Favorite Books

I've thought for some time that I needed to publish a list of my favorite books. Here goes! I will start with my current favorites and list even my favorite picture books from my childhood and those that I became familiar with as a teacher. The list of books I want to read will have to wait until I have more time. Here it is:

Favorites:
• Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp, by Jerry Stanley
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach
• The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, by himself, of course
• The History of Joseph Smith (by his Mother), by Lucy Mack Smith
• The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Hearts & Homes, by James L. Ferrell
• Reframing Organizations, by Bolman and Deal
• My American Journey, by Colin Powell & Joseph E. Persico
• Children of Topaz, by Michael O. Tunnell & George Chilcoat
• The Man Who Listens to Horses, by Monty Roberts
• The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease
• As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen
• Peter Pan, by James M. Barrie
• Positive Discipline, by Jane Nelson



Adolescent Literature:
• Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
• Woodsong, by Gary Paulsen
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
• Matilda, by Roald Dahl
• Danny the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl
• The Giver, by Lois Lowry
• Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
• Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• A Year Down Yonder, by Richard Peck
• My Life in Dog Years, by Gary Paulsen
• James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
• Brian's Winter, by Gary Paulsen

Picture Books:

• A Fly Went By, by Mike McClintock
• The Book of Giant Stories, by David L. Harrison (with great pictures by Philippe Fix)
• The Wretched Stone, by Chris Van Allsburg
• Cyrus, the Unsinkable Sea Serpent, by Bill Peet
• Cowardly Clyde, by Bill Peet
• Big, Bad, Bruce, by Bill Peet
• The Ant and the Elephant, by Bill Peet
• The Wump World, by Bill Peet
• The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock, by Bill Peet
• The Flying Hockey Stick, by Jolly Roger Bradfield
• The Empty Pot, by Demi
• Hop on Pop, by Dr. Seuss
• Sneetches on the Beaches, by Dr. Seuss
• Arrow to the Sun, by Gerald McDermott
• Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
• All the Places to Love, by Patricia Maclachlan

More later! Books in each section are roughly in order, with most favorable favorites at the top.

"Read. Read like a wolf eats." - Gary Paulsen, author

White Elephants

Thought I'd share some funny things from Christmas last year, courtesy of Andrew, my brother. He's a pretty good writer, as are some of my other siblings. I'll throw in a few pictures that he and I took. To explain, we had a white elephant exchange- in part because my oldest brother, Spencer, had the funny item of temporarily stealing several old, unused items with which the family was very familiar, or in some cases, unfamiliar- and wrapping them up as gifts.

The "gifts?" Well, they started with some items from Dad's "office." A little bust of Bach, a book on how to raise boys and solve the Rubik's cube. From there it went to a giant pair of over-sized shears and Dad's old broken .22 rifle. Even better we retrieved from the back porch the "bag balm" from our dairy cow days. It was still in the same "cubby" where it had sat for years. I couldn't believe it when I looked- and there it was! Apparently the grand prize was an old trout that Nathan, Kimball, or Dad had caught and put in the freezer so many years ago that I think that it was actually freeze-dried and weighed only a fraction of what it should have weighed.


Andrew's response to Kimball's e-mail below (another brother):

Family,
I'll be their both nights... I think singing from one door to another would be sufficient for all to feel a bit of the Spirit. I'm down with white elephants (something cheap or homemade) ...and no frozen rainbow trout.

Later,
Kimball Clark

Andrew's response:
It wasn't frozen Kimball, it was a patented and time-honored method of freeze-drying.

I looked it up on the internet:

"This aging and freezing process begins in the highland ponds of Farmington, Utah in North America and can only be duplicated with years of patience and experience as the free-range, fresh water trout is hooked, gutted –or not– and wrecklessly glazed with a fine layer of Reynolds aluminum or plastic by native fisherman ensuring proper 'airination'.
The delicacy then begins the age-old 'freezage' (freez-ahhhge) process which can take well up to 20 years. During this time-honored process, the trout, bovine tounge or occasional raccoon produces a flavor that cannot be replicated in any other way.
Moved randomly from shelf several times each decade, the delicacies are enveloped, airinated and imbued by quarts of turkey juices with bits of celery, bottles of bacon greases and bags of yeast infusing and enhancing the original meat flavors with our own unique recipe that can only be replicated by sucking on an old ice tray or licking the frozen juices that accumulate over the years in the bottom of your freezer.
The prized meat delicacies are then gifted and received with jubilant squeals of delight from the benefactor and the envious eyes of covetousness of all others as gifts are exchanged with loved ones gathered during frigid holiday months."