Sophie, I’d love to take one of your bird classes!—for logistics planning purposes, how long is each class and would it be ok for me to bring my 7 yo to the first one—I’ll happily pay for us both—but ya know kids change the dynamic, so
Cara! Would love to have you and don’t pay extra for your kid, I’d love to have them too! I love kids and love teaching them / around them. It changes the dynamic for the better!
First, I fucked up writing about my kids so badly. So so badly. And virality is terrifying especially if it’s about how much you fucked up your kids. Birds are treats. Books are treats. And all hail the public library. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I often wonder this about memoirists! I like to think I would feel flattered to be included anywhere, but that conflicts with not controlling my own narrative. Its complicated!
Best illustrated picture book: the big-ass picture books of Richard Scarry. I still think his work is special (....although I also haven't looked at it critically recently, to evaluate how it's aged). I was fascinated as a kid by all the detail in his drawings. What Do People Do All Day? was a particular favorite.
Thank you for sharing all of this Sophie, motherhood / parenting also feels a lot like this for me and altho that doesn’t change it for you I hope you know you’re not alone in it. You’ll still be doing an unequal share of the work and sucking on reserves of strength you didn’t know you have / you don’t have but it helps (me) to know there are other mums who care so much it almost kills them. I mean I don’t think it’s healthy but I also don’t know how to care less. Sending hugs 💛
Audio listener here! Personally, I loved the Casio keyboard as a substitute for the blacked out lines, and I thought to myself, "Wow, what a clever way to bring the redaction to life."
(And yes, I similarly thought your reading felt slam-poetry-esque. Really cool.)
I am probably supposed to like picture books with more pictures, but I like the stories the most! So it is probably the Elephant and Piggie book where they see the aurora borealis (or maybe the milky way?) at the end. Or Olivia Goes to Venice.
Favorite picture books is maybe my favorite question. I have so many. When I was little, my favorites were Christina Katerina and the Time She Quit the Family (Patricia Lee Gauch), A Birthday For Frances (Russell and Lillian Hoban), Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp (Mercer Mayer), Outside Over There (Maurice Sendak), The Thingumajig Book of Manners (Irene Keller), War and Peas (Michael Foreman), and the Dorrie the Witch series by Patricia Coombs. Now I'm a school librarian and have lots of additional favorites: Whistle for Willie (Ezra Jack Keats), Little Red (Bethan Woollvin), Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick (Kevin Henkes), Mama Don't Allow (Thacher Hurd), Oh No, George! (Chris Haughton), Max's Chocolate Chicken (Rosemary Wells), We Found a Hat (Jon Klassen), Bathe the Cat (Alice McGinty and David Roberts), A Color of His Own (Leo Lionni), Bea and Mr. Jones (Amy Schwartz), The Bunny Book (Richard Scarry), Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth (Lucy Bate and Diane De Groat), No Roses for Harry (Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham), The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch), Julian is a Mermaid (Jessica Love), The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (Judith Viorst), Fortunately (Remy Charlip), Stuck (Oliver Jeffers), Twenty Questions (Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson), Miss Nelson is Missing (Harry Allard and James Marshall), and The Princess and the Pig (Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene)
As a memoirist whose memoir is lying around in pieces on my computer, I find your post most interesting and informative. Many of the people who populate my (arguably) sordid past are dead. When I cycle thru my "okay, let's pull this thing together" phases I invariably hit a wall when considering the impact on those still around. I've mostly just thrown up my hands and said, hell, I'll just wait til ___dies, it won't be that long now. "Untangling them is like going through the knots of thin chain at the bottom of old jewelry boxes." Spot on, girlfriend. Your unique perspective and expression of same always inspires me.
Hi, i'm responding to your question about a favorite picture book from childhood.
I dont know if I can remember all of the picture books I read growing up because I would read about 50 books a week bc I was obsessed with books, but the picture book that is on my shelf right now that I SUPER LOVE is Corduroy. I love(d) it because it opens and closes with a Black mom and a Black daughter and they looked so rich and fancy and the daughter gets to take Corduroy home with her at the end of the book and I dont remember any other picture books — like literally none at all — that had characters in it who looked like my mom's side of my family.
But also one time, in kindergarten, our class got a new Arthur pop-up picture book with little flaps you could lift up like an advent calendar and there was a line at recess to wait for the book, and i wanted to read it SO BADLY that i waited and waited and waited and i really had to pee but i did NOT want to lose my place in line and i finally got my hands on the book and promptly peed myself. in front of everyone. no one said anything bc everyone was very confused. the teacher came over calmly and led me to the bathroom to wait for my mom to bring me new clothes. i was sad bc i liked the dress i was wearing and my mom brought me sweats. anyway, that's how much I wanted to read that book.
first of all i wish i lived nearby and we could go have coffee (or tea, or vegan ice cream) and talk about how hard being a parent (specifically a mother) is. it’s the hardest thing i’ve ever done in my life. and now that my kiddo is 8 it’s both easier in some ways and harder in others. i expect this trend to continue forever. i’m sorry T got stung. and i’m sorry you feel like you can’t talk to anyone. i hope you’re able to find someone to talk to soon.
second, to respond to your question about picture books; i have favorites from when i was a child, and favorites now that i have a child. when i was young i loved this wild surreal book called The Great Escape, Or The Sewer Story by Peter Lippman. i also loved One Monster After Another by Mercer Mayer. And The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate The Wash and all the Pinkerton books by Steven Kellogg. I still love all of those actually, and have a lot more favorites now too: Natsumi, There’s a Tiger In The Garden, Midnight Zoo, The Detective Dog, Blueberry Girl, The Knowing Book, Scrawny Cat, Backyard Fairies, Fraidy Zoo, and all the Chirri and Chirra books.
this is hilarious and relatable: "I imagined my exes writing back immediately with a version of, 'Oh my god, Sophie, I am so honored you wrote about me. I love you forever, and the time I spent with you was so valuable. I can’t wait to pay full price for this book when it comes out, because besides being a great all-around human being, you’re also a top-notch writer.'"
this as well: "I’m finishing writing this at my public library. Public libraries are my favorite places, for many reasons, but I don’t think we talk enough about THE BIG TABLES. They just have like a lot of room to spread out in the afternoon if you want to put all your books down and your papers over there and your laptop here. And they’re so much quieter than coffee shops!"
and as for "What was your favorite picture book?" i don't know if this counts because does a picture book have to be all pictures and no words or just lots of pictures, but a book with lots of pictures and some nice words that i recommend to all is "i am the longest dog" by avery monsen!
Sophie, I’d love to take one of your bird classes!—for logistics planning purposes, how long is each class and would it be ok for me to bring my 7 yo to the first one—I’ll happily pay for us both—but ya know kids change the dynamic, so
Cara! Would love to have you and don’t pay extra for your kid, I’d love to have them too! I love kids and love teaching them / around them. It changes the dynamic for the better!
Oh! And they’re one hour each.
First, I fucked up writing about my kids so badly. So so badly. And virality is terrifying especially if it’s about how much you fucked up your kids. Birds are treats. Books are treats. And all hail the public library. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I often wonder this about memoirists! I like to think I would feel flattered to be included anywhere, but that conflicts with not controlling my own narrative. Its complicated!
Best illustrated picture book: the big-ass picture books of Richard Scarry. I still think his work is special (....although I also haven't looked at it critically recently, to evaluate how it's aged). I was fascinated as a kid by all the detail in his drawings. What Do People Do All Day? was a particular favorite.
Thank you for sharing all of this Sophie, motherhood / parenting also feels a lot like this for me and altho that doesn’t change it for you I hope you know you’re not alone in it. You’ll still be doing an unequal share of the work and sucking on reserves of strength you didn’t know you have / you don’t have but it helps (me) to know there are other mums who care so much it almost kills them. I mean I don’t think it’s healthy but I also don’t know how to care less. Sending hugs 💛
Audio listener here! Personally, I loved the Casio keyboard as a substitute for the blacked out lines, and I thought to myself, "Wow, what a clever way to bring the redaction to life."
(And yes, I similarly thought your reading felt slam-poetry-esque. Really cool.)
I am probably supposed to like picture books with more pictures, but I like the stories the most! So it is probably the Elephant and Piggie book where they see the aurora borealis (or maybe the milky way?) at the end. Or Olivia Goes to Venice.
Goodnight Moon.
Favorite picture books is maybe my favorite question. I have so many. When I was little, my favorites were Christina Katerina and the Time She Quit the Family (Patricia Lee Gauch), A Birthday For Frances (Russell and Lillian Hoban), Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp (Mercer Mayer), Outside Over There (Maurice Sendak), The Thingumajig Book of Manners (Irene Keller), War and Peas (Michael Foreman), and the Dorrie the Witch series by Patricia Coombs. Now I'm a school librarian and have lots of additional favorites: Whistle for Willie (Ezra Jack Keats), Little Red (Bethan Woollvin), Sheila Rae's Peppermint Stick (Kevin Henkes), Mama Don't Allow (Thacher Hurd), Oh No, George! (Chris Haughton), Max's Chocolate Chicken (Rosemary Wells), We Found a Hat (Jon Klassen), Bathe the Cat (Alice McGinty and David Roberts), A Color of His Own (Leo Lionni), Bea and Mr. Jones (Amy Schwartz), The Bunny Book (Richard Scarry), Little Rabbit's Loose Tooth (Lucy Bate and Diane De Groat), No Roses for Harry (Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham), The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch), Julian is a Mermaid (Jessica Love), The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (Judith Viorst), Fortunately (Remy Charlip), Stuck (Oliver Jeffers), Twenty Questions (Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson), Miss Nelson is Missing (Harry Allard and James Marshall), and The Princess and the Pig (Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene)
As a memoirist whose memoir is lying around in pieces on my computer, I find your post most interesting and informative. Many of the people who populate my (arguably) sordid past are dead. When I cycle thru my "okay, let's pull this thing together" phases I invariably hit a wall when considering the impact on those still around. I've mostly just thrown up my hands and said, hell, I'll just wait til ___dies, it won't be that long now. "Untangling them is like going through the knots of thin chain at the bottom of old jewelry boxes." Spot on, girlfriend. Your unique perspective and expression of same always inspires me.
Hi, i'm responding to your question about a favorite picture book from childhood.
I dont know if I can remember all of the picture books I read growing up because I would read about 50 books a week bc I was obsessed with books, but the picture book that is on my shelf right now that I SUPER LOVE is Corduroy. I love(d) it because it opens and closes with a Black mom and a Black daughter and they looked so rich and fancy and the daughter gets to take Corduroy home with her at the end of the book and I dont remember any other picture books — like literally none at all — that had characters in it who looked like my mom's side of my family.
But also one time, in kindergarten, our class got a new Arthur pop-up picture book with little flaps you could lift up like an advent calendar and there was a line at recess to wait for the book, and i wanted to read it SO BADLY that i waited and waited and waited and i really had to pee but i did NOT want to lose my place in line and i finally got my hands on the book and promptly peed myself. in front of everyone. no one said anything bc everyone was very confused. the teacher came over calmly and led me to the bathroom to wait for my mom to bring me new clothes. i was sad bc i liked the dress i was wearing and my mom brought me sweats. anyway, that's how much I wanted to read that book.
omg also Stellaluna. Amazing picture book.
we also love corduroy & stellaluna in our house 🌟
first of all i wish i lived nearby and we could go have coffee (or tea, or vegan ice cream) and talk about how hard being a parent (specifically a mother) is. it’s the hardest thing i’ve ever done in my life. and now that my kiddo is 8 it’s both easier in some ways and harder in others. i expect this trend to continue forever. i’m sorry T got stung. and i’m sorry you feel like you can’t talk to anyone. i hope you’re able to find someone to talk to soon.
second, to respond to your question about picture books; i have favorites from when i was a child, and favorites now that i have a child. when i was young i loved this wild surreal book called The Great Escape, Or The Sewer Story by Peter Lippman. i also loved One Monster After Another by Mercer Mayer. And The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate The Wash and all the Pinkerton books by Steven Kellogg. I still love all of those actually, and have a lot more favorites now too: Natsumi, There’s a Tiger In The Garden, Midnight Zoo, The Detective Dog, Blueberry Girl, The Knowing Book, Scrawny Cat, Backyard Fairies, Fraidy Zoo, and all the Chirri and Chirra books.
third, just sending you love. ♥️
dear sophie,
thank you for sharing this!
this is hilarious and relatable: "I imagined my exes writing back immediately with a version of, 'Oh my god, Sophie, I am so honored you wrote about me. I love you forever, and the time I spent with you was so valuable. I can’t wait to pay full price for this book when it comes out, because besides being a great all-around human being, you’re also a top-notch writer.'"
this as well: "I’m finishing writing this at my public library. Public libraries are my favorite places, for many reasons, but I don’t think we talk enough about THE BIG TABLES. They just have like a lot of room to spread out in the afternoon if you want to put all your books down and your papers over there and your laptop here. And they’re so much quieter than coffee shops!"
and as for "What was your favorite picture book?" i don't know if this counts because does a picture book have to be all pictures and no words or just lots of pictures, but a book with lots of pictures and some nice words that i recommend to all is "i am the longest dog" by avery monsen!
thank you for sharing and asking as always!
love
myq