Tag Archives: childrens

Summer Reading, Part II: Feelings and Classics

Picking up where we left off, it’s time to talk about what I assigned my new fourth grader to read this summer. I started the summer with just one book I wanted her to read, figuring one book plus the typing program I wanted her to do and the Italian language lessons she wanted to do (via Mango, free through the library!) would be plenty. But she asked for books and book projects so I obliged.

Feelings

Why feelings? Because tweens have a LOT of them. I worked through this book with my oldest the year I homeschooled the kids, which was also fourth grade. Truth be told, we haven’t quite finished but we’re almost through it. We read some together, she read some on her own, and she did the exercises in a notebook. I’m not sure whether it’s helped her, but it’s helped me understand what she thinks about and how she sees herself and that is useful info as a parent. At the very least it’s opened up some conversation. The book:

Classics

As a starting point, we got out the literature curriculum I used with my oldest when I homeschooled fourth grade and looked through the book list. We ended up with:

I had all kinds of activities we could’ve done, but we mostly didn’t. What we did do: she did some of the homeschool curriculum reading comprehension questions for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so I could gauge what she retained/understood, we (mostly she) made cabbage soup for dinner one night (like the Buckets ate for every meal), and she watched the movies for each book. I think there was some drawing of spiders and maybe Templeton the rat in there too. I had the idea of making donuts because it seems like everyone in Charlotte’s Web is eating donuts for breakfast all the time but we just ran out of summer before I had the energy envelope to do anything like that. We did have some informal conversations about the differences between the movies (particularly for Charlie and Chocolate Factory) and the books; Charlotte’s Web actually is very very close to the book.

Though I’ve seen both movies (the Gene Wilder as Wonka version, of course) many times, I’m not sure I had actually read either book all the way through so I welcomed the opportunity to do so. Then I learned a little about E. B. White (did you know he’s the same White as The Elements of Style?) and read The Trumpet of the Swan to myself in honor of his birthday (July 11). I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as good as Charlotte’s Web or Stuart Little.

That was it. Next time we’re gonna talk about CHICKENS. UNUSUAL chickens…

A poetry prompt (and some kids books) for you!

My husband took our kids to Yosemite National Park and some nearby outdoor sites a couple of weeks ago. I sent them with some “homework” for a project: take a photo of something outdoors you see that you love.

When they came home, we printed their photos, and then they painted (one elected to use pastels instead) based on the photo and wrote a poem with the following prompt:

“If I were (outdoors thing), I would…” — repeated five times.

So, we got four poems: “If I were an alpine lake;” “If I were a volcano crater;” “If I were a snake;” and “If I were a snowy mountain.” I know it’s kind of a tease to tell you all this and not share the writing and art, but… it’s not mine to share. Instead, I can share the inspiration for the project:

I slightly adapted the “If I were a tree” project from the list of outdoor art projects you can find here: OUTDOOR ART FOR ALL AGES: A YOSEMITE MARIPOSA GUIDE. (They didn’t actually go to the Mariposa grove). I can easily see us doing some of the other projects after excursions to other places too!

SO – I promised books! We realized the younger kids didn’t have any idea who John Muir is, even though his name is all over everything here (“Hey! That’s my doctor!”). So, I got some library books:

  • Camping with the President by Ginger Wadsworth, illustrated by Karen Dugan – This is a text-heavy picture book about John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt camping in Yosemite. I read it aloud to the younger two; I had used it years ago for homeschooling fourth grade CA history. We all enjoyed it. It’s good for learning about Muir, Roosevelt, conservation in general, and Yosemite in particular. At one point the back matter talks about how many acres of protected land Roosevelt added during his presidency; one of the kids said, “Isn’t Trump doing the exact opposite?” Yes.
  • Wildheart: the daring adventures of John Muir by Julie Bertagna, illustrated by William Goldsmith – This one is a graphic novel biography of John Muir. I haven’t read it but I’m told it’s funny, and two of the kids were fighting over it today so it must be good. I love the increase in graphical nonfiction because it has really encouraged my kids to WILLINGLY read more nonfiction.
  • Camp Time in California by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by A.G. Ford – Magic Treehouse series #35. We haven’t read it yet but it looks like Jack and Annie travel to California, meet John Muir, and help save the wilderness? My youngest has recently enjoyed another book in the series so I thought we’d give this a try too.

I’ve been meaning to pick up some of John Muir’s writing myself but there’s a lot and I’m not sure where to start. Anyone have a suggestion?

The Quick Queen of Quincy and her Quacking Quackeroo: Board Books I Still Love After 8 Years

My son is 18 months old and just now starting to let us read him an entire board book in one sitting. Up until a week or two ago we got…maybe a page? And he’s known to tear apart paper books (there’s one waiting on the counter to be fixed right now)… So today while I was reading him the same books over and over, I started thinking about how we’ve had most of them since my oldest (now eight) was a baby, and how I definitely have my favorites. There are some I just don’t get tired of reading, and others…I’m not sure why we still have. So I thought I’d share my favorite board books that we have at our home, in no particular order:

Dr. Seuss's ABC (Beginner Books(R)) by [Dr. Seuss]

Dr. Seuss’s ABC – Some of you may recognize this one from the title of this post. I have loved this book for eight years now, and could probably recite it to you. We now have two copies, which is good because the first has been well-chewed (ew). And yes, I know the board book is not the full text of the original book. I’m offended by other shortened versions, but this one I like.

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear (Child's Play Library)

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood – I LOVE this book. I fondly remember my now three-year-old saying, “BOOM BOOM BOOM” when we got that page. So fun!

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown – A good friend sent this to us when my oldest was a baby, saying, “It’s way better than Goodnight Moon.” While Goodnight Moon will always be one of my childhood favorites, I have to agree. and I love that it’s illustrated by Felicia Bond (think If You Give a Mouse a Cookie). My oldest always had to count the bantam hen’s eggs. It does tell you to, after all… “Count them. There are ten.”

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea – Friends gifted this to us, and it’s lots of fun. Dinosaur can defeat all challenges (even talking grownups!), but he loses to bedtime. Oh, and be prepared to say, “Roar.” A LOT.

Crankenstein by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Dan Santat – We all know kids can go from perfectly fine to MEEHHHHRRR in an instant, about seemingly nothing. Meet “Crankenstein,” the monster those kids turn into. We’ve been affectionately calling our kids Crankenstein since we got this book.

We have SO MANY board books that I have to be forgetting some that I love, but these are the ones that came to mind today while I was reading on the floor. On the rare occasions that I get to choose what we’re reading, these top the list!

What board books do you or your kids love?