The Crayon Stub (Marcus Cutler)

 

Siblings can be such a problem! This is a great story about turning a problem into an opportunity. Kids will love the grossness when the little cat throws up and the big cat makes art out of it.

Goodreads says:

A hilarious picture book about an artistic kitty’s search for inspiration—and the mischievous younger sibling who keeps getting in the way.

Big Cat has a fresh new piece of paper, a box of big, beautiful crayons, and a to create something TOTALLY SPECTACULAR and become WORLD FAMOUS! The only problem? All the crayons have gone missing except for one tiny red stub. What a disaster! And even if Big Cat could make something with the stub, what could possibly be spectacular enough to be worth drawing?

Making matters worse, Big Cat has a younger sibling who keeps getting in the way. Little Cat seems less interested in making SPECTACULAR ART and more excited about . . . food, mostly. What's a feline in search of inspiration to do?

Packed with sly humor and visual jokes in Marcus Cutler's bold, appealing artwork, The Crayon Stub tackles big questions about creativity, resourcefulness and collaboration—delivering big laughs along the way!

Gentle Giant (Michael Morpugo)

 

The story really captivated my class. They felt sad for the giant. 

We talked about how fiction stories (this is a fairy tale) can also have facts in them after reading the afterword that said that water really can be cleaned by stitching straw together.

I've never read a Michael Morpugo book I didn't like.

Goodreads says:

A tale of compassion, love, and the healing powers of nature from an awardwinning team. On a small island in the middle of a silver lake, there once lived a sad young man. He was sad because he had grown up into a giant of a man—very big, very strong, and very frightening. Because no one liked to go near him, his only friends were the wild creatures that lived around him. Then one day, he saves a girl from drowning. Little does he know that she will change his life forever. Drawing on all the arts of traditional storytelling, Gentle Giant weaves a tale of extraordinary relevance to our world today. Michael Morpurgo is one of the most respected children’s authors working today; a winner of the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award, he has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Fiction Award. Acclaimed illustrator Michael Foreman is a winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal as well as the Smarties Prize. The author–illustrator team have collaborated on a number of highly praised books, including Farm Boy.

Dream Teams (Shane Snow)

 

My word of the year this year is swing. I thought this might be a good book to add to my knowledge on how to develop good swing....however, it didn't quite work for me. I found myself disinterested in many of the stories. They were long and it seemed like it took a long time to get to the point. After about 150 pages I considered abandoning it, but instead, I skipped a bunch of stories and tried to look for some nuggets. I was also irritated by the multitude of footnotes. Just put it in the paragraph if it really matters! I was touched by the author's vulnerable story at the end. He looks way to young in his picture to have gone through financial disaster, homelessness and divorce already!

Goodreads says:

Award-winning entrepreneur and journalist Shane Snow reveals the counterintuitive reasons why so many partnerships and groups break down--and why some break through.

The best teams are more than the sum of their parts, but why does collaboration so often fail to fulfill this promise? In  Dream Teams , Snow takes us on an adventure through history, neuroscience, psychology, and business, exploring what separates groups that simply get by together from those that get better together.

You'll
   *   How ragtag teams--from soccer clubs to startups to gangs of pirates--beat the odds throughout history.
   *   Why DaimlerChrysler flopped while the Wu-Tang Clan succeeded, and the surprising factor behind most failed mergers, marriages, and partnerships.
   *   What the Wright Brothers' daily arguments can teach us about group problem solving.
   *   Pioneering women in law enforcement, unlikely civil rights collaborators, and underdog armies that did the incredible together.
   *   The team players behind great social movements in history, and the science of becoming open-minded.

Provocative and entertaining,  Dream Teams  is a landmark work that will change the way we think about people, progress, and collaboration.

Do You Speak Fish? (CJ Corchin)

 

A super cute way to talk about thinking about things from other people's perspectives and communicating with people that are tricky to communicate with.

Goodreads says:

A simple yet heartwarming story that demonstrates how to overcome communication barriers and better understand those who come from different backgrounds and cultures

When a child meets a fish and says hello, the fish does not respond. The child is shocked. What a rude fish! But soon the child learns that it's not up to the fish to speak the child's language. And if the child wants to communicate, he'll have to take the time to learn how to speak Fish.

Little Girls Can Be Mean (Michelle Anthony)

 

Now and then (okay every year), it seems like mean girl issues come up at school. I always find it helpful to read up on the issue and get some good ideas to use in our classroom. This book was pretty basic and just what I needed. It doesn't have to be complicated to help girls with friendship issues - but a little thought out guidance always makes a big difference for me. The author's four steps are simple and right on point.

Goodreads says:
Worried about mean girls? Help your daughter respond and react to bullying where it starts---in elementary school

As experts in developmental psychology and each a mother of three, Dr. Michelle Anthony and Dr. Reyna Lindert began noticing an alarming pattern of social struggle among girls as young as five, including their own daughters. In today's world, it is likely that your daughter has been faced with bullying and friendship issues, too---and perhaps you're at a loss for how to guide her through these situations effectively. Little Girls Can Be Mean is the first book to tackle the unique social struggles of elementary-aged girls, giving you the tools you need to help your daughter become stronger, happier, and better able to enjoy her friendships at school and beyond.

Dr. Anthony and Dr. Lindert offer an easy-to-follow, 4-step plan to help you become a problem-solving partner with your child, including tips and insights that girls can use on their own to confront social difficulties in an empowered way. Whether your daughter is just starting grade school or is already on her way to junior high, you'll learn how to:

OBSERVE the social situation with new eyes
CONNECT with your child in a new way
GUIDE your child with simple, compassionate strategies
SUPPORT your daughter to act more independently to face the social issue

By focusing squarely on the issues and needs of girls in the years before adolescence, Little Girls Can Be Mean is the essential, go-to guide for any parent or educator of girls in grades K-6.

What Do You Do With a Problem (Kobi Yamada)

 

The symbolism in this book is amazing. It's quite didactic, but then again, I think it is written to be that way. It doesn't try to be a story...it is just didactic and so I'm okay with that. 

The problem is symbolized in a dark cloud that follows him around. I especially love the picture of the child finally attacking his problem and seeing it dissipate. Problems can be opportunities!

Goodreads says:

From the same author and illustrator as our #1 nationally best-selling What Do You Do With an Idea? comes a new book to encourage you to look closely at problems and discover the possibilities they can hold.

What do you do with a problem? Especially one that follows you around and doesn't seem to be going away? Do you worry about it? Ignore it? Do you run and hide from it?

This is the story of a persistent problem and the child who isn't so sure what to make of it. The longer the problem is avoided, the bigger it seems to get. But when the child finally musters up the courage to face it, the problem turns out to be something quite different than it appeared.

This is a story for anyone, at any age, who has ever had a problem that they wished would go away. It's a story to inspire you to look closely at that problem and to find out why it's here. Because you might discover something amazing about your problem… and yourself.

What are problems for? They challenge us, shape us, push us, and help us to discover just how strong and brave and capable we really are. Even though we don't always want them, problems have a way of bringing unexpected gifts.

So, what will you do with your problem? Now that's up to you.

Little Brown (Marla Fraser)

 

This one surprised my students. "The author didn't solve the problem!" 

We were a little stumped. We had a good discussion though about people that are like Little Brown. It's hard to know how to deal with them. Don't be like Little Brown. Just be friendly! 

Goodreads says:

A grumpy and lonely little dog at the dog park decides to take matters into his own paws.

Little Brown is one cranky canine because no one ever plays with him at the dog park. Or maybe no one ever plays with him because he is cranky. Either way, Little Brown decides today is the day to take action, so he takes all of the toys and sticks and blankets from all of the dogs at the park and won’t give them back. But what will happen now?

Mazy Chan's Last Chance (Lisa Yee)

 

This book is amazing. It is well written and touches on a multitude of hot topics. It is powerful because the main character is a middle-school aged girl just trying to figure out life by observing adults. Through grandfather telling Maizy family history stories we learn about racism towards Chinese people over the last hundred years in North America. Maizy sees her family brought together to a greater understanding of each other and that not everything is as it seems.

Goodreads says:

Welcome to The Golden Palace!

Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota. . . until now. Her Mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance (where she and her family are the only Asian-Americans) and at The Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. For instance:
• You can tell a LOT about someone by the way they order food.
• And people can surprise you. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in disappointing ways.
• And the Golden Palace has Secrets.

But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has. Like, why are her mom and her grandmother always fighting? Who are the people in the photographs on the office wall? And when she discovers that a beloved family treasure has gone missing—and someone has left a racist note—Maizy decides it’s time find the answers.

The Great Fuzz Frenzy (Janet Stevens, Susan Stevens Crummel)

 

Short summary: This story is about a tennis ball that gets dumped down a gopher hole by a dog. 

But it's so much more than that!! It's about friendship, community and problem solving...and it's hilarious.

I love picture books where you have to turn the page and there are fold outs to make it huge....like when the ball goes down down down down a gopher hole! 


Goodreads says:

Deep, deep down in their underground town, the prairie dogs live in harmony - until a mysterious, fluorescent, very fuzzy thing (otherwise known as a tennis ball) rolls down their hole. When the prairie dogs discover that they can pluck and pull the fuzz into fabulous fashions, their fear quickly turns to curiosity, then delight, then pure greed.
The frenzy that erupts threatens to tear apart the prairie-dog town forever. But when mean ol' Big Bark is kidnapped after taking all the fuzz for himself, the prairie dogs come to the rescue and remember the true meaning of community.

The Sharing Circle

 

Good introduction to sharing circles and the issue of a problem between friends was quite relatable.

Goodreads says:

When two red foxes have an argument which breaks apart their community, a gentle buffalo decides to take a braid of sweetgrass to a local elder and asks her to help with a sharing circle for all the animals. 

The Dance of Anger (Harriett Lerner, Ph.D)

 

This is a really good book on solving differences. For women, being angry often isn't allowed in our social structure. She has a good approach and many ideas regarding looking at conflict. It is one worth reading again....especially when problems come up in life.

Goodreads says:

"Anger is a signal and one worth listening to," writes Dr. Harriet Lerner, in her renowned classic that has transformed the lives of millions of readers. While anger deserves our attention and respect, women still learn to silence our anger, to deny it entirely, or to vent it in a way that leaves us feeling helpless and powerless. In this engaging and eminently wise book, Dr. Lerner teaches women to identify the true sources of our anger and to use anger as a powerful vehicle for creating lasting change.

Chowder (Peter Brown)

 

Super cute story of a dog who is socially awkward but totally lovable. 

Quite different from the other Peter Brown books I know!

Goodreads says:

Chowder is a hilarious and heartwarming story that introduces an endearing new character: a weird but completely loveable bulldog who learns to make friends by being true to his quirks.

Whimsy's Heavy Things (Julie Kraulix)

 

I think the analogy in this story of taking the heavy things that weigh you down and breaking them down works in real life. The illustrations will help children understand the concept. This is a book that could be good for adults, teens and children. The name Whimsy also reminds the reader that life is easier when it's whimsy rather than weighed down. It's a you can't hide from your problems type of story.


Goodreads says:

Whimsy's heavy things are weighing her down. She tries to sweep them under the rug, but she trips over them. She tries to put them in a tree, but they fall on her. She even tries to sail them out to sea, but they always come back. Eventually Whimsy decides to deal with the heavy things one at a time... and a surprising thing happens. With exquisite illustrations and delightfully simple text, Whimsy's Heavy Things is a sweet story about changing the things that weigh us down into the things that lift us up.

Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them (Karl Pillemer)

 

I have a goal this year to read the entire Old and New Testament. While I was reading this book I was in Genesis and marveled at how many people in the Bible have these same issues. Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), Sarah and Hagar (Genesis 16), Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19...gross!), Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25), Isaac and his Father-in-Law, Laban (Genesis 29-31), and then in the Book of Mormon, Nephi and his brothers, who do eventually just have to separate (2 Nephi 5). 

This is a bigger problem than most people are willing to admit. It is something people don't like to talk about. People who consider estrangement or go ahead with their decision feel real pain. It is difficult because sometimes continuing an unhealthy relationship can be very painful, but so can estrangement. The book goes through many ways that estrangement happens: divorce, in-laws, money/inheritances, unmet expectations and value and lifestyle differences and also has some good strategies for how to resolve the fractures.

Interestingly, in the section about resolving these issues, one of the big topics was defensive ignorance, especially among parents. Often times parents will claim they have no idea why their child won't speak to them - yet they can list many situations that led to estrangement. The author has done a lot of research and found that defensiveness encourages us to selectively edit information we receive, "treating as "facts" events that help protect our self-esteem and discounting those that may threaten a positive perception of ourselves". (page 172) It's pretty hard to reconcile when people create their own reality. However, luckily, it isn't impossible and with good boundaries, can be done.

The author gives some strategies to get started:

1. Perspective-taking: Think about how you may have played a part in the rift by considering the other person's perspective. It doesn't mean you have to accept it all - but considering their perspective might help with understanding.

2. Use the power of writing: This one made me nervous. I've received a few letters myself that I would have rather not. However, the author does suggest writing to understand the other person's perspective. In other words, write their story. He says it's important to step back from your highly emotional reactive viewpoint and write the history from another perspective. 
3. Expand your feedback loop: Often people find solace in talking to people who understand their situation. However, talking to someone who may be considered "the other side" often helps. One of the strong suggestions was a group that uses the 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous. You often can't get perspective when trying to work through the problem with people inside your circle.

Once you decide to reconcile, you can set up some healthy boundaries. 

It was interesting to me that often parents are the ones who excuse their poor behavior and are surprised when children cut ties. The parents are usually the ones who really want to heal the rift and children are quite willing to move on without their parents. Family ties are not unbreakable. "...many estranged parents held firmly to two sets of expectations: that their past provision of support to their child obligates the child to relation in the relationship, and that family ties are so binding that even chronic stress in the relationship should not undo them." (page 194) These are faulty assumptions. "A child, however, is likely to view providing a stable childhood as a basic expectation of the parent-child relationship, not the one that requires lifetime loyalty in the face of a pattern of aversive interactions." (p. 194)

In order to reconcile, the author suggests these tools:

1. Change your expectations. You may just have to accept that the relative is not going to change to meet your expectations.

2. See how your relative has changed. Sometimes they do!

3. Determine the least you can accept

It seems that setting boundaries is key when you are related to someone that is unhealthy.  Most people are anxious about reconciling because they don't want to work through what it will take to reconcile. These are the suggested tools:

1. Set clear terms: You have be specific because what one considers respectful interactions, the other might not understand.

2. Be persistent in setting limits: often, since patterns of interaction have gone on for many years, figuring out new rules for the relationship will take time. I liked the story of one of his participants in the study: "I have a back problem. I've learned that it's not like one day my back is going to get better. My back is laways going to be trouble, I just need to stretch it and exercise and do those kinds of things. So it is with my father. He is always going to have to push my little switches and mental triggers. I realized I needed to learn steps to manage them better." (p. 221)

3. Get counselling: Sometimes you need to talk to a professional to help you figure out what you want of a relationship and how to align expectations to reality. You have to make sure you're healthy before you can deal with anyone else's drama.

The author is sympathetic to situations where it just won't work, but he does give one last ditch effort to encourage people to reconcile with his "one last chance" chapter. The strategies he suggests are:

1. Use the new leverage in the relationship: if someone lets you know they've got limited time to live, ti might be worth giving it one last chance. It doesn't even have to be an end of life situation. It could just be a clearly stated, "I will give you one last chance." He says: If you have a relative desperate to reconnect, offer one last chance; if you are offered one last chance, take it. (page 244) He says that reconciliation can be a powerful engine for personal growth (page 245). Often the reconciling can do you more good than it can do the relationship. It leads to an enhanced sense of self.


Goodreads says:

Real solutions to a hidden epidemic: family estrangement.

Estrangement from a family member is one of the most painful life experiences. It is devastating not only to the individuals directly involved--collateral damage can extend upward, downward, and across generations, More than 65 million Americans suffer such rifts, yet little guidance exists on how to cope with and overcome them. In this book, Karl Pillemer combines the advice of people who have successfully reconciled with powerful insights from social science research. The result is a unique guide to mending fractured families.

Fault Lines shares for the first time findings from Dr. Pillemer's ten-year groundbreaking Cornell Reconciliation Project, based on the first national survey on estrangement; rich, in-depth interviews with hundreds of people who have experienced it; and insights from leading family researchers and therapists. He assures people who are estranged, and those who care about them, that they are not alone and that fissures can be bridged.

Through the wisdom of people who have been there, Fault Lines shows how healing is possible through clear steps that people can use right away in their own families. It addresses such questions as: How do rifts begin? What makes estrangement so painful? Why is it so often triggered by a single event? Are you ready to reconcile? How can you overcome past hurts to build a new future with a relative?

Tackling a subject that is achingly familiar to almost everyone, especially in an era when powerful outside forces such as technology and mobility are lessening family cohesion, Dr. Pillemer combines dramatic stories, science-based guidance, and practical repair tools to help people find the path to reconciliation.

Stillness Is The Key (Ryan Holiday)

 

Books like this are changing my life. Love it! I've been trying to meditate daily since March and I believe it is making a difference in how I handle the back to school stress of school during a pandemic. 

Quotes and notes:

Page xiv

To Seneca and his fellow adherents of stoic philosophy, if a person could develop peace within themselves - if they could achieve apatheia, as they called it-then the whole world could be at war, and they could still think well, work well, and be well. "You may be sure that you are at peace with yourself, "Seneca wrote, "when no noise reaches you, when no word shakes you out of yourself, whether it be flattery or a threat, or merely an empty sound buzzing about you with unmeaning sin." In this state, nothing could touch them (not even a deranged emperor), no emotion could disturb them, no threat could interrupt them, and every beat of the present moment would be theirs for living.

A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention - Herbert Simon

p. 31 Napolean was content with being behind on his mail, even if it upset some people or if he missed  out on some gossip, because it meant that trivial problems had to resolve themselves without him. We need to cultivate a similar attitude - give things a little space, don't consume news in real time, be a season or two behind on the latest trend or cultural phenomenon, don't let your inbox lord over your life.

p. 32 In her diary in 1942, Dorothy Day, the Catholic nun and social activist, admonished herself...."Turn off your radio," she wrote, "put away your daily paper. Read one review of events and spend time reading." Books, spending time reading books - that's what she meant. Books full of wisdom.

(Stillness is the Key, Ryan Holiday, p. 32)

April 2025: There are so many sections of this book that I love. The "Take a Walk" chapter really struck me this time. I need to get walking back into my daily life.

Take a Walk (p. 192) A cantankerous Danish philosopher, Soren Kirkegaard, was particularly eloquent in his writing about walking, but he was by no means alone in his dedication to the practice - nor alone in reaping the benefits. Nietzsche said that the ideas in Thus Spoke Zarathustra came to him on a long walk. Nikola Tesla discovered the rotating magnetic field, one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time on a walk through a city ark in Budapest in 1882. When he lived in Paris, Ermest Hemingway would take long walks along the quais whenever he was stuck in his writing and needed to clarify his thinking. Charles Darwin's daily scheduled included several walks, as did those of Steve Jobs and the groundbreaking psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, the latter of whom wrote that "I did the best thinking of my life on leisurely walks with Amos. It was the physical activity in the body, Kahneman said, that got his brain going.

p. 196 Consider who may have walked in this very spot before you. Consider the person who paved the asphalt you are standing on. What was going on with them? Where are they now? What did they believe/ what problems did they have?

When you feel the tug of your responsibilities or the desire to check in with the outside world, push yourself a bit further. If you're on a path you have trod before, take a sudden turn down a street or up a hill where you haven't been before. Feel the unfamiliarity and the newness of these surroundings, drink in what you have not yet tasted.

Get lost. Be unreachable. Go slowly.

It's an affordable luxury available to us all. Even the poorest pauper can go for a nice walk - in a national park or an empty parking lot. Goodreads says: In The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly popular with a new generation of leaders in sports, politics, and technology. In his new book, Stillness Is the Key, Holiday draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead.

All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness--to be steady while the world spins around you.

In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living. Drawing on a wide range of history's greatest thinkers, from Confucius to Seneca, Marcus Aurelius to Thich Nhat Hanh, John Stuart Mill to Nietzsche, he argues that stillness is not mere inactivity, but the doorway to self-mastery, discipline, and focus.

Holiday also examines figures who exemplified the power of stillness: baseball player Sadaharu Oh, whose study of Zen made him the greatest home run hitter of all time; Winston Churchill, who in balancing his busy public life with time spent laying bricks and painting at his Chartwell estate managed to save the world from annihilation in the process; Fred Rogers, who taught generations of children to see what was invisible to the eye; Anne Frank, whose journaling and love of nature guided her through unimaginable adversity.

More than ever, people are overwhelmed. They face obstacles and egos and competition. Stillness Is the Key offers a simple but inspiring antidote to the stress of 24/7 news and social media. The stillness that we all seek is the path to meaning, contentment, and excellence in a world that needs more of it than ever. 

The World According to Humphrey (Betty G Birney)

Super cute story! Humphrey has all sorts of wisdom to share. Most importantly, he shares that there is something good in everyone. When I was talking about it with my son (who just graduated from high school!) he was all over this story. He remembers reading it when he was about 8 years old and did he ever remember a lot about it! Just goes to show you how important reading in these early years are! Humphrey has some great lessons. He would be a great kid-friendly way to talk about segregation and racism in the world today. He goes home with a different kid almost every weekend and always comes away finding things to really appreciate about that person. Goodreads says: The first book in the series about everyone's favorite classroom pet! You can learn a lot about life by observing another species. That’s what Humphrey was told when he was first brought to Room 26. And boy, is it true! In addition to having FUN-FUN-FUN in class, each weekend this amazing hamster gets to sleep over with a different student, like Lower-Your-Voice-A.J. and Speak-Up-Sayeh. Soon Humphrey learns to read, write, and even shoot rubber bands (only in self-defense, of course). With lots of friends to help, adventures to enjoy, and a cage with a lock-that-doesn’t- lock, Humphrey's life is almost perfect. If only the teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, wasn’t out to get him! Boys and girls can't help falling in love with Humphrey!

Dinosaur Bob And His Adventure With the Family Lazardo (William Joyce)

October 12, 2018: After we read this book, one of my students had put on his Special Student poster that the pet he would most like to have is a whale! It was totally plausible to everyone because we knew of Dinosaur Bob.

Re-read Feb 10, 2020: My class LOVED this story. It is a great example of use of imagination and entertaining. Who wouldn't want a dinosaur for a pet?!

Goodreads comments:
" it’s a charming little tale totally for young readers out there who want to travel to exotic places, love baseball, and wishfully dream of a dinosaur for a pet."
 - Apokripos

 I like this story because it is different from most children's stories because there is not a moral at the end of the story, it is a story for the sake of a story. No grand lesson to be learned. I think this book would be wonderful in the elementary grades. It could be included in a unit on love, the love the Lazardo family has for Bob and the fact that they are ready to walk away from their home rather than be separated from him. 
- Melissa



Goodreads says:
Proclaimed "the most adorable of dinos" by The New York Times, Bob is grander and greener than ever in a definitive new edition of modern picture book classic. This deluxe volume features seven new illustrations, an additional adventure, and a song ("The Ballad of Dinosaur Bob"), with easy-to-play arrangements.

Big Bear Hug (Nicholas Oldland)

When you are good natured and loving, it is shocking to see people be destructive! This bear finds a good way to solve the problem. Love always wins!

Goodreads says:

A huge bear is wandering through the forest - but wait a minute! Who's that he's hugging? A beaver? And a moose? And a bird? And a tree?

Welcome to the world of Big Bear Hug, a contemporary fable about a bear who has an appetite for hugging everything in sight - even creatures that bears have been known to eat. One day, the benevolent bear meets up with a human. This human proceeds to do something the bear cannot understand: he raises his axe and begins to cut down a tree. Suddenly the bear doesn't feel like hugging anymore and must make a difficult decision on how to stop this destruction in his forest.

The environmental message of Big Bear Hug is both funny and powerful, while simple enough to engage very young children and show them the awesome power of a hug.

Making the Moose Out Of Life (Nicholas Oldland)

Sometimes you need a reminder to go for it and try some new things, like this moose!

Goodreads says:

From the creator of Big Bear Hug comes the comic-adventure story of a mild-mannered moose who learns how to take life by the antlers. This moose may live in the wild, but he doesn't act it --- he watches from the sidelines as his friends have fun. Every now and then, he wonders if he's missing out on anything.

When the moose finally takes a chance and goes on a solo sailing trip, a raging storm carries him far from everything he knows. Will he curl up in a ball and cry, or make the most of it?

The moose's unlikely hero-journey is a lighthearted, contemporary fable that celebrates living life to the fullest.

Outer Order, Inner Calm (Gretchen Rubin)

I'm a big Gretchen Rubin fan. I've read The Happiness Project, The Four Tendencies and Better Than Before  (which I try to re-read about every six months). Since I enjoyed all of those so much, I pre-ordered this and was happy to get it as soon as it came out. I think it's definitely one to re-visit annually.

This one is different than the others. It's a quick read with a really narrow focus: lots of tips for organizing. One thing I love about Gretchen Rubin is that she doesn't get stuck on one way to do things. I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and didn't love it because she was too prescriptive with one right way to de-clutter and organize. Gretchen Rubin recognizes that there are a lot of good ways to accomplish the same thing. I especially connected with the section on the importance of the words we use (instead of apologizing for being late, thank people for waiting....instead of mindlessly wandering, explore and so on). She had some good tips. I read it while we were driving on a family trip and found myself anxiously looking forward to getting home to implement some of the strategies.



Goodreads says:

Bestselling author of The Four Tendencies and The Happiness Project Gretchen Rubin illuminates one of her key realizations about happiness: For most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. In a new book packed with more than one hundred concrete ideas, she helps us create the order and organization that can make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative. 

In the context of a happy life, a messy desk or crowded coat closet is a trivial problem–yet Gretchen Rubin has found that getting control of the stuff of life makes us feel more in control of our lives generally. By getting rid of things we don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, as well as things that don’t work, don’t fit, or don’t suit, we free our mind (and our shelves) for what we truly value. 

In this trim book filled with insights, strategies, and sometimes surprising tips, Gretchen tackles the key challenges of creating outer order, by explaining how to “Make Choices,” “Create Order,” “Know Yourself–and Others,” “Cultivate Helpful Habits,” and, of course, “Add Beauty.” 

When we get our possessions under control, we feel both calmer and more energetic. With a sense of humor, and also a clear sense of what’s realistic for most people, Gretchen suggests dozens of manageable steps for creating a more serene, orderly environment–one that helps us to create the lives we yearn for.