Book Reviews-Kids

 I've been intending to write a post about some recently read children's books, but I keep putting it off. I figured I'd better do it before I forget what I've read. These are not all of what I read, but if I wait until I have a complete list, I'll never get it done. 

So, without further ado, here are some of the kid's books I've read recently.

Finally Seen by Kelly Yang. Fiction, 2023, middle grades.

Lina is 10 years old and finally joining her parents and sister in the US after a 5-year separation. Her parents moved to California with her younger sister and left her in China with her grandmother until they were established. The story tells of Lina's family's immigration struggles and her struggle to adjust to life in the US and fit into a family she hasn't seen for 5 years. 

The book is moving and does a good job of exploring Lina's emotions and perspective. The ending had me both cheering and moved to tears. I highly recommend this book. 

The author, Kelly Lang, has written several children's books exploring the immigration experience, including The Front Desk, which is listed among the 30 most influential children's books of all time. Lang immigrated to the U.S. when she was 6, and much of her writing comes from personal experiences. 

Finally Heard by Kelly Lang, Fiction, 2024, middle grades.

This is a sequel to Finally Seen and Lina's family. The book explores the problems of too much screen time and the downfalls that come with it. We see Lina gradually become addicted to her phone and watch as she, her family, and friends all have problems with social media. One of her teachers presents the brain science behind it all and gets the kids' attention, but that doesn't stop them from constantly monitoring their phones. As a side story, Nina is developing breasts sooner than her other classmates, causing her teasing and embarrassment. 

While I'm not obsessed like the kids in the book, it gave me pause to think about what instant feedback we get from our screens is doing to my brain. Finally Seen is not as moving as Finally Heard, but it is an important story all the same. I can see this book as a starting point for important family discussions. I also recommend this book.

Yang also wrote this book based on personal experiences with her kids. Despite doing everything right, her kids still got in trouble with their phones. At one point, Yang shut down her home internet and discovered that the kids were using their neighbors' internet. 

The Wrong Way Home by Kate O'Shaughnessy, 2024, Fiction, middle grades

Fern is a 12-year-old who has just moved away from a cult that she had lived in since she was 6 years old. She does not like the outside world and plots to make it back to the cult. The book is a gripping and moving story that gives insights into the cult world. It has numerous awards, including the Newbery Honor, and I highly recommend it.

(Note: Ward says I should have written more about this book. For example, does Fern make it back to the cult? I think that gives too much away, so I left it out. Except for a general sense of what a book's about, I don't want to know too much about it beforehand. I want to discover things while reading. And I'm tired, so that's what you get for now.)

Exercise this week, 3-14-25

 Since retirement and more free time, I am focusing on getting more exercise. I give weekly updates here to make myself accountable and see my progress. 

This week, appointments and a migraine kept me from the gym more than I wanted. I tried to do something at home on those days (except the migraine day), but true to form, I don't push myself as hard as I do in a class. So, the classes are still an important part of the equation for me to achieve better fitness. 

I'm still pleased with my effort and am starting to notice that I feel better on the days when I go to a class. It's not dramatic, but it's there

Friday, March 14: 

Line Dancing. We went to a line dance at a local country club. We were not members, but the teacher of our Tuesday morning classes was hosting an event there, and the club let her invite some outside people. We were there for 3 hours, and I'd say that I was dancing about half of them. The dances definitely got my heart rate up, but it was an easy evening. And more importantly, a fun one. 

Saturday, March 15: Free Day

Sunday, March 16: 

Free day. I had intended to go to a LIIT class today, but I woke up with a migraine, so it was a no-go.

Monday, March 17: 

Strong and Balanced. This class involved weights and a step. While I got a good workout, the class was not too intense. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, at the end, we did relay races like we were back in grade school. Everyone had a good time, especially since we got chocolate at the end.

Ballroom Dance. Ward and I went to our regular Monday night ballroom dance class. We reviewed the waltz and tango steps we've been working on and started learning new steps for the samba. I had to demonstrate it with the teacher. It didn't go well, but I got good encouragement from my classmates. During this class, I got a gentle aerobic workout, and I won't mention the ice cream Ward and I get every Monday night after class. :)

Tuesday, March 18: 

Line Dancing. This is my favorite class of the week. The class was fun, and I definitely got a good workout. 

Gardening. I spent an hour in a flower bed digging and pulling weeds. I got some good stretching and strengthening for my hands and arms.

Wednesday, March 19:

Free Day. The day was full of various commitments, so no formal exercise was done today. However, I did do a little yard work.

Thursday, March 20:

Free Day. Another day, when appointments conflicted with classes, I was interested in at the gym. However, I did raise my heart rate by practicing dancing with Ward and cleaning another flower bed.

 Until next time...

Happy Spring!

Spring is officially here on both the meteorological and astronomical calendars. Here's what it looks like in our yard this week.

Daffodils are blooming in two spots. 

These daffodils and the ones above came from a friend. 

Crocuses are popping up everywhere. Last fall, I replanted them around the yard without trying to remember where. Finding them here and there is like an Easter egg hunt.

Something has been snacking on them in a few places.

Last year, I planted a few bleeding hearts. I am happy that one of them is coming back up, and I still hope for the others.

Crocus

Crocus

Forsythia along our back fence. 

Until next time...

Therapy Animals

Ward and I had an interesting day last Saturday. We were volunteers helping with the certification of therapy animals. In case you aren't familiar, therapy animals visit with patients in recovery, people with intellectual disabilities, seniors living with Alzheimer's, students, veterans with PTSD, and those approaching the end of life, improving health and well-being through the human-animal bond. We had never done anything like this before and had no idea what to expect.

The testing organization was Pet Partners, and they have very strict behaviors expected from the animals before they can work as a therapy animal. Pet Partners wants to ensure the animal and handler have the proper temperament and control for a successful visit. And perhaps, even more importantly, Pet Partners provides insurance to the handler and animal when they go into facilities. Most facilities require insurance before they will let animals visit. 

The handler and animal had to go through 11 different skills with increasing difficulty. If the animal failed a skill, the test was over, and the handler and animal were advised on how to improve. They were also encouraged to come back and retest on another test day.

The first two tests simulated a greeting that would be given when entering a facility, including petting the dog and walking behind it. Next, the animal was given a "wellness check," including checking its ears, teeth, paws, and tail. During another test, the tester brushed the dog.

Theo is a therapy dog and was also
one of the neutral dogs during testing.

Additional tests had the animal walk a set path by themselves and then take a walk that passed by another dog (called the neutral dog). The dogs also had to be able to sit and lay down on cue and stay in place when the owner moved away and get up only when called.

There were also distraction tests, and that's where we came in. There were four other volunteers besides us providing the distractions. We walked back and forth, simulating a busy hallway, including someone on crutches and someone with a walker. The walker was Ward's job, including being a grumpy old man during another test.  Another time there, we did a loud argument, and I was one of the arguers for that one. We also all crowded around the dog, with everyone petting at once. These tests were designed to see how well the dog handled the distractions and the handler handled the dog. 

The first dog was a whippet, Siren, that was there for recertification because the animals have to be recertified every two years. Siren and her handler passed with flying colors.

The second dog, Radar*, was a golden retriever and was also there for a recertification. Radar got a rocky start by jumping up to greet the tester. That's a big no-no. Since the handler had successfully already had over 150 visits to a hospital in the last year, the tester let the handler calm his dog and start over. Radar then passed all of the tests and was recertified. The handler later explained that when they visited the hospital, Radar had been trained to put his paws up on the side of the bed so the patient could pet him. That may have been part of the reason for his jump-up. 

The third dog, Eva, was a Great Pyrenees and was there to be certified for the first time. Eva would not lay down for the handler, so the testing stopped there. After many helpful suggestions, the testers encouraged Eva to test again. 

One thing that was evident in all of the teams was that they were very nervous. I guess test-taking anxiety shows up in all forms of testing. Photos were not allowed during the testing, and afterward, there was a lot of paperwork going on, resulting in me not getting photos of the dogs. 

Cosmo and Megan

Besides the three dogs, we also saw a rat, Cosmo, undergo the certification process. I'm not a big fan of rodents, but this rat was very cute. Cosmo's handler was not nervous and was fun to watch as they went through most of the same paces as a dog. Cosmo passed with flying colors. Everyone was taken with Cosmo, so he posed for pictures. 

Ward and I enjoyed the day. The animals were friendly, and I loved watching the bond with their owners. It's not going to happen, but I left there wanting to get a dog and train it to be a therapy dog. I guess I'll have to settle for visiting with my sisters' dogs and volunteering for the next certification trials.

Until next time...

*We couldn't remember the golden's name. Maybe it was Radar? 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

From a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Washington, D.C., several years ago.

St. Patrick's Day seems to be the time when everyone claims to have some Irish in them. That makes the celebrations more fun. Well, I'm going to stake my Irish claim, too. According to Ancestry.com, I am at least 20% Irish. As there is more data to work with, Ancestry updates heritage percentages from time to time. My percentages bounce around among England, Scotland, and Ireland. In some of the past iterations, I was almost 1/2 Irish. 

When I was growing up, I would hear my aunts talk about how I looked like my great-grandmother, who was born in Ireland. I never met her, but I always liked the fact that I had a "somewhat" recent immigrant ancestor. I especially liked it because one year, she was the queen of the Ritchie County Fair. Decades later, we found out through Ancestry that my mother's birth father was not the same one who was on her birth certificate. So the beauty queen, whom I supposedly looked like, was not my relative genetically, after all. I think there's some irony in there somewhere. :)

St. Patrick's Day is not one that we celebrate much, at least not like in our younger days when green beer was a must (for Ward, anyway). Or when we attended St. Patrick's Day parades in New Orleans. At these parades, they threw vegetables to make an Irish stew instead of beads. (And someday, I will find the picture of the cabbages, potatoes, and carrots we came home with from the parade.)

My nod today to St. Paddy's day was wearing a green shirt to exercise class. It was a fun class because we did relay races with chocolate coins from a pot of gold. And yes, we did eat the chocolate at the end.

Did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year?

Until next time...