Thirteen of My Favorite Children’s Books

from Arnold Lobel's Owl at Home

Mijo is turning ten in a couple of months. As anticipated, age 9 has been a year full of many developmental changes for our special little guy. For one, the transition from picture books to middle-grade books is fully on. This past year, we’ve read The Max & the Midknights series by Lincoln Peirce, a few Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, and the entire Lunch Lady series.

Since this transition is happening, it made me think of my favorite children’s books I’ve read for Miguelito. A few years back, I wrote about some of my favorite children’s books when he was littler, but now I want to write about my most favorite books I’ve read to him in recent years.

So here we go!

Day of Mourning

 

In the summer of 2019, I spent two weeks in rural northeastern Wyoming for an artist residency. The Ucross Foundation was located on a 20,000-acre ranch for cattle. The foundation’s verdant grounds were carefully manicured and mowed every weekday with a hulking riding lawn mower driven by their groundskeeper.
 
On my first morning there, the newly-arrived residents were provided an orientation. The vast grounds included hills where we could hike. One trail had Tipi rings. Mentioning this provided their staff member with the opportunity to inform us that these lands were once inhabited by a number of Native American tribes, including the Arapaho, Blackfeet, Crow, Shoshone, and Sioux.

Octavia Butler’s Predictions for 2027 from Parable of the Sower

I recently reread the second half of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, which was published in 1993. I scrutinized this part of her book since I’m writing my own near-future novel set in Northern California. I thought it’d be worthwhile to share some thoughts I have on what she predicted.

Letter to My Son

 

Mi querido hijo, over the past few months you’ve often seen me looking at our iPad. Sometimes you’ve sat next to me on the couch while I’ve stared at our tablet. Sometimes you’ve cuddled next to me and asked for a hug so I could pay attention to you. One time, you came over and stood next to me while I sat on our rug, trying to watch a video of two Palestinian children as they lay dead and bloodied, their mouths open, their limbs contorted. I snapped at you and said, Go over there!, and pointed toward the other end of our living room.

Notes After an Artist Residency

 

Summer Lake, February 2024

 

Over a week ago, I was lodging in a cabin that overlooked Summer Lake in remote southeastern Oregon. For ten full days, the only noises I typically heard outside was the howling wind over the high desert basin, a pair of Canadian geese squawking by day or night, the chirping of robins or other birds, muskrats splashing in the pond at the back of my cabin, coyotes yipping and barking, or an occasional vehicle zipping by along Highway 31. On the drive to PLAYA through the Oregon Outback, I may have passed more cows than humans.

Some Thoughts on the Warriors Roster

 

Dang, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a sports-related blog post. The last time I wrote about my beloved Warriors, I correctly predicted that they would beat the Celtics in six games in the 2022 NBA Finals.

It feels like we’re at a critical juncture for this franchise. The dynasty is over, and what a run we had: four chips and six Finals appearances in eight years; nine playoff appearances in the past eleven NBA seasons, and since the Steve Kerr era began in 2015, last season was the first time they failed to make it out of the Western Conference in the playoffs.

20 Things I’ve Learned Over the Past Four Years

 (My perspective is from living in the United States, the premier capitalist hellscape on Planet Earth):

 

1.    Most people are really selfish.
 

2.    Most people don’t care about others, including family, friends, and colleagues.
 

3.    Most parents don’t actually love and care for their children as much as they feign over social media. When people say they’ll do anything for their children, that’s bullshit.