Five For Fun

We had another great week of Five For Fun books. Abi is really enjoying our "fun" read alouds. First up was Henry's Amazing Machine by Dayle Ann Dodds. Henry is a unique little guy who starts "putting things together" as a baby. As he grew so did his "machine". He has "whirling things, twirling things, zipping things, zapping things, thunking things, slipping, sliding, dunking things." But what do all these things do? We think that his amazing machine will surprise you as much as it did his parents, neighbors, and well..everyone!

Tuesday's read was Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola. It is a story that is based on his own childhood experiences. Every Sunday he goes over to his grandmother's house and says "hello" to his grandmother, Nana Downstairs, who is always in the kitchen, and then runs up the back stairs to say "hello" to his great-grandmother, Nana Upstairs, who is 94 years old and mostly bedridden. Then one day his mom tells him that Nana Upstairs has died. The story then follows his grief at losing his great-grandmother. As he looks out of his window one starry night he sees a shooting star and says that reminds him of where Nana Upstairs is now. When he is an adult his Nana Downstairs passes away and he remembers that both of his Nana's are now Nana Upstairs. It was an ok story but it didn't specifically mention anything about Jesus or Heaven, so personally I think there are better stories out there for helping children cope with loss.

Wednesday was Swimming with Dolphins by Lambert Davis. This is a great story about a little girl and her mom that live on an island that go out on the beach early in the morning to wait for the dolphins. Then they put on masks and snorkels to swim with these gentle creatures. The illustrations in the book were beautiful and it really did feel like we were swimming right along with them. The author also includes some factual information on the last page which is great for science/nature study.

Thursday brought us to Thanks a Lot Emily Post by Jennifer LaRue Huget. This funny story is written from the thoughts of the children when mom brings home a little blue book written by Emily Post. Everything was just fine until the book showed up. Now it was "Emily Post This" and "Emily Post That". No more slumping in the chairs & no more shouting. Then a plan hatches. Will the children finally triumph over Emily Post? You might be surprised.

We ended the week with The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster by David Conway. Just what would happen if Little Miss Muffet got tired of sitting on her tuffet and decided she wanted to try out another nursery rhyme? Find out what happens as she travels from page to page trying to be what she is not. Will she find a good fit in the shoes of someone else or will chaos reign. Why did she want to leave her rhyme anyway? Oh yeah.......

Well Abi's pick this week was Swimming With Dolphins. "Why? I asked". Her answer: "because I wish I could really do that." Good enough for me. I thought that my pick would have been Thanks a Lot Emily Post until we got to Friday. I guess it spoke to me on a deeper level. Enjoy where you are spiders and all. Ok..I'm not into the spider part but learning to accept what God has planned for my life even with the little annoyances that come is a valuable truth to learn and pass on to our children. (The book didn't include that theme but was dropped into my heart by the Holy Spirit). We hope you find something great to read this week. Please share your finds with us by leaving a comment. Blessings- Jodi-Marie & Abi