The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
For anyone who’s experienced flight through words….this short animated (oscar-nominated) film is for you. This was great viewing for our whole family-if your young one is nervous about the storm in the beginning, tell them to hold on, it’s all going to be okay. Be inspired by the film, pick up your favorite book and…fly. And then make some art, and a movie, and…
(You can download this movie for FREE on Itunes. )
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.
Counting Down Advent With Books
For years I’ve been adding to our Christmas book library, and it all began with one book. While pregnant with our first child, I worked as the special orders clerk for a bookstore. As the only soon-to-be-mother employee, any free children’s books that arrived for the staff ended up on my desk.
Who knew that the first Christmas book, Mooseltoe, would be delighting our fourth child a decade later?
Our collection is a hodge podge of pure silliness, to beautifully illustrated, to heart inspiring.
A few years ago I began a tradition of wrapping one of our beloved books for each day of December first through the 25th.
Each day a child unwraps a book and we read it and count down one day closer to Christmas.
I’ve found it stays exciting if I’m always mixing in a few new treasures (old treasures, really, from the thrift store and used bookstore) with our old ones.
Here’s a list of our favorites (in no particular order of most loved):
Picture Books
- Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini
- One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham
- Petunia’s Christmas by Roger DuVoisin
- Silent Night: The Song and Story by Margaret Hodges
- The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke
- Drummer Boy by Loren Long
- The Christmas Cat by Efner Tudor Holmes, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
- The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
- Spruce the Moose cuts loose by Sarah Stapler
- The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden, Illustrated by Barbara Cooney
- Night Tree by Eve Bunting
- Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones (author of the Jesus Storybook Bible)
- Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury
- Silver Packages by Cynthia Rylant
- Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming
- The Nativity by Julie Vivas
- The Little Spider by Sigmund Brouwer
- The Last Straw by Fredrick H. Thury
- A Certain Small Shepherd by Rebecca Caudill
- The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston, Illustrated by Barbara Cooney
- The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown, Illustrated by Barbara Cooney
- Babar and Father Christmas by Jean De Brunhoff
- The Glorious Impossible by Madeleine L’engle, Illustrated with Frescoes by Giotto
Chapter Books and Collections
- Snowbound with Betsy by Carolyn Haywood
- The Trees Kneel At Christmas by Maud Hart Lovelace (author of Betsy-Tacy Books, haven’t read this yet)
- Once in the Year: A Christmas Story by Elizabeth Yates
- A Little House Christmas: Holiday Stories from the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Children of Christmas by Cynthia Rylant
- Christmas edited by Alice Dagliesh (we haven’t read this yet)
- Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights: The Story of the Chrismtas Symbols by Edna Barth
Note to Myself, Books to try next year:
- Star Mother’s Youngest Child by Louise Moeri
- The Animals Christmas by Anne Thaxter Eaton
- Christmas Long Ago from A to Z by Bobbie Kalman
- Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration by James C. Dobson, Charles R. Swindoll
The longer chapter and story collection books have not been wrapped, we’ve been reading chapter by chapter through them each day while unwrapping a picture book to read as well.
Whether you wrap them or check them out from the library, here’s wishing you many days of hot chocolate and good stories.
Do you have any favorite Christmas books that I need to add to my library?
Resources for Teaching Poetry
Last year we really enjoyed our exploration of poetry. We tried out several poetic forms, read and copied favorite poems, and our 9 year old even won the local NPT story and illustrators contest for her collection of original poems. You can see a video of her art and poems here (she’s number 2 on the video list, “Jael”).
Although we often keep a tradition of “poetry tea time” that is popular amongst homeschoolers, we’re looking forward to once again delving deeper for the next six weeks.
One outward motivation is the River of Words Poetry and Art Contest which all of the kids would like to enter this year.
Here are some of the resources that already have me feeling inspired and we haven’t even started yet:
At the River of Words website you can download a poetry lesson guide for free. The guide suggests using a compilation of art and poetry they’ve published called River of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things. It’s twenty-one dollars on the website but I found it used on Amazon for only a few dollars.
Poetry Tag Time is a compilation of great poetry for children. The collection begins with a poem by Jack Prelutsky and then he “tagged” the next poet and she submitted a poem that was related/inspired by Prelutsky’s poem and so on as each poet tagged the next. Thirty poems in all are included and there are short explanations between poems as to how they’re related. If this doesn’t make sense (it didn’t to me right away), just go ahead and take a look.
The book is only published for use on Kindle and such, but I was able to download a free app to view it on my computer instead. I purchased this resource for a grand total of 2.99 on Amazon (no shipping of course since it’s digital). If you go to the Poetry Tag Time Blog, you will find suggested activities for each of the poems. This resource is going to help our poetry time stay accessible to our six year old. The same women that compiled Poetry Tagtime, also compiled a similar resource for teens called Poetry P*Tag.
A Kick in the Head, edited by Paul B. Janeczko, is an introduction to the main poetic forms, from haiku to cinquain and sonnet, to many other forms I’d never heard of before! Each page contains a poem along with more information about the form in small print on the page and an illustration by Chris Raschka. Janeczko has many poetry books worth looking at, but I highly recommend his other two books in this series, A Poke in the I and Foot in the Mouth.
Wishes, lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry by Kenneth Koch has some interesting and simple ideas. At the end of last year, we wrote “I wish” poems and they revealed the unique hearts of each of us.
Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard is the best book I own on teaching poetry. It takes us beyond “just copy the form” to teaching the kids about expressing their heart, experiences, and reactions to the world through verse. Filled with exercises, poetry stations, editing suggestions, it was worth the full price that I paid on Amazon (I think there are used copies available now).
The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan is a story based on the childhood of poet Pablo Neruda. It’s a magical novel about words, dreaming, and following your passion.
Websites:
Poetry for Children, a blog by one of the creators of Poetry Tag Time, regularly posts new poetry books and novels written in verse. Many of her posts on poetry books include suggested activities to go along with the book.
Poetry at Play includes a Weekly Poet highlight, interviews, and articles on the world of poetry.
Notebooking Fairy, Jimmie’s other blog, has several free poetry notebooking pages. As a note, Jimmie’s collage is hosting 10 days of Language Arts, go check it out. In two more days, poetry will be the focus of her blog post.
Practical Pages inspires me in many ways, but one area is how her family “plays” with Poetry. Check her out-you’ll be hooked.
Find a source for nature poetry on this post.
Do you have any favorite poets you’ve studied in your home or other resources that have helped your poetry exploration?
On the Bright Side: A Few Good Reads
It’s one of those weeks when the best laid plans have been made, but there’s a cry or wail and a sour face at almost every turn.
So here’s a whole post full of complaints….
Wait a second, I already know this homeschool path is lined with little stones that trip me up and some big ole’ rocks that causes a full-tilt, ungraceful stumble. At the same time that I’m falling to my knees, I’m finding plenty of treasures along the trail.
So instead of a list of our challenges this week, here’s a list of the books that have brought us together.
Johnny Tremain Esther Forbes
We have about three weeks left in our journey through the Revolutionary War, led by TruthQuest’s American History for Young People (Year 1) as our guide. To much anticipation, we began Johnny Tremain this week. Right away his saucy, prideful character grabbed the kids attention and they all grinned nervously as the author foreshadowed that “pride cometh before the fall”. I didn’t read this book as a child and what a gem! When I first read it to myself last year I asked a friend, just like a child, “Is he a real person?” Unfortunately he’s not, but he’ll live in our imaginations for the rest of the week.
The Little Maid Series by Alice Turner Curtis
I stumbled upon the Little Maid of Mohawk Valley, a nice hard-bound, slightly-tattered edition and then realized from looking through our TruthQuest guide, this is an entire series based on actual events of young girls who played a role in history during the Colonial period. I can’t speak to the entire series yet, but the one we read was full of spunky girl adventure and detailed, historical background to boot. There is an edition of this series that includes a paper doll and dress attached to the cover flaps. What a great gift for a girl. We’ll be reading The Little Maid of Ticonderoga next.
Wilderness Wife by Etta DeGering
Have you ever thought of what it was like to be the wife of Daniel Boone, the great wilderness man of the late 1700′s? She bore him ten children, spent large chunks of time raising thier family while he was off making new roads, and had several children killed or kidnapped by the Native Americans. But still she told him to go, sensing his need to explore and be free. My 8 year old is reading this for a report on Boone’s family and she can’t put it down once her school time is over.
The Return of the Twelves by Pauline Clark
A treasure I found at the thriftstore, this is story inspired by the actual soldiers played with by the Bronte Family. As young children they wrote a history for their toy soldiers and published it. This author took the soldiers and their history and brought them to live in an attic and be discovered by a English boy one hundred years later. Only Max knows the secret, that these soldiers are actually alive. Very adventurous, a good read aloud (or independent reading) for a boy especially. This book has a similar spirit of The Indian and the Cupboard (different armor, similar idea that toys have a secret life), but this book was written first. I also found a picture book, entitled The Brontes by Catherine Brighton, at the used book store, that highlights the childhood of the children, including the wooden soldiers.
A Journey through the Bible by David C Cook
I picked this up at a curriculum sale last spring. It gives historical and geographical information that correlates to the main stories of the Bible, includes diagrams and photographs. We started The Story Bible by Catherine Vos again, and this has been a good companion, a way to support the events of the Bible as real history, not just a bedtime story.
Can I hear a hurrah for thrift stores and used book stores? Hurrah!
A Booklist: First Chapter Books to Experience Together
Books have always been a portal.
Open one and climb through to something bigger. I’ve been finding those passageways since I was a kid. I found the Narnia Books, Madeliene L’engle, Judy Blume, and-well, truthfully I didn’t find the best storytellers beyond a handful of gems. There was The Babysitter’s Club series, which encouraged my already young boy crazy brain. Then there were the Daniel Steele books that started in 6th grade. I’ll let you fill in the places my young heart was traveling to in those books! Thankfully, it was L’engle, Lewis, and later Bronte that I never discarded.
When we entered the Land of Homeschool, lists of great books fell into my hands and our family began entering our own portals.
There are a generation of moms at the moment that are just glad their kids are reading. It doesn’t matter if the material is too mature, or simply poorly written and mass-produced for a quick money-making series. ”No, I haven’t read those books, I’m just glad he’s reading.”
But great writing gives our children the appetite for more of it. It’s also the number one way I see my children’s spelling and grammar improve. I don’t claim that all of the books I’ve listed here are the best literature, some of just full of imagination and have inspired our family to laugh and dream.
If it’s at all possible, read these books out loud. They’ll become shared memories, like family vacations to remember from childhood. A reluctant reader might be a very attentive listener, even if it’s just because he gets the full attention of his mama or dad. We read at the table often, it seems someone is always putting a book next to me before I even get a bite of food.
This list is to tempt the five to 7 year old (or any age that has yet to fall in love with books) into a world made bigger and more colorful through the doorway of a book.
Introducing Chapter Books
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (and the other books in the series, though maybe not all at age 4 or 5 when we start the first book)
Little House on the Prairie Series
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
*The Indian and Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Brink
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls ( the first chapter book our then five year old son finally begged for another chapter instead of groaning each time he saw our read aloud)
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Series
My Father’s Dragon by Betty MacDonald
The Adventures of Buster Bear (and all the many other animal stories by Thornton Burgess)
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (very wittily written, precludes the animated Disney Version)
Homer Price by Robert McKloskey
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Jenny and the Cat Club Esther Averill
B is For Betsy and other books by Carolyn Haywood
Betsy and Tacy series by Maud Lovelace
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary ( she has many others, her stories are endearing, though they were not always my favorite to read aloud)
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (and other books by Enright)
The Cricket in Times Square by Garth Williams
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L Baum
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry (and other books by Henry)
In Grandma’s Attic by Arleta Richardson
*Note: These particular books contain what our family calls “foolish speech”, so we adjust as we read out loud.
Did I leave out some of your favorites? Please share them in the comments so I can keep my bookshelves always overflowing!
Book Review: Bud, Not Buddy
A Book Review by Mookie, age 10
Bud Not Buddy, by Christopher P. Curtis, takes place in Flint, Michigan. Bud, the main character, is an African American boy who is only ten years old but still has lots of adventures. I thought the author did a wonderful job of writing this book.
Bud’s mom has died and his father is gone but his mom left him one clue about his dad. The clue is a blue flyer with a famous music band on the front. When Bud is sent to a foster home he is certain that to find his Dad he must escape, but it’s hard because his foster parents are really mean to him. When he does escape he must go to the city of Grand Rapids, so he tries to jump on a train but it goes too fast and he misses it. When he finds another way to Grand Rapids, he meets Herman E. Calloway, the famous band player from his blue flyer. Bud thinks Herman is his dad so he’s really surprised when Herman turns out to be his grandfather. Finally, Bud has a family.
The way the author described the characters made them seem real. Everybody says that Bud is skinny, but Bud always answers, “I’m not skinny, I’m just wiry.” I felt like I knew Bud more because Bud had written his own book, and he quotes from it.
“Rules and Things Number 327: When you make up your mind to do something, hurry up and do it, if you wait, you might talk yourself out of what you wanted in the first place.”
I was excited about what would happen next because Bud went on so many adventures, like the time his foster parents locked him in the shed and he got attacked by hornets and had to break the window to get out. I don’t think the author did a good job describing the setting because when Bud is in the city, I had to imagine everything about it. He doesn’t give any descriptions about the places or the landscape. This book was inspiring to me because I’m as old as Bud is in the book, so I feel like I can survive all of the adventures that he did. Bud, Not, Buddy is a book I would love to read again.
Mookie wrote this book report with the help of this ebook. It was her first attempt at a book report (or non-fiction writing in general), and she worked on it independently until the last stage of revision. She loved this book and wanted to share her review!
Evan Moor Fairy Tale and Folktale Pockets: A Review
Why I Chose the Evan Moor Folktale and Fairytale Pockets, Grades 2 and 3
With two middle elementary students in the house, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t forget to do some fun, younger activities for our kindergartener. He’s always tagging along with our school time, a little ahead of himself, and I wanted to dip back into the precious early years of learning. I also wanted to try matching him with his 8 year old sister for a project, and give our eldest a independent project.
We really enjoyed the Evan Moor Native American Pockets last year, and I’ve had my eye on the Folktale and Fairy Tale Pockets for a while. We started them just after the New Year, as something different to spice up our learning time during the winter slump.
They have indeed spiced things up, and provided the magic that fairy tales bring, something I don’t ever want to lose in our home. Our ten year old did her own project and then begged to sit down with us every day because she couldn’t stand to miss the fun. We let her, of course. If you’re homeschooling multiple children, these pockets are quite a find, a nice break from balancing multiple projects with many children. It’s easy to simplify for younger children and add in more challenging connections for your olders.
You can read more about what’s included in the pockets here. I enjoyed the e-book, knowing that I could print just the right amount of copies for our family.
What We Liked
The selection of fairy tales included a handful of favorites and a handful of surprises. Each story includes suggestions for extending the lessons and several hands on activities. We enjoyed making finger puppets, a story mobile, paper doll elves, painting, and more.
What Needed Adjustment
As was true with our last Evan Moor Pockets, we needed library books to supplement each slim two page fairy tale that was included. I also would have enjoyed more background information for my own preparation, such historical information on the folktales and fairytales along with a comparison of the two genres.
Because the focus of the activities involves a lot of cutting and coloring, we can only do these pockets once or twice a year. My kids are not big on coloring, preferring to sketch and fill in their own designs. But for some reason, coloring becomes all the rage when we keep these types of activities rare. If you’re doing these pockets with just one student, you might think about coloring along with your child or allowing him the choice of coloring or not. Remember, coloring a picture in the lines is really an overrated skill! You could also move beyond crayons and markers and try watercolors, acrylics, or pastels.
How We Organized the Pockets
As much as we loved the Native American Pockets, our hard work ended with a bulky, oversized, unstable product. This time we made the pockets the right size for a three ring binder. Smaller projects were stored in the pocket, larger items(such as the printed fairy tale) were hole punched and added after the pocket.
Suggestions for Extended Activities:
- Write your own fairy tale.
- Write a new ending to an already written tale.
- Write a fairy tale from the perspective of a different character (the frog or the witch instead of the Princess, for example).
- Ask an older child to adapt a fairy tale into a play for younger siblings.
- Read a biography about The Grimm Brothers.
Here are some pictures from our learning time.
The Brave Little Tailor
The Fisherman and His Wife
This was an art project inspired here, not an Evan Moor activity.
Jack and the Beanstalk
Measuring the beanstalk, an activity from the pockets.
The Elves and the Shoemaker
The template for these elves is included, the background is courtesy of the American Girl Molly Paper Dolls.
The Frog Prince
The Bremen Town Musicians
This painting activity is inspired by a project in the pockets, but we based our illustrations on the style of Hans Fischer, shown below.
Book and Video Suggestions:
Henny Penny
- Henny Penny by Jane Wattenberg
- Chicken Little by Ed and Rebecca Emberley
- Chicken Little on this Scholastic DVD Edition
The Brave Little Tailor
- The Brave Little Seamstress by Mary Pope Osborne
The Fisherman and His Wife
- The Fisherman and His Wife by Rachel Isadora
- Shadow Puppet Version on this Scholastic Video
The Elves and the Shoemaker
- The Elves and the Shoemaker on this Scholastic Video Collection
The Frog Prince
- The Frog Prince or Iron Henry by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Illustrated by Binette Schroeder
- The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Sczeika
The Bremen Town Musicians
The Bremen Town Musicians by Hans Fischer
Other Fun Read-Alouds or Older Child
- The Magician’s Boy by Susan Cooper
- The Sister’s Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley *
Videos
*Parents may want to preview this selection.
** The musical is a really fun twist on fairy tales and a nice way to wrap up your fairy tale pockets. However, you’ll want to preview this video and decide if it’s right for your family. We chose to watch only the first act (which is as long as a regular kids movie) as we liked the content of the second half less. And we didn’t like the scene with the wolf (it will be rather obvious why), so we just skipped that scene.
An Assortment of Audio Treasures
“Mommy, can you put it on now?” one child asks before we even get the coats, the hats, and the littlest one all out the door.
“Just a minute, I can’t even think about that yet.” I answer as I grab the toddler running by without her shoes.
“I already got it ready!” the eight year old yells from the back as I dump the diaper bag on the seat beside me in the van.
“Just let me get going,” I growl.
“Don’t ask again,” the ten year old whispers to everybody. Finally, we’re on the interstate, my swirling thoughts settling like the snow that was here last week.
I reach for the button and I hear, “She’s doing it. She’s putting it on.”
And the story begins. Most assuredly, it was one of these:
Radios Dramas by Focus on the Family Radio Theater
Once my eldest began listening to this series, she’s never again been satisfied with one person narrating a book on cd. For the past few years, these have been the main request for her Christmas list. Thoughtful story selection, great acting and writing, and a dramatic sound and musical score blended together into a compelling story. We have the entire Narnia Series(listened to repeatedly both in the car and at home) and The Secret Garden. We’ve listened to Squanto and hope to add it to our collection soon. On Christmas Day, Anne of Green Gables and George MacDonald’s At The Back of the Northwind will find a new audience.
These volumes are a great way to dive into history as a family. There a many, many volumes and they’re told in a dramatic format like the Focus on the Family series. We’ve entered the life of slave with Sojourner Truth, grown up with Eleanor Roosevelt, and journeyed to a famous hymn with John Newtown. Though these don’t match the top notch quality of the Focus on the Family Series, they’ve still engaged our whole family. They have another series that chronicles the life of Jesus. My only word of caution is that occasionally one of the historical stories will include content a bit questionable for our younger kids. I’ve found that this series is a mixed bag, we find a volume in which every story is great and appropriate and then with another we might skip a few stories and I might silently wish the acting was a little better. We have not found these are the library, but you can buy them online and look for good deals at your local homeschool convention.
Classical Kids
We don’t own these cd’s but they’ve always been on my “To Purhchase” list. Dramatic, well-written, musically inspired stories about great composers. We just finished Mozart’s Magnficient Journey this morning on the way home. I didn’t let them bring it inside this week to listen, because I didn’t want to miss any of the story. If only they would make more of these.
And finally, Seeds Family Worship:
Okay, so these cd’s are not story collections, they are a collection of even more important words. I can’t help but mention these Bible verses put to music, delightfully not dumbed down either in words or music, for the whole family. Many times these verses have stirred in my heart at just the right moment. Seeds in my heart. There are six volumes and they are all available for listening free online OR, if you purchase the a cd, you get a second cd free to give away. Seeds of Courage and Seeds of Encouragement are two of our favorites.
“Mommy, I can picture it now…”
That’s what I’ve heard from my 5 year old son each time we’ve read aloud for the last two weeks. Because of his older sister, I thought it was normal for all children to enjoy the Narnia books at 4 and listen to two hours of Little House on the Prairie tapes by age 5. On the contrary to his very auditory older sister, prior to the past few weeks, the boy always groaned when I pulled out a chapter book and he’s just begun to enjoy books on tape but mostly prefers music not long well-written prose. Finally, he’s tracking a lengthy story with enthusiasm, stopping twice in thirty minutes to say, “Mommy, I can picture it. I can see the fence and the tree and the dogs trying to get the coon. I bet Billy’s going to win the bet, don’t you?”
The book that has won him over is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Well, it has the right elements to capture a boy’s heart-a determined boy with an adventure, puppy and woods style. Even my girls are roaming through Billy’s world in their mind as we read, anxious to see who will win, coon or dog.
So I’m here to encourage you. If your boy needs to jump and drive cars while you read, let him. Throw in great picture books along with your chapter book while he’s still growing into his listening and comprehension skills. Keep trying GREAT books, and eventually I hope you’ll hear those sweet words, “No, don’t stop, another chapter, plee-ase!”
Readers note: This book does contain tragedy, some detailed passages of a fatal injury to a human and a heart-wrenching ending that is worth tears of sadness and joy as Billy struggles with the ways of God. I edited those two passages for younger ears.
Discovering a Nothing to Do Kind of Day
We happened upon a sweet picture book that I wanted to share with you. We’ve been happening upon a lot of great picture book finds now that summer has begun and I’m not pulling chapter books for school. I’d forgotten the joy of walking through the aisles and pulling out a book with great illustrations, maybe something I’ve never seen before or maybe an old friend.
Tonight’s surprise grab from the library bag was Nothing to Do by Douglas Wood and Illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin.
Nothing to Do begins likes this:
“Once in a while, along comes a day when there is nothing-absoultely, positively nothing to do.”
Which at first sounds similiar to our children’s cry of boredom, but it’s actually the voice of a boy who’s celebrating the day that has no “school. homework. dance class. soccer practice. no anything.” And he embarks upon a day of true childhood fun, entreating the person with the “big shoes”(aka, us, the adults) to give it a try.
With whimsical illustrations, the girls and I were reminded of the potential of a There’s Nothing to Do Today kind of day.
In this book Halperin chooses six patterns from nature and uses them as the base of each picture. We might try our own take on her ideas tomorrow. With pure happenstance(I didn’t even know what the book was about before we opened it) waiting on the printer was a list of things to do when you’re bored that I’d printed out the night before. The girls ran and grabbed the list, giggling at “organize your room” and “walk the dog”(mom, we don’t have a dog).
It turns out we’re familiar with Halperin’s illustrations through another series from the summer. If you enjoy her illustrations try the Cobble Street Cousins by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Halperin as well. Be prepared for your kids to ask if they can start their own cookie company in the neighborhood.
The next book kept our good mood rolling,
Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale(Introducing His Forgotten Friend) by Deborah Hopkinson
If you like this one try another book by Hopkinson,
Apples to Oregon Being the (slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries(and Children) Across the Plain Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
Both are based on true events but told with tall tale humor.
Enjoy your day, reading or doing nothing.