Grandfather's Journey By Allen Say

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Hello!

Today's book review will be on Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say. Grandfather’s Journey By Allen Say. I recently got this book from my downtown library and really enjoyed reading it to my youngest, Gabriella. 

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned that I love picture books. I especially like picture books that focus on true events.  It seems to be a perfect way to impart some history into the little ones and to be able to explain the difference between reality and fiction.

Grandfather’s Journey is the sweet story of a Japanese man who ventures to America and falls in love with the country.  The story is written by his grandson and is a beautiful account of their cross-cultural experience.  Through the illustrations you can see the differences in the countries and the cultures and gain an appreciation for both.  Since we were just studying Japan in our homeschool history this book arrived at the perfect time. 

The illustrations were quite beautiful! Here are a few:

Have a wonderful day! 

Krista!

Over in the Meadow by John Langstaff

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Today's book review will be on Over in the Meadow

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This book is based on an old counting song.  It is a rhyming book (my favorite) that builds up in quantity page by page.  The first pages are about one animal of some sort and the build up to ten animals on the last pages. 

 I enjoyed reading this book to my daughter and exploring the patterns that it contained.  We quickly realized that the quantity was increasing by one with each page we turned.  We also made an accurate guess as to what number of animals we would encounter. It was ten of course.

I like the illustrations in this book and the little animals that are featured.  Between the illustrations and the sweet rhyming story, this is definitely a book that has that “Let’s read it again” quality.

I found this great video that can go along with this book. It really is meant for a different book called Over in the Meadow. The song is catchy and can go along with both rhyming story books!

Have a blessed day, and happy schooling!

Krista 

Living Color by Steve Jenkins

Living Color

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I read so many books that I forget just where I first heard about them  That is the case with Living Color. I  have no recollection as to how I came to know about this book, but it is a beautiful book that I would like to own.  The illustrations are bold and beautiful.  Each color is broken up into a section and features animals that are that particular color.

 For example, the pages for red are captivating and draw you into the book as they display a scarlet percher dragonfly and then tell you a few sentences about the magnificent creature.  There were many animals that were new to me and I really enjoyed the brilliant colors and the style of the illustrations as well as the information provided for each.  We did not read this book straight through.  We read it in two sittings due to the detail given in each page.

 This is another book that I would highly recommend reading.  It would also make a great gift for young animal lovers.

Have a happy homeschooling week!

Blessings...
~Krista~

A Favorite Poem!

Hello!

I just love this poem. My daughter Olivia had to read it in Literature last week. I fell in love with it immediately. :) 

The Naming of Cats: by T. S. Eliot

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

Happy schooling!

Blessings...
Krista

Katje the Windmill Cat

Katje the Windmill Cat

Hello!

In our homeschool we are using The Story of the World for our history spine.  I really value the activity book that comes with this because it recommends lots of additional books you can read to learn more about the period.  It includes both fiction and non-fiction in its lists.

A lovely picture book that we just read this past weekend is Katje the Windmill Cat

  It is a sweet book that is set in Holland in 1421 and recounts a violent storm that blew in from the North Sea.  We have been learning about the low level of the country in our history reading and how the Dutch were always fighting back the sea.  This was a perfect way to illustrate that point to my daughter.  Through the pictures and the story we have firmly set in our minds how life was during this period in time.

The faithful cat in this story is pushed aside when her owner marries and has a baby.  Based on true events, the cat saves the baby when a terrible flood sweeps away the cradle.

If you like a story that is short and sweet and easy to read but has a bit of depth to it, you might enjoy Katje the Windmill CatI know we did!

Have a blessed week...
Krista :)

Book Review: Thelonius Monster's Sky-high Fly Pie

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Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly Pie

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Okay.  Let the truth be told.  I saw this book title in a catalog and it immediately caught my attention.  I am extremely drawn to rhyming books.  They are my favorite books to read.  I love poetry and reading them is one of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world.  I really appreciate the work that goes into getting the perfect rhyme and I delight in the lines of well-written rhymes.  That being said, let’s talk about Thelonius Monster’s Sky – High Fly Pie.  I was pretty sure from the title that this would be a rhyming book.

What I really like about this book, besides the wonderful vocabulary words that are used and the pleasant poetry is the whole idea of the story.  The author, Judy Sierra borrows from the story of There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly… but puts her own spin on it.  I really enjoy this in a book.  I like to see how clever authors can be in their own versions of a well-known story and I was not disappointed.

She also sprinkles each page with great vocabulary, which really factors in to how much I will enjoy a story.  The first page of this book has Thelonius urgently emailing a spider because he wants advice from a savvy insider.  I just love that line!

There is no lack of made up words that help keep the meter of the poem as well.  Again, I really like when authors get silly.  We get to see Thelonius addressing invitations to his most disgusting-est relations.  I love that word – disgusting-est.  And even though it is not proper English, I have a lot of fun with my kids repeating some of these funny made up words.  The next page has us meeting eleventeen monsters.  How cute is that?  That was a word my grandfather used to use when he would joke around with me.  I like being able to demonstrate that we can create our own versions of stories and words to my kids through a story.  If you like rhyming books, get your hands on a copy of Thelonius Monster’s Sky – High Fly Pie.  You won’t be disappointed.  I give it two thumbs up!

On a side note, as soon as I finished this book I was trying to recall who the author was.  A quick Google search revealed that she is the beloved author of another favorite book of mine called Wild About Books.  If you haven’t read that book you are missing out.  Do you have some favorites that you would like to share?  I am always looking for great new books to read.  By new I mean that we haven’t read them before.  They may be old books but new to us.

Blessings...
Krista!

Book Review: 13 Words by Lemony Snickett

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13 Words by Lemony Snicket:

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Hello!

I love learning new words and exposing my children to great vocabulary, and this is really easy to do if reading together is an activity you enjoy regularly.  This is especially easy to do when reading Lemony Snicket’s book, 13 Words.  I really like this book, as is evident by the number of times I have checked it out from my library.

First of all, the story lists the 13 words that will be introduced on the back cover and the inside cover.  Some of the words are common knowledge, such as bird, cake, dog, busy and so forth.  The fun part is the words that are not such common knowledge are used repeatedly throughout the story making it a cinch to remember the meaning of these words. 

I recently read this story to my niece, and boy did we have fun with the word panache and haberdashery.  We made up silly sentences for her to say to her mom using her new words.  Anything that is fun and engages children is pretty much guaranteed to produce results.  I always have fun reading this book, which transfers over to my kids having fun hearing it.  My love of exciting new vocabulary words has definitely gotten my kids excited as well.  Just yesterday my 6 year old began to tell me why she is not a hypocrite.  We didn’t learn that word in this book, but we did learn it reading a book.

If you want to have some fun reading to your children and make it count by learning new words at the same time, check out 13 Words.  I don’t think you will be disappointed.  Now my next goal is to write a book in this style that is all my own.  I will keep you posted!!!

A trailer for "13 Words!"