"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go". -Dr. Seuss

Green Eggs and Ham Anyone?

This was our Dr. Seuss breakfast. Ellie asked me if she was dreaming. She ate every last bite of her five pancakes. It was a lot of fun. I'll have to work on the green ham. This is definitely something we'll do again.

Tonight, we decided to do something a little different. We hadn't seen Where the Wild Things Are yet so we rented it. But first we read the book so we could compare the book to the movie. It was a fun Saturday night activity. The movie was very detailed and much more descriptive than the book. I don't know how I feel about Max's character before he went to where the wild things are, but I did really like the message the movie sent once he was on the island. It seemed to show kids how it sounds when they pout or bully another child. All four of my kids got very involved in the movie. It seemed a little bit dark and scary. Ellie, my eight year old, got really scared during the part where one of the wild things gets angry at Max and starts chasing him. She cried a lot, so I would suggest explaining a few things to children before showing this movie. The characters seemed very childlike. After I explained to my daughter that they were like children and they had feelings like all kids do, she calmed down a bit. I think that was the point of the story. Max needed to learn how to express his feelings and needed to know that even though he felt alone, he wasn't. He had his family.

Green Eggs and Ham

What's a reading blog without a little Dr. Seuss? We read this tonight and Matthew and Mariah loved it. We have a few Dr. Seuss books at home, but we had to check this one out at the library. I can't wait to have our feast of green eggs and ham. I'm so excited to do that with my kids. The reason I love Dr. Seuss is because of the whimsical pictures and themes, and also the rhyming and repetition. It's amazing how fast they catch on if you just pause on the second rhyming word. Children love to fill in the blanks on rhyming sentences.

I hadn't even considered using this book for my term project, but I finally found it! How wonderful is e-bay? This was my very favorite book as a child. My older brother used to read it to me all the time. I haven't been able to find it. I've even tried ordering it from Barnes and Noble but I never recognized the cover, even though it was the correct story and author. Anyway, to make a long story short I decided to do a search and the cover of this book showed up in the bottom corner of the page. Apparently, there is a newer version with a different illustrator. That's what I've been seeing this whole time, until now. This is the book I remember. I'm so excited to read this with my kids. I hope they like it as much as I did. It's a hilarious story about a family of bears who decide to go on a picnic. They forget everything!

Matthew is my three-year old son. He and I have read this book together night after night for I don't know how long. He loves this book, and all people who know three-year olds know they love repetition. I try to persuade him to read other books, but most of the time he only wants to read this book. The artwork is so cute and Matthew loves to fill in the blanks as I read the sentences. I'll usually leave out the last word in each phrase and have him say the words. It's funny because I've tried to explain to Matthew that there really isn't a bear, we're just trying to get the mouse to share the strawberry with us, but he insists the mouse is the bear. We also love being able to pretend we're gobbling up the strawberry at the end when the mouse shares it with us. It's a great book for younger children, and they seem to enjoy it. Or, at least Matthew and I do.

A Treasury of Dick and Jane

I absolutely love Dick and Jane. It's such a great book for beginning readers. It contains many sight words and high frequency words, and also many words that can be "sounded out". Mariah loves reading this book. It gives her a great sense of accomplishment when she finishes each page. She has progressed so much in her reading over the last couple of months and I believe this book plays a major role. The beginning of the book consists of sentences with just a few 3 or 4 letter words. New words are introduced slowly while incorporating previous words learned. As the book progresses, the words get longer and more difficult and the pages slowly fill up with more and more words. The artwork is so fun and bright. That's just an added bonus. The stories are very cute and very fun to read together. I would recommend this book as an addition to any library.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Reading Tom Sawyer. This book has been a little harder to get into. The language (southern accent) makes it a little harder to follow. My reading is not as smooth either, which makes it harder for the girls to follow along. I think this is better for children in the upper elementary grades. I think it's definitely a worthwhile read. It's so different than anything kids are used to nowadays. Tonight, I decided to put Ellie to bed early, but when she heard we were going to read Tom Sawyer without her, she started crying. We read all together up in her bedroom. The girls are really enjoying this book. It's been really fun to get into it.

We finished our second book today; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This is definately a case where I wish I wouldn't have seen the movie before the book. I found myself picturing the characters and scenery in the movie. As a child, I remember loving The Chronicles of Narnia and felt this would be a great book to read with my kids. This book is about the classic battle between good and evil. When Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter enter the wardrobe they find a land cursed by the White Witch with an eternal winter (without Christmas). When Aslan, the Great Lion returns, the great change begins. The snow begins to melt and nature begins to bloom, signaling the beginning of spring. The battle begins with the White Witch fighting for her reign as ruler of Narnia and Narnians fighting for freedom from her.

The Goose Girl

The Goose Girl

Our first book! People have been telling me about this book for a long time. It's pretty sad that I had to have a term project motivate me to read this book with my kids. It was such a great experience. I started out reading with my nine year old. We couldn't put the book down. She would sneak in some reading at school and I would sneak some in at home and when we'd get together to read, we had to catch up to each other. To my surprise, my seven year old got interested in the book and we all finished the last 200 pages together. I don't want to give the story away, so I'll tell you some highlights and you can read the rest if you choose. When Anidori Kiladra, crown princess of Kildenree, was born she did not open her eyes for three days. Her mother felt she was a different child and formed a distant relationship with Ani. Because of this relationship, Ani felt she didn't fit in. This story tells of Ani's transformation from that lonely/peculiar child to the noble woman she was destined to become. She learns her own potential through her adventures in the forest and in the unfamiliar town of Bayern. It's an enchanting story of hope, faith, friendship, and determination.