President's Day

George Washington
Cheryl Harness

Abe Lincoln Goes to Washington
Cheryl Harness

Since it is President's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my favorite books about Washington and Lincoln.  There are a million of them available and I have read my fair share.  However, these truly are fantastic books about these great men!  The art is captivating and interesting.  However, the text is truly wonderful.  They are listed as ages 6-9, which is appropriate, but I think older children and adults will enjoy these books.  The narration includes direct quotes from these men woven into the story, and their stories are each explained with historical accuracy.  The Civil War is handled especially well, I think, since there is some confusion and contention about that conflict.  Cheryl Harness is a wonderful children's author.  I have other books by her and will definitely be purchasing more.

Other books that I recommend as President's Day goodies are:  "Mr. Lincoln's Boys" by Staton Rabin, "The Lincoln Stories" by Honore Morrow (out of print), "The Real George Washington" by Jay A. Parry,  "The General and Mrs. Washington" by Bruce Chadwick, "The Bulletproof George Washington" by David Barton, "George Washington Soldier, Hero, President" by Justine and Ron Fontes, and "Abraham Lincoln Lawyer, Leader, Legend" by Justine and Ron Fontes.

There are lots of others we like and read, but these are our favorites covering a lot of age and ability.  Here you should be able to find something for everyone.  What are your favorite President Day books?

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The Prince

by Niccolo Machiavelli

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The tables have turned and the teacher is now the student.  I think it is great.  For Christmas, Adam, now a junior in college after having been homeschooled his whole life, gave me a political phylosophy class.  He is the professor.  This is his major and his love of study.  The syllabus included the reading and study of three books:  "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli, "The Second Treatise of Government" by John Locke, and "The Federalist Papers" by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. I also have to write papers periodically.  My first book and paper was on "The Prince".  Machiavelli is not an easy read.  I stumbled through it with much direction and discussion with my professor, and I learned a lot.  My writing assignment was to make "The Prince" relevant to me and my life in the 21st century.  Since I an a mother and that is my career, I used "The Prince" as a parenting guide.  It was admittedly not the best parenting guide ever written.  The application is much more relevant to running a country, but it certainly had some points worth considering. 

It is a political classic, considered the first political philosophy book.  Anyone who is interested in government should take some time to read it.  I included the first paragraph of my final paper on this book just because.  Hope you like it.  (I got an A- on the entire paper!)

            The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, continues to have modern relevance and application in the 21^st  century.  One can certainly apply many of his philosophies to the modern day parent.  After all, parenting is the quintessential leadership position.  “He who rocks the cradle rules the world”.  Although not all that Machiavelli had to say could be directly applied to parenthood, he does make some very valid and powerful points that a parent interested in raising well-behaved contributing members of society would be wise to understand and to emulate.  Parenting in the recent century has become a lost art, and parents too often flounder trying to buy their children’s love and happiness, or else refrain from being disciplinarians because of their need to be friendly with their children.  They forget the relationship that is their responsibility of leadership within the family.  The Prince is the original leadership training handbook.  Machiavelli addresses liberality versus parsimony, cruelty versus mercy, and the role of laws and force.  He also advises one on how to avoid creating hate or contempt in carrying out your responsibilities as a leader and how to place yourself in a position to be held in esteem by your children.

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The Doll Shop Downstairs & The Cats in the Doll Shop

by Yona Zeldis McDonough

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These are two cute books that I read to Bethany at bedtime.  Inspired by Madame Alexander, they are about a 9 year old little Jewish girl and her sisters living in New York City at the start of World War I.  In the first book, we get to see the financial difficulties the family experience because of the war from the children's perspective.  In the second book, the girls rescue an abandoned cat.  More importantly, their cousin immigrates from Russia to live with the family when her mother cannot take care of her due to the war.  This cousin cannot speak English, hoards food, and is painfully shy.  The girls learn compassion and service.  This is certainly a fun book with plenty of talking points for any little girls who love dolls and like stories about other children like them, or for a platform to discussing immigration at the turn of the century.  This book also discusses a few Jewish holidays so could be used in a study of Jewish culture.  A similar book that I love and is definitely a family favorite is "All-of-a-Kind Family" by Syndey Taylor.

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Journey of a Thousand Miles: My Story

by Lang Lang and David Ritz

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This is an autobiographical book about the Chinese pianist, Lang Lang.  I decided to start with this book because it has been such a motivating book for our family.  I originally read this about two years ago and loved it.  This winter, as Natalie and Noelle have been trying to climb up off a musical plateau and stretch themselves musically, I decided to read it to them, Amanda and Tanille.  They were all enthralled.  Seriously, they loved it as much as any novel.  I'm sure that had something to do with the fact that it was what they needed at this point.

Lang Lang began playing the piano when he was a toddler.  As per the one child law in China, he was an only child and his parents pinned all their hopes and dreams on him.  He loved music; he loved the piano.  He begged his parents to let him stay home from school when he became old enough to go and they agreed if he would play the piano.  He literally sat at the piano the entire day and played!  He won his first completition when he was 5 years old against children twice his age.  This book chronicles his musical adventure from Shenyang where he was born, to Beijing, to international contests, and finally to study at a musical academy in America where he eventually became a star.  He has many awards and has played with symphonies the world over.

Besides being musically inspiring, the story is rich in cultural understanding.  We had many great discussions about Chinese versus American attitudes about competition, academics, talent, and success.  We learned a lot about China and learned to appreciate America in new ways. 

My children are not practicing 8 hours a day, but they do have new enthusiasm.  Since we have read the book, Noelle has worked harder on specific techniques that she has struggled with and her teacher has told her that she has made a break-through.  So much of our physical work is mental.  Natalie has become engrossed in learning about more about China and the Chinese cultural revolution.  She has just finished reading "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-Li Jiang.  She is now reading "The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese School Girl" by Ma Yan and Pierre Haski, both excellent books.  I have given her a list of five or six more that she can read while this topic is exciting to her.  I'll let you know how it goes.  At dinner tonight, she explained the cultural revolution to the family, so we know she is learning.  That is the important part!

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My Launch of "Book Attack"

One year ago, I thought I would blog my reading.  I love to read and read, literally, 100's of books.  I recently counted my home library (Amanda needed help learning how to average, and books on shelves are a great minipulative for that) and I have approximately 2200 books here at home with more being added frequently.  Amazingly enough, I have read most of them.  Yes, that includes every children's picture book we own but that is still an awesome number of books. 

After sitting on the idea, scared to put my thoughts out there for everyone to see, I am taking the leap.  I am going to review the books I read.  Not all of them, but the ones I think are worth writing a bit about.  So, I hope you enjoy this.  I love sharing what I've read.  I love it when people read what I've read because then we can discuss it.  I love recommending books that have become our family's favorites to others who will enjoy them.  That is the beauty of books.  They have unlimited sharing capability.  That makes them precious to me. 

Someone recently said, "Not all truth has the same value."  Not all books have the same value either.  But, I am sure grateful that there are a lot of books with value.

In our home in a typical day, I have a book or two that I am reading to myself usually late at night or early in the morning or when I can slip away for a relaxing bath and a good book.  Right now I am in the middle of "The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World" by Laura J. Snyder, "Song of the Lark" by Willa Cather, and "The Second Treatise of Government" by John Locke.  I read to my children who are too young to read to themselves before falling asleep when I tuck them into bed each night.  Right now, that means that I am reading a book with Benjamin ("Babe the Gallant Pig" by Dick King-Smith) and another with Bethany ("Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy Stories" by Johnny Gruelle) each night.  I also usually have a younger children's book that I spend time reading out loud each day (now it's "The Girls Get Even" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor), and an older children book as well. ("Mrs. Robert E. Lee" by John Perry is our current selection.)

I hope everyone will find something like here on my blog.  We read a wide variety of things, so our interests are varied.  Hopefully you will find something that will inspire you to be ....... Book Attacked!

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