Fireworks will be flying high this Friday, the 4th of July, and so will pole-vaulters at the 5th Annual River Vault competition in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Joining in the patriotic celebration will be All-American Maggie Steele, storybook heroine of the … Continue reading 
By: Elizabeth Gorney,
on 6/26/2014
There has been a resurgence of interest in girls who kill, following the report of two 12-year-old Wisconsin girls who stabbed another girl of the same age 19 times on 31 May 2014. The girls reportedly had planned to kill their friend following a birthday sleepover to demonstrate their allegiance to a fictionalized Internet character known as Slender Man. Despite the horror and the apparent senseless nature of the attack, all three girls had some good fortune.
Although the victim had been left for dead, she miraculously lived. Had one of the stab wounds been a millimeter closer to a major artery by the heart, the victim would have bled to death. The victim crawled from the woods towards the street and cried for help. Had she not had the will to live and the good fortune of a passerby who heard her cries and took immediate action, the two assailants would have been facing murder charges instead of attempted murder charges. Under today’s sentencing laws, these two 12-year-old girls if convicted of premeditated murder in adult court could have spent the rest of their lives in prison.
The story sparked national attention given the age and gender of the assailants and the viciousness of the act. Questions quickly followed: Are murders by girls on the rise? Do girls who commit lethal violence differ from boys?
I have been evaluating juvenile homicide offenders and analyzing murder arrest trends in the United States for 30 years. My analyses of over 40,000 case of juveniles (ages 6-17) arrested nationally for murder and non-negligent manslaughter provide convincing evidence that the involvement of girls does not show an increasing trend over the years. On the average, the proportion of juveniles arrested for murder who were female since the mid-1970s has been about 8%. Stated another way, 92% of kids under 18 who are arrested for murder are boys. Analyses of victims, weapons used, co-defendant status, and circumstances indicate that there are significant differences (not due to chance) between boys and girls arrested for murder.
Do Not Cross, Crime Scene, Uploaded by Diego Grez. CC-BY-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Girls under 18 are significantly more likely than boys:
Boys under 18 are significantly more likely than girls:
The Wisconsin stabbing brought attention once again to youth violence in the United States. While murders committed by juveniles under 18 have decreased substantially since 1993, when they reached record highs, it is no time for complacence. This tragic case underscores the importance of parents to be aware of their children’s activities and to monitor their Internet activities. While it is unknown what factors in concert propelled these girls to plot for months to kill their friend, one fact is known from their statements to the police: their belief in a homicidal mythical internet character was part of the near lethal equation.
Kathleen M. Heide, Ph.D. is a Professor of Criminology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, and author of Understanding Parricide: When Sons and Daughters Kill Parents (Oxford U. Press, 2013), Animal Cruelty: Pathway to Violence against People (Alta-Mira, 2004), Young Killers: The Challenge of Juvenile Homicide (Sage, 1999), and Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide (Ohio State University Press, 1992).
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By: Alice,
on 3/16/2012
While Irish eyes are smiling on St. Patrick’s Day, many Finns are already celebrating St. Urho’s Day. The holiday was first celebrated in Minnesota on March 16th, which happens to be just before St. Patrick’s Day.
It honors the legendary Urho, the patron saint of vineyard workers. As the story goes, he saved the grape crop from a grasshopper infestation with his horrible breath as he yelled, “Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!” (Grasshopper, grasshopper, go away!)
Soon after the first St. Urho’s Day was celebrated, the 1960 census reported that there were 240,827 people in the US born in Finland, representing 0.1 percent of the total population.
Over 15 percent of them resided in Minnesota, where St. Urho celebrations first originated.
According to the 2010 American Community Survey, there are now 647,697 residents of Finnish ancestry, making up about 0.2 percent of the total population.
Some St. Urho’s Day revelers dress up as grasshoppers and grapes to celebrate. As you can see, Finns are especially concentrated in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Explore the map to see where you should plan your next St. Urho’s Day outing, or if you are a grasshopper, where to avoid.
Happy St. Urho’s Day from Social Explorer!
Sydney Beveridge is the Media and Content Editor for Social Explorer, where she works on the blog, curriculum materials, how-to-videos, social media outreach, presentations and strategic planning. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 2/23/2012
One of the perks of working in a library is that you come across titles that you might not otherwise stumble across. Such was the case for me in 1999. While shelving titles, I discovered a new book, The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini. After reading the cover flaps, I quickly learned the author, Jennifer Chiaverini, resides in Wisconsin. I always make a point of reading books by authors from my home state.
The book's subject also appealed to me right away. Recently married, I had received a special quilt made by my grandmother for my wedding. A cherished and personal gift, I know my grandmother spent much time lovingly piecing it together with my husband and I in mind. Powerful and memory evoking, it's amazing how quilts can tell stories and bring generations together. As I cracked open The Quilter's Apprentice and started reading I found an intriguing story involving two interesting characters, one elderly and one young, whose lives were brought together through quilting. I thoroughly enjoyed Chiaverini's first novel and over the years have read all of the books in her Elm Creek Quilt books series. Earlier this week on February 21st, Chiaverini released Sonoma Rose, the 19th book in her bestselling series. 
Sonoma Rose is an adult, historical fiction novel set in California during the Prohibition era of the mid to late 1920's. The book explores the story of Rosa Diaz and Lars Jorgensen, lovers that are forced apart in their youth by old family resentments and personal choices. In a series of flashbacks readers learn that Lars previously struggled with alcoholism and Rosa, finding herself pregnant, decides to marry John Barclay, someone she does not love but deems stable. John becomes abusive and also becomes involved in various lawless activities. John and Rosa disagree about how to best care for their children, who are stricken with celiac disease, a mysterious and fatal (without proper treatment) affliction.
Lars slowly reenters Rosa's life and, at first, Rosa tries to keep him away. Eventually John's violent nature escalates and he almost kills a man. Lars and Rosa seek out each other and escape together with the children to wine country in northern California. Lars is wanted by the mob because he reported John's involvement with illegal liquor trafficking. The pair finds work and a home in the countryside at a vineyard owned by second-generation winemakers, the Cacchiones. While working there they learn all about the difficulties faced by winemakers and the dangers of bootlegging during Prohibition. Lars and Rosa struggle to find happiness together and though they live in fear that they might be discovered by the mob or by John when he exits jail, they remain hopeful for a better future.
Sonoma Rose is a rather complex combination of themes and fairly action-packed, full of dramatic events. The book brings together a lot of subjects including Prohibition, winemaking, spousal abuse, alcoholism, and celiac disease. Unlike many of Chiaverini's books, it does not focus as much on quiltmaking or women bonding as the result of creating quilts together. The setting of the book is really quite fascinating, and I learned a lot about the heartbreaking travails California's winemakers faced when trying to abide by the
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 10/27/2011
I'm still a little disappointed the Brewers didn't make it to the World Series. No National League Championship pennant this year. That's OK, though. Despite the outcome of the playoffs, the Brewers still had a record breaking season and we will remain loyal to the Brew Crew.
We decided to make our own pennant flags to celebrate the Brewers impressive 2011 season. A pennant is a triangular shaped flag typically used to show support for a sports team. Baseball pennant flags have been around since the turn of the twentieth century and vintage pennants are highly collectible.
Most full size pennants measure about 12" x 30." Traditionally pennants were made of wool or felt, although thinner, stiffer pennants are now produced and are available for sale at ballparks and online. However, it is much cheaper to make a homemade version!
This design could easily be adapted to make personalized name pennant banners to display in your child's room, too.
Materials:
30" long piece of heavy interfacing (available at fabric stores)
Tacky glue (I use Aleene's Original Tacky Glue)
Felt
Acrylic Paint
Paint brush
Pencil
Scissors or rotary cutter
Yardstick
Clear Tape
Paper
Computer and Printer
1. Use a ruler and pencil to draw a triangle measuring 12" x 30" onto the interfacing. Cut out the triangle using scissors or rotary cutter. (Interfacing is a pretty inexpensive material and works perfectly as pennant flag material. It is stiffer and thinner than felt. It is also see-though, making it easy trace a pattern onto your pennant. The 30" piece cost me a little under $2.)
Decorate the pennant with paint and felt. In this example I painted on yellow and gold stripes and glued felt letter cut-outs to the pennant. How you choose to decorate your pennant is completely up to you!
2. To add painted decorations: Thin the acrylic paint with a few drops of water and carefully apply thinned paint to pennant with a paint brush or foam brush. Before I painted I drew a stripe design onto the banner and then painted yellow and gold stripes using the design as a guide.
3. To add felt letters: I used Microsoft Word to design a template to make my slanted letters. I created a text box, choose the Britannic Bold font and applied the following Text Effect: Transform - fade right. You'll have to play around with the font size to get the desired effect and make the font decrease along with the width of the flag.
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 10/12/2011
Here's a Brewers blast from the past! I've been a fan my entire life, and I'm so excited to see them make it to the National League Championship Series. Hope they can win another pennant and advance to the World Series. The last time a Brewers team was this good, I was the same age as my daughter!
This picture was taken outside the park, I think. Apparently my parents forgot to take their camera along to the game! 
At County Stadium a few years later, watching Robin Yount. 
Find more of this week's Wordless Wednesday (or Wordful) posts at 5 Minutes for Mom.
By: Jennie,
on 8/24/2011
Firestorm at Peshtigo: A Town, Its People, and the Deadliest Fire in American History Denise Guss and William Lutz
On October 8, 1871, Peshtigo, WI burned down. A combination of drought, wide spread and intense forest fires, and a storm system that most likely spawned an F5 tornado combined to create a firestorm that the armed forces would study in WWII to plan the firebombings of Dresden and Tokyo.
There was a tornado of fire, 1000 feet high and 5 miles wide. Sand was turned to glass. A billion tress in Wisconsin's virgin forest were gone--a forest so thick and dense you couldn't walk through it in a straight line, with trees 180 feet tall and so thick two people couldn't hold hands around them. Embers and shrapnel from exploding trees set fire to boats docked 7 miles offshore. The peat bogs smoked for a year afterwards.
Peshtigo had 2000 known residents. 1800 died. Many others outside of Peshtigo, on both sides of the Bay of Greeny Bay died for an estimated death count of 2500. It's hard to say-- no one knew how many people were in the area. Lumberjacks and railway crews mean a transient population. Immigrants arrived on a regular basis, including a boatload the day before. Plus, the fire burned so hot that all that was left of many of the dead was a pile of ashes that then blew away in the storm.
It's the deadliest fire in US history and one of the deadliest natural disasters. (Galveston's the worst, Johnstown or Peshtigo are second and third. Using the numbers that Gess and Lutz put forth, Pestigo was more deadly than the Johnstown Flood.)
Despite all this, have you ever heard of it?
I'm guessing you haven't, and I know why--it took place on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire. We learned about it in school, mainly because we were closer to Peshtigo (about 50 miles north of Green Bay) than Chicago. Even in school though, it was taught alongside Chicago, more of a "by the way, the same night Peshtigo burned down and did a lot more damage and killed a lot more people." I always thought it was coincidence that both fires happened at the same night.
No. Fires had been raging in the upper midwest for months. A prairie fire that swept from the Dakotas, across Minnesota, hit the Wisconsin woods where it met with fires already burning. Coupled with a severe weather pattern on the 8th and large portions of the upper midwest burned on October 8th. Not just in Chicago and NE Wisconsin, but large chunks of Michigan, too.
And when morning dawned, help was hard to come by. The telegraph lines had burned and when they could get their pleas to Green Bay, Milwaukee, Madison, they had already dispatched any supplies they had on hand to Chicago.
This is an excellent social history of Peshtigo before, during, and after the fire. It focuses mainly on the people and the town. It briefly mentions the Michigan fires, but doesn't really talk about them. It does talk about the Chicago fire. I could have used a little more "big picture" to see how much burned that night.
My only other complaint is the way they use "Green Bay" is confusing. Green Bay refers to two things--
By: Brian Minter,
on 7/25/2011
First Book was in Milwaukee last week, getting books to kids. We’ve been on the road a lot this summer; we try to spread our massive book distributions across the country so that schools and programs that can’t afford the shipping costs for the free books can still get what they need for the kids that they serve.
We are very happy with our books. We have had to stop getting them if we have to pay for shipping because there is no money in our budget. I have looked for grants to pay for books, but so far in vain. These will last us for a while. Thank you!
Lynn Flynn, PADS Crisis Services, Inc., Chicago
It was as hot in Milwaukee as it has been everywhere, we are sorry to report, but despite the heat we managed to get over 400,000 books distributed, almost a quarter of those to programs in Wisconsin and nearby areas.
As always, we got the chance to meet lots of amazing people:
It takes a lot of people to make these book distributions possible, and we are grateful. We’re also grateful to the fine people of Milwaukee for having us. Go Bucks!
By: Brian Minter,
on 2/27/2011
Build-A-Bear Workshop is one of First Book’s generous partners, and we love their Huggable Heroes program, which recognizes young leaders (ages 8 to 18) who are involved with community service projects in their towns and neighborhoods all over the world.
Every year, Build-A-Bear Workshop picks ten inspiring young people from the list of nominees – each of whom receives a $7,500 college scholarship, a $2,500 donation to the charitable cause of their choice, a video camera and a three-day trip to meet other Huggable Heroes.
It’s not too late to nominate a service-minded young person in your family or community! You can nominate someone online.
In fact, we’re such big fans of this project that we decided to nominate a member of the First Book family: Lauren McLester–Davis, age 14, a resident of De Pere, Wisconsin and the founder of First Book-Greater Green Bay (one of many First Book Advisory Boards – local volunteer groups – around the country).
Several years ago, Lauren volunteered as a “reading buddy” for children from low-income homes at a local children’s bookstore in her home of De Pere, Wisconsin. One of her reading buddies told her that he had no books of his own at home. Moved by this, and realizing that her friend was one of many in the greater Green Bay area, Lauren decided to do something to make a difference. She found First Book online, and started a local Advisory Board.
Only a few years later, the Board has raised funds to distribute thousands of books to students at Title I schools and other programs in Green Bay. With her mother’s help, Lauren recently applied for – and won – a $2,500 grant from the Green Bay Packers to help get more books into the hands of children in need.
We love all our big-hearted and hard-working volunteers, but for someone to do so much amazing work for her community at such a young age (First Book is only one of Lauren’s many community service projects) is truly inspiring. Which is why Lauren is our nominee for Huggable Hero.
By: Elvin Lim,
on 2/23/2011
Something is afoot in American politics. There was a time when the rights of workers, even government workers, to collectively bargain, was taken for granted. There was a time when federal budget deficits were accepted as a necessarily evil but it was only a problem talked about and no one addressed. There was a time when it was political suicide to talk about extending the retirement age or reducing Social Security benefits. Whatever that is left of the political consensus of the last half-century is unraveling today into a cantankerous politics in which settled issues are now up for political re-litigation.
Democrats are on the defensive because they have never taken seriously the diversity of the Republican party, and have therefore failed to anticipate the insurgency of fiscal conservatism that began in 2009. They are fumbling to define a strategy to defend labor in Wisconsin because they have for so long been fighting a different enemy, neo-conservatism – which one might argue is a familiar cousin to liberalism in their shared commitment to budget deficits as an embarrassing but necessarily evil.
For so long relegated to second-place within the Republican fold, fiscal conservatism is today the pre-eminent breed of conservatism, sexier even than neo-conservatism. For so long presumed to be the heart of the Democratic party, labor knew not what to say when Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker threw them a curveball, attacking the right to collective bargaining which had been entrenched for the last half-century. Democrats know how to protest wars, but they haven’t had to aggressively organize themselves to defend labor rights for half a century! Obviously, there are a many number of ways of making up a budget shortfall without attacking collective bargaining rights, but Wisconsin Democrats did not dive straight into articulating this odd connection. Instead, they appear to have conceded to the framing of the problem in fiscal terms (by accepting the Governor’s proposal that state employees pay 5.8 percent of their salary toward their pensions and 12.6 percent of their health-care premiums) and ended up restricting the range of argumentative exits left to them.
Successful political aspirants of the 21st century must understand the tectonic shifts which are occurring with increasing regularity in our politics. And politicians who are not nimble responders to the political cleavages of the day are condemned to fight the wrong battles. The reason why John Kerry lost in 2004 was because he was cast and perceived by a sufficient majority to be a flip-flopping pacifist. 2004 was not the time to challenge the wars abroad. (2008 was.) The reason why Democrats lost so many seats in Congress in 2010 was not because the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan weren’t going well enough, but because a new faction within the Republican party was able to bring domestic politics, and in particular fiscal issues, back on the national agenda.
For Democrats to stand a fighting chance in the congressional elections in 2012, they have to take the fiscal bull by the horns, even if it means renegotiating the relationship between the party and the clients of the Democratically-sponsored social-welfare state. Similarly, for social conservatives who want to advance their cause, they must piggy-back it on libertarian issues, as advocates for the de-funding of Planned Parenthood have wisely done.
Republican primary contenders should also note that seasons have changed. Dick Cheney is out, and Paul Ryan is in. There is a new issue du jour in town – though for how long, we don’t know – but it will likely be
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 2/16/2011
Perhaps you've heard of the latest events regarding the recent budget proposal by our newly elected governor, Scott Walker? That proposal will affect my family, it will affect my friends, it will affect my neighbors, it will affect our local schools -- our entire way of life here in Wisconsin.
Walker's proposal targets the state and local public workers. This includes teachers, university employees, librarians, county and municipal employees -- they will take a deep cut in their benefits. The legislation calls for public workers pay half the costs of their pensions and at least 12.6% of their healthcare coverage. More seriously, the legislation threatens collective bargaining rights of state workers. The governor is trying to quickly push his proposal through the Assembly and Senate and has given very little time for people to voice their concerns.
It isn't entirely the cuts in benefits or the loss of bargaining rights that worries me. It is the loss of Wisconsin as we know it. This all-out attack on public workers has already resulted in a decrease in morale in the state workforce. Just recently my daughter's class talked about bullies. This is one of the biggest bully tactics that I've ever witnessed. The governor is trying to balance the budget on the backs of middle class public workers and if the legislation doesn't pass, he has threatened to cut jobs.
The saddest part in my opinion -- he has demonized the state workers, a group of hard-working individuals that doesn't deserve all the negative energy directed at them in recent weeks by many their private worker counterparts. Honestly, the pitting the two workforces against each other is one of the most sickening political maneuvers I've ever seen. How will this solve any problems? Why can't Wisconsin residents move forward together as one to help balance this budget? Forward - that is our state motto, but it seems that we're on the verge to take a giant step backward.
The fight has made major news headlines around the nation and the world. What happens in Wisconsin will certainly have an effect on other states.
NYT - "Angry Demonstrations in Wisconsin as Cuts Loom"
The Guardian - "Wisconsin's Tea Party takeover"
The Washington Post - "Workers toppled a dictator in Egypt, but might be silenced in Wisconsin"
For a number of days thousands of demonstrators have marched at the Wisconsin Capitol and continue their fight even now. Schools have closed as teachers take sick days to attend the demonstrations; public workers have been bussed in to Madison from all over the state. The point of major contention is the loss of collective bargaining rights, a union-busting proposal. Ironically, Wisconsin was the first state to allow public employees to bargain collectively.
Government workers are not the enemy. How will stripping union rights help bring jobs to the state and solve a budget deficit? Undoubtedly, strikes will follow. And, as far as the benefits, these cuts will weaken our state economy. There is little doubt in my mind. The buying power for many families will lessen. Some families with both spouses working for the state will bear the burden to an almost unconscionable extent. Some of the lowest paid public workers, the LTEs, will lose their benefits completely. State workers have already felt the pain of the recession by weathering unpaid furloughs. Yes, private sector counterparts have taken a cut in pay with this recession, but as the economy recovers they will eventually get raises to make up for the cuts. In the public sector, the compensation gains are so slow that public workers will never rebound - and neither will public employee morale.
By: Jill Casey,
on 1/28/2011
By: Brian Minter,
on 1/24/2011
Lou Hull
Chair of First Book Fox Valley Advisory Board
Appleton, Wisconsin
Several years ago, Lou Hull read a book called ‘Seedfolks’ that had a major impact on her life. The book, a short novel by Paul Fleischman, tells the story of a group of people in Cleveland who transform a vacant lot into a community garden. Hull was powerfully affected by the book’s message of overcoming fear and division to build a sense of community.
“I wasn’t sleeping at night, because the messages in the book resonated so strongly and I wanted people to read it,” she said.
For the next year and a half, Hull made it her mission to get the people of Appleton, Wis. to read ‘Seedfolks’. She organized local reading events, arranged for a thousand copies of the book to be distributed and visited schools, universities, libraries and community groups to get the word out. The author himself found out about Hull’s efforts after several Appleton students wrote to him, and he traveled to Wisconsin to spend several days with Hull and other members of the community. He even got to see a local stage production of the book while he was visiting.
Thanks to Hull, nearly 20,000 people in Appleton have read the book. “I have to say that it was the most important thing I have done in my professional life,” she said.
That experience led her to a local volunteer chapter of First Book — known as an Advisory Board — who initially helped her with the ‘Seedfolks’ project, and when it was over, asked her to join the board.
Since taking over as chair, Hull has helped First Book’s Fox Valley Advisory Board expand into nearby towns to reach more children in low-income neighborhoods and Title I schools. She has helped raise the group’s profile, as well as ensure their fund-raising efforts promote literacy. (At a recent fund-raiser a local meteorologist read ‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs’ to a group of children, who, in turn, read the book to “reading dogs“).
“We’re working hard to get more well-known in the community, because it helps us raise more money,” Hull said. “And the more money we raise, the more books we can get to the kids. People love it that they can give ten dollars and that money goes to buy books. ”
Hull works in a charter school library, and is involved in numerous other volunteer activities, including diversity presentations at local schools. The thread that runs through all of these, she says, is the importance of educating children, and reading is the key – not just the skill of reading, but the love of it.
“Reading is the basis of everything, especially with education,” Hull said. “If you can’t read, you can’t study social studies, you can’t learn geography, you can’t do word problems. And even if you have the skills to read, if you don’t enjoy reading, you’re not going to do it.”
First Book Wants You! Help us get books to kids who need them in your community. To learn more about volunteering, visit us online.
By: Jill Casey,
on 1/17/2011
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 10/16/2010
Oops, no Full to the Brim this week! Sorry, but we've been keeping busy in other ways. We went on a little side trip this weekend to Sheboygan,WI and spent a few hours at the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival. We also toured Sheboygan's Bookworm Gardens during the grand opening.
Here's a sneak peak from the book festival. Can you guess the author's identity? (Need a hint? - This author/illustrator has published books about leaves, butterflies, snow and soup, and she lives in Wisconsin!)
I'll post more about our trip later on in the week. We had so much fun!
Summer in Texas lasts a very long time and finding that by September we've had quite enough of it, we departed for a short trip over the holiday weekend to southern Wisconsin in the hopes to escape the heat. I'd been to Wisconsin once when I was very young and hold almost no memory of it, so with little idea of what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful rolling hills and generally bucolic landscape. Not to mention the perfect weather!
Our vacation turned into something of an architectural tour of southern Wisconsin as we visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, the Pabst Mansion, and The House on the Rock, the last of which I suppose is more of an incredibly bizarre experiment in sensory overload than a representation of any particularly well-regarded architecture, although still fascinating in its own unsettling way. Check out the photo gallery on their website to get a better idea of what the place is about - it is so strange and random that I really don't know how to describe it.
As we've been rather hike-starved for months now due to the heat and we lucked out with the beautiful weather in Wisconsin, we made sure to spend a significant amount of time outside. We visited Pewitt's Nest near North Freedom, WI which is a short, but stunning slot canyon in the Baraboo Hills.
And for a more rigorous hike we visited Devil's Lake State Park and hiked up the very steep Balanced Rock Trail and back down the equally steep CCC trail.
We had never seen rocks quite so purple on hikes we had done anywhere else. Perhaps this is what "purple mountains majesty" refers to? Although I think our "mountain" would probably be more accurately described as a very grand hill.
We have only to wait a few more weeks before the Texas heat dissipates and we can get outside and explore our new city. I'm looking forward to it and I think our little adventure in the north will tide me over until then.
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 6/9/2010
During June Dairy Month, several farmers in Wisconsin give residents the chance to visit a farm by hosting dairy breakfasts. Attending a dairy breakfast is a great family activity so this past Saturday morning we took a trip and enjoyed a yummy breakfast of dairy products including eggs, sausage, pancakes, cheese, yogurt and more. After we finished eating the kids visited the petting zoo area and my daughter and I rode in a wagon pulled by a team of horses. We also made sure to check out the facilities - this particular dairy farm sells calves and had over 800 calves for the kids to visit and see up close. That many calves means a lot of bottles!
If you'd like to attend a breakfast, there is a list of locations at Wake Up With Dairy http://www.wakeupwithdairy.com/
Find more of this week's Wordless Wednesday (or Wordful) posts at 5 Minutes for Mom or Seven Clown Circus.
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 4/22/2010
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 4/14/2010
I'm Wisconsin bound, and those in the know are telling me that Wisconsin is the place to be. Wonderful people, I'm told. Well-read people. Nice people. I shall keep those goodnesses close to my heart as I travel to Little Chute Public Library, Roosevelt Middle School, Madison Middle School, West High School, Kaukauna Public Library, New London Middle School, Appleton Public Library, and East High School.
By: Brimful Curiosities,
on 4/1/2010
Last summer we visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. My daughter loved many of the exhibits but one of her very favorites was the Baby Chick Hatchery. She witnessed a baby chick peck out of its shell and she's had a special fondness for chicks ever since that experience. Chick and chicken books appeal to her greatly so you can imagine her excitement when we read Barbara Joosse's latest book, Higgledy-Piggledy Chicks. 
"What can a fuzzy chick do? Little chicks have legs to run. But sometimes ... claws and teeth are out, and Mama can't be everywhere at once. Aunties?" - Higgledy-Piggledy Chicks by Barbara M. Joosse, illustrated by Rick Chrustowski
Bucka-buk! Bucka-buk! Barbara Joosse puts readers right in the middle of the barnyard with a story about a protective Banty Hen and her seven baby chicks. Seven eggs hatch into seven adorable and multicolored chicks. Those little chicks soon leave the nest to explore the vast barnyard and run higgledy-piggledy in every direction. Danger lurks hidden nearby but mama hen and the aunties do their best to keep the curious little chicks safe day and night from the cat, raccoon and snake predators. 
Higgledy-Piggledy Chicks is a lively read-aloud for all young children, even toddlers. Joosse does a marvelous job capturing the sounds and sights near a hen house. There are plenty of peeps, clucks, kuks and kaaks sprinkled throughout the expressive text. Both my kids listened to the story intently, felt deep concern for the little chicks as they wandered around the barnyard and tried to guess what kind of predators lurked on the pages by using clues from the illustrations. Chrustowski's colorful collage illustrations have a certain depth to them - he used colored pencils to draw shadows and details on the cut figures. Both kids loved the page where the chicks hatch. They counted the chicks and picked out their favorites from the multicolored bunch. My daughter said that one of the little chicks looks like it is sleeping in a little egg shell crib. Chrustowski used actual chick models for his illustrations and at the end of the story provides pictures of the real chicks running around his studio. Joosse provides an educational description of how little chicks grow in the back of the book and tells a little bit about the Bantam hen breed.
One last reason why we simply adore the book -- both the author and illustrator live in our wonderful state of Wisconsin!
Higgledy-Piggledy Chicks
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 3/28/2010
I’ve lived my whole life that way—wanting, reaching, exuding, falling, reaching again, wanting more. I was an ice skater as a kid—the one skating fast, the one jumping big, the one who could not control her spins. I left ice skating for track and field—to my mother’s chagrin—and there I wasn’t happy with just the 100 yard dash or the hurdles. I had to compete in the 200, too, and also in long jump, and also in high jump, and also in the relays (not just one but two), and come fall, I signed up for cross-country. It’s not that I was great at all of these events, or even that great at one of them. It’s that I made commitments—wild and huge—to live, to hurt, to want, to try, to transform myself into more than I was.
By: Tasha Saecker,
on 9/22/2009
Front and Center by Catherine Murdock
Released October 19, 2009.
In this third and final book in the Dairy Queen series, DJ has returned home after caring for her injured brother Will. Now she is back in the high school mix of homework, basketball and plenty of pressure. Pressure from her coach to turn into a better leader and start to speak out more on court. Pressure from the bag of offers her father has kept, filled with coaches that she is going to have to call. Pressure from a new boyfriend and lingering thoughts of Brian. Pressure from her brother Will to do it all perfectly and to do it now. Luckily DJ has basketball and workouts to keep her mind from spiraling completely out of control. But she has some big decisions to make and soon.
DJ is such a wonderful character that I am sad to see this will be her final book. She is genuine, funny and reminds me vividly of all of the Wisconsin farm girls I knew growing up. Murdock has created a character who is above all real, filled with doubts, and exceptional. Even reading this as an adult, it brought up all of the tough decisions I have had to make about school and work, along with their accompanying not-good-enough feelings. Murdock has written a book about struggling with self-doubt and the future without becoming whiny in any way.
Murdock also excels at the characters of DJ’s family, giving them each their own motivations, logical growth of their characters, and sudden understanding. It is a pleasure to see a series where an entire family changes together, growing stronger and more important to one another.
Highly recommended for anyone who has read the first two. This final book is just as good as the others in the series, if not better. I’d recommend seeking this series out and enjoying all three books right in a row if you haven’t read them yet. A great end to a marvelous series! Appropriate for ages 13-16.
Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.
Also reviewed at Librarilly Blonde, Abby (the) Librarian, Feed Your Imagination, and Jen Robinson’s Book Page.
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By: Lisa Chellman,
on 10/19/2008
I spent this weekend in Racine for the SCBWI Wisconsin's annual retreat (really more of a whirlwind conference/sleepover). It was my first big writer-type event and totally worth it. Highlights:
(Aside: it was funny, being as close to Lake Michigan as we were, because my apartment is only slightly farther from the shore. I could have dog-paddled 75 miles up the coast to get there if I'd wanted. It made me feel cozily at home. Of course, how often do I go to the beach to watch the sun rise? Um...never? Accursed writing time!)
(Aside: You know you're not in Chicago when you see as many McCain as Obama signs on people's lawns. I mean, my building's on the edge of an historic neighborhood of freakin' multi-million dollar homes, and they've all got Obama signs! Come on, Wisconsin... Gobama!)
Again, all in all, a really terrific time. Some people asked me, will I go again next year? If I had to decide right this second, I'd say yes! I'll just have see how life and finances stand when registration rolls around next summer...
I've read a couple of her quilting books but nothing lately. I'd love to read this one!
bethsbookreviewblog2 AT gmail DOT com
My favorite book in the Elm Creek series is The Christmas Quilt. I would love to read Sonoma Rose.
Thank you,
Christine W
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I follow you on Twitter and tweeted about this giveaway https://twitter.com/#!/ossmcalc/status/172874734311194626
Thank you,
Christine W
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I follow you via email subscription.
Thank you,
Christine W
[email protected]
Sounds interesting! I'm always up for a good read. :)
Jen
I haven't read any of her books. I know I would enjoy them by your description.
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love to win thanks for the chance
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would love to check this out
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This sounds like a wonderful series! Glad you enjoyed this latest entry.
Thanks for being on the tour. I'm featuring your review on TLC's Facebook page today.