Monthly Archives: November 2017

Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl

Judith Kerr had to flee Nazi Germany as a child because her family was Jewish and her father, a famous writer, criticized the Nazis. In Germany, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl) is probably her most famous book and often required reading in schools. Even though it’s been 30 years since I read it, I remember many details of her story vividly.

New Statesman: My father and other animals. “Judith Kerr’s dad, Alfred, was an outspoken German critic who railed against Hitler – but he had a soft spot for baby seals.”

BBC: Judith Kerr and the story behind The Tiger Who Came To Tea. “Author Judith Kerr is famous for her children’s books, but behind the sweetness of works such as The Tiger Who Came To Tea lies a past set against the horror of Nazi Germany.”

iNews: Judith Kerr: ‘Will I ever bring back Mog? No, I killed her’.

“Beginning an interview by thrusting your phone in your subject’s face and insisting they scroll through pictures of your cats is not generally considered best practice.

There are exceptions, however. Within moments of stepping into Judith Kerr’s home I’ve whipped out my iPhone and, like an excited child, am demanding the picture book author “look at my cats!“
[…]
“Oh, yes please,“ she says solemnly, taking my phone. “This is absolutely essential.“ “

The Guardian: Judith Kerr: ‘I’m still surprised at the success of The Tiger Who Came to Tea’. “The creator of Mog on learning how to draw a tiger at the zoo, heeding the advice of her cat and still working at 94.”

Radio Times: When Mark Gatiss came to tea with Judith Kerr. “Mark Gatiss visits childhood hero and author of The Tiger Who Came to Tea, to chat children’s books, family and sci-fi.”

Links via MetaFilter.

“… and you just type whatever I say without thinking…”

The New York Times: Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting.. By Susan Dynarski.

“In a series of experiments at Princeton University and the University of California, Los Angeles, students were randomly assigned either laptops or pen and paper for note-taking at a lecture. Those who had used laptops had substantially worse understanding of the lecture, as measured by a standardized test, than those who did not.
[…]
Most college students are legal adults who can serve in the armed forces, vote and own property. Why shouldn’t they decide themselves whether to use a laptop?

The strongest argument against allowing that choice is that one student’s use of a laptop harms the learning of students around them.
[…]
The best evidence available now suggests that students should avoid laptops during lectures and just pick up their pens. It’s not a leap to think that the same holds for middle and high school classrooms, as well as for workplace meetings.”

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