Last Saturday was the anniversary of Tasha Tudor’s birth, and there was a celebration with links at the blog Storybook Woods. Ms. Tudor was a flawed but lovely author and artist, and it’s fun to see how different families and individuals celebrate her life and work each year.

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We’ve been watching a lot of the television show Numb3rs here at Semicolon home, and I’ve managed to watch the first two seasons, most of the episodes at least twice. That’s what happens when you have eight children, six of them grown up enough to watch a sometimes violent FBI drama, and each of them with different schedules. I’ve watched some episodes with Karate Kid(13) and Artiste Daughter(20), and others with Brown Bear Daughter(15) or with Drama Daughter(19). I actually downloaded the first season of Numb3rs to share with Engineer Husband because I thought he’d like the math aspect of the show. However, Engineer Husband doesn’t sit still for TV much, and I can’t say he’s actually watched an entire episode through. We make a good pair, EH and I: he’s mathematical, scientific, and compulsively busy while I’m bookish, literary, and congenitally indolent. (I looked up that synonym in my thesaurus; it sounds so much better than “lazy.”)

Anyway, back to Numb3rs, the plot and the characterizations both sometimes get stretched a little thin, but what keeps me coming back is the family dynamics. Two brothers, one an FBI agent and one a gifted mathematician, work together to solve crimes, sometimes using the mathematical skills of the younger brother Charlie, but also depending on the strength, intelligence, and common sense of the older brother, Don. The brothers obviously care for one another deeply, but there is also baggage, as there is in all families. Charlie’s status and needs as a child prodigy made Don the somewhat neglected older (normal) brother, and yet Charlie admires and wants to impress his older brother, too. There’s a dad, played quite capably by actor Judd Hirsch. And Charlie’s friend Larry, a physics professor, has the best lines in the show. all about the cosmos and relationships compared to black holes and metaphysical speculations on the meaning of life and mathematics. I just started season three, and so far so good.

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I’ve been reading about Pilgrims and Puritans (The Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, an adapted version for young people and various other books, mostly kidlit). I’ve learned a few things I didn’t really know before:

Half of the Pilgrims died before and during their first winter in Massachusetts, from 102 down to 51.

Many of the local Indians became Christians largely through the work of missionary John Eliot. They were called Praying Indians.

The colony at Plymouth eventually failed. The colony at Massachusetts Bay became the center of New England life, later Boston. The land around Plymouth wasn’t that good, and the harbor there was also poor, so descendants of the original settlers moved away to find better lands and better trading opportunities.

King Phillip’s War was a nasty, bloody mess on both sides of the native/European divide.

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Go here to look at some amazing photographs from Tsarist Russia, taken in color circa 1910. I have a tendency to think that people lived in black and white that long ago whereas the beautiful colors of God’s world existed then, too. Look and see if you don’t have to keep reminding yourself that the photographs are of real people from the early twentieth century, not actors dressed up as Russian peasants.
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Thanks to Bill at Thinklings for the link to this brief 30 minute BBC film, first broadcast in 1968, about Tolkien and Middle Earth. Seeing the beginning of the film made Z-baby bring me our annotated copy of The Hobbit and ask me to start at the beginning and read. I read about two pages and put her to sleep. The film itself consists mostly of Tolkien and some of his fans and detractors talking about LOTR and its merits and demerits. There are also links in the sidebar to other BBC author interviews, including ones with P.G. Wodehouse, Daphne duMaurier, and Somerset Maugham. Maugham talks with Malcolm Muggeridge about Maugham’s list of his top ten novels, as published in his book Somerset Maugham and the Greatest Novels.

Maugham’s List (not in order):
1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
2. The Red and the Black by Stendahl.
3. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky.
4. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding.
5. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
6. David Copperfield by Charles DIckens.
7. War and Peace by Tolstoy.
8. Old Man Goriot by Honore de Balzac.
9. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

I’ve read eight of the ten novels on Maugham’s list, but not Fielding nor Stendahl. I’ve always thought Tom Jones would not be my sort of humor, and I never really knew what The Red and the Black was all about. What do you think are the top ten novels of all time in terms of classic staying power?

“Reduced to its simplest and most essential form, the poem is a song. Song is neither discourse nor explanation.”~Octavio Paz

O young Lochinvar is come out of the west,
Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;
And save his good broadsword he weapons had none,
He rode all unarm’d, and he rode all alone.
So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.
He staid not for brake, and he stopp’d not for stone,
He swam the Eske river where ford there was none;
But ere he alighted at Netherby gate,
The bride had consented, the gallant came late:
For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,
Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.

So boldly he enter’d the Netherby Hall,
Among bride’s-men, and kinsmen, and brothers and all:
Then spoke the bride’s father, his hand on his sword,
(For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word,)
“O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,
Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?”

“I long woo’d your daughter, my suit you denied; —
Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide —
And now I am come, with this lost love of mine,
To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.
There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,
That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.”

The bride kiss’d the goblet: the knight took it up,
He quaff’d off the wine, and he threw down the cup.
She look’d down to blush, and she look’d up to sigh,
With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye.
He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar, —
“Now tread we a measure!” said young Lochinvar.

So stately his form, and so lovely her face,
That never a hall such a gailiard did grace;
While her mother did fret, and her father did fume
And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;
And the bride-maidens whisper’d, “’twere better by far
To have match’d our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.”

One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,
When they reach’d the hall-door, and the charger stood near;
So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung,
So light to the saddle before her he sprung!
“She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur;
They’ll have fleet steeds that follow,” quoth young Lochinvar.

There was mounting ‘mong Graemes of the Netherby clan;
Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran:
There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,
But the lost bride of Netherby ne’er did they see.
So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,
Have ye e’er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?

This poem is actually an excerpt from Scott’s longer poem Marmion. Lochinvar is an actual place, a reservoir in southern Scotland. There was a silent movie made in 1923 in the UK (starring no one I ever heard of) based on Young Lochinvar. I rather think the story might require a lot of padding to make a full length movie, but maybe silent movie era films were shorter than those of today.

I just finished reading this YA historical romance about a fictional lady in the court of Queen Elizabeth I who ends up being banished to Sir Walter Raleigh’s doomed colony on Roanoke Island, and today we read about the Roanoke Colony in our history book (Hakim’s History of the U.S, which I am finding to be quite readable and informative, by the way). I was planning a post in my mind about Cate of the Lost Colony and intending to incorporate some suggested fiction and nonfiction titles concerning the mystery of what happened to the Roanoke settlers.

And, lo and behold, Margo at The Fourth Musketeer has already written my post and done it better than I could have written it anyway. Don’t you just love/hate it when that happens? I agree with just about everything she says. It was a great book. It’s got better romance and better adventure than Twilight. (No vampires were imagined in the writing of this book, an advantage as far as I’m concerned. I think we reached the vampire saturation point in YA literature approximately October 31, 2008.)

The Native American characters and cultural aspects of the story are handled with respect, and the character Manteo, Roanoke’s native leader, is a fully realized character and an attractive man. Sir Walter Ralegh is also a character in the book, and I must say he comes across just about the way I imagine he would have in real life. I have a much better feel for the history of the time period (late 1500′s) after having read this book.

And Margo suggests lots of books I have heard of and others I have not. Did you know that the third book in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Missing series, Sabotaged, has a major character who is a missing child from the Roanoke Colony? I’ve only read the first book in that series, and I need to get on the stick and read the rest.

I first read about the lost colony of Roanoke when I checked out Virginia Dare, Mystery Girl by Augusta Stevenson (Childhood of Famous Americans) from the library when I was about ten years old. I loved that book although (maybe “because”) it was fiction pretending to be biography. Virginia Dare was the first European baby to be born on North American soil (as far as we know), and no one knows for sure what happened to her and to the rest of the Roanoke colonists. And I think that’s fascinating.

I read an ARC of Cate of the Lost Colony. The actual book is due out on October 12, 2010.

Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, whose historical fiction book I, Juan de Pareja, won the Newbery Medal in 1966, was born on this date in 1904 in Bakersfield, California. She died at the age of 97 on December 2, 2001.

Ms. Borton de Trevino was not Hispanic, but she married a Mexican man and moved with him to his home, Monterrey, Mexico, then to Mexico City, and finally to Cuernavaca. The couple had two sons, and one of the sons, Luis, inspired his mother to write I, Juan de Pareja by telling her the story of the slave of a seventeenth century Spanish artist.

I, Juan de Pareja tells the fictionalized story of Spanish painter Diego Velasquez and his slave and protege, Juanico. Juan posed for one of Velasquez’s most famous paintings, and Velasquez taught Juan to paint even though it was against the law for a slave to learn a profession in seventeenth century Spain. The story itself moves rather slowly and covers a great many years in the life of Velasquez and Juan de Pareja. As the relationship between the two men grows, Velasquez comes to see Juan de Pareja as a friend and an equal instead of a lowly and inferior slave.

Review clips:
Shelley at Book Clutter: “While this was an interesting and somewhat educational children’s novel, I certainly didn’t find it to be a page-turner. I had a hard time imagining a child finding it at all engaging, and thought it was peculiar that the main character is an adult for a very large portion of the book.”

One Librarian’s Book Reviews: “I thought this story was beautiful and terrible. It showed the kinds of extremes slaves felt (at least in Spain) experiencing sometimes the good and sometimes the horrible.”

Sandy at The Newbery Project: “Although I like historical fiction, I’m afraid I was often bored by Juan de Pareja’s narrative, and I frequently wondered just how probable the story was.”

Linda at The Newbery Project: “The writing in this book flowed flawlessly so it was pleasant to read, and it took me only a few days to get through it. That’s fast, as I’m normally a slow reader who gets through one chapter per night if I’m lucky. But I, Juan de Pareja fascinated me and at times I couldn’t put it down despite being tired.”

There you have it–a fine example of mixed reviews. This book might very well be a hard sell for the TV generation, but for that very reason, I considered it a valuable part of our curriculum last year when we were studying Renaissance history. However, I read the book aloud to my children because I knew that they would complain about the slow pace if I required them to read it to themselves. Juanico is a sympathetic character, and the story of how he became a painter and a friend and encourager to the great Velasquez is worth the time and effort, especially for those interested in art and the history of art. Of course, when reading the book it is recommended that you look online to find and view some of the paintings mentioned in the story.

Elizabeth Borton de Trevino wrote three volumes of autobiographical memoir: My Heart Lies South: The Story of my Mexican Marriage, Where the Heart Is, and The Hearthstone of My Heart. I’d like to add at least the first of these to my TBR list. It seems an especially appropriate selection for September, Hispanic Heritage Month.

Elizabeth Borton de Trevino on her family’s reading of Kristin Lavransdattir by Sigrid Undset (good book, by the way):

I got hold of the book first. I sat in a corner with that novel and could not do anything but wash and dress mechnically, eat what was put in my hand, sleep reluctantly, and read, for two weeks. Next, my sister seized the book and she was tended, as I had been, and relieved of every household task and duty until, sighing, she turned the last page. Then my mother said, “All right, girls, take over. It’s my turn.” And she never moved or spoke to a soul until she had finished it. My father did not care. He was rereading, for the tenth enchanted time, the African journals of Frederick Courteney Selous, the great English hunter, and while we were in medieval Norway, he had been far away in darkest Africa, with all the wild forest around him. That is the kind of family we were.

Thanks to Peter Sieruta at Collecting Children’s Books for the quotation.

Jim Arnosky was the first writer of nature books for children that I fell in love with. Oh, I’ve gone on to enjoy others–Joanna Cole, Ruth Heller, Nic Bishop, Gail Gibbons, Anne Rockwell, Jerry Pallotta—but Mr. Arnosky was the first to catch my attention back in my elementary school librarian days. Such fine detailed pencil and pen and ink drawings! And then, in other books, beautiful, realistic paintings that look as if you could reach out and touch the animals depicted! Arnosky includes just enough information for primary age and even beginning middle school naturalists without overwhelming the newbie with too many textual details. The illustrations, however, are full of fascinating detail. If I want to introduce a certain animals or class of animals to my children, I’ll look for a book by Arnosky first (then one by Gail GIbbons, a topic for another day).

Arnosky has several series of books:
Crinkleroot’s Guides include Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Animal Tracking, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Walking in Wild Places, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Trees, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Birds, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths, and Crinkleroot’s Nature Almanac. Crinkleroot is a little dwarvish man with a long white beard who guides the reader through the wonders and experiences of various aspects of nature, particularly in the forest. Crinkleroot, the nature guide, first appeared in a 1988 title called I Was Born in a Tree and Raised by Bees, a title that I assume encapsulates Mr. Crinkleroot’s autobiography, even though I’ve never seen the book.

Then there are the All About books: All About Frogs, All About Lizards, All About Manatees, All About Alligators, All About Turtles, All About Sharks, etc. I count ten books in this series so far. The books are picture book length, 32 pages, and the text is appropriately preschool/primary level. The series is published by Scholastic and available in both hard cover and paperback although some of the books are out of print.

Another series is called Jim Arnosky’s Nature Notebooks, and it includes the books Shore Walker, Animal Tracker, and Bug Hunter. These are how-to books telling kids how to observe, sketch, and write about wildlife. Like a lot of other Arnosky books, these are as much about the artwork as they are about natural science. If you have a budding young naturalist with a gift for or interest in drawing what he sees, these are the books to encourage that bent. Actually, even “ungifted” children can benefit from keeping a nature journal and at least trying to sketch what they see.

Mr. Arnosky also has a series of “Video Visits,” VHS and DVD adventures in nature with Mr. Arnosky as the host.

Mr. Arnosky’s single titles are just as lovely and evocative as the series books. I especially like Crinkleroot’s 25 Mammals Every Child Should Know and Sketching Outdoors in All Seasons. The titles are self-explanatory.

In visiting Jim Arnosky’s website I found some wonderful resources. First of all you can buy Crinkleroot’s Nature Library on 2 CD’s, all of the Crinkleroot books for $95.00 plus coloring pages for 100 animals every child should know. But if you don’t have the money, you can get the boks at the library (probably) and print the coloring pages straight from the website for free. Wouldn’t the coloring pages make a lovely preschool nature curriculum? Color and read about one animal a day. Then, take a trip out into the wild or to the zoo to see how many of the animals you could see for yourself.

Mr. Arnosky also writes songs, sings and plays the guitar. I haven’t heard any of his songs, but the titles sound like fun: Manatee Morning, Rattlesnake Dance, and Big Jim and the White Legged Moose, for examples.

You can read more about Jim Arnosky, author, artist, and naturalist, in his book Whole Days Outdoors. Jim Arnosky has written and illustrated more than 90 books for children. He lives with his family on a farm in Vermont, and he’s celebrating his 64th birthday today (b.1946).

Author Fiesta: Jim Arnosky. Blogger Cay GIbson gives lots o flinks and ideas for a month-long celebration of Mr. Arnosky and his work.

Animal Tracks Unit Study.

Jim Arnosky’s WIldlife Journal website, in case you didn’t click on one of the links above.

Mr. Arnoskys new book, Man Gave names to all the Animals (from the song by Bob Dylan) is due out September 7, 2010. Has anyone seen a copy? It sounds like something we will all enjoy.

These are the chestnut psalms. Everyone knows at least a little of Psalm 23, and most people have heard or memorized phrases from Psalm 24.

Many of you have probably heard this musical version of the psalm, too, but I hadn’t. Karate Kid shared it with me. It’s by John Foreman of the group Switchfoot.

1The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
2For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
3Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

And here’s a Messianic Jewish version of Psalm 24:

What I Learned: God’s Word is forever the same, and yet it can be interpreted and re-interpreted for a new generation and in many cultural genres. And still in any place and in any time, from everlasting to everlasting, He is the Shepherd, and He is the King of Glory.

In Suite Scarlett, Scarlett’s family not only name their children for actors and movie characters, but they also own a dilapidated hotel in NYC. However, the hotel’s about to go bust, and Scarlett’s brother, Spencer, can’t get a handle on his acting career. Fluffy, sometimes witty, slightly unbelievable.

The good stuff: snappy dialog, believable and endearing sibling relationships, living in an old hotel in NYC, brother who wants to become an actor, an off-beat production of Hamlet, eccentric Auntie Mame-type fairy godmother character.

The not-as-good stuff: uninteresting, stereotypical love interest, plot drag halfway through, obligatory minor gay references (very minor), a few unbelievable incidents and developments. What kind of hotel functions at all with essentially no staff and continues serving food with no one who can cook on the premises?

Scarlett Fever, the sequel, is more of the same. If you liked the first one, you’ll enjoy the follow-up. Scarlett’s family is still endearing. Mrs. Amberson, the eccentric Mame character, becomes Scarlett’s employer in the first book, and Mrs. A and Scarlett get into more trouble in the second. Spencer’s acting career takes off, but as the villain in a popular detective show, Spencer gets a lot of the wrong kind of attention from fans. Scarlett’s older sister Lola must decide what to do about her rich ex-boyfriend and his snooty family. And Scarlett can’t stop thinking about her summer romance even though he’s unreliable and uncommitted.

If you don’t mind a lot of romance for 15 year old Scarlett, dating and chasing boys, these two novels are good, light chicklit for teens. If your teens would rather pursue more lofty goals, or if parents would rather de-emphasize the teen romance, steer them toward something else. I’d let 15 year old Brown Bear Daughter read these if she wanted, after I warned her that Scarlett was a fictional character not a role model. I want Brown Bear Daughter to hold off on the romantic entanglements for a while, if at all possible.

Adult and Young Adult Fiction:
Shanghai GIrls by Lisa See. Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted (Chinese) sisters. Semicolon review here.

The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris. Love and loss in war-torn Sierra Leone. Semicolon review here.

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card. Columbus gets a second chance to do right by the native Americans he meets on his historic voyage. Semicolon review here.

Hush by Eishes Chayil. ARC of a YA book that’s due out in September. I’ll have the review posted when the book actually comes out, but suffice it to say that the novel takes a powerful and thought-provoking look at abusive relationships within a closed and secretive religious community. Very well done.

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. Scarlett’s family not only name their children for actors and movie characters, but they also own a dilapidated hotel in NYC. However, the hotel’s about to go bust, and Scarlett’s brother, Spencer, can’t get a handle on his acting career. Fluffy, sometimes witty, slightly unbelievable.

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson. More hotel hijinks with Scarlett and family.

Children’s Fiction:
Blood on the RIver: Jamestown 1607 by Elisa Carbone. Karate Kid read this one for school, and then he said he wanted to re-read it. I suppose that’s a recommendation on his part. I thought it was adequate, a good portrayal of the Jamestown experiment and of Captain John Smith.

Nonfiction:
Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schulz by Beverly Gherman. Semicolon review here.

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder. Having survived civil war and genocide, Deo Gratias arrives in the U.S., psychologically traumatized and physically destitute. The book tells Deo’s story: how he made a life for himself in the U.S. and how he returned to Burundi to help his people begin to rebuild.

The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World by Nathaniel Philbrick. Fair and compelling, the book will probably offend both Pilgrim fans and Native American advocates. What more could one ask from a retelling of a highly controversial story?

“Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.”~Mickey Spillane

If you’re not familiar with and linking to and perusing the Saturday Review of Books here at Semicolon, you’re missing out. Here’s how it usually works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime during the previous week of a book you were reading or a book you’ve read. The review doesn’t have to be a formal sort of thing. You can just write your thoughts on a particular book, a few ideas inspired by reading the book, your evaluation, quotations, whatever.

Then on Saturday, you post a link here at Semicolon in Mr. Linky to the specific post where you’ve written your book review. Don’t link to your main blog page because this kind of link makes it hard to find the book review, especially when people drop in later after you’ve added new content to your blog. In parentheses after your name, add the title of the book you’re reviewing. This addition will help people to find the reviews they’re most interested in reading.

After linking to your own reviews, you can spend as long as you want reading the reviews of other bloggers for the week and adding to your wishlist of books to read. That’s how my own TBR list has become completely unmanageable and the reason I can’t join any reading challenges. I have my own personal challenge that never ends.

How to make a Bird Bolas

A “Bird Bolas” is a hunting apparatus used by many tribes of Indians a long time ago. They were used to, as you might expect, catch and kill birds. They accomplished this by twirling the Bolas around their head in a circle, then letting go at the right time to make them fly into a group of birds and knock them to the ground.

In order to make this ancient weapon, you will need five or six stones about the size of large marbles. In addition you will need five or six leather squares with dimensions of 6 inches on each side, as well as five or six four foot lengths of strong nylon string that won’t break easily. There are alternative materials, since leather is sometimes expensive or hard to find. An old t-shirt would work if you cut the squares from it; however with the string there really is no alternative. The string needs to be strong and light. You don’t have to use stones; you can use marbles. Really you can use anything hard that will fit in the fabric you are using. Actually, the Eskimos used Ivory from the tusks of Walruses.

To begin construction of the Bird Bolas, take one of the stones and place it in the center of one of the squares of leather. Take up the corners of the square and pull them together above the stone. Now start to twist the corners together as to keep to rock from falling out.  While still holding the corners, tie one end of one of the strings around the corners a couple times. This is our first bola! To test it, give it a few hard swings around your head. Then check to see if the knot has loosened or if the rock has come out. Do the same with the other five stones, and you are almost done!

To finish up, you are going to take the untied ends of the strings and tie them all together with a strong square knot. If you wish to make this an Indian Bolas, you can attach feathers. Now when you throw this into a flock of birds, the stones will either wrap around one of the birds or knock it right out of the air. If you have good aim you are almost guaranteed 3 or four birds. Now, obviously you are not going to be able to just go out and kill birds. You will need to find a place where it is legal and where there are not many people.

I would like to give you some more information about this Bolas. The Indians were not the only ones who used these; the Chinese used them, as did the Eskimos! In fact, not only humans use these weapons! There is a type of spider called a Bolas Spider. It uses this weapon made from sticky web to catch their prey. This small spider was smart enough that, from its creation, it was using this weapon, which probably took us years to conceive.

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