Girl Reading

It has taken me a while to become engrossed by Katie Ward's Girl Reading. Surprising, given the topic is one I love: art history. I think the lack of dialogue punctuation has taken some adjustment as a reader, but now in the fourth chapter, I am used to her style.

Each chapter focuses on a painting of a female reading something, and almost all are based on real portraits, dating from 1333 to 2060. Sometimes, she gets to the subject of the portrait quickly, and other times it takes a while to reveal who that "girl reading" will be. Sometimes, the girl is a significant player in the narrative; other times she is just passing through the story.

"A Note" at the narrative's conclusion provides detailed information about the portraits used as the story's base. Viewing them online (her website has links: http://www.katieward.co.uk/?page_id=52) - and looking at her suggestions of "women and girls reading" via Flickr - brings the fictional characters closer in my mind.

Remembering a Special Man

A friend's father died in mid-July at the age of 85, and I have spent the day rereading A Hiking Guide to Rocky Mountain National Park, his tribute to the place he loved so well. Philip Gillett climbed Longs Peak 37 times! The book features 109 hiking suggestions to places that would make lovely lunch spots, is peppered with photographs of the family on some of the many hikes taken in the park, and is occasionally interrupted with relevant discussions between Auctor and Lector. Our family used this book extensively when we visited for a week in 2006 and loved the suggested routes and the tidbits and hints that made each of us laugh.

• "Harden your candy bar in the cold water, submerge your beverage, and settle down for lunch." - about Dream Lake
• "Don't allow the marmots to steal your food." - about Chasm Lake

Tucked in the pages of my book was a letter he sent me after that 2006 visit. "It's good to hear from folks who are doing what I used to do."

Real Pirates

On this day I did not get to read much from the numerous books in progress (Girl Reading by Katie Ward, The Time in Between by Maria Duenas, and Every Day, Every Hour by Natasa Dragnic). Instead, I read a lot about pirates at the Science Museum of Minnesota. These pirates sailed on the Whydah in the early 1700s, and many of them went down with the ship and drowned in a storm in Cape Cod. From their weapons to their boarding customs to their shared profits to their everyday lives, all I read and saw was fascinating. Some of the place settings survived, and I found it interesting that each man's items were engraved. Arrrgh! Reading about pirates and seeing the artifacts from the Whydah made for an intense visual experience!

Showdown

The Wild West comes alive in the latest Circus Juventas performance, and it is not for the faint-hearted. Lauren Stringer (seen here in the sheriff's office) wrote the script for the show (and painted the sets), set in the small town of Tumbleweed. There are outlaws, suffragettes, painted ladies, prospectors, and some famous folks who frequent the circus floor, and all of them are incredibly talented performers. Imagine writing a script with the vision to see just how performers will entertain while juggling, balancing on the high wire, hanging and twisting on ropes, hoops, and bars, and walking fearlessly on the wheel of steel! Lauren did that and more, tying to together a story and characters into one entertaining event.

There are still many performances still to come. Go to www.circusjuventas.com for more information!

The Cat's Table

Memory is ever-changing and pliable, I believe. What I think I remember from my past is not always what another remembers about the same incident or experience. One piece of information or recollection alters my memory, making me wonder what else I might have mistaken or not completely understood.

Michael, the narrator in The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje, moves between many time periods as he describes the three-week sea voyage he made from Colombo in Ceylon to England as a young boy. He was assigned to table 76 for meals and shared this space with numerous colorful and intriguing characters. It was the least desirable place to sit, the furthest from the captain's table, called the cat's table. Michael tells of his exploits with two other young boys making the voyage: their early morning prowls on deck to watch an Australian roller-skater, their interactions with a botanist whose secret garden is preserved in the bowels of the ship, their speculations and observations.

The author takes readers back and forth between the ship's activities and the passengers' lives before and after the voyage, providing enlightenment and additional intrigue, all the while creating wonder in Michael's mind about what has happened in his life.

A Writer Reads Aloud

Like my sons and the children I see on school days, I love having someone read to me. I can't think of anything better than when that someone is Katherine Paterson and she is reading chapters from her own books. Her vocal expressions, intonation, and gestures filled up the space in the Roseville Library this afternoon, and all eyes and ears in the room were attentive to her magical voice. She told the story of the idea for Preacher's Boy and reminded me of what a great story it is...perhaps it is the perfect read-aloud selection for fourth graders in September. All of us were giggling! "People think I only write sad stories!" she laughed. She told about reading aloud to a book club in the Vermont prison system who had read The Great Gilly Hopkins and how one of those book club members (an inmate) got her on track with The Same Stuff as Stars. After answering many questions and telling the audience, "Librarians get a good reputation in my books," she read aloud from the final pages of Bridge to Terabithia, leaving me with tears streaming down my cheeks. What a wonderful way to spend a summer afternoon!

A Home for Bird

One of the pleasures of sitting in my library is the chance to watch the birds at our feeders. I have no appreciation for the mean grackles, or even for the bright bluejays, both of which are greedy and mean to the other birds. But I love to watch the cardinal couples and goldfinch pairs. I enjoy the acrobatic nuthatches' antics and the steadfast visits from chickadees and sparrows.

The bird in Philip C. Stead's new picture book is a quiet bird when a toad named Vernon discovers it. Vernon tries introducing Bird to friends, attempts to entertain Bird with cloud watching, and eventually, assuming Bird is lost and lonely, sets off in a tea cup to find Bird's home. After showing Bird numerous homes, Vernon is sad to discover none is the right place. Lost and tired, the two discover a house down the road, and they begin climbing some chains to a tiny house on the wall. When the hour chimes 6 o'clock, Bird is certainly in his perfect home, making Vernon smile.

Visual literacy is as important as the text in this charming picture book about faithful friends and intrepid investigators. Readers will want to go back to the copyright page to revisit an essential detail as they correctly predict the ending.