"so I grip the handle of my broom / and make my voice as strong as its wood"

[bronze_ribbons]

Picture book rec #1: Maria's Comet - text by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrations by Deborah Lanino. About astronomer Maria Mitchell. Lyrical and nuanced story; richly colored acrylic paintings. The subject line of this post is from this book.

Picture book rec #2: Something from Nothing by Phoebe Gilman, adapted from a Jewish folktale. Recommended by Chinaberry, bless 'em - it shows the transformation of a boy's beloved star-and-moon-decorated blanket into a jacket, and then a vest, and then a tie, and then... and there are side-stories going on with the cobbler on the top floor of the tenement and a mouse family under the floorboards (the classroom of little school-mice learning Hebrew in the corner of page 10...!)...

Also of glee: during dinner with some friends (all over 30), I mentioned the Sayers-Rowling poster I'd presented earlier this summer. One of them instantly demanded, "Do you think Snape is good?" He was bursting to discuss the matter -- but three of our fellow guests hadn't read book 6 yet and didn't want to be spoiled, so they held their hands over their ears and la-la-la'd as best they could through the treacherous parts of the conversation. Later, once the topic shifted to "Peter Pan," the woman next to me said, "I always used to wonder what grown-ups talked about at their parties..."

Comments

[marginaliana]

"I always used to wonder what grown-ups talked about at their parties..."

*cracks up*

It makes me smile to think of you with friends discussing Peter Pan and HP. I'd totally be that guy at the table bursting to discuss Snape with someone else.

[mechaieh.livejournal.com]

What's even funnier is that there was also very extended discussion about prostate exams (as part of general bitching about dealing with doctors and insurance and what-all -- I didn't mention slash AT ALL), including a story about one person's hapless brother-in-law whose first such ordeal was with a doctor who used him to demonstrate to a half-dozen students (all female, which added to his mortification) to perform same.

[musigneus.livejournal.com]

"I always used to wonder what grown-ups talked about at their parties..."
Hah!

And I'll keep an eye out for the books. We have Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, which sounds like it's based on the same folktale. Overcoat to jacket to vest to...