Good Reads - May

French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon

I'm, like, 15% French so this seemed like required reading for me.  I have wanted to read it for awhile now and all the time I've been spending out in our garden has made me want to read about eating well. This book isn't a story, I guess it falls more under a memoir.  The author is married to a French man and they live in Vancouver with their two young daughters.  They decide to spend a year in France and this book follows the food rules she discovered in France.  Their food culture is drastically different than ours; no snacking, 2 hour long meals, kids eating strange sounding vegetables without crying about it.  She talks about how she got her own kids to be more adventurous and how she went from a fast food mindset to a slow food mindset.  I couldn't help but notice all the people that eat in their cars or give fussy kids food (myself included) to keep them quiet.  All big no no's in France.  I thought this was very interesting and I really liked how honest she was about the things she tried and what worked for her girls and what didn't.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

I started this book a couple of years ago but never finished it.  This is another book following a family's food journey.  This time, the family decides to only eat food that is in season locally.  A big part of me longs for the days of big family farms where you knew where your food came from.  Our little garden isn't nearly big enough to really feed us all Summer, let alone all year, but I wish it was.  I loved this book and thought it was really inspiring.  I originally thought this would be just about eating local, but it  really is about farming, raising animals, gardening, recipes, and supporting local farmers; all things that make my heart go pitter patter.  She really educated me on all parts of our food industry and what it does to the farms that are feeding us.  The author is obviously passionate about food and where it comes from. And I'll never look at buying bananas the same.

Save Me by Lisa Scottoline

This is June's book club pick for our group.  It's my turn to host and since I had to have my last turn at a resturaunt due to our crazy traveling last Fall, I'm super excited.  I've got a few fun themed ideas which makes me a bit giddy.

I bought this randomly at Target a couple months ago and thought it would be a good book to discuss so I saved it for book club.  It's the story of a mom who volunteers at her daughter's school.  Her daughter is being bullied and she wants to keep an eye on her.  While she's volunteering there is an explosion at the school.  She ends up being highly persecuted for the way she responds to getting the students out.  About half of the book is about the way the community responds to the explosion and to her, the second half turns into more of a who done it kind of mystery.  The first half I liked, even though it did have me spitting mad at times.  The second half I had to suspend all reality to read it.  It wraps everything up well at the end and the chapters are like two pages which I love.  I think book club will be fun with this pick.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

Now, my reads were good this month, but Josie's read aloud takes the cake (except we aren't eating cake unless it's in season).  After we finished the Mercy Watson series, we had a couple duds that just didn't take off.  So I asked a few online friends to send me their recommendations for 6 year olds.  This one was at the top of the list and it was totally perfect.  Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is an older lady that has a special way with kids.  Think Super Nanny meets magic fairy.  In this book, each chapter focuses on a different childhood issue (not sharing, talking back, not eating your dinner).  The parent calls in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to help and she has some creative ways to teach kids to do the right thing.  Josie and I both laughed a lot in this one.  The chapters are a bit long, but I didn't mind staying up later to read since I was enjoying it too.  This is the first in the series and I can't wait to go get the next one.  I think that this will be a perfect gateway into constant read alouds for us.