birch & lily

Book Review - Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts & Pieces of Country Life

You know those gifts that you never even knew you wanted but they are so thoughtful and perfect? I got one of those today. I’m not even sure the giver knows on how many levels I love this book:

Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts & Pieces of Country Life by Julia Rothman

How many ways do I love it? Let me count the ways.

First, it is illustrated by Julia Rothman, who is endlessly cool and talented. (That’s right, I live in a world where illustrators are trendy and cool.) Her illustrations are both charming and accurate, which are equally important to me. And regardless of subject matter this book just looks cool because of its aesthetic. Definitely a book to leave out on a shelf or coffee table for the pretty factor.

Second, it is a teaching book. And though I chose not to become a literal classroom teacher after university, I am still in career, and motherhood, and by my very nature a teacher. This book has a wealth of information laid out clearly, and interestingly. Little M was immediately drawn to the different kinds of farm machinery and looking all of the animals. (One of my initial remarks was, “this would be perfect for homeschooling!”) This book made me remember my dear friend Dorothy - a retired teacher with whom I did my teaching internship years ago. We taught a unit on farming connected to my city’s huge agricultural fair (called “Agribition”) She would die if she saw this book, because it’s such a good resource! I wanted to fly to BC immediately and show it to her! (Well, and to see her and her beautiful lakeside retirement house…)

And third, I love this book because it’s farming. Most of you regular blog readers will know that Sean farms, grew up on a farm, and that we are working towards living on the farm. But my love of farming actually started before my love of Sean. Back in my camp days I worked with a lot of farm kids. Back then I decided I wanted to marry a farmer (I figured I was a prime candidate for living out on a farm: I mostly like to be thrifty, I’m no social butterfly, and I love nature and the wide open sky!) My camp friends would teach me, and I was an eager pupil. I think they half thought it was cool, and half thought it was funny. They’d pick up old copies of the Western Producer and quiz me on farm implements and cattle breeds. I loved it. And this book recalls those times and goes further in depth. It feeds my farm nerdiness.

The only drawback I’ve noticed so far is that it doesn’t feature grain crops that are common on the Canadian prairies (canola, flax…) but that’s OK. Maybe Little M and I will have to illustrate an addendum. ;)

So if you love farming, or teaching, or great illustration like I do, then pick up this book too! And thanks to Aimee for this thoughtful gift!! You are too sweet.

(All pictures are from Amazon.com, all illustrations by Julia Rothman)

Book Review: “Leonardo the Terrible Monster”

Whaaat??! Seriously?! I haven’t reviewed “Leonardo the Terrible Monster” by Mo Willems yet?

OK, people. ”War & Peace” can now be your door stop. Use “Pride & Prejudice” to prop up that gimpy table leg. Because you only need one book on your shelf:

“Leonardo the Terrible Monster”

(Actually that’s not true. I hope you have lots of good books on your shelves. But at least give this one a place of honour for its awesomeness.)

First, mad props to Mo Willems. (And 10 points to me for using the term “mad props”. heh heh.) He writes stuff that either makes me go:

Mo Willems scenario #1: *Silent chuckle in my head* “hee hee. Man, that dude’s clever. I wish I wrote that.” OR

Mo Willems scenario #2: *sudden outburst of loud laughter* “Did he just write that?! That is so funny and awesome I will give it a new word: fawesomey.”

Or… something along those lines.

Anyways, while better known for his Pigeon books (which I also adore, but I’m sure you can read about them many other places in the blogosphere), and making lots of headlines and book lists with his Elephant & Piggie books (of which I’m starting a solid collection of, and will review later) and his new Cat the Cat series (which I can’t wait to check out. But seriously, Chapters is like a 40 minute walk from here. And, wow, this is a long sentence.) Leonardo is my most favourite of Mo’s books.

I really don’t want to give away too much. I want you to go to the library or book store and pick it up. But trust me, the book is sweet, funny, surprising, and generally delightful. Not to mention a stellar read-aloud. However, it’s one I highly recommend practicing before you read it to a crew of kids. (I’m serious.) Because once you have the book down it’s hilarious, and kids will instantly find you at least 67% cooler.

For now, Little M is too small to understand the book. So he basically gives me weird/slightly confused looks while I read it. But one day soon I’m sure he’ll giggle along with me, and yell: “READ IT AGAIN!!” (as is the case with most kids I read it to). Or maybe he’ll get his dad’s sense of humour and think the book is strange. *shudder* Hope not.

Yay for Amazon! Got a whole lotta’ baby-friendly books in the mail. I’ll do some book reviews soon!

Mad Hungry »

Mad Hungry

Truth be told, I think I’m one of the few women out there who is OK if I never have a daughter. Don’t get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a little girl - someone to take to the ballet, to french braid her hair, to buy a new Easter dress for… But the idea of having a gaggle of boys also seems like a lot of fun to me. When Sean and I first found out that Little M would be a boy, we were both ecstatic.

Furthermore, I have a husband who is a guy’s guy. And that is definitely true when we’re talking about food.

So, with one baby boy (who already has a voracious appetite), and a husband who likes all things bacon, my attention was piqued when I saw Lucinda Scala Quinn on the Martha Stewart Show discussing her new book, “Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys”. And as she talked about bacon and hot sauce I could tell she knew what she was talking about, and this might be a very good thing.

So off to Chapters, where Sean actually went and found the book for me! I dove right in, and found myself reading it page by page. (For a skimmer like me to read a cookbook page by page is crazy!) I was impressed by the ideas, inspired by the recipes, and encouraged by the approach. To be honest, I’ve never gotten into the home cooking on a regular basis. There are a lot of reasons for this, aside from the fact I’ve been working full time, but I found a lot of those issues addressed by the book:

…like how some guys (*ahem* my husband) tend to not be hungry, and then BAM! I’m hungry! (“mad hungry”). So by that point I have nothing prepared and we end up going to Wendy’s. Again. After reading this book I’ve resolved to the mantra “make it, and they will eat.” Instead of trying to gauge his mood and hunger, I’ll simply make supper. You know what? He’s usually hungry by the time it’s ready.

…or like how thankless cooking on a regular basis can be. Some meals are smash hits that are followed by plenty of praise. Others not so much. But aside from the obvious disasters (like the chicken cordon bleu I blew last week), a lack of praise doesn’t mean it wasn’t worthwhile to make a homemade meal for my man! The simple facts that I worked hard, was thoughtful about what my husband might like, am trying to be prudent with our money, and tried something new… whether the meal is praised or not, it’s a good thing. So just keep cooking.

…or sometimes I don’t have everything I need for what I want to make. The book is full of tips on how to prepare one thing for a variety of meals, encouragement to be flexible with the ingredients, and advice on planning ahead. Hmmm… planning. I like that.

Now I’ve been cooking more regularly than ever before. I’m not necessarily using recipes from the book (though the first thing I made was the Chicken Parmesan, and that was a hit!), but I am using the inspiration I gleaned from its pages, and I’m excited about cooking! And I do feel proud about it. Plus it made me wish more than ever that I have a house full of boys one day!

So… Long story short: I recommend this book! Hmmm… now I should go get some meat out of the freezer for tonight’s supper…