Poetry Friday: Blueberries by Robert Frost

Two-year-old C would be happy to eat nothing but blueberries this time of year, and the rest of us can certainly consume our share as well.  So in celebration of all the ripening blueberries…..

Blueberries by Robert Frost

“You ought to have seen what I saw on my way
To the village, through Mortenson’s pasture to-day:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!
And all ripe together, not some of them green
And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!”
“I don’t know what part of the pasture you mean.”
“You know where they cut off the woods–let me see–
It was two years ago–or no!–can it be
No longer than that?–and the following fall
The fire ran and burned it all up but the wall.”
“Why, there hasn’t been time for the bushes to grow.
That’s always the way with the blueberries, though:
There may not have been the ghost of a sign
Of them anywhere under the shade of the pine,
But get the pine out of the way, you may burn
The pasture all over until not a fern
Or grass-blade is left, not to mention a stick,
And presto, they’re up all around you as thick
And hard to explain as a conjuror’s trick.”

Read the rest here.

This weeks Poetry Friday Round Up is at Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup.

American Girls Sewing

Several of M’s friends have American Girl dolls.  Last week, I took some time to make dresses for two of them with summer birthdays.  M picked out the fabric and watched the process, guiding the fabric into the machine on a few occasions.  Here are the results of our work:

What We’re Reading This Week, July 9 Edition

We finished up Little House in the Big Woods and started Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager which we’d checked out from the library.  I wasn’t sure if M would like it as much as Half Magic and Magic by the Lake since a lot of the plot refers to Ivanhoe, a story she’s not familiar with.  But Edward Eager has come through again; she loves it.

I just finished reading all of Olivier Dunrea’s gosling books to C.  They continue to be constant favorites. Both girls have much of them memorized.  Other popular picture books this week: I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry, Tom and Pippo in the Garden by Helen Oxenbury (we’ll be getting more from this series at the library), and No! No! Titus by Clare Masurel.

The What My Children Are Reading Round-Up is at The Well-Read Child.

My List of Booklists

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I love lists, booklists in particular.  I love to pour over list of other people’s recommendation and add to my ever growing TBR list and the immense list of books I want to share with M and C.

Naturally I was thrilled when I learned via Twitter that Nic Kristof had shared his list of the Best Kids’ Books Ever in his Sunday column in the NY Times.  He invited readers to share their own favorites on his blog and got over 2500 comments.  He summarized some of these in a follow up blog post.  I’ve added several titles to my lists and I haven’t even started reading through the comments.

And if all those book suggestions aren’t enough, here are some of my favorite booklists:

Little Willow’s lists are divided by age and topic.

Teaching Authors recently complied a list of lists for their sidebar.

The Miss Rumphis Effect has many excellent thematic lists.

A Librarian Mom post from last summer is a great source for books about summer.

DaddyRead has excellent lists of chapter book and picture book read alouds divided by age.

Kid’s Next list from Indie Bound has recommendations divided by age and info on new releases.

Mid-Continent Public Library’s Juvenile Series lists can be searched by series title or author or subject, a huge help when you’re not sure what book in a series comes next.  I use it regularly.

Happy reading!

What We’re Reading This Week: July 2 Edition

M and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods.  We’ve been reading bits and pieces of the Little House series for several years.  The boxed set is in M’s room and she loves to look through them.  We usually read series in order, but M insisted on reading By The Shores of Silver Lake a few months ago so we started there. Now we’ve returned to the Little House books and M wants to start from the beginning.  We tried Little House in the Big Woods a year ago or so, but it didn’t capture her attention.  The time is ripe now though.  She would probably have listened to the whole book in one sitting if I could read that long.

Our favorite picture book reads this week: Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss, Tom and Pippo in the Garden by Helen Oxenbury, Honk! Honk! Canada Geese Start a Family by April Pulley Sayre, Seashore Babies by Kathy Darling, Ollie the Stomper by Olivier Dunrea, and Ballerina by Peter Sis.

The What My Children Are Reading Round Up is at The Well-Read Child.

A Dress Up Progression

Non-Fiction Monday: Dolphin Talk

M had been interested in dolphins for awhile.  She’s fascinated by how intelligent they are and also how playful.  This weekend, we checked out Dolphin Talk by Wendy Pfeffer which is part of the Let’s Read and Find Out Science series. M often wants only certain parts of non-fiction books read to her as she flips through looking at pictures, but she wanted to hear every word of this book.  She was thrilled to learn about all the different types of sounds dolphins make, particularly their amazing abilities with echolocation.

We’ve enjoyed lots of titles from this series over the last several years, I definitely recommended checking out titles on any topics you are interested in.

This week’s non-fiction roundup is at Book Aunt.

Bits From Our Week

I meant to write a post about the lovely Father’s Day we had, and at several points during the week, I’ve intended to blog about things we’ve been doing but I’ve been to busy, well, doing. Brent and I each spent a day this week wiped out from a stomach bug so that’s added to the chaos.  So instead, a single post of various things we’ve done over the past week:

Brent loves cashews, so on Father’s Day, M and I made these amazing Double Chocolate Espresso Cashews cookies* from The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz.  They were amazing, crisp on the edges but soft and oozing of chocolate inside.  The roasted cashews were the perfect complement to the sweet chocolately-ness.

We took a Father’s Day hike at one of our favorite stops along the Blue Ridge Parkway and managed to walk for an hour with no meltdowns and only a bit of whining toward the end.  Something to celebrate indeed.  The terrain was rocky and full of big roots but C proved to be as intrepid a hiker as her sister was at 2.  She walked almost the whole way.

C went to her preschool for 2 mornings this week.  She had a wonderful time and M got some much needed mommy time.  Both mornings, M and I went to coffeeshops after dropping C off, and I read to her while shared a muffin or a cinnamon roll.  During the school year, we’d often done work at our favorite bakery, but we’d never done a long read-aloud session outside the house like that.  It was wonderful.  I had to stop both days when my voice started to give out even though M was begging for more.  We also did some math and a bit of phonics review.

After we came home one of those mornings, M worked on various creations in our craft room while I finally hemmed the last a set of napkins I’d cut out ages ago and cut out the pieces of a dress for M’s friend’s doll, a belated birthday present.

We took an excursion to Kid Senses, a kid’s science museum about an hour away from us.  Our favorite part was their new Discovery Garden.  We got to explore lots of plants, eat strawberries that were growing there, make these butterflies, water plants, and climb through a tunnel on top of a rock wall.  There will eventually be a section with bees, worms, and ants as well.  The inside of the museum was a whirl of chaos with several summer camp groups visiting, but once we retreated to the 0-5yo Alphabet Trail room, we were able to explore in peace.  The girls loved the barn, caves, and pretend hollow trees, lots of places to hide or snuggle.  We spent some time curled up reading in the ladybug tower.

Yesterday we headed to the pool.  M had a private swim lesson with a wonderful friend whose been our babysitter for years and also works at the pool.  Then we stayed and played until C was thoroughly worn out and we had to get home for a nap.

We also managed to fit in plenty of playtime at home: play dough, animals, Playmobil, Little People, rocks, magnets, dress up, etc.

Today M’s going to a friend’s birthday party, and we’re headed to a family bonfire tonight that should be a blast.  We’re going to make brownies and sauteed greens to take to the bonfire (not to be eaten together) and turn the cherries we have into candied cherries. But first, I must go make waffles, M is giving me a “stop typing and make breakfast look”

What We’re Reading This Week: June 25th Edition

M and I had both missed our reading time together while she was at her grandparents so we’ve been reading a lot since she got back. We very rapidly finishing Violet Bing and The Grand House by Jennifer Paros, a quirky chapter book about a girl who doesn’t like to try anything new and refuses to go on her family vacation.  She ends up staying with her aunt at The Grand House and learning that sometimes new things can be good after all.  It has a clear message but it’s not preachy and Violet’s aunt is a model of patience with Violet’s approach to life.  M loved it.  And I loved all the uses of Capital Letters.

Her dad and I like to take turns reading to M in the evening and have different books going so currently, he’s reading Dragonsdale by Salamanda Drake with her and I’m reading Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager which we absolutely had to read after the mentions in The Penderwicks and in Any Which Wall. We’re nearly done now after a marathon reading session over a cinnamon bun at our favorite bakery on Tuesday while C was at preschool summer camp for the morning.

Some favorite picture book reads this week: How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA by Marjorie Priceman, Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup, Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, The Little Red Hen by Byron Barton.

This week’s reading round up can be found at the Well-Read Child.

My Book-Filled Week

M and C have been at my parents’ house all week and I’ve been enjoying the quiet.  I’ve spent far less time on household projects than a more productive person would have if she’d had a week at home alone, but I’ve read a lot.

The day the girls left, I finished my re-read of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  Next I read Why Mermaids Sing by C. S. Harris, the third book in her Regency-set, mystery series featuring the fascinating detective Sebastian St. Cyr who is also the heir to an earldom.  I loved it as much as the first two, devouring it in a day and then requesting the fourth book from the library.  I’m crossing my fingers it will come in for me today.

Next up, I read Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede, pre-reading it to see if M is ready for it.  I found Cimorene, the heroine, wonderful and I loved the way Wrede pokes fun at fairy tale conventions like the rescuing of princesses and enchanted frogs.  While there is nothing in the book to make it inappropriate for a 5yo, I’m not sure if there is enough action to keep M’s attention or if she will find it as funny as I do.  We may give it a try in the coming months or we may wait longer, but I definitely want to share it with her eventually.

In anticipation of the release of the next Stephanie Plum book, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, I caught up with my reading of the series, finally getting to Fearless Fourteen.  I’d been disappointed in the last few books I’d read in the series, but the 14th installment felt more like the early books.  I found myself laughing out loud and falling in love with Joe Morelli all over again.

Yesterday, while storms raged outside and we lost power for many hours, I read New Moon, the second book in the Twilight series.  Like the first book, I found it slow at first and ended up skimming for awhile but as the pace picked up and danger and tension built, I was sucked into the story and needed to get to the end before bed.  I forgot just how difficult reading by candlelight is, not nearly as romantic as it looks in historical films.

During the week, I also read bits and pieces of The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz and Ratio by Michael Ruhlman, both of which arrived in the mail early in the week.  I’m looking forward to finishing them.

Our power has been restored, but I had to seek refuge at a coffeshop this morning for internet access.  I’m not sure when the cable lines will get fixed but my fingers are crossed that it will be soon so my internet withdrawal doesn’t reach critical levels.