Lang Lang: Playing with Flying Keys

Loved it!  After reading Erica Moore's review of Lang Lang: Playing with Flying Keys at The Well Read Child, I decided to check it out from our library for my own reading. I'm so happy that I did - this book is fantastic! I finished it within 24 hours of getting it home -- Lang Lang's life story and journey of becoming one of the world's most famous classical pianists is stunning. 

The book brought tears to my eyes several times as I followed the drama of Lang Lang's struggles and triumphs -- the pressure of his father's stern, demanding, brutal drive for success, the sadness and love of his mother left behind to support the family, the generosity and caring of some teachers and friends, the enormous sacrifices made by Lang Lang and his parents, and the dramatic, perilous, ascent to the top of the classical music world. 

I was fascinated by the descriptions of China and Chinese culture, and the actions of people in Lang Lang's life. An amazing read worth your time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

First of all, thank you to everyone who has stopped by this blog.  It's been a wonderful experience to talk about books and share our favorites.  I'm having a great time and am thankful to have the blog as a bit of a creative outlet and to "meet" great people along the way.

Next, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  Great holiday!  What's better than sharing gratitude and food?  

We are celebrating with extended family and are mostly packed up and ready to go.  I think I've made a terrible error in planning though -- I have no book.  Shoot!  Vacations are one of the best opportunities for me to read and I realize this morning that I'm not prepared.  Of course, with two young children and a newborn, I may not get all that much time to read, but with lots of relatives around,  I'll likely get a few blissful, peaceful minutes here and there.  Perhaps I will grab a novel my husband just finished or read one of our relatives' magazines.  I'll survive, but next trip I want to plan better for reading.  We are going to Jamaica next year for a family wedding and I need to make books for the trip a bigger priority.

(The boys will have plenty of books for the trip, it will be hard to keep it to just a few that fit in the suitcases.)

Here's a book I wish I had on this trip -- 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews shares what looks like a very interesting book about First Families.  Looks like great post-election season reading.  I'm also very interested in this book about Lang Lang featured at The Well Read Child.  I didn't know who Lang Lang was before reading the review but it sounds like a great book and I'm particularly interested in piano since we just brought one into our home.  

Have a wonderful, blessed, and tasty Thanksgiving!  I hope you get in some good reading too.

Karen and family

Family Piano

I've always dreamed that my family would be musical, envisioning a piano, guitars, sing-alongs, drum circles and happy children and teenagers who enjoy making music together.

On Saturday, my husband and I bought a digital piano. It was kind of an impulse purchase -- I had only started thinking about a family piano earlier in the week. After packing up all the kids and looking at a few models in the music store, my husband said, do you want to get it? I said yes, and later that afternoon we unloaded our piano into the living room. It was initially a shock it happened so fast.

My husband and I are both adult beginner players -- I had lessons on and off as a child, and he won a few lessons from a silent auction last year. We are both enjoying playing around with the piano and we're excited about becoming more musical and learning to play more.

Now I'm hunting at the library and online and this opens up a whole new area to explore -- learning more about music, composers, performers, and checking out YouTube performances, audio recordings, sheet music, lesson books and other titles. There's so much to explore -- just last night I discovered this Youtube, Horowitz plays Lizst Consolation No. 3 and I've also heard just a little music by Ludovico Einaudi. (Something I may be able to play eventually.) It's so exciting to experience new things!  I'm looking forward to newly inspired library visits for recordings and sheet music and books!

A few things I'm going to look at soon as I continue to dream and plan our musical adventures.  

• Musical Improvisation for Children
• The Right Instrument for Your Child
• Musical Instruments for Children: Choosing What's Right for Your Child
  

I promise I will not be the pushy mom about these things. While these selections may look like I'm planning the kids' lives in advance, I'm hoping to learn more about the possibilities. I hope the kids will love and enjoy music, but I'll be content to have this as my hobby and support the boys in what they like doing even if it turns out to be all sports..... even the ones I dread most -- hockey and motorcycles. (Oh, ok, that might be VERY difficult..... I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for now.)

What Mommy is Reading -- The Read Aloud Handbook

While purchasing children's books online, I came across The Read Aloud Handbook (2006-2007 edition) by Jim Trelease.  It just arrived and I'm sitting down with it. I was torn whether this would be a good book or not.  The message is rather obvious -- reading to your kids is good for them.  Duh!  So I was worried whether this would have any value at all, and I considered returning it and saving approximately $10.

I decided to take a look and I can't resist the book.  Sure, reading is important, this book is going into details and research that supports reading to kids.  I'm still in the introduction and hooked. 

The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition (Read-Aloud Handbook)