Ron Reads: February
I always find February to be a hopeful month. Dominated by a feeling of emergent mastery over the new year. it’s a month for Valentines, a month for celebrating (after all, Mardi Gras is in February and will not—nor should it—be ignored). But, overall, February is hopeful. Perhaps, too, another aspect of the hope that February carries with it is for the spring—for the time when, after this final full month of winter, the cold will begin to relinquish its grasp on so many parts of the world, it will begin to be safe to wear fewer layers, and the days will stretch, longer and longer, reaching toward the summer months beyond.
For hopeful February, I’ve focused my reads on a few of books that speak, in different ways, to this transitional and hopeful period of the year.
The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska
I found this book at a thrift store, actually, and was drawn in by the adorable animals on the cover and the seeming paradox underlying the fact that to read the book meant to break, or so it seemed, the cardinal rule outlined in its title. However, it is in truth a marvel.
Its pages outline a variety of ways one can be quiet. A simple and powerful meditation on the validity of everyone’s forms of mindfulness with a (perhaps unintentional?) philosophical meditation on the fact that, even silence, even a lack of sound, carries with it a different weight and character depending on its context and the mental structures one brings to it.
Perhaps we would do well to sit with our children in the February quiet and meditate on the beauty of the year that is now upon us and begin reflecting on what we hope to do with the months that stretch ahead.
The Fate of Fausto by Oliver Jeffers
One of my favorite children’s authors and illustrators, Oliver Jeffers, released this book late last year. The story follows the journey of a man who seeks to own everything he comes across—from a mountain to a sheep to a lake—and does so by showing everything “who is boss”. Until, that is, Fausto meets his match and, yes, his fate.
Both younger children and those who are a little older will find a great deal to connect with and discuss in these pages with their considered, focused layouts.
This is a fantastic book from which to begin discussing the relationship of humans and the natural world—it provides an accessible and engaging look at the truth that, no matter how much we try, at the very end of it all we are within, not above, the complex systems that make up this place we call home. A reminder, in the midst of a hopeful February, to remain calmly mindful of our limitations.
You Belong Here by M.H. Clark and Isabelle Arsenault
Another wonderful book by M.H. Clark—who also authors one of my all-time favorites—about the unity and balance of nature—and our place within it! It seems that part of the hopeful feelings of February inspire, at least in my view, a contentment with the closeness we have to the world we live in.
Readers are invited into reflections on the ways that everything belongs “right where” it is—celestial bodies, animals, and, of course, you! A sweet bedtime read sure to bring a smile to little faces and a glow to little hearts nestling in for a good night’s rest.
Happy reading, friends!
Cheers,
Ron
Any other books not to miss this month? Leave a comment below!