That Yucky Banana in the Freezer

Why is there always yucky black bananas in the freezer, Mama?, Ana had asked a couple of years ago.

She was not convinced with my answer then:
To make delicious smoothies!

Smoothies - any time of day, any amount, in lieu of a meal - Ana enjoys them. Oggie will try a sip of it (as that is the house rule) before he generously offers, "You can have my smoothie, Mama".

This summer Ana started making her own smoothies. Very simple recipes. Fresh berries picked from the farm, or frozen ones, pears/currants/raspberries from the backyard, peaches, nectarines, some plain non-fat yogurt, some fat free milk, and "don't forget" frozen bananas, sometimes a pinch of ground cinnamon, maybe a drop of vanilla essence, and if we are indulgent maybe even a bit of brown sugar.

I operate the blender, of course, or rather, hold the lid down and let her turn the knob. Don't want to be scrubbing walls and ceiling for days...

Be it Strawberry Banana Smoothie or Spiced Banana Breakfast Shake, it is always nice to have that black-spotted mushy banana sitting handy in the freezer.

Summer has been an explosion of cooking expeditions for Ana. I cannot take all the credit for it. She did go for a 2-week camp where she made all kinds of goodies like pizza from scratch and burritos and muffins and such, not to mention salads and vinaigrette earlier in school.

Before those 2 camp weeks however, D and I have enlisted her assistance in the kitchen on and off for the past couple of years. Much like I became a sous chef in my mom's home kitchen around six.

D prepares pizza from scratch, making it look fun and easy. So, Ana always assists him, wanting to "decorate" her half of the "kids pizza". Be it Home-garden Zucchini bread or Home-made pasta, Ana has shown interest in not just helping but learning how to do it herself.

This little contraption my parents gave me for finely chopping vegetables has become her favorite tool. Me, I find it faster to use my trusted knife and chop away. So, this tool was simply sitting there until Ana expressed interest. Simply toss in coarsely chopped chunks of veggies - especially onions, carrots, cabbage, beets - turn the handle and watch the tiny minced bits of veggies falling to the bottom. Violà!

Not sure how long the enthusiastic "What else can I chop for you, Mama?" will last, but as long as it does, I have no reservations putting her to work.

Over summer Oggie has turned out to be a bit of a helper in the kitchen: putting the dishes away, packing snacks, sweeping/mopping spills and such. Jumping up to fulfill simple tasks when I ask, Can you help me fill the small container with nuts - all the way full to the top? Can you help put 20 crackers in this container to pack with us for the park?

Of course he is free to say, "Not at this time, Mama. I can help you later." And am sure he will once in a while, after the novelty wears off. And then again, maybe he won't.

But, for now, when Ana spies the leopard-like banana in the fruit basket, she reminds me to put them in the freezer so we can make smoothies later, Mama!

Monkey Business, Ballroom Bonanza, Jungle Drums

Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards

Jungle Drums by Graeme base

Ballroom Bonanza A Hidden Pictures ABC Book by Nina Rycroft

What do these books have in common?

According to my 6 year old daughter, they are the best kind of books I like to read sometimes...

Why?

Because they have hidden pictures that we have to discover, and they are so fun!

Wallace Edwards is not a stranger in our house. Thanks to Nana, who added Edwards' books to our bookshelf over the years, Alphabeasts is much-loved and rather popular in our house, and not just with the kids.

Painted Circus by Edwards is another big hit with Ana as it is full of optical illusions. I remember reading about how Edwards plays with language and art to inspire kids to think differently.

Monkey Business was Ana's top-favorite for about a week, reaching for it every night at bedtime, where finding the monkey hidden in each page was as much fun as poring over the illustrations and figuring out the meaning of the text, not just literally.

IDIOM: a group of words whose meaning cannot be understood from the meaning of the individual words; an expression, peculiar to specific language, that cannot be translated literally.

Thus starts this gorgeously illustrated book full of visual pun and action. Each page presents an idiom in a simple sentence, but with rich yet comical illustrations that easily amused and entertained the resident 6-yo.

"Not again", sighed Owen. "It isn't easy being a bull in a china shop." shows a well-dressed gentleman of a bull with a ring at the end of his nose, one shoe untied, his cane and horns hooked into assorted urns and vases on the shelves, his hand stuck in a rather ornate jug, all entangled without intention.

Phil had no formal musical training, so he learned to play by ear. shows a droopy-eared long-faced dog, Phil, sitting on the sidewalk with two bones in his tip jar, playing a violin with his two long ears while two little mice sit in rapt attention cheering him, presumably.

I better leave the rest for the readers to experience first-hand. The book gave me the opportunity to introduce these idioms and phrases to Ana, explain the meaning easily, and let her connect the dots.

Incidentally, her first encounter with metaphors and phrases which don't mean much if we add up the meaning of the individual words themselves but have become part of our speech by what they convey in toto, was through the book Butterflies in my Stomach and Other School Hazards by Serge Bloch. "I have butterflies in my stomach", "I don't want to open that can of worms" and such might not mean much initially, but, with the stark yet comical pen-and-ink drawings Bloch has brought out the literal meaning of the words along with the emotions they convey.

Moving on, Jungle Drums by Graeme Base came into our lives after our fascination with Water Hole. By now, children around the world are probably familiar with the Swahili words for the animals of the savanna - Simba (Lion), Punda Milia (Striped Donkey aka Zebra), Kifuru (Rhino), Chui (Leopard) and Tembo (Elephant).

Jungle Drums is about a tiny warthog (Ngiri) who gets teased all the time and wants it to stop. Nyumbu (Wildebeest) gives him a set of magical bongos telling him that it will make his wishes come true. "Just remember, wishes can come true, but not always as you expect.", she says with a twinkle in her eye.

The unexpected happenings make up the rest of the book, until things get back to normal and Ngiri is not teased anymore.

Each page has Nyumbu hidden in the picture. Spotting her is the extra challenge in this book. I admit, I failed miserably. A wisp of a ghost-like projection somewhere in the far horizon, a suggestion of a face hidden among the bushes... it takes a keen eye to spot the wildebeest in each page. Ana found them all, rather rubbing it in my face, inviting me to spot them with her and saying helpful things like, "Oh this one jumps out at you, it is too easy Mama, come on don't take so long!"

The illustrations certainly have the Graeme Base touch, colorful, lush, imaginative. Ana's favorite (and mine) was the page where the Other Animals lose their stunning spots and striking stripes, impressive horns and curly trunks but the warthogs acquire them.

Ballroom Bonanaza by Nina Rycroft is a random pick from the library, after noticing how much Ana liked books with hidden visual images. And it turned out to be an instant hit.

In the famous town of Blackpool,
Each October, you will find
Gathered in the Tower Ballroom
Animals of every kind.

It's a dancing competition.
Who will win the prize this year?
Let us watch as keen contenders
Alphabetically appear.

Thus starts this book that runs from A to Z showcasing affluent alpacas, bears in boleros all the way to zebras who can dance the zapateado. Of course, as with all abecedary books, I am curious about what represents u, w, x and the book had a clever solution.

U is an ungainly letter,
lacking possibilities:
Hence the jitterbugging ugwumps.
(We have just invented these.)

The front and back inside covers show pictures of 26 instruments like kettledrum, guiro, castanets along with bassoon, cello, violin, saxophone and such, each of which is hidden in the pictures on the pages of the book. The challenge is to spot the instrument that completely blends with the action and props in the picture.

In addition, most letters introduce a dance form: camels doing the conga, donkeys demonstrating the disco, elephants belly-dancing, flamingos dancing the flamenco and so on with swans doing the samba, turkeys doing the twist. I learnt about few new dances through this book: Zapateado, Watusi, Nutbush and promptly looked them up to share with Ana.

Oggie was certainly fascinated with Jungle Drums, choosing it often for bedtime read, but was not quite ready to delve into the joys that Monkey Business and Ballroom Bonanza had to offer. After over a year in our bookshelf, Ana just now seemed ready for these books with her explosion in language skills over summer.

And, thanks to these books, Ana took her bland-old coloring activity to a new level. Be it Alice or Cheshire Cat, Asterix or Unicorn, rather than just coloring them in, she started adding a smiley face/flower/star with a dark marker somewhere in the picture, and colored over it with crayons, then challenged me to find the hidden picture. As a natural progression, she started adding these touches to drawings she does as well.

I am sure there are many more such treasures. I remember Look-Alikes Around the World by Joan Steiner and similar books a while back that we liked, which presented creative images with hidden objects to find. Books like these seem to have a universal appeal, regardless of age.

[image source: amazon.com]

Cross-posted at Saffron Tree

Kids Craft: Bits of Paper Greeting Cards

One of the skills Oggie started working on this Summer is Cutting (Paper) with Scissors. He still has quite a ways to go before we try complex cutting exercises, but, it is a nice activity for developing fine motor skills at 3-ish.

Whether I was ready or not he seemed ready for it. Every time Ana did her art/craft work involving cutting this summer, he started observing her keenly, trying to imitate her. So, I finally set up an activity tray with the required materials for him to do it any time he wants.

I remember Ana at about 3-ish was also working on her Cutting skills. She seemed quiet and steady, rather focused and involved in her activity. Oggie seems more effervescent and chatty in comparison, while still enjoying his activity.



And to make the cutting activity more fun and to not waste the bits of paper, we decided to make simple greeting cards, with Oggie doing most of the work and me adding the finishing touches.

Og has done quite a bit of gluing so far, sometimes just for fun, sometimes to assist me, and sometimes to make greeting cards like Valentine Cards, Penguin Holiday Cards.

The dozen-odd cards came about over several cutting and gluing sessions. Some days he likes to work on this activity for up to an hour cutting and gluing with intense focus, some days just cutting 3 or 4 colorful strips into bits, some days just gluing the bits he has saved and so on. I turn them into greeting cards as and when I find time.

Items Used: Construction paper (various colors), kid-safe paper-cutting scissors, glue stick, card stock paper (various colors from remnant stacks), printed messages like 'Thank You', 'Happy Birthday'

I save leftover bits from Ana's collage work, one-side printed papers and such hoping to use them later. I have a dedicated shoebox for collecting colorful scraps of paper. Also, assorted plain or printed paper stacks are on sale on and off - office supply store or craft store usually have them for marked-down prices as these are basically little pieces of paper that they cannot sell otherwise.

Preparation: Snip the colored construction papers (or any other colorful paper) into ½-inch or 1-inch wide strips about 5 or 6 inches long so the small hands can handle it better. Or, cut uneven fringes on a piece of paper so that a single successful cut by the child can generate many bits of paper at once. Have a few 3x4 or 4x4 or 4x5 inch plain pieces of paper handy for sticking the bits of paper onto.

1. Let the child practise cutting the strips of paper into smaller bits. They need not be uniform. Thinner paper makes it easier for the beginners to cut (and feel successful) so I use just colorful copy paper or bond paper or construction paper. Og didn't like the non-uniform fringe paper I had prepared so we went with the strips of paper
2. The child can apply glue to a square or rectangular plain piece of paper and stick these cut bits of paper. With Ana and now Og, I find that it is less frustrating for them to apply the glue stick over a larger area rather than try to apply glue to each bit of paper and stick it on. The bits to glue on can be monochromatic or colorful, I left that to Og and he did both
   
3. Glue stick seems less cumbersome and easier to use for small hands; liquid white school glue is messier and harder to control for Og. However, with Ana I remember that diluted white glue with a brush to apply it worked better. Oggie just spills it and makes a mess.
4. Allow to dry. Trim this Mosaic piece of paper to desired size for greeting card.
   
   
5. Mount this trimmed piece of Mosaic paper on colorful cardstock slightly larger to have a contrasting border
   
   
6. Glue this to the front of a folded greeting card.
   
   
7. Have the child glue a printed message inside et Voila!
   
   

With Ana, I used to draw an outline of a simple object - like robot, jack-o-lantern, flowers - and have her glue the bits of paper to bring out the image of the object.

The Little Patch of Earth

I remember thinking how beautiful the radish flowers are with their lovely lilacs and stark whites as I watched them get taller and wilder till they finally went to seed.

Over the years, considering what it has offered in terms of intangible lessons and returns, I'd emphatically say it is well worth it. Home-Gardening, I mean.

Knowing how plants grow, where our food comes from, how to care for the earth, composting, recycling, plant diseases, interdependence of nature's creatures, soil nutrition, harvesting, bugs and their role in the garden and suchlike are, at some level, hands-on for the kids, allowing me to learn a lot in the process as well.

Many simple and surprising recipes have come out of the home-garden harvest.

One of the lasting lessons for the kids has been composting. Organic waste goes into the compost bin in the kitchen, which dutifully gets emptied into the Earth Machine in the backyard. Og at 3 now knows banana peel doesn't go in the trash, we put it for composting in our home.

If harvesting the weed-like oregano and mint and fennel and rosemary and lavender from the garden gives me pleasure, it makes me ecstatic to get the squashes and green beans and eggplants and chards and lettuce and onions and tomatoes and radishes and potatoes and peas from the home garden.

Ana likes to to help with the harvesting. Please get me 20 green beans and 8 mint leaves, Ana, I call from the kitchen and she chimes OK, Mama from the backyard, searching around for a basket. Og likes to pick what little raspberries and chards he can find and munch on them as he wanders around the backyard, looking around for worms and ladybugs.

We still need to buy vegetables from the markets - it is not like we are self-sufficient with a teeny patch of backyard garden. That isn't the goal at all.

With nothing other than passion to support my fantasy of a thriving backyard mini-farm, and no stamina or in-depth knowledge to sustain the vegetable gardening year-round, even if the weather permits, which it doesn't where I live, I make the most of the few months from April to September, knowing that a greenhouse is out of my limits for now. No cute duck ponds, native flora and fauna coexisting in our backyard. Yet.

It is possible that this passion might get put in the back-burner as kids grow older and my reserves of energy seem better utlilized elsewhere... but for now, I am glad to be invited to an impromptu picnic by Ana where she prepares her truly original delicacy: Garden-fresh Raspberry Stuffed with Red Currants.

My indoor plant dreams are somewhat throttled by the Chew-Anything-Green policy our kitties have adopted since kittenhood. Even if they have pots of their kitty grass all over the house they seem to take pleasure in chewing up the money plant and peace lily leaves and puking them out all over the house. Of course, what am I if I cannot outsmart a kitty with hanging pots?

Garden 2006 started with peas and strawberries and rhubarb in Spring, as usual. Then, it was mostly eggplants (many varieties), winter squashes, bell peppers, chilies, tomatoes, my favorites.

Garden 2007 was mostly the same as 2006, with a variety of lettuce and some onions and potatoes. And the grapevine finally establishing and bearing fruit.

Garden 2008 didn't see much of me at planting season, what with Oggie's arrival and all. Little girl Ana was a big help that year. D tried many varieties of tomatoes and peppers and sqaushes which are easy to grow, plus cauliflower. That was fun for us all to watch the cauliflower grow. Cleaning and using it was a bit tedious but c'est la vie with organic gardening. Oh, and Scallop Squash - my favorite summer squash - we had a bunch of it that year.

Garden 2009 is a slight bit of a blur for me as I was in India that whole summer. D said he planted corn and tomatoes and squashes as usual. That was the year we had a bounty of grapes, pears and plums - I remember coming back from India and enjoying the fruits.

Garden 2010 had the staples again - peas, onions, radishes, tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, eggplant, chilies, spinach, lettuce, rainbow chards... as does Garden 2011.

This year looks like a couple of our squashes cross-pollinated or something - a weird butternut- squash shaped thin-skinned summer squash has sprung up which neither D nor I remember planting. It is still growing so we'll have to wait to see what it turns into.

The usual perennials like rhubarb, mint, fennel, rosemary and such come up despite my neglect, but, planting the annuals each year has been quite a learning experience for us all.

We let the radishes and onions go to seed and saved the seeds from last year for planting this year.

We let the fennel go to seed even though it is a perennial, and collected the wonderful fennel seeds. I toast them and save them for soothing the tummy and freshening the breath after meals.

Seed Saving and Organic Gardening. Romantic and possibly Affected as they sound, seems to be a way of life for many today.

When Ana declares, I am going to have a large farm and a house in it, with sheep and ducks and chicken, and adds, You and Papa can come and stay with me, Mama; Og too if he wants, it feels like if nothing else, all that sweat and weeding at least served to impress one young mind. Possibly two. Three, including me, who was a city girl growing up with potted indoor plants for the most part.

Happy Raksha Bandhan!

There's something beautiful about relationships. What is it that ties us together? Why do we feel emotionally close to some, more so than others? Does sharing the same parents automatically sustain the bonds of love we establish with our siblings? Can two total strangers establish this sort of a sibling relationship despite not having same parent(s)?

One of the charming sentiments of the festival of Raksha Bandhan is the celebration of a sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and a brother's solemn promise to protect and care for her as best as he can.

As a symbol of this commitment to each other, the sister ties a Rakhi on her brother's wrist, which he wears proudly.

And, it transcends blood relationships. The tying of the Rakhi by the girl and the acceptance of it by the boy establishes this brother-sister relationships even among total strangers.

Of course, when I was growing up, my brother did not like sporting the Rakhi, so, I just gave him a present or a hand-made card on and off. It was not a big deal in our family as we had established other ways of affirming our love and respect for each other.

But, now that Ana and Og are old enough, we decided to celebrate the Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan as it happens to be today.

Ana made a friendship bracelet with 6-strand cotton embroidery floss: tied a knot on one end, attached it to a knob on the kitchen drawer and tried her best at braiding uniformly.

Then, we had a small ceremony for tying the Rakhi bracelet.

Of course, what with the nasty cold, the many scrapes and bruises he accumulated just in the last few days (he has been particularly accident-prone the last few days, not sure why), and the fever he woke up with early this morning, Og was not in a great mood. So, we kept the ceremony short.

And soon after, as his cranky mood kept escalating, he fixated on the new bracelet and declared, "I don't want to wear this friendship bracelet, Mama. Can I please take it off now?"

I had to respect that, so off it came. Which is fine. He might decide to wear it again. Or not.

Ana liked making it. Og let her tie it. Which is more than I expected to happen.

Speaking of friendship bracelets, it seems like Ana has got on the bandwagon just now as she hit the right age to be able to make it. She has been making quite a few. Even a friendship anklet which she made for herself and wears on her ankle.

Her Aunt had given her a Friendship Bracelet Kit a few months back. It seemed a bit too complicated to use the loom in the kit. But now that she has been making a few simple twisted or braided thread ones, we might be ready for the loom.

Happy Raksha Bandhan Wishes to all the brothers (and sisters)!!

Kids Craft: Tie-Dye using natural dyes

Inspired by all the natural dyes she has been using for tie-dyeing at school, Ana was itching to do more over the weekend.

I used black bean water in school for the beautiful light purple, Mama.
Oh, and I am working with Marigold for the yellow dye...

What else can I use at home, Mama?
she asked, adding,
I really want to do my own tie-dye project now.

Hmmm... what else... I thought sipping my sweetened hibiscus tea. The lovely rich burgundy red hibiscus tea. Made with dried hibiscus flowers that I buy in bulk from a Mexican market.

The unassuming yet gorgeous Hibiscus flowers which were all over the garden when I was growing up. The flowers mostly used as a hair cleanser. Shikakai and Hibiscus flowers/leaves were all I had for my hair wash when I was very young. No fancy bottled shampoos - they came into my life during my teens.

Dried Hibiscus Flowers
+ Hot Water
+ Rubber Bands
+ 12" Square Muslin Cloth
= One Cool Lunch Napkin

Not the rich burgundy napkin as the tea naturally but a pleasant dusty rose. Soaked for about 20 minutes - the limit of Ana's patience that day. Hung on the clothesline for about 15 minutes under the blazing sun till mostly dry. Raw edges sewed up in 5 minutes.

I've done quite a bit of tie-dyeing on and off (Who hasn't, really? At least from my generation...), but not with natural dyes. We hope to be exploring more natural dyes as we go along...

Funny Frank

Funny Frank
by Dick King-Smith
illustrations by John Eastwood

Ronald Gordon King-Smith, OBE, aka Dick King-Smith, is probably a household name for the lovers of Babe: The Gallant Pig and The Water Horse, two beautiful books that inspired the corresponding much-loved movies.

A lovely homage post by my friend and "Senior Cohort" at ST helped me earmark his books for Ana's reading list. We are working our way through the set of Sophie books.

But, the first Dick King-Smith book Ana and I read together is Funny Farm. It's about a cockerel chick who wants to be a duck. He desperately wants to swim but not having webbed feet and waterproof feathers he is unable to.

Luckily for him, there's Jemima Tabb the farmer's daughter, who, with the help of her super seamstress mother and veterinarian Uncle Ted, manages to help him get webbed feet and waterproof body. How, you ask? Well, the book makes it all clear :)

There's slight bit of humor in the happenings, there's quite a bit of drama what with Gertie (Frank's mom), Mildred (Gertie's busybody friend) and the fox at the end, there's a spark of love when Funny Frank meets Speckled Gorgeous, and plenty of heart in this plain and uncomplicated narration that seamlessly weaves human and human-like animal interactions with interesting perspectives.

Parts of it may seem uncomfortable for today's conscientious parent, but, kids growing up on a farm am sure will be in tune with birth, life, death, mating and other ways of the animals. I loved the portrayal of Gertie as a prim and proper ladylike hen who finds it inappropriate when her friend Mildred barges in while she is laying her morning egg.

All's well that ends well. Frank manages to save his mom's life and get back in her good books after she internally disowns him for wanting to be a duck and not the proud cockerel he is supposed to be. Frank gives up his dream of being a duck and settles down with Gorgeous.

The book ends with a certain charm as Frank longingly looks at quacking ducks in the pond with Gorgeous by his side tossing her head and declaring, "Poor things! Sploshing about in that cold stuff. Why, water should be only for drinking!"

Can't go to Massachusetts and not try Lobster

Kids' first time being at such close quarters with these creatures. Well, actually, they've peered at lobsters through a glass wall in the New England Aquarium, especially the rare and beautiful Blue Lobster.

But, to touch and feel, and maybe even taste it at home, well, this is truly their first time, thanks to the recent Magical Month in Massachusetts.

I am not much of a seafood fan. If my nose can co-operate with my stomach, I might be able to bring myself to try a generous bite of many different foods someday...

What a shame, I hear D muttering on and off, despite the fantastic array of foods he gets to eat anyway.

Well, what did the kids think of it? Ana said, "it smells like the ocean", and Oggie said, "it is orange!"

Steamed lobster meat with bell peppers and onions in a light sauce with butter and herbs.

The kids did try a goodish bite before deciding they are not quite ready for it.

Me, I am a happy eating vegetables for the most part and believe one should do what makes one happy. (Within reason).

The Songs of Wild Birds

The Songs of Wild Birds
(Book and CD)
by Lang Elliott

Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Ages: 0+ (CD), All ages

Not often do I come across non-fiction books on Creatures of Nature, not targeted for children, that manage to capture and impress both the 3 and the 6 year old. And, blow me away at the same time.

Well-known sound recordist, writer and photographer Lang Elliott has exercised his magic all over us, or rather, I should say his Song Birds have.

This book and CD combination is a treasure for bird lovers, especially lovers of song birds native to North America.

The Songs of Wild Birds book has full page photos of 50 native songs birds, with one page description of each of the birds' calls and habits. That in itself might not have held the attention of the 3 year old, but the accompanying Audio CD certainly did.

With his gentle voice and unassuming tone, Lang Elliott introduces us to the world of beautiful music in nature, made by the wild song birds.

When I was young, song birds used to conjure up images of nightingales, warblers, jays, singing melodies somewhere out in the wilderness, even if I had no idea what the birds looked like other than the illustrations I had chanced upon in rare picture books.

Thanks to Ana's teacher, who pointed us to this book, both Ana and Og have actively learnt about some of the native birds, why they sing their songs, what exactly is their song, and how to identify some of the birds and their calls.

Judging by the fact that from the first week of June to-date of listening to the hour-plus CD daily in part or whole - either during commute or at bedtime, or simply for an afternoon Quiet Time, along with the book in hand turning the page to match the bird that Elliott shares in the CD - I am convinced this book sure seems magical to my 6-year old.

Especially when it came right at the heels of our own backyard wild birds study, particularly the Northern Flicker.

And, when I hear, "That looks like a Common Loon, Mama" or, "I think I heard a Red-Tailed Hawk screech, Mama" from the 3 year old when we are out in the trail nearby, I smile quietly, thanking Lang Elliott for introducing my kids to something beautiful. Even if there are no Red-tailed Hawks nearby and it was probably the call of a jay.

What is your favorite bird call? has been a frequent question at home for the past few weeks. And the kids' answer changes week to week depending on the mood. "My favorite is the Black-throated Green Warbler, Mama" says Ana, while Oggie chimes in, "My favorite is Barred Owl, Mama, he says Who Cooks For You?".

And sure enough, Lang Elliott makes it easy to remember some of the distinct sounds of these wild birds by providing a verbal/textual equivalent.

What's mine, you ask? Well, my all-time forever favorite from this book of 50 bird calls is that of the American Bittern. No contest. The sound-recording in the CD is amazing (compared to the youtube link here, I mean) - the oong-ka-choonk is so unique that it is hard to mistake it for any other call. And, the fact that the American Bittern is fondly nicknamed "thunder pumper" makes it hard to not pick this as my favorite.

The trivia that Elliott peppers the CD with did not go unnoticed. I heard Ana, on more than one occasion, state excitedly to whoever happens to pay attention at that time, that while her favorite is the Bald Eagle, its call is not. And proceed to elaborate:

"It makes a funny chirping sound. The movie people got it wrong. They play a screeching scary bird call and show the bald eagle up in the sky. It is actually the red-tailed hawk that makes that screeching sound. Red-tailed Hawks often fly near where Bald Eagles fly".

Of course, not that this in itself is not plenty, but, what made this book extra special to me is that it inspired Ana to draw these birds. She is not exactly a gifted drawing artist, although I believe drawing comes with training; but, she loves to draw, color, paint, make art, and that's what matters to me. Not the end product. At least, not at this time.

So, when she picks up the book, turns to a favorite page, and tries to draw the bird on the white board with a limited palette of markers, I wait till she is done and start clicking them before she erases that one and moves on to another one she'd like to try her hand at.

So what if her Seeder Waxwing doesn't quite look the original or her goldfinch is orange and black, right?

Lang Elliott has brought out many books along similar vein. Visit Lang Elliott's Books site for details. Along with his friends he has established a non-profit called The Music of Nature, which is, "dedicated to celebrating nature through the presentation of powerful media, especially high definition videos, sound recordings, photographs, and associated text."