Grab Bag Friday: Angry Birds (The Movie)

This morning, the universe is playing an April Fools joke on my daffodils. The poor little things were just starting to emerge and soak up the sun and now this:

 

In honor of the fake-things-are-funny day, here's a terrific "movie trailer" based on the iPhone app Angry Birds. Have you played this game? The basic idea is you have to destroy fortresses where pigs live by shooting angry birds with a slingshot. For real. It looks like this:

You get the picture. The brilliant folks over at RoosterTeeth imagined what Hollywood would do with such rich story material. I love it:

Lukas and Willie Nelson: Floodin' Down In Texas

Last week, my sister Anna wrote a great article about Willie Nelson's son, Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real. And then my brother Alan sent us this excellent video of Lukas and his dad floodin down in Texas. I'll post both here so you can share in all the family fun:

Anna's article: Out on his Own

Live performance: Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson: Floodin' Down In Texas:

Battle of the Kids' Books 2011

I have fallen so far behind in my internet reading that I completely missed Round 1 of the School Library Journal's 2011 Battle of the Kids' Books! What travesty!

Deep into round two, there has of course been much excitement and upset. Two of my favorite books of the year were mercilessly booted after only *one* match! Seriously, people? The Dreamer lost to The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie, a non-fiction book about the history of Barbie. One Crazy Summer lost to a graphic novel version of The Odyssey.

I haven't read the Barbie history or the graphic novel, so I can't cry foul. Both are acclaimed to be excellent works in their own right. But what about the beautiful, poetic portrayal of young Pablo in The Dreamer? And the fascinating subject matter and honest characterization in One Crazy Summer? Argh! See what this silly game does to me? I'm all kerfluffled.

Two books that have been added to my to-read list after the first round:

The Cardturner by Louis Sachar. I love Louis Sachar, but was a little reluctant to pick up a book revolving around the game of bridge. However, the book has made it through two rounds with ease. I've been swayed.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch. Hereville lost the book battle in the first round, but a book with "Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11-Year-Old Orthodox Jewish Girl" on the front cover? I must read.

Okay, quit reading this and head over to The Battle of the Kids' Books before Round 2 is over already!

Grab Bag Friday: Is it Morally Wrong to Give Strawberry Shortcake a Makeover?

A few weeks ago, in a fit of procrastination-induced nostalgia, Kevin and I did a little e-bay searching for a once-loved toy of mine. (Man, I loved that it was portable so I could set it up anywhere in the house and rock out to "Sugar, Sugar, oh Honey, Honey, you are my candy GIRL"...which I totally thought was a song SS and the gang had stolen from The Archies. My first foray into the world of music licensing. But that's a story for another day.)

Anyway, in our search, I found out that my dear Miss Shortcake has undergone quite the makeover in the last few years:

Poor Kevin had to witness quite a tirade. I was completely appalled. Does Strawberry Shortcake really need to be all glammed up like a teen Disney star with glossy long locks and that RIDICULOUS pageboy hat? Isn't this just one more step along the slippery slope of pushing young girls into sexualization at a younger and younger age? When Strawberry's makeover came out, the blog Shaping Youth, in fact, wrote up a very similar response.

This kind of thing makes me crazy. Take Dora the Explorer, for example. The whole reason we all love Dora is because she's a regular, albeit bilingual, kid. So why do we need tween Dora? Do we seriously want to teach girls that being a normal kid is okay as long as you eventually "blossom" into a thin, pretty kid with stylish clothes? (Below image from AboutFace):

Or is this all simply marketing common sense? Dora lovers grow up and and voila! a new product line now awaits. I can admit the old Strawberry Shortcake was outdated and frumpy and her shoes looked like potatoes. But still.

I had blissfully pushed this all to the back of my mind until yesterday when I followed Fuse #8's link to Peggy Orenstein's post about the new Trollz. The TrollZ, you ask? With a Z? Oh, yes.

These little guys:

Have been transformed into Trollz:

Sigh. What do YOU think?

Songwriting and Fiction Writing for Kids: Registration is Open

It's that time of year again. The snow is quickly melting from my yard, so I'm shedding hat and mittens and daring to think about summer again!

One of my favorite parts of summer (besides gardening and moving my writing spot out to the swing in the backyard) is getting to meet all the creative kids who sign up for my writing workshops. I've already got a handful of registrations in, and I can't wait!

Do you know any creative kids in the Maine area? This year, I'll be offering Songwriting for Kids Vol. 1 for grades K-3 and Fiction Writing for Kids for grades 3-5 (Vol. 2 and Poetry will be offered in 2012). To read more about the programs, or to register, please visit www.SongwritingForKids.com. Please pass the information on to anyone you know who might be interested.

You can also visit the Listening Room to hear all the songs that students have written in past years. They're fantastic! To give you an example, here's last year's song, "The Moon Shines Bright On the River." I thought the class did a great job.

Grab Bag Friday: Splish Splash! Book Giveaway

Hooray! Intrepid illustrator Amy Schimler has a brand new book out. Splish Splash! is an interactive "touch-and-hear" board book all about the sounds of a river. As usual, Amy Schimler's illustrations are bursting with color and whimsy certain to delight readers young and old.

To make things even more exciting, Amy is hosting a book giveaway on her blog. Stop by Red Fish Circle before March 20th for a chance to win a hot-off-the-presses copy of your own!

Another Step Further

My cousin Keane is in a band! How cool is that? He and four of his pals from St. Charles North High School have been rocking it out from St. Charles, IL to Milwaukee, WI and now they have a brand new album to boot. I love intrepid teens!

Dystopia, the 7-song EP from Another Step Further is an energetic force influenced by old-school rock like Bad Religion as well as new millennium hardcore/pop bands like Rise Against and Alkaline Trio.

Here's a clip from the first track, Starlight. Keane is on guitar and backing vocals. Pretty good, huh?

William Carlos Williams: Winter Trees

One last, lovely winter poem before everything turns to slush...

Winter Trees
by William Carlos Williams

All the complicated details
of the attiring and
the disattiring are completed!
A liquid moon
moves gently among
the long branches.
Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold.

 Photo by looseends

Grab Bag Friday: Find Your Footprint

National Geographic is sponsoring a "Find Your Footprint" contest to challenge classrooms across the country to come up with a plan to reduce our carbon footprint. Six finalists have been chosen, and you can vote until Wednesday (the 16th) for the winner.

The videos the kids have made are great, and they've come up with some fantastic plans. I'm partial to the Catalog Canceling Challenge for three reasons:

1. It's simple.
2. The teacher is a Bowdoin College alum (go Polar Bears!)
3. I hate hate hate getting catalogs in the mail. Imagine the paper, resources, and mailbox space that could be saved if you only received catalogs you want!

I encourage you to go check out the finalists. Which one is your favorite? Now vote!

(In the 150 seconds it will take you to watch this video, 94,000 catalogs will be mailed. That's insane.)

I Wrote a Hit Song! Winner: Charlotte, age 12

I'm excited to announce that the latest winner of the I Wrote a Hit Song! contest is Charlotte, age 12, from Lombard, Illinois.

Please take a minute to visit Charlotte's page at the I Wrote a Hit Song website and listen to her song, "Together Make it More." Be sure to leave her a comment to let her know what you think. I'm know she'd appreciate hearing from you!

Erika Meitner: Untitled [and the moon once it stopped was sleeping]

It was good to hibernate and have some facebook/twitter/blog time off, but I'm glad to be back so I can catch you up on all the great books, music, and miscellanea I've been immersed in.

This poem by Erika Meitner showed up in my inbox back in January as part of the excellent (and free!) Poem-A-Day email subscription. There are certain poems that are so unexpected and lovely, I find myself holding my breath while I read them. There are poems that have such interesting movement and pacing, I accidentally mouth the words as I go along so I can feel the sound of the poem on my tongue. I haven't been able to delete this one from my inbox yet, so I decided I'd better share it here.

Untitled [and the moon once it stopped was sleeping]
by Erika Meitner

and the moon         once it stopped         was sleeping

in the cold blue light          and the moon          while the wind snapped

vinyl siding apart          slipped around corners          whipped the neighbors'

carefully patterned bunchgrass          our snow-filled vegetable boxes

the house unjoining              the moon       our yard strips          covered with

hollow shells          of hard remnants               ice      and my son's breath

contiguous               static          a shard of green light          on the monitor

wavers with coughs                     the Baptist church                     in Catawba

the only place lit up          down the mountain          past midnight, someone

waving their hands             at something          so quiet              you can hear

the wind tear          at the houses          you can hear          the neighbor

coming home          though he's .18 acres          away          it's too late

for that feeling          (possibility)          the night       always   held

the wind                   is at it                    again            cracking

paint            on the walls              one day          it will            unroot us

one day        the wind        will tally        our losses

but        not yet             the moon        not yet

Grab Bag Friday: Support Your Local Farmers

It's time, it's time! All over the country, local farms are signing folks up for summer farm shares. I'm practically salivating thinking of all the delicious cucumbers and tomatoes and greens. Yum.

So here is my yearly CSA re-post. I hope you'll sign up for a CSA near you (see the bottom of this post to learn how to find a local participating farm). I know you'll love it!

*  *  *

Originally posted March 2, 2007. Here I am, snowed in on March 2nd, with at least a full month of winter spread out in front of me, and I'm happily dreaming and scheming about Summer! That's because I just received an email from Hatchet Cove Farm, a local organic farm that we purchase a CSA share from. Lots of farmers will be gearing up for their summer CSA programs over the next few weeks...here's what it means:

CSA is Community Supported Agriculture. It means what it says. I, as a community member, buy a "share" from a local farm. In return, I get a big bag of fresh, delicious, organic vegetables delivered every week for 18 weeks during the summer season. Here's why it's great:

I get to...

• Eat healthy, nutritious food all summer long
• Try new things (I'd never had bok choy before...it's delicious in stir fry!)
• Know the farmer that grew my food
• Support local agriculture
• Keep my money in the local economy
• Eat fresh, unprocessed veggies

SIDE STORY: My husband, a Los Angeles native, had never had a cucumber that wasn't bought at the store. We got our first CSA with cucumbers and he crinkled his nose, "I hate cucumbers." Until...he tried a real, fresh cucumber. He was stunned that it tasted so good! He thought cucumbers just naturally grew with a bitter, waxy buildup on the skin, never realizing that that is actually added to the cucumber to make them look more appealing and last longer in the store. Thanks to Hatchet Cove Farm, we snacked on yummy cukes all summer long!

Here's an example of how it works. I'll use our CSA, Hatchet Cove Farm, as my example...the details of other CSAs will, of course, vary:

• Share price: [2011 update: HCF is now charging $325 for the summer-- incredibly reasonable] for eighteen weeks of vegetable deliveries (mid-June to mid-Oct) is for a "two-person" share. If you love veggies or have a larger family, you may want to purchase two shares. I think $18 a week for fresh, homegrown veggies is a terrific deal!
• The Vegetables: you receive a selection of in-season vegetables every week, including (but not limited to!) mesclun, spinach, and other early greens in the early summer. Peas, beans, broccoli, and early potatoes in the mid-summer. Zucchini, onions, peppers, and tomatoes in the late summer. Melons, corn, kale, and chard in the early fall.
• Pickup/Delivery: [2011 note: new HCF delivery days & routes] There are a few options for getting your veggies. Hatchet Cove Farm makes deliveries to the a number of pick-up points. If you do not want your share on any given week, the folks at Hatchet Cove will be happy to donate your share to the Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry in Rockland.
• Newsletter/Recipes: Every week, along with your veggies, you receive a letter telling about activities and news from the farm, as well as recipes to help inspire you to use up every last vegetable.
• [New: Hatchet Cove Farm Partners: CSA members can sign up for summer shares from HCFs partners for cheese, egg, bread, chicken, and more! Check for availability.]
• Hatchet Cove Farm becomes your farm, too!: Members are welcomed at the farm to volunteer or just to visit, and a potluck/garlic planting day happens every fall.

Sounds great right? So, how can you join a CSA?

You can find out about CSAs from local farmers by keeping an eye out on bulletin boards at your local grocery store, library, church, or community center. You can also do a quick online search for farms in your area at the Eat Well Guide (Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals). If you live in my area here in Maine, you can contact Hatchet Cove Farm by email: info@hatchetcovefarm.com.

Frank Turner: Reasons Not to Be an Idiot

It's March, and I'm slowly coming out of my internet hibernation. February was a beautiful month of snowed-in days, but I'm getting ready to stretch my arms, poke my head out of my cave, and take a look around at the cyber-world again.

I figure it makes sense to come out of hibernation with a rousing, get-out-into-the-world song. Since Kevin and I have been blasting Frank Turner in the living room a lot these days, this one was an easy pick. Though my only problem with this video is it's so delightfully goofy that it distracts you from the brilliant lyrics that Frank Turner is such a genius at creating. So I suggest watching it once, and then playing it again (the louder the better) while reading through the lyrics below.

Frank Turner: Reasons Not to Be an Idiot



You’re not as messed up as you think you are
Your self-absorption makes you messier
Just settle down and you would feel a whole lot better
Deep down you’re just like everybody else

She’s not as pretty as she thinks she is
Just picture her after she’s had kids
I bet she sits at home and listens to The Smiths
Deep down she’s just like everybody else

So why are you sad at home?
You’re not designed to be alone
You just got used to saying “no”
So get up and get down and get outside
’cause it’s a lovely sunny day
But you hide yourself away
You’ve only got yourself to blame
Get up and get down and get outside

He’s not as clever as he likes to think
He’s just ambitious with his arguing
He’s crap at dancing, yeah and he can’t hold his drink
Deep down he’s just like everybody else

I’m not as awesome as this song makes out
I’m angry, underweight and sketching out
I’m building bonfires on my vanities and doubts
To get warm just like everybody else

So why are you sad at home?
You’re not designed to be alone
You just got used to saying “no”
So get up and get down and get outside
’cause it’s a lovely sunny day
But you hide yourself away
You’ve only got yourself to blame
Get up and get down and get outside

Amy thinks that life is lacking in drama
So she fell for horoscopes, faith-healing and karma
She’s so wrapped up in her invisible armour
She’ll never grow into herself
And it’s OK thinking me and all my friends are just wasters
But saying that I can still see through her heirs and graces
I bet she’s scared her life won’t leave any traces
Caught up like everyone else

That’s not the point anyway
Oh darling, I felt compelled to call you up to say…
So why are you sad at home?
You’re not designed to be alone
You just got used to saying “no”
So get up and get down and get outside
’cause it’s a lovely sunny day
But you hide yourself away
You’ve only got yourself to blame
Get up and get down and get outside
Get up and get down and get outside
Get up and get down and get outside
Get up and get down and get outside
Get up and get down and get outside
Get up and get down and get outside

Powering Down: Blog Break

I'm taking a little blog/Facebook/Twitter break for the rest of the month so I can catch up on a few important things (including sleep!)

Photo by San Diego Shooter

Martin Luther King, Jr: I've Been to the Mountaintop

I've been reading a bit about Martin Luther King Jr's prophetic last speech, given April 3, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. It's so important to have heroes like Dr. King. After all the obstacles he came up against, all the resistance, all the threats, he stood strong. On what would be his last night, when he was feeling too ill to speak, he still came up to that microphone to do what he did best. He strengthened others through his words. He gave them power. He was fearless so they could be fearless.

You can read the entire Mountaintop speech at American RadioWorks.

In honor of the day, here are a couple reviews of two excellent children's books about civil rights:

• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice 
• Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Get Weary

The final words from Dr. King's Mountaintop speech:

Grab Bag Friday: Honey Butter

Oh my. I made cornbread on my snow day and tried a new recipe for honey butter that I found on Relish. It's so unbelievably easy, and so delicious you could theoretically eat it with a spoon. (Okay, maybe I tried that theory out with a spoonful. Or two. Good thing I'm going for a cholesterol test today.)

Honey Butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon butter

Just mash it all up and keep it in a little bowl in your fridge. Try not to eat it all by the spoonful. It's probably not the healthiest choice.

Honey photo by riekhavoc

Andrew Bird: Oh No

When I was a kid, I always felt sorry for all the poor kids who lived in warm climates and didn't get to have snow days! Today, work was canceled, so I got to spend the day tucked warmly inside, listening to Andrew Bird's Noble Beast, working on my new novel, and making delicious cornbread with honey butter (if it turns out well, I'll post the recipe on Friday). I wish every day could be a snow day!

So you can enjoy a bit of my lovely day, too, here's a cool live version of "Oh No."


Andrew Bird: Oh No

2011 ALA Awards

So today is kind of like the Oscars in the kidlit world. Today, the American Library Association bestows huge names like "Caldecott" and "Newbery" and "Printz" on the best children's books of 2010. The lists came out this morning, to much ballyhoo and celebration.

You can view the complete list of winners at the ALA website, but here are the bits I was most excited about:

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip and Erin Stead
Won the Caldecott Medal!
The timeless charm of this book made it a shoo-in if you ask me. You can read my original blog post about Amos here.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Won The Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor Award!
Well-deserved. I loved how Williams-Garcia balanced humor and powerful moments in a story about three young girls who spend a summer at a Black Panthers day camp in the 1960s.

Peter Sis
Won the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award!
I've gushed plenty about Peter Sis on this blog, so I will spare you. If you'd like to read previous posts about the talents of Peter Sis, you may.




And then, of course, there was the wildcard...

The Newbery Award this year was given to a book I'd never heard of! What? The Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool was a dark horse. It came out of nowhere and apparently, swept the Newbery Committee off its feet. How cool is that? I love it when the underdog pulls it off in the end. Especially an underdog so off-the-radar (either that, or I'm just that out of the loop). And now I've got a new book on my to-read list.

Congratulations to all!!!

Grab Bag Friday Movie Vault: Dan in Real Life

Wednesday, I posted a Sondre Lerche song from the movie Dan in Real Life, so how could I resist posting a clip from the movie today?

This is one of those movies that I can watch over and over again and it's not because it's amazing or mind-blowing. It won't change your life. It's simply a sweet/funny/sad story about Dan, a guy who is trying to raise three daughters, have a career, and find a way to get on with his life after his wife passes away.

Yes, the fact that Steve Carrell is the lead is a huge reason this movie is so great. He is so pathetic and endearing and hilarious as Dan. But the thing that puts it over the edge for me is that it's a movie about family. I come from a family of six kids, and when you're all on top of each other in the same house, nothing is private. Everything is fair game for dinner table conversation and merciless teasing. I can't help but howl with laughter at the way Dan's family tries to get involved with his parenting, his work, and his love life. This clip (while a bit mean to poor Ruthie Draper) is a perfect example. The song cracks me up every time.

Dan in Real Life: The Ruthie Pig-face Draper Scene

Sondre Lerche: My Hands Are Shaking

Over the break, Kevin and I spent a fair amount of time on the couch in our pajamas watching movies. We pulled out old John Cusack chestnuts, black-and-white screwball comedies, and new documentaries. When it's snowing buckets outside, there's nothing better than being cozy inside with tea and Christmas cookies and a stack (or Netflix instant queue) full of good movies.

One of my picks was Dan in Real Life, which is one of my favorites of the past few years. Watching it again reminded me how much music can make a movie. Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche did all the music for the film, and I think it was a perfect match. I love the movie because it is lighthearted and silly, but with an underlying tension and sadness that feels very real. Kind of like this song exactly:

Sondre Lerche: My Hands Are Shaking

My Holiday Wish Came True

Thanks to so many of you excellent elves, my holiday wish for clean water for 100 people by 2011 has been granted!

In fact, through my Give Water Get Music campaign, we raised enough to provide clean water for one hundred and SIX people, which is even better than I'd hoped.

I sent out stacks of CDs to thank everyone who helped, and still I want to say it again:
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU!

If you'd like to learn more about the world's water issues and what you can do to help, please visit charity:water.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Blog Rerun: Duke Ellington & Mahalia Jackson: Come Sunday

I'm taking a couple days off for the holidays, but here's a blog rerun of a gorgeous Mahalia Jackson song. I also wanted to add a link to a live recording of Come Sunday from the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival at the top here. Enjoy!

Duke Ellington and Mahalia Jackson: Come Sunday (Originally posted November 29, 2006)

I have the good fortune this winter of singing as a guest vocalist for the Richard Nelson Quintet, a jazz quintet based here in Maine. We’re doing a holiday-ish concert in December that Richard is calling “A Concert in the Spirit of Peace and Serenity” (concert details are on my website). One of the first songs Richard asked me to sing for this show is one of my favorite melodies written by Duke Ellington: Come Sunday.

Besides the fact that “Come Sunday” has a gorgeous melody sung by one of my musical heroines, Mahalia Jackson, I’ve always been intrigued by the album it came from, Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige. It’s interesting to me because we tend to see people in certain ways. When they move outside of that view we’ve created it can be, well, disconcerting to say the least.

Up until the 1940’s Duke Ellington was known pretty specifically for his big band and for popular songs like “Take the A Train” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got that Swing.” Ellington was an extremely talented composer, and he began to experiment with even more complex music. In 1943, he performed an original symphony at Carnegie Hall: “Black, Brown, and Beige” which

"represented the story of African Americans in the United States. Black presented the people at work and at prayer, brown celebrated black soldiers who fought in American wars, and beige depicted African American music of Harlem." (Doris Greer)

The symphony wasn’t exactly jazz music, and it wasn’t exactly classical music. The critics couldn’t fit it into any set category of music, and their reviews and responses were so fiercely negative that Ellington never performed the entire piece in public again.

Luckily, he later recorded some of the music from this concert (though never the entire repertoire) on the album Black, Brown, and Beige, and it is there that we can here the lovely Mahalia Jackson singing Part IV: Come Sunday.

More information on Duke Ellington:
The “official” website
Ellington on Wikepedia
Smithsonian Jazz

Blog Rerun: J. R. R. Tolkien: The Father Christmas Letters

I'll be taking a couple days off to enjoy the holidays, but here's a blog rerun to tide you over:

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Father Christmas Letters (originally posted December 17, 2007)

Sometime in the 1920's, Father Christmas began writing letters to J. R. R. Tolkien's children. The letters came with his very own intricate drawings of the North Pole, elves, goblins, and of course Father Christmas's assistant: the North Polar Bear.

The letters tell the Tolkien children about all the yearly highlights and happenings in the North Pole. The North Polar Bear is always getting into scrapes. Like the year that he accidentally turned on two years' worth of Northern Lights:

It was the biggest bang in the world, and the most monstrous firework there ever has been. It turned the North Pole BLACK and shook all the stars out of place...

Father Christmas wrote these letters in his shaky handwriting every year for 20 years. I have a book that has some of the letters reproduced, in actual envelopes. You can pull out the letters and read them, just like the Tolkien children did all those years ago. Each year at Christmastime, I open up the envelopes and smile as I read about the adventures in the frozen North.

Apparently, there is a newer version that contains even more of the letters. I haven't seen it, but I don't think it has the pull-out letters (which are half the fun). It does have the gorgeous color illustrations, vividly intact. For Tolkien lovers like me, one version or another of this book is absolutely worth picking up.

Grab Bag Friday: My Favorite Holiday Treat, the Bowdoin Log

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you have a cozy holiday with family and friends and lots of nice surprises. And I hope you get to have all your favorite holiday treats this year. Here's mine, dripping with homemade hot fudge that tastes almost *exactly* like my dad's!

The Bowdoin Log

Free Playlist: NPR's Best New Music from 2010

I love NPR.

Between now and February, you can download their Best New Music of 2010 iTunes playlist for free. Just open up the iTunes store, choose "Redeem" under Quick Links, and type in this code:

7KYL46FHXL49 [As Kelly noted, you need to get your own code by clicking the above link & following directions. Thanks, Kelly!]

I just downloaded mine, and it's got everything from R&B to classical to rock. I can't wait to find at least one new favorite.

And if you're looking to get in the holiday spirit, check out the Jingle Jams NPR Holiday Mix and peruse more great holiday music playlists on their site.

Happy listening!

Philip and Erin Stead: A Sick Day for Amos McGee

There's a reason A Sick Day for Amos McGee is showing up on all the best-of-the-best picture book lists this year (including the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010). I just picked this up for one of my nieces, and it is endearing to the nth degree.

Amos McGee takes good care of the animals at the zoo. He takes time to sit with the shy penguin and wipe the rhino's constantly runny nose. So one day, when Amos McGee has to stay home sick, the animals decide to come to his house and take care of him instead.

I first read about Amos on Betsy Bird's Fuse #8 blog, where she wrote:

Could have been written last year, ten years ago, or fifty. Doesn’t matter because the word “timeless” may as well be stamped all over each and every doggone page.

All true. The pencil illustrations are filled with soft tones of yellow and pink, the story is sweet and charming and absolutely timeless. Usually when one of my nieces or nephews gets sick with the flu, or has to get tonsils removed, my go-to book is Many Moons by James Thurber. Now I have a new book to add to the sick-day list.

A couple fun links:
Philip Stead's Online Portfolio
Erin Stead's Blog

Grab Bag Friday: Give Water Get Music, The Robot Bump

Hooray, those robots really know how to get things done! After the robots endorsed my Give Water Get Music project last week, I went from 37% of my goal to 71%! That means, 71 people who do not have access to clean water will soon have a working well or water project in their area.

Last week, I told you a bit about the sanitation benefits of clean water access, but did you know there is an economic benefit, too? In places where gathering clean water is impossible, private water distributors charge individuals for water. This means that some of the poorest households spend up to 11% of their income on a very basic necessity. And even after paying for the water, there is no guarantee that it is clean. Often the distributors collect the water from ponds and streams that are contaminated with disease-causing bacteria.

My holiday wish is to provide clean water to 100 people for 20 years by 2011. There are 14 days left.

Will you please help with the final 29%?

If you've missed my video presentations, you can catch up:
Give Water Get Music: The Robot Version
Chicken Payback Holiday Wish Prezi

And here's a video about the organization I'm working with to fund the water projects. It's an inspiring look at how you really *can* make a difference in the world.

The Story of charity:water


The story of charity: water - The 2009 September Campaign Trailer from charity: water on Vimeo.

Lisbeth Zwerger: Swan Lake

Instead of writing Monday's blog post, Kevin and I were busy working on a 1500-word treatise/photo essay for my niece's grade school Flat Stanley project. (Okay, we were supposed to send a postcard, but this is what you get when you send a project like that to a couple of writers!)

So to make up for missing a post about books this week, I thought I'd do double duty today and write about books and music. I was in our lovely downtown bookstore this weekend and was lucky enough to come across Lisbeth Zwerger's Swan Lake on the sale shelf.

Zwerger's retelling of Tchaikovsky's ballet is beautiful in every way. The story of a woman who is transformed into a swan by an evil sorceror is simply told, and Zwerger's paintings are set in muted blues and grays that bring out the shroud of mystery that surrounds the tale.

The illustration of the Swan Queen on the cover is particularly stunning. I wish you could see it better here, but the way the cuff of the sleeve makes her hand look like a swan and the dress feathers out just a little at the bottom...it's genius. There's another painting that shows the transformation of the girls into swans, and it is so odd and weirdly beautiful, it made me wonder why I never thought more carefully about the strangeness of that transformation--how awkward and bizarre it would actually be.

Knowing the story, I was surprised to find a happy ending on the last page, but it turns out Zwerger did not simply tack that on. She goes on to explain that Tchaikovsky's original production of Swan Lake in 1877 did indeed have a happy ending. The production was terribly received. Critics thought the story was stupid and the music was too noisy. When the ballet was re-staged in the early 1890's, the ending was rewritten as a tragedy.

One of the nice details of the book is that a small bit of the musical score is included at the top of each page. Here's the theme, played by the New York Philharmonic:

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

Grab Bag Friday: Robots Endorse Give Water Get Music

There are three weeks to go in my Give Water Get Music campaign, and thanks to many of you, we're 37% of the way toward my goal: funding clean water for 100 people for 20 years by 2011.

That means, so far, we've provided enough resources to bring clean water to 37 people, which is huge. That's 37 people who won't have to spend hours walking miles to the nearest water source every day. 37 people who don't have to suffer from stomach worms, skin rashes, or dysentery because that water they walked so far for was contaminated.

But there are still 63 people to go. Still $1250 to raise. So I got the robots involved.

Fair warning: I can't really be held responsible for the goofball humor involved in the video. I was born and bred on Archie Comics. It does something to the brain.

Please spread the word throughout your galaxy!

Give Water Give Music: The Robot Version

Broken Social Scene on KCRW

Kevin and I got to spend Thanksgiving in his hometown Los Angeles, which is always an adventure for a girl from an unincorporated town of 800 people. In between trips to Intelligentsia (Kevin's coffee mecca) and celebrity sightings (I'll admit, I asked "Who's Toby Maguire?" and was promptly chagrined because I *did* of course adore the Spiderman movies), one of my favorite things about visiting L.A. is flipping between KCRW and KJAZZ on the car radio. I know, I know, I can listen to both stations online, but there's something extra cool about hearing them local.

Which reminded me that I haven't been regularly checking out all the great In Studio Sessions that KCRW posts on their YouTube channel each week. If you scroll down the sidebar, there are some great recent performances by Band of Horses, Arcade Fire, and Los Lobos to name a few. Here's a cool live version of 7/4 by Broken Social Scene.

Broken Social Scene: 7/4

Charles Dickens: Great Expectations

I don't know how I managed to earn two English degrees without reading any Charles Dickens, but thank goodness there is still reading time after college. At the prompting of my younger sisters, I spent yesterday curled up in a blanket with Great Expectations in one hand and my tea in the other. What better way to spend a Sunday than getting caught up in a good yarn?

I loved how Dickens jumps straight into the action and keeps you riveted from the very first chapter. We meet Pip as a young boy who stumbles upon (and out of sheer terror, brings food to) a dangerous escaped convict. It couldn't get much more attention-grabbing than that.

I think what I loved most about the story, though, is that it's largely about those inevitable moments in our lives that change everything. Some are so momentous that they change everything instantly. The moment Pip meets Miss Havisham, for instance, he knows nothing can ever be the same. But so many more are moments that come and go without notice, and it is years, even decades later, before we realize how our lives have changed because of them.

Dickens writes this about Pip's first meeting with Miss Havisham:

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."

I wonder what small thing has happened today that could change, in a small or large way, the course of my life. Or yours?

Grab Bag Friday: Give Water Give Music Update

My holiday wish is to raise enough to bring clean water to 100 people before 2011. Thanks to lots of very generous people, we've achieved 25% of that goal and there are still 29 days left!

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unlike many of our complicated world problems, this is a tragedy with a clear solution: clean water. 

If you help me, I'll send you free CDs as a thank you! Please take a moment to watch my Give Water Get Music presentation to find out how. Then, please spread the word. Together, we can make a significant difference.

Blog Rerun: Sam Phillips, Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us

I'm taking a bit of a break from my blog for Thanksgiving break. Here's a rerun featuring a Sam Phillips song that remains one of my favorite songs of the decade. 

Sam Phillips: Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us (originally posted June 4, 2008)

The new Sam Phillips album is out! Normally, I would listen to the album straight through from start to finish, but this time I had to go straight to Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant covered the song on Raising Sand, and if you remember, I was pretty wild about it. So I was dying to hear the Sam Phillips rendition.

It's always so interesting to hear how a writer interprets their own work. A poet, for instance, might put completely different emphasis on line breaks when reading their work outloud than I could have ever imagined in my head. Alison Krauss & Robert Plant's version of "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us" is dreamy, introspective, eerie, polished. Sam Phillips takes a completely different approach to her own work. In comparison, it's messy, rushed, untamed...all in the best of ways. The way Alison Krauss sings the song, Sister Rosetta's music comes to the singer like a strange gift from above, supernatural, beautiful, and detached. In Sam Phillips' version, the music is a down-to-earth personal revelation, a tangible refuge, a place of abandon and release.

Ok, off to listen to the rest of the album. Tune in for more gushing next week...

Alison Krauss & Robert Plant version:


Sam Phillips version: