Library Matters

Poetry Friday June 7, 2019

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by Michelle Kogan. She is celebrating Tracy K. Smith, the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States. Prepare to be wowed by words and images as you head on over there to read some poetry and find links to other participants sharing poetry today.

I am continuing to work on poems about a pivotal time in 1958, when my family joined other relatives on an adventure into the Pine Valley region in Northern British Columbia. I'm committed to sharing a bit every week to keep me going. They might not be in any kind of order. I just hope to get some kind of drafts out there. I appreciate feedback on the construction of the poetry and ideas and questions about what information might be missing.

I had planned to write something about how the men were faring. I have something written, but picked up two new research books from the library on the history of logging in BC. In the meantime, here's one I've been working at off and on.

SKUNK TROUBLE

Uncle Walter’s family
brought a cat and dog.
The cat kept the mice
under control.

The dog liked to
bark like crazy and
chase wild animals.

This one day
it chased a skunk
under their cabin.

Leslie grabbed the dog,
kept it away
while there was a palaver
bout what to do.

First, they waited,
but the darn creature
wouldn’t leave.

Conferencing commenced.

Somebody mentioned
they’d heard that
if a skunk dies
instantly,
it won’t release any scent.

It was decided
to shoot the skunk’s
head off.

Howard got his shotgun.

Uncle Walter
shone a flashlight
under the cabin.

Howard aimed.

Each time
the beam hit it,
the skunk moved,

Just not out from under the cabin.

Finally the light shone
in the creatures eyes.

Howard got a clean shot,
blasted the skunk’s head off,

Unfortunately

the rest of it exploded,
spraying the underside
of their residence
with scent.

The pungent perfume
permeated the place,
infiltrated everything.

Couldn’t get the stench out.

After a time,
someone came up with an idea
to move the cabin.

They got out the D9 cat,
cleared a new area,
pushed the building over
to the new spot
higher above the ground
so air could circulate.

Of course they
relocated the reek with them.

It didn’t matter how much
Aunty Margaret scrubbed their clothes.

Even if she could have
got that smell out,
once they returned to
the malodorous abode,
it returned.

The kids,
Marianne, Dorothy,
Leslie and Peter
had to travel ten miles
on the bus to school.

No wonder
they couldn’t make friends.

No wonder
nobody would have anything to do with them.

Couldn’t blame them.

Here are links to previous Pine Valley poems.
Leaving
Characters
Journey
Arrival
Preparedness
Ready and Willing
Larder
Laundry
Diaper Duty

#IMWAYR June 3, 2019

#IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

My partner and I headed off to our house in Oliver for a quick weekend retreat. I've been gardening, watching episodes of the first season of George Gently, visiting family and friends, knitting, and squeezing in a bit of reading. We are heading home on Monday, so I probably won't get to read everyone's posts until later on or even Tuesday.

BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK

Poetry Friday May 31, 2019
Big Book Reading Challenge Summer 2019

PICTURE BOOKS

My Heart by Corinna Luyken

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous and so are the messages. I read it while searching for a book to read to kindergarten students, and it didn't feel right, so I read them something else. I think it might work best with older children.

Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett

This book was a huge hit with younger primary students. It's a great choice for them because the patterned text scaffolds their reading. It's also a lot of fun. A girl and her toy monkey imitate the different animals in a zoe. Readers predict what they will see next based on what the two of them are doing on the page with the chant, Monkey and me,
Monkey and me,
Monkey and me,
We went to see...
The K's and I ended up playing a game where we repeated the chant while one of them acted out something and the rest of us tried to guess what it was.

Gideon (Gossie and Friends) by Olivier Dunrea

Ada and I have been having a lot of fun with this book this month. She is not a fan of having to take naps either. If you are not acquainted with this series, you are living a deprived life.

Gideon & Otto (Gossie and Friends) by Olivier Dunrea

Gideon and Otto, his octopus, are best buddies who do almost everything together. When Otto goes missing, Gideon searches all over the farm to find him. I wish you could hear my almost two year old granddaughter exclaim, "Oh No! Where Otto?"

The Girl and the Wolf by Katherena Vermette & Julie Flett (Illustrator)

When a young girl ignores her mother and ends up lost in a forest, she meets with a wolf. There is tension while we readers wait to see what will happen. I love how this book twists the European perspective of wolves as dangerous and hungry into them being helpers of children. Julie Flett’s gorgeous illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Katherena Vermette’s words.
I would love to pair this up with Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell and an original telling of Red Riding hood.
Both of these contributors are Indigenous Canadians. 🍁

Dear Boy, by Paris Rosenthal, Jason Rosenthal & Holly Hatam (Illustrator)

There’s lots of good advice for boys (and girls) in this book. I especially love the two page spread that says,
Dear Boy,
Find kids who are like you.
Find kids who are unlike you.
Isn’t this ideal advice for the kid inside all of us?

Good Boy by Sergio Ruzzier

Prior to reading this to k's and grade 1 students, I asked them to decide whether is was about a boy and his dog, or a dog and his boy. Wow! Did they ever have opinions! With one word on each page, this is another book for beginning readers. Each page takes us on a journey with this boy and dog, from doing tricks to travelling to outer space and back. It's really hard to pick a favourite page, but the illustrations of the two of them reading in bed would have to be near the top for me.

NOVELS

Copyboy (Paperboy #2) by Vince Vawter

Mr. Spiro has died. His last request to Victor Vollmer, now almost 18, is to spread his ashes where the Mississippi river meets the Gulf of Mexico. Against his parents wishes, Victor heads out in his sports car to New Orleans and regions south. He ends up making new friends, nearly dies, races a hurricane, and comes of age.
I had forgotten how much I loved this character from Paperboy, until meeting him again in this novel. Mr. Vawter never expected to write the sequel, but was inspired by questions from fans of his first novel.
I hope he is somehow compelled to tell us more of Victor’s story. I’m not ready to let go of him.

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

Oh Wow! This book. Renee Watson's writing is just gorgeous. I can't remember when I last loved characters as much as I do Jade, her mom, Maxine, Lee Lee and Sam. Even the smaller bit characters like E.J. are lovely.
This is a coming of age novel that shows us how Jade, with the support of family, friends and her mentor, learns to love herself and speak her truths.
I was happy to see that the private school Jade attends on scholarship has some opportunities she wouldn't get at her local public high school, but the teaching and learning activities at the public institution are on par if not superior.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

A Bird or Two: A Story About Henri Matisse by Bijou Le Tord

This nonfiction picture book gives us the basics of Henri Matisse his life. I liked how the author showed that different environments changed the kinds of colours that he used. He captures Matisse’ character brilliantly In spare prose. “He works joyfully with a light heart. He is enchanted.” I appreciated learning about how how he used black paint like any other color. I now know what an arabesque is.

Klimt and His Cat by Bérénice Capatti & Octavia Monaco (Illustrator)

The first time I saw a print of Klimt's work, I marvelled at the beauty of his art and became a fan. So when I found this book in the library I had to read it.
Through Klimt's cat we learn about the man himself. He was a fascinating artist who followed his vision of what art should be, despite never achieving recognition during his lifetime. Octavia Monaco's artwork is almost as spectacular as Klimt's.

CURRENTLY

I am continuing to listen to Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. I had hoped to read it as an ebook this weekend, but forgot my iPad in Vancouver. I just don't understand how a book with only 256 pages can be 19 hours long! I've just started reading, with my eyes, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.

UP NEXT

I will start listening to The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman on our way back to Vancouver today. Next up I'm planning on reading Cold Skies: A DreadfulWater Mystery by Thomas King.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 13/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 7/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 10/25

25 books by Canadian Authors 31/25

Big Book Reading Challenge 1/4

Goodreads Reading Challenge 184/333

Poetry Friday May 31, 2019

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is hosted by Franki and Mary Lee at A Year of Reading. A whole lot of Celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye is going on there. Check out all the participants' sites for poetry inspired by Naomi Shihab Nye and some that isn't. After reading Mary Lee's post and poem, I feel a need to invest in a copy of The Creativity Project. I'm pretty sure that by the time I read all that poetry, I might even be inspired to write my own bit.

Today I'm posting my last poem about laundry. The more I research, the more I realize that housework was pure drudgery. Next week I'm planning on something about how the men were faring.

I'm babysitting two toddlers tomorrow so I probably won't get around to reading all of your posts until Saturday.

Diaper Duty

Diapers were a perilous trial.

Solid bits were scraped into a pot,
dumped into the outhouse
when someone went out that way.
The soiled flannel squares
were chucked into a bucket
For cleaning every few days.

Got pretty ripe if you left them too long.

I helped out while my sister, Rae,
almost three and a half,
looked after the younger ones.

Mommy rinsed them
in the river,
or in melted ice or snow
if it was froze over.

A large kettle of clean water
was set on the wood stove.
Soap was added and
those diapers were set to boiling.
Mommy scrubbed stains out
with a washboard.
Wrung out
the clean soapy diapers
by hand,

My job was to stir them
As they were twice rinsed in fresh water,
before being wrung out,
and pinned on a line outside.

In winter they froze
soon as they hit the line,
were freeze dried by the end of the day.

Come rain,
they were strung on ropes
across the already cramped cabin.

I helped Mommy
Fold the dry nappies,
Kite style, ready for use.

Family legend tells of the time
the Pine River tried take our Granny Alaric.

Middle of that September,
Mommy headed to Prince George
to birth our baby brother, Tim.
Granny Alaric, her mom,
came to stay for spell
and help out.

James, my other brother,
just over one year,
was still in diapers.

Granny was down at the river
readying to rinse a pail of nappies.
As usual,
a passel of us children
traipsed at her heels.

We watched as she,
needing to fill her bucket,

stretched across the
iced over shallow water
into
the
deeper
chanel.

The current,
stronger than she anticipated,
snatched up that bucket,
and her holding on to it.

Our 70 year old Granny
couldn’t swim.
She yelled.
Hollering,
we kids
ran along the river bank
watched her
go under,
come up again.

The Pine River swept her
under the bridge.
On the other side
she grabbed hold
of one of the trusses.

Men rushed into the river
to rescue her.
But she,
sputtering and cussing,
had already rescued herself.
And was still holding on to the pail.

Here are links to previous Pine Valley poems.
Leaving
Characters
Journey
Arrival
Preparedness
Ready and Willing
Larder
Laundry

Big Book reading challenge Summer 2019

Once again I'm joining other readers who plan to read some weighty tomes over the summer. The challenge begins at the end of May and continues through to the Labour Day weekend. The only rule is that the book has to be at least 400 pages. You can read as many or as few books as you want. You can even get through them as audiobooks!

You can find out more about this challenge at Sue Jackson's blog, Book By Book.

I went to my 2018 list to see what I hadn't finished and these became the base for this year. Then I added a few more books, and presto my big book list is complete. Some of these books are also on my MustReadIn2019 list, but I figure I might as well double up and make gains on a couple of challenges for one book. My goal is to read at least 4 of these books this summer. I've already finished one, so who knows? I might even read more!

~~A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 462 pp~~
~~Archenemies by Marissa Meyer 560 pp~~
Carry Me Like Water Benjamin by Alire Sáenz 503 pp
~~Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)~~ by ~~Tomi Adeyemi 544 pp~~
~~Cold Skies: A DreadfulWater Mystery by Thomas King 464 pp~~
Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism Daisy Hernández by 403 pp
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo 536 pp
The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson 416 pp
Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta 432 pp
~~The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry by David L. Carlson 464 pp~~
Mark of the Plague (The Blackthorn Key, #2) by Kevin Sands 534 pp
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas 464 pp
~~The Red Power Murders (DreadfulWater Mystery) by Thomas King 512 pp~~
Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard (Peter Nimble #2) by Jonathan Auxier 444 pp
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein 576 pp
Wool (Wool, #1) by Hugh Howey 537 pp
Zero Repeat Forever by Gabrielle Prendergast 496 pp

#IMWAYR May 27, 2019

I was away on my annual women's retreat last weekend. We figured out that we have been getting together for more than 30 years! I finished one book late at night because I couldn't sleep, but that was all the reading I accomplished. I was too busy visiting with everyone. I did get some knitting accomplished though.

I'm pretty sure that I read more picture books than I kept track of on Goodreads.

BLOG POSTS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS

I managed to get a few poetry posts in but that's all.

Poetry Friday May 17, 2019: Larder
Poetry Friday May 24, 2019: Laundry
Instructions For a River

PICTURE BOOKS

4 stars

Tidy by Emily Gravett

On the surface this is a story of a badger who gets carried away with cleaning much to the chagrin of the rest of the forest inhabitants. It's also an environmental story about what ensues when forests are decimated.

5 stars

Cyril and Pat by Emily Gravett

Cyril is a lonely squirrel. When he meets Pat, the two become fast friends. They get into all kinds of fun mischief together. When he is told that Pat is a rat and that squirrels can't be friends with rats, he goes back to being lonely. It turns out that life without Pat, is not only boring, it's also dangerous.
I like that his book addresses stereotyping and racism in a way that is easy for children to understand. The deliberate, almost rhyming text and gorgeous illustrations entertain groups of all ages.

4 stars

Bear Hare -- Where's Bear? (Bear & Hare) by Emily Gravett

It seems much easier for Hare to find Bear when they are playing hide and seek. Then Bear tries to find Hare and ends up falling asleep. Then Hare becomes frantic trying to find his friend. That hug at the ending when they reunite is one of the most loving images I've seen in ages. Ada, my two year old granddaughter loves this book.

3 stars

The Littlest Mountain by Barb Rosenstock & Melanie Hall (Illustrator)

This adaptation of The Contest of the Mountains tells how God choose Mount Sinai to be the mountain where God gave the Ten Commandments to the people.

5 stars

Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth

This might be my favourite retelling of the stone soup story. It makes it clear that happiness is found in sharing what we have with others.

GRAPHIC

3 stars

Space Boy by Stephen McCranie

When her father loses his job on a planet out in deep space, Amy's family has to go into cryotubes to travel the 30 year distance back to Earth. When they arrive, it's awkward to be so out of step with her peers and she misses her best friend who has grown up without her.
Amy has some kind of synesthesia that results in different people having different flavours. Then she meets a boy who doesn't have any flavour at all.
I'm planning on reading the next in this series to find out what happens, but wasn't happy with this lack of satisfying ending.

NOVELS

4 stars

Ebb and Flow by Heather Smith

This heart wrenching story, written in beautiful verse, is liable to have you crying your eyes out.
After a very bad year, Jett goes to spend the summer with his grandmother. At the start we learn that he did something very bad, but we don’t learn what it was til near the end.
The characters are richly developed individuals with stories that will break your heart. Ultimately it’s about redemption for Jett, and hopefully, someday, for his friend Junior.
Heather Smith is Canadian. 🍁

4 stars

Pride by Ibi Zoboi & Elizabeth Acevedo (Narrator)

I enjoyed this fun retelling of Pride and Prejudice. As a hard core fan of the original novel (that I've read more times than I can count,) it was fascinating how Zoboi established the familiar plot in this modern setting with diverse individuals. Elizabeth Acevedo's narration was brilliant!

4 stars

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi & Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

I just finished this book and need to contemplate it a bit more before writing much. I adored Bahni Turpin's narration. I was mostly fascinated throughout, although I could have done without some of the romantic bits.

NONFICTION

4 stars

Too Young to Escape by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch & Van Ho

I can't imagine what life was like for Van even before her mother and siblings left her behind to join her father in Canada. She was only four years old and already had more chores than most people can imagine a child that age taking on. My heart ached for her when she wondered what she had done wrong and if she was bad and that's why they left her in Vietnam. Her grandmother was a remarkable women.
Both of these contributors are Canadian. 🍁

4 stars

Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography by Andrea Warner (Author and Narrator) & Buffy Sainte-Marie (Narrator)

I was fascinated by this book. I knew a bit about Sainte-Marie, but had no idea how influential and important she has been in so many ways. I was stunned to discover how many songs she has written that were covered by many well known artists. I knew about some of her songs, but others were new to me. Did you know that Elvis Presley recorded Until It's Time For You to Go seven times!
Buffy Sainte-Marie and Andrea Warner are Canadian. 🍁

CURRENTLY

I am about to start listening to Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. I've just started Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson. I'm savouring The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks one poem at a time.

UP NEXT

I'm hoping to listen to The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman. Children of Blood and Bone took longer to listen to than I thought and of course everything becomes available all at once! I hope to get to Copyboy by Vince Vawter.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 12/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 7/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 9/25

25 books by Canadian Authors 30/25

Big Book Reading Challenge 1/4

Goodreads Reading Challenge 172/333