Books

What We’re Reading–Christmas

Last year, I posted a list of books we read for our “Christmas in American History” unit. I decided to re-organize that list of books, removing some that we don’t normally read, and adding a few new ones for this year. Later, I’ll be creating a seperate list, which will contain the books we’re using this year for “Christmas in England,” but won’t necessarily use on a yearly basis.

Biblical/Religious Storybooks

Christmas in America

Nutcracker Read-Alouds

Book Basket Books–(These are any Christmas books we happened to have in the house, some from past “Christmas Around the World” units, and some from previous curriculum, or just for fun!)

Winter Books (As long as winter begins during the Christmas season, I’ll include the books we always read on the first day of winter)

What We’re Reading–Thanksgiving 2012

Last year, I shared a list of books that we were reading in our Thanksgiving studies. That list has been updated, to include four additional books I’ve added for this year:

Plus a few craft books that we’ve used the last several years, and a few others that I’d like to try, but I never thought to include:

I’m looking forward to this year’s “Thanksgiving School”…it’s one of my favorite units every year!

At Long Last!

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I’ve only been waiting for this book to be reprinted for…well, it seems like forever! We’ll just overlook the fact that it was published almost a year ago, and I just found about it last week. That’s just what happens during pregnancy and then having a new baby!

The Top Five–Books

I’ve occasionally shared some of “My Favorite Things” here, in various categories, but the lists always got really long. I decided to try to narrow down my true favorites in a series of “The Top Five.” I’ll start with books, since reading is one of my very favorite activities!

  • The Phantom Tollbooth–This is my favorite book from my childhood, and I love that my children are also enamored of it!
  • A Skeleton in God’s Closet–A book I was introduced to in college, and re-read every year or so. It’s one of two books that I’ve read so much, it’s actually fallen apart.
  • Gone with the Wind–My favorite book ever, and the first book I read until it disintegrated. I have a nice hardcover copy, now!
  • The Emperor Constantine–My favorite book from high school English, and the inspiration for this post, as it’s finally back in print, and I now have my very own copy!
  • The Well Trained Mind–It sounds cliché, but this book changed my life…it inspired me to homeschool! Things just haven’t been the same since…

You’ll notice one glaring omission–I didn’t include the Bible on my list. There’s a very simple explanation for that: it’s obvious. I wanted to list other books that are important to me, and the Bible is really in a class by Itself!

What We’re Reading–The Olympics

The Olympics are almost upon us–just 17 more days! Of course, an event like this means a special school unit (actually, that’s how this whole homeschooling journey started!), with special reading, crafts, and activities. Not to mention TV watching…but that’s kind of the point! I’ll share some of our crafts and other activities later, but for now, here’s our Olympics reading list…I got very lucky in that the library system carries all but one of the books I was looking for, and every one of those books was available. I’m also thankful that there are books out there for such a wide variety of ages, from preschooler on up to adult…there’s definitely something for everyone here!

I chose a selection of biographies of some famous Olympic athletes for Turkey and Bunny to read, all from the “Childhood of Famous Americans” series:

I also got some of the “official” Olympics publications, two of which are consumable books that the children will just have to share:

I have a teacher resource book, as well. The one I have is for up to grade three, which is too young for Turkey and Bunny now, but I had it from the 2008 Olympics, and I can always adjust things upward for them, and use the activities as printed for Moose and Ladybug. There is a book for older elementary students, as well, and I’m sure it’s similarly helpful:

I also found a few books that aren’t readily available here in the States, but would have made great additions to our Olympics study:

  • The Official Countdown to the London 2012 Games—This is another of the “official” books, as the title suggests, and the only one I couldn’t get my hands on. If I can find it between now and then, though, I’m definitely going to get it…it looks pretty cool!
  • Olympic Park Map–I know, not technically a book, but I think it would have been awesome to have a large-sized map to look at and practice map-reading, learn about the geography of London, and see just how many venues there are at the Olympic Games, and how spread out they all are.
  • Meet Wenlock and Mandeville–Cute-looking book featuring the Olympic mascots. I don’t think anything will ever top the Beijing mascots, which were awesome, but I also liked Izzy, so what do I know? I just like cute stuff!

Wow! Upon completing this list, even I was shocked at how many books there are to be found about the Olympics! We have to get busy reading!

Book Review: The Beauty Book

Thomas Nelson provided me with a copy of The Beauty Book by Nancy Rue, (author of “The Lily Series”), to review. This is a book meant for seven- to eleven-year-old girls, and deals with issues like hair and skin care, make-up, body piercings, tattoos, (?!?), and weight. It’s written in the style of a magazine, with lots of real questions and answers, quizzes, and journaling activities, (called “The Lily Pad”–cute).

I really wanted to like this book. The idea of a book that deals with these issues from a Christian appeals to me as a parent. Unfortunately, I wasn’t happy with the implementation, as the idea falls flat, in my opinion. While it does explore real issues that girls may face, I think that it could also end up putting ideas in girls’ heads, (especially girls on the younger end of the suggested age range). For example, weight…this is something that isn’t even on my seven-year-old’s radar, and while it might be for some, I don’t want to start her thinking that this something she needs to worry about. The same could be said for any of the other issues explored–frizzy hair, bad skin, etc. At such a young age, I don’t think girls need to be told that these are matters of concern, (it’s different if the girl brings it up herself, as a matter of personal concern), and they’re not even issues that every girl will face before the onset of puberty.

The other thing that I really dislike about this book are the “Talking to God About It” sections. I really hate the idea of forced prayer like that for any age, but especially for young children. I really don’t want my chid praying a prayer written by a person I don’t know, for a purpose I don’t really “get.” And the fill-in-the-blank nature of many of the prayers is just annoying…prayer shouldn’t be treated like one of the quizzes in the book, or a test, or anything other than what it is–praying to God.

Maybe this book will work for some families, but certainly not for ours–I can’t recommend it at all.

Book Review: “Eyes of Justice”

Thomas Nelson publishers was kind enough to provide me with a complimentary copy of the newest installment in Lis Wiehl’s “Triple Threat Series”–Eyes of Justice. I’ve been looking forward to reading this book since last spring, when the third book in the series came out. By now, I’ve become very invested in the professional and personal lives of reporter Cassidy, FBI agent Nicole, and federal prosecutor Allison. You can imagine my shock, then, when one of the Triple Threat Club had been murdered by chapter three!

When Nicole and Allison find their friend Cassidy murdered in her own condo, they’re determined to get justice for her. Their first thought is to pin the blame on Cassidy’s abusive ex-boyfriend, cop Rick McEwan. But Cassidy had angered a lot of criminals in the course of her reporting…could one of them have sought revenge? But when the killer starts targeting the rest of the Triple Threat Club, it becomes clear that the motive was bigger than Cassidy’s past relationship or reporting. Can PI Ophelia help Allison and Nicole before it’s too late? Or will the entire Triple Threat Club fall victim to a crazed killer?

I’m curious to see if this series will continue. Obviously, the original Triple Threat Club no longer exists. The author, however, did leave it open for a new Triple Threat Club to form, with a new member, which would allow for the series to continue on. I guess only time will tell, but I’m hopeful, because I really don’t want to say goodbye to Nicole and Allison yet. Like the earlier books in the series, I lovved this one, and I’m looking forward to (hopefully) reading more!

What We’re Reading–The Time of Easter

We have a lot of books for the Time of Easter, which begins with Ash Wednesday, (the start of Lent), and ends with the Day of Pentecost. The focus of most of these books is Easter itself, with the time leading up to Easter being secondary in most cases. I work really hard to make sure we don’t read any resurrection stories before Easter Sunday, which can be a bit of a challenge–sometimes, we can only read a part of book during Lent, and then have to wait until Easter Sunday, (and the days following), to finish it. I’m not nearly so fastidious during Advent, when we read Christmas stories all season long.

I’m also very careful to keep only religious Easter books around–nothing secular at all, so the list isn’t long compared to our Christmas collection. It actually makes me a little sad that there are so fewer options at Easter, when Easter is an even more important festival than Christmas. Again, at Christmas, I’m a bit more flexible in what we read, especially stories that showcase how Christmas is celebrated in other countries or at other times in history, although I do try to stay away from Santa stories wherever possible. You won’t find any “Easter Bunny” in our Easter readings, though–I really want to emphasize that which is sacred at this time of year!

All that being said, I thought I’d share the books that we do look forward to reading every year at Easter time, most of which are published by CPH!

  • Amon’s Adventure–Like its counterparts for the season of Advent, this book by Arnold Ytreeide is meant to be read throughout Lent. It is not divided into daily readings, however…that’s up to the reader to organize. I find that a bit irritating, because, unlike Advent, which can have a varying number of days, Lent always has the same number of days, and should have been easier to write into daily readings. Except for Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, I chose to forgo readings on Wednesdays and Sundays, and split a few of the longer chapters up over two days, in order to stretch out the readings to last through the whole season of Lent.
  • The Very First Easter–A fantastic book by Paul Maier, which tells the whole Easter story. This is a follow-up to another family favorite, The Very First Christmas, and like the Christmas story, Maier’s Easter tale is Biblical, well-written, and has beautiful illustrations.
  • The Very First Christians–Sometime between Easter and Pentecost, we read the follow-up to The Very First Easter, which focuses on Pentecost and the early church. Like all of Paul Maier’s other books, this one is also excellent.
  • The Real Story of the Exodus–A different series, but also by Paul Maier, this is a good book to read on Maundy Thursday, to make the connection between the first Passover and the Lord’s Supper.
  • That’s My Colt!–This is a story about a boy whose pet had a special purpose on Palm Sunday, and then continues to follow the story through all of Holy Week.
  • Easter ABCs–This is a new book for us this year. I got it mostly for Ladybug’s benefit, and as the title suggests, it goes through the alphabet letter by letter, and mentions some aspect of Easter for each.
  • The Easter Cave–This is a rhyming book, with each line building upon the last. It’s especially good for preschoolers, as they can help “read” the story through the repetition.
  • Things I See At Easter–The children are really too old for this book, but it’s good practice for Moose to read it, and the simple pictures are good for both him and Ladybug to look at and connect to this time of the church year.
  • The Time of Easter–We all still love the story of Smidge and Smudge, two mice living in a church, learning about the church year. As the title suggests, they learn all about Lent through Pentecost in this title.
  • The Story Bible–Through the course of our Jesus Tree readings, we’ll be reading the whole Holy Week/Easter story in this children’s Bible. I’m very impressed with this particular Bible, and if I didn’t already have it, I might have bought The Easter Story, which is taken directly from The Story Bible, and includes all of the parts of the Easter story.
  • Before and After Easter: Activities and Ideas – Lent to Pentecost–I know, I know…a book from Augsburg Fortress? But, I found that there are some good stories and activities in this book, even if I don’t use everything in it.
  • Celebrate Jesus! At Easter–This isn’t a read aloud book, or a children’s book…it’s more of a devotional. And while we don’t use it daily, it does have lots of good ideas, Bible verses, and hymns that can be implemented throughout the Easter season.
  • A Very Blessed Easter Activity Book–OK, technically this isn’t a book we’re reading, either. But it is a reproducible book with fun crafts, puzzles, and Easter pictures. The reproducible part means we’ll get a lot of use out of it, and it’s good for a variety of ages, so I can find something for everybody in it at this point.

Book Review: “Waking Hours”

Thomas Nelson was kind enough to provide me with a review copy of the first book in Lis Wiehl’s newest series, (the “East Salem Trilogy”), Waking Hours.

I’ve been a fan of Wiehl’s writing ever since I read the first “Triple Threat” novel a few years ago, so I was hoping for something along those lines. In some ways, I wasn’t disappointed. There is plenty of mystery and suspense in this story, which focuses on the murder of a New York high school student. Was another teenager responsible for her death? It’s up to Dani Harris, a forensic psychiatrist, to solve the case. Reunited with an old high school love interest, there’s a healthy dose of romance thrown in, as well as a mysterious, supernatural bent to this murder, and another crime in town.

In some ways, this reads like a Christian version of Castle, (or the corresponding Nikki Heat books), so you’d think I’d love it. But I’m not a huge fan of supernatural mysteries, so I had a more difficult time getting into this story than you might expect. On the other hand, if you’re a big fan of books like this, (think Frank Peretti), you’ll probably love it. Like the “Triple Threat” books, it’s well-written, has good characters, and will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Book Review: The Carpenter’s Gift

If you haven’t had the chance to read the new children’s Christmas book, The Carpenter’s Gift, by David Rubel, then you’re missing out!

It’s a story, part fact, part fiction, about the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. It begins during the Great Depression, with Henry and his father selling Christmas trees in New York City, adjacent to where construction workers are building Rockefeller Center. The construction workers are touched by the family’s story, and by their kindness in leaving a Christmas tree for the workers to enjoy, and so the construction crew repays their generosity by building them a new, warm house, to replace the drafty shack they had been living in.

Henry never forgets their kindness, and plants a pinecone near their new home as a remembrance. As he and the spruce tree grow up, his fortunes improve, and he gets married and has a family of his own. As an old man, living alone, he ends up back at the old family homestead, where he continues to lovingly care for his home. He is faced with a decision when he is approached to donate his grand spruce tree to Rockefeller Center, to be the big Christmas tree for the year. Should he let it go? His decision is made for him, however, when he learns what becomes of the tree at the end of the Christmas season–and that’s where the facts in the story come in. Habitat for Humanity planes the tree, and uses it to build affordable homes for people who might not otherwise be able to have a home of their own.

The fictional part of the story is well-written and touching, and the factual part is eye-opening. I had no idea that the Rockefeller Center tree was used for such purposes after Christmas was over! It’s a great story that gives children an idea of what living through the Great Depression might have been like, as well as encourages a spirit of giving at Christmastime–and all without mentioning Santa once! I think this story will be a family favorite for years to come.