reading the book chomp together before bed.
when gg sent this book to them for christmas,
i had them promise they'd not read it without me.
being familiar with many of the author's adult books,
i was curious about his children's books.
we all LOVED this book!
it had us laughing out loud every few pages.
what's extra fun for me is in all of hiaasen's books,
the stories take place in florida and are full or references to
places and things that are quintessential to florida life.
{the author is a big advocate of protecting florida's wildlife
and weaves environmental activism into his books}
in a nutshell this book is about a guy named derek badger
who plays a rugged survivalist on reality tv, but he's actually
a phoney who couldn't survive in the outdoors if his life depended
on it. a father/son animal wrangler team are hired to help him
look good on his florida everglades episode.
they think it's going to be easy money, but it's everything but.
derek gets into all sorts of predicaments with wild animals,
including getting bit by various creatures that he is mistreating.
it's full of physical comedy which resulted in finn howling with laughter.
we finished the book a few nights ago and before finn closed it completely,
he asked if we could get some of the author's other books: flush, scat and hoot.
the last won a newbery award, and was made into a movie a few years back.
i let them know i'd pass a note along to the easter bunny since easter sunday
is just around the corner. finn rolled his eyes and i gave him a little wink.
when i asked if he wanted to hunt eggs next weekend, he said "of course"
like i should have known better than to ask such a question.
{apparently he's not too big for that yet}.
 |
| road trip, april 2014 {thanks gg} |
for most of our road trip to and from phoenix,
the boys and i listened to audiobooks. it's a wonderful way to pass
the time and it made our 12 hour drive {roundtrip} feel like 1/4 of that.
the boys listened to his dark materials trilogy {the golden compass},
and i listened with complete fascination to uncle tom's cabin,
a book i've been wanting to read for years and years.
during those 10 hours, i laughed, cried, and was horrified as i followed tom
and other characters throughout the story. i finally understand why this was
the best selling novel of the 19th century. it's deserving.
i've never read a piece of literature that was written so thoroughly on the
subject of slavery in america. horrific, personal, and a blatant call to all
americans to reject slavery and to take a moral stand on such an inhumane
practice. harriet beecher stowe brings to light the detriments this way of
life brought not only to slaves and their families, but to the slave owners,
their children and all of America.
the book gave momentum to abolitionists, angered southerners and laid
the groundwork for the civil war. no other book or movie has ever moved me
or made me think as deeply about our country's horrible practice of slavery.
uncle tom's cabin will never ever leave me.
~ i finished this book just blocks before I arrived home from our road trip.
i called c ahead of time to warn him not to be alarmed when i walked in the door,
with swollen eyes.
