Independent Reading: Benjamin Bear

This year the second independent reader by frenchman Philippe Coudray was published in the US. I wasn't familiar with his work, but when I read 2013's Benjamin Bear in Bright Ideas! I knew I had to get my hands on his first book, Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking. So here's a review of the two, which are of equal appeal and high quality.

Each page is a comic featuring Benjamin Bear and his ideas and logic. The comics are low on words, big on critical thinking. How does Benjamin Bear find his way out of a maze? His fruit rots, and he follows the trail of ants. When a sheep complains to Benjamin Bear that he's hot, Benjamin shears the sheep's coat, but then he says he's cold! What does Benjamin Bear do? He knits the sheep a sweater out of the wool. I love these! They're funny and clever, and they require the reader to think. Fuzzy Thinking was nominated for the Eisner Award and has won many prizes in France. Coudray has published many more l'Ours Barnabé books in France, so I hope that means there will be many Benjamin Bear Books to come.

Some time with family

Last weekend I was able to get out of the city spend some time with a portion of my very large extended family in Southeast Washington.

Words cannot express what good that weekend did for me.

For one, there's the location. Southeast Washington is not a lush forest. It's the opposite--dry and dusty with rolling hills, specifically Horse Heaven Hills. On the one side is the green, irrigated valley of vineyards, orchards, and other farms. On the other side are wheat fields, golden and rustling in the breeze. Exploring this landscape is one of the highlights of each trip.

As I've gotten older, I've really come to appreciate getting away from the city.

But the best part of the trip is the people. My grandmother had 9 children, many of whom have large families of their own. I spent many summers coming up here to visit my grandma and play with my cousins. We spent the weekend sitting outdoors in the shade chatting and playing games--sometimes late into the night. (I got a few photographs of my cousins' children that are absolute gems, but I feel funny posting them on the web, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

I treasure the relationships I have with my extended family. They're all such wonderful people. And I feel like I have my grandparents to thank.

Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project about Dogs and Physics

Have you heard of the blog, Maddie on Things/Maddie the Coonhound?

Photographer Theron Humphrey decided to leave his job to travel across the country, finding one person each day of the year to photograph and interview, thus recording the stories of regular American folks. He figured he needed a dog to keep him company, and so he rescued Maddie from an animal shelter before setting out. Of course, it's the beautiful heavy-lidded dog who could balance precariously on objects that stole the show.

Together they spent 365 days on the road, traveling 65,000 miles.

Of course, the other (meaning not "on things") photographs of Maddie are wonderful, too.

This year, Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project about Dogs and Physics was published. Theron Humphrey and Maddie are now on tour. You can check out Maddie on Things and his other projects, This Wild Idea and Why We Rescue on his website. (To be perfectly honest, the website is better than the book, but either way, I love the photos)