I say, There’s got to be some kind of clue in the words.
                                         from The Nightmare House
                                               written by Sarah Allen
                                         illustrations by Angie Hewitt
                                        Farrar Straus Giroux, 2023
   
    My older daughter’s first word was book, a book full of words, no doubt. And from about age 6 months, she knew how important words could be. They always elicited smiles and conversation. Sometimes they helped her get what she wanted or needed. Cookies, music, cuddles. She talked pretty much non-stop, but it was the opposite of debilitating. I loved the sound of her little voice trying hard to pronounce names of food, friends, lists of facts. Pronouns were a small problem for a while, but we sorted that out.
    My younger daughter is a librarian, surrounding herself daily with words. My mom was a kind of a word-nerd. I think she liked grammar more, but I grew up surrounded with words. (No four-letter ones, though. Mom had her limits.)
    At the end of every year, lots of dictionaries try to sum up the main events in one word or a simple phrase. This year is no different.
    Collins Dictionary (thesaurus and reference materials) has been publishing for over 200 years and is well-known in the education field. It’s now online and free. They even put out a blog where you can find lots of word-related discussions in English and other languages, too. 
    The Guardian reported Collins named AI as the most notable word of 2023. “It was chosen,” the publisher continued, “because the word ‘has accelerated at such a fast pace and [has] become the dominant conversation of 2023.’”
    The Cambridge Dictionary named hallucinate as its Word. In a year of ChatGPT, Bard, and other platforms that use large language models (LLMs), hallucinate has come to mean false information (not really similar to “fake news”). Cambridge has defined false information as what happens when an artificial intelligence hallucinates. In that sense, it’s like when people see, hear, feel, or smell something that does not exist. I guess a machine can jump to a false conclusion, too. 
    Merriam-Webster’s word for 2023 is authenticity. Ahead of yesterday’s announcement Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large, noted , “[w]e see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity.” “What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.”
    The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) will announce its winner after a public vote of its  eight ballot choices. You can participate here. Just click on the one(s) most meaningful and await the results. Click on as many as you like, but be sure to click by the end of Thursday, November 30, 2023. The announcement will be made Monday, December 4, 2023.
    Lots of dictionaries choose their Words of the Year by calculating the number of times a word has been looked up. Usually they notice a spike around news events. Remember unprecedented? Dictionary.com  named it Word of the Year, 2020.
    The words in the first English dictionary were collected and defined by Samuel Johnson. According to Cambridge.org.., Johnson’s was not the chronological first. Dozens of dictionaries appeared in the century and a half before 1775, when Johnson published his. Samuel Johnson’s dictionary was the most useful, though, because of his innovations. He chose words used in works by English authors. He added numbered definitions that sorted words by their subtle meanings. He used extensive quotes as usage examples. It’s considered the standard work, but language is a living entity. It changes. 
    Words are added and dropped by dictionary editors, lexicographers all, when a new word is noticed in the common vernacular, when a words changes or add meanings, or when a word falls out of use. Nowadays, computers generate lists from huge databases that calculate and collate continuously. The OED online is updated quarterly. 
    I remember back in the olden days, a supplement was added to the dictionary to keep it current. Published between 1972 and 1986, and under the direction of Robert Burchfield, a new editor, “a fresh cohort of staff … once again solicited the help of readers.” (OED.com)  The four-volume Supplement contained 5,750 pages.
    A CD-ROM of the First Edition was produced in 1987, and in 1992 the Second Edition was also published on a single compact disc. Instead of 20 volumes taking up several shelves and weighing in at over 150 lbs, people could use the dictionary differently. 
    In 2000, OEDonline was launched and was completely remodeled this year, 2023. Its updates can be accessed with a mouse-click.
    I keep a list of unusual and fun-to-say words. Here are some (in alphabetical order).
aplomb
banal
cetaceans
claustrophobic
lug nuts
misanthrope    
verisimilitude
    You might have a list, too. 
    According to the OED, our English language has one of the largest vocabularies on the planet. Their estimate clocks us in at over 170,000. 

I just started reading The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Life in Native America by David Treuer (Viking, 2019). The author calls his book a “counternarrative” to Dee Brown's classic Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970). Treuer, a native Ojibwa, tells where the people who survived the massacre came from (spoiler, they were right here for tens of thousands of years) and what has happened to them since. I’m looking forward to an interesting read.
                     --Be curious! (and choose interesting words)

    One bright, fall day, Sophie found a squash at the farmer’s market.
Her parents planned to serve it for supper, but Sophie had other ideas.
                                     .    .    .
    When it was time to make supper, Sophie's mother looked at the squash.
    She looked at Sophie.
    "I call her Bernice," Sophie said.
    "I'll call for a pizza," said her mother.
                                                from Sophie’s Squash
                                         written by Pat Zietler Miller
                                          illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf
                                      Schwartz & Wade Books, 2013
    Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I’m thinking about being with family, but also about the pumpkin pies my grandson will make.
    Pumpkins, gourds, and squash all belong to a large family of fruit that also includes melons, cucumbers, zucchini, and winter squashes like butternut, acorn, and spaghetti. Their botanical name is cucurbitaceae. And here’s how to say it:  kew ker bi TAY see i.
    Squashes are divided into the soft-skinned summer squash and hard-skinned winter squash. Gourds are also divided into hard-skinned and soft-skinned. According to Southern Living, “[n]ot all gourds are squash, but many squashes are gourds and a pumpkin is both a squash and a gourd. So pumpkins fall into both categories.
    Yeah, I didn’t quite get that, either. So I kept looking. “The main difference between squash (includes pumpkins) and gourds is that squash is grown and harvested to eat while gourds are grown and cultivated for decoration purposes,” says the website of Abma's Farm, a family farm in Wyckoff, NJ. This definition is a little controversial, (and pumpkins still fall into both categories) but it’s widely accepted, so I’m going with it.
    About six to eight days after pollination, a zucchini and other summer squash are ready to eat. The seeds are set, but not mature. A winter squash needs a couple of months until it is ready to harvest. The seeds and the fruit are both mature. 
    Since it is not a botanical term, a pumpkin can be any type of round, large, orange-yellow fruit with a thick rind, edible flesh, and many seeds. Now that makes sense.
    We have a pumpkin barn at our county fair. Gourds and squash, including pumpkins, are shown in elaborate displays. And you can enter a contest for the most originally decorated gourds or squashes, all on a predetermined theme. “Favorite Movies” was a category one year. The Wizard of Oz display featured pumpkins dressed as Dorothy, the Lion, Tinman, and Scarecrow. Even Toto and the Wicked Witch were there! I don’t remember if it won, but it should have.
    Farmers from all over the country grow giant pumpkins. Some bring them right here to our Fair. They compete for a prize of over $5,000.00 for the heaviest one. In 2023, a grower from Anoka, MN brought the World Record Setter to Canfield, Ohio. It weighed an astonishing  2,749 lbs! 
   If you want to grow your own giant, here’s the basics from The Ohio State University fact sheet from their College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Click on the link for more details.

• You’ll need a lot of space. Each plant needs about 1,000 square feet to allow the vine to grow along with the pumpkin. You’ll need an area with lots of sun, too. And good drainage. And a convenient water source.
• Start with good quality seed. The giant prizewinners trace their roots back to Howard Dill’s Atlantic Giant developed by Howard Dill, himself, in the 1970s.
• Start your seeds indoors at the end of April. Each seed needs a 12-inch peat pot. They’ll be ready to transplant when the first true leaf is fully expanded. Make sure to keep your transplants safe from a late frost.
• Your plant will need at least 1 inch of water per week. Supplement if rain is insufficient.
• Hand weed as needed.
• Protect your plant from strong southwest winds until your vine’s sideurnners are 3-4 feet long. (Late June)
• For pest control, use your site only once in 3 years.
• Hand pollination is preferred. Bees and other pollinators could cross-breed your giant inadvertently.
• Prune off all but 4-6 pumpkins per vine.
• Prevent stems from breaking by moving the vine to reduce stress at vulnerable points.
• By the time your pumpkin is about the size of a basketball, it’ll need some protection from direct sun. You can rig up a shade with a bedsheet.
• Smaller giants, say 400 lbs and under, will fit in the back of a pick-up. Gather up a few friends to roll the baby onto a tarp and carefully lift. 
• Larger giants will need a lifting frame and straps. You might even need a trailer to transport it.
• Celebrate your accomplishment. Even if yours is not a winner, you’ll have had fun, I hope!

    The only ingredient listed on the label of my can of “100% pure Pumpkin: all natural/no preservatives” says “Pumpkin.” In answering a question on the Science Friday podcast on NPR, Chris Hernandez, assistant professor of Plant Breeding at the University of New Hampshire, assured a caller that most canned pumpkin is either Hubbard or butternut squash. “We don’t want to eat a Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin,” he said. "They are a whole different species.”
    Like Sophie in the quote above, our Thanksgiving dinner will be an inside affair, with cloth napkins and not-plastic dishes or flatware. Unlike Harold in Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon (HarperCollins, 1955), we will not have nine kinds of pie, just two or three. We’re not planning on having anything go to waste, but inevitably, I’m sure it will happen.
    I heard a story on NPR recently about how much food we throw away. If I remember, it’s about one fourth of what we buy. Then I thought about the grocery stores and all the restaurants. I know some of that food is donated to shelters and soup kitchens, but really? So I just looked up the story. I was wrong. One fourth? No, one THIRD!           
So, what to do? According to filmmakers Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin who were interviewed for an older article (from 2012):

1. Buy less. Be creative with what your have on hand. Or look here for substitutions.
2. Be less choosy about the perfect apple.
3. Don’t worry about expiration dates. [They] don't really tell you anything about whether food is safe. Here are some practical suggestions
4. Eat leftovers.

    Crockett Johnson’s Harold drew a hungry moose and a deserving porcupine to help him clean up his leftover pies. 
    My husband, our daughter and son-in-law, and our three grandsons will make sure that three deserving, but not hungry, cats and a gerbil will have some leftover turkey. The rabbit is excluded by his own choice. He’s vegan.
                            Happy Thanksgiving!
No book review this week. I’m catching up with some middle-grade fiction titles that I’ve been neglecting. More next week.
                        -—Be curious! (and as generous as you can)

When I look in the mirror,
What do I see?
Big and Bold and Beautiful Me!
                                        from Big Bold Beautiful Me
               written by Jane Yolen and Maddison Stemple-Piatt
                                        illustrated by Chloe Burgett
                                             Magination Press, 2022

    From 1967 to 1987, Bob Barker sang every girl’s dream song, “Here She Comes, Miss America!” But the winner wasn’t even the best of the best. That was Miss Universe. Crowns and gowns and one girl more poised and more beautiful and more talented than the next were on display for the better part of a couple of hours. My mom insisted a girl’s or woman’s best quality is not necessarily beauty. I don’t think she had a problem with the talent section, the interview, or even the evening gown. It was mostly the swimsuit competition she disliked. She described the show as a meat market or something just as derogatory. But she watched with us all the same. Scowling, if my memory serves.
    For weeks after the new queen was crowned, I practiced balancing a book on my head as I walked around the living room, even though I never got more than a few steps before it fell off. During my obligatory 30 minutes of daily piano practice, I imagined myself on a stage. I didn’t care too much for dress-up, but my wish for the end to the swimsuit competition was fervent. My short, round body would never win any points. 
    And I always mentioned my wish for world peace in the made up interview in my mind. And I meant that with my whole heart. I hoped it would cancel out everything else, especially my short, round body exposed in a swimsuit in front of the whole world.
    Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was all silly. Remember I also wanted to be a ballerina!
    It takes a lot of practice, dedication, and money to become a contestant. Most girls are well-versed in the competition atmosphere from a very early age. A website called We Have Kids addresses the topic with thirteen useful tips. 
    It advises even before your little girl knows whether or not she wants to compete, or likes to compete, or is driven to compete, she can be part of a baby contest. Less stressful? Maybe. If your daughter expresses the desire to take part in a pageant, the advise is to accentuate the “fun aspect.” Less stressful? again, maybe. Personality can count more than natural beauty. A natural smile is priceless. 
    Toddler contests can be expensive, very expensive. The advise is to rent a dress instead of spending $1,000 for one. (Kids really grow fast!) Socks with a single layer of lace are appropriate, but a few small Swarovski stones added to the socks will make them stand out more (and cost more!) And the hair. An updo is not a must, but a bow is. Add a few Swarovski stones to the bow, too, for added sparkle.
    Fluffing up her dress the moment she goes on stage is important, but so is planting someone familiar in the audience, preferably sitting behind the judges. That will keep your girl focused in the right direction.
    If all this sounds facetious, it is, except it’s all written out, just like the rules and the entrance fee. 
    Pageants can be good for kids, though. A well-run organization will allow the kids to be themselves. Some kids like getting dressed up. If parents’ attitudes are focused on the well-being of their child, lasting friendships can form among contestants (and their parents).
    For older girls, too, Google can help find many tips to win a pageant.     
    An article on NPR in 2012, put the cost of competing in the Miss America pageant between $800-$2,900. It includes the evening gown, swimsuit, make-up and coaching, but not travel expense. Or a fitness coach. Or nails… all in 2012 dollars.
    The article continues. Some girls work to pay their own expenses. Competitor and graduate student Jessica Bermudez worked part-time at as a technical project manager at the National Institutes of Health. She also received sponsorships from local businesses in exchange for promoting their products. She spent a lot of time fundraising. If she wins the Miss D. C. crown, Jessica will win a cash price of about $1,000 and the right to compete in Miss USA. She did not win. I Googled around a little, but could not find out what she’s doing now. She’s probably fine.
    Here's what Miss Universe Organization (MUO) has to say about itself. “The Miss Universe Organization exists to advocate for a future forged by women - women with the courage to push the limits of what’s possible, who are curious enough to make world-shaking discoveries, and audacious enough to do this over and over. We believe that the future of humanity rests on reaching gender equity around the world.” That sounds a lot like the Barbie movie to me. Mom used to say “The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Hmmm.
    I wonder how important being judged “the best” is for a child’s self-esteem. How much more important, it seems to me, to be able to internalize the feeling.
    While I recognize physical beauty and admire a beautiful person, cat, flower, or sunset, my mom’s disdain for the beauty culture was not lost on me. Do I wish I was taller/thinner/had better hair? Sometimes. But I really wish that I’ve been able to instill in my girls the importance of kindness, empathy, and compassion. 
    And I really, really wish for world peace. Really.
    The 72nd Miss Universe Competition will take place in El Salvador this Saturday, November 18, 2023.

Last week I read The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Julie Morstad (Candlewick, 2023). This quick read, at first glance, is about five puppets and the story they tell. Looking closer, it’s really about two sisters and their housekeeper who think up the story. While we readers are privy to the interior thoughts of the puppets, it’s about the sisters’ dreams and their housekeeper’s dreams and how they all make their dream come true. 
                   -—Be curious! (and look for interior beauty)

When the big brown bear
leads there little bear band,
they all play together
and the music is grand.
                                               from Bears in a Band
                                        written by Shirley Parenteau
                                           illustrated by David Walker
                                                      Candlewick, 2018
                                        accessed on YouTube 11/6/23


    The day before “Now and Then,” was released, (the last song to be released by The Beatles), my grandson sent me a link to a short documentary about its origins, the history of writing it, and how they were able to use AI technology to record it.  
    Paul narrated most of the story, but Ringo had lots to say, too. John’s son, Sean, spoke of his father and how lucky he feels to have had those four men in his life.     
    I sent back a text to my grandson thanking him for sending me the short film. As I watched it, I told him, I felt like my brain was time-traveling. I saw the four Beatles as they appeared in 1964, a little shaggier than “clean-cut.” Clips of their psychedelic phase were plugged in, too. Each as an individual, and each as an important member of the group. And the music. And the late 60s, and what came next. As I watched and listened to the clip from 1964, I imagined myself as I was then, and my grandson as he is now, about the same age as The Beatles were then. Those images were superimposed on each other. We were all together.
    I felt a mix of excitement for this “new” music and nostalgia for those “golden oldies.”
    Why does music have such a powerful emotional effect on us?
    “[Music] provides an auditory and emotional setting that allows us to retrieve [our] memories,” says Andrew Budson. He’s chief of cognitive and behavioral neurology, associate chief of staff for education, and director of the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System. His website is worth the click.
    Experts look at different kinds of memory to understand the effects music has on our brains. Two types of long-term memory are involved when we listen to music. Procedural memory is implicit. Routines we do without thinking like tying our shoes, brushing our teeth, cooking a familiar dish without a recipe, reciting a poem or speech we have memorized, and singing and performing our favorite songs feel automatic. We do them without needing a plan. Have you seen Lady Gaga’s performance with Tony Bennett? Even in the throws of Alzheimer’s Disease, he sings one of his hits after another flawlessly.
    It’s what’s at work when Jiminy Cricket sings E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-E-D-I-A. Or the Animaniacs sing their State Capitols song to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw.” Watch it on YouTube.
    Episodic memory is explicit and comes into play when we consciously remember things like a recent trip, a major life event like our graduation or wedding, the first day of a new job. It’s particular. Another person sharing that experience will probably remember it differently. 
    Music triggers our episodic memory. It’s what allows us to time travel when we hear the song that was playing on the radio when we or our prom date rang the doorbell. We can picture our outfit, how the corsage smelled, what kind of weather we experienced and what kind of car we drove.
    It all depends on a healthy hippocampus. That’s the structure in our brain that sits in a direct line between our ears. It’s always “on” recording thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and sensations. It’s the job of the hippocampus to gather all those pieces of our memory into a whole recollected experience. 
    And lots of time it’s a familiar song or piece of music that allows the whole memory to engulf us.
    I was eleven and a half years old when the Beatles visited the United States and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Their sound rocked my world. They were all we could talk about at school. We all picked our favorites. Mine was John, even then. Most of the girls in my class liked Paul the best. He was the cutest, they said. Some argued for George. Ringo usually came in last.
    My sister and I lay stomach down on the living room carpet to watch, riveted, as they sang “All My Loving,” “Till There was You,” and “She Loves You.” They returned to sing “I Saw Her Standing There” and finished up with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” I had to look all that up, of course, but when I did, I was back on the floor, next to my sister. Their sound, filling the living room, felt new. Their look was new. We baby boomers felt we were on the edge of something earth-shaking and new. We were right.
    “Now and Then.” Thanks for the memories!
I’m reading Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson. (Penguin Publishing Group/Viking, 2023). I’m not very far in, but so far it’s well-researched, interesting, and readable. More next week.
                                   -—Be curious! (and keep a song in your heart)