The Hunger Games

I just finished reading Suzanne Collins’ magnificent Hunger Games trilogy. In addition to being a gripping thriller, it is a searing look into the darkness of mankind and our predilection for destroying each other. Collins does not spare us from the sickening and horrifying details of warfare, and the moral ambiguity that inevitably creeps in whenever we begin killing in the name of something good. As Peeta–the hero Katniss Everdeen’s love interest–says of the fighting, “how do you think this will end? What will be left?” The Hunger Games trilogy is sci-fi, set hundreds of years in the future. But Peeta’s questions haunt our real world today.

Cox Farms Fall Festival

We had a great time at the Cox Farms Fall Festival today. Zoe tried most of the slides, asked someone in a bunny suit if he/she wanted a carrot, and played with her friend Salome on the hay pile. Other highlights were the hay ride (with a very spirited driver) and a cow-milking show.

Wow. Say what you want about Google, but this is just beautiful. (Saw this on the remarkable Mommy Beta blog.)

Lemony Snicket Introduces 13 Words and the Orchestra

As Betsy has documented on her blog here and here, Zoe loves to read, talk, and play-act about mommies having babies. And when we go to the library, Zoe almost exclusively picks out books either for or about babies. We try to round out her library haul with books on other topics, if only to keep ourselves from going crazy reading about babies all the time.

Recently, I found two books by one of my favorite children’s author, Lemony Snicket—13 Words (illustrated by the fabulous Maira Kalman), and The Composer is Dead. The first of these I read with Zoe; it is a pleasant affair in which nothing particularly bad happens. Kalman and Snicket introduce the book in a “trailer”:

The Composer is Dead is a witty and engaging introduction to the orchestra, written both for Classical music lovers like myself and for young people not yet acquainted with the joys of the symphony. The premise is that a foolhardy inspector investigates a composer’s death by interrogating each section of the orchestra, beginning with the violins, then the cellos and basses.

“Well, I guess that takes care of the strings,” the Inspector said. “Oh—the Violas! I forgot all about you.”

The book comes with a CD of the San Francisco Symphony performing the original music (by Nathaniel Stookey). Many of the jokes will be over the heads of young readers, but the tone is silly enough that they’ll enjoy it anyway.

You can get a preview of the book and music (which was not included in the library book) here:

Sweet ending to daddy daughter weekend

Frozen yogurt at Yogiberry in Shirlington is Zoe’s reward for not complaining while I watched the US-Japan Women’s World Cup final. Watching her enjoy a sweet treat helps me forgetnthe pain of the US loss.

I don’t think we’re having dinner tonight…

Who’s the teacher here?

Lately Betsy and I have spent a lot of time with Zoe working through activity books (allegedly designed for kindergarteners) of spelling, writing, and arithmetic exercises. Zoe asks to work on them, and seems to enjoy it. Sometimes she gets frustrated–writing the number 5 is vexing her–but she’s making a lot of progress.

Last night, after I forgot something for the millionth time, Zoe said “Daddy, you really have to work on your…” Here she paused to find the right word. “…your thinking.”

How Zoe plays Jenga

We had a Jenga party at work today, and the lucky winner of one of the Jenga games was kind enough to give it to me. I brought it home to Zoe. After playing the regular way, Zoe built this: a “railroad track slide”.