Book Review - New Classics and Big ideas

Does this ever happen to you?

You are so taken with a fine book or movie or CD or idea that you want and need to share it with everybody you love. You want to stock up on this book or CD and save it for birthdays or  Christmas. You want everybody to be as excited about it as you are.

Jon J Muth is a writer and illustrator who brings ancient teachings, stories and simple truths to children's books in a way that makes me want to purchase every copy in Barnes and Noble so that I can give them as gifts.

I have an affinity for books that contain beautiful ideas that are accessible to kids and that are also beautiful to look at. Zen Shorts and The Three Questions are exactly the type of books you should keep to share - with your kids, with your grandkids, with your nieces and nephews. Keep them up on a bookshelf and bring them down for special times.


Zen Shorts is a Caldecott Honor Book that introduces us to Stillwater, a giant panda who moves into the neightborhood and befriends siblings Addy, Michael and Karl. In turn each of the kids visits with Stillwater and shares there own concerns, worries, fears or frustrations. With each child Stillwater shares a story (I love a-story-within-a-story) that illustrates the child's dilemma from a different perspective and provides a short meditation on anger, luck, and giving. Stillwater's stories come from Zen Buddhist and Taoist tradition, but Muth makes them accessible to kids.

 The Three Questions is Muth's take on a Leo Tolstoy's short story of the same name.

"When is the best time to do things?"
"Who is the most important one?"
"What is the right thing to do?"

In Muth's version young Nikolai is searching for answers to these questions (and not getting answers that seem right for him) when he meets the wise turtle Leo digging in his garden. In turn Nikolai helps dig the garden, saves a panda and then her baby from harm. In doing so he has the answers to The Three Questions.

Muth combines his study of Zen, Leo Tolstoy, and his belief that learning through stories can help us all to create books for kids that are important.

And there is a reason that Zen Shorts is a Caldecott Honor Book. His artwork is sublime. I happen to love watercolor anyway, but the skill and beauty of these books is incredible. I want to frame every page and put them on the wall.

Get these books!

Superman or Silver Bullet?

A new documentary is getting a lot of attention right now.

Waiting for "Superman" is a documentary by "Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) dissects the failing American education system, and in doing so, discovers ways to fix it." 

I have not seen the film, but I plan to. I have been reading opinion after opinion after opinion about this film though - because everybody has an opinion about education. As do I.

As I have not seen the film, I won't comment on the film's content, but I have read the description of the film which I have quoted and italicized above. This description comes directly from the movie's website and seems to present the premise for the movie: America's education system is FAILING! Says who?

Here is my issue. Just because somebody says that our education system is failing doesn't make it true. Just because the U.S. education system ranks somewhere other than #1 does not mean it is failing. So much is made of the United States education system being ranked anywhere other than #1 in the world that we seem blinded to all the good, sound progress made in the last ten years. Prosperity is about focusing on what we do have - not worrying about what we don't have.

When I set personal goals - it is about me, what I want for me and for my family, and how my desires resonate with my standards of integrity. It is not about keeping up with my neighbors or Finland.

Let us set our education goals based on what we want to accomplish for our citizens - for our country.

I do like the title, Waiting for "Superman." We are always waiting for something or someone else to come through and save us. I used to call this the "silver bullet." Educators are always looking for that one book, idea, program or curriculum that will kill the demon of ignorance and save the students - magically helping everyone, everywhere become better readers, better thinkers, better people.

There is no one "silver bullet." There is no Superman. We are our own heroes. It takes hard work, good practice, dedication, innovation, sound policy, and citizens willing to agree that school funding is a top priority.

Also, this movie is going in my Netflix list right now.