Book Sharing Monday - Food, Glorious Food

I've missed Book Sharing Monday and am so happy that Alex has started hosting it again!

My kids, especially the youngest, are all pretty picky when it comes to eating.  The older two have become more adventurous as they've gotten older, but the youngest keeps deleting foods from his diet and not adding to it.  In an effort to expand his palate a bit, I've checked out and requested books from the library that have to do with food and nutrition, and, for a bit of a science tie-in, food chains.  So far we have the following books on hand:

 The Edible Pyramid--Good Eating Every Day by Loreen Leedy (a Reading Rainbow book).

The Monster Health Book--a Guide to Eating Healthy, Being Active & Feeling Great for Monsters & Kids by Edward Miller.

Who Eats What?  Food Chains and Food Webs by Patricia Lauber; illustrated by Holly Keller (a Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science book).

Food Chain Frenzy--a Magic School Bus Chapter Book by Anne Capeci; illustrated by John Speirs.

Others that are on their way:

Why Do People Eat? by Kate Needham (Usborne Starting Point Science)
Good Enough to Eat: a Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition by Lizzy Rockwell
Food & You: Eating Right, Being Strong, and Feeling Great by Dr. Lynda Madison (for Jane)
Food for Thought: the Stories behind the Things We Eat by Ken Robbins
Cool Snack Food Art: Easy Recipes That Make Food Fun to Eat! by Nancy Tuminelly
Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You! All about Staying Healthy by Tish Rabe

I welcome suggestions.  Happy reading!

Music Monday - Beethoven Symphony No. 8

Good Monday morning to you!

Completed two years earlier in 1812, Beethoven's Eighth Symphony was performed for the first time on this day in 1814.

Here is Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

It started today!  We'll start tomorrow.  We "decorated" our cherry tree today.  ☺

Find out more here.

TBR pile

Just got a stack of interlibrary loan requests from the library.  Wouldn't you know they all showed up at once?  Hope to be able to get through the following in short order:

All Clear by Connie Willis (speedily read the first book in the series--Blackout as BPL-loaned Kindle book--and LOVED it.  I am a sucker for time travel and Britain, combined (Doctor Who, anyone?).  Also, WWII doesn't hurt--must have spent some previous, likely short-lived life in Blitz-ridden London).

Fracture by Megan Miranda.  Probably read about this one at Galleysmith, which I get in my inbox almost every day.

Midnight in Austenland, by Shannon Hale.  (I loved Austenland.  Have read everything by Shannon Hale I've been able to put my hands on since finding that book.)

The Snow Child, by Iowyn Ivey, partly because I love the author's first name, but also because it sounds fabulous.

The Day Before, by Lisa Schroeder (probably another Galleysmith find).

Also, downstairs, so not in my read-before-bed stack, but in my read-when-alert stack:

The Entitlement Trap, by Richard and Linda Eyre

The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child, by Marti Olsen Laney

and, my ongoing non-fiction favorite of the past decade:

Quiet--the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain

What are you reading these days?

Kid-friendly movies

A couple of movies that have caught my attention of late:



The Borrowers was one of my favorite books when I was ten.  Blew through the entire series in quick, obsessive succession, to the annoyance of my best friend at the time who couldn't pry me out of its pages (much like a similar episode, different BFF, seven years later with Tolkien). The movie is in U.S. theaters beginning February 17th.

And currently available as a free download on iTunes is the Academy-Award-nominated animated short film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, written by William Joyce (the book is available starting in July and is available for pre-order from Amazon).  I'm a fan.  Thanks to Tabatha for bringing the movie to my attention.