Senor Parrot’s Perch

This isn’t really a movie review because I missed at least half of the movie, but I intended to write something, so here goes. I’ve read a number of movie reviews of the Nativity, but so many of them seemed like they were written before viewing the movie that I really had no expectations for the movie. I was pleased with what I saw.

The movie begins with Herod’s men killing the boys two years and younger in Bethlehem, prophecied in the Old Testament as “Rachel weeping for her children, for they are no more.” It then flashes back a year before to the little town in Galilee where we meet Mary and Joseph before their engagement, where the story develops forward again. (more…)

Christmas is here in two days! The family and I arrived in El Paso with out incident yesterday, and now we’re busily engaged in eating too much, seeing all the relatives and eating too much, and going to church and eating to much and eating too much. (more…)

Every Saturday, either before or after swimming lessons the kids and I go to the library over on the west side of town. We like that one. Its newer and the kids section is well defined, well stocked, and and an absolute kid magnet. I go straight to the new picture books rack, the oldest hunts for new books in the series she likes to read and the youngest grabs at picture books that have covers she likes. (more…)

I picked up The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett for my daughter when I saw it in remainder pile at a local bookstore. I had seen the movie from 1993 and also a television version on PBS and liked it. I started reading it when I got home. I was so drawn into the book I couldn’t put it down. I’ve read quite a few books this year but this has them all beat. (more…)

This is an excellent book for anyone who likes to read to their children and it carries a lovely message of friendship and sharing centered around Christmas. Melrose and Croc are both new to the city. Its the day before Christmas and Croc has come to see Santa. He eagerly awaited the next day when he will see Santa at the big department store. Only he finds that he is too late and Santa has gone. Melrose was decorating his new apartment, and wishing he had a friend. Christmas needs to be shared with a friend and he finds his loneliness grows.

I loved this reading this book to my kids. They enjoyed these animals and felt for their plights. Emma Chichester Clark’s illustrations were warm and amusing and the incongruity of the cold and snowy winter scenes in the city next to the sandy palm-lined beaches added an odd and interesting touch. 

Melrose and Croc: A Christmas to Remember by Emma Chichester Clark, 2005, Walker Publishing Company, NY, NY

Its not always easy to find an excellent Christmas Book. Every year there are new versions of the nativity story in many formats. The best new books are seasonal, winter related fare, and most of the Christmas books seem outright sappy.

This book is an exceptional exception. In the story is told in rhyming verse, focusing first on introducing either the person or the thing and then on telling their part of the story, with the humble stable “dusty and brown” reemphasized at the end of each verse. For example:
“These are the shepherds, tending their sheep, out in the fields while the town was asleep. These are the angels, a glorious throng, who sang to the shepherds a wonderful song: ‘Be not afraid-go to Bethlehem town, to the quiet stable, dusty and brown.’”

The illustrations are beautiful, and like many children’s books, are so central to the impact of the story. The pages are filled with fascinating details that reflect a respect for the visual interests that children have.

There is lots of sing-a-long fun for the whole family here. We have several book versions of The Twelve Days of Christmas song, but this one ranks first on the fun-fun-fun meter. Each day a young pig’s True Love brings her a gift, hidden behind a fold-over section on the right-hand page, and the gifts pile up and the disorder does too. Finaly, all is in place, in order, and ready to sing.

The illustrations are great, simple, and silly. This is a constrant grab by the youngest with the demand to sing. She’s picking up the words as we sing along and by the end of the book, she’s singing loudly and confidently, even if its not the right words. When we start, pretty soon everyone, including the cat, has come into the room and joined in.

Kids love singing. They do it naturally and this book is a natural way to nurture that love.

Putting my kids to bed is just about the best time of day. Its very ritualized and we all love it. First, we always read the Bible. For the oldest, its a paraphrase of the NIV that suites her age level, and for the youngest its Bible stories. After that, we read stories and pray, sing them their lullabies, tuck them in with hugs and kisses, and off with the lights.

This routine is the cause behind my rekindled interest in kids books. I had thought of being a writer in high school, and on through college, and even then my primary interest was in kids books. I had a few attempts at stories and poems in high school, but then forgot about writing until a brief period in college, when I wrote some poems in German for classes I was taking. That was extremely fun and I can still remember one.

Some years ago I was asked to speak for a service at a rest home. It was Palm Sunday and I spoke about Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. As I was reading over the story again, I suddenly got hit with a story about the little donkey that Jesus rode into the city. A few months later, a friend of mine told me about awakening to the sound of clinking glass on her dresser. It was a mouse! Another story came  right away. More followed, all of them stories for kids.

Then my first child was born. My wife and I both read to her and she never tired of books. She paged through books rather than play with stuffed animals. And as we searched for more books to read we discovered the riches of children’s literature. Some books, like the Bear in the Big Blue House, or Teletubbies, we couldn’t avoid, but there were many, many others that our daughter liked even more. And some of the books we’ve enjoyed the most, Because of Winn Dixie,  The Tale of Despereaux, Ginger Pye or Treasure Island, have all been bedtime reading.

Since kids, I’ve grown to love kids books even more. Not that I don’t read a lot of other things. For instance, I’ve been reading an excellent book, The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. It is really thought provoking. But my attention keeps being drawn back to my children’s books.

Gift cards are a great gift, especially for that hard to shop for person, you’re child’s teacher, or that teenage nephew that you no longer have a clue about.

Enter gift card fraud. What that, you ask? Its when someone with knowledge of your gift card number finds out if you have a balance and then uses that information to purchase something for his or herself, essentially stealing the money represented in the card. This is still very rare, but you still don’t want it to happen to you.

This is how it works. Gift cards are usually displayed at the checkout counter. The thief copies down the numbers of several cards and then calls the merchant several days later asking if there is any balance left on “their” card. If they they find that there is a balance, then the theft begins.

To avoid this happening to you, when you purchase a gift card, ask for one that hasn’t been on display. This way no thief can write down your card’s number to gain access to its funds, and you’re safe. At least from this scam.

I took the family to see Go Fish last night. It was the opening night of their 2006 Christmas tour.If you don’t know, Go Fish is a sort-of acappella group, but with percussion and some background music sometimes. They did have a piano player with them. They sing Christian songs, so we got to say Merry Christmas and hear about Jesus, the reason for this season.

Go Fish is what you wish for in a family concert. We all loved it, really loved it. This isn’t just kids music but “everybody” music. These guys had us all entertained and wanting more. As they say on their website, they don’t dumb down their music. Their recordings do concentrate on kids now, which is to say, its kidstuff according to the topic, but its performed up to the standards that adults want to listen to it, too.

We ended up buying all the CDs they had their-both Christmas CDs and both kids CDs. We already had their DVD, which the kids really love.

I really recommend them. Check them out at this link to some online mp3 snippets you can listen to. Buy their music. You won’t be disappointed.