The light really does look different this morning. I know it sounds crazy -- it's still January (though the last day!) and it's still 19 degrees outside (feels like 15 in the wind) but when I walked into the living room this morning, the way the light filtered through the blinds made me catch my breath. There was this small golden tint to the light, a sort of deepening, as though the morning itself was stretching out hopeful fingers toward a still far-off, but not as far-off, spring.
Oh yes, spring. We shall get there eventually.
Off to weather some more winter...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Fishing for Sounds
Since we finished 100 EZ Lessons on Tuesday (hooray for us!) we've been having a little fun during our reading lessons in the morning. I've been using Jessie Wise's The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading to reinforce and build on some of the basic lessons the sweet girl learned in 100 EZ. Right now she mostly needs practice to gain more reading confidence, and a chance to review and expand some sound combinations.
Wise's book has some lovely supplemental suggestions that help keep things fun. One suggestion I tried this week, which has been a smashing success, is a little "fishing game" she outlines in the lesson that teaches the digraph "NG."
This is a great way to reinforce the "NG" words -- those words that end in ING, ANG, ONG, and UNG. Below, I'm re-capping from Wise's directions on p. 115 of Ordinary Guide...and adding a few of my own comments.
Print each of those endings: ing, ang, ong, ung, on an index card.
Cut nine other cards in half and write one letter or letter combination on each card. You'll need h, b, f, r, s, p, cl, sl, w, k, d, z, sw, fl, br, g, and l
Clip a metal paperclip on each card.
Make a fishing pole! She suggested tying a piece of string to a pencil, then tying a small metal magnet to the other end of the string. We didn't have a small magnet with a hole, but we did have a roll of magnetic tape (handy thing to have around). We found that worked well -- just cut a small square of magnet off the roll, and use the "sticky" tape side of the magnet to attach it to the string.
Turn one of the ending cards (ing, ang, ong, ung) over so your child can see it. Then turn the half-size cards face down so she can't see the letter sounds. What you want the child to do is to "fish" with her pencil pole, pick up a card, and then put it front of the ending to form a word.
The letters you need for each "sea" are as follows:
For "ang" -- use the h b f r s p cl and sl cards
For "ing" -- use the w k d p r s z sw cl fl sl and br cards (this was our favorite set)
For "ong" -- use the b d g l and s cards
For "ung" -- use the h l r s fl sw and sl cards
What I liked most about this game (besides the fact that it was fun and my little girl responded to it so eagerly!) was how it helped her to visually see the formation of words from sound combinations. I also spent some time talking with S. about each of the words -- we tried using them in sentences, and we defined ones she wasn't sure about. That worked well too; this morning she casually used the word "cling" correctly in a sentence, and I'm pretty sure she'd never heard the word (or at least been aware of its meaning) until yesterday.
A fun exercise! I highly recommend this book as a supplementary resource for teaching reading.
Wise's book has some lovely supplemental suggestions that help keep things fun. One suggestion I tried this week, which has been a smashing success, is a little "fishing game" she outlines in the lesson that teaches the digraph "NG."
This is a great way to reinforce the "NG" words -- those words that end in ING, ANG, ONG, and UNG. Below, I'm re-capping from Wise's directions on p. 115 of Ordinary Guide...and adding a few of my own comments.
Print each of those endings: ing, ang, ong, ung, on an index card.
Cut nine other cards in half and write one letter or letter combination on each card. You'll need h, b, f, r, s, p, cl, sl, w, k, d, z, sw, fl, br, g, and l
Clip a metal paperclip on each card.
Make a fishing pole! She suggested tying a piece of string to a pencil, then tying a small metal magnet to the other end of the string. We didn't have a small magnet with a hole, but we did have a roll of magnetic tape (handy thing to have around). We found that worked well -- just cut a small square of magnet off the roll, and use the "sticky" tape side of the magnet to attach it to the string.
Turn one of the ending cards (ing, ang, ong, ung) over so your child can see it. Then turn the half-size cards face down so she can't see the letter sounds. What you want the child to do is to "fish" with her pencil pole, pick up a card, and then put it front of the ending to form a word.
The letters you need for each "sea" are as follows:
For "ang" -- use the h b f r s p cl and sl cards
For "ing" -- use the w k d p r s z sw cl fl sl and br cards (this was our favorite set)
For "ong" -- use the b d g l and s cards
For "ung" -- use the h l r s fl sw and sl cards
What I liked most about this game (besides the fact that it was fun and my little girl responded to it so eagerly!) was how it helped her to visually see the formation of words from sound combinations. I also spent some time talking with S. about each of the words -- we tried using them in sentences, and we defined ones she wasn't sure about. That worked well too; this morning she casually used the word "cling" correctly in a sentence, and I'm pretty sure she'd never heard the word (or at least been aware of its meaning) until yesterday.
A fun exercise! I highly recommend this book as a supplementary resource for teaching reading.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tracking Read-Alouds
Since I began "formally" homeschooling the sweet girl last August, we've read a number of longer read-aloud books, in addition to all the regular reading we do each day (picture books, Bible reading). Read-aloud time has become one of our favorite times of the day!
I've been keeping a running list of the books we've read together, but with the new calendar year upon us, I thought I would at least try a more creative approach to keeping a record of what we've read...one that will help "cement" the story and our shared experience of reading it more firmly in our minds.
I spent some time yesterday browsing some new blogs and websites that really nourished my homeschooling heart and mind. On one of the sites, the blogging parent/teacher is utilizing the Five in A Row books. I've got both Before Five In a Row and the first volume of FIAR on my shelves, and have used them as resources: good book recommendations, fun and creative teaching ideas. I've not used them fully as a curriculum unto themselves though, and it had been a while since I'd revisited them.
Seeing this woman's enthusiam for FIAR made me get them back out this morning. One of the things she mentioned doing was utilizing the "story disc" idea. FIAR provides little paper "buttons" or discs designed to represent each of the picture books they recommend. The idea is that your child can collect a series of discs with these simple pictures on them, and those will remind them of the books they've read and experienced. It's a fun idea.
I like the discs, but they've always seemed a bit small. This morning I got an idea to make a larger disc (tracing around one of our largest cups on colored cardstock). Just yesterday, the sweet girl and I finished reading Little House on the Prairie, the second book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's wonderful series about her pioneer family. I thought perhaps we could create a "disc" together -- on one side, we could paste a picture that represented the story for us, and on the other side, we could write the title, author, month/year we read the book, and the place we visited via our imagination through the book (in this case the prairie in Kansas territory).
The sweet girl really liked the idea. We found a photo of a mockingbird online, cut it out and pasted it onto the cardstock disc. We chose a mockingbird because Laura hears them a lot on the prairie, including in the final, poignant scene as they leave their little house and head back out into the prairie in their covered wagon. We spent some time reading about mockingbirds yesterday and listening to their call here.
I've not required formal "narrations" from the sweet girl during this, her kindergarten year, though we often talk about the stories we read. But I thought it might be fun if she could tell me something she liked and/or remembered about the book so we could write it down and keep that with the story disc. I'm trying to gently move her toward responding to story questions in fuller sentences, rather than just one or two words, or helping her to "think" in sentences more. I just planned to write down a sentence or two on regular paper, but my earlier search for an image of a covered wagon turned up this appropriate covered wagon journal page from a Laura Ingalls Wilder site. We had fun recording her thoughts on that page in colored pencil.
In the end, we had three things to put into the colorful plastic binder I've now designated our read-aloud notebook: the story disc, the journal page, and a neat map of Laura's travels we found online a few weeks ago (I can't remember where, unfortunately!) which we've been referring to from time to time as we read.
All this took only a few minutes, but it was great fun...it helped bring "closure" to a great read-aloud, and helped us think about why we enjoyed the book. I'm looking forward to adding to our notebook as we continue on this year.
This morning we started The Story of Dr. Doolittle!
I've been keeping a running list of the books we've read together, but with the new calendar year upon us, I thought I would at least try a more creative approach to keeping a record of what we've read...one that will help "cement" the story and our shared experience of reading it more firmly in our minds.
I spent some time yesterday browsing some new blogs and websites that really nourished my homeschooling heart and mind. On one of the sites, the blogging parent/teacher is utilizing the Five in A Row books. I've got both Before Five In a Row and the first volume of FIAR on my shelves, and have used them as resources: good book recommendations, fun and creative teaching ideas. I've not used them fully as a curriculum unto themselves though, and it had been a while since I'd revisited them.
Seeing this woman's enthusiam for FIAR made me get them back out this morning. One of the things she mentioned doing was utilizing the "story disc" idea. FIAR provides little paper "buttons" or discs designed to represent each of the picture books they recommend. The idea is that your child can collect a series of discs with these simple pictures on them, and those will remind them of the books they've read and experienced. It's a fun idea.
I like the discs, but they've always seemed a bit small. This morning I got an idea to make a larger disc (tracing around one of our largest cups on colored cardstock). Just yesterday, the sweet girl and I finished reading Little House on the Prairie, the second book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's wonderful series about her pioneer family. I thought perhaps we could create a "disc" together -- on one side, we could paste a picture that represented the story for us, and on the other side, we could write the title, author, month/year we read the book, and the place we visited via our imagination through the book (in this case the prairie in Kansas territory).
The sweet girl really liked the idea. We found a photo of a mockingbird online, cut it out and pasted it onto the cardstock disc. We chose a mockingbird because Laura hears them a lot on the prairie, including in the final, poignant scene as they leave their little house and head back out into the prairie in their covered wagon. We spent some time reading about mockingbirds yesterday and listening to their call here.
I've not required formal "narrations" from the sweet girl during this, her kindergarten year, though we often talk about the stories we read. But I thought it might be fun if she could tell me something she liked and/or remembered about the book so we could write it down and keep that with the story disc. I'm trying to gently move her toward responding to story questions in fuller sentences, rather than just one or two words, or helping her to "think" in sentences more. I just planned to write down a sentence or two on regular paper, but my earlier search for an image of a covered wagon turned up this appropriate covered wagon journal page from a Laura Ingalls Wilder site. We had fun recording her thoughts on that page in colored pencil.
In the end, we had three things to put into the colorful plastic binder I've now designated our read-aloud notebook: the story disc, the journal page, and a neat map of Laura's travels we found online a few weeks ago (I can't remember where, unfortunately!) which we've been referring to from time to time as we read.
All this took only a few minutes, but it was great fun...it helped bring "closure" to a great read-aloud, and helped us think about why we enjoyed the book. I'm looking forward to adding to our notebook as we continue on this year.
This morning we started The Story of Dr. Doolittle!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
"How Deep the Father's Love For Us"
This morning we had eight baptisms at church, including the sons of two families in our fellowship group, and one new family in our church that was baptized all together... four children, both parents.
There are moments when a basement sanctuary and a bathtub draped in cloth become such tangible places of grace and mercy and hope that it brings tears. God can take such ordinary stuff, such ordinary lives, and use them for his glory. Nothing, in his economy, is ever plain or throw-away or not worth loving. I am deeply grateful for that.
This was the hymn we sang at close of service:
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
(lyrics by Stuart Townend)
There are moments when a basement sanctuary and a bathtub draped in cloth become such tangible places of grace and mercy and hope that it brings tears. God can take such ordinary stuff, such ordinary lives, and use them for his glory. Nothing, in his economy, is ever plain or throw-away or not worth loving. I am deeply grateful for that.
This was the hymn we sang at close of service:
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
(lyrics by Stuart Townend)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
"Snowflakes are Falling, Falling Very Gently"
The sweet girl has been warbling this snow song all day long (it's from one of her old Kindermusik CDs, which has songs about different kinds of weather). It's cold again, and indeed, snowing very gently.I took this picture of the stone angel across the street during one of our last beautiful snows. Several years ago, I named the two stone angels in the parking lot next to our building. I'm not sure if I remember which one is which, but I'm fairly certain this one is Patience. The other is Serenity.
Monday, January 14, 2008
2008 Newbery and Caldecott Awards Announced
One of the first things I did when I got to the computer this morning was to check recent news on Google so I could find out who won the Newbery and Caldecott awards. I was actually a few minutes early the first time I checked (beating the announcement in Philadelphia by about half an hour) but a couple refreshes of the page later brought me to the news.
I haven't read any of this year's winners yet, but they look like unusual and interesting choices.
The ALA website has now been updated with the full list of 2008 winners. The Newbery Medal book and honor books can be found here. The winner is Good Voices! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (a school librarian herself in Baltimore). It's apparently 21 dramatic narratives/monologues that she originally wrote for students in her school to perform. Looks like a very creative way to learn about medieval times!
The Caldecott Medal book and honor books can be found here. The winner is, interestingly, not a picture book but a graphic novel of over 500 pages. It's called The Invention of Hugo Cabret and is written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. The story is set in a train station in 1931 Paris. The official description intrigues me no end: "In a work of more than 500 pages, the suspenseful text and wordless double-page spreads narrate the tale in turns. Neither words nor pictures alone tell this story, which is filled with cinematic intrigue. Black & white pencil illustrations evoke the flickering images of the silent films to which the book pays homage."
So there you have it...another year's worth of recommended reads. I've already begun reading at least one book I found on several "short lists" before the awards came out, and now I've got more books to add to my reading list!
I haven't read any of this year's winners yet, but they look like unusual and interesting choices.
The ALA website has now been updated with the full list of 2008 winners. The Newbery Medal book and honor books can be found here. The winner is Good Voices! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (a school librarian herself in Baltimore). It's apparently 21 dramatic narratives/monologues that she originally wrote for students in her school to perform. Looks like a very creative way to learn about medieval times!
The Caldecott Medal book and honor books can be found here. The winner is, interestingly, not a picture book but a graphic novel of over 500 pages. It's called The Invention of Hugo Cabret and is written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. The story is set in a train station in 1931 Paris. The official description intrigues me no end: "In a work of more than 500 pages, the suspenseful text and wordless double-page spreads narrate the tale in turns. Neither words nor pictures alone tell this story, which is filled with cinematic intrigue. Black & white pencil illustrations evoke the flickering images of the silent films to which the book pays homage."
So there you have it...another year's worth of recommended reads. I've already begun reading at least one book I found on several "short lists" before the awards came out, and now I've got more books to add to my reading list!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
My Favorite Books of 2007 (Annotated List)
A couple of days ago, I posted my favorite books of 2007. Here's the list again, but with my comments regarding my choices!
Favorite Biography of the year: End of the Spear by Steve Saint
-- I blogged at some length about Saint’s book last fall, and also reviewed it on Epinions. Technically it’s probably more “memoir” than straight biography, but I think it qualifies for this category. What’s fascinating is that it’s not only a slice of Saint’s own life, but the biography of a people, a tribe heretofore pretty much unknown and misunderstood. And the best parts are all the many places where Saint’s story and the story of the Waodoni are inextricably intertwined.
Children’s biography of the year: Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells (runner-up: The Art of Eric Carle)
-- I’m coming to realize just how much I love biographies, which is why I need a separate children’s category. The sweet girl and I read Mary on Horseback in December, as a ‘read-aloud’ during school mornings. What an amazing story it told: of Mary Breckenridge, founder of the Frontier Nursing Service. I was a little afraid at first that the stories themselves would overwhelm my daughter, filled as they were with details about poverty and illness in the mountains, including diseases that rocked the lives of young children. But Wells told the stories well and sensitively, and they opened up avenues for gentle but important discussions about life as it was (and still is) for some families in our world.
--My runner-up is The Art of Eric Carle, a book that I enjoyed on several levels. The first section of the book was a straightforward biography of Carle, written primarily for adults (or possibly older children). It was interesting to read about his childhood in Germany and his subsequent coming to America as a young man, where he used his artistic skills in advertising before becoming what he terms a “picture-writer” for children. The second part of the book detailed some of Carle’s artistic techniques, which inspired me and the sweet girl to tissue paper and paint greatness!
Picture book author of the year: A tie between Shirley Hughes and Anna Dewdney
--I couldn’t choose just one, because both of these authors meant a lot to our family this year. Hughes has been a family favorite now for about three years, and her books are almost constants around here. She doesn’t seem to be writing as much now, but she did win the “Greenaway of Greenaways” this year for her wonderful book Dogger, another reason it just felt right to have her on this list. Anna Dewdney delighted my little girl by giving the world a sequel to Llama Llama Red Pajama, one of her favorite books of all time. Llama Llama Mad at Mama surprised me by proving to be almost as charming and funny – and just as big a hit in our family – as the first.
Best Devotional Book: God With Us by various authors (runner-up: Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner)
--This was a tough one. I didn’t find God With Us until late in the year. It came out in October, and I read it (as intended) during Advent and Christmas. The line-up of excellent writers made this a real gem, along with the gorgeous paintings included throughout. I was sad to have to return this one to the library. All the writers were good, but I was especially taken with the work of Scott Cairns, and now plan to try to find some of his other poetry and prose to read in the coming year.
--I chose Mudhouse Sabbath as a runner-up, both because I enjoyed the book very much, but even more because I enjoyed having a chance to attend an all day seminar with its author, Lauren Winner, back in June. As fine a writer as she is, I think she’s an even finer teacher. Her musings and reflections on Sabbath-keeping, and her unique perspective on that and other topics as an Orthodox Jew turned Christian (and Anglican) always make for interesting work. Given my own background growing up in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and my own growth in the Anglican tradition, I find her insights especially meaningful.
Best Novel I Read This Year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
--This is not a cop-out. It’s just plain true. I can’t tell you how much I looked forward, for months and years, to the ending of Rowling’s seven-book saga. I laughed, fretted, worried, and cried through this fittingly powerful and satisfying ending. Seldom have I felt so exhilarated or so sad upon leaving a fictional world for the last time, except perhaps with Middle Earth and Narnia. And that’s high praise.
Besides the fact that I just plain loved the book and the series, I’ve also loved the conversations I’ve gotten involved in with many people in online communities who have shared a love for the books. These stories make people think as well as laugh and cry, and some of the conversations have been deep literary and spiritual ones. A gift to my year.
Best Novel I Re-Read This Year: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
--Yes, I know it’s a “children’s book” (but remember what Madeleine always said: it got turned down from countless publishers because they thought it was “too difficult” for children…and then when it finally got published, it turned out that the children “got it” far better than adults)! I’ve re-read Wrinkle so many times over the years that it’s like visiting with a very old, well-worn friend when I open the covers. This time out was especially poignant, however, as I read it a few weeks after Madeleine’s death in September. She is one of the most formative writers of my life, and I will miss her.
Best "pop culture" book: Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader by John Granger
--When I created this category last year, what I intended was to describe my favorite book that engaged, in creative and life-giving ways, some phenomena of popular culture, whether music, books, theater or movies. So this was almost a no-brainer this year. John Granger’s work on the alchemical literary framework of the Harry Potter stories has been a rich mine for several years. When I first began reading his work a few years ago, it opened the series up to me in new and vital ways, and helped me to understand more deeply how and why these books were speaking so powerfully to our age. His alchemical insights continue to deepen, and with this book he added new and interesting insights into the influence of postmodernism on Rowling’s work – how she is both clearly representative of that stance, and yet transcends it (and sometimes subverts it) by her melding of postmodern sensibilities and traditional symbolism. This book will, I think, be looked back on as the fountainhead of a golden age of Harry Potter literary criticism.
Not to mention that through his website and his correspondence, John Granger has inspired and helped to maintain much of the most fruitful, charitable and thoughtful conversation about the Harry Potter books to date. Thank you, John.
Favorite "new to me" children’s book, mid-grade reader (8-12 year old category): tie between Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley; Princess Academy by Shannon Hale; and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
--An impossibly hard category for me to choose a favorite in this year – just too much good stuff! If I had to choose between these three very wonderful but completely different books, I would choose Bella at Midnight, just because it has a timeless and classic quality about it. Which isn’t to say that the other two books won’t last. All three are just excellently told stories. Bella is fairy-tale/fantasy; Princess Academy more of a folk tale; and The Penderwicks is a lovely, old-fashioned family tale that reminded me Elizabeth Enright and other early 20th century writers. Fun and wholesome – the kind of book that makes you want to curl up in a window-seat (I still long for one!) on a rainy day in a big, old house that begs to be explored.
Favorite "new to me" young adult book (12-15 year old): tie between Rules by Cynthia Lord (I may be stretching, this might be considered mid-grade) and Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
--Is Cynthia Lord’s award-winning Rules considered YA fiction? I think it should be. At any rate, however you “categorize” it, it’s just good reading…sensitive, authentic, creative. Hattie Big Sky was also terrific. I couldn’t choose between them, primarily because the first is so contemporary and the second historical (which tends to be my favorite kind of fiction). Both books worth adding to your shelves.
Best Children’s Book I Re-Read This Year: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
--This was a hard choice because the sweet girl and I read so many books together this year, including The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which sort of stands in a class by itself for me. I picked Estes’ because I loved it so much as a child, hadn’t read it a long while, and was nearly knocked off my feet again by its simplicity, elegance, and honesty. I remembered it was a good story. I just hadn’t remembered how good. She was quite an artist.
Favorite "new to me" picture book: Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
-- This is one of those books that a child can climb inside and inhabit. The world it creates – of a public library visited daily by a loveable, book-loving lion – is just a wonderful place to visit. The rhythm of the story feels close to perfect, and the characters are funny and memorable. Great illustrations. We read this one over and over, roaring with delight.
Book I Wish I Hadn’t Wasted My Time Reading: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
--Hmm. I’ve been visiting some of the “mock Newbery” sites (various book groups, libraries, etc. speculating on their “short lists” of favorite books and getting ready for this Monday’s upcoming Newbery awards) and was surprised to see this had made a couple of lists. Maybe I was too hard on it when I reviewed it, but it really didn’t work for me, despite clever and creative photographs. Too much style, not enough substance. Children’s literature can do better than this. I’m thankful that it usually does.
Book I Should Have Finished (and still plan to): The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer
--I’d actually like to change this category to “Book I Want to Finish” rather than “should.” I honestly don’t know when I would have had time to finish Bauer’s great tour of ancient history, but I’ve loved keeping this one by the bed and picking it up whenever I’m in the mood to step back – way, way back! – in time. Cogent, clear, stimulating reading.
The Book That Surprised Me Most: The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin
--Wow. It’s hard to know what to say about this one. I almost listed it as my favorite “biography” this year, except it’s hard to know if one could really call it that. It’s not the story of one person as much as it is the story of a storm, a place, a time, and a developing American ethos on the frontier. I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but I was powerfully moved by it. Beautiful prose. And a book that’s inspired me to think about ways I might write history someday.
The Book That Made Me Laugh the Most: I can’t really think of one that made me laugh. Smile, yes, chortle, okay. Lots of things made me giggle with the sweet girl. But not one book really made me laugh. Yikes.
Book That Challenged Me the Most: (besides the Bible): End of the Spear by Steve Saint
--I listed the Bible in this category last year, but realized that I could list it every year! So next to the Bible, what reading challenged me most? I returned to Steve Saint’s journey in End of the Spear. What I found challenging: the depth of his trust in the sovereignty of a loving God; his patience in unfolding the “long view” of the story of his family (both his birth family and his adopted family, the Waodoni); the depth and power of forgiveness as it flows from God’s heart through one person to another person – and how that makes for peace.
And new categories this year:
Favorite new mystery writer: Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swensen mysteries
--These are just fun, really fun! I’m looking forward to another one, so I hope Fluke is working on one. I’m also hoping that Fluke’s cookie-baking sleuth Hannah will finally see the light and choose the right beau. (Pssst….pick Norman, Hannah! You won’t be sorry!)
Favorite "new to me" Spiritual Resource/Bible for Children: The Big Picture Story Bible by Helm and Shoonmaker
--I keep meaning to review this over at Epinions. The sweet girl and I have read through it twice together, and it’s really grown on me. Unlike most children’s Bibles, this one does not just provide a “sampling” of stories from Old and New Testament, but a comprehensive sweep through the Scriptures with emphases on the promises of God and on certain important Biblical themes. It’s been a great teaching tool.
Favorite book of theological reflections: Evil and the Justice of God by N.T. Wright.
--This was not an easy read, but I think it was an important one, given the reality of evil and its presence both in history and in our world today. I didn’t mention a runner-up for this category, but realized later that I probably could: I really enjoyed Michael Card’s Sacred Sorrow, which especially gave me new insights into the book of Job.
Favorite Biography of the year: End of the Spear by Steve Saint
-- I blogged at some length about Saint’s book last fall, and also reviewed it on Epinions. Technically it’s probably more “memoir” than straight biography, but I think it qualifies for this category. What’s fascinating is that it’s not only a slice of Saint’s own life, but the biography of a people, a tribe heretofore pretty much unknown and misunderstood. And the best parts are all the many places where Saint’s story and the story of the Waodoni are inextricably intertwined.
Children’s biography of the year: Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells (runner-up: The Art of Eric Carle)
-- I’m coming to realize just how much I love biographies, which is why I need a separate children’s category. The sweet girl and I read Mary on Horseback in December, as a ‘read-aloud’ during school mornings. What an amazing story it told: of Mary Breckenridge, founder of the Frontier Nursing Service. I was a little afraid at first that the stories themselves would overwhelm my daughter, filled as they were with details about poverty and illness in the mountains, including diseases that rocked the lives of young children. But Wells told the stories well and sensitively, and they opened up avenues for gentle but important discussions about life as it was (and still is) for some families in our world.
--My runner-up is The Art of Eric Carle, a book that I enjoyed on several levels. The first section of the book was a straightforward biography of Carle, written primarily for adults (or possibly older children). It was interesting to read about his childhood in Germany and his subsequent coming to America as a young man, where he used his artistic skills in advertising before becoming what he terms a “picture-writer” for children. The second part of the book detailed some of Carle’s artistic techniques, which inspired me and the sweet girl to tissue paper and paint greatness!
Picture book author of the year: A tie between Shirley Hughes and Anna Dewdney
--I couldn’t choose just one, because both of these authors meant a lot to our family this year. Hughes has been a family favorite now for about three years, and her books are almost constants around here. She doesn’t seem to be writing as much now, but she did win the “Greenaway of Greenaways” this year for her wonderful book Dogger, another reason it just felt right to have her on this list. Anna Dewdney delighted my little girl by giving the world a sequel to Llama Llama Red Pajama, one of her favorite books of all time. Llama Llama Mad at Mama surprised me by proving to be almost as charming and funny – and just as big a hit in our family – as the first.
Best Devotional Book: God With Us by various authors (runner-up: Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner)
--This was a tough one. I didn’t find God With Us until late in the year. It came out in October, and I read it (as intended) during Advent and Christmas. The line-up of excellent writers made this a real gem, along with the gorgeous paintings included throughout. I was sad to have to return this one to the library. All the writers were good, but I was especially taken with the work of Scott Cairns, and now plan to try to find some of his other poetry and prose to read in the coming year.
--I chose Mudhouse Sabbath as a runner-up, both because I enjoyed the book very much, but even more because I enjoyed having a chance to attend an all day seminar with its author, Lauren Winner, back in June. As fine a writer as she is, I think she’s an even finer teacher. Her musings and reflections on Sabbath-keeping, and her unique perspective on that and other topics as an Orthodox Jew turned Christian (and Anglican) always make for interesting work. Given my own background growing up in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and my own growth in the Anglican tradition, I find her insights especially meaningful.
Best Novel I Read This Year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
--This is not a cop-out. It’s just plain true. I can’t tell you how much I looked forward, for months and years, to the ending of Rowling’s seven-book saga. I laughed, fretted, worried, and cried through this fittingly powerful and satisfying ending. Seldom have I felt so exhilarated or so sad upon leaving a fictional world for the last time, except perhaps with Middle Earth and Narnia. And that’s high praise.
Besides the fact that I just plain loved the book and the series, I’ve also loved the conversations I’ve gotten involved in with many people in online communities who have shared a love for the books. These stories make people think as well as laugh and cry, and some of the conversations have been deep literary and spiritual ones. A gift to my year.
Best Novel I Re-Read This Year: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
--Yes, I know it’s a “children’s book” (but remember what Madeleine always said: it got turned down from countless publishers because they thought it was “too difficult” for children…and then when it finally got published, it turned out that the children “got it” far better than adults)! I’ve re-read Wrinkle so many times over the years that it’s like visiting with a very old, well-worn friend when I open the covers. This time out was especially poignant, however, as I read it a few weeks after Madeleine’s death in September. She is one of the most formative writers of my life, and I will miss her.
Best "pop culture" book: Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader by John Granger
--When I created this category last year, what I intended was to describe my favorite book that engaged, in creative and life-giving ways, some phenomena of popular culture, whether music, books, theater or movies. So this was almost a no-brainer this year. John Granger’s work on the alchemical literary framework of the Harry Potter stories has been a rich mine for several years. When I first began reading his work a few years ago, it opened the series up to me in new and vital ways, and helped me to understand more deeply how and why these books were speaking so powerfully to our age. His alchemical insights continue to deepen, and with this book he added new and interesting insights into the influence of postmodernism on Rowling’s work – how she is both clearly representative of that stance, and yet transcends it (and sometimes subverts it) by her melding of postmodern sensibilities and traditional symbolism. This book will, I think, be looked back on as the fountainhead of a golden age of Harry Potter literary criticism.
Not to mention that through his website and his correspondence, John Granger has inspired and helped to maintain much of the most fruitful, charitable and thoughtful conversation about the Harry Potter books to date. Thank you, John.
Favorite "new to me" children’s book, mid-grade reader (8-12 year old category): tie between Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley; Princess Academy by Shannon Hale; and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
--An impossibly hard category for me to choose a favorite in this year – just too much good stuff! If I had to choose between these three very wonderful but completely different books, I would choose Bella at Midnight, just because it has a timeless and classic quality about it. Which isn’t to say that the other two books won’t last. All three are just excellently told stories. Bella is fairy-tale/fantasy; Princess Academy more of a folk tale; and The Penderwicks is a lovely, old-fashioned family tale that reminded me Elizabeth Enright and other early 20th century writers. Fun and wholesome – the kind of book that makes you want to curl up in a window-seat (I still long for one!) on a rainy day in a big, old house that begs to be explored.
Favorite "new to me" young adult book (12-15 year old): tie between Rules by Cynthia Lord (I may be stretching, this might be considered mid-grade) and Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
--Is Cynthia Lord’s award-winning Rules considered YA fiction? I think it should be. At any rate, however you “categorize” it, it’s just good reading…sensitive, authentic, creative. Hattie Big Sky was also terrific. I couldn’t choose between them, primarily because the first is so contemporary and the second historical (which tends to be my favorite kind of fiction). Both books worth adding to your shelves.
Best Children’s Book I Re-Read This Year: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
--This was a hard choice because the sweet girl and I read so many books together this year, including The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which sort of stands in a class by itself for me. I picked Estes’ because I loved it so much as a child, hadn’t read it a long while, and was nearly knocked off my feet again by its simplicity, elegance, and honesty. I remembered it was a good story. I just hadn’t remembered how good. She was quite an artist.
Favorite "new to me" picture book: Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
-- This is one of those books that a child can climb inside and inhabit. The world it creates – of a public library visited daily by a loveable, book-loving lion – is just a wonderful place to visit. The rhythm of the story feels close to perfect, and the characters are funny and memorable. Great illustrations. We read this one over and over, roaring with delight.
Book I Wish I Hadn’t Wasted My Time Reading: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
--Hmm. I’ve been visiting some of the “mock Newbery” sites (various book groups, libraries, etc. speculating on their “short lists” of favorite books and getting ready for this Monday’s upcoming Newbery awards) and was surprised to see this had made a couple of lists. Maybe I was too hard on it when I reviewed it, but it really didn’t work for me, despite clever and creative photographs. Too much style, not enough substance. Children’s literature can do better than this. I’m thankful that it usually does.
Book I Should Have Finished (and still plan to): The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer
--I’d actually like to change this category to “Book I Want to Finish” rather than “should.” I honestly don’t know when I would have had time to finish Bauer’s great tour of ancient history, but I’ve loved keeping this one by the bed and picking it up whenever I’m in the mood to step back – way, way back! – in time. Cogent, clear, stimulating reading.
The Book That Surprised Me Most: The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin
--Wow. It’s hard to know what to say about this one. I almost listed it as my favorite “biography” this year, except it’s hard to know if one could really call it that. It’s not the story of one person as much as it is the story of a storm, a place, a time, and a developing American ethos on the frontier. I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but I was powerfully moved by it. Beautiful prose. And a book that’s inspired me to think about ways I might write history someday.
The Book That Made Me Laugh the Most: I can’t really think of one that made me laugh. Smile, yes, chortle, okay. Lots of things made me giggle with the sweet girl. But not one book really made me laugh. Yikes.
Book That Challenged Me the Most: (besides the Bible): End of the Spear by Steve Saint
--I listed the Bible in this category last year, but realized that I could list it every year! So next to the Bible, what reading challenged me most? I returned to Steve Saint’s journey in End of the Spear. What I found challenging: the depth of his trust in the sovereignty of a loving God; his patience in unfolding the “long view” of the story of his family (both his birth family and his adopted family, the Waodoni); the depth and power of forgiveness as it flows from God’s heart through one person to another person – and how that makes for peace.
And new categories this year:
Favorite new mystery writer: Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swensen mysteries
--These are just fun, really fun! I’m looking forward to another one, so I hope Fluke is working on one. I’m also hoping that Fluke’s cookie-baking sleuth Hannah will finally see the light and choose the right beau. (Pssst….pick Norman, Hannah! You won’t be sorry!)
Favorite "new to me" Spiritual Resource/Bible for Children: The Big Picture Story Bible by Helm and Shoonmaker
--I keep meaning to review this over at Epinions. The sweet girl and I have read through it twice together, and it’s really grown on me. Unlike most children’s Bibles, this one does not just provide a “sampling” of stories from Old and New Testament, but a comprehensive sweep through the Scriptures with emphases on the promises of God and on certain important Biblical themes. It’s been a great teaching tool.
Favorite book of theological reflections: Evil and the Justice of God by N.T. Wright.
--This was not an easy read, but I think it was an important one, given the reality of evil and its presence both in history and in our world today. I didn’t mention a runner-up for this category, but realized later that I probably could: I really enjoyed Michael Card’s Sacred Sorrow, which especially gave me new insights into the book of Job.
Friday, January 11, 2008
There's a Wocket in the Hamper!
Great Suessian moment last night, as the sweet girl was getting ready for bath and bed.
She'd taken off her jeans and stuffed them in the clothes hamper to be washed. Then she came running up to me. "Mommy, there's a wocket in the hamper!"
"What?"
"There's a wocket in the hamper! He was in my pocket, but I took my pants off, so now he's in our hamper!"
She'd taken off her jeans and stuffed them in the clothes hamper to be washed. Then she came running up to me. "Mommy, there's a wocket in the hamper!"
"What?"
"There's a wocket in the hamper! He was in my pocket, but I took my pants off, so now he's in our hamper!"
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
My Favorite Books of 2007
Last year I posted a list of my favorite books, and I thought I would go ahead and make it an annual tradition! So here's the bare-bones list. Reflections/annotations sometime later this week.
Some quick notes/observations: this is a completely subjective list. The list is culled from books read during 2007. Not all of them (in fact, not many of them) were published in 2007. The categories are subjective too. I made them up last year and decided to try to repeat all of them again this year; I also added a couple more.
The thing that surprised me most upon reflecting on what I read this past year was how little literary or adult fiction I actually read. Almost all the fiction I read was for young people. However, I think I read more adult non-fiction than usual...it seems to be exciting my interest far more than adult fiction. And that's just fine...though if anyone wants to recommend some good fiction titles being written for adults, I'm primed to listen!
Without further ado, the list:
Favorite Biography of the year: End of the Spear by Steve Saint
Children’s biography of the year: Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells (runner-up: The Art of Eric Carle)
Picture book author of the year: A tie between Shirley Hughes and Anna Dewdney
Best Devotional Book: God With Us by various authors (runner-up: Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner)
Best Novel I Read This Year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Best Novel I Re-Read This Year: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Best "pop culture" book: Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader by John Granger
Favorite "new to me" children’s book, mid-grade reader (8-12 year old category): tie between Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley; Princess Academy by Shannon Hale; and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Favorite "new to me" young adult book (12-15 year old): tie between Rules by Cynthia Lord (I may be stretching, this might be considered mid-grade) and Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
Best Children’s Book I Re-Read This Year: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Favorite "new to me" picture book: Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Book I Wish I Hadn’t Wasted My Time Reading: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
Book I Should Have Finished (and still plan to): The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer
The Book That Surprised Me Most: The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin
The Book That Made Me Laugh the Most: I can’t really think of one that made me laugh. Smile, yes, chortle, okay. Lots of things made me giggle with the sweet girl. But not one book really made me laugh. Yikes.
Book That Challenged Me the Most: (besides the Bible): End of the Spear by Steve Saint
And new categories this year:
Favorite new mystery writer: Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swensen mysteries
Favorite "new to me" Spiritual Resource/Bible for Children: The Big Picture Story Bible by Helm and Shoonmaker
Favorite book of theological reflections: Evil and the Justice of God by N.T. Wright
Some quick notes/observations: this is a completely subjective list. The list is culled from books read during 2007. Not all of them (in fact, not many of them) were published in 2007. The categories are subjective too. I made them up last year and decided to try to repeat all of them again this year; I also added a couple more.
The thing that surprised me most upon reflecting on what I read this past year was how little literary or adult fiction I actually read. Almost all the fiction I read was for young people. However, I think I read more adult non-fiction than usual...it seems to be exciting my interest far more than adult fiction. And that's just fine...though if anyone wants to recommend some good fiction titles being written for adults, I'm primed to listen!
Without further ado, the list:
Favorite Biography of the year: End of the Spear by Steve Saint
Children’s biography of the year: Mary on Horseback by Rosemary Wells (runner-up: The Art of Eric Carle)
Picture book author of the year: A tie between Shirley Hughes and Anna Dewdney
Best Devotional Book: God With Us by various authors (runner-up: Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner)
Best Novel I Read This Year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Best Novel I Re-Read This Year: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Best "pop culture" book: Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader by John Granger
Favorite "new to me" children’s book, mid-grade reader (8-12 year old category): tie between Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley; Princess Academy by Shannon Hale; and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Favorite "new to me" young adult book (12-15 year old): tie between Rules by Cynthia Lord (I may be stretching, this might be considered mid-grade) and Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
Best Children’s Book I Re-Read This Year: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Favorite "new to me" picture book: Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Book I Wish I Hadn’t Wasted My Time Reading: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
Book I Should Have Finished (and still plan to): The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer
The Book That Surprised Me Most: The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin
The Book That Made Me Laugh the Most: I can’t really think of one that made me laugh. Smile, yes, chortle, okay. Lots of things made me giggle with the sweet girl. But not one book really made me laugh. Yikes.
Book That Challenged Me the Most: (besides the Bible): End of the Spear by Steve Saint
And new categories this year:
Favorite new mystery writer: Joanne Fluke and her Hannah Swensen mysteries
Favorite "new to me" Spiritual Resource/Bible for Children: The Big Picture Story Bible by Helm and Shoonmaker
Favorite book of theological reflections: Evil and the Justice of God by N.T. Wright
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
"Then They Made a Celebration."
The sweet girl and I have been reading Little House on the Prairie during our daily read-aloud times. Actually, we started the book in the car during our Christmas travels (poor Daddy often hears books started, then doesn't get to finish them with us once vacation is over!).
Today we actually went outside to read. We're having bizarrely spring like weather (well, everything but the smell is right!). It's WARM -- high sixties, and sunny. We went to the little bench next to the sycamore trees and enjoyed two more chapters. I figured we might as well enjoy it while we can, as I'm sure this odd weather won't last. It gives me mixed feelings...on the one hand, I'm unutterably grateful for warmth and sun in what can be one of the hardest times of the year for me to get through here because of cold and dark. On another level, part of my mind (the part that recently watched National Geographic's Arctic Tale perhaps?) is wondering how much of this strangely warm weather is due to climate changes.
At any rate, we're enjoying Little House. I've read the books so many times that I sometimes forget what comes where (they begin to blend together in my memory) so when a favorite moment sneaks up on me, it's a real pleasure. One those moments came today as we read chapter 15, "Fever n Ague," the chapter where the entire Ingalls family comes down with malaria, though they don't realize that's what it is.
One of my favorite lines comes in the scene following their recovery...they're all still thin and tired, but well at last. Pa has used some of his recuperation time to make Ma a beautiful rocking chair from willow saplings ("it's an ill wind that doesn't blow some good" he says cheerfully, an expression that was fun to unpack)! When the chair is done, Laura writes of her family, "Then they made a celebration."
Such a wonderful phrase, and such a great description of the tiny things they do to make this particular moment festive: Ma smooths back her hair and puts on her gold pin, the girls get out the Indian bead necklace they made for Baby Carrie and put it round her neck, and they and Pa get pillows and quilt from the bed to make the rocking chair as comfortable as possible for Ma. Ma and Carrie rock in the new chair, Pa brings out his fiddle and plays (always a treat, but especially so now since he hasn't been well enough to play since the mosquitoes started biting at the beginning of the chapter) and Mary and Laura, totally contented, sit and listen.
That's it...the whole "celebration." Next time I'm fussed about trying to make elaborate preparations for a family celebration, I think I should probably remember this. Sometimes it's the small, quiet, deliberate things we do, with a heart of gratitude and thankfulness, that make the best celebrations.
It's also wonderful for what the text doesn't say. Youngest listeners might not catch the nuance, but we oldsters reading these beautiful books for the umpteenth time don't miss moments like this. Those tears glistening in Ma's eyes aren't just because she's touched by the beautiful rocking chair Pa has made. The tears are there because she knows just how ill she and the rest of her family were, and she's thankful (as only perhaps a Ma or Pa can be) that they are all together, whole and healthy.
Perhaps there's always a reason, even in the hardest of times, to make a celebration!
Today we actually went outside to read. We're having bizarrely spring like weather (well, everything but the smell is right!). It's WARM -- high sixties, and sunny. We went to the little bench next to the sycamore trees and enjoyed two more chapters. I figured we might as well enjoy it while we can, as I'm sure this odd weather won't last. It gives me mixed feelings...on the one hand, I'm unutterably grateful for warmth and sun in what can be one of the hardest times of the year for me to get through here because of cold and dark. On another level, part of my mind (the part that recently watched National Geographic's Arctic Tale perhaps?) is wondering how much of this strangely warm weather is due to climate changes.
At any rate, we're enjoying Little House. I've read the books so many times that I sometimes forget what comes where (they begin to blend together in my memory) so when a favorite moment sneaks up on me, it's a real pleasure. One those moments came today as we read chapter 15, "Fever n Ague," the chapter where the entire Ingalls family comes down with malaria, though they don't realize that's what it is.
One of my favorite lines comes in the scene following their recovery...they're all still thin and tired, but well at last. Pa has used some of his recuperation time to make Ma a beautiful rocking chair from willow saplings ("it's an ill wind that doesn't blow some good" he says cheerfully, an expression that was fun to unpack)! When the chair is done, Laura writes of her family, "Then they made a celebration."
Such a wonderful phrase, and such a great description of the tiny things they do to make this particular moment festive: Ma smooths back her hair and puts on her gold pin, the girls get out the Indian bead necklace they made for Baby Carrie and put it round her neck, and they and Pa get pillows and quilt from the bed to make the rocking chair as comfortable as possible for Ma. Ma and Carrie rock in the new chair, Pa brings out his fiddle and plays (always a treat, but especially so now since he hasn't been well enough to play since the mosquitoes started biting at the beginning of the chapter) and Mary and Laura, totally contented, sit and listen.
That's it...the whole "celebration." Next time I'm fussed about trying to make elaborate preparations for a family celebration, I think I should probably remember this. Sometimes it's the small, quiet, deliberate things we do, with a heart of gratitude and thankfulness, that make the best celebrations.
It's also wonderful for what the text doesn't say. Youngest listeners might not catch the nuance, but we oldsters reading these beautiful books for the umpteenth time don't miss moments like this. Those tears glistening in Ma's eyes aren't just because she's touched by the beautiful rocking chair Pa has made. The tears are there because she knows just how ill she and the rest of her family were, and she's thankful (as only perhaps a Ma or Pa can be) that they are all together, whole and healthy.
Perhaps there's always a reason, even in the hardest of times, to make a celebration!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Reading Round-Up, End of Year Edition
Well, here we are in the first days of 2008, and I still haven't listed the books I was busy reading in the final month or so of 2007. I thought I'd do one more reading round-up to cover that. I'm also busy trying to compile as full a list as possible of what I read during the whole year. From that, I'll pull my personal favorites list, which I hope to post sometime in the next week or so.
Reading time has been scant for the past six weeks or so, between holiday travels and end of semester grading. January looks to be plenty busy too, especially since I need to concentrate much of my reading/thinking time on the Church in England course I'll be teaching this semester. That goes online around the 24th, I think, so the reading list may look a bit heavy on English history for a while.
Currently reading:
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
C.S. Lewis, Poet by Don King
The Little House Reader compiled and edited by William Anderson
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions by George Barna
Recently read:
The Evolution of the English Churches (1500-2000) by Doreen Rosman
God With Us by various devotional writers including Richard John Neuhaus, Scott Cairns, Luci Shaw, Kathleen Norris, and Emilie Griffin
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Some other children's literature not nearly as good as the above :-)
Homeschool "stuff":
Pulling from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Susan Buffington (for some further lessons and reinforcement as the sweet girl finishes up work in 100 Easy Lessons soon)
Also printing out a downloadable copy of a fascinating Reading Primer by Harriette Taylor Treadwell and Margaret Free, copyright 1910. I plan to have the sweet girl read through the nine stories collected there during this coming spring. Some of the stories included are "The Little Red Hen," "The Gingerbread Boy," and "Chicken Little." I love finding old but terrific resources like this!
Current Favorites on the Sweet Girl's Shelf:
Llama, Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
The Twelve Days of Christmas illustrated by Jan Brett
Reading time has been scant for the past six weeks or so, between holiday travels and end of semester grading. January looks to be plenty busy too, especially since I need to concentrate much of my reading/thinking time on the Church in England course I'll be teaching this semester. That goes online around the 24th, I think, so the reading list may look a bit heavy on English history for a while.
Currently reading:
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
C.S. Lewis, Poet by Don King
The Little House Reader compiled and edited by William Anderson
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions by George Barna
Recently read:
The Evolution of the English Churches (1500-2000) by Doreen Rosman
God With Us by various devotional writers including Richard John Neuhaus, Scott Cairns, Luci Shaw, Kathleen Norris, and Emilie Griffin
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Some other children's literature not nearly as good as the above :-)
Homeschool "stuff":
Pulling from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Susan Buffington (for some further lessons and reinforcement as the sweet girl finishes up work in 100 Easy Lessons soon)
Also printing out a downloadable copy of a fascinating Reading Primer by Harriette Taylor Treadwell and Margaret Free, copyright 1910. I plan to have the sweet girl read through the nine stories collected there during this coming spring. Some of the stories included are "The Little Red Hen," "The Gingerbread Boy," and "Chicken Little." I love finding old but terrific resources like this!
Current Favorites on the Sweet Girl's Shelf:
Llama, Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney
The Twelve Days of Christmas illustrated by Jan Brett
Bless the LORD, O my soul...
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth
is renewed like the eagle's.
The LORD works righteousness and justice
for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love
toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
~Psalm 103: 2-14 (ESV)
A blessed and happy new year!
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth
is renewed like the eagle's.
The LORD works righteousness and justice
for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love
toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
~Psalm 103: 2-14 (ESV)
A blessed and happy new year!
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