When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller is a lovely novel about the power of stories to connect with one’s past and the power of letting a little magic into your life. This book won the 2021 Newbery Medal and is a great middle-grade book. Keller opens a star jar of stories that will delight and immerse readers.
Jacket Description:
“When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now, the tigers want it back. And when one of those tigers approaches Lily with a deal—return what Halmoni stole in exchange for Halmoni’s health—Lily is tempted to accept. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice… and the courage to face a tiger.”
Reading Level: 8+ years
Age Range: 6+ years
Genre: Middle-Grade Fiction, Fantasy
Length: 304 pages
Awards: Newbery Medal (2021), Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature
“Tae Keller grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she subsisted on kimchi, purple rice, and stories. Now, she writes about biracial girls trying to find their voices, and lives in Seattle with her husband and a multitude of books.”
When you hear the word ‘composer’, probably the first thing that pops into your head are names such as Beethoven, Mozart, or Bach. You may think of a man in a powdered wig sitting at a piano, candle burning through the night, playing wildly on the keys. But composers are not all dead, white men. Gasp! Really?
Indeed, dead, white men are the most prominent, well-known, and revered composers. This can leave one feeling as if there is no room for women in the composing world. But fear not! Women have been composing and creating great music for just as long as men. It’s high time we shine the spotlight on someone besides Mozart and Beethoven. Here are five talented female composers (past and present) to add to your repertoire.
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Clara Schumann (Image Courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica)
Clara Schumann (1819-1896):
Composing gives me great pleasure… there is nothing that surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.”
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic era. As a child, she was a piano prodigy. As an adult, she taught piano and toured frequently, performing 238 concerts with Joseph Joachim. Her husband, Robert Schumann, was also a composer and they sometimes composed together. Her career spanned over 60 years, and she composed 66 works, according to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra website. Playing piano in concerts by memory was pioneered by Schumann and it is now the standard to do so.
Amy Beach (Image Courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica)
Amy Beach (1867-1944):
Music is the superlative expression of life experience, and woman by the very nature of her position is denied many of the experiences that color the life of man.”
Amy Beach
Amy Beach was an American composer and pianist. According to her biography on the Library of Congress website, “Young Amy was a true prodigy who memorized forty songs at the age of one and taught herself to read at age three”. Beach helped to found the Society of American Women Composers in 1925 and is credited as the first successful female American composer. She published over 100 works during her lifetime, with more being published in recent years.
Florence Price (Image Courtesy of Aspen Music Festival and School, by G. Nelidoff)
Florence Price (1887-1953):
Florence Price was an American composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher. Her mother, a music teacher, taught Price, and by age four she was playing and composing on the piano. She went to school at the New England Conservatory and graduated at 19. After school, she moved back to Arkansas, where she married Thomas J. Price and had two children. However, racism and lynchings forced them to move to Chicago. There she began to flourish as a composer. She won two first-place Rodman Wanamaker Music Awards, one for her Symphony in E minor, and the second for her Piano Sonata in E minor. Although she still faced setbacks because of race and gender, she gained recognition for her music during her lifetime. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, she composed over 300 pieces.
Xin Huguang (Image Courtesy of Primephonic)
Xin Huguang (1933-2011):
Xin Huguang was a Chinese composer and composition teacher. She was born in Shanghai on October 16, 1933. In 1951, she enrolled in the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music. Huguang is known for her famous symphonic poem Gada Meilin (also spelled Gada Meiren and Ka Ta Mei Ling), which she composed at 23. The Gada Meilin was her graduate work. After graduation, she moved to Mongolia with her husband, Bao Yu Shan, and taught composition at the Inner Mongolian Arts School until 1980. She then worked as a composer for the Beijing Music and Dance Company. In 1991, she moved to America.
Unsuk Chin (1961- ):
Unsuk Chin (Image Courtesy of New York Philharmonic)
My music is a reflection of my dreams. I try to render into music the visions of immense light and of an incredible magnificence of colours that I see in all my dreams, a play of light and colours floating through the room and at the same time forming a fluid sound sculpture. Its beauty is very abstract and remote, but it is for these very qualities that it addresses the emotions and can communicate joy and warmth.”
Unsuk Chin
Unsuk Chin is a South Korean composer internationally renowned for her music. She started learning music theory at a young age and went on to Seoul National University, where she studied composition. Her music is in the contemporary classical genre and she has received numerous awards for her work.
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These five composers created beautiful music, from symphonies to concertos. They created in ways no one thought of before. Did you know any of these composers before reading about them? If not, what does that say about who we champion in music? In the future, when you are listening to music, I encourage you to look for other female composers. Searching beyond the traditional horizon of “the greats” can lead to surprising, and often rewarding discoveries.
Both personal and universal, Brown Girl Dreaming is full of the bright happiness of childhood memories. Jacqueline Woodson’s poetic memoir is rich and layered like a buttered biscuit, melting on the tongue. Through the poetic eyes of young Jacqueline, we smell Dixie Peach Hair Grease on a Saturday night, taste Maria’s mother’s pasteles, and see the light of captured fireflies. Woodson’s poems display the little beauties and big sorrows of life, but are always infused with hope.
Jacket Description:
“Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.”
Reading Level: 10+ years
Age Range: 10+ years
Genre: Middle-Grade Poetry, Autobiography, Memoir
Length: 368 pages
Awards: Newbery Honor, National Book Award, NAACP Image Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Sibert Honor Award
Image Courtesy of Poetry Foundation (by Toshi Widoff-Woodson)
Jacqueline Woodson’s Bio (from the back of the book):
“Jacqueline Woodson is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor Award, the NAACP Image Award, and Sibert Honor Award. Woodson was recently named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books include The Other Side; Each Kindness; the Caldecott Honor Book Coming on Home Soon; the Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster; and Miracle’s Boys, which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award and was adapted into a miniseries directed by Spike Lee. Jacqueline is also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature, and the winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and was the 2013 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.”
All of us have a hobby, some like drawing, some like cooking, some like writing, and some like gardening. Whether it be your profession or just a leisure activity we always like a few new tips every once in a while, we all want to improve our game and, let’s face it, put our neighbors garden to shame. So here are some tips to have a better, healthier and happier garden this spring.
Photo Courtesy of Vector Stock
1. Planting your garden by the Lunar Calendar
Planting by the moon phases has been a trick used for hundreds of years. For example, people would plant their seeds and crops during the three day period of the new moon (when the moon is at its darkest).
The moon can affect when tides come up, when tides go down, and the moisture levels in the soil. When there is a new moon or a full moon, the soil swells and the seeds have a better chance of becoming healthier and better established plants.
2. Putting coffee in your soil
Photo Courtesy of The Spruce Eats
Over 50% of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee daily, so next time you go to get a cup of caffeine, save the coffee grounds and put them in an airtight jar and store in the refrigerator or cool place. Then when you are ready to plant your veggies, sprinkle the grounds on the top layer of the soil. It is important to know what plants you are dealing with, coffee contains a lot of acid, some plants, like azaleas and blueberries love and need acid, but for other plants like geranium, asparagus, fern, Chinese mustard, and Italian ryegrass, it could be detrimental, use wisely and sparingly. We all find those cold, lost, deserted, unfinished cups of coffee scattered around the house that you might throw down the drain (or just on your lawn). But there is a better way, you can either pour the cooled down coffee on your Hydrangea or compost the coffee and the grounds.
3. All About Winter Gardens
A Winter Garden is a garden box with a zip up cover to block wind, frost and other forces of nature, it is so handy to have when you miss all of your favorite veggies in the cold of winter. When it gets back to spring weather, simply take off the cover and use just the garden box. There are some winter garden covers on the market that are just to cover ground plants. Prices may vary, it really depends on what you are looking for. Some good vegetables to plant in your winter garden are garlic, onions, lettuce, radishes, potatoes, peas, chard, rhubarb, spinach, kale, bok choy and leeks (there’s a Leek in the boat!! Sorry, I had to).
4. How to contain Catnip
Photo Courtesy of The Conversation
If you are like a lot of others and have a furry little beast of your own, then you know the challenge of keeping their favorite, beloved Catnip away from them before it grows. It is by far one of the hardest things to do in gardening, if you plant it in the ground they will rub and roll all over the plant and destroy it. If you plant it in a pot, they are like little ghosts and will find it and knock it off the table or countertop instantly. So what do you do? Try and hide it from the tiny fuzz ball, or just not get it at all? There might be another way.
If you want to grow Catnip in your home, put the seed or pre-grow plant in a plastic pot, put it up somewhere with lots of sun and where your feline can’t get to it. The reason that I say plastic pot is that cats are unpredictable and despite your best efforts of keeping the plant in a high and safe place, your furry friend could still find it. In case they do happen to knock it off the place you put it, the plastic won’t shatter and lead to damaging you, your cat or the floor.
If you want to plant your catnip outside, you can either plant them in your winter garden with the zip up cover that we talked about earlier or make a chicken wire cone about as big as you think your plant will be. But make it tall because you will stick it about 4 inches down in the ground so your cat can’t knock it over. And of course, bend the exposed tops of the chicken wire so it doesn’t poke anybody.
5. How to get rid of Snails and Slugs
Photo Courtesy of Bird Watching HQ
There are thousands of products on the market to get rid of snails and slugs, the problem is, all of them hurt or kill them. There are thousands of products on the market to get rid of snails and slugs, the problem is, all of them hurt or kill them. There are other more natural ways like beer and salt, but they still hurt the insect, so how can you get rid of them while keeping ourselves, the insects, and your garden safe? On a summer or spring night, bring the family out and go on a snail and slug hunt! Grab a bucket and collect as many snails and slugs as you can get. On a good night, you could get up to 300 of them! Then gently place them in your cities compost bin, they will then be transported safely. It is a surprisingly fun family night activity, so grab your rain boots and headlights and let’s find some snails!
Maybe you have some tips and gardening secrets to share, if you do, email us at thelighthousetve@gmail.com and, if you like, we can share those tips in another article. Happy gardening all, I hope these tips help you and your garden and help you enjoy your hobby a little more!
A story entwined within a story, in a world where the tales of Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon may not just be myths. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is about a girl on a journey to change her family’s fortune. This beautiful and heartwarming novel won a Newbery Honor in 2010. Grace Lin’s rich, interwoven world of magic and myth, accompanied by her glowing illustrations, makes this book both compelling and entertaining.
Jacket Description:
“In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life’s questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family’s fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.”
“Before Grace Lin was an award-winning and NY Times bestselling author/illustrator of picturebooks, early readers and middle grade novels, she was the only Asian girl (except for her sisters) going to her elementary school in Upstate NY. That experience, good and bad, has influenced her books—including her Newbery Honor Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, her Geisel Honor Ling & Ting, her National Book Finalist When the Sea Turned to Silver and her Caldecott Honor A Big Mooncake for Little Star. But, it also causes Grace to persevere for diversity as an occasional New England Public Radio commentator and when she gave her TEDx talk “The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf,” as well as her PBSNewHour video essay “What to do when you realize classic books from your childhood are racist?.” She continued this mission with a hundred episodes of the podcast kidlitwomen and now currently hosts two other podcasts: Book Friends Forever and Kids Ask Authors. In 2016, Grace’s art was displayed at the White House and Grace, herself, was recognized by President Obama’s office as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling.”
Grace Lin can also be found on her Instagram: @pacylin
A popular Easter tradition is that of the easter egg hunt when children collect plastic eggs filled with candy. These treats are said to be left by the Easter Bunny. The character of the Easter Bunny is mysterious and somewhat disconnected from the holiday he represents. What does a rabbit that hides eggs have to do with the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ? And for that matter, where do the eggs come from? Does the bunny lay them? That’s not biologically accurate, right?
Although we don’t know the rabbit’s exact origins as a symbol for Easter, we do know that they have long been associated with fertility and springtime in pagan traditions. Eggs have also been connected to fertility. As Christianity spread, it absorbed preexisting symbols and traditions. It is possible that the rabbit and eggs we associate with Easter celebrations were symbols of a pagan spring festival, which was combined with Easter and adopted into the Christian tradition.
The Easter Bunny as we know him can be traced to German immigrants in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. Their children built nests for the rabbit they called “Osterhase.” On Easter morning, their nests would be filled with dyed eggs. This custom became popular across America. Over time the eggs were replaced with chocolate and other candies.
So that is the origin of the beloved Easter Bunny. When you’re collecting eggs next year, remember where he comes from and how he was able to bring some sweetness to your Easter morning!
Otamatones are strange instruments shaped like a musical eighth note invented in Japan that sound a bit like synthesizers. They are typically played with two hands, one to press the notes on its “stem” and the other two open and close the mouth on its “head.” It is advertised as being easy to pick up and play but difficult to master. In recent years, they have become rather popular online with the rise of Otamatone covers by TheRealSullyG and others on YouTube. However, especially given that they were invented in Japan, finding the history behind them and their creation requires a bit more of a deep dive.
Maywa Denki was an electric company owned by Hanachi Tosa. The company primarily produced vacuum tubes as a subcontract factory for Toshiba and Matsushita Electric, but the company went bankrupt and shut down due to the 1979 Oil Shock, a huge economic event with devastating effects. Fourteen years later, the name was reused by Tosa’s two sons, Masamichi and Nobumichi Tosa, as a design firm/art unit.
The two worked together on a series of three lines of products. Firstly, their “Naki” series, which are “nonsense objects” designed with a fish motif. Secondly, their “Edelweiss” series, more artistic creations but instead created with flower motifs. Thirdly, and perhaps most well known, their “Tsukuba” line, which included all of their various musical instrument inventions. The brothers performed many live shows with their instruments and inventions, creating several albums in the process.
In 2001, eight years after the founding of the art unit, Masamichi retired at the age of 35, leaving Nobumichi as the president of the company. Nobumichi continued to create artistic marvels and instruments. He earned various awards for his art and live performances, featuring in a number of expositions and events both in Japan and overseas.
2009 marked the birth of our titular hero, the Otamatone, from the creative hand of Nobumichi Tosa. The company started a new series called the “Voice Mechanics Series” with the Otamatone at its forefront. It was a near-immediate success and sold approximately 120,000 units domestically and internationally, winning itself a toy award in Japan in 2010.
Since the release of the note-shaped instrument, its success has only continued to peak. It began to catch the attention of more potential customers, especially with the popularity of Otamatone covers of pre-existing songs. The main performer of these covers, TheRealSullyG, has more than 800,000 subscribers and has inspired several other creators to follow in his example, creating their own songs with the instrument. Though its primary function is playing music, some artists also use it as a subject of photography. Today, Maywa Denki continues to release different variants of their original Otamatone in various sizes, colors, and branded characters. If you want to get your hands on one of these electronic oddities, most versions of the instrument can be found online at around $20. Whether you are a casual instrumentalist, a kid who wants to annoy their parents with its high-pitched “wah”s, or a collector of the weird, the Otamatone has something for everyone.
Much of this article was researched with the help of Google Translate, and as a result, some information may be inaccurate or mistranslated.
Due to the current circumstances with COVID-19, many places like museums and zoos cannot offer their usual experiences to visitors, and, unfortunately, many exhibits and events had to be canceled. However, some places are slowly beginning to admit guests through staggered ticket entry at 25% of their normal capacity, and visitors who can comply with the mandatory safety procedures are starting to be admitted. Additionally, some organizations offer virtual exhibits and online performances in place of visiting, and there are many great online experiences available to enjoy if you know where to find them.
The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco offers in-person visits for those who take necessary precautions, but they also have tickets for online programs and lectures available to purchase on their website. They also have thousands of images of artworks and objects in their free online collection, as well as short slideshows that are available on Google Arts and Culture.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is not allowing visitors yet, but they are preparing to reopen soon. In the meantime, there are many fun things to explore on their website, including live cams, exhibit highlight videos, and dozens of articles about the animals at the aquarium and their stories. The aquarium is also offering free online courses for kids from PreK to twelfth grade.
The exploratorium is currently closed to the public, but they hope to reopen soon. At the moment, they are offering some free online events and virtual programs available to members. They also have free instruction pages for hundreds of fun science experiments available on their website.
The San Francisco Ballet will not be open during their 2021 season, but they are working hard to provide digital resources to their audience. Currently, they have digital season packages available for purchase, which gives audiences access to stream various ballet performances. Available performances include Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. They also have a lecture series available for free on their website.
Pink and Red flowers, pretty cards, over priced chocolates and little Cupid figurines are just some of the things that you think of when we hear the words “Valentines Day”. There is much more behind those words, Valentine’s Day has a much bigger history than you may think. So what is Valentine’s Day really all about? Well “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get” and believe me, this story is full of surprises.
There are many stories of how Valentine’s Day was started but no one really knows which one is true or even just the inspiration for the holiday. Some historians believe that it originated from
St. Valentine, a priest who served during the third century in Rome. The story goes that Emperor Claudius II thought that men would be better soldiers if they did not have families and did not get married, so the emperor made it illegal for any young man to get married.
St. Valentine saw the unfairness in the new law thus he decided to marry young couples in secret, eventually Cladius discovered what St. Valentine was doing and (did what they always did in old times) beheaded him. People in the third century had awful tempers.
One story suggested that St. Valentine was killed trying to help Christians escape cruel Roman prisons.
Another legend states that St. Valentine was imprisoned and sent the first “Valentine” introducing himself when he fell in love with a young lady, possibly his captor’s daughter who may have visited him during his imprisonment. Before his death he gave her a card that said “from your Valentine” which is now very popular in today’s romantic cards.
1. It wasn’t until the 1840s that we got mass-produced valentine cards
As we just learned, sending pretty cards to your friends and significant other has been a tradition for a long time, but the world had not gotten a mass-produced store-bought valentine until the 1840s! We have Esther A. Howland to thank for that, she commercialized Valentine’s Day cards in America.
2. America spends about 20 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day gifts each year
According to Hallmark and The National Retail federation, America spends a lot on Valentine’s Day: $2.4 billion on candy alone, $145 million on cards and $27.6 million on just their pet dogs! It has been labeled “one of the most expensive holidays in America” and it definitely shows in the numbers
3. Almost 6 million couples get engaged on Valentine’s Day
It is certainly a day of romance and not surprisingly one for showing your love to your significant other, so naturally it is just behind Christmas to be the most popular day ever to get engaged.
4. More than 8 million little conversation hearts are manufactured each year
Conversation Hearts, being one of the most popular Valentine’s Day surprises are bought and manufactured to a crazy amount: more than 8 million each year! Now that’s a lot of corny catch phrases!
So all you students out there, what are your Valentine’s Day traditions, which story of St. Valentine’s do you think is true and what do you think the holiday is all really about? The entire Lighthouse staff wishes you and your family a great (late) Valentine’s day whether you celebrate it or not, have a wonderful day!
It’s finally 2021! I’m sure that’s what we have all been saying for the last three weeks. So now that we put this speed bump of a year in the Costco parking lot of life to bed, we start on this (hopefully) less bumpy path of 2021. We come into this year with hopes for the future; for the world to get better, for people to get better, and for ourselves to be better. So, to keep your spirits up, here are some things to look forward to in 2021!
The Tokyo Olympics
Photo courtesy of International Finance Magazine
The Tokyo Olympics are still scheduled for July and August of this year, after last year’s Olympics being postponed, I am sure the world is very excited for this year’s event!
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Lands on Mars
Photo from NASA Mars Exploration Program
NASA’s Perseverance Rover was launched July 30th, 2020, and is now going to land on the face of Mars on February 18th, 2021. After the hard and dedicated work of thousands of men and women we are about to open a new chapter in space exploration!
The Queen of England turns 95
Photo from Showbiz Cheat Sheet
On June 12th, the Queen of England will celebrate her 95 birthday, she has been Monarch for 65 years now!
(Fun fact, is that the queen actually celebrates two birthdays, one for her official birth date, April 21st, and one on the second Saturday of June for the day she was coronated)
The 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World
Photo courtesy of Blooloop
First opening its doors October 1st, 1971, 2021 is Walt Disney World’s 50th year of business. Since it opened after the wildly popular Disneyland in California, anyone who goes there will surely say that this magical place is, just like its sister park, one of the happiest places on earth!
New Shows and Movies
Photo Create From Forbes
We are all anxiously waiting for our favorite shows and movies to come out, like A Friends Reunion show in March, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot on Peacock, a new season of The Mandalorian and the first Season of the Book of Boba Fett. For movies, we have a new Cinderella, Fantastic Beasts, Top Gun: Maverick, and so much more!
There are many more things to look forward to in the year, but just trying to make fun events with your family, like family games or movie nights, Nerf or Laser Tag fights, or anything that you and your family can enjoy will make your week and year so much more exciting!
The Lighthouse 