The Best Parenting Book

If you are looking for a good parenting book, check out New Parent Power by John Rosemond. This book has very practical and useful advice. And, if you like this book, John Rosemond has published several other parenting books.

Happy Parenting!

Bea

Consignment Sales

Consignment sales are a great place to buy children's books. This past weekend, I bought two collections of children's stories for only $1.00 each. Both were in excellent condition; they looked brand new! One was full of fairy tales and the other had children's classics. I also brought home a Winnie the Pooh collection for $.50. The Winnie the Pooh book had an original store price of $17.00, and both of the other books were worth $25.00 or more! What a steal!

Of course, you have to get there early and you have to know what to look for. There are always people who overprice their items at sales like these. My personal rule is that I will pay no more then $.50 for a children's book (a story collection may cost a bit more.) Yard sales are great for children's books too, but those are hit and miss. At one yard sale, I bought over 30 books for $.25 each from a teacher who was retiring! Needless to say, there were some great titles there.

You are pretty much guaranteed to find some great books at any consignment sale. I have found that churches and church schools seem to have the biggest and best sales. I look on Craigslist or in the free local parenting magazine to find out when the sales are going on. Then I Mapquest the directions. Once there, you can usually put your name on a mailing list if you want to be notified of future sales.

So, if you are looking to find some great books at a bargain price, try a consignment sale in your area. And remember, most of the sales run a half price special on many items later in the afternoon.

Happy shopping!

Bea

I finally finished "Kevin"

I know it has been awhile. I have had a lot going on, and sadly, I have neglected my blog.
I am going to try to update at least once a week for the time being.

I finally finished We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. It only took me so long because I have been so busy. So, here it is...

Raw honesty. That is what makes this book so great. If you are looking for a happy ending, you really don't want to read this book. It would be nice if life always had happy endings, but it doesn't, and that is one of the reasons I revere this book. It "tells it like it is."

The protagonist, the mother of Kevin, is portrayed as cold and distant. But she is honest. She expresses the kinds of thoughts many mothers probably have, but are too afraid to admit. She is able to see her son for who he really is, which I believe is all he ever wanted.

The father is a pushover, and in my opinion, a sorry excuse for a parent. Even sorrier, is the fact that he reminds me of many of the parents I encounter today. He is constantly making excuses for his son's transgressions. In his eyes, his son can do no wrong. Even when his son mutilates his own sister, Franklin defends him and chooses to blame others. It's always his wife's fault, the teacher's fault, or the other kid's fault. An all too familiar refrain in today's society.

As Kevin progresses from a disturbed child to a homicidal sociopath, Franklin continues to live in his own childhood-fantasy-world where fathers and sons play catch in the yard, and heart to heart talks solve all problems. By refusing to see his son's problems, he is neglecting his parental responsibility to try and help him. I personally wonder if the ending would have been different had Franklin had taken off his blinders, acted like a real parent, and disciplined his child instead of making excuses for him.

In the end, the mother was the hero. Yes, she had flaws, but she was undoubtedly the better parent. She always saw the truth and fought to open her husband's eyes. But she was fighting a losing battle. And despite all that Kevin put her through, I believe she always loved him. She couldn't bond with him, she despised the things he did, she didn't understand him, and she really didn't even like him. Still, she loved him.

In We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver takes a courageous look at a disturbing trend in American society - the school shooting. By telling the story through the eyes of a mother she offers her readers a unique perspective. We have all seen the news coverage of shootings such as these. The reporters ask, "Who were the victims? Who was the killer and why did he do it?" Lionel Shriver takes a different angle and asks, "Who are the parents? How do they feel? What role did they play?"

I Love Classic Children's Books

I have a secret. I love to read children's classics.

When I was in college I took a Children's Literature course. We had to read, analyze, and write essays on classic children's literature. The book we were required to buy was called Classics of Children's Literature, edited by John W. Griffith and Charles H. Frey. The book contains classic fairy tales (the kind that don't always have happy endings,) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Women, Treasure Island, The Secret Garden, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan, and even The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and excerpts from Winnie the Pooh. There are other stories, of course, but those are my favorites. I still have the book; its page ends are folded and tattered from wear, and many of the stories are littered with the marks of a hard working student of literature - notes and thoughts hastily scrawled in the all too narrow margins, and underlined sentences noting symbolism, style and theme.

This is one of the many books that has a permanant spot on my nightstand. Several times a year, I crack it open and read a new story. Believe it or not, I still have not read them all.

I love how well written the stories are. The sentences are complex, the vocabulary is challenging, and the dialect is masterfully interwoven into the plot. When I look at children's literature today, even young adult literature (and for that matter, adult novels as well), I am hard pressed to find anything that is crafted so well. Don't get me wrong, there are many good stories out there, but that is where it stops - at the story level. A good story is wonderful, but what happened to quality literature? Where has the craft of writing gone? Where is the dialect, the figurative language, the sophisticated vocabulary, the description, and the long well-crafted sentence so common in the yesteryear? My biggest fear is that I may already know the answer to this question - such a masterpiece would never sell in today's society.

That being said, I look to children's classics as one of my sources of quality literature when I get the itch to read something that stimulates my mind and satisfies my strange, but unceasing hunger for inspired, formal and grammatically correct prose. Call me a language snob if you will, but the sound of a good classic is music to my ears. And the best part of children's literature (yes, even the language snob sometimes starts a sentence with "and") is that the stories are delightful and entertaining to read.

As an added bonus, those of you who share my occasionally warped sense of humor may find pleasure in the fact that Little Red Riding-hood does indeed get eaten up by the wolf at the end of the classic Perrault fairy tale. Come on, she should know better than to talk to strangers, right?

Bea

Sunday Serenity

S-man is home from his mother's and already asleep. I have some fried chicken in the oven and I am settling into my Sunday night relaxation mode. I try to enjoy Sunday evenings because this is the last time I get to relax until next weekend.

Let me describe the serenity. Spaz is curled up under the desk light next to the computer absorbing the heat, and HappyD is lying on the floor by my feet vigorously ripping apart and gnawing at what is left of her rawhide bone. I can smell the Shake and Bake chicken cooking in the oven, and I can hear the last load of laundry flopping around inside the dryer, the buttons clinking with each turn like a hailstorm outside the window on a frosty winter's night. It's the simple things that make me feel at peace.

S-man came home in a good mood tonight, and that always makes me feel good too. I put some new books (new books meaning simply different books from his shelf) down on the floor for him to choose from. I have to admit this is not a very objective process because, of course, I pick my favorites off the shelf. He chose The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I love this book.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, is a short simple book about metamorphosis, and kids love it. The illustrations are bright and have a "painted" quality to them. S-man loves to count all of the fruits that the caterpillar eats through. We also talk about all the different colors and how they blend together. I know many of you are probably already familiar with this book, but if you're not, check it out. It is quick and fun to read with your toddler or preschooler.

I hope you are enjoying this wonderful Sunday evening.

BEA (retiring back into relaxation mode)

Fried chicken - yummy, yummy! (to the tune of The Wiggles, "fruit salad, yummy, yummy...")

Diary of a Bibliophile - Day 2

What I'm reading: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Coffee Consumption: 1 coffee, 1 chai (excellent!)

Okay, I've found another great book. I am reading this on the heels of Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, so it is appropriate that it is about the mother of a teen killer.

In this book, Shriver tells the story of a sixteen year old boy who goes on a shooting rampage in his high school. What makes this book unique is that the story is told from the perspective of his mother through a series of letters written to her estranged husband.

The story takes a hard look at how it feels to be the parent of a killer. The main character searches her soul for the causes of her child's tragic downfall. She questions herself, her marriage, and her reasons for having a child in the first place. She examines her feelings honestly, and challenges the reader to take a closer look at the typical American family. In essence, her examination of her own life is really a microscopic look at one cell, of many, that breathes life into our culture as a whole. Are we, as a society, in some way partially responsible for breeding a generation of killers?

I am only at the beginning of the book, and already I have all these questions racing through my mind. What is a good parent? What is our real motivation for having a child in the first place? Is it selfish? Are we responsible for the actions of our children? Up to what point? How much can we control? Whose fault is it when a child, like Kevin, loses control? The child? The parent? Both? Our society as a whole? What are our cultural values concerning children and are they healthy? What is our collective responsibility to our society and its children? I love a book that makes me think.

Shriver is also an excellent writer. Her sentences are long and witty, sprinkled with every day anecdotes to which everyone can relate. And as much as I love contemporary fiction, I find many of the novels I read mind-numbingly (okay, maybe I made that word up, but perhaps it will be added to Webster's next year?!) simplistic in style and vocabulary. Not so with this book. Shriver has a gift for artfully styling her sentences. She also uses vocabulary that is not geared toward your average fifth grade student (the practice of which has spread like a cancerous tumor through popular fiction these days.) I hate it when I have to read a classic just to get my fill of well-written prose. (More on that another day.) But this month, I won't have to do that. We Need to Talk About Kevin is written for an adult audience and it actually uses adult vocabulary.

Okay, enough ranting. This is a great book! Get it. Read it. You won't be disappointed. The theme is current, the story is well-crafted and the vocabulary is refreshing.

I give it five out of five Dark Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans. (Stars are so passe'.)

Bea

Nineteen Reasons to Read Nineteen Minutes

"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge."

~Jodi Picoult Nineteen Minutes

Here are 19 reasons you should read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult:

1. School shootings can happen anywhere.


2. Bullying is a reality for many teenagers.


3. You will recognize the setting - a typical suburban high school.


4. The killer, Peter, seems like just a normal kid.


5. The judge's daughter, Josie, has a secret.


6. Jordan McAfee is Peter's attorney.


7. Picoult will make you wonder who committed the real crime.


8. You will get to peek into the mind of an adolescent.


9. You will ask yourself, "How well do I know my own children?"


10. Picoult lets you be the judge.


11. Picoult examines the complexities of high school class structure and cliques.


12. Picoult will make you think.


13. Picoult will make you cry.


14. Picoult will open your eyes.


15. The plot is complex and intriguing.


16. You won't be able to put it down.


17. Picoult has a gift for seeing all sides of a story and communicating those sides in a compelling narrative.


18. The characters are realistic; they could be your neighbors, your friends, or even your own children.


19. Nineteen Minutes is timely; it is the here and the now.

Young Adult Book Buzz

Here are some Young Adult favorites:

1. Pretties by Scott Westerfield (also Uglies, Specials, and Extras)
2. Twilight by Stepenie Meyer (also New Moon and Eclipse)
3. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (also The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass)
5. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (also Eldest)

Books and Growing Up

Tonight S-man and I read his Elmo "look and find" book for toddlers.

Here is how the book works: the child looks at about six pictures in a box on the left and has to find them in the scene on the right. Since the book is for toddlers, the pictures are bright and colorful portrayals of everyday objects. In this particular book, each page has a color theme. For example, all of the objects that you have to find in the first scene are red; there is a fire hydrant, mittens, an apple, a pair of books, paw prints, and a balloon.

Tonight I realized that my Superman (S-man) is growing up. When we read the book together, he confidently pointed to each object and immediately found its match on the opposite page. He did it in a bored, sing-songy way too. When I asked him what color the pictures were on each page, he looked at me like "Duh," before rattling off the correct answer. I was amazed at this sudden transition from confused toddler to blooming preschooler.

"When did this happen?" I thought.

It wasn't long ago that I was so worried he would be "behind" because he kept mixing up blue and green. And the picture search took an eternity; I remember having to remind myself to give him time. Don't rush him. Let him find it. He will get it. No, you don't need to give him hints. Yes, at some point this bedtime routine will end. The book will close. He will go to sleep. No, it will not really take him until tomorrow, it just seems that way right now.

Now that has all changed. He knows his colors. It's easy to find the pictures. It's time to put away the toddler "look and find" and break out the I Spy.

Thank you Elmo, for reminding me that time goes fast and I need to enjoy each moment I share with my little S-man. After all, he won't be little much longer.

Bea

Shakespeare in the hood?

"Fear not, Dude, I'll take care of it."

This is an eighth grader's rendition of Puck's line in Act II of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The original line:
"Fear not, my lord; your servant shall do so." ~Shakespeare

Need Book Storage? Make a Book Box

This is a great project you and your child can do together.

If your child's bookshelf looks anything like S-man's used to, it is overflowing with books. I used to just stack the extra books against the wall. Then, a friend told me about something she had done to deal with the book overflow. She and her son decorated a box to put the books in.

Here are some ideas:

• Cover the box with construction paper.
• Use stamps, markers, crayons or paint to draw pictures on the box.
• Stencil your child's name onto the box.
• Use stickers and glitter.
• Use scrapbooking supplies like die cuts and embellishments.
• Recycle old greeting cards by cutting out the pictures and pasting them on your box.
• Cut pictures out of old magazines.
• Use foam stickers.
• Use paint to let your child make handprints on the box.
• Glue on beads or buttons.
• Glue on uncooked pasta and color it with paint or markers.
• Copier paper boxes work great, and you don't have to worry about cutting off the flaps.

*The beads, buttons, and pasta should not be used with young children who could choke.

How to incorporate learning:

• Have your child trace shapes and cut them out.
• Have your child identify colors, shapes, letters and numbers as you construct the box.
• Let your child practice cutting.
• Count everything.

Display the box in a prominent place in your child's bedroom, and let your child help you put in the books.

This project will give your child a sense of pride and ownership. It is also a great way for the two of you, or the whole family, to spend quality time together.

If you make one, I would love to see it! Send me a picture at beasbookbuzz@gmail.com and I will post it. I would love to hear any comments or ideas you have as well.

Have fun!

Bea

Great Book for Children

As a foster mommy, all signs of singledom have been pushed aside (shoved in corners, wadded up in closets - you get the idea) and replaced by the wondrous gifts of childhood. You know, stinky little socks crammed in corners, stacks of Walmart bags filled with "wet" clothes, an unknown substance with a ripe odor sticking to the chair cushion, and of course, the equivalent of the entire stock of a Toys 'R Us store crammed into my 880 square foot house.


Single no more, I have embraced the joys of motherhood (okay, some of them) and I have even come across a few genuine treasures in this storage unit that was once my house.

One particular gem that comes to mind is a book I received from my friend, Blondie Mommy. Blondie Mommy is the greatest single mom I know. She is also gifted in the art of bargain hunting. I have no shame, so when I opened up the Christmas present she brought over and saw a book, I asked her where she got it. Naturally, she did not spend huge amounts of her hard earned cash at Barnes and Noble like I would; she got it at a thrift shop.

Well, I am here to tell you that Blondie Mommy knows how to shop.

Go Blondie Mommy!

The book she got me is called, The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury: Celebrated Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud selected by Janet Schulman.

This book is awesome!

Let me say that again.

This book is awesome!

All of the stories you think of when you think of great childhood books are right here in this one volume! There are classic stories, contemporary stories, picture books and long read alouds. It is a great book for the whole family. Inside, you will find actual reproductions of the original stories and illustrations.

The great thing about this book is you can use it over and over again. S-man just loves it. We read a few stories each night. Some of his favorite stories are: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Goodnight Moon, Curious George, and The Snowy Day. It also includes: Guess How Much I Love You, Where the Wild Things Are, Freight Train, Amelia Bedilia, The Sneetches and many other stories you would probably recognize.


So, in my cramped little home, I welcome this book. It is something that S-man and I can enjoy together. And when I finally clean out this storage unit, this book stays. It is a true treasure of childhood that I will continue to enjoy for years to come.

Bea

Diary of a Bibliophile - Day 1

What I am reading: Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
Coffee Consumption: 3 cups (pretty good)


Any Jodi Picoult fans out there? Right now, she is still my favorite author. The first book I read by her was My Sister's Keeper. I have read some other good books recently, but Jodi Picoult is the only author I have found who satisfies me with each book she writes. Her quality is consistent.

At the moment, I am reading Picture Perfect. It is a good story, though admittedly not my favorite. It is about a young woman who loses her memory and slowly begins to reclaim a past she soon realizes might have been better forgotten. The plot has kept me interested, but I am just not into in the movie star thing (one of the main characters is a celebrity.)

I think this book has disappointed me only because her other books have cut deeply into some very controversial and thought provoking social issues. I love how she can weave a story from so many different perspectives. My Sister's Keeper is a prime example of this.

Jodi Picoult is the only author I know who has left me questioning my own values. She researches her topics carefully, and her characters come to life on the page. You can feel their pain as they struggle with dilemmas of a magnitude most of us will hopefully never have to face. Picoult forces her readers to look at an issue from so many different angles, that it can only leave one confused and troubled. Having said that, confused and troubled is not always a bad thing. Sometimes we need someone to push us to our limits and force us to rethink what we have so firmly believed for so long. Jodi Picoult has the power to open a mind. To me, that is a good thing!

If you are new to Jodi Picoult, I would recommend My Sister's Keeper. I guarantee you will be hooked after reading that!

I have also read: Mercy, The Pact, Plain Truth, Salem Falls, The Tenth Circle, and Nineteen Minutes. As I have said, I love Jodi Picoult, so I would highly recommend any of these.

If you are an educator, you might enjoy Nineteen Minutes. In this book, Picoult takes a look inside the life and the mind of a school shooter.

And, if you are in a book group of some sort, some of the books come with a P.S. section in the back which has some thought provoking discussion questions. Even though I am not in a book group, I enjoyed reading the questions when I was done with the book. They gave me a lot to think about.

I would love to hear about your favorite Jodi Picoult book.

Love you Jodi!!!

Bea

Carry a Big Purse

If you are a woman and you are a bibliophile, this is a necessity. God forbid you should get to one of those appointments (you know the ones) where you have to wait an ungodly amount of time to be seen for whatever it is you are being seen for. Now, if you follow this advice, the wait is not a problem at all. In fact, it could be quite pleasurable.

Carry a big purse.

Because you are carrying a big purse, you have room for your favorite novel. You can sit up a bit straighter and display a sly smirk as you gaze around the room looking posh with your New York Times Bestseller. Ah, the satisfaction of seeing envy in the eyes of those who must also endure your seemingly eternal wait.

Posh.

You take one last look around the room before delving into your novel. Baby purses.

"Next time," you think, "Bring a bigger purse."

Symptoms of Bibliomania

1. You have 10 or more books piled on (or around) your nightstand.
2. Your children share a bedroom because your books need a room of their own.
3. "Just Say No" is your bookstore mantra.