A beautiful children's book for Sunday

Marshmallow Can Do Hard Things ~ by Drew Patchin, illustrated by Jessica Kesler, 2025, children's graphic novel, 28 pages, 10/10

Drew is a student at Parkway Northeast Middle School in St. Louis, Missouri.  Drew loves catching Pokemon, playing with his best friend and little brother Tyler, or snuggling on his service dog, Snoopy.  Notice that I'm talking about the author, here, not the book (yet).  And it's a book I read very carefully, because it was signed by Drew himself.

But Drew isn’t an ordinary middle schooler — he’s a warrior in disguise!  In 2019, at 6½ years old, Drew was diagnosed with brain cancer called Anaplastic Ependymoma.  He received surgery and radiation at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and was the hospital’s youngest patient to do radiation without sedation.  Since then, Drew has battled brain cancer four more times and traveled to Hermann Memorial Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas, and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee for treatment and clinical trials.  Drew is supported by many family and friends who make up "Drew’s Crew" and are always supporting him through his journey.

Now about the book:

When the scared little narwhale started to school (after his Mommy had met teachers ahead of time and made plans for him),  When the yello sub picked him up (like our yellow school bus picks up American children), he was ready to go.  Making plans means we can do hard things.

My thanks to Pam for letting me borrow this book.  She's a friend of Drew's family here in St. Louis.  It's such a great book!  I rate it 10 of 10.  (Whoa!  Pam told me, no, that she GAVE me this copy of Drew's book to keep.  Thank you!)

• On Monday, I mused about a Chilean girl in Maine, HERE.
• Friday's Book Beginning was posted HERE.
• Dogs on Saturday/Caturday?  Yes, HERE.

This has been a slow week, so that's it for today.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

Hmm, dogs on Saturday/Caturday?

The Best Dog: Hilarious to Heartwarming Portraits of the Pups We Love ~ by Aliza Eliazarov with Edward Doty, 2023, animal photography, 240 pages

This heartwarming, and comedic collection of pup portraits and stories celebrating the enduring bond we share with our dogs is by acclaimed photographer, Aliza Eliazarov.  Capturing animals’ unique personalities with humor and grace for over a decade, Aliza’s portraits have been exhibited and published widely, including U.S. postage stamps.

From couch potatoes to working dogs, Aliza takes us on a journey revealing the individuality of our loyal companions through dazzling photos and captions that illuminate the deep connection we have with our pets.  You’ll meet Frank, the bulldog who loves a tire; Maggie, the Jack Russell terrier who delivers homemade cookies to lobstermen; Eddy, the hero mutt who saved her farm from a fire; and many more funny and downright adorable pups.

With evocative portraits and hilarious observations, this book will confirm what we already know — dogs really are the best.  (Wait, what about cats?  And this is Caturday, too.)

Beginning ~ with a memory

Beginning

The seed for this book was planted four years ago. I was reading Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue and among its countless treasures I discovered a word (which you will learn in due course) whose unfashionably flaccid meaning quite tranfixed me:  "a mild desire, a wish or urge too slight to lead to action."

Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers ~ by Simon Hertnon, 2009, vocabulary, 224 pages

Hertnon provides one hundred hand-selected rarities, and breathes life into them with his lucid descriptions of their meaning and engaging examples of their usage.  Thanks to Endangered Words, you no longer have to be at a loss for words or reach for the clichéd and commonplace.  The English language is brimming with ambrosial alternatives, and this compendium offers the cream of the crop.  Filled with words to be treasured for their elegant precision,  Endangered Words is the perfect handbook for writers and an entertaining read for anyone with an appetite for the very brightest gems of the English language.

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    Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts
   Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click
    HERE for other book beginnings.
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Beginning ~ with their independent nature

Beginning

From the magnificent tiger to the humble pet cat, few creatures in the animal world are more recognizable than cats.  Cats have been closely associated with people for several thousand years, and yet the cats we keep today as pets have never sacrificed their independent natures as a result of being domesticated.

Understanding Your Cat ~ by Don Harper, 2001, animal care, 176 pages

Cats are extraordinary animals-beautiful, graceful, and athletic.  But it is their behavior that allows them to fit easily into our busy lives as attractive and rewarding pets.  How well do we really understand and interpret the behavior of our cats?  Understanding Your Cat provides fascinating insights into the way a cat behaves, combined with practical advice about caring for cats at different stages of their lives.  It includes useful information and tips on:

• the cat's basic nature
• overcoming bad habits
• providing a safe environment for your cat
• how to establish a good relationship with your cat
• common feline ailments and how to deal with them

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Monday Musing ~ about a Chilean girl in Maine

I Lived on Butterfly Hill (Book 1 of 2) ~ by Marjorie Agosin, illustrated by Lee White, 2016, historical fiction (Chile), 454 pages

An eleven-year-old’s world is upended by political turmoil in this story of exile and reunification from an award-winning poet, based on true events in Chile.

Celeste Marconi is a dreamer.  She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile — until one day when warships are spotted in the harbor and schoolmates start disappearing from class without a word.  Celeste doesn’t quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is safe, not anymore.

The country has been taken over by a government that declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be considered "subversive" and dangerous to Chile’s future.  So Celeste’s parents — her educated, generous, kind parents — must go into hiding before they, too, "disappear."  Before they do, however, they send Celeste to America to protect her.

As Celeste adapts to her new life in Maine, she never stops dreaming of Chile.  But even after democracy is restored to her home country, questions remain:  Will her parents reemerge from hiding?  Will she ever be truly safe again?

Accented with interior artwork, steeped in the history of Pinochet’s catastrophic takeover of Chile, and based on many true events, this multicultural book is an ode to the power of revolution, words, and love.

Read about 100 exceptional African Americans — including "the real McCoy" on p. 19

100 African Americans Who Shaped American History ~ by Chrisanne Beckner, 2022, social science, 128 pages

Discover the inspiring stories of 100 legendary Black Americans.  From artists and inventors to civil rights leaders, you'll meet extraordinary individuals whose talents, ideas, and contributions have guided the country for hundreds of years.

Ordered chronologically, these brief biographies offer an engaging look at the challenges and achievements of some of the most influetial African Americans.  From well-known icons like abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, to lesser-known figures like aviator Bessie Coleman and singer Marian Anderson.

1. On Monday, I posted about the St. Louis Rams, HERE.
2. On Wednesday, I shared a book, HERE, that my neighbor said she couldn't put down.  I couldn't get into it, myself.
3. My Thursday Thoughts, HERE, were about how reading a novel can help us see the world from a new and different perspective than simply our own lives.

is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

My notes from a book show one reason I read

A Short History of Myth ~ by Karen Armstrong, 2005, history, 176 pages, 8/10

"Yet the experience of reading a novel ... can be seen as a form of  meditation. ... It projects them into another world, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives" (p. 147).

"A novel, like a myth, teaches us to see the world differently; it shows us how to look into our own hearts and to see our world from a perspective that goes beyond our own self-interest" (p. 149).