Game Night – The Great Dalmuti

by Carol2 Comments
The Great Dalmuti Designers: Richard Garfield Manufacturer: 1995 Players: 4 - 8 Time: 15 minutes Ages: 8 and up We tend to go on rolls with the games we play. We'll play a game a bunch of times over a month or two and then put it away for weeks on end only to pull it out again and play several weeks in a row. Lately we've been playing The Great Dalmuti a lot. It's quick, fun, a lot of people can play, and there's no score-keeping involved. Of course, we've been playing it as a group since probably about 1995, if that's not replayability I don't know what is. (Yes, I know I made up that word, but it fits.) Here's the blurb, since it explains the game better than I could. Life isn't fair... and neither is The Great Dalmuti! One round you're at the top of the heap, and the next you're peasant scum in this fast-paced card...
Read More

Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

by Carol5 Comments
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola (Suggested reading level: Ages 4-8) I've read many of dePaola's Strega Nona stories with Amber over the years. They are all sweet, delightfully illustrated and filled with a kind, gentle touch of magic. Today's Fairy Tale Friday selection is the original Strega Nona, which I don't remember reading before, but it's a perfect story for me. In a town in Calabria, a long time ago, there lived an old lady everyone called Strega Nona, which meant "Grandma Witch." Although all the people in town talked about her in whispers, they all went to see her if they had troubles. Even the priest and the sisters of the convent went, because Strega Nona did have a magic touch. Even though she has a touch of magic, she's so kind and considerate everyone in the village trusts her. Strega Nona hires Big Anthony to help out around her house and garden, warning him never to touch the pasta pot. Big Anthony learns, by...
Read More

Winners!

by CarolNo Comments
Congratulations to the winners of Eat the Cookie...Buy the Shoes: Giving Yourself Permission to Lighten Up by Joyce Meyer. I hope you enjoy it and it helps you celebrate life. Dawn M karenk Cindy Woolard I'll be sending you all e-mails later this evening. I just need your mailing address to pass on to Hachette Book Group....
Read More

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

by Carol5 Comments
Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi I don't read many graphic novels, but after seeing a few reviews of this one, I knew I had to pick it up. Sartrapi allows us to spend the afternoon with a group of nine Iranian women, relatives, neighbors and friends. We sit in on their discussions of the men they've known and loved, known and haven't loved, relationship choices they've made. Each story is told with humor, but the woman still deal with the reality of not truly having the freedom and independence that I take for granted. The women tell stories of escaping arranged marriages, of faking virginity, of loving men who are married to others. Their stories are touching, but for me even more important and universal was the support they gave each other. They didn't judge, they may have laughed at each other, but they were each still accepted and supported, no matter what decisions they made in life. The stories also show that women...
Read More

The Journey that Saved Curious George by Louise Borden

by Carol5 Comments
The Journey That Saved Curious George : The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey by Louise Borden, illustrated by Allan Drummond (Suggested reading level: Grades 3-6) I love Curious George, especially his new adventures and the PBS cartoon. We have two box sets that I'd read over and over with Amber when she was younger, but I never knew the story behind Curious George. I mentioned the other day about author's own experiences showing up in their works of fiction. I didn't realize how soon the topic would come up again, but Hans Reyersbach, who eventually changed his name to H. A. Rey, left his home in Germany in his early twenties and headed to Brazil. It was hot in Brazil—so Hans wore a broad hat, even in the shad of Rio's palm trees and cafés. When he traveled up and down the Amazon River, Hans watched the monkeys and made drawings of them. (pg. 12-13) I can certainly see where the famous...
Read More