Joyful Jubilant Learning

Girlfriend in a Coma- Douglas Coupland

Girlfriend in a Coma is a novel by Canadian writer and conceptual artist Douglas Coupland. I've never been too sure about how to pronounce his name "Cope-land" or "Coop-land". Most times I just settle for Doug. I've had a long standing adoration for Coupland's work both written and constructed. I made a special visit to the Canadian High Commission in London to see some furniture Coupland had designed around notions of what it is to be Canadian. I also trekked to Stratford Upon Avon where I was shocked by Doug performing his play "September 10th, 2001." This sexy sounding Canadian had turned into Ernest Hemingway without anyone warning me.

How you'll respond to this review will probably depend on your previous encounters with Doug. People are generally divided into two categories: 1) those who think he's ultimate social commentator and 2) those who think he's just another pop culture junkie. I fall into a third category 1.5) those who are unsure whether Doug adores pop culture or if he's gently mocking it. I got to have the briefest of conversations with the Big Man Himself in Stratford after the show and I asked him directly. He smiled enigmatically and said "No one's asked me that before..." and drifted away humming. I was, like, totally bummed.

"Girlfriend in a coma" is a Smiths song title. The song contains the haunting lyric "let me whisper my last goodbye" which is a good way into the novel. The novel tells the story of a group of friends growing up in Vancouver, Canada in the late 1970's. On the night of a teenage house-wrecking party Karen, falls into a coma. More alarmingly, she seemed to expect it, having given her boyfriend, Richard, a letter detailing the vivid dreams of the future she had experienced and how she wanted to sleep for a thousand years to avoid that vision.

The opening of the novel is a vision of what happens after the end of the world relayed to us by Jared, a ghost. It's a shocking and despairing vision of a world without people, technology and concern. Jared tells us that most of us don't learn from second chances that we really learn from third chances- "after losing and wasting vast sums of time, money, youth and energy". The first part of the book covers the next 17 years in the lives of Jared's friends- the friends who "finally learned their lesson". The story, as Jared puts it, gets bigger than any individual and includes all of us and ultimately becomes Jared's story.

I don't want to flesh out the plot lines as the organic growth of the novel is something to savour. Meeting and getting to know about the characters, following their stories and ending up at one of the most chilling finales in fiction. Anyone who liked, loved or was moved by "it's a wonderful life" will enjoy GFIAC.

Which brings me to the "why" part of my post. Why should this be part of the Love Affair with Books? I can promise you this book won't make you a better manager, won't help you be a better lover, won't improve your social life, won't give you six/seven/eight handy hints on how to be more effective. This book will however draw you in, lull you into thinking you know how it will end and then chew you up, break you into small pieces and then spit you out. Then ending of the novel is a rallying cry for awareness, questioning and being totally present. It's the ultimate "plan b" for humanity. Plan A isn't doing us that well and Doug provides us with a way of creating a new paradigm. Buy this novel. It will change you.

~ Ben Whitehouse

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Ben Whitehouse works at the Guild of Students at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He has a blog here: http://beninbrum.blog.co.uk/ In his spare time he runs a book group, film club, and finds time to campaign on issues around LGBT rights, local residents rights and he also helps entertaining his three nephews who he loves very much.

This is the second book Ben has reviewed for ALAWB; his first review was on Speak Truth to Power by Kerry Kennedy.

Confessions About a Cuppa

Each night, a little after our dinner, and usually as we settle down to relax, SweetP (Love of my Life) makes us both a cup of tea/coffee.  It’s a nightly ritual, the kind of ritual that happens in many homes. maybe even yours.

I enjoy the cuppa.  I like being waited on.  It gives me a break.  Now,  I must confess that most nights, I barely notice it happening.  But, I certainly take for granted that it will. 

It’s a gesture of love on SweetP’s part.  However, I don’t especially feel “Loved” for receiving it.  If I’m honest, it's a gesture that rolls off me, like water off a duck’s back! (Hmm, I’m definitely portraying myself badly here!)

However if, over our cuppa, SweetP began a conversation, then that would be entirely different.  If he was sharing with me his feelings about his boss’ management style, or asking for my opinions on a family dilemma, then I’d feel cherished and extraordinarily special.

Why?  Because to me, quality conversations are my life’s breath!  Acts of service, like the night-time cuppa, don’t refuel my “love tank”, but a quality conversation will have me feeling loved in seconds!

This isn’t about gratitude, or lack of it.  This is about a crystal clear, laser-directed, message of love.

Getting the Message Across

If I want to ensure that SweetP knows how much I love him, and take the shortest path to helping fill his love tank, then I just need to sit next to him on the couch, put my head on his shoulder, and hold his hand or stroke his arm!

How did I make those discoveries? 

By reading a book – Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.

Even SweetP, a man who reads about one book every 3 or 4 years, has whipped through this book, chuckled at the stories, and said “WOW” a few times.

What’s the Point?

“Love Languages” I hear you dubiously muttering!  “What’s the point?”

Perhaps we should try looking at this from another angle.

How do you feel when you travel to a country which speaks a different language to your own?  Many people in that situation can eventually feel alone and a bit isolated.

Imagine being in that country and having a crisis happen, (eg getting sick or losing your passport)?  THAT’S downright frightening! When you’re desperate, the sound of someone speaking your native tongue is like a gift from the gods, and relief washes over you.

Chapman has a simple premise.  Just like we all have a dominant speaking language, we also all have a primary love language.  That language is the shortest route to a heart-nurturing sense of feeling loved.  Armed with the conviction that we really are loved and lovable, relief washes over us.

And in times of crisis when we most need the support of our partner, that message needs to be delivered crystal clear and hitting the target with laser-like precision.

Let’s Get on With Lerrvvin’

There is no question that for humans, feeling loved is a primary human NEED.  It’s a need only marginally less important to us than food and shelter.

So I figured that sharing with you a book about love might just build your emotional intelligence and the pleasure in your life!  After all if you need love, you might as well get as much as you can!

This is one of those books that has stood the test of time.  Written back in 1992, Chapman explores a surprisingly simple and extraordinarily effective premise.  The quick real-life-stories (and don’t we always relate best to them?) help the reader identify their own love language and that of their partner.

This book never seems to go out of print, and it’s in every local library.  When you ask around, many people have read it or at least heard of it!  Why?  Because it gets talked about and persistently requested.  That says something!  This is no esoteric, psychology book, this is simply teaching a really useful skill!

While it could be perceived as a bit “daggy” *(uncool), it’s a book with a simple message, an easy style, and excellent word-of-mouth referral history! 

So Who’s the Book For?

This is for building relationships with ANYONE.

While the book is aimed at couples, once you can recognize the five languages, this is SO applicable across any medium to long term relationships.  So, your kids, your friends and family, your work colleagues, all of them could benefit from your new knowledge.  It’s real gold!

Why Bother?

We all do things for our partners, or people we care about, to show our affection.  But if they don’t perceive our gestures as loving then, despite our best efforts and endless reassurances, their love tank can end up out of fuel.  Just like your car without fuel grinds to a noisy halt, so too can our relationship end up going nowhere!

Most couples have different primary love languages.  So, if we don’t bother to learn our partner’s love language and insist on following our natural inclination to express love in our OWN language then, love will likely shrivel and die.

If you value your relationship then I reckon it’s worth spending some time on this book!  It has definitely got long-term and tangible benefits.

Virtually every couple I work with in my Relationship Coaching practice is advised to go and read this book!  I have yet to find someone who doesn’t have some kind of “aha” moment and new understanding of their relationship from reading it.

I suspect it’s no accident that the book has spawned a whole series of Five Languages.  There are versions for Teens, for Men, for Women, for Singles, for Families and now most recently the Five Languages of Apology.  That’s next on my Reading List.

* If you've never heard the word "daggy" before, then you need to spend some time with a few Aussies!  A true "dag" is an unpleasant bit of leftover "stuff" stuck in the sheep's wool near it's backside.  (Need we say more?)  However being a dag in modern Aussie idiom is to be quaintly and appealingly naive, old-fashioned, and definitely uncool!

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Chris Owen of Pink Apple is an Aussie-based Relationship Specialist and blogger who shares the Secrets to Successful Relating.  Her humourous style brings many readers to her blogs Take A Bite and Apple Tart.

Together with Karen Wallace she has also co-authored Save Our Xmas Sanity a pre-Christmas Must-Have for all frazzled women!

Screw it Let’s do it by Sir Richard Branson

This is quite simply the best business book I have read in over 30 years of reading them: Screw it Let’s do it by Sir Richard Branson

Question: Is Simplicity a real concept? Answer: You bet!

Sir Richard writes:

‘The simplicity of this project constantly reminds me of the human folly of creating very complex systems that end up justifying themselves and their existence - but end up stifling innovation’

Amen and thank you Sir Richard!!!

A few months ago I travelled on a Virgin Train here in England from Birmingham to Newcastle return – a total of 7 hours on two Virgin Trains. Having just read the book I thought to myself … here’s a chance for me to do some live research.

I went along to the Virgin Train shop to get a coffee and decided to have a chat with the young man behind the counter. I decided to be ‘devils advocate’ and lied as I said:

"I’ve just finished reading Richard Branson latest book ‘Screw it Lets’ Do It.’ In the book he writes about how ‘in touch’ he likes to be with front line staff in the Virgin Empire but I’m a bit cynical about all that crap"

I was lying because I believe Richard Branson is genuine. I awaited with a keen interest the response.

This was his reply…

"Richard Branson is very approachable and yes we see him quite a lot. He always talks to us and he listens. I like him and in fact he is more approachable than our middle mangers."

Every now and again I find a book that I can’t wait to pick up for the next opportunity to read it – this one is such a book. I kept on finding gems that I will use in presentations, Blogs and books for years to come!

One such brilliant Branson observation that grabbed me from the book;

‘There are always people who criticise and usually they’re the ones who come up with no solutions’

Amen Sir Richard - I have met many of them!

As early as Page 2 he sets the tone for the book with this wonderful observation and advice;

‘Then there are those silly little rules that someone has invented for baffling reasons. I always think that if you set up quangos or committees, they will find something useless to do. The world is full of red tape, created by committees with too much time and an overbearing desire for control. Most red tape is a tangled mess of utterly useless, nonsensical jargon. If I want to do something worthwhile – or even just for fun – I won’t let silly rules stop me. I will find a legal way around the rules and give it a go.’

The remaining 220 pages contain gem after gem of simple yet profound wisdom about how to get on in life.

The message from Sir Richard is as relevant to a budding entrepreneur, as it is to an established entrepreneur, or even if you are a person with no wish to be an entrepreneur. You may just want to make something of yourself. If so I offer you only one piece of advice about this book – go out and buy it.

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Reviewed by Trevor Gay, author of simplicity

I spent 35 years working in healthcare management until October 2004 when I decided to take a leap of faith and become self employed. This followed the publication of my first book called Simplicity is the Key that was published in October 2004. This 'new world' I now occupy in has its moments. Sometimes I worry about how I am going to eat next month but then I remember that life is more than money. My wife Annie is my inspiration and always reminds me of what is really important.

 

"Speak truth to power" by Kerry Kennedy

The title, Speak Truth to Power, is taken from a Eighteenth Century Quaker pamphlet. Within that idea dwells speaking truth to people who hold high places and bear the terrible responsibility of leadership, to people who values and expectations set the limits of those who exercise authority and to the broader notion of an age.

Kerry Kennedy (and Eddie Adams deserves a huge mention as it's his beautiful black and white photos that feature through the book) has crafted a symphony of voices from different backgrounds, races, religions and nations that sing one question over and over through the pages of this mighty book- How will you live?

It's a question that we face daily but push aside or swallow in an effort to appear normal. People you work with aren't going to want to hear you asking questions of personal ethics, oppression and social justice. Chances are they're struggling with similar questions. Speak Truth to Power is like a series of doors that are left ajar for you to be invited through and meet someone ordinary who has faced something extraordinary and not turned away.

From His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Vaclav Havel to Sister Helen Prejan and Digna Ochoa there are names that are familiar and names that aren't. Kerry Kennedy presents a brief introduction next to the huge gorgeous black and white photographs and then the "defenders" are allowed to speak for themselves.

For me the beauty of this book is the challenge it presents to how I live my life. The book allows me to stand alongside these people and wonder "could I have done what they did?" and also ask "how shall I live?". Within the stories there are nuggets to contemplate: Desmond Tutu meditating on the nature of forgiveness, Patria Jiménez talking about the fight for rights of LGBT people in Mexico and Helen Prejean talking about the need to end the death penalty.

This isn't a book to be attempted in one sitting.. you won't get that far, these voices, lives and images will stop you in your tracks. This is a book to leave on your coffee table, dip into and reflect on. It's a rewarding read. It changed my life, it changes me on a daily basis and inspires me to work locally and campaign for a better fairer future.

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Ben Whitehouse works at the Guild of Students at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He has a blog here: http://beninbrum.blog.co.uk/ In his spare time he runs a book group, film club, and finds time to campaign on issues around LGBT rights, local residents rights and he also helps entertaining his three nephews who he loves very much.

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

I was extremely excited to receive Rosa's invitation to contribute again to Joyful Jubilant Learning. Rosa always provides such a positive environment that it never ceases to be an honor to be invited to contribute here. AND, it was so fortuitous that I had just read a book that I was really excited to share with others. So, let's share!

First let's get the credit where credit is due out of the way.

Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results was written by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen. Published in 2000 by Hyperion Publishing of New York, New York.

Don't let the title through you as it did me. My mind immediately set about conjuring up images of Dicky-George and Eddie-Bob trawling their Evin-rude up next to the bank for some up close and personal bass fishin' tips. Nothing could be further from reality.

I suppose I should have been tipped off by the book jacket, which resembled nothing so much as one of the Pepperidge Farm Gold Fish Cracker boxes. You know, the ones with the friendly little smiling fishies that make such a delectable Cheddar morsel. In fact, that image kind of sets the tone for the often lighthearted flavor of this wonderful book (is anybody else hungry for a salty treat right now?).

There are a few things you should know about me to get the most out of this review.

• I love parables
• I love playfulness
• I love attentive behaviors
• I love engaging attitudes
• I love fish (but not batter)

This book jumped right into my affections by relating to me through those very 5 loves I listed above.

Fish! begins with a forward which dedicates itself to the principles above (with the exclusion of fish, oddly enough). I was (dare I say it?) hooked from the beginning.

The book teaches in story format four key lessons learned through the life lens of Mary Jane. Mary Jane is an adequate middle manager who has not been spared the difficulties of life. However,due mostly to her own work ethic Mary Jane is promoted to a department of her organization which is dreaded by all and known as the company toxic energy dump. Her mission is to find a way to bring vitality to this department or face impending dissolution and outsourcing the department work.

After one particularly dreadful morning she decided to take in the fresh air and consider her options for escape. However, as she wondered about she stumbled upon an open air market which happened to be the home of the "World Famous Pikes Place Fish Market." There she was struck by the joyful manner in which these fish mongers went about their smelly, messy business. And after a brief talk with one of those very fish mongers she set about finding a way to bring their verve and vigor to her own, less than joyful workplace.

With the aid of gentle nudges from her fish monger guide Lenny she was able to uncover the four secrets to a joyful and productive workplace.

1. Choose your attitude. You can't choose everything that your encounter in life. But, you can choose how you react to it and the attitude with which you address it. Be you angry and disinterested or be you caring and energetic; the choice is yours.
2. Play! Get your work done but have fun doing it. It will lower turn over rate. It will instill pride in what you do.
3. Make THEIR day. Look for creative ways to make someones day. Colleagues as well as customers and clients. Engage people.
4. Be Present. Be focused on the individual you are working with at that moment. Constantly scan for opportunities to interact. Speak to others as if they are your long lost friends.

Their are, of course, obstacles to this plan. You will encounter skeptics almost certainly. But, if you consider most skeptics are scared; scared to take a chance, you will likely find a way to reach them.

Ultimately, it comes down to the following:

"You can't change others. If you're in a frustrating job, you have three choices:

1. You can go somewhere else.
2. You can go through the motion, complaining about people and situations you can't change.
3. You can choose to live in a way that acknowledges the value of your own life and take charge of the only person you can control--YOU."

---Fish! The Guide, Charthouse Learning, page 79.

Well, in case you haven't been able to tell by the review, I am definitely a fan of this book. I heartily endorse it and recommend you add it to your personal library.

Here it a link to all things Fish!.

Reg Adkins writes on behavior and is a temperament specialist who counsels, coaches and writes about the human condition at www.elementaltruths.com.

The Opposable Mind - Moving Beyond Either-Or Thinking

How much time do you actually spend thinking about thinking?

Author Roger L. Martin introduces the reader to the concept of integrative thinking in his book, The Opposable Mind. He offers this definition:

The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each.

Based on that definition, Martin takes us down a path of thinking about how we think. He has done extensive research with successful CEO's, Fortune 100 companies, and leadership experts to formulate a working model of how integrative thinking works.

He begins by articulating the process that people go through in thinking and deciding. He describes this process through a four-step model:

We'll arrive at our choice by considering a set of features we deem salient (what we see as important); creating a mental model of causal relationships among those features (making sense of what we see); arranging those causal relationships into an architecture intended to produce a specific outcome (putting tasks in a certain order); thereby reaching a resolution of the problem at hand (this lets one know the decision is made).

It's important to realize that integrative thinking is not for the faint of heart. In order to hold opposing viewpoints in mind, one must be willing to enter into the messiness - the chaos - that will be present. There is a level of complexity that makes it harder for a person to be an integrative thinker versus a conventional thinker (one who simply chooses the best bad option).

Throughout the book, Martin continually promotes the role of integrative thinking as the most positive of all decision making processes. He offers six common features of an integrative thinker's outlook (or stance):

1. They believe that whatever models exist at the present moment do not represent reality; they are simply the best or only constructions yet made.
2. They believe that conflicting models, styles, and approaches to problems are to be leveraged, not feared.
3. They believe that better models exist that are not yet seen.
4. They believe that not only does a better model exist, but that they are capable of bringing that better model from abstract hypothesis to concrete reality.
5. They are comfortable wading into complexity to ferret out a new and better model, confident they will emerge on the other side with the resolution they seek.
6. They give themselves the time to create a better model.

As I read The Opposable Mind, I felt incredibly optimistic about the potential that each person has to make better decisions by taking the time to reflect and think more deeply. I was easily able to recognize the times when I had cheated the probability of making a better decision because I had settled on an either-or decision.

Some will recognize hints of Stephen Covey's quest for Win-Win as they read through Martin's declaration to search for a solution that combines the best of all options into a solution that doesn't yet exist on the table. There is an incredible amount of confidence that is placed on the intelligence of the individuals involved to think their way into a better resolution.

This book is clearly aimed at leaders who are involved in making serious and consequential business decisions. Most of the illustrative stories involved high stake decisions by corporate leaders who have found themselves in a situation where the current options simply won't suffice. I would be interested to see how Martin's models and encouragement toward integrative thinking would play out in other fields such as ethics, religion, and education. Those areas are full of individuals who find a comfortable place in their own thinking and then become closed to any further information or thinking that would contradict or compromise their current sense of reality.

This book made me think about my thinking. In the end, I was left with a choice: Either my thinking would simply accept the world as it is or my thinking could shape the world into something it could be.

I like the idea of discovering something that does not yet exist.
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Tim Milburn spends a lot of his time thinking about how to develop students into student leaders. He makes his home in Eagle, Idaho where he works on a University campus. He is currently developing a 30 lesson curriculum that integrates five core leadership capacities of student leaders with the seasons of the student leader year. You can view his writing and work at studentlinc.net.

Book Review Worksheet - Track Your Favorite Reviews

We are just days away from celebrating a month long excursion through a wide variety of books. The list is varied and extensive. It will be an amazing journey with suggestions and recommendations that you probably never considered.

How will you keep track of it all?

With the encouragement of Rosa, I've designed a one-page worksheet for you to keep track of the relevant and eye-catching information that you'll encounter over the next month. This worksheet is a free downloadable pdf.

When you download this form, you'll have the ability to write down information that sparks your interest from the book reviews. For many of us, our reading list is comprised of books that were recommended to us from friends and others whom we respect. This worksheet will assist you in keeping track of those nuggets of wisdom you find in the reviews. Plus, it will serve as a reminder to add that book to your Amazon Wish List!

Download the Book Review Worksheet

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Tim Milburn loves a good one-page worksheet. He's designed a few productivity worksheets that have assisted thousands of people with meeting and event planning, leadership training guidelines, and personal productivity. You can access these forms at www.studentlinc.net.

What do you look for in a Book Review?---Redux

re·dux (rē-dŭks') ~ adj.
Brought back; returned. Used postpositively

What do you look for in a Book Review? was a posting I had done for us here at JJL about a year ago as we prepared for A Love Affair with Books then. My intention was to help our contributing authors write the best review possible for you, our JJL readers.

You were wonderful about responding, and your comments there stimulated great conversation among us both on the blog and behind the scenes. The authors truly appreciated it, and so I'd like to ask you if now, a year later, we could add to the discussion.

I am going to close the comments on this posting and point you there in the archives, so we can continue there with the benefit of what was already shared: There was some priceless stuff there, starting right off the bat with Rich G. Please add your thoughts. Comment there, and...

Tell us: What do you look for in a Book Review?

 

By the way, it is not too late to sign up and be one of our ALAWB 2008 reviewers!

Get the details here; Review a book, Win a book! and share your aloha within your love of reading.

~ Rosa Say for Joyful Jubilant Learning

The Golden Age of Books: Doing our part!

At his blog Well-Read Life, Steve Leveen, CEO of Levenger has started a series he's calling The Golden Age of Books. He explains:

Today there is plenty of hand-wringing about how a barrage of new media are stealing time away from reading. Government studies reinforce with statistics what we see by looking around: young people find 3D video games and Facebook more interesting than Jane Eyre. 

Since our business is tied to such social changes, I continuously query people about their reading habits. Yet what I’m finding makes me feel encouraged rather than discouraged about reading, especially the reading of books.

In fact, from all the good news I see, I’m going to suggest that we may be entering a magnificent new era in reading that is already far better than anything we had in those good old days, whenever they might have been.

Mmmm... we JJLers like the sound of that!
We certainly are doing our part to contribute to this Golden Age, loving all the choices we have with reading by talking about them here. (Have you signed up to review one of your books yet?)

I'm interested to read all the reasons Leveen plans to share in his series. His first is this:

Our Historic High Tides of Books

We are swimming in books. In both the number of titles, and the sheer quantities of books printed, the world has never seen anything like what we have today. In 2004, the last year statistics are available, the global production of books in English amounted to a mind-boggling 450,000 titles.

The U.S. production alone increased 15% between 2002 and 2006, surging from about 250,000 titles to 300,000 per year. The only genres of books to show declines over these years were juvenile and computer books. Yet more than making up for those declines are significant increases in poetry, drama, religion, philosophy, fiction and biography...

Yet another convincing argument for A Love Affair of Books and how it will help us identify some great choices! The variety of genres to expand my horizons to is one reason I so look forward to our annual forum of book reviews, for personally I do get stuck in my non-fiction business-reading habits, and as Chris pointed out, there is a far larger wealth of literary (and poetic) richness to choose from.

How about a quick poll?

Drop a note in the comments: What genre did you last sample in your reading?

Why a book?

Books are leverage.

Books allow me to spending several days, weeks and months learning from some of the smartest people who have ever lived.  Some books allow me to learn from the authors for years - just like Joanna reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  Where else can you find an opportunity like this, and for mere dollars ?

Books allow you to share your ideas and words with the world - write once, be read forever.  If you have a message to share - and if you read JJL you do - a book will allow you to get your message in the hands of millions of people across the world.

When you think about it, a book represents the greatest educational bargain around.  In an age where people will pay upwards of $50,000 for a university degree, a book - a $20 investment - will let you acquire the knowledge of, say, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who penned Meditations - a diary.  The intimate thoughts of a world leader - meditations on ethics, leadership, life, death, wealth & worth - are a priceless education.  A book allows me to carry the wisdom around in my pocket.

Why do you choose to learn through books ?

Benjamin Bach is a speaker, writer and wealth building Real Estate agent in Kitchener Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

You can find his blog at http://www.Kitchener-Waterloo-Real-Estate-Investments.com

February Ho‘ohana: A love affair with books 2005 ~ 2008

Dear Readers of the Joyful Jubilant Learning Ho‘ohana Community,

I hope you have been clicking directly in to our JJL site lately, for the comments we are getting right now are not to be missed.

And you know what? I am not in the least bit surprised. We have been looking back this month at what the books of our lives have meant to us.

We are finding that the words just tumble out in our passion to explain, yet as readily as these words flow, they somehow cannot describe our love affair with books adequately; there is simply so much to be conveyed. So much joy and reverence to be shared.

Books create extraordinary learning experiences. In the conversation that resulted from his posting, How To Read An Unfinished Book, Tim Milburn called what commenters have attempted to describe “Full Contact Reading.” He made me laugh out loud when I first read the phrase, but then I found I kept thinking, How absolutely true! If you have not yet read Tim's post, and the conversation he tipped off, believe me — you must.

If you have clicked in since yesterday, you will also have seen this wonderful art that Tim created for us, for what we are leading up to, and warming up for this month, is what is surely the highlight of our year at Joyful Jubilant Learning, our annual A Love Affair with Books (ALAWB) now held each March: A new book review published every single day. 31 days, 31 books, 31 authors.

History is who we are and why we are the way we are.
~ David C. McCullough

Although we just celebrated our first site birthday this past October 1st on Joyful Jubilant Learning, ALAWB will enjoy its fourth annual appearance next month. It originally appeared on my first blog, a site I still write for called Talking Story, where I invited our growing community of readers and learners, respectfully dubbed the Ho‘ohana Community, to write book reviews for me. Could it possibly be they were as nuts about books as I was?

Little did I realize how like-minded a community we were.

“Write a book review about a book I have loved? No problem Rosa! Umm, just one?”

ALAWB took off like an unstoppable army of Cupids, all with an unending supply of book-branded love-arrows in their quivers. Writing the book review was easy; choosing the book to write a review for was quite another challenge when so many were so madly and unapologetically loved. Yes, madly. There is absolutely no doubt about it; none: We the joyful and jubilant learners of the Ho‘ohana Community are Book People.

As February 2008 continues, we are working behind the scenes to prepare for ALAWB in March. With each new year, we are sure ALAWB will be the best ever, and this year we couldn't even wait for March to start talking about what our books have meant to us. Be sure to keep checking your feed readers, and watch for an announcement before the month ends where we'll be inviting you to participate too. (Could we possibly go for two books reviews a day?!?! It will be up to you :)

For today, I would like to bring back the first essay I had ever wrote about ALAWB if I may. A few of our newer contributing authors have asked me where the name “A Love Affair with Books” came from. Therefore, what follows is a reprint of the first time I published the phrase on February 1st, 2005.

Indulge your love affair too. Keep reading and discover how books will love you back, as will the people you choose to discuss them with. That learning experience you feel is that oh so sweet pinching of Cupid's arrow.
~ Rosa Say

February Ho‘ohana: A love affair with books

This is the month normally associated with Valentine’s Day, and if I could, I’d send a valentine to every author who has stolen my heart. I am continually amazed at the power of influence a book can have on me, and its ability to have me fall in love with ideas, with stories, and with characters.

Recently I’ve gone through a bit of a dry spell in my reading of books, partly due to the events surrounding my own book and keeping up with things on Talking Story, and partly due to reading so many blogs instead. Choosing a well-written blog is in some ways like choosing a good book, so it’s a good thing too, but the two are so different in the experiences they create for me. I’ve written a good deal about blogs lately, and this month I want to go back to being the book crusader I love being. There is something very special about books.

How To Read An Unfinished Book

All of the books I have ever purchased are unfinished.

Now they may have been completed. All the chapters included. A nice title. Smartly designed book jacket. Readily available at my local Barnes & Noble or online at Amazon.com. But when I hold that newly purchased book in my hands for the first time...I know that it's not finished. It needs something more.

To me, a book is one side of a conversation. In order to get the most out of it - to learn from it - I need to engage in the conversation the author has started. I need to finish what the author started.

I will warn you right now: I am not kind to my books. If you were to peruse the shelves of my library you would find books that look like they've been run over by a car, withstood a few cycles in the washing machine, and carry the stains of various food and beverages.

That's because I live with my books.

In living with my books, I engage in a variety of conversations both with the books and with the people around me. I keep them close at hand. I am never very far without access to the latest book that I'm engaged with. Because my goal is to finish what was started on the inside.

So here's how I work at reading, processing, conversing with, and integrating the unfinished books I encounter on a regular basis. You might find some of these too painful to incorporate into your own learning. I only offer them as an insight into my own processes.

1. Lose the dust cover.
I know that someone spent a lot of time working on the design of that book jacket, but I can't properly dismantle this book with that thing still flimsily (is that a real word?) hanging on to the outside of the cover. I will read the comments on the back and on the inside panels and then toss it. Now I have an nondescript book with only the title on the spine to remind me what is on the inside. For me, the book jacket gets in the way. I have found that none of my books lost any significant value by throwing the book cover away.

2. Write some questions.
This is done on the title page of my book. I do this before I even start reading. What do I want this book to answer for me? What do I think this book will answer for me? Each of us purchases a book because we believe it will provide us with some kind of insight, answers, or different perspective. I state those up front...in the book. Maybe the book will answer those questions - maybe it won't. But now I'm reading with intention. Now I'm asking the author questions and am engaged in searching for answers.

3. Underline and re-read.
As I begin to read, there will be certain lines and words that stick out for me. I underline those. After I underline them, I will re-read what I just underlined. I want to think about why this portion of the book is important to me.

A quick note about underlining - use the appropriate pen. Don't use a Sharpie. It's too bold and will bleed through the pages. A nice gel pen could suffice if the ink dries quickly and the paper is thick enough. A ballpoint pen seems to work better for me, unless the pen leaks a little when you first touch it to the paper. These may seem like trivial issues, but when you mark up your book A LOT - the type of writing utensil is crucial. Sometimes, a mechanical pencil may be your best bet.

Some people underline a book because it helps them stay focused. It's easy for our minds to drift while we're reading. I underline the book because I want to condense it to the main points that relate to me and my situation. When I read back through the book, I will focus on the underlined parts. By underlining, I'm trying to make the book smaller.

4. Write in your book.
I love a book with wide margins and blank spaces at the end of chapters. I fill those spaces up with notes, questions, thoughts,and summaries. I have a marking system that I use when I write in my book:
   - I place a "Q:" with the topic of a quote next to quotes I want to remember.
   - I place a "I:" with the topic of the illustration next to those stories that catch my interest.
   - I place a "?" next to passages that raise questions for me.
   - I place a "*" next to important points that stand out above the rest.
If I underline a passage that is very significant, I will summarize it in the margins and draw an arrow to it.

5. Index your material.
Now I understand why they place blank pages at the front and back of books. It's so I can create my own index of what I find important. Whenever I place a mark next to a quote, illustration, passage that I definitely want to refer to later, I will make a note of it on the front page of the book. I create my own index. That way, if I remember that there's something in a book that I need, I don't have to search the whole book. I can go back through my index.

6. Teach it to someone else.
In order for me to better understand a concept or perspective that I read in a book, I need to share it with someone else. This forces me to put things in my own words and to think it through in my own mind. I will pull my book out and ask people what they think about certain passages or explain what it is that I'm reading. As I attempt to explain, I am learning how to formulate the concepts and ideas in my own terms. I tend to learn so much more through the process of teaching then I do by learning alone.

7. Move the information from the book to your own system.
Whenever I buy a book, I realize that I won't need everything that's written in the book. That's why I go through the whole process of reading it, marking it, and analyzing it. I am subjectively pulling information out of the book. And I don't want to leave information that I need in the book.

So I will transcribe key thoughts, ideas, quotes on index cards and paste them on my wall. I will file things away on my computer or in my filing cabinet. I will write key ideas on a blog or in a journal. My goal is to get the information out of the book and into the systems that I use on a daily basis.

And here's the way to measure if you're doing this successfully: What would happen if you lost your library? What if all of your books were stolen or destroyed? What would you have left?

I would definitely feel a sense of loss because I really like my books. Some of them have great sentimental value. Many have been the source of powerful changes in the way I think and live. But I'd be more upset if I lost the files and systems I use to keep information. Because those things make up the information I want to keep, the hard work of gleaning through each of my books to pull out the pieces I find useful and inspiring.

What is a book but the beginning of a conversation? A conversation that is unfinished until you, the reader, become engaged in it. Sometimes I am overwhelmed when I walk into a bookstore and see all of the conversations that I could enter into - too many books, not enough time. But that doesn't stop me from diving in and messing up as many books as I can.

How about you? Do you have a system for finishing the books you buy? How do you interact with your books to get the most out of them?

Photo Credit: Flickr
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If Tim Milburn could be any highlighter color in the world, it would be orange. He also writes at a couple of places on the web: College Students Rule! is dedicated to providing tips, tricks and tools to help college students succeed; Studentlinc is where he works hard to develop lifelong leaders one student at a time. Tim makes his home in Eagle, Idaho with his wife and four children.

Learning Perspective: Use It Or Lose It

Because the human brain packs so much circuitry in so little space it creates continuous pressure to extinguish connections the brain no longer needs, to make space for those it must have. The adage "use it or lose it" refers to this ruthless neural Darwinism, where brain circuits vie with another to survive. Those neurons we lose are "pruned", disappearing like twigs cut from a tree. - Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence

Growing up with a rural family of 5 I had a pretty sheltered existence. My world pretty much consisted of God, school, a family who loved me and my friends. It makes me smile now but I swear, my mother's favorite thing was to tell me 'you are what you eat'.

Her way of telling me to finish my veggies and eat healthy. At the time, it frustrated me to no end. After all, we kids know it all, right? Vegetables and eating healthy doesn't mean a thing when you've got more energy than the energizer bunny... right?

The quote above reminds me a lot of this because it shows the very extent of how thoughts and actions actually create who and what we are. You are what you think you are.

"Look around you wherever you live and you will notice that the vast majority of mankind lives in the world without; the more enlightened men are intensely interested in the world within. Remember, it is the world within, namely, thoughts, feelings and imagery that makes your world without...

Knowledge of the interaction of your conscious and subconscious mind will enable you to transform your whole life. In order to change external conditions, you must change the cause. Most men try to change conditions and circumstances by working with conditions and circumstances. To remove discord, confusion, lack, and limitation you must remove the cause and the cause is the way you are using your conscious mind. In other words, the way you are thinking and picturing in your mind." -Joseph Murphy, author of The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

I hated eating veggies growing up and I didn't have a very good attitude about myself or life. I allowed the things people said and did to condition my personal value. Those devalued thoughts became my way of life and in return my brain kept that which it needed to maintain this pattern of thinking.

Fast forward to just over two years ago. I met an individual who challenged me to change my patterns. To change my start. I accepted that challenge and began devouring an and all content in regards to personal growth, success and changing destructive patterns.

While all of this was occurring I began writing at Live Your Best Life, now known as Network Marketing Journey and began the Written Restructuring of My Brain. As I struggled and pushed against those negatives my brain did the only thing it could do. It kept the resources it needed for the new found way of existing.

And I quickly discovered that 'Use It Or Lose It' is more than a phrase used to bully people.

Its a fact of life and a matter of learning.

As a result of my work within I've become an accomplished Networker, Search Engine Marketer, and Entrepreneur. Now instead of endeavoring to lift me up my mentors and friends tell the story of my path and accomplishments to enlighten others.

The most amazing part (at least to me) is that we aren't in on this one alone. Our brain catalogs, adapts and reorganizes everything for us. Allowing us to focus on being and doing while it focuses on the learning and growing.

How is that for collaboration?

Focusing on the external things is like applying a band aide to a wound. It only covers it up and hides it from the world. When you shift your way of thinking to deal with the cause, your inner beliefs and pains, you give yourself and your brain permission to create lasting change.

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Tim Draayer is an enabled Introvert, Networker, Entrepreneur and the author of Network Marketing Journey. He believes strongly in the value of a self directed life and seeks to arm others with the tools to find their way.

Lessons of shadows and light

February is for looking back to go forward. In Punxsutawney (PA) Phil the ground hog saw his shadow. Hence we learn from tradition that we are faced with 6 more weeks of winter. Here on JJL, we are looking back into books we have read to share what we have learned from reading. There has been a pattern of children’s books this first week. Rosa gave us the list of 100 books that children should read. Joanna took us into Alice and Wonderland. Dean talked of children and their books.

In my comment on Dean’s post I wrote:

Dean, one small regret about my daughters growing up into the young ladies that they have become, is that I don't have ready access to the books of the tweens. Yes, I do have access. I can go into a store or shop online with the best of them. But to read and discuss the same book amongst the family was a treasured time during their school days.
Oh, we still have good discussions and frequently about books these days now that they are in college. But they are not kids books!

One author whose books circulated amongst our household as Allison and Carolyn were growing up was Madeleine L’Engle. I thought we had read everything she wrote. I know one of Allison’s book shelves was full of her books. I thought that until I read amongst many of the tributes to her after she passed away September 6, 2007 of a series of books that she wrote called “The Crosswicks Journals”. I picked up the first one “A Circle of Quiet” and read it during November. Many passages in the book got marked. These were good quotes that would come in handy some day. Had she chosen, had the internet and blogging been current, chapters of the journal could easily have been her posts. They were meant to be that conversational and informal.

Kung Hee Fat Choy! What I Learned from Clara

Happy Chinese New Year! According to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, this is the first day of the new year containing a new moon, and thus the year begins today, February 07, 2008.

Today also kicks off the Year of the Rat, and you have to admire the Chinese for being among the very few to honor this rodent which makes most of us squirm so uncomfortably... not only do they honor the Rat, they have given him the distinction of being the very first of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The others are the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.
Photo credit: Twin Lions on Flickr, Yufo Temple, Shanghai, China by think cink.

No offense guys, but I keep thinking of the Rat Master Splinter for the Teenage Mutant Turtles for some reason, and rat just naturally comes out as a "him" for me. However in the spirit of full disclosure, my daughter was born in the Year of the Rat; she's a Wood Rat. Alongside the 12-year cycle of the animal zodiac there is a 10-year cycle of heavenly stems. Each of the ten heavenly stems is associated with one of the five elements of Chinese astrology, namely: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The elements are rotated every two years while a yin and yang association alternates every year. The elements are thus distinguished: Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, etc... 2008 is the Chinese Year of the Yang Earth Rat. (Wikipedia is a goldmine of information about all of this by the way; take any of these links and you'll find a bunch more. If you want to find out your year, element, and yin or yang, this is a good page.)

And hey guys, after you read what the Chinese think about the attributes of the noble rat, you may be okay with my gender liberties...

Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat's natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

Yes, there is another side to the Rat's character, but why go there, right?

Now me, I'm a Wood Horse, and they say that traditionally, Rats should avoid Horses, but other than a period of time when she was in the 6th grade that we both prefer not to remember, my daughter and I have gotten along just fine, so who knows... maybe we got the yin and yang part right!

So how is it that someone best known for teaching Hawaiian values has the authority with which to write our Joyful Jubilant Learning entry welcoming in the Chinese New Year?

7 Ages of Alice: Exploring A Multi-Layered Book

“Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

We are all a collection of learning stories, Rosa wrote, and the words, phrases and language of “Alice” are woven into mine. 

So when I was prompted by Angela to reflect on quotable authors and how their words help me live my best life, then by Dean to remember the books I read as a child and the lessons they taught me… well I knew I had to write about Alice.

Because this is a book that’s come with me through every stage of my life.  Here are the 7 ages that she’s seen me through so far.

I remember hearing and reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a small child, being enchanted by the stories and captivated by Tenniel’s cartoons.  Picking out another layer of meaning as a teenager, recognising the heroine’s feelings of puzzlement as her body shifts and changes and she tries to answer that age old question:

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.”

Alice came back to me when I was a student of philosophy.  Most of the books we read were as dry as dust, but a more enterprising lecturer teased our minds with Carroll’s reflections on theories of language.  Here's a sentence I’m still grappling with today:-)

"'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.'"

I returned to Alice when I started out as a blogger.  I often found myself thinking of her surprise when she landed  with a bump at the bottom of the rabbit hole, wondering how on earth she got there (ever felt like that when you’ve arrived somewhere new?) but determined to explore, to investigate, to learn something from her adventure.

It was Alice who inspired the invitation on my (now archived) life coaching site:

"Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, won’t you join the dance?"

Leading to lots of fascinating conversations about the metaphor of the invitation, what it means to dance, and what happens when we hear the music…

There are lots of writing lessons in Alice that I want to go back in and explore.  Some are delightfully back to front - "Speak in French when you can't think of English for a thing" - (are those the ones that make the strongest impression?) and some perfectly to the point.

"'Begin at the beginning,' the King said, very gravely, 'and go on till  you come to the end: then stop.'"

But  the book models as well as teaches a fantastic writing style: the simplest of sentence structures, vivid stories, plain language that anyone can grasp.  The plain language is of course mixed in with nonsense and that (I think) is what helps to create the multi-layered meaning, stories and messages that work on different levels – affecting different people in different ways, and the same person at different times of their life. 

It’s open enough to allow us to find the lesson we need to draw at any given time.

The book was something of a life saver to me when I was going through the hardest of times in my previous employment – burning out, trying to make sense of the frantic (purposeless) activity around about me, heart sick of the management rhetoric telling us what we “should” do, language that bore no relation to the reality of life within that particular part of wonderland.

What helped me through was the realisation – through Alice – that I’d been taking other people’s words, their language – at face value, rather than observing the detail of their actions.  A switch to focusing on what they did rather than what they said that helped me to see the comedy in the games played without purpose, the riddles we could never be expected to solve, the frantic breathless activity which ended, like the Caucus-race, when someone arbitrarily decided that the race was over.

It helped me to realise, and accept, the kind of world that I was in.

"'But I don't want to go among mad people,' said Alice.  'Oh, you can't help that,' said the cat.  'We're all mad here.''"

It helped me to see what was going on as some kind of mad game with no rules.  It made it seem less serious, more farcical – and gave me back a sense of power.

"'Who cares for you?’ said Alice (she had grown to her full size by this time). ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!'"

And of course she does stand up and throw off the cards in the end – and so did I…

Several years later I went on a course on NLP and storytelling.  Printed in the back of a manual was a multi-layered story.  I read the words with a jolt of recognition and astonishment, a wave of tears and a powerful expression of gratitude that I had now slain my particular monster.

It was Jabberwocky, a perfect example of nonsense, meaning both nothing and everything at the same time:

"One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

'And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy."

I want to learn more about how this works.  The role of nonsense in expressing and guiding us through times of change, through dark times when meaning gets lost, through times when we regain our power. 

It’s a learning  challenge I need to save for another day (when I have a little more time) but I know with total confidence that Alice will stay close by on my bookshelf, and that I will return to wonderland at future stages in my life, when I need to gather different meaning, and learn new lessons.

How about you?  Are there books like Alice that have different levels of meaning for you?  That have taught you different lessons at different stages of your life?

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This article is a contribution to our February theme at Joyful Jubilant Learning:  What do we learn from books?

The author Joanna Young is a writing coach who lives and works in Edinburgh.

You can read more of her work at the Confident Writing blog. This month she's focusing there on taking leaps and bounds with our writing - join her there if you're ready for a slide into wonderland!

Photo credit: Estherase

Children and their books

Rosa and Angela have started this month with a look at children, books and lessons; before I read their articles, I decided I would also focus on what adults can learn from children's books...not what children can learn but what adults can learn.

One of my favorites that I discovered as an adult is The Velveteen Rabbit. I cited it in one of my articles during our "unlearning series." My favorite portion of the book was quoted in that article and I return to it here:

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

What a lesson for us adults! Accepting ourselves and others as Designer Originals...embracing others not as you would like them to be but as they really are, encouraging all they are to come forth - these are profound challenges! And, the process can hurt...but when you are real you don't mind being hurt.

On a lighter side, yet just as lesson-filled, is my favorite book as a child, which I checked out of the library many times, Stop That Ball! by Mike McClintock. First published in 1959, it is the adventurous tale of a little boy who hits his big red ball out of his yard, and all that happens to him as he has tries to catch up to it. Who would think it would be so difficult retrieving something lost! Falling down a manhole, riding on a dumptruck, being blown up along with a hill top, landing in a band member's tuba only to have it blown back into the lad's own back yard teaches a powerful lesson. Let nothing detour you from your passionate pursuits! This, too is a lesson for us adults who often give up too early and trade in the old for the new. After all, the boy could have gotten another ball...For me, the greatest lessons learned are often taught by the master teachers, children and their books.

Questions:

1. What books do you remember reading as a child?
2. What lessons did they teach to children and what do they now teach to you?

Dean Boyer is a contributing author for the Teaching with Aloha Blog, and has been an educator for nearly 30 years in the United States and Taiwan. He has been a guest speaker at the East Asia Regional Conference for Overseas Schools, the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children and the Association of Christian Schools International. Currently he serves as Superintendent at a Christian school near Seattle, Washington. He has been happily married 32 years and enjoys being “dad” to his two sons,their wives and “grandpa” to his two grandchildren.

100 Books Every Child Should Read, UK-style

A book-buying pointer: Saw this via Heidi at Omnivoracious, Hungry for the next good book, which I read via my Amazon Daily feed.

In mid-January, Telegraph.co.uk published a list of the "100 books every child should read." Like many must-read lists, it includes expected stalwarts such as Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte's Web, The Chronicles of Narnia, and To Kill a Mockingbird. But this Brit list focuses on stories that are exciting to read (vs. books that teach you things you ought to know) and it actually has some titles I haven't seen on American recommended book lists.

Imaginative: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This was a find for me, for while I remember certain books that my own children adored, purchasing the right book for the right age is quite a task when you gift them. When you click into Telegraph.co.uk, you will find the books are listed this way with succinct, fun reviews:

• 100 books every child should read - Part 1: Early years
• 100 books every child should read - Part 2: Middle years
• 100 books every child should read - Part 3: Early teens

Want to play a short match game? See if you can guess which book goes with which review (before you click any of those links above, of course:)

1. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll
2. The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, by Beatrix Potter
3. The Tiger Who Came To Tea, by Judith Kerr
4. Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling
5. The Borrowers, by Mary Norton

a) Tom Kitten learnt nothing from his parents about the consequences of curiosity. Abducted by a psychotic rat, he comes within a whisker of being turned into a pudding. Nightmares guaranteed.

b) Newsnight's Emily Maitlis has a theory that this book is an allegory about sex. Most children understand it as the story of a tiger that eats its hosts out of house and home. Debate continues.

c) Never was mathematical and philosophical playfulness given such entertaining shape.

d) Learn how the leopard got his spots and the camel his hump. And remember "The Elephant's Child" - whose "satiable suriosity" turns his "bulgy nose" into a trunk?

e) First published in 1953, this remains a deserved favourite. The Clock family live beneath a floorboard, making do with what "human beans" drop, until one day one of them allows herself to be seen…

There was once a boy brought up with books all around him. There were no walls in the house: just books, it seemed. At bedtime his mother would sit on the bed and read to him - Masefield, Kipling, Lear, De la Mare, Shakespeare - and the boy loved it because his mother loved it. He could hear it in her voice, in her laugh, in the tears in her eyes. He loved the fun, shared the sadness. He loved the music in the words. He never wanted storytime to end...
~ 100 books every child should read - An introduction by Michael Morpurgo, who believes that "If children are to become readers for life, they must first love stories."

Is there a children's classic you feel should be on the list?

~ Rosa Say, JJL Contributor, and author of Managing with Aloha Coaching.