Childhood Pets

I've always loved animals. In fact when I was a kid my mother  used to call me "the little mother of all the world."

But she wasn't an animal lover, so at first the only pets I was allowed to have were fish and they weren't very snuggly or easy to train. My grandfather, who lived with us, had a Siamese Fighting Fish he trained to jump up out of the water and knock food from his fingers when he tapped on the side of the tank, but that wasn't as good as having a dog that could come, sit, etc. on command. And I couldn't pet or hug my fish even though I loved them.

Finally my mother allowed me to have a pet hamster. I named it Hamstead and, even though he never learned to do tricks, he was very snuggly.

A few years after that some neighbors who spent the summer in the cabin next to the one where we lived took in a stray cat. When it was time for them to return home, they convinced my mother to let me keep it as long as it didn't ever spend the night inside our house. It was a tomcat and I would have preferred a female that might have kittens, so I named him Susie. He was loving, cuddly, came when called, and even learned to stay away from the hamster cage. I was very happy to have him.

What kind of pets did you have when you were a kid?

Fun Book

I recently had the pleasure of reading a book that was published way back in 2001 and enjoyed it so much I can't resist sharing about it. The title was MAXimum Boy starring in The Hijacking of Manhattan and the author is Dan Greenburg.

This is a short book intended for younger readers but it's so much fun older kids will enjoy it, too. It's an exciting adventure  and could be interpreted as a parody of many other books about heroes with amazing powers, but it's not at all sarcastic.

The hero, Max, got supernatural powers from contact with radioactive material and uses it to fight evil powers for the good of everyone. Sound familiar? But Max is just a kid, his family and school principal know his secret identity and they stay involved in the story. His mother even made his superhero costume and does his laundry.

Boys, especially, will enjoy this action-packed book but it's a fun read for anyone.

Chances Are

Okay, I can't resist books for kids, so here's another book review.

Chances Are by Susan Bangert-Wood is an alphabet picture book, but different from the usual kind because each letter tells of an animal doing crazy things they could never do in real life. Little kids who hear this book read to them and see the illustrations by Jack Foster will laugh out loud. Even toddlers will want to hear it over and over again.

When the kids are a little older they can learn the alphabet letters for each creature.

Bigger kids will enjoy the pages of activities in the back of the book,  which are suitable for kids in elementary school.  It bothered me a bit that some of the pages have slightly different meter, but that may be deliberate since one activity is counting the number of syllables.

Because of the variety of age groups who can benefit from Chances Are, chances are children who get this book when they're little will continue to enjoy it for years.

Magical Matthew

Penelope Anne Cole has written a book based on a creative concept. Magical Matthew is about a boy who has a magic power, but it's unlike any magical power I've ever heard of before. He can fix broken things by simply wishing them whole.

One thing Matthew can't fix is his friend, Lily, who uses a wheelchair because she can't walk. But that doesn't keep them from being friends, and Lily eventually learns about Matthew's secret power.

Unfortunately something happens to destroy Matthew's magic. His friendship with Lily lasts and he realizes he may be able to fix things without using magic, but that's not the happy ending of the book. I don't want to spoil it, so you'll have to read the book to find out what that is.

The colorful illustrations by Kevin Collier capture the cheerful mood of the story perfectly and lots of kids will enjoy reading Magical Matthew or having it read to them. Maybe some of them will even be inspired to find ways to help others.

Daylight Saving?

It seems strange to me that our governments command everyone to get up an hour earlier or stay in bed an hour longer, but that's what happens in most, but not all, of the United States. In the Spring we are required to set our clocks an hour later (Spring ahead) and in the Fall we must set them an hour earlier (Fall back.)

Daylight Saving Time was put into effect during World War I and World War II and didn't exist in between those wars, but was continued after the second one.  And back then it probably helped save energy.

But does it really do that today?

Back in the first half of the twentieth century most electricity was used for lighting. By the late 1940s most people had some appliances like vacuum cleaners, radios, toasters and electric mixers in their homes, but even televisions weren't available yet. In some rural areas people still used ice boxes instead of refrigerators.

I wonder if today we actually use a lot less energy during daylight hours. Now millions of people depend on computers or power tools to do their jobs, big box stores and other buildings are lit all day, many homes have whole-house air conditioning and heating systems, people use cell phones instead of land-lines, read on electronic devices and use other things that need charging.

People recovering from Sandy who have been without electric power for days realize how much we have come to depend on it for things we use all day, not just after dark.

Precious Bones

No, this isn't a spooky Halloween story. Precious Bones is the title of a book by Mike Ashley-Hollinger about a girl with that name, although she's usually simply called Bones. She's part Native American and lives at the edge of a swamp in Florida in 1949.

The plot includes a huge storm, but that's just the beginning of the problems. It is exciting and I don't want to give away any secrets so I won't talk about that here.

What I liked best about the book was the way it pulled me into a world that seemed totally real. The book is written in first person and the dialect is so realistic and became so comfortable that I found myself starting to use it. The characters might be people someone traveling to that place and time would actually meet. 

I liked the way the adults were involved, but it was the kids in the story who did the important things.
And those kids, by continuing to do what they thought was right, managed to make a big difference in their world in spite of huge obstacles.

I recommend this book highly.

Ads

Okay, we all agree that we're tired of political advertisements, but as soon as the election is over we'll be swamped with Christmas ads. Some of those are already showing up.

But ads aren't only a nuisance, they can be dangerous to children.

I once read about a scientific study that showed most young kids believe everything they see in ads is true. Because of being bombarded with commercials, children not only want the products, but they accept the social stereotypes portrayed as accurate.

And they may even try to demand the products they see advertised and loose respect for their parents if they don't get them.

Of course we know too much watching of TV, videos, and playing games can desensitize kids to violence and cut down on the time spent in social communication.

So what can parents do about all these problems?

Obviously the first thing is to cut down on the time children, especially young ones, are exposed to the media. When parents work and have others to care for it can be difficult to make time for family activities, but it's important to make that a priority.

And when kids are watching TV parents can make it a habit to comment on the untrustworthiness of commercials. Parents might even borrow their kids gaming devices, play a game or two, then discuss what's good and bad about them.

And while we're getting all the political ads maybe we should remind ourselves not to believe everything we see.