Elsa Beskow, Swedish children’s author, was born today in 1874. The only book of hers that I am familiar with is Pelle’s New Suit, a picture book about a boy who discovers all the work that goes into producing a new suit of clothes. I like this book, and it’s in Picture Book Preschool, my book of recommended books for reading to preschoolers. According to kirjasto, Beskow was criticized for her old-fashioned portrayals of families. Good for Beskow! I must look at more of her picture books; I like strong. brave dads and obedient, loving mothers. Good-natured children are a pretty good deal, too.

“In the 1960s and 1970s Beskow’s work was considered by many critics old-fashioned. Her idyllic pictures, full of good-natured children, animals, brownies, and flowers, were seen to present false ideals. Also her gender roles were seen as too narrow: “the father is strong and brave, and the mother is obedient and loving” (from Tomtebobarnen). According to Gunvor Häkansson, Beskow satisfies authoritative ideals in the upbringing of children, but Astrid Lindgren represents more democratic principles.”

I’m still a day behind, but that’s OK because as far as I can tell no one of any interest was born today. For February 8th, first of all we have Henry Walter Bates, an English naturalist who lived about the same time as Darwin and spent eleven years studying butterflies and other insects. Unfortunately, he came up with the idea of natural selction at about the same time Darwin did, but Darwin got all the credit–or blame as the case may be. Bates sounds like a nice guy, spent most of his life studying beetles and butterflies and liverworts. One article said he was delighted to support Darwin’s theories and not at all concerned with getting any credit for Darwinism for himself. I wouldn’t want any credit for it either.

Jules Verne was born on February 8, 1828. I think he wrote better science fiction than Darwin did. He once said: “I have always made a point in my romances of basing my so-called inventions upon a groundwork of actual fact, and of using in their construction methods and materials which are not entirely without the pale of contemporary engineering skill and knowledge.”
At least, he told a better story. If you really like science fiction, you should try the sci-fi website. I used to read some science fiction, but I’m really more of a fantasy gal.

Peggy Noonan wrote a good piece about the “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl halftime. I’m proud of my 12 year old who watched about 30 seconds of the halftime show–before Timberlake and Jackson even came on–and decided without any prompting from anyone that this “show” was not something we wanted to watch. She quietly turned it off, and we watched the two year old dance instead. The best summation of the incident and my reaction to it come from Peggy Noonan:

“You have all followed the great controversy, although I’m not sure controversy is the right word for an incident the facts of which no normal human would debate. Was it deliberate? No, the Goth pastie, the lyrics “I’ll have you naked before the end of this song,” and Janet Jackson’s slowness to cover her breast and quickness to enact what she thinks is a look of shame, make it clear it was all an accident. Did MTV know it would happen? No, when they put out the announcement promising “shocking moments” from Ms. Jackson, they didn’t mean anything by it. Did the–let’s be generous–perhaps retarded Justin Timberlake realize he’d gone too far? Of course–that’s why he issued the winking statement about “wardrobe malfunction.” Was the NFL taken aback? Gosh, they must have been–who would think MTV would do something vulgar and highly sexualized? Will an FCC fine of $27,500 stop the networks? Oh sure, in their tracks.

Now they’re saying the answer is a tape delay. Believe me, half the country would like to put the entire culture on a tape delay.”

Now she’s asking for suggestion from us about how to slow or reverse the slide into decadence. I’m not sure anything short of a mass conversion will help.

A state legislator in Washington has introduced a bill to have the state health department produce materials to encourage people in Washington state to have no more than two children. She doesn’t really expect the bill to go anywhere; she just wants to get people discussing. The thing that worried me the most about the article in the newspaper about this bill was that the reporter seemed to think that the ultimate goal of encouraging people to have small families was a good one. What is so terrible about large families? Are we using somebody else’s share of the resources? Are we intruding on someone’s space?

I think we’re going to start reading aloud again as a family–at least with the little ones. Mr. 16 and Miss 14 think they are too mature to read with us. I wanted to read Alice in Wonderland, but we don’t have a good copy of it anymore. The one we had is falling apart. So I thought we’d read The WInd in the WIllows; however, the 12 year old just informed me that she hates that book and I must have chosen it just to spite her. I’m too tired to deal with this. I think I’ll go to bed and forget about it until tomorrow.

I wrote a nice blog yesterday about James Michener, but blogger lost it somehow. I don’t think I can reconstruct it now. However, I do like Michener’s Hawaii. I remember reading it a long time ago and getting such enjoyment out of the history that I learned as I read. I don’t know how accurate Michener’s historical novels are, but about all I know about Hawaii’s history I learned from that novel. In fact, a lot of the history I know period I learned from novels.

Tonight we watched the movie Time Changers. It had an interesting premise, but suffered from being somewhat didactic. I think it would be a good movie to show my worldview students next year and get their comments. The movie attempted to demonstrate that morality without faith in the person of Christ himself is worse than useless and leads ultimately to immorality because there is no foundation upon which to base moral judgements. It is interesting that the controversy in Alabama last year over Judge Roy Moore’s Ten Commandments monument hinged, for many, on this very issue: can a system of law and justice that is forcilbly disengaged from its foundation long endure as law? Law without the Lawgiver is shaky and easily overturned.

The “official” Robert Burns website is excellent. It has all his poems (over 500 of them), biographical material, stuff for sale, free e-cards that you can send to people, and links to all things Scotch (or is it Scottish?). Also, I found on the website instructions on how to host a Robert Burns Day Supper. Apparently, the only rules are that this supper should include haggis, poetry, and Scotch whiskey and should be held on or near the date of January 25th, Burns’ birthday. I think it’s too late to plan one this year, but I’m aiming for next year. I also have to figure out what we “teetotallers” drink at a Burns Supper. I’m not truly a Scot, I guess, because I’m also not sure I can handle haggis. Partial list of Ingredients: beef liver, lamb kidneys, lamb shoulder, and oatmeal.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion:
What airs in dress an’ gait wad lea’e us,
An’ ev’n devotion!