From: Maia Cheli-Colando <maia_at_littlefolktales.org>
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:47:20 -0700

Leda said: Want to do origami? There are undoubtedly thousands of youtube videos that are more useful than most books could possibly be these days (ignoring the ipad). Ditto sports and entertainment figures, world records, the latest on dinosaurs, etc.:"

Well, yes and no. :) My kids and I employ the internet for the same purposes as did my parents and I the encyclopedia or dictionary. It is very useful when you want to see how to tie a tie (as we did just this week). As we don't own a tv, the internet and computer also fulfill many of the same roles for visualized moving action that PBS movies did (and in fact, we often watch portions of those when streamed online). It's marvelous for tracking events in the making, as a vastly expanded yellow pages/business card, and for dropping in a finger to see if we like the water in a given subject area.

But take away the origami books? I'm pretty sure my eleven year old would throw a fit. Read fairy tales online? Ditto for both children. We've been watching the Introduction to Astronomy lecture series by Alex Filippenko... now my seven year old has his face in a book about light refraction. He saw The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars on the recommendation of a friend; he then ordered the book by Thomas Disch from the library and has carried it (and/or his wooden toaster) everywhere this week. Internet leads to books, fiction to nonfiction and back again.

I was curious, and asked my children to quickly pull out fifteen of the nonfiction books, from at least several different genres, about which they are passionate. Here are their lists (a bit more than fifteen each) - I had to drag my son out of another book to pull some titles. :)

Ciara's comment on the internet: "Books are better than binaries!"

Reading their lists, I realize that most of the new science my daughter has been perusing of late has come from magazines, the library, and online. Time to buy more books! :)

Cheers, Maia


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Bryn picks - (seven year old boy)

When the Wolves Returned - Dorothy Hinshaw Patent Childcraft Encyclopedias - Make and Do & The Green Kingdom, esp. It's So Amazing: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies and Families - Robie Harris Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars - Douglas Florian Cat in the Hat Learning Library (On Beyond Bugs and Oh Say Can You Seed) - Tish Rabe and Bonnie Worth How it All Vegan - Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau - Jennifer Berne The Life and Times of the Honeybee - Charles Micucci The Day-Glo Brothers - Chris Barton Vote - Eileen Christelow Astronaut Handbook - Megan McCarthy Moonshot: the Flight of Apollo 11 - Brian Floca Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon - Catherine Thimmesh Bonz Inside-Out - Byron Glaser and Sandra Higashi What Makes it Go/Work/Fly/Float - Joe Kaufman Owen & Mzee/Knut/Looking for Miza - Hatkoffs and Kahumbu

Ciara picks - (eleven year old girl - she included some of her favorite "little girl" books which she still rereads)

Women Who Kept the Lights - Cliffords We Shall Not Be Moved: The Women's Factory Strike of 1909 - Joan Dash Charles and Emma - Deborah Heiligman Lives of the Writers - Kathleen Krull Writing Magic - Gail Carson Levine Scientists in the Field series Barefoot Folklore series (e.g. Tales from Old Ireland, Celtic Memories, etc.) Baby naming books, music books... too many to count! Come Back Salmon - Molly Cone The Sky's the Limit: Stories of Discovery by Women & Girls - Catherine Thimmesh Girls Think of Everything - Catherine Thimmesh New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology Beginner's Book of Dance and Ballet (1957) - A. H. Franks Cloth Doll Artistry - Barbara Willis Enchanted Adornments: Creating Mixed-Media Jewelry - Cynthia Thornton Paper Fold It - Steve and Megumi Biddle MaryJane's Ideabook-Cookbook-Lifebook - MaryJane Butters Almost Astronauts - Tanya Lee Stone The Girls' Guide to Tarot - Kathleen Olmstead 33 Things Every Girl Should Know About Women's History - Tonya Bolden The Math Book for Girls & Other B eings Who Count - Valerie Wyatt It's Perfectly Normal - Robie Harris Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez - Kathleen Krull In Print: 40 Cool Publishing Projects for Kids - Joe Rhatigan First Ladies - DK Eyewitness Books Girls Who Rocked the World - Amelie Welden Lark Kids' Series: Crochet - Jane Davis The Other Half of History (Women) series - Fiona McDonald Gods and Goddesses: Ancient Greece - John Malam

-- Maia Cheli-Colando Arcata, Humboldt Bay, California -- blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- -- or drop in on Facebook! --
Received on Wed 13 Oct 2010 09:47:20 AM CDT