Howdy all! Times have been crazy here lately for the Z-Fam. Isaac has had a horrible sore throat, Dad has been on the road doing school visits and book signings, and our digital recorder's memory has reached full capacity. So in lieu of a new review this week, let's take a listen to a few choice audio snippets pulled from the last few months before I wipe the recorder clean again. I hope you enjoy them!. (I've also included links below to the original reviews if
anyone wants to revisit them)After pulling these favorite clips from the past 18 recordings, I noticed a couple of reoccurring qualities. First, there is a very musical bent to this batch. And second, we get a lovely glimpse into the goofy terrain that is Lily's brain.
I submit Exhibit A: Lily's thoughts on "The Arrival." (And you will need a translator: she says, "It is a nicely, strangely, weirdish, story..." and after that everything descends into chaos.)
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Gracie struggles to find the right word to describe the protagonist from "The Arrival."
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Lily sings us the title of our next book: "Down the Back of the Chair."
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We like Polly Dunbar's name:
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The Lunch Lady books are about a couple of cafeteria workers who secretly fight crime in their spare time. We homeschool so, for us, Mom is teacher, principal, librarian, and lunch lady all rolled into one. I asked Lily if she thought her lunch lady fought crime...
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Lily shares an evil librarian's laugh:
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Upon opening the Lunch Lady books, Gracie immediately improvised an accompanying soundtrack. She became "Theme Song Girl" and carried on for all 25 minutes of our review. Here are a few highlights:
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Gracie shares her favorite picture from "The Hiccupotamus"... and then I make her cry:
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Lily is once again incoherent... Doodle-loodle-loodle...
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I have no idea what Lily says here, but it sure is funny:
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When we reviewed "Where the Wild Things Are" Isaac was in a bizarre mood. Way bizarre. I had to turn off the recorder and tell him to stop saying such crazy stuff.
"I'm not saying crazy stuff," he claimed.
"You just did," I retorted. "When we were talking about the pictures breaking out of the borders."
"I did not," he insisted.
"You said 'the trees are poofing out of the chickens,'" I countered.
"What!?" he exclaimed incredulously. "I said the trees are coming out of the borders."
"No, you said 'chickens'."
"I did not!"
"You did!"
Then Dad realized - hey - we've got a tape recorder to settle this...
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You know you've got a wonderful kid if his most serious vice consists of randomly saying the word "chickens."
Lily breaks into song while reviewing "Jeremy Draws a Monster."
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Gracie invents Tubecats:
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Gracie has words for Peter McCarty:
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Isaac and Gracie try to pronounce Dieter Wiesmuller's name:
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Gracie bestows a name upon the kid in "Nugget on the Flight Deck."
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While reviewing "Who Needs Donuts" we discovered that Lily once accidentally loved ducks more than people:
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If you haven't guessed, reviewing with kids can be a very chaotic experience.Here's a bit of the behind the scenes drama that you all fortunately get to miss:
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And for our final clip, sweet Lily offers herself to "The Book That Eats People."
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Hope you had fun listening in!
