The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Farria, trans. by Elisa Amado

So this isn't usually a genre I cover, but this book is stunning. I had to.

It's a picture book unlike any I've come across, and here's why:

At first, it's just a black book with fairly abstract descriptions of color...

But then the glare hits, or you run your fingers across the page and there the words are: in braille.

And the image descriptions, in glossy relief on the paper - even I was moved by them. 

The last page is the braille alphabet. 

That literature like this exists for young readers makes me smile. 

I could go on and on about how great it is, but really - you should just experience it for yourself. 

Even Baz is rapt when we read this one.

Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton

I bought this for my husband last year with the knowledge that when he finished it, I would read it. I just finished it. Literally, I just read through the last section of "recommended reading, our favorite convenience foods, and acknowledgments." The book is filled with flags of further reading or items to investigate and I have already made one of the recipes (bibimbap.)

Amster-Burton is a food writer and father living in Seattle with his wife, Laurie, and daughter, Iris.  Here is something annoying: Iris at the time of writing was 4. Iris at the onset of fun food was about 20 months. Which is six months from where we are and I find myself impatient. But I digress.

This book is engaging. It is funny. It is inspirational and appetizing....that is, I would have a nice, full dinner and a little while later I would read a chapter or two in the bath and when I emerged I would be starving and inspired to really cook. Hence the bibimbap, which was delicious.

Amster starts with the precept that there is no baby food. There is only people food, presented in such a way that babies can eat it. And he went from there. He also invited Iris into the kitchen - one of the most intriguing slices of their life is the way Iris participates (or opts out because she's "busy lying on the couch.")  Through tales of farmers markets, fishmongers, preschool snack days, and pasta sauce, Amster invites you in to his kitchen - there is no doubt in my mind that given the chance the invitation would be real and the casual comraderie would not falter. Or I'm just a crazy fan who reads too much into things. Either way, I really want a sequel.



He has a blog, and this entry has video footage with Iris, so you can see just how cute she really is:

http://www.rootsandgrubs.com/2009/05/19/on-tv/

Happy Reading!

PS - they are NOT vegetarians, so if you take issue with things like "it starts with flank steak" or "We bought a live lobster" then be warned those parts are in there. But don't skip the book. There are muffins and udon, too!

What's Going on in There? by Lise Eliot, Ph.D.

This bad boy took me MONTHS to read. Seriously. Because it is dense and awesome. That's subtitle doesn't lie: conception to kindergarten in 460 pages. It's not set up chronologically, though, which would have been mind-boggling. More mind-boggling, that is. Instead, Eliot had structured her text based on the parts of the brain; ie: language, vision, fine and gross motor skills. It is comprehensive (I assume) and accessible. Yes, it is dense, but so is your brain and so is what goes on in there (haha), but it doesn't read like stereo instructions and the language is suitable for those of us who watch doctors on TV but never had any desire to actually be one.

I learned SO MUCH reading this. I feel much smarter now.

And because I enjoyed it so much the last time we did this, I'm going to open to a random page or two and share some nuggets of wisdom with you:

"...researchers suspect speed as a primary difference separating 'brighter' from 'duller' individuals. Though infants in general process information many times more slowly than adults, it seems that some babies are already a little faster than others, and that this difference persists all the way to adulthood." (p. 419)

"The ability to taste begins in utero...Matthews first taste buds emerged just eight weeks after his conception. By thirteen weeks, taste buds had formed throughout his mouth, and they were already communicating with their invading nerves." (p. 174)


The last chapter is entitled "How to Raise a Smarter Child" - but if you flip straight to it you miss the fact that the answer to the question is actually spread throughout the book. Yes, Nature plays a key role in just how smart you can be, but the environment has an equal amount of influence. And the knowledge that Eliot imparts enhances ones ability to parent wholly...if only because finally you can understand what's actually going on in there (at least, a little bit.)

Hmmm....

Ramona And Beezus Trailer

thoughts?


PS: I'm reading. I promise. Things happen slower with an infant in the house. But Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln it's a good book. Just you wait.

Sleep is for the Weak - edited by Rita Arens

    Sleep is for the Weak is a collection of blog entries and essays by some of the most prolific Mommy Bloggers (and one dad.) They are funny, poignant, and true. This book showed up in my Christmas loot and I dove in happily.

    I would have read it in one sitting, but baths are increasingly more and more uncomfortable. It’s a quick read - each entry is shorter than your average People Article - and it is a complete page turner.

    Every topic is covered: sleeping, potty training, the endless advice from the outside world, illness, time management, and personal growth (which “blows”.)

    I’m having a hard time writing a review, here. Because the book is awesome, but it’s not plot driven - unless you consider pages and pages of anecdotal advice to be a plot. There are few recurring characters, and no real sense of time passing.

    Sometimes, however, that’s exactly what you need - little snippets of insight into the lives of other parents so that you know you’re not alone (or will be joining the other side, rather than wandering into the great unknown, as it were.)

    So I’m going to leave it at that. If you’ve got kids or want kids - and regardless of your gender - this book is well worth the read. If only so that you can say “whew! It’s not just me!”

    Also there are a few essays that will make you laugh so hard you cry (for me they were always about poop…) and that alone makes this book well worth the price of admission.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl

I feel, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I should admit how much I adore Roald Dahl. He’s dry and witty, his writing is tight. His plots have morals without sugar-coating the immorality of (often) more than half of the characters...and even his heroes aren’t always clear-cut Good Guys.

Take Mr. Fox. He’s a thief. Yes, he’s stealing to feed his family, and he’s a fox so it’s assumed that that’s what he’d do...but he’s still a thief. And when it’s pointed out to him he rationalizes that it’s the only way to feed his family. It’s steal or starve to death. And after all, the people from whom they are stealing are three Very Bad Men, so it’s really not harmful.

And that’s the gist of it, really: three awful farmers (and to hear Dahl tell it it’s amazing they manage to have farms, employees, and spouses) get fed up with the fox stealing from them nightly and set out to do something about it. Namely: kill the fox. They chase Mr. Fox into his hole with his family and, when shooting and digging prove not clever enough, decide to starve him out.

I won’t tell you how it ends, except to remind you of the title of the book. It’s a little chapter book, it would take barely an afternoon for an adult to read, but could be spread out over a week for a young reader. I wouldn’t hold back from giving this to your kids to read, either. Certainly before the movie comes out. Dahl doesn’t sugar coat things, but he doesn’t discount virtue, either. It’s a worthy read.

Wes Anderson loves it so much that he’s written a screenplay and directed a stop-action film based on the book. From the trailer and the interview it appears that he’s given more story to the story, but that’s to be expected: a direct cinematic translation would be either full length and boring or thirty minutes and interesting. Staying true to Dahl’s vision is the trick, but I feel if anyone, Anderson is the man for the job.

Interview here:  

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120416136 

(there’s also an amusing anecdote regarding Anderson’s desire to shoot a sci-fi space movie on location at the end)

And Trailer: