Psychologists believe that our capacity for creative work hinges on our memory and the ability to draw on our mental catalog of remembered experiences and ideas. More than that, memory is our lifeline to our own selves. Indeed, can there be anything more central to identity than memory?

We are what we remember. 

Clearly you hadn't taken enough drugs or drank very much while at college, Adam...

Nope! :)

How is this a children's book?   Available at the library.  I must know.

"But just as he is about to begin looking back on his many years and drawing on his vast memory-bank of knowledge, he finds his living room — his dedicated environment essential for writing, charmingly populated by iconic mid-century modern furniture and some unmistakable Eames designs — flooded with “a mountain of parcels wrapped in bright and patterned paper,” surprise birthday presents from his friends.

"As he opens each package and plays with the present inside, the double meaning of the word “present” reveals itself. Marcel is transported to his past and the many lives compressed into his long and accomplished existence — his days as a world-famous musician, his stint as a sailor, his sabbatical in Vietnam, his time tending to the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens, his accidental participation in France’s historic Mai 1968 worker strikes and civil unrest."

Seems cool but not a children's book to me!

oooh, i'll have to check this one out.

and adam, i am often surprised by what gets categorized as a children's book!

Picture to word ratio.  (I love these MIMO-infused illustrations!)

true!

although too many break that golden ratio. my boys are going through a giant stack of picture books they selected at the library last week, and they brought me one last night that i flipped open and then promptly shut, saying, "i don't read books like this."

"why not?" the 4-year-old asked.

"too many words," i said.

ain't nobody got time for that!!  :)

He'll make a fine adult someday. :)

hahahahahaha!  i did wonder what i was teaching him in that moment!!  we'll move on to chapter books when their attention spans can handle it.  i have pippi longstocking all ready to go...

Oh cool.

Attention spans. 

Ha. 

Everybody should be quiet near a little stream and listen. 

http://pandawhale.com/post/50395/everybody-should-be-quiet-near-a-little-stream-and-listen

....a small stream or a lawn sprinkler.

Lawn sprinklers can be mesmerizing. 

oh that raccoon!!!  his little hands!  it looks like he's playing a harp.

Whence I poached it:

http://pandawhale.com/post/16369/raccoon-playing-sprinkler-harp-gif

I added the video to that page. :)