Little Women

So far this is a wonderful, edifying read.  The movie I recall with Winona Rider (and other prominent stars) didn't quite convey the spirit of this work. Too bad she got top billing. I wish the mother's role would have been featured more. The book quotes Pilgrim's Progress and Scripture, emphasizing character development and strong family ties despite societal pressures to be trendy and follow (or make!) the latest gossip. It may be interesting to watch the movie after we've finished.

Keeping up with Grandma

We picked up this book soon after returning home from summer vacation. We all had a wonderful time, but were glad to be back home! In this book, grandma and grandpa each have their hobbies and a cozy home. BUT, grandma has a "bucket list."  She drags poor grandpa on all kinds of adventures until they finally go home and resume their contented puttering. The illustrations are captivating and the story timely. It may be useful to get out and see the world, but developing a personal hobby and nurturing home environment are priceless.

Albert

All three of us girls enjoyed this one, and discovered something on the second and third readings! First I want to recommend it for the drawings. They seem to glow! The story, although far-fetched, is delightful and sweet.  One day, when Albert sticks his hand out the window to check the weather, a twig lands in his palm...then another, and another, until a couple of cardinals have built their nest in his outstreched hand! Soon Albert learns that many things going on outside are not just "for the birds"!

Skeletons, skeletons!

My 4-year-old has been asking some great questions lately. What's inside my body? Does a fish have bones? What doesn't have bones? (Really? I was happy to look up a book on invertebrates, especially jellyfish...)  What's inside my ear? What's inside my carseat? What's a pillow made of?  Why does that (raw) chicken have blood in it? Poor chicken...
Anyway, of the few books on bones we've found, this is our favorite. We've tickled the "cord" in her back, the "cage" in her chest and the "helmet" in her head. Animal skeletons are featured, and if you hold the individual page up to the light, you can see through the page to the other side where the animal's body is drawn around the skeleton!


http://www.amazon.com/Skeletons-Skeleton-All-Aboard-Book/dp/0448401088

Hank the Cowdog is a hoot!

OK, so it's not a living book, but it sure has given big sister a new goal: to read every one of the 57 books in the series! According to hankthecowdog.com, it's the longest audiobook series for children in history!  How did I miss these when I was young? They're cute enough for my 8-year-old to enjoy, but when I read them to her, I find they're packed with vocabulary lessons that she's glad to learn. ("But you know what word he meant to use there, don't you?) It kind of goes along with my approach for teaching a spelling list next session: how many wrong ways can you find to spell this word?  Hopefully, we can have fun getting to the right spelling, then the combination of the journey and the fun will implant it in the memory.


Here's a sample lesson from Hank:
"Syrup-tish-us Load-er-a-tion." It means, "A secret and rather technical procedure for climbing aboard a pickup that is heading for town, when the driver of the alleged pickup would be less than thrilled if he knew that he was hauling dogs."
You'll notice that the root of the first word is "syrup."  ...It oozes along its course, which is a sneaky and stealthy way of moving.


Big sister had saved up enough money to buy a subscription to the newsletter, which included a free book and large poster which arrived in our mailbox in just a couple of days (not glossy, not even multi-colored. they spared every expense in the creation of that piece of merchandise.) I do recommend a visit to the hankthecowdog.com website.  The interview (audio) with the author was enjoyable and another of his books has been added to my wishlist:

What to do about Alice

This is a beautifully designed picture book about Theodore Roosevelt's daughter.  Both girls, ages 8 and 4, enjoyed it.  I had never heard of Alice. Perhaps that is just as well. She sounds like a rebellious character we would have been watching on TMZ.  However, any character study leads to discussion of the time period.  She drove her own car, maximized on her father's success and joined a diplomatic voyage around the world, during which she jumped into the pool fully clothed.  She is reported to have said it would have been scandalous if she had not been clothed!

See a review here

Remember when kids could play outside in the woods, at the fishing hole all day long...

"Rascal": a true story of a pet racoon by Sterling North.

We're in only a chapter and a half. What a hoot!

Turns out, it was made into a movie by Disney in the 70's.  After reading the book, we borrowed the DVD from the library.  It was enjoyable, but we had plenty of objections to the editing. The book was a delicious communion with nature while introducing true scientific facts and historical events. The main character's brother is away serving in WWII.  The boy must keep a "war garden"  and paper route to earn spending money.  The neighbors are up in arms over the raccoon's nightly raids of their corncobs.  I do wonder how much of the memior is "fictionalized."  Could so many delightful events have really happened in one summer? I hope my daughter will return to this book to appreciate Sterling's coming of age and acceptance of responsibility.

Cherries and Pits

I love shopping for books at thrift stores. Occasionally there is a collection of higher-caliber books, prompting me to imagine an experienced, kind-hearted mother passing on her best books in a cheritable donation. Cherries and Pits was a timely arrival at our house. Both girls, ages 4 and 8, love drawing with markers right now. The main character of this book picks just the right marker, begins with a single dot and begins telling a story: "This is the door of the subway train.  And This..."  She tells the stories of her city-dwelling neighbors buying cherries on the street and taking them home to whomever is waiting.  But our heroine has a special plan for her cherries and pits...
A stunning masterpiece from our house:

Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Trees

One of my goals is for my kids to love nature.  This is the first of the Crinkleroot series I have stumbled across.  Crinkleroot is a Santa-like nature guide explaining roles of trees in nature. My favorite pages show about 20 varieties of leaves (deciduous) and their seeds. I've been wondering what that those fuzzy things all over the ground are: sycamore  seeds! It will be good to have the pictures to match up to leaves we find in the woods this year. Another page shows varieties of coniferous needles and their cones. I was so excited to order the Handbook of Nature Study, but the pics are old and not at all interesting to the kids. The drawings in this book are adorable.