sewing

This week as I am off school, so I have taken time to do some sewing.  Here are some pot holders that I made with scraps from my scrap bin.  My favorite is the one with the tiny squares...(one inch finished).  My sister is the master of using scraps.  I can see how it can be addictive.

Bird Count

Bird Count by Susan Edwards Richmond and illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman is a good book for this time of year.  It is about Ava helping with her community's annual Christmas Bird Count.  The book caught my attention since I have been participating in the Christmas Bird Count now for a couple of years and look forward to it.  If you like bird watching, this is a book to share with the young people in your life.

Gist

Gist: The Essence of Raising Life-Ready Kids by Michael W. Anderson and Timothy Johanson is for anyone who is a parent or works with children between the ages of 8 and 18.  The book has three parts: Foundational Principles of Life, Core Development, and Unintended Parenting.  It would be a good book to read with another parent or teacher so you could discuss it.

Write to Me

Write to Me by Cynthia Grady is a book I enjoyed for three reasons-it is based on a true story, it is about books, and it is about writing letters.
The story begins when the Japanese Americans are ordered to internment camps during World War II.  The Japanese Americans children who frequent the library in San Diego need to go with their families elsewhere.  Librarian Clara Breed gives them postcards as well as books when they leave.  They write her notes and postcards after they leave. Later she visited them and gave them more books. This book is a good example of the impact a person's kindness can have on others.  For more about Clara Breed, look at this link.

Jars of Hope

Jars of Hope by Jennifer Roy is a picture book to read to mature or older children, but it is just as appropriate for adult readers.  The book tells the story of Irena Sendler, who risked her life to save many children from the Nazis.  It was a good book to read to my students after we had talked a little about Anne Frank and the Holocaust.  Jars of Hope gave details about the courage and ingenuity of Sendler and others as they attempted to save as many children as possible.

Ruby's Sword

Ruby's Sword by Jacqueline Veissid and illustrated by Paola Zakimi is a new picture book I found this week at the library.  Ruby is younger than her brothers and  they leave her behind so she has to play by herself.  Walking around, she finds three stick swords.  Ruby shares two of them with her brothers in hopes that they will include her.  It is not successful, but she continues to play alone until her brothers find her playing in a fort she built.  Not quite ready to include her brothers, she changes her mind when they return with a peace offering.  This short story is probably a book most preschoolers and younger elementary students would enjoy. 

Leaflets Three, Let It Be!

Leaflets Three, Let It Be! by Anita Sanchez and illustrated by Robin Brickman is a book to add to your picture book collection.  Children like books about real things, and this book about poison ivy will make your child curious to know what it has to say.  The book starts in the spring and follows what role the poison ivy plant has in the woods over the course of a year.  Some animals actually eat it and others find shelter under this low lying plant.  This book will be on my "check out again" list because the author has done an excellent job at using words to tell the story.  Sanchez repeatedly used words to create sentences that were just right.  This book is a good resource for nature educators as well as science and writing teachers. 

Breathing Room

Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles was a book that a few people were talking about at the library last week, so I figured it would be worth a look at.  The story takes place in Minnesota at fictional Loon Lake Sanitarium.  Thirteen year old Evvy has tuberculosis in 1940 and has to go to a sanitarium in hopes that she will recover.  I cannot imagine how people spent extended time in places like that in homes of recovering from TB.  It also makes me wonder how medical advances will change health care in the future.

playing with words

Playing with words is something you can do to beat summer boredom and help your children do something that engages their minds.  The one that takes minimal preparation is to find some magazines and ads from the paper and cut out words that the children choose.  Ideally the words would be close to an inch tall (or taller).  After you cut out the words, the words can be used to write sentences and glued onto paper.  If your children are old enough, they may be creative enough to write an entire story.

Another way to play with words is buy some magnets with words on them.  The words can be used to create sentences or sorted.  The two sets you see part of in the photos are from the company Magnetic Poetry.  (Both also happen to be from secondhand stores.)  The combinations can be serious or silly, and anyone who can read is able to do this.

Additional information

• If you decide to buy some a set of Magnetic Poetry, you may want to preview the words to check for appropriateness.  Some sets are marketed for adults.
• There are also sets for a handful of other languages.  

hexagon quilt

I finished my hexagon quilt!  I started it almost five years ago and I began making the hexagons while in Guatemala.  The fabric that I took wasn't sufficient, so it was at a stand still for quite awhile.  There are a lot of hexagons, and I had to look for more fabric several times.  Now it is all quilted and bound.  It feels good to be done.  This is one of those projects that I doubt I will ever do again because it took so long and it is almost all hand work.  It is a keeper, though. 

The Whispering Town

The Whispering Town by Jennifer Elvgren and illustrated by Fabio Santomauro is a picture book for anyone age eight and up. Annet, the girl in the story, lives in Denmark during World War II.  Her parents hide Jews in the basement of their home, helping them escape the Nazi soldiers. There are many cloudy nights, so Annet figures out a way the townspeople can help the Jewish people get to the boat and escape despite the dark sky.  Based on a true story, I will share this book with my students when we are learning about Anne Frank and World War II. 

wordless picture books

If your kids are tired of reading this summer, it might be time to change things up a little.  There are lots of wordless picture books with great stories.  Reading won't feel like a chore.  The reader tells the story instead of having to decode the words.  Books pictured above are The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett, Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day, I Walk with Vanessa by Kerascoet, Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola, Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman, and The Secret Box by Barbara Lehman.  A few others that my students or I really like are Hank Finds an Egg by Rebecca Dudley, The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney, Rosie's Glasses by David Whamond and Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson.

The Crayon Man

The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow and illustrated by Steven Salerno is a picture book to share with everyone.  It tells the story of how Crayola crayons came to be.  With crayons so common and inexpensive, I don't think much about them.  This new book is an engaging narrative to help others understand how the so popular crayons got their beginning.  It will help children see how a person's passion and determination can help bring a product to life for others.

summer journal

Something to do this summer with your family to extend your children's learning is to keep a summer journal.  This could be a joint project for all members of the family.  You can write every few days and have those with an artistic bent add pictures, or you could assign one person each day to jot down a few sentences about what happened that day.  It will be fun to look it over at the end of the summer and review the things that happened.

Last summer I did a blog post each week about summer learning activities.  I won't be posting with the same regularity, but I do plan to add a few posts throughout the summer.  If you are interested in looking back at the posts from last year, you can click on the tab that says summer learning at either the top or the bottom of the blog.  

east coast

I was in New England last week and here are a few of the things that I had the opportunity to see.I toured Mark Twain's house in Hartford, Connecticut.

I stopped in Springfield, Massachusetts to see these statues and a few more of Dr. Seuss characters.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts was interesting and worth stopping to visit.  If I lived closer, I would go back from time to time.  The exhibits change (one about Peter Sis opens this week) and there is a place where you can make your own art. 

The green mountains of Vermont are beautiful.

A covered bridge in New Hampshire.

One of the many old buildings on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

The view from the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island.

My favorite parts were the Mark Twain House, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and the ocean in Rhode Island.

blue squares

Last week I finished this quilt.  It is about twin size, and the finished blocks are three inches.  The fabric is all Robert Kaufman Kona solids.  I have made other quilts with all solids, but they were triangles (click here, here and here for pictures).  The squares work out pretty well since I quilted on the diagonal.  This quilt went to live with my youngest brother.

Baby Monkey, Private Eye

Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin is a mystery book for preschool age children on up.  The reason I checked it out was because it was thick but shelved as an early reader at the library.  I soon discovered it was because of the spare use of words.  Many pages have no words, the illustrations tell the story well.   Even though there are few words, the details in the pictures will engage readers beyond a first reading of the book.

The Read-Aloud Family

The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie is a book written for parents, but I found it interesting to read from a teacher's perspective.  Mackenzie encourages parents of all ages of children to read aloud to them.  She mentions that it will help them in school, but she also believes reading to your children will make your relationship with your children stronger.
If you want to improve your read aloud time with your children, she offers encouragement and ideas.  Another chapter gives suggestions on how to have good conversations with children about books.  The last chapters of the book are sorted into age groups (0-3, 4-7, 8-12, and the teen years) with book recommendations for good read aloud choices. 

Boom Bloom!

Just in time for spring, Bloom Boom! by April Pulley Sayre is a book for everyone, even though it is considered a children's book.  The vibrant photos and spare words showcase the wonder of springtime flowers.  Anyone who appreciates photography, flowers, or poetry will enjoy this book. 

The Shape of the World

The Shape of the World: A Portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright by K L Going and illustrated by Joyce Sidman is a picture book biography for ages 8 and up.  I enjoyed reading a little bit more about Frank Lloyd Wright and it made me want to visit some of his works.  This is a good book for any elementary aged child. 

funny

I had to laugh when I saw this on my home from school today.  What is not quite so funny to some people is we are likely to get significant snowfall tomorrow.  At least it is Saturday so I don't have to wonder if school will get cancelled. 

The Minimalist Home

The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker is the latest nonfiction book I read.  It is just as good as The More of Less, but definitely more specific on how to make your home a place where you want to be but not encumbered by stuff.  Chapter by chapter he talks about how to get your home in order so you can do the things you want to do instead of spending so much time taking care of your possessions.  At the end of each chapter, Becker gives step by step directions to take care of each part of the house.  Then he has a minimizing checklist.

A few quotes I liked from the book are

• Be remembered for the life you lived, not the things you bought.
• It is better to do stuff than to have stuff.
• You don't need more space.  You need less stuff.

Click, Clack, Moo I Love You!

Click, Clack, Moo  I Love You! by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin is a cute Valentine's book for preschool and elementary aged children.  Little Duck is having a Valentine's party and spends time decorating.  The familiar characters of Farmer Brown, the cows, the sheep and the pigs are all included in the story.  The party is going great with food and dancing, but then Fox shows up.  Thankfully, Little Fox isn't there to crash the party but have some fun.  The draw for this book is the illustrations, as there is glitter on all the pages.

Ice Boy

Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein is a book you worth reading to children.  Ice Boy is an ice cube who lives in the freezer with his family.  He wants to know what life is like outside, so one day he leaves on what became a great adventure.  He goes to the beach, where he becomes Water Boy.  Later, Water Boy changes to Vapor Boy, eventually turning back into Ice Boy.  As Ice Boy, he gets reunited with his parents.  Young children would enjoy this book, but my older students enjoyed it as well.  Though it is a silly story, it could be used to talk about the different states of matter, especially concerning water.   

beautiful

While everyone, including Minnesotans, think winter is cold, it sure can be beautiful too.  I am glad that the coldest days often come with sun included.  This is a picture at Lindbergh State Park last Saturday.

pin cushions

I have been making pin cushions.  The first one I made I followed the directions for one called a skinny pinnie from my sister Amanda's book No Scrap Left Behind.  I made it last Monday, and since then I finished eight more pin cushions.  Once you make a couple, they do go together rather quickly.  The biggest challenge was to thread the needle with invisible thread to sew them closed.   The blue and green one and the pink and gray one are among my favorites.   I liked making these because they really use scraps-of fabric, batting, and interfacing.  It will be fun giving them away to my sewing friends.