The Good News: I’m posting at my regular Wednesday time!
The Bad News: I skipped the last two weeks, even though Passover was over.
The Good News: Glixman in a Fix is officially for sale! Continue reading
literature
“A funny thing happened on the way to staycation…” or “Happily Ever After as a breeding ground for faith”
So, just as I gave up on blogging about books during summer break, my husband mentioned something tonight so post-worthy, that I just had to share.
Mr. K. has been reading Searching for Dragons to my children at bedtime for the last week or so. Tonight, he noticed a pattern in our youngest, just six years old: at peak points of suspense, when the story gets really “scary” for her, she starts to panic. Usually, he reassures her that there will be a happy ending. Continue reading
A classic or a shonda: Which pieces of literature stand the test of time?
Earlier today, I was listening to an audio recording of some Beatrix Potter stories. My children and I laughed over the surreal adventures of little Lucy in “Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle” and the slapstick of “Two Bad Mice.” The stories are about a hundred years old now, I believe, and they’ve stood the test of time very well.
A failure in my sister’s home.
My kids and I often read classics, and sometimes we recommend titles to friends and family looking for a good read. Not too long ago, I recommended “Little House” books to my sister. Specifically, I suggested she start with Farmer Boy, which my children think is nearly as funny as a Beverly Cleary book. The scene where Almanzo feeds his pig home-made candy is one of the few literary moments that have made my kids laugh as hard as Ramona’s antics.
So, my sister and brother-in-law picked up a copy to read with one of their kids. A few days later, I got a phone call from my sister.
“What were you thinking?” she asked. Continue reading
Stopgap measure: 4 (okay, it’s really 5) totally awesome literary links
Sorry for the recent lack of posts. Camp was out, day school was still out, kids were home, and Mr. K. started his school year the second week of August. As you can imagine, I’ve been a little busy…the only significant writing I’ve done in the last several week has been a few episodes of my serial.
I’ve got kids home from school for one more day, but recently I’ve been seen some really interesting stuff out there on the web which I believe will be of interest to followers of this blog. So I’m posting those links in lieu of a truly original post by yours truly (although I’ve got an idea about what I want to post next).
Top 4 Cool Things I’ve Seen on the Internet Recently:
- If you haven’t seen it yet, this is the best analysis of Israel media coverage ever, with fascinating insider details.
- Hevria is the new project of Elad Nehorai from PopChassid. He’s brought together an amazing range of writers to solve problems in the Jewish community through positive action and creativity.
- The L.A. Times periodically publishes poetic op-eds. Here’s the latest bunch.
- And finally, the geektastic interview with Rabbi Goldfeder about how truly intelligent robots MIGHT actually count in a minyan. I’ve actually had an idea for a SF story for a while with robots, and Rabbi Goldfeder’s research will definitely come in handy.
Hopefully, I’ll be ready to publish the aforementioned post later this week. As a teaser, I’ll tell you that it is partly based on Nina Badzin’s essay from earlier this summer about the things she doesn’t write about. So I guess that’s link #5.
Have you read any of those articles? What did you think? Share your opinions in the comments.
I Live With My Mommy: new Jewish picture book addresses life with a single mother
Today, I’d like to share with you this interview with Tzvia Ehrlich-Klein, the author of the upcoming picture book I Live With My Mommy. This new, groundbreaking picture book for the first time focuses on growing up in a single-parent, Orthodox Jewish home. I learned about the book through its illustrator, the gifted Dena Ackerman, and upon my request, she hooked me up with Tzvia for a bit of Q & A via email.
I Live With Mommy, Tzvia Ehrlich-Klein’s new book about growing up with an Orthodox single mother.
RK: What led you to write about children living with a single mother?
TEK: Over 30 years ago I got divorced. At that time it was — or at least seemed to be — very rare [in the Orthodox community]. Walking my (approximately) 4-year-old daughter home from gan (nursery school) with her friend, I overheard her explaining to her friend: “No, my abba (daddy) didn’t die. They got ‘vorced.”
New wacky Passover poetry
I’m not going to have much time to post in length before Pesach hits next week, but I’m going to try to share something small every day to make up for it.
So here’s your tiny morsel of Passover-related kookiness for today:
(throat-clearing)
You cleansed the windows of mud
And you scrubbed all the toys in your tub
But you still won’t be through
When Pesach is due
If you don’t clean chometz off the rug.
Rebecca Klempner 