I love Dr. Seuss!!!

 This cancel culture garbage has gone too far. To attack Dr. Seuss, the author of great, classic children’s books and ban them as racist is utterly moronic.

And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street is one of the best books ever to motivate students to write. I used this book with my high school students on Adak and I got some of the best writings Ever. They wrote their own version of to think I saw on Adak’s Main Street. I had students who wrote it and rapped it, And students who created such colorful pictures of Adak. Their writings were exquisite. I kept a few of these students writing because they were so awesome.  

 

 And these imbeciles who think that these books are racist need to go get their heads examined!!

If I Ran the Zoo is a wonderful story for children and most people do not even what these cancel culture morons are calling racism. They are the racist.

 

Cancel culture is crap we need to cancel them, flush them all down the toilet because they belong in a pile of 💩 because that’s what they have for brains. The chancel culture people are the ones who are driving this whole garbage issue. There is no racism in 90% of what they call racism. They are the ones who are pushing the racist agenda and causing all the problems. They are the Nazi’s in my opinion who are trying to control us and take away our rights.

 

How anyone can think that these fun children’s stories are racist is beyond comprehension. These people are communist. 

 

https://youtu.be/JnsM5VxAR68

 

This is all about control! They are trying to control what you can think and what you can read. 

 

I have these books and you can be damn sure that I’m going to read them with my grandchildren and share them with every child I know because Dr. Seuss is awesome. They were favorite books of mine when I was a child. My children loved them. My students loved them. 

 

I believe every future generation needs to have the chance to read every book ever written by Dr. Seuss. His books turn children onto reading and banning them is a crime!!!

The Nazi Officer's WIfe

The book is the story of one woman's survival during the most horrendous chapter in the history of the world, the Holocaust. It is the story of  Jewish girl and the tribulation that she survived both working on a farm and as a Nazi officer's wife.  She was hidden in plain sight.

Edith Hahn Beer tells her story beautifully.  It is emotional. She survived the ghetto and labor camps. She was hunted and went underground, scavenging food, and searching for a place to sleep each night. A Christian friend helped her to re-emerge under a different name. She worked as a nurses aide for the Red Cross,  She met Werner Vetter who was a member of the Nazi party. He knew her secret, yet married her anyway.

Edith lived in fear of being discovered. She gave birth to her daughter without pain meds,  because she was afraid she might expose her self under the influence of drugs. When her husband was captured by the Russian army and her home was bombed she and her daughter hid from drunken Russian soldiers.

Edith saved every paper to document her story and even succeeded in taking pictures while inside the labor camps. She is a hero, a woman who did what she had to to survive during a terrible time.

I loved the book and highly recommend it to everyone. 

Library Lover's Month

My mom wrote this wonderful article about Library Lover's Month.  I want to share it with all my friends who love to read.   It was published in her local DAR newsletter. She is a wonderful woman and like me she loves to read. I am very proud of her article.

I was also lucky that I had a mother who read to me and I read to both of my boys. My oldest was read college textbooks while he was in the womb as I was working on my master's degree when pregnant with him.

Both boys were read all kinds of books when they were tiny as I would read whatever I was reading aloud when rocking them. When they were older they had favorite children's books we read.

I can remember their father reading them the Little House on the Prairie books.
 
I also remember having to read adult mysteries and teen novels when my oldest was in elementary school as he was such a bookworm that he had read all the books in the children's section of the library and the complete set of encyclopedias by the end of third grade. He also read Up From Slavery that year.

Books on tape and along with the novel were a hit with my younger son, as he enjoyed the stories but not the act of reading.

One thing I do enjoy about being retired is the time to read.  I have read more in the past two years than I did over most of my teaching career, I think.  I love to be taken away by a novel and transported to another time or place. It is relaxing. Books are some of my best friends.

I hope you enjoyed my mom's article.

The Boy Who Dared

This book was on the list of books I read for the Teacher's Choice Awards last year. The author is Susan Campbell Bartoletti. It was one of many up for the award. I do not remember if it made the final cut or not, but in my opinion it should have been in first place. It was well written and easy to read, except that you needed tissues near by.

It is the story of a young man, Helmuth Guddat Hübener in Germany during Hitler's reign of terror. It is based on a true story. The boy is a German, and joins the Hitler Youth caught up in the glory of it all, at the start. On page 48 he says, "A savior is somebody who rescues someone or something from harm or danger,...That's what Hitler has done. He has rescued the Fatherland from poverty, unemployment, and inflation - just as he promised he would." He does not want to join because of his stepfather. His older brother is drafted into the army. He would not refuse to serve his country even though he was not a Nazi and did not believe in what he was going off to fight for. He left behind a short wave radio, which he told Helmuth not to use. It was locked in a closet. Helmuth did not listen, as is true of younger brothers and broke into the closet so he could get the radio.

Helmuth listened to the BBC and he begins to realize that people's rights are being denied, that the Jews are being threatened, and their livelihoods destroyed. Listening to the radio, he realizes that they are being lied to and that information is being censored. He realizes that the world is dangerous, at least in Germany. Ideas must agree with the party philosophy, because if they do not your life is in danger. "'Listening to foreign radio stations is forbidden,' continues the newscaster. 'Violations will be punished by imprisonment or death.'"(page 77)

It is in this world, this time that he comes to terms with many things. Friends can turn on you in a heartbeat, families will turn in family members to save them selves, and it is treasonous to speak out against Hitler. Helmuth takes a huge chance when he learns all this and decides to share what he knows with others. He enlists the help of two friends when he shares what he knows with them and begins a very dangerous mission to share what he learns on the BBC with others by writing up reports and passing them out in the night.
The book is written in novel form with flashbacks. It starts with Day 264 on Death Row in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin Germany, October 27, 1942. Helmuth was imprisoned for his crimes.

The first time he takes out the radio he knows it is a selfish act and that he is endangering his family, but he also knows that arresting people for their beliefs is wrong and on page 103 he says "Taking away our freedoms is a crime." It is his first step toward his execution. Listening to the radio he is shocked that the British are honest in announcing their losses. He writes a paper for school called “The War of the Plutocrats.” His teacher says it “suits the ideals of National Socialism…A plutocracy is a selfish government controlled by the wealthy, But National Socialism is a selfless government. A good Nazi works for the good of the Fatherland, not for self-interest and self-gain. A good Nazi is a good soldier for the Fatherland, one who can lead as well as follow.” (page 105) After class his teacher warns him that his idealism is dangerous and that he must be careful. Helmuth wants to tell him the truth, but is afraid instead he says, “I will go far. Just you wait and see. Someday you will hear something great about me." (page 107)

This is the story of a young man who not afraid to speak out, not afraid to speak the truth. I think it is an excellent book for use in the classroom and want to have my history students read it in the spring.

To find out the details of the story you need to read the book. It contains photos of the wall surrounding the prison, Helmuth, his family and friends. It also contains prints of a poster announcing his execution with the English translation, as well as Helmuth’s execution chamber. The horrors of Hitler extended beyond his horrendous treatment of the Jews. He executed children; Helmuth was 16 years old when he was executed. He was executed as an enemy of the state because he “fought for human rights, political freedom, and truth.” (page 167) Even worse was that his mother found out about his execution when she read about it in the newspaper, the following day and to add to that she was sent a bill for his execution, which included the cost of postage to mail it to her. Hitler's atrocities continue to be shown as we dig deeper and deeper into history.

How could such an evil man become a leader of so many? I pray history does not repeat itself.

God got my attention

I am reading a book by Julia Cameron called The CreativeLife: True Tales of Inspiration
On page 200 she starts telling a story about her friend. Emma was baking a gingerbread house She dropped the pan when taking it from he oven. She has never dropped one before and was devastated. Julia took a piece to taste, but said it was too strong. Emma tasted it and grimaced. She had tried a different brand of molasses and it was not the same. Emma was relieved. She was proud of her baked goods and this one was not up to par. It was a good thing she dropped it. When this was relayed to a third friend, Jennifer said it was a mistake caught and corrected. Then she clarified that Emma had never dropped anything before in her baking and said, "Well, then-.... God wanted her attention."

Have you ever had God knock on your door trying to get your attention? Did you pay attention? I can tell you that I probably did not hear His tap at my door, but when he banged I most certainly id and now I am listening for His soft taps more closely than I was before.

God often knocks on our door and we do not listen. He tapped on mine several times, and I ignored him until he finally banged in the door. Now I am listening each day to see if he tapping on my door. I do not need him to knock in the door again. I am trying to pay attention and listen just in case he wants my attention each day. I pause and take the time to look around and enjoy life instead of rushing through each day trying to get as much done as I can in a short period of time. Sure, I may not accomplish as much as I could but I am listening to see if God wants my attention.

I have stepped back and re-examined some things and I am putting my priorities in order. Me comes first along with family work comes last. If does not get done at school it is not coming home with me. I do not care. I mean is it really necessary that teacher’s work 60 or 80-hour weeks to get special education paperwork done and grading. Some assignments can just be graded as completed. Not every paper needs to be edited and read 3 or more times to judge content, grammar, mechanics, etc...

After my close call with death, I realized that God was really trying to get my attention and I had better listen this time. I have been taking it easy, and enjoying life without all the stress and I have to tell you it is wonderful. So I have to give up some THINGS, there are more important things in life than THINGS. A nice dinner with my hubby, time with my son, the company of friends, a good book to read, a nap, a nice walk, and more. They are all worth living for and taking the time to enjoy instead of rushing around trying to get everything done and falling in to bed exhausted late at night. If it does not get done the world will not end. Life will go on, and we will all be better off in many ways because we took time to stop and smell the roses.

It is peaceful in the evening when you do not feel rushed. I have time to sew, time to read, play a game, and watch a TV show if I choose. I am not having to multi-task to get things done. I listened and I hope you will take the time to listen also, because you never know when god is knocking on your door and it is better to answer when he taps on the door than when he bangs.

Listen! God might be trying to get your attention.

It Happened in Italy - The Book

A book that changed my mind or opened my eyes..........
There are many books I have read over the years but only a few that have had a deep impact on my life. One of those was It Happened in Italy. This book tells the story of what life was like for the Jews in Italy during World War II. The Jewish people in Italy were treated much more humanly and kindly than those in Germany, if they were under Italian rule. If the Germans had control they were still treated worse than animals. Thought I do have to say that not all the Italians were compassionate. There were Jews who died or were murdered in Italy at the hands of the Nazis.
In Campagna Italy there was an old convent that was used to house the Jewish people who were interred. They were allowed to practice their religion, and even had a synagogue and walk the streets of the town. When the Germans came Jewish people were sent out into the countryside to hide, and some even hid in ovens to survive. The Italians were a more compassionate people who showed that they could stand up to Hitler. They defied his orders to kill the Jews, and allowed them to live out the war. Many people of many different towns in Italy knew that there were Jewish families with false papers living in their towns, but they never said a word. One woman who told her story in the book talked about how she was the token Catholic in her family. She went to mass each week as the representative of her family to help hide the fact that they were Jewish. After the war her father went hack to apologize for lying to the people of town. They people told him that they knew all along he was Jewish. When he asked why that had not turned in his family they responded that it was because they were people. They were human beings. That is what the Nazis did not see. They did not see the Jewish people as human beings.
In other towns the Italian Jews returned after the war to find their home and all of their possessions still there, waiting for them. This was not true in other places in Europe. In other places people returned to nothing, no home, no photographs, nothing was left for them.
This book is well written and has much documentation which supports the stories included in the book. It also tells of the differences between the horror of the camps in Germany and the difference of the camps in Italy from the viewpoint of one couple who each survived, one in Germany and one in Italy, the wife who survived a year in Auschwitz and Ravensbruck and her husband who survived for six years in an Italy. She says and I quote from page 3 "The Italians treated them like human beings....No one could ever have survived six years in German concentration camps. That was impossible."
This book has shown that during a terrible time there were people with compassion who were willing to risk their lives to help others. It shows that man is not all bad and gives me faith that no matter how bad things may get, there are people who will help others to survive at the risk of their own lives. I pray that if I have to make the choice someday I have the courage to follow in the footsteps of the people of the many towns of Italy who helped the Jews in Italy survive.