Thursday, July 05, 2007

"As in thy arm ready to wield the sword, So also is it ready to carry the cross." - English translation of French lyrics for 'Oh, Canada!'

I ducked out of the house this afternoon with the intent of dropping off some almost-overdue library books and heading to the coffee shop for lunch.

I wandered around the adult shelves for a while – picked up Val McDermid’s The Grave Tattoo which Gina liked, and which looked really good, but I decided I didn’t want to rush the reading of it. I couldn’t seem to settle on anything – and I couldn’t seem to remember any of the books which at some point I had looked up and been surprised to find that my neighborhood branch held. As I am happily tandem-reading Miracle in the Andes and Baker Towers, with Tracks and Tractors picked up when the mood strikes, I may just stick to concentrating on reading down my TBR stacks.

While I was at the library, however, the heavens opened and didn’t close for quite some time, and then I got soaked running to the car. Plus, my stomach was actively rebelling at the thought of a nice turkey panini and side salad.

(Q: How can I tell I am pregnant? A: The only thing I can possibly think of putting in my mouth is McDonald’s French fries. Sad but true. And hey, it’s worked for three healthy babies so far.)

So I went home, ate my French fries, and took a nap instead.

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Books I brought home for Primo:

About the B'Nai Bagels – EL Konigsburg.
Primo read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and loved it, so I thought more Konigsburg, one of my favorite quirky kids’ authors, was called for.

Danny, the Champion of the World and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - Roald Dahl.
The last two Dahl kids’ novels he has left to read.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum.
I think the movie would freak him right on out, but the book, he might enjoy.

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch and Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers - Donald Sobol.
A few weeks ago I brought home from the thrift store a carton of books, about fifty total. Some were picture books for Seg and Terzo, some were classics I thought the boys might like to read aloud (Call of the Wild, Rats of NIMH), and some were books I remembered enjoying from my childhood. In the box was the first Encyclopedia Brown, and Primo really liked it.

The Talking T. Rex and The Runaway Racehorse.
Primo likes the A to Z Mysteries, and these are the next two he hasn’t read.

Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, part 2.
I don’t hate these books as much as some people seem to. I think they’re funny and harmless, and I love hearing Primo’s big fat belly laugh when he’s reading one.

The House with a Clock in its Walls – John Bellairs.
Illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators ever, Edward Gorey. And if Primo can read and enjoy Dahl, he can certainly read and enjoy Bellairs.

Marvin Redpost: Is he a Girl? - Louis Sachar.
Do I have the faintest idea what this book is like? No, none, but I figured why not give it a chance? It looks funny and Sachar writes good books for older kids.

Me oh Maya! and Oh say, I can't see - Jon Scieszka.
I tried to get Primo interested in the Time Warp Trio books after he’d read all the Magic Treehouse Books. Since he very knowledgably explained to me the battle of Trenton last night after the fireworks (what is it with boys and wars?), I thought he might especially enjoy the Revolutionary War one.

Asterix and the Falling Sky - Albert Uderzo.
Primo had read all of the library’s TinTins?

Oddly Normal. Volume 1 - Otis Frampton.
No idea, it just looked fun.

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Lazy Cow mentioned that she is reading The Hobbit to her children, a remarkably brilliant idea and therefore not something that would have occurred to me in a thousand years. I thought I’d give it a whirl for Primo and Seg. Seg can take it or leave it; his current reading love is the adorable and clever Magic Hockey Stick, but Primo has asked for it even when he gets to pick the night-time reading.(The first night I told them I was reading them something I wanted to read, and then I’d read their picks. After the first ten pages of Hobbit, he picked the next ten for his choice, and there has been no looking back.)

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We took the two older boys downtown for the fireworks last night. Seg really really wanted to go, and Primo didn’t want to miss out on something Seg got to do, so he sucked up his natural disinclination to deal with loud noises and came along. The fireworks were fine, the boys had a good time, and when we got home and I put them to bed, they made me sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” to them. (Don’t tell John Ashcroft, but then they made me sing “Oh, Canada,” too. (But not the French part – I don’t speak French. Or sing it, either.))

8 comments:

Suse said...

My boys all loved The Hobbit read to them, and the elder two have both read it to themselves twice each, plus we have it on storytape for long car journeys. Also, it led to #1 reading LOTR straight through without stopping.

We also have Danny Champion of the World on story tape, read by someone with the perfect rural working class English accent. It's possibly my (our) favourite Dahl ever. And has led to interesting conversations about poaching and the line b/n it and stealing etc. It's a beautiful book, sad, funny, uplifting all at once.

Oooh! Have fun with all those books and enjoy the frenchfries.

(My word verif is gymyau, which is what you should do after all those fries).

lazy cow said...

So glad you're all enjoying The Hobbit. Apparently it's being made into a film to be released next year. The kids are already looking forward to me reading them TLOTR.
They both love Captain Underpants (my daughter reads it to my son which I find adorable). I also read her The Wizard of Oz (and have several of the sequels lined up) when she was 4, because TWOO was her OBSESSION. She's seen the movie about 30 times, once even at a retro movie theatre, and wasn't scared of the Witches at all. I STILL am. Her Grade one teacher (who's English) has been reading the class the Dahl books: The Magic finger, The Twits, George's Marvellous medicine, and this term it's The BFG. Also bought an Encyclopaedia Brown book from the op shop, never heard of him before.

Badger said...

My dad read me The Hobbit (and also Dune) when I was in kindergarten. We've modified our family read-aloud plan recently, which I should probably blog about one of these days, and The Hobbit is on our stack. Right now we're on the first Harry Potter.

And people don't like Captain Underpants?! The hell you say! We love those books ovah heah. They're great for special needs kiddos. Our neighbor/friend designed and maintains Dav Pilkey's website, which is way cool.

Paula said...

My boys loved The Hobbit...still do.

When they were small and being naughty I would tell them if they didn't behave I wouldn't take them to the library. It worked every time.

Anonymous said...

Way back in the day when I was pregnant, the only thing I could keep in my stomach during the first trimesters were Coca-Cola and chips.

Glad you're finding time for a nap now and then. Growing babies is hard work.

Velma said...

I love so many of those books - we went through all of Roald Dahl this last year, and TWOO as well. Count me in as another proponent of Captain Underpants - I cherish the belly laughs and helpless giggles that erupt with every reading. The re-arranged signs, in particular...!

Sarah Louise said...

I never read this, as I was in hot pursuit of INFORMATION, and I'm not commenting on it now except to say I will READ not skim it later and comment.

For now, tag! You're it (see mah blog)

Sarah Louise said...

Most of Koningsburg is good but some (like something with the 800 #) is just blech. And Silent to the bone is for older ones--but I think you've read that and it's companion already? Or was that a different librarian friend?

Still have not read The Hobbit.

Love the book of Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Love Encyclopedia Brown.

Captain Underpants, yes!

Louis Sacher, for the most part, yes!

Okay, back to bringing in priority DVDs...

I love that you sang the Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada!