It's All about the Kids, 'bout the Kids

You know The Bush School Library has all kinds of resources for parents and teachers too, right? We have books and videos encouraging adults in their work of raising and educating children -- everything from Experience and Education, by John Dewey (who inspired Helen Bush) to Madeline Levine’s Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies,or “Fat Envelopes”.

We have Free Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had without Going Nuts with Worry, a book by the World’s Worst Mom. (Lenore Skenazy is not really a bad mother, but the online controversy when she let her child ride the subway alone? OMG.) We have that wonderful French documentary, Babies. Four babies from birth to walking, four countries, four very distinct parenting styles.

I’m thinking about this today because I was looking up Kylene Beers this morning. (Do you know her? No reason to if you are a parent. If you are a reading teacher, I highly recommend checking her out. We have her book, Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading. My friend, a second grade teacher in Los Angeles, has been singing her praises for a year now.) So, anyway, like I said, I was looking her up this morning and here were the first words I read:

. . . a couple of weeks ago, I came across the Meghan Trainor music video hit “All About That Bass.” To be honest, I found that song because of the brilliant riff by some high school kids titled “All About Those Books.”  That song sent me in search of the original.  Now, with both lyrics in mind, I find myself humming “It’s all about the bass/books” all the time. And those lyrics set my mind in motion: what is _____________ all about? No surprise, I fill in that blank with the word “education.” What is education all about? I answer that with it’s “all about the kids.” That’s it. It’s not about a test. Not a blue ribbon. Not racing to the top.  It is all about the kids. When we lose sight of that, well, we simply lose.

Wow. There is it. What is best for our kids? There are lots of answers to this. Here are some of mine: Clean air, clean water, good food. Shelter, love, confidence. Opportunity, trust, faith. How do the actions we take as parents, educators and taxpayers support our children? Not our pocketbooks, not our schools, not our egos . . . our children. We love them with tender voices and soft hands. We feed them with food, stories, ideas, choices. We shelter them with a clean environment and safe spaces. We let them take risks appropriate to their age; we let them fail and experience disappointment and give them comfort in our arms. We celebrate their successes. We accept them for themselves, this amazing gift that the universe has loaned us for a time.

Summer Reading Recap, Grown-Up Edition

Hey y'all!

It's summer! And what a glorious summer Seattle is having this year! Temperatures consistently in the 80s with a few 90+ days sprinkled in, day after day of sun. It has been one for the books... and I mean the record books.

But as long as we're talking about books, let me bend your ear about what I've been reading. People talk about "beach reads" and "chick lit" for the summer, and yeah, I read my share of what I call popcorn, but I also tend to reserve my dark and serious books for these bright days. Don't want to be reading depressing stuff when it's dark at 3:30 in the afternoon, oh no.

So what stands out for me in the grown-up fiction realm this summer? Number one is definitely An Untamed State, by Roxane Gay. Followers of this blog will remember that last May I was eagerly anticipating its publication. [Quick plot recap for those who need it, Mireille is a Miami woman kidnapped while visiting her parents in Haiti and held for 13 days before she is released.] The novel exceeded my expectations. It's harrowing and there are some scenes where I just had to pretend I didn’t know what was going on. It’s also authentic, hopeful and compassionate. Gay very skillfully writes about violence without titillation of any kind. I can imagine a person reading some of the torture scenes in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and, well, getting off a little. You know? It's hard to resist the push of our culture's misogyny and glorification of violence. I mean, look at Fifty Shades of Grey. But Gay does not allow that in her writing. Mireille has had a bad thing, a series of bad things, happen to her. They are done by men, and Gay's not giving the reader anything but the ugly truth about that. One Goodreads reviewer said that for her, “An Untamed State is about what a woman absorbs.” That’s succinct and true, just like Gay’s beautiful writing. Another theme that stands out in An Untamed State is the notion of before and after in a life. Mireille's imprisonment and recovery both are dark and hard. The after isn't necessarily her release from the kidnappers.

The second novel I loved this summer is The Possibilities, by Kaui Hart Hemmings, a thoughtful book of grief and resilience. Hemmings is probably better known as the writer of The Descendants, which was made into a George Clooney movie a few years back. Like her more famous book, The Possibilities is about relationships’ complexities. Here’s my Goodreads review: “You know how you know and love someone; you think you know them better than themselves maybe even? And you love them, deeply, warts and all? And then they do something surprising. Not out of character, because that suggests they're an actor. Just something that you didn't see coming. That's how this novel is. Hemmings has written a book about long-time friendship and love and family, and I thought I could see where it was going, but then she surprised me with moments so perfect, so unexpected -- the whole novel captures that essence of how complicated and multi-layered people are.”

Stay tuned for more mini-reviews of what we read this summer. Now back to the sunshine… where’s my book?

The Start of a New School Year

Wednesday was the first day of school here at The Bush School, and once again we took part in what is my favorite school ritual, convocation. The whole community -- students, faculty, staff, board trustees, parents and special friends -- gathers in the inner courtyard to welcome new families and mark the start of another year. It's so invigorating to see all the excited new faces, friends we haven't seen for months, and of course our new pupils, young and old, looking anxious and hopeful all at once.

School is such a big part of kids' lives and obviously it features in many, many stories. Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dead Poets Society, School of Rock, Matilda -- there are scores of movies and shows set in schools. I read a few delightful novels in the past few months with school tie-ins too.

Secrets of Truth and Beauty, by Megan Frazier, was one. It's a great story about an overweight girl coming to terms with her parents' limitations and her own beauty and strength. At 7, Dara is crowned Little Miss Maine; at 9 she discovers that she has a sister her parents have never mentioned; at 17, a misunderstood school project leads her to leave home and connect with her sister. She finds a well of anger she didn't know she had until now, as well as people able to see and appreciate the real Dara. This is appropriate for roughly 8th grade and up.

Other young adult titles with school settings that I've loved recently are Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell (whose Fangirl is due out next week and is set in another kind of school -- college); Cameron and the Girls, by Edward Averett; and Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver. E&P and Cameron are both about outsiders, while Before I Fall puts you right in the middle of a mean-girl, popular clique. All three books are also about finding one's way through some hard reality.

For younger readers, Almost Home, Caddy's World and Operation Yes are three school stories that caught my attention in the past few months. 

In Joan Bauer's Almost Home, Sugar Mae Cole will need all of the life lessons she's learned, from her mom Reba, from her grandfather, and from her sixth grade English teacher, to sort out her situation after she and her mom lose their home to foreclosure and end up with Sugar in foster care and Reba in a psychiatric hospital. With the help of the most adorable (and frightened) dog ever and some other caring adults, she does.

Caddy's World, by Hilary McKay, is a prequel to Saffy's Angel, and we meet the Casson family when Caddy is 12 and just learning that change (something she has had entirely too much of, thank you very much) can be good and that loving your friends and family requires courage. Luckily Caddy is bravest of the brave.

Set in an aging school near a military base, Sara Lewis Holmes's Operation Yes is populated by a group of folks not often in kids' fiction. Bo's dad is an Air Force colonel, his cousin's mom is in the Reserve and stationed in Iraq. The dangers these families face is clear but only occasionally front and center. 6th grade, new teacher -- Bo hopes he can stay out of trouble and at first it looks like he will. Miss Loupe teaches them improv theater techniques along with the curriculum and Bo is her most enthusiastic student. That is until his cousin comes to stay and then he finds out is dad is likely to be transferred again. What's the use in trying, if he has to leave anyway?

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? As long as we are all back at school, pick up a school story just for fun.

I am very pleased

Did you know that Ian Fleming of James Bond fame wrote a children's book? He did! In 1964 for his son, Caspar. In 1968, it was adapted (with a screenplay by Roald Dahl) into a musical starring Dick Van Dyke.

Ian Fleming's book had an inventor and his family, a car with a mind of its own, bad guys (of course) and a recipe for fabulous fudge. Our family read it aloud on a car trip to southern California and loved every minute! I'm not a huge fan of the movie, but Dick Van Dyke is always funny and the car is amazing so there's much to enjoy. Both are worth seeking out . . . especially in light of what comes next in the story.

In 2011, you may have heard a giant squeal of excitement as news broke that the Ian Fleming family had commissioned Frank Cottrell Boyce to write three sequels to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

Be still my heart! Cottrell Boyce, who wrote Millions and Framed, charming books which have also been made into very good movies, was asked to take Chitty into the 21st century! What's not to love?

Well, it's probably been 25 years since I read Fleming's novel, but today when I picked up Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, the first of the sequels, I was transported. It's true that instead of the Potts family, we have the Tootings -- calm, resourceful mom, cheerful dad, wannabe nihilist 15-year-old, practical younger brother, and Little Harry, a very observant toddler -- and these are people I could recognize as worthy of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Here's the 15-year-old: "'I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay in my room now that I've finally got it the way I like it.' Lucy had got rid of all the ornaments and dancing certificates from her room, painted the walls and her bookcase black. Dyed her duvet. And her pillowslip."

It's the "and her pillowslip" that assured me Cottrell Boyce got the tone just right -- dry humor, great characters and crazy adventures all bring Chitty back to life, with a perfect cliff hanger of an ending. Any of the titles I've mentioned here are appropriate (and will be enjoyed by) kids from 7 on up. The books would be appealing family read-alouds, aimed as they are at boys and girls of all ages. Oh, and did I mention it's illustrated? I just love it when publishers illustrate children's books!

All you need is love

Do you know the Casson family? Bill and Eve, the artists? Four kids? Kind of a chaotic household in the English countryside?

You don't? Well, we have to remedy that right away! Let me introduce you to Bill Casson, living and creating in London. He's loving and generous (when he remembers to be) and very protective of his art. Here's his wife Eve, raising their four children and working, when she can, in her own painting studio at the end of the garden.

Eve is brilliant at color, even Bill acknowledges that, and she has named her children for paint colors from the big chart on the kitchen wall: Cadmium Gold, Indigo, and Permanent Rose. Astute readers will notice that there are only three names, when didn't I say they have four kids? Ah yes. Saffron. Eve didn't get to name Saffron, but her name was added to the chart later. . . and there begins the tale.

If you like stories about affectionate and messy families where the children have all kinds of adventures while the parents stay out of the way until needed, you will love Hilary McKay's Casson family series:

• Saffy's Angel
• Indigo's Star
• Permanent Rose
• Caddy Ever After
• Forever Rose

and newest of the bunch, but set before Saffy's Angel -- Caddy's World, in which we first meet Rose, and Caddy learns that friendship and family require great bravery.