Jessica's Three Books on Thursday post today is about parenting books, so I decided to post my top three recommendations, even though they're already included in the longer list of Books That Blew My Mind. To prevent faithful Earthling's Handbook readers from feeling gypped, though, I'll first list three more books--actually, sort of categories of … Continue reading 3 Good Books About Parenting
books
How a silly Website brought me a great book
I have been a fan of passiveaggressivenotes.com for some time now. It's one of those sites that perfectly utilizes the Internet's awesome power to collect silly things seen around the world. It almost always can make me laugh in that wonderfully sudden way that really dispels stress. Last summer, I saw a note posted there … Continue reading How a silly Website brought me a great book
An Unexpected Find in the Thrift Store
Recently, I bought at Goodwill two anthologies of Calvin and Hobbes, a comic strip I enjoy reading to my six-year-old son. When we started reading the second one, Weirdos from Another Planet, we were surprised to find the following note written in metallic gold pen inside the front cover: Dear Corey, It was really fun … Continue reading An Unexpected Find in the Thrift Store
7 Novels of Other Worlds on Earth
I like science fiction, but one of my favorite kinds of books is the kind set on Earth, in the present or recent past, but in a subculture that is really vividly described and interesting. A good example is The Chosen by Chaim Potok, one of the Books That Blew My Mind. Here are 7 … Continue reading 7 Novels of Other Worlds on Earth
Religious Education with Ramona Quimby
I'm an Episcopalian now, but my parents joined a Unitarian Universalist church when I was seven years old, so I was raised in that denomination. There were many things about it that weren't compatible with my spirituality, but I did learn at least one valuable lesson there: Some secular books contain wisdom and moral dilemmas … Continue reading Religious Education with Ramona Quimby
How to Do Everything!
This article is linked to the greatest tips edition of Works-for-Me Wednesday, where the hostess explains how to get a human on the phone when you call customer service, and more than 178 people have linked to their own helpful tips on how to do all sorts of things. Here are my own greatest tips: … Continue reading How to Do Everything!
Books That Blew My Mind
UPDATE February 1, 2012: For the past two years, this has been an article like my links page where I keep adding content as I get around to it. Now I'm going to call it finished! Of course, I expect to read additional mind-blowing books during my visit to Earth, but this list now includes … Continue reading Books That Blew My Mind
Great Chapter Books for Kids!
It's Works-for-Me Wednesday! We started reading chapter books to our son when he was 2 years 9 months old. Two years later, they're an important part of his daily life. I read to him every day on the bus going to and from preschool, almost always from chapter books because they're more convenient: more story for … Continue reading Great Chapter Books for Kids!
Hear now the Tale of Job!
My four-year-old son and I were in our car on the way to Trader Joe's last Wednesday when this Seatrain song telling the Biblical story of Job came up on the CD my dad made for me. I turned off the engine right after the line, "Long, long they journeyed until they found Job in … Continue reading Hear now the Tale of Job!
The Other Three Bears
Once upon a time, there were three little bears sitting on three little chairs, very quiet and very still. They were sitting like that because their father had told them to, and they always did everything their father told them to do. The father bear needed his little bears to be quiet and still because he had to work very hard at his desk. He worked and worked until . . . yawn . . . zzz . . . flop! he fell asleep right on top of his papers.
Great system, bad example!
We've been struggling with our three-year-old's demanding behavior and angry outbursts and have sought help from several books. The most recent was Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey, frequently recommended in online discussions. Overall, it's an okay book. The main idea is that a conflict is an opportunity to teach your child skills he … Continue reading Great system, bad example!
New Realms of Reading
One day in August, Nicholas and I were walking past a pile of trash set at the curb in front of an apartment building when I noticed a huge anthology of "Peanuts" comics, clean and hardly used, on top of the pile. I immediately grabbed it to take home. Nicholas (age two-and-a-half) was very interested in … Continue reading New Realms of Reading