Whatcha Reading this Summer?

(photo www.flickr.com/photos/komunews/3567108623/ by KOMUnews)

Summer has just begun according to the calendar. Remember the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer?

So far mine have been only hazy! Still, it's time for summer reading, vacation reading, beach reading--whatever you want to call it.

So far, my summer reading plan is to read new novels I have on hold at the library as they come in interspersed with books friends loaned to me months ago. One new book is Sandra Dallas' newest, Whiter Than Snow. Billed as a story of a deadly avalanche in a turn-of-the-century Colorado mining town, it is really the story of the townfolks' lives and how tragedy causes them to cast aside grudges and prejudices. This isn't my favorite book by Dallas (Tallgrass is), but it's worth the while.

One of the books loaned to me is Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts. This interview tells more about the book and Letts. Though some extreme coincidences propel the plot, this mystery of a California veterinarian seeking his birth mother in Oklahoma leads to vengeance, danger, and love, making this a fast, entertaining read.

Across the country, official library Summer Reading programs are underway for all ages. This year's Collaborative Summer Library Program theme for kids is "Make a Splash! Read!, for teens is "Make Waves at Your Library," and for adults is "Water Your Mind--Read!"

What books are watering your mind this summer? Let me know books you recommend!

PS Notice the title of the book in the introductory photo? It's become a contemporary classic. Look for it at the library or bookstore, no matter what your age is.

The Power of Books

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/3089163372/ by Wonderlane

Those of us who love books feel most comfortable when surrounded by them. I did not feel at home in my new home until my books were unpacked and on shelves. Opening the packing boxes was like liberating dear friends.

Now a new report links being surrounded by books to a child's educational attainment. The child doesn't even have to read them! The study says that simply having books in one's home will improve children's education level--by as much as 2 years! More important than a father's educational level, parental politics, or socioeconomic background, filling the home with books makes a dramatic difference.

We did have books in our home as I grew up--and magazines and newspapers, too. What a privilege! How about you?

Read more details on the report here. Then run out to your nearest library or bookstore and stock up!

(It doesn't hurt to read them, either!)

Memorial Day--What Were Their Names?

The Reuben James (USS Reuben James (DD-245)) was the first US Navy ship sunk in World War II action. This destroyer was torpedoed by a German submarine in October 1941 off the coast of Iceland while escorting an Allied ship convoy. The entire ship sank within five minutes, and only 44 of the 159 crewmen survived.

The song "The Sinking of the Reuben James," written by Woody Guthrie and performed below by the Kingston Trio, tells the tale and asks us, "What were their names?"



Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, a day for remembering those who have died in our country's service. Its unofficial history dates back to women decorating the graves of Civil War soldiers.

As we observe Memorial Day today, let us pause to remember all who have given their lives for our country and our service veterans who have passed on. Tell me, what were their names?
(photo by cwwycoff1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlwwycoff/3561868382/)

Arbor Day--National Poetry Month

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laserstars/ / CC BY 2.0

It's Arbor Day and the last day of National Poetry Month, so what better way to celebrate than with a few tree poems? I'm guessing more than a few of us memorized Joyce Kilmer's famous "Trees" in grade school. How much of it can you still recite without peeking?

Trees

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

You may also remember "Woodman, Spare that Tree" by George Pope Morris. Here's a Phil Harris rendition on the gramophone:


Modern poets also write of trees. Kids' favorite, Douglas Florian, has a new book book out called Poetrees. Take a look at the poems and art here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckaysavage/ / CC BY 2.0

Poet and naturalist Wendell Berry writes "For the Future". What trees--literal or figurative--are you planting for the future?

Happy Arbor Day! So long, National Poetry Month!

Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day--National Poetry Month

Poem in Your Pocket Day, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, encourages us to share poetry. Print off some of your favorite poems and put them in your pocket. When you meet and greet someone today, hand them the poem. Simple! Silly? Maybe, but I did it last year to great results. The poem recipients were really pleased. If you need poem ideas, click the Poem in Your Pocket Day link.

This year I decided to offer a Robert Frost poem that is not as well known as many of his others. I used to give this to the high school seniors I taught back in the day. Since graduation is approaching, and NASA just celebrated the Hubble telescope's 20th birthday, the poem in my pocket will be

Choose Something Like a Star

O Star (the fairest one in sight),
We grant your loftiness the right
To some obscurity of cloud --
(Click to read the rest.)

Here's a NASA video of images from Hubble about a star's life:


Share some poems from your pocket to someone else's today and let me know the results!

Epic Poetry and the Swedish Chef--National Poetry Month

[This is a public domain image from Kip Wheeler's homepage at Carson-Newman College. Kip Wheeler declared its status thus: "The original image of the Beowulf manuscript comes from the anonymous Anglo-Saxon scribe who wrote the 'Nowell Codex', Cotton Vitellius A.x.v. 129 r. It appears here as reproduced in Julius Zupitza's Beowulf: Autotypes of the Unique Cotton MS Vitellius A.xv. in the British Museum with a Transliteration and Notes. E.E.T.S. O.S. 77. London: Trubner & Co., 1882. This image is public domain."]

Epic poetry, like today's epic novels, sweeps across landscapes and generations. Many epic poems, such as the most famous early English epic, Beowulf, tell of historic heroics, with a dash of myth thrown in. Ordinary people have been drawn to the story for its action adventure, but scholars have poured over it for other reasons. How much is historical? Was it written in the 8th century or later? Who wrote it? Was it told orally before it was written?

What we do know is that Beowulf is a tale of a hero who fights dragon Grendel, Grendel's mother, and an unnamed dragon over the course of his life in ancient Scandinavia. The poetry is not rhymed or metered like modern poetry. It is alliterative, with emphasis on initial word sounds. This is a sample of what the lines look like typeset:

Beowulf and Grendel's Mother
Lines 1357-1382

Hie dygel lond
warigeað, wulfhleoþu, windige næssas,
frecne fengelad, ðær fyrgenstream

under næssa genipu niþer gewiteð,
flod under foldan. Nis þæt feor heonon
milgemearces þæt se mere standeð;
ofer þæm hongiað hrinde bearwas,
wudu wyrtum fæst wæter oferhelmað.

Hear Beowulf in Old English by clicking "audio" toward the bottom of this page.

Something about the way this sounds has always reminded me of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, which, while not epic, is adventurous in its own way.


What do you think? Is the Swedish Chef a descendant of Beowulf?

Chaucer's Middle English Still Sounds Good--National Poetry Month

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/ / CC BY 2.0

Our pear and cherry trees bloom, tulips color lawns, and dormant plants spring to attention. This burst of life reminds me of the first line of Chaucer's "Prologue to the Canterbury Tales":

When April with his showers sweet with fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein with liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower....

That's from the modern English version. Chaucer wrote it in Middle English, which is still recognizable, but takes a little work to translate:

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour...

Take a minute and listen to it as the Middle English scrolls by:



See the Middle English and Modern version side by side here.

[Canterbury tales mural by Ezra Winter. North Reading Room, west wall, Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C. According to the inscription, this mural shows (left to right): "The Miller, in the lead, piping the band out of Southwark; the Host of Tabard Inn; the Knight, followed by his son, the young Squire, on a white palfrey; a Yeoman; the Doctor of Physic; Chaucer, riding with his back to the observer, as he talks to the Lawyer; the Clerk of Oxenford, reading his beloved classics; the Manciple; the Sailor; the Prioress; the Nun; and three priests." (Source: John Y. Cole, On These Walls. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1995, p. 79)]

Which of Chaucer's tales do you remember? Which do you like best? How are the pilgrims' travels like your own?