• Meet Rebecca (American Girls Collection: Rebecca 1914).  by Jacqueline Green.  American Girl, 2009.  96 pgs.  Ages 8-up.

• Candlelight for Rebecca (American Girl) by Jacqueline Green.  American Girl, 2009. 96 pgs.  Ages 8-up.

I had the great pleasure of discussing these two books with my six-year-old daughter yesterday.  We both enjoyed them very much.  As I’ve said before, the writing in the American Girl books is crisp, well-paced, and heart-felt.  The characters are all very sympathetic, and Rebecca herself is a realistic mixture of human short-comings and high ideals.

In contrast to Kirsten, whom we discussed here a few weeks ago in this post, Rebecca’s stories all involve her Jewish heritage, and as such, attempt to deal with religion.  In Meet Rebecca, the plot revolves around her desire to be more grown up–in particular, her hope to someday take her sisters’ place and light their Sabbath candles at a family meal.  Her religion is presented as primarily cultural or a background for the real focus of the plot, growing up.  However, in Candlelight for Rebecca, religion is much more central to the story.  In fact, I would say this story qualifies as a primer on comparative religion, since it looks at how Rebecca deals with the pressure from teachers and classmates to celebrate Christmas.  Her family celebrates Hanukkah at home, but her public school teacher declares that Christmas is an American holiday, and everyone must celebrate it.  Rebecca struggles with feelings of shame and betrayal of her family and heritage as she participates in singing Christmas carols and creating a Christmas centerpiece in class, which she knows her grandmother would highly disapprove of.

In talking to my daughter, I found that these books gave her a new understanding of what it must have been like to come to a new country and be different from the mainstream.  She was particularly interested in Rebecca’s religious traditions, and in teasing her thoughts out a little, she explained to me that if she had been Rebecca, she would have been sad that most people didn’t understand her religion and tried to make her celebrate Christmas.  A wonderful realization.  I consider it a gift that through this book, my daughter has developed affection for a Jewish girl in such a foreign setting, and that she now sympathizes with her struggles and triumphs.

However, the thing I am most grateful for is the opportunity these books gave us to talk about the third religion being promoted here: tolerance or cherished pluralism, as D. A. Carson would say.  We obviously see Judaism and Christianity in the story, but the quiet worldview–in place of a religion for many in our culture–is the idea that people are all basically good and all religions equal.  By limiting the scope of religion to lighting candles, memorizing prayers, and being kind to people, we as a culture have tried to do away with the need for Christ.

People are made in His image, and Rebecca and her family are a beautiful, though limited, picture of His humility and kindness to other people.  In that way, they are good examples, and they show us something of the God who is there.  However, we will never be good enough on our own.  My daughter will never be good enough.  I will never be good enough.  And sweet, kindly Jewish immigrants from Russia won’t be good enough. We are all naked before Him.

Tonight I read a letter from John Piper to a 12 year-old girl who wanted to know the eternal destiny of people who never hear the gospel.  The implication is that those people, apart from the gospel of Christ, might be good enough on their own….just like the Rebecca’s of the world.  And I had to wonder whether she had grown up reading the American Girl books, or the thousands of other books that aren’t nearly so good but which contain the same message that you don’t need God to be good, or happy, or “make a difference” in the world.  See the quote on the back of their books:

American Girl celebrates a girl’s inner star–that little whisper that encourages her to stand tall, reach high, dream big.  We take pride and care in helping girls become their very best today, so they’ll grow up to be the women who make a difference tomorrow.

Only in Christ can we find one who not only encourages us to be our best, but who has conquered death for us, and can empower us to live lives of true humility and kindness.   Which is why we’ll keep reading Rebecca’s stories, but at the same time, keep seeking to meet Christ in them, too.

Here are a few of the questions I asked my daughter in reviewing the books.  By the way, the first two can be applied to any book:

1) What was it that Rebecca wanted most of all?  (In both stories, she wants to be accepted and treated as significant.)

2) How does Christ provide that for those who trust in Him?  (See Colossians 3:4)

3) How does Rebecca show kindness to others?  Do you think that pleased God?  Does that mean she doesn’t need Christ’s forgiveness?

4) What were some of the most interesting things about the time she lived?

5) How could our family or our church make immigrants like Rebecca and her family feel more welcome in our country?

See our previous American Girl posts for more on this topic, American Girls introduction and Review of Kirsten.  Or read our interview with American Girls’ author, Jane Kurtz, and learn about her books set in Africa for young readers.

Last week, a little bluebird appeared in our wood stove.  The stove was not fired up, of course: at this time of year it’s an iron box about 18” square with a sooty floor and a glass door.  My husband noticed a mad fluttering in there one afternoon: somehow she’d come down the chimney.  By the time I got home that evening she was quiet.  “Look,” he told me, and pointed with a flashlight.  It’s a bit of a jolt to see wildlife in the very heart of domesticity; behind the glass, she was like a new exhibit at a nature center, still and wary.  Doug had a plan for capture, which would wait until morning.  The bluebird slept with her head tucked under a wing and one foot pulled up.  At the brimming of dawn she hopped to the ledge in front of the door and said, “Peep?”  We captured her in a mesh bag and carried her outside, where she shot like an arrow to the nearest tree.  The entire incident was probably gone from her memory by the time she perched.

But who knows what goes on in a creature’s mind?  Suspension of disbelief was not always willing as I read The One and Only Ivan, but his voice is so personable, in its rumbling, rambling way, it pulled me back again and again.

Ivan is a gorilla:

Mightier than any human, four hundred pounds of pure power.  My body looks made for battle.  My arms, outstretched, span taller than the tallest human.  My family tree spreads wide as well.  I am a great ape, and you are a great ape, and so are chimpanzees, and orangutans, and bonobos, all of us distant and distrustful cousins.  I know this is troubling.  I too find it hard to believe there is a connection across time and space, linking me to a race of ill-mannered clowns.

Chimps.  There’s no excuse for them.

Ivan knows more evolutionary biology than he should, and a lot of other subjects besides, as he’s been living among humans for some time now.  His memories of childhood in central Africa are dim and sad, especially since his twin sister Tag did not survive capture.  All he has of her is a stuffed gorilla he calls not-Tag.  But life isn’t all that bad: “I live in a human habitat called the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade . . . Beyond the lot is a freeway where cars stampede without end.  A giant sign at its edge beckons them to stop and rest like gazelles at a watering hole.”  He’s part of a small menagerie that also includes an elephant named Stella and assorted parrots and monkeys.  Every day he stares at humans and they stare back, through a glass wall that says “you are this and we are that and that is how it will always be.”

Ivan is philosophical by nature: “Gorillas are not complainers.  We’re dreamers, poets, philosophers, nap takers.”  He’s also an artist, ever since the janitor’s daughter Julia gave him a stubby blue crayon and a piece of paper.  Drawing keeps him from boredom, and that’s a blessing.  He’s also blessed in his two best friends: Stella, wise and patient, and Bob, a mongrel dog who sneaks in at night to sleep on Ivan’s stomach.  One day is pretty much like the next until Ruby arrives.  Ruby is a baby elephant who needs love, an education, and protection.  Stella provides the love, Bob the education, and as for protection . . . well, male silverback gorillas like Ivan are made to protect.  But will he get the chance?

The story is simple and quiet; it’s the characters and especially the voice that make this book compelling, worthy of a place among classic animal fantasies like Charlotte’s Web and Watership Down.  The author based her story on a real Ivan who was confined to a cage in a circus-themed mall in Washington state for 27 years, before a public outcry got him transferred to Zoo Atlanta, where he signs paintings with his thumbprint.  “A good zoo,” Stella explains to the fictional Ivan, “is how humans make amends.”

Humans.  Bob, in a most un-doglike manner, is cynical about them (coincidentally, I came across this Bob-the-dog story just this morning), and a lot of readers will subconsciously agree.  They’re “an unpredictable species,” Stella says–true enough, because we’re a conflicted species.  Psalm 8 says we’re a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor, made to rule over the works of God’s hands, over herds and flocks and beasts of the field.  But man has fallen, and the beasts have not.  Man is guilty, animals are innocent.  Man confuses dominion with tyranny, as Bob and Stella and little Ruby have good reason to know.  But does that mean we must make amends with a good Zoo?  Or is even a good zoo a form of oppression?  The One and Only Ivan offers a good opportunity to talk about it with children, especially since kids and animals have a natural affinity.

C. S. Lewis is helpful on this, as in so many other areas.  An entire chapter of The Problem of Pain deals with animal suffering and human culpability.  That Hideous Strength includes a fictional treatment of the theme, showing how out of whack our relationship has become since the garden, where animals were made to be “loyal companions and playfellows.”  Somewhere else (Surprised by Joy?) he remarks how the relationship of animals to us (mammals, at least) is analogous to the relationship of us to God.

They are God’s creatures, straight from His hand, with a direct connection to Him that we, alienated and fearful, can’t share.  “These all look to you to give them their food in season” (Ps. 104:27).  “All creatures praise him” (Ps. 150:6) simply by being.  As such they are worthy of our consideration and care and wonder, whenever appropriate.  On the hierarchy of being our foot has slipped, but dominion is still a given, and always will be.  Adam named all the animals, and we still do: name them, study them, write about them, and write for them—Ivan’s voice is mediated through Katherine Applegate, who is exercising her own form of kindly dominion.  So is Julia, in the story, who gives him his first crayon and inadvertently illustrates the great gulf between them: “Julia draws the ideas in her head.  I draw the things in my cage,” having no power to imagine a creative solution to his problem until the end.

How dominion applies to sport hunting or vegetarianism or rodeos is up to the individual to decide, but the individual should decide from a biblical base.  I found this helpful post among others, and here are some references: Gen. 1:26, Ps. 8, Proverbs 12:10, 27:23; Ex. 20:10, Dt. 25:4 and 22:6-7; Job 38:41.  His eye is on the sparrow, and we should keep an eye out for them too.

But we can also have some fun:

What Animals Really Like, a song composed and conducted by Mr. Herbert Timberteeth.  Lyrics and pictures by Fiona Robinson.  Abrams, 2012.    Age/interest level: 4-8.

It’s a big night for Maestro  Timberteeth, a self-important beaver.  Having assembled a huge mixed chorus of lions, cows, horses, warthogs, frogs, and various other creatures of woods and water, he’s ready to stun the world with his newest composition.  But when a renegade bovine quartet breaks from the libretto—and breaks up the rhyme—other singers follow suit.  Who knew that shrimp liked to ski?  Or lions preferred flower-arranging to roaring?  Loads of fun, with comic illustrations and details (notice the glow-worm footlights) and lavish double-fold spreads at the beginning and the end.  The moral for humans: don’t assume you know what animals really like.

For more on the relationship of men and animals see our review of War Horse.  Also, “Love That Dog!” for books about our best friend.  

Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen. Balzer & Bray, 2012. Age/interest level: 4-8

“On a cold afternoon in a cold little town, where everywhere you looked was either the white of snow or the slack soot from chimneys, Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color.” Annabelle is a lightning knitter. After making a sweater for herself and her dog Mars she offers to knit one for Nate and his dog. And when her teacher complains that her multi-colored sweater is too distracting in the gloomy school room, she offers to knit one for everybody n the class. “Impossible!” said Mr. Norman. “You can’t.” But it turned out she could.

No project exhausts her box of yarn. After knitting for everybody in town, “Annabelle made sweaters for things that didn’t even wear sweaters”: houses, barns, silos, pickup trucks. Word of her magic box spreads far and wide until a haughty archduke “who was very fond of clothes” sails across the sea, determined to have the box of endless yarn. Annabelle won’t sell it—ask your kids if they can guess why—so the archduke will have to be thwarted. The illustrations are Klassen-style basic shapes and penstroke faces, with the yarn in glowing pastels against the dark sepia of walls, trees, doors and windows. Creativity is endless, splashing color across a workaday landscape.

Balloons Over Broadway, by Melissa Sweet. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, 32 pages. Age/interest level: 5-12. (Winner of the 2012 Sibert Award for excellence in informational books for younger children.)

Tony Sarg once claimed he “never did a stroke of work in his life”–at the age of six he rigged up a system of ropes and pulleys that allowed him to feed the family chickens without getting out of bed. So ingenuity was one reason for not working a stroke. The other reason was that for him, work was play. He parlayed a fascination with marionettes into a successful career, first in London, then in New York City where his puppets caught the attention of the owners of Macy’s department store. After Sarg had created eye-catching displays for Macy’s Wondertown holiday windows, a bigger job awaited him.

The management thought it would be nice to hold a special parade for their employees, many of whom were European immigrants who missed the festival days and street dances of home. Using street carnivals as a theme, Tony put together an extravaganza of costumes, floats, clowns, horses, and animals from the zoo. The first parade was on Thanksgiving day, 1924. It was such a hit, Macy’s decided to make it perennial, and include the whole city. The management wanted to forgo the animals—too scary for the kids—and asked Tony to come up with a substitute. His mind turned immediately to puppets—but how could he make them big enough? Enter Goodyear, and inflated rubber, and bigger puppets, and . . . a tradition is born.

For her story Melissa Sweet uses watercolor and collage: her own illustrations enhanced by newspaper clips, old city maps, word cuts, and photos of toys and puppets made by herself. The vertical two-page spreads of some of the first balloons are spectacular. The result is delightful, a jaunty tribute to human ingenuity and community celebration. It might even spark some homegrown creativity: see her Balloons Over Broadway activity kit.

Mooshka: a Quilt Story.  Written and illustrated by Julie Paschkis.  Peachtree, 2012.

“Karla had an unusual quilt.  She called it Mooshka.”  What makes it unusual was that it talks to her.  It’s full of the stories Karla’s grandmother used to tell as she sewed the patchwork pieces (schnitz) together.  The yellow schnitz speaks in a “soft, cottony voice,” blue is sturdy, red is cheerful.  Each scrap has a memory to tell, such as the blue kerchief around grandpa’s neck as he proposed to his sweethear.  But one night, Mooshka falls silent.  that’s when the new baby Hannah moves into Karla’s room.  Does Mooshka feel the intrusion?  Karla does: Unfair! My room! 

Than came the night that Hannah cried.  And cried.  Until finally Karla carries Mooshka over to the crib and lets the quilt gently fall on the baby.  Mooshka finally speaks: “Sister.”  Karla tells a green story, from the pjs she wore as a baby.  “Hannah was quiet, and Mooshka was quiet, and Karla went on and on,”  bringing quietly to an end this lovely, crafty story about how we stitch our lives together with art.

Crafty Chloe, by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Heather Ross. Atheneum, 2012, 32 pages. Age/interest level: 4-7.

Macaroni, glitter, googly eyes, pipe cleaners—all kids love crafts. But Chloe doesn’t just love them—she’s good at them. She’s not so good at sports or video games, and at dance class “she had the grace of a camel on roller skates.” But she’s an ace at making things, with more than one trick up her sleeve. While shopping for a birthday gift for her best friend Emma, Chloe finds the perfect present—but it turns out that snobby London has already bought it. Chloe has to put on her thinking cap and open her craft closet and come up with an alternative perfect present. Will she succeed? Or will she have to fake a case of chicken pops and skip the party? Her solution will cheer the hearts of crafty kiddoes everywhere, but looks a little more professional than most 5-7 year-olds could manage. Adult help recommended. The cartoon-style illustrations will make little ones laugh–be sure to compare the dream party pony with the actual beast.

Sadie and Ratz, by Sonya Hartnett, illustrated by Ann James. Candlewick, 2012 (US edition), 60 pages. Age/interest level: easy reader.

Creativity isn’t necessarily a matter of making things.  First, it’s a matter of imagining things, and Hannah has an interesting imagination.  Sadie and Ratz are her best friends, and they’re not entirely imaginary.  They, in fact, her two hands.  “Sadie is the boss.  She is the same size at Ratz, but she is meaner . . . Together, they make a good team.  This is what they do: crush things up/ twist and scrunch/ scratch! scratch! scratch!  When Sadie and Ratz are on the rampage, look out!”  Hannah also has a mom, a dad, and a brother: “Baby Boy.  I wish he was a dog.”

Baby Boy is a typical little-brother problem, especially when he learns to blame mishaps on Sadie and Ratz.  From there, it’s one tiny step to causing mishaps to be blamed on Sadie and Ratz.  What’s Hannah to do?  Mom thinks the hands could try some yoga positions to calm down, like “Starfish” or “Snowflakes in winter.”  Sadie and Ratz have other positions in mind, like “The Shark’s Teeth.”  But whenever they threaten Baby Boy, he screams like a banshee bull (whatever that is) and the hands get the blame.  Should Sadie and Ratz reform their ways and become (gasp!) nice?  The very thought sends them into a tizzy.  Maybe they should go on vacation for a while . . .

Remember the Sunday-school song, “Be careful little hands what you do”?   Even though Sadie and Ratz is for beginning readers, meaning they can read it themselves, it can be a creative (there’s that word again) opening for discussion.  Such as, Do you think Hannah should reform her hands?  Where would that start?  What do you think about the ending?  Why is Hannah happy about it, and what do you think will come of it?  What would it take for Sadie and Ratz to become peacemakers instead of mischief-makers?  And finally–The next time you break something, do not blame it on your hands!

Here’s what we found in the last week or two:

1. This Momentary Marriage: Free download at John Piper’s Desiring God Ministries.  A great resource to counter prevailing winds about marriage and sex.  And no one needs it more than young Christians. “…ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It displays the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people to the world in a way that no other event or institution does. Marriage, therefore, is not mainly about being in love. It’s mainly about telling the truth with our lives.”
2. The Wild Things and Us by Barbara Curtis.  Very thought-provoking article on Maurice Sendak over at Worldmag.com.
3. Megan Cox Gurdon on Maurice Sendak.  An informative look at what shaped Mr. Sendak and his creative process.
4. Scrawl by Mark Shulman, reviewed by Sherry at Semicolonblog.com.  Recommended for teenage boys.
5. Middle School by James Patterson, reviewed by Kim Moreland at Breakpoint Youth Reads.  Find out about adult writer James Patterson’s attempt at writing for the junior high set.
6. Finally, we posted this video on our FB page last week.  Some of you won’t want to watch, since it does contain a drawing of a stripper (fully clothed but suggestive) and a few bleeped out curse words at the end.  However, if you can stomach that, it’s a pretty funny interview.  Just fyi, this is the second part of the interview, and I didn’t watch the first part due to some vulgar stuff at the beginning.

That’s all for today!  Do you have a review you’d like us to consider for next week’s Web Newberrys?  Any great articles we should have included today?  Give us a link below and we’ll check them out! 

THE NATION: RUTH

Happy Mother’s Day!  This week’s Bible Reading Challenge is actually appropriate for the Mother’s Day–as long as we include mothers-in-law.

How do you understand the book of Ruth?  As a great love story?  As a treasure chest of worthwhile life lessons?  As a welcome break after the chaotic book of Judges?  It’s all that, but a whole lot more.  this week, we’ll see how Ruth fits into the bigger picture of God’s “steadfast love and faithfulness” to his people.     It’s under His wings that we can seek refuge.

Study Guides:

• .pdf download, ages 4-8, week 18

• .pdf download, ages 9-13, week 18

Make-Your-Own-Story-Bible Resources:

• .pdf download: Story Bible Instructions, week 18

• .pdf download: Blank Drawing Page, week 18

• .pdf download: Coloring Page, week 18

• .pdf download: Finished Page, week 18

If you’ve just stumbled on our website and this looks intriguing, it’s never too late to join in!  Here’s the Introduction.  If you have just a little catching up to do, here’s Challenge #17.  Thanks to Carl Dean White for his help with the illustrations!  See more of his art here and here.

For those of you who don’t know Susan Hunt, you’re in for a treat.  For years she has been a staple at women’s ministry events for many years, (In fact, she still is!  Look for her at the upcoming Gospel Coalition’s 2012 National Women’s Conference.) and she has ministered to even more women through her books, including Spiritual Mothering: The Titus 2 Model for Women Mentoring Women and Your Home a Place of Grace.

As important as those ministries are, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the practical helps Susan has developed for parents in teaching their children Biblical truths (including thankfulness!).  Our church actually uses her book My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts during Tuesday Morning Women’s Bible Study, and my youngest daughter has been very blessed by it this year.  She has a fairly new  three-year discipleship program for teen girls.  And her book Sammy and His Shepherd (which was recommended to me months ago by one of our readers–you know who you are!) is one of several books she has written for young children which help them find Christ in Old Testament passages–as well as their own lives!  Sammy is particularly helpful in teaching kids to pray.

But besides all of this, Susan is herself a mother, grandmother, and a woman who has devoted herself not just to the feeling of thankfulness for one day of the year–but nurturing the practice of thankfulness throughout the year.  And Janie and I are very happy to share some of her insight with you today.

For more mom-related posts, see A Mother’s Day Meditation from last year, or What Ginger Plowman Taught Me About Kids’ Books.  And I’ve included the recipes we mention in the podcast below, in case you’re in the mood for some comfort food.

Bake at 350 degrees 1 to 1 and a half hours.

Janie’s Favorite:

Steve Jobs: Thinking Differently, by Patricia Lakin.  Aladdin (Simon & Shuster), 2012,  

Who Was Steve Jobs? by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso, illustrated by John O’Brien.  Grosset & Dunlap, 2012, 105 pages.  Age/interest level: 8-12.

“I started thinking that maybe Thomas Edison did a lot more to improve the world than Karl Marx and Neem Kavoli Baba put together.”  That was the young Steven Paul Jobs, ca. 1972, after a sojourn in the country that had captured his spiritual imagination.  India was not Nirvana—with its filthy, overcrowded streets, ragged children, and disease-ridden slums, it wasn’t even Cleveland.  So Steve went home, and fifty years later people were making statements about him similar to what he’d said about Thomas Edison.

There was probably more of America in Jobs than even he realized.  “Only in America” could a habitually barefoot, seldom-bathed college dropout convince enough people to fork over enough money to start a computer business—not in his garage, as is commonly claimed, but in his partner’s kitchen.  Then they moved to the garage, and it wasn’t Steve’s but his dad’s.   Whatever the venue, it was the right place at the right time, and having a sense of “rights” is more a matter of vision than genius—or maybe genius and vision are not that far apart.

When Steve Jobs died last October, Walter Isaacson’s biography was rushed into print and became an immediate best-seller.  Patricia Lakin’s biography for children appeared in February and Grosset & Dunlap added Jobs to their “Who Was . . .” series of biographies at the same time.  I know of at least two comic-book versions.  So the interest in this particular life is still high, and rightly so: he really did change the world.  Not entirely for the better, but technology usually involves trade-offs.  Since I didn’t know that much about him, these two biographies were not only informative but also insightful about the secrets of his success.  Such as . . .

The importance of family, especially father: As everybody knows now, Steve was adopted as a baby by Paul and Clara Jobs, who provided not only stability but also example.  Paul Jobs was a hands-on guy who taught his son how to tinker with tools and machines, thereby creating a sense of capability.  Later on, when Steve was building his first line of Apple computers, his parents provided support, free labor—and the garage, of course.

The head/hand connection: Steve learned from his dad how to fix things, and was never afraid to get his hands dirty.  This is something our academically-oriented education system is trying to forget—high schools are eliminating shop class and selling their power tools.  Education is seen as a matter of intellect only.  But humans are integrated beings, and our practical skills complement our head knowledge; one needs the other.

Attention to detail: dropping out of college after one semester, Steve stayed on to take courses that interested him.  One of those courses was calligraphy, which attracted him by its beauty.  Taking time to practice isolated strokes and shape the letters taught him to pay attention to the parts that make up a whole—and what some technicians later saw as arbitrary (such as the housing for the computer) Steve saw as essential to the whole machine.

Finding and following your interests:  Steve had many interests, such as calligraphy and geography and eastern religions systems, but his passion for electronics appeared early, and he was in the right place (Silicon Valley) to explore it.  Most kids either don’t know what they’re interested in, or they go through a series of interests throughout childhood and adolescence.  And that’s fine.  But the most successful people—at least as “success” is usually measured—tend to find their passion fairly early in life.

Biography is one of the most instructive forms of literature, especially for kids.  To the limited extent that we can really know a man, his choices, advantages, and character qualities can teach us to examine our own.  Both these biographies, while not works of literature, offer enough insight about Jobs’s life and character to raise interesting questions.  Such as 1) What kind of influence did his father have on him? 2) What do you see as the key ingredient of his success?  3) How did he handle rejection by the company he founded? 4) Since he didn’t actually invent any of the machines or components that made the Apple product line, why is he considered the genius behind Apple?  5) If there were no Steve Jobs, would we still have iPhones?  And finally, 6) How would you (and other people in your family) define success?

Public lives open themselves to public scrutiny.  As long as we understand that we can only delve so far, there are lessons to be learned.

When talking about biography, there’s no better introduction than Cheryl Harness, whose “Cheryl Harness Histories” are reviewed here.
    

One to Two Weeks Prior to Death, Symptoms:

• Disorientation: aimlessness, lots of sleeping, and confusion about more and more things.
• Physical Changes: from blood pressure to pulse to body temperature, the body is no longer able to maintain itself and thus will alternately rev up or slow down.  See here for more descriptions on skin color, breathing changes, etc.
  

My suggestions for caregivers and loved ones:

• You may get a lot of last minute hail-mary’s from doctors.   By all means, pursue whatever possible healing you can for your loved one.  But also prepare for saying goodbye.
• Be sensitive to your loved one’s needs emotionally.  Don’t push them into letting go, or ignore them if they’re ready and you aren’t.  They may experience a range of emotions from sorrow and grief to anger or rage.  Whenever possible, give them the gospel.
• Pray!  Don’t bottle up your emotions more than you have to–cry out to the Lord in the calm moments.
• If you have the resources, hire extra help for the coming days and weeks if it’s needed.  Even just someone to sit with them at night could be a huge blessing.

Two Weeks Prior to Death, Emily’s Reflections

For us, this fell on the week of Thanksgiving.  We of course didn’t know we were so close to the end.  There had been some disappointing doctors reports, but my mom was on new kinds of medication.  Still trying a new combo of chemo’s, and some homeopathic drugs that had been shown to slow the growth of cancer.

One of the most difficult things about this week was that I was just one person in a larger family.  I wasn’t the only one losing someone, and everyone else in our family had to deal with it their own way.  Some seemed to be in denial (but who knows what was in their souls?), others like my young daughters just seemed oblivious.  Mom was still up and about, still cognizant of what was going on.  In fact, she made the dressing for our Thanksgiving, getting up and clanging around in the kitchen for ten minutes or so, until she had to rest, and then when she caught her breath, slowly getting up to do it again.

However, she was obviously going down hill.  She slept in each morning until 11 or so, and she would go to bed early.  My Mom and I would always stay up to talk after the girls went to bed, but we only got to do that once during the week we were there.  I was aware enough to know I ought to make that talk count, and I am so grateful for that conversation, in which I shared with my Mom some of how God was working in my life.  She and I both shed tears of joy and sorrow.  Even at this point, she was still mostly concerned about how to make sure the people she loved would be taken care of after she was gone.  I think this conversation really comforted her in that way, reminding us both that He was working in our lives.

One of the saddest things about the holiday was that my mom wasn’t really able to play with my girls.  She managed one game of chutes and ladders, and she read them a few books, but she didn’t relish it very much.  She was in too much pain.  I remember her saying sadly, while they played at her feet, “The hardest thing is to see how easily they don’t need me.”  Which wasn’t exactly true.  But their grief is certainly different from an adults’.  Really, now that we’re six months after the fact, the fact that their grandmother is gone is still only beginning to sink in for them.

One very joyful moment from that week that I can share is the evening she felt like taking a walk with the girls and me.  It had just rained, and the sky was a deep cobalt blue, with many brittle leaves still shivering above us in the trees.  I held Momma’s arm and we walked slowly down the drive and out to the road.  The girls ran ahead, bouncing and romping and giggling about who knows what.  So full of life and energy.  Mom was so delighted.  As we walked, we kept looking up at the sky, as if the Lord had painted it just for us.  That day I saw something I’ve never seen before or since.  The birds of the neighborhood–starlings and black birds and robins–were wet from the rain, and as they fluttered to and fro, their feathers looked like golden glitter strewn across the blue sky.

We only walked as far as the end of the neighbor’s yard, and then we had to turn back.  I had the feeling it was a special moment, and I started to sing quietly, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty….”  but then I paused.  Feeling like maybe I was embarrassing Mom to worship so openly.  She said encouragingly, “Don’t stop.”  But then the girls came bouncing by again, and I let the moment pass.  It’s something I’ve regretted many times since.  I would have regretted it more, but I did get a second chance to sing it to her.  A few weeks later, at her bedside, in the quiet surrounding us as she strained to breathe.  I was so grateful to the Lord for that second chance.

By the way, I recently found a few picture books that might be helpful for families to read together when dealing with grief.  Hope to do a full post on them soon….but for now, the one I like best is When Someone Dies: Finding Comfort in Jesus.  The art is a little too Thomas Kinkade for my taste, but the author has really short sentences on each page–sometimes just a word–accompanied by quotes from real children about how they felt regarding the death of their loved ones.  I think it’s optimal for inviting discussion and helping kids understand that everyone reacts a little differently to death.  (For instance, one of my daughters couldn’t believe that someone might feel angry, but my other daughter confessed she had felt anger over her grandmother’s death.)

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire! by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath, illustrated by Sophie Blackall.  Schwartz & Wade, 2012, 248 pages. 

Madeline is a very resourceful young lady, especially for going-on-eleven, but even she is flummoxed when her parents are kidnapped by what appears to be a band of foxes driving a car.  Her parents are helpless in this situation–as they are in most situations, being jobless and barefoot and not entirely legal residents of Hornby Island, British Columbia.  And her Uncle Runyon, who could be helpful as “the only relative living on Vancouver Island one-hundred percent legally and with consistently covered toes,” has most inconveniently slipped into a coma.

So it’s a good thing Mr. and Mrs. Bunny have just launched their detective business, because what’s needed now are level heads who know how to follow up clues.  Which, on second thought, might not be the Bunnys: they took up detecting mostly so they could wear fedoras.  Strangely, Madeline can understand them, unlike most humans–could she be . . . a bunny whisperer?  She’s very much a lost little girl and the Bunnys become something like the responsible parents she never had.  Like long-married couples the world over, they needle each other absently (“‘How you do run on and on,’ Mrs. Bunny said dismissively while knitting winter underwear out of used dental floss”), but fall asleep every night holding paws.

Finding Madelyn’s parents is more a matter of luck and pluck than shrewd detective work, though The Marmot (The is his first name) provides some haphazard clues.  The Bunnys unravel all threads while staying alive and out of jail, and their confrontation with Madeline’s hippie parents is a triumph of traditional values.  When the parents shrug and sneer at news that Madeline must have a pair of white shoes in order to meet the Prince of Wales at her school, Mrs. Bunny has this to say:

Prince Charles didn’t ask for is job.  He was born into it.  He spends his whole life going to boring old ceremonies and teas and honorings not because he thinks he’s special but because others have put that value on him, and by showing up he makes them feel so.

Score one for Queen and country!  Pulling off a story like this is harder than it looks.  In less capable hands it would only be silly, but Polly Horvath has lots of experience with offbeat tales.  I’ll admit, some of her other books are a little too weird for my taste–but then, she only translated this one from the original Rabbit.   She manages a neat balance of the fantastic, the humorous, and the luminous, and the disconnect between bunny-logic and the human world is a hoot.  Anybody at all susceptible to rabbits will hop all over this one.

For more animal (and egg) detective stories, go here.  For a more disciplined, but equally fantastic, treatment of collecting evidence, check out The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.  And for a look at that other furry staple of children’s literature, see “Mouse Tales.”

Book Vacations

• Do It Yourself Book Tours: From Laura Ingalls Wilder’s homestead to New York City books like The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, this article in Family Fun magazine has some great ideas for exploring the real-life settings of kids’ books.

• To Kill a Mockingbird: Visit Harper Lee’s hometown, Monroeville, Alabama, to see landmarks that inspired the book–including a museum and mock-up of the courthouse in the book/movie.  While you’re there, don’t miss Beehive Coffee & Books and Radley’s Fountain Grille!

• Boston Common & the Public Garden: Take a Swan boat ride, just as in Make Way for Ducklings, and see the statues of Mama Duck and her babies.  Plus, while you’re there, visit the other kid-friendly features of the garden like the wading pool and playground.

• Dickens World:  Experience Victorian England in 3D!  Only downside for U.S. readers: it’s located in Kent, England.

• Thomas the Train: It’s a little pricey, but you can take your little conductors on a ride of Thomas the Train in many cities in America.  Don’t forget to buy the original stories written by an Anglican minister to take along with you.

• Anne of Green Gables: Take your kindred spirits to visit P.E. Island and see the original landscape that inspired L.M. Montgomery, as well as many icons of the Megan Follows version of the movie.

• Hatchet:  Why not give your kids a wilderness survival guide, like the one I’ve linked to here, and then give them a chance to test their skills on a hike/camping trip to a local park?  Take Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet along to read around the campfire at night to see if it gives you any new ideas.

• Reformation History: Douglas Bond’s Mr. Pipes series include a number of settings that could be retraced by intrepid readers.  See  Mr. Pipes Comes to America for settings in the U.S.–a great way to learn about early American history, without losing the rich religious heritage so many books for kids leave out.

Bible Challenge

For those of you who haven’t been involved in our Bible Challenge, the summer might be a good time to jump in.  Since the point of the study is to take kids into the real Biblical text and give them an overview, you don’t have to do all the suggested reading.  Just give your kids a taste of the week’s selections, and hit the high points in our discussion.

Best of all, this isn’t just dry reading.  We’ve included games, coloring pages, paper dolls, and Make-Your-Own-Story-Bible resources.   Get out your Bible, the glitter glue and construction paper, and open your heart to be changed as a family by God’s word!  Here’s a link to a page of the first 13 challenges, covering Genesis through the building of the tabernacle.

Do you guys have any suggestions for more book-themed travel for families?  I’m always looking for more…and in fact, I’m going to be in Chicago soon with my two little ones, so if anybody has any ideas about that, please do share!