A Good Week for the NICU Book Project

This week we've had three different donations to our NICU book project.

Michelle donated these three books:

The McKay Dee foundation donated six books, and for some reason, the picture of those books got eaten by cyberspace, and I've already packaged up the books. Sorry.

Meredith sent us two boxes of new and used books. These three stacks will go to two different school classrooms and the NICU waiting room.

The next two pictures of books also came from Meredith Malan. They have already been made into packets of books for the NICU babies. Thank you, Meredith for your generous donation to the NICU.

We are thankful for the donations we receive as it allows us to give books to even more families. Thank you to our generous contributors this well. 

We are currently in need of paperbacks, board books, and hard back books for the babies. We also need two-gallon sized zip lock bags. We prefer the no name bags as they don't have writing on them. Pastel letter size cardstock is also needed to make inserts for the packets. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Boy: Tale of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Boy Tales of Childhood is the first installment of Roald Dahl's life as told by himself. I read the second book, Going Solo first.

Roald tells of his childhood in such a way that makes the stories come right off the page. I enjoyed the humor, but I found the abuses that happened at boarding school incredibly sad, and no one should ever cane a child.

Throughout the story, the reader can sense the love Roald has for his mother. She was a strong woman, one you would want on your side. His description of the horrible candy store lady reminded me of the Trunchbull and some of his experiences at boarding school remind me of Crunchem Hall. I can see where he got the inspiration for parts of Matilda.

This book has photographs, but in my Scholastic copy, they are poorly reproduced and hard to see any detail. I think any child who reads this book will be thankful that corporal punishment is no longer used in the public school system, at least in my state.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Girl at War by Sara Novic

Girl at War by Sara Novic is a historical novel published in 2015. The author did extensive research on her topic by interviewing her friends and family who lived through the Croatian war. Their stories were the inspiration for her characters. This historical fiction is well told and it will make you cry. 

The main character is a young girl named Ana who tries to understand all the nuances of who is part of the right population and who is in the wrong. She has a very sick baby sister who will die if she doesn't get help from the USA. Ana's parents work desperately to keep their family together and alive. 

There is a scene in this book, where her father tells her how to stay alive, and it gutted me as a reader. I can't even imagine what the people of this area went through during this war. Ana becomes a child soldier and her journey and loss of innocence will make you want to strike out against war and all the damage it causes. Although Ana says, "there's no such thing as child soldier in Croatia . . .There is only a child with a gun."

The story is fast paced, and I can imagine it as a movie. I listened to the audio version and found it well done. The author will never listen the audio version as she is deaf. I look forward to reading more of her work as she is a an excellent writer. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

The Skinjacker Series by Neal Shusterman

Generally when I read a series, I can wait to read each book as I come across it because I have a huge to-be-read bookcase that contains almost 600 books, but I loved the Skinjacker series so much that I read them one after the other all in a week.

I had book one, Everlost and book two, Everwild, but I borrowed book three, Everfound from my neighbor, Michelle.

This series has a premise that I have not seen before. The series begins with Nick and Allie in two separate cars that collide. They do not survive the accident, but their souls while headed to the tunnel of light crash into each other and they get lost between life and death.

They must learn to navigate a world that wants to suck them down into its center. They must battle other souls that are stuck in Everlost. They meet Mary Hightower, a ghostly writer and self proclaimed queen of the lost kids. They also must face the deadly monster McGill.

After a good start, book two continues the story and Shusterman writes an excellent second book. His third book doesn't disappoint and is as good as the other two books. All the threads come together in the third book. All the players must find a way to stop the complete destruction of every living thing on earth. It is a fight to the finish with those alive on earth facing an enemy they cannot see. It is hard to tell who is good and who is bad, and as is common in all people, both good and bad reside inside all.

The characters are well rounded and despite being ghosts are well fleshed out. :) The ghosts are all children and teenagers, so their emotional development is often stuck at one age or another. They are trying to make sense of a world that no longer makes sense while trying to hang on to their memories in a world that makes it easy to forget. This is the best series I've read in a while and it will keep the reader turning pages late into the night.

Angie, I think Isaac would like this series.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Moo Bird by David Milgrim

Moo Bird by David Milgrim published in 2016 is a darling book about a little bird that moos instead of tweeting. He is kicked out of his nest because he is different. He tries to find his place in the world, but even the cow doesn't want him. This book has a surprise ending.

I like this book because early readers will be able to read it. There are only a few words on each page and they are set up like a comic book in word bubbles. This book also has humor, so it appeals to young readers. The illustrations are cute and simple, so there is not visual clutter. The colors are bright and everything is outlined in black, so it is easy on the eyes.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Black? White! Day? Night! A Book of Opposites by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

If you haven't already, add Laura Vaccaro Seeger to your list of authors that you must own their entire collection. I have been adding her books to my collection and my grandchildren and myself adore all of her books.

I recently purchased Black? White! Day? Night! A Book of Opposites, and three-year old Aria wanted it read over and over again. Each page has a cut out where you can see into the page below, and the smaller drawing becomes part of a larger drawing that turns into the opposite.

The pages on this book are pretty sturdy but they are not indestructible, so this book will last a good long time as little hands move the pages back and forth. This is a fold out book with fun pictures lined with heavy black outlines to appeal to even the littlest reader.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

The Other Side Thrift Boutique

Caitie and I stopped by a new thrift store in our area to see if they had any books for the NICU babies, and the manager donated 42 books to our NICU. 

This is the thrift store called The Other Side Thrift Boutique:

They are located at 4290 South State Street in Murray, Utah. If you are local or in the area, please stop by.

 These are the books they donated:

What is even more important is the purpose of The Other Side Thrift Boutique. This store is part of The Other Side Academy. You can learn more about the amazing work they do here: The Other Side Academy Web Site.   I checked out their website and cried over the life saving stories that are shared there. I encourage you to check out their website and if you are local to stop by their store and check it out because they are making the world a better place. They also have a link on their website to their moving company that is highly rated. 

To summarize, this organization helps people who struggled in life. They help people who want to change their lives, maybe they have struggled with drug use, or homelessness, or spent time in the criminal justice system. The Other Side Academy is a two year program that saves lives and makes those saved lives worth living. They are a vocational training school and this store is used as part of their academy. Students learn to work hard, to work with others, to deal with frustrations, to be polite and respectful, and to live free from toxic behaviors that have kept them from success.

Students learn how to work in the retail and warehouse sectors and learn all aspects of the retail trade. This thrift store doesn't look like a normal thrift store. The store is clean and bright, things are well organized and set up more like a store at the mall than a thrift shop, and the furniture section looks like a furniture store. The staff is helpful and kind. We were greeted as soon as we stepped into the store.

Here are some pictures that I took the day I was there.

The store has many windows that let in a lot of natural light, and they even have outside displays that you can check out before you walk in the door.

 They have nice dressing rooms, so you can try on your finds. This is one of many shoe displays.

 There are tasteful displays throughout the store and prices are reasonable.

They have framed their goals and also have frames throughout they store showing each goal expanded. I love these goals.

 They have many beautiful pieces of furniture.

This is my happy place the book nook. It is well organized and the children's books are only a dollar. I believe the other books are $1 for paperbacks and $2 for hardbacks with some higher end books custom priced, so the prices are very good. We met the lady who organized the book nook, and she knew what she was doing as the books are sorted well. They even have chairs for you to sit and read. You can see more of the goal posters in this picture. 

I feel good about shopping and donating to this thrift shop because I know they are doing good things in our world. Thanks go to the Other Side Thrift Boutique for the books for the NICU and thank you for making our world a better place to live in. I love places like this that see the good in people and strive to help others. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Michelle also sent over some books. Thank you, Michelle. With all the support we've been getting lately, we may be able to reach every single baby that spends time in our NICU. Each baby gets five books to take home. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Sometimes I'm Bombaloo by Rachel Vail

Sometimes I'm Bombaloo by Rachel Vail and illustrated by Yumi Heo was published in 2002 and tells the story of a darling girl named Katie Honors who is a good little girl except for when she is Bombaloo.

I like this book because it shows a child that sometimes our feelings get big and scary and out of control. It shows a child that we can take a time-out until we are not Bombaloo anymore. Katie Honors has a mom who understands that a child needs help to put things back together after being Bombaloo.

The illustrations are fun and use color and design to show Katie's escalating feelings. Three-year old Aria covered her face when Katie became Bombaloo, but she wanted me to keep reading. Three-year old Vincent enjoyed this story and didn't get scared. This book is grandchild approved.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Animagicals: On the Go by Svjetlan Junakovic and Carol Diggory Shields

Animagicals: On the Go by Svjetlan Junakovic and Carol Diggory Shields is a fold out book with twelve riddle rhymes. Published in 1999, Junakovic drew the remarkable illustrations and Shields wrote the poetry. This slim book measures 11 1/2" x 5 1/2".

On the left side of the page is the poem and the part of the drawing. On the right side is a drawing of a vehicle. You read the poem and open the flap to see which animal or insect is being described. Children will have fun guessing which animal will appear.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Mommy? by Maurice Sendak, Arthur Yorinks, and Matthew Reinhart

Mommy?, published in 2006, uses the art of Maurice Sendak, a scenario by Arthur Yorinks, and the paper engineering of Matthew Reinhart to create a darling pop-up book that contains one word on each page until the end of the story and that page contains two words. You can't go wrong with this trio of artists.

Each page contains the work "Mommy" with a baby looking for his mommy. Each page contains a wonderful pop-up and lift the flap pop-up with delightful illustrations of monsters, mummies, wolf-men, vampires, and crazy scientists, until the end of the book when the baby finds his mommy.

My grandchildren love this book as do I. It is a work of art. It is one even the smallest child can remember the words and feel like they are reading. It does need adult supervision in order to save the paper art.

The illustration above shows the pop-up and the fold out opened.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

What's in Your Reading Stack

Today, I realized I had a stack of books either that I'd started reading or that I will be starting soon.

This is my current stack:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- Matt is reading this at school, so I am reading it with him at home.

2. Everfound by Neal Shusterman - This is the third book in the Skinjacker series. I started the first book last week and am nearly finished with this one. It is a fascinating series about a world for the dead.

3. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan - This is my current audio book. I love to listen while driving, cooking, cleaning, or getting ready for the day.

4. Sarah's Quilt by Nancy E. Turner - This is our February's book club choice. I haven't started it yet, but I will as soon as I finish Everfound.

5. Beneath by Roland Smith - This is one of my bathtub books. It is a paperback, so there is less to lose if I drop it in the tub. I just started it and am enjoying it so far.

6. The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank by Willy Lindwer - I started this one a few weeks ago, and misplaced it, but I found it again, so now I can finish it. It is interesting so far. The author interviewed people who saw or spent time with Anne Frank after she was taken from the annex. He also tells their stories.

7. Brain Rules by John Medina - not a page turner, but an interesting look at how the brain works. I'm not very far into it yet.

8. Calling the Wind - a collection of short stories from Black authors. The stories so far have been really good.

I generally try to keep my stack at no more than five, but I'm a bit out of control right now.

What does your reading stack look like today?

Surprise NICU Book drive

One of Angie's coworkers shared our blog post about gathering books for the NICU with her sister-in-law who is a Young Women's group leader for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This leader decided to have her Beehives do a book drive for our NICU babies.

Neither Angie (my NICU nurse daughter) or myself knew this was going to happen. The Beehives (12 and 13 year-old girls) from the South Weber 2nd Ward did this as a service project. Nicole Andersen sent the pictures of the girls and the flyers. Angie took pictures of the books and sent them to me. These sweet girls and leaders collected 286 books for our project.

I want to thank all in their ward who donated to this project. Your generous donations will comfort many families in our NICU. I am humbled that you would do this for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 This is the flyer they delivered to the homes in their ward (neighborhood).

These are the amazing young women who donated their time and energy to our project. Thank you so very much. Yes, this did make me cry a little. I always feel a little closer to my own babies who didn't survive pregnancy when others feel compelled to help us. I feel like my little project to honor my babies has reached out and touched so many more people than I had ever hoped that it could. Thank you all again.

Words from their Young Women's leader, Nicole: "So glad we could help! They will be really excited [to be mentioned on this blog]. The girls took about an hour handing out flyers one night and then it took about an hour and a half to collect [the books] and another half hour to go through and make sure they were in good condition. So probably about two and half or three hours total."

Message to these incredible young women: Your service hours will touch the lives of at least 57 families. That is big. Fifty-seven more families will have books to read to their babies while they heal and grow in the NICU. Fifty-seven more babies will receive the gift of literacy because of your service. Thank you from me, Catherine Crosby

People are good.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Round Trip by Ann Jonas

Round Trip by Ann Jonas is a cool concept book published in 1983 and featured on the PBS series Reading Rainbow.

This book has all black and white illustrations. You read the story and when you get to the end, you flip the book upside down to read the trip back. The illustrations are clever and look like something different when flipped upside down.

It begins, "We started out as soon as it was light." This book is both the first and last page of the story. I love a book with a concept especially when it's done well.

Valarie, one of Angie's dear friends, found out that we needed Spanish books, so she ordered a box of books from Barnes and Noble. She operates a book exchange at her local school, and she is a writer. Check out this wonderful article she wrote on how to get grumpy kids to feel better. Wild Rumpus

It's so much fun to open a box of new books. 

 Here is a picture of all seventeen board books she sent us. Thank you so much, Valarie.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier

Daphne  DuMaurier is such a good story teller, and her book My Cousin Rachel kept me riveted wondering what would happen to all the players.

The story begins by describing a hanging that happened when the main character, Phillip, was a boy. DuMaurier builds suspense right away when we learn by the end of this scene that something wicked is coming, only we don't know who will commit the evil.

Phillip's cousin and guardian, Ambrose, marries Rachel late in life. She is a beautiful younger woman who is about ten years older than Phillip. When Ambrose dies mysteriously, Phillip hates and blames Rachel, until she comes to his Cornwall estate and enchants him.

The questions of who is good and who is evil will haunt the reader long after the story is finished. As always, DuMaurier makes the reader question what they think they know and leaves questions unanswered even at the end of the story. This novel is classic Gothic DuMaurier. I found myself frustrated with Phillip and with Rachel, but I couldn't stop listening to the story. The narrator of the audio version was wonderful.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson published in 2013 is the first memoir I've read that was written by a Holocaust survivor who was saved because of Oskar Schindler. Leon was fifteen but looked like he was ten when he was sent to a concentration camp along with his family. His father and older brother had been working for Schindler, but the rest of his family was in danger. Could Schindler get their paperwork done in time to save them all? 

This first person autobiography was published the year the author died, and his story is an important one. I found it interesting how he viewed racial discrimination and Jim Crow laws when he went to the Southern United States for basic training into the US military. He said, "Near the end of the training, I was transferred to a base outside Atlanta, Georgia. One weekend we received passes to to into the city. After boarding the shuttle to town, I wen to my favorite spot in the back to catch some shut-eye. I was startled when the driver stopped the bus and walked back to me. 'You can't sit there,' he said. 'The back seats are for the Negroes. You have to move to the front of the bus.' His words hit me like a hard slap. Suddenly I flashed to Krakow when the Nazis ordered us Jews to the back of the bus (before they forbade us from traveling on public transportation altogether). The context was very different, but nonetheless it almost made my head explode. Why would something like this exist in America? I had mistakenly believed that such discrimination was unique to Jews suffering under Nazi oppression. Now I discovered that there was inequality and prejudice in this country that I had already come to love" (190-191).

This book was written for young readers ages 9 to 14. The font is a bit larger and is widely spaced with plenty of white space on the page making this a good hi/low book even though the lexile is 1000L. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We are in need of Spanish books at this time, especially board books. We can always use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the book you donate. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you.