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Sleep Book. Dr. Seuss. 1962. Random House. 64 pages. [Source: Library]

 First sentence:
The news 
Just came in
From the County of Keck
That a very small bug
By the name of Van Vleck
Is yawning so wide
You can look down his neck.
This may not seem 
Very important, I know.
But it is. So I'm bothering 
Telling you so.

Premise/plot: A book to read at bedtime. It's addressed directly to readers, to you. Readers meet plenty of Seuss creations that are either already asleep or nearly so.

My thoughts: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book. I can't read it--even silently--without yawning. I love so many things about it including...

• the time for night-brushing of teeth is at hand.
• the number of sleepers is steadily growing. Bed is where more and more people are going.
• the Audio-Telly-o-Tally-o Count, a machine that lets us know who is down and who's up
• They're even asleep in the Zwieback Motel! And people don't usually sleep there too well.
• moose dreaming of moose juice, goose dreaming of goose juice...
• Ziffer-Zoof seeds, which nobody wants because nobody needs.

The Sleep Book is one of my favorite books by Dr. Seuss. I love the story, the rhythm and rhyme, the silliness.

Have you read The Sleep Book? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to know what you think of it!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is Dr. Seuss' ABC.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Toys are important to a child but too many of them can be a handicap. A child who has a chest full of ready-made playthings often becomes indifferent to them. Eventually none amuse or please and the toy-owner becomes restless, dissatisfied, and frequently difficult to live with. Such a child urgently needs a wholesome release … Continue reading Making+Doing=Being

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The Lilies of the Field. William Edmund Barrett. 1962/1988. Grand Central Publishing. 128 pages. [Source: Gift]

There is a young legend developing on the west side of the mountains. It will, inevitably, grow with the years. Like all legends, it is composed of falsehood and fact. In this case, the truth is more compelling than the trappings of imagination with which it has been invested. The man who has become a legendary figure was, perhaps, of greater stature in simple reality than he ever will be in the oft-repeated, and expanded, tales which commemorate his deeds. Here before the whole matter gets out of hand, is how it was...
His name was Homer Smith. He was twenty-four. He stood six foot two and his skin was a deep, warm black.

 If you love, love, LOVE the movie--or if you only like it--you should treat yourself and read the book. How does it compare with the movie? Is it as wonderful? as magical? as perfect? I'm not exactly sure it's fair to compare the two. I can easily say it's well worth reading. I loved meeting Homer Smith. I loved meeting all the nuns. I loved seeing Homer at work. I loved his interactions with the sisters, especially seeing him teach them English. There are so many delightful and wonderful things about the book AND the movie. The book isn't better than the movie, in my opinion, but it is at least as good as the movie which is saying something. (My expectations for this one were very high!)

So in case you're unfamiliar with the movie starring Sidney Poitier, here's the basic plot: Homer Smith is a man who likes his independence. He's traveling the country in his station wagon, and, he's a handy man of sorts. He stops when and where he likes and he finds work. He does a few odd jobs for some German nuns. One of them feels that Homer is God's answer to her prayers. She feels that Homer has come specifically to build them a church. Though they don't have enough money or enough resources, they have faith that it will happen and that Homer is the man for the job. Can one man build a chapel?!

So Homer Smith is a delightful character. And the book is a great read.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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No, I am not going to claim that The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is an environmental book. Though, I suppose I could. When I'm looking for environmental books, I look for experience.  The Snowy Day is all about a child's experience of winter, of a snowy day. Peter is immersed in a winter environment.

What I'm going to do, instead, is argue that environmental children's books need a The Snowy Day.

Back in 1962, The Snowy Day broke the color barrier in mainstream children's publishing. Little Peter is African-Amercan. But nowhere in this book is there anything that says, "Oh, this is an important story I'm telling here. Here is a lesson for us all--we're all alike when it snows!" Deborah Pope of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation said in a NPR interview that Peter's ethnic background "...wasn't important. It wasn't the point." She said that Keats "wasn't necessarily trying to make a statement about race when he created Peter." He was a white illustrator who had never used a child of color in his work and decided he would. The Snowy Day is the story of a kid having a good time in the snow. He just happens to be black.

So many children's environmental books are heavy with lesson. The mini-lectures undermine whatever story is there and destroy the experience of being immersed in some natural element. I'd love to see an environmental equivalent of The Snowy Day, in which child characters simply go about their business recycling or composting or living in a solar house or living as a part of some ecosystem or another without hammering readers about the significance of what they're doing.

Maybe for the time being I'll settle for The Snowy Day as an environmental book and read and watch little Peter  surround himself with winter.

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Cover Her Face. P.D. James. 1962. 254 pages.

Exactly three months before the killing at Martingale Mrs Maxie gave a dinner party. Years later, when the trial was a half-forgotten scandal and the headlines were yellowing on the newspaper lining of cupboard drawers, Eleanor Maxie looked back on that spring evening as the opening scene of tragedy. Memory, selective and perverse, invested what had been a perfectly ordinary dinner party with an aura of foreboding and unease. It became, in retrospect, a ritual gathering under one roof of victim and suspects, a staged preliminary to murder. 

I enjoyed P.D. James' Cover Her Face. This mystery is the first novel starring detective Adam Dalgliesh. I'm guessing that I'll love other titles in the series even more.

As is the case in any mystery series, I think readers only grow in appreciation as they read on. There's a big difference, in my opinion, between reading your first Miss Marple or your first Rex Stout, and reading your sixth. You just grow to appreciate the little things more and more as you go on. So I do have high hopes for the series. I enjoyed it enough that I'd WANT to read more in the series.

I never know quite how much to say about any murder mystery I review. I could tell you a little bit about the victim, a little bit about the suspects, a little bit about the detectives on the case. But when it comes down to it, it's not those elements that will "sell" you on the novel itself. You either like mysteries or you don't.

Cover Her Face is a nice cozy mystery set in England. The Maxie family is at the center of this mystery. For it is their somewhat-newly-hired-maid, Sally Jupp, that is the victim. The opening chapters show just how many within the family, within the community, disliked her. Some thought this single mom had a bad attitude, an inappropriate smugness perhaps. The Maxie family definitely isn't perfect--it doesn't take the detective, Adam Dalgliesh, long to figure that one out! So many people within the family--or connected to the family--are lying! But what are they lying about? what are they concealing?

For me, what makes ANY mystery novel enjoyable is the investigative process. I LOVE to witness the suspects being interviewed and interrogated. I love to hear the detectives talk about their theories as to who did it and why. And I did enjoy Adam Dalgliesh, I did.

While I wouldn't say this novel is my favorite mystery that I've read this year, it was a good read, very enjoyable, a nice beginning.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The Nonesuch. Georgette Heyer. 1962/2009. Sourcebooks. 352 pages.

There was a twinkle in the Nonesuch's eye as he scanned the countenances of his assembled relations, but his voice was perfectly grave, even a trifle apolegetic. 'I am afraid it is quite true, ma'am,' he said, addressing himself to his Aunt Sophia. 'I am the heir.'

Who is the Nonesuch? Waldo--or Sir Waldo perhaps--Hawkridge. A wealthy man in need of nothing (already owning several properties both in the country and in ton) who happens to inherit the estate of his cousin, Joseph Calver. The estate--a piece of property called Broom Hall--is in the country and is in need of much repair. Waldo takes one of his best friends, one of his relations (cousin? nephew?) with him: Julian Lindeth. Yet another relation (cousin? nephew?) will join the story later on, only this one not being one of his best friends--no he's more of the begging persuasion: Laurence ("Laurie") Calver. They come to this country estate--this country neighborhood. And while there, they interact with the locals.

The story focuses around a small group. Mrs. Underhill, her daughter, Charlotte, her son, Courtenay, her niece, Tiffany Wield, and the governess/companion Miss Trent. There are a few others in the circle--most notably a Patience Chartley. But those are the main players in the book.

The neighborhood is all excited by the entry of these two gentlemen. Both the mamas and the daughters. Tiffany is perhaps the most beautiful lady in their small country circle of acquaintances, but other girls--ladies I should say--eclipse her in matters of the heart and mind. Still, it's Tiffany's game to win or lose--at least as she sees it--as she sets out to capture the hearts of these two gentleman soon after they've arrived.

The novel is all about wooing and being wooed. And it was an enjoyable one for the most part. There were many characters developed. Many relationships developed. There isn't much "action" to speak of as far as plot is concerned until the very end--the last seventy-five pages or so--but for me I never found it boring. Then again, I'm a patient reader and I know the pay off can be big for Heyer novels. So others might not be so forgiving. 

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Shirley Jackson. 1962. Penguin. 214 pages. 

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead.

Our narrator, Merricat--Mary Katherine Blackwood--tells her story in the first person. It's a strange story--to be sure--about two sisters who are still haunted in many ways by their tragic past.

Merricat--the sister "brave" enough to leave the house--hates to go to town. She does it because she must. Because groceries and library books are essential to life. Constance never goes outside the gates of the family estate--though she loves to be outside in her garden.

Most of We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a flashback. It shows how things went from bad to worse after the arrival of their cousin Charles. I'll say no more. I think it's better not to know what this one is "about" before beginning.

Did I like it? Well enough to keep reading! I read this one for the 24 Hour Read-a-thon. And it was a great choice. It was a quick read. In part because it's so short, but also because it's suspenseful, compelling.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Dick, Philip K. 1962. The Man in the High Castle. 272 pages.

For a week Mr. R. Childan had been anxiously watching the mail.

What can I say about this one? Really. An alternative reality is created, a reality in which the Axis powers won World War II. The United States? Not so united. They've been divided--some being more occupied than others--between Germany and Japan. Life isn't all bad--well, unless you happen to be Jewish or black. For this reason, it is better to be on the Japanese side of the border. (Don't even ask what the Germans did to Africa.) This nightmarish reality is all too real for the handful of characters the reader meets. (Yes, a few of the characters are Jewish.)

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. This book is all about choices--ethical and moral questions that these characters have to answer. It isn't easy to be the person you want to be, should be. Life is too complex to be simplified into wrong and right...or so it appears. Some decisions change your life forever. Some change who you are. Some hasten the inevitable...death itself. How much of yourself would you be willing to sacrifice to be "safe" in this nightmare-of-a-world?

One of the fascinating aspects of this one is how the novel revolves around a book or two. Specifically, the novel revolves around another novel and its author. A science-fiction novel that in itself is an alternate reality. A novel imagining what life would be like if the Allies had won the war. This novel is by Hawthorne Abendsen. It's called The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. And this novel weaves its way into the stories of the many characters and narrators. As you can imagine, this novel isn't all that popular with the powers-that-be. It's outlawed on the German-occupied side of the country. But that doesn't stop people from reading it. Giving this novel power. If anything, it makes it all that more popular.

This one is definitely interesting! It's a bit more philosophical and ideas-oriented than action-packed. But I enjoyed reading it.

Plot summary (from the publisher?)

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war--and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to awake.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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Steinbeck, John. 1962. Travels with Charley.

Travels With Charley is my second John Steinbeck book. And it was a delight to read. (In fact I stayed up with this one because I just couldn't put it down!) I recommend it for those that fall into one or more of the following categories: dog lovers--particularly dog owners; travel-lovers--particularly those that dream of taking a cross-country road trip across the U.S.; history-lovers--particularly those that are interested in America's culture and politics; literature-lovers--particularly those that love nice-and-steady prose that satisfies. I love the reflectiveness of the book; it's very straightforward. For those unfamiliar with the premise, it is the story of a man (famous writer though he may be) and his dog as they travel across the United States in 1960. It's also very quotable. I tagged passage after passage after passage. Here's how it starts off:

When I very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job.

It continues,

"When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find in himself a good and sufficient reason for going. This to the practical bum is not difficult. He has a built-in garden of reasons to choose from. Next he must plan his trip in time and space, choose a direction and destination. And last he must implement the journey. How to go, what to take, how long to stay. This part of the process is invariable and immortal. I set it down only so that newcomers to bumdom, like teenagers in new-hatched sin, will not think they invented it. Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brassbound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blown-in-the-glass bum relax and go along with it. Only then do the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. I feel better now, having said this, although only those who have experienced it will understand it."

Travels with Charley is an intelligent novel; but it's an accessible one as well. Steinbeck might have been smart; he might have had a way with words--but he knows how to tell a story. There's nothing pretentious about it; it's meant to be read and enjoyed. I have several favorite bits. One of the more humorous ones is when Steinbeck is telling about Charley's reaction to the bears in Yellowstone National Park! Though he was in the truck--named Rocinante after Don Quixote's horse--Charley was determined to show those bears what for!

Less than a mile from the entrance I saw a bear beside the road, and it ambled out as though to flag me down. Instantly a change came over Charley. He shrieked wit rage. His lips flared, showing wicked teeth that have some trouble with a dog biscuit. He screeched insults at the bear, which hearing the bear reared up and seemed to me to overtop Rocinante. Frantically I rolled the windows shut and, swinging quickly to the left, grazed the animal, then scuttled on while Charley raved and ranted beside me, describing in detail what he would do to that bear if he could get at him. I was never so astonished in my life. to the best of my knowledge Charley had never seen a bear, and in his whole history had showed great tolerance for every living thing. Besides all this, Charley is a coward, so deep-seated a coward that he has developed a technique for concealing it. And yet he showed every evidence of wanting to get out and murder a bear that outweighed him a thousand to one. I don't understand it. A little farther along two bears showed up, and the effect was doubled. Charley became a maniac. He leaped all over me, he cursed and growled, snarled and screamed. I didn't know he had the ability to snarl. Where did he learn it? Bears were in good supply, and the road became a nightmare. For the first time in his life Charley resisted reason, even resisted a cuff on the ear. He became a primitive killer lusting for the blood of his enemy, and up to this moment he had had no enemies....

And how could I resist his passages about Texas? I couldn't! From his, "Once you are in Texas it seems to take forever to get out, and some people never make it" to his, "Most areas in the world may be placed in latitude and longitude, described chemically in their earth, sky and water, rooted and fuzzed over with identified flora and peopled with known fauna, and there's an end to it. Then there are others where fable, myth, preconception, love, longing, or prejudice step in and so distort a cool, clear appraisal that a kind of high-colored magical confusion takes permanent hold. Greece is such an area, and those parts of England where King Arthur walked. One quality of such places as I am trying to define is that a very large part of them is personal and subjective. And surely Texas is such a place....What I am trying to say is that there is no physical or geographical unity in Texas. Its unity lies in the mind. And this is not only in Texans. The word Texas becomes a symbol to everyone in the world. There's no question that this Texas-of-the-mind fable is often synthetic, sometimes untruthful, and frequently romantic, but that in no way diminishes its strength as a symbol."

But perhaps the most significant section covers Steinbeck's travels into New Orleans to witness the "Cheerleaders" protesting the integration of the schools. You can only read it in awe that it really and truly happened. That hate and prejudice really was so dominant, so loud, so jarring, so front-and-center.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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