Senor Parrot's Perch

Birds

by Kevin Henkes
illustrated by Laura Dronzek

Published by Greenwillow Books, 2009
ISBN: 978-0061363047

Birds is an excellent new picture book by well known and loved children’s and YA author Kevin Henkes, and illustrated by Laura Droznek, his wife. Henkes and Droznek previously collaborated 10 years ago on their book Oh!

Henkes‘ text and Droznek‘s illustrations mesh perfectly in this beautiful book which is told from the perspective of a young girl. The text is simple, straightforward, and witty. The illustrations remarkably express and expand everything that is written. When I was reading this book to my youngest daughter tonight as I was putting her to bed, I wondered how someone other than Henkes himself could express through the illustrations the book so well. Learning just this evening that Henkes and Droznek are married explains a lot.

I quickly searched the internet looking for more pictures from the book so I could show just how beautiful it is, but I couldn’t find any other than the cover and these two. When you’re in the bookstore, look for Birds and turn inside to the pages where the text reads:

If clouds were birds,
the sky would look like this.
Or this.

The illustrations for these two pages are exquisite; I want them for my wall.

Droznek has also illustrated several books by George Shannon.

Mary Poppins – the quintessential nanny. Or so you thought! Your kids love the video? Then let them watch this and see if if they ever want to watch it again.

Mother Osprey: Nursery Rhymes for Buoys and Gulls

By Lucy Nolan

Illustrated by Connie McLennan

ISBN: 978-1-934359-96-9
Published by Sylvan-Dell Publishing, emphasizing Science and Math through Literature

Twinkle, twinkle, starfish dear,
hiding in the shallows here.
Just beneath the waves you lie,
like a star tossed from the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, starfish dear,
hiding in the shallows here.

Mother Osprey: Nursery Rhymes for Buoys and Gulls, written by Lucy Nolan and illustrated by Connie McLennan, is a collection of� fun and entertaining parodies of many favorite Mother Goose nursery rhymes. But the rhymes inside Mother Osprey are parodies with purpose. Math and counting skills, science and history are all lessons taught in these poems.� Don’t think “Boring” when you see that this book teaches hard subjects like math or science. The rhymes and illustrations are pure enjoyment in themselves.

Most of Lucy Nolan’s rhymes are pure silly fun that kids will enjoy listening to over and over and even memorizing; the rest vividly illustrate a point in time from history. An appendix in the back adds more facts and explanations that the parent or teacher can use to draw young listeners further into a teaching moment. A map shows where each of the habitats is located.

Twinkle,� Twinkle starfish dear, quoted above, places the starfish in its natural habitat and opens up rich opportunities for discussing the shallows and beaches along a rocky coast. What other animals life nearby? What do they eat? What eats them?

But Lobster Pies is just plain silly:

Old Mrs. Wise
made lobster pies all on a winter’s day;
her greedy son
grabbed every one
and took them clean away.

What a surprise
for Junior Wise
lay inside that croaker sack.
When he sat on a bench
to eat a pinch,
the lobster pies pinched back!

Nursery rhymes satisfy at many levels: they’re great fun to listen to, with their rhymes and the rhythm of their meter. They’re pleasing for the strength of their imagery. They easily capture a child’s imagination, slipping into their memories and never losing their ability to bring enjoyment. Children seem to never tire of repeating them over and over and the verses are a natural invitation to singing. Nursery rhymes teach children language skills and the repetition packs information into their young, developing brains and they help develop their ears for word use and phrasing.

Mother Osprey is a perfect gift for your child or your child’s classroom teacher, whether in preschool, kindergarten, or the early grades. The rhymes are a perfect starter to get children to focus on some part of the environment, or a place. They introduce elements of nature in an interesting way, which leads naturally to a discussion of what is in the rhyme.

This video is from TechRepublic. It shows a robot developed by Boston Dynamics and Sandia National Laboratories for the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It’s easy to imagine the military uses for this thing. The landing looks a bit tough for a manned ride-along.

Here is a link to Sandia’s article on the robotic jumping jackaroo.

Historical fiction, done well, is a doubly fun reading experience. I generally don’t read much historical fiction, but over last Christmas vacation I read a mystery/detective novel set in 11th century Japan by I.J. Parker, Island of Exiles.
The details of Japanese life of this period are so vividly woven into the story that it was as if I had been transported into this amazing new world in my entirety. I’m eagerly waiting when I have a chance to read an earlier book in the series that is already sitting in the pile on my desk. (These are not kid’s books, nor necessarily appropriate for young adult either, which are the genres that I usually comment on).

Why the sudden musings about historical fiction? This morning I read an excellent review at Caribousmom of a book by Michelle Moran, Cleopatra’s Daughter. This novel explores the life of Selene, one of the ill-fated twins born to Cleopatra and Marc Antony. The cast of characters immediately brought I, Claudius, by Robert Graves to mind. From the review, it appears that Moran has studied her history well, providing ample detailed� material to provide sufficient context for the reader to understand the times. But Caribousmom points out that these details are so well integrated into the story itself that they are almost superfluous.

It really sounds like a great read. Michelle Moran is� a popular author of other historical novels set in mysterious ancient Egypt. She’s got a background in archeology and doubtless the appreciation ancient worlds and mastery of detail she’s known for have aided her story telling.

Caribousmom’s review can be found right here.

“Blame it on the cat, if you like, Boowie. But remember one thing, dear: only dead fish swim with the flow, and I’m not a dead fish yet, not by a long shot.”

Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips, by Michael Morpurgo, is an unusual love story beginning in England during World War II, and ending many years later. Twelve year old Michael, or Boowie as his grandmother always calls him, has received a package in the mail from his grandmother. Only a short while after her husband of 40 years died, she has left on a trip by herself, telling no one where she is going, and telling no one what she is going to do.

In the package Boowie finds a letter and a typed up manuscript, a cleaned up copy of Boowie’s grandmother’s diary during World War II, when she was also twelve, along with an old, faded photograph of her from that time. In the letter she tells Boowie that she hopes her diary will explain everything to him, or at least that it will help him understand why she had to leave.

The diary begins September 10, 1943, and the story of Boowie’s grandmother growing up on the southern coast of England during World War II unfolds in short entries. Her cat, Adolphus Tips, or just Tips at that time, is the instrument that sews together the events from those days long past.

This book paints an interesting perspective of� rural England during the war. The hardships, the terrible toll of lost loved ones, and the fear of losing others is wrapped into the daily living of the children. Taking place a few months before D-Day, the portion of the coastwhere Boowie’s grandmother lives is evacuated to allow the allies to practice their invasion of France.

Soldiers are everywhere, especially the Yanks. Resentment builds among the villagers and farmers who are being forced from their homes and farms. Even the church is emptied and boarded up. There are new children from the city, sent to the countryside for safety, boarding with families. The new teacher had fled Holland, her husband killed in the war against the Germans. Boowie’s Grandmother’s own father fights far away, side by side with so many other fathers and brothers from the community.

This simple, beautiful prose of the book conveys a sense of unvarnished reality in the journal. The happinesses and regrets, longings and memories, introspections, observations and questions of her daily life flow naturally through her pen in short entries. We meet her family, we hear her last words to her father before he leaves for war, we watch her grow up and take the first steps toward learning to love. We see how events transform into memories that become a bold, bright thread that stretches through from the beginning to the end of tapestry of her life, pulling together the �events of her life and giving it meanings that no one would have guessed at years before.

Not every hing is resolved in this book. It’s meant to be a picture of life and in life, not everything is resolved. Some things that we say and do just hang in space of memory before us, reminding us of the things of which sent us on our courses.

There is nothing really heroic in Boowie’s Grandmother’s life. No escapes, no daring ventures, no supernatural intimations that raise her life above the ordinary. Love is what raises her life to a worthy subject, love in all its forms, as a daughter, friend, and later, as a wife. The author’s story focuses on these ordinary things and gives them a beautiful meaning and creates a truly fine story.

Unbridaled Books is having a “Whose Skull Would You Steal?” thing going on to pump up the macabre book by Colin Dickey, �CRANIOKLEPTY: GRAVE ROBBING AND THE SEARCH FOR GENIUS (Pub date: September 29, 2009).

How odd. �And how entertaining!

This really got me thinking. First I thought Socrates, then the apostle Paul, then Daniel, of the Lion’s Den fame, or Joseph, of the many colored coat, and on and on. But what about Benjamin Franklin? Thomas Jefferson? George Washington? Abraham Lincoln? Theodore Roosevelt?

It’s really a lot easier to think of the ones I wouldn’t dig with a ten food spade.

Anyway, if character and significance is seated in the brain, I’d pick either Daniel or Joseph or Paul or Peter or David. �They’re my biggest heroes.

Who would you pick?

The Capital Times, a Madison-based online and weekly newspaper, has an article with words of wisdom of what every college student should know. The Cap Times asked their question of knowledgeable folks at the University of Wisconsin, Edgewood College, and my own Madison Area Technical College (Go Wolfpack!), and they gleaned lots of great, helpful information.

My favorites:

(Very practical and true, from Carlotta Calmese at MATC)
Carlotta Calmese, associate dean of retention and student development, Madison Area Technical College:

If you are a first-time college student know that:

1. It is not a “more advanced” high school; college is VERY different and more demanding.

2. You do not have to decide what you will major in or do RIGHT NOW, you have a lot of time to figure that out.

3. Take full advantage of all that college has to offer (faculty connections, student life, co-curricular activities, etc.).

4. Get connected to academic support services before you really need them.

5. If you didn’t have to study in high school, know that you WILL have to do so in college – so learn how to study.

6. You will be treated as an adult and will be expected to make adult decisions, even if you are 17 or 18.

7. You are responsible for your own education.

8. How well (or poorly) you do in college may have long-term consequences.

9. If you make a mistake, AND YOU WILL, know that tomorrow is a new day to get it right the second time around.

10. Faculty do not stay up all hours of the night trying to make their exams more difficult for you.

11. Take time to really get to know your teachers.

12. We will not be calling your parents to tell them you did not come to class today.

(From Lorin Toepper, also at MATC)
Lorin Toepper, executive director of economic and workforce development, MATC:

There are three basic ways of learning: self-, peer- and instructor-directed. Self- and instructor-directed require no explanation. Peer-directed learning, however, is often underestimated by students. It is when the student works with other students to master a skill or concept. The most common format for this includes the dreaded group project. While students tend to dislike this method, it truly reflects the collaborative approach used in the workplace and in social endeavors. That’s why instructors use it so much. A more subtle but equally effective approach to peer-directed learning are study groups that arise informally. These can be one of the best ways to learn because the students in this informal cohort group teach each other. I highly recommend to any college student that they form a study group for each class in which they are enrolled. It makes learning so much easier and enjoyable.

Some wise advise to manage money well and keep down the debt:

Susan Fischer, director of student financial aid, UW-Madison:

Students who rely on financial aid to assist them with educational expenses face many challenges as they begin the academic year, but there is one unique challenge that rises above most of them in my mind. That challenge is the recognition and then subsequent need to spread out the resources they receive in August and September over the course of four-plus months; an amazing budgeting feat that most folks employed full time would find difficult, let alone a person starting their college life.

So take a couple of hours to plan out the big and small expenses that you know about now and make sure to have one category of “surprises” that will most certainly pop up. Easy goes it in the miscellaneous/entertainment spending categories. Get a part-time job: 15 hours or less per week. You will not only earn money to help with your college expenses but it will help you budget your time. Then calculate out the actual take-home pay from your part-time job, remembering that taxes, etc., reduce that old paycheck.

And remember: There is an inverse relationship between the ease of borrowing money now and the difficulty of repaying it later. Take advantage of living like a student when you are one so you don’t have to live like one after you graduate!

Getting to know teachers is so easy, and so smart!

Barry Orton, professor of telecommunications, Division of Continuing Studies, UW-Madison:

Each semester, every student should try to get to know at least one of their professors well enough so that the professor knows the student by name. Professors almost always welcome students with questions, so that’s a great way to accomplish this goal. First, do the reading, and then go to the professor’s office during office hours, introduce yourself, and ask an intelligent question seeking clarification or more detailed information. Your professors will remember you and that’s the first step toward humanizing a very large campus.

A proverb from the Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” We get similar advice from Tim Alexander

Tim Alexander, associate director of athletics and head men’s and women’s soccer coach, Edgewood College:

1. Seek out those who will make you better.

Where you are a year from now and even five years from now will be determined by the people you spend the most time with. Your thoughts, beliefs, tendencies, even language will rise or fall over time to match that group. Smokers hang out with smokers, partiers are more comfortable around partiers and champions find other champions.

2. Start preparing for life after college.

You need to look for opportunities during your daily life that will help you prepare for life after college. It is not how tall you are, how smart you are, not even how many times you fail, but the telling sign is how many times do you get back up and fight on to succeed.

3. Financial knowledge.

I see too many students who are not prepared for the financial concerns that will face them in college. Learn from people you trust and most of all your parents. They did not get to where they are without some ups and downs during the early years of their lives.

I take issue with Marc Kennedy

Marc Kennedy, communications director, Wisconsin Union:

Take advantage of all the opportunities available for students at the Wisconsin Union. It’s more than a comfortable place to … relax on the Terrace and watch the sailboats …

Nothing, I mean Nothing, is more important than sailboats! And, if you’re in Madison, head down to the Terrace and join Hoofers Sailing Club, learn to sail, and sail all the rest of your life. That’s what I did and what I’m doing. This advise is from me, Senor Parrot.

And to finish, and partly reiterate what others have said, as well, is Alfonso Studesville, a wise, long-time career counselor at MATC, and all-around Good Guy:

Alfonso Studesville, career counselor, MATC:

Read and learn about the policies, programs and information resources at your school. Even kindergarten is not what it used to be.

Manage your finances to get you through the semester. Post-secondary students should come with money, checkbook or debit card to pay for books in case financial aid is delayed or emergency expenditures come up. Create a budget and follow it.

College is not a continuation of high school. Therefore, you may need to change some of your habits as well as some of your beliefs.

You are responsible for your education and getting the work completed and in on time.

Please have reliable transportation to get you to and from school on time.

If you have children, you should have three baby-sitters you can use.

Make a plan, set your goal and stay focused on your educational goals.

Show up on time and ready to learn.

Learn to take tests and notes. It will help you to learn content for any subject.

Have good technology skills.

Ask for help – each institution has a large staff of advisers, counselors and others to assist you.

Seek out and join college organizations, clubs and groups to have an informal learning experience.

Eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, and balance your weeks.

Know your rights as a student to appeal what you believe is unfair.

Learn to say NO to others who distract you from studies and school responsibilities.

Limit your text messaging and phone calls, and use the time to study more.

Make good and wise choices. They will impact the rest of your life.

This is so steampunk! Responding to tripled fuel costs for ocean shipping in recent years, two German shipping companies are using high-tech kites to pull their ships across the ocean. Owners expect a 20% reduction in fuel costs. Not only will this save them approximately $1,600 per day, but think of the reduced ocean pollution.

This variation on sails is very interesting and innovative. Look at a modern ship and you don’t see room for sails, but the kites are lifted high above the ship’s deck. When sent aloft they go higher than ordinary sails and catch stronger winds. Very, Very Smart!

Here’s the Reuters News Video:

Thanks to PredictWind.com for the heads up.

We visited our very good friends yesterday. They have a nice, big garden out back. They planted 21 zucchini plants. That’s enough for all of Wisconsin, the U.P. and, excluding the Twin Cities, the rest of Minnesota.

They’ve been having trouble sleeping because large dump trucks arrive continually to haul away the zucchini. Yet�this stream of trucks�are challenged to keep up with the supply.

Expect Zucchini bread for gifts this year. Do your part and gift the same.