summer book club, week 2

So here are the books we've been reading this week:

Thy Friend, Obadiah by Brinton Turkle
*Cute story about a seagull who follows a little boy, Obadiah, around. Nice pictures, made me hungry because the mom bakes muffins and homemade bread.

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Magic Horse by Maj Lindman
*This story just weirded me out completely. Although these are recommended on K's book list, this one convinced me to not check any more out. Nothing sinister - it was just strange.

The Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
These were originally published as 4 separate books, obviously following the seasons (Spring Story, Summer Story, etc...). Tells stories of a little community of mice, who wear clothes, and have great houses in trees and bushes and tree stumps. Great illustrations - my girls really love them because of the whole "animals wearing clothes" factor, but I think boys might like it because of the details of the factories & things like that.

Nursery Classics by Paul Galdone
Great collection of classic fairy tales/fables (Little Red Hen, Goldilocks & The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs), with fantastic illustrations.

Summer Book Club

So it's summertime!! One of the ways we try to stay cool in our neck of the woods is with a weekly visit to the library. Miss K has a summer reading list we need to help her work through before school starts in the fall, and as the list is (in my opinion) a super-great resource for those of us parenting wee ones, I'm going to blog my way through the list....or at least attempt to! We'll make a visit to the library tomorrow to pick up our first 5 books from the list, but for now I'll share some selections we already have here at home, and thoughts as they pop to mind about some of my favorites:

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Virginia Lee Burton
The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton
*I adore Burton's books. If you haven't read any of her books, by all means, do so today!!

Animals, Animals, Eric Carle (or any other Carle book)
*I could seriously decorate an entire room with nothing but Carle's illustrations. So gifted!

Prayer for a Child, Rachel Field

Corduroy, Don Freeman (or any other Freeman book)

The Market Square Dog, James Herriot (or any other children's books by Herriot)
*James Herriot is fabulous...the children's books are beautifully illustrated, kiddo-appropriate versions of the tales he writes of his days as a vet in the English countryside. He also has a series of books for adults that are so much fun to read.

The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf

The Little Engine that Could, Watty Piper

The Tale of Tom Kitten, Beatrix Potter (or others in this series)

Another thing Miss K's school has the children work on is recitation, both scripture & poems. Her class recited Robert Louis Stevenson's The Swing for the end of the year party, and she regularly spouts it off when she's playing in the backyard. Encourage those little minds to memorize! You'll be amazed at how much they retain...