Hello Book Bums families!
This week in the newsletter Dr. Christy shares a book that shook her up and a meal that made her swoon. And if you're looking for some easier reads during the busy fall season, we have a list of kids books that adults can enjoy too.
We love to hear from you! You can always reply to this email with questions, suggestions, and ideas for us.
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Word of the Week
relish (rell-ish) verb/action word - to take great pleasure in something
I relish the new shoes and school supplies that symbolize the possibilities of a new school year.
Literacy Calendar
- On August 17, 1945, Animal Farm by George Orwell was published.
- This is a satirical novella that tells the story of farm animals who want to create an equal society of animals without humans only to fall into the same traps of miscommunication and abuse of power.
- The characters in the story map onto specific historical figures, but you can also read it as a cautionary fable without the historical details.
- One of the most famous and unsettling quotes from the book is, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
From our Bookshelves
I just finished reading A Collapse in Parenting by Leonard Sax, MD, PhD, and I’m a bit shaken.
Have you heard the expression about frogs that goes something like . . . If you put a frog in hot water, it jumps out. But if you put a frog in cool water and gradually raise the temperature, it won’t hop out no matter how hot it gets?
As I read The Collapse of Parenting, I felt like we’re in a pot of hot water, but we’re not hopping out; and if we don’t make a move soon, we’re going to be really disappointed and concerned about our future.
Dr. Sax states that parents must prioritize quality family time (including time spent talking with one another in cars and at mealtime), greatly limiting screentime, and setting and maintaining firm boundaries for our children. He believes that kids’ increasing rates of depression and anxiety and even obesity stems from parents who prioritize their children liking them. He stated that parents yield to kids’ decisions far too often and that doing things like asking a child what s/he wants to eat for dinner is not healthy for the child.
I’ve been noticing things I do that might indicate my allowance of children to subjugate my authority to their own will, and those little things can add up.
When I say, “Let’s clean up our things before we get something new out, okay?” That okay at the end can make children believe it’s their choice about things that certainly should not be their choice. I’m going to eliminate the “Okay?” from the ends of my sentences.
- Have you heard yourself saying things like, “But he likes playing video games. I want my son to be happy. Shouldn’t I want my child to be happy?”
- Have you allowed kids to dictate the menu at your house?
- Do you negotiate with kids? (You can use your iPad if you . . . )
Dr. Sax states that we must stop prioritizing children’s temporary happiness over equipping them to become resilient, self-controlled, and well-adjusted adults.
In From Our Bookshelves, I strive to be thoughtful about what I share. However, this information felt too important not to pass along some of the details.
Here’s a video interview with Dr. Leonard Sax if you’d like a little information from him.
I recommend this book.
Tips for Families
Have you ever visited Caruso's Ristorante & Bar? It's located at 6865 Dixie Highway in Fairfield, OH. It's one of my favorite restaurants, and I wanted to share a bit about it with you.
On Sunday, my husband and I visited Caruso’s again. We shared the Chop Chop Salad (It’s BIG!), and we always say yes to bread service. It’s a sourdough bread that is delicious—especially with their soft and salty butter. For the main course, I, without fail, order the Pappardelle Mushroom Ragu (Sherry Wine, Minced Mushroom, Butter, Pecorino Romano). Let me state here that I thought I hated mushrooms. In fact, it’s the texture of mushrooms that I hate. In this dish, the mushrooms are chopped so small that one may not even realize there are mushrooms at all. I always order this dish as it was first recommended to me—with blackened chicken, radiatori pasta, and Shishito peppers. It’s an eyes roll back into your head kind of delicious.
My husband said, “I have never seen you enjoy a meal as much as you enjoy this one.” I think he might be right about that.
When we brought my mother-in-law, she got the same thing; and she’s gotten it every time since!
I always have enough left over to bring some home for another full meal, and it’s only $24. In truth, by the time we both order a soda, bread, salad, and our main dishes, we’re spending pretty close to $100, but we spend nearly half that for the two of us to eat at McAlister’s, so we feel it’s worth it.
Do yourself a favor and check them out!
Tips for Raising Readers and Writers
If you’re not a reader yet, dip your toe into reading by reading kids’ books. They’re short, and they’re also quite wonderful. Do it in the name of wanting to keep up-to-date with books to share with your kids.
Honest to goodness, there are so many kids’ book that you’ll simply adore!
Here are some great ones to check out:
- Echo by Pam Munoz
- The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (series)
- Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park
- Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
- My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (series)
- Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (series)
- Ranger in Time, Rescue on the Oregon Trail by Kate Messner (series)
- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
- Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Elanor Coerr
- Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingles Wilder (series)
- Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
- Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
- The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop
- Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
- Goodnight Mr. Tom, by Michlle Magorian
- The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
- Wonder by R. J. Palacio
- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet
- The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
- Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
- Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
Pause for Poetry
Good Books
by Edgar Guest
Good books are friendly things to own.
If you are busy they will wait.
They will not call you on the phone
Or wake you if the hour is late.
They stand together row by row,
Upon the low shelf or the high.
But if you're lonesome this you know:
You have a friend or two nearby.
The fellowship of books is real.
They're never noisy when you're still.
They won't disturb you at your meal.
They'll comfort you when you are ill.
The lonesome hours they'll always share.
When slighted they will not complain.
And though for them you've ceased to care
Your constant friends they'll still remain.
Good books your faults will never see
Or tell about them round the town.
If you would have their company
You merely have to take them down.
They'll help you pass the time away,
They'll counsel give if that you need.
He has true friends for night and day
Who has a few good books to read.
Practical Grammar
Less vs. fewer
Use less for things you cannot count (less noise)
and
use fewer for things you can count (fewer books).
Speaking of the word less . . .
When someone says, “I could care less,” what they usually mean is that they couldn’t care any less than they do right now—in other words, they care so very little that it’d be impossible to care any less.
News from Book Bums
We’re getting ready to do some business promotion, and we’d like your help. Would you please help us spread the word about Book Bums? We have about 3.7K followers on Facebook, but for our business that’s a really small number.
I fully acknowledge that we have been absolutely terrible about making posts, however I plan to change that beginning this fall. Would you be willing to like and share our posts when you see them? I know so many of us are intentionally avoiding spending time on social media, but when you’re on and you see our posts, could you help us share information that might be really helpful for families in our communities? I’d truly appreciate it. And if you’re not already following us, please do so. I promise to provide information you’d like to see when you have a few spare moments to scroll throughout the week.
Tips for Teachers
I saw this shirt advertised, and I thought it was pretty great. I love teaching folks about how words work, and having a t-shirt help me accomplish my goals—well that’s cool too. But then I looked closer, and I realized, again, that we teach kids to navigate our code-based language differently. I was reminded of how we get kids reading and spelling well in much less time than it takes others.
The notes on this shirt are “right” but they also may not be as helpful as the way we teach kids about how words work.
First, we don’t focus so much on syllable types. Our kids learn about them, but they’re not prioritized. We teach kids that vowels typically make their short sounds unless they’re at the ends of really short words or another vowel tells them to say their names. Second, we distinguish r-controlled words (a-r says “Ar!” and o-r says “or”) from Bossy r words (where the vowel represents no sound at all). In the word shirt, that r is being bossy. We wouldn’t call that “r-controlled.” Next, we teach kids that s can represent two sounds—no matter what. It doesn’t say /z/ only at the ends of short words (like is). It’s says /z/ at the ends of really long words and within words too. Think: distinguishes and transition.
Then, though de- can mean down, in this case it means to reverse or undo. Why didn’t they notice that? Also, at Book Bums, we don’t say the silent e is removed from words like decode (as in decodable). We say it’s covered—because kids need to realize what the base word is and what the word would say without the suffix. We cannot simply remove letters from words. We cover them with another letter that can do the job of the original letter. In this case, the a does the magic the e once did. We cannot simply add the prefix -able, because then it’d say decodeable and we’d have two vowels together making the e say its name. That’s why we cover the e and let the a do the magic.
As far as the -able suffix . . . Well, they got that right.
I didn’t buy the shirt.
Just for Fun
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