Tag: Reading

Homework

This is part of the picture book project. I need to read all of these books. Or I get to read all of these books. Or something like that. I want to become better acquainted with picture books both new and old, and help our school library assistants to pick good ones for their libraries. As you can see, I am starting mostly with the brand new, but soon enough I’ll be hitting the classics and the back catalogs as well. (I’ve long had an unfulfilled goal to read the complete works of Dr. Suess; I wish they had an omnibus edition like a complete Shakespeare.) Wish me luck, and give me suggestions.

Young Astronomer

Brian Kershisnik (American, 1962-). Young Astronomer, 2009.  Oil on canvas, 66 x 84 in.

Here’s a painting that pretty much depicts where my mind is at right now.  I saw this painting a year or two ago at one of Kershisnik’s shows at Dave Ericson Fine Art, an art gallery in an old house in downtown Salt Lake City.  I’ve been to these shows two or three times, and every time there seems to be one or two impressively large paintings that serve as the centerpiece of the show.  This was one of those paintings, and it has entered my imagination and been amongst my most favorite pieces ever since.  I assume someone purchased this painting at the show; at any rate I have no idea where it now resides.  Maybe this should go without saying, as it is true of most art, but this small digital image does little justice to the almost mural-sized original oil painting.  I should also mention that the last time I wrote about Brian Kershisnik on this website a few years ago it led to me meeting my wife, so his art is pretty special to our family.

You can see much more of Brian Kershisnik’s art and learn more about him at his website.

Did You Mean: Barf Manifesto?


So, um, I guessed pretty far off on the Newbery awards this year. I thought I would do awesome because I so easily picked last year’s winner.

I am now about to proceed to read the actual Newbery winner, Moon over Manifest, and as I went in to my Goodreads account to search for the book and faithfully record my commencement of its reading, I was greated with the above friendly suggestion from a search robot. I really hope this book isn’t a barf manifesto; it looks too cute.  However, it certainly would be a lot more fun for the kids if a book called something like Barf Manifesto won the Newbery.  I guess we can only hope for next year.