I'm just trying to walk myself home.
Browsing Tag
Pride and Prejudice for Wee Ones! Friends! We’ve discovered the most adorable series of board books based on English classics. Pride and Prejudice will always be one of my very favorite stories! We watched the 1995 BBC version recently and I fell in love all over again. Mother and I found this darling book in …
Let Freedom Sing is a new book this season about the Civil Rights Movement. Vanessa Newton is the author and illustrator of this striking picture book. The story follows the major events of the Movement where individuals let their lights shine, beginning with Rosa Parks and ending with Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing the Civil Rights …
Since we saw the pandas at the Memphis Zoo on Sunday, we’ve been reading this Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle treasure, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? I love all the books in this series, but this one uses all endangered animals, so it is a great learning tool. The way these books progress …
At the recommendation of a favorite teacher, I picked up A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park for the kids at the library. It is based on the true story of one of the lost boys of Sudan, who leaves his village during an attack. He is separated from his family and left …
A few weeks ago for Martin Luther King Jr Day, we watched the movie, Ruby Bridges. It is such a wonderful movie. Mary Polly first saw it in elementary school and so we checked it out at the library and watched it as a family after she told us about it. Simon was a …
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen was our latest evening read aloud at the Chino House. An old favorite, this book won the Newberry medal in 1957. It is a precious story of a family who returns to the mother’s ancestral home in the country when the father has trouble re-entering life after being …
It’s important to me at all times of the year to be reading about a culture that makes up half of the town I live in here in Arkansas, but especially during Black History month, I try to introduce some new aspect of African-American history at the Chino House. This year we are looking at …
Have you seen this precious new book from the author/illustrator duo, Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago? A few years ago, they brought the world The Jesus Storybook Bible, which is my most favorite children’s Bible ever. Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing is already a treasure at our house. It is a beautiful devotional book for …
After seeing Antoni Gaudi’s work in Barcelona, I have been reading books about him. I also found these two children’s books about Antoni Gaudi that I read to Simon and Ben about this amazing architect and his life. They both have beautiful illustrations of Gaudi’s work. I think it would be fun to use …
The Rusty Trusty Tractor Ben went through a phase of wanting to hear The Rusty Trusty Tractor by Joy Cowley every night when he was little. And now Simon is loving this story just as much. It is about a grandfather and grandson who are working to bring in their crop of hay with an …
To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda has been a favorite silly story at the Chino House for years. It’s a modern take on the old nursery rhyme by the same name. A lady makes multiple trips to the market for animals that keep running away. She loses all control of her purchases. The animals …
I couldn’t wait to introduce Cole to Mr Putter Books when he was little. I would get them in piles from the library and at first, he would flip through them and find all the modes of transportation. He really liked trucks. But soon he fell in love with Mr. Putter and Tabby the cat, …
My sweet Aunt Jeanne gave my kids the children’s version of the wildly popular Jesus Calling for Christmas this year. Since school started, we’ve been using this devotion book in the mornings to connect for a minute with God and each other before we all run off in different directions. My mom uses this devotional …
Every year I give the kids a new book on the first day of summer. I picked The Great Wide Sea by M. H. Herlong out for Ben because in addition to the appealing cover and exciting storyline, the main character’s name is Ben. He read it the first day of summer, handed it to …
A couple of the books that have found their way into our home and hearts this spring are Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell and Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu. I read Chicken Boy with my fourth grade reading club at my local neighborhood school. Tobin’s family loses their way after cancer takes their mom, and …
I’ve been reading the Chronicles of Narnia aloud again this spring to Ben and Simon at bedtime. Since this is Ben’s second listen through, he requested that we read them in the order in which the events occur (the new order) instead of the order in which they were written which is how I …
NPR’s All Things Considered came to eStem Middle School to do one of their Backseat Book Clubs last month. Mary Polly and several other students got to meet local author Trenton Lee Stewart and ask him questions about his books. Mary Polly’s question was chosen for the program that aired this past Tuesday. (She …
The Monster in The Hollows by Andrew Peterson We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the third Wingfeather Saga book since reading the first two last year. I promise I could not love the sweet children in this story more. They are beginning to occupy spots in our hearts next to Edmund and …
We fell in love with The Wingfeather Series this spring. The books are by one of our favorite singer/songwriters, Andrew Peterson. He sings a song called Dreams on his album for children about a kid who is looking for pirates, dragons and all sorts of adventures. In my mind, these books are those adventures. My …
I picked up January’s Sparrow by Patricia Polacco from the library yesterday and I cannot think of a better way to start the season that we remember so many who have paved the way for change for the better with their blood. Patricia Polacco’s books never disappoint, but when I saw this cover I just …