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While I never considered myself a lover of Greek Mythology, Percy Jackson is doing his very best to change that. With the classic Greek stories told in his voice, I'm allowing myself to suspend disbelief and roll with the action. Hats off to writer Rick Riordan; He hits all the right notes. 
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This past summer my favorite read was all about Punctuation! 
I know... that sounds a bit nerdy - even for me. But wait... no judging until you yourself have skimmed the pages of Lynne Truss' hilarious history of the power of punctuation. Half reference book, half commentary on language and culture - Lynne made me see punctuation in interesting new ways. She also helps young readers see how punctuation matters (and not in the old-school-diagramming-sentence-kind-of-way) in her series of children's books: First there is Eats, Shoots and Leaves: Why Commas Make a Difference! Oh, and they do. They do! 
Then there is The Girls' Like Spaghetti: Why You Can't Manage Without Apostrophes! The only book known to man that seamlessly integrates the subject of punctuation with second grade humor. 
And lastly, the marvelous Twenty Odd Ducks: Why Every Punctuation Mark Counts! Because honestly: "Let's eat, Grandma." and "Let's eat Grandma!" are two entirely different circumstances. 
I love to read. It’s an action that informs, entertains, inspires, and connects. I’m happy to report that my oldest son shares this love as well. 
During the heat, he and I could happily pass every hour of the day in the cool of our basement moving only from chapter to chapter. My youngest son, however, requires actual physical movement (which brings us all upstairs and into the backyard), but he too is disappointed if we start the week with an empty book bag. We don’t buy the books we read (as that bill would quickly outpace our grocery bill), so it’s off to the public library each and every week. Sometimes these visits are leisurely and include browsing the shelves, long conversations with our favorite librarians, and 30 minutes of game time on the children’s computer stations. Other times, our visit is a mad dash in and out (with the driver behind the wheel parked at the closest curb). Our best bet for getting the books we want (when we want them) is the online library catalog. Easy and free to use, we can use this search engine to find books any day, at any time, from the comfort of our own home. Here are links to two brief videos that will show you how to make this free, online, library service work for you: Click HERE for a full-screen version of this video.
What do you buy a boy who has TOO MANY Legos?? He would answer: “More Legos! There is no such thing as too many!” However this past Christmas… I answered: “Lego Books!” There are a variety of great Lego books on the market. These books can spark the animation of a young builder while also providing one more reading opportunity. Here are my son’s favorites: What do you do on the rainiest weekend ever??? You make paper airplanes! Here are the ultimate reference guides for those aeronautical engineers bouncing off your walls. These books offer both the directions and the paper needed for indoor fun.
 This home-school Goddess I call friend (and family) recommended Joy Hakim’s “A History of US”. I checked out several of the Hakim’s books and discovered that my oldest son’s school uses them as well. Packed with information, maps, pictures, and reproductions of original documents – both my sons and I enjoyed the series. Perhaps the history buff at your house will too.
Several years ago, my (then) five year-old learned how to play chess. He learned how to play this classic game before I did. His father (who apparently wanted someone to play chess with) taught him. Soon, I too learned because my son begged me to learn (and apparently wanted to play someone he could beat). This month, my (now) five year-old is learning. Right now I have the upper hand with this new player- but I think my days are numbered. A recent trip to the library brought these two books to our attention. One for the beginner and one for the more advanced player - both are good bets as they have written directions as well as great pictures that illustrate all the great moves. So.. here's two Chess reading recommendations. If you haven't learned to play yet - these books can get the whole family started:  This book for beginners has great illustrations and simple directions. The book tells of the history of the game and offers suggestions on how to play a simpler version of the game with young players.  High-tech pictures and more advanced directions and suggestions make this book a hit with more advanced players. Be prepared to play lots of chess as your reader will want to try out all his/her new moves. Here’s a perfect book for coin lovers!  Young coin collectors at our house love this reference book. Santa Claus brought this gem at Christmas time and it’s been a hit ever since. Full of color pictures and complicated value charts, my seven year-old loves to use this book to find out more about the coins in his collection. With each new addition to the coin collection comes a hurried search and detailed reading of the corresponding text.
That’s good wholesome fun for pennies on the dollar!  We just purchased this children's atlas for my second grade son. The bright and bold graphics are evenly matched with the amount of detail provided in the text. Readers can discover each state’s: Name Origin, Nickname, Capital, Birthday, Motto, Population, Area, Highest Point, Lowest Point, Flower, Tree, Bird, Fish and Major Rivers. A detailed map shows the major roads as well as the National Forests and Parks.
Often times a book with so much information can be overwhelming to young readers – but the standard page-format of this book allows readers to easily access the info they want about each of our beautiful 50 states. We rarely buy books (as we are addicted to the ease of our local library) but this one was worth raiding the piggy-bank. |
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