Monday, April 24, 2017

                Amy Krouse Rosenthal



"Long ago I was given the advice that it is better to say your good-byes early than to be the last to leave." >>Amy Krouse Rosenthal


Readers of all ages lost a champion on March 13. Amy Krouse Rosenthal (1965-2017) was a rare breed of writer, producing books packed full of wit and sharp intellect for both children and adults.

If you're a reader of the New York Times, you may think her name seems familiar. Amy wrote a Modern Love column just a month before she died. The essay, which was published March 3, is titled, "You May Want to Marry My Husband." She shared with us the reasons she quickly fell in love with a man named Jason. Arguably, the strongest sentence in the essay is simply, "I'm going to miss looking at that face of his."

Upon her diagnosis of ovarian cancer, Amy cancelled a number of planned trips and time spent in writers' residencies, causing her to remark in the New York Times' essay on the similarity of the words cancer and cancel.

For those of us not fortunate enough to have known her in person, we have her books to help us reflect, laugh, weep, and grow a little smarter.  

Her adult books are inventive and fun. One day in a bookstore, I came across her memoir Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. I was immediately intrigued by the idea of telling a life story in the form of an encyclopedia. Years later, when I read she had published another memoir, this time in the format of a textbook, I immediately bought a copy of Textbook. This book was creatively interactive...Amy wanted to connect with her readers. One my favorite chapters is found in the science unit and is a "short, collective biography experiment (p. 158)." It could be an interesting and fascinating exercise at your next dinner party. 

After reading most of her books for little ones, I felt as if I knew her personally. When my second great-nephew was born last year, there was no doubt that one of his first gift books from me was going to be I Wish You More. In June, when his family moves to a different city, it will be another AKR book that accompanies him, That's Me Loving You

Take time to browse her picture books. In Sugar Cookies, One Smart Cookie, and Christmas Cookies, Amy shared a lesson about love with kids of all ages, defining what compromise, forgive and gracious really mean, using baking cookies as a guide. We can all explore the true meaning of friendship in Spoon and Chopsticks. Introduce yourself to Uni, a unicorn who enthusiastically believes that little girls are real (Uni the Unicorn). Have fun with wordles in I Scream Ice Scream. What are wordles? Amy defined them as "groups of words that sound exactly the same but mean different things." For example, reindeer and rain, dear. There's even homage paid to an often overused punctuation mark - Exclamation Mark. How would a day filled with yes feel? The book, Yes Day, promises it would be a day of pizza, ice cream and invented games. Rounding out her list of picture books: The Wonder Book; Plant a Kiss; Little Miss, Big Sis; Little Oink; and Duck! Rabbit!

Textbook ends with a collection of notes (offered with musical accompaniment), including this thought from Amy:

"Bye. I love you. Thank you. In a last-call, sincere farewell moment, those are the six words that would fall out of my mouth. I don't think I could even suppress it."

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Sunday, April 2, 2017

                       Happy in April

"To be of use in the world is the only way to be happy." Hans Christian Andersen


If you want to live a happy life, start packing your bags. In case you missed the news, the World Happiness Report declared Norway the world's happiest nation. The United States was listed at #14.

Also found in the top 10 countries known for happiness: Denmark (#2), Finland (#5), Netherlands (#6), Sweden (#10)The Happiness Report measures "subjective well-being, i.e. how happy people are and why, according to the BBC. The report has been published for the past five years during which the Nordic countries have consistently dominated the top spots, the BBC added.

Are these happy attitudes due to Ikea, lingonberries, Skagen watches and Camilla Lackberg's novels, or do these countries know something we don't? 


It may be the education systems, healthcare, gender equality, and gorgeous scenery. It could also be as simple as an afternoon spent having tea with a loved one while talking and laughing, if the Danish concept of Hygge (HOO-gah) is believed. At the heart of hygge is "an experience of belonging and a sense of connection" writes Louisa Thomsen Brits, author of  "The Book of Hygge."  Hygge can be found in a cup of soup, candlelight, handwritten notes, and pleasant aromas, said Brits, adding "and really comfortable pants." Danes believe in compromise, rituals, social awareness, and homes being places of solace, according to Brits.

If you're interested in learning more about hygge, check out Brits' "The Book of Hygge" or "The Little Book of Hygge" by Meik Wiking. Or book a flight to Copenhagen. 

New books to read in April:

             Fiction

David Balacci - The Fix
Donna Leon - Earthly Remains
John Sandford - Golden Prey
Lisa Scottoline - One Perfect Lie
Jeffrey Deaver - The Burial Hour
Mary Higgins Clark - All By Myself, Alone
Steve Berry - The Lost Order
Stuart Woods - Fast and Loose
Elizabeth Kostova - The Shadow Land

           Non fiction

Anne Lamott - Hallelujah Anyway
Mai Der Vang - Afterlands (poems)
Mary Gaitskill - Somebody With a Little Hammer (essays)
Sarah Gerard - Sunshine State (essays)
David Grann - Killers of the Flower Moon
Michael Wallis - The Best Land Under Heaven
Mayte Garcia - The Most Beautiful  


April is Black Women's History Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, Library Snapshot Month, Mathematics Awareness Month, National Card and Letter Writing Month, National Humor Month, National Poetry Month and School Library Month.


                                        April Days


3      -Boston Library anniversary, opened in 1854

4      -Birthday of Dorothea Dix, 1802, Conversations on Common Things

6      -National Fun at Work Day

9-15 -National Library Week

10    -Break Up of the Beatles, 1970

12    -National Drop Everything and Read Day
        -National Bookmobile Day

13    -Birthday of Samuel Beckett, 1906, Waiting for Godot

14    -Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) published, 1939

17    -International Haiku Day

22    -Earth Day 

23    -First Public School (Boston Latin School) in U.S. opened, 1635. 
        -World Book Night

24    -Library of Congress anniversary, 1800

27    -Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

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