Our most recent read-aloud book was Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I had never heard of this book until a few months ago when a teacher friend, Mrs. Conrad, was cleaning out her classroom and offered us some of the extra books. She mentioned this book as a classic that she just loved. Now we now why! It is a great book.

I read the book myself before reading it with my daughter. I noticed the theme of compassion running throughout this book. I asked my daughter to look for examples of compassion as we read and we found at least six different instances where one or more of the animals were showing compassion on others.

The author - Robert C. O'Brien - does a masterful job at drawing the reader into the story and giving a sense that you are right there with the animals throughout their drama. And with unexpected plot twists, the book is a real page-turner that was hard to put down.

Two thumbs up for Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH!

I had never read Sarah, Plain and Tall before but knew it is a popular "classic" book. So I ordered this one from Paperback Swap and we picked it off the shelf a week ago to read. It's a surprisingly short book, so we finished it in just one evening. At the end of the book, my daughter declared it was her new favorite book (this happens at the end of almost every book we read :-)).

I was pleased that my daughter saw numerous parallels between the situation described in the book (children with no mother; a mail-order bride/mom shows up) and what foster children must be dealing with. Having not read the book in advance, I didn't expect that, so it was a surprising conversation starter that opened our eyes to more of the feelings foster kids experience.

Another great book. Two thumbs up. Glad to have this one on the bookshelf to read again!

11/3/2010

The start of November is significant at our house. We have a November tradition - making our Thankful Tree.

October 31st or November 1st, we make a thankful tree out of construction paper. We mount it in our dining room where we see it throughout the day.

It's a simple tree trunk with 30 colorful leaves. We write one blessing on each leaf and put it on the tree. Everyone helps with ideas to put on the leaves, but snow and toys and church and food are some things that always are included.

As each day of November goes by, we take down 1 leaf and thank God that day for that blessing.

This is a simple way to make "thanksgiving" last throughout the whole month rather than just 1 day in late November. And the official Thanksgiving Day is much more meaningful when you've been cultivated a spirit of thankfulness for weeks.

It works for me!

11/2/2010

Ever since reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a few weeks back, we have picked up two other books by Roald Dahl. Next in line was Charlie and the Glass Elevator, which is intended to be a sequel. Then this week we read James and the Giant Peach.

My daughter claims this is her "new favorite" book. It's a typical Roald Dahl book full of fun and imagination. There were a few simple pictures, but most of the fantasy story is left up to the listener's imagination to run wild... as the giant peach takes off down the hill, with James and other travelers inside!

Two thumbs up from this mama and my 7-year-old for James and the Giant Peach!