Duma- a living book that inspired a movie

How it was with Dooms, a true story from Africa- by Xan and Carol Hopcraft

This is a book in my Spring reading challenge, one I found through the ending credits of the movie, Duma. Dooms is a nickname for the swahili word Duma which means cheetah. This book tells the story in almost scrapbook style of this family's life with Dooms, the cheetah they raise from a cub. The hopcraft ranch is in Kenya, and before Xan is born his parents take in a lost cheetah cub. The book is full of incredible photos of Xan, from infancy growing up with Dooms. Xan's mother Carol is a wildlife photographer and this book is full of beautiful, incredible photos.

The kids and I were captivated by seeing real life photos of a real life "Calvin" growing up with a real live "Hobbes", the photos are just breathtaking-allowing the reader for a moment to see the fantasy of growing up with a beautiful wild animal-lived out.

Xan describes in 7 Chapters with lots of illustrations and photos...
*How dooms came to live with them *When Dooms was a baby *When Dooms was big, when I knew him *Dooms's friends *Dooms learns to find, hunt, and bring down his food *any day with Dooms *When Dooms got sick...and after

"When Dooms was listening he'd just stare at you peacefully with his big yellow eyes...He'd stare our far away on his plains and purr. When you brushed the short thick white hair under his chin, he'd close his eyes and throw his head back with a low purr that some people thought was a growl but we knew was a purr. That was his favorite, to feel the warm sun and the dry cool air around him. This was enough for him. And enough for you." -How it was with Dooms page 52

The story of a boy and his cheetah is the wonderful main part of this book, but we also really enjoyed all of the educational tidbits tucked away in this living book. As a homeschool family, we found the photo and description of the family's house and the roofing material-papyrus-very interesting after having studied early Egyptian writing for history. Also interesting were the photos of Xan's dad lugging Dooms down a ladder from the roof because Dooms could damage it with his sharp claws. Interesting facts about Cheetahs throughout the story, such as how the mother cheetah hides her cubs to hunt, how cheetahs need to catch their own wild food, that cheetah's claws do not retract like a cats, how fast they run, brought biology to life for the kids. The subject of camouflage took on new meaning in the real life story of how well a cheetah's coat blends into the grass, a little eerie when you think about it. We loved seeing the photos of the different wild animals in the family's yard, passing through. The photos of Dooms lounging with Xan, laying by the pool, being licked in the face by a family dog...are just captivating.
The last chapter will make you cry.

"At the [animal] hospital...Daddy had gone to move the car and Mama was still worried about the operation and wondering about it out loud and taking pictures of Dooms like she always did. You know how it is when you're doing something you think is important and you miss the thing that's really important. And so it was that we missed it..." page 61

The book was very different than the movie "Duma". The movie added in events that did not happen to make it exciting, though we all thought growing up with a cheetah was plenty exciting all in itself! The movie changed the location of the ranch from Kenya to South Africa, and had the dad die to introduce all the excitement of the plot. In real life, Xan's father did not die- but Dooms did, after exceeding the life expectancy of a cheetah in the wild. Xan and his mother wrote the book as a way to work through their grief over losing such a friend. In an interview I found with Xan online, Xan was grown up and an environmental policy major in College. He spoke about the differences in the movie and his life with Dooms, and about memories of Dooms taking afternoon tea with them everyday, his freedom to come and go as he pleased, his watching t.v. with them and the way Dooms listened.

This book has become one of my all-time favorites. Our copy is from the library, but I will be purchasing a copy for our home library, just so we can enjoy looking through the wonderful photos often. The movie was also very good-different from the book, but still a good movie-the kids really enjoyed it.

I found so many educational opportunities in this book. We will be drawing maps of Africa, locating Kenya and the location of the Hopcraft's farm. Narration and possible further studies of Cheetahs are in order, as are artwork inspired from the photographs in the book. A list or chart of other wild animals that live in Kenya, and a chart of the food chain of the cheetah are two other possible projects. For creative writing I am considering asking for a first person description of a day spent with Shalla, the cheetah cub that comes to live with the Hopcrafts later. A bigger project possibility would be making a scrapbook storybook with the children about one of our pets.
"How it was with Dooms" is really a book not to be missed.

The City of Ember- book review

My first Spring reading thing 2007 book review! To see my list for the challenge, go here.
I picked up The city of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau to skim through as a possibility for our girl's book-club. I had noticed the book mentioned in the Chinaberry catalog and thought it looked intriguing. The book is marketed for young readers, you will probably find it in the kid's section of your bookstore. While simply written, the story is remarkable and very well written. I was really wowed with the story concept, how original a tale to spin...and the way the author told it left me really in awe of her talent. I was telling my husband about the book, and I remarked that beyond a good story idea, her ability to draw you in by only revealing pieces of the puzzle as you read-utterly captures you. The same story, told with less ability would not have been half so enjoyable.

The City of Ember is a different kind of place. Here, everyone has a job and does it for the benefit of the city. Here supplies are retrieved from huge underground supply rooms to then be sold in the stores, supply rooms filled by "the builders" ages ago. Ember is a city of light in a world of darkness, the only light among the endless darkness. But, whispers of the supply rooms nearly empty and the flickering of the great lights of Ember leave everyone afraid.

Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow-newly graduated from school and beginning their new jobs in the city of Ember are the two main characters of the story. As you read, slowly you piece together how Ember functions, and you slowly try to piece together where is Ember? Why is it so dark? How are they so isolated? Doon hopes to learn how to fix the generator to keep the lights working. Lina discovers a clue to the possibility of a way out of Ember, a hope to save the dying city. No one has ever left the city, flashlights do not exist here, and fire is an almost unknown element. With no way to go beyond the city walls into the utter darkness, the concept of anything beyond is unthinkable. Will Lina and Doon find the way out, and will anyone believe them or help them?

I do not want to say more lest I ruin the story for you. I just have to say that by the end of the book, with 10 pages remaining...I could not put it down and was salivating for the sequel.
A great read! Go get it, now! Get thee to a bookstore...

Book Review: Blessed are the cheesemakers

Blessed are the Cheesemakers-book review

Part of my fall reading challenge was this book, Blessed are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch. This book made my list because it had a good review in the Chinaberry catalog and because it takes place in Ireland. After our trip to Ireland this past fall, I am in love with all things Irish, so of course I had to read this.

I really admired the talent of this writer, she weaved several seemingly unconnected stories and introduced several different characters in such a congruent fashion. I stood amazed by the writer's ability to bring these very different people together into a magical cheesemaking destiny of sorts.

The story and people in it were quirky but endearing; we are introduced to Corrie and Fee-eccentric old cheesemakers desperately trying to find a cheesmaker to take over the business (they are Irish of course, and a hoot), Abbey-Corrie's grand-daughter, dreaming of cheese on a remote Island; what she is doing there could have been it's own novel...Kit in New York, suddenly an alcholic wash-out after his wife overdosed on drugs, and finally Lucy, music student at Trinity College/now pregnant run-away, who answers a help wanted ad at the cheesefarm.

Sit back and marvel as the author brings all these lives together with a sprinkle of cheese magic.
The telling of this story was so delicious, I found myself reading portions of it outloud to my husband because it was so quirky and funny that I had to share.

The situation Abbey finds herself in is introduced in a hilarious sort of telling, it is too long to quote here, but I read it outloud to hubby, it was that funny. In a nutshell: she ends up on a small remote Island with her new husband who has dreams of doing great things for people in underpriviledged countries. Problem is, after they arrive, the Island people suddenly fall into a windfall and have the savviness to shrewdly manage this new wealth and create trust funds for every villager on the Island. Abbey's husband continues to stubbornly build irrigation canals and a sustainable farming area (by hand), despite the fact that all the villagers now have satellite tv, evian water and cook imported fish sticks in their microwave ovens.

Lucy is a pregnant college student on her own, answering a job advertisement ad for which she perfectly fits all the criteria: "Must have short nails, a good singing voice and enjoy a strict vegetarian diet". She has landed, of course, at the cheesefarm. "We need girls who can hold a tune and who don't eat meat to hand-milk the cows." "The milk, Corrie said, was sweeter that way." Lucy joins 4 other girls on the farm, all desperately needing a place to belong, and all pregnant.

Of course, destiny brings all of these characters together at the cheesefarm, where love, quirkiness, a little craziness, and of course magic reign.

Here is a sample of why I loved this book: "Kit stood next to Avis, refusing to believe what he saw. The morning air in the dairy was thick with the smell of effluent and milk and the sound of raindrops on rosebuds and whiskers on kittens. The Pregnasaurs were milking in time to the soundtrack of The Sound of Music and for a moment Kit thought the cows were actually dancing. On close inspection, they proved to be merely shuffling, but he couldn't be 100 percent sure that it wasn't in time to the beat."

All of this storytelling wraps around a love story, of course. The author also manages several twist and turns that truly left me guessing. I loved reading this book, I loved the characters and I wished for it to not end. The ending by the way, was beautiful. I sobbed through the ending, but it was a poignant, beautiful scene that just made the book so much more wonderful and real than I had thought it was. I cried while smiling as I read the end. I really did not expect to find such a gem of a story. This book should be rated 'R', some language and adult situations, and the beginning with Kit is kind of heartbreaking-just wanted to warn you. I will definitely read this book again soon, and I wish the cheesefarm and the people on it were real, I would love to go visit them. And I know, I will never experience cheese in quite the same way again.

A visit with Author Gail Carson Levine

Qualtiy time with my two elder daughters
Or, me scouting out the other moms in the "O.C."

I took the girls on Friday afternoon to a book signing by Gail Carson Levine. She is the author of Ella Enchanted, Dave at night, and several other great books. We traveled to near-by Newport Beach to see her and while there I thought I would notice what the cool moms in Newport Beach were wearing this season. Um, it wasn't what I was wearing...I am reporting that most of the moms sported expensive looking jeans with various styles of shirts and flip-flops. And tans, they were all tanned...

Gail Carson Levine was wonderful to all of the kids, all girls-actually. She was warm, encouraging, real and very open. She shared with us a rejection letter from a publisher she had kept (for 9 years, if I recall correctly) and read it out loud to us. She spent the majority of her time fielding questions from the girls, and moms alike. She discussed her feelings on the Ella Enchanted movie, (she liked it-so did I, ) what project she is working on next and read to us a portion of her newest book-"Fairest". She also read a few excerpts from her book on writing called "Writing Magic: Creating stories that fly". She was so encouraging to the girls about writing.

If you haven't read "Ella Enchanted", it is a great book, very much different than the movie-which was good if you don't try to confuse the two, they were almost different stories. I am reading "Fairest" right now, and it is a page turner...I am enjoying it thoroughly. Brought it home last night, and I am already half-way through it!

All in all, we had a wonderful mother/daughter time and I was so pleased at how wonderful Gail Levine was and how warm and encouraging she was with her admirers. I think it was a really good experience for my girls, I am so glad we took the time to go.

Ida B- book recommend

Ida B ...and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
By Katherine Hannigan

Ida B is a homeschooled 9 year old. This book first caught my eye because of the cute title. After I skimmed through it and realized she is homeschooled, I had to read it and share it with my girls. Books about homeschoolers are not real common, so finding this was a big treat. Ida B is a spunky, imaginative girl who has a unique way at looking at life and a memorable knack at stating her case. Her world was "finer than fine" until her mother became ill. Ida is eventually put back in school and her parents have to sell part of the farm to pay medical bills. Ida is angry and hurt and she lets her heart become "a sharp, black stone...it was so hard nobody could break it and so sharp it would hurt anybody who touched it." The book is about Ida B's emotional healing, slowly finding herself, reconstructing her world and learning to say she is sorry.

This book is written for the 9-12 age range, but does cover some deep issues like cancer, the possiblilty of losing a parent, and emotional separation. Ida does not cope well through most of the book, and I was a bit dismayed at first, thinking a homeschool family in (my biased) theory shouldn't have that degree of pulling away and lack of communication. At second thought I could see that the story would be a good conversation starter with my girls about all of these deep issues. Ida is very imaginative and she talks to trees, there is a subtle earth love (I don't know what else to call it, tree-hugger-ness?..) feel to the book. At one point Ida's dad comments to her that we have to take care of the earth and she replies that the earth sometimes takes care of us. I find this a barely- there issue though, not in your face and the above comment would be a good discussion starter. As far as talking to the trees and brook, we've always had fairies about so that didn't really concern me. Thought I would mention it for anyone who would want to steer clear. It is a new favorite for me, and I am pleased to be sharing it as a read- aloud with my older girls right now. I really hope we see more stories about Ida B, and I hope she gets to go back to homeschool-we really need more homeschool characters.