Deenie

Like many woman my age who were avid readers as a child, I so enjoyed Judy Blume books but one that really connects with me now and that I read in April is Deenie. It is about a girl who finds out she has scoliosis and must wear a brace. My daughter too has scholiosis and this past January she began to wear a brace. The character Deenie though has a mother who is determined to have her become a model even though Deenie herself has no interest in becoming a model. In the midst of all this, Deenie discovers she has scholiosis and unfortunately her mother decides there is no way she can model. The mother gives each of her daughters labels and they must live up to them. Deenie is the pretty one while her sister is the smart one. Deenie really struggles with having to wear the intrusive brace which unlike braces of today, weren't not hidden underneath clothes and also had a part that came up around her neck. This book has a happy ending. Her friends really come through for her and she is able to accept her scholiosis and wearing her brace.

cover picture from Amazon.

This was a great book I read over the summer. I do like historical fiction so I am biased towards this book. It is about a girl living in Little Rock during the time of school segration but now the first black students are being admitted to the school. What makes this book feel real is that her parents don't agree on whether African American students should come to the white schools. The parents disagree and argue about it even as both work in the public schools.  The character in the story goes on to befriend a girl who happens to be black although she is passing herself off as white to attend their school. Marlee, the main character struggles socially but manages to become good friends with this new girl. There are a lot of issues going on in this book, racial issues, social anxiety and sibling rivalry which also makes this is intriguing book.

Wondering about wonders of the world?

I just discovered this site and signed up for the emails but I think it would be a fun morning activity for students in a class or for a family. The site is called Wonderopolis: where the wonders of learning never cease. Here is the link: Wonderopolis
The site is split into wonder of the day, explore wonders and what are you wondering? Wonder of the day features one wonder or question of the day such as who created escalators, why do you need your toes and my favorite, who invented candy bars.  On the page claaed explore wonders, you can search through wonders and they have a filter system where you can search by grade or subject matter. As you wondered, What are you wondering section allows you to pose a question or a wonder by email. You can also sign up to get a wonder of the day email. For those trivia lovers out there, this is for you!

Tango: The Tail of An Island Dog

I picked this book because it was on the Massachusetts Book Award list for last year. Children love anything to do with animals so I thought it woudl be a crowd pleaser of a book. Some where in a review of the book, it was described as a Charlotte's Web for older children and that is spot on. The dog who is the main character starts off life as the over indulged pet of wealthy Manhattanites.  He has a great life but when they set off for sail up to Maine, Tango is lost over board in a storm and ends up in a world opposite of his one in New York. We get to hear the point of view of many of the town animals, from the rats to the cats and not all are nice in fact, some are quite scheming. We also are introduced to some nice and not so nice people in the town and also an orphan is has been brought to live with her uncle and his less than pleased wife. There are many up and downs but this is an interesting book with a happy ending.

 This book to me is a classic. It is a cute story of a tree that is too tall for Mr. Willowby and he trims off the top. Well, then the top goes to the upstairs maid and it is too tall for her so then it goes to a bear and so on and so on. Animals who get the top include rabbits, fox and mice. The illustrations are simple, green, black and white. I enjoy reading this every year. The next book is one I just started to appreciate this year, Dream Snow by Eric Carle.  I am not sure how I missed it but it is a simple story of a farmer and his 5 animals and his tree. The children enjoyed guessing which animal is under the blanket of snow and at the end there is a button to push that will play music reminiscent of the Firefly book where the back pager lights up. If you are looking for a laugh, read Guess Who's Coming to Dinner at Sant's by Tomie DePaolo. It is funny look at the Santa's family all gathering for dinner including uncles who argue like children, an aunt with a skill for slipping things into her purse,      and a friend who brings an over the top guest. I thought the students may not laugh as much as I did but they just about did.

Halloween Stories

This week I wanted to tie in a Halloween story with talking about characters in stories and using adjectives to describe the characters. For First Grade I picked The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Denys Cazet. I stumbled across the book at my public library and I am a fan. It is a great story to read out loud. You can do a fun voice for the ghost and he always uses rhymes. There are 3 distinct characters so it easy to get 1st graders to talk about them. The illustrations get the children's attention as well as the story.




My 2nd book to read about Halloween was The Widow's Broom and we read it because basically the wireless was down so I had a good excuse to enjoy a good story. The Widow's Broom is by Chris Van Allsburg so you are guaranteed a spooky and strange story. This isn't a Halloween story per se but it involves a witch's broom.  His illustrations of the witch falling from the broom are fantastic and one of the reason I truly like reading his books because the art is as good as the story.

Pumpkin time!

In first grade we read How Many Seeds In A Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara.  I probably enjoy this a little too much because like so many others I really like pumpkin but particularly in the form of a pumpkin spice latte or muffin. I read this book with first grade and kindergartners and I bring in 3 different sized pumpkins and just like the class in the book, we take guesses about which pumpkin will have the most seeds. We also estimate about how many seeds will be in each pumpkin which is always entertaining. Next week I will come back with the seed count for each pumpkin so my children and I will get to have some fun at home. We will also have ready to carve pumpkins. Enjoy the fall.