Poem #28: A Poison Tree by William Blake, 1794

Jun4

“Poetry reflects on the quality of life, on us as we are in process on this earth, in our lives, in our relationships, in our communities.”~Adrienne RIch

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Whoa, talk about manipulative bitterness! The entire poem, and the one from earlier this week, both remind me of House, a TV show that Artiste Daughter and I were watching just this evening. One of the themes of this season on House has been the balance between honesty/self-acceptance and kindness/love. Dr. House harbors bitterness and pain, and when he tries to become a more loving and giving person, he’s still manipulative. He gives gifts in hopes that “karma” will bring the good back to him.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Impossible? Yes, absolutely. Blake knew it. You know it. And I do, too. On our own, we all produce poison trees of wrath full of poisonous apples for those we consider our enemies. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Jun4

OK, this one is easily the best children’s fiction title I’ve read this year. It has all the following strengths:

1. It’s funny. Cf. the first chapter, entitled “I Am Not Exactly in the Lake District.” What makes that funny is that Liam, the thirteen year old protagonist and narrator of this adventure story, is actually “on this rocket . . . about two hundred thousand miles above the surface of the Earth.” Cosmic is about how Liam got into space and what happened when he did. Short version: he lied about his age.

2. It’s British. Not too British. Not so thick with slang that one has to have a dictionary, but still the Britishisms are there and delightfully so. Liam and his dad carry a “mobile,” not a cell. Things are either “rubbish” or “cosmic.” Liam eats crisps. You get the idea.

3. It’s got a good solid, unbelievable, but satisfying premise: child pretends to be adult, and hijinks ensue. Freaky Friday material. But there’s no magic involved. Liam just looks old. He has facial hair at thirteen. He’s very tall. He keeps getting mistaken for an adult, so he does what most thirteen year old boys would like to do: he goes along with the mistaken identity. Liam’s lack of a driver’s license only slows him down, but doesn’t stop his adventures.

4. It’s well-written and well-paced. Stuff happens. Liam gets into trouble, out of trouble, back into trouble, out, then into MAJOR trouble. Being stuck in space with four other kids who don’t know much more than Liam about how to fix an off-course rocket is Trouble.

5. Liam’s voice is splendid. Examples:
“That night Dad wanted us all to play Monopoly in the new kitchen. Has anyone ever played Monopoly to the end? Don’t most people just sort of slip into a sort of boredom coma after a few goes and wake up six months later with a handful of warm hotels?”

“Being doomed is Not Good. But being weightless is Outstanding. Every time I lean forward I do a perfect somersault. When I stretch my arms in the air I levitate. Back on Earth my only skills are being above average in math and height. Up here I’ve got so many skills I’m practically a Power Ranger.”

“In World of Warcraft you can have weapon skills, gathering skills, or trade skills. You can have mining skills, too, but they’re a bit rubbish and you have to buy a pickax.”

“I didn’t really want to think about things going wrong so I just concentrated on the drinks menu. I couldn’t believe when the others all asked for coffees and teas. There were so many drinks to choose from. I spotted something called the Cosmic Quencher, which I had to order because ‘cosmic’ is my favorite word.”

See what I mean. Liam is Cosmic!

Weaknesses of the book:
1. Totally unbelievable. How many thirteen year old boys can masquerade as the dad of one of their classmates?
2. Sometimes silly. Liam is not the brightest bulb in the ummmm, light fixture.
3. Disrespectful to adults. The adults in the story are also not too bright.
4. Encouraging irresponsible behavior. Don’t try this at home, kids!

I can’t think of any more weaknesses, and I actually think the weaknesses are strengths, too. Cosmic is a cosmic book for cosmic kids. Check it out.

More love for Cosmic:
Kelly at Big A little a.
Nayu’s Reading Corner.
Noel de Vries at Never Jam Today.

And it’s going to be made into a movie!

June 4th is Aesop’s Day

Jun4

A farmer placed his nets on his newly sown plough lands, and caught a quantity of Cranes, which came to pick up his seed. With them he trapped a Stork also. The Stork, having his leg fractured by the net, earnestly besought the Farmer to spare his life.

“Pray, save me, Master,” he said, “and let me go free this once. My broken limb should excite your pity. Besides, I am no Crane, I am a Stork, a bird of excellent character; and see how I love and slave for my father and mother. Look too, at my feathers, they are not the least like those of a Crane.”

The Farmer laughed aloud, and said: “It may be all as you say; I only know this, I have taken you with these robbers, the Cranes, and you must die in their company.”

Moral: Birds of a feather flock together.

I Corinthians 15:33 Stop being deceived: “Wicked friends lead to evil ends.”

Voices of the Faithful, Book 2, compiled by Kim P. Davis

Jun3

Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving Around the World

When I received a copy of this book of daily devotional stories from Thomas Nelson’s Book Sneeze Program, I planned to use it to read aloud to the urchins each day about missionaries and their service. I had hoped to form a habit for our family of praying for others outside of our immediate circle and of caring for God’s people around the world.

It didn’t happen –for lots of reasons, mainly my lack of discipline and my faulty memory.

Nevertheless, I would still like to share this book with my family, and maybe if I can get my act together we’ll start this summer. I did browse through the book and I’d like for my yound students and disciples to hear about:

Danika who at age 90 heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time—and at 94 years of age, believed in Him.

“Ratko” who came to English club to cause trouble and learned that God’s plan was to make peace with estranged sinners.

Daniel who prays daily for and writes letters to hundreds of missionaries around the world.

Walmiy who patiently endures the hardships of life in a hot, desert climate in order to share Jesus with the the nomadic tribal people living there.

And there are 362 more stories in this encouraging, convicting book. The missionaries who share their stories in the book and who live out the gospel all around the world are Southern Baptist missionaries working under the auspices of the International Mission Board of the SBC, but the stories and the people in them transcend denomination. If you are a Christian and you want to be challenged to live a life of sacrifice and service to the Lord, read these stories. If you want your children to be challenged in the same way, read the stories to them. Then, pray together, like Daniel, that God will continue to work through the missionaries of the International Mission Board and other missionary agencies to reach our lost world with the gospel good news that God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.

I’ve talked myself into starting tomorrow.

Summer Plans

Jun1

A friend of mine posted this message on her Facebook:

So, am I the only one who starts EVERY summer with big plans that seem to disappear into thin air? This year I am dreaming of sorting and organizing so that I will have a stress free and wonderous school year, funny thing, I had this same plan last summer and the last and……..

My reply:

My kids laugh at my grand plans–for the summer, for the school year, whenever. However, when I have plans I at least get something done; when I don’t nothing happens at all.

I have Friday field trips planned for the younger set. We’re doing a modified version of school, at the very least math and reading every day. I want my Brown Bear Daughter who attended public school this past year, to learn some things at home that she’s not getting at school. Engineer Husband wants to go to South Dakota for a wedding and to Indiana to visit Eldest Daughter. I would love to get my house clean, preferably by magical means (fairies in the night, perhaps?). Of course, I plan to read a lot.

So, what about you all? Do you have grand plans for the summer?

Disrupting Grace: A Story of Relinquishment and Healing by Kristen Richburg

Jun1

I have my own share of family, well, not secrets, but things that are too painful and raw to talk about or to blog about. I can’t imagine writing a book about my own wounds, even after they someday, God willing, are healed. Nevertheless, that’s what Kristen Richburg has done in this book, and I admire her honesty, even though it’s almost too painful to read.

Disrupting Grace is about attachment disorder and about an adoption that didn’t last. Of course, the operative question going into this true memoir of an adoption gone terribly wrong, is how? How could anyone give away their own child, adopted or not? Why would anyone give up their own child, no matter how damaged or disturbed?

Well, all I can say is, that after reading the book, I understand how a family could come to such a decision, and I believe Ms. Richburg when she says that relinquishment was the most loving decision her family could make in the interest of all concerned. From the book’s preface:

“I have two children. I used to have three. My third child didn’t grow up and leave home; she didn’t die. I relinquished her. I stood before a judge and said that I was no longer able to meet her needs. She is living with another family now and has a new last name. . . .

How did I get here? Were those five years a dream? Aren’t adoption stories supposed to have happy endings? . . . What are families to do when despite all their efforts, their child isn’t thriving, and the rest of the family is coming apart at the seams?

Sometimes I wish I could erase my adoption story. Most of the time I am thankful I can’t. I know there was a purpose for all of it. And my life will never be the same.”

I believe in adoption. I know many, many happy, well-adjusted adoptive families. However, we live in a broken world. And just as I believe in marriage and yet know that sometimes divorce is a last option, I can also see that in some situations the only “solution” might be to place a child, adopted or not, in another family where he or she has a second chance to bond and grow and be loved.

This story is important for families who are considering adoption, for those are supporting adoptive families in prayer and encouragement, and pastors and counselors who might be confronted with difficult adoptive situations. I found it fascinating, and although I hurt for both the Richburg family and for the little girl they adopted, I was also able to see God’s grace and mercy through the pain of a very difficult journey.

Kristin Richburg’s website gives links to resources for adoptive parents in addition to more information about the author and the book.
Here’s a bibliography of resources about attachment disorder.

Fiction from the African Game Reserve

May31

Akimbo and the Elephants by Alexander McCall Smith.
Akimbo and the Lions.
Akimbo and the Snakes.
Akimbo and the Baboons.
Akimbo and the Crocodile Man.

Yes, this series of easy-to-read chapter books was written by the same Alexander McCall Smith who penned the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series for adults. I have enjoyed almost all of McCall Smith’s adult fiction titles, and I must say that Akimbo captured my heart, too. I read Akimbo and the Elephants in which Akimbo, who lives “in the heart of Africa” and “on the edge of a large game reserve,” bravely foils the plans of a gang of elephant poachers.

The prose was easy to read and still engaging. The print is nice and bold, and the entire story is only sixty-eight pages long. This one would appeal to seven to ten year olds and be simple without becoming boringly babyish. The hero of the story, Akimbo, is about eight or nine years old, and if his adventure is a bit unbelievable, it’s the kind of escapade an eight or nine year old boy would like to perform. The illustrations are by LeUyen Pham, the same artist who did the Alvin Ho books, and if I ever write a book, I want her to illustrate it. Look at Akimbo on the cover. Isn’t he the epitome of boyish mischief and bravery?

The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John.
Dolphin Song.
The Last Leopard.
The Elephant’s Tale.

Of this series, called Legend of the Animal Healer, I read the first and second books. The series is set on a game reserve in South Africa, and the protagonist this time is a girl, Martine, who has a special gift for understanding and healing animals. In The White Giraffe Martine becomes friends with a one-of-a-kind white giraffe named Jeremiah (Jemmy for short), and together the two again foil the plans of a gang of poachers. There’s a mystical element to the story since Martine is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy and carries a special gift related to animals that she must learn to use wisely, and the underlying message of the story keeps edging from ecological responsibility over into nature worshipp-y silliness. But in the first two books at least, that second message is subtle enough to be ignored if you want.

The bad guys in Dolphin Song are not exactly poachers, and the action in this one moves to the ocean and the islands off the west coast of South Africa near Mozambique. Martine is still saving endangered animals, dolphins this time, and the story is again exciting and suspenseful and a bit mysterious and magical. However, Martine comes across as a real girl with her own problems getting along with her family and making friends with her classmates. These stories are for a little older age group than the Akimbo books, nine to twelve years old, I’d guess.

I recommend Akimbo and the Animal Healer books to any children who are interested in books set in Africa or fascinated by African animals and their preservation. I’ve been reading quite a few books set in Africa lately, and these are some of the best children’s books I’ve found so far.

Poem #27: The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake, 1794

May30

“Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry. “~W.B. Yeats

“Love seeketh not Itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.”
So sung a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattle’s feet;
But a Pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet:
“Love seeketh only self to please,
To bind another to Its delight,
Joys in another’s loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.”

So Blake and the pebble would have been proponents of what is today called “tough love,” I suppose, or perhaps the sort of romantic lustful love that is glorified in so many movies and books? I don’t really get the pebble’s perspective: how does real love ever build a hell? But, then again, I’m not sure I believe that the clod has it right either. Yes, Love is giving and forgiving and serving, but there is a place for honesty and acknowledgement of one’s own needs even while serving and thinking of others. Jesus calls us to self-denial, and we are told in the Bible that “whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33) But Matthew adds the important words “for My sake,” (Mt. 10:39) implying that self-abnegation for its own sake or even for the sake of others alone is not what we are called to practice. We are called to deny self in order to follow Christ, and God himself will provide for all our needs.

A focus on glorifying Jesus makes all the difference.

Sunday Salon: Books Read in May, 2010

May30

Children and YA Fiction:
To Come and Go Like Magic by Katie Pickard Fawcett. Semicolon review here.
The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone. Magical miniature rooms in a Chicago museum. Semicolon review here.
The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork (the same author who wrote Marcelo in the Real World). Semicolon review here.
The Batboy by Mike Lupica.
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Semicolon review here.
Akimbo and the Elephants by Alexander McCall Smith.
The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John.

Adult Fiction:
Greenmantle by John Buchan. Lots of rather obscure historical references and geographical details and early twentieth century slang, but it’s still a thrilling ride worth persisting.
Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute. Semicolon review here. Shute also wrote A Town Called Alice and On the Beach.
The Pact by Jodi Piccoult. I decided to give Ms. Piccoult another try, and although this one was much better than the one I read a few months ago, it still had some issues. Piccoult writes problem novels, and in this one the problem is teen suicide. Interspersed thorughout are details about various characters’ sex lives that were vivid and gratuitous. At least, I thought they were gratuitous since I could see no reason that we needed to know. I’m kind of old-fashioned that way: I think sex, even fictional sex, should be private unless it serves some purpose to advance the plot or theme or characterizations in the novel. The book itself was a page turner, and I read to the end to see what would happen. Pay your money and you’ll take your chances.
The Far Country by Nevil Shute. Not as good as Trustee or the other two mentioned above, but it does have some lovely descriptive passages extolling the beauty of the Australian countryside.

Nonfiction:
National Geographic Mysteries of History by Robert Stewart. Basic stuff: Stonehenge, King Arthur, The Hindenburg, etc.
Plan B by Pete Wilson.
Disrupting Grace: A Story of Relinquishment and Healing by Kristen Richburg.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett.

The Books I Would Like to See at BEA–If I Were There

May27

Children’s and YA Fiction:
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-Made Catastrophes by Lenore Look (Schwartz & Wade, September 2010).
The Three Little Dassies by Jan Brett. (Putnam Juvenile, September, 2010)
Betsy Red Hoodie by Gail Carson Levine. (HarperCollins, September, 2010)
Hero by Mike Lupica (Philomel). A 14-year-old boy develops superpowers in Lupica’s latest, a departure from his sports-themed books.
Clementine, Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypackerllus. by Marla Frazee. A great week for Clementine takes a turn for the worse. (Hyperion, July 2010)
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park (Clarion) weaves together stories of a Sudanese girl in 2008 and a “lost boy” in 1985.
The Candymakers by Wendy Mass (Little, Brown) is a mystery involving four children and a candy contest.
Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins. (Charlesbridge)
Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson (Atheneum)
Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart (EgmontUSA, August, 2010)

Adult Fiction:
The Confession by John Grisham (Doubleday, October 26, 2010)
The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel. (Unbridled Books)

Nonfiction:
A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty by Joni Eareckson Tada (David C Cook, September 30, 2010)
What Good Is God by Philip Yancey (FaithWords/Hatchette Book Group)
Book Lust to Go by Nancy Pearl (Sasquatch Books)
Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens (Zondervan)