A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is considered to be an American classic. The story begins with Francie, an eleven-year-old girl growing up in the slums of Brooklyn. Her father is sweet man, but is also an alcoholic who takes part-time work as a singing waiter. Her mother cleans houses to bring in most of their money. Francie and her ten-year-old brother, Neely, help out by collecting bits of scrap metal and other items to sell to the junk man. Francie learns the value of a penny early in life. The family lives in a tiny apartment and they often go hungry when money doesn't stretch far enough to buy food.

Despite all of the hardships in her life, Francie is nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of her life. She loves her father's singing voice, and she loves the things her mother is able to cook with their meager supply of food. She finds peace in listening to her parents talk late at night and joy in reading every book she can get her hands on. She finds beauty in the slums around her is happy in the way only a child can be.

As Francie grows up, she comes to find that life is often hard. She sees the sacrifices her family members make and has to make sacrifices of her own. Throughout it all, she never loses her determination or her love for her family and for Brooklyn. Her experiences were probably shared by many other young women growing up during this time period.

I admit that at first I had a hard time getting into the book because the story does not move quickly and it contains a lot of detail. I tend to prefer books with a plot that move right along and this book really just describes Francie's life from the time she was 11 to 16. Many things happen during that time, but nothing really unexpected or suspenseful. I also thought that the ending wrapped up just a little too neatly (a little too happily ever after). That said, I think it was definitely worth reading.

I believe that the author was using the tree that grows in Brooklyn as a metaphor for Francie and her life in the slums. Here is a passage about the tree in the book:

There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows lushly, but only in the tenement districts... [It] survives without sun, water, and seemingly without earth. It would be considered beautiful except there are too many of it.

So it is with Francie and many of the other children who grew up in the poor parts of Brooklyn. They seemed to thrive even though they were faced with incredible hardships. Adversity makes us stronger and the story of Francie is the story of so many other children who grow up in poor circumstances. Francie reflects on this fact at the end of the novel.

...the fir tree that the Nolans had cherished with waterings and manurings, had long since sickened and died. But this tree in the yard--this tree that men chopped down... this tree that they built a bonfire around, trying to burn up its stump--this tree lived! It lived! And nothing could destroy it.

Francie and her family definitely lived (and enjoyed life) in spite of everything.

Read on...

Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo

My son absolutely LOVES trains and Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis has definitely added fuel to that fire. This book is very well-written with a rhyming verse that has a great rhythm to it. When you add to that the bold, colorful illustrations by Daniel Kirk, this book is definitely a winner for both boys and girls.

This book starts out with a toy engineer and his son getting ready for a busy day. The steam engine is loaded with "freight" (actually a variety of other toys) and sets off. The steam engine makes its way through a variety of different terrain (through the country, 'round the mountains, through the valleys, into a tunnel, and across the river, etc.), all of which is actually an enormous and elaborate set of track laid out in a sleeping boy's bedroom. When the train reached "the city" the tired choo-choo gets a rest in the bed next to a tired little boy.

My son requests this book over and over, and I don't get tired of reading it. I know he will be very sad when we have to return it to the library, so I might have to go buy this one. I think that he and his little brother would enjoy this book for a long time. Until then I will be hearing a lot of this at my house:

"Chugga-chugga choo-choo, whistle blowing, Whoooooooo! Whooooooooo!"

Read on...

Who is the Beast?

Last month we went on our first trip to the zoo. Even though it was a rainy day, we had a great time. To remember our trip, we picked up the book "Who is the Beast?" by Keith Baker at the gift shop. I chose this book because I was struck by the beautiful artwork throughout the book. It wasn't until we got home that I realized we own several other books by Keith Baker. He is a wonderful author and illustrator and that's probably why I was drawn to this particular book.

In the past few days I have read "Who is the Beast?" many times. Throughout the story flashes of the beast are seen by the animals of the forest as a beautiful tiger walks through the jungle. The tiger hears the other animals and wonders if he is the beast that they all fear. The tiger shows the other animals that they have many features in common, such as green eyes, strong legs, and a swishing tail. The obvious lesson is that we are all part of the natural world and thus are all "beasts".

This book has stunning pictures and a nice rhythm. One of Jonah's favorite things about this book is the pictures of the different animals. Another favorite is the hidden snail that can be found on each page. It is a fun game for him to look at the pages and try to find the tiny snail.

It seems that looking for what is hidden is a common theme in some of Keith Baker's books. We also have a book called "Little Green", which is about a boy watching a hummingbird fly around his yard. Each page of this book has a hidden caterpillar and I am constantly amazed at how quickly my two-year-old can find the tiny "worm". This book also has amazing artwork and a good flow to the story.

The final book that we own by Keith Baker is called "Hide and Snake". We haven't really looked at this book as much as the other two. I think that is perhaps because it doesn't really have a story. In this book the reader chases the snake from page to page as it hides amongst yarn, hoses, hats, clothing and various other objects.

These books are very eye-catching and fun to look at and read with your kids. They will enjoy finding the hidden objects in the artwork and you might be amazed at how observant they become after reading the books a few times.

Read on...

The Host - Stephenie Meyer

The Host by Stephenie Meyer is a fascinating page-turner that I had a difficult time putting down. This is the kind of book that I would stay up late into the night reading (if I were still in high school and didn't have two kids to take care of the next morning). When I reached the final 619th page, I was sad that it was over. To describe this book as a sci-fi novel about the invasion of alien body-snatchers just doesn't do it justice because there is so much more to the book than that.

The premise of the book is as follows:

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining “wild” humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

I love the way that Stephenie Meyer is able to create an alternate version of our reality that really makes us think about what it means to experience love and to be human. Meyer portrays how being human and living in our bodies with our emotions could be viewed through the experience of the alien, Wanderer.

The aliens (who call themselves 'souls') are basically nonviolent and concerned with the greater good. Once they take over a planet, they live together in harmony with no crime or poverty. They essentially live the law of consecration, where everyone shares what they have and no one is in need. They believe that they make the planets they occupy better, which is how they justify the hostile act of invading other planets and taking over the species who live there.

I enjoyed this book because it brings up interesting questions, but does not provide definite answers. In The Host, Meyer examines the topic of love and portrays it as having both mental and a physical component. I found the "love triange" in this story fascinating. Because of the physical connection between Jared and Melanie, Wanda had a difficult time knowing how she felt about Ian. It made me ponder how much of the love we experience is physical and how much is mental.

Meyer also brings up the topic of what it means to be violent versus peaceful in nature. The aliens view themselves as peaceful, but once Wanderer gets to know some of the humans she has to rethink her view of herself and her thoughts about the human race.

This is Meyer’s first novel geared towards a mature adult audience, and perhaps that it why I enjoyed it more than I did the Twilight series. We'll see how this year of reading goes for me, but right now The Host is at the top of my list.

Read on...

Duck on a Bike

I love it when we receive packages from the grandparents because my mother-in-law is a school librarian and almost always sends new books for the boys. (If you think it's weird that my mother-in-law is a librarian too, then perhaps you would be interested to know the my own mother is also a librarian! Aren't my kids lucky?) This time was no exception and one of the books she sent that we have been enjoying is Duck on a Bike by David Shannon.

This is a really cute story about a duck who decides to try to ride a boy's bicycle. As he rides around the farm he runs across other animals, who each have their own thoughts about Duck riding on a bike. Some think he is showing off, others think it's dangerous, and some think it's just plain silly!

At the end of the story a whole bunch of kids come over so that each of the farm animals gets a chance to ride on a bike. It is funny to see which animals choose the different types of bicycles because it matches with their personality and comments from before.

The pictures are really great and really show the personalities of the different farm animals. I think this is a fun book that we will be reading over and over again.

Read on...

The Host

I am currently reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer and so far I absolutely love this book! The premise of the book is that an alien parasite species has invaded earth. They have practically taken over except for some pockets of human resistance. The story takes place from the point of view of one of the aliens and it brings up so many interesting questions so far. What happens if the host body is successfully taken over, but the mind of the human refuses to leave? Is it possible for both species to coexist and even learn to love one another?

I have read the Twilight Series and I enjoyed them. I heard from a coworker that if you have any teenagers that you would not like this series. I was a teenager once and even though the books were a bit cheesy at times, I still really enjoyed them. However I do think that this book is definitely a step above those books. It is as if they were practice for the real thing. Stephenie Meyer really knows how to portray her characters well and through the eyes of those that are different from us she shows us what it really means to be human.

I am very interested to find out what happens at the end of the story. The great part is that you can see both sides of the story, so even though you naturally want to side with the humans, you can still understand things from the aliens point of view.

So I'll post more later when I finish the book!

Read on...

Boogers are Yucky!

We have a library book checked out right now called "Yummy, Yucky" by Leslie Patricelli that my two-year-old Jonah just loves. I may have to go buy this book because it is so hilarious. It says things like "Blueberries are yummy" and then "Blue Crayons are Yucky". The pictures are great too. Jonah especially loves the picture that goes with "Hot sauce is yucky".

This book teaches kids about taste, which is good. But at our house reading it had unintended consequences. At first we would read the book and Jonah would give me the right answers. Then he started to give me the wrong answers on purpose and then laugh about it. For example:

Me: Worms are...
Jonah: Yummy!
Me: Spaghetti is...
Jonah: Yucky!

Then one afternoon I was sitting on the swing while Jonah played in the sandbox. He came up to me and said "Sand!" Sure enough, his mouth was full of sand. Since this was actually on one of the pages in the book I said "Jonah! Sand is..." to which he responded "Yummy!" What a character!

Read on...

Owen's Marshmallow Chick

Recently we checked out some board books from the library that my son loves. They are a set of food-centered books by Kevin Henkes. The three books of this set that we have looked at are Owen's Marshmallow Chick, Julius's Candy Corn, and Lilly's Chocolate Heart.


These books have wonderful illustrations and fun stories. Each features a mouse as the main character and some kind of food/candy.

In Owen's Marshmallow Chick, Owen receives a variety of candy in his Easter basket. He declares each type of candy to be his favorite before he "eats them up". My son loves that part and he says it with me every time. The exception is the marshmallow chick, which Owen doesn't eat... he plays with it instead.

In Julius's Candy Corn, Julius is having a Halloween party and his mom tells him not to eat the cupcakes she baked until his friends come for the party. So Julius "counts" the candy corn instead. As my son says "he ate 'em!".

Lilly's Chocolate Heart is about the Lilly trying to find a place to keep her chocolate heart. The best place she finds is... you guessed it, her mouth!

These books are fun to read, and my son never gets tired of them. He asks me to read them over and over again. I think that these three books are great because they also bring up different holidays/seasons. I would not hesitate to give these books to any preschooler as a gift. I hope to be able to find the other two books to see if they are as good as these three. Has anyone read Wemberly's Ice Cream Star or Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick? If you have, let me know what you think of them!

Read on...

How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms?

I could recite this entire book to you because I have been asked to read it so many times! How does a dinosaur clean up his room? With a big bucketloader, or shovel, or broom? Actually, my two-year-old could probably recite most of this book for you too!

This book is part of a "How Do Dinosaurs..." series written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Mark Teague.

In this book, various kinds of dinosaurs demonstrate how to (or how not to) pick up their toys and clean up their rooms. The book has a great rhythm and is fun to read aloud. The illustrations are hilarious and have a retro feel to them.

This book was on sale at Kohl's a while back and I seriously regret that I didn't buy it then. I think that the dinosaurs hold a great appeal for kids, especially little boys. Plus they model behaviors that you want your kids to learn.

There are many other books in this series. Here are some of the bookfonts:


I'm not quite sure exactly how many of these books there are now. Has anyone read any of these books? I would be interested to know if there are some that you absolutely love, or do not like at all. I'll have to keep my eye out for a set of these "di-so-saur" books for my little boys.

Read on...