About Books...
On the book side, we learned about a wonderful independent book publisher called Barefoot Books. The company was started by two moms in England who wanted to start a business they could run while at home with their kids. The books feature high quality hand-made art, and many have a multi-cultural themes--whether telling how the chinese zodiac came about, old tales from Ireland, going on a safari, or sailing to the Galapagos (written in Spanish).
We found a great book for helping our daughter (and us) make sense of her adoption story, called Motherbridge of Love. The book illustrates a poem written by an adoptive mom, which talks about two kinds of love--from birth mom and adoptive mom. Here's an excerpt: Once there were two women who never knew each other.This and other Barefoot Books are available from our local Barefoot rep (see our shopping link at left). Shoppers in the UK can order from Leonore and get local shipping rates.
One you do not know. The other you call Mother.
Two different lives shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.
...
The first gave you life; the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love; the second was there to give it.
Our friend in London sent us another wonderful book for telling Jenny about her first days with us, called "The White Swan Express." The book follows four different kinds of families from four different cities on their journey to China to adopt their daughters. The title refers to the hotel that many Americans stay at in Guangzhou while awaiting their consulate visit, the final stage of the adoption process before leaving for home. The book describes with humor how very differently the 7 adoptive parents-in-waiting deal with the excitement and uncertainties of meeting their daughters for the first time. The watercolor illustrations are exhuberant and colorful.
My mom learned about a great book on National Public Radio titled Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids. Teacher and educational consultant Marietta McCarty has developed this parent- and teacher-friendly simple curriculum for teaching children how to be philosophers. Chapters on "Philosophy," "Friendship," "Courage,"and "Compassion" give kids and grownups a chance to think about what these ideas mean and how they feature in their daily lives.Marietta uses works by 2 thinkers per topic to help stimulate discussions with the kids. Works by Plato and Camus, the music of Ravel, Haydn and Sweet Honey in the Rock, poets Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and William Carlos Williams, books like Aesops fables . It is a wonderful, rich book and any parent or thinking adult will benefit from this book, as well as kids.
Other recommended books, now purchased, include:
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See (and anything else by Eric Carle): Jenny now has a good set of Eric Carle books. Thanks to Aunt Maria in Ohio for turning us on to these classics.
- Goodnight Gorilla and 10 Minutes to Bedtime, by Peggy Rathman. I love these so much I have bought them for both of my Secret Pals. Thanks to Dave's Flickr friend Kim in Tx for the terrific recommendation.
- The Sailor Dog, a gift from Uncle Erik in Portland. I think he's hoping we teach Jenny to sail so that she can crew for him. What a great idea!
- Baby Honu Saves the Day, from our friends in Hawaii (see Secret Pal posting for illustration). This is a wonderful story featuring a "honu," Hawaiian name for the green sea turtle, and illustrated with watercolors of sea creatures and native Hawaiian designs.
- Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats, also from Jen in London, a children's primer on the major Chinese holidays, complete with legends and ideas for cooking and crafts.
- Books with adoption themes: Kids Like Me in China (about a girl's heritage trip back to China), I Don't Have Your Eyes (not all families look alike), When You Were Born in China (describes the one child policy), and A Mother for Choco (highly recommended, about a sweet little motherless bird who finds a home with a big, cuddly mommy bear).
Baby Loves Music!
I stumbled upon a wonderful organization while shopping for my secret gift exchange pals called "Baby Loves Disco." Check it out! Started by a couple parents who love music and dance, they wanted to find a creative alternative to the usual kiddie entertainment sources. They started these afternoon kid disco parties, which are now held in big cities across the country. You can see from their videos (flash player and a desire to relive the 70's and early 80's required), they are a total hoot! My dad loved to do crazy dances with us kids, and with at least a couple of us, it stuck (you should see my brother Anders shake it up). So much to my husband David's chagrin, I am already planning to take Jenny out and show her some serious moves (we'll need Uncle Anders for the smooth moves, I'm as spastic as dad).
Baby Loves Disco is part of the Baby Loves Music production group which features Baby Loves Reggae, Baby Loves HipHop, and Baby Loves Jazz. I have purchased their CD and picture book "Miles the Crocodile," who plays all the colors of the rainbow, for us, and the CD and picture book "Charlie Bird Counts the Beat" for our London friends.Our friend and massage therapist introduced us to yet another music for kids series, which we look forward to test driving soon. The Classical Kids series uses classical music as a medium for storytelling. Beethoven Lives Upstairs, one in the series, tells the story of a boy who lives downstairs from the deaf and difficult Mr. Beethoven, who is always pounding out new musical scores seated on the floor. The CDs teach kids about the composer and his times (sorry, all male composers so far), his compositions and musical style. Her daughter loves them, and parent reviewers on Amazon are similarly enthusiastic.
Have some good music for kids? Please share your music tips, using the Comments section. Thanks for sharing!
8 comments:
Brown Bear isn't bad,
I'm thinking Bear Scouts is something you should look into JD, it discusses a father who is always right. Something you & I will always have too keep in mind.... Kirk
Oh yeah, i managed to make major strides on boy #2 potty training today. We are almost living the dream....kd
Thanks for the book info - sounds like some great reading. Thanks also for stopping by my Flickr page. Charlotte says thank you as well =).
Thanks Kirk. Always looking for something to reinforce that "always certain, often wrong" myth that seems to follow me around.
:-)
Adam- Have a safe trip back home!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
MUSIC - - They Might Be Giants has a couple of children's CD's with great kids songs like "NO Means No", "Robot Parade" and my personal favorite "Clap your Hands". The CDs are actually tolerable and fun! Another set - For the Kids & For the Kids Too, various artists. We actually enjoyed these too. Great dancing in the kitchen music. Love you! Maria
peter and the wolf! can't go past that one! there's a great version on deutsche grammophon narrated by sting, who does a great set of character voices, and the orchestra is conducted by the fabulous claudio abbado, so it's all round tip-top. also, john barry did a superb score for a (very slow) television version of alice in wonderland. i adored the record of it when i was a child. seems to be available on cd in the uk but i couldn't find it on amazon us. heigh ho. here's the uk link in case you want to investigate: http://tinyurl.com/5uf7xh
oh and, yes, i've heard good things about beethoven lives upstairs, etc. i'd be interested to hear how jenny receives them too. there aren't any female composers in the series because it's been nearly impossible for female composers to get decent recognition for their work up until the 20th century and unfortunately most people seem to think that modern music is scary...
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