Because, really, She'd just been winging it.

I have found the best book for the new year: 
God Got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant.

I love this book. 

I love that God is a man or a woman or a child. I love that God is black or white, fat or thin or bald, or a country music fan.

I love that God has conversations with Buddha… 

"The birds were singing and He was at peace. Buddha told Him it could be this way, but he never really believed it until now."

and calls Mother Theresa when He gets a cold…

"He asked could she bring some comic books. And of course she did. Mother Teresa loves all who suffer. Even God. Maybe Him a little more."

God dropped a coin in the Building Fund box; She wrote a book and made spaghetti. He got arrested and got in a boat.

"All the little houses and all the green trees and all the tidy cities and all the sky and all the land, it all made sense. She was surprised. Because, really, She'd just been winging it."

And, of course, God got a dog… and now God has somebody keeping Her feet warm at night. 

fearless scientists

This book is awesome!

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks.

This is a wonderfully inspiring non-fiction graphic novel. There are great end notes and author notes and a bibliography. You will definitely know where to go if you want to learn more. 

This book will surely resonate with both boys and girls. But, as is often the case, great stories about women scientists create more women scientists. 


Jane Goodall observing chimpanzees in Tanzania…

Birute Galdikas studying orangutans in Indonesian Borneo... 

Dian Fossey went to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Rwanda to research mountain gorillas...

Be sure to get this book for all the young readers you know. Primates is the kind of book that will inspire new scientists and draw attention to the alarming fact that primates are facing a high risk of extinction.


The book I have is a jacketed hardcover. If you get the same, be sure to look behind the book jacket for an adorable surprise.

recommending a person

Seeing someone reading a book you love

is like seeing a book

recommending a person.

But there are some who do not love it, not even a little bit, not even at all.

Read Eleanore and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Read books that interest you. Never let anyone censor your right to read. 

“Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.”

Read Rainbow Rowell's take on love and censorship.

so constant

This week I read The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. by Greg Pincus. It's a great middle grade read.

From GoodReads:

Failing math but great at writing, Gregory finds the poetry (and humor) in what's hard.

Gregory K is the middle child in a family of mathematical geniuses. But if he claimed to love math? Well, he'd be fibbing. What he really wants most is to go to Author Camp. But to get his parents' permission he's going to have to pass his math class, which has a probability of 0. THAT much he can understand! To make matters worse, he's been playing fast and loose with the truth: "I LOVE math" he tells his parents. "I've entered a citywide math contest!" he tells his teacher. "We're going to author camp!" he tells his best friend, Kelly. And now, somehow, he's going to have to make good on his promises.

Hilariously it's the "Fibonacci Sequence" -- a famous mathematical formula! -- that comes to the rescue, inspiring Gregory to create a whole new form of poem: the Fib! Maybe Fibs will save the day, and help Gregory find his way back to the truth.

For every kid who equates math with torture but wants his own way to shine, here's a novel that is way more than the sum of its parts.

Will his sixth grade math teacher be able to use Gregory's love of writing and poetry to help him overcome his disinterest in math? Will Gregory's math-loving father ever understand poems? Will Gregory K make it to Author Camp?

Math

Yields

Patterns

So constant.

Just like my life,

there are no surprising results.

Just in case this book has you wanting more of Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, check out this TED talk:



Or, watch the amazing Vi Hart on Khan Academy. Once you watch her three videos, be sure to check out her Notes and References video for further information: