Dads Read Too

"Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)"  opened my eyes to how easily a person could be lulled into "justifying foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts" as the sub-title so succinctly puts it.  Furthermore, it made me question how often I have allowed "self-justification" to affect my own judgment. "Self-justification" is the way the human brain is wired to "lie to ourselves".  The Introduction explains it this way: "Now, between the conscious lie to fool others and unconscious self-justification to fool ourselves, there's a fascinating gray area patrolled by an unreliable, self-serving historian - memory.  Memories are often pruned and shaped with an ego-enhancing bias that blurs the edges of past events, softens culpability, and distorts what really happened.  When researchers ask wives what percentage of the housework they do, they say, 'Are you kidding?  I do almost everything, at least 90 percent.'  An...

It's rare  that a book begins an adventure with backcountry skiing and ends with Trolls, but that is why  "Lucia and the Light"  by author  Phyllis Root  and illustrator  Mary GrandPr é   is one of my favorite  children's books.   One of my passions is  backcountry skiing/ski mountaineering , it has been a dormant passion for quite some time, but being with a few friends in mostly unoccupied wilderness, slowly ascending a narrow track on skis fitted with  climbing skins  is one of my favorite places to feel "a return to a genuine and simple way of life" and tap into  my inner Tao .  My love for the mountains, skiing, and being self-propelled all factor into my love for this book, but it also has another strong feminine role model my daughters can look up to.  The story of "Lucia and the Light" involves a mysterious loss of light, and a young girl's quest to set out on skis to climb to the top of the mountains...

What I love about  "They All Saw A Cat" - by  Brendan Wenzel , is that it beautifully captures the concept of "perception".  What we perceive with our senses, mind, preconceived bias, and background might not be "reality", the way that others perceive us with their senses, mind, preconceived bias, and backgrounds might not be what we "perceive" to be an accurate portrait of ourselves.  Finally, is there such a thing as objective reality, or is everything just a mixture of perceptions, cultural constructs, and past experiences.  The book begins with the "cat" walking through the world "with its whiskers, ears, and paws". The "cat" may have its own internal experiences based on its internal perceptions, but we are left to experience the "cat" through the eyes and perception of a child: Through a blury-eyed "fishbowl parallax":  Through the frightened eyes of a mouse: Th...

My favorite boardbook (boardbooks are books printed on thick paperboard meant for toddlers), by far, is  "Hug Time"  by  Patrick McDonnell  - the comic artist who created  Mutts  - which appears in most newspapers.  I've read a lot of children's books since Lake was born, and it is rare to find a combination of amazing art work AND well written, rhyming prose.  Some books can manage one of the two, but when both elements are diffused into the same book - it is really magical. The book begins with Jules: At first, his owner, Doozy, was skeptical and asks: "hug the whole world?  will that make it better?  As Jules nodded yes, Doozy helped with his sweater".  Then Jules moves onto logistics:  At first, he started small, giving hugs to his closest friends: But he follows that up with a visit to the park, i.e. a butterfly - buttercups, a little gray squirrel, and then begins a trip around the world, inclu...

"The Bear Ate Your Sandwich"  by author and illustrator Julia Sarcone-Roach is one of my favorite library finds.  The scenes are fun and whimsy, and the story had Lake and I laughing throughout.  More importantly, the book also illustrates the importance of the messenger. It starts off normal enough, we are introduced to a bear in a forest. A well placed pick-up truck, and an obvious incentive to climb in keeps the story believable.  After-all, most people and bears like berries (I happen to be one that doesn't like most berries, but it is safe to assume bears like berries). A long berry-induced-doze in the bed of the truck, and the bear is understandably in the city. I love how expressive the bear's ears are, and how much action is being conveyed in these still pictures. Most of the way through the book, and the main protagonist finally enters the stage: THE SANDWICH. It looks like a really great sandwich, I can understand why the be...

Being a parent involves setting societal and cultural norms for your children.  When and where is it appropriate to eat, when and where is it appropriate to use electronic devices, when and where is it appropriate to sleep, when and where is it appropriate to urinate and defecate, etc.  That last one has an instructive, humorous story. One of my nephews had been on a long road trip to California, and something many people can relate to on long road trips, this nephew needed to urinate, but there wasn't an exit, a gas station, or any bathroom for miles in either direction.  His parents tried to explain to this nephew that in this circumstance, it was okay to urinate outdoors, on the side of the road, because there isn't any other alternative.  Great, no problem, many people have experienced needing to urinate outdoors when camping, traveling, or otherwise in a pinch.  Fast forward to after their road trip is over, they jad made it to Carlsbad, California, and...