Flowers!

It's spring!  Rain is falling in Southern California (shocker!!) and flowers are blooming everywhere!  It's the perfect time to read some picture books about flowers as we all start working on those gardens!!

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert:  I am a huge fan of this bright, bold, colorful book.  We follow plants from their start as bulbs or seeds, add water and sun, and watch as the rainbow garden grows. The plants are labeled throughout the book, and even though they're drawn abstractly, my daughter was still able to properly identify some of the same flowers in our neighborhood based on this book.  And how cool is that -- planting flowers in a garden so that when they bloom, they're in the order of a rainbow -- red orange yellow green blue purple!  My gal's favorite color is blue, and so her favorite page of the book shows all blue flowers:  morning glories, delphinium, hyacinth and cornflowers.  Love it!  We want to plant a rainbow garden of our own!

Alison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel:  The flowers are so beautifully drawn in the book, that even though it's an alphabet book (with a flower for each letter of the alphabet), that's not where the eye is drawn to.  It's on the realistic illustrations.  My daughter liked comparing the flowers in this book to those in Planting a Rainbow (above) as she learned about the difference between realistic and abstract styles of art.

Wildflower ABC:  An Alphabet of Potato Prints by Diana Pomeroy:  This is another alphabet book with a flower for each letter -- but it's different for several reasons.  First, it's about wildflowers, not your typical garden flowers.  (For example, the other two books above have daffodils in them -- this has a dandelion for "D".)  Also,  the method the author used -- potato prints -- is different from the normal style of illustrating books.  This was an art form that I needed/wanted to learn more about (see the links below).  And as they're wildflowers, during the drought we're experiencing in Southern California, it's nice to see more natural, water-conserving plants highlighted.

Learn More:

• KidsGardening!:  Not sure how to start a garden with your kids?  What are cool plants to grow?  And how do you keep them interested once the planting is done?  There are tons of recommendations in their Family Room.  Want to start a garden with your class?  Need to find a grant to get one going?  Check out the Teachers' Resource Room. 

• Try making some potato prints yourself!  For basic ones, try this one at World Book or this one at Family Education.   For getting fancy and trying something more advanced, check out how to make Shaded Potato Prints, which also has a brief interview with Diana Pomeroy on how she makes her prints for her books.

• Flower Crafts for Kids:  There are all kinds of fun flower crafts here!

• Flower Origami for Kids:  Origami is cool.  Flowers are cool.  Perfect!

• Wildflower Coloring Pages:  The US Forest Service provides AMAZING pictures to color.  They have color-by-numbers, coloring books, even noxious weeds!!

Bear with me...

Life is getting really crazy right now!  When I finally get time to sit down and blog... I'm just too darn tired to do it!  Things promise to get better towards the end of March -- by the beginning of April I should be up and blogging regularly.  Thanks for your patience, and please check back in April for more regular book reviews!!  -- Stacy

The Homeschool Liberation League

The Homeschool Liberation League by Lucy Frank

Do NOT judge this book by the cover.  Literally.  The cover does not do this book justice at all.  It gives it the appearance of being some chic-lit book.  And while, granted, it does involve a little teenage romance, that is not the focus of the book.  The cover sells it short.  And now...

I could not put down The Homeschool Liberation League.  I did not expect this book to be the page-turner that it is -- and I am not it's intended audience of a middle-school reader.  In a nutshell, an eighth-grade girl, Katya, finds that after attending a summer science camp, she can no longer bear going to middle school.  Pretending to be someone she's not so she fits in, memorizing things for tests and then forgetting them, and wasting hours doing something at school that she could complete at home herself more efficiently all fuel this decision.  Oh, and Katya wants to dump her boyfriend as well.  And so the first day of school, she gets off the bus... and turns around to walk home.

Katya's parents are school-people -- as are most Americans -- unaware of what options are out there besides public school and how to learn outside of that institution.  They give her a month to try homeschooling, not sure they're doing the right thing for their daughter.  Katya wants to unschool, but her parents download worksheets and have her help in her mother's beauty salon instead.  Nobody is happy with the way things are going.

Along the way Katya meets Milo, a homeschooler who wants to attend school, and she befriends Francesca, a popular student at school also pretending to be someone she's not.  They form the Homeschool Liberation League, as they help each other to achieve their schooling-style goals.

Homeschooling, unschooling, online curriculum, charter schools -- all sorts of options to education outside of the traditional school are presented.  I also appreciated that the homeschoolers were not former hippies or doing it for religious reasons of some sort, as are frequently portrayed in fiction about homeschooling.  These are everyday people -- possibly your next door neighbors.

Learn More:

Books about homeschooling

• Teach Your Own:  The John Holt Book of Homeschooling by John Holt & Pat Farenga.  John Holt was one of the earlier advocates of homeschooling as a way to reform school.  On education, he said:  "...the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we need to learn; we are good at it; we don't need to be shown how or made to do it. made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it."   This quote is taken from a a conversation with Holt on The Natural Child Project.

• Kayta wanted to "unschool".  When homeschooling, giving your child the freedom to learn about what they want, when they want, and how they want, pretty much sums up unschooling.  I found these books very helpful in learning about this:  The Unschooling Unmanual by Jan Hunt and The Unschooling Handbook:  How To Use the Whole World as Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith.

• "But what about socialization?!"  That's the first thing you hear out of basically everyone's mouth when you tell them you're homeschooling your kids.  Try reading The Well-Adjusted Child:  The Social Benefits of Homeschooling by Rachel Gathercole, and that should answer that question!! 

Websites about homeschooling

• Learn in Freedom!  Education Reform, Home-Schooling Resources.  To quote:  "This site is about learning in freedom, taking responsibility for your own learning. It shows you how to use your own initiative in learning, so you can use schools and teachers just when they are helpful to you, and voluntarily chosen by you."   This has a very comprehensive list of websites to check out!

•  Is homeschooling legal?  Visit The HSLDA:  Home School Legal Defense Association

• I'm a member of the California Homeschool Network.  They've got a conference every year that is very helpful.   Check out The Home School Mom to find resources in your state.  Or visit Yahoo Groups.  Homeschoolers have a very active social life!!

Counting Colors

Counting Colors by Roger Priddy

If you're ever looking for a gift to give to someone under 1, this is it.  Counting Colors:  Search for the hidden objects and learn your colors and numbers (or Seek & Find in the newer version) is a book that your child can grow with.  They say it's for ages 2 and up  -- but I think it's a great book for babies as well.  I have a 9-month old who loves it.

Each two-page spread is dedicated to one color, and there is absolutely no question at all what the color is.  The text, which is written in the border around the pages, challenges children to find different objects scattered along the pages.  (For example, 1 squawking parrot, 2 roses, 3 airplanes)  Then against a white background are amazingly vivid photos of hearts, tomatoes, shoes, ladybugs, etc of all sizes.  Look at the cover above -- wow!

So you can use the book multiple ways:
1)  teach colors
2)  name objects
3)  teach numbers and counting
4)  search-n-find

A winner, all the way around.  This is published by Priddy Books, and I haven't seen a book by them that I don't like!  They are aces for their clear, colorful photos. 

Other great Priddy Books (my daughters love these):

• My Big Truck Book: I desperately needed help to teach my daughter the names of construction trucks!
• Animals, Colors, First Words, Trucks:  four separate books, and wow!!
  
• Happy Baby Words:  This has a little bit of everything (colors, body parts, toys, food, clothing, etc)
• Baby Mates:  In the Bath  -- This was my older daughter's first bath book.  She LOVED it and now it's a favorite of my younger daughter as well.   There is a rubber duck attached to this -- lots of fun!
• Baby Touch & Feel Puppy Love:  Such soft cuddly puppies!  I'm not a dog person and I love it!
  

Other great books that teach colors:

• Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert also teaches about flowers and will inspire you to start a garden
• My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss compares colors to emotions
• What Color is Your Underwear by Sam Lloyd is a funny lift-the-flap book that teachers colors and the importance of underwear!
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, both illustrated by Eric Carle.
• The M&M's Brand Counting Book by Barbara Barbieri McGrath is a FUN AND YUMMY way to teach colors and counting!  Make sure you have a pack of M&M's ready when you read this book. My homeschooled daughter says, "mom, let's do math!" with a big smile on her face when she pulls this book out.   

Learn More:

• Priddy Books on the web!
  

• Fun ideas for teaching colors to little ones! 

• Smart Snacks Rainbow Color Cones:  This is the most awesome toy!  We bought it when my oldest daughter was 2.  It's basically an ice cream cone with removable scoops of ice cream that can be attached to it.  For example:  (Mom) Please may I have a vanilla / chocolate / strawberry triple-scooper?  (Daughter) Coming right up!  And she hands me the cone with a scoop of white, brown, and pink ice cream on it.  Teach colors and their corresponding flavors.  It's still a favorite toy and she's almost 5 years old now.   

• Uno:  Remember playing this game as a kid?  It's perfect for teaching both colors and numbers.  We play this regularly at my house.  While my daughter still needs to learn how to hold a deck of cards... she also needs to learn how to not be a sore loser.   Fun for the whole family -- you can even get big brother/sister to play!
  

Tumtum & Nutmeg

Tumtum & Nutmeg:  Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall by Emily Bearn, illustrated by Nick Price

My daughter is in preschool and is crazy about books and movies where animals talk.  She is especially fond of rodents (by definition a rodent is a mammal whose incisors do not stop growing), and particularly mice.  While I was looking for a book by Judy Blume at the library, my eyes were immediately attracted to a book by another "B" author, Emily Bearn, which on the thick spine had a drawing of two mice in clothing!  I've been looking for a chapter book to read to my daughter, and this one, which is written at the 2nd-4th grader reading level, turned out to be perfect!

Mr. and Mrs. Nutmouse live in the broom cupboard of Rose Cottage in Nutmouse Hall.  They enjoy the quiet life in their mansion.  Despite the fact that there is a banquet room, billiard room, and a ballroom -- 36 rooms in all -- Mr. Nutmouse prefers to spend the evening reading with his feet up by the fireplace and Mrs. Nutmouse cooking or sewing.  Tumtum (as Mr. Nutmouse is called because he has a bit of a tummy) and Nutmeg (called so because her fur is that color) would probably have lived out their days quietly.  However, they occasionally scamper into Rose Cottage, and find that the family there is not doing well at all.  The widower Mr. Mildew is such an absent-minded inventor that his house is in total disarray.  And so Nutmeg's maternal instincts kick in, and she and Tumtum begin to watch over the children, Lucy and Arthur.  They never dreamed that so many adventures would come to them because of this!

Three books are contained in this volume.  In the first, "Tumtum & Nutmeg", the Nutmouses secretly begin to tidy up the house, darn holes in socks, and occasionally rest in Lucy's dollhouse.  The children find traces of it being inhabited, and a letter-writing relationship between Nutmeg and the children is established in which she calls herself "a fairy of sorts".  When evil Aunt Ivy comes to visit, the Nutmouse family faces extermination, and so General Marchmouse rallies the troops and they hasten her departure from Rose Cottage, as she was making the children miserable as well.  The method they use to do so... well, without giving the story away, let me just say that it had my husband and daughter busting a gut from laughing so much!

In "The Great Escape", General Marchmouse, who is retired and longing for adventure, comes to visit the Nutmouses.  Arthur and Lucy's toys are too much for him to resist, and he goes from creating mock battles in the attic with toy soldiers to being held prisoner in a cage with naked gerbils at school!!  And finally, "The Pirates' Treasure" finds our dear Nutmouses secretly joining the children on a camping trip as Nutmeg is worried about them.  Then General Marchmouse shows up -- everyone roll your eyes, because you know an unwanted adventure is about to begin -- and the mice find themselves stealing Arthur's toy boat, crashing it into the newly named Marchmouse Island, and using their wits (and some help from the children) to escape from the pirate Rats!

As soon as we finished the book (503 pages in all), my daughter wanted me to immediately start reading it again.  There were some parts in the book that were very intense for her.  She is a VERY sensitive 4-year old, and the threat of death was in each story. Consequently we read for a long time some nights, so she wouldn't go to bed upset. But if your child is in the publisher's recommended age range, no worries.  My husband enjoyed listening to it as well, cozying up on the couch with us each evening.  He even mentioned that he was impressed with some of the vocabulary used in it as well.

The illustrations in the book are just lovely in black and white and add a rustic feel to this English import.  As for myself, I'm not a fan of the talking-animal genre... but it won me over as well!  I'm going to add this one to our home library.

Other chapter books about mice you might enjoy:   

• The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
• Stuart Little by E.B. White (one of my husband's childhood favorites)
• The Ralph Mouse Collection:  The Mouse and the Motorcyle, Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
• Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos by Robert Lawson
• Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk (this one is a picture book but it's great!)
  

Learn More:

•  Tumtum & Nutmeg Official Website:  Learn more about the world of Tumtum & Nutmeg.  Visit the gallery to see illustrations from the book.  Check out the chapter sampler read a bit of the book online.  Nutmeg shares her favorite recipes with you, and there are some fun pages to print as well.
  

• What You Should Know About Selecting a Pet Rodent by the American Veterinary Medical Association -- because they will ask about a pet mouse after reading this book 
  

• Found:  A New Rodent!  A Time for Kids article
  

• Kid's Corner of the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association has a kid's care guide for mice and rats, as well as printable coloring pages, puzzles/games (wordsearch, connect the dots, crossword, mazes, etc), and a paper doll rat family.
  

• Calico Critters:  These are ADORABLE little figures!  They have two mice families, the Norwood Mouse Family (pictured) and the Milky Mouse Family, and they can live in Cloverleaf Manor (among other fashionable toy houses).  The furniture they come with -- wow -- it's so cute!  There are all sorts of accessories that I am sure Nutmeg would use in her kitchen.  You could totally pretend you've got your own Nutmouse family!!  Of course, there are also squirrel, bunnies, chipmunks, etc etc -- but we ARE reading a book about mice!  Good for hours and hours of fun!  (I threw a few of these items into my store -- there are a TON more at Amazon!)
  

The Legend of Saint Nicholas

The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi

Why is Santa Claus also called St. Nick?  That was something I never understood growing up.  This biography by Demi will definitely satisfy your curiosity!  Known for her richly detailed and brightly colored illustrations influenced by Eastern themes, this book is a feast for the eyes as well.

The book starts with baby Nicholas, born in 280 AD in what is now  Turkey.  On the day he was born he "stood up in his bath and prayed to God!"   Nicholas is a very devoted Christian who is upset with suffering in the world and devotes his life to easing sorrow.  Appointed the youngest bishop ever, Nicholas goes on to become the patron saint of many (including butchers and prisoners!) but most importantly, children.  His life story is full of miracles relating to children, and because of that his feast day on December 6th was cause for great celebration.  This led to giving gifts in St. Nicholas' name during the Christmas season.  Sinter Klaas, as he was known to the Dutch, came to New Amsterdam (now New York) and over time Sinter Klass was transformed into Santa Claus.  The endpages are decorated with images of how Santa Claus is represented in different countries.

This book is appropriate for elementary school-aged children.  It's a biography -- not a fuzzy storybook.   For the younger ones, be aware that there is a wicked man in the story who kidnaps and kills three little boys, soaks them in brine and intends to serve them as food.  However, Nicholas comes to their rescues and returns the boys to life.   It's only four sentences and one illustration of a man wrestling with a child... but something I wanted to make you aware of.  I read this to my 4-year old and I cringed as I read it, not quite sure how she would react.  But I suppose if you regularly read fairy tales to your kids, it's no worse than that. 

Learn More:

• Demi has also written books on other historical figures such as Ghandi, Buddha, Dalai Lama, Genghis Khan, Muhammad, King Tut, Mother Teresa, and Jesus (among others).  The text for her book on Jesus is passages taken directly from the Bible and so is definitely for older children -- or even adults -- but wow, so beautiful!  Actually, she's written/illustrated over 100 books, many of which are Asian folk tales.  

• St. Nicholas:  Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus -- Learn more about Saint Nicholas and how his feast day is celebrated all over the world.  Locate St. Nicholas churches, find classroom lesson plans, crafts, games -- everything and anything about St. Nicholas!! 

• Use The Legend of Saint Nicholas for a social studies lesson.  Follow Nicholas' journeys using the map in the front of the book or on a globe.  Identify where the Santas are from on the endpages.  The Santa holding the beer stein is pretty obvious (Germany) as is the Santa with the bagpipes or a shamrock.  But others are a bit tricky!! 
  

• Official NORAD Santa Tracker:  Follow Santa's journey across the globe on Christmas Eve with NORAD -- yes, the military organization that tracks airspace also helps out Santa! 

• Contrary to popular belief, the modern image of Santa Claus was not created for Coca-Cola advertisements. 

• Christmas Traditions Around the World:  pretty self-explanatory!
  

Free-Range Kids

Free-Range Kids:  Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry by Lenore Skenazy

How many of you spent hours playing outside unsupervised when you were a kid?  Made a dirt bike path in that big vacant lot?  Walked to school by yourself?  Ran down to the grocery store to get some milk for your mom?  Were dropped off at the mall to hang out with friends?  Played along the stream in the nature preserve down the street?  Yep, I see you nodding your heads.  A lot of great childhood memories, I'm sure.

Now, how many of you would let your own child do these things?

That's what I thought.

We've all been freaked out by abduction stories we've seen on the news, and safety "warnings" we've seen forwarded around in emails.  There are parents who won't even let their preteens play basketball in their own driveway unsupervised.  Parents who won't let their kids walk to school when it's a half a block away from their house.  What is this world coming to?  What is so different today than from when we were kids that parents have begun being paranoid the way they have?

Free-Range Kids is written by Lenore Skenazy.  You may be more familiar with her by the name the media gave her:  "America's Worst Mom".  You know who she is -- that mother who let her nine-year old son ride the subway in New York?  I see you nodding your head again.

In her book, Lenore shares some really eye-opening information that may make you re-think your own parenting philosophy, as it did mine.  Did you know that according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center, violent crime in America has been falling since it peaked in the '90s, and children today are statistically as safe from violent crime as when we parents were growing up in the '70s-'90s?  Childhood abductions have not increased -- they're just talked about more thanks to sensationalistic TV news headlines and round-the-clock news channels.

Lenore states that "the problem is that we parents feel that childhood is more dangerous for our kids than it was for us" and in the book looks at where those fears come from and why they're difficult to give up.  Personally, after reading this book, I felt a tremendous weight lifted off of my chest.  I've since started taking baby steps towards being a free-range parent. 

Whether or not you agree with free-range parenting, I think it would benefit all parents to read this book.  After all, we're all trying to do the same thing:  "Raising happy, responsible, independent young people is parenting's goal."  And that's coming from America's Worst Mom.

Learn More:

• Free-Range Kids Blog:  "At Free Range, we believe in safe kids. We believe in helmets, car seats and safety belts. We do NOT believe that every time school age children go outside, they need a security detail."  Chime in with your thoughts!  This is the author's blog. 

• Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods:  You've heard about this guy too.  Louv claims that  "the child in nature is an endangered species".  Lenore also mentioned him several times in her book -- children are suffering from what he calls nature-deficit disorder, and part of the reason why is they don't get much time outdoors -- much less unsupervised time -- because people are so paranoid about their kids being hurt / abducted.  His website has resources such as Nature Activities for Kids and Families, Books and Websites, and tons of other great stuff.
  

• A great Baby Blues comic about free-range kids! 

Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas

Fancy Nancy:  Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Nancy loves Christmas time, because everything is fancy this time of year!  From choosing a tree, to decorating the house and cookies, to caroling at Mrs. DeVine's, Nancy's joy is contagious.  But an impatient little girl gets a little too exuberant and -- uh-oh -- will her Christmas tree be ruined?  Grandpa comes to the rescue and teaches Nancy to improvise ("that's a fancy word for using whatever's around to make something").  As Nancy joyfully declares:  "There's no such thing as too much tinsel!" 

If you've never read Fancy Nancy before, you are in for a treat, especially if you have a little girl in your life to share it with!  Nancy doesn't like anything plain -- everything must have lace, or be frilly or sparkly.  Unfortunately, the rest of her family is not like that and it can be so frustrating!  She also likes to use big words -- including some in French -- because they sound fancier.  In her Christmas book, you'll find words like "aroma", "heirloom" and "compromise" used, which will indubitably make it into your fancy little girl's vocabulary!  

This is the newest Fancy Nancy book -- it just came out this fall.  Keep your eyes peeled for an Easter book available next month!  Au revoir!  That's French for "good-bye"!
 
Learn More:

• Splendiferous Christmas Kit:  Event Guide and Activity Suggestions --  invitations, gift tags, tree decoration crafts, color pages -- everything you need for a Fancy Nancy Christmas party!  

• Decorate a Christmas tree and print it or turn it into an ecard to send to a friend!  From the Fun & Games page, click on Christmas Tree Decorating.
  

• Fancy Nancy website at HarperCollins Children's:  Fun and games (including paper dolls and printable activity packages for each book), make and send eCards, and meet the creators of the books.   In the adult section, you can also find party kits and activities to do while reading with your child.
  

• The author's website:  Jane O'Connor  Another book I love by this author is The Snow Globe Family, about a little family who lives inside a snow globe! 

• The illustrator's website:  Robin Preiss Glasser and an interesting interview with her as well!
  

Fancy Nancy Books:

• Fancy Nancy
• Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy
• Fancy Nancy:  Bonjour, Butterfly!
• Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words:  From Accessories to Zany
• Fancy Nancy:  Explorer Extraordinaire!
• I Can Read Books:  Fancy Nancy at the Museum and Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris (there are many more!)
  

• There are quite a few sticker / activity books available.  I'm not as familiar with these as my daughter isn't a fan of stickers... but there are a whole bunch available on Amazon.  Click on the Amazon link on the right side and search for "Fancy Nancy".  Books, toys, stickers, games, oh my!
  

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

I'm not a big meat eater, but I'm not a vegetarian either.  I'm just picky... I don't like my meat to resemble the animal it came from.  This is a dilemma* for me every year at Thanksgiving.  Give me ground turkey!  I don't want to see the whole bird on the table!  Ack!

Anyways, there is a point to this.  In 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, children go on a school fieldtrip to a turkey farm.  Because this is written to mimic Clement Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, the children rode on a school bus "While visions of drumsticks / Danced in their brains."  Note it's DRUMSTICKS they're envisioning... not what animal they come from!  At the farm, children simply adore the turkeys, who are called by name by Farmer Mack Nuggett, who has a big white beard like a certain jolly fellow we all know.  After much frolicking, "Then sombody spotted / An ax by the door, / And she asked Farmer Nuggett / What it was for."  Then Farmer Nuggett with a gleam in his eye responds, "These feathery beasts / Will be chopped up and roasted / For Thanksgiving feasts."  The children and turkeys react with shocked looks on their faces and begin "a chorus of cries".  The farmer and the teacher discuss how to handle this, and upon their return find the children all mysteriously calmer -- and fatter!  They've stuffed the turkeys under their clothes, then waddle onto the bus -- and of course, the teacher and farmer are clueless.  The turkeys come to Thanksgiving dinner with the children... as guests, while their families feasts on veggies instead.  Gotta love it!

Dav Pilkey wrote and illustrated this book, and he is so much more than the Captain Underpants series, for which he's probably most famous for.  His artwork is full of energy and life and frequently has traces of masterpieces in it.  For example, in this book the teacher and the farmer strike an "American Gothic" pose, and he almost always draws his nighttime skies with traces of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" in them. 

Besides references to art masterpieces, he frequently sneaks in other familiar faces as well.  The turkeys are named Ollie, Stanley, Larry, Moe, Wally, Beaver, Shemp and Groucho.  I had to explain to my daughter who Wally is -- not WALL-E but about "Leave it to Beaver".  There are several other references to "Turkey in the Straw", "Over the River and Through the Woods", and a visual reference to the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill" while the teacher "fetched some water". 

This is a great Thanksgiving book.  Although it deals with the subject of vegetarianism, Dav says:  "I don't consider this book to be a story about vegetarianism... to me, it's just a silly story about love and friendship. If this book has any 'message', it is perhaps that following your heart is often more important than following the rules."  Find out more about this book at Dav's website, and print a picture to color as well! 

I love Dav Pilkey... you'll be seeing more about him later!

Learn More:

• Dav Pilkey's Extra Crunchy Website-O-Fun!  Pilkey's personal website has information on all of his books, including fun facts and special notes.  There's also coloring pages, games, puzzles and more.  I have loved this website for years!!!

• Dav Pilkey's page at Scholastic Books:  Games and other fun stuff for Captain Underpants, Ricky Ricotta and information about his other books.

• 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore.  My family's favorite version is illustrated by Mary Engelbreit.  We like this one too with the Coca-Cola Santa.

• Thanksgiving books for toddlers/preschoolers:  I used to read these during my storytime.  Actually, sing these.  You sing all three of these books!  Over the River (A Turkey's Tale) by Derek Anderson;  One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims by BG Hennessy;  I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson.
  

• National Geographic for Kids:  First Thanksgiving:   This is a great magazine -- I give it to my nieces.  There's history along with re-created photos, activities and games.  Can't go wrong here!

• Thanksgiving Activities for Kids and Teachers:  Thanksgiving is a harvest festival, and these have been held all over the world for thousands of years.  Learn about other country's traditions, read the 1676 First Thanksgiving Proclamation and that of George Washington in 1789 and Abe Lincoln in 1863.  Find Native American resources, historic American Thanksgiving dinner menus, symbols of Thanksgiving and more!!
  

• Thanksgiving Printables for Kids:   puzzles, mazes, coloring pages and more!
  

• Thanksgiving Jokes and Riddles:  What happened when the turkey got into a fight?  He got the stuffing knocked out of him!  Bada-boom!
  

• More on American Gothic and Starry Night.
  

• Who were Ollie & Stanley (better known as Laurel & Hardy), Larry, Moe & Shemp (aka the Three Stooges), Wally & Beaver and Groucho? 

• Some of my other favorite Dav Pilkey books include:  The Hallo-wiener, Dogzilla, Kat Kong, Dog Breath, and God Bless the Gargoyles.
  

*So is spelling the word "dilemma".  I was taught "dilemna" but apparently it is with an "mma".  There is a big discussion on this "spelling dilemna" online.  It just looks wrong to me spelling it "mma".  Ack!

Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

I am a married mother, and I absolutely love the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson young adult series of books by Louise Rennison.  Think Bridget Jones's Diary for teens.  These are laugh-out loud hilarious books -- I kid you not.  Vair, vair amusante.  There are ten books in the series now, and the first is by far my favorite:  Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging.  It came out in 1999 and is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book (for excellence in young adult literature), and was also voted number 127 in the BBC's Big Read poll to find England's favorite book.

What do I love about these books written for young adults, aside from their hilariousosity?  I am, after all, obviously not their intended audience.  I don't know how to say this without sounding like a prude, but they are refreshingly... clean.  The only swearing is done in foreign languages (merde, shiesshause, etc) -- they get much more creative with expressions that you'll probably need to read the glossary to fully understand.  (They speak British in these books!)  Only the losers smoke (Mark the Big Gob, who gets the duffing he deserves by Dave the Laugh and the bullying Bummer Twins, who get expelled from school for shoplifting).  No one drinks except the adults, and there is no sex -- but lots of snogging.  These are books that I would totally recommend to another parent for their child without having to worry about it coming back to bite me in the bum.  (Although believe it or not, some parents have actually tried to have these books banned!  There's a link below.)

A short summary of the series?  Georgia and her gang of Ace Friends navigate hell (known as school), parents (muttis and vatis), and boys (oo-er).  The Sex God, the Luuuurve God and Dave the Laugh all battle for Georgia's attention.  Who will she choose?  I haven't read the tenth (and final) book yet to find out!  It's been released in the last month or so and I've just picked it up from the library (Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?).  I'm re-reading the entire series first (these are really short books - I whizz through them in a day or so), and then it's farewell Georgia!  Or is it Ciao?!  Or "I'm away laughing on a fast camel!"

Titles in the Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison:  

1. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
2. On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God
3. Knocked Out by my Nunga-Nungas
4. Away Laughing on a Fast Camel
5. Dancing in my Nuddy-Pants
6. Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers
7. Startled by His Furry Shorts
8. Love is a Many Trousered Thing
9. Stop in the Name of Pants
10. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?
    

Learn More:  (Blimey!  I don't know how much you can learn from these books except some British slang!)

• Confessions of Georgia Nicolson website.  Choose between the American, Australian or UK versions.  The American version has the Snogging Scale (which is frequently referenced throughout all of the books and handy to have!) and e-cards, but is otherwise inferior to the other sites.  They all have a glossary of slang used in the books.  V. helpful!  

• Which Georgia Nicolson Character Are You?  Take this quiz to find out!  

•  The Tart's Wardrobe:  A YA Literature Salon interviewed an English person to explain the difference between shorts, pants, and knickers. 

• They made a movie out of this, but thankfully it has not been released in America yet (although you can watch it on YouTube).  I am just one of those people who am continually disappointed by the movie adaptation of my favorite books, and this looks to be no different.   

• What does the clown car that Georgia's dad and Uncle Eddie drive look like?  It's a Reliant Robin. 

• Even though I love these books because they are refreshingly "clean", they've made it onto the Banned Books lists.  In fact, Louise Rennison was one of the most challenged/banned authors in 2003.  To find out more about Banned Books, check out the American Library Association's page for Banned Book Week, and the Kids' Right to Read Project has some cool stuff as well, including a First Amendment guide for young adults.  Well, whaddya know -- an educational link!!