DADS READ: “The Vanishing Lake” by Paddy Donnelly
JER: “ The Vanishing Lake ” by Paddy Donnelly revolves around a mystery with, potentially fantastical, explanations. Meara’s grandfather lives near Lake Loughareema, which vacillates between a small mountain lake one day and dry lakebed the next day. Meara wants to get to the bottom of the mystery, but her grandfather’s ideas seem a bit too far fetched. I mean, how would sheep wool completely soak up all the water or how many narwhal horn holes would it take to drain the lake, ReAlLy?!?!? It reminds me of my one of my favorite “ This American Life ” podcast episodes - “Lights, Camera, Christmas!” (episode 728 - 25 DEC 2020) - the Mutchlers have “a family mythology of Santas that had its own logic, with many Santas and a family elf named Jeko”. I love magical realities, and I love creating games with my kids, such as: “Monster Lollipop” where I wait at the bottom of playground slides and entice my girls down the slide with promises of different flavors of lollipo...