My three nephews received a Bat Cave for Christmas and numerous other Bat accessories. Mason, who just turned 3, immersed himself in dynamic duo adventures and was particularly fond of the Bat Copter. Soon after Christmas Mason began to tell me “Want the yellow Batman.” I would politely respond that he was referring to Robin, Batman’s lesser partner. He remained adamant that he wanted the yellow batman, and would move on to the next family member with the same statement. This went on through New Years, and I remained gentle yet firm in my responses, even handing him Robin on occasion. Nothing changed his mind or his tenacity.

I was visiting in the new year when my sister-in-law heard Mason and I going through the usual Bat conversation. She interrupted and told me that there was indeed a yellow Batman. “What…” I responded confusedly, suspecting that she was simply padding Mason’s self-esteem. She left the room and quickly returned with a yellow Batman. Unknown to me, the boys had accumulated no less than three Batman’s with all their gifts, two of which wore the traditional costume, and one who wore yellow (not all yellow, but enough to qualify). I apologized to Mason and had certainly underestimated his perception.

David Michael Slater seems to know exactly what kids want, whether he’s doing books for younger readers or somewhat older, as with his recently released The Book of Nonsense, aimed at children ages ten and up. The book is already a finalist on the Association of Booksellers for Children’s Best Books 2008 list and a 2009 Cybil Award Nominee. Slater’s previous books have been alternate selections of the Children’s Book-of-the-Month and Mom’s Choice Award winners He’s also working on a film called Mocha Cola High with Right Angle Pictures.

As for The Book of Nonsense, it revolves around a book, naturally–an ancient weathered book that enters the lives of Daphna and Dexter. It seems to be nothing but pages and pages of nonsense, but soon bizarre events begin to occur, seemingly influenced by the book. Their father suddenly is distant. An old man who took their father to a hypnotist suddenly seems suspicious. Meanwhile, Daphna and Dexter have a thirteenth birthday coming up. Together, they’ll have to figure out the secrets behind the Book of Nonsense before it destroys their lives.

As the Portland Tribune wrote, this series is “fraught with suspense, hidden clues, bizarre twists and an ancient book full of utter nonsense…Slater understands that the secret to capturing the interest of teens is to engage their curiosity and intelligence by hooking them with a blend of unusual references, mysterious clues and a dark, suspenseful plot packed with action.”

There’s also a nice website for the book. If you’re looking for something well-written and engaging for your kids, this is a great new series to check out.

I have three nephews that bring many tears and much joy to their parents (5, 3, and 1) - I am sure all Cubies with kids can relate. This week I was over when the 5 year old ran inside and announced it was Big Airplane Day. I suppose a good size jet had flown over and that was enough to christen the day. He ran back out and returned again noting one big airplane looked like Santa’s sleigh. Now things were really picking up.

I went out in the cold and lined up the patio chairs so I could look at the sky. Indeed there were many airplanes around. My nephew noted that one propeller plane was circling the house. Its wing seemed dipped right at us as it went around and around. We counted at least a half dozen airplanes and birds and he asked me when he could drive an airplane, not theoretically but expecting a date and time. A silly but most enjoyable moment that reminded me of school and the Irish poet William Butler Yeats (slightly altered below):

For oft, when in my cube I sigh
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure strains,
And dances with the gliding planes.

I always hear stories about kids walking in their sleep. I guess it happens sometimes with adults but it’s much more rare. I wonder why that is. Maybe it’s because the mind of a child is so much more active. After all, children can absorb an incredible amount of information and retain it. I once read that a child of five can learn up to seven languages simultaneously without slowing their pace of learning. As adults, our knowledge acquisition becomes a strenuous activity, full of rigorous studying and memory techniques. I know I wish I had stuck with the violin and speaking French when I was younger because now it seems impossible to learn something new.

So I was a sleepwalker, and talker, as a kid. I used to completely freak my mom out. I’ve never actually seen someone sleepwalk, but I imagine that it must be kinda scary. Especially after being subjected to the hollywood depictions of zombies and creepy evil kids. My mom said I used to sit up and just stare at her or come out of my room and start flipping the lights on and off. Weird.

Once my cousin walked out of his house and down the street while he was sleeping! I think the oddest thing is those people who sleep-eat. Could you imagine? Like all of a sudden you are gaining all this weight and you can’t figure out why, while all the time you are making giant dagwoods and slamming coke in your sleep! We just remodeled our kitchen and my new fridge has an alarm that you can turn on. I think I will do that just in case.