The Caldecott honor books

I know some people pay attention to the Caldecott winners, sometimes even focusing on these books in building libraries for their children. I admit I haven’t paid much attention so far. Our library has a shelf where the librarians rubberband together piles of 5-6 books they say are guaranteed good reads for ages 3-6. Since I focus on providing River’s literary exposure to Spanish, and Mark doesn’t put much effort into the book selection process, I usually just grab these rubber-band piles and bring them home for Mark.

I imagine those piles include some Caldecott winners. But a recent article on the demise of picture books has made me want to expose River to the full array of award-winning picture books. And if there is a lot of demand for these books, perhaps it will help allow the publication of future winners.

I’m also a list nerd. So I plan to start working our way through this list. The downside is that since I don’t read to River in English, any books that don’t have a Spanish version will have to be read by Mark.

Does anyone know if there is anything similar available for picture books in Spanish?

Reading

I’m officially back to reading again. My goal is to stick with it this time. Why?

1. I love to read and always have.

2. It’s nice to escape into another world.

3. In my spare time, I’m a writer. In order to improve, it’s a good idea to spend more time studying the craft.

Time has been an issue recently. I’ve also felt a distinct decrease in my ability to concentrate. I used to be able to read for hours on end. Not so these days. So I’m starting out with novels and hope to eventually get back to reading more serious non-fiction.

I have higher standards now. It bums me out to spend hours on a book that only turns out to be mediocre. It used to be sufficient to be entertained. Now I want literature. I want beautifully crafted sentences. I want characters that resonate with me. I want a world created that I can jump in to. I know I’m asking for a lot, but hey, my time is valuable these days.

Unfortunately, it’s fairly rare that I come across a book that meets these standards. A book that I can read from cover to cover thinking Wow, that writer has talent, this is a marvelous piece of work. If you have read some books like this, please, please share.

A few I can recall from the past year or so include:
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I read this in Spanish, but based on the reviews on Amazon, people think pretty highly of it in English too. Exquisitely constructed tale set in Barcelona. A mixture of fantasy, mystery, love, adventure and tale of growing up.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This novel brings Nigeria, and Biafra, to life through a series of unique characters. Having just visited Nigeria, I can say she did a good job with the aspects I recognized. Not having been to Biafra, and not very familiar with the devastating war there, she also did a fantastic job educating me on the origins of the conflicts, the beliefs of those who lived through it, and the effects on the population. I plan to check out more of this talented writer’s work.

The Emigrants Series by Vilhelm Moberg. I heard about this author from a Swedish man I met traveling. His novels have made Minnesota legendary among Swedes. Now that I’ve read them, I can see why. Probably the most vivid depiction I’ve seen of the immigrant journey and the process of settling on the frontier was like.

The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley. Unique tale about a girl of Icelandic descent who returns to her roots, it both tells the fascinating story of a group of Icelandic emigrees in Canada, who escaped the aftereffects of a volcanic explosion, and a portrait of Iceland today. I went to Iceland shortly after reading this book and felt a certain acquaintance with the land as soon as I arrived.

A couple of other favorites:
The Road to Wellville by TC Boyle (I love TC Boyle!)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Children of the Arbat trilogy by Anatoly Rybakov
Gods Bits of Wood by Sembene Ousmane
Segu by Maryse Conde
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Fifty Russian Winters by Margaret Wettlin
How We Die by Sherwin Nuland
Gulag by Anne Applebaum
A Piece of the Action by Joseph Nocera
Journey into the Whirlwind by Evgenia Ginsburg
Shadows and Wind by Robert Templer
Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
The Feast of the Goat (La Fiesta del Chivo) by Mario Vargas Llosa
River Town by Peter Hessler
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
DNA by James Watson
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

What are the best books you have ever read?

A book addict

I think we officially have a book addict in our house. River used to want food immediately upon waking up. Now he wants books. First books to page through himself while on the potty. Then at least one, preferably three, books read to him before he’ll even think about breakfast.

Through the day, he’ll listen to as many books as he can get people to read to him. I’d say 20 is probably a fair average. At the last Spanish story hour, he was the only child who actually listened to all the books the librarian read.

“It’s so beautiful, how he sits and pays attention,” said one caregiver of a younger child who was running all over the room. She said she wasn’t going to bring this child any more since she didn’t pay attention. I thought, I’ve got a little nerd in the making. But I like him just the way he is.

Last night I came home tired from work and he approached me with a stack of six books. “These are books for mama,” he said, indicating that they were in Spanish (as they were).

The first one he selected was the 62-page Amelia Bedelia, in Spanish. I was initially excited as I had fond memories of Amelia Bedelia and was enthusiastic to be able to reread it. But perhaps I’ve lost my child-like sense of humor, because it seemed kind of lame this time around.

He sat through the entire 62 pages. Then wanted another one immediately afterwards. Then another. He wanted to get through the whole stack, and one of them (which I managed to avoid) was even longer than Amelia Bedelia.

I finally cut him off after three, telling him I was tired, and feeling like a lame-o mom. So he asked me to bring him over to the bookshelf and lift him up. There, he pulled a stack of flashcards off the shelf, climbed up on the table and started looking through the flashcards on his own.

It’s a child in my image, a child who loves to learn and can completely lose oneself in books. I have a lot of fond memories of intensive reading as a child and I regret that not only is time a factor in preventing that these days, but my concentration level doesn’t seem to be as high as it once was. Perhaps there were times I might have benefited from more socialization or organization activities, especially of a challenging or intellectual nature. But lacking that, books were my friends.

Mark is worried that River has an addiction. He thinks it’s extreme. It’s hard for me to see any harm in a two year old losing himself in books. He learns words, ideas, concepts and stories. What else is he supposed to be doing with his time at this age? Yes, perhaps he could use a little more physical challenges and/or socialization. We’ll be working on that in the next year or so.
But for now, he’s a book boy and it makes me happy.

What is there to say when there are no problems?

I recently read The Happiest Toddler on the Block. For much of the book, I thought, he’s not talking to us.

Eating problems – negative
Sleeping problems – negative
Health issues – none
Temper tantrums – rare, intermittent and usually last no more than 30 seconds
Lack of concentration – not an issue
Social issues – negative
Frequently hurting self – more like never hurts self
Doesn’t listen – negative
Gets into everything – nope
Difficulty entertaining self – no
Separation issues – not at all

Then the author wrote about personality types, saying that most babies fall into easy, cautious or “spirited” (in other words, difficult). There were a list of indicators all of which I could easily check off “easy” for River. He is cautious physically. But that just ends up being easy for us, because he doesn’t take risks in which he can hurt himself.

So what happens when I get together with other moms? They talk about the challenges they are facing – problems getting their kids to eat, to sleep, having to entertain them constantly, dealing with tempers. I really can’t relate.

We’ve suspected for a while that we had an easy baby. According to the Happiest Baby on the Block, 40% of babies fall into this category. But I’m now quite sure we do. And that not only is he easy, he is super easy. And we are super lucky.

I think this probably makes other parents wish a number two from hell upon us just so we can see what it’s like.

“River is definitely unique,” one friend said. “It’s probably tempting to think that it came from how you raised him.”

Sure, it can be tempting. But I know the majority of it is genetic. And he has demonstrated the same personality, focused on food and observation, from birth. Not much has changed. He probably would have turned out exactly the same at this point if I’d left him as an infant with the wonderful family we stayed with in Panama.

So what can I talk about when I get together with other moms? Today, I told the mom about the book we’d just finished reading, which was sitting on our coffee table.

I told her how funny this one was, how the voices were so well portrayed, and how creative it was. I told her how much I’m enjoying the reading time now that we are getting to really entertaining stories. This book is aimed for the 4-8 range, which is what we’ve been reading quite a bit of lately. This one was a bit longer and denser in text than others, so it took us two days to get through the story, but we read the whole thing and today River asked for a repeat.

My friend said her child would never sit through a story like that, that she’ll barely sit through a book at all, but instead brings a book over, looks at the cover, then grabs another.

I know there is nothing wrong with her kid being more interested in running around than reading books. I know it’s normal for this age. But I end up feeling like I’m bragging. It’s certainly easier to read long and funny stories than to chase a toddler getting in to everything.

When we’re hanging out with Samuel, River’s little genius of a friend, it’s easier. While he does have eating, sleep and health issues, the boys have a lot in common in terms of their intellectual curiosity. I don’t have to worry about Samuel’s mom being upset because the fact is that her child is so clearly amazing and more advanced than River in many ways. We talk about what we read and they always have amazing suggestions. Last time we visited, Samuel was in love with a book called Cowboy and Octopus (also in the 4-8 range). Who would have thought of that combination?

With other parents, I’m probably going to have to learn to shut up. To listen to the problems they are having, and not mention that we’re not experiencing them. That’s a hard thing to do though, especially since I think moms are pre-programmed to talk about their kids. All the more reason for me to spend more time on professional matters, where these topics don’t come up, and less time in mom’s groups.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we got hit with a whammy with number two. I suppose we deserve it. But I would be so happy if I could put in an order and request another just like River.

The irresistable urge to buy books

For the first 18 months of River’s life, I didn’t have much of a desire to buy him anything. Though I occasionally felt like a bad parent compared to my friends who instigated nightly bedtime reading pretty much from birth, we didn’t read much at all for the first six months. And for what we did do, the library was good enough. I didn’t need any clothes or toys beyond what I could get on freecycle or an occasional yard or consignment sale.

So when we set a family budget and I allocated $100/month for River’s discretionary expenses (not including food, medical or education savings), I thought that was pretty generous. Yet, I now find myself overspending and have to take some tough decisions (delay the start of swim lessons, put off his portrait, resist buying things on impulse, like the plastic duck reading a book I paid $6.50 for at the library).

But the one thing I really can’t stop buying is books. I just spent over an hour browsing Amazon and putting book after book in my cart. As I found good ones on Amazon, I would search my local library to see if they had it. If they did, I reserved it. So in addition to a large purchase, I probably also have a big stack of books waiting for me at the library.

With books in English, I don’t feel the need to buy many. There are so many at the library and we also find them for free or cheap, either from people clearing out their garages or at rummage sales. But I can’t find used children’s books in Spanish easily. I get them from the library, but there are only so many. I want him to have close to equal numbers of books in Spanish and English around the house, so that when he picks up a book and asks me to read it to him, I’m not always saying, “That’s a book for daddy to read to you.”

Also, now that we’ve moved beyond the baby books (I’m now reading him books labeled in the age 4-8 range) I’m finding myself loving the stories. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It’s wonderful to see the world through a child’s eyes again, and doing so in Spanish gives me a bit of a challenge and the opportunity to learn some new words.

There is no doubt that River loves books, is passionate about them, would happily listen to 15-25 per day. Which is good. Because I don’t mean to project myself upon him. But if I had complete freedom, I’d probably fill the house with as many Spanish stories as I could find.