Valarie Budayr's Blog, page 74
May 10, 2015
Weekend Links: Powerful Book Discussions, Celebrations and Initiatives
Welcome to Weekend Links! This is my chance to share what I consider some of my my ‘top finds’ that I have discovered over the course of the week. This week there was a plethora of Powerful Book Discussions, Celebrations and Initiatives that I would like to share with our readers. Enjoy!
The Children’s Book Guide has a wonderful article about 100 Most Inspiring Children’s Books –
Three Unmissable Books That Can Help Us Honor Our Past from Pacific Citizen | The National Newspaper of the JACL.
Dr. Greene shared The Importance of Playing, Puttering, and Pretending with our kids.
Kid World Citizen has a great post on “The Danger of a Single Story” and Teaching Kids to Avoid Stereotypes
Quickie Lesson on Slow #Reading Time and Creating a Slow Family Reading Moment
Publishers Weekly reported that First Book, Corporate Partners Make 60,000 Books Available to Children in Need
“In our overprescribed, overstimulated, overscheduled lives, author Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford reminds us about family traditions” at the Smithsonian APA Book Dragon
How Do We #GetKidsReading? A discussion with author James Patterson via Publishers Weekly
Let’s celebrate Children’s Book Week with a Super Spring Sale! I have two of my most popular books on a super special sale until May18th!
The Waldorf Homeschool Handbook: The Simple Step-by-Step guide to creating a Waldorf-inspired #homeschool. And for a limited time, this best-selling book by Donna Ashton, The Waldorf #Homeschool Handbook is now only $17.95 until May18, 2015 ! http://amzn.to/1OhTfoT
Enjoy more month-by-month activities based on the classic children’s tale, The Secret Garden! A Year in the Secret Garden is a delightful children’s book with over 120 pages, with 150 original color illustrations and 48 activities for your family and friends to enjoy, learn, discover and play with together. AND, it’s on sale for a limited time! Grab your copy ASAP and “meet me in the garden!” http://amzn.to/1DTVnuX
The post Weekend Links: Powerful Book Discussions, Celebrations and Initiatives appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
May 6, 2015
Children’s Book Week and a Quickie Lesson on Slow Reading Time
Children’s Book Week is this week, May 4-10, 2015!
Children’s Book Week is the annual celebration of children’s books and reading. Established in 1919, it is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. The program is administered by Every Child a Reader (ECAR) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) is the anchor sponsor.
In 2014, Official Events — which give kids the opportunity to connect with their favorite authors and illustrators in person — were hosted in all 50 states for the first time in the initiative’s history.
Here is the official 2015 Children’s Book Week Poster by Grace Lee! Grab your copy HERE.
The official poster commemorates the 96th annual celebration of Children’s Book Week (May 4-10, 2015), the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country.
Reading is a daily journey, a ritual to spend time with our favorite authors and with each other. A time to go to places imagined, to meet characters who have become friends or shortly will be. As the book is passed between us, our rolls change from listener to reader and back to listener again.
Family story time should be an illumined hour when the sun is gone and the stars have come out of hiding. It’s not about how quickly we can get through a book or how many accelerated reader points its worth or how well the kids will do on their exams, it’s all about us, the happily ever after reading family.
Creating a Slow Family Reading Moment:
Try and choose the same time of day for your family reading session. It doesn’t have to be the exact hour just around the same time of day.
Unplug. No cell phones, TV, instant messages, beepers, buzzers or alarm clocks. Basically anything which makes noise must be off.
Be comfortable. Wear comfortable clothing.
Make a cozy environment. Bring out your favorite blankets and pillows. Many people like to have beverages such as hot herbal teas, cider, lemonade etc. For ourselves we also add the element of sitting by the fireplace or fire pit in Autumn through the end of spring and then out onto the screen porch in the summer.
Choose a book that everyone in the family can understand and enjoy.
Create a system for choosing who will read next. Sometimes my husband or I will start the reading session and then quietly pass the book onto the next child. At first as your family is young, you will be the primary reader.By slowing down and reading from a place of timelessness and expectations, we create connections to each other. We are enraptured by books that inspire us and our creativity. Though not explicitly, children learn that the love of reading is an enjoyment we all share. There is an old proverb which says :”A fig tree, looking on a fig tree, becomes fruitful.” Children, by participating with their families in reading will grow to love reading for the adventures and insights it holds.
Let’s celebrate Children’s Book Week with a Super Spring Sale! I have two of my most popular books on a super special sale until May18th!
The Waldorf Homeschool Handbook: The Simple Step-by-Step guide to creating a Waldorf-inspired #homeschool. And for a limited time, this best-selling book by Donna Ashton, The Waldorf #Homeschool Handbook is now only $17.95 until May18, 2015 ! http://amzn.to/1OhTfoT
Enjoy more month-by-month activities based on the classic children’s tale, The Secret Garden! A Year in the Secret Garden is a delightful children’s book with over 120 pages, with 150 original color illustrations and 48 activities for your family and friends to enjoy, learn, discover and play with together. AND, it’s on sale for a limited time! Grab your copy ASAP and “meet me in the garden!” http://amzn.to/1DTVnuX
The post Children’s Book Week and a Quickie Lesson on Slow Reading Time appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
May 4, 2015
The Girl with a Brave Heart: A Tale from Tehran by Rita Jahanforuz {Guest Post from Hannah Rials}
A book review from Hannah Rials
As a baby, Shiraz’s mother died, and her father soon remarried, giving her a new mother and a sister to grow up with. But when her father died, everything changed. Shiraz’s stepmother forced her to do the household chores, and she grew apart from her sister, Monir.
One day after finishing her chores, she was on the roof playing with a ball of yarn that was once her mothers when suddenly the wind took the yarn away, and it landed in a neighbor’s garden. Shiraz built up her strength and went to knock on the neighbor’s door. An old, scary lady answered the door and required that Shiraz complete a few chores before she was to get her yarn back.
Instead of destroying everything like the lady asked, Shiraz cleaned and tidied and made beautiful. Shiraz was given the yarn back and told to dive three times into a clear pool and three times into a dark pool. When she had done so, she came out more beautiful than ever, looking so different that her sister and stepmother did not recognize her and almost did not let her in the house. After explaining her adventure, her stepmother threw a ball of yarn into the lady’s yard, took Monir to the door so that her daughter would be as beautiful as Shiraz. The woman again required Monir to do the same chores as Shiraz, except this time, Monir destroyed everything that Shiraz made beautiful. This time, the woman told Monir to dive in the dark pool first than the clear pool. When she returned to her house, she looked like a filthy beggar girl. It was then that Shiraz realized that the pools “don’t change the people who dip into them. They just make them look the way they feel on the inside.”
Grab your copy of this delightful book HERE.
My Opinion:
I miss stories like these—stories about selflessness and caring. Many children’s stories today are transparent or hold simple meanings. The Girl with a Brave Heart is a truly beautiful story with a character that sees past a sad woman who demands destruction and instead realizes that what the woman truly wants is beauty. It is a rare talent to see the true hearts of people, and if children can learn from Shiraz, the world will be a much better place!
Something To Do
How to do a braided bun:
Grab three strands of hair and cross them over each other.
Add a piece to the next strand and cross it over the middle strand.
Add a piece to the next strand and repeat.
Repeat steps until you have no more hair to add in.
Braid down to the end of your hair and secure it with a band
Pull the braid to the center of your head.
Wrap it into a bun and pin with as many pins as necessary.
Knitting for beginners:
In this tutorial from the Queen of DIY, she showing you what you need to know to start knitting. Knitting is different from crocheting in that all stitches are comprised of either a “knit” or “purl”. Once you know these two stitches, you’ll be on your way to knitting like a pro! Get the full scoop here.
Look for an opportunity to ARK—Act of Random Kindness: Although Shiraz’s chores were not random—she had a purpose—the kindness was random. The woman asked her destroy, not to fix. And in the end, Shiraz’s beautiful work made the woman happy. It is really easy to make someone’s day—pay them a compliment, do a chore for your parents that’s not on your list. Give someone a hug. Anything you can think of that will bring a smile to someone’s face.
Born in the hills of Louisiana and raised in the mountains of Tennessee, Hannah Rials is an eighteen year old aspiring author and editor. Now a freshman in college, she’s been writing short stories since she was a little girl, but for the past several years, she has been writing, editing, and reediting a novel of her own that will soon be published by Audrey Press. Hannah has always loved reading and the world of books. With a librarian grandmother who can tell the most magical stories, how could she not fall in love with the written word? Her library collection and love for books grows every day.The post The Girl with a Brave Heart: A Tale from Tehran by Rita Jahanforuz {Guest Post from Hannah Rials} appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
May 3, 2015
Weekend Links: Children’s Book (and FUN) Galore!
Goodness!
What a busy week it has been with even more activity, books and special events to come! As you all know, I like to share some of my favorite links from fellow bloggers and moms that I encounter over the course of the week. Here are my top picks for this week:
{As a reading and play advocate, this post makes my heart SING!} 10 things kids wont forget from Learning and Exploring Through Play
This weather makes me think ROSES! Check out my Secret Garden Wednesday: Rosapalooza blog post from this week:
10 Biographies For Kids About Women Scientists and Explorers from I’m Not the Nanny
“The World Is as Big or as Small as You Make It” at Kid World Citizen
8 Great Ways to Get FREE Books to Build A Child’s Library via Growing Book By Book
Recipe to Grow Adventurous Kids via @PragmaticMom
{GOOD NEWS!} Libraries Are Paving The Way For Cultural Unity via @HuffPostArts
What great book finds did YOU encounter this week?
Homeschooling can be complicated and frustrating, especially if you are overloaded with information. The good news is that you don’t have to figure it out alone. Donna Ashton’s The Waldorf Home School Handbook is a simple and step-by-step guide to creating and understanding a Waldorf-inspired homeschool plan. Within the pages of this all-in-one homeschooling guide parents will find information, samples of lesson plans and curriculum, helpful hints and the secrets behind the three Areas for Optimum Learning. Join Donna as she guides you through the Waldorf method and reveals how to educate your children in a nurturing and creative environment. Visit the Waldorf Homeschool Handbook info page HERE.
The post Weekend Links: Children’s Book (and FUN) Galore! appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
April 29, 2015
Do You Like To Climb Trees ? Just Like Me Climbing a Tree: Exploring Trees Around the World
In Just Like Me Climbing a Tree: Exploring Tress Around the World, award-winning author/illustrator Durga Yael Bernhard travels around the globe visiting 12 beautiful and favorite trees.
Exploration and inquiry are the keys to unlocking the secrets and treasures of the trees. Each page asks a question:
What if we swung from a tree branch as monkeys do ? What type of tree would we be swinging form?
What type of tree would we choose if we were a bat and needed to hang upside down?
Each question takes us to a new tree in a new land.
Just Like Me Climbing a Tree is perfect for ages 5 and above. It is beautifully illustrated with full color drawings, bringing this tree adventure to life. Each double page spread hosts the lyrical poetry of tree, a question, and the classification of the tree and where it is found on our planet.
In the back of the book there is an entire section called “About the Trees in this Book” which is devoted to describing and classifying each tree in great detail.
This hands on multicultural read is sure to delight you and your family time and again. Just Like Me Climbing a Tree brought to mind all of the trees we as a family have called “friend” throughout the years. In our garden we have a huge Rose Cypress tree that has seen many hours of play underneath its branches. If you ask my children, they will tell you that it is a magical tree where fairies live.
In the country of Lebanon where my in-laws live, there is a gigantic banyan tree. It is a favorite friend where we have picnic lunches and the kids climb for hours. This old and ancient tree is a place of pilgrimage for all of us. We can not set foot in Beirut more than 24 hours without going to see what’s happening with our friend known as “the tree.”
Something To Do
How Old Is A Tree ?
Our beautiful old monkey tale pine tree had to be cut down a couple of weeks ago due to it being severely damaged by an ice storm. After cutting it down, we are left with the stump but it’s the stump which will tell us a lot about the life of this beautiful magnificent tree.
Tree Rings
As a tree grows, it produces new layers of wood around the trunk, just under the bark. If a tree is cut down, the layers are visible in a cross-section. The layers appear as a set of concentric circles known as tree rings.
In general, one layer of wood grows each year. Each layer consists of two colors of wood: light-colored “earlywood” that grows in the spring and summer plus darker, denser “latewood” from the fall and winter.
Tree rings—also known as annual growth rings—vary in size each year depending upon the environmental conditions that the tree experiences. For most locations, tree rings will be wider during years of abundant rainfall and narrower during times of drought.
By counting back from the year a living tree was cut, it is possible to determine how old the tree is. Find a tree stump and start counting the tree rings from the outside and move to the center of the tree trunk.
Climate Records
Some species of trees can live for thousands of years. Because the widths of a tree’s rings reflect yearly precipitation patterns, the rings can be analyzed to reconstruct a record of past climate conditions.
Fires
Tree rings also record the occurrence of forest fires. New layers of wood added around the exterior of tree trunks are vulnerable to damage by fire. If a fire damages a tree’s bark and exterior, but does not kill the tree, a new layer of wood can grow over the scarred layer the next year, preserving the scar as a record of the fire.
Spend some time outside near a tree stump and see what history it’s telling you. How old is it ? Was there years of excessive rainfall ? Was there years of drought ? Were there any forest fires ?
More Things To Do…….
Sing the Just Like Me Song
There’s a song to go along with this wonderful book. Not only will you be climbing trees but you’ll be singing while you do. Story Laurie aka Laurie McIntosh has written the Just Like Me Song. It’s really fun and wonderful. Have a look at the book as you sing along !!!
Looking for a unique way to keep your kids busy this summer…and engaged with nature? The At-Home Summer Nature Camp eCurriculum is available for sale!
This 8-week eCurriculum is packed with ideas and inspiration to keep kids engaged and happy all summer long. It offers 8 kid-approved themes with outdoor activities, indoor projects, arts & crafts, recipes, field trip ideas, book & media suggestions, and more. The curriculum, now available for download, is a full-color PDF that can be read on a computer screen or tablet, or printed out. Designed for children ages 5-11, it is fun and easily-adaptable for all ages!
This unique eCurriculum is packed with ideas & inspiration from a group of creative “camp counselors.” Sign up, or get more details, go HERE.
The post Do You Like To Climb Trees ? Just Like Me Climbing a Tree: Exploring Trees Around the World appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
Do You Like To Climb Trees ? Just Like Me Climbing a Tree: Exploring Tress Around the World
In Just Like Me Climbing a Tree: Exploring Tress Around the World, award-winning author/illustrator Durga Yael Bernhard travels around the globe visiting 12 beautiful and favorite trees.
Exploration and inquiry are the keys to unlocking the secrets and treasures of the trees. Each page asks a question:
What if we swung from a tree branch as monkeys do ? What type of tree would we be swinging form?
What type of tree would we choose if we were a bat and needed to hang upside down?
Each question takes us to a new tree in a new land.
Just Like Me Climbing a Tree is perfect for ages 5 and above. It is beautifully illustrated with full color drawings, bringing this tree adventure to life. Each double page spread hosts the lyrical poetry of tree, a question, and the classification of the tree and where it is found on our planet.
In the back of the book there is an entire section called “About the Trees in this Book” which is devoted to describing and classifying each tree in great detail.
This hands on multicultural read is sure to delight you and your family time and again. Just Like Me Climbing a Tree brought to mind all of the trees we as a family have called “friend” throughout the years. In our garden we have a huge Rose Cypress tree that has seen many hours of play underneath its branches. If you ask my children, they will tell you that it is a magical tree where fairies live.
In the country of Lebanon where my in-laws live, there is a gigantic banyan tree. It is a favorite friend where we have picnic lunches and the kids climb for hours. This old and ancient tree is a place of pilgrimage for all of us. We can not set foot in Beirut more than 24 hours without going to see what’s happening with our friend known as “the tree.”
Something To Do
How Old Is A Tree ?
Our beautiful old monkey tale pine tree had to be cut down a couple of weeks ago due to it being severely damaged by an ice storm. After cutting it down, we are left with the stump but it’s the stump which will tell us a lot about the life of this beautiful magnificent tree.
Tree Rings
As a tree grows, it produces new layers of wood around the trunk, just under the bark. If a tree is cut down, the layers are visible in a cross-section. The layers appear as a set of concentric circles known as tree rings.
In general, one layer of wood grows each year. Each layer consists of two colors of wood: light-colored “earlywood” that grows in the spring and summer plus darker, denser “latewood” from the fall and winter.
Tree rings—also known as annual growth rings—vary in size each year depending upon the environmental conditions that the tree experiences. For most locations, tree rings will be wider during years of abundant rainfall and narrower during times of drought.
By counting back from the year a living tree was cut, it is possible to determine how old the tree is. Find a tree stump and start counting the tree rings from the outside and move to the center of the tree trunk.
Climate Records
Some species of trees can live for thousands of years. Because the widths of a tree’s rings reflect yearly precipitation patterns, the rings can be analyzed to reconstruct a record of past climate conditions.
Fires
Tree rings also record the occurrence of forest fires. New layers of wood added around the exterior of tree trunks are vulnerable to damage by fire. If a fire damages a tree’s bark and exterior, but does not kill the tree, a new layer of wood can grow over the scarred layer the next year, preserving the scar as a record of the fire.
Spend some time outside near a tree stump and see what history it’s telling you. How old is it ? Was there years of excessive rainfall ? Was there years of drought ? Were there any forest fires ?
More Things To Do…….
Sing the Just Like Me Song
There’s a song to go along with this wonderful book. Not only will you be climbing trees but you’ll be singing while you do. Story Laurie aka Laurie McIntosh has written the Just Like Me Song. It’s really fun and wonderful. Have a look at the book as you sing along !!!
The post Do You Like To Climb Trees ? Just Like Me Climbing a Tree: Exploring Tress Around the World appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
Secret Garden Wednesday: Rosapalooza
This week on Secret Garden Wednesday, we’re celebrating everything roses. When I think of the Secret Garden I think of roses and their wonderful beauty. Inside the Secret Garden there are roses growing everywhere and are happily attended to by Mary, Collin, and Dickon.
I grew up in Portland, Oregon and every year to this day in the merry month of June we have the Portland Rose Festival. It’s a solid two weeks of rose related fun and activities including a huge parade.
Rose Facts:
There are over 100 species of the rose.
We usually call the sharp spikes on the stem of a rose-bush “thorns”. But these are in fact technically prickles.
The flowers of most species of rose have five petals except for the species ‘Rosa sericea’ which has only four.
The name “Rose” is often used as a girl’s name in English-speaking countries.
For hundreds of years the rose has been widely recognized as a symbol of love, sympathy or sorrow.
The rose is most commonly used as an ornamental plant grown in the garden for its beautiful flowers.
The rose can be used in perfumes. The nice scent of the rose comes from microscopic perfume glands on the petals. Sometimes rose petals are also dried and packed for commercial use as decoration or for scent.
Because they’re low-maintenance and nice to look at, rose shrubs (classified as a shrub even though some don’t look like shrubs for example the climbing rose) are used as landscape plants for hedging (the thorns can discourage intruders) or planted on hillsides as a slope stabilizing method to stop soil erosion.
The fruit of a rose is called a rose hip. The berry-like hip are usually red in color but some can be dark purple or black.
Rose hips of some species are extremely rich in vitamin C, because of this the hip is sometimes made into jam, jelly, or brewed for tea. The hip also has minor medicinal uses, used in food supplements and can be pressed or filtered to make rose hip syrup. Hip seed oil is also used in skin products and makeup products.
Historically the rose was of great importance to the Romans and Egyptians. Romans would use them as room decorations, or wear them on string around their neck and anything which was said “under the rose” was deemed to be a secret. The famous Cleopatra of Egypt was believed to have covered the floor of her palace room with roses before Mark Antony visited her.
The rose can come in all colors although a “black rose” is not actually black it is usually a dark red. Each color has a different meaning or symbolizes something different for example red means love, orange – desire, yellow – joy etc.
Traditionally England is signified by the rose, it is the country’s national flower. The rose came to prominence there during the ‘Wars of the Roses’, 1455 to 1485 when the house of Lancaster was represented by the red rose and fought against the house of York which was represented by the white rose.
In 1986 the rose also became the floral emblem of the United States. It is the official flower of four states including the state of New York, Iowa, North Dakota and Georgia.
What other rose fun can we get into?
Rosapalooza Activities
Crepe paper Roses . This is one of illustrator and Friend Marilyn Scott-Waters favorite things to do is to make crepe paper roses. If you make some, be sure and post your photos on the Jump into a Book Facebook page.
This is such a fun and fascinating craft and incredibly fun science project.
Rainbow Rose This is an incredible experiment to do whereby you can create a rainbow-colored rose. No genetic engineering involved only some food coloring and a little ingenuity. Super fun !!!
Have you missed the last few Secret Garden Wednesdays? These are too much fun not to read!
Secret Garden Wednesday: Building a Bee Watering Hole
Secret Garden Wednesday: Robin Cake
Secret Garden Wednesday: Studying the Class of Hunger
Secret Garden Wednesday: Planting Time
Secret Garden Wednesday: Book-Inspired FUN
Secret Garden Wednesday: Perfectly Good Porridge
Secret Garden Wednesday: Garden in a Jar
Secret Garden Wednesday: Sticky Toffee Pudding
Want to enjoy more month-by-month activities based on the classic children’s tale, The Secret Garden? A Year in the Secret Garden is over 120 pages, with 150 original color illustrations and 48 activities for your family and friends to enjoy, learn, discover and play with together. A Year In the Secret Garden is our opportunity to introduce new generations of families to the magic of this classic tale in a modern and innovative way that creates special learning and play times outside in nature. This book encourages families to step away from technology and into the kitchen, garden, reading nook and craft room. Learn more, or grab your copy HERE.
The post Secret Garden Wednesday: Rosapalooza appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
April 27, 2015
Ready to Celebrate Poetry Month with The Dreamer?
I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to share The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan with you for National Poetry Month. The Dreamer is an invitation into the imaginative world of Pablo Neruda. Pablo Neruda is one of my favorite poets !! The Dreamer has allowed me to share my love of this poet with my children as we wander through his world and life in Chile.
It is a tale of day-dreaming, gathering those little items which catch our eye, while guarding and savoring them into a collection of our childhood. Pam Munoz Ryan does an incredible job of weaving facts into an incredible story of magic, nostalgia, and intrigue. Pablo Neruda’s real name was Neftali Reyes. He had a very stern and unbearable father. Protecting him were his step-mother, uncle, and sister. Along with everyday situations in his household and school, we are invited on wandering journeys to the rainforest where Neftali’s imagination is taken away by all of the fauna, insects, and animals which live in the forest.
Another trip takes us to the ocean where Neftali meets a librarian who gives him his hide-out for the summer. This turns into a spectacular adventure with his sister of trying to save a swan. Later Neftali learns of the movement to kick indigenous people out of their homeland from his uncle. As he grows, he takes up the cause to protect them. Making sure that he doesn’t seek the wrath of his father, he uses a pseudonym. His new last name Neruda was derived from a poet from Czechoslovakia.
One of the elements that makes this book such a treasure to read and hold are the simple but powerful illustrations of Peter Sis. His contributions to this magical story gives us a look into the world of a poet through the heart and eyes.
Equally as interesting is Pam Munoz Ryan’s telling of what inspired her to write this story. Also in the back are several beautifully selected poems of Pablo Neruda’s. This book is a poetic magical tale that is sure to inspire all of us to look at those simple things around us with the eye of a poet. Life is for living and experiencing and this book is an invitation to do just this.
Something To Do
A Word Box
In the story The Dreamer, Neftali Reyes loves to collect things. One of his most beloved collections are his words. Writing them on a piece of paper, folding it gently , and then placing it in his drawer; Neftali can return anytime he wants to and remember the words that caught his imagination. Let’s remember our friend Neftali by making a word box.
Supplies:
One unfinished wood or paper mache box found in a craft store.
Scrapbooking word stickers
Mod Podge matt finish
Brush
Paper
Instructions:
Taking your wooden box and the word stickers, put words all over your box in a design of your choosing.
Once you’ve finished sticking your words on the box, brush Mod Podge all over the words and let it dry.
You can use any kind of paper. We like to use paper with pretty colors on one side but white paper works just fine. Cut little pieces of paper that fit into your box. Start writing your favorite words down and saving them in your word box.
Beautiful Spanish Words
The Dreamer uses a beautiful mix of English and Spanish. I liked the way the Spanish was woven throughout the story without it being distracting. Each Spanish word followed with it’s English meaning. By using the Spanish language in this way, it brought the essence of Chile into the story.
Here’s a Spanish lexicon from The Dreamer. Be sure to write these words on colorful cards and put them into your word box.
Adios:: Good-bye
el viento:: the wind
Porfa :: Please
buena suerte:: good luck
mapuche:: indigenous people in Aranucania
Bravo:: Good Job
la empanadas y el bistec:: Potato turnovers and steak
Aqui Estoy:: I am here.
El pan amasado:: Home made bread
futbol:: soccer
Amigo:: friend
un escondite:: a hideout
una chismosa:: a tattletale
Amor:: Love
Poetry Explorations
In The Dreamer author Pam Munoz Ryan poses many questions to get us thinking in words. Let’s look at those questions and write a short poem about the Wind. Remember when Neftali’s hat and gloves gotten blown away by the wind. What do these questions inspire in you ?
What does the wind give ?
What does the wind take away?
Where is the storehouse of lost and found ?
Let’s experience Time through words. By answering the following questions you can experience time in a new way. Write a little poem about time.
What is the color of a minute? A month ? A Year ?
Reader’s Theater
A great way to instill active reading in our young readers is to practice in a Reader’s Theater setting. Set for four voices, author Pam Munoz Ryan has created this Reader’s Theater edition to her book The Dreamer.
I’d like to know…..
Have you read this book? If so, share your thoughts and comments below!
Homeschooling can be complicated and frustrating, especially if you are overloaded with information. The good news is that you don’t have to figure it out alone. Donna Ashton’s The Waldorf Home School Handbook is a simple and step-by-step guide to creating and understanding a Waldorf-inspired homeschool plan. Within the pages of this all-in-one homeschooling guide parents will find information, samples of lesson plans and curriculum, helpful hints and the secrets behind the three Areas for Optimum Learning. Join Donna as she guides you through the Waldorf method and reveals how to educate your children in a nurturing and creative environment. Visit the Waldorf Homeschool Handbook info page HERE.
The post Ready to Celebrate Poetry Month with The Dreamer? appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
April 26, 2015
Weekend Links: Resources and Activities for Loving Our Earth
Earth Day has come and gone, but during this last week I have discovered a plethora of amazing earth/nature related activities that could be utilized and enjoyed all year-round. Some are are resources, some are suggested booklists and some are earth-friendly fun for families. But they are all important tools and ideas that will help your family love and honor our Earth 365 days a year. Enjoy!
10 Simple Ways Kids Can Celebrate Earth Day-via Multicultural Kids
Authors for Earth Day (Children’s Book Council)
April 21, 2015
With Earth Day (April 22) around the corner, award-winning children’s authors and illustrators from around the globe are fostering literacy and environmental awareness through Authors for Earth Day. Launched in 2008 by children’s author and illustrator Brooke Bessesen, the grassroots organization now operates year-round, bringing children’s book creators to libraries and classrooms. Read more HERE.
Reading for the Earth-Ultimate Earth Day Resource Roundup from Lee and Low Books!
Love this graphic from Whole Foods!
I created a booklist in honor of Earth Day and…well…I went a little crazy! I found so many amazing and unique books in our own personal library, I just had to share:
An Earth Day BookList: Great Reads for High Schoolers
An Earth Day Booklist- Great Chapter & Non-Fiction Books for Kids
An Earth Day Booklist for the Whole Family
How will your family honor the earth this year?
**Some of these links are affiliate links
SPRING MEANS FOXES! The Fox Diaries: The Year The Foxes Came to Our Garden
From the forest to the front yard, experience the magical story of a family of foxes that took up residence right in the front yard of the author and publisher (that’s me!).
Great to share with your children or students, The Fox Diaries speaks to the importance of growing and learning both individually and as a family unit. It is a perfect book for story-time or family sharing. Not only can you read about the daily rituals of this marvelous fox family, there is an information packed resource section at the end of the book which includes lots of facts and even a few “fox movies” that you can enjoy with your family.
Purchase your copy of The Fox Diaries Today!!
The post Weekend Links: Resources and Activities for Loving Our Earth appeared first on Jump Into A Book.
April 22, 2015
An Earth Day BookList for The Whole Family
Today is Earth Day one of my favorite days of the year. It’s a time when humans share a like minded cause of remembering to care and cherish our Earth. Here at Jump into a Book it means, along with getting outside to frolic in nature, it’s a great opportunity to take a good book along with you. Here are few ideas to get you going. All of these books are favorites here and have a place not only on the book shelves, but also on coffee tables and night stands all throughout the house! Hope you enjoy them and have a very Happy Earth Day !!!
A Nest is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston & Sylvia Long
From the award-winning creators of An Egg Is Quiet, A Seed Is Sleepy, A Butterfly Is Patient, and A Rock Is Lively comes this gorgeous and informative look at the fascinating world of nests. From tiny bee hummingbird nests to orangutan nests high in the rainforest canopy, an incredible variety of nests are showcased here in all their splendor. Poetic in voice and elegant in design, this carefully researched book introduces children to a captivating array of nest facts and will spark the imaginations of children whether in a classroom reading circle or on a parent’s lap.
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, Illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
In this exuberant and lyrical follow-up to the award-winning Over and Under the Snow, discover the wonders that lie hidden between stalks, under the shade of leaves . . . and down in the dirt. Explore the hidden world and many lives of a garden through the course of a year! Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt exists a busy world—earthworms dig, snakes hunt, skunks burrow—populated by all the animals that make a garden their home.
When the Animals Saved Earth: An Eco-Fable Retold by Alexis York Lumbard, Illustrated by Demi
On a secluded island, in a faraway sea, the animals live in peace and prosperity. But one day, the winds of fate bring humans to their shore. Down come trees and up go houses, farms, and a bustling market. The humans capture the animals and put them to work. A great sadness falls upon the land, and only a young boy named Adam can hear the animals’ cries. Compelled to act, Adam escapes into the jungle and joins with the remaining free animals, attempting to summon the Spirit King Bersaf. Will the king bring the humans to trial for their harmful actions? Will justice be had? Will balance return to land, sea, and sky?
Just Like Me Climbing a Tree: Exploring trees Around the World by Durga Yael Bernhard
If you were climbing a tree, just what might you see? Birds or animals or insects? Would you swing like a monkey? Or pick the ripest fruit straight from the branch? Join award-winning author and illustrator, Durga Yael Bernhard, on a trip around the world to climb its weirdest and most wonderful trees. No matter if you are in Africa, Asia, Europe, or America, there is a grand adventure waiting for you—provided you have a tree to climb in your neighborhood!
Just Like Me, Climbing a Tree explores 12 of the most distinctive trees from across the globe, and includes educational notes about each of the trees to help answer questions that curious young minds might have.
Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prevot, Illustrated by Aurelia Fronty
Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts to lead women in a nonviolent struggle to bring peace and democracy to Africa through its reforestation. Her organization planted over thirty million trees in thirty years. This beautiful picture book tells the story of an amazing woman and an inspiring idea.
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth’s natural beauty.
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest by Lynne Cherry
One day, a man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant kapok tree. While he sleeps, the forest’s residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how “all living things depend on one another” . . . and it works. Cherry’s lovingly rendered colored pencil and watercolor drawings of all the “wondrous and rare animals” evoke the lush rain forests, as well as stunning world maps bordered by tree porcupines, emerald tree boas, and dozens more fascinating creatures.
Compost Stew: An A to Z recipe for Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals
From apple cores to zinnia heads, readers will discover the best ingredients for a successful compost pile! Kids everywhere are knowledgeable about the environment and climate change. Not only is composting becoming more common in households and residential gardens, but many school gardens feature compost piles, too. But how do you start a compost pile? What’s safe to include? Perfect for an Earth Day focus or year-round reference, this inviting book provides all the answers for kids and families looking for simple, child-friendly ways to help the planet.
Great Chapter and Non -Fiction Books
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
A book for young readers. It involves new kids, bullies, alligators, eco-warriors, pancakes, and pint-sized owls. A hilarious Floridian adventure!
SeedFolks by Paul Fleishman
A vacant lot looks like no place for a garden. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise.
Heroes of the Environment by Harriet Rohmer
This inspiring book presents the true stories of 12 people from across North America who have done great things for the environment. Heroes include a teenage girl who figured out how to remove an industrial pollutant from the Ohio River, a Mexican superstar wrestler who works to protect turtles and whales, and a teenage boy from Rhode Island who helped his community and his state develop effective e-waste recycling programs. Plenty of photographs and illustrations bring each compelling story vividly to life.
John Muir: My Life with Nature by Joseph Comell
Written mostly in the words of Muir, it brims with his spirit and adventures. The text was selected and retold by naturalist Joseph Cornell, author of Sharing Nature with Children, who is well known for his inspiring nature games. The result is a book with an aliveness, a presence of goodness, adventure, enthusiasm, and sensitive love of each animal and plant that will give young adults an experience of a true champion of nature. It is a book that expands your sense of hope, adventure, and awareness. Adults will be just as fond of this book as young readers. Cornell includes numerous explore more activities that help the reader to understand and appreciate the many wonderful qualities of Muir.
Wild Wings by Gill Lewis
This “vividly imagined and well-written novel” (Booklist, starred review) tells a gripping story about a boy from Scotland and a girl from West Africa who join together to save a migrating Osprey—and end up saving each other.
When Callum spots crazy Iona McNair on his family’s sprawling property, she’s catching a fish with her bare hands. She won’t share the fish, but does share something else: a secret.
She’s discovered a rare endangered bird, an Osprey, and it’s clear to both her and Callum that if anyone finds out about the bird, it, and its species, is likely doomed. Poachers, egg thieves, and wild weather are just some of the threats, so Iona and Callum vow to keep track of the bird and check her migratory progress using the code a preservationist tagged on her ankle, no matter what.
But when one of them can no longer keep the promise, it’s up to the other to do it for them both. No matter what. Set against the dramatic landscapes of Scotland and West Africa, this is a story of unlikely friendships, the wonders of the wild—and the everyday leaps of faith that set our souls to flight.
Great Reads for High Schoolers
In the Blast Zone: Catastrophe and Renewal on Mount St. Helens by Charles Goodrich, Kathleen Dean More, and Frederick J. Swanson
I’m a survivor of the Mt. St Helens volcano eruption. You simply cannot imagine the devastation that was left behind. This book shows the amazing renewal of the region of the past decades. Using human, geographical, and ecological dimensions to show the cycle of this active volcano in the Cascade mountains.
Meditations on John Muir: Nature’s Temple by Chris Highland
Editor Chris Highland pairs 60 insightful Muir quotes with selections from other celebrated thinkers and spiritual texts. Take this pocket-size guide with you on backpacks, nature hikes, and camping trips.
Crossing Antarctica by Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster
In March 1990, Will Steger completed what no man had ever before attempted: the crossing of Antarctica, a total of 3,700 miles, on foot. Lured by the challenge and the beauty of Earth’s last great wilderness, and determined to focus the world’s attention on the frozen continent now that its ecological future hangs in the balance, Steger and his International Trans–Arctica team performed an extraordinary feat of endurance.
Forests (Diminishing Resources) by Allen Stenstrup
Examines forests around the world, discussing the impact that humans are having on them, the deforestation of the Amazon, the threat to mangroves, and the efforts that different countries are making to preserve and increase their forests.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was first published in three serialized excerpts in the New Yorker in June of 1962. The book appeared in September of that year and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson’s passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully throughout the world, and her eloquent book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement. It is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century.
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring By Richard Preston
This is one of my all time favorite books. It instilled in me the desire to climb a Redwood Tree to see the unseen, unknown worlds that exist up in the branches of those behemoth beauties.
Here’s a little bit more about it…..
Hidden away in foggy, uncharted rain forest valleys in Northern California are the largest and tallest organisms the world has ever sustained–the coast redwood trees, Sequoia sempervirens. Ninety-six percent of the ancient redwood forests have been destroyed by logging, but the untouched fragments that remain are among the great wonders of nature. The biggest redwoods have trunks up to thirty feet wide and can rise more than thirty-five stories above the ground, forming cathedral-like structures in the air. Until recently, redwoods were thought to be virtually impossible to ascend, and the canopy at the tops of these majestic trees was undiscovered. In The Wild Trees, Richard Preston unfolds the spellbinding story of Steve Sillett, Marie Antoine, and the tiny group of daring botanists and amateur naturalists that found a lost world above California, a world that is dangerous, hauntingly beautiful, and unexplored.
The canopy voyagers are young–just college students when they start their quest–and they share a passion for these trees, persevering in spite of sometimes crushing personal obstacles and failings. They take big risks, they ignore common wisdom (such as the notion that there’s nothing left to discover in North America), and they even make love in hammocks stretched between branches three hundred feet in the air.
The deep redwood canopy is a vertical Eden filled with mosses, lichens, spotted salamanders, hanging gardens of ferns, and thickets of huckleberry bushes, all growing out of massive trunk systems that have fused and formed flying buttresses, sometimes carved into blackened chambers, hollowed out by fire, called “fire caves.” Thick layers of soil sitting on limbs harbor animal and plant life that is unknown to science. Humans move through the deep canopy suspended on ropes, far out of sight of the ground, knowing that the price of a small mistake can be a plunge to one’s death.
Preston’s account of this amazing world, by turns terrifying, moving, and fascinating, is an adventure story told in novelistic detail by a master of nonfiction narrative. The author shares his protagonists’ passion for tall trees, and he mastered the techniques of tall-tree climbing to tell the story in The Wild Trees–the story of the fate of the world’s most splendid forests and of the imperiled biosphere itself.
What will you do to honor our Earth today?
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SPRING MEANS FOXES! The Fox Diaries: The Year The Foxes Came to Our Garden
From the forest to the front yard, experience the magical story of a family of foxes that took up residence right in the front yard of the author and publisher, Valarie Budayr.
Great to share with your children or students, The Fox Diaries speaks to the importance of growing and learning both individually and as a family unit. It is a perfect book for story-time or family sharing. Not only can you read about the daily rituals of this marvelous fox family, there is an information packed resource section at the end of the book which includes lots of facts and even a few “fox movies” that you can enjoy with your family.
Purchase your copy of The Fox Diaries Today!!
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