We are headed north to Ocean City to visit the library – so I thought I’d share some of the gems we have happened upon. Alot of the reading this past month has been easy twaddle for parents and children, a way to pass the afternoon away in the rain. Here are a few non twaddle from the backpack that you might enjoy.
I have travelled only 40 pages or so in this book, but I have been to Central Park and the deep south marshes with detail enough to entice me further, but not so much that I get lost in the imagery. He writes from a historical note, personal journey, passion for discovery, humor and on. This will be this weekend’s read. Already it has prompted me to re-read the introduction to the Peterson Field Guide pocket book, to relearn the parts of birds and appreciate how many variances can be seen in the details. It is both science and journal – with a personal story touch. Great read!
“Like millions of people, I take a curious pleasure in staring at birds, but never knew why. Thanks to The Life of the Skies, I now realize that I am not just indulging a compulsion to classify. In this illuminating and charming book, Rosen shows us the poetry, the philosophy, and the history—natural and human—of the strange modern pastime of bird-watching. You’ll never a see a waxwing in the same way again.” —Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor, Harvard University, and author of The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Stuff of Thought
I was surprised to see this listed at under $10.00 on Amazon! A beautiful book with amazing paintings for each page. Simple yet detailed. This could be a great piece to pick up if studying art, watercolor, representing people in art, or landscapes. The book is very simply wrote, a true tale of his grandfather’s journey back and forth from Japan to San Francisco, which led him also to journey back and forth. They loved the people and the landscape of both countries. He simply told of what WW2 had done to their family. No more than one or two lines on each page, easy cadence to read with pause time to see the picture in detail. One of the last lines in the book – “The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.” I had a long pause before turning that page. With our journey from the mountains to the sea and back. It is the way I feel as we travel from Central Oregon to the Coast.
+Angie Wright
Pebblekeeper 
I ♥ \’Grandfather\’s Journey\’ !! I used it in the classroom …. after reading it, my students interviewed a grandparent or great aunt/uncle. Thereafter, they wrote a children\’s book about their ancestor. It was a favorite project for many.