Douglas Wood has created a very idealistic look at America and Americans. What is presented is what we were told this country is about: freedom, differences, agreeing to disagree. There is not even “oh sometimes we disagree so much we decide to kill each other like in the news shows us.” It does mention that we are human and sometimes we make mistakes. It speaks of the Fourth of July, the Bill of Rights and other things that does make America unique. It does show […]
3 swift sleighs, 4 lobster rolls, 8 skaters carving, and a blue jay in a spruce tree!
The Twelve Days of Christmas in New England (also in a hardcover version) is just the Twelve Days of Christmas song with New England features. Fun, but a limited audience. I read the board book size. This is not a bad way to present the song. However, the extras at the end (Vermont you ski and Maine you eat lobsters. Yes, a simplistic explanation, but that is the idea: the highlights are hit) might be a bit too much for the younger audience. In the […]
YAY TO MY FRIEND BETH KANELL! (Yes, little name dropping there!)
First: YAY TO MY FRIEND BETH KANELL! She has created another novel for history and Vermont buffs. Long story how I meet her, but she and I have talked books, poetry and life in general and I cannot wait to talk The Long Shadow with her as well. Second: The Long Shadow is set in North Upton, Vermont in 1850. She deals with abolition, bounty hunters and hiding fugitives of the escaped slave kind. Her narrator, Alice, is a young teen girl, growing up in […]
Journalist, born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada, now lives in Oregon, writes book about the Second US Civil War. Is Awesome.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana If you were to guess what might cause a second US civil war, what would it be? Given the current political debate over the Trump administration, one might think it wouldn’t be so much a physical divide as an ideological one. Yet, in American War, by Omar El Akkad, the second civil war is imagined as erupting in 2074 over fossil fuels, because some southern states refuse to give them up, for […]
Come see the glory of Vermont!
It is fitting that my 300th book be set in my home state of Vermont. And since Vermont is so awesome, I am reviewing three books! Trust me, no single book can hold all our greatness! And due to the nature of each book, it does take three books to live up to the glory of my state. These three board books are meant as tourist mementos of your trip for your toddler and not an in-depth look at the state. Night-Night Vermont by Katherine […]
What made, and still makes, America great.
First and foremost, I’m sorry for the sensationalized header. I hope I didn’t make your eyes twitch but I think it is an accurate title independent of the political climate. Back in February, I had the opportunity to ask a question to a Two-star Army General and I asked him what books he recommended. He said this was the most recent book he finished and that he highly recommended it so it entered the queue. A few months later, the Army Chief of Staff added […]