Why I am not posting

Blogger has not been cooperating with me for over a week now. I can't add pictures the normal way. I am inordinately annoyed with this. When you put it in context of real problems in the world, the fact that blogger's photo uploader isn't cooperating with me ranks pretty near the bottom. But it means you will have to do without my words of wisdom on children's books. Try to bear up under the strain. I will be back in business when I can figure out what is going on!

Meanwhile, I am going to get back to enjoying my snowday (24" from Stella and counting) and catching up on music by Australian folk groups while contemplating the benefits of doing my college homework vs. procrastinating just a little longer vs. cleaning my house. So far procrastinating is winning.

Winter Finch by Jane Yolen and Ted Lewin

Winter Finch

The goldfinch,

little gambler,

                       has spent his summer color.

He turns up    

at my feeder  

         in his winter wings,

         shabby as a beggar 

 on a city street.

I know that     

                       when the luck of spring winds

               returns his gambler's vest

       he will pick through 

the seeds            

      I spread before him 

as carelessly       

                  as if they were dollar chips. 

                                                   --Jane Yolen

                                                  Bird Watch

Stone Fox

For some reason, I have not been able to add photos to posts in blogger. Very annoying. Somehow it adds the photos to my google album for this blog, but not to the blog post. So I just copy and pasted. Hence the less than stellar quality. 

This book actually happens in February, which is when I planned on putting this up. However, life is busy and I didn't get around to it. And now that the Iditarod is in full swing, it seems an even better time to do a dog sledding race book. 

The Iditarod--I LOVE the Iditarod. Even before I lived in Alaska and got caught up in all the excitement, it fascinated me. It is so elemental, you know? Man vs. Nature. And then the dogs. I don't consider myself to be a dog fanatic, but this week, as I tried to read Balto and Akiak to the first grade class I kept getting choked up. They were so brave and loyal!

My sister volunteers for the Iditarod, so we get lots of pictures and updates from her. This year she is in Manley Hot Springs checkpoint (which is 32 below zero right now--the propane has frozen up and the heaters won't work...) and then she will fly into Nome to be there to help manage the finish.

For those of you like me who nerd out on the Iditarod--
The official Iditarod website, so you can check on mushers progress and standings.
And this is Jeff Schultz, the official Iditarod photographer's website. 

I read Stone Fox to my kids and we all loved this book. Well as much as you can love a book with this kind of ending. (Spoiler right there!) There is absolutely no way I am ever attempting to read this book in school. I would be too weepy. Sobby-weepy. IT IS SO AWESOME. 

Little Willie's grandfather falls into a decline for no reason. He just doesn't want to adult anymore. So he doesn't. He just lays in bed. 

Little Willie takes to adulting for him at ten years old. He knows he has to keep the farm goingplants the fields, using his loyal dog Searchlight as the plow horse. 

He takes care of his grandfather as well. 

Little Willie is pretty fabulous. 

Despite the townsfolks who wanted him to sell the farm and move them both into town, Little Willie is determined to stay put on the farm his grandfather loves. 

Finally, Little Willie finds out why his grandfather has given up--the taxes on the farm are overdue. Little Willie goes to the bank to ask for a loan, but the banker tells him that it wouldn't make sense--just sell the farm and live off the proceeds.

But Little Willie is convinced that if his grandfather is going to get better, it can only happen on the farm. So he has to stay there. As he is heading home from the banker, he sees a sign for the National dogsled race--the prize is the $500 he needs to pay the back taxes. 

Since Willie and Searchlight have run the course almost every day on the way to school, he feels pretty confident. So confident he bets his college fund for the entrance fee.

The only thing standing between him and success is the native Stone Fox. With his magnificent Samoyeds, Stone Fox has never lost a race.

But the entire town of Jackson, Wyoming is cheering for Little Willie.

Searchlight and Willie have a great run--leading Stone Fox. As he passes his farm, he sees his grandfather out of bed for the first time in months to watch him race by. This spurs him on. And then, just as they are re-entering town for the finish line, things happen.

OH MY WORD. It is so hard to not say what happens. I am terrible at this book reviewing thing.

This ending is so magnificent. So incredible. The enormity of the human spirit, the dignity of compassion, the kindness of strangers--I am tearing up again just talking about it.
Seriously, so amazing.

If you haven't read it, do it now.

I am off to check Iditarod placings again.  

Duck, Duck by Edna Miller

This is a medium book. I feel lukewarm about it. There is no reason to dislike it, but there is also no real reason to love it. I liked the cover though.

And the illustrations are fair to middlin'! 

I love that downy nest! That is Duck Duck's mate. Look closely because that is the last time you will see her. 

Things have gone awry in Duck Duck's life. Where is his mate and the eggs? 

An ominously feathery fox. These things happen in life. 

After frantic searching, Duck Duck goes back to the next to find two hatched eggs that were not ruined. Duck Duck has his hands full raising two ducklings. 

In the fall of the year, Duck Duck watches his grown up ducklings take off. First his mate is eaten, now his offspring leave him behind. Because Duck Duck needs to stick around in case his mate was just lost. 

Some children offer Duck Duck food, which he is not too proud to accept. 

Life gets harder. His wife is dead, which he can't accept, his children have left him, and now he can't find food. Can this duck never catch a break?!

He waddles to the farm nearby where there is warmth and food aplenty. 

This would qualify as catching a break. 

Especially when the children are so eager to feed Duck Duck. 

And here, at the end of Duck Duck's tale, we see him putting the moves on a wooden decoy mallard hen. Duck Duck gets so irate at her ignoring him that he pitches a fit. His fit attracts a real live mallard hen, who clearly likes passionate men. 

They glide off into the sunset together. We assume they live happily ever after. 

See what I mean about this book? Bad things happen to Duck Duck. It was nice two of his babies lived, but they seemed to be more of a burden to a mateless male than a joy. This is probably a very realistic book, but after the personification we normally see in stories about ducks, we would expect a little more from Duck Duck. I mean check out that last page. 

Duck Duck barely turned his head to look at her. But as he paddled on serenely he knew that a new mate had come to him. 

Really? That is your happily ever after? Couldn't you be excited, Duck Duck? Couldn't you have turned your head and acknowledged her as a duck? 

Sigh. Even ducks are sexists. 

Arnold Lobel's Key of the kingdom

This is the key of the kingdom. 

In that kingdom, there is a city.

In that city there is a town

In that town there is a street

In that street there is a lane

In that lane there is a yard

In that yard there is a house

In that house there is a room

In that room there is a bed.

On that bed there is a basket.

In the basket there are some flowers.

Flowers in the basket;

Basket on the bed;

Bed in the room;

Room in the house;

House in the yard;

Yard in the lane;

Lane in the street;

Street in the town,

Town in the city;

City in the kingdom--

This is the key to the kingdom. 

A Calf is Born by Kiyonori Kaizuki

I was searching for a book that was never found in the library recently when I saw a book with "A Calf is Born" on the spine. I was expecting a photographic dissertation on the process, but instead, I found this sweet watercolor delight. 

My nice plastic cows. I always pine for expensive wooden ones, but then I realize I could buy four or five books for the price of one little wooden cow (no, seriously) and I stick with my random assortment of plastic animals from who knows where. I think this calf was from Grandma and the cow was from a jumble at the thrift store. They do match the brown nicely. 

Of course, I grew up on a farm, my brother is a farmer, my Dad is a farmer, my father-in-law is a rancher, so I am a teensy bit obsessed with cows. Not the kind of obsession that leads to checked wallpaper borders with cows sprinkled throughout or the like, but still, obsessed. So my delight at this book might not be shared by all my five loyal readers. 

Barnyard in the moonlight! 

A calf being born. Right there. 

Unless you are cool with questions about this process or your kids have seen this happen enough that they know that is just how it happens, you might want to avoid this. Because that is totally fascinating. Whaaaat? Babies come how?! I felt like that after giving birth for the first time--WHY did that happen like that? 

On a side note, as a farmer, my normally easily embarrassed brother discusses birth and babies quite naturally. One day he was discussing with my sister how beneficial her Raisin Bran habit probably was to her milk production. This from the guy who blushes when someone says "Fallopian tube." The downside was that he compared my sister-in-law's pregnancies to a cow each time."Well with a cow..." She quickly grew tired of that. 

Licking the baby

Trying to stand. I love pictures of calves!!

Then the calf wanders out to observe the world. 

But something is wrong with the calf. 

The vet soon puts that right. Actually, I don't really know what is wrong with the calf. I am used to know cow's ailments, but I am clueless here. 

Also, this is when I realized this book was actually written in Japan. I had just assumed the author was American. 

I mean, this looks so like a bajillion pictures I have seen of the American West. Apparently Japan has places like this. Who knew? This should not be surprising to me, since I learned about Kobe beef in Animal Science class in college. Still, I think of Japan having a higher population density that wouldn't allow for these kind of expanses. 

It makes me happy that Japan has wide open spaces like this. And that they put cows in those spaces. It is the right and proper thing to do with spaces. (Don't mind me inflicting my love of bovine to other cultures.)

Drinking.

The novelty of the world! 

Spring is coming!

And finally, the calf settles down with his mother to discuss the day. 

Happiness!

March from Around the Year by Elsa Beskow