5/5- Loved It Archives - Page 4 of 7

Metropolitan Zoo

by Joseph Bell

This book has been sitting on my shelf a long time, picked up from a library sale who-knows-when. I read it through several bouts of nursing the baby, taking time to look closely at all the pictures. Metropolitan Zoo is a collection of images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that all feature wild animals. There are paintings, drawings, sculpture, embroideries, jewelry and other forms of art. Each image is described, not only explaining the medium and style, the artist\’s inspiration (whether from life or completely fanciful) and a bit of history, but also something about the animal. In particular, the author points out when the details of the artwork show something factual about the animal\’s life or habits, and when they got it dead wrong! I noticed myself a few small details: in the painted screen of white-handed gibbons (shown on the cover), the male is holding some kind of insect in his clenched fist. In few pages showing lions, I saw that quite a number of them depicted the Barbary lion, now extinct in the wild, whose mane extends along the belly. And one left me with a question: what is the other, un-named animal in the detail of the unicorn tapestry shown? Next to the hyena (which doesn\’t look much like a hyena) is a creature with a striped tail like a raccoon (only skinnier) but the longer neck and finer face of a weasel. A civet? I keep turning to that page, trying to puzzle it out. The artworks feature lions, elephants, rhinos, deer, squirrels and many other mammals. There are also quite a few pieces depicting snakes and other reptiles, and lots of various and beautiful birds. It\’s a book I thoroughly enjoyed looking through, and should be very popular with anyone who loves animals or art (or both, like me!)

I want to get my hands someday on the other edition they\’ve printed featuring cats from the museum\’s artwork.

Rating: 5/5 …….112 pages, 1985

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Animals Nonfiction, Art, Current Reads

My First Green Book

by Angela Wilkes
A life-size guide to caring for our environment

Just finished reading this book last night with my six-year old. It\’s all about environmental issues and things kids can do to help. It goes beyond just recycling and conserving electricity (although those things are mentioned). There are sections about air pollution, acid rain, how nature recycles waste, composting, choosing products wisely, healthy soils, plants that encourage wildlife, how trees improve our air, what\’s happening to the rainforests (and how much we depend on them), etc. At the end one page explains how to keep a simple diary where kids can record things they observe about the environment, and how to campaign to improve things up in your own neighborhood. There are lots of simple experiments to try illustrating different things about the environment. For example, one you take a piece of fresh celery, and several cut white flowers and put them in a glass of water with red food coloring or dye in it. The plants absorb the dye along with the water and turn pink. This shows kids how pollutants in water get absorbed by and can adversely affect the plant.

The formatting of My First Green Book is large, easy to read and understand. The book is a full 13 inches tall, so the large photographs have plenty of detail. All the experiments and information are explained simply enough for children to understand. We\’ve already done a few of the experiments, one to see how plants respond to polluted water, another to see evidence of contaminants in our air. Right after reading the section on air pollution and seeing pictures of what types of lichens grow on trees, my kid inspected bark on trees in the local park and then ran to me shouting: \”we have clean air! we have clean air!\” because the lichens were a healthy leafy type. All in all a most excellent book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to encourage their children to care for the environment and learn simple things that actually make a difference.

Rating: 5/5 …….. 48 pages, 1991

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Current Reads, Juvenile Nonfic

Winter World

the ingenuity of animal survival
by Bernd Heinrich

This was the perfect read to complement the white, snowy world outside my window. Winter World is all about what animals do to survive cold weather, based on Heinrich\’s own curiosity and observations about the natural world. Although it examines the strategies of many different creatures, from small insects to various members of the squirrel family, bats, beavers, frogs and bears, there is a common thread running through all Heinrich\’s investigations as he tries to solve the mystery of how kinglets (a bird smaller than a chickadee) manage to survive cold winter nights in northern latitudes (he lives in Maine). This book is just jam-packed with beautiful nature writing and compelling facts. Things like why some animals spend the winter scurrying around in a constant search for food, while others are comatose for months at a time in a hibernating torpor (and what, exactly hibernation is). Some animals hoard food, others lay up fat stores in their bodies, still others simply suspend all body functions, to any scientific examination dead to the world (no heartbeat, sign of breathing, etc.) Did you know that some frogs can survive having half the water in their bodies turn to solid ice? That bears go the whole winter without drinking or urinating? that turtles live the winter in frozen-over ponds because they can absorb oxygen through their skin?

It\’s the kind of book that got me so enthralled I read it in all of two days. I kept reading passages aloud to my husband: \”listen to this!\” and even though he\’s not intrigued by how animals do things like I am, he found interesting things like how the study of animal survival methods can impact human medicine. For example, unraveling the secrets of bear hibernation could help with the treatment of diabetes or patients who suffer oxygen-depletion to the brain (like stroke victims). It\’s just amazing. Learning about all the ingenious ways animals endure the cold and come out alive and well in springtime was just fascinating. Makes us humans with our need for sweaters and furnaces seem fragile beings indeed, compared to all the small creatures that simply weather the elements, each in their own way.

Rating: 5/5 …….. 357 pages, 2003

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Current Reads, Nature

The Galapagos

Exploring Darwin\’s Tapestry
by John Hess

This is a beautiful, beautiful book. John Hess combines gorgeous photography with lyrical words to bring the reader into an exotic, far-off place: the Galapagos islands. He describes their delicacy and harshness (I didn\’t know before that the islands were largely a desert environment). He talks about how the few endemic animal species have evolved specifically to survive there; mostly birds. There are only a scattering of reptiles there and no native mammals at all (unless you count ones that live mainly offshore, like the sea lions). I didn\’t know that penguins and flamingos live in the Galapagos, as well as some more-familiar birds like the great blue heron. The first part of the book describes the different habitats on and around the islands: the margin where the sea meets land, the dry desert areas, the upland daisy forests that get more precipitation. Many different species are mentioned in those sections, but in the later half of the book an individual chapter is dedicated to each of the seven Hess calls the \”Galapagos royalty.\” They are the flightless cormorant, marine iguana, waved albatross, frigatebirds, Galapagos tortoise, three kinds of boobies and the swallow-tailed gull. I learned so much about these interesting and beautiful animals. Did you know that marine iguanas sneeze salt out of their bodies? that the swallow-tailed gull is the only seagull to fly and hunt at night (it eats fish and squid that glow in the dark)? that a pair of waved albatrosses will engage in courtship dances for several years before they raise their first chick together? Of course there is a lot of reflection in these pages on the evolutionary design of these animals, threats to their survival, and protective measures which have already shown signs of promise- tortoises are reared in safe enclosures until big enough to be safe from rats; invasive goats and other domestics have been eradicated from several of the islands. But Hess also tells stories about some of the animals, like a legend about how the cormorant lost its power of flight, which makes The Galapagos an even more engaging read. I really enjoyed the mix of inspired myth and factual science, all enhanced by beauty.

Found on a library shelf and borrowed.

Rating: 5/5 …….. 188 pages, 2009 pages

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads

The Pen and Ink Book

Materials and Techniques for Today\’s Artist
by Jos A. Smith

I thought for something a little different I\’d tell you about an art book today. This one is not so much an instruction book as a showcase of the wide versatility possible with inks. It\’s not really for beginners but if you\’ve already tried drawing in ink and are excited about it, this book can really springboard you into some new techniques and creativity. It starts out by describing some unique tools used for inking- from steel nibs to those made of cane and quills (yes, cut from bird feathers!) to fountain pens or the everyday ballpoint. Quality papers and other drawing surfaces, varieties of ink and other useful materials are also discussed. Then the book goes into a series of examples of technique- linework, cross-hatching, stippling, washes, etc. There are some very interesting effects he creates using mixed media- combining inks with acrylics, or pastels, or even crayon. All the techniques are illustrated with the author\’s own work, which is surprisingly varied. Some are lively and fun -done for children\’s picture books- others quite complex and dark in nature. A few could be disturbing to the sensitive viewer. I thought they were all really imaginative and fantastic. Anyhow, the book doesn\’t really show any step-by-step examples of how to arrive at the finished product, although he discusses the techniques a lot is left up to the individual artist to learn by experimenting himself. That doesn\’t bother me much, I find the book highly inspirational and love looking at all the images. One part I really like is a section where he shows how a single image- in this case a person\’s face- can have a different feel just by how it is rendered. The example shows this same face drawn in a dozen different styles of linework and it really is quite illuminating. This is by far one of my favorite art books. It was a gift from my father. You can see some of the artist\’s work here.

Rating: 5/5 …….. 176 pages, 1992

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Art

Dragonsbane

by Barbara Hambly

One of my favorite fantasy series begins with Barbara Hambly\’s Dragonsbane. Here\’s the basic plot: John Aversin is the only man who\’s ever slain a dragon. He lives in the remote Winterlands, leader of a people struggling on the outskirts of the kingdom. Gareth shows up unexpectedly, a young prince from the king\’s court, seeking help against a dragon that has seized part of the city. It\’s not an easy task for Gareth to convince John -and his wife Jenny, a half-trained witch- to return with him, and when they do get there, things quickly get complicated. The court is riddled with perfidy and corruption. The Gnomes- a separate race of oppressed people, owners of the area now held by the dragon- are in the middle of a revolt. It seems that John and Jenny will never even get near the dragon, but when they finally do, that encounter is nothing like they\’d expected, either.

Hambly is one of those amazing storytellers I never tire of reading again and again. I love how realistic everything in this novel feels, even though it\’s fantasy. The characters all struggle with personal issues. I love the fact that John is something of a self-taught philosopher, always dabbling in old books, searching for archaic knowledge, curious about inventions and how things work. Jenny wrestles with trying to pursue her art of witchcraft, a dedication which usually takes up a person\’s life entirely, while at the same time raising a family. Even Gareth turns out to be a sympathetic character, though at first he comes off as just a spoiled brat. Another really intriguing thing about the story is all its unexpected turns. Gareth didn\’t expect to find his hero standing in a pigpen of mud when he arrived in the Winterlands, and it really throws him for a while. John is dismayed to find the court full of conniving elite who don\’t really care about the dragon- but I love how he handles it! Jenny didn\’t foresee being able to communicate with the dragon, much less that it would make her a tempting offer, in bargain for its life, one of the most fascinating parts of the story… Well, all I can say is that if you like fantasy, particularly dragon books, I highly recommend this one!

Rating: 5/5 …….. 274 pages, 1985

More opinions at:
Cold Iron and Rowan-Wood
Paper Tiger
anyone else?

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Past Reads

Growing and Displaying Bonsai

A Step-by-Step Guide
by Colin Lewis and Neil Sutherland

This is an excellent book. The pictures are stunning, the text is easy to understand and well-written in a conversational way, not just simply informative. It covers the art and design of bonsai, techniques and methods used to shape the trees, their care, feeding and health. But there\’s far more than that. Growing and Displaying Bonsai also tells the reader what the function is of each part of the plant, so you know exactly what effect you\’re having on it when you trim and prune, and understand why certain tasks must be done in certain seasons. There\’s also information on how to set up a display, pick out good trees from a nursery, and grow your own stock. I especially appreciated all the extra tips, like how to make do with what you have already on hand until you can afford specialized bonsai tools, how to redesign a plant you\’re dissatisfied with, or even when to give up and start over. Aside from their beauty, the pictures are particularly useful because they show each stage of a bonsai\’s training, and often plants showed at a very early stage are pictured later in the book, after several years\’ development (the author stresses keeping a yearly photographic record of your plants!)

I read it for the Random Reading challenge (random.org gave me #68 off my TBR shelf) but it was a perfect book for right now- I\’ve been messing around with my rather pathetic little bonsai plants without any guidance and needed to just sit down and read a book already!

Rating: 5/5 …….. 124 pages, 1993

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Current Reads, Gardening / Food

Amy\’s Eyes

by Richard Kennedy

Did you ever imagine as a child that your dolls could come to life, that your stuffed animal would one day talk to you? Well in Amy\’s Eyes they do, and more than that, the girl herself turns into a doll. When the story begins, Amy is a lonely orphan who finds comfort in her sailor doll, talking and reading to him constantly. One day she accidentally discovers the secret that will bring him to life, and being a sailor he (of course) goes off to sea. Amy pines away for him so much that when he returns, the sailor finds that Amy has herself become a doll. He takes her away with him on a pirate adventure, searching for gold treasure at the bottom of the ocean. Amy\’s Eyes is a wonderfully imaginative story, peopled with unforgettable characters. The ship\’s crew is made up of toy animals brought to life, with a few exceptions- one being the first mate Skivvy, who was a doll made of long underwear turned into a man. The animals were read Mother Goose in their bringing-to-life process, whereas Skivvy was read the Bible. So while the animals\’ heads are full of nursery rhymes, Skivvy contorts his mind over Book of Revelation prophecies and the arts of numerology. There\’s a lot of speculation in the story over the meaning of life and other deep questions. Add to that an enemy pirate ship, a witch aboard, threats of mutiny (from a rubber duck!) and a slowly-unraveling mystery, and you have one of the most engaging and entertaining stories I read in my entire childhood. It\’s beautifully written, too. I wish more people had heard of and read Amy\’s Eyes. Maybe you\’ll be the next one.

Rating: 5/5 …….. 437 pages, 1985

Have you written a blog post about this book? let me know and I\’ll add your link here

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Juvenile Fic, Past Reads

Ariel

A Book of the Change
by Steven R. Boyett

Ariel is a post-apocalyptic fantasy. The world has suddenly changed. Modern technology no longer works- electricity, firearms, cars, etc.- and magic has come into the world. (It\’s really cool that the author laid out rules -like the laws of physics- for how the magic worked, too.) Chaos and confusion is everywhere, as mythical beasts stalk the land and bullies wrest scant resources from others. The main character, Pete, manages to survive the turmoil of the first few years after \”the Change\” and is on his own until one day he comes across a unicorn. A beautiful, graceful, magical creature- who is also stubborn, frank, cracks jokes and likes to swear. They strike up a friendship and travel together, eventually adding to their party a bumbling kid who thinks he has to kill a dragon and a woman named Shaughnessy. Like many fantasy novels, it winds down to a battle between the good guys and the bad guys- Pete has to learn swordsmanship from a martial arts master, trek on foot from Atlanta to New York City, choose his friends wisely and avoid his enemies. It turns out that the bad guys want to capture the unicorn, and even if he can keep her away from them, he might loose her to a human relationship- as he and Shaughnessy begin to find each other attractive- but only a virgin can be a unicorn\’s companion… This novel is just amazing. Full of adventure, great characters, a wonderful tale of friendship and loyalties.

What\’s even more fantastic is that I just found out the author wrote a sequel, Elegy Beach, coming out in November. I can\’t find a synopsis of it anywhere online, though…

Rating: 5/5 …….. 325 pages, 1983

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Past Reads

Beauty

a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast

by Robin McKinley

Beauty is the first McKinley book I ever read, way back when I was about fourteen. And I fell in love with it. I can’t count how many times I read it over again. I think I was first intrigued by how incongruous the title and the girl pictured on the cover of my old paperback (shown here) seemed- she’s just so homely. Even one of my school friends remarked: wow, that girl’s ugly (in a totally dismissive voice). By that point I was so enthralled by the book I felt indignant at her judgment of it by its cover!

It’s quickly explained in the story that Beauty’s given name is actually Honour, but when she learned at five years old what it meant, she said “Huh, I’d rather be Beauty!” and the nickname stuck. Compared to her two pretty, graceful sisters, Beauty was the tomboy of the family. She preferred working with her hands, loved studying books, and faced everything with a very down-to-earth attitude. So when her father lost his fortune and the family had to move from the city to a humble little village, Beauty tried to see the adventure in it all. Far from being intimidated by the dark forest their house butted up against, rumored to harbor an enchanted castle and a ferocious beast, Beauty was curious. When her father (as the familiar fairy tale goes) became lost in the forest and enraged the beast, Beauty offered herself up and went to live in the magic castle. The mysterious enchantments of the castle and Beauty’s reactions to them are so well-described in this book. Floating candlesticks, dishes that serve themselves, self-pruning roses, and a library full of books from the future! At first, of course, she is frightened, but gradually she becomes bolder and grows used to the strangeness of her surroundings and even the fearsome Beast himself. I loved how she asserted herself, arguing with the invisible servants and trying to accustom her terrified horse to the Beast’s presence. The love story here unfolds very gradually, Beauty and her Beast slowly growing more and more comfortable with each other until they find they are good friends, and perhaps something more. I also liked that the good first third of the book is about her family, how they face their initial hardships and settle into their new surroundings. It established the characters as very real people; and I was glad that her family members reappeared later in the story. The final scene was a grand confusion, but I didn’t mind much.

I thought of this book today because my four-year-old was watching the Disney version. My husband was unfamiliar with the fairy tale when he first watched the film with her, and I remember him asking me afterward: but at what point did Beauty fall in love with the Beast? He couldn’t pinpoint it. We talked for a bit about his gradual transformation into a more well-behaved, friendly persona, but then I looked at him sideways and said “I know the moment when she fell in love with him.”
“When?”
“It was when he gave her the library.”
“Ah! Don’t tell me that!”
And what a library it was. I think my dream library looks like the one in the Beast’s castle.

Rating: 5/5

247 pages, 1978

More opinions at:
Bean Bag Books
An Adventure in Reading

Tags: 5/5- Loved It, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Past Reads, Young Adult

Tag: 5/5- Loved It

a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast

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