Okay, Suzanne Kamata over at Gaijin Mama tagged me for this meme.
“List your (and your kids’) current seven favorite children’s books, along with their authors. Then, if you’re so inclined, tag seven fellow bloggers to do the same.”
Only seven? Sigh. Practicing self-discipline and restraint is good for me, so I promise to keep it only to seven. Although it hurts. Really. A sort of twisting pain in my stomach.
1. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. (ages 4-8) I can do this one by rote. Saki can do this one by rote (and has been able to since the age of three). My kids love it. Reno, even at nearly 10 years of age, still adores this book. And I still do too although I'm pushing 41!
2. Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban. (Ages 4-8) I grew up with this one. I gave birth to two picky eaters. I ran out and bought a copy. They love it. Reno will now eat anything. Saki still makes vomiting noises at just the sight of a vegetable but she loves the book--maybe because she can so closely identify with the Frances who will only eat bread and jam at the beginning of the book.
3. Wait, No Paint! by Bruce Whatley (Ages 4-8) This book is hilarious. The illustrations are hilarious. The story line (a re-telling of the three little pigs) is LOL hilarious. We love it.
4. The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Ages 4-8). I. . . can't. . . . bring. . . myself . . . to recap this one. Yes, it is brilliant. Yes, universally children adore it. I just feel like it has been used as an implement of mother torture in our household. PLEASE, don't ask me to read this one AGAIN!
5. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling (this one is classified as "literature" on Amazon--so ageless!) I am totally in love with this series. I grew up on fantasy. I never out grew fantasy. My kids adore it as well. We like the humor, adventure, wit and mystery of the books. I'm still sort of in rehab over the end of the series. . . which reminds me, I haven't read the series from the beginning again in over two months. . .
6. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (another one classified as "literature on Amazon--so again, ageless!) Hmmmmm. I wonder if there is something to be said for losing your complete first and middle names to initials in the publishing world? My sixth grade teacher read this series aloud to my class. The magical spell that was cast over us still is upon me to this day. I was so exited when I was able to pull out "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" and start to weave that spell over my own kids.
7. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle I haven't read this one with my kids yet. I own it though and have it upstairs, waiting. This was one of those books/series that opened my inner creative mind to the endless possibilities in the universe both without and within. Basically, if I was drawn to fantasy before reading this, I was definitely smitten with it after. Plus the heroine definitely isn't fodder for the cover of Seventeen magazine, and she's smart and funny and likable. And the boy ends up liking her despite her lack of Cheerleader genes.
I'm tagging:
Mommy In Japan, Ramblings of a 30 Something, Homesick Home, Sakura Family,
Purple Kappa , Cafe Yamashita and finally Mommy Colored Glasses
It might not be the life I planned to star in but it is mine and it is mid-act! What's posted here isn't a daily diary type blog. . . more of a collection of essays about life as it happens to me. Or about me as I live life? Depends on my mood--sometimes I'm passive and sometimes I'm active, but I'm always in the play!
Writer's quote
"I thought it. I said it. I wrote it. I read it. It's fact."
About Me: I'm an American living in Fukui, Japan (still) with my Japanese husband and 2 daughters.
Blogs I Read
- 7:10 to TOKYO
- BabyMoon
- Blooming
- Cafe Yamashita
- Gaijin Fujin
- Gaijin Mama
- GirlJapan
- Home
- Homesick Home
- Hyotenka
- Illahee's Blog
- International Marriage
- Liberal Japan
- Life of an American Mommy in Japan
- Medeafication
- Mikan Days
- Mommy Colored Glasses
- Mommy in Japan
- Mothers Who Write
- Ramblings of a 30 Something
- Re-Entry Japan
- Sakura Family
- Tiger Mama Talks
Creative Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Site Meter
Rehearsal Times Over
I was on the phone with a friend the other day, following the same loop of conversation that our weekly chats do: touch on family, marital relationships, child rearing issues, general malaise and frustration with waking up every day in the same old rut. . .and she cut me off mid-sentence with, "This isn't a dress rehearsal you know. This is it."
She got me to thinking and you know what? She's right. This is it. Lot's of parts of the picture may not be from "The Life I Am Supposed to be Living" or even many from "The Life I Imagined I would be Living" but this IS the Life I am Living! So. Rehearsal Times Over and we're already mid act!
Why I Choose to Blog (semi) Anonymously
Because I write creative non-fiction prose. And because I always write from only one perspective: mine. So think of the poor helpless material--er, I mean my family. My eldest daughter is 9, my youngest 4. Neither one can read English, so they presently haven't got even the slightest chance of logging on and setting the record straight. You know, the youngest can't write a stinging retort to my description of her as a "crying worm", the eldest can't sneak up and after reading quickly over my shoulder say, "hey, Mom, that's kinda personal isn't it? Do you have to tell people everything? About me?"
Then there is my husband. Albeit I never worry for even a fraction of a second that he might log on and read my blog. Why? Well, he considers reading my writing torture, because I write in English. This as opposed to reading my writing in Japanese which he finds amusing because of the mistakes I make, like using the word "carrot" (ninjin) for "person"(ningen). Reading English is part of his job, not part of his down time. So unless my blog's URL ever ends up on an interdepartmental memo as prioritized reading. . .
However, I will use my own name, Laura. I'm the one behind the words, me, Laura. But my husband, here he is Masa because I love the sound of that particular Japanese man's name, but not because it is his. And my daughters are Reno (for the American city in which she was born) and Saki Because that is actually the name I wanted to name her. Except Americans pronounce sake (Japanese rice wine)--"saw-key"-- which is the same pronounciation as the Japanese girl's name "Saki". And I didn't want people thinking that I was naming my kids after alcoholic beverages, but I still really like the name.
Then there is my husband. Albeit I never worry for even a fraction of a second that he might log on and read my blog. Why? Well, he considers reading my writing torture, because I write in English. This as opposed to reading my writing in Japanese which he finds amusing because of the mistakes I make, like using the word "carrot" (ninjin) for "person"(ningen). Reading English is part of his job, not part of his down time. So unless my blog's URL ever ends up on an interdepartmental memo as prioritized reading. . .
However, I will use my own name, Laura. I'm the one behind the words, me, Laura. But my husband, here he is Masa because I love the sound of that particular Japanese man's name, but not because it is his. And my daughters are Reno (for the American city in which she was born) and Saki Because that is actually the name I wanted to name her. Except Americans pronounce sake (Japanese rice wine)--"saw-key"-- which is the same pronounciation as the Japanese girl's name "Saki". And I didn't want people thinking that I was naming my kids after alcoholic beverages, but I still really like the name.
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