Immigration Unit for Third Grade

Third grade does a huge immigration unit, usually toward the end of the school year. In collaborating with the teachers, I selected some books for read-alouds during the past few weeks. The first one, Small Beauties: The Journey of Darcy Heart O'Hara, is not in my school collection but I read a review about it somewhere and was able to reserve it through the St. Louis County Library system. This is a wonderfully sweet book about a little girl, who in the midst of hardships in her native land of Ireland, is able to find the beauty in simple things. Her collection of special items, sewn into the hem of her dress is cherished by her family when they settle into their new home in America. Be sure to read the author's note at the end of the story for an interesting surprise about the genesis of this story.

Author: Elvira Woodruff -- Illustrator: Adam Rex

The second week I read two books. "She could have picked a chiming clock or a porcelain figurine, but Miss Bridie chose a shovel back in 1856". So begins the story Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel. We follow Miss Bridie as she leaves her home and family behind to travel to America. This not only is a story about immigration, but also about the usefulness of the shovel as it comes into play throughout Miss Bridie's life. Author: Leslie Connor -- Illustrator: Mary Azarian

Next up, Henry and the Kite Dragon, a Missouri "Show Me Book" nominee a few years ago. This story, a lesson in tolerance and understanding, takes place between two neighborhoods in New York : Chinatown and Little Italy. Written well, with stunning illustrations, the message is "there are always two sides to every story." Author: Bruce Edward Hall -- Illustrator: William Low

And, the third week, capping the unit off, students watched a "Reading Rainbow" episode from the Sea to Shining Sea: Stories of America DVD entitled "Watch the Stars Come Out." This is an inspirational episode, beginning with footage of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, through LaVar Burton's field trip up the scaffolding around the Statue of Liberty during it's restoration in the mid-1980s (look for the Twin Towers in the background), to an ethnic fair in New York city. Neil Diamond's "They're Coming to America" as the backdrop for the final footage in this episode was particularly moving to me. The students and their teachers really enjoyed this DVD.

Watch the Stars Come Out: author: Riki Levinson -- illustrator: Diane Goode

Revenge of the Spellmans

Revenge of the Spellmans, the third book in the Spellman Files series came out a few weeks ago and I have just finished reading it. It is every bit as good as the first two, The Spellman Files and Curse of the Spellmans. I love, love, love this series.

The Spellmans are a quirky family who run a detective agency, but spend a lot of time spying on/investigating each other. The author, Lisa Lutz, scatters footnotes thoughout the pages and her humor has me laughing out loud.

Last summer I ran into my local Saint Louis County Library branch to pick up a few books to take on our vacation. Curse of the Spellmans was on the "new releases" shelf, so I picked it up, never having heard of the author or her work. A day into our road trip I had finished the book (there's not a lot to look at in Western Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma) and upon returning home picked up the first book in the series. I know, that's not the order one would usually pick for reading a series, but I was hooked.

Lutz's writing style and characters remind me of the type of books that my nephew, Michael Snyder writes. His second book, Return Policy, should be released soon.

If you like funny stories with quirky characters and snappy dialog, this is the series for you. I've read that plans are underway to make the first book into a movie, though production has not yet started.

You can read more about Lisa Lutz on her website: http://lisalutz.com/

Libraries and Bookstores!

Most Interesting Libraries of the World

http://www.miragebookmark.ch/most-interesting-libraries.htm

The reading room of the Suzzallo library of the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, was built in 1926 and has a Gothic interieur. Photography by Cap'n Surly Flickr.com

Most Interesting Bookstores of the World

http://www.miragebookmark.ch/most-interesting-bookstores.htm

The Lello bookstore in Porto, Portugal, is open since 1906 and is surely one of the most beautiful bookstores of the world. Photography by delviking Flickr.com

Will It Ever End?

We are tired of doing yard work, but we sure feel a sense of accomplishment with each task done. Today we cleared and mulched the ground around the trees below our bedroom bay window. Here are some pictures.

Has Anyone Seen My Friends, Deb and Dan?

Here are two of the best people in the state of New York.

If they had only told me that they were joining the Witness Protection Program I would have advised them on a different look. Actually there are three people shown here, aren't there? The man with his arm around Deb? I have no idea who he is...maybe he's part of the FBI assigned to relocate McDannyboy and O'Deb Shamrock to their new potato patch.

I first talked to Deb probably 20 years ago when Fran and I ran a home-based craft business and Deb called to order some of our personalized prints. She became a good customer, ordering often, and in the process we became good friends. We used to say that we were best friends who wouldn't recognize each other if we passed on the street. We remedied that about eight years later when two friends and I traveled to Block Island and made a side trip to meet Deb and Dan. Maybe I'll write about that some day...it involves Johnette, Evelyn, nun outfits, guns and seagulls.

Subsequently, Fran and I visited them on a trip East a few years ago. They served us a delicious meal and Fran and I gave Dan some helpful hints in straightening up the rock edgings in their yard. Hahaha! Then a few years later Deb came to Eureka for a 36 hour visit, during which time we visited the Downtown Post Office. She was in postal heaven. Listening to two postal workers talk shop is like being in a foreign country with no knowledge of the language.

So...Deb and Dan both work at a post office in New York state and up until a year or so ago, they worked the evening shift, side by side at a sorting machine. I don't know about you, but if Fran and I had had to work together like that, one of us (...not saying which one) would have already been pushed through the sorting machine, bundled, stamped and delivered to a location far, far away. Just having an honest moment here...

Anyway, it's a testament to their relationship that they survived years and years of togetherness at work and home. And it's evident that these two liven up the post office.

Road Trip

Fran and I took a little road trip to Indiana a couple days ago. It was nice to get away. I have an old Reader's Digest book of best scenic drives, and the one suggested for Indiana was Highway 135, from Corydon to Nashville. This is south of Indianapolis, southeast of Bloomington. Nashville is a quaint town populated by artists and artisans. There are many craft and antique shops in the heart of the town, maybe eight blocks in either direction. Many years ago I visited Nashville with a busload of college students who had come to Indiana for Spring Break revival meetings at various churches across the state. Since then, I had always wanted to return. We roamed in and out of the shops, met a nice man at a bookstore there who is a retired Lutheran pastor who spent several years in St. Louis at Concordia Seminary, and ate at a little coffee shop/deli called "The Daily Grind."


But the best place by far on the drive was Story, a little ghost town just south of Nashville (http://storyinn.com/). Their byline is "One Inconvenient Location Since 1851." The town of Story is comprised of: a general store with a restaurant on the main floor and maybe four or five bedrooms above, several rental cabins, the Old Mill (lodging on the upper level), and an old barn in the back. The proprietor told us that they are usually booked up on the weekends from late March until winter and it's a very popular spot for wedding events.

Old gas pumps - of course, we're too young to remember these! :-)

Word has it that at least one ghost, referred to as "The Blue Lady", is in residence above the restaurant. (http://storyinn.com/page/is_story_haunted) They say the ghost is friendly and harmless, but just the possibility of a ghost is enough for me to never ever want to stay there. No thanks. Creepy. Fran and I roamed upstairs and on the way up met a very nice cat, but that's all. We weren't particularly hungry, but sat down in the restaurant to enjoy a cup of coffee. When we saw the menu, we decided to each get a homemade biscuit with gravy. Very enjoyable, and the red raspberry preserves were fantastic (of course, we HAD to buy a jar).

Seth Matthew

Look at that face...

Dave and Leanna have returned from China with their new son, Seth.

Bootsie and Murphy and What You Don't Know about Your Friends

Bootsie was our first dog. She was a Boston Bull and she moved with us from the house pictured here (in Overland, MO) to our house in Florissant. We had a fenced in back yard, but a big dog jumped the fence and, well, you know what happened. Bootsie was five or six years old by then, had never had puppies, and the vet said that delivering the pups would be a big risk to her. We all decided that we wanted Bootsie to be safe. So the vet aborted the puppies. The sad thing was that Bootsie died on the operating table. We were so upset. I remember mom telling us when we came home from school that day. I walked down to the end of the street and sat on the curb, crying for a long time. Funny, as I'm telling the story, it's the first time I've wondered why I left the house to go cry on the curb.

I was relating this story to my good college friend and comedy partner, Kris, and she disclosed that she, too, had a Boston Bull Terrier when she was a child. We have known each other now for close to 40 years, have laughed and cried together, been roommates for a time, even did some amateur detective work to bring to justice the man who slammed his car into the side of my car and fled. Once we took a trip to Riverside, California to visit Kris's mom and dad. I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time and nearly drown in it as Kris stood on the shore laughing at me. We have both always been dog lovers and when we graduated from college, we shared a little apartment in Abilene, TX with her beautiful Irish Setter, Shawn. And yet, we were amazed to find out that we did not know that we both had Boston Bulls as our first family pet. Here's a picture of Kris with her dog, Murphy. Cute, huh? I'm thinking it's Eastertime and Kris is going to have to fight Murphy off from her basket with that big lollipop in her hand.

Yard Work - Day Three

Today we cleaned up and mulched the rock ledge area directly across the driveway from our front door. It looks great. We plan to extend the mulched area back about six more feet, but that will have to wait until we recover from today's work. Fran says we are too old for this!

Welcome, Seth!

My niece, Leanna, and her husband, Dave,

are now the proud parents of Seth Matthew Johnson.

Congratulations!

Their blog is http://djohnson-family.blogspot.com/