The Slowest Book Ever

The Slowest Book Ever

Juvenile nonfiction
"If you think a table of contents will tell you what is inside
so that you can put down a book and not turn a page you are wrong.
This is a slow book written with snails and sloths in mind.
It may take gumption to read it all the way. But don't worry;
this book was manufactured for sampling. Page flipping and rereading
are enabled, even encouraged on this device. Read it slowly and you
will age."
I don't know about gumption. I wasn't sure what to expect when
I borrowed April Pulley Sayre's The Slowest Book Ever. But when I
read on one of the first pages that some sequia trees started growing
before the births of Christ and Muhammed I was captivated. When I
read a few pages later that caterpillars taught to avoid a certain gas
remembered this as butterflies (even though in the pupa stage there is
a complete body dissolution and rebuilding) I could not put the book
down.
We and our children live in a world where fast is generally
considered best. Fast food. Fast service. Fast information. When it
comes to cognition, however, deep trumps speedy any day. And many
things that take a long time are pretty important. The Slowest Book
Ever presents readers with information such as:
*the long time it takes for synthetic garbage to decompose;
*the reason microorganisms don't move as quickly as they seem to when
they are seen under a microscope;
*the role of magnets in cow digestion;
*the activity brains carry on during sleep;
and *and some of humankind's slowest construction projects.
I'd recommend that kids (and adults) who enjoy interesting new
information to read this book...
...appropriately slowly.
On a personal note, the Ending Violence Together rally and march went
really well. There were lots of groups tabling. I took pictures for
organizers. There were speeches, poetry, and music. I read one of my
poems. We marched around downtown. Finally we had a closing prayer
as we passed around a huge earth beach ball. Everything was perfect
including the weather.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow organizers and participants.
jules hathaway


Sent from my iPod