Book of the Week

I'm very excited to go to Calgary this weekend for Janine's homecoming. We haven't seen her since she came home, and the boys hardly know her at all. Although Ben says he remembers his Auntie Janine, all he seems to know about her is that she was a missionary in Finland and met Santa Claus! Briggy was only two months when she left, so for him it'll be like meeting her for the first time. Anyways, we have a 5 1/2 hour drive ahead of us this afternoon, which will give me plenty of time to read...

Modern Manners:

It was my sister Jaima who first introduced me to the witty columnist Judith Martin, famous worldwide by her pen name of Miss Manners. Ever since then, I've been hooked. I just love her book "Miss Manner's Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior". Her wry humor and astute observations make for an amusing read. Most etiquette books are as dull as ditch water, but Miss Manners sparkles with captivating satire. She enlightens us in many a manners dilemma; from answering the Great Fork Question (which fork do you use?), airplane manners, how to properly eat anything from corn on the cob to crab, etc. This book is both informative and a delight.

Pleasing Poetry:

In my first student teahing I was aghast at how my cooperating teacher had set up an entire unit of poetry. It was merely "Here's a couplet-write one. Here's a haiku-now write one of those" and for some inexplicable reason, all their poems had to be about space. Talk about sucking the fun out of it! I know normally poetry seems reserved for academia and superior intellectuals but I really dislike that. Poetry-especially that for children-is grand fun, and too often ignored. I for one love A.A.Milne's book "Now We Are Six". While A.A.Milne is mostly remembered for his books about Winne the Pooh, his poetry is some of the best that children's literature has to offer. Ben's favourite is "Knight-in-Armor", and there's just so many wonderful poems in this book!
Here's a sampling (from "Binker" about an imaginary friend):

Binker's brave as lions when we're running in the park;

Binker's brave as tigers when we're lying in the dark;

Binker's brave as elephnts. He never, never cries...

Except (like other people) when the soap gets in his eyes.

Happy reading everybody!