The Learning Umbrella

This week I read The Assault on Reason, by Al Gore.  It was a reading experience - I’m all worked up, mad, and ashamed for my country.  In fact, I’m so emotional about it right now that I want to try and avoid talking about exactly what I’m mad about - I still need time to process these feelings, and this is not a political blog.  But as far as book review goes, I can say that this is an excellent book.  Gore does tend to repeat himself a bit, mentioning the same incidents and ideas several times.  However, he brings up so many good points, combining classical history, Enlightenment philosophy, modern brain research and psychology, international politics, science reporting, and a firm understanding of the American system of democracy.  I was very impressed with how the book integrated all of that, and with the call for a more connected and active citizenry.

Goldfish and Chrysanthemums is a touching story about a granddaughter who tries to replicate her grandmother’s memory of a garden from her home in China.  I like that this story shows a grandparent living with the family, and the message of family love is beautiful.

Fairies, Trolls, and Goblins Galore: Poems About Fantastic Creatures was a fun book of pictures and poems about those imaginary creatures - including my favorite “the footstep fairies” that come along and push the grass back up after you step on it.  Really fun little poems.

In my dino-loving house, Sammy and the Dinosaurs is a natural hit.  Sammy loves his toy dinosaurs, and that reminds me of my little guy.

Boy, Were We Wrong About the Dinosaurs is a wonderful science book for young kids.  Too often we present science as “fact” without talking about it as “process”, leaving kids with the impression that it is something you are told rather than something you do.  This book relates all the mistakes and old theories that have since been disproved or questioned, and then it leaves off with a comment that perhaps you might someday change the way we think of dinosaurs.  It invites the kids to think of themselves as scientists.