This week for Children's Book Monday, if you have a girl who can read chapter books, I would recommend the American girl books.  This historical fiction series is a wonderful way to introduce American history through the eyes of 9 different girl characters. My daughter just finished the first 6 books based on a Native American girl named Kaya. 

We read the first two together and then she went ahead and read the rest on her own.  We did this as part of a homeschool "American Girls" book club.  For 6 weeks, J. read a Kaya book and then did projects based on the stories with a group of girls on Fridays.  The lessons were taught by my friend Sarah and I was her assistant.  She did a great job!  The class really made the Kaya books and Native American history come alive for us.

Here's a few projects J. made in her American Girl class to go along with the Kaya books:

A bead bracelet:

A teepee:

A travois:

A corn husk doll:

(On a side note:  Sometimes the characters in the American Girls books do something disobedient or foolish, but if you read them with your daughter, they can create great discussions and they have a good message/lesson in the end.)

Please visit my friend Elise's Children's Book Monday for more great book selections.  This week, she also suggested we share library tips, so here's a few of mine:

*Use a double stroller to keep all your books in (as you browse)

*Go with a list of books in hand, call numbers written down for easy access, and books checked online to find out if they are already on the shelf.  Put books on hold for future check out or use interlibrary loan for those not found in the catalog.  It is a great resource that most libraries have.

*Preview the books your kids want to checkout of their own free choosing.

*If getting a large number of specific books for your homeschool, I suggest going alone.  Otherwise, I think it is good for mom to take the kids along and help them choose good books that interest them.

Happy Reading!

As we've been studying American History, we have just fallen in love with George Washington.  All thanks to Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire.  They wrote and illustrated a beautiful picture book, entitled George Washington. 

We've been reading it over a few days and my kids didn't want me to stop.  When we finished, we made tricorn hats--the three cornered hat popular in Washington's day!  On their own, they also decided to make the General's suit out of a brown paper grocery bag, ride on a stick horse, and bring out their swords to fight the "redcoats." 

If a picture book can help your kids enjoy history and then want to re-create it, then I won't mind if our American History text continues to collect dust on the bookshelf.  I'm all for instilling a love of learning and what better way than using "living" books, rather than textbooks.

FInd more fantastic d'Aulaire books at your local library or from Beautiful Feet Books.  You won't want to miss out on these other American hero titles:  Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Buffalo Bill, Columbus, Leif the Lucky, and Pocahontas.

(For other book reviews for Children's Book Monday, go to Elise's A Path Made Straight.)

As we've been studying Native Americans, we found this treasure--The Rough Face Girl by Rafe Martin. 

It is an Indian version of Cinderella about a young Algonquin girl.  She is forced to take care of the fires for her family and becomes scarred by the flames.  Her beautiful, yet proud sisters mistreat her and go in search for the Invisible Being to marry.  They are denied because they can not "see" him, giving their sister a chance to meet and marry him.  (Look through the pages yourself to find the hidden face of the invisible being. You won't want to miss the beautiful illustrations by David Shannon.) 

However, this story is more than a rags to riches tale.  It is a wonderful book to teach that true beauty lies within and that faith, courage,and kindness conquers all.

Fun projects to go along with the book:  Make your own wigwams and teepees like we did. 

Compare the original version of Cinderella with The Rough Face Girl, using a Venn Diagram.

Please visit my friend Elise's Children Book Monday!  She is having a drawing this week for a free children's book.

We were at the library and my son chose this book.  I had no idea how good it would be until I sat down to read it with him.  It's our new favorite fairy tale!  I couldn't wait to share it with all of you.  The book is called The Dog Prince: An Original Fairy Tale by Lauren Mills. 

It is based on the well-known classic--The Frog Prince but with a twist!

The story is about a prince who finds castle life to be a bore.  He seeks adventure, hunting for a beast called the chimera (part lion, goat, and snake).  On his way, he meets a goat girl, but is very impatient and rude to her, demanding her to move her goats, so his hunting party can pass.  Then he runs into an old woman and her laundry on a narrow bridge.  He refuses to wait for her to remove her clothes and tramples through them without a care in the world.

Little did he know the old woman was a fairy and she places a curse on the prince for his rudeness.  She turns him into a hound dog.  No longer a prince, he now has no home, until Eliza, the goat girl, befriends him.  The Prince finally sees by example how to treat others due to the kindess and affection of Eliza.  Read more to find out if he will remain a dog forever or gain a second chance to love and respect others as a kinder man and Prince.

For more great children's book selections, see Elise's Children Book Monday!

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." --Emilie Buchwald

I love reading to my children.  It is my favorite past-time!  I truly believe that our children become great readers when we take the time to read to them.  I recently finished reading aloud The Little House in the Big Woods to mine.  Even though my younger ones can't read on their own, they love to open up the Little House chapter books and "read" and look at the pictures. 

At bedtime, my kids will gather a huge pile of books and read until they fall asleep.  One book we've found easier to take to bed is The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury. 

Its a compilation of 44 books, some being classics like Madeline, Goodnight Moon, Make Way for Ducklings, Sylvester the Magic Pebble, and Where the Wild Things Are.  Some of them are printed in a shortened version.  If  you are looking for a book that contains some great stories to share with your children for a cheaper price, then this is the book to own!  It has become a favorite in our house and is found more often in their beds than on the bookshelf.  

W., my almost 2 year old, recently found a love for Good night, Gorilla. 

It is found in the Treasury but she loves the board book version too.  After the zoo keeper has locked up for the night, he says goodnight to each of the zoo animals.  Little does he know that the gorilla found his keys and is unlocking the animals at the same time.  A train of animals follow the zoo keeper home and the zookeeper's wife is in for a little surprise!  W. has taken this book to bed with her almost every evening and I can still hear her saying the "good nights" as she turns each page.  A delightful story for every little one.

Happy reading!  Check out more Children's book Monday selections from my friend Elise over at A Path Made Straight.

If you're looking for a funny book to read with your children, you've got to check out Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. 

This book is about a boy named Stanley who becomes flat as a pancake when a bulletin board falls on him in his bed.  Ok, very unlikely, but my kids couldn't stop laughing when Stanley starts to enjoy being flat.  He learns to slide under doors, fly as a kite, and goes on vacation, mailed to California in an envelope. 

If you go to the Official Flat Stanley Project, you'll find great ideas about using this book.  We printed off a template and made our own Flat Stanleys.  Then my kids enjoyed sliding him under our door:

and putting him in an envelope to be mailed:

Flat Stanley has become a worldwide phenomenon!  Hundreds of Flat Stanleys are being sent by children in envelopes around the world to other children.  Our family decided to take on this project and we gave a Flat Stanley to our friends, The Murdocks, in Washington to keep a journal of Flat Stanley's experience in their city and send back to us with pictures.  What a great way to encourage writing and learn geography!

The main curriculum we'll be using this year is Adventures in My Father's World, which focuses on learning about the United States, so we'd love to send Flat Stanleys to our friends in other states.  If you're interested in participating with us, email me your home address.  We can mail you our own Flat Stanley in an envelope soon, on the condition that you send him back, having filled out our journal about him visiting your city and sending photos or postcards. 

Happy reading!  If you can't get enough of Flat Stanley, check out these other books, also by Jeff Brown::

Stanley, Flat Again! (We enjoyed this one too, reading it in one sitting!)

Stanley and the Magic Lamp

Stanley's Christmas Adventure

Invisible Stanley

Stanley in Space

Also, look at this site for other activities/worksheets to go along with the Flat Stanley books. 

...and for more great children's books, check out Elise's Children Book Monday.

We read a fabulous picture book this afternoon that I couldn't hold off to share until next Monday, so I'm posting it today.  For more great children books, visit Elise's Children's Book Monday.

The book is called The Bear That Heard Crying by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Helen Kinsey.  The authors are both sisters who wrote this book together.  It is based on the true story of their ancestor Sarah Whitcher.

Sarah is a three year old girl who gets lost in the forest near her home in New Hampshire.  For three days, her family and neighbors go looking for her but with no luck.  They find a child's footprints near a brook alongside those of a bear and fear the worst. 

What happens to Sarah and her encounters with a bear?  Read and find out!  It was such a delight to read this with my children today.   One minute we were laughing about what Sarah thinks the bear really is (I won't give that away).  And the next minute, I'm almost to tears as the search for the child draws to a close due to a dream and miracle.

The illustrations are wonderful.  Almost every other picture is a full page spread.  You don't want to miss out on this book!  It's now one of my new favorites!

On Friday, we had our last Junior Girls and Mothers Book Club before the summer.  It was my turn to host this month and so I wanted to share with you what we read:  The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes.  (For more recommended children's books , go to my friend Elise's Children's Book Monday.)

It is a great book to discuss with young girls.  Although it is a short chapter book, the message that we learn from the story makes it a great treasure!  After-all, it won a Newberry Honor!  The main character is a poor girl named Wanda who gets teased at school.  When a group of girls crowd around Cecile to admire her beautiful crimson dress, Wanda claims she has 100 dresses all lined up in her closet.  Then everyday the teasing game begins because no one believes her. From the back cover of the book:

Wanda wears the same old blue dress every day.  "A hundred dresses--all lined up!"  If Wanda really does have a hundred dresses, she's certainly keeping them hidden...but why?

Read it and find out the mystery behind the hundred dresses!  You'll be pleasantly surprised by the ending, learning about true friendship, kindness, and forgiveness on the way.

Fun project:  Make sugar cookie-shaped girls and decorate their "dresses" with frosting and candies.  We did and had a blast!  Or design your own dress with paints, fabrics, stickers, gems, etc.

Elise from A Path Made Straight started a great thing on her blog--Children's Book Monday, a place to share great children's literature each Monday.  This week she is even hosting a contest, so check her blog out!  I thought I would participate this week, and post a few favorite books of my own:                                                                                                                                         

If your kids are picky eaters, try reading a book to encourage better eating habits at the dinner table.  You’ll be amazed how using book characters as examples will spark new interest in trying food.

When I starting hearing “I don’t like this” from my own children too often at dinner, I read them the classic book--Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess.                                                                      Sam is trying to convince his friend to eat green eggs and ham.  With the great ryhming poetry of Dr. Suess, Sam asks him if he'll eat them in the most random places--in a box, with a fox, on a train, or in the rain, etc.  He finally gets right down to the problem and asks his friend directly.  When my children continue to complain over meals, I can just pull out a few lines that Sam says:

Try them!  Try them!

And you may.

Try them and you may, I say…

And amazingly enough, they actually give the food a try and usually agree with Sam:

And I will eat them in a house.

And I will eat them with a  mouse.

And I will eat them here or there.

Say!   I will eat them ANYWHERE!

I do so like

green eggs and ham!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Sam-I am!      

Fun project:  Add green food coloring to real eggs and ham and try them after you read the book.           

Another favorite is by Russell Loban who writes a whole series of books with his wife Lillian as illustrator.  They are based on the character Frances.  She is a little badger who learns valuable lessons about going to bed--- Bedtime for Frances, having a new sibling—Baby Sister for Frances, and friendship—A Bargain for Frances, among others. 

Today we read Bread and Jam for Frances.   I have vivid memories of reading this book on tape  in my 2^nd grade class and wanted to share it with my own children.

In Bread and Jam for Frances, Frances isn’t too keen on eating soft-boiled eggs for breakfast and decides to have her favorite—bread and jam.  Soon she’s eating it for lunch, snack, and dinner and singing about it as she skips rope throughout her day:

Jam in the morning, jam at noon,

Bread and jam by the light of the moon.

Jam…is…very…nice.

If you read this with your children, they’ll soon catch onto the message that eating their favorite foods, like bread and jam, is nice, but trying new foods is even better!

Fun project:  After reading the book, make homemade jam and/or bread.  Eat the bread and jam for a meal or snack.         

Happy Reading and Eating!