BOOKS

Currently Reading

2008-10-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

Currently Reading:
a secret sadness, Valerie E. Whiffen, PH.D. (can your relationships make you depressed?)

Freonomics

What's in your food? INGREDIENTS, ADDITIVES, TOXINS and NUTRIENTS, Chia Joo Suan

Read

2008-07-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Origami
Paper Creations Cards and Gifts, Steve and Megumi Biddle
QSL B19805002C
Two colour gift box, Iris Folded Cards, Christening Shoes, Snowflake Card, Christmas star, Teddy Bear Gift Tag, Envelopes, Stylish Shirt Bags

Three Cups of Tea

Praying in Color

Desert Flower and Desert Dawn, Wairis Dirie (and Cathleen Miller and Jeanne D'Haem)
www.desertdawn.org
All you ever want to know about Africa, against a UK backdrop. and FemaleGenitalMutilation
www.unfpa.org

Lang Lang -Flying Keys, Michael F

The Highly Sensitive Person's (HSP)Survival Guide by Ted Zeff, PH.D. [About how the world is over stiumuating for some people]

I Am My Mother's Daughter -Making Peace with Mom before it's too late- by Iris Krasnow

The Friend Who Got Away: Twenty Women's True-Life Tales of Friendships that Blew up, Burned Out, or Faded Away. Edited by Jenny Offill and Elissa Schappell

When Your Kids Push Your Buttons And What You can Do About it . For parents of toddlers to teens, Bonnie Harris . Very useful for relationships, even with adults ("buttons-pusher").

What should i do with my life? PoBronson

Who's Pushing Your Buttons HANDLING THE DIFFICULT PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE, Dr. John Townsend
Biblical. Readability, Sensability and Recommendability 5 stars
Resource #1 God
Prayer: "God, i am out of love for this person; sorry about that. Please give me some of yours, Amen."
Resource #2 your life

Why Do I Love These People? HOW TO UNDERSTAND YOUR FAMILY BETTER, Po Bronson
www.pobronson.com for sample chapters
Readability, Sensability and Recommendability 5 stars

children's - putonghua

2008-06-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

xiao3han1bao4bao4 . Steve Smallman 2006, 2007 . Originally published in Great Britain in 2007 by Little Tiger Press . For grade P1 . ISBN978-7-5600-7153-4 . Kids' Illustration: 5 stars. Creativity: 3.5 stars.

lu:bizi . If only I had a green nose. Originally published by Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois. Moral: stars. Folk (Elves) Tale: 4 stars. For grades K-P3 (i would rather read to P3s). ISBN978-7-210-03546-6 . BICL Bishan Library B19401125A . Christian teaching: 5 stars

shuimeiren . Sleeping Beauty, Germany Illustrator Translated by Beijing. For grades K-P3. Artwork: 5 stars. ISBN978-7-5060-0889-4 . Toa Payoh Library B20945860A

KELIKEDA . Crictor by Tomi Ungerer, French Illustrator Translated by Beijing. Madame Bodot is surprised to receive a boa constrictor for a birthday present, but soon she is knitting a long sweater for him and taking him to the school where she teaches. Then one night Crictor repays her kindness with his bravery. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K-P3. 32 pages. Creativity: 5 stars. Other culture: 5 stars, French. Arts & Crafts. ISBN7-5391-3550-6 . Bishan Library B18904901J

dakeshuidefangzhi, Audrey Wood, Don Wood. Creative Illustrations: 5 stars
repetition
Original: The Napping House, simplified chinese translation by Juvenile & Children's Publishing House

bianbianbian, Newton. Toddler

keaideshuxiaodi series. Creativity: 5 stars

xiaobaima. Creative Illustrations: 5 stars. National Library, Central

songshuheyueliang. Creative Illustrations: 5 stars

Ah Zhi Zu AARRGGHH Spider! Lydia Monks Illustration: 4 stars N1-P1

chui di shou POPULAR Publisher (pide pipper) Illustration: 4 stars N1-P3 Bishan Library B16342891A

yi li zhong zi (i can read series) Illustration: 3 stars N1-P3 Bishan Library B17966890B

yi zhi xiang zuo zou
wo shi shui (2-in-1 series) Illustration: 4 stars N1-P1

ma yi he xi gua , Japan Creative Illustrations: 4 stars. i dont like the red color!

wo2 hen3 shan4 liang2 raffles girls CL Reading 17

children's - English

2008-06-17T05:19:00.001-07:00

Allen Say's, Shel Silverstein's Books

A Drop of Water G.M.

Map of Dreams, Uri Shulevitz creativity: 5 stars. about the world, general knowledge and rhymes: 5 stars.

The Musicians of Bremen, Original: Brothers Grimm, retold and illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat. Ageing, Music and illustrations: 5 stars . Great book as a gift, for musicians. Printed in China

Mr Big, Ed Vere. a story about lookin beyond prejudices. Spirituality: 4 stars .

A Bunny is Funny, Harriet Ziefert and Fred Ehrlich. a story about rhymes, using animals. 4 stars .

the big book of little. great for StoryTellers. excerpts + they have retained the original paintings! NLB

mo willems. Creativity: 5 stars

the one tree, david pierce hughes. About: the environment. Spirituality: 5 stars . Don't like its drawing.

AARRGGHH Spider! Lydia Monks Illustration: 4 stars N1-P1

Oh whine oh whine

2008-06-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

I can’t remember my exact words –‘cos it was 2am in the morning- but it must have been in the tone of ‘I told you so!’… ‘This is what happens when you have a cold drink’ (after you’ve been told you shouldn’t, because of your cough!). It was directed at my child but it woke my hubby and he sheepishly said, “Stop complaining!”

I read somewhere that people in Singapore don’t really complain; they whine. How apt! And perhaps we womenfolk don’t see ourselves as complainers. We elevate our communication status: we’re sharing the whole damn story with someone in the most colorful manner ever.

Honestly, what do we hope to achieve out of complaining? I’m married to the nicest in-laws ever- this is especially true with regards to my father-in-law (FIL): he handles things as they are mostly with a pragmatic approach. So it is with my MIL, most of the times. Sometimes I am inclined to think that they have a cushy life hence it is easy for them not to (complain). What about those who have had it tough right from the beginning? It would be justified for them to complain, wouldn’t it?

Whatever it is, I realized, thru my experience with my in-laws, that our attitude towards things matters. I find it enjoyable to be with people who are positive. The good news is that “always looking on the bright side of life” can be learnt. Read ‘the One Tree’ written by David Pierce Hughes to find out how! jeanne anne hsi

the One Tree:
5 stars for story, 1 star for illustration

how to manage your mother UNDERSTANDING THE MOST DIFFICULT, COMPLICATED, AND FASCINATING RELATIONSHIP IN YOUR LIFE Alyce Faye Cleese & Brian Bates

2008-04-24T00:57:00.000-07:00

1. Remember your mother's age.
2. Listen to your mother.
3. Remember that your mother has a past.
4. Ask your mother simply and directly how you can make her life better.
5. Ask your mother about your childhood history.
6. Get to know your mother's extended family.
7. Decide what personality traits you share with your mother.
8. If you find your mother difficult, confront the issues that divide you.
9. Keep a sense of humor about your mother.
10. Remember that managing your mother is really about managing yourself.

Our mother will always live inside us, whether she is causing a fuss or quietly helping our progress through life.

We need someone to love,
We need someone to hate,
We need someone to survive,
We need someone to blame.

Our mother can fit each of these needs. The book might help us improve our relationship with our mothers - and choose love.

As with all other books on relationships, it’s about changing ourselves. However i highly recommend this book for its writing style, sensibility and usefulness. 4-and-a-half stars.

Nurture the Nature, Michael Gurian

2008-04-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

The author, a family therapist, says that we should nurture our children according to their nature instead of following the ‘social trends parenting system’. This social trend takes away parents’ understanding of their children’s nature and follow instead the trends that’s going on in society (Eg. To breastfeed/ not to breastfeed. To co-sleep/ not to co-sleep/ To start pre-school early/ not at all). It basically neglects our natural instincts as parents, believing that everyone else – experts writing in books and magazines, family, friends, neighbors –knows more than the parent does. It gives rise to chronic stress in the American Family.

Boys and girls are hard-wired differently. We need to be aware of that. This is different from stereotyping. Girls tend to develop their fine motor skills (manipulation of small objects) more quickly and fully than boys while boys’ brains develop more connectors for gross motor skills (physical movements of the body).

Three stars
Verdict: To revisit at the kids’ appropriate ages: Four to six, and to read through the relevant chapters till they’re nineteen and older.

a penny for his words...

2008-04-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not a saint or the perfect son. On countless occasions I've ducked their telephone calls. Why would I want to hear my mom talk about the gall bladder problems of somebody I've never met? How would my life be made better by listening to my dad's six hundredth lecture on all the societal problems caused by people wearing their baseball hats backward? My annoyance stems from a universal truth. As people age, their physical size shrinks while everything else expands in a scary way. Talkers talk more. Complainers complain more. Small idiosyncrasies blossom into bizarre screwball behavior.

Mike Leonard in The Ride of Our Lives, where NBC journalist took a cross-country odyssey with his feisty parents for a month.

The MOM Factor - Dealing with the Mother You Had, Didn't Have, or Still Contend With Dr Henry Cloud & Dr John Townsend

2008-03-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

The writers, both licensed psychologists, believe that our greatest influence come from our mothers. The most useful tip I find: that we get our mothering needs from others - our safe, support groups before returning to our mothers to love them, to forgive them and to accept them as they are - because we are now adults, and are now responsible for our needs. Some mothering needs that we may have: that our mothers accept us the way we are, that our mothers behave in certain ways and perhaps, that they have the same personalities as us.

What I don’t like about the way it’s written:
Because two authors wrote the book, they were quite particular about mentioning who the ‘I’ referenced (ie, whether it’s Cloud or Townsend). From a reader’s point of view, I find that not only unnecessary and that it also breaks the flow when reading. I think I might tell them about it…

4 and a half star, with biblical references