Dear sons,

Let’s talk about money, boys. I know you don’t understand the concept of money yet, but I want to write this down while it is still fresh in my mind. I hope you will never run into money issue with your brothers, but you can refer to this letter if you do.

The other day, Đạo and Xuân fought over a pack of Pocky at the playground and I made all of us go home. No matter how hard tried to calm you down, you were not able to control yourself. One of you went as far as screaming, “I hate my brother.” I would be a thousand times worse with money.

The power and evilness of money can create conflicts within family members. Even today I still witness tensions between adult siblings over money. Money can sabotage relationships and make family members turn on each other. I do not want to see that happening to you guys. Do not let money gets in between you and your brothers. No matter what goes on, put your love and respect for each other above money. Money comes and goes. Brothers stay together for life.

Your mom and I aren’t rich; therefore, you won’t have to worry about fighting over our money. The money you earn yourself will be more valuable than anything you inherited. Use money to support each other instead of letting money destroy your relationships. Nothing will hurt me more than seeing you guys fighting over money. Just remember that.

Take control of your money instead of letting it control you. Be generous to your brothers when they are in need. If you can do that for each other, I will be happy and proud. Nothing beats seeing my kids bonding and taking care of each other.

Love,

Daddy.

Translated by Annette Appel, Kor’s The Hawk and the Dove is a transformation from war to peace. Kor’s paper cutout techniques created simple-yet-striking illustrations to turn a heavy subject matter into a hopeful story. A powerful message for young readers about peace and love.

What a lovely way to welcome a new baby to life. Kerbel’s lyrical prose is visualized with Suzanne Del Rizzo’s textured illustrations created from polymer clay and acrylic paint. A fantastic gift for new parents.

I am a bit biased, but this book is one of my personal favorites. Raschka illustrates the bond between fathers and their kids. He shows all the fun and wonderful activities kids and dads do Side by Side. The beautiful artworks are balanced by the bold Aetna typeface. Thanks for the tribute to dads.

Lizzie Widdicombe writes in The New Yorker:

What are we doing to our children? We fret, we helicopter, we listen to the wrong people. We pore over transcripts of two-year-olds chattering and turn ourselves into amateur statisticians. But, ultimately, many of the outcomes aren’t in our control. And that’s a problem that all the data in the world won’t fix.

Thomas’s beautifully written text sends an inspiring message to children about nature. She encourages children to explore “a wide and wonderful world out there.“ Christopher Silas Neal’s splendid illustrations are a perfect companion to Thomas’s writing.

The writing is OK, but the illustrations by Seng Soun Ratanavanh is simply gorgeous. The colors, the Crayon painting, the characters, and the scenes are bursting with life. Get it for the illustrations.

This book is not my personal favorite, but my seven-year-old and three-year-old sons love it. Donaldson’s rhythmic patterns allowed my kids to complete the sentences when reading together. For example, when I read, “I’m scared! I’m scared!,” my three-year-old would complete, “I’m terribly scared!” In addition, illustrator David Roberts includes a mouse in every page to give the kids the opportunity to find him. It’s a fun book to read together, but it could also be over-read. My three-year-old makes me read it with him every night.

Wanda Sykes’s comic style reminds me of Chris Rock’s. Not Normal, her latest Netflix Special, has a few jokes similar to Chris’s. For instance, her Vicks’s solution to cure everything was like Chris’s Robitussin. The word “glistening” was used in her case to keep her kid from being ashy and in Chris’s case was about Jermaine Jackson. The one joke that shared the most similarity is that everyone needs a Black friend. I am not saying Wanda stole Chris’s jokes. They just have similar style and subject matters. Nevertheless, Wanda’s special is pretty hilarious. The most memorable line is that, “Everyone is different, but everyone is equal.” I also agree with the title of the special. The Trump presidency is Not Normal.

Last Thursday, a brief storm splat one of the branches of an oak tree in front of our house. Both pieces hang down to the ground. I wanted to cut down the entire tree, but Đạo and Đán begged me to save it. I called a tree service, but it won’t be available until next week. I decide to do it myself.

My workplace had no power; therefore, I didn’t have to go to work on Friday. I climbed up a ladder to cut off the lower half of the branch that was still hanging down. It fell off and scratched my face. Luckily it didn’t strike me and make me fell off the ladder. Saturday, I did more trimming and cleaning. Sunday, my brother-in-law and I tried to pull the upper broken branch off, but we were unsuccessful. The weather was extremely hot so we gave up and let it hanging.

Sunday, a couple of men came by and asked if I wanted them to cut off the broke part. I wanted to cut off half of the branch. They wanted $500. I negotiated down to $300 because I knew it was a quick trim and would only take them half an hour. They left, but then came back 20 minutes later agreed to do the job. I gave them $320 after they completed it.

I am glad I paid them to do it. Even though it only took them half an hour, it would be too dangerous for me to cut down half of a tree. It might fell on my house, on my neighbor’s house, or worse, on me. The two days of work made me realize how hard it was to do the job myself. I also got a good exercise out of it.

Total cost: $320