National Book Award finalist Eugene Yelchin offers a poignant satirical portrait of his childhood in his 2021 autobiography, The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. With humor and sensitivity, he describes his experiences growing up in Cold War Russia…
Uncommon Talent: A Review of “The Genius Under the Table” Read More »
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this past year of homeschooling was pretty mediocre. Even for long-time homeschoolers like our family, this pandemic has brought about some challenges and pulled more than a few weaknesses into the light! In fact, one of the only subjects that I can confidently say we’ve tackled with any measure of success is literature study. And, for my 8yo this year, lit study meant reading Anne of Green Gables…
Anne of Green Gables and the Case for Challenging Books Read More »
When five-year-old Khosrou’s Shiite Muslim mother converts to Christianity, his life changes forever. Soon he finds himself hurried onto a plane, leaving behind his father and the familiar landscape of Iran to live as a refugee in the United States. Rural Oklahoma’s flat and dusty landscape isn’t the only thing unfamiliar to him; his very self seems strange in his transplanted condition. Everything is new: new home, new father, new school, new language. He even has a new, American name: Daniel. Who is he now? Will he ever feel at home in this new place? Will he ever belong in this new life?…
Scheherezade and the King: A Modern Narrative Diversion Addressing an Ancient Problem Read More »
Welp, they’ve started canceling Dr. Seuss, and on his birthday, no less. And to think it could happen to Mulberry Street! March 2, Dr. Seuss’s birthday, is National Read Across America Day (#DrSeussDay across social media). It’s an annual event by the National Education Association (NEA) encouraging reading among school-aged children. Yet this is the moment that the NEA, along with the White House, has chosen to break from tradition…
In Defense of Dr. Seuss Read More »
It’s a wild world we live in. Consumption runs rampant, our politics resemble a rumpus, and we are cordoned off from community. Max, the wild child from Maurice Sendak’s iconic Where the Wild Things Are, knows a thing or two about such predicaments. From the confines of his bedroom, Max travels to the wildest world of all, embarking on a mysterious, monster-filled journey which culminates in a reminder of hope and our heavenly haven. Perhaps the Wild Things can call us to turn from our rebellion and revel in the one in whom authority and glory resides…
Wild Things and the Heavenly Host Read More »
Disney claims The Snow Queen as inspiration for their Frozen movies. Spoiler alert: aside from a few frozen hearts melted by self-sacrificial love, the similarities cease. In fairytale form, The Snow Queen elucidates the true nature of innocence, the pitfalls of our fallenness, and the path into eternity. Hans Christian Andersen’s story leads us, with his characters Gerda and Kay, to die to the “sensibility” of the world and to discover the true essence of life…
Innocence and Eternity in “The Snow Queen” Read More »
Every redemptive story has a redeemer. This should go without saying — should. So often, worthwhile stories are interpreted in the shallows where they seem to satisfy modern affinities for personal affirmation. Their worthy depths wait, unsounded. Enter, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge. This classic 1940’s tale by Hildegard H. Smith and Lynd Ward tells the story of a self-important little lighthouse who becomes despondent when an enormous suspension bridge is built by his side. It’s face-value message is that everyone has a pivotal role to play, no matter how small they might seem. Yet, this story contains an often-overlooked redeemer who exposes the book’s central feature — personal pride — for a sham, drawing the reader into a picture of relationship where affirmation is properly placed, and thus redeemed…
The Lighthouse Man Read More »
Once upon a time, there was a princess who was so beautiful that even the sun, who saw everything, was bemused by her beauty every time he shone down upon her. On hot days, she liked to go sit near a cool well on the edge of a dark wood by the castle, take out her favorite plaything—a golden ball—and pass time by throwing it in the air and catching it again. One day, the golden ball dropped and fell into the well instead of into the girl’s hands…
The Frog Prince and the Answer to Everything Read More »
I find absurd humor hilarious. It’s dark (my husband could use your prayers) but is there anything funnier than an existential paradox? Consider an example I have been pondering recently: Shakespeare. We hold him in such awe. We teach his work throughout the curriculum, hoping to instill some small fraction of his eloquence and wisdom in our students. We study his kings to inform our political philosophy. We study his comedies to understand love. We study his tragedies to shape our moral bearings. We study his humor…
Absurdity, Ideals, and Shakespeare’s Bawdy Humor Read More »
From the moment we are old enough to be self-aware, we are on a quest to discover who we are. This search for identity is complicated by the many, disparate voices around us, but what they all have in common is a fundamental presupposition that identity is created – that we, as human beings, make ourselves. Aristotle gets credit for saying something of this sort initially. He said that we are what we do continually, which I think explains a lot of the psychological angst associated with our self-concepts…
Homeschooling and Identity Read More »
