Archive | November 2009

Hymn of the Week: When Morning Gilds the Skies

Nov24

Lyrics: Anonymous German hymn (Katholisches Gesangbuch), 1744. Translated to English by Edward Caswell.

Music: LAUDES DOMINI by Joseph Barnby, 1868.

Theme: They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening. I Chronicles 23:30.

Edward Caswell graduated from Oxford University and became an Anglican priest in 1839, but he later “crossed the TIber” and became a Roman Catholic priest. He was an avid translator of ancient hymns, and in addition to this one he also gave us the English version of Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee. His translation of When Morning Gilds the Skies originally had 28 verses.

Joseph Barnby was a conductor, a composer, and an organist. He composed the tune to this hymn especially for Caswell’s lyrics.

Lifespring Hymn Stories: When Morning Gilds the Skies.

When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When you begin the day, O never fail to say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
And at your work rejoice, to sing with heart and voice,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Whene’er the sweet church bell peals over hill and dell,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
O hark to what it sings, as joyously it rings,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

My tongue shall never tire of chanting with the choir,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
This song of sacred joy, it never seems to cloy,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

To God, the Word, on high, the host of angels cry,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals, too, upraise their voice in hymns of praise,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this at meals your grace, in every time and place;
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this, when day is past, of all your thoughts the last
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When mirth for music longs, this is my song of songs:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evening shadows fall, this rings my curfew call,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When sleep her balm denies, my silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evil thoughts molest, with this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

The night becomes as day when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

No lovelier antiphon in all high Heav’n is known
Than, Jesus Christ be praised!
There to the eternal Word the eternal psalm is heard:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Let all the earth around ring joyous with the sound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
In Heaven’s eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Sing, suns and stars of space, sing, ye that see His face,
Sing, Jesus Christ be praised!
God’s whole creation o’er, for aye and evermore
Shall Jesus Christ be praised!

In Heav’n’s eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let earth, and sea and sky from depth to height reply,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sing this eternal song through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

LOST Anyone?

Nov23

“ABC finally announced that the sixth and final season of Lost will debut on Feb. 2, 2010, starting with a one-hour recap special at 8 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the two-hour season premiere at 9.

Lost will then air in its regular time period, Tuesdays at 9, beginning the following week, on Feb. 9.”

So does anyone still remember those poor lost souls on Nameless Island? Did they all blow up in a nuclear holocaust? Did Juliet save the island or destroy it? Will Jack and Kate get together? Stay together for more than ten minutes? Will Sawyer reform? Who comes back to life and who stays dead for good?

How many of you will be watching in February to find out?

Free Audiobook

Nov23

From now through Thanksgiving Day, Audible.com is giving away one FREE audiobook (no credit card required). This event ends November 26, 2009, at 11:59 PM.

I downloaded Alice in Wonderland for Z-baby; I’m planning to burn it to a CD and add it to her Christmas present. Scroll down about three posts for more audiobook giving suggestions.

To get your free audiobook, try this link and let me know if it works.

William S. and the Great Escape by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Nov22

Zilpha Keatley Snyder is still writing books? I remember reading The Velvet Room, The Egypt Game, and The Headless Cupid when I was a kid of a girl, and despite my youtful appearance and attitude, that was a long time ago. So, I looked at Ms. Snyder’s website to see how old she was and found there this note from the author herself:

As any reader of my books knows, some of them have been around a long time. As a matter of fact, so have I. Actually I’m quite a bit past retirement age. But for several reasons I keep on writing. The first and most important is that I like doing it. I just feel better when I’m involved with a set of characters whose lives I’m trying to unravel and turn into stories because . . .? well, because stories are things that have fascinated me since I was a very young child when, I am told, I wept bitterly when my mother’s nightly reading brought us to the end of a given book. (Heidi, Peter Pan, whatever) Not because it was a sad ending, but because it was done. The story was over.
So I keep on writing.

Isn’t that a delightful explanation from an octogenarian (b.1927)?

Well, all I can say is, more power to her. She hasn’t lost a beat. William S. and the Great Escape is a great story about an abused child during the Great Depression (1938) who loves Shakepeare and acting. In fact, William inserts the “S” in his name to emulate his favorite author, William Shakespeare. And he carries around a copy of Shakespeare’s Complete Works, given to him by his English teacher, everywhere he goes. And he acts out the part of Ariel from The Tempest to amuse his little brother and sister. Just great stuff.

Think The Boxcar Children. Or Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. Maybe a touch of Ballet Shoes or some such similar siblings-helping-each-other kind of book. William S. and his younger sisters, Jancy and Trixie, and the youngest of all of them, four year old Buddy, decide to run away from home because things have become unbearable. The last straw is when the children’s older siblings do something really horrible to Jancy’s pet guinea pig. Can the the children travel over a hundred miles to their aunt’s house without getting caught? What will happen to them when they get there? Will their dad, Big Ed Baggett, come after them? Will their aunt let them stay if they do make it to her house?

I highly recommend this book. The abuse, consisting mostly of beatings and neglect, is bad, but not too graphically described for an audience of children. And the courage and determination displayed by the children plus the fact that the adults in the story do finally come to the rescue make this an inspiring read.

Saturday Review of Books: November 21, 2009

Nov20

“Desultory reading is delightful, but to be beneficial, our reading must be carefully directed..”~Seneca

The question, of course, is directed by whom or by what plan? How is your reading directed?

Welcome to this week’s Saturday Review of Books.

Here’s how it usually works. Find a review on your blog posted sometime this week of a book you’re 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.

Now post a link here 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.

Thanks to everyone for participating.

1. Homespun Light (Mr. Darcy Broke my Heart)
2. Page Turner (How the Heather Looks)
3. Page Turner (My Father’s Dragon, etc.)
4. @Joyful (The Silent Gift)
5. WordLily (Skid)
6. The Wet Nurse’s Tale (Age 30 …A Lifetime of Books)
7. DebD
8. SuziQoregon (Sweetheart)
9. Framed (This House of Sky)
10. SuziQoregon (Hold Tight)
11. Across the Page (Stardust)
12. Framed (The NY Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance)
13. Page Turner (The Reluctant Widow)
14. Reading to Know (Sylvan Dell books)
15. Reading to Know (Tiger Tale books)
16. 5M4B (The Inklings of Oxford)
17. 5M4B (Rainwater)
18. 5M4B (Things Worth Remembering)
19. 5M4B (My Prison, My Home)
20. 5M4B (Outwitting History)
21. 5M4B (Mother Daze)
22. 5M4B (Fairy Tales)
23. Benjie (A Christmas Carol, Special edition)
24. Seth H. (The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care)
25. Seth H. (Letter to a Christian Nation)
26. Petunia (The Diving Bell & the Butterfly)
27. Fate (The Adventures of Blue Avenger)
28. Beth (Look to the East)
29. gautami tripathy (Cleopatra’s Daughter)		 30. gautami tripathy (The Dead Room)
31. gautami tripathy (The Imposter’s Daughter)
32. gautami tripathy (One Foot in the Black)
33. gautami tripathy (Tender Triumph)
34. FleurFisher (The Housekeeper and The Professor)
35. FleurFisher (A Man in the Zoo)
36. FleurFisher (The Frozen Deep)
37. FleurFisher (Stone’s Fall)
38. Lazygal (Finding My Place)
39. Lazygal (The Chosen One)
40. Lazygal (Witch and Wizard)
41. Lazygal (The Book of Samuel)
42. Deanna/ibeeeg (When You Went Away)
43. Nicola (Swallow Me Whole)
44. Nicola (Yokaiden Vol. 1)
45. Nicola (High on Arrival)
46. Nicola (Another Faust)
47. Nicola (Cat Burglar Black)
48. Nicola (Adventures in Cartooning)
49. Nicola (Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones)
50. Nicola (The 3-2-3 Detective Agency: The Disappearance of Dave Warthog)
51. Nicola (Bang Goes a Troll)
52. The Elsewhere Chronicles Book 1: The Shadow Door
53. Nicola (Constance and the Great Escape)
54. jama’s alphabet soup (The Sleepy Little Alphabet)
55. SmallWorld Reads (Chocolat)
56. S. Mehrens, Library Hospital (Rainbow Valley)
57. Shonda
58. Shonda		 59. Mindy Withrow (The Good Apprentice by Iris Murdoch)
60. S. Krishna (I’ll Scream Later)
61. S. Krishna (Commencement)
62. S. Krishna (What the Dog Saw)
63. S. Krishna (The Magicians)
64. S. Krishna (The Magicians)
65. S. Krishna (The Secret of Joy)
66. S. Krishna (Valeria’s Last Stand)
67. S. Krishna (The Maze Runner)
68. Brandon (Eastern Philosophy)
69. Jennifer, Snapshot (Margaret P. Haddix YA)
70. Civil Thoughts (A Scandalous Freedom)
71. Nikki (Family Driven Faith)
72. Jennifer (Spells)
73. Jolanthe {Dawn’s Prelude}
74. The Picky Apple (What To Eat by Marion Nestle
75. Vasilly (The Creative Habit)
76. Diary of an Eccentric (The Hierophant of 100th Street)
77. Amber (Children of Dust)
78. Debbie Rodgers (Latitudes of Melt)
79. pussrebots (Frozen Tears)
80. pussrebots (Arrowsmith)
81. pussreboots (Resonance)
82. pussreboots (The Bungalow Mystery)
83. Mama Does Time (Mark)
84. Darla D (In Defense of Food)
85. Darla D (The Forest of Hands and Teeth)
86. Darla D (Rapture of the Deep)
87. melydia (Catherine, Called Birdy)

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Giving Books: Audiobooks Are Books, Too

Nov20

Bill at Thinklings spotlighted this new production from Focus on the Family Radio Theater:

You can purchase The Screwtape Letters (audiobook dramatized performance)here or here. I’ve definitely got this one on my list for someone who shall remain nameless. (If you’re on my giving list, and you want it, you’d better get your request in soon. Otherwise, I may give it to myself!)

We’ve been listening to lots of audiobooks around here since Z-baby (age eight) can’t read at anywhere near the level she can understand. A few of her favorites, played, repeated and almost memorized, have been:
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia, Focus on the Family Radio Theater production.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, narrated by Cherry Jones. Read Aloud Thursday interview with Z-Baby.
Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, narrated by Sutton Foster. Read Aloud Thursday Interview with Z-Baby.
From the MIxed-up FIles of Mrs. Basil M. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. Narrated by Jan Miner. Read Aloud Thursday Interview with Z-Baby and Betsy-Bee.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Focus on the Family Radio Theater.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Focus on the Family Radio Theater.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Focus on the Family Radio Theater.

Amazon Affiliate. If you click on a link here to go to Amazon and buy something, I receive a very small percentage of the purchase price.

Poetry Friday: Giving Thanks

Nov20

We plow the fields, and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God’s almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft refreshing rain.

He only is the Maker
Of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower,
He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey him,
By him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, his children,
He gives our daily bread.

Refugee Thanksgiving


We thank thee, then, O Father,
For all things bright and good,
The seedtime and the harvest,
Our life, our health, our food:
No gifts have we to offer
For all thy love imparts,
But that which thou desirest,
Our humble, thankful hearts.

By Matthias Claudius in German, translated by Jane Montgomery-Campbell.

And that’s simple enough, plain enough, to do without any commentary on my part. Happy Thanksgiving!

Poetry Friday this week is hosted by Julie Larios at The Drift Record.

Read Aloud Thursday: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Nov19


Z-Baby has been listening to the audiobook CD version of Kate DiCamillo’s award-winning book about India Opal Buloni, her smiling dog, and her preacher daddy all week long. The narration by Cherry Jones is great, with a thick Southern accent and different voices for all the characters.

Me: What made you laugh in this book? Why?

Z-baby: Well, what was kind of funny was that her dad called her by her middle name, Opal, which was her dad’s mom’s name. And it’s the same with me. I have my dad’s mom’s name for a middle name. And she called the Dewberry boys “bald-headed babies,” and that was kind of funny.

Me: Why do you think Opal wanted to know ten things about her mother? Can you tell what her mother is like from the ten things her father describes to her? Do you think that ten things can really describe a whole person?

Z-baby: Not really. If Daddy told me things about you and I had never seen you, I probably wouldn’t really know what you were like. But she probably wanted to know because most people want to know about their own mom.

Me: What else might Opal want to know about her mother? What else would you like to know?

Z-baby: She would want to know where her mom is and why did she go away. I would, too. Also, what color were her eyes? And was she a girly-girl or a tomboy? I would want to know a lot of things.

Me: Do you think you’d like to eat a Littmus Lozenge? Why or why not?

Z-baby: I don’t know. Probably, because I’d like to see what they mean by it makes them feel sad.

Me: Opal believes that life is like a Littmus Lozenge – that it’s sweet and sad all mixed up together and hard to separate out. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Z-baby: No, I don’t believe that. Life isn’t always sweet, and life isn’t always sad. And I’ve never experienced sweet and sad mixed together.

Me: At the end of the story, Opal seems to accept that her mother is not coming back. Why is this an important part of the story? What is something difficult in your life that you’ve had to accept?

Z-baby: A lot of times when somebody doesn’t have somebody and then they want that person, in the story they do get the person back. But it’s important that you listen and know that Opal’s mom isn’t coming back. Sometimes I ask my brothers or sisters to please do something for me, but they don’t. And I just have to accept that they’re not going to do it.

Me; Who was your favorite of Opal’s friends?

Z-baby: Probably Sweetie Pie Thomas. She’s five years old, and she invites Opal to her sixth birthday party. When Opal comes out of the pet store, she sees Sweetie Pie, and they talk about things.

Me: What kind of people do you think would enjoy this story?

Z-baby: The reason I listen to my audiotapes over and over again is that sometimes there’s something in it that I don’t understand the first time. But then when I listen again, I do understand. And people who like to listen to stories over and over would like this story because there’s always more interesting stuff there to hear.

Scholastic Discussion Questions for Because of Winn-Dixie.
More educational resources for Because of Winn-Dixie.
Because of Winn-Dixie Teacher’s Guide.

Giving Books: For the nieces and other girls in your life

Nov19

The Anchoress has a post up about her Christmas shopping thus far, and she asks for book suggestions for her nieces, ages eight and twelve who have “some reading disabilities.” I’m inspired to make this list of possible gift ideas for all of you who have similar girl-type people to buy for this Christmas.

For an eight year old girl:
Alvin Ho: Allergic to GIrls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look. Semicolon review here.
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look.
Dessert First by Halllie Durand. Semicolon review here.
Ruby Flips for Attention by Derrick Barnes. (or any of the Ruby books)
Clementine’s Letter by Sara Pennypacker. (or any of the Clementine books) Semicolon review here.
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford. Semicolon review here.

For a twelve year old girl:
Extra Credit by Andrew Clements.
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. Semicolon review here.
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter.
Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder.
Sisters of the Sword by Maya Snow.

These are some fairly recent titles that I think would work well for the age groups indicated and would not be too difficult for a reader with some learning challenges. They could also be read aloud by a parent or other caring adult, maybe just the first few chapters to get a girl started.

Classics that are on the easy side as far as readability for eight to twelve year old girls include The Boxcar Children books by Gertrude Chandler Warner, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia Maclachlan.

Really easy reader series that are excellent are:
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel.
Oliver and Amanda by Jean van Leeuwen.
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish.
Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant.

I love recommending books, so if any of you have a gift recipient of a different age or gender, or if your gift-ee has a particular interest, anything from baseball to fantasy to card tricks (Karate Kid’s recent obsession), ask in the comments, and I’ll see if I can recommend some books for Christmas or for any time you want to give a book.

Notes on North and South by Mrs. Gaskell

Nov18

I had the impression a long time ago, in spite of knowing that Mrs. Gaskell was a British Victorian author, that this book was about the American Civil War. It’s not. It’s set in the (industrial) North and (rural) South of England. The contrast between industry and trade and farming and country life forms the backbone of the novel.

p. 27: Early in the novel, our protagonist Margaret receives a proposal of marriage and refuses it. I have a feeling that this relationship is like Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. I predict that Margaret and Mr. Henry Lennox will eventually, over the course of the novel, come to understand, then love, one another.

p. 62: I’m not that fond of Miss Margaret yet, although I can see that the author meant her to be a sympathetic character. Margaret has a disdain and near contempt for anyone who is “in trade or manufacture.” I suppose this attitude was common in nineteenth century upper middle class Britain, but it’s not attractive to modern ears. Also, Margaret’s father is severely depressed, and her mother is falling apart. However, Margaret’s main concerns about the place where they are moving seem to be the gaudy wallpaper and the fog. I just don’t understand the emphasis on the decorations and the weather:
“It needed the pretty light papering of the rooms to reconcile them to Milton. It needed more—more that could not be had.”
“Oh, Margaret! Are we to live here?” asked Mrs. Hale, in blank dismay.
She could scarcely command herself enough to say, “Oh, the fogs in London are sometimes far worse!”

p.196-197: The book has turned into a reenactment of Pride and Prejudice, but there are two possible Darcys. However, I’m not nearly as sympathetic toward Margaret Hale as I am Elizabeth Bennett. Nor can I imagine that Mr. Thornton has as much to be proud about as Mr. Darcy, not because Mr. Thornton is “in trade” and poorly educated but rather because he’s a thorny character with a doting mother and little or no sympathy for his workers.

p.277: OK, I am starting to feel sorry for the girl. She does have no real friends or family to depend upon. Still, I’m not too fond of Miss Margaret. She’s a little too stoic and and proud of her own stoicism.

I finally started to care about what happened to these characters in the last third of the novel. However, Cranford remains my favorite of Mrs. Gaskel’s novels. North and South borders on the melodramatic, and sometimes tips over into sensationalism. Four deaths within a hundred pages make the centerpiece of the story, with all the attendant Victorian mourning and histrionics. Almost every character in the novel is full of pride and full of themselves. The ending seems forced and saccharine-sweet.

If you are a fan of Dickens’ more sentimental efforts, the death of Little Nell in Old Curiosity Shop or the happily-ever-after ending of Great Expectations, North and South may very well please. I found it a bit cloying, and I think I can see the Dickensian influence, but not for the best.