I just read this lovely and uplifting post, about the possibility of an iceberg decapitating an oil platform in Canadian waters, near where the Titanic sunk.

I’ve been wondering lately how one talks to children about global disasters. How do you explain the Haitian earthquake or the Gulf oil spill? My strategy so far has been two-fold:

1. Turn the channel.
2. Let them find out at school.

I’m thinking this approach needs work. And one of the first things I’m planning to do (after listening to Episode 14 of Authors Like Us) is to go and buy Diane Haynes’ Flight or Fight, a book about rescuing a sea bird from an oil slick.

(I say “buy” because my attempts to direct what my daughter chooses from the library have been singularly unsuccessful. I’m going to start putting books on my desk with “do not read” stickers on them and see if that works better.)

After that, we head to the backyard bomb shelter.