January 2024 - Dogear Diary

two more puzzles-

Temple of the Jaguar

made by Milton Bradley ~ artist Rod Frederick ~ 550 pieces

This puzzle was difficult and took a lot of focus, but I really enjoyed doing it. I thought at first it was a photograph, so meticulously are all the details depicted, but I’m pretty certain it’s from a painting. It was missing three pieces, I made replacements. One is pretty obvious, I feel like the other two blend in well. Acquired from neighborhood free exchange.

Completed on 1/6/24

A Mother’s Love

made by Bits and pieces ~ artist Tricia Reilly-Matthews ~ 1,000 pieces

Lovely picture, I just thought it so sweet. Much more of a challenge than all the 500-piece puzzles I’d been doing lately. Great piece cut variety, but they did seem small in size. Caused me some finger pain. The colors were so subtle, it was hard to distinguish between them scattered on the board- (especially the kitten’s). I thought that softness of the colors would make the piece edges stand out too much in the end, but actually it had a nice effect. Like a mosaic picture.

Completed on 1/8/24

Tags: puzzles

Samantha on a Roll

by Linda Ashman

I really liked this book (even though I can see how some parents might protest at the disobedience). Samantha is a little girl with new roller skates. She’s eager to try them out, but her mom is too busy to help. Unable to wait, Samantha puts them on by herself and wobbles from one stationary object to another. Then she navigates the hallway. Feeling like she’s got the hang of it, Samantha sneaks out to skate on the sidewalk in front of the house. She happily skates a bit and then admires the view of town from top of a hill- not realizing how close she is to the slope. Suddenly finds herself rolling downhill, and she doesn’t know how to stop! She zooms through town, crashing through many different people’s activities (including a wedding) until a fortunate incident returns her home again- where she’s able to run inside, take off the skates and sit down with a book just before her mom comes in the room. Phew!

Lively, cute and fun. And this might seem a picky thing, but I appreciated that in all the scenes, Samantha’s poses look like what you actually do on roller skates. Unlike this book– where on the cover and in some interior pages, the illustrations look more like poses you take running or walking, rather than skating. And I keep thinking of that because I remember from being at the rink, seeing the kids who make walking stride motions with their legs, and don’t get anywhere- it’s a different motion- you have to step ahead, push out and glide. Eh, I think I’m a bit obsessed with this notion.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5

40 pages, 2011

Tags: Current Reads, Picture Books

Click, Clack, Moo

Cows That Type

by Doreen Cronin

This book is really silly, but I can see why it’s so popular and made it onto that puzzle collage. And it’s become a whole series- I might just go look for more of them, while I’m still in need of easy things to read. So these farmer’s cows have discovered an old typewriter in the barn and figured out how to use it. The clacking noise is annoying enough, but then one day the cows start writing the farmer notes. Insisting that he do things to improve the farm, to their benefit. Next the chickens join in with their own demands. When the farmer does nothing, the cows and chickens go on strike, refusing to give him milk and eggs. He tries to solve this problem using the duck as an intermediary- but finds in the end, that while he’s resolved his initial disagreement with the cows, other difficulties are on the horizon. All because of a typewriter. Made me laugh.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5

32 pages, 2000

Tags: Animals Fiction, Current Reads, Picture Books

Dodgeball

the Greater World of Sports

by Michael Decker

What do you know- apparently dodgeball is considered a sport, with uniformed teams, organized leagues and everything. (Least amount of equipment ever, the book points out more than once- all you need is a ball!) It’s been played since the early 1900’s and has more rules than I realized- most of which, if they’d been enforced in games at my elementary school, would have made it more fun. I thought back then it was some awful game made up by sadistic gym teachers- or playground bullies- and was constantly afraid of getting hit in the head by a ball. (Most teams have rules against throws aimed at an opponent’s head). There’s even some universities that have dodgeball teams- and one, in 2012, organized the world’s largest dodgeball game ever- on a field with more than 6,000 participants. The number of balls in play were not recorded. The photograph of the event is crazy! Rubber spheres flying everywhere. How anyone kept track of who missed or scored in that game is a mystery to me. Maybe it was one more lax on the rules. Also impressive- this slender book has an comprehensive little index. Arguably not really needed, but better done than a lot of other nonfiction books I’ve seen.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5

32 pages, 2020

Tags: Current Reads, Juvenile Nonfic

two bird puzzles

Golden Light

made by Springbok ~ artist Dona Gelsinger ~ 500 pieces

Completed on 1/5/24

A vintage Springbok (made in Kansas), with the fun odd random piece cut. I like the abstract brush strokes visible in the artwork. When I opened the box, somebody before me had not only bagged the edges separate, but also all the red pieces of the male cardinal and mostly golden-brown ones (I think that was the female bird). I dumped them all together and mixed up again before starting. Bought used on Craigslist.

Goldfinch Quartet

made by Cobble Hill ~ artist Susan Bourdet ~ 500 pieces

Completed on 1/5/24

This one was just lovely. I don’t know what else to say about it! Nice sturdy pieces with canvas texture, almost no glare, very random piece cut, and a pretty picture. It was a bit more challenging than the previous, really enjoyable. This one was a thrift store find.

Tags: puzzles

Unicorn Garden

made by Djeco ~ artist Agatha Kawa ~ 500 pieces

This puzzle was lovely, if quite different from my others. It’s a long narrow panoramic, makes me think of a banner or scroll. The box didn’t show the entire image, but there’s a poster included that’s exactly the same size as the puzzle, and came all rolled up. The pieces are thick and very shiny, and quite rectangular. They look like might have a lot of false fits, but after a few tries it was easy to tell which snugged into the right place. Did cause a lot of finger pain. I used gloves with this one. I really like the picture. So many interesting little details, made me think of a medieval tapestry (and I listened to some Mediæval Bæbes while doing it, haha). I took a bunch of extra pictures to show them to you, because can’t quite make out much from the whole picture image.

Among many other creatures, there’s a blue monkey

a porcupine

two peacocks (this one more demure)

hunting dogs, a rabbit same size as the fox

a lady holding a stoat (brings to mind the painting Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci)

a baby unicorn in someone’s arms

and two winged deer. I think this is the first picture I’ve ever seen of flying deer (Santa’s reindeer don’t count. They don’t have wings).

And in the background through the whole image, flowers and other plants that look like I ought to recognize them. My husband says the unicorns look very French. I found this article about the artist.

Completed on 1/4/24

from CList - bought used

Tags: puzzles

Muggie Maggie

by Beverly Cleary

Another j-fiction book I have because my kid discarded it. Another author I knew when when I was younger, and this book I’d never heard of. It’s much shorter than the Ramona books. Maggie is a third-grader who resents having to learn cursive handwriting. She’s adamant that her printing is very legible and she can type faster on the computer, so why does she have to learn cursive? It’s hard. She doodles curves and squiggles on her paper instead of making proper letters, and outright refuses to practice properly. Before long the entire class is ahead of her, and now the other kids are starting to point and whisper “that’s the kid who won’t do cursive.” Now she feels like she can’t give in. But she starts to notice there’s certain things she can’t read without knowing cursive. And her pride starts to falter when the class progresses further, as she’s also got a reputation for being smart. The teacher sends her to deliver notes and she’s dying to know what they say (who can resist sneaking a peak?) She’s also very preceptive, and just happens to notice that her father’s cursive is a bit untidy and her mother’s writing leans the wrong way- which she is quick to criticize (ha). I thought the teacher’s method of convincing Maggie to practice and learn the handwriting was fairly clever and let the girl save face. It was a nice story, just very short and didn’t do a whole lot for me. I’m sure for the age group and any kids also reluctant to learn an archaic-seeming skill, would appreciate this one.

Rating: 2/5

68 pages, 1990

Tags: 2/5- Just Okay, Current Reads, Juvenile Fic

The Littles and Their Amazing New Friend

by John Peterson

When I was a kid I read some of the Littles books- at least the first three or four. Not far into the series though, because I don’t remember there being any other Little people families, and this mentions several. It was familiar enough to me that right away I recalled the names of the main characters- Tom and his sister Lucy, the ex-soldier Uncle Nick, the dashing pilot Cousin Dinky, etc. I have this book because when my kid was cleaning out their collection of things that they’d outgrown years ago, I kept some. A Littles book I hadn’t read.

It was plenty fun and a good read, even though I have a gap, not having read quite a few volumes that preceded this one, and having forgotten a lot of the earlier volumes too. The Littles are tiny people that live between the walls of people’s house, using things they find and collect- like a matchbox for the baby’s bed, a thimble for a bucket, etc. I always thought this was super clever and fascinating when I read the other books as a kid. This volume starts off immediately with an adventure- young Tom Little is on the roof with his Uncle Nick and Dinky. They’ve rigged up a discarded party balloon to be a hot-air balloon, but something goes wrong with their test flight- Tom and Uncle Nick end up flying away without Dinky, off-course. They go far beyond their normal range, but manage to crash land without getting injured- finding themselves on top of a hillside in a secluded area where to their surprise, there’s another family of “tinies”. These tinies wear old-fashioned clothes and speak oddly and have a different value system- men and women’s work strictly segregated, and girls in particular forbidden to do all sorts of things, expected to be demure and well-behaved. Tom befriends the daughter of the family, who is not at all demure- she’s smart and quite adventuresome (which gets her into trouble). Tom doesn’t want to upset the order of things, but also doesn’t like seeing her spirit squashed. Well, the other tiny family is welcoming and with some help they get their balloon repaired. The isolated tinies are surprised to hear news from the modern world, while they have a few things on their farm that astonish Tom and his uncle as well. When they get home, Tom and Lucy have their own little adventure exploring in the woods- there’s chipmunk encounters in dark tunnels! I loved the references to some children’s literature, and Lucy’s desire to make a secret garden and how she did that- but disappointed the story didn’t explore that any further, once she had planted some flowers it wasn’t mentioned again. Their family eventually connects with the isolated tiny farm family again, and there’s a happy ending for all.

It was sweet and fun. And of course now I’d like to read other Little books, plus The Borrowers too, which I never got into.

Rating: 3/5

105 pages, 1999

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Current Reads, Juvenile Fic

City Limits

made by Galison ~ artist Charles Lynn Bragg ~ 500 pieces

Another puzzle I wanted for a long time, and was thrilled to finally get. A bit disappointed that it doesn’t show the entire image- the original painting has buildings and construction equipment in the top margin, visual commentary on how humanity is ever encroaching on the natural world. I really enjoyed putting this puzzle together, the odd random cut and fun quirky way the pieces fit together. They did feel quite small though, and were very shiny. Missing one piece in the center, I made an okay patch (couldn’t get the color quite dark enough).

This one was also delightful for all the small details and some hidden animals peeking through the foliage- there’s a spider

a caterpillar with a crazy face (and tail!)

this okapi (or zebra?) behind the leaves-

and some which I couldn’t identify- (my first guess was wild dog but this animal is the same size as a nearby bat in the picture)

Completed on 1/3/24.

from Puzzle Exchange Group (online swap)

Tags: puzzles

Roller Derby

the Greater World of Sports

by Martha London

After I get through the kids’ and juvenile fiction books about just having fun on roller skates, all the books that are YA or adult seem to be about roller derby teams. So I figured I ought to know the basics. I’ve seen a few films about roller derby, and the action is so fast it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on and I didn’t quite get it. Well, now I do- it’s pretty simple actually. This book outlines the basic rules of play, and tells about the history of the sport. It used to be more of a race, and played on banked tracks (now most leagues use flat tracks). And in the 40’s when women’s roller derby was popular on television, they were pretty rough- fights were the norm! So it was fun to learn a bit more, even though I have no intention myself of playing roller derby. I have to say though, I was instantly jealous when on the first pages I read about a junior girls’ league that practices in Seattle in a big empty warehouse. How I’d love to have access to that kind of space! (Nearest roller rink to me is a forty minute drive- a bit much to go multiple times per week). That junior league wasn’t around when I was a kid (started in 2007) and I doubt I would have had the interest back then, but still!

This book is from a juvenile non-fiction series that aims to inform about sports that are “just a bit outside the mainstream” including, on their list of other titles- dodgeball, ultimate frisbee and quidditch. Well, now I’m curious about that too (who actually plays it IRL?)

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5

32 pages, 2020

Tags: Current Reads, Juvenile Nonfic

Month: January 2024

Temple of the Jaguar

made by Milton Bradley ~ artist Rod Frederick ~ 550 pieces

A Mother’s Love

made by Bits and pieces ~ artist Tricia Reilly-Matthews ~ 1,000 pieces

Cows That Type

the Greater World of Sports

Golden Light

made by Springbok ~ artist Dona Gelsinger ~ 500 pieces

Goldfinch Quartet

made by Cobble Hill ~ artist Susan Bourdet ~ 500 pieces

made by Djeco ~ artist Agatha Kawa ~ 500 pieces

made by Galison ~ artist Charles Lynn Bragg ~ 500 pieces

the Greater World of Sports

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