OZZIE AND PRINCE ZEBEDEE by Gela Kalaitzidis I laughed out loud the first time I read this book. I was in the middle of a bookstore. I bought it, brought it home, and this morning I crawled in bed with all my kids and read it to them before we started our day. Every one of them laughed when we hit the part where the dragon made a "bad choice." SPOILER ALERT- In Ozzie and Prince Zebedee by Gela Kalaitzidis there is a prince and dragon who are best friends. They usually get along until one day they have an all out fight, and the dragon gulps down the prince. Fight over! That isn't quite the end of his bad choices, but one day he realizes how lonely he is and he apologizes to the prince who is in his stomach. Everything turns out fine in the end, and you discover that the whole story is a boy (Zebedee) playing with his toys. It's fantastic! What can we learn from this book? We can learn that when we lose our tempers we can make some foolish decisions. In these times, we need to apologize and make things right! Also we see that a child's imagination is a beautiful thing, and they need time to use it!

VOTING READS So one of you asked about books about VOTING! Interestingly enough I don't have a lot, because usually I pair it up with my presidents study, or when we study women's suffrage, constitution, etc. So here's a couple books I have, but I have a couple more on the way! Our Constitution Rocks by Juliette Turner is an excellent book if you want to discuss the Constitution with kids. The author takes the complex language and brings it down to a kid's level and then gives application as to what it means in our lives today! Article 26 gives us our right to vote, so there is a small section dedicated to voting. What is a Presidential Election? by Douglas Yacka. I love this series of books. Even though this is not a presidential election year it goes through the process of what candidates go through, what is a primary, etc that helps kids understand what it takes to run for an office! So You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz is the story of women's suffrage. Anything by Jean Fritz you won't go wrong with! Alongside the books, if you have the opportunity, take your kids with you to vote. Even when they were little my husband and I always took (and still take) the kids with us. They were welcome to walk up with me to the computer to cast my vote. They couldn't ask me questions while I voted to respect others and to keep a quiet area for concentration, but afterwards, in the car they were free to ask away!

THANKSGIVING READS So what have I put together for Callie with Thanksgiving in mind? I love the book Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret B. Pumphrey. I am pretty sure my copy dates back to Claire! This is our foundational text that we are reading together. Then as the Pilgrims move we map their journeys on a markable map. Callie is reading Clyde Robert Bulla's Squanto:Friend of the Pilgrims in her quiet reading time. Cursive handwriting is the poem, Thanksgiving Day by Lydia Maria Child. We read it together first. (Actually I sang it to her.) I assign her a stanza to write. Then I check it over, and we work on corrections the next day if necessary. We will read and discuss The Mayflower Compact. Out of the hymnal we have been singing the great hymn We Gather Together. For car trips or while working in the kitchen we will listen to Focus On the Family's Radio Theatre fantastic audio drama, The Legend of Squanto. I highly recommend this drama!! For a craft we will be making a Mayflower (maybe a Speedwell) out of walnut shells. This is a very simple craft that works well as name plates to show where people sit at your Thanksgiving table! I will post directions at a later date when I have a few more minutes!! Interspersed will be journaling about gratitude and some Psalms work. I typically like to post about studies once they are all finished, but in case anyone wanted to join in, I went ahead and shared while in the process!

THANKSGIVING READS Looking for some fun picture books for Thanksgiving? Here are a few of our favs! One is a Feast for a Mouse by Judy Cox - Mouse is ready for his Thanksgiving feast, but things don't quite go as planned! Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin - this one is at the top of the list for us! Grandma and Maggie have prepared a Thanksgiving feast and each invited a guest. One of the guests is after Grandma's prized cranberry bread recipe! Includes the recipe to bake up and enjoy! Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson - A delightful book in the Bear series in rhyming verse. Bear is blessed by his friends, but what does he have to share? Sharing the Bread by Pat Zietlow Miller - This was my Thanksgiving book find for this year. This marvelous book in rhyming verse shows the entire family pitching in to get ready for the Thanksgiving meal. Thanksgiving Day at Our House by Nancy White Carlstrom- Fun poems that cover the entire Thanksgiving holiday from plays to family visiting to eating to the moments after the meal is done. Marvelous fun! By the way- how do you know if books are a win? If you just put them out in the basket and you have to go looking around kids' beds to find them, because they took them to bed, you know you have a win!

FAIRY TALE RETELLINGS Well, I enjoyed Marissa Meyers creativity in the Lunar Chronicles so much I finished Cress and Winter. Cress is a futuristic retelling of Rapunzel, Winter a retelling of Snow White. The beauty of the series? The books build on each other and none of them are resolved until you finish Book 4- Winter. Meyer is a master at keeping parts of each original fairy tale embedded in her retells with a creative twist. An example would be Cress (Rapunzel) locked in a satellite, orbiting out in space instead of a tower. While keeping some original components to make the character recognizable, these are a completely new, fresh fairy tale. For being YA books they are clean. There is kissing, but no making out or sex. There are 2 shower/bath scenes in the 4 books. One a blind guy walks in while a girl is in the shower, and one girl is injured and her guard watches her bathe with her clothes on. There may have been 2 or 3 cuss words total in the 4 books. Very action packed. Very addicting! Even a fun read for a momma! Photo credit- Annie

THANKSGIVING READS I am going to group my Thanksgiving books in different categories. Today's category is books with realistic pictures and lifestyles of the Pilgrims and Native Americans. Most of them are appropriate for young kids. One I have recommended as a deep discussion starter for older kids. On the Mayflower, Samuel Eaton's Day, Sarah Morton's Day, and Tapenum's Day are all written by Kate Waters. The text is very easy to read and there are lots of accompanying photos. 1621 A New Look at Thanksgiving is written by Catherine O'Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac. This photo book is written from a pro- Wampanoag/somewhat anti-English perspective. This is a book for discussion not just absorbing.  It is important to remember- 1. The perspective of the different groups of people talked about. There were definitely English that came for terrible reasons such as taking slaves. That was not the case of all! 2.Diseases were brought and that was very, very tragic. But it wasn't purposefully done. 3. The Native Americans were not all just a happy peaceful group before the English arrived. Some warred with each other, made slaves of each other, took territory from each other, stole from each other. This was not just an English behavior. There were terrible atrocities and wrongs on both sides. So what does Thanksgiving show us? It shows us that for 3 days we have a point in history of Native Americans and English (Pilgrims) celebrating together what had been accomplished together. The Pilgrims were giving thanks to God for survival and bounty. For us today it is a time to reflect on what we've come through, to help us refocus, and be thankful for the blessings in our lives.

SHILOH by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor SPOILER ALERT- Are you looking for a book where the dog doesn't die? Then Shiloh is your book! I have a special place in my heart for books like Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, Sounder, etc. Why? Because dogs are a "man's best friend," and in these great books the dog shows the ultimate loyal sacrifice. But Shiloh is a dog book in its own lane. Set in the mountains of West Virginia, Shiloh is a pup in need of saving and Marty Preston determines he is going to do whatever it takes. Beautifully written and bringing great discussion topics to light such as is it ever okay to lie? Get ready to dig down deep into what you really believe! This started out as a read aloud for Callie, but it quickly morphed into a read aloud for the whole family.

VIKING READING From time to time I put my own units of study and activities together for history for my kids. This one was designed for Callie about Vikings. It included: D'Aulaires Book of Norse Myths Viking Adventures by Clyde Robert Bulla Eric the Red by Neil Grant Story of the Vikings by A.G. Smith - coloring pages from Dover Coloring Book Activities included making patterned paper and creating a fun version of a Viking and baking real Viking bread (definitely denser than our store bought versions!) There are lots more craft ideas at diys.com .  Search for Vikings! We also practiced cursive by copying sentences out of our books and mapped our Vikings' journeys. I had hoped to fit some Explorers and Jamestown in before jumping to Thanksgiving, but since Nov. is around the corner we'll skip to Pilgrims and then go back. I'll share some of my plans for Pilgrims in a future post.

EMMA'S POEM by Linda Glaser. Illustrated Claire A. Nivola I love when people tell me about a book they think I might enjoy. This morning I was doubly blessed. Not only was I told about one, but I was handed a copy for my personal library. Thank you to a special friend! I love picture book biographies, and Emma's Poem by Linda Glaser is breathtaking. Emma Lazarus grew up in a wealthy, Jewish family in New York City. One day she had the opportunity to visit Ward's Island which at that time was the door where immigrants entered the United States. Clearly cut to the heart at seeing these worn and tattered people, she set out to make a difference. Even though her life was cut short, we still feel the effects of her today when we read one of her most famous poems, The New Colossus, penned about The Statue of Liberty. May we ignite a passion to care for others in our children as we read them this book. May we all strive to make the plight of a fellow human a little more bearable. Claire A. Nivola's artwork in this picture book is fantastic. I really enjoyed just going through the book and looking at the pictures.The attention to detail and especially Emma's expression as she encounters the immigrants is very soul touching. ALONGSIDE ACTIVITY- see suggestions from my post a few days ago about The Statue of Liberty. Also review the questions that Emma asked herself about what the immigrants would ask when they saw the statue and what the statue would say if she could speak to the immigrants. This is a great opportunity to teach about getting behind the eyes of another person to understand them better.

AGGRESSIVE GIRLS, CLUELESS BOYS by Dennis Rainey Aggressive Girls, Clueless Boys by Dennis Rainey is the companion to Interviewing Your Daughter's Date. Directed this time to parents of boys, this short read is loaded with info on supporting and protecting your boys through the dating age. Once upon a time it was believed that only girls needed protection by their parents from boys on the prowl. That is no longer the case. Some girls have been good at spreading the honey and trapping anything that sniffs their direction. I am sure some of you can attest to this. Readers, it is our responsibility to raise our children up and protect them. It is not the church's responsibility. It is not the school's responsibility. These institutions can assist, but children are given to their parents. With all of this being said, you can read the book, have the right talks, etc and your child can make a decision that goes against what you have taught and nurtured. Your job is to build the relationship through the good and the bad. This book can give you some pointers to help that along. Good read!

STATUE OF LIBERTY READS We have a special birthday this week! It's Lady Liberty's birthday! Unveiled Oct. 28, 1886, this gift from France to the U.S. has become one of our most iconic symbols of freedom and liberty. It was a discussion I had with one of our members (that I had the pleasure of seeing this weekend at a local festival) that got me thinking about the statue. We were discussing our ancestors that journeyed across the ocean to begin new lives. She mentioned poetry by the authoress Emma Lazarus, whose beautiful poem graces the pedestal of this great statue. My mind must have been slow cooking all that info while I slept, because when I woke up my first thought was I have a picture book about a picnic in October by the Statue of Liberty. I wonder when her birthday is? Ta-Da! It's this week! Isn't it amazing how minds work? I'm including 3 books and a copy of the poem for kids to enjoy in this post! Naming Liberty by Jane Yolen- This is a beautiful book with 2 stories merging into 1. Story 1 is the story of a Russian Jewish family emigrating to the United States. Story 2 is the story of Bartholdi the creator of The Statue of Liberty. Be sure and check out Yolen's notes where she shares some of her family's history. A Picnic in October by Eve Bunting- Grandma is very insistent that her family travel to celebrate The Statue of Liberty's birthday. The Magic School Bus: Builds The Statue of Liberty. A fun simple reader on Bartholdi's journey of building The Statue of Liberty. The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus - the moving poem on the base of The Statue of Liberty. ALONGSIDE ACTIVITY- consider making a birthday cake for the statue. Spend some time sharing the history of the emigration of your ancestors with your kids. You can make this as big or little as you desire. Cook up national foods from your country of origin. Locate the country on a map. Give your kids a visual of the size of the statue. How many of your houses stacked on top of each other equal her height? Why is the statue green?

WAR HORSE by Michael Morpurgo Michael Morpurgo's War Horse in a picture book? Yes, please! The touching story of a friendship between a boy, Alfred, and his horse, Joey, War Horse takes us into the realities of what it meant for people to give things up for World War 1. When Joey is sold to be used in the cavalry, Alfred is heartbroken. He promises that he will find Joey no matter what. Alfred promptly enlists in the army and both lives are changed forever. This book offers great starting points for discussions about friendship, forgiveness, and the ability to see the humanness of your enemy.