My Own Two Feet and Cold Feet

During a random library search this week, I picked up what I thought were two children's biography books.

The first was a picture book biography, suitable I thought for my kids ages 6 & 8. "Cold Feet" story by Cynthia DeFelice. I liked the story because it was about a Scottish man who plays the bagpipes.

I began reading the story to the kids and quickly it appeared rather grim. The bagpiper is wandering around in the forest, in the winter, and his feet are frozen. "Luckily" he stumbles upon a body of a dead man with good shoes. Unfortunately the man's feet are frozen into the shoes - but "luckily" as bagpiper drops the man's feet down - the feet break off from the legs and so he takes the shoes w/the feet still in them and goes along on his merry way. Yikes!

A grouchy farmer lets him spend the night in his barn with his cow and to get back at the grouchy farmer, the bagpiper removes the now thawed feet from the good shoes and puts them on. He puts the thawed feet into his old bedraggled shoes and places one in the cows mouth so the farmer with think the cow ate the bagpiper.

See I said it was all pretty grim. I kept thinking - well something good has to happen this is a true story...maybe he'll meet up with the dead man's family who'll recognize his shoes and they'll have "peace" in knowing what happened to him.

Well I had almost finished reading the book to the kids when I finally realized ummm this is not a child's biography book - it must have been filed incorrectly - b/c next thing a ghost appears wanting his feet back. I skipped the end of the story and we quickly went on to something else.

I know some kids like scary stories like this and I know I did as a kid (minus the ghost part) - but I sure wasn't prepared for this book. And my kids DO NOT like these kind of stories. I guess I need to better review the stories before I begin reading them to the kids.

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A much better book (and it really is a biography) is "My Own Two Feet" a memoir by Beverly Cleary. Beverly Cleary is the author of much-loved books such as Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ralph S. Mouse, The Mouse and the Motorcyle, Henry and the Paper Route etc.

I have enjoyed reading this memoir. The book deals primarily with Beverly's years at college and her work as a children's librarian. Beverly, an only child, grew up around the time of the Depression. Her parents didn't have much money - but they did have enough to partially pay for her college education (supplemented by Beverly working and $ from her grandfather).

It wasn't always easy coming up with the money Beverly needed for college or for a place to live - but she persevered. She had a mature attitude about her future and her education.

I didn't realize until I was almost finished reading "My Own Two Feet", that Beverly also wrote a book about her life prior to college. It sounds interesting - so I have it reserved at the library.

Book Review (sort of) "A Year Without Made in China"

A Year Without "Made in China" - One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy, by Sara Bonjiorni.

I picked this book up at the library - thought it would be an interesting quick read. I'm always looking for something I can read on the old Nordic Trak and this book seemed to fit the bill.

It was interesting at first but I got tired of it rather quickly. The premise is interesting - the challenge of shopping for an entire year without purchasing anything that was made in China (including internal parts of electronic things).

The author decided on this journey after surveying the after Christmas loot and realizing that so much of it came from China. In explaining to her young son about why they don't want to buy so much from China she says we ought to give other countries a chance to sell/make stuff for us too.

Author soon realizes that it's pretty hard to always avoid "Made in China" and when you can avoid it - you pay a small fortune for said item. There is one caveat in the no China purchase and that is gifts or throw away or used items don't count.

See that right there would make it a lot more easier for those of us of a frugal nature. I regularly shop at (and enjoy!) thrift stores, "junk" stores, garage sales, Craigslist, and curb freebies (well actually we've only once got something from a curb - a large wooden kitchen table that had a "free" sign on it - my dh repurposed it as a desk). I do put my limits at dumpster diving but even as I write this I do remember a dumpster diving event in my life.

I was maybe 8-10 yrs old. I loved playing "school". Of course I was always the teacher (a harbinger??). I had a made-up attendance sheet and all the kids I didn't like in real life, were the kids that were absent or the kids that got in trouble and maybe required a "note" home from the teacher. Someone in our neighborhood found out that the elementary school near us was throwing away a bunch of school papers. Multiple photocopied (but it wasn't actually photocopied - that old blue paper stuff) worksheets. This friend got the idea for us (maybe a group of us) to go and get the papers to play with. So we went to the school climbed in?? or leaned in and got out stacks of paper. How fun to actually have worksheets for my "students" to complete!

Anywhoo back to China...

The book was a little too drawn out for me - I made it about half way through and then flipped to the end. The author kept referring to her husband as "the weakest link" (which didn't endear her to me) in the whole project. Needless to say if you are going to embark on some sort of year long lifestyle journey you are gonna need to have both spouses on board totally.

I've never been part of the "Boycott Red China" (a bumper sticker I've seen before) crowd.

This is my take on the whole "Made in China" deal. Having stuff made cheaply in China has resulted in a higher standard of living for the "poor" and the not-so-poor in the USA. The author couldn't find shoes not made in China so she spent about $68 on a pair from another country. How many middle-class or lower-class or folks on welfare can afford to pay $68 for a pair of shoes for a 4-year-old? How many can spend in excess of $100 for a pair of sunglasses? And even if you could afford it - why would you want to pay that amount?!

I just randomly picked up a few things in my office area and found a few made in China, a few made in USA, one made in Switzerland, and one made in Malyasia. It would be an interesting experiment to try going a year w/out made in China - the author even got a book deal out of it (she was already a journalist and or writer) - but I'm afraid I'd cave in too soon.

How about this idea "A Year Without New"...everything you acquire has to be purchased from a thrift store, garage sale, Craigslist, eBay (except eBay NEW items), curb freebie etc.? Well I should say everything except foods, hygiene products and medicines that is. Now I think that would be a fun idea.

Melissa's Great Book of Produce - Book Review

The book, "Melissa's Great Book of Produce"- everything you need to know about fresh fruits and vegetables... is just what I have been looking for.

It's kind of a field guide type of book - listed in alphabetical order and with color photos, this book was enjoyable to look through. Each fruit or vegetable starts with a description and then has subheadings of: buying and storing, prep, use, serving suggestion, and a recipe.

This will surely help me out during those times when I have conflicting names on fresh produce. I also like the serving suggestions - b/c for the most part, I don't have a clue as to what to do with things like wing beans, fennel, tamarindo, jujubes etc.

In the past I spend a lot of time "surfing the net" (I hate that phrase for some reason) for information on storing, prep, recipes etc. for my new founds treasures.

Now the book I have on my somewhat messy desk, is due back at the library in 2 weeks. I can probably renew it a few times and then I can do one of two things: 1) put it on hold under my dh's card, my dd's card, my ds's card - check it out for the max alloted time plus renewals on all the cards and then start all over again...it would ALMOST be like owning it 2) see if I can find a cheap used copy on eBay or half.com or resort to buying it new at Amazon (but it's $20 and that is too steep for me - I almost never buy my books new - so I may have to wait awhile before I come across one in my price range (less than $10). The 2nd choice seems more "proper" - what if there are other people like me, sweating up a storm "surfing the net" trying to find information, when they could have it at their fingertips? Plus if I have my own book I can make notations in it.

Children's Book Monday - Mud Pies and Other Recipes

A Path Made Straight is hosting a "Children's Book Monday" that I decided to participate in.

Mud Pies and Other Recipes
Written by Marjorie Winslow
Illustrated by Erik Blegvad

You could consider this your daughter or son's, first cookbook. It is a cookbook for dolls and it contains ingredients that a child can easily find and costs no money at all.

Some might even consider these recipes exotic - but unfortunately most of them would probably make your child sick if they actually decided to eat them - so BEWARE!

I love this book. I bought it for my dd when she was about 4 yrs old. This cookbook allows your child to be creative, make a mess and experiment with a host of ingredients. Cleaning up is simple - get out the garden hose!

There are chapters on: appetizers, main dishes, beverages, suggested menus and more. The recipes are sweetly and simply named and the illustrations are black and white pen/ink drawings that very cute.



From the foreword "It is an outdoor cookbook, b/c dolls dote on mud, when properly prepared. They love the crunch of pine needles and the sweet feel of seaweed on the tongue. The market place, then, will be a forest or a sand dune or your own back yard....Doll cookery is not a very exacting art. The time it takes to cook a casserole depends upon how long your dolls are able to sit at table without falling over."




I love the recipe for assorted hors d'oeuvres:

"Take the cardboard from a freshly laundered shirt...glue 8 paper baking cups...this is the hors d'oeuvres tray. Into each cup place anything that comes to mind. Here are 8 examples...grass, clover, pine needles, small berries, flower petals, crushed dry leaves, minced twigs and gravel."

No little girl (or her doll!) should be without this quaint little book.

I found my copy of the book (copyright 1961) on eBay a few years ago. You may still be able to find a book there or one used through Amazon - it did not look like they currently had any new copies.

What the World Eats

Awhile ago I wrote here about two of my favorite Peter Menzel books - one being "What the World Eats".

Today I came across a link on "A Penny Closer", to a photo gallery on Time Magazine's website which shows some pictures from "Hungry Planet - What the World Eats" - it includes 16 pictures of families from around the world and their food for a week.

So if you haven't read the book yet and would like a "sneak preview" of what the book contains before you buy it on Amazon or check it out from the library - head on over to Time's website.

This is an easy way to explain to your children the variety (and sometimes lack thereof) of food throughout the world.

Fierce Food

Fierce Food - The Intrepid Diner’s Guide to the Unusual, Exotic, and Downright Bizarre by Christa Weil, is an interesting book to say the least. Even though I wouldn't think of tasting the majority of foods described in this book - it was still a fun read (though not advisable for children).

Fierce food lists alphabetically, approximately 70 different delicacies such as: Bat, Cattail, Bark, Jellyfish, Bird’s Nest Soup (for some reason it’s always held an appeal to me), Salt Licorice, Prickly Pear, Sea Cucumber, Maguey Worm, Calf's Head and others. The book not only details the food and how it tastes, but it gives you some information on the history of the foods and preparation and serving methods.

I found that there were a few things listed that I have partaken of: prickly pear, coconut, and honeycomb.

A few foods described in Fierce Foods that I’d be willing to taste are: bird’s nest soup, cricket, frog’s legs, salt licorice, snake, and snapping turtle. Though not included in the book, a couple of foods I've always wanted to taste are: rabbit stew and squirrel stew.

Incredible Edibles & It's Disgusting - Children's Books

Incredible Edibles by Teresa Domnauer is a good, easy-to-read book, to introduce children to some unusual foods such as oysters, snails, squid, tripe, flowers etc. The book has nice colorful pictures and does not present the unusual foods in a "disgusting" or belittling manner.

As we read the book the kids and I talked about which of the foods we'd be willing to try...yes to snails and caviar, yes to tripe (the girl), no to tripe (the boy and mother).

Another book I like, and we've read a few times, is "It's Disgusting and We Ate It! True Food Facts From Around the World and Throughout History". We enjoyed reading it, even though there were obviously foods in it that we would not even consider trying - but still interesting to read about things that were consumed throughout the ages. This book kind of has more of the feel of trying to appeal to children's enjoyment of things that are "gross". Includes some poems about the foods that are eaten.

Eating Bugs

In the past couple of years I have enjoyed reading a few books by Peter Menzel... Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects, and Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.

Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects - is about, you guessed it, eating insects. So even though I mentioned that I would not eat wiggling worms, it does not mean that it is disgusting fare for others around the world.

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. This book includes photos and essays on people in different countries and what they buy/eat in a week.

Both of these books, though geared to adults - are great ways to introduce the diversity of cultures and eating to our children. It's also good for kids to see that not everyone is blessed with a variety of different foods - some people eat rice three times a day - and not b/c they are crazy about it - but b/c that is all they have.