For the Littles:
Percy and Tum-Tum: A Tale of Two Dogs by Jen Hill
There’s always someone in your life that is better than you. How you deal with your jealousy is another matter! The drawings are kind of sketched out and exaggerated, and Percy’s depravity is front and center. My kids had me read this one to them a dozen times—they enjoyed the character growth of Percy.
The Fruit Bowl by Mark Hoffman
Sneakily educational. The tomato wants to get in the fruit bowl, but the fruit try to send him back to the fridge! Then he explains the difference between fruits and vegetables, winning the day with science.
For Family Readaloud:
Capyboppy by Bill Peet
My daughter Diana is a future nature scientist, so this was a great pick for her. This is the TRUE story of Bill’s son bringing home a capybara as a pet. The book is illustrated and on the shorter side, which kept my younger kids interested, but it had a rich vocabulary and scientific accuracy that engaged my older kids. A winner all around.
For Myself:
This is Happiness by Niall Williams
I feel like I traveled to Ireland in this book. It is told in character—an old man reflecting on a time of his life in Faha, as the small Irish village receives electricity for the first time. The writing is full of metaphor and Irish vernacular, simply beautiful to read (I savored it, which meant returning it to the library four days overdue). Noe Crowe, a 17 year old, is sent to live with his grandparents after dropping out of studying to become a priest. It’s a sensitive story, of a young man beginning to understand love and death and life in general, the catalyst of change being a renter, a man named Christy, who has come to Faha to right past wrongs. This is a great book for those who love a slow poetic read.
“…I came to understand him to mean you could stop at, not all, but most of the moments of your life, stop for one heartbeat and, no matter what the state of your head or heart, say This is happiness, because of the simple truth that you were alive to say it.”
― Niall Williams, This Is Happiness
A Change In the Air by Jane Clarke
Since I was already reading about Ireland, I naturally needed some Irish poetry (of which there is much, and good poetry too). Clarke’s collection follows her personal history, the Irish landscape, and the trauma of war in her homeland. I heard an excellent interview with her on Rattlecast recently —listening to these poems in her beautiful accent really brought them to life. Free verse predominately, often in couplets (two line stanzas), I thought they were accessible, often rural, and tended to want to tell you a story. I will leave you with one of my favorites from the collection:
After
by Jane Clarke
Now that her heart is bent over
like larkspur after a storm,
she stays in bed past milking time,
pulling the quilt
tight around her shoulders
until her collie barks her
down the stairs
to lift the backdoor latch.
She kneels to light the cipeens
piled on last night’s embers.
Her bones creak
like the bolt on the door of the barn.
A cup of oats, two cups of water,
a pinch of salt—
porridge, tea and tablets,
a meal for a queen.
Every day without him
is too long;
she’s waiting
with the tired cows at the gate.
Writing Updates:
A new poem in the Rabbit Room: If I Had Not Been Writing the Poem