Another Opinion

On July 4, 2011, I posted comments about the book Caleb's Crossing. Following is another opinion from a member of the librarian's listserv. Below are her credentials and follwing is the link to her blog with her comments on the book. Very different point of view than mine.



Debbie Reese, PhD
Tribally enrolled: Nambe Pueblo
Email: dreese.nambe@gmail.com
Website: American Indians in Children's Literature@ http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.net/
Now: Studying for MLIS at San Jose State University
Then: Assistant Professor in American Indian Studies, University of Illinois

http://goo.gl/eQ06v Follow this link

Family Memoir

As a Christmas gift to her children and grandchildren my mother-in-law wrote this 210 page memoir of her courtship and married life from the 1930's till the 1980's. Even though the book is a family history there is interesting information about life in a cotton mill town in Alabama, the adventures of "war work" at Bell Aircraft in Marietta, Georgia, during WWII, and rural Florida in the 1940s.

Jean at 15 Horace at 18

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Advent, Christmas, Epiphany Readings

My readings for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany has been Jan Richardson's book shown above.


The publisher's blurb states

"Jan's original artwork, reflections, poetry, and prayers accompany the reader from the first days of Advent through the Feast of the Epiphany, beckoning us to encounter the God who dwells in darkness as well as in daylight."


Today, New Year's Day, 2012, especially spoke to me. Here is the reading.


Wise Women Also Came

Wise women also came.
The fire burned
in their wombs
long before they saw
the flaming star
in the sky.
They walked in shadows,
trusting the path
would open
under the light of the moon.

Wise women also came,
seeking no directions,
no permission
from any king.
The came
by their own authority,
their own desire,
their own longing.
The came in quiet,
spreading no rumor,
sparking no fears
to lead
to innocents' slaughter,
to their sister Rachel's
inconsolable lamentations.

Wise women also came,
and they brought
useful gifts:
water for labor's washing,
fire for warm illumination,
a blanket for swaddling.

Wise women also came,
at least three of them,
holding Mary in the labor,
crying out with her
in the birth pangs,
breathing ancient blessing
into her ear.

Wise women also came,
and they went,
as wise women always do,
home a different way.

In this and every season
may we see them,
the wise ones
who come bearing
your gifts to us.

They cloak themselves in garb
that rarely draws attention,
but they are there
at the edge of the shadows,
in the margins of our days,
on the threshold of our awareness,
offering what we most need.

Give us eyes to see them now,
before they have left
to go home some other way,
before we glimpse
their departing shadows
edged in gold
and smell their spiced perfume
lingering behind them
in the air.

Christmas Wishes

Several years ago when Smiths Station Intermediate School's library cat, Tigger, was still living our students were invited to send him Christmas cards. The cards would be posted on the bulletin board in the library.

Below is the card I most treasure from that experience. It was made by a 4th grader but was not signed. To this day I do not know who made it.

Merry Christmas to all of you

Congratulations

Congratulations to my librarian friend, Patti Henderson, Media Specialist at Sanford Middle School. She hosted an event for her student council reps to meet with Alabama State Senator Tom Whatley. Senator Whatley spoke with the 5th -8th grade student council representatives about the responsibilities of leadership, the importance of evaluating options and making good choices. At the conclusion of his visit he answered student questions concerning the new teacher ethics law, changes in education, charter schools, and education funding.

Senator Whatley presents Patti Henderson a grant check for $2,000 for use in the Sanford Middle School Media Center.

Following the program one of the school's avid readers asked if Senator Whatley was aware that public school libraries in Alabama had not received any library money for 3 years. Senator Whatley seemed surprised, asked for confirmation and if it was a line item in the education budget. After being told yes, it was a line item and what the student said was true, he made a note. Perhaps there will be some followup in next year's budget because of this student's comment.

Good job, Mrs. Henderson.

Picture: Senator Whatley presents Patti Henderson a grant check for $2,000. for use in the Sanford Middle School Media Center.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Mystery

Laughing out loud at parts!

"She was prattling. If I kept quiet, it wouldn't be more than a minute before she would be confiding her size in knickers."


"God blind me with a fish fork!"


Really enjoyed The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. This is proving delightful, too.

Dedication

I have received my Beaucoup, Arlo & Janis book. Reading slowly to make it last. Noticed the dedication was For Peggy Singleton. Today Jimmy Johnson enlightened his blog followers with information on this lady.

Quoted from www.arloandjanis.com

"Many of you who’ve seen the book will have noted the dedication, “To Peggy Singleton.” Peggy Singleton was an English teacher who began teaching at Lanett High School in 1966, my freshman year. I was in one of her first classes, and it was apparent she was going to be a capable and well-liked instructor. However, I was not in her class again until 1969, the beginning of my senior year. She was a bit more collegial with us seniors than she had been with my freshman class three years earlier. Her lectures on English literature and such, often delivered while leaning against her desk, were interspersed with comments and questions from the class. It was in this loosely structured atmosphere I first heard a group of people laugh at my remarks, for it was in Mrs. Singleton’s room I developed something of a reputation as a wit. Not a goofball, not exactly a class clown, but an observer who could be depended upon to put a wry spin on the topic at hand. Such a proclivity was as much a surprise to me as it was to my classmates. Mrs. Singleton’s tolerance and her occasional failure to suppress her own laughter encouraged me. Of course, she openly encouraged my aptitude for writing. She was the person who suggested I might study “journalism” in college. I did. I would like to give her all the credit, but the truth is, I was clueless and highly impressionable. Still, her influence was great, and I am convinced I would not have taken the path I did had it not been for Mrs. Singleton’s senior English class."

A wonderful tribute to a teacher. All teachers both current and former (though we never really stop being a teacher, it is what defines us) would be thrilled to read from a former student.

Think about it and write a note to that one special teacher that helped you chart your future path.