The Gamble Life

Books: Need Ideas!

I need your help!  Gus is truly a voracious reader.  He loves to read and wants to read all the time and I'm out of book ideas for him.  From browsing the library I can tell that there are lots of really great books for the 8-11 year old to read, and Gus could read some of the easier ones.  Except, they are too mature for him.  He just turned 6 and he is a little bit more sheltered that most 6 year olds because he doesn't watch tv or go to the movies.

His favorite books have been all the Eddie books and Betsy books by Carolyn Haywood, the early Little House books (before things get more serious), Tintin (a little over his head, but the pictures help with that and his vocabulary sure is growing!), the Ramona books and Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary, Nate the Great books (I love these!).  He also adored a little two-book series about a little roach named Maybelle by Katie Speck (oh I hope she writes more).  We've also enjoyed the Frog & Toad books, and lots and lots of biographies written for children (Gertrude Ederle, Amelia Earhart, George Washington Carver, Louis Cyr, etc.).  And he's read all 42 of the Magic Treehouse series (not my favorite, but he enjoyed them).

Humor is big--silly and funny beats serious and scary every time.  He's not one of those kids who enjoys being scared.

So...recommendations please!!!  If the book might be a little hard for him to read alone, but the subject matter is a good fit that is fine because I still like to read to Gus every day.

On my own reading I'm still really enjoying the Sookie Stackhouse vampire books and a series of mysteries by the same author (Charlaine Harris).  But I've also finished several more serious books and keep hoping I'll get around to writing real reviews, but in case I don't I'd recommend these:

Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely):  but I think this is one of those books for which you can't trust every explanation and conclusion he comes up with

Young Woman and the Sea (Glenn Stout):  if you like reading about sports, and particularly women and sports this one is great!  I loved it.

What I Thought I Knew (Alice Eve Cohen):  this is an amazing memoir, probably particularly of interest to women, but I think anyone could enjoy it and get something from it for their own lives. 

RIP Blacktail

This guy landed on the antenna and stayed there for a really long time.  He seemed perfectly healthy, just content to hang out.

Less healthy are the fish that Gus brought home as party favors (!!!) from a birthday party.  And now I'm going to ask all hosts whether they plan to give out PETS before I accept any party invitations.  Gus came home with three goldfish in about 4 cups of water, some fish food, and a handful of fish gravel.  Grr.  I put them in a one gallon pyrex (they need 1 gallon of water per inch of fish, so this is very inadequate).  We decided, after checking prices for aquariums, that we'd see if we really enjoyed the fish before spending $100!  Well, one fish literally disappeared.  We searched all over and he's just gone.

The second fish, well, he was named posthumously:

The third and sole remaining fish does seem happier now that he has the bowl all to himself.  I'm still irritated that we have a pet we didn't ask for or want, but I guess if he lives I'll start looking for an aquarium at a thrift store or Craig's list or something.

Oh!  We went to the library the other day and they had this HUGE stack of old magazines they were giving away for free and we scored a ton of awesome kids magazines:  National Geographic Kids, Ranger Rick, Your Own Backyard, and Cricket.  Gus is in heaven going through them all.  I just love our library.  I think we may subscribe to Ranger Rick.

Camp at Home: Rock Week, Part 2

We went on a rock hunt the other day as part of Rock Camp.  We have been identifying the kinds of rocks we see and find.  We didn't have a lot of time so we struck out for the water easement across the street from our house.  We're so lucky to live where we do because there are all these big water easements woven throughout the development which leads to a lot of easily accessible green space.  It had rained that day and the day before so we could hear toads and owls and it was really like we were in a forest somewhere instead of a few hundred feet from our house.

Gus caught his first wild toad.  I think he’s held some baby toads from my mother’s pond, but those are practically tame.

Gus was introduced to the Magic Tree House books at the end of last school year and so far this summer he's read 37 of the 42 books in the series.   At the beginning of the summer he'd read the title and chapter titles and I'd read all the text but now he reads the entire book to himself.   It's incredible to see him walking and reading or riding in the car and reading...just like I used to do.  One of the characters in the books, Jack, wears his backpack everywhere and takes notes on his adventures, so here is Gus taking some notes, while wearing his backpack. 

Using the tree bridge to cross:

And tying his own shoe(Yay!) with no complaining, frustration, or asking for help.  Back when he was learning how to do this I definitely had some days when I thought "forget it! Velcro forever!"  It's an amazing thing to watch your child grow up and to see how much he learns.  An even more amazing thing that I’ve got this opportunity to spend so much time with my kids and really be a part of their adventures.  These past couple of weeks all of us have been feeling a little bit like we’ve had enough of each other.  So Gus is going to an amazing art camp in the afternoons this week and I’m trying to focus on how cool both my boys really are.

The Next Tiger?

Not likely!  But Gus does have a lot of fun playing golf in our backyard.  Enough fun with his own little homemade course (he dug a hole in the ground) that we're going to make him a more "official" little three hole course in the yard, with flags, better holes, and tees.  Maybe we'll get it done over the weekend.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th.

Here's a pretty weed from my yard.

 

That's sadly what passes for gardening for me these days, appreciating the weeds that flower.

I've been reading a great book,Welcome to Shirley, a memoir that is making me long for a house and neighborhood full of kids with the freedom to go all over into all the houses, the woods, whatever.  I'm getting to the more serious and sad parts of the book now so I'm interspersing it with another book, America Eats (I think, I don't have it in front of me right now) which is very interesting; basically a collection of regional food habits and traditions during the depression.

Summer Camp Home Edition: "We're Making Rain!"

So I mentioned that last summer Gus went to camp (day camps) pretty much all summer long at the local museum.  They were wonderful; he really enjoyed them and learned a lot.  But camps are really expensive, he's gone pretty much all day, and there is a lot of driving involved.  This summer I really wanted things to be more relaxed and I wanted to spend more time with Gus myself, and I wanted to save money.

So we sat down together and came up with a whole list of "Camp at Home" topic ideas.  Last week was our first official week and our topic was weather.  I bet you think I came up with that topic, right?  Nope, that was Gus.  I never would have thought weather was interesting enough for camp, but I would have been wrong.

I got two books from the library:  Can It Rain Cats and Dogs? and Weather Projects for Young Scientists.  The first is a question and answer book covering many, many weather topics.  It was great for just flipping through and finding questions that interested us and then reading the answers.  But the real highlight of the week was the second book.  I was a bit worried that its projects would be too difficult or complicated for us to do at home without buying a lot of stuff, or that Gus wouldn't get the point of the projects.  My worry was wasted--the book is wonderful!

Here Gus is proving that air has weight; this was super easy as it only required three identical pieces of paper and a pencil.

While Abe colored.

This next was my personal favorite experiment.  Gus proved that air has mass and occupies space.  This was so easy and perfect; I loved it.  First you pour water through a funnel into a bottle and talk about where the air that had been in the bottle went.  Then you create an air-tight seal (we used playdoh) around the neck of the bottle and the funnel and try again to pour water in.  Amazingly the water fills the funnel and stays put.  It was SO COOL! 

Here's Gus excitedly talking about how the water couldn't go in because the air couldn't get out!

Turns out this next project may have been Gus' favorite.  We showed, in water, how a hurricane moves.

We also explored the power of the sun by testing to see 1-what the sun will do to a piece of construction paper, and 2-what kinds of things will block some or all of the sun.

And really fun, I bought a package of Sun Prints and Gus made several.  He hasn't decided what to do with his finished sun prints...some kind of collage probably.

Finally, we did two experiments exploring the water cycle.  We looked at how hot and cold water react differently to a cold air source.

And we made rain!  Gus wasn't sure what this project was going to show (I didn't tell him, I just told him the steps), but we had just finished reading and talking about the water cycle, and as we were checking on our project, he figured it out:  "We're making rain!"

I am pretty sappy when it comes to seeing my kids learn, but man, this was really, really fun.  I can see how home schooling parents can enjoy themselves. 

This was all really easy, nothing too structured or too formal about any of it.  And I really do think Gus learned a few new things.  Even if your kids are in camp or school there is no reason you can't pick this book up, or a similar one, from your library or bookstore.  You'll have fun!

Book Review: Outliers

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

My review

I've enjoyed all of Malcolm Gladwell's books--he's really good at identifying the things we all believe in (how we make decisions, how we become successful, etc.) and then unpacking them to show that our assumptions are not accurate.

Outliers is another great book. I loved each chapter, right up until the last, which is horribly out of place, disturbing, and should have been cut from the book.

Whether he's investigating how culture affects our "innate" talents, what it takes to become an expert, or how the stories of success leave out so much the writing is interesting, and the people fascinating.  Some chapters go beyond eye-opening to frightening, like the chapter on air travel.  And some are truly heartbreaking, like the section on education.  I believe more than ever that we need to switch from a summer-based school calendar to a year-around school calendar.

I definitely recommend reading the book, but I also recommend skipping the last chapter. I know that is almost impossible to do that, but if I could go back I would skip it. The last chapter focuses on his own family, introduces no new concepts, is somewhat dull and predictable, and contains such a disturbingly graphic and upsetting image that it actually has pushed out some of the better parts of the book from my mind. And it is completely unnecessary and adds zilch to the book. Maybe he'll take it out of future additions, I hope so.

View all my reviews.

Book Review: Where Am I Wearing?

Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes by Kelsey Timmerman

My review

The author travels around the world trying to visit the factories where his favorite clothes were made (Honduras, Cambodia, Bangladesh, China, India, and the US).

This is not a feel terrible about yourself, the world sucks and it's so bad you're better off not thinking about it book. You will not want to slit your wrists when you finish. This is good, because instead you will see that there are real things that can be done to improve garment workers lives and as the consumer, you can have a say in getting them done.

Timmerman's writing is an easy read, but a serious topic. He handles it seriously but realistically. This book is for folks who truly care about doing the right thing but don't want to feel like crap because they happened to be born really lucky.

For better or worse we are in a global economy and I appreciate knowing more about the working and living conditions of garment workers overseas. I appreciate having a more complete perspective when I make my decision about where to buy my clothes. I hope everyone is thinking about these issues.

View all my reviews.

Book Review: Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad by Betty De Ramus

My review

The subtitle simply does not adequately describe the incredible stories De Ramus relates here. The people whose stories she tells in Forbidden Fruit are mind-blowing; I can't imagine having to do the things they had to do. Some of the people had to walk for thousands of miles, until they reached Detroit or Canada; some shipped themselves folded up in small crates; some were chased by dogs. I suppose that the details of their escapes are not so different from the details of the escapes of many slaves prior to the Civil War, but De Ramus really brings the stories to life.

She focuses on slaves who were escaping in order to stay with their spouse or family, or to be with a man or woman with whom they'd fallen in love. Included are several stories of interracial couples, of former owners and slaves becoming couples, and of slave couples being separated.

The stories are very moving and so important. I think slavery is something a lot of people don't really think about anymore, but these stories are important, and remembering these people is important.

The book is enjoyable and inspirational. If you want to feel grateful for your life, for the fact that you have freedom and choices, not to mention food and clothes, you will after reading these stories. You may also be inspired to feel more grateful for your spouse and to reflect upon how lucky it is to have married the person you love and to have been able to do so. Of course, some of us still can't marry freely, but I'm hopeful that will change soon too.

View all my reviews.

Odds and Ends

The really modern five year old texts with his dad...while they are sitting side by side. 

This sweet little birds nest is in the newspaper box under out mailbox; a terrible place for a birds nest if I've ever seen one.  For a few days every time I went to check the mail a bird flew out at top speed squawking at me.  That has stopped and I think the nest has been abandoned.  We'll wait a few more weeks to make sure and then see if we can remove the nest intact for study.

Abe on a recent walk, mastering the Snack Trap.

I am planning a great write up of our first week of "Summer Camp:  Home Edition"; last summer Gus was in camp almost every week.  He absolutely loved it but it was really expensive, involved a lot of driving, and of course didn't provide that "lazy summer" feeling.  So this year I didn't sign him up for any camps at all.  We've got the pool, free bowling, and together he and I came up with a list of "camp" topics, one a week.  I get different books from the library, we do projects, and if there is something reasonably close to go see or do (that's related) we do that too.  It's very low-key with the emphasis on fun learning.  I am asking him to write and illustrate one entry in his journal each week, to keep his writing skills progressing.  I don't tell him what to write about but I'm hoping he'll pick something related to "camp" at least once or twice because I think that would be cool.

This week was weather, and I found two really great books at the library that have provided a lot of fun and interesting information and great projects (easy too!).  More tomorrow.

Towelhead (spoilers!)

So we watched Towelhead the other night.  I didn't realize until just now that it is an adaptation of a novel.  Interestingly, that sort of changes how I feel about the movie.

There are spoilers here, because there is no other way for me to write about it.  So don't read if you don't want to know what happens in the story.

The movie is advertised as a "coming of age" story, and I guess it is, but hopefully most girls' coming of age doesn't involve rape at the age of 13, followed immediately by consensual sex!  I just could not help thinking during the entire movie "does this story need to be told?"  It was well-done, the acting is excellent, the characters are believable, the story is believable (unfortunately).  I just didn't really care to see it.  I don't need stories of young girls being raped by their adult neighbors in my head (It isn't overly graphic.  The movie is really excellently done.) 

I'll admit that since becoming a parent I have a greatly reduced interest in any storytelling that involves children getting hurt.  I also was not as aware of how prevalent a theme this is, but man, babies and kids getting hurt and killed is everywhere on TV and in movies.  But even leaving that aside I think I would have had the same reaction.  Did this movie need to be made?  Is it worth my time watching it?  I was definitely in the "no" camp...until I learned it is an adaptation of a novel.

For some reason, knowing that the story is a novel first and a movie second has made me think it has more worth.  This same story as a novel would not have elicited the same reaction from me.  Because a book is so much fuller than a movie, because a book is words and not images, a book is free to explore more unpleasant topics, in my opinion, than a movie.  I would have preferred to have read this, rather than seen it.

What do you think?  Are there stories, no matter how true or excellent, that just do not need to be told? 

Part of me is just tired of our culture's (our world's?) obsession with young girls.  I know that all of us came into our sexuality as teenagers and so it makes sense that we love the young because we were all young when it happened the first time...but there's got to be some maturity in us.  We need to grow out of it as we age.  Not that I wasn't relieved to learn that Taylor Kitsch is officially an adult (28!  That's definitely adult age!). 

I'm very susceptible to movies.  I often have dreams (or nightmares, depending) incorporating whatever movie I've seen most recently so I try to avoid certain types of subjects, and wasn't expecting what I saw in Towelhead.  Have you seen it or read it?  What did you think?