Children's Books discussion

(Replacement thread as the old had died, and it was long enough anyway. It's not deleted, just added to the Archive folder.)

My Greatest Kitchen Discovery Ever:

Riced Cauliflower!!

I now buy a bag every time I go to Costco. (If you're not a member, I did notice a fresh version and a frozen version [called Cauliflower Pearls] at the regular supermarket, too).

I have made pilaf (lightly cook with peas, mushrooms, herbs), fried 'rice,' and just served it as a side dish with take-out Chinese food (cooked with garlic and just a bit of olive or sesame oil). It can also be used instead of bulgar or quinoa in salads and dishes like Tabbouleh. I'm looking forward to adding it to soup.

It's a mild taste. On its own, especially raw, it isn't going to fool anyone who loves rice. I don't think I'd want to make sweet rice pudding with it. However, with other seasonings, and/or cooked, it can certainly take a carbohydrate out of your dinner and add a vegetable in!

Even my three guys whole-heartedly approve.

Yes, I've seen it and heard about it especially in my healthy food blogs. Now I just need to find some good recipes!

Well that's the thing, you don't really need recipes. I don't use 'em; I just use it like regular rice.

I need to check this out. Hope it is available in Canada. Might be a way to eat more cauliflour (white vegetables are supposed to be very nutritious).

Good idea! I have not tried this but I've had pureed cauliflower as a substitute for mashed potatoes. I love mashed potatoes but the cauliflower was very tasty, and it sits lighter in your tummy.

Just to let you all know, I'm very sick, day five of something that might just be a very bad cold but might be something more. If I disappear please forgive me,

Cheryl wrote: "Just to let you all know, I'm very sick, day five of something that might just be a very bad cold but might be something more. If I disappear please forgive me,"

Hope you feel better soon, and if this does not go away, you should go and see a doctor. Drink lots of tea with honey and lemon.

Ty.

I'll be praying for you to recover quickly.

Ty.

Anyone else use a Swiffer dry mop? The little cloths can get expensive, and disposable is not eco-friendly.... I use a just-barely-damp old washcloth instead; it fits perfectly. After running around the floor I pull the loosest hair and crumbs off the leading edge by hand and throw them away, then throw the cloth in with jeans and use it again & again!

(No need to try to get the rag clean by shaking it out or by picking at it before washing, just get the big stuff off.)

My 7 1/2 year old niece (second grade) called to announce she had exciting news. She skipped a reading level at school. She was supposed to move to level L but she was so good, she skipped ahead to level M- whatever that means. I'm so proud of her! I gave her my hoard of books already for Christmas but I'll have to look around at the library book sales for a suitable reward. She likes learning and science. Any good suggestions if you know what level M means?

Not a clue what level M means. But good for her!

I'd get Joyce Sidman's poetry + science books like Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors and maybe The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science. They're good for all ages, all reading levels.

Otoh, maybe this time you want to give her something that's not a book. Like a chemistry kit, or entrance fee to a maker space, an experience sort of thing.

A beginner level telescope along with a basic astronomy book?

Oh, I like that, if she can get away from city lights.

I found a copy of Ramona Quimby, Age 8 at a Little Free Library for my niece! It was my favorite of the series when I first read them. I got her Beezus and Ramona, another freebie, for Christmas. I have plenty of books to add to the LFL). I'm unemployed at the moment so my budget is limited to free or really cheap.

Oh those are great choices!

QNPoohBear wrote: "My 7 1/2 year old niece (second grade) called to announce she had exciting news. She skipped a reading level at school. She was supposed to move to level L but she was so good, she skipped ahead to..."

Level M is a guided reading level. The goal for 2nd grade is to hit level M right before school lets out for summer. So, she's definitely running a bit ahead. She'll be well into 3rd grade level by the time school lets out. :)

The Ramona books are mostly guided reading level O, so, only a bit past her current level but she can likely still read them now with a little help or by summer without.

Thanks Jennifer! My other niece is a year older and the younger tries very very hard to keep up with her cousin. I figure they can share books since they have a lot of sleepovers plus I have shelves full of MY favorite childhood books ready for them to read when they visit. Older niece liked listening to the Ramona books on tape. I may suggest that to my sister as well. Mostly giving younger niece books is a ploy to get my sister to read something other than Twilight! (She says she read at least one Harry Potter book too).

I wish I could remember in which thread I mentioned that I don't like sepia art in history picture-books. I believe it makes the past, and the people and events from then, seem exotic, distant, other... and therefore not relevant. (If I could remember where I made the comment, I would add this note there.)

Seems I'm not the only one who wants the past to look more colorful and therefore real. The artists mentioned in this article do a fantastic job, making their subjects beautifully engaging and alive: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles...

Atlas Obscura, The Passionate Photo Colorizers Who Are Humanizing the Past

Cheryl wrote: "I wish I could remember in which thread I mentioned that I don't like sepia art in history picture-books. I believe it makes the past, and the people and events from then, seem exotic, distant, oth..."

Was it perhaps in the thread discussing The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot July 25, 1909? I seem to recall that you found the colour scheme used too blah, as I did for that matter.

That does ring a bell, ty.

I love bright vibrant color when it is the artist's original intent (remember Magic Maize?), but I thought this argument got shut down with the dreadful colorization debacle back in the days of Ted Turner and VHS.

Half of the problem is that there isn't *enough* exposure to black-and-white images. Back in the day, no one complained about how newspapers didn't have color images. That was just how it was. Black-and-white photos and film and pen-and-ink drawings were developed into wonderful art forms. They don't *need* anything added. I'd also say that the original creators took into account that they weren't going to have full color. A lot of colorizing involves second guessing, speculation, and and subjective impressions, but even when we *know* about the colors, adding them shouldn't be just a knee-jerk reaction.

Absolutely, there is great skill and craft in colorizing. I think colorized photos are interesting as a novelty, a curiosity - but I certainly don't want them to replace the black-and-white originals. Some have termed colorization "vandalism," and I think it gets into the same area of revisionist history that removes Winston Churchill's cigars from photos and puts loincloths on the nude statues. Let the historical truth be told.

To bring this back to children's books, a huge amount of subtlety is lost when you compare the 1990s recolored versions of books like Danny and the Dinosaur with the original 1950s versions. Ditto Hoban's Frances and many others. I find the new ones to be garish.

In our family, we go to a great deal of effort to ensure that our children are exposed to real art and to teach them to appreciate subtlety in illustrations. They see a huge variety of different pictures, black-and-white and all kinds of color. Just as we want them to be able to read and enjoy and connect with stories from decades and centuries ago, we don't want them to come to older art or illustrations with the chronological snobbery and prejudice that immediately rejects something because it "looks old" or because everything isn't in full-color.

For me, too bright and garish is aesthetically as bad as too sombre and dreary, I usually like a balance (but I have also realised for example that with a lot of Chris Van Allsburg picture books, while I usually am not a total fan of his artwork, I do often find something that is a bit missing from the narrative, like with Jumanji, which reads a bit like an outline or with The Garden of Abdul Gasazi where I found the dog simply annoying and ill mannered). But also, there for me has to be a solid and reasonable link between text and image, in other words, the illustrations have to be suitable for the same audience, for same ages as the author's words, and I do find it frustrating when a picture book text clearly meant for older children has illustrations more suitable for toddlers (a good example are Wendy Pfeffer's books on the seasons, where for the ones I have read so far, A New Beginning: Celebrating the Spring Equinox and We Gather Together: Celebrating the Harvest Season, while Pfeffer's texts are dense, intricate, and make use of rather complicated science based terms at times, Linda Bleck's illustrations are cartoon-like, brightly gaudy and simple, much more suitable for younger children of three or four years of age, while the text is definitely more for readers or listeners above six or even eight).

Michael, some of your points are excellent, but not relevant. The "historical truth" you want preserved is *not* preserved by the B&W photos of the time. Matthew Brady took photos of men wearing blue against backgrounds of green grass & trees. I've no doubt that many of the photojournalists who used B&W would have loved to use color.

Check out the images at the link. The colorizers today are artists adding a dimension to the era of history recorded by B&W photos.

Cheryl wrote: "Michael, some of your points are excellent, but not relevant. The "historical truth" you want preserved is *not* preserved by the B&W photos of the time. Matthew Brady took photos of men wearing bl..."

As long as the older black and white originals are also preserved, I have no issue with colorisations (especially since the more recent ones, the more current ones leave a natural looking impression, unlike for example, many of the very early attempts which often ended up being very strangely and unnaturally hued and sometimes, especially with older films, the early colorised versions are all that is left and that is an unfortunate issue in my opinion).

Your position seems to be that the photograph is only a literal recording, transparently capturing the scene and that the photographer contributes very little, merely clicking a button. I disagree. The finished photograph itself is art. In fact, the photograph itself is historical truth - I don't mean what it shows; I mean the print itself. It is the result of conscious decisions made by the photographer during the capture of the image and afterwards, in the darkroom during the production of the print.

Here's an interesting piece on this topic that includes an example of a "straight print" by Ansel Adams and a finished one: https://whitherthebook.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/ansel-adams-and-photography-before-photoshop/.

I guess we're talking at cross purposes, Michael. I'm not disagreeing with you per se; I'm just trying to point out that a lot of us benefit from seeing the colors that the photographer and subject themselves saw, when trying to understand history.

And yes, Gundula, these are much more carefully done, and I'm sure that the originals are preserved.

I just remembered the 'hand-tinted' old photos. Even then, there were those who thought pink cheeks and blue nosegays should be colored in....

A short poem that I just can't resist sharing, not sure if any of my other groups would be a better fit, so you-all get chosen... ;)

Horses

Witter Bynner

Words are hoops
Through which to leap upon meanings,
Which are horses’ backs,
Bare, moving.

Hi guys a little hijack.
(Cheryl said I could post a reminder here.)

FREE DOWNLOAD 22nd Nov 08:00 -23:00 GMT

As part of Scottish Book Week the following British native language books will be available to download for free on 22nd November. (They are all bilingual. Native/English) Just copy and paste the links into your browser.


Nynorn/Norn:

"Am I small? Er eg hjokk?":
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KB4F36B

"In Here, Out There! I hanna, ur dar!":
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KBCC4FD

"Five Yards of Time/Fimm Ålen Far":
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KC2JKW4

"The Safest Place in the World/Ståbiasti skuggi i jarden":
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07K7THDHC


Cornish:

"Am I small? Ov byghan?":
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KB63JBJ

Scottish Gaelic:

"In Here, Out There! A-steach an seo, a-mach an sin!":
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ZMKJPNQ


The links are only for amazon.co.uk but you can download them onto American/Canadian devices, just sign in with the same details you use for amazon.com


toilichte leughadh (Gaelic)

lowen redyans (Cornish)

gram lesa (Norn)

happy reading (English) :-)

ps. Number of fluent speakers according to 2011 census (all speakers of ancient native British languages are bilingual due to our education system - and just about everything else- being done in English.)

Cornish speakers - 557
Gaelic speakers - 28,000
Norn speakers - <100 *

* this is an estimate as Norn is not an officially recognised language and so not recorded. Efforts are being made to ensure it is included in the 2021 census.

Thanks for your interest.

I intend to grab these if I can get away from Thanksgiving for a few minutes!

Happy Thanksgiving !

Beverly, Kathryn, have either of you held an "Art & Artists" theme month in your group? I want to add When Pigasso Met Mootisse to a master list and I couldn't readily find one.

Cheryl wrote: "Beverly, Kathryn, have either of you held an "Art & Artists" theme month in your group? I want to add When Pigasso Met Mootisse to a master list and I couldn't readily find one."

No, but that is a good idea.

Cheryl wrote: "Beverly, Kathryn, have either of you held an "Art & Artists" theme month in your group? I want to add When Pigasso Met Mootisse to a master list and I couldn't readily find one."

There is Books about Artst Master List for January 2013.

Ty both. I'll add this to the that Master List, but it seems to me the picture-book club might want to revisit the theme, over 6 years later...

Ok, if we trust this information, there may be a very good reason that we in the US don't read very many books that have been translated from other countries.

If one sums the books published each year in India, Germany, and Russia, that's still less than in the US alone.

https://geediting.com/world-reading-h...

(I consider China an outlier.)

Cheryl wrote: "Ok, if we trust this information, there may be a very good reason that we in the US don't read very many books that have been translated from other countries.

If one sums the books published each..."

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

We have had a seldom used thread about "movies not based on a book." https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This is also a seldom-used thread. I'm combining them.

Libraries are back open for browsing without an appointment woohoo! I'm going to try to go tomorrow evening.

Our libraries are also open for us to go inside and pick up our holds or browse. I was so happy!

Beverly wrote: "Our libraries are also open for us to go inside and pick up our holds or browse. I was so happy!"

Our local libraries are still closed.

Ours is open but with a caveat of 30 minutes. Not strictly enforced, but as it's so small, they can ask lolly-gaggers to make room for newcomers if an influx happens.

Maybe someday we'll have programming again?

Our state just fully reopened late last week so that's why the libraries have reopened. Private businesses can set their own rules. I'm still going to wear my mask inside and maybe out because the pollen falling from trees is insane right now.

QNPoohBear wrote: "Our state just fully reopened late last week so that's why the libraries have reopened. Private businesses can set their own rules. I'm still going to wear my mask inside and maybe out because the ..."

Until most people are vaccinated, wearing a mask inside especially makes a lot of sense.

Manybooks wrote: "
Until most people are vaccinated, wearing a mask inside especially makes a lot of sense.."

Most people here are. 58% of the state's adult and older teen population so far, with 12-14 year olds now eligible to be vaccinated that number is going up. That's why the economy reopened sooner than planned. Right now the library is limited to browsing and check outs only with no available seating. The time limit in the children's library is 30 minutes. It was a chilly evening so I didn't stay very long outside and I had other books to bring home so I grabbed 3 picture books and read two and brought one home.

yes, we've been advised to keep our masks for protection against airborne allergens and also other contagious airborne diseases...

Cheryl wrote: "yes, we've been advised to keep our masks for protection against airborne allergens and also other contagious airborne diseases..."

I’m usually prone to colds and coughs (at least two every winter) but ever since with the pandemic I have been wearing a mask whenever out and about (and using hand sanitizers at every store etc.) I have not experienced a single case of the sniffles.

Shoshana had some questions that do not fit in with the Picture Book Club but that might indeed be asked by Goodreads and Children's Literature group Newbies. So I have deleted Shashana's original topic, but am reposting my answers.

The question about not seeing any discussions past 2013 is not something that moderators at the Children's Literature would be able to answer, as this sounds like a potential hardware or software issue that you need to ask about in the Help Section (and to also fill out a Contact Us form for Goodreads Staff to read and to advise you).

I would though try to click on the Group Home icon (top right hand corner below the logo on the homepage) and see if you still only see messages from 2013 then.

I will point out that you are not able to actually read books on Goodreads (this has never been the case and more than likely never will). Therefore if you have received book title suggestions, in oder to read the books and then post reviews on GR, you will either have to purchase a copy or borrow them from a library, a friend etc. So basically, you obtain the books for yourself (purchasing them, borrowing them) and once you are finished you post a review on Goodreads (but Goodreads does not have book titles to read on the site). And yes, this is actually a pretty common question, so there indeed is information specifically on this in the Help section (but none of this has in fact anything to do with the Children's Literature Group).

And once you have reviewed books, if you want to post about them in the Children's Literature Group, find a topic that thematically fits, do not provide too many spoilers (and make sure the titles are suitable for young readers).

Finally but very importantly, it is also strictly against our group rules to promote your own work anywhere except in the Author/Promotional section (and yes even if your work, even if your book or books thematically fit), and that you also need to set up your own topic in the author section and not piggy-back on someone else's, that posting about your work anywhere except in the author/promotional section will get your post or your topic deleted by the moderators (and if you post about your own work in the wrong areas repeatedly, you also run the risk of being removed from the group).

And indeed, if you are an author and are planning to post about your own books, before posting, scroll down to the author section and read through the rules regarding self-promotion before setting up your topic.

Does this answer your questions?

Thank you! Those are indeed good FAQs.