Playing Catch Up - Children's Lit

Some of what I’ve read over the last months has included middle grade chapter books and one lone young adult fiction.

I love kids’ books.

The Lightning Thief

By Rick Riordan

2005

 

This book is the first in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series, and, what can I say? It was an interesting and exciting book. My nine year old loved it, after his initial surprise at the end of chapter one. 

This book is full of Greek mythology from Zeus to Medusa to Hades. Interesting stories for certain, but it also includes sacrifices to the gods, seeking help from the gods, giving the gods credit for creation... wind, water, sky... 

Fine and good as a story, but there were people who believed this and, consequently, miss out on the true Creator of it all.

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

By E.L. Konigsburg

1973

I came upon this particular title on our recent holiday to California. It was tucked away in an aged children’s play area and I thought the cover looked intriguing. The library back home had it, and the rest is history (pun intended).

This book takes place way back in the 1100’s in England and France, telling the story of King Henry II, King Louis of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine and her two infamous sons, Richard the Lion Heart and Prince John.

All from the vantage point and retrospect of Heaven.

The story is interesting, especially for a history lover like me, though it makes Heaven sound fantastical.

I will definitely be looking up Eleanor of Aquitaine in my old history books.

Daughter of War

By Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

2008

This book was my token young adult read, and out of all three books listed here, it was definitely my favourite.

And the most intense.

Daughter of War covers the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the early Twentieth Century. According to historical records, in April, 1909 more than 30,000 Armenians were slaughtered within a few very short days.

Thousands of Armenian homes were burned to the ground.

People were marched into the desert to die.

And this was only the beginning.

Fascinating.

Horribly sad.

Graphic and detailed in parts.

A great read for older kids. Thus, the young adult designation.

Reading on...

Playing Catch Up

Though the keys have been idle, my eyes have not and I have still been reading these last few months. There just hasn't been time to write about it!

Today, I will play catch up with only a few brief thoughts about each book.

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana 

By Anne Rice

2008

I don’t think I would have pulled this book off the shelf myself, but my husband gave it to me for Christmas. After reading it last month, I am still gathering my thoughts. How should I feel about a book written from Jesus’ point of view?

A book that is not the Bible.

The Road to Cana covers the months leading up to the wedding where Jesus turns water into wine. The Bible doesn’t tell us anything about Jesus during this time, so who knows, perhaps what Anne Rice has suggested really could have happened.

The book appears to have been thoroughly researched. The historical detail, sights, and sounds are all amazing. To me, this makes it a great read, despite everything.

Just one further note, once I finished the book I was left with a curiosity about the author, Anne Rice. I knew her name from the many vampire books she’d written years ago, but I knew nothing of her personally.

Who is she that she can write a book through the eyes of Jesus?

On her website www.annerice.com I discovered a great many interesting things. For instance, did you know she was born as Howard Allen O’Brien  and chose the name “Anne” when entering first grade?
Also, that in 1998 Anne returned to the Catholic Church and, “in 2002 consecrated her writing entirely to Christ, vowing to write for Him or about Him”.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World

By Joanna Weaver

2000

It was with an intentional heart that I picked this book from my library. I’ve owned it for years, always hoping to read it someday, but never quite got around to it. After being assigned to teach that a woman should be “busy at home” for our Women’s Bible Study at church, I picked it up out of desperation!

I needed some direction...  

The book focuses on the Bible passage Luke 10:38-42 where Martha is busy working while her sister, Mary, sits at Jesus’ feet listening. Martha is worried and upset about her workload and almost chastises Jesus for not caring that she is doing everything while her sister just, well,  sits. In return, Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen what is better.

The book spoke to me in so many different ways, but essentially it comes down to this:

I need to spend time at Jesus’ feet before doing anything else. If I don’t, nothing will work because I don’t have the proper strength, motive, perspective or purpose.

Very powerful, and very useful in my talk.

A Wife After God’s Own Heart

 

By Elizabeth George

2004

Something else to help with the Women’s Bible Study... 

This book covers topics such as growing in your relationship with Jesus, functioning as a team with your husband, money management, keeping your home, raising your children, and making time for fun.

All good things.

Several ideas caught my eye...

• I need to make choices that can help me grow closer to the Lord
• I need to pick the right time in order to discuss issues with my husband, ie not as soon as he walks in the door after work.
• I bring glory and honor to God by keeping my home.
• I need to pray for my children.
• What a joy it is to serve the Lord with my husband.

Nothing really new, but certainly good reminders.

Half-Blood Blues

By Esi Edugyan

2011

This book won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a finalist for The GGs, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the Man Booker Prize. I have no idea what these individual contests consider, but I do know they serve as Canada's top literary awards. I guess that’s another topic...

Because this book was recognized so highly, and because I didn't know anything about Blues music during  World War Two, I purchased it at our local big box book store.

So glad I did.

I couldn’t put it down. And because I read it during a family vacation, I didn't have to.

It did take me a few pages to get used to the unique dialogue.  However, once I did, it was beautiful.

The book was so well written and the story so fascinating, I bought it for my dad for Christmas. He also loved it and he’s a fussy reader!

The Best of Me

By Nicholas Sparks

2011

I haven’t read a lot of Nicholas Sparks, perhaps A Walk to Remember and that’s it. So, when I picked up his newest at the library on a whim, I didn’t really know what to expect.

I had an inkling that Mr. Sparks was a good, clean writer, and that he may even be a Christian. Apparently, he is, and according to a website I found, this is what he says...

The author told The Christian Post that his writing never includes adultery or pre-marital sex, although he knows that it happens in real life. He chooses not to write using profanity or sex because it is the higher road to do so, and not the “easy” way to create a conflict in a story.

Sparks says he is comfortable writing about his faith, and just because pre-marital sex does occur, [it] does not mean it occurs in 100 percent of young people. He believes that his exclusion of sex in his writing may encourage young people that “you can be in love and not go all the way.”

Without having this knowledge as I read the book, I found myself going “uh oh” a few times with the choices the main characters made. However, to say any more would ruin the story.

Let’s just say, I gave a sigh of relief at the end and I truly enjoyed the book.

I might even read a few more!

Chronicles of the Kings

(Gods and Kings; Song of Redemption; The Strength of His Hand; Faith of my Fathers; Among the Gods)

By Lynn Austin

This Biblical series follows Judah’s kings from Ahaz to Manasseh. While much of this series is fiction and speculation, the plot follows Biblical accounts found in 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah and probably several others books.

While some readers may regard these books as “light reading”, I thoroughly enjoyed them and found they helped bring the Bible to life.

What was especially interesting for me, is that the first book talks about the building of Hezekiah's Tunnel in Jerusalem in great detail. Well, a group from our church just visited the real Hezekiah's tunnel on their recent trip to Israel. It really does exists!

I would recommend this series in a heartbeat.




I have a few more books to add to this list, but I'll wait for another day...

The Art of Pushing Too Hard

A great love of mine, reaching far back into my childhood, is artistic gymnastics.

I spent a year or two in the gym then quit, believing it to be too costly for my parents.

I remember that conversation to this day. 

I regret that conversation to this day.

Several years later, I tried rhythmic gymnastics and, again, spent several years in the gym then coached a few more. Unsuccessfully, I might add.

However, for me “rhythmics” didn’t have quite the same pull.

Sigh, the trials of youth.

With that said I recently read two artistic gymnastic books and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of immersing myself in the world of the gym.

Letters to a Young Gymnast

by Nadia Comaneci

Basic Books

2004

Nadia Comaneci was my gymnastics hero, just like thousands of other aspiring gymnasts. 

One of my favourite movies growing up was, “Nadia”. I found it on You Tube and found it just as inspiring now as I did then. 

Note: Apparently the scene in the movie where Nadia drinks dish soap as a suicide attempt was stretched to add tension and drama.  

Letters to a Young Gymnast provides a glimpse into Nadia’s life as an elite gymnast in Romania and her new life in North America. Nadia also provides details of her defection to the United States – unreal.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Nadia’s experiences and truly felt sorry for her in parts. Life was not easy despite her national and international fame.

The book did not disappoint. 

Chalked Up

by Jennifer Sey

William Morrow/Harper Collins Publishers

2008

Until this autobiography, I had never heard of Jennifer Sey, the 1986 United States Gymnastics Champion.

While I thoroughly enjoyed her story, the experiences she detailed page after page totally took the romance out of elite gymnastics. Hers is a story of “merciless coaching, overzealous parents, eating disorders, and elusive Olympic dreams.”

Things no parent should want their child to experience. 

Reading her book did bring a certain question to mind...

What does pushing too hard look like? When does it happen?

When the rest of the family is propelled towards sacrifice for the sake of one child's aspirations...

When the child can't quit for fear of disappointing their parents...

When a child mutilates their body in the drive to succeed... 

I think the question of pushing too be hard can be asked of all parents of all children in activities. 

It is certainly not exclusive to gymnastics.

We recently asked ourselves this question with Number One Son. When is enough enough? 

For four years we poked and prodded him to attend music lessons, to practice music lessons, to love (or at least like) music lessons, until we finally gave up. 

We felt (and still do) that music adds depth to character never mind providing a very versatile and practical skill. 

Number One Son disagreed.

The pull he felt was to hockey.

I think there comes a time with all children when you have to let them give up on one activity in lieu of another. One can not be good at everything, and eventually comes the time to choose.

Which do they want to pursue?

If Number One Son wants to spend his time playing hockey instead of playing piano, so be it.

He did give piano four years, after all.

And he knows the minute he asks to go back, the door is open.

The fact is God has given us all unique and individual gifts. I believe one can worship God through playing hockey just as easily as through the piano. 

Just maybe not as traditional.

1 Corinthians 10:31

“So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

If my Number One Son seeks to do his best at hockey to glorify God through helping his team, well then, he's in worship.

So, what about pushing within the activity they love?

Hockey is a terrific example.

In our city, all parents have to take an on-line course and sign their lives away agreeing to be respectful towards all players, coaches, refs, other parents, and, especially, their own child. 

Still, you regularly hear stories of parents who’ve failed.

Then, of course, there are all the signs and posters and emails about all the additional hockey and skating you, as a hockey parent, can sign your child up for. There are enough options to fill every nook of your child's time with hockey and the like.

As a hockey parent, the pull is certainly there. After all, you realize that the more practice time your child gets the better the team they'll end up on and the more competitive the games will be, and the cycle continues.

I know. I have felt it. 

I believe a sign of respect is not pushing your child too hard. Follow their lead. After all, pushing too hard will eventually back fire and your child will end up hating the activity they once loved.

So, my conclusion on the Art of Pushing Too Hard?

Pushing too hard is when a parent holds unrealistic expectations over their child.

Pushing too hard is when the parent forces their child to practice for the tenth (or even third) time that day.

Pushing too hard comes when a parent believes their child is the best and will do their activity professionally.

Pushing hard comes when a parent relives their youth through their child.

Pushing too hard when the parent forgets their child is still their child.

As a parent, there are times when it takes restraint to not push too hard or to hold your tongue. To let it be. Especially when I forget what really matters... 

As a parent, what should be the most important to me in all my child's activities?

That my child loves what they are doing.

That my child does their best at what they’re doing.

That my child glorifies God through what they are doing.

That my child is a light to others through what they are doing.

That my child feels my overwhelming love, encouragement and support, no matter how well they perform.

That is (part of) the Art of Parenting Well.

Reading on...

The Cello Suites

The Cello Suites
by Eric Siblin

House of Anansi Press Inc., 2009

First of all, let me say, I LOVE THE CELLO.

I first heard an unaccompanied cello, in all its glory, when we lived in a small farming/ university city and two music majors happened to play a cello duet at our church.

I fell in love.

I love how the cello looks. I love how the cello sounds. I how the cello is is played...

Now ask,

Do I play the cello?

No.

Do I play any string instrument?

No.

Do I play any instrument at all?

Well, yes.

I grew up playing the piano, but not what I would consider successfully.

I also happen to play the flute. Or did.

But it comes down to this,

Music was never“my thing”. Refer to  The Hidden Art of Homemaking for more on this.

Despite this sad but true fact however, I think I might like to give it a try once again.

On my terms.

(Not so) secretly, I hope one of my children will be “my cello player”. But I have also considered the possibility of taking lessons myself once all the kids are in school.

Why can’t I be “my cello player”?

So, that brings me to The Cello Suites.

My eyes gravitated to the title listed in the “must read” section of one of our community newsletters. I’m not sure how many people actually took that recommendation seriously as I quickly got a hold of a copy at the library, not generally what happens with popular books in our library system.

In short, I absolutely loved this book. In fact, I picked up a copy for my brother-in-law for Christmas.

The Cello Suites basically follows three true stories.

1) The life and times of famous music composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote the actual “Cello Suites”. The book explores the circumstances surrounding the Suites' composition and the ensuing mystery of their disappearance from the eighteenth century.

2) The life of world-renowned cellist, Pablo Casals, who re-discovered the Cello Suites in the late nineteenth century and made them famous. Apparently he found the music in a small second-hand music shop in Spain then practiced them for 12 years before actually playing them in public.

3) The quest of author and journalist, Eric Siblin, to uncover the mystery of the Cello Suites. Siblin heard the Cello Suites at a recital in Toronto, Ontario and was completely taken in by the music and the explanation given in the program,

           
 ...the Cello Suites were seen as only a collection of exercises. But since Casals had started playing the suites at the dawn of the twentieth century, “we now know how lucky we are to possess these extraordinary masterworks. What most music-lovers don’t know, however, is that no known composer’s manuscript of these works exists...There exists no truly reliable source for the suites.” (page 4)

Whatever happened to Bach’s original manuscript? Spoiler alert: Siblin did extensive research in order to answer this question, but in the end, it remains a mystery.

The Cello Suites (as in the book) is certainly not a boring book by any means!

Interestingly enough, I had no idea what the (now speaking of the music) Cello Suites were when I picked up the book, but once I started reading, an idea popped into my head.  On the soundtrack for the Hollywood movie, Master and Commander starring Russell Crowe, there is a cello piece and I wondered....

On the soundtrack is: 

Prelude (From the Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BMV 1007)

Composed by, you know who, Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Absolutely beautiful.

What is actually quite fascinating about the Suites is this: In classical music, at least in my own experience, the performer must follow all the notes, rests, time and other musical indications to a tee.

No poetic license is allowed.

However, since no original manuscript exists for this music, no one really knows what Bach intended. Therefore, the cellist can be as poetic as they like!


As Siblin describes it on page 117,

The Cello Suites are a blank slate, a Rorschach test that allows cellists to put their own stamp on Bach and interpret the music as they see fit - or as they think Bach would have wanted his music played.


This really is so.

As it turns out, I actually have two different CD's with the Prelude of Suite No. 1 ,played by two different cellists. The versions are very different, indeed.

Speaking about the cello and speaking about books related to the cello, another terrific read is author Steven Galloway’s, The Cellist of Sarajevo.

This book is inspired by actual events,

At four o’clock in the afternoon on 27 May 1992, during the siege of Sarajevo, several mortar shells struck a group of people waiting to buy bread behind the market on Vase Miskina. Twenty-two people were killed and at least seventy were wounded. For the next twenty-two days Vedran Smailović, a renowned local cellist, played Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor at the site in honour of the dead (page 259).

I read this book as part of a book club several years ago, and, if I remember correctly, I was the only one who liked it!  Basically, everyone’s complaint was that there was not enough action, but my perspective was completely different. There was action, but it was subtle and the climax of the story, internal.

I thought it was a really touching book in a non-traditional sort of way.

Any other cello reads?

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

By Eleanor Coerr

Puffin Books, 1977

I first read about Sadako years ago in elementary school. It could have been in grade three or four, who knows.

For whatever reason, Sadako`s story struck something with me because, thirty years later, it`s still there. 

When my eight year old son first started folding paper airplanes, my brain quickly moved to origami paper planes, to origami paper cranes, to the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.

I`m amazed at the way my brain works sometimes!

Published in 1977, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes tells the true story of a Japanese girl, Sadako, who lived in Hiroshima when the United States Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on the city to force an end to World War II.

Like many others who were exposed to the bomb’s radiation, Sadako developed leukemia. While hospitalized, a friend told Sadako about a Japanese legend that says if a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes they would regain their health.

Sadako started folding, but sadly, she never finished. 

She died on October 25, 1955.

Her classmates took up the quest and folded the remaining three hundred and fifty-six cranes to make one thousand.

In doing a bit of research, I discovered that  in 1958 a statue of Sadako was erected in the Hiroshima Peace Park. Apparently people still fold paper cranes and place them at the base of the statue every year on August 6, also known as, Peace Day.

This book is a quick, but touching, read for an adult and an easy read for a grade four or five student. Mind you, I am not up on reading levels so I could be way off. However, it does look like a book my own grade four student could easily manage.

He didn`t read it, though. One glance at the girl wearing a kimono on the cover and he said, “forget it”.      

That does bring me to the many benefits of origami. As an occupational therapist (OT) in my life before children, I am always on the lookout for great activities for kids.

Origami is a great activity for kids.

Older kids. Younger kids.

What benefits does origami have from an OT’s perspective? (Technically I can’t call myself an OT anymore as I no longer hold a license to practice.)

Glad you asked...

Fine motor skills

Following instructions

Attention to detail

Problem solving

Attention span

Visual perception

To name a few....

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes includes complete instructions on how to make paper cranes. Which is a great tie in for readers.

You can fold a paper crane too! It's not hard.

While origami is usually done with special origami paper, practice a few cranes on plain old paper cut into a perfect square.

Then, go buy the fancy paper.

The Joy of Reading Children's Books

So begins a new chapter on Reader Tales ... Children’s Books in Review. 

I read a lot of children’s books, thanks to having four kids and thanks to just loving kid’s books.  

Especially middle grade novels.

Over the years, I have come to notice that kid’s books have a vibrancy that adult books often miss.

Kids, especially those of today's generation, need colour and action and speed to capture (not to mention keep) their attention. And if they're going to read a book, well, it better have what they're looking for.

Otherwise, they will quickly move onto something else. 

Adult books, on the other hand, don't often include some of these enticing details. After all, most adult readers can find the story behind the words. They don't need printed detail, they can fill it in on their own. Further, adults know that just beyond the first boring chapter a really great story could emerge, and they are willing to stick around to find out.

Adult readers are way more forgiving than kids.

I realize, of course, everything I've said are generalizations of grand proportions.

My words have not been completely fair or true.

Many, many adult books have captured and kept my attention over the years. There are amazing books that give glorious detail and fast-paced drama. They draw the reader in from the first.

However, because kids want and need more excitement, that's what good kid's books have. Excitement.


Detail. Dialogue. Tension. 

Colour. Action. Speed.

Kids don’t tolerate even one boring chapter, let alone two or three.

That’s why I love reading kid’s books.

That’s why I love writing kid's books.

The Elephant's Journey

The Elephant's Journey by José Saramago 2008
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa



It has been a very long time since I’ve sat down to muse about what I’ve read; even longer since I’ve written about it.  

Two months, in fact.

Speaking of facts, the fact is, I just finished reading the same book I started those two long months ago!

Not like me.

Under normal circumstances, when I pick up a book, I read until it’s finished. There are the inevitable stoppages, of course. Kids need to be fed. Husband’s shirts need to be ironed. Tables need to be wiped.

Life doesn’t stop.

Despite life, however, books do get read.

And they get read quickly.

Not this time.

The book at the center of this outlier is The Elephant’s Journey by José Saramago, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.

As much as I loved The Elephant’s Journey, reading it was an incredibly “painstaking journey”.

An arduous 203 page read.

I truly did love this book. Honest.

I loved the plot – elephant travelling from Portugal to Austria in the 1500’s, an event that actually took place.

I loved the style – interjections of the narrator, often from another time and place.

I loved the writing – beautiful and quirky.

I loved the characters – for how little they say, they actually say quite a lot.

I loved the cover – almost tapestry-like (see Judging a Book by its Cover).

I DID NOT love the lack of paragraphs, the lack of punctuation, the lack of capital letters, the lack of white space on each and every page. I don’t know if this was a function of the translator (the book was first written in Portuguese), or if this was the author’s intention.

Either way, reading took a lot of concentration.

It was hard!

As a result, I gave myself two diversions in the form of “easy reads”.

My first diversion: Rekindled by Tamera Alexander. The story of a broken marriage put back to right as a result of tragedy.  

Okay, fine. This was a light Christian romance, but it also kept me up until after 2 am one night just so I could finish. (Not even close to what I can say about The Elephant’s Journey.)

I have to admit, used to read books of this genre all the time - now it’s only once in a while when I am in the mood for something ... ummm, light. However, Rekindled was an enjoyable read and it did serve to remind me about grace.

My second diversion: William and Kate A Royal Love Story by Christopher Anderson. The story of William and Kate’s romance, life, etc. No further explanation required, I’m sure.

Call me a romantic at heart, but I quite enjoyed this read - although, how true each account is, I can only wonder.

In my own defence, I come by my interest in the Royals quite naturally. My grandparents were British and loved everything royal, my grandpa shared a birthday with the Queen, and I can vaguely remember when Princess Diana married Prince Charles and even had a Ladybug book about their early life as a couple (minus all the bad stuff, of course!)

Besides, the royal couple just paid a visit to my fair western city earlier this summer.

I returned to The Elephant’s Journey with renewed vigour and now, thankfully, it is done.

The diversions worked.

Success.

I can move onto something a little less intense.

Ahhh.

An accomplished relief.

Reading on...