You Will Be My Friend (Peter Brown)

 

Great story for friendship. Being really excited and bossy doesn't help win friends! 

Goodreads says: 

Lucy wants to make a friend today!

But it's harder than it looks.

Will Lucy give up before she finds a friend?

Will YOU be Lucy's friend?

Ananotomy of Anxiety (Ellen Vora)

 

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of all the things I can be doing to have good mental health. Our modern lives are not great for our mental health and it really takes a proactive approach to make sure we are doing all we can to stay healthy.

Goodreads says:

From an acclaimed functional medicine psychiatrist, a groundbreaking approach to understanding and managing anxiety from a holistic perspective.

More than 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety in any given year, which has only worsened with the Covid-19 pandemic. To help patients cope with this often-debilitating mental health disorder, doctors tend to reach for the prescription pad, subscribing to the conventional wisdom that anxiety is "all in our heads." Ellen Vora, MD contends that what we need is an all-encompassing approach that looks beyond the brain and considers the whole person.

Backed by the latest scientific research and Dr. Vora's clinical work, The Anatomy of Anxiety offers a fresh, much-needed look at mental health, offering actionable strategies for managing our moods. Much of our anxiety begins in the physical body, often the result of seemingly innocuous states of imbalance, such as a blood sugar crash or sleep deprivation. This type of anxiety is far more preventable than we may realize, through straightforward adjustments to our diet and lifestyle, such as reducing caffeine intake, stabilizing blood sugar, prioritizing rest, and rethinking our relationship to technology.

Other forms of anxiety are not pathologic but come as a course correction to help nudge us back onto our paths. In this instance, anxiety is not what's wrong with us, but it's here to alert us to the fact that something else is out of balance--in our bodies, our lives, or in the world around us. This more intuitive version of anxiety, Dr. Vora suggests, is meant to be listened to and honored, and we can learn simple strategies for tuning into this anxiety and allowing it to protect and guide us. In The Anatomy of Anxiety, Dr. Vora walks beside us through a healing process to reframe our relationship with anxiety, and in turn create a more joyful and fulfilled life. 

Becoming Mrs Lewis (Patti Callahan)

 

 I loved this book. Joy is presented as a smart and courageous woman and someone I want to be like. She was willing to ask the questions that can make and unmake a life. She loved to write and think and discuss. She was born again one night when her husband did not come home and had threatened suicide. She shows that the search for truth and the search for love is worth the complicated path of changing our life. 

Another thing I love about their relationship is that she wasn't the woman behind the man. She was was CS Lewis' equal. They loved to discuss and question and reason together. She knew that the better the question the better the answer.

This book was inspiring and interesting for me.

Tidbits:

Why CS Lewis was called Jack: When I was a young boy we had a dog named Jackie. On a warm summer day, when the world was good and right, Warnie and I were walking to town when a car came roaring around the bend and hit our dog. Killed him right there in front of us." Jack shook his head. "If I could make a request of God it would be that no young boy ever see his beloved dog killed." He shuddered then continued. "Therefore I announced my name Jack and vowed never to drive a car."

TOUGH QUESTIONS

pp. 43-44 "I think Lewis would tell you to follow Christ, not him," Chad said with a sly smile.
"Ah, but can't I follow both?" I paused before finding what I meant to say. "I'm not as traditional as Jack is, but then again, he's not as traditional as others believe him to be." I let the next words settle on my tongue before I spoke them. "I wish I  could visit him as you did. I can almost feel the cool green English world. The quiet. The libraries and cathedrals hushed with sublime beauty.
Chad clasped his hands together and tented his fingers under his chin, nodded. "It was profound, I'll give you that. Maybe there will come a day when you can do the same."
"It's easier for men," I said. "It's not fair, but it's true. Wives and mothers can't just up and go to England to research and write and interview. You can go for two months and study, leave your four children with your wife, but there's some invisible and unstated law that I can't do the same."
Chad's gentle smile told me he understood. "Maybe one day Joy. Maybe one day."
"Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow. Do we believe him?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Chad rubbed the bridge of his nose as if his glasses were too heavy.
"What if," I said and leaned closer, my voice lowering. "What if I trust that command? What on earth would become of me if I should ever grow brave?"
Chad nodded his head. "Indeed, Joy. What would become of any of us if we were to become to brave as to believe his words?"

p. 67 I had a feeling of such lightness and gaiety that the malaise I'd been carrying for years fell off like shed skin. I wouldn't have been surprised if someone had chased me down and bellowed, "You dropped something back there."
I had left my family in America, and I knew there were neighbors and friends who didn't understand. Our church community scowled. Other women talked about me. And yet must not their should die inside? Did they not feel the anxiety that comes when the inner light rises and cries out, "Let me life"?
Perhaps our Maker had stitched us each together in such a way that this was not true of all women.

MEMORY MOMENT

AGAIN AND AGAIN

CONTRASTS AND CONTRADICTIONS

p. 49 Hopelessness was my companion and fantasy my escape.

WORDS OF THE WISER

p. 82 I believe life is more like a tree. Each branch differentiating as it grows. Each an individual choice.

AH HA MOMENT

The Reading Life (CS Lewis)

 

This book is one I should buy. It's one to refer to again and again when I need to be reminded of the beautiful parts of the pursuit of reading. It could be used as a reference book as well. 

Goodreads says:

The revered teacher and bestselling author of such classic Christian works as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters reflects on the power, importance, and joy of a life dedicated to reading books in this delightful collection drawn from his wide body of writings.

More than fifty years after his death, revered intellectual and teacher C. S. Lewis continues to speak to readers, thanks not only to his intellectual insights on Christianity but also his wondrous creative works and deep reflections on the literature that influenced his life. Beloved for his instructive novels including The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and The Chronicles of Narnia as well as his philosophical books that explored theology and Christian life, Lewis was a life-long writer and book lover.

Cultivated from his many essays, articles, and letters, as well as his classic works, How to Read provides guidance and reflections on the love and enjoyment of books. Engaging and enlightening, this well-rounded collection includes Lewis’ reflections on science fiction, why children’s literature is for readers of all ages, and why we should read two old books for every new one.

A window into the thoughts of one of the greatest public intellectuals of our time, this collection reveals not only why Lewis loved the written word, but what it means to learn through literature from one of our wisest and most enduring teachers. 

Ethics in a Digital World (Kristen Mattson)

 

I attended an ATLE conference this year that was amazing. Out of it came a book club on teaching with technology. We met once a month and planned to discuss two or three chapters each month and we rarely got through one chapter each time. This book is chock-full of many relevant, interesting and complicated issues with technology and teaching! Our meetings culminated in having the author join us and lead us through many more issues and ideas on how to address them in the classroom. This is another one of those topics that is key and is supposedly intertwined all through the curriculum and truthfully, in the end, never seems to get addressed well enough. It could and should be a subject all on its own in the classroom. 

Goodreads has no summary on this book!

The Curious Garden (Peter Brown)

 

This is beautiful! I love how the author talks about how the garden had its own personality. It's true that if one person starts to make something beautiful, others will get interested! The plant life started a life of its' own.

Best comment from one of my students: I was surprised that one kid could make that big a difference. 

Goodreads says:
One boy's quest for a greener world... one garden at a time.

While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.

This is an enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that become more vibrant as the garden blooms. Red-headed Liam can also be spotted on every page, adding a clever seek-and-find element to this captivating picture book.

Miss Nelson Has A Field Day (James Marshall)

 

It was great to read Miss Nelson is Missing and this one back to back because they felt so clever realizing that it was Miss Nelson being the coach. They were surprised at the end! 

The story led to a good discussion about showing integrity no matter who is coaching (teaching, parenting...etc) and even in our every day work. You can go through a work out and not really work out and you can also go through a workout and do your very best....and it is the same with school work.

Sometimes the simplest stories have the best lessons.

Goodreads says:

In this companion to Miss Nelson Is Missing and Miss Nelson Is Back, the notorious Miss Swamp returns to Horace B. Smedley School to coach their failing football team. Includes bonus downloadable audio.

The Smedley Tornadoes haven't won a game all year and the entire school is down in the dumps. There's only one person tough enough to turn things around in time for the big Thanksgiving game! 

Malala's Magic Pencil (Malala Yousafzai)

 

I picked this story because we are learning about India in Social Studies. This is not a story to rush through! We stopped and had all the girls leave their desks so we could see what it would be like in our classroom if all the girls could not come to school. It was impactful! My students knew that Malala had been shot and the page that talks about how the Taliban tried to stop her was profound for us. At the end of the book, they gave it a round of applause. Appropriate! 

Goodreads says:

Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Malala Yousafzai's first picture book, inspired by her own childhood.

Malala's first picture book will inspire young readers everywhere to find the magic all around them.

As a child in Pakistan, Malala made a wish for a magic pencil. She would use it to make everyone happy, to erase the smell of garbage from her city, to sleep an extra hour in the morning. But as she grew older, Malala saw that there were more important things to wish for. She saw a world that needed fixing. And even if she never found a magic pencil, Malala realized that she could still work hard every day to make her wishes come true.

This beautifully illustrated volume tells Malala's story for a younger audience and shows them the worldview that allowed Malala to hold on to hope even in the most difficult of times.