Confidence and Acceptance

Last Christmas, Tower asked me for some picture book ideas for her children and I thought of her when I read this new picture book by Nancy Gow:

It's called Ten Toes and a Prince's Nose.

It begins:

There once was a princess so lovely and fair

with ruby red lips and a mane of brown hair.

Her voice was like honey, her smile soft and sweet.

But the beautiful princess had gigantic feet!

This beautiful princess with very big feet and a fun-loving prince with an enormous nose have a hard time attracting a suitable partner. But when the self-conscious pair meet on a ski lift in the Alps (their peculiarities are well hidden beneath winter clothing), they quickly discover the beauty that lies beneath appearances.

Nancy Gow

Nancy Gow was a rock singer in her teens and twenties and then did an about-turn, becoming a yoga instructor. Her favorite job, though, has been a children's book writer. She got the idea for Ten Toes and a Prince's Nose when she went to a meditation retreat and heard the instructor say that if we could stop tinkering with our personalities for a while and just relax and be still, we could look deeper into who we really are.

And from that thought she wrote the refrain for this book:

I am what I am and that's all right with me.

I don't have to be different, I just have to be.

I don't want to be somebody else. No sir-ree!

I am what I am and that's all right with me.

• It's rhymes.
• It's funny.
• It's got a great message of acceptance and seeing past appearances.

Here are some other books about confidence and acceptance:

Drawing is what Ramon does. It's what makes him happy. But in one split second, all that changes. A single reckless remark by Ramon's older brother, Leon, turns Ramon's carefree sketches into joyless struggles. Luckily for Ramon, his little sister, Marisol, sees the world differently. She opens his eyes to something a lot more valuable that getting things just "right."

High on energy and imagination, this ode to self-esteem encourages kids to appreciate everything about themselves--inside and out. Messy hair? Beaver breath? So what! Here's a little girl who knows what really matters.

Molly Lou Melon may be tiny, clumsy, buck-toothed, and with a voice "like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor," but she doesn't mind. Her grandmother has utmost confidence in her, and tells her at every turn to believe in herself. "Sing out clear and strong and the world will cry tears of joy," Grandma says. But Molly Lou's self-assurance is put to the test when she moves to a new town, away from her friends and beloved grandmother. During her first week of school, Ronald Durkin taunts Molly Lou Melon in the dull-witted but sharp-edged manner of career bullies, calling her "shrimpo" and "bucky-toothed beaver." Our heroine barely flinches as she systematically sets out to prove herself, and Ronald Durkin ends up feeling pretty foolish.

Edward is tired of being an emu, so he decides to try being something else for a change.First he spends some time swimming with the seals. Next, he lounges with the lions. He even slithers with the snakes. But Edward soon discovers that being an emu may not be so bad after all. So he heads back to his pen, only to find a big surprise awaiting him.

Through alternating points of view, a girl's and a boy's, Jamie Lee Curtis's triumphant text and Laura Cornell's lively artwork show kids that the key to feeling good is liking yourself because you are you.

For more ideas, click [here] and [here] and [here].

Make a Present for a Book Lover on Your List

Are you searching for a personalized gift for a book lover in your life? (Hopefully, you are not the only book lover in your life.) Here are some ideas:

A bookplate inspired by the 1930s

Directions {here}.

Photo bookplate

Keep track of your beloved library by adorning your books with nameplates. Simply print an image, “property of”, and your name onto photo paper, then cut to size. Adhere to inside book cover with photo-safe glue.

A tasseled bookmark

Directions {here}.

Book bags

Directions {here}.

A bookmark from a card . . .

Directions {here}.

or fabric . . .

Directions {here}.

Directions {here}.

or wire . . .

Directions {here}.

or ribbon

Directions {here}.

A knitted Harry Potter scarf bookmark

Directions {here}.

Crocheted beaded book thong

Directions {here}.

Magnetic bookmark

Directions {here}.

Elastic bookmark

Directions {here}.

Jamie Ford

Here is a little info about Jamie Ford to whet your appetite for book group this month:

My name is James. Yes, I'm a dude.

I’m also the New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet—which was, in no particular order, an IndieBound NEXT List Selection, a Borders Original Voices Selection, a Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection, Pennie’s Pick at Costco, a Target Bookmarked Club Pick, and a National Bestseller. It was also named the #1 Book Club Pick for Fall 2009/Winter 2010 by the American Booksellers Association.

In addition, Hotel has been translated into 13 languages. I’m still holding out for Klingon (that’s when you know you’ve made it).

I’m an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and a survivor of Orson Scott Card's Literary Bootcamp.

My next novel, Whispers of a Thunder God, should be hitting shelves sometime in early 2011. And I'm also working on a YA (Young Adult) series that even my agent doesn't know about...yet.

On the personal side, I'm the proud father of two boys and two girls. Yep, it's chaos, but the good kind of chaos.

Demetrie's Chocolate Pie

Thanks to all who came to book group. Someday I hope to have a room big enough to hold you all more comfortably.

Demetrie was Kathryn Stockett's beloved nanny and here is her chocolate pie recipe:

1-2/3 cups water
5 tablespoons sweetened cocoa powder, such as Ghiradelli
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 9-inch pie shell, prebaked plain or graham cracker
Whipped cream (or if it’s not too humid, you can top with meringue)
Shaved chocolate to sprinkle on top, for looks

1. In a medium sized, cool saucepan, mix water, cocoa, and cornstarch with a whisk until all the lumps are gone, making a paste. Stir in condensed milk and egg yolks. Heat to just under a boil and stir until it’s thick.
   
2. Reduce heat to low and stir in butter. Add in your good vanilla, and keep stirring well. Turn off the heat and let it cool some. Pour into a prebaked pie shell, storebought if that’s how you do things.
   
3. Let the pie set-up in a cool spot, like a plug-in refrigerator, covering with wax paper so you don’t get a skin. Dollop cream on top or top with meringue.

Yield: 1 9 inch pie, 6-8 servings

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Kathryn Stockett has been very surprised by the success of her first novel, The Help. She began writing it after 9/11, when she was feeling homesick for her friends and family in Mississippi.

She has been criticized by some because her black characters are written with a southern dialect, but her white characters are not. She tells Katie Couric in an interview that, though she didn't always get it right, she tried to recreate the language from her childhood. She said that the women of her mother's generation spoke beautifully.

The cover on the British edition.

Do any of you remember when we tried to figure out who we thought should play the different characters in These Is My Words?

Well, the movie adaptation of The Help is being filmed right now in Mississippi.

It's always interesting to see how a book is "interpreted" by the actors, directors and crew.

Here is a photo of a yoga studio

which has been transformed into a gas station.

I'll be sure to watch for it in the movie.

And here is some of the cast:

Emma Stone plays Skeeter.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Hilly.

She is the daughter of Ron Howard (Opie, Richie Cunningham, director), but some of you might know her better as Victoria in Eclipse.

Viola Davis plays Aibilene.

Octavia Spencer plays Minny.

Cicely Tyson and Sissy Spacek are also in the cast.

As you read, here are some questions provided by the publisher for you to consider:

1. Who was your favorite character? Why?

2. What do you think motivated Hilly? On the one hand she is terribly cruel to Aibileen and her own help, as well as to Skeeter once she realizes that she can’t control her. Yet she’s a wonderful mother. Do you think that one can be a good mother but, at the same time, a deeply flawed person?

3. Like Hilly, Skeeter’s mother is a prime example of someone deeply flawed yet somewhat sympathetic. She seems to care for Skeeter— and she also seems to have very real feelings for Constantine. Yet the ultimatum she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. Do you think Skeeter’s mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character? Why?

4. How much of a person’s character would you say is shaped by the times in which they live?

5. Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults so that she can get married, and that it’s not until he literally gets up and walks away that the engagement falls apart?

6. Do you believe that Minny was justified in her distrust of white people?

7. Do you think that had Aibileen stayed working for Miss Elizabeth, that Mae Mobley would have grown up to be racist like her mother? Do you think racism is inherent, or taught?

8. From the perspective of a twenty-first century reader, the hairshellac system that Skeeter undergoes seems ludicrous. Yet women still alter their looks in rather peculiar ways as the definition of “beauty” changes with the times. Looking back on your past, what’s the most ridiculous beauty regimen you ever underwent?

9. The author manages to paint Aibileen with a quiet grace and an aura of wisdom about her. How do you think she does this?

10. Do you think there are still vestiges of racism in relationships where people of color work for people who are white?

11. What did you think about Minny’s pie for Miss Hilly? Would you have gone as far as Minny did for revenge?

Vive la France!

Beau Cheveaux inspired us with her love of Les Miserables this month. We all agreed that she deserved college credit for her thorough and extensive research.

She even had silver candlesticks

and the valise that Jean Valjean carried them in.

We learned that it definitely makes a difference which version you choose.

Beau Cheveaux read the new Julie Rose translation this time around and she loved it!

Here is an comparison of three of the major translations:

I've read the Charles Wilbour translation and parts of the Julie Rose translation and they each have different strengths. Rose's version has more detail and modern language and phrasing, which provided clearer meaning at times. However, her use of modern slang was jarring. All in all, I think I preferred the Wilbour translation because the language gave me a greater sense of time and place.

We were served some luscious crepes.

We watched a few songs from Les Miserables in Concert.


We could've discussed this book all night. It was so rich in themes, in characters, and in history that we barely scratched the surface.

"Be Like the bird who,

halting in his flight,

on a limb too slight,

Feels it give way

beneath him, yet sings,

knowing he hat wings!"

Victor Hugo

Citywide Read

Advance Notice:

The Pleasant Grove Library is reading To Kill a Mockingbird for its citywide read this year.

Starting September 1st, you can pick up a copy to have, read and share with fellow citizens.

Carl Sederholm, a popular Humanities professor at BYU, is going to lead a discussion on Wednesday, September, 29th. For people who are interested, we also have fifteen copies of Mockingbird: a Portrait of Harper Lee to check out.

Harper Lee has led a fascinating life.

If you decide to participate, the library would really appreciate feedback on your experience.

Louisa May Alcott

When I was a teenager, I read Little Women every summer. It was a tradition.

I also loved Jo's Boys, Little Men, Rose in Bloom, and Eight Cousins.

When I was assigned a research project in high school, I wrote it on Louisa May Alcott.

Did you know that:

Louisa's father was a transcendentalist and close friends with Emerson.

She was home schooled by her father.

She went on nature walks with Henry David Thoreau.

She was a Civil War nurse.

Like many other nurses, she became ill with typhoid fever and was treated with mercury, which created health problems the rest of her life.

She was an abolitionist and a feminist.

Although she patterned Jo after herself, she never married.

It is believed that she died of mercury poisoning at the age of 56.

I'm sad that I missed the production Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, which was aired last December on PBS. Here is a clip:

And I love the movies.
Have you seen these movie adaptations?

Katharine Hepburn as Jo. Great casting.

Peter Lawford makes a great Laurie. So many great actors in this version.

I was a big fan of Susan Dey when I was a kid -- remember The Patridge Family TV show? I wrote her a fan letter when I was in fifth grade.

Surely you've all seen this version. Love it.

And I have the music for the Broadway production, though I haven't seen the show--yet.

Here is a clip of Sutton Foster singing "Astonishing":

As you can see, I am a fan.

And other fans have written books about Louisa and her "little women."

March is written from the perspective of the March patriarch, who is largely missing from Little Women.

It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006.

Edens's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for biography.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott is fan fiction.

"Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O'Connor McNees imagines a love affair that would threaten Louisa's writing career-and inspire the story of Jo and Laurie in Little Women. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire in 1855, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life."

Legacy gave this four stars on goodreads.

For all you other fans, take this quiz:

Quizzes by Quibblo.com