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Library Politics
I don’t often get on a librarian soap-box, but here are a couple of nice links I found today:
Not About the Buildings is a grassroots campaign to save the branches of the Providence Public Library. You can support them by downloading songs from the Library Album, including “The Missing Arm of Viktor Krum” by Harry and the Potters.
See no evil? is an editorial in the Guardian about the dangers of internet filtering.
Castle Waiting
Did I mention that I like fairy tales? Particularly feminist fairy tales?
Castle Waiting by Linda Medley This graphic novel (recently available in a one-volume hardcover) starts by retelling the story of Sleeping Beauty. The young princess veers from the classic story, though, by leaving the castle with her prince as soon as she wakes up. The castle, with all its staff, is left without a ruler, waiting for her promised return. Over time, it becomes a refuge for those cast out from the rest of society, if they believe the legends and can find it. One such is a Lady Jain, pregnant and alone, who comes to Castle Waiting to bear her child. The castle is populated by a variety of interesting characters, including three now ancient ladies-in-waiting, a crane named Rackham, John Henry, and a horse-headed man called Sir Chess. The rambling story shifts its focus in the second half from Jain to a Solicitine nun, who shares her story and the history of her most unusual order. It’s funny and serious at the same time, and full of sly references to the characters of folk and fairy tales. The introduction by author Jane Yolen, hinting at the difference between truth and Truth, was a delightful addition.
The Yarn Girls’ Guide to Beyond the Basics
Yes, I am a little obsessed with knitting. No, I haven’t made a sweater yet myself. Not even a little one for Mr. FP.
The Yarn Girls’ Guide to Beyond the Basics by Julie Carles and Jordana Jacobs If you’re a knitter wanting to branch out a little from basic rectangles, but still wanting to keep things fairly simple, this is a good place to start. Well, depending one how much you’ve done, you might want to start with the first one, which has slightly simpler patterns. Both focus on basic sweaters knit in fairly large gauge, though there are a few hats, scarves and blankets as well. In this book, they include stripes, simple intarsia, cables and other stitch patterns, where in the first book, they are a bit simpler. They are mostly nice-looking patterns, ranging from the simple and basic to more modern in style. I say mostly, because while I liked many of them (and am really thinking about knitting the cabled “not your standard-issue sweatshirt, take two”), I personally would not want to wear a pea green sweater with an orange stripe up the middle. The Yarn Girls run New York City’s Yarn Company, and design patterns for a more fashion-conscious population. Anyway, the book is fun and the patterns nice enough to tempt a scarf knitter into the broader world of sweater knitting.
Chicks with Sticks part 1
Chicks with Sticks (It’s a Purl Thing) by Elizabeth Lenhard I was sucked in enough to go back and read the first one… where the second book was about the four knitting friends balancing their friendships while dealing with Boys, this first one was nearly equal parts creating the friendship and becoming addicted to knitting. It was still told from Scottie’s point of view, still addictive, girly fun. The knitting patterns in the back were also much easier – wish I could go from knitting a garter stitch scarf to knitting lace socks in the time it takes to finish two books!
Night Kitchen Radio Theater
Night Kitchen Radio Theater Volume 1: The Emperor’s New Clothes and Pinocchio Mr. FP has recently started recognizing and protesting adult books in the car. This was an effort to find shorter things that he might understand better. The Emperor’s New Clothes clearly mocked the current administration, which I found apt and hilarious. Pinocchio was told more straight and was, alas, less interesting to me. Both of these audio plays use a frame to tell the story, which made them still over the head of a two-year-old. They would probably work for five and up, and the hour-long stories seem perfect for short car trips or attention spans.
Scrambled Eggs at Midnight
Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler
Cal (short for Calliope) has been traveling with her mother for several years now. Her mother is a professional wench, traveling to Renaissance fairs across the country. Eliott’s father is a born-again Christian whose latest venture is running a “Jesus Wants You to Be Thin” camp. This smart and tender romance features two teens who aren’t buying their parents’ answers to life or love, as they move away from letting their parents define who they are.
Chicks with Sticks
Chicks with Sticks (Knit Two Together) by Elizabeth Lenhard Once again, I accidentally picked up the sequel first. Scottie, Tay, Amanda and Bella are four girls from different backgrounds who bonded over knitting in the first novel. Now they are the Chicks with Sticks, and have become trendsetters in their school. The book focuses mostly on Scottie, the Jewish girl, as she goes from fruitless crushes on almost any boy to her first kiss and the beginnings of a real relationship, and gets angsty about her favorite pastime becoming trendy rather than different. Tay, the tomboy, worries about becoming too entangled with her boyfriend. Bella, a biracial hippie girl, has decided to give up boys until college. Amanda worries that her boyfriends is in love with the idea of a rich and beautiful girlfriends (she’s both) rather than her. Through it all, the girls are sustained by knitting and their friendships. This teen novel is on the formulaic side, and hampered by the use of way too many internet abbreviations, even when they’re not on-line. I found myself guiltily enjoying it. If you like relationships and knitting, you probably will, too.
The Purple Balloon
Hopefully, no one but will ever have need for this book….
The Purple Balloon by Chris Raschka This brief but powerful picture book by Caldecott winner Raschka aims to help terminally ill children. The introductory note explains that when children who know they are dying are in art therapy, they universally draw pictures of a blue or purple balloon floating away. In this book, all the people are pictured as different-colored balloons. First, it talks about how sad it is when old people die, as an old green balloon slowly turns purple and floats away. The only thing sadder is young people dying. Dying is hard work, the book says, but “good help makes dying less hard.” A small balloon surrounded by others also turns purple and floats away.
