A Wrinkle in Time: The Movie

We watched the movie last night with the kids...and the kids loved it! Meli was thrilled to point out parts that she remembered from the book. Making the connection was great for her and really got her excited about reading. Colin thought they did a good job on the characters and how the scenes were laid out.

Favorite parts:
Colin - The Mrs. and the different dimensions.
Meli - Mr. Whatsit (in her flying form) and the colorful dimensions.

Disappointments:
Colin - that they left out Aunt Beast. I was disappointed in that, but understood why they may not have went that route.
Meli - that Meg and Calvin did not kiss at the end! Oh, and Aunt Beast!

I highly recommend this movie. It follows the book fairly closely, but does take liberties here and there. I really enjoyed it!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
     The B Family

Kids' Reading Corner: Intro into Poetry

My love for poetry started when I was in third grade. We were asked to write one for a homework assignment.  I do not remember all of it, but mine was about Snoopy. (I loved Charlie Brown as a kid...well I still do.) I loved the concept of rhyme and the rhythm. I went on a poetry craze from that moment.

After this assignment, I found Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic at our city's library and I was hooked. I loved the goofy and unrealistic lines he would come up with. It seemed like such an area of creativity. In fourth grade, we revisited poetry and I was so excited to try out what I had learned. My teacher's name was Zoover and I was thrilled to find a word to rhyme with that (hoover - as in vacuum). I became a big fan of Shel and have read most of his collections throughout the years. I also wrote poetry from that point on.

Now 20+ years later, I have introduced my kids to his books. We started with Where the Sidewalk Ends and it has been an interesting experience. I think due to having two RNs as parents and an older brother, I was exposed to things earlier than my kids. Plus, we watched scary movies like Pet Semetery and It at a very young age. So, I was surprised that some of the poems bothered Meli. She is only in first grade. She is still processing what is fantasy and what is real.  She tells me which ones she would like to skip (based on the pictures) there was one where a guy is sitting on top of his head (that is not attached to him), that bothered her.

I told her several times that we did not have to read this book, but she asks for it all the time. She loves the poems as long as we avoid the ones with physical harm. Another one we skipped, the guy had a nail in his head. She focuses more on the image. The poems are not gruesome, but just odd and playful. So far, we have only had to skip two.

I was not sure if the kids would really like the book, but they are seriously hooked. Meli is doing better now that she understands that these are not real. She usually will go grab the book to make sure we include it in our story time.


Happy Reading!

Love, Hugs &  Kisses ~ The B Family

The Kids' Reading Corner: Library Success!

We have had some successful library picks this month! I did find several them from a podcast I listen to and some were ones that caught my eye. 

From the top picture: 

Ratings 1= not so good, 2= OK, 3 = Awesome!!!

Owl Diaries #1: - This is a super cute book. Reading it out loud can be a little annoying with the "owl" made up words - like "owlerrific" but I am improving! There are already 5 or so of these books out. When I went back to get #2 they were all out. We picked up #5 that we are reading now. I do not think it is a series that has to be read in order. The art is adorable and the words per page are not a lot, which makes it perfect for Meli's age (5/6).

Colin = 3

Meli = 3

Mom = 3

Ninja!  - The kids loved this book! It was very cute and entertaining. 

Colin = 3

Meli = 3

Mom = 3

Just a Minute: I really enjoyed reading this one. It was very cute! Meli was a little confused as to why the skeleton wanted the grandma to go with her. It had a happy ending though.

Colin = 3

Meli = 3

Mom = 3

Without You: I picked this one, since I have a moody girl. I think the message was understood. Hopefully. Both kids liked the art. 

Colin = 2

Meli = 2

Mom = 3 (topic)

Dog Man: I did not read this book, but Colin did on his own. He loved it!! I got it since it is similar to the Diary of a Whimpy kid books, which Colin has read over and over. 

Colin = 3

The Parthenon: I loved how this book was organized and the information was great for his age. He is getting into mythology which makes this mom so excited. I did a minor in Greek Civilization, so right up my alley!

Colin = 3

Mom = 3

We finished the Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. This has been our longest books we have tried to read out loud. Colin and I loved the book! We are excited for the second book. Meli enjoyed it on days that she paid attention more. The author had a very smooth writing style, which I love for read aloud books. I highly recommend this book.

Colin = 3

Meli = 2

Mom = 3

Everybody Loves Cupcake: Super cute book!! I loved the jokes, the kids did not get them all.

Colin = 3

Meli = 3

Mom = 3

Magnificent Magical Beast: Colin just read this himself. He loved it!

Colin = 3

Shh! We have a plan: The kids thought this was so funny!

Colin = 3

Meli = 3

Mom = 2

Meli loved all of the books above. I think the best for reading (Meli) are the Otto ones. I got all of these from a list of books that were supposed to be the level (1) that they say they are. I get frustrated with some of the early reading books that say one, but then have way too many words and not the easiest words. The four of these Meli could read on her own, with my help with a few of the words. 

Nuts in Space: This was a cute book. The order of reading was a little hard to know with all of the word bubbles. I love the incorporation of Star Wars and Star Trek. Very entertaining.

Colin = 3

Meli = 2 (grumpy)

Mom = 3

Very Red Riding Hood: A very cute book. 

Colin = 3

Meli = 3

Mom = 3

                                                              ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                         The B Family

Kids reading corner: Catch Up

I have been horrible at posting the books that the kids have been reading or I have read to them. I am hoping to play catch up the next few weeks. I thought it would be fun to have the kids rate the books 1-3. 1 = eh, not so much. 2 = Enjoyed it. 3 = Loved it!

Nobody likes a Goblin (Ben Hatke) – The kids enjoyed this book. Meli thought it was adorable that his friend was a skeleton. It is a good book to use to use as an example for stereotypes. No one likes a goblin, but the kids can see that he is a nice goblin.

Meli’s Rating: 2

Colin’s Rating: 2

King Baby – (Kate Beaton) – Meli LOVED this book! I had heard about it on the New York Times Book Review Podcast. I also thought it was a cute book. She thought it was funny that the baby was talking like he is a king.

Meli’s Rating: 3

Colin’s Rating: 3

The Princess and the Pony (Kate Beaton) – This is by the same author as King Baby. I looked for King Baby at the library but it was checked out, so I tried this one. Meli thought it was cool that the princess was a warrior. The horse was also super cute.

Meli’s Rating: 3

Colin’s Rating: NA

Ida, Always (Caron Levis) – This was a very sweet book. I will admit that I teared up. It does deal with death. Colin liked hearing that this was based on the life of two real polar bears.

Meli’s Rating: 2 

Colin’s Rating: 3

Leave Me Alone (Vera Brosgol) – Colin loved that this had her going into outer space. Meli thought it was funny that she could not be alone. They both liked the ending.

Meli’s Rating: 3

Colin’s Rating: 3

Echo, Echo (Marilyn Singer)- I personally love this book! It does poems about Greek myths. So it is a good way to show the stories young. It also does poems that can be read reversely, which are called reverso poems. One side of the page has the poem read top to bottom, then the other side of the page has it flipped. The first reading would be based on one character (like Perseus) and then the reverse poem is from the other character’s side (Medusa). I loved it! I love poetry and am impressed when people can write this style. Especially over 10 poems all on one topic (myths). Colin noticed that there were two other books similar to this Echo, Echo and Mirror, Mirror.

Meli’s Rating: 2 - Meli loved the art - but was not really paying attention to the poems. 

Colin’s Rating: 3 - He loves mythology right now.

A Library Book for Bear (Bonny Becker) - The kids loved the one about the visitor but this one did not grab their attention as well. It may have been an off night. I did not enjoy reading it as much either.

Meli’s Rating: 1 

Colin’s Rating: 1

No Sleep for the Sheep (Karen Beumont) - this one read very well. It tends to repeat the last two sentences each time.  Almost like a song. Meli tends to listen to those more.

Meli’s Rating: 3

Colin’s Rating: 3

Meli's Kitchen: Turkey Burger

Turkey burgers

This is the first week that we are having the kids separately plan their own dinner menu (including dessert) and cook it. Meli went first choosing turkey burger sliders with pears and green beans. Will decided to add Red Lobster biscuits (one of his fave). For dessert Meli chose marshmallows dipped in chocolate and ice cream cones dipped in chocolate with vanilla ice cream. She actually did a very good job. She got to crack an egg again. She added all of the seasonings and stirred the meat. She did not want to touch the meat, which I was OK with. So, I made the patties and put them on the grill. She picked out of the condiments and veggies. I was very impressed that she would pick things that she did not like, but knew that Colin or somebody else did. Meli is super picky, so I am hoping that this will help her want to try more things. Thankfully she seems to like something in every food group. Plus, she loves protein rich foods. She just has very simple taste. Nothing mixed. 

Very yummy

So first meal was a success!! Colin is up next. He chose cheese & bean quesadillas with a vanilla pudding.

Need to work on her presentation

I think we will like the two cookbooks for kids that we chose.

Both recipes came from the Cooking Class book

The Kids' Reading Corner: May & June

Colin loved the first two books of Diary of a Wimpy Kid! I have kept these books on the back-burner since watching my nephew, Alexei, reading these years ago. He was so into them! I like how many drawings are incorporated throughout the chapters. Very nice for kids just getting into chapter books. 

The kids love Piggie and Gerald!! Meli especially. She likes to memorize them. I think partly why they like these books so much is that Will reads for Gerald and I read for Piggie. They enjoy us reading it together and our voices we use. They each try to mimic our voices. Mo Willems is very good at creating fun characters. Sadly, The Thank You Book is the last one for this series. I wish he would continue to write them. 

We are big fans of the original style Winnie-the-Pooh. The kids like hearing the original stories. The characters and drawings are my favorite. I just love them. I recently was shown a Russian cartoon that is their version of Winnie-the-Pooh on youtube. It was very cute. The drawings were re-done. Pooh looks like a ewok...so adorable. It was interesting watching an episode i recognized but in a different language. 

I let Colin take pictures of the books like I do for my other blog. Colin had fun putting them in different places. He says that he loves Battle Bugs because "they are bugs that battle. That is just awesome!" Of course - I should have known that!

I love these small chapter books that you can get from Scholastics for a dollar. The kids like Cam Jansen and the fact that she has a photographic memory. Colin really wants that. Me too! Humphrey is a hamster. The kids enjoyed this book. It is nice having a chapter book that you can read in just a few bedtimes. 

Colin is really enjoying the Choose your own Adventure books. I recently found him several at a local bookstore. Colin was getting a little discouraged that he kept choosing wrong ways to go, so he would come to Will for advice. "If you were on a space ship and had a choice between...." Very cute!

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~ 

 The B Family

The Kid's Reading Corner: March

I have mentioned how Meli will usually pick very random books. Well, she loves Santa...so we usually always have a Christmas book. This one, A Bad Start for Santa, was very cute. Meli really got into finding the missing glove. 

Colin has a goal of trying to read two chapter books each month. In March one that he really liked was Galaxy Zack. I think this is a series, so I need to check that out. It was perfect size chapters. During spring break I had him read a chapter a day. The print was not overwhelming for a kid new to chapter books. The art was cute too. 

With a crazy month at work, I failed to take pictures of our favorite library books. I will do better in April. Some other favorite pics were:

•  Elephant and Piggie (My Friend is Sad)
• Elephant and Piggie (Today I will Fly)
• Skippyjon Jones Cirque De Ole - this was on CD as well. The author does a great job with the voices. We listened to it a lot.

The Kids' Reading Corner

Colin saw me writing about some of the recent books I had read and asked why I did not do the same for the books I read to them. So, here it is The Kids' Reading Corner. We tend to read a lot of books as a family. The kids each pick out some from the library, then I will grab some to keep it interesting (or if they need to hear about a specific topic). 

Here are some of their favorites.

They tend to like books by Cynthia Rylant. She does the Poppleton series and Mr. Putter and Tabby. We have read all of the ones at the library, so we may have to order some. They are a good introduction to chapter books. Each one being only a few pages and they have pictures. This allows me to read some that are somewhat more Colin's level and still include Meli. 

Meli loves the Jan Thomas books like What Will Fat Cat Sit On. She likes the simple sentences that she can repeat after me or even memorize. Plus, they are funny.

We all LOVE the Piggie & Gerald books. Mo Willems is amazing!! Will and I will read these together. The kids love our voices for the characters (especially Will's Gerald). Meli loves to be Piggie in these books. Again, simple sentences and art. I highly recommend these books. 

I have to throw in the classics, of course! I also like to choose books that relate to something I can talk about. For example, with Make Way for Ducklings, I can talk about going to Boston and seeing the statue celebrating this book. The kids like what Colin calls "Text to World connection". 

I really enjoyed the Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns book. It is a very simple color book, but it introduces the kids to a different culture/religion. That is something that is very important to me. Especially with the current climate of politics and everything. I want to teach love and respect. Meli picked this one out. She is very attracted to bright colored covers and interesting art. She tends to pick ones that are non-fiction and about religion. 

Until next time....pleasant reading!

                                                Love & Hugs,

                                                 The B Family

Book Challenge!!!

I find lately, that it has been hard to make time for reading...Ha! What do I mean lately?!?  Since having kids!  So, for the last 7 1/2 years! I still would go through periods where I would read more than others. This last month I have been pretty diligent in forcing time to read. Today, I came across this post on a blog I follow (http://www.maybematilda.com/) for a reading challenge! OMG! How great is that?!?  So, I am going to try it. I am a bit behind (it is for the whole year. 12 books (12 months - get it?!) Since I am behind, I picked a few books that I have read (somewhat recently) for the 5 months I have missed. If I get done with the other 7 books in good time, then I will pick an unread book for those 5. This originally came from http://modernmrsdarcy.com/, who I am now going to follow!

Thee 2015 Book Challenge

1. A book you’ve been meaning to read: How The Irish Saved Civilization (Thomas Cahill) This book has been on my reading pile for a few years. I loved it, but was usually reading at night, which is not a time you can always read a non-fiction book (at least when exhausted). I finally got to it this past month and it was FANTASTIC! I really loved it. It is part of a series (that can be read together or not). Very interesting and now I have to find books about St. Patrick. I knew some of the legends, but what an interesting man! (COMPLETED)

2) A book published this year: I need to find one. I am so out of the loop since my B&N days.

3) A book in a genre you don’t typically read: Dragonlance - Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Margaret Weiss) My husband recommended this to me a few years ago. I do not typically read Fantasy/Sci-Fi, but really enjoyed it. It was nice reading something that he enjoyed so much. (COMPLETED)

4) A book from your childhood:  I am planning to read Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) I loved this series of books and movies. I have re-read it a few times since grade school and still enjoy it. I was so sad to read of Johnathan Crombie's (Gilbert Blythe) death that I thought this was a perfect time to revisit Prince Edward Island.

5) A book your mom loves: Outlander (Diana Galbaldon) My mom LOVES this series and has told me several times over the years that I need to read it. I am not sure why I avoided it. Probably partly from my days at B&N and constantly cleaning the shelf with this series on it. There are several and the mass markets are huge! Recently, I gave in (just in time for the series - no idea that was happening) and it was a great book. The author combines history (which I love), action and romance. I highly recommend. I have actually read the first 3 books in the series. (COMPLETED)

6) A book that was originally written in a different language: I need to come up with one for this...but I have a few ideas.

7) A book ‘everyone’ has read but you: Fifty Shades of Grey  (E. L. James) I kept avoiding this one. I hate when books are all over the place and everyone is going crazy about them (again probably because of working at B&N), but I finally decided to try it awhile back. Have to say the hype was not deserved. I could not make myself like the main character. I felt she was weak and kind of an idiot. Probably the straight forward Scorpio in me.  Plus, I do not like books or movies that seem to have the sole purpose of shock. That may have not been the author's plan, but it just read like it to me. Possibly due to all of the hype. I am not a prude and was not made to blush when reading (mabye I should not admit that?!), I just could not get myself to care about the characters at all. (COMPLETED)

8) A book you chose because of the cover: This Is Where I leave You

9) A book by your favorite author: I think I am leaning towards something by Jane Austen, but we will see...

10) A book recommended by someone with great taste: ???

11) A book you should have read in high school: Gone with the Wind (Mitchell) I have started this one a few times, but another book comes across my lap. I am reading it now for a book group.

12) A book that’s currently on the bestseller list: The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins) This one was listed on Maybe Matillda's site. I have heard the name, so I may go for this. I will have to make a trip to B&N to see if something else catches my fancy. I usually avoid this section.

I am so excited!!! I will update in a few months...

                                          ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                      The B Family

Our Little Reader

Colin has been doing such a good job with reading!  I thought to celebrate he should help me with a book list! So, here you go my fellow book-lovers!

For kids:

Colin loves to try and read himself (Dr. Seuss books are great for that), but he really loves being read to!  I am so proud of him! It probably goes without saying that this bookworm is thrilled to have two kids that have shown such a love for books. I am so glad that he is now at a point where we can read him beginner chapter books.

We finished reading Peter Pan a few months ago. I think it helped that we started it after he saw the old Disney cartoon. Helps with the transition to no pictures.

We watched the movie Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief together. The movie was a little tense for him at times but he seemed to really like it. I bought the book recently, so he also wants that read to him.  I wanted to read it first to see if it would be able to hold his attention. It actually is a cute book. A very "hip" way to get young kids interested in Greek mythology...which I totally support!

We just finished reading,  The Mouse and the Motorcycle (the Ralph Mouse books by Beverly Clearly). Colin loved it! He wants to read more books by her. I am hoping he will like the Ramona books.

We just started Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (another book from my youth) and he seems to like it so far.

 

Books for adults:

I usually always have a few books that I am reading...right now they are:

 Ayn Rands', We the Living. It is about communism in  Soviet Russia in the 20's...but the themes are still very relevant for today. I love it so far. She is a Romantic Realist writer which is an interesting style.

I am also reading, How the Irish Saved Civilization. This is part of a (somewhat) series (meaning it can be read in any order) by Thomas Cahill. I loved Sailing the Dark-Wine Sea: How the Greeks Still Matter. It looks like it will just as good.

Another book I am reading is Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman. I have read several of her books. A very good author.

There are two books I had started pre-move but got packed away, (so I need to restart) Cleopatra: A Life and the Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Both were very good so far. The first is not your typical take on the amazing historical figure of Egypt and Eleanor was such a smart and incredible woman. Very inspiring. 

Another book I am excited to start is one that Will bought me for our anniversary. It 

is the writings from a local girl of the town my dad lives in (early 1900's), Opal. She supposedly was an incredible woman with her writing abilities and knowledge of nature.  I also got several books for Christmas...I now have The War that killed Achilles, an art history book, and Hyperbole and a Half.

Book Recommendation

I just finished a book that I just have to share.  It was an interesting and different type of story.  The book is, My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock. I just loved it!  She was a blogger for celebrity gossip (who apparantly make very good money) but lost her job when the economy went sour.  She became a bit lost and had no idea what to do...until she came across a quote of Eleanor Roosevelt's - "Do one thing each day that scares you".  So, she takes the year from her 29th birthday to her 30th doing exactly that.  It really is a good book.  It was also neat reading about someone who is my age that comes across similar issues.  I also learned a lot about Eleanor ( I will be picking up a book she has written next). I highly recommend this book, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-year-with-eleanor-noelle-hancock/1100567891.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family