selma fraiberg's 'magic years'

what a wonderful book -- quite a few gems...within

one of the interesting...early observations...was that children -- we're talking...young children, under the age of six -- approach...things...they fear -- come back, to tackle...their anxieties -- the things...that they haven't mastered

here are a couple

yitzhak nakash's 'shi'is of iraq' & other books

i finished yitzhak nakash's the shi'is of iraq, this morning-- excellent piece of scholarship -- and very well written (i've been wanting to read it, since it came out, in '94 -- while i was in boston, and got to befriend him -- finally...got to it) -- i tell you,...you memorize this book, and you've got iraqi history...of the 19th and 20th centuries, down pat

next up, lugalbanda: the boy who got caught up in a war (by kathy henderson), the only children's story i found...based on mesopotamian mythology -- i was looking for books for my 11-year-old nephew, who's 'into' mythology -- especially, fantasies, based on greek and egyptian myths -- so, i thought, why not find something for him...from 'his'...ancient forebears

follow-up (3/22): i finished lugalbanda -- very well done -- gorgeous pictures, by jane ray, whose name, as an illustrator, i've come across, here and there -- lugalbanda, by the way, was the father of gilgamesh -- both, kings of uruk -- and the story in this book is based on two poems, the first of which may be the oldest surviving story -- at least, recorded 'on paper'

update: in looking for pictures from lugalbanda, to include here (i could only find...two or three, on-line), i saw that ray illustrated the king of capri (by jeanette winterson), which i have in my inventory

plus, on amazon's page for lugalbanda, there's a trilogy for children...based on the epic of gilgamesh, written and illustrated by ludmila zeman: gilgamesh the king, the last quest of gilgamesh, and the revenge of ishtar

now, next up: the origins of totalitarianism, by hannah arendt -- i think

update (3/23): i gave up on 'totalitarianism' (who wouldn't), after just a few pages -- too difficult -- i'll need to build up to it

near at hand, for my next non-fiction, the best candidates were empires of the word: a language history of the world, by nicholas ostler (i read a few pages, a few weeks ago -- looks great -- great topic -- a survey of world history, as seen through its languages, their migration -- migrations -- etc. -- recommended...by former case linguistics professor p k saha), and the magic years, by selma fraiberg (about early childhood), which i've been wanting to read, for years -- i went with the lighter fare