books galore

Those books sound interesting.  I, however, will not be reading anything this month that I cannot get from the library or read for free online.  The Run With Me book looks good, but my library system is apparently not carrying it.  I've got Playful Parenting on hold, but it will be awhile before it comes.

I have recently read "Playful Learning: Develop your Child's Sense of Joy and Wonder" by Mariah Bruehl.  It was okay.  A couple good ideas that I hadn't hit on before.  It was very Montessori-ish.  One idea that I thought you'd love is the idea of making little blank books to keep around the house to stimulate your child's interest in writing and art.  I made a stack of books by cutting computer paper in half, folding in half, putting a plain cardstock cover on, and stapling, then doing the same thing with some whole sheets.  I have a bunch and put them on a shelf on my desk and told the kids they were theirs to do with as they pleased.  Logan, who usually never wants to draw or write, jumped up and did a whole series of pictures.  We'll see how popular they are, but they sure looked cute.  They were so easy to make and made me feel like SUCH a good, nurturing, crafty mother.    Sigh.

Also recently read a talk by Julie B. Beck called "Nourishing and Protecting Our Families" that she gave at the 2009 BYU Women's Conference.  If you google it, it's easy to find.  A GEM of a talk, as all of hers seem to be.

And I'm fighting my way through the second half of Ken Robinson's book "The Element".  The first half was quick and fascinating and managed to both thrill me and make me feel like a complete loser as an inspiring parent and creative individual.  The second half is making me feel better, but I've either lost interest in the topic, or it's just dragging on too long for one book. 

I'd love reading suggestions for the year.  I haven't given it hardly any thought, but I really like having a booklist to work from when I'm placing holds in the library site.  I need some GOOD books to be coming in every couple weeks or I get bored.

finally, I know we're basically over Misfit here, but she wrote a great post on modesty that Josh and I really liked if you're interested.  I kept her blog on my google reader and I think this is the first time she's posted since the last time we talked.

Thanks ladies!  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.


Oh yes, Andrea, is your sister still in Switzerland?  I have a couple questions to ask her about train travel.  I'm a bit confused about the various rail passes that I've been reading about in the travel books and what the difference is.  If she wouldn't mind hearing from me, and you wouldn't mind passing on my email address, I would appreciate it.  kelosh 2 at gmail dot com.  Thanks so much!