The Silly Thing is an account of a woman's acceptance of and struggle with living and dying with a grade 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer of the brain. It is told from the perspective of her daughter, Esther Ramsay-Jones, a psychotherapist and academic. The book discusses the fears that people might have about dying and specifically about brain cancer: for the author's mother, the tumour affected her speech and, as an English teacher, whose life had so intimately been tied up with language the fear of language loss was at times unbearable. From a psychotherapeutic point of view, the book will explore what it means to be given a terminal diagnosis and what kinds of psychological responses the 'patient' and family members might have. It will touch on notions of family systems theory, and the roles people might then take up as reaction to the news. The author also looks at 'difficult conversations' in palliative care - what might help/what might hinder - and the value of listening skills, capacity for attunement and containment, in staff teams and in the medical profession at large. Though the main focus in this book is her mother's experience, vignettes from the lived experienc

Fiction, Reading Recovery Level 10, F&P Level F, DRA2 Level 10, Theme Family/Humor, Stage Early, Character N/A

Toss out those daily concerns (if only for a little while) and replace them with the light-hearted adventures into the imagination. Bring a smile to a childs face, laughter to their lips and the freedom of being silly. Allow a young life to take a journey through "just being a kid."

A collection of silliness, both verbal and visual.

From throwing a costume party for a few close friends to creating a personal "fun-o-dex," this series of inspirational ideas will bring anyone up who's feeling down.

This laugh-out-loud book is bursting with lists, facts, jokes and funny true stories all about silly people, silly animals, silly inventions, silly names and much more. Discover The Great Stink, the man who ate a bike, a girl really called Lorna Mower and a sofa that can do 101mph. Find out about famous pranks, crazy festivals, nutty cats, gross foods, epic sports fails, ludicrously silly words and really rubbish predictions. There are even lots of great silly things to do. Unmissable!

Prereaders get ready for reading by describing wacky scenes in their own words. Dogs and cats sitting at a table using flatware. Mice rappelling down kitchen cabinets after sneaking an apple from a basket. Squirrels parachuting from the treetops. “That’s silly!” This collection of ten full-color illustrations (no reading required!) is from the 2007-2008 issues of Highlights High Five,(tm) the award-winning new magazine for children ages two to six, published by Highlights for Children. As kids describe all those silly features, they can hone their visual, language, and reasoning abilities--not knowing how serious all this silliness can actually be!