Simple Gifts
Squealed with glee when I saw this...
The author of this letter apologized for the lack of fancy stationary. And was worried about spelling errors.
She need not have worried.
When I brought the post into the house this afternoon, I was delighted to discover an envelope that could have come from one of my memory boxes. Written in longhand. With highlighter doodles on the envelope. Simple paper. Filled with tangential lines of the author’s stream of consciousness. A glimpse into her life.
And — a newspaper clipping too!!
Reminded me of the countless letters I’d written (and received) in high school, college, stateside, & abroad. Took me back to an earlier time. An easier time. When communication wasn’t instantaneous. And letters were opened, unfolded, read, refolded. Only to be unfolded and read again.
JaneTheWriter — you made my day.
P.S. You have such lovely penmanship.
An Annual Tradition
One of the things that I treasure is the annual opportunity to participate in the annual Blog Tour for the Sydney Taylor Book Awards. Each year, I have learned a great deal about the process of producing an award-winning book. And the information I have gleaned continues to enhance my reading pleasure.
Each day this week, you can find interviews around the Jewish blogosphere. Please take the extra time to visit and leave your comments. You’ll thank me later.
********
The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2012 gold and silver medalists and a few selected Notables with a Blog Tour, February 5-10, 2012! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a wide variety of Jewish and kidlit blogs. For those of you who have not yet experienced a Blog Tour, it’s basically a virtual book tour. Instead of going to a library or bookstore to see an author or illustrator speak, you go to a website on or after the advertised date to read an author’s or illustrator’s interview.
Later this spring, we’ll follow up with an episode of Katie Davis’s Brain Burps About Books devoted to the Sydney Taylor Book Award!
Below is the schedule for the 2012 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Please follow the links to visit the hosting blogs on or after their tour dates, and be sure to leave them plenty of comments!
THE 2012 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2012
Susan Campbell Bartoletti, author of Naamah and the Ark at Night
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Ima On & Off the Bima
Holly Meade, illustrator of Naamah and the Ark at Night
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe
Shelley Sommer, author of Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg, Baseball Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Great Kid Books
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2012
Marcia Vaughan, author of Irena’s Jar of Secrets
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Shelf-Employed
Ron Mazellan, illustrator of Irena’s Jar of Secrets
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at The Children’s War
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012
Trina Robbins, author of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Bildungsroman
Anne Timmons (and possibly Mo Oh), illustrators of of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Gathering Books
Morris Gleitzman, author of Then
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The 3 R’s
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012
Michael Rosen, author of Chanukah Lights
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy
Robert Sabuda, illustrator/paper engineer of Chanukah Lights
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Practically Paradise
Susan Goldman Rubin, author of Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Cynsations
Robert Sharenow, author of The Berlin Boxing Club
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012
Durga Yael Bernhard, author & illustrator of Around the World in One Shabbat
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Frume Sarah’s World
Shirley Vernick, author of The Blood Lie
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The Fourth Musketeer
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012
Eric Kimmel, author of The Golem’s Latkes
Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and winner of the National Jewish Book Award
at Ann Koffsky’s Blog
Gloria Spielman, author of Marcel Marceau, Master of Mime
Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and finalist for the National Jewish Book Award
at Shannon and the Sunshine Band
Richard Michelson, author of Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King
Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and finalist for the National Jewish Book Award
at Blue Thread
Sydney Taylor Award Winners – Wrap-Up
All winners, all categories
at The Whole Megillah
Taken Literally
B-day Gift from Mom & DadGiraffe
During a time of tremendous upheaval, the prophet Isaiah taught:
וְכִתְּתוּ חַרְבוֹתָם לְאִתִּים, וַחֲנִיתוֹתֵיהֶם לְמַזְמֵרוֹת–לֹא-יִשָּׂא גוֹי אֶל-גּוֹי חֶרֶב, וְלֹא-יִלְמְדוּ עוֹד מִלְחָמָה
…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Was this meant to be taken literally? Israeli artist, Yaron Bob, seems to think so. Living near the Gaza Strip, Yaron Bob has seen firsthand the destruction caused by the more than twelve thousand Kassam rockets that have been fired onto the Israeli civilian population in southern Israel. Utilizing the rocket metal, Bob turns weapons meant for destruction into symbols of enduring faith and life.
Today I received a lovely necklace, made by Bob, from Mom-&-DadGiraffe for my birthday. [Actually, it arrived some weeks ago and has been sitting in the living room, waiting for my actual birthday to arrive. Don’t like to open gifts ahead of time…bad luck.] All day, I kept touching it and marveling at the chutzpah of creating something so lovely out of something so hateful.
For more information, see Rockets into Roses. And thanks, Mom and Dad, for a gift that is both lovely and meaningful.
Taking Pen in Hand
I have written before about my love of the handwritten note. So imagine my utter delight to discover that novelist Mary Robinette Kowal has created A Month of Letters challenge.
A Month of Letters 2012
The art of letter writing, feared to be a relic of a slower time, has been embraced recently by a number of well-known authors. This particular challenge, which begins today, has caught national and international attention, much to the excitement of Kowal. Who reported that she nearly “swooned” when asked for an interview by The Guardian.
I, for one, am looking forward to making good use of the many notecards that I have accumulated over the years. Years, I tell you. Not to mention just imagining the excitement that will come when my recipients open their mailboxes to discover that a handwritten note awaits.
Let the games begin!
Birthday Wish
No, you didn’t miss it. Yet.
But my birthday is coming. Soon. Veeeerrrry soon. This Friday.
Did you already get me a gift?
It’s OK if you weren’t planning on getting me anything.
However…{{if}} you were thinking of marking the anniversary of my natality in a special way, perhaps you would consider sponsoring me in this year’s Walk Now for Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is an autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families
Like our son, Beernut.
Did you know that autism is the second most common developmental disorder in the United States affecting one in every 110 children born today? Despite some promising discoveries, the cause of autism is unknown and a cure does not exist. Research is crucial. Every twenty minutes another child is diagnosed with autism. Every. Twenty. Minutes. Not only must we find ways to improve the quality of life for children and adults with autism, but we also must find a cure, and soon.
This April, our family will walk in honour of Beernut, who has wanted to do something to help “kids like me.” The best birthday gift in the world would be to find ways to help Beernut, and those like him, experience life free of the struggles that come with the diagnosis.
Keyn y’hi ratzon — May this be God’s Will.
A Girl & Her Daddy
Having been away all week, PC was due to arrive home at eleven o’clock last night.
In addition to missing her daddy, Poppyseed was especially concerned that PC had spent his birthday travelling home rather than actually being at home.
So at about 7:14pm, she suddenly decided that she wanted to decorate the house. Ninety minutes later, we had paper chains to greet him. [Those Sukkah decorating skills sure do come in handy sometimes.]
Poppyseed: You know, I’d really like to make dinner for Daddy.
FrumeSarah: That sounds lovely. I’ll go marketing tomorrow while you’re at school. What would you like to make?
Poppyseed: Not tomorrow; tonight.
FrumeSarah: Oh sweetie, Daddy’s going to be home very late. He’ll just want to go to sleep.
Poppyseed: OR…he’ll be hungry since it’ll be so long since he ate. I was thinking of a nice chicken…
Did I mention that it was now half past nine?
In the end, Poppyseed made heart-shaped salami sandwiches surrounded by baby carrots and apple slices.
He loved it.
Lesson Learned: Bake It
It was an unconventional request.
January 26 would have been my mother’s 77th birthday. As I was talking with my brother about how we could honor her, the first thing we came up with is baking. Anyone who knew her, or of her, knew that she loved to bake. It was her therapy, it was her gift to anyone who entered her domain, it is her legacy.
What we are asking everyone to do is simple: Bake your favorite item tomorrow, and share it with those you love and care about or those that you just want to share just a little of yourself with. Bake a pie, cake, brownies or cookies, etc. It doesn’t matter as long as its from your heart.
Just thinking of the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies makes me think of my mother and I smile. Share with us in honoring her and all mothers that made our homes special.
Please take pictures of what you bake and post them to the event page so we can all share in the love of our mothers!
And so I did. To honour the request of a college friend. To honour the memory of his mother, z”l.
In memory...
I chose to bake a pumpkin bread. Not only for its sweet taste, but for the warm, enveloping aroma that would fill my house.
Had this request come a year ago…even six months ago…I don’t know if I would have so readily responded in the positive.
- It takes too much time
- I’m not good at baking
- I’m too busy
- I don’t have the right ingredients
Those would have been my at-the-ready excuses. But no longer.
Because I’ve learned a few things in the past few months. That baking (and cooking for that matter) doesn’t necessarily take too much time. I’m not too busy to respond to a call from a friend. I always have the right ingredients to make something. And, it turns out, I am quite good at it.
I love how my house is filled with the aromatic evidence of my culinary efforts. How the house takes on the feeling of a home. How elated my children are to discover a tasty morsel. How shocked delighted I am to experience a savoury dish, created by my two hands.
So it was with sheer joy that I accepted my friend’s request. Joy at being asked. And joy at being able to fulfill it. Deliciously.
The Battle Rages
Something has gotten a hold of Peach. He can be the sweetest, most compliant, loving child. And then, like a flip of the switch, he seems subsumed by something sharper. Harder. Fiercer. Meaner.
It is…his Yetzer HaRa.
According to Rabbinic tradition, a child is born only with his Yetzer HaRa in place. His Yetzer Tov, that is, moral inclination, doesn’t appear until the child reaches the age of mitzvot. Bar Mitzvah age.
Holy smokes, Batman. That’s not for another eight years, two months!
This morning, as some frightening growl passed through his very depths, he sneered,
It is my Yetzer HaRa. It has taken over my whole body.
Just Two of Those Days
There are the good days…and there are the not so good days.
Everyone has them.
But with a child on the autism spectrum, there are fewer good days. And the bad days… Well, they are pretty bad.
For example, today I overslept. I was awakened by Beernut, screaming at me that it was 7:10am. Screaming. Hysterically.
And why did I oversleep? Because two nights ago I was up all night. Because two nights ago Beernut was up all night. He is a pretty solid sleeper. Except for those occasions when he doesn’t sleep at all. I don’t mean that he had trouble falling asleep. I mean that he was up. all. night.
And don’t think that the Littles got a good night sleep with all of the commotion. Beernut is many things; quiet is not one of them.
So he was home with me yesterday. They all were. Home with me yesterday. They were too tired to be in school and I was too tired to get behind the wheel. Parenting three exhausted, grumpy children when exhausted and grumpy is a formula for disaster. It was a very. long. day.
Blissfully, they all went to sleep (mostly) on time and stayed (mostly) asleep throughout the night. But the stage was already set for another trying day.
And that’s the thing with Asperger’s. Or rather, that’s the thing with how Asperger’s presents in Beernut. There’s this great saying; if you know a kid with autism…you know one kid with autism. What appears in one person on the spectrum is not necessarily seen in another. It is a spectrum. With a broad range of behaviours, deficits, abilitites, etc.
Between the lack-of-sleep and the shock of oversleeping, Beernut was a complete and utter mess this morning. An Asperger’s mess. Screaming at the slightest provocation. Pushing anything in his way out of his way. Stomping. Slamming. Obliterating any sense of calm and quiet.
Needless-to-say, I sent a preemptive note of apology to the autism support teacher as soon as the bus pulled away from the house.
A New Frontier
My new bible
If you would have told me that a day would come when I would be the proud owner of The Joy of Cooking, I would have thought nothing of it. I would have figured that it would sit, unused, alongside my other cookbooks.
If, however, you would have told me that a day would come when I would refer to The Joy of Cooking on an almost-daily basis, I would have had you committed.
Seriously.
Besides the sheer heft of this culinary tome, I had always found the title completely off-putting.
The Joy of Cooking? Joy? Really?
But in my new role, as The Reluctant Balebusta, I have begun to uncover an interest that either (a) is completely new or (b) was extremely well-hidden. For years. Like forty of them. Approaching this new interest in the same manner I approach everything, there’s going to be books involved. Which is how this ubiquitous volume has become my new bible.
Would you believe that I made pancakes from scratch today??
Frume Sarah is Shabbos-observant -- in a Reform way, that is. Please note that from Friday afternoons until one hour after sundown on Saturday evenings, Frume Sarah will be unavailable, in observance of the Jewish Sabbath.
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Thank you for your understanding...and gut Shabbos!!! 
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