The McKinley Marketplace

Edie Sedgwick, 28, died while lying beside her husband after years of having affairs with so many people. Here's the tragic life of Edie Sedgwick.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of July 12, 2019 A slew of teacher savings events have us wondering why we're paying for copy paper in the first place.

Adult Craft!
Enjoy creating a wintery craft in your own home this December. Pick up supplies and instructions at the Sierra Madre Public Library. ☃️📚

When Jen Pratt was 11 years old, a battle with bone cancer inspired her future career plans: "From that point on I knew that I wanted to go into medicine.” Two decades later, Pratt is now a pediatrician at Children’s Minnesota in St. Paul -- the same hospital where she was diagnosed and treated! She also credits a trip from Make-A-Wish Minnesota to Walt Disney World for giving her the hope she needed to persevere through chemotherapy and surgeries. And, she's thrilled to be making a difference in the lives of children going through similar struggles today: "It’s really incredible to be able to walk down these halls and feel like I’m delivering the care that I felt so impacted by as a child. And honestly, it’s a privilege to be able to work here. I love it. I love my job."

After she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, Pratt says that she always felt very comforted and supported by the staff at Children's. "Some of the nurses that I had during my treatment are still nurses at Children’s," she says, "so I actually get to work with them." She picked her Make-A-Wish trip based on her love of animation, particularly the Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast," and recalls "counting down the chemotherapy treatments I had, thinking, ‘OK, this many more treatments and then I get to go on my wish trip.'" Pratt says that the trip was "so much more than just a vacation — it was a celebration!... It’s difficult to put into words the overwhelming feeling of love and support you feel as a wish kid.”

Today, Pratt says that her experience as a child helps her to better connect with her young patients, observing that “Surviving childhood cancer is a uniquely profound experience. We often see the world in a slightly different light and have a unique ability to empathize with others facing challenging, life-altering situations.” And, she has this advice to share with children who are going through a similar cancer fight: "Whichever path you take in life, you have the ability to use your experience for the better, to see life differently, and to empathize with others in a uniquely powerful way. Don’t be afraid to dream big, and never stop looking towards the future."

To learn more about Make-A-Wish America, visit http://wish.org

To introduce kids to inspiring women doctors throughout history, we recommend "Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell" for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/who-says-women-can-t-be-doctors), "The Doctor With An Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath" for ages 5 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-doctor-with-an-eye-for-eyes), and "Bold Women of Medicine: 12 Stories of Astounding Discoveries, Daring Surgeries, and Healing Breakthroughs" for ages 12 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/bold-women-of-medicine)

For books for children and teens about more trailblazing female scientists and doctors, check out our blog post, "Celebrating Science: 60 Books to Inspire Science-Loving Mighty Girls," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=13914

If you'd like to encourage your own aspiring doctor or scientist, check out our blog post, "Top Science Toys for Mighty Girls" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10528

And, for several excellent books starring Mighty Girls fighting cancer, we recommend "The Lemonade Club" for ages 5 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-lemonade-club), "Side Effects" for ages 11 to 14 (https://www.amightygirl.com/side-effects), and "The Fault in Our Stars" for ages 13 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-fault-in-our-stars)

Reminder: Please plan ahead as 7 bus routes will be discontinued for the 2018-2019. Those routes are 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, and 707.
Please visit www.cityofpasadena.net/Pasadena-transit for options.

Today in Mighty Girl history, 19-year-old Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to successfully swim the English Channel in 1926. She began in Cape Gris-Nez, France and came ashore at Kingsdown, Kent, England 14 hours and 39 minutes later. Due to the roughness of the sea, Ederle swam 35 miles rather than the 21 miles straight across; yet, she still set a new world record for fastest channel swim by surpassing the previous record set by swimmer Enrique Tiraboschi.

Growing up in New York City, Ederle began her training as a competitive swimmer at the time when women's swimming was becoming increasingly popular, in part due to the streamlining of the women's swimsuit which made swimming easier. As seen in this picture, she was coated in lanolin and grease during her record-setting swim to help her stay warm and protect against jellyfish. Upon returning to New York, she was greeted with a ticker-tape parade and an estimated two million people turned out to celebrate her grand accomplishment.

Gertrude also had a star showing at the 1924 Summer Olympics where she won a gold medal as a part of the U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team and bronze medals for finishing third in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle races. Ederle passed away in 2003 at the age of 98.

For an inspiring picture book about Ederle and her historic swim, we highly recommend "Trudy's Big Swim," for ages 5 to 9 at https://www.amightygirl.com/trudy-s-big-swim

For another uplifting picture book about this courageous trailblazer, check out "America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle," for ages 5 to 8 at https://www.amightygirl.com/america-s-champion

For an excellent introduction to 50 pioneering female athletes, we also recommend the illustrated biography "Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win" for ages 9 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-sports

For more books for young readers that celebrate girls and women who love sports -- including numerous Olympians -- check out our "Sports & Games" section at http://amgrl.co/2zIJnDi

And, for hundreds of books about real-life female trailblazers in a wide variety of fields, visit A Mighty Girl’s “Role Models" biography section at https://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography

In Denmark, a country that is consistently ranked as one of the "world's happiest," schools prioritize teaching empathy and consider it as important as teaching math and literature -- and it all starts with a piece of cake! From their very first day of school until they graduate from high school, Danish kids spend an hour every week on “Klassens Time” or the “Class Hour.” Kids take turns bringing in a cake or another treat for the class to share. While they eat it, the students gather to talk about problems they’re having and, together, the class discusses possible solutions. “The important thing is that everyone is heard,” says Jesper Vang, a middle school teacher in Odense. “Our job as the teacher is to make sure that the children understand how the other feels, and see why the other feels as they do. This way, we come up with a solution together based on real listening and real understanding.”

Research has found that empathy appears to be innate in children but the degree to which it develops depends on how it is cultivated over time. In contrast to Denmark, a University of Michigan study recently found college students in the U.S. today are 40 percent less empathetic than they were thirty years ago, while narcissism is on the rise. Such a trend is worrisome not only for its impact on society at large but for the kids themselves. More empathetic kids, on average, are more successful adults; they graduate from high school and have full-time jobs at higher rates than less empathetic youth who are more likely to drop out of school and go to juvenile detention.

Given all of the benefits of cultivating children's empathy, following Denmark's example both at home and in schools could have a profound effect on children’s happiness and success. During the “Klassens Time”, the students are encouraged to discuss challenges they are experiencing both in and outside of school. If no student has a problem to discuss, they simply come together as a group to relax and "hygge" or cozy together. If teachers observe any issues emerging among students, they also use the gathering as an opportunity to explore any problems together. Anne Mikkelson, a Danish high school student, recalls the impact of "Klassens Time" in improving social dynamics: "I remember when we were 10 or 11, we often talked about girl cliques. That was a common topic, and we would discuss it and try to solve it together. Sometimes that just meant the girls being more aware and trying to interact more with others, but it always helped us to talk about it together.”

Ultimately, Jessica Alexander, who wrote a book about Danish parenting, wonders: "It’s interesting to think what implementing the Class’s Hour in the U.S. school system could do for our future. By dedicating an hour a week to teaching kids to put themselves in someone else’s shoes from the ages of 6 to 16, and helping to find solutions together, what kind of changes could we bring about? Looking to the world happiness reports year after year, I can’t help but think that incorporating a version of the Danish Class’s Hour in our schools and improving empathy could literally be a piece of cake."

To check out Jessica's fascinating book, “The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Capable Kids," visit http://amzn.to/2eW31gm

For another excellent parenting book focused on cultivating kids' empathy for others, check out “UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World” at https://www.amightygirl.com/unselfie

For two wonderful books that help foster children's compassion for others by giving them a visual way to think about kindness, we recommend "Have You Filled a Bucket Today: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids" for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/have-you-filled-a-bucket-today) and its sequel "Growing Up With A Bucket Full Of Happiness" for ages 9 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/growing-up-with-a-bucket-full-of-happiness)

For two books for young children that show how even a small act of kindness can bloom into something much greater, we highly recommend "Plant a Kiss" for ages 3 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/plant-a-kiss) and "Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed" for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/ordinary-mary)

And, for many empathy-building books for both children and teens themselves that emphasize the value of compassion, visit our "Kindness & Compassion" section at http://amgrl.co/2lPjUyP

From the mailbag this week:

“But where did Edward come from?”
“Can you tell me how you came up with Edward Tulane?”
“How did you get the idea to write Edward’s story?”
“Did you make Edward up?”
“What about the book with the rabbit in it? Where did that come from?”

And here is the answer, or at least the beginning of the answer, to all those questions.
Edward’s journey started with a rabbit doll—the one shown in the photo.
It’s been almost 15 years since I began writing The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and this rabbit is still in my office.
He sits behind me as I write—keeping an eye on things, reminding me, always, of what is possible, of how miraculous the journey can be.

Family Mini-Golf Night Saturday, July 28 at 6:30 pm. The Library will transform into a miniature golf course, complete with bunkers and traps!