Butterflies Hatching

Three friends joined me yesterday morning to make some simple books. While folding and gluing, we talked about new releases, old favorites, colors, book design, and their work on books that will be released in the coming months. We reflected on where we are in our lives and careers and how grateful we are to have the people and opportunities in them. Nearby (in a lizard cage purchased at Goodwill), twelve monarch chrysalises hung, their green color absorbed into the developing butterflies. The monarch patterns shone through the transparent, almost black chrysalises. Every so often, one of us would check on them, hoping to see them emerge and stretch their wings. Just prior to the butterfly's exit, the chrysalis get a bit wrinkled. We were able to observe the process twice, all of us beaming in celebration. Thanks to Kim, the monarch expert for providing us with the experience!

It's a...

Giggles and shouts echoed in my library last night as my second kids (as my sons call the young neighbor kids who have captured our hearts with their love of stories) listened to David LaRochelle's soon-to-be-released book It's a Tiger! Jeremy Tankard's jewel-like illustrations give just a hint of the tiger who invades a young boy's explorations, but the kids noticed the orange-and-black tail (or body) every time, even when the tiger is donned in a sea captain's garb. They chorused, "A Tiger!" every time, too. I laughed at their giggles and savored the sparkles in their eyes. Thanks to David for bringing me a copy! From this first read-aloud experience, I know it will be a favorite selection when I share it with students in September.

Creativity Shared

At Brad and Kim's Butterfly Birthday Party on Sunday, numerous opportunities for creative expression engaged attendees. Children in the basement were writing messages to the monarchs that could only be seen with ultra-violet light. Other children were planning and performing puppet shows in the front yard. At a table under the trees, people of all ages were fashioning monarch crowns (see one modeled above). On the deck, several adults alternately chatted and concentrated while designing scratchboard butterflies. Later, we agreed that the need for creative expression feeds our souls, just as the milkweed leaves nourishes the caterpillars. All the jars behind us held caterpillars, milkweed leaves, and chrysalises.

Making Lists

I spend a lot of time making lists of books for others to read. Last week I shared my adult summer reading list with colleagues and friends. The students all received summer reading lists with their report cards on Friday. I finished a list for a children's literature workshop presentation just this morning. The most difficult thing for me is finishing the lists. Each time I think a list is complete, I think of or read another book that would be perfect for that specific list. The trouble becomes remembering those titles until the next list is requested. I have learned to start the new one immediately after printing the former.

Have You Read? #22

My teaching partner passed Juliet Bell's new book Kepler's Dream on to me last week. I love so many things about this book: Ella's voice as the main character, the many references to children's literature, the description of Ella's grandmother's incredibly odd adobe home (the House of Mud), the letters Ella writes to her mother (in Seattle for a stem cell transplant for leukemia), the mystery of a stolen valuable book by Johannes Kepler from her grandmother's library, the scientific connections about the moon landing and Kepler's theories, and Ella's map of the House of Mud and grounds. Her grandmother, Mrs. Violet Von Stern, is referred to as the GM because of her strict adherence to rules of etiquette, grammar, and rise-and-shine times; later, the reader learns the letters mean the General Major. Though Ella begins writing letters at her mother's request for staying in touch, they become the outlet she needs to connect with someone outside her grandmother's home; they are witty and filled with some of the rules she learns. It will make a wonderful read-aloud selection for middle-grade students!

Birthday Prints

My sweet husband insisted we purchase a giclee print last week when visiting Rick Allen at Kenspeckle Letterpress. I told him which I liked from Rick's illustrations of The Dark Emperor, and he chose two! We now have beautifully framed prints hanging above the piano and reflecting the images of our library. The book jacket print of The Dark Emperor looks out over our books, making us wonder, "What fills the cool moons of your mesmerizing eyes?", and Night Spider's Advice reminds me to "Use what you have. Rest when you need to." Thank you, Joyce Sidman, for the words that resonate in my thoughts when I gaze at these birthday prints - and Happy Birthday!

Quick Access

Never did I imagine myself keeping a recipe close by on an electronic device, but it worked incredibly well today. I have loved the hand-written recipes in the cursive writing of my aunts, grandmothers, great aunts, great grandmothers, friends, and mom. Yet once again today I went to www.kingarthurflour.com to access that strawberry rhubarb pie we love so much. It was convenient, I admit, to switch back and forth between the crust and pie recipe. My sweet youngest son cut the rhubarb stalks and was so amazed at the size of the leaves that he took a photo with the iPad to send to the Brattcats! The kitchen smells so fruity now that the starry baked product is cooling on the counter.