Camille Saint-Saëns

Chillin’ with the Ladies*

 My son and I have been spending time with the two most recognizable women in the world.

– Mother Teresa, by Navin Chawla  
This was a lengthy book (274 pages) for us, but every single page increased our awareness of Mother Teresa’s brilliant original thinking, her commitment to her calling, her powerful leadership skills.

We read in depth about the three endeavors of her Missionaries of Charity:
– a home for unwanted or orphaned children
– a home and medical facility for those with leprosy
– a home for the destitute and dying 

We have added a heart swelling quote from the book to our Sunday night spiritual moment:  while sitting with a dying patient, Mother Teresa was overheard to whisper, “You say a prayer in your religion, and I will say a prayer as I know it.  Together we will say this prayer and it will be something beautiful for God”.   There is now a poster of St. Teresa of Calcutta on my son’s wall.

– The Mona Lisa Vanishes, by Nicholas Day
There is nothing concerning the theft of the Mona Lisa (from the Louvre Museum in 1911) that is not examined in this book: 

– we learned about Lisa Gherardini, who posed for the portrait 
– we learned about Leonardo da Vinci (it was thought provoking to read that Leonardo was most likely ADHD)(this would explain a lot)
– we learned about French police/detective work in the early 1900’s (just the very beginning of fingerprinting)
– we learned about security at the Louvre Museum (super lax)(then, not now)  
– and finally, a dazzling conclusion to the book:  the thief of the Mona Lisa is revealed, lies surrounding the theft are exposed, and we learned that the painting was returned with great ceremony to the Louvre just prior to the breakout of WWI.

This book is perhaps the most organized and well researched book we have ever read.  It is written in small readable chunks – perfect for us.  Inspired by this book, we now have a poster of the Mona Lisa up on my son’s wall. 

Fiction Fun –

– While Mrs. Coverlet was Away, by Mary Nash –  This classic from 1958 has been on our August reading list for several years.  I just love it…I sort of hope my son loves it too, cuz this was at least our 8th time through.   It is funny, it is clever, it champions self reliance.

Story Problem:  The Local Diner gets Fancy

The local diner has decided to add a refined touch:  from now on, all  breakfast rolls and desserts will be served atop a doily.  If the diner calculates that they serve 50 breakfast rolls daily (7 days a week) and 150 desserts daily (7 days a week), how many doilies will they need each week?
a)  70     b)  350     c)  700     d)  1,400

If the diner can purchase 1,000 doilies for $15 from “Doilies R Us”, will $100 be enough money in the diner budget to purchase a month’s worth of the needed doilies?  (answers at bottom of post)

(I am not defending the use of doilies, I am only writing a story problem)

Classical Music:  finally chillin’ with the ladies, virtuoso style –

– Setting the stage –
1913 – first woman EVER to be hired by a professional orchestra (the Queen’s Hall Orchestra in London)
1918 – first woman invited to join an American orchestra (the Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
2003 – at the very back of the pack:  the Vienna Philharmonic, under pressure from the Austrian government, finally welcomes the first female musician into the orchestra

Any orchestra should be so lucky to be chillin’ with these virtuosos:

Cello Virtuoso, Jacqueline du Pré – (1945 – 1987)  Ask anyone (who knows anything about this) to list 5 cello virtuosos, and Jacqueline du Pré’s name will be on that list.  My son and I sat rapt listening to her play “The Swan” from Camille Saint-Saëns’ 14 movement suite, “Carnival of the Animals” (composed in 1886) –

Flute Virtuoso, Jeanne Baxtresser (1947 –    ), former principal flutist for the NY Philharmonic (for 15 years!).  It was fun to listen to her almost haunting adaptation of Saint-Saëns’ “Swan” and we loved the spirited pace –

Trumpet Virtuoso, Alison Balsom (1978 –    ).  Alas, we knew we weren’t going to find anyone on trumpet playing “The Swan”, but we were happy to find a recording of Handel’s  “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” (from his 1748 oratorio, “Solomon”), showcasing Alison Balsom, whose performance is perfection.  Even though this has been one of our favorite compositions for years, we still can’t help but smirk thinking about Handel’s fussy piece portraying life in Jerusalem about 1,000 BC  –

Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  d)  1,400 doilies a week, and “yes”, $100 is enough to pay for a month’s worth of doilies)
*The title of this page came from a “Get Fuzzy” (Darby Conley) cartoon from years and years ago.  The phrase is still making me and one of my other kids laugh every time we think about it.

The Octopus Shocker

He writes!  He illustrates! – For the past few weeks my son and I have become entranced with  Owen Davey books.   Informative, clever, teamed with sophisticated graphics in a perfection of colors.  Our type of book.  We’ve just finished – 

  • “Mad about Monkeys” – We needed to get a better grip on our knowledge of primates (as in the fact that chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons are NOT types of monkeys) (we had sort of thought they were)(we were wrong).  Also, we now have a passing knowledge of “old world” and “new world” monkeys.  
  • “Obsessive about Octopuses” – 1)  this book is so A+, 2) the correct plural of octopus is octopuses, NOT octopi, 3) we stopped short when we read about the common blanket octopus: the female stretches to 6 feet in length and the male (ARE YOU REALLY READY FOR THIS?) measures in at 1 inch. A live male blanket octopus was sighted for the first time in 2002 (Wikipedia) OH MY GOSH and 4)  THE SHOCKER!!!!!  Most of the 300 species of octopus live ONLY A FEW MONTHS!  I have been asking all my friends how long a typical octopus lives and guesses have ranged from 16 years to 50 years.  Dear dear magical, nimble, problem-solving octopuses –  taken at so young an age.
  • Next on the reading list, “Fanatical about Frogs”.

Deforestation – My son and I read a lot of books about endangered animals, so we know that loss of habitat is a primary cause.  We have come across the term, “deforestation”  many times, so deforestation was on our minds when we read from the excellent “How Ships Work” (a Lonely Planet Kids book) that – 

  • around 2,000 trees were used to build a Spanish galleon in the 1500’s (and we know there was more than one galleon).
  • 6,000 trees were needed to construct British flagship HMS Victory in 1765. 

 Deforestation is not a new trend.

“Everest” by Sangma Francis and Lisk Feng – all topics Everest are covered in this well written, well designed book:  Sherpas, the sacredness of the mountain, climbing clothes, the development of oxygen masks, trash on the mountain, routes to the summit, inspirational climbers AND my son and I are still musing over the fact that Mount Everest grows 1/3 inch a year.

“Little Men”, by Louisa May Alcott – I have read “Little Women” several times and I was eager to share my first reading of “Little Men” with my son.  1)  Jeepers, this is relentlessly moral story.  2) This is a difficult read what with the vernacular of the 1870’s and the loads of characters, some with multiple nicknames. I read aloud one paragraph and then take the same amount of time to untangle what I’ve just read for my son.  Sigh.  We have augmented “Little Men” by reading a short bio of Louisa May Alcott from “American Trailblazers” by Lisa Trusiani.

Time for a change in tone!  Story Problem – Farmer Brown Runs for Town Mayor!  –  Yes, Farmer Brown is running for town mayor and his chances for winning look good!  His campaign manager has all sorts of campaign ideas to get Farmer Brown’s name before the public:

  • 50 big yard signs spread around town, with the slogan, “Farmer Brown can make our town grow!” ($4 for each sign and $25 each for Farmer Brown’s two nephews to place the signs)
  • 1000 campaign buttons (“Farmer Brown can make our town grow!”) for $250
  • A running ad (boldly proclaiming that “Farmer Brown can make our town grow!”) in the local newspaper for $75
  • A banner spanning the width of Main Street boldly proclaiming, “Farmer Brown can make our town grow!” for $75
  • 1,000 grocery sacks at Farmer Brown’s road-side stand with “Farmer Brown can make our town grow!” imprinted for $150

Farmer Brown has budgeted $750 for campaign PR.  Can he afford all the ideas ?  (answer at bottom of post)

Classical Music for Octopuses – we were still thinking about the brief lives of the octopuses.  If the current crop of octopuses is going to enjoy classical music, the pieces had better be short.  May we suggest – 

  • Violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler’s “Schön Rosmarin” (Beautiful Rosmarin), composed in 1905.  Just under two minutes. We listened for iconic Kreisler embellishments while easily envisioning an octopus swaying with the tides –
  • “Solfeggietto”, by CPE Bach, composed in 1766. One minute sixteen seconds. This fast, frantic piece is certainly the “go to” background music for an octopus needing to escape predators –
  • “The Aquarium” from Carnival of the Animals (1886), by Camille Saint-Saëns.  Two minutes, four seconds. Reflective, yearning, chilling, mysterious; it seems as if the octopus was the muse for this piece –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  NO!)