Archive for the ‘family’ Category
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
I remember feeling intensely sad the first time I heard the story about Elena Desserich - the five-year-old girl diagnosed with brain cancer who hid hundreds of little notes around the house for her parents, Brooke and Keith, to discover after she had died.
This sad story and the notes have been turned into a book called Notes Left Behind and the Today Show focused on the Desserichs this morning. Notes Left Behind was originally self-published but has since been picked up by the publisher, William Morrow.
Here is an excerpt from the book…(I can’t read it - I have two young daughters.)
By the way, all proceeds from this book go towards the family’s cancer foundation.
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Getting my 5-year-old niece to walk a block can at times be a challenge. But to Sail Chapman, a block would be a baby step. This five-year-old boy is the youngest person to climb all 214 peaks listed in Alfred Wainwright’s Lake District guide books.
After reading an article about the previous record holder who, at the age of five years and 11 months, had completed all the climbs in Wainwright’s guides, Sail’s parents realized that he had trekked most of them at just 4 years old.
Sail’s accomplishment was documented by his family through photographs and logs and is now being verified by the Ramblers Association.
The hikes are a great opportunity for the family to talk and spend time together but when asked what he likes best, Sail says, “My favourite thing about it is the sandwiches.”
Oh to be five again!
Alfred Wainwright’s seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells originally published between 1955 and 1966, is made up of reproductions of the British fellwalker’s handwritten manuscript and is considered the standard reference to the 214 fells of the Lake District. In 2006, a 50th Anniversary Edition Box Set of the guides was released. What a great gift idea for avid hikers!
Posted in UK, books, family, life, news | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
The UK reading charity Booktrust has just released the results of its survey of over 3,000 children and parents. While the results show that reading has become more popular with children, one in 20 families have less than 10 books and only one in three parents read to their children each day. This is particularly sad since 96% of the children said they enjoyed reading and books.
More results from Booktrust’s press release:
• More dads reading with their children than in previous years: 40% increase since September 2008.
• 60% of children like to share a book with their parents/carers as it shows that they like to spend time with them.
• Households with girls have ten more children’s books than those with boys. One in every 20 family homes in
Britain today has fewer than ten books.
• Children enjoying reading more: 96% of all children surveyed say that they enjoy reading, peaking at 99% among
seven year olds and falling to 89% of 12 year olds (overall, this represents a year on year increase of 5%).
• 56% of all parents and carers (and almost half of all parents of 4-5 year olds [48%]) say their child spends more
time facing a screen, playing computer games and watching DVDs rather than reading.
• Parents and carers of boys are twice as likely not to read with them compared to those who have girls.
• Technology, home entertainment and work (through emails and home working) are impacting on book time.
While flexible working is supposed to enable a positive work-life balance, children are increasingly losing out.
• Bookshelves under threat in a third of British homes: one in three parents and carers (34%) say shelves are
increasingly being filled up with DVDs and computer games, especially in homes with older children (this is the
case in 41% of homes of 11-12 year olds).
• The UK’s all time favourite fictional character according to over 1,300 children is Harry Potter, followed by Horrid
Henry and Tracy Beaker. Action heroes Captain Underpants and Ben 10 relegate children’s classic Cinderella and
Peter Pan out of the top 10. Roald Dahl’s characters including Matilda, Charlie (from Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory) and the Fantastic Mr Fox make multiple entries in the top 20 all time favourite characters.
See the full results.
In an effort to encourage more reading, two free books programmes - Booktime and Booked Up - are giving away 2 million free books to schoolchildren across Britain.
Posted in Polls, UK, books, children's book, family, life, reading | No Comments »
Friday, October 16th, 2009
A very sad story from the UK, author Graham Taylor, who writes as GP Taylor and is best known for Shadowmancer, has put this writing career on hold to look after his 11-year-old daughter who has an incurable disease.
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Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Love, Pray, will publish a new book in January and it’s all about marriage, reports the NY Times. It’s going to be called Marriage, Argue, Divorce - actually, it’s going to be called Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage, which is a deeply rubbish title.
Ms. Gilbert, 40, said the book, which recounts how she came to marry the Brazilian-born Australian lover she met in Indonesia in “Eat, Pray, Love,” was not just a straightforward memoir of what happened and how she felt about it.
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Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Penguin is to republish In Praise of Older Women by Hungarian emigré Stephen Vizinczey - a 1960s novel that’s been out-of-print for several decades reports the Bookseller.
The début novel—a coming-of-age tale about a young man’s sexual education following his departure from Hungary in 1956—was originally self-published in 1965 when the author was a writer and producer working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It went on to become the first and only self-published novel to top the bestseller lists in Canadian literary history.
The book was subsequently published in the US and in the UK, where Pan brought out a paperback in 1968. Around 600,000 copies were sold, with rave reviews coming from the likes of Margaret Drabble and Michael Frayn.
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Thursday, August 13th, 2009
I think they should bring back corporal punishment in schools. No - not for the kids. We should cane parents who object to their children reading books like To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. A high school in Brampton, Ontario, has removed Lee’s book from the curriculum after a single parent complained because To Kill A Mockingbird uses the N-word.
This parent should be caned and then forced to write 1,000 lines of “I must not object to classic books that offer amazing, inspiring stories about prejudice and forgiveness.”
How could you not want you child to discover Atticus Finch?
Posted in books, family, life, news, reading | 5 Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Tim Guest, a 34-year-old author from the UK, has been found dead in his bed by his wife after a suspected heart attack. He wrote My Life in Orange about being brought up in communes and Second Lives about virtual communities.
Posted in author, books, family, internet, life, news, technology | No Comments »
Friday, July 31st, 2009
NPR’s Fresh Air just featured Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno’s collection of poems, Slamming Open the Door, which was published earlier this year. The book concerns her life after the murder of her daughter, Leidy, who was killed in her apartment six years ago. She had been strangled to death.
Posted in author, books, family, life, poetry | No Comments »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
The most unusual bookselling hit of the week has to be America’s Most Wanted Recipes: Delicious Recipes from Your Family’s Favorite Restaurants by Ron Douglas.
Oddly, Douglas is a former finance director at JP Morgan and his book has been heavily featured in the US media this week.
His book reveals copycat versions of secret recipes from famous restaurants. There are over 200 recipes from 57 restaurants including The Cheesecake Factory, KFC, Olive Garden, P.F. Chang’s, Red Lobster, and Outback Steakhouse.
I am stunned that anyone would wish to replicate KFC food in their own home.
Posted in author, books, cooking, family, food, news | 2 Comments »
Monday, July 20th, 2009
Frank McCourt died over the weekend. Very sad. I read both Angela’s Ashes and Teacher Man a couple of years ago. Angela’s Ashes is a tough read as the poverty and pain is almost overpowering for the reader. It’s also rather numbing to think that his story of childhood poverty in Ireland wasn’t that long ago.
Signed copies of McCourt’s books are plentiful.
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Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
Yesterday’s Telegraph ran a great article about Brian Rafferty who runs the Broughton Street Book Shop in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Brian presents customers with a pamphlet that reads:
“With the help of my family and friends I have opened this second-hand bookshop and intend to support myself, and give a purpose to my life. I don’t think I am unemployable.”
You see, Brian suffers from Aspberger’s syndrome and cerebral palsy which, despite qualifications and good a good work ethic, seems to have prevented Brian from getting a job, or even an interview for that matter.
To set Brian up in the bookshop, his family sent out requests to friends for donations of books. The family was deluged with books and the shop opened in March of this year. (A portion of the profits from the bookshop is donated to the National Autistic Society.)
“The shop means a lot to me,” Brian says. “I can’t get a job but I want to do something useful with my time. I love it when people come in to buy a book and stop for a chat, I’ve made quite a few new friends.“
Posted in UK, booksellers, business, family | No Comments »
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Would today’s teenagers think that Holden Caulfield is weird, asks the New York Times. I’m sure they would think he’s a complete ‘phoney.’
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Friday, June 19th, 2009
OMG! It’s Josef Fritzl/Father’s Day confusion/stupidity. Shame on Tesco in Leighton Buzzard. Shame on WH Smith in Lewisham.
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Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
From Elizabeth Kennedy of About.com comes this article with 5 Top Picks - Children’s Books with Rhymes and Fun:
Young children love the sounds of rhythms and rhymes, from Mother Goose and other traditional rhymes to recently written rhymes. When the rhymes are coupled with engaging illustrations, children tend to enjoy hearing (and seeing) them again and again. A nice side benefit is that rhymes, alliteration, and other word play are great ways to begin to prepare children to learn to read.
- Good for You by Stephanie Calmenson
Subtitled Toddler Rhymes for Toddler Times, Stephanie Calmenson’s entertaining book celebrates all that toddlers can do, from playing on the playground to using the potty. Other topics include colors, manners, counting, the alphabet, animals, travel, families, and friends. The two dozen poems feature the bright and lively artwork of Melissa Sweet.
- Four in All by Nina Payne, Adam Payne (Illus.)
Both the poetry and the artwork in Four in All are unusual and affecting. Written by poet Nina Payne and illustrated by her son, Adam Payne, the text features just 56 common nouns set in verses that are surrounded by dramatic cut-paper collages. The story of a young child’s adventure is told in such verses as “oats wheat corn rye / sun moon stars sky.”
- Playtime Rhymes for Little People by Clare Beaton
Clare Beaton’s book features her imaginative fabric and trim collages and 40 well-loved rhymes and finger plays. Many, like “I’m a Little Teapot,” will be familiar to you; others may be new to you. The finger play instructions that accompany each rhyme are particularly helpful and ensure that you and your child will get the maximum enjoyment from the book.
- Tomie dePaola’s Mother Goose
This delightful book contains 200 rhymes, ranging from such familiar Mother Goose rhymes as “Old Mother Hubbard”, “Simple Simon,” and “Little Miss Muffet” to “Yankee Doodle” and other traditional rhymes. The folkart-style illustrations from the talented dePaola are full of good cheer and include a diverse group of children, adults, and farm animals.
- The House That Jack Built by Diana Mayo
The constant repetition in this traditional rhyme is particularly appealing to young children. Diana Mayo’s large and vivid illustrations cover the pages, bringing life to each verse. There are a lot of details in the pictures that children will have fun identifying. This rhyme is one that three- to five-year-olds will enjoy learning to recite.
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