Ames & Ilg: Your X-Year-Old (series)

OK, well maybe it's not quite the end for this blog... I just had to post a review of these books. :-)

If you ever want reassurance about your child's behaviour at a specific age, or to gain detailed knowledge of what parenting challenges you are likely to face in the future, head to this 1980s Gesell Institute series by Louise Bates Ames and Frances Ilg. 

William P Young: The Shack: Thoughts on Marriage

The Shack, by William P Young, is the story of a man's relationship with God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The trigger for the man's dialogue with God is the tragic abduction of his daughter, but don't let the grim opening put you off.  This slim book is packed full of hope, surprising joy, and boundless, heart-changing love, all presented through the man's dialogue with the visible, present, communicative, loving, Tri-une God.

I bought this book some years ago, and have re-read it a few times.  Each time I read it, different thoughts linger in the days that follow:

Florence Littauer : Personality Plus for Parents

Florence Littauer's Personality Plus for Parents is in my top 10 parenting books, along with the Babywise Series, Good and Angry, Don't Make Me Count To Three, and Terrific Toddlers.

Robin Hobb: The Farseer Trilogy

Oh my, what a feast of fantasy is Robin Hobb’s The Farseer Trilogy!  When I first read Book 1, I ended it feeling as if I had eaten the finest meal of my life - fully satiated, yet longing for more.   And Books 2 and 3 did not disappoint.

Lawrence J Cohen: Playful Parenting

After the first glance, I put this book back on the shelf. But some months later, I realised I needed some help in lightening the mood of the interactions in our home, and I picked it up again. And this time, I read it.

C.S. Lewis: The Magician’s Nephew

I love, love, love the Narnia books. They were some of the very first chapter books I read as a young girl, and I love them still. Possibly my favourite of the series is the one that explains the beginnings of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.

(Sidenote: I am starting to sense a theme in my personal favourites; I favour the Silmarillion even higher than The Lord of the Rings series too).

(Sidenote 2: The Narnia movies, with the exception of the first -The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - are in my opinion desecrations of what CS Lewis so beautifully wrote).

Ahem. Back to The Magician’s Nephew. I love it because:

Sally Ward: Baby Talk

When I began to suspect that my first child had a speech delay, we were placed on a waiting list for services. During this wait, a friend of a friend recommended Sally Ward's Baby Talk, which I purchased and read from cover to cover immediately.

   

Jane Austen: Persuasion

There are no Jane Austen novels that I dislike. But Persuasion is my absolute favourite. I think the reason is that the plot is soooo romantic... and now you know that this is not really a serious book review at all. :-)

Ginger Plowman: Don’t Make Me Count to Three!

At the time I found this book, I was desperate for some practical advice on how to use scripture in day-to-day discipline, particularly with my eldest child.

I knew I needed a model - a mom whose values and beliefs were similar to mine, who could show me how to do what I knew needed to be done.

Mel Hayde: Terrific Toddlers 2: Building Happy, Healthy Hearts!

This book continues on where Terrific Toddlers (One) ended. It is written for parents who have implemented a flexible routine as outlined in TT1, and are wondering ‘what next?’. The book is based on Christian principles, and includes Scripture references following each chapter, but the language is easily accessible by unchurched and non-Christian families.

In Mel’s own words, TT2 “aims to give you just a few ideas on how to move to the next and most enjoyable part of parenting. Building happy, healthy hearts.” (TT2, Introduction).  

Kim Stanley Robinson: Mars trilogy

The first time I saw this trilogy, I was browsing a bookstore in search of new reading material, and I was immediately hooked, buying the trilogy after reading two pages of Red Mars. Robinson’s “what if” is simple: what if humankind colonised Mars? But he works out this thought in thorough detail across 3 hefty volumes.

A team of one hundred scientists, experts in their fields, are painstakingly selected to colonise Mars, with no expectation that they will ever return to Earth. In the process of travelling to and colonising Mars, Robinson includes many plot twists and changes in point of view, until one feels as if one is a member of the team experiencing and modifying this amazing new world.

Throughout the series, Robinson uses his knowledge of fields as diverse as geology, biology, psychology, politics, gerontology, hydrology, physics, solar astronomy, vulcanism, meteorology, and many more, to paint a totally believable picture of mankind expanding out from Earth.

This trilogy feels like history which hasn’t occurred yet; and that is IMHO the highest possible praise for a work of science fiction.

Enjoy!

Mel Hayde: Terrific Toddlers

I first read this book following the birth of my second child, when I realised I was struggling with the behaviour of my eldest (who was 2.5 years at the time). I read the 101 pages within an hour, but it was a life-changing hour for my toddler and I.

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Silmarillion

This book cannot be described simply.  It is the author’s life-work, and contains the millennia of history and mythology, verse and prose, tragedy and epic fantasy, which form the background to The Lord of the Rings cycle and The Hobbit. 

Turansky, Scott, and Miller, Joanne: Good and Angry

In my earliest years as a parent, I got angry at my children. A lot. I didn’t want to be an angry mother, flipping out every time my child ignored my directions, but somehow it just happened.  

This book poses the idea that anger in parenting is natural, and in fact useful to identify issues in our children that need to be worked on; but that anger is NOT useful in problem solving. Framing anger this way was extremely helpful to me. The book then goes on to discuss seven major character issues in children that trigger anger in parents, and some very helpful tools to tackle these issues. To give you taste, some of the chapter headings are:

Dorothy Dunnett's "Lymond" series

This series blew my mind when I first read it nearly 20 years ago. I borrowed the first volume from a friend, then promptly ordered the entire series from my local bookstore, then begged each volume from my friend until my copies arrived.  I think I went through the five-volume series within about 3 weeks (and yes, my university studies did suffer, as did my sleep!!!!). Since then, I have re-read it on average once a year.

I cannot praise these books highly enough. The character of Francis Lymond is romantic, compelling, and deeply flawed yet astonishingly noble.  The themes of trust broken and restored, and love which refuses to give up, run throughout the whole series.  The series is set in mid-16^th century Europe, and the action moves from Scotland (Lymond’s homeland) to France, Malta, Ottoman Turkey, Russia and the North Sea, finally coming full circle back to France and Scotland.   

If you are looking for a compelling hero, intricate plot development, complex relationships, and accurate, detailed history, I thoroughly recommend this series.

Let me know what you think!