Grace Lin's Blog, page 34

fortune cookie fortunes

"A careful foot can step anywhere."
- Chinese Proverb

What We're Reading Wednesday

Doggy Kisses 123 
By Todd Parr

Indiebound Description:
Meet ten colorful, lovable (and sometimes a little slobbery) canine friends in this kid-friendly concept book. From one doggy kiss all the way up to ten, each page stars playful pooches showing love the best way they know how. Featuring a padded cover and thick card-stock pages and filled with Todd Parr's signature bold and kid-friendly illustrations, here's a book that will make readers laugh out loud as they learn to count.

My Thoughts:
A surprisingly fun book! I don't think Rain Dragon gets the numbers yet, but she gets a big kick out of me reading it and then trying to give her the appropriate amount of doggy kisses. She uses the book often when she wants me to chase her!

on my desk monday

Not on my desk, but on my lap in my hotel bed were lots and lots of bookplates:

Unfortunately, our grand adventure in Hong Kong turned out to be not so adventuresome and not so grand. I caught something on the airplane which turned out to be the most virulent and persistent germ that I've had in a long, long time. When characters in books or movies get ill, they are still somehow lovely--just more wan, frail.  Sometimes they are even more ethereally beautiful, like Beth in "Little Women." That, however, is not me. For, not only was I toad-like with a bellowing cough, I was oozing all kinds of disgusting goo and bodily fluids. 
I was so gross that the school took pity on me and rearranged the schedule so that I could get an afternoon off to rest and (hopefully) get better. So instead of seeing sights of Hong Kong, I laid in my hotel bed, coughing, blowing my nose and signing bookplates. I hope they sanitized the bookplates before they gave them to the kids.

fortune cookie friday

“The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.”
- Mencius

What We're Reading Wednesday

Wait! Wait!
By Hatsue Nakawaki; Komako Sakai (Illustrator)

Description:
 Wait! Wait! is an ideal book for young children that gently follows their rhythms and preoccupations. With a text of few words, frequent repetitions, and delicate illustrations with which children will quickly identify, the book follows a young child's discovery of other creatures. This discovery comes with the recognition that while other creatures can suddenly appear they can also go away and disappear just as quickly. But the delightful appearance of a dad and his playful swoop of his toddler up onto his shoulders will remind little ones that the people who love them will always be there and will never, ever not come back.

My Thoughts:
This is one of those books that is a hidden gem. I admit I bought it because I thought the character looks like Rain Dragon, but it's a pitch perfect book--beautifully illustrated and exactly capturing a child's perspective.

But what clinched this as an amazing book to me is when one weekend we went to visit a butterfly garden. Rain Dragon was  she kept pointing at all the butteflies and saying "Wait, Wait!" and then "Book!"

And when we came home she wanted the book read again, too 

airplane moon

 outside my airplane window on the way to hong kong

on my desk monday

This new batch of pocket pacys were on my desk but now they are packed in my luggage for my trip to Hong Kong.

Oops, did I forget to mention that I was going to Hong Kong? Yes, I am! I'm off to visit the Hong Kong International School there for a week! Originally, I was going to go alone but since Rain Dragon managed the Taiwan trip, we decided to make it a family trip again.  I think Rain Dragon has traveled more in her first 2 year of her life than I did in my first 10.

But I had such an amazing trip 7 years ago when I went to Hong Kong for the first time (and also visited HKIS) that I really wanted to share it this time. I know I won't get to see or do as much as I did the first time, but even if the trip is only half as much fun it will be a blast.

fortune cookie friday

"The book salesman should be honored because he brings to our attention, as a rule, the very books we need most and neglect most."
- Confucius.

What We're Reading Wednesday

Belly Button Book By Sandra Boynton 
Description:Featuring a beachful of bare-bellied hippos—including one tiny baby who can only say “Bee Bo”—the Belly Button Book is the latest quirky addition to the phenomenally successful Boynton on Board series. 
Every page captivates with Sandra Boynton’s inimitable illustrations and joyful rhyming text: "Soon after dark, upon the beach, we sing a hippo song, and if you’re feeling in the mood, we hope you’ll sing along: “Belly Belly Button, you’re oh so fine. Ooo, Belly Button, I’m so happy you’re mine.” 
Shiny and sturdy, and featuring a great (navel-shaped, naturally) die-cut cover that offers a provocative glimpse of the merriment inside, the Belly Button Book provides enduring, giggly, read-aloud fun.
My Thoughts:Recently, the Sasquatch and I were at a bookstore and he took a new, pristine "Belly Button Book" off the shelf and showed it to me. "Look," he said, "This is what our copy used to look like!"
That's because our copy is very, very well loved:



It's so well-loved that Rain Dragon made me draw belly buttons on all her toys:

on my desk monday

Remember those green horses? This is mine, protected by plastic, taped to my desk.

That's because I've started a new tradition. You might know how my friends and I love to make resolutions. Well, this year for the Year of the Horse, we wrote our resolutions on the back of the green horses and are keeping the horses in sight, with the hope that the help those intentions to come true.

We also thought about all the things that happened in the Year of the Snake that we wanted to let go of and burned it:


I'm already looking into making next year's paper sheeps!