Fancy Nancy

What happens after reading Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor:

K, L, M Weeks

Starting our 3rd Quarter of school, here is the list of books we've been reading for the past several weeks:

Kamishibai Man by Allen Say - really liked this tale of a Japanese storyteller vs modernity.
Here's That Kitten by Maria Polushkin
Kaya's Kindergarten and the Letter K by Cynthia Klingel - just discovered this series. Great for beginning learners.
Phonics Friends: Kella's Kitten by Joanne Meier
Kangaroo's Adventure in Alphabet Town by Janet McDonnell
The Kweeks of Kookatumdee by Bill Peet - of course, we all loved this rhyming story by Mr. Peet.
Never, EVER Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson - very cute story.
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen - All of us like this story & the illustrations. Really, who wouldn't want a lovable lion at the library?
The Lemondade Club by Patricia Polacco - a little too heavy for Kindergarteners. About cancer.
Leila at the Library and the Letter L by Cynthia Klingel
Oh, Look! by Patricia Polacco - cute rhyming story.
Phonics Friends: Lilly's Lost Lunch by Joanne Meier -
Mouse's Adventure in Alphabet Town by Janet McDonnell - kids loved this one as well as the K story.

Mommy's favorite this time around from the Library: Light and Easy Cookbook (from Cooking Light). I've discovered the cookbook section at the library! I don't know why I never thought to look up cookbooks before. I've borrowed several great ones - one on biscotti, one on waffles, one on Christmas cookies.

"I" Week Books

2nd Quarter - Week 6

"I" Week Books

The Iguana Brothers by Tony Johnston. Cute story with great illustrations. A little hard to read aloud as the two main characters are Tom & Dom. I found myself stumbling over their names all the time.
It's MY Birthday by Pat Hutchins
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Others we are also reading this week

Wilderness Cat by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock. Nice illustrations, but the story doesn't flow very well.
Tikvah by Patricia Polacco. Of course a well-written story about some neighbors, Jewish Sukkoth (?), cats, and fires near Oakland, CA in the 1990s.
Zella Zack and Zodiac by Bill Peet. Loved this story written in rhyme about an abandoned ostrich chick and friendly zebra.

Kid's Literature

1st Quarter - Week 9

We have a "C" theme this week, so many of the characters in the books we are reading begin as such. You'll also find a quilting theme. Our Five In A Row book this week is The Rag Coat, which is the story of a poor Appalachian girl and her homemade coat.

Curious George Learns the Alphabet & Curious George Gets A Medal by H.A. Rey
The Patchwork Cat by Nicola Bayley. Great story about a Tabby that sets out to retrieve her beloved patchwork quilt. My favorite passage from the disgruntled cat: Tabby licks herself and thinks. "I should send this family away and let the milkman stay with me."
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. All-time favorite children's story!
The Name Quilt by Phillis Root. Loved this story about a Grandma & a quilt.
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
Cook-A-Doodle-Doo! by Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel. Very funny spin on the Little Red Hen story.
The Baby BeeBee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie; illustrated by Steven Kellogg. Another all-time favorite library book.
Babushka's Doll by Patricia Polacco. Very valuable story about a little girl who gets a doll that turns out to be twice as rambunctious as her owner.
Cock-A-Doodle Dudley, Chester the Worldly Pig & Cowardly Clyde by Bill Peet. Mr. Peet has become one of my favorite story tellers. Always very clever and great illustrations. No wonder - he was a Disney artist for many years.
Carl's Masquerade by Alexandra Day. I liked the illustrations in this book, but I don't care for books that have few to no words. The main character is Carl, a Rottweiler. Not exactly the kind of dog I want to lead my children to think are safe & cuddly!
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
C is for Clown by Jan & Stan Berenstain
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

1st Quarter - Week 8 Books

Barney the Beard by Eve Bunting. We have this story in our own library at home. Love it!

Best Friends for Frances & Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban. Only a so-so fan of Frances, but cute stories.

Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett. Wonderful illustrations.

Nicky and the Fantastic Birthday Gift by Valeri Gorbachev

The Nativity Play by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen. Great story about kids putting on a Nativity story at school.

My Grandma is Wonderful, My Dad is Awesome, and My Grandma is Amazing by Nick Butterworth. I really enjoy this author's work.

Down the Road by Alice Schertle. Gentle story about a little girl going to buy eggs all by herself. Of course, then Sophia played the same thing several mornings in a row as I was cooking eggs for breakfast.

The Illustrated Book of Ballet Stories: Introduced by Darcey Bussell by Barbara Newman (book and CD). Sophia loves to listen to this CD as she is looking at the book. DK Publishing does this really well.

Popcorn by Frank Asch. Thanks to Bubbles Grandma for mailing us this cute Halloween story about out-of-control popcorn and party guests all starting with the letter B!

B Saints from New Picture Book of Saints: St. Joseph Edition by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, SVD: St. Barbara, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Bernadette, St. Bridget, St. John Bosco, St. Sebastian

If you couldn't tell our Letter of the Week was B. We read lots of books with characters starting with the letter B, made Banana Bread, drew pictures of St. Barbara and St. Elizabeth of Hungary (the B is hidden there:), and colored a "B" book.

We also watched St. John Bosco: Mission to Love from Ignatius Press. Made in 2004, it is a good retelling of St. Bosco's life. It was a very inspiring movie although not quite age appropriate for a 5 year old.

Kid's Literature 1st Quarter - Week 6

Here is my list of books we are reading this week during story time. You might see our two themes this week: Christopher Columbus in honor of Columbus Day 10-12-08 and celebrating the Letter A.

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Follow The Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus by Peter Sis - very

nicely illustrated & well written.

Columbus Day Book by Jane Moncure

One Blowy Night by Nick Butterworth - love this little book with its cute pictures!

Two Dog Biscuits & The Real Hole by Beverly Cleary - not as good as Petey's Bedtime Story, but still good little stories that I can imagine really happened.

"A" Saints from the New Picture Book of Saints: St Joseph Edition by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, SVD - Sophia is loving these saints stories!

Angelina at the Palace by Katharine Holabird

Animalia by Graeme Base - great illustrations, very cleverly writtten.

Joan of Arc by Shana Corey

The Kitty Cat Alphabet Book by Andrea Burris & Anna Schad, illustrated by Andrea Burris

Our Apple Tree by Naslund

Seasame Street Treasury books

Here is what we are not reading after all.

Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans - not as good a story as his original Madeline.

Arthur's Perfect Christmas by Marc Brown - usually I like the Arthur stories, but this was way too politically correct.

Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey - just not as good as his other stories.

Kid's Literature

As part of our school day, Sophia, Will and I spend 30 to 45 minutes doing "story time." I've been finding good, high-quality books at the library using several book lists, including The Paideia Program, Honey for a Child's Heart, & Landscape with Dragons. I am going to try to keep a list of what we are reading on a weekly basis here on my blog.

1st Quarter - Week 5

Here is what we are reading this week:

Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag

May We Sleep Here Tonight by Tan Koide

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Timothy Too by Charlotte Zolotow

Petey's Bedtime Story by Beverly Cleary

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I've discovered I really like stories by Robert McCloskey. They are just well written, nicely illustrated,easy to follow and easy to read-aloud books. The same for books written by Charlotte Zolotow - gentle and beautiful stories. Until this school year, I had never read Shel Silverstein's poetry. In fact, I'm not a big poetry fan. I find it difficult to understand most of the time. WOW - had I been missing out. Where the Sidewalk Ends is just a plain fun book of poetry. Perfect for little ears. Lastly, Daddy is mostly reading the Little House series to Sophia at bedtime, which both of them love!

And the Beverly Cleary story has been a real hoot! It is a story about a little boy and his bedtime story routine and his exhausted parents. I wonder why I like it so much, huh?;)

Here is what I borrowed this week, but am not reading after all:

Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg - not age appropriate right now.

Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein - the title explains why I'm not reading this aloud.

Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak - sort of dark and hard to read aloud.

After a couple of his titles thus far, including In The Night Kitchen

and Where the Wild Things Are, I'm not a Sendak fan.

Correction: I like his illustrations, especially those

in the Little Bear series by Else Minarik.

Below is what we have read in the first 4 weeks of school - and some of my own thoughts:

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - always makes me hungry!

Hard Scrabble Harvest by Dahlov Ipcar - cute farming story

The First Tulips in Holland by Phyllis Krasilovsky - beautiful illustrations.

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes - Michael remembered this from his childhood. They read it several times. Sophia even drew her own 100 Dresses picture.

assorted Aesop's Fables

Lentil by Robert McCloskey

Little Bear's visit by Else Minarik, illustrated by Maurice Sendak

Little Toot on the Mississippi by Hardie Gramatky

Hop on Pop, The Cat in the Hat, & And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss

Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros?, Giraffe and a Half, & The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein -the rhino story was cute, but a couple of the pages I changed the wording for more age appropriateness.

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf - I loved this story & the simple pencil illustrations.

Frederick & Frederick Fables by Leo Lionni

Curious George & Curious George Goes To The Hospital by H.A. Rey

I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow

The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack - loved the illustrations

A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer, illustrated by P.D. Eastman - the kids loved this one.

Assorted Beatrix Potter tales