Monday, October 8, 2007

Books!!!




Autumn holidays...science...biographies...and just plain fun books.

Here is some of what we are reading right now.

Early for Thanksgiving, but I figured some of you may need time to find it

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Allison Jackson and Judith Byron Schachner
is a very funny variation of a favorite song /book around here.
Princess and Farmer Dad have not outgrown their enjoyment of the classic There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...so when I saw this book at our library, I just had to bring it home!
We have been hooting with glee while reading it. I may have to actually buy this one.

I also brought home Rammadan by Sahib Hamid Ghazi with illustrations by Omar Rayyan.
Our library had quite a few lovely and informative looking books about Ramaddan on the display shelf this year,
but this was my favorite after flipping through them. I wanted to discuss a little bit more with Princess about the holiday this year, we touched on it briefly last year using only an article from our local newspaper.
She loves driving by the relatively new Mosque in our town because it is so very pretty.
This book should do nicely and it has very lovely illustrations.

As an adult, I enjoy Kenneth C. Davis's books, and found one for children at our library with Illustrations by Pedro Martin titled Don't Know Much About the Solar System.
He has many others, but this was the only one I could find in our library.The illustrations are fun and I think it will certainly have enough info to keep my little "science girl" happy for weeks of "learning".
We will probably have this one out for as long as we are allowed.

The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven by Jonah Winter and Barry Blitt
billed as a "mockumentary" based on little known facts about Beethoven, this book has fun pictures
and I am hoping it will open the door for more discussion of classical music in our lives.
From the book;
  • Fact: Ludwig van Beethoven owned five legless pianos and composed great works on the floor.
  • Fact: Beethoven lived in no fewer than 39 apartments.
  • Fact: It is very difficult to move five legless pianos.
  • But from there, things get fuzzier.
SUPER-COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY THE MESSIEST by Judith Viorst and Robin Preiss Glasser
There is nobody in the world as messy as Sophie...just ask her older and very neat sister Olivia.
Princess recognized the illustrator immediately from her beloved "Fancy Nancy" books and we have been enjoying the antics of Sophie and trying to use them as a springboard for discussions on not being messy.

Princess being Princess, we couldn't pass up the next two.

The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane and Herm Auch
is a funny take on re thinking the pros and cons of "princessing" as a career choice.
After going through all the "tests" to prove she is a "real princess" for the "honor" of marrying
Prince Drupert, Princess Paulina stumbles upon an alternative vocation.
This book is kind of "Princess and the Pea meets the Bachelor", and I liked it.
(Princess did too..although she is not giving up being a Princess, maybe she just won't marry a Prince).

Speaking of the Princess and the Pea,
Lauren Child has a version out with Polly Borland.
Princess thought it very "romantic" although she thought the last line
about peas not being served because,"everyone knows real princesses are not especially fond of peas"
very funny...mostly because she herself, a "real princess" loves them!

10 comments:

Gottfredsen said...

Great books, I can not wait to check them out. We love the Kenneth C. Davis books to. We have not read that one yet but we have gotten the ones about states and the presidents. Those are really good.

Daphne said...

I think it's awesome to introduce P to holidays that you don't yourself observe. (Or perhaps you do in which case I shall need a second to extract my foot from my mouth) What a great social studies lesson!

Garden State Kate said...

Hi Heather-
Thanks, glad you like the choices.

Daphne- Thanks, and no we do not celebrate Ramaddan ourselves, but I do think
it's important to give P an understanding of as many peoples
and their beliefs that I can.
We fear what and /or whom we do not understand
and decisions made out of fear are seldom good ones.
;-) I'll hop off my soapbox now.lol

Cutie said...

Great books!! I also think it's great she is learning about different things. I think it's important to know about different cultures in order to be well-rounded, even if they are vastly different from our own.

Also LOVE the Rainforest Cafe pic! We can't wait to take DS back to one!

Garden State Kate said...

Thanks Mandy.
Did he like it? P was not into it at all...except for the fish tank. lol

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

Ami loves Lauren Child's humor. She has the Clarice Bean series and of course she loves Charlie and Lola.

Jenny said...

Good for you for learning about different cultures- that's something important to me too. I don't think we've ever read a version of "The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" so I'll be on the lookout for that one.

Jaime said...

I love picture books about composers! I haven't seen this Beethoven one yet. My favorite so far is Handel, Who Knew What He Liked.

Anonymous said...

Great book suggestions! I find the Rammadan book to be especially interesting. I shall have to look for that one at the library. Enjoy your day!

chanale said...

That's so funny about Beethoven! I just put that book on my library list (it's at my local branch but currently checked out).

What an interesting bunch of books. :)

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