6/30/2012

Thought Provoking...

The kids have an iPad.  For educational purposes.  Really.  All the "games" we have are somehow educational.  In any case, I started to see all these free kindle books, we don't have a kindle.  But the kindle app for iPad is free.  I so got that sucker.  I've been downloading (uploading?) all kinds of fun books. Most of the kid books are throw away books.  You know the type, read them once and that's it.  Know you've read it.  But there have been a few... for me... that were surprisingly good.  I thought I'd share them with you.

   

First up is You Are A Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins.  It was excellent.  Hi mesage really resonated with me.  Now, I don't think of myself as a writer.  Obviously, since I'm writing this blog I am  one, kind of.   But his message was that writers, write.  They write for the passion and the love of it.  I'll be honest, I don't know if I want to be a writer like he talks about.  I'm happy with my little blog.  I don't need more, or bigger, or whatever.  But the concept is true across the board.  If I want to be, really, really want to be something, I have to say I am and act like I am.

So for me, if I want to be a seamstress, or a fabulous housewife, I have to start saying that I am a seamstress, or a fabulous housewife.  And then I have to back it up with action.  Like I said, the message struck a chord.  You can't be successful AND lazy.


The second was similar.  It's called Work At Home 101: Your Work at Home Starting Place by Jill Hart.  She talked about finding your passion, and turning it into work.  She focused considerably, or at least it stood out to me, on including prayer, and God into every aspect of your business.

I have been enjoying the kindle app, and Thanks to these books and others in progress (I'll blog bout them soon) I have all kinds of ideas spinning around my brain.

What have you read that's worth sharing?



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6/29/2012

Miss Bindergarten

We read the other day a fun little book called Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.  We really enjoyed it.  It shows the teacher, a dog, and all her students getting ready for their first day of kindergarten.  They are all different animals and there are 26 pupils.  Each students first name begins with the same letter as the animal itself.  Really cute and fun.  Stella liked all the names and the school theme, since she's starting Kindergarten in the fall, and it's a huge topic at home right now.  And bruce liked the bright pictures and the animals.  It's always a good sign when he sits still at bedtime for a book!

 We have read some other Miss Bindergarten books and we always enjoy them. What books do your little ones still still for?

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6/28/2012

June 20th

I don't know if you know this, but four year old girls kind of like princesses.  And all the things that go with them.  Like kings and princes and knights and dragons.  And fairies.  Which made this weeks book selections a hit.

Plus I've been seeing this book all over Pintrest reading lists.  So I thought I'd check it out.  A book called The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch.  I remembered to check it out.  And I'd heard so many good things that I was almost disappointed.  But then I stopped to think about it.  I really like it.  The dragon comes and burns down the palace and kidnaps the princess' intended.  So she puts on a paper bag, and follows the trail of destruction to the dragons lair.  She outsmarts him, and rescues the prince, who criticizes her for not wearing the appropriate attire for a princess.  She "didn't marry him after all."  I love that she values herself more than her clothes, and I love that the last picture is her enjoying her freedom.  What I didn't love at first was the simple ending.  But as I thought, she never looked back, never regretted it.  She knew her own mind, and what she was capable of.  It just seemed to end abruptly.  That's a lot of words for a short book, but worth the read.

Next up was The Dragon Takes a Wife.  by Walter Dean Myers, and like many of the books we pick the illustrations by Fiona French are magnificent.  This was just fun.  It's a cute story.  A little too believe in yourself, and you can do anything for me, but it was fun nonetheless. 

That was it for princesses and fairies this week.  But we did have some others.   Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett was good.  It was a fun romp through a ranch rodeo from an armadillo view!

We also read The Keeping Quilt which I loved.  Maybe I'm just emotional right now, but it was such a sweet story.  I'm a sucker for that stuff though. Written by a woman who was in possession of a quilt that her great-great grandmother made from the clothes they wore when they immigrated and how it connects the women of the family over 5 or 6 generations. All the babies get wrapped up in it, and then they all get married under it (they're Jewish, it's the chuppah). But also the differences and similarities between all the generations. Loved it.


What did you read this week?

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6/21/2012

June 13th. The Books.

This week, like every week was hit and miss.  We liked some, didn't like others, but this week started the summer reading program at the library.  So we picked up a few extra books.

Starting with our least favorite of the week, Silly Baby.   It was just that, silly.  Not bad, but not something we needed either.  A little girl, a new baby, a lesson.  Pretty straight forward.  I think we only read it once.

The Mountains of Quilt , again, not a favorite.  Not bad.  I think we've had this one before. It's illustrated by Tomie De Paola, so of course the pictures are wonderful, the story itself however just didn't draw us in.

Then getting into ones we did like, Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett.  I'm a fan of hers and like always the pictures are wonderful.  It is a clever story, fun to read, more fun to look at.  With her illustrations you really don't need the words!

Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express .  I loved this one.  It was a little too old and just a bit frightening for Stella.  It's a true story of a girl who faces a fierce storm, her fears, and saves several men, as well as a whole train full of people.  My kind of  story.  I love strong young women, and when I can teach my girl about them too... I'm sold!

L Is for Library is one we started looking for in the fall, forgot about until we saw the librarian in the children's section and asked about.  And actually Stella remembered and asked about!  It's a cute alphabet book.  Both kids really enjoyed this one. It is definitely geared for a younger set, but the 4 year old liked it too.  Very... modern... alphabet. U is for URL.  Just a heads up.

Finally, I picked for Bruce, and enjoyed along with both kids, Billy and Blaze By C.W. Anderson.  Who doesn't love a good horse book.  And the boy is responsible, kind, and loving.  This was a great book all around.  Simple but not stupid, sweet but not cloying.  And supremely clean.  I felt as though I was appreciating the time it was written in as much as the book.


Are you participating in a summer reading program?


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6/13/2012

June 12

The books we read this week, were the same a s last week.  It was a busy week, and we never did make it to the Library.  I'm sure glad we got some good books!  We also had a few on the strictly average side this week.  Lets start with those.

First up is A Cookie for the President, by Anita F. Bott and illustrated by Patricia Satchfield Collins. It was cute, the kids seemed to enjoy it.  The ever growing deserts and the fun pictures kept them interested.  It's also a kid book, it had fudge, cupcake, donut, pie and cookie!   And it ends with kids.  I didn't love this one the way the kids did, but it wasn't horrible either.

Next  is Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy  Retold by Jim Aylesworth and illustrated by Barbara McClintock.  It was good.  I didn't know the story and I thought it was cute, but it did nothing for my kids.  We only read it once, because it just didn't strike their fancy.  It's possible that on a different week it would have.  The illustrations were wonderful. Which is good because I got another book by the same author and illustrator!  We read Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  The pictures in this were different, and a little stranger than the other books, but still very good.  This may be the best version of Goldilocks that I have ever read.  I like that it begins and ends with the girl in her own home, with her mother and that the moral of the story is to obey your parents (by remembering the rules)!

We read Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman and illustrated by Stephen Gammell.  I thought it was cute.  A story about the grandkids loving to see their grandfather forget he's old and perform for them in the attic.  Fun, sweet, and tender.  We all enjoyed this one.

My favorite of the week was Mama Played Baseball.   It starts with the girl helping her mom to practice for tryouts for womens baseball during the war and ends with the return (happy) of the father from war.  *Warning, if you are emotional anyway, this book will make you cry.

Finally, Stella's Favorite this week was The Berenstain Bears' New Neighbors.  I always enjoy these too.  There clean and relateable and fun.  No complaints from this Mama!

What did you read this week?

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6/09/2012

June, week 1

Well, as would seem to be my blogging habit, I am behind.  We have been reading.  And we have been to the library.  But we've also been enjoying our summer!  The first week of June we had some fun books.

Stella's favorite was Katie Meets The Impressionists by James Mayhew.  It was a cute story.  Stella loved it.  I was ready to take it back after the 3rd or maybe 4th read, but we just kept reading it.

My favorite was The Low-Down Laundry Line Blues, Written by C.M. Millen and illustrated by Christine Davenier.  It was a rhyming story, and I loved  the interaction of the characters.  I liked the way the little sister didn't give up, or give in.  fun stuff.

We also borrowed World School Day Adventure , this is a Dora the Explorer book written by Shakira.  It  was cute, for a Dora book.  It was neat to get to learn about the different types of schools that children around the world might attend. A school under a tree in Ethipopia, a school on a bus in India, and a school on a boat in Indonesia (I think).

Harold and The Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson was another of my favorites.  I have to admit that I don't remember ever reading this before.  I picked it because it was on every list of great books to read to your ________________ -schooler. Fill in that blank with anything from elementary down!  I didn't know what is was about, and I wondered why it would make so many lists.  I get it now!  I really enjoyed this one too.  I love the imagination.  I love the simple drawings.  I love that the kid makes up the story.  Stella liked it, but didn't love it.  Bruce loved it.

The last book we got was called First to Fly: How Wilbur and Orville Wright Invented the Airplane . It was written by Peter Busby, paintings by David Craig.  I liked this one, but it was way over Stella's head. She did enjoy the pictures, which were excellent.

What did you read last week?


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