Young Adult Novels

Topics from the Tropics

My son and I are immersed in facts and flavors of Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.  (And yes, yes, yes, we recognize that much of South America cannot be classified as “the tropics”.  Let’s move on.)

The Travel Book – A Journey through Every Country in the World, a Lonely Planet Kids Book –  We are enthusiastic about opening this book every night, but alas, we do have a complaint:  every page is set up as a graphic collage by somebody who certainly has an eye for color and composition, BUT!!! on almost every page there is content printed in a teensy font (black ink), and positioned on a dark color background.  Really, really difficult to read.  I have to hold the book “just so” and hunch forward to read.  Couldn’t ya just weep?

But I digress. With this book, our globe and atlas, my son and I have trekked our way through the countries of Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.  Favorite takeaways:

Nicaragua:  the streets have no names.  One arrives at one’s destination by use of landmarks.
Costa Rica:  all radio stations broadcast the national anthem every morning at 7.
El Salvador:  the US Dollar is the national currency.
The East Caribbean Dollar:  this currency used by 6 countries (Saint Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada).
Saint Lucia:  only country in the world named after a woman.
Guyana:  English is the national language.
Paraguay:  no doorbells!  (clap your hands if you want in).
Uruguay:  the tradition is to eat gnocchi on the 29th of each month.
Trinidad & Tobago:  STEEL DRUMS!  The history of this instrument is compelling, we loved learning that steel drums of yore could be tuned and adjusted by use of a hammer, and we are in a smiley place while listening to steel drum (more correctly, the steelpan) music.

Marcus  Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish, by Pablo Cartaya.  We are following Marcus Vega’s family from Springfield, Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico to visit with extended family.  I am mortified to admit that before this book I was not exactly sure where PR was located. 

Before Music – Where Instruments Come From, Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by Madison Safer.  This sort of looks like a little kids book, but – HAPPY SURPRISE – it is filled with impressive scholarly research.  Great page on the history and development of the steel drums (steelpan).  A perfect enhancement to our listening.

Veering off the tropics topics:

  • 150 Mornings of Volunteer Work.  Once a week, my son does a bit of volunteering at a local nursery.  We hit day 150 last week!  

  • Brave Like That, by Lindsey Stoddard.  Not sure if my son got the message of the book (which was basically:  be confident about being yourself), but this was a sweet, sweet read.  Good kid, excellent father.
  • Four new poems for my son to memorize:  The Spider and the Fly, The Road Not Taken, The Land of Counterpane, and The Duel.
  • Funniest piece of classical music – I am not sure how we came upon Edvard Grieg’s “March of the Trolls” (1890), but I am sure we have never heard a more startling piece of classical music.  This recording demonstrates the conductor’s grasp of comedic timing.  We hear an aggressive troop of trolls wreaking havoc with some poor soul’s quiet moment of reflection.  The final jarring insult (percussion) takes us by surprise every single listen. 

 

Story Problem – Sampling Birthday Cakes at The Local Diner

The Local Diner has hired a new pastry chef, whose specialty is birthday cakes! The first day of every month the chef hosts cake sampling day, so everyone will know what to order when their birthday rolls around.  4 different flavors are offered and 20 mini-servings can be cut from each cake on sampling day.

cake flavors:
lemon zing  – confetti cake – gingerbread – dirt cake (kids favorite)

  • If 40 people show up for sampling day and everyone wants to try all four of the cake flavors, how many cakes of each type need to be baked?
    a)  2 cakes     b)  8 cakes     c)  16 cakes     d)  40 cakes
  • Customers who place orders on sampling day get 20% taken off the cake price.  If each cake costs $20, how much will the pastry chef collect if 10 people order cakes on sampling day?
    a)  $16     b)  $40    c)  $160     d)  $200
  • If among the 10 orders 60% are for the dirt cake, how many dirt cakes will the chef need to bake?
    a)  6 cakes     b)  8 cakes     c)  16 cakes     d)  60 cakes
  • Which of these days would be a cake sampling day?
    a)  February 14     b)  February 29     c)  March 1     d)  July 4

And back to the tropics:  Steelpan Music –  bouncy, optimistic, full-of-cheer –

  • Steeling the Show!  We viewed historic footage of the first steel drum band (the Trinidad All-Steel Pan Percussion Orchestra) to introduce itself to London in 1951 at the Festival of Britain.  In 2023, the United Nations General Assembly designated April 11 as World Steelpan Day.  Yay! ( I am sure the UN General Assembly had pressing items on the agenda, but seriously, 70-plus years to deliberate on whether to support a World Steelpan Day? Did certain delegates need to be strong armed?  Is there a story here????)
  • Steeling our Hearts!  We watched young learners on the steelpan.  This joyful performance made our hearts sing and we were doubly enchanted by the A+ audience response –  
  • Steeling Away!   A piece of steel drum magic that transports us to an idealized undersea world AND a piece my son is well familiar with – “Under the Sea”, from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” movie of 1989, melody composed by Alan Mencken – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story Problem answers:  a)  2 cakes,  c)  $160,  a)  6 cakes,  c)  March 1)

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.

32 and counting!

How many books do we read in a year?  We have no idea.  So, this past January my son and I decided this would be the year to track the number of books.  Reporting midway through 2024:  32 books on the tally sheet.  Currently in the stories and studies book basket:

Studies – 

Arctic Tern Migration, Susan H. Gray.  In the autumn, these global traveling birds take 3 months to fly from the Arctic to the Antarctic.  In springtime, they head back to the Arctic – this trip taking less than two months due to wind currents.  We have layers and layers of “how do they do this and why do they do this?” questions.

Birdology, Sy Montgomery.  Favorite chapters:  “Chickens” (because each and every one is wacky) and “Pigeons”  (author Montgomery takes the reader to a pigeon racing club and we learn the specifics – we love it when a book opens a whole new world for us).

Mother Teresa, Navin Chawla.  This particular book – based upon extensive interviews with those who influenced (or were influenced by) Mother Teresa –  is the only authorized biography of Saint Teresa of Calcutta (as per her canonization by the Catholic Church in 2016).  It is THE book.  We were riveted by the work of this brilliant visionary leader.  How could one person, with no income, starting with 1 room and 2 postulants, turn this into a multi-national effort (hundreds of homes for the destitute, dying, leprosy affected, poorest of the poor) with a support system of 4,000 enthusiastic, committed nuns? 

Can I Recycle This?, Jennie Romer.  This is not our first recycling book, but this one leaves the other one (which was patronizing and jammed with platitudes) in the dust.  This author is interesting and specific.  We learned what goes on at a recycling center.  We learned what cannot (at this point) be recycled:  plastic forks and knives, straws, restaurant “to-go” cartons that have been sprayed with a plastic coating, eyeglasses, coat hangers, plastic baggies, potato chip bags.  We are sort of feeling bad about all the potato chip bags we go through.

Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums, Bob Eckstein.  Each entry includes a short list of facts about the museum, charming illustrations, and a few personal reflections from museum goers/employees (this is the best part!).  I was happy to see one of my favorite, NAY, perhaps my favorite museum, included in the book:  The Museum of Bad Art (Boston).  Also, we learned that there are museums/museum grounds that host 200,000 bees (Clark Art Institute), and 1,000 dolls (Wenham Museum House).  We were touched to the soul by the “National Museum of African American History and Culture” and Baltimore’s “American Visionary Art Museum”.  We learned that a WOMAN (Betty Willis) designed the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign (from The Neon Museum).  I learned of this book from James Breakwell’s hilarious Instagram site.  Many thanks!  This is the perfect type of book for us!

Stories – 

The Teacher’s Funeral – Author Richard Peck takes us to the one room country school house of the early 1900’s.  The surprisingly effective teacher is a high school student, sister of two of her 8 pupils (who do not want to be in school at all).  And then, just as we are settling into her spelling bees and geography lessons – WHAT THE H-E-DOUBLE-TOOTHPICKS??? –  the author takes us along to a neighborly gathering to observe the butchering of a pig.  Oh dear oh dear oh dear.  Do I skip over this part or do I come to terms with this part of long ago rural life?  I mean seriously, to be invited to a pig slaughter? Honored with the responsibility of handling the shotgun that would kill said pig?  Then the book goes right back to being its pleasant self (romance, school yard antics, teacher certification worries, the town poet mystery).  We do love Richard Peck’s books and have read loads of them.  This pig business was a jarring surprise.

The Trials of Hercules Beal, Gary D. Schmidt.  An excellent use of our reading time.  Yes, it is highly entertaining.  Yes, its writing style nudges close to poetic.  Yes,  we are learning about the mythical trials of the Roman god Hercules and how they parallel the life of current student, Hercules Beal.  But we are also given front row seats to the best of  thoughtful and focused teaching skills.  On so many levels, a superb book.

Schooled, Gordon Korman.  This is probably our 4th time through this book.  There is a clash and then a melding of 1960’s hippie style culture with a present day 8th grade social environment.  So well written, fun to read.   

Story Problem from Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand – The 4 full time employees at Farmer Brown’s roadside stand will now be identified by the wearing of heavy duty green canvas aprons.  Each employee looks so professional now.  The aprons cost $15 and this includes “Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand” embroidery work.  Farmer Brown decided to order 10 aprons.  Good thing he did.  The week after the aprons were ordered, the price shot up to $25 per apron.  How much money did Farmer Brown save by ordering before the price skyrocketed?

a)  $10     b)  $100     c)  $250     d)  $1,000 (answer at bottom of post)

Counting on Classical Music – 

The Cuckoo, from Ottorino Respighi’s suite, “The Birds” (1928).  Here is a tough assignment:  tally up the number of two-note cuckoo motifs in this 4 minute composition.  Sometimes the motif is produced by a  single instrument, sometimes full orchestra, sometimes the notes are high, sometimes low, sometimes the motif stands alone, sometimes it is mixed into a collage of sounds.  Like I said, tough.  Our tally sheet totals are different every time we try this. 

 Bolero, Maurice Ravel (also 1928!) – ya gotta feel sorry for the percussionist who ends up playing snare drum for this 15-plus minute piece.  It is calculated that the snare drum is struck 5,144 times.  The worst part is that the musician has to play the same short rhythm over and over and over and over.  We would go bonkers.  That being said, we cannot resist anything that is conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. 

3,000 and counting! – According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most prolific classical composer (with over 3,000 compositions) was Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767).  We are not sure we found the final composition (our goal), but his Overture-Suite in G minor was written during his final year.  We listened to the short second movement (the “Gavotte en Rondeau”), a marvelously fussy piece – clearly baroque – that moves right along.

 Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  b)  $100)

The Two-for-One Special

TWO QUIZZES!  That’s right, not just ONE, but TWO quizzes to test my son’s comprehension of current study endeavors (significant landmarks/animal investigations/the Netherlands).  Yay!  He scored 100%.  (answers at bottom of post)

The General Knowledge Quiz: 

1.  Who designed and oversaw construction of Mount Rushmore?
a)  Gustav Eiffel     b)  Frank Lloyd Wright     c)  Alexander Calder,  d)  Gutzon Borglum

2.  The arms (wicks) of windmills turn –
a)  clockwise     b)  counterclockwise  c)  either way depending upon wind direction

3.  Regarding the windmill communication system:  the resting placement of the windmill arms (wicks) can signal – 
a)  good news/bad news/windmill is broken/windmill is resting     b)  there is no such thing as a windmill communication system

4.  The number of bicycles recovered from the Amsterdam canals annually –
a)  100     b)  1,000     c)  10,000

5.  The reason San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge is painted orange –
a)   to stand out in the fog     b)  at the time of installation (1937), orange was the California governor’s wife’s favorite color     c)  it was the most affordable paint color that was closest to “gold”

6.  The Great Wall of China was built over the span of –
a)  2,000 years     b)  1,000 years     c)  50 years

7.  Today, the largest ships using the Panama Canal, pay tolls of up to – 
a)   $1 million      b)  $75,000     c)  $1,000
(Here is something fun: In 1928, writer and adventurer Richard Halliburton paid a toll of 36 cents to swim through the canal.)

8.  The largest mammal in South America –
a)  the giant anteater     b)  the capybara     c)  the tapir     d)  the brown throated sloth

9.  Birds have – 
a)  hollow bones     b)  gelatinous semi-soft bones     c)  titanium bones

10.  The only bird that can fly backwards –
a)  the hummingbird     b)  the owl     c)  the bluebird of happiness

The Great Lengths Quiz:  

1.  The length of the Golden Gate Bridge – 
a)  8 miles     b)  4.2 miles      c)   3.5 miles     d)  1.7 miles     

2.  The length of the Panama Canal
a)   50 miles     b)  45 miles     c)  25 miles     d)  10 miles

3.  From furthest point west to furthest point east, which is longer:  mainland United States or the Mediterranean Sea?  (hint:  one is 2,600 miles, the other is 2,400 miles)
a)   Mainland USA     b)  the Mediterranean Sea

4.  All things considered (because this is not one continuous structure), how long is the Great Wall of China?
a)  13,000 miles     b)  9,500 miles     c)  2,100 miles     d)  400 miles

5.  What is the approximate distance between Earth and the moon?
a)  500,000 miles     b)  240,000 miles     c)  10,000 miles     d)  250 miles

After all that test taking:   FUN FICTION READING – 

For a look at history:  Here Lies the Librarian, Richard Peck – a continually amusing peek into rural American life in the 1920’s:  home-made automobiles, romance, dirt roads, bad neighbors, and terrible-to-superb local library management.  

For provoking discussion:  Millicent Min – Girl Genius, Lisa Yee – Brilliant Millicent is 11, and taking a college level poetry class.  Written as a summer journal, short diary entries inform us that Millicent’s mom is forcing her join a volleyball team, Millicent finally has her first friend, Millicent is tutoring somebody who’s lack of academic commitment is driving her crazy.  We are sympathizing with this protagonist who has such a rocky time socializing.  Awwwww.

For relaxing/laughing/smiling:  Tom Gates: Five Star Stories,  Liz Pichon.  This is book number 21 in the series and we’ve read them all – the quality of the hilarious writing, the hilarious predicaments, the hilarious illustrations has not wavered.   At this point, the cast of characters feel like part of our family. Ms. Pichon:  KEEP WRITING!

     

Story Problem:  “2-for-the-price-of-1” at the local diner – Tuesday nights at the local diner are a bit slow, so an enticing “Tuesday Night Only” promotion is offered:  two manager’s specials (chicken pot pie and apple crisp) for the price of one.  If it’s not Tuesday, the price of this dinner is $15 per single order.  Last Tuesday 60 patrons ordered the manager’s special.  How much money did the special bring in?  If the manager’s special costs the diner $5 per order, how much profit did the diner realize? (answers at bottom of post)

Classical Music – How about a THREE-for-ONE special?  We listened to three completely different composition styles of Luigi Boccherini, cello virtuoso and composer (1743 – 1805).  Boccherini’s early years were spent as a  court musician in Vienna.  At age 27, Boccherini relocated, becoming a court musician for the Spanish royal family in Madrid (and remained in Spain for the rest of his life).  We wanted to hear 1) a Viennese-style piece, 2) a work influenced by the music of Madrid and 3) one of his cello-focused compositions.

The Minuet (movement 3) from Boccherini’s String Quintet in E major, composed in 1771 – this fussy, hummable, very “classical music” melody is instantly recognizable as it has been used in loads of films, TV shows, and video games –

The Fandango, from Boccherini’s Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D major, composed in 1798, shows the influence of the guitar music he was introduced to in Spain.  I do not think my son and I have listened to this less than 350 times; it was interesting the first time we heard it, it remains interesting.  We love this performance by the L.A. Guitar Quartet –

Cello Showcased – we know we should be extolling Boccherini’s well respected “Cello Concerto in B flat major”, and we did take a listen.  The concerto certainly flaunts a cellist’s skills.  However, what we love is Boccherini’s String Quintet No. 6 (also known as “Night Music of the Streets of Madrid”).  Movement 5, the Passa Calle, in which the cello carries the piece, is warm, full of local flavor, and we really cannot listen without swaying to the tempo –

Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH

General Knowledge Quiz Answers:

  1. d)  Gutzon Borglum
  2. b)  counterclockwise
  3. a)  good news, etc.
  4. c)  10,000 bikes
  5. a)  to stand out in the fog
  6. a)  2,000 years
  7. a)  $1 million
  8. c)  the tapir
  9. a)  hollow bones
  10. a)  the hummingbird

Great Lengths Quiz Answers:

  1. d)  1.7 miles
  2. a)  50 miles
  3. a)  mainland USA
  4. a)  13,000 miles
  5. b)  240,000 miles

(Story Problem Answers:  $450, $150)

Fun with Feb

Prepare yourself for a bit of anthropomorphizing.

Poor February, so insecure in the company of those self-assured 31-day months.  Sure, February boasts Valentine’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, and Black History Month, but we think February’s confidence might be additionally bolstered by the knowledge that somewhere in the world there exists a month with far, far fewer than 28 days.  Read on:

“Britannica Kid’s Encyclopedia” (2020 edition) – My son and I are working our way through this jazzy reference volume and our favorite entry so far:  how 18 ancient cultures (2,600 BCE – 1582 CE) began marking the passing of time with calendars.  

First place trophy for most creative calendar goes to ETHIOPIA! (We located it on the globe, of course we did.) Beginning in 350 CE,  Ethiopian calendar masterminds placed the 5 extra days, that didn’t fit into their 12 30-day months template, into a 13th month (“Pagume”, wedged between August and September).  Pagume is a 5-day mini month!  Stand tall, February, stand tall!

Switching topics –
“Engineering the Space Needle”, by Kate Conley. Here is what we learned from this small but mighty book:

– the Space Needle, the centerpiece of the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, is a triumph of engineering, design, and management
– constructed in very little time (just over a year), in very little space, wind safe/earthquake safe, built and maintained with private funds (due to local government naysayers of the time)  
– the design drew inspiration from a small sculpture entitled, “The Feminine One” (slender, narrow waist, reaching for the sky).  Now my son and I don’t just see a tall landmark, we see a surprisingly beautiful landmark  

We have family members who live within walking distance of the Space Needle, so I asked for a photo to share with my son.  Oh boy, this is some fine photography: 

One of our latest fiction reads – 
“Clementine”, by Sara Pennypacker – this is the story of high energy, super alert young lady who is bursting with original ideas.  “Pay attention!” her teachers say, and in her heart of hearts she knows she IS paying attention (to every-single-little-thing that comes into view).   We loved this book, thought Marla Frazee’s illustrations made the story even better, and I am thinking that anyone who deals with what appears to be attention-gone-haywire might find this book comforting and illuminating.

Reporting in:  current Clem and Clyde reading comprehension worksheets have dealt with New Year’s resolutions, the purchase of a snowman, and sampling sugar snap peas.  We both love our time with Clem and Clyde.

Story Problem:  Cupid’s Delight Pie at the Local Diner – On February 14, the local diner celebrated Valentine’s Day by offering a slice of their Cupid’s Delight Pie with each lunch and dinner order.  Cupid’s Delight Pie is a sumptuous raspberry pie topped with a dollop of PALE PINK WHIPPED CREAM. The diner can serve 8 slices from each pie.  The diner ended up serving 200 lunches and 150 dinners on the 14th.  The pastry chef baked 40 pies.  Was that enough to serve all the diners?  (answer at bottom of post)

Classical Music,  February Style – 

We have been listening to the works of black composers for Black History Month and we knew we wanted to hear the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.  But when we did a computer search we kept getting entries for both Coleridge-Taylor and the the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  So we wanted to figure out the connection –

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), beloved British poet (“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, “Kubla Khan”).  We got sidetracked and read through the dazzling “Kubla Khan”.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), British composer, named in honor of the poet. OH! OK!  That makes sense.   Named without the hyphen….hyphen came later due to a printer’s error.  Obsessed by Longfellow’s gol-dern-lengthy poem of 1855, “The Song of Hiawatha” (Coleridge-Taylor even named his son Hiawatha!), and most well known for his cantata, “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast” (1898).  We listened to “He Was Dressed in a Shirt of Doe-Skin ” from said cantata.  While it cannot possibly transport us to the shores of Gitche Gumee (Lake Superior) of the 1500’s, the frothy harmonies (very Gilbert and Sullivan) are a dreamy delight. 

AND FINALLY, taking inspiration from the Ethiopian calendar:  What if we had our own 5 day month?  How would my son and I celebrate via classical music?

Day 1:  Welcome teeny tiny month!  –  We would begin with Scott Joplin’s bouncy “Rosebud March” (1905) – just the thing to set the tone for a joy filled five-day month.  This music puts a spring in our step and says, “Let’s be thankful, let’s be friendly, let’s smile!  Welcome, welcome mini month!”-

Day 3:  How time flies!  The month is half over! –  Time to stop and smell the flowers.  May we suggest Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s fanciful “Romance of the Prairie Lilies” (1899) for mid-month listening –

Day 5:  Going out with a bang – Florence Price’s “Symphony No. 1 in E minor”, movement IV (1932).  This piece is full speed ahead, concluding with a full half minute of cymbal crashing (and that is a lot of cymbal crashing).  (BTW, this symphony was the first by an African-American woman to be performed by a major orchestra.  Kudos to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for recognizing and showcasing talent.) 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  No, the pastry chef should have baked 44 pies.)

January Jabber

Here is something we didn’t know: the number of books we read a year.  So, the plan for 2024: TRACKING OUR READING –  How many books will my son and I read this year?  How many will we start?  How many will we finish?  How many are good enough to make it into the re-read basket? 

Speaking of reading (from our Farmer Brown story problem collection) – Farmer Brown has a library in his farmhands’ bunkhouse.  The library has 200 books, some on ranch animal care, some on tending crops, some are rip-roaring tales of the old west.  Farmer Brown noticed that 20 of the books have never been read (mostly books on personal hygiene and healthy snacks).  

– What percentage of books have been read by the farmhands?
a)    10%     b)     20%     c)     75%     d)     90%

– There are 60 wild west fiction books that have been read over and over by the farmhands.  These books comprise what percentage of the bunkhouse library? (answers at bottom of post)
a)  15%     b)  30%     c)  45%     d)  60%

Our Current Sy Montgomery Books – Sy Montgomery is an author whose writing appeals to us.  Her journal-style books take us around the world as we join her in following the work of dedicated animal researchers (and we especially love her “researcher bios”) –

 – The Hyena Scientist”:   For this study, Sy Montgomery journeys to Kenya to join a team of scientists focused on and fascinated by hyenas.  For us, the most intriguing takeaway:  hyenas gather in tightly knit clans (and there are CLAN WARS) with an extremely structured hierarchy, and the females RULE.  Do not mess with the matriarch.

– “Amazon Adventure – How Tiny Fish are Saving the World’s Largest Rain Forest”:  Cardinal Tetras, bitty sized fish from the Rio Negro (a tributary of the Amazon River, near Barcelos, Brazil) are sought after by home aquarium owners all over the world, and Montgomery spells out why this fish gathering/transporting industry is ecologically important.  OK, OK, but here is the best part of this book:  learning about Barcelos’ FESTIVAL OF ORNAMENTAL FISH!  Oh my gosh, THE FESTIVAL!  Citizens of this teeny town spend months preparing parade floats, stitching flamboyant costumes, and rehearsing for grand “cast-of-a-thousand” performances in the town stadium.  The festival is also a competition:  town citizens are either on the Cardinal team or the Discus (another small aquarium fish) team.  Teams are judged on costumes and performance AND how politely team members watch their rival’s performance! Yes!  Etiquette always!  The Festival of Ornamental Fish is so on the bucket list.

January Jeopardy – We are quiz show ready!  A sampling  of quirky info from our latest batch of books –

1.  The hippo is the most dangerous animal in Africa.  (from “The Hyena Scientist”,  Sy Montgomery)
2. The didgeridoo is the oldest musical instrument in the world.  (from “A Time to Celebrate”, a Lonely Planet Kids book)
3.  Some of the Olympic swimming medalists from the 1948, 1952 and 1956 games started their aquatic training in Maui’s sugar plantation irrigation ditches.  (from “Sakamoto’s Swim Club”, Julie Abery)
4.  Omaha, Nebraska was the home town of dancing sensations Fred Astaire and sister Adele. (from “Footwork – The Story of Freed and Adele Astaire”, Roxane Orvill)
5.  Crescent-shaped, sword-shaped, and star-shaped are three different types of sand dunes found in Algeria’s Sahara Desert.  (from “Algeria, Enchantment of the World”, Martin Hintz)
6.  According to botanists, there are 8 different types of vegetables (leaf, bulb, flower bud, root, tuber, stem, fruit, and seed veggies – it grieves me that my son does not acknowledge 7 types of vegetables). (from “The Vegetables We Eat”, by Gail Gibbons) (answers at bottom of post)

Music + Academics = A+

  • Philip Glass’s “Negro River”, from his 9 movement “Aquas da Amazonia” (composed for a ballet in the late 1990’s), transports us to the site of our “Amazon Adventure” reading experience.   We hear rhythms and echoes of the river – birds, bugs, frogs, water bubbles, an intruder (a snake?) –   
  • Who wouldn’t want to hear the music of the didgeridoo, the oldest instrument in the world!  The didgeridoo (traditionally made of eucalyptus) in this video clip is certainly elegant.  For us, the drone sound it produces takes us by surprise every single time – 
  • And how about some background music for Farmer Brown’s farmhands as they read through the novels of the American west?  We are really liking Virgil Thomson’s “Cattle” movement from his suite that accompanied the 1936 documentary, “The Plow that Broke the Plains”. This short piece is a comforting patchwork of old west melodies –  

Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  d)  90% have been read, b)  wild west fiction comprises 30% of the library)
Left over from last post:  our San Francisco family member finally sent us a photo from aboard a cable car: 

Old Business, New Business, Funny Business

This meeting will now come to order.

Old business:

The chairman requests a report on the Clem and Clyde Reading Comprehension project: 

In the latest reading comp mini stories, fictional characters Clem and Clyde: 

– have learned to juggle – shown proficiency walking with stilts –

– purchased backpacks – painted their bedrooms – participated in a tractor race –

– ventured into the cat tending business – visited a caboose museum in Canada –  

I am continuing to provide a weekly edition of Clem and Clyde adventures and follow up questions. Independently, my son reads the stories and answers the questions.  Is he comprehending what he is reading?  YES!  A continuation of the reading comprehension project is recommended.

The chairman requests a report on the tracking of sharks off the east coast of the USA:  

We’ve been following a group of tagged sharks online at ocearch.org.  Seriously, this is quite entertaining.  Currently, the sharks have been circling the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada and are starting to head south to Florida.  We have a new favorite shark:  Breton.  While other tagged sharks seem to hug the coast of eastern USA, Breton is zigzagging all over the the Atlantic – he has even propelled himself over to the Sargasso Sea (which we studied in August, 2017 – view the “Sea Hunt” post for proof positive).  Breton is a scamp.  A continuation of our Monday night shark tracking is recommended.

The chairman requests a report on current re-reads – 

Surviving the Applewhites – I think this is our 4th time through Stephanie S. Tolan’s never-a-dull-moment treasure.  It is about school projects, an uncontrollable goat, the cuisine of India, “The Sound of Music”, but mostly it is about family and creative passion and personal transformation and it is continually funny.  We love this book and we will read it again.

Cheaper by the Dozen – My son and I seem to read this book about every other year, and as an educator, I benefit from the “pep talk” it delivers.  I am not sure I can summon the high energy that Frank Gilbreth put into teaching his 12 kids, but his rollicking, unconventional, brassy verve inspires me.  The book, published in 1948, was written by two of the Gilbreth children, Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.

It’s Halloween – My son and I read through Jack Prelutsky’s Halloween themed poem collection several times every October.  At this point, we know all the words to every poem.  This slender book is a welcomed part of our annual autumn experience.

New business:

The chairman requests a report on new books in the Cool School book basket:

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain – another engrossing journal by Sy Montgomery, documenting a research trip to to Mongolia (Mongolia!!! get the globe out) to track snow leopards.  These darn snow leopards are nigh impossible to find;  their pale spotted fur blends in too well with the surroundings.  By the end of the book, although it is clear that the research team was hiking in snow leopard territory, not one had been spotted (the heartbreak of research).  Nonetheless, this book was a pleasure to open every single night. If we couldn’t get up close and personal with a snow leopard we did become familiar with Mongolian ger housing and ibex goats (preferred gourmet treat for snow leopards).  

Amazing Rivers, by Julie Agnone, illustrations by Kerry Hydnman – so smartly put together, lovely illustrations.  This book covers more than 20 issues relating to rivers,  illustrating these topics with specific rivers of the world.  Maybe our favorite entry in this book:  the New Meuse River (Netherlands) hosts the world’s first FLOATING DAIRY!  It houses 40 cows, robots do the clean up, cow manure is recycled as fertilizer.  This is not our first river book, but it is the best.

Cable Cars of San Francisco – a favorite family member has recently moved to San Francisco and we are so patiently waiting for him to take a series of selfies on a cable car.  Is that too much to ask?  In the meantime, we have contented ourselves with the quick read through of “San Francisco Cable Car”, by Julie Murray.  A thin book with lots of really good photos (but not as good as a selfie from said favorite family member) and just enough information for us.

Key Player – 4th book in a series by Kelly Yang (we’ve previously read “Front Desk”, “Three Keys”, and “Room to Dream”).  We don’t love opening this book every night, because we know we are going to be confronted with some tough realities.  How about the tough reality of racism?  We are heartened to know there are role models, like brave protagonist, Mia.  Important book.

Funny business:

Tom Gates Epic Adventure – It is a happy day in our study room when we have a new Tom Gates book to laugh through.   Author Liz Pichon’s perfect ensemble cast, fabulous doodles, non-stop originality captivates us on every single page.  In this book, Tom desperately needs a haircut, is worried that he is the only one in class who isn’t invited to a birthday party, has to navigate between a family outing and the school “Tropical Disco”. I think we’ve read all 20 books in the series.

The chairman requests an unnecessarily complicated story problem:  

Big excitement!  The  local diner now offers a new item on the kids menu:  “Spell-a-Lunch”.  To place an order, kid customers must create a 5 letter word from the diner’s alphabet menu. The lunch plate will thusly be filled. 

A – apple slices     B – burger     C – carrots ’n’ celery     D – dill pickles    
E – egg salad sandwich     F – fries     G – grilled cheese     H – hot dog    
I – ice cream sandwich     J – jello     K – ketchup     L – lemonade     M – mini raisin box     N – nachos     O – olives     P – peanut butter sandwich     Q – quesadilla    
R – radishes ’n’ ranch dressing     S – sugar snap peas     T – tomato juice    
U – upside down cake     V – vanilla wavers     W – watermelon chunks    
X – extra napkins     Y – yogurt     Z – zucchini bread

For example:
If the child orders a “SHARK” lunch, the plate will offer (S) sugar snap peas, (H) a hot dog, (A) apple slices, (R) radishes with ranch dressing, and (K) ketchup.

– What will be on the lunch plate if the kid orders:
The “FANCY” Lunch?
The “CLIMB” lunch?

– Now for the arithmetic part of the story problem: 

1).  If the “Spell-a-Lunch” concept is a gigantic hit, and the diner sells 50 a week, how much will the diner profit at the end of a year, if each “Spell-a-Lunch” costs the diner $3, and the diner sells each lunch for $7.  

2).  At the end of a year, will there be enough profit money for the diner to donate $1,000 to the local elementary school library? (answers at bottom of post)

To conclude the meeting, the chairman requests a few short and funny orchestral pieces:

  • “Banjoland Buffoonery” –  from Grant Kirkhope’s music score for the the 2008 video game, Banjo-Kazooie:  Nuts & Bolts.  A variety of instruments get their spotlight moment in Kirkhope’s zippy composition, making it easy for my son to recognize the sounds of the bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, and I think xylophone.  Boisterously performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. 
  • “The Clog Dance”, from the comic ballet, La Fille Mal Gardée (essentially, The Poorly Supervised Young Lady), composed by Ferdinand Hérold in 1828.  We have been smiling over this bit of music (via iPod) for a few months, and when I showed my son this video clip he was entranced.  The ballet’s basic premise:  young girl in the French countryside has found true love in the handsome Colas, but her widowed mother  (traditionally played by a large man) wishes her to marry the Alain (think village idiot), son of the village’s wealthiest citizen.  The “Clog Dance” hilariously puts the widowed mother front and center.  BTW, the costuming in this production:  charming.
  • “The Typewriter” – yes, yes, yes, we know, all sorts of people have no idea what a typewriter is these days, but can one put together a list of humorous orchestral pieces without including Leroy Anderson’s out-of-left-field composition of 1950, “The Typewriter” ?  No.  Using the typewriter as percussion was inspired AND funny!

This meeting has been adjourned.
Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story problem answers:  
The “FANCY” lunch – fries, apple slices, nachos, carrots ’n’ celery, yogurt
The “CLIMB” lunch – carrots ’n’ celery, lemonade, ice cream sandwich, mini raisin box, burger
1).  $10,400  and 2).  the diner can easily afford to donate $1,000)

Looking Upward

My son and I are “Looking Upward”, zeroing in on a favorite topic:  OUTER SPACE.

(“Looking Upward” is also the title of a 3-movement suite composed by America’s “March King”, John Philip Sousa, in the early 1900’s.  Suite movements: “By the Light of the Polar Star”, “Beneath the Southern Cross”, and the piece we listened to several times (because we couldn’t believe our ears), “Mars and Venus”.  I am afraid this movement found us engaging in some Sousa smack talk. Sousa’s “Mars and Venus” is one of our “classical” music postings on this page.)

Here’s what helped us look upward – 

“Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space” – We learned so much from the Dr. Dominic Walliman/Ben Newman book of 2013, and we are loving every page of their revised edition (2022): the brighter color palette, the seriously cool, clever, sharp graphics (I am not sure if you can tell, but we are mesmerized by the design work in this book), the latest information on space travel, space apparel, SPACE JUNK (OMG), ridiculously frightening black holes, telescope findings, and captivating imaginings about the future.  A+ all over the place. 

DK’s Smithsonian “Behind the Scenes at the Space Stations” –  Great companion resource to the Professor Astro Cat book.  We’ve learned about the International Space Station’s giant robotic arm (Canadarm 2, almost 58’ long, designed/built by the Canadian Space Agency), the Chinese space station (Tiangong – translates to “Heavenly Palace”), NASA astronaut pins (!), gravity training (my son gave this a “yes”, it is a vehement “NO” from me), and launch rituals.

NASA’s “Spot the Station” web page – something fun!  NASA provides a global map and pinpoints the up-to-the-minute location of the ISS.  We have been logging onto “Spot the Station” twice nightly:  first, before we start our studies and then right before we listen to music (so, about a 45 minute time gap).  Every single night, it is a magical shock to see how far the Space Station has traveled in such a short amount of time. (spotthestation.nasa.gov)

Internet Search #1:  Question of the evening:  How long does it take for an astronaut to journey from Earth to the International Space Station? (answer at bottom of post)

Internet Search #2:  Question of the evening:  With astronauts from several countries crewing the ISS, what language is used to communicate with each other?  (answer at bottom of post)

Story Problem:  Local Diner Plans Dinner Dance –  The local diner is making plans for their first ever “Dancing Under the Stars” event, scheduled for mid-summer’s eve (Saturday, June 24, mark your calendars).  The diner’s back deck, which can accommodate 200 seated guests, will be festooned with thousands of twinkly lights and simply everyone in town is making reservations.  $25 per person will include star shaped hors d’oeuvres, dinner, desert (star shaped cookies), and dancing to the rhythms of local band, “Keyboard Dave and the Star Tones”.  

  1. If the diner budgets $10.00 per person for appetizer/meal/dessert, $300 for the twinkly lights, $500 for the band, and $200 for the clean-up team, and if all 200 tickets have been sold, will the diner make a profit?
  2. If “Keyboard Dave and the Star Tones” play so well that they deserve a hefty tip, can the diner make a profit if they pay the band an extra $200?  (answers at bottom of post)

We’ve also been reading – 

“Crossing in Time” –  Here is a topic new to us:  ship building.  Gifted writer/story teller/superb technical illustrator, David Macaulay, takes us from the invention of the steam engine to the construction of the grand passenger ship, SS United States (which won the Blue Riband – “riband”:  archaic form of the word, “ribbon” – for crossing the Atlantic with highest average speed).  This is the ship that would bring the author and family from London to New York in the late 1950’s.  The book ends with a heart breaker:  whereas the good ship RMS Queen Mary has enjoyed glamorous retirement as a destination event venue, docked in Long Beach, California, the equally luxurious SS United States has found itself docked in obscurity, on the Delaware River, basically unloved since it was withdrawn from service in 1969.  It was purchased by a conservancy dedicated to its renovation but alas, nothing so far.  So wrong.

“Maizy Chen’s Last Chance” – Lisa Yee’s engaging and important read is filled with layers of themes that provoked conversations (meaning me yammering on and my son resignedly listening):  racism, poker, friendship, independent thinking, the interplay of multiple generations, and fortune cookies.  We would read anything Lisa Yee writes.

“The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” – C.S. Lewis’s classic, published in 1950.  Ooooooh, good vs evil all over the place.  And since reading this, we cannot believe how many times we have overheard somebody referencing Narnia.  My son gave a definite yes to reading the next in the series.

“Matilda” – After finishing “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” we started reading Roald Dahl’s “Matilda”.  About half way through, Matilda tells her teacher that her favorite book is  “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”.  Serendipity!  This was a terrifyingly delightful read as we watched our sweet protagonist outsmart stupidity and triumph over tyranny.  Role model.

Classical Music for our Solar System – 

Mars, The Bringer of War – movement 1 from Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite, “The Planets”, composed between 1914 and 1917.  (Performance note:  we love the precision of the tapping violin bows.)  Holst was fascinated by astrology, so his suite musically depicts the Roman Gods for whom each planet was named.  Holst’s Mars is aggressive, relentless, intimidating.  Get out of his way – 

Venus, The Bringer of Peace – movement 2 from Holst’s “The Planets”.  Nearly 9 minutes of etherial mystery and dreaminess.  As in each movement, Holst successfully transports us to the destination that has captured his focus – 

And now, oh dear, Sousa’s take on Mars and Venus:

Mars and Venus, from John Philip Sousa’s 1902 “Looking Upward”.  Sousa jams a jumble of themes into this 7 minute movement, but we didn’t hear anything that would convey us to Mars and Venus.  Mr. Sousa!  Please!  What were you thinking?  All we can hear is CIRCUS MUSIC –

    • the jolliest circus parade music
    • a few fanfares
    • tightrope walker music
    • the bittersweetness of dismantling the circus when the show is over
    • train-on-the-tracks rhythms (maybe the circus ensemble is packed up and heading toward the next town?) – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH

Astronaut travel question:  An astronaut is able to travel from Earth to the ISS (approximately 250 miles) in as little as 4 hours.
Astronaut language question:  All crew members need to have a working knowledge of English, but the two main languages in use aboard the ISS are English and Russian.
(Story Problem answers:   1).  yes and 2).  yes)

Bird Nerds

Us?  Bird nerds?  You must have us confused with real ornithological enthusiasts.  It is true that we have our bird-watching binoculars at the ready and since May, 2022 (when we read our first bird watching book – Mike O’Connor’s hilarious and informative “Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches”) we have served up pounds & pounds & pounds of sunflower seeds, but other than that we have only accumulated:

  • 5 bird reference books
  • 3 bird posters
  • 3 bird baths
  • 1 bird feeder
  • 1 nesting box

Us?  Bird nerds?  I am not sure we aspire to nerd status, but birdwatching has turned out to be a lot more fun than we could have imagined pre-May 2022.

We comment upon our bird feeder visitors – 
We probably know about 2% of what bird people know about birds, so our amateur observations may understandably provoke criticism:

– Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal:  our resident senior citizens (through the binoculars, they look pretty shabby, poor things, but they are a class act).  Very dignified, they perch for a moment, take a sunflower seed, fly off.  We give them an “A”.

– The Chickadees:  we think of these cuties as the “little sports cars” of our backyard birds.  Compact and swift, they perch for a moment, take a sunflower seed, fly off.  We give them an “A”.

– Our Tufted Titmouse:  this soft looking, dear bird seems to keep himself to himself.  He perches for a moment, takes a sunflower seed, flies off.  We give him an “A”.

– Our Mourning Dove:  we haven’t seen this handsome bird perch on the feeder –  he seems content to dine on seeds that have fallen to the ground.  This bird is quiet, sweet, appears thoughtful, and we have to give him an “A”.

– And finally, THE FINCHES:  house finches, purple finches, American goldfinches.  These birds hog the feeder and spit seeds all over the place.  They are like the non-productive workers that hang around the office water cooler.  They are like the relatives you wish you didn’t have to invite to the wedding reception.  We give these birds a “C-”, and that is a gift.

“Rome Antics”, by David Macaulay – how clever is this book? 

  • the pun-intended title and a homing pigeon tie page one to the final page  
  • the exquisite illustrations of the architecture of Rome, presented pigeon-style (upside down/sideways/twirly-whirly)  

My son and I enthusiastically read this book 3 times in a row to appreciate Macaulay’s efforts.  A+ all over the place.

Big Birds – Speaking of birds, we did get out the measuring tape to see for ourselves the wingspan of some REALLY LARGE birds.  Example:  the Laysan Albatross – 82”.  Whoa.

Current Re-Read – “The Penguin Lessons”, by Tom Michell – so much to learn from this captivating non-fiction book – lots about penguins, lots about Argentina in the 1970’s (hoo boy, talk about inflation).  Well worth the re-read.

We’re not just about birds:

Fandex Kids “Ocean” – this Fandex-Kids card deck is surprisingly good.  An enticing variety of sea life presented with skilled humorous writing.  Our favorite entries:  ocean depth zones (new vocabulary “pelagic”, rhymes with “magic”), the coelacanth, giant kelp, giant squid (measuring tape out again to envision this 40 foot wonder), the graceful decorator crab.  If we were employed as Fandex editors we would replace the cartoony illustrations with photographs.  Other than that, fun resource with a most helpful glossary.

Story Problem:  Farmer Brown upgrades the bunk house – It is time for Farmer Brown to replace all the bedding in the ranch hands’ bunk house.  For each bed, new sheets (at $75 per set), new blankets (at $100 each) and a new quilt (at $100 each) will be purchased.  If there are 8 ranch hands and Farmer Brown wants  2 sets of sheets, 2 blankets, and 2 quilts for each bed, will Farmer Brown spend more or less than $4,000 to replace the bedding? (answer at bottom of post)

’22  in Review – our academic goal for 2022 was to find the location on the globe of everything we studied.  In all, we “visited” 44 countries.  The only large landmass we missed was Greenland, so this is ASSIGNMENT ONE for 2023.

Classical Music is for the Birds – 

The Aviary, from “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens.  The suite was composed in 1886, but not published until after Saint-Saens’ death (1921).  He thought his reputation as a serious composer would be tarnished by this “too frivolous” work (of course he was wrong).  A jewel of a performance by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andre Previn –

The Dove (La Colomba), Ottorino Respighi.  Perfect way to honor our mourning dove.  Respighi based this 1928 composition on the music of 17th century lute virtuoso Jacques de Gallot.  We can hear the dove cooing throughout and we love the magical flute and harp ending –

Bird Feeder Banquet Music –   How about “Tafelmusik” (literally “table music”, composed  specifically to provide light background music while people AND MAYBE BIRDS were banqueting)?  We chose an absolutely delightful piece by Georg Philipp Telemann (his Quartet in G major, movement 4, composed in 1733)(and BTW, Telemann wrote lots of tafelmusik).  We can hear the birds darting to and from the bird feeder throughout the movement –

Welcome to the best part of my day,
Jane BH
(Story problem answer:  Farmer Brown will spend more than $4,000.  He will, in fact, spend $4,400 plus tax)

…and the categories are –

-FAST FOOD FESTIVAL-
-WINGING IT-
-POWER PLAYS-
-BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE-
-BIODIVERSITY UNIVERSITY-
-THE NEW DEAL GOES NORTH-

I know it looks like my son and I are gearing up to secure spots on a TV game show;  our current stack of books is crammed with so many unrelated topics and we are jammed with facts, ready for trivia question number one – 

FAST FOOD FESTIVAL – We are ready for questions about the history of mega-popular American foods (pizza, hot dogs, french fries and the like) after reading “There’s No Ham in Hamburgers”, by Kim Bachman.  Now we know:

  • a surprising number of the foods Americans consume like mad were brought to public exposure at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition AKA the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair:  hamburgers, yellow mustard, cotton candy, puffed rice cereal, and Dr. Pepper.
  • Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to have a TV commercial (this kooky bit of info found in the potato chapter).
  • WWI American soldiers were the first to enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (high in protein and no refrigeration needed).  The US Army bought the ENTIRE first batch of Welch’s grape jelly for the cause.  And speaking of peanut butter, I am sure EVERYONE wants to know that Skippy filed for a patent for hydrogenated peanut butter the very same WEEK that my son’s grandfather was born (April 1921) AND in the very same city in which he was born (Alameda, California).  Whoo hoo!  Chills!  Making history personal!

WINGING IT – We are ready for questions about North American birds after reading Mike O’Connor’s second book, “Why Do Bluebirds Hate Me?”.  Same format (question and sidesplitting/informative answer) as his first book, “Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches”.  Per suggestion from first book, we teamed our nightly reading with the Kaufman Focus Guide, “Birds of North America”.  Thanks to a repetition of themes, we now know:

  • birds want sunflower seeds, not “special birdseed mix” 
  • seeds need to be fresh
  • birds need a birdbath:  we now have a birdbath!!!! Tiny, but AWESOME, handcrafted of river stone by an artisan in New Hampshire (danceswithstone.com)
  • there is a correlation between backyard bird sightings and bird migration
  • we can be a kinder people, thanks to a superb essay on bird feeder hospitality

Final note – O’Connor’s way with words made me laugh so hard, that with most of the Q&A’s, I had to stop reading aloud until I could gain composure. What is better than that?

POWER PLAY – “Solar Story – How One Community Lives Alongside the World’s Biggest Solar Plant”, Allan Drummond.  Easy to read, endearing illustrations, enlightening.  We are ready for questions about solar plants and sustainability AND we get to mark another country on our global map:  Morocco.  We now know that the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant is located in Ouarzazate, Morocco (in the blindingly sunshiny Sahara Desert).  We augmented our reading with the Wikipedia article on this Ouarzazate Solar Power Station, and we saw it with our own eyes via a Google Earth view. 

BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE – “Resist!”, subtitled “Peaceful Acts that Changed our World”, an A+ resource by Diane Stanley (all of her books are A+).  We are ready for questions about the gutsiest people who have acted boldly, guided by an inner sense of what is right.   Some we have already studied (like Harriet Tubman and Mohandas Gandhi), some we have never heard of (like Irena Sendler and Ai Weiwei).  Each 2-page mini bio has grabbed ahold of our hearts (and I am pretty much weeping at the end of each profile). 

BIODIVERSITY UNIVERSITY – We are ready to answer questions about the most biodiverse place on Earth because we have just finished “Amazon River”, a well-edited introduction to the world’s largest river basin, by Sangma Francis, brilliant artwork by Romolo D’Hipolito.  We now know a bit about the geography, indigenous people, current dangers, and the ridiculously enormous variety of plant (like 16,000 species of trees) and animal wildlife (like 2.5 million species of insects).  Our final take-away:  we would like to see “in person” a pink river dolphin, and we would not like to see “in person” a green anaconda (but we sort of would – from at least a 17 foot distance).

THE NEW DEAL GOES NORTH –  We are ready for questions about an aspect of FDR’s New Deal program:  during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the Matanuska Colony was established to give displaced Midwestern farmers a new start in the Alaska territory.  This is the basis of Carole Estby Dagg’s well researched and continually interesting YA historical novel, “Sweet Home Alaska” – a family from Wisconsin becomes part of this new community.  Good reading every single night.

Story Problem at the Local Diner –  What doesn’t Chef James do well?  He has recently revealed that he is a nationally ranked chess player, so diner management has asked him to preside over a week long (Monday-Friday) chess camp for middle schoolers in August.  The camp will be held mornings in the diner and will include a hearty breakfast to activate brain cells.  20 students have signed up.  The participants are to be charged $75 for the week.  Chef James will received $50 for each morning of chess instruction.  The daily breakfast for each camper is priced at $8.00.  

– How much profit will the diner realize at the end of the week?

a)  $250     b)  $450     c)  $1,050     d)  $1,500

– If the diner pays $250 for a large outdoor banner to advertise the chess camp, will they still make a profit? (answers at bottom of post)

Something new:  keyboarding skills!  I was so inspired by this year’s (2022) graduation speech by Rollins College valedictorian, Elizabeth Bonkers (easy to find her delivery on YouTube).  She, like my son, has autism and is non-verbal.  Her speech was achieved through a text-to-speech program and was the worthiest of graduation addresses.  What a wake-up call!  Could my son learn keyboarding skills? We had tried this years ago with no success, but I decided to try again and now, THE ANSWER IS YES!  He is focused and interested!  We begin with keyboarding practice (finding vowels, the letters of his name, the space bar) and then for the best part: my son gets to text his brother and sister (one in NY, one in Seattle) and they both text right back.  Talk about effective positive reinforcement.

Classical Music Time –  Our brains are crammed and jammed with facts and this is not the time for challenging music selections.  Here are the top three super-soothers that my son selects over and over for night time listening –

– Song to the Moon, from Antonín Dvořák’s opera, Rusalka (1901). This is sort of  the Czech version of the little mermaid story; this particular piece has a water nymph asking the moon to tell the prince of her love. This recording showcasing violin virtuoso, Joshua Bell, is the one we have listened to about 300 times – 

 – Oven Fresh Day, from Grant Kirkhope’s BAFTA (which we learned was the British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nominee score for the Xbox 360 game, “Viva Piñata”, composed in 2006.   A lovely, wistful melody, recorded by the Prague Philharmonic – 

– The Barcarolle, from Act 3 of Jacques Offenbach’s final opera, “The Tales of Hoffman” (1880).   Although referred to as “The Barcarolle”, the real title of the work is “Belle Nuit, ô Nuit d’Amour” (“Beautiful Night, Oh Night of Love”) (FYI, a barcarolle is the song of a Venetian gondolier) . There is no reason for any other orchestra to record this, as this smooth-as-glass, masterful performance by the Berlin Philharmonic cannot be improved upon – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
 – Jane BH
(Story problem answers:  b)  $450, and yes)