger Puppet Board Books series introduces young children to a variety of places and things (see list of titles below).
The loveable crew of the Flying Dragon is back! In A Flag for the Flying Dragon: A Captain No Beard Story, Captain No Beard and his friends work together to resolve conflicts as they look for the perfect job for their youngest crewmember, Zachary.
Fribbet the Frog and the Tadpoles: A Captain No Beard Story should be readily welcomed into the personal libraries of all expectant families with soon-to-be or new siblings.
Terrific fun for children aged five years and up, Jasper Rabbit is very fond of carrots and makes a trip to Crackenhopper Field whenever he fancies eating a few delicious treats but one day Jasper has an eerie feeling that Creepy Carrots are following him as he leaves the field. Soon Jasper is seeing Creepy Carrots everywhere: in his house, in the garden shed and on the street. Poor Jasper is petrified! He knows exactly what to do to solve this problem.
Preschool and kindergarten teachers will find all sorts of wonderful (and orange) ways to extend the learning with this delightful book. Whether designing their own carrots or a different solution to Jasper’s problem, this book is sure to inspire fun. Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! would be an excellent companion story.
Here is book for both girls and boys that not only teaches kids to work together but introduces them to a world of knowledge about a very specific insect that typically does not get the opportunity to star in a children’s book, the cockroach.
Let me tell you the story of a fountain. First, you should know that I love water. I mean LOVE water. But I live in a desert valley. I had this idea many years ago that I should add a water feature to my yard. And a friend had one for sale. Perfect.
So. I bought the fountain. It's made from a special resin stuff that looks like real granite and weighs like it, too. This fountain stands about 4 feet tall and has three tiers. It's fabulous.
My friend didn't have a working pump. No problem. I bought one. My hubby even installed an outdoor outlet so I could plug it in. I put it next to our garage in the back yard, where I could enjoy it from my patio or my dining room table. Three problems became immediately apparent. 1) It was hard to find the perfect power for the pump. One pumped the water so hard it just splashed all over the yard. Another was so little that it created barely a trickle. 2) My dog loves water, too. In fact, she drank out of the fountain and played in the water reservoir, thereby using up all the water, leaving the fountain dry. 3) I had little kids at the time and little time to go out to the yard to fill the reservoir, keep the dogs out of trouble, or remember to turn off the fountain when the weather got cold. Ruined the pump. Therefore, we unplugged the fountain until further notice.
The troublesome dogs.
But did I give up on it? Not at all. I always knew I would find the perfect fit for the fountain. Years later, when I tore up my front lawn and replaced it with a water-thrifty landscape, I decided to move the fountain out front. That solved one problem: the dogs don't go in the front yard. But, I also don't have an outdoor outlet in the front. I had a plan, though. I'd get a solar powered water pump and eliminate the need for electricity altogether.
It took a while--read: several years--to find a solar powered fountain pump. I could find solar powered pond pumps and other almost-fountain pumps. Finally, I found one. But I had another problem. The solar panel had a wire that only stretched about five feet, and I had placed the fountain under a giant elm tree, so I couldn't get the solar panel to a spot with enough sun throughout the day to power the pump for more than a couple of hours.
So we moved the fountain to a spot by the front door, which gets much more sunlight than under the tree. Problem solved. Bonus: get to enjoy the fountain every time I go in and out of the house.
But. . .turns out the solar panel wasn't really that powerful and even with more sunshine, it still didn't pack enough punch for me. Hubby noted that the thing weighed far too much for us to move anymore, and I would have to find a way to make it work in that location. Solution: buy a more powerful solar panel/powered pump. Again, it took a while to find one, and when I finally did, the tree had overgrown most of the front yard, blocking the available sun and limiting the solar power.
Okay. I'm not a quitter. We'd go back to electricity, so hubby found a way to run a power cord through a window with a weather protective box to cover the plug. I bought a new electric pump. Beautiful. Almost there.
Almost? The electrical works. The pump is the right power. The dogs can't bother it. What now? Little tweaks. The water tube sometimes falls down inside the fountain. The reservoir dries up in the 100-degree heat. Sometimes leaves and gunk block up the water intake filter in the pump. These are small problems. I keep tweaking them, because when the fountain is running, I can sit on my living room couch and hear the sound of water through the front window. When I go outside to dig in the dirt, the water trickles through and I can pretend I live along a creek. And now my kids are grown, so I have the ease of going outside to tend the fountain whenever I want, without the distraction of diaper changes, bloodied knees, and arguments over who gets the last popsicle.
Where I pretend I am when my fountain is running.
What does this have to do with writing? Creative thinking. Persistence. Revision. Problem solving. Working until you get it right. Making dreams and goals happen, no matter what.
by Neysa CM Jensen in Boise, Idaho
0 Comments on Lessons from the Yard as of 8/1/2014 6:40:00 AM
During one of the recent dust-ups about the worth/importance/immediacy of youth librarian's work vis a vis the larger library world (sorry, but I refuse to link to posts where the troglodyte comments are too depressing to read), one comment in particular rocked my socks off. The writer sniffed that during the time she worked as a youth librarian she had never seen anything done in an innovative way.
Wow. Simply, wow. I am never at a loss in finding youth folks pushing the envelope of innovation. Check out my blog roll on the left for just a small selection of innovators. Colleagues working at small libraries; colleagues working with tots; colleagues working with teens..I mean, really, I see so much innovation, sometimes I think my eyes will bleed, my brain will pop and my heart will bust...all from happiness, of course!
I got thinking about this when Amy over at Show Me Librarian blogged about how she pushed her thinking forward while doing a literacy night. She liked the positives happening with school partnerships but started visioning and problem solving while out at schools. She saw new paths and blocks to build on. It is leading her to innovate and do more effective work that is simply...more...and better...and wow!
That's how innovation happens, in my opinion. You chat, you listen, you read, you reflect and when you are in a situation, you start evolving your thinking and solving problems. R. Davis Lankes recently wrote that being a rock star librarian is getting people to question. I would posit that all innovation grows from questioning. Questioning and thinking and re-thinking and puzzling until a way becomes clear.
In the national youth services community, we are celebrating Library Journal's selection of one of our own - Melissa Depper, she of the marvelous Mel's Desk and a founder of Flannel Friday - as a Mover & Shaker. Her work is consistently innovative as well as foundational. She pushes the envelope and enfolds people though her mentorship and support and sharing with those around her. I am so, so pleased that she is a "sung hero".
Everyday, I watch my co-workers innovate and solve - two share what they know and discover through social media and blogs. Sara over at Bryce Don't Play and Brooke over at Reading with Red explore their paths to discovery. Like Amy; like Mel, they turn a clear eye and an inquiring mind to bringing service to the kids and the community. With their co-workers, I watch them invent, solve, innovate and create. Through this process their ideas - and mine - grow and change and our service evolves and becomes even better.
Innovation isn't technology. Innovation is evolution. Innovation is clearly connectivity.
Youth librarians have been pushing that innovation envelope for so long that "rock star" isn't even in the vocabulary anymore. We are all, at the least, galactic stars!
7 Comments on Youth Librarianship & Innovation, last added: 3/19/2013
I can only imagine they defined innovation in that narrow "technology way". And if they weren't able to inspire or demonstrate innovation to colleagues, their false assumption was that no innovation occurred in youth services? In any case the person indicated that they were out of service to youth and it was all I could do not to snark and say how much better we all were with that decision made!
I'll bet that person was either in a) a creativity-stifling environment, or b) was totally not creative or innovative themselves and therefore felt the need to dismiss youth library innovation. I agree, we're better off now that this person has "moved on".
It also seems to me that tech related, or not, many believe innovation has to be big and showy. I truly believe discovering a new way to set up a room for optimal storytime enjoyment or coming up with a display (like Mollie's blind date with a book) that patrons really love, is innovative. These things might not make headlines but they make a big difference in the lives of a lot of people, and that's innovation. Any time we think outside the box we innovate! This is a great post, Marge! Keep 'em coming!
Sara, over at her blog Bryce Don't Play, had another thoughtful post the other day in which she explored how she creates and how she solves problems the way she does. In her typical matter-of-fact way, she describes her reality and how that has led to an adaptability and level of experimentation that directly influences her creativity. Best money quote: "everything is possible if its definition is malleable."
Over a long career working with people at libraries, in associations, at workshops and on committees, I've met a boatload of creative - and un-creative - people. What is that ineffable thing that helps creators, create; innovators, innovate or librarians, succeed? I've been a manager for all but a year and a half at the beginning of my career so I've had plenty of time to chew on this particular nut. Although I sure don't have all the answers, here are a couple of thoughts.
There are some people who are innately pretty darn creative. Whether it's how their brain is wired or just a fascination with problem solving or tinkering, they are playing and adapting consistently. Collaboration and partnering seems to play a big part in their creativity.
There are also people who, while feeling less naturally creative, try and fail and try again until they find the right combination; they seem to find the path to creativity through learning/observing/applying how it all fits together. One of the things that happens as people tap into their creativity is they learn to take one and one and make something much greater than two. I think the degree of problem solving that happens is because these people are thinking, "I can". These two kinds of people are the ones we go, "Wow, I like that thing/program/service you thought up. I want to try that too!"
There are also people that, for whatever reason, think more in terms of "I can't" or if they are foot-draggers or pretty negative are more in the "I won't" category. Trying anything is a big step and one failure or idea that doesn't pan out stops them dead. These are often the people who say, "We tried that before..." or "We've always done it this way..." or "See, I tried it and it was a miserable failure." These seem to be people (as I commented in Sara's post) who want lanes and doorways; paths and clues. When something happens that gets them out of the lane or off the path, they try their hardest to get back in or on. It feels safer there - but not very creative.
Sometimes when people hatch an idea and hit a wall, they just back up and hit it repeatedly - "Well", they say, "I can't go forward" or "You stop me from going forward." or "There is no forward. In any case, guess I'll stop". I think creative people and problem solvers keep tapping along the wall until they find a door or window or weak point in that wall to break through. They just keep trying until the right combination happens. It's not their first thought or attempt but maybe their second or fifth or tenth and they hit the right combination. It might be a few minutes, a few weeks or longer but that "Well maybe" keeps driving on the problem solving.
It's being open to creative solutions and collaborating along the way to achieve them that makes a difference. It's getting out of the box; into the weeds and off into the forest to explore the possibilities that leads to that experimentation. And that pursuit of possibilities; that willingness to collaborate and being open to change leads inevitably to a more creative approach.
Where are you on that continuum? Image: 'untitled' http://www.flickr.com/photos/14064991@N04/3885841075 Found on flickrcc.net
3 Comments on I Can. I Can't. I Won't. Well, Maybe., last added: 12/19/2012
I don't consider myself creative; rather, I am relentless in seeking out ideas from a myriad of sources. That's why I'm so gung ho about attending conferences and webinars and keeping up with blogs--I love to see the terrific ideas my colleagues have, and then figure out how to adapt them for my library. I don't know that I'd be able to do my job very effectively without the interlibrary collaboration that happens in our internet-connected world.
Yep, you keep tapping on the wall until you find the way through. I think that sharing and collaboration is how those connections result in ideas to use. You write one of my go-to blogs to refresh my perspective and find new ideas!
I guess I am in the "have a go and give up if it doesn't suit" camp. I will give most things a try if I'm interested in them, but I won't keep hitting the wall too often. There's so much else out there, beckoning me!
I totally agree over what you said re being open - that mindset, to be open to other ideas and other people, is such a great one. I know if I were an employer, that would be high on my list of desirable qualities in an employee.
"A tale of trying to solve a problem by throwing things at it."
Floyd's kite is stuck in a tree, so he throws his shoe at it to get it down. His shoe gets stuck. Then he throws his other shoe and it gets stuck, too.
The sequence of the rest of the things Floyd throws at his problem starts off reasonable and veers decidedly to the ridiculous when he throws the kitchen sink, an orangutan, an ocean liner, the house across the street, and a whale...among other things. (Isn't that the way it goes, when you start throwing things at a problem?)
I can't really tell you about the end without taking all the fun of it away from you, but I will tell you that you're likely to have hope for Floyd's problem-solving ability, which will immediately be dashed, and yet, against all odds, there will be success...although you'll want to wring Floyd's neck in the end.
Kids will love this book. For them, it's a funny story of unintended consequences.
Adults will consider sending this book to their elected officials. Except for the fact that doing so would seem an awful lot like throwing a shoe...
Dang, and Arne Duncan was just here! This sounds like a fab read for many audiences: family, educators, students, literacy leaders, and ahem, the I mean our elected officials. Can't wait to get this!
Ernest has a problem, he doesn’t fit into the book! He tries to shuffle in forward, but that doesn’t work. He tries to squeeze in backward. Nope. He can get his middle to fit, but not his legs or head. Luckily, Ernest has a small friend with a big idea. It’s just going to take some tape and some paper. They work for a long time until… Well, you will just have to read it to find out how they manage to fit Ernest into his book. Children will respond to the visual puzzle of how to get Ernest to fit into the book. The final unveiling is definitely worth the suspense and build up.
Rayner has created a very simple book that is filled with a gentle humor. The process of problem solving is played out here, from the issue itself through trial and error, and finally the brilliant solution! It is a book that also demonstrations creativity and perseverance. Rayner’s illustrations are charming mix of media with paint, crayon and paper arts. The background to the illustrations is graph paper giving a great mathematical and structural feel to the whimsical art. It is a dynamic pairing.
A great book to share with a group, this book will have everyone cheering Ernest and his friend and their solution to how to fit a big moose in a small book. Appropriate for ages 4-7.
Reviewed from copy received from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
The Very Silly Mayor by Tom Tomorrow You know what? This is not bad! Bright colors, readable artwork, cops in clown costumes... yeah, I'm giving this the thumbs-up.
The worry, of course, with a kid book written by uber-snarkmeister cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, is that Mr. Tomorrow is writing for the parents - that the very silly mayor is in fact a member of the Bush family and Sparky the Penguin is doing his usual emperor-has-no-clothes schtick, and kids will find it amusing but parents will nod smugly. "That George Bush," they'll smirk internally. "What a dorkus."
But that is not what Tom Tomorrow has done here. Sure, you could read the very silly mayor, with his pronouncements that firefighters should use peanut butter to put out fires instead of water, and that everyone should paint their houses purple and green, as George Bush. But you could read the very silly mayor as just about any authority figure that people follow without question. Your third-grade teacher, for example.
The book is, in the end, about dissent. It's about speaking up when you don't understand something, or when you have an opinion, or when you think that cops can't possibly catch robbers when they're wearing clown shoes. Plus - silly!
0 Comments on The Very Silly Mayor by Tom Tomorrow - review as of 1/1/1900
Call Me Gorgeous by Giles and Alexandra Milton I have the eyes of a lemur and the beak of an octopus, the skin of a monitor lizard and the broken toes of an unfortunate debutante.
Actually, none of that is true. What I have are the eyes of a Scots-Irish Protestant and the posture of a Hungarian peasant - my fractious temperament is like that of my New England ancestors and my ability to tan comes from generations of watermen on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Pieces of various creatures (eye of frog, feet of chicken) lead the reader of the happy, beautiful Call Me Gorgeous! to expect a monstrous chimera, when instead, the creature at the end of this book is quite fabulous - and she knows it! Colored pencils and collages of handmade paper make the teeth of the alligator look sharp and the ears of the pig soft, the chameleon's tail scaly and the bat wings veiny.
We are all hybrids, and this book exalts our stitched-together-ness without whomping the reader over the head with bullhorned messages about DIFFERENCES! CHERISHING THEM! and LABELS! BOO TO LABELS! Would make a fun read-aloud.
Endpaper bonus: each animal shown in its entirety.
0 Comments on Call Me Gorgeous by Giles and Alexandra Milton - review as of 8/14/2009 8:02:00 AM
The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith Ok. I'm going to have to heavily synopsize this book, which I don't usually do, because - SPOILER - this is kind of a negative review, which I am stunned to be doing about a Lane Smith book. THE Lane Smith. The Lane Smith whom I love for John, Paul, George & Ben, and for BIG PLANS, and Madam President, not to mention his many excellent collaborations with Ambassador Jon Sczieska. So I need extensive backup if I'm going to even remotely disagree with any line or syllable of a Lane Smith book.
We have two friends - donkeys, although that's not important right now - and the first donkey says to the second donkey, "Can we talk about the big elephant in the room?"
The second donkey assumes that "the big elephant" is code for "the large and obvious issue that we have until now wilfully chosen to ignore, lest it foment outright conflict between us." (A classic example of "the elephant in the room" might be, say, my cousin-in-law's sexual orientation, of which her mother is unaware, thanks to scores of relatives not mentioning it. For decades.) Let's leave aside for the moment that this euphemism is maybe a little grown-up, not to mention obscure, for some kids, and move on to the issues that the second donkey thinks could qualify as "the elephant in the room."
Second donkey thinks his friend might be angry that he (second donkey) ate all the ice cream. Or that second donkey broke first donkey's computer. Deserted him when the bully came around. Took the cool bike so that first donkey was left riding the tricycle. Glued him to his chair. Made fun of his backpack. Laughed at first donkey when he laughed so hard he peed his pants - and then told another kid about it. Aaaand about a half-dozen more things that second donkey has done to (or by omission of action caused to happen to) his good buddy first donkey.
But no. There is, in fact, a big elephant in the room. His name is Stanley, and he's watching TV and eating ice cream - apparently he's a friend of second donkey. I personally would have been more satisfied if the "big elephant in the room" had turned out to be a thug hired by first donkey's mom to come and beat the squee out of second donkey.
I mean, sure, friends pull crap on each other, and forgive each other (and to be fair, first donkey in the end exhibits a scowl - he didn't know that second donkey had spread it around school that he'd peed his pants, and he is, finally, ticked off), and usually come up karmically even in the end. I think it's good to demonstrate to kids that even if your pal Jason or Jacob or Courtney or Michaela was dicky to you today, tomorrow is another day... BUT. That second donkey kid (am I out of line to call him a jackass?) is WAAAY over three strikes here.
I love me some Lane Smith. He's one of the few authors whose books I buy sight unseen. But this doesn't work for me.
3 Comments on The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith - review, last added: 8/6/2009
Yup. We are as one on this book. Can't for the life of me understand it. Dunno if I'll review it or not. My problem was that if the first thing a kid hears when reading a book is "the elephant in the room" he or she is going to assume there's a real elephant actually in the room. So the reveal at the end of this title makes zippo sense. Hrmph.
Betsy I seriously thought given the title and cover (and Lane Smith's tendency to write civics books for small children), that it was going to be an allegory about political parties!
We were all kind of stymied about it when we passed it around the workroom.
With you on this. Didn't like it at all. Horribly mean spirited. The lists that the donkey should be mad at his friend could've been a little nicer, like beating him at a video game or something. But this was almost outright bullyish.
Harriet's had enough by Elissa Haden Guest, illustrated by Paul Meisel I have two words for you: Most realistic (without being sad and weird and scary) book about a mommy-kid fight I've ever seen.
Now I recognize that that's ... 18 words. But I want to emphasize: it's quite a feat. How many books can you think of that are about a kid getting pissed off? Oh, I'd say about 8% of all picture books have to do with a kid losing his/her temper, and the consequences thereof. Most of them are about dumb little freak-outs, but a few (When Sophie Gets Angry,The Red Dragon, No Dessert Ever) try to address the kind of overwhelming anger that is actually scary to a kid. I actually find those books scary. It's tricky.
There are far fewer books that deal with a parent getting angry. Every parent knows that sometimes that kid just pushes the right buttons. You're not supposed to react - you're the grownup - but, well, it happens. To every parent. All the time. But, as I say, very few books that hit this.
Harriet's mom wants Harriet to pick up her toys. Tells her three times. Harriet says no, kicks over a bunch of blocks. And there we go. Harriet's being carried up to her room to "cool down". "No, YOU need to cool down!" counters Harriet, which earns her a door-slam on top of her time out.
The other day, my 7-year-old was standing in front of me lying to me. Mad as hell, I grated, "How does it make YOU feel when someone is lying to you?!" "It makes me want to SMACK them!" he hurls back. "Well what do you know? Another thing we have in common!" I yell. We stood there looking at each other until he cracked up. It's a good thing he and I have the same sense of humor too.
After Harriet threatens to run away, and is worn down by the kindness of her family, she is given the chance to apologize to her mom, which she does. Mama apologizes in turn for yelling and for the door slam, and then everybody helps each other with their tasks so that they can all sit down to dinner together.
Some parents think apologizing to a kid leaves the kid on shaky ground - that the kid needs to think of the adult as infallible in order to feel secure. I think that when a parent has demonstrated fallibility - like when the parent has lost his or her temper - you need to model sincere regret. How else is the kid going to know how to gracefully extricate him- or herself from the terrible stupid things that he or she has will have said or done in a fit of anger?
Life skills, baby. It's not just tying your shoes.
1 Comments on Harriet's had enough by Elissa Haden Guest, illustrated by Paul Meisel - review, last added: 7/12/2009
Guttersnipe by Jane Cutler, pictures by Emily Arnold McCully Interesting.
Ben is a young Jewish boy in Canada in the early part of the twentieth century. Determined to help make ends meet for his fatherless family, he takes a job as a delivery boy for a hatmaker. On his first run, he stops by the workplace of each of his family members: sister Rose selling tickets at the movie theater, brother Max setting pins at the bowling alley, and his mother, singing in Yiddish as she sews as fast as she can.
And then something terrible happens. Hitching a ride on a streetcar, he loses control of the bike and is thrown to the ground, the silk hat linings he was to deliver scattered among the trash of the street and ruined. What I find interesting is this: Ben's failure is not a picture-book failure: a ripped-drawing mishap, an ill-tempered word, a dropped pie. This is a truly spectacular failure, a failure in real-world terms - Ben is going to lose his new job, he may be actually injured, and he will be in trouble if the bicycle is broken. One speculates Mr. Green is going to try to get him to pay for those hat linings, too. This is the kind of screw-up that freezes the blood of even an adult with many years of screw-ups behind her.
But lying there in the street, Ben realizes: "His body would heal. There would be other bicycles, other jobs, and other chances. He was only a boy, just starting out, and he had many things left to learn and to experience."
Perspective. Is it something you can communicate to a kid? Can you read this story now, and then next week, when that kid steps on his brother's meticulously-constructed LEGO masterpiece, can you invoke Ben's perspective on failure? I guess we'll see.
"This was not the end. This was only the beginning."
0 Comments on Guttersnipe by Jane Cutler, pictures by Emily Arnold McCully - review as of 6/2/2009 3:01:00 PM
My mom is trying to ruin my life by Kate Feiffer, illustrated by Diane Goode She looks pretty sweet on the outside, with her rosy shirtwaist dress and practical ponytail, green flats and matching purse, but watch out! she'll never let you do anything fun, eat anything yummy, and she talks too loud. Yikes. That last one hits pretty close to home.
So the little girl in this book fantasizes about running away (with mom's assistance), getting the cops on her side when mom reports her missing ("And they'll look at her and ask, 'Is it because you were ruining her life?'"), and ending up with the perfect life. Perfect, that is, except for the no dinner, no story, no bedtime kiss, nobody to fix her bad dream aspects of independent life.
The story is cute, and executed in a kind of contemporary first-person, slightly attitudinal voice. The illustrations are clean and lively. The limited watercolor palette is bright and friendly. I think the book maybe over-dwells on the little girl's fear and discomfort when she is parentless, but by the end, mom and dad and little girl are all together and happy.
1 Comments on My mom is trying to ruin my life by Kate Feiffer, illustrated by Diane Goode - review, last added: 6/16/2009
I like the look of the illustrations. Thanks for the review. I found you from the School Library Journal blog. I wanted to share that this month I am devoting my blogs to books. Many of my picks are Children's Books, others are devoted to parents. Plus, I've got great contests and exclusive interviews, such as this one with Mo Willems:
Patrick the Somnambulist, written and illustrated by Sarah Ackerley To all of the tedious, obvious, cheery-fake picture books that try to demonstrate that Being Different Has Hidden Benefits! REALLY! Your Love of Ballet / Eccentricity / Fashion Sense / Favorite Color / Intelligence / Strabismus / Bipedalism / Love of Poetry / Lack of Athleticism / Species / Size / Diet / Unusual Color Makes You Special (and ok, most of these books are neither tedious nor obvious, I am just being lazy, because I tend not to remember books I don't like) - I finally have a response: LOOK AT THIS ONE.
Patrick is a normal penguin kid who is also a sleepwalker. His concerned parents take him to therapy. The therapist confirms that Patrick is a normal penguin kid who is also a sleepwalker. Teaches Patrick a fancy word for himself - somnambulist. Patrick adores his new word, is empowered by it, does great things under its imprimatur. Goes on Conan. Becomes a multi-millionaire at the age of six.
The little full-page watercolor illustrations are witty and sweet, done in a rather somber nighttime palette that in no way harshes the happy, giggly mellow of the text. Love the mute, soulful penguin expressions (no mouths on these penguins and yet we know just what they're thinking). Kids will get a laugh out of all the odd situations Patrick finds himself in as a result of his sleepwalking, and parents will surreptitiously enjoy, "At first his parents just thought he was just weird."
Who hasn't thought that at one time or another?
Endpaper bonus: Patrick wrapped in toilet paper, rocking an umbrella, and wearing a plunger on his head.
1 Comments on Patrick the Somnambulist, written and illustrated by Sarah Ackerley - review, last added: 5/12/2009
Fanny by Holly Hobbie Rare is the book that manages to be both girly and empowering. Many are the books that try. Fanny is the real deal.
Fanny's mom won't buy her a glamorous Connie doll ("I don't like the way Connie dolls look," says Mom. "They're just too... much," and don't you know that feeling!). So, resourceful Fanny cuts up a pair of pink pajamas and makes her own doll - a doll that, despite her blonde hair and big blue eyes, is not... quite... like the Connie dolls her friends are so obsessed with.
There's a lot of pink, and there are dolls, and Fanny feels the pressure of wanting what the other girls have, but she is sweet and creative and loyal, and comes up with her own solutions.
0 Comments on Fanny by Holly Hobbie - review as of 11/25/2008 11:49:00 AM
Big Kicks by Bob Kolar Biggie the Bear (seriously, we have a picture book character named Biggie now. I am relieved to note that the only attribute he appears to share with the Notorious B.I.G. is his size, and possibly an interest in midcentury modern decor) is kind of a solitary guy. He likes his stamp collection, and jazz, and peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches, and so, when the soccer team knocks on his door because they are down a player, he is a little hesitant.
Rightfully so. Poor Biggie - the first time he tries to kick the ball, he falls flat on his butt.
You know, there are never enough books about kids being nervous about sports. There are REALLY never enough books about kids sucking at sports. Roasted Peanuts by Tim Egan is the only one I can come up with off the top of my head. I mean... sports! It's so fraught! Failure at sports resonates well into adult life - I just asked around the workroom, and both Dances With Chickens and The Admiral's Daughter remembered specific childhood incidents involving softball, field hockey, and in my case, the 400-meter hurdles - that had kind of scarred them for life.
So I like to see books like this, in which the kid doesn't succeed on the playing field, and the sky doesn't fall as a result. He doesn't become a better player through dedication and practice. A patient mentor doesn't materialize to drill him until he can return to the playing field triumphant. He doesn't all of a sudden discover a special skill that makes him a star (although in fact Biggie's clumsiness does win the game). No. Biggie has no skills, but he gives it a shot, and the other kids don't ridicule him, and he ends up joining the team - as a fan.
If only the late, great Biggie Smalls could have learned to sit on the sidelines too.
Oh, wait: also it's funny! When the team comes a-knockin', this is how it goes:
"I can't ask him," said Chicken Rabbit. "I'm too afraid." "I can't ask him," said Twirly Squirrel. "I'm too little." "I can't ask him," said Smelly Smell Skunk. "I'm too stinky." "I forgot what to ask him," said Fluff the Duck.
Chicken Rabbit! that's funny!
1 Comments on Big Kicks by Bob Kolar - review, last added: 11/12/2008
Man, I completely agree with your comment on the lack of books for the nervous/disappointed/terrible at sports crowd. Also, I am an appreciator of your B.I.G. reference. Thanks for the review - I'll be checking this one out
would be an excellent companion story.
, and for 
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, not to mention his many excellent collaborations with Ambassador Jon Sczieska. So I need extensive backup if I'm going to even remotely disagree with any line or syllable of a Lane Smith book.
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Makes You Special (and ok, most of these books are neither tedious nor obvious, I am just being lazy, because I tend not to remember books I don't like) - I finally have a response: LOOK AT THIS ONE.
by Tim Egan is the only one I can come up with off the top of my head. I mean... sports! It's so fraught! Failure at sports resonates well into adult life - I just asked around the workroom, and both Dances With Chickens and The Admiral's Daughter remembered specific childhood incidents involving softball, field hockey, and in my case, the 400-meter hurdles - that had kind of scarred them for life.
Wonderful! Love it!
Very fun read, can’t wait to give it to someone for Halloween this year.
Hildie Bitterpickles Needs her Sleep was released this past February, but we’ll have Robin’s Read Out Loud in rotation this Halloween, guaranteed!
Loved it!