Author: Joy Murray

I belong to a book club where, at 55, I’m the youngest member.  The oldest member is 92 and there is another member who turned 90 this year.  I’m reluctant member of the group because I like to read spontaneously and don’t like having reading deadlines.  I don’t like having to finish a book I’m not immediately drawn into – there are too many other books barking for my attention.  But I go because it’s such an honor to be in the presence of these well-read, spicy, and insightful women.

Our most recent book was Wild by Cheryl Strayed, a book about grief, something everyone in the group is familiar with.  Once you’ve reached a certain age, you’ve survived devastating losses of loved ones.  It’s part of the price you pay for survival.

A few days before the group was to meet, I got the story book, Cry, Heart, But Never Break by Danish writer Glenn Ringtved, illustrated by Charlotte Pardi.  Robert Mouthrop translated this English version that was published recently by Enchanted Lion Books.

Ringtved has written over 40 books for children, most of them clever and funny.  This one, though, is about death.  He wrote it for his own children when his mother was dying, moved by the words she spoke to him: “Cry, heart, but never break.”  She wanted him to know that it was okay to mourn her loss, but that her time was over.  Life would go on.

Our book club was meeting in the early afternoon.  We meet at Bridge Meadows, the community I live in.  Later in the day, we had a “celebration of life” planned for a member of the community who had recently died at age 80.  She was a member of the book club, too.  Grief and loss were much in my thoughts, and on a lark, I decided to take Cry, Heart, But Never Break to the group and perhaps read it after the book discussion, depending on how it all went.

There was a brilliant discussion on grief.  We talked about the losses in our lives that most devastated us – sisters, brothers, fiancés, parents, spouses.  We talked about the way that we hold grief, how we never really get over it, it becomes a part of us.  We keep the story of the person we grieve alive.  Their story is ours.

One of the members grabbed a tissue and quietly wiped her eyes.  “My daughter is dying now of cancer,” she said.  Her daughter’s breast cancer has metastasized into her bones and other organs.  “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever been through,” the woman said, though she nursed her husband through 7 years of Alzheimer’s.  Her other daughter is that state of devastation, unable to accept that her sister, in her 50s,  is dying.  She’s always on the internet looking for cures, refusing to “give up.”  It’s exhausting for the mother, loving both of her daughters through this.

But she is taking time for self-care, getting out in nature, coming to our book club, doing tai chi, joining a writing group – and appreciating the time she has with her dying daughter.  The daugher’s lived longer than expected and each day is blessing.

After our condolences and offers of support, a meditative silence settled around us.  So I pulled out Cry, Heart, But Never Break, and asked if they would like to hear it.  They were happy to.

So I read it to them, slowly, holding up the pictures, and pausing for them to absorb both the bright colors and the somber, tender portrait of Death.

Death tells a story to 4 children who are trying to trick him into leaving their grandmother with them.  He wants them understand how necessary his work is.

“The children weren’t sure they understood Death fully, but somehow they knew he was right.”

There was a long pause after I read it.  One of the 90 year old women talked about her fear of death, but her daughter speaks to her of the cycle of life, how death isn’t to be feared so much, it’s part of life.  The book reminded her of that.

Another woman said it was a great book for adults, which is my belief about many children’s books.  We’re all still the children we once were.

They asked if I was going to read it to children.  Of course, but not in a group.  This is a book I think should be read to children one-on-one, with lots of time for discussion.

Later, when I was at the celebration of life for our departed friend, I thought about how sometimes I am blessed with a bit of convergence, where all that seems to be discordant and disconnected in life somehow suddenly flows together.  A bit of redemption washes over me.  I feel the great sorrows of others, of the world, but sorrow becomes an undercurrent to a vast river that quenches and sustains me.

Wise women who connect to life at its most painful, writers who bring us together in our grief and joy, life that blossoms all around us — how blessed I am to find such stories.

You can read another insightful review of Cry, Heart, But Never Break by Glenn Rigtved on BrainPickings here.

Enchanted Lion Books publishes books from around the world to expand the imagination of children and adults everywhere.  You can follow them on facebook or twitter.

Another wonderful book for children of all ages to help understand the life cycle and death is Little Bell and the Moon by Giles Paley-Phillips.  You can read about it here.

Life is short.  May you find comfort and perhaps some little flowers on this day.

Thanks for reading my blog.

There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man.  It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible. ~~ Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Ernst Haeckel ( 1834 – 1919) was a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, professor and artist who discovered thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined man biological terms.  He popularized Darwin’s work in Germany and used ilustration to help people visual minute forms of life.

Prestel Books has printed a series of books on his art, the latest of which, Art Forms from the Abyss, feature images from HMS Challenger Expedition.  Compiled and written by Peter J. le B. Williams, Dylan W. Evans, David J. Roberts, and David N Thomas, it aims to keep Haeckel’s artistic legacy alive.

This new collection features startlingly beautiful images created by Haeckel for the report of the HMS Challenger expedition, which circumnavigated the world from 1872–76, discovering and cataloging nearly 5,000 new species from the depths of Earth’s oceans.

Divided into three sections— Siphonophores, Medusae, and Radiolarians—these illustrations display Haeckel’s remarkable artistic skill and understanding of the architecture of organic matter.

The authors provide a brief history of the Challenger expedition, background on Haeckel’s scientific and artistic accomplishments, and information on each group of organisms.

In Haeckel’s life, there was debate on whether or not there was life in the ocean’s depths.  His work helped dispel that myth and his illustrations gave people a way of understanding the range unseen life.

The book’s introduction provides great insight into Haeckel’s life and the times in which he worked.  There’s a discussion of style, and the romanticism that influenced illustration style of the time.  There’s great information on how illustrations were finished and embellished.

The “wow” factor of this book is over the top.  I spent a lot of time studying the drawings while I was recovering from surgery.  The thought of unseen little creatures living all around us may be a bit scary when you’re sick.

But the beauty of these illustrations was so elevating that I rarely related it back to germs that might want to attack me.  This book emphasizes the  wonder of it all.

If you ever weary of the big world of strife and politics, or feel devoid of inspiration, spend some time with this book.  Nature’s adaptations and abstractions should help you get your perspective back.

The authors have a website Silent Plankton that features not only the works of Haeckel, but also contemporary “plankton inspired art.”  It’s fascinating stuff.

You can find Prestel’s other collections of Haeckel’s art on their website here.

Thanks for reading my blog.

How do you make friends if you’re a shy introvert?  It’s not that you don’t want friends, it’s that you’re never quite sure how to proceed.

The charming Edmond: The Moonlit Party by Astrid Desbordes and illustrated  by Marc Boutavant (Enchanted Lion Books) tells the tale of how Edmond, a lonely squirrel and pompom hat maker, learns how to make friends.

Edmond lives in a tree with George, the owl, who loves to dress up in costumes.

Harry the bear also lives in the tree and he loves to throw parties.  Harry’s parties are THE best in the neighborhood.  Edmond wasn’t invited, and didn’t know what to do, so he makes his famous nut jam.

The aroma attracts the more social George who urges Edmond to go to the party with him.

What I loved most about this book is how it offers a whimsical look at how to live in community, how to create a neighborhood.  All the characters are eccentric in their individual ways, but they accept and celebrate their differences.  The tree is like an apartment building, so even though it’s set in the forest, it has the feel of an urban neighborhood.  It manages to give an organic feel to city living.

I live in the community Bridge Meadows, an intergenerational community that supports families adopting children out of the foster care system.  People here are creative and compassionate, but we all have our own way of being.  This book is as relevant to the adults here as it is to the children.  George reached out to Edmond.  It just takes one person reaching out to another to make life more interesting for everyone.

In a world that’s increasingly impersonal, this story provides a delightful look at how to make friends and inspire conversations.

When I read it to a child, we spend time talking about how each character differs from the other, how each one seems to have a unique way of living.  They are vivid and detailed.  Marc Boutavant uses bright colors and playful drawings to bring an odd assortment of neighbors together in harmony.

Astrid Desbordes received her degree in Philosophy, which is not surprising, since her characters tend to have a philosophical points of view.  She became a book editor in both the humanities and children’s literature.  She’s published work for both adults and children.  One of her most notable other children’s book, Daydreams of a Solitary Hamster was also published by Enchanted Lion Books.

Marc Boutavant is an award-winning author and illustrator. He’s drawn picture books, comics, and editorial illustration.

Enchanted Lion Books is a stellar publisher of children’s books. You can keep up with them through their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=enchanted%20lion%20books 

Hope you get to reach out to someone different today — or you have someone reach out to you.

Thanks for reading my blog!

~~~

This Blog is a Children’s Book Week Champion.  Children’s Book Week is May 2 – 8, 2016.

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!

Voting opened March 8 at ccbookawards.com for the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. Last year over 1.3 million votes were cast.  Let’s see if we can surpass that number in 2016.

Children’s Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children’s Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children’s book publishers, is an anchor sponsor.

You can get free downloads of both the poster and the new bookmark on their website:

http://www.bookweekonline.com/ 

Ella Bailey has started a charming series of picture books on the different habitats on our planet.  The first, One Day On Our Blue Planet: In the Savannah, follows an energetic lion cub from dusk to dawn.

This is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces children to a whole host of animals, and it does so in a way that even very young children can understand.

A day is a length of time that children understand.  The book underscores all that can happen in that brief period of time that for children isn’t brief at all.  It gives them a window on a different environment and how animals spend their days.

For the very young it’s got a delightful narrative.

For the older reader, there’s a lot of information on how animals share their environment.  Bailey shows how lions hunt but spares us the grisly details you’d find in a nature documentary.  The little cub is still living on mother’s milk.  And when the pride isn’t hunting, it co-exists with the other animals that share the savannah.

I love books that spark conversation and the hunting scene always does that.  Children identify both with the hunter and hunted.  This book gives them a chance to think and talk about the cycle of life.

The second book in the series was just released.  One Day On Our Blue Planet:  In the Antarctic follows a little penguin through her day on an ice shelf.  We find out what she and her family eat, and what they do for fun.

I love the endpapers of each book.  They show all the animals of each environment.  You get an idea of how big and diverse the world is.  You see that many animals share each environment.  In the coldest and warmest worlds there is a way for animals to co-exist.

Maybe one day humans will learn how to do that, too.

Ella Bailey is also the author of No Such Thing, and At the Animal Ball.  You can find her website here.

The One Day On Our Blue Planet series is published by the innovative press Flying Eye Books.  You can find a wonderful interview with Ella Bailey here.

Hope your day on this blue planet is full of color and adventure.

Thanks for reading my blog.

~~~

This Blog is a Children’s Book Week Champion.  Children’s Book Week is May 2 – 8, 2016.

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes — wherever young readers and books connect!

Voting opens March 8 at ccbookawards.com for the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. You can read all about the amazing 2016 finalists here. Last year over 1.3 million votes were cast.  Let’s see if we can surpass that number in 2016.

Children’s Book Week is administered by Every Child A Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. The Children’s Book Council, the national non-profit trade association for children’s book publishers, is an anchor sponsor. Find out more about it here:

http://www.bookweekonline.com/