Dragonhaven

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Katy K.

Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley McKinley, award-winning author of Beauty and The Hero and the Crown, among others, is back. This is the first book of hers I’ve read with a male protagonist, but, if you’re a fan, don’t let that stop you. Jake Mendoza lives with his father and a small community on the only dragon reserve in North America. Since his mother died several years ago, he’s withdrawn into his room, spending most of his time playing computer games. The reserve has a small zoo of lizards that are considered dragons, but the real fire-breathing, marsupial dragons, draco australiens, live only in the wild of the park, rarely glimpsed. Then Jake finds a dead poacher, dead mother dragon and one living dragonlet. Breaking federal law, he keeps the baby dragon alive. Now the reserve is fighting an investigation trying to shut it down, while keeping Jake and his dragon a secret. Jake narrates the story in a rambling teen voice that both makes the story feel more intimate and keeps the pace from being frantic. It’s a seductive alternate reality focusing on one boy’s coming of age and our relationship with the wild.

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Protected: Dear Santa

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Katy K.

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Protected: Cutenesses

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Katy K.

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Protected: Birthdays and Possibilities

Posted on November 20, 2007 by Katy K.

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Fairy Moon

Posted on November 19, 2007 by Katy K.

Fairy Moon: Songs of the Ring by Maria Sangiolo A lot of my children’s music reviews seem to include, “If you are tired of voice and solo guitar…” This gentle, unplugged recording charmed me. Sangiolo’s songs of shoe-making gnomes under the pines and fairy dances range in style from straightforward folk to Irish traditional, and are accompanied by piano, flute and harp, as well as the ubiquitous guitar. They capture a young child’s easy belief in fairies and joy in life in a way that reminded me of Waldorf fairy dolls. Sure enough, the liner notes, when I looked at them later, said that the album was inspired by her daughter’s Waldorf preschool. Mr. Froggie Pants, knowing nothing of Waldorf, still liked the “fayee” songs, and was dancing and singing along. You might, too.

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Siblings Without Rivalry

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Katy K.

A friend with two kids recommended that I read sibling books before I needed them, as I wouldn’t have time afterwards. I’d heard this was good and had been recommending it, so I thought I should actually read it.

Siblings without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish As far as I can tell, the major conflict in siblings books is what to do when siblings fight: do you let them work it out themselves, try to solve their problems for them, or just punish all involved parties without trying to arbitrate? This classic book from the authors of How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk brings a nuanced yet simple-to-implement solution to this as well as many other classic sibling problems. The answer to the first question is first to see if anyone is getting hurt, physically or verbally. If they are, describe what you see, say that hurting is not allowed, and separate them to give them time to cool off. If there isn’t imminent danger, have both of them describe the problem, describe each side back to them. Then tell them that it’s a difficult problem, but you’re sure that they will be able to find a solution. Then leave the room, telling them where you’ll be. They recommend never taking sides yourself, voting only as a very last resort, and not punishing. The last is to protect the other child, as a punished child will be out for revenge and see the sibling, as responsible for the punishment.

Of course, that chapter comes close to the end of a book, following on topics like avoiding comparisons and assigning roles. Every chapter includes a discussion of the topic, stories from group participants, cartoons for three different age levels illustrating the good and bad way to handle the problems, and summaries at the end of the chapter. Faber and Mazlish are experts on the topic, both as parents and as students of Haim Ginott, the eminent psychologist. Their techniques have been worked out in lots and lots of groups over the past couple of decades, but they still include a lengthy resource list at the back in case you want more. In spite of the title, they are reassuring in saying that rivalry will happen in the best of families. The techniques are invaluable for anyone who has to deal with multiple children, whether or not they are siblings. The book might even shed some light on your relationship with your adult siblings.

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Siblings Without Rivalry

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Katy K.

A friend with two kids recommended that I read sibling books before I needed them, as I wouldn’t have time afterwards. I’d heard this was good and had been recommending it, so I thought I should actually read it.

Siblings without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish As far as I can tell, the major conflict in siblings books is what to do when siblings fight: do you let them work it out themselves, try to solve their problems for them, or just punish all involved parties without trying to arbitrate? This classic book from the authors of How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk brings a nuanced yet simple-to-implement solution to this as well as many other classic sibling problems. The answer to the first question is first to see if anyone is getting hurt, physically or verbally. If they are, describe what you see, say that hurting is not allowed, and separate them to give them time to cool off. If there isn’t imminent danger, have both of them describe the problem, describe each side back to them. Then tell them that it’s a difficult problem, but you’re sure that they will be able to find a solution. Then leave the room, telling them where you’ll be. They recommend never taking sides yourself, voting only as a very last resort, and not punishing. The last is to protect the other child, as a punished child will be out for revenge and see the sibling, as responsible for the punishment.

Of course, that chapter comes close to the end of a book, following on topics like avoiding comparisons and assigning roles. Every chapter includes a discussion of the topic, stories from group participants, cartoons for three different age levels illustrating the good and bad way to handle the problems, and summaries at the end of the chapter. Faber and Mazlish are experts on the topic, both as parents and as students of Haim Ginott, the eminent psychologist. Their techniques have been worked out in lots and lots of groups over the past couple of decades, but they still include a lengthy resource list at the back in case you want more. In spite of the title, they are reassuring in saying that rivalry will happen in the best of families. The techniques are invaluable for anyone who has to deal with multiple children, whether or not they are siblings. The book might even shed some light on your relationship with your adult siblings.

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How I Live Now

Posted on November 13, 2007 by Katy K.

Here’s one that I started in my Dear Reader emails and then finished. The book was not at all what it seemed like it would be after reading the first 20 pages.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Narrated by Kim Mai Guest. Fifteen-year-old Daisy is only a little nervous when she leaves her pregnant stepmother in New York to stay with her aunt and cousins in the English countryside. She loves suddenly being part of a large family, and the old farm house with its animals. Then, her aunt leaves the country for a few days. England is attacked and the borders are sealed, leaving four teens and nine-year-old Piper alone in the big house. Somehow, Daisy falls in love with her younger cousin Edmond (fourteen), who seems to be able to read her thoughts. In spite of the ickiness factor, but aided by the war, they have a tender romance that gets only as explicit as “not chaste”. Then the children get discovered and separated, the oldest brother joining the military, Daisy and little Piper to one house, Edmond and his other brother to another, hours apart. As the war gets worse, Daisy knows that it’s up to her to reunite the only family she’s ever felt she belongs in. And as food gets scarcer, the eating disorder she brought over from New York, while never made a focus of the story, starts to look very different.

At the height of the book, Daisy and Piper are traveling secretly across England by foot, foraging for food, and trying to find Edmond, whom Daisy can still hear faintly in her mind. What started off looking like a loveable family drama turns quickly into a survival adventure, with quite explicit and gory violence. If you’re up for that, the story is compelling, with steady action and characters you really care about. The setting is close enough to reality to feel close to home, yet just removed enough to keep it from being a direct commentary on current events. The tangential treatment of an eating disorder worked a whole lot better for me than writing a whole book focused on Girl with Eating Problem. The narrator of the audio book sounds utterly believable as a young teen, making the horrors she experiences that much more vivid. This is a book that will have you inventing reasons to keep listening.

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Nourishing Traditions

Posted on November 12, 2007 by Katy K.

This one comes recommended by my doctor. Complicated enough to think about that I’ve been putting off this review for weeks. But, finally, here it is.


Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Our modern diets, both the typical bad American diet and the USDA food pyramid diet, constitute a major change from the way humans have eaten over thousands of years. According to author Fallon, the change is not for the better. The book draws heavily on the work of 1930s dentist Weston A. Price, who traveled all over the world looking at native peoples and their diets and finding correlations between the diets of those peoples who were strong, healthy and didn’t get cavities or other dental problems. (You can visit http://www.westonaprice.org for more information on him.) This book includes both his observations and lots and lots of more modern studies, leading to some startling conclusions.
Continue reading →

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Dealing with Dragons

Posted on November 11, 2007 by Katy K.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede This is an older, but definitely still good one. I listened to the audio, an early full cast production by Bruce Coville. In the story, Princess Cimorene’s parents want to marry her off, due to her unfortunate tendency to study fencing, Latin, cooking, and anything else anyone will teach her. She runs away and volunteers to be the princess for the dragon Kazul. Between fending off would-be rescuers and dealing with the other dragons’ princesses, she discovers a plot by some nasty wizards to take over the dragons’ country. You can’t help but like the opinionated Cimorene, who refuses to let anyone tell her what to do. And Wrede’s humorous riffs on fairy tale conventions make the story laugh-out loud funny. If you’re a fan of fairy tales or fantasy, whatever your age, don’t miss this book. The audio version suffers a little from over-enunciation and inconsistent sound quality, but overall, the characters are convincing and hearing all the different voices makes the story come alive.

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