Maw Books » Non-Fiction

It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff by Peter Walsh

Natasha Maw — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 09:32:26 +0000

A few years back I went to a home show for one and one reason only: Peter Walsh. He was the guy they were marketing to get people in the door and boy, did he get me in the door. At that time I had already read his book It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff and knew that he was one smart cookie. I loved his philosophy about the relationship that we have with our stuff. His short seminar that he gave that day was worth every penny. He was hilarious! I simply loved everything about him.

Earlier this year, I got the bug to get rid of stuff! And one when gets that urging, it should under no circumstances be ignored. Take advantage of it while you can. So I pulled out It’s All Too Much and read it again. And I loved it again. Peter Walsh just makes so much sense.

This isn’t a book about how to organize your sock drawer (although it might be mentioned) but rather it’s a book about our relationship with our stuff. And that by changing our relationship with our stuff then the process of decluttering and organizing our possessions comes much easier. We can take control of our stuff rather then the stuff controlling us.

When we have emotions tied to objects then it makes getting rid of those objects hard. But is it about the object itself or is it about the memory associated with that object? Which is more important? And if something is so important to us why are we treating it with such disrespect shoved and broken in the back of a closet or in a moldy basement? He says that one of the most common errors when attempting to organize and declutter is to start with “the stuff.” Clearing the clutter isn’t about “the stuff.”

Peter Walsh asks us what type of life do we want to live?

Imagine the life you want to live. I cannot think of a sentence that has had more impact on the lives of the people I have worked with. I’ll repeat it again: Imagine the life you want to live. Life is never perfect, but we all have unique visions of the lives we wish were ours. When clutter fills your home, not only does it block your space, but it also blocks your vision. . . . It’s a deceptively simple question and one that we seldom ask: “What is the life you want? “

And what I love about this book is that it is not overwhelming. Imagine trying to tackle decluttering our entire house at the same time. It makes me want to go back to bed. It makes me want to go watch an episode of Hoarders so I’ll feel good about my housekeeping abilities. But Peter Walsh has everything set up step by step so that we start out with small victories and then take on larger tasks.

Once you decide what kind of vision you want for you and your family, then it’s time to start tackling the surface clutter. He gives specific ways on how to do this and then moves through the house room by room: master bedroom, kids’ rooms, family and living rooms, home office, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, garage, basement and other storerooms. He then addresses how to stay on top of the clutter, daily, monthly and yearly maintenance and what happens if you relapse.

But what I love so much about this book is that I just didn’t read it, tell myself well, that sounds like good stuff and then just go on with life. I actually did change the way I viewed my house and the stuff in it. I actually started to apply the advice that he gave. And seriously, what a difference! I hardly give a second thought to throwing away or giving away stuff that simply doesn’t matter. I feel freer having less stuff to deal with.

But I’ll also be completely honest. I’m by no means perfect. I have a really hard time with the daily clutter. Keeping up with my dishes, the laundry, and picking up the toys. Do I get stressed when somebody knocks on my door? Sadly, I do. My house is often not clean enough to feel comfortable inviting somebody in. Always something to work on right?

I haven’t read any of Peter Walsh’s other books but I’m thinking that as I like his style, I definitely should. If you need an easy to read, step by step book to help you you tackle the clutter and live a richer life with less stuff, than It’s All Too Much is the book that will help you get there.

What about you? How do you deal with the clutter? Any other Peter Walsh fans out there?

Links of interest: Peter Walsh website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Organizational Self-Help
Publisher: Free Press. December 12, 2006
Hardcover, 240 pages. ISBN 0743292642
It’s All Too Much is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement by Irene Spencer

Natasha Maw — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:00:10 +0000

Forgive me for using the book jacket description for Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement by Irene Spencer. I am so backlogged in the number of reviews I need to write and I’m finding that often it is the summary that slows me down. When I sat down to begin to write this one out I became so overwhelmed. So book jacket it is.

In Shattered Dreams, Irene Spencer told the devastating story of her arduous life in a polygamous fundamentalist Mormon sect [Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times], sharing her husband with nine other women (and fifty-six children) in abject poverty and intense mental and emotional anguish. As harrowing as the story was, it was only just the beginning.

Cult Insanity delves deeper into her story, focusing on the terrifying acts of Ervil LeBaron,, her brother-in-law and a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he had been called to set the house of God in order.

The older brother of Irene’s husband, Verlan, Ervil LeBaron had a zeal for living and teaching that was at first admired but soon took on a sinister tone. Ervil’s ambitions quickly turned lethal when he uncovered a doctrine concerning blood atonement – the act of redeeming a sinners soul by taking his or her life. Seeing himself as God’s Avenger, he used the role as a means to terrorize and destroy those who challenged him.

Irene quickly became enveloped in a dark cloud of fear and anguish. Survival for herself and her ever-growing family turned into a constant flight from one desert camp to another across the harsh badlands of Baja, California. Food was scarce and living conditions abhorrent. Irene didn’t see her husband for months, never knowing if Ervil would make good on his vow to kill him.

I previously read Irene Spencer’s first memoir, Shattered Dreams, My Life as a Polygamist, two years ago and called it one of the best books I’d read all year. While I would recommend that you read Shattered Dreams first, Cult Insanity can easily be read as a stand alone. Where Shattered Dreams focuses more on the intimate details of Irene’s feelings about living life as a polygamist, Cult Insanity dives deeper into the politics of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times and the LaBaron family.

There are a lot of people to account for in Cult Insanity and Irene jumps around a lot in her telling, making the not linear account sometimes a bit difficult to keep track of. But the account that she gives is as the title aptly calls it, pure insanity. Just like Shattered Dreams, I couldn’t put this book down. Shattered Dreams felt a bit more personal to me and thus I liked it a bit more. Don’t get me wrong though, this book was just one bit as interesting and also just as appalling.

Even as I continue to read these types of memoirs, I never cease to be shocked with what kind of behavior goes on behind closed communities. If interested in polygamy and religious extremist groups and wanting to read a personal, firsthand experience about life among the LeBaron group then Cult Insanity is the book for you.

Links of interest: Irene Spencer website, Maw Books review of Shattered Dreams, My Life as a Polygamist, more book blogger reviews. Other polygamist memoirs I’ve reviewed: Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer, Escape by Carolyn Jessop,
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Center Street. August 12, 2009.
Hardcover, 352 pages. ISBN 0446538191
Copy source: Review copy sent from the publisher at my request.
Cult Insanity is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Homes

Natasha Maw — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:30:15 +0000

So in all honesty it’s been a while since I listened to The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Homes. I have discovered (and I suspected this would be true of me) that with two kids in the car it’s probably better for me to have read a book before listening to the audio. I’m just too distracted. I can’t pay attention. Plus, I got really impatient. I wanted to speed things up. Obviously, I can read faster than I can listen to a book and felt like it was taking way to long to get through the book. And again, being honest here, I don’t consider myself “well-listened” when it comes to audio books. Totally new territory for me. I’ve really only listened to the Harry Potter books, which I ADORED in audio. But I had read them previously. Thus enhancing my enjoyment I think. I had never read The Mistress’s Daughter but had it on my bookshelf and when going out of town and pursuing the library thought it would be perfect to listen to while in the car.

It took me weeks and weeks to listen to this very short memoir. I did not like the narrator at all and found myself wincing when I turned the audio back on. Annoyed. Very annoyed. That, of course, hampered my enjoyment. I really wish I had read this book in print instead of having listened to it. But even if I had read it, I suspect that I would have felt slightly annoyed with the book itself as well. I never really connected to A.M. Home’s story which is sad because it’s a memoir. I always hate when I don’t love a memoir because then it feels like I’m discounting the author’s story. It’s their life experience. And I don’t want to dismiss anybody’s life experience as being less than what it is. But it is what it is, and I never connected with her or her story.

In this memoir, author A.M. Homes recounts how she was given up for adoption before she was born. Her adoptive parents won’t tell her anything about her birth, her adoption, or her background. The Mistress’s Daughter is the story of how at the age of thirty, she reconnects with her birth parents and the road she travels in discovering how she is, who her family is and does that knowledge really change who she is? In her case, yes, the family narrative she discovers has a direct correlation with her sense of self.

All her life, she knew that there was some secrecy behind her birth. Her adoptive mother simply wouldn’t give her any answers. It was these answers that she would have to discover for herself. She becomes obsessed with genealogy work on both her biological and adoptive sides of the family. And when her birth mother dies, she hopes to figuratively find her mother in the box of personal effects that she left behind. And in doing so, she hopes to find herself as well.

I really wanted to love this book but found both her story and the narrator annoying enough that I couldn’t embrace it like I had hoped. I never understood the motives that drove the story. Sure, she explained the motives and I knew of them, but I just had a difficult time believing in them. I never felt convinced of the genuineness and truth of the story. And I HATE to say something like that particularly for a memoir because it is her truth. As for me, I simply kept shaking my head and saying, “Really? I just don’t get this.”

This one of those book reviews that I simply wonder if I would be singing a different tune had I not listened to the audio. Perhaps I would have been more apt to receive the story had I not been annoyed by the narrator every time I simply hit the play button. So, moral of the story? Skip the audio for this one and read the book. But even then, I was a bit leary. I’d be curious to hear what others think of it. As for me, The Mistress’s Daughter just didn’t do it for me.

Links of interest: A.M Homes website.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: Viking Adult. April 5, 2007
Hardcover, 240 pages. ISBN 0670038385
The Mistress’s Daughter is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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A Child’s Journey Out of Autism: One Family’s Story of Living in Hope and Finding a Cure by Leeann Whiffen

Natasha Maw — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:15:02 +0000

Life couldn’t have been better for the Whiffen family when they welcomed newborn Clay into their lives. Mother Leeann was thrilled that he would grow up closely with his older brother. As any mother does, she has big hopes and dreams for her children and her family. But when Clay is two, he begins to regress, no longer speaks, and develops behavioral problems.

Autism.

It’s a word that Leeann refuses to even say. While she still has big hopes and dreams, they have suddenly shifted to something much more immediate. Each day Clay slips farther into his shell. This is something that she can not ignore or wait out. Through immediate and exhaustive treatment, Leeann fights as only a mother can fight. A fight to reclaim her son before it’s too late. The title of her moving memoir, A Child’s Journey Out of Autism: One Family’s Story of Living in Hope and Finding a Cure by Leeann Whiffen, is aptly named. For it is a fight that she wins. Clays diagnosis is completely removed.

This family’s story however is not as simple as the above description makes it seem. The research that Leeann conducts is overwhelming. The intensive, in-home therapy treatments are not covered by insurance and the $40,000 price tag is a financial strain. Add on top of that the added strain of relationships, friendships and simply on oneself, and the years of treatment are exhausting

In A Child’s Journey Out of Autism, Leeann shares her darkest moments, the lowest of lows, her guilt, worry, sadness, unbelief, and her highest of highs, her determination, strength, energy, and the happiness in reclaiming her son. She writes with such honesty and beauty. Such an important book to read regardless if you know somebody with autism or not. Every child is different and this is just one family’s journey of customized treatment and recovery but it’s a testament to a mother’s love for her child. It is a testament to empowered parents. It is a testament to the joy of a child. To reclaiming that which was once lost.

Watch this short trailer for the book featuring Clay himself and then watch for my author interview with Leeann Whiffen immediately following this post. Leeann lives locally to me and I’ve been fortunate to meet her on several occasions. Reading her book is like discovering a friend that you wish you always had and if it’s not to bold of myself to say, I feel fortunate to now call her one myself.

Links of interest: Leeann Whiffen website, blog and Twitter. More book blogger reviews. Did you know April is National Autism Awareness Month? Check out all my book reviews that address autism.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: Sourcebooks. March 1, 2009
Paperback, 336 pages. ISBN 1402218389
Source copy: Review copy
A Child’s Journey Out of Autism is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet

Natasha Maw — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:36:01 +0000

Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant was born on January 31, 1979 (just 29 days after myself) which happened to be a Wednesday. And Wednesday’s are always blue. In fact, to Daniel, every number and letter manifests a different color and feel. This ability is called synaesthesia, a condition which I was unaware of.

But this is not the only limit of Daniel’s abilities. He has savant syndrome, which many of us are aware of through Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of Charlie Babbitt in the movie Rain Man. Not only can Daniel Tammet calculate huge sums of numbers in his head but he also can recite the number of Pi up to 22,500 decimal places, and learn languages in mere weeks (he’s fluent in about nine). Daniel Tammet also has Asperger’s, a very high functioning form of autism which unlike Charlie Babbit, allows him to communicate and interact well. This was a skill that he learned to improve with time and practice. It’s this capability that he’s able to give us a glimpse into one of the most rare conditions in the world.

This memoir is a fascinating glimpse into such an extraordinary mind. Our brains are incredible and Daniel has opened himself up to science for study so we may better understand what we, as humans, are capable of. Daniel takes us on a journey through his childhood, his home, family and school life, to embarking out on his own, finding love and creating his own successful business. While the book is certainly factual in nature, a testament to how Daniel processes his surroundings, it was incredibly introspective and honest. I love coming to learn and understand people who are unlike myself, and if you are the same, this is a memoir that you won’t want to miss.

The following video is a 50 minute film, titled The Boy With The Incredible Brain, which is a documentary that he talks about in length in the book. If you don’t read the book, I’d at least watch the film. But I’d recommend both!

Links of interest: Daniel Tammet’s website, more book blogger reviews. Did you know April is National Autism Awareness Month? Check out all my book reviews that address autism.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: Free Press. October 16, 2007
Paperback, 256 pages. ISBN 1416549013
Source copy: Own
Born on a Blue Day is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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An Eye for Color: The Story of Josef Albers by Natasha Wing, Illustrated by Julia Breckenreid

Natasha Maw — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:05:53 +0000

I took a color theory class when I was in college and it’s one of the most memorable of all my coursework. I recently was cleaning out my basement and came across all my projects for the class. Basically, these projects involved a lot of cutting and pasting of colored squares as we experimented with how colors interacted with each other. Take two identical colored squares but place them on separate colors and the perceived hue will change. Colors are not always what they appear to be. There is enough to learn about color that we spent an entire semester doing so.

It’s for this reason that I was interested in taking a look at An Eye for Color: The Story of Josef Albers by Natasha Wing and illustrated by Julia Breckenreid. This picture book would have been so much fun to read the first day of my color theory class! As a young child, author Natasha Wing, was a neighbor to Josef Albers. When her mother framed the Christmas card he sent, she knew that he must be somebody important but it wasn’t until she was grown and moved away that she began to realize the significance of Josef Albers.

This short biography of the artist describes how it wasn’t until he was in his sixties that he chose the most geometrically perfect shape of a square and used it as his pallet to experiment with color. He proved that colors don’t stand alone. They interact with each other. When one changes a color, the entire mood of it can change. For twenty-seven years he painted thousands of squares and was the first person to be given a living artist one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

The book is very simple to read and has a entertaining narrative with a lot of great color examples. At the end of the book there is an authors note detailing the authors childhood relationship with Albers. There is also an extended biography to learn more about Albers life and career as well as a glossary and selected bibliography. It’s these details that turn a book into a true teaching tool. A fantastic book for a glimpse into the awesome world of color and a man who dedicated his life in exploring it.

Links of interest: Natasha Wing website, Julia Breckenreid website.
Genre: Picture book, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Henry Holt. September 1, 2009.
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN 0805080724
Source: Review copy
An Eye for Color is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo, Illustrated by Dom Lee

Natasha Maw — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:30:53 +0000

As an adult, I have found that I am introduced to much of history through picture books. Do you know the Sammy Lee story? Read Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo and illustrated by Dom Lee and you will. Son to Korean Immigrants, Sammy Lee, would watch children play in the public swimming pool on the hot summer days in 1932. But people of color, like himself, were only allowed to use the pool one day a week. During that single day, he began to learn how to dive.

But discrimination wasn’t just apparent at the swimming pool, he wasn’t even allowed to attend his own prom despite being class president. Over the next sixteen years, he dreams of becoming an Olympic diving champion. He works hard and relentlessly. And all the while, fulfilling his father’s dream to become a doctor.

At the age of twenty-eight he finally gets his chance to compete for Olympic gold. Despite the international venue, he still faces prejudice because he wasn’t white. This only added to his determination to win. Winning a bronze medal in one competition, he aims for gold in his strongest competition – the 10 meter platform. Training for sixteen years brings him to a moment that would last only sixteen seconds – from the time he begins the dive to finding out his score. A score which would bring a perfect score from one judge and thus earning him the title of being the first Asian American to win an Olympic Gold medal.

A very inspiring story that ends with his father’s words: “In America, you can achieve anything if you set your heart to it.”

A short video that features an interview with Sammy Lee:

There is so much going for this book. It is a story of immigration, prejudice and discrimination, dreams, determination, practice, perseverance, struggle, and triumph. But this is no story. This is life. And an inspiring one at that. This picture book and Sammy Lee’s story deserves to be in the classroom, the library, the home, and in a child’s hands.

Links of interest: Paula Yoo website. Dom Lee is also the illustrator of the following picture books which I’ve reviewed: Baseball Saved Us, Be Water, My Friend: The Early Years of Bruce Lee, and A Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story.
Genre: Non-fiction Picture book, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Lee and Low Books. April 1, 2005
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN 158430247X
Source: Review copy
Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery by Kathryn Lynard Soper

Natasha Maw — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:41:56 +0000

Ah, book blogs. You have got to love them. They add more and more to my reading list every year. I discovered The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery by Kathryn Lynard Soper when Melissa at Book Nut called the book amongst other things: remarkable, honest, brave, and beautiful. Add on top of that, the fact that Soper lives here in Salt Lake City, my home town, and that’s reason enough to get excited about it.

Kathryn Lynard Soper is the mother of six children and discovers at the birth of her seventh child that something has gone seemingly horribly wrong. Newborn Thomas was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Gone were her expectations of what this child would be and in its place was fear, doubt, and anxiety.

Could I love such a son?

I rubbed my arms and legs with a rough washcloth, determined to scrub away not only blood and sweat and oil, but also doubt. Of course I could love Thomas. I already did. I loved him as I’d loved each of my new babies with a primal strength full and fierce . . .

Yet I knew the bond wouldn’t be enough, not for long. It was instinctual. Even animal. Thomas deserved human love, the delight and appreciation and tenderness one unique person feels for another. I’d never felt this for a person with Down syndrome or any other disability. I didn’t know if I could.

Goose bumps rose on my arms – the hot water was gone. And my time to indulge in weakness was gone. A child waited in a plastic box down the hall, and six more were waiting at home, waiting for security to surround them like a warm mantle, soft yet strong. Waiting for their mother.

The Year My Son and I Were Born follows the first year of Thomas’s life. The writing is raw, stark, and so completely honest. Soper holds nothing back. All of her emotions are laid out for everybody to see. There are highlights and extreme low lights and we, as readers, are privy to it all.

Read this book and watch the video. I dare you to not cry. I dare you. Because it just can’t be done. It can’t.

One of the very best and compelling memoirs I’ve ever read.

Links of interest: Kathryn Lynard Soper website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: GPP Life. March 3, 2009.
Hardcover, 336 pages. ISBN 0762750618
Source copy: Library
The Year My Son and I Were Born is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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Non-Fiction for Early Readers – What’s a Parent to Do?

Natasha Maw — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:01:47 +0000

I really have to tell the truth here. When I think about non-fiction for my boys age’s two and four, I get overwhelmed. How in the world do I navigate all the books out there and find non-fiction books that they will enjoy? And more importantly, aren’t over their head? Fiction? No problem there a billion picture books out there and I have no problem reaching my library card limit every time I check books out. But for some reason, non-fiction seems to be a little bit harder for me. Surely, I’m not the only parent who feels this way.

But here’s four things I’ve learned as a parent navigating the world of non-fiction for very young children.

Take a cue from their current interests!

My kids get really excited when we get a book that they currently have an obsession over. And what kid doesn’t have an obsession? Cars? Trucks? Tractors? My boys love to point out every single piece of construction and farming equipment that they see. We called every single one a tractor. But obviously, they aren’t all called tractors. Solution? Hello library! And hello books about frontloaders, bulldozers, excavators, backhoe loaders, skid steers, power tiller, and cultivators!

My boys are also obsesses over potato bugs. Or rolly-pollies – whatever you want to call them. During the summer, they are always pulling up my plants and rocks to see if they can find a collection of bugs. When we get a picture book with bugs in it, they think that’s the coolest thing ever. Same goes for spider books. Oh yes, and let’s not forget the worms.

My kids seem to jump from one interest to another pretty frequently (although trains seems to be the mainstay) and so we read books about their current interests while the iron is hot.

What are your kids currently learning about?

My boys love snakes. Every time we go to the zoo, my oldest is anxious to get to the snake house as soon as possible. So I knew the library program with snakes that they could pet would be a huge hit. And it was! To the point that I have to remind the kids that they just can’t pet ALL snakes. After the program, we picked up a couple of the snake books that they had on display (thank you librarians for making my job easier and having them all pulled already!) and for two weeks those were the only books that they looked at while we were in the car. As soon as they were strapped in their belts, it was always “Where’s the snake book?”

I’ve also taken hints from their preschool lessons and library storytimes. This month in preschool their theme is going on a safari, so it’s a perfect time to check out all the animal books. I’ve found that they get really excited when they learn something in more than one place. This is especially true for my four-year-old. Information sinks in so much better when it’s coming at him from multiple directions.

Build on events, family vacations and other milestones.

Last year, when I took my kids on their first camping trip, we read fiction camping books for a month prior to heading out. The same principle can be applied to non-fiction. We will soon be taking a family vacation down to Arches and Mesa Verde and now is the perfect time to check out books about rocks, lizards, and the Anasazi people. We’ve also got a Yellowstone trip planned and I will be reading books about the earth, nature and wild animals to my boys. (My librarian was a bit horrified to learn I took their library books to Yellowstone last year!)

Think about what you have coming up in your life and simply pick non-fiction books around that theme. Not only will your kids learn something but the experience will be that much more valuable to them.

Let the kids pick!

I never know what will catch the attention of my kids so I let them browse the shelves of the library freely. Even if the text of a book will be over their head or it’s a subject that I can’t even begin to know how to teach, they like to look at the pictures. Letting the kids know that no subject is off limits will foster a love of learning and curiosity.

As a parent, these are techniques that I’ve found helpful in reading non-fiction to my young boys. What ideas do you have? We would love to hear them!

Share a Story, Shape a Future Literacy Blog Tour is being hosted at The Reading Zone today. Please be sure to stop by to find some great posts relating to nonfiction and check out the entire tour this week at Share a Story – Shape a Future.

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We Are the Ship, The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Natasha Maw — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:09:50 +0000

Please forgive my rambling for a bit. Let me start off by saying that I know NOTHING about baseball. My only experience with the sport is when I lived in Chicago I went to a Sox game once and when I was in my early twenties I was playing a game of softball (not baseball I know – but close enough for this story) with friends and got hit in the face with a hard line drive. I broke my cheekbone in multiple places really bad and had to have reconstructive surgery. I’ve got a metal plate in there and everything. In fact, I still have nerve damage to the top of my left lip which often reminds me of the injury. For weeks, you could see the stitching from the ball imprinted in my skin – that is if you could see past my swollen face and blood shot eye.

So while I was reading We Are the Ship, The Story of the Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson and it kept talking about how fast these guys could pitch and hit – I kept wanting to wince. It’s no fun to get hit. I have to admire these athletes for even getting out on that field. Me? I am now officially scared of any ball which may potentially break all the bones in my face.

But as I was saying, I don’t follow baseball nor do I know its history or its present. So reading We Are the Ship was literally my first history lesson of any sort of the sport. So Natasha, you may ask, why read about baseball if you’re not that interested in it? Let me tell you. Kadir Nelson can illustrate the back of a cereal box and I would be all over it. His artwork is simply brilliant and I’ll read anything that has his name attached to it. Plus, teasing my husband is kind of fun too. If I mention Nelson’s name, my husband always says, “Oh yeah, that guy that you think is really good looking.” I know I’m not alone in this sentiment. Kadir Nelson is one good looking guy. He’s also incredibly soft-spoken and gracious which makes him even more appealing.

Plus, he can paint. Wow, can he paint. The talent just oozes from him. I am always blown away with his books and We Are the Ship was no exception.

This is a book that I was in awe of. Turning each page to discover the next illustration was a treat in and of itself. Kadir Nelson presents the portraits of Rube Foster, John Henry “Pop” Lloyd, Jackie Robinson, Oscar Charleston, Willie Foster, Andy Cooper, Wilber “Bullet” Rogan, Josh Gibson, William Julius “Judy” Johnson, Raleigh “Biz” Mackey, Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, Willard Brown, Hilton Smith, Buck Leonard, James “Cool Papa” Bell and many more. These are strong illustrations and one doesn’t doubt the strength or determination of these players.

In nine chapters, or better called, nine innings, our narrator who seems to have his eyes on every aspect of the sport and in what feels like a reminiscing by the fireplace takes the reader through the beginnings of the Negro Baseball League to its eventual desegregation with the crossover of Jackie Robinson to the minor leagues.

Let me tell you. Reading about the history of baseball? Fascinating! These men were simply amazing and one can only leave the book with a new-found appreciation for these men who did so much for the history of baseball and paved the way for many athletes who would come after them.

I loved how the story was narrated and wanted to share Kadir Nelson’s thoughts on this in the author’s note:

I have attempted in earnest to present these men (and one woman) in all their dignity, pride and spiritual strength. They are my heroes.

[. . . ] Where these was no way, they made a way. I admire this independent spirit.

In keeping with this spirit, I chose to present the voice of the narrator as a collective voice, the voice of every player, the voice of we. Under the leadership of Rube Foster, who declared the leagues’ independence from major league baseball by saying, “We are the ship; all else the sea,” the owners and players formed and sustained a successful league, demonstrating the power of the collective. And after reading interviews and listening to former players speak about their lives in baseball, it became clear that hearing the story of Negro League baseball directly from those who experienced it firsthand made it more real, more accessible. I hope that the way I have chosen to present the story has the same effect.

He later says,

I hope that I have done justice to these somewhat forgotten men and given them the tribute that they deserve. I have tried to honor them, to portray them as the heroes they were, and to further solidify their place in history. I hope that the reader will agree.

Yes, I completely agree. This is not just a picture book. It’s so much more than that. It’s special and if you have been fortunate to read this book as well, then you know what I’m talking about.

Links of interest: Kadir Nelson website, more book blogger reviews. Also illustrated by Kadir Nelson and reviewed by Maw Books: Moses, When Harriett Tubman Led Her People to Freedom and Henry’s Freedom Box, A True Story from the Underground Railroad.
We Are the Ship is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month. Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.
Genre: Non-fiction Picture Book, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher: Hyperion Books. January 8, 2008.
Hardcover, 96 pages. ISBN 0786808322
Source Copy: Own
We Are the Ship is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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