100 Books-a-Month :: September

Well, we've been reading alot.  I realized that many of the books I hadn't been recording (the ones the grandparents & uncles have been reading to the kids).  We've exceeded our 100 book goal--which I'm very happy about.  We're finally getting back into our reading rhythm.  Here's the list that I have been keeping--mainly library books.  We're off to the library today for another set of books to start on next month's list.

 

1. Planet Was by Amy Boesky
2. Ella Sets the Stage by Carmela & Steven D'Amico
3. My Mother is So Smart! by Tomie dePaola
4. Chavela and the Magic Bubble by Monica Brown
5. Not All Animals Are Blue by Beatrice Boutignon
6. The Berenstain Bear's Mad, Mad, Mad Toy Craze by Stan & Jan Berenstain
7. Hog-Eye by Susan Meddaugh
8. Daddy by Jeannette Caines
9. Anna's Table by Eve Bunting
10. Someday a Tree by Eve Bunting
11. For You Are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane
12. Pet Shop Lullaby by Mary Ann Fraser
13. Rosa's Room by Barbara Bottner
14. The Pirate Cruncher by Jonny Duddle
15. At Night by Jonathan Bean
16. Brave Martha by Margot Apple
17. Dad & Pop: An Ode to Fathers & Stepfathers by Kelly Bennett
18. The Show-and-Tell Lion by Barbara Abercrombie
19. In The Spring by Craig Brown
20. Hooray For Grandparents' Day by Nancy Carlson
21. My Brother Fine With Me by Lucille Clifton
22. I'll Protect You from the Jungle Beasts by Martha Alexander
23. I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
24. In My Momma's Kitchen by Jerdine Nolen
25. The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
26. Bears Make Rock Soup and other Stories by Lise Erdrich
27. Zero Is the Leaves on the Tree by Betsy Franco
28. Thank You, World by Alice B. McGinty
29. My Favorite Time of Year by Susan Pearson
30. Father Sun, Mother Moon by Ann and John Hassett
31. You're Lovable to Me by Kat Yeh
32. One Fall Day by Molly Bang
33. Everyone is Good for Something by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
34. Spirals, Curves, Fanshapes & Lines by Tana Hoban
35. Groundhod Weather School by Joan Holub
36. A Woggle of Witches by Adrienne Adams
37. Princess Bess Gets Dressed by Margery Cuyler
38. It's Time to Sleep, My Love by Nancy Tillman
39. Take Care, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas
40. Meet Wild Boars by Meg Rosoff & Sophie Blackall
41. Sheila Rae, The Brave by Kevin Henkes
42. The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow
43. All God's Critters song by Bill Staines
44. Brownie & Pearl Get Dolled Up by Cynthia Rylant
45. One Monkey Too Many by Jackie French Koller
46. Tell Me One Thing, Dad by Tom Pow
47. Meet the Barkers by Tomie dePaola
48. A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman
49. Beeny and Penny the Toy Breaker by Geoffrey Hayes
50. The Day the Goose Got Loose by Reeve Lindbergh
51. Pigling: A Cinderella Story by Dan Jolley
52. The Sky is Falling! by Betty Miles
53. Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter
54. Curious George at the Baseball Game by Margret & H.A. Rey
55. Pocketful of Poultry by Carol Ekarius
56. I Like to Be Little by Charlotte Zolotow
57. Two Mrs. Gibsons by Toyomi Igus
58. Gameshoe Goose Private Eye by Mary DeBall Kwitz
59. Jungle Party by Brian Wildsmith
60. Hentry Builds a Cabin by D.B. Johnson
61. Waiting for Winter by Sabastian Meschenmoser
62. Where's Henrietta's Hen? by Berniece Freschet
63. Princess Tiapa and the Royal Ball by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
64. Wolf's Coming! by Joe Kulka
65. Pirate Treasure by Loretta Krupinski
66. Hee-Haw-Dini and the Great Zambini by Kim Kennedy
67. My Forever Dress by Harriet Ziefert
68. Max Celebrates Groundhog Day by Adria Worsham
69. Winnie the Pooh--Pooh's Halloween Pumpkin by Disney
70. Trucks! by Wil Mara
71. The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss

Books I Read

72. The Joy of Ritual by Barbara Biziou
73. Kindred Spirits: Sacred Earth Wisdom by Jesse Wolf Hardin
74. How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly
75. The Tao of Pooh by Benjanmin Hoff
76. Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry by Leonard S. Mercia

We've listened to several books on tape/CD
George & the Giant Peach
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (a very favorite story)
The Life of Christ Series
The Life of Paul Series

How did you and your children do this month?  I'd like to invite you all to join us for the month of October.  Those of you who have already joined in and those who are just finding out about it.  I'll be adding a bit more information to my blog about this specific challenge.  I'm also looking for some books to share so stay tuned.

Happy Reading!!!

Book Sharing Monday

Today we're sharing another book by Eve Bunting: Someday a Tree.  This story was simple, sad and yet hopeful.  Without giving it away, it has sparked some good conversation among us on our responsibilities to nature.  This would be a great book for environmental discussions with your children.

We have been enjoying a good number of Eve Bunting books, this one is no different.

Happy Reading to each of you!

Last Friday

Last Friday we attended a special storytime at the library.  Mr. McFeely from Mister Roger's Neighborhood came to share some stories, puppets and wholesome fun.  I was thrilled to be in the right place at the right time to meet him and enjoy some library time.  Here are a few shots from our experience.

Introductions

Mr. McFeely with a Speedy Delivery!

Touching Puppet Daniel Tiger



Singing



The Boy was the first volunteer to sing (alone) next to King Friday XIII



Sweetie Pie ending the round of singing



Those in attendance



Signing his photo



My Crew with Mr. McFeely

For those of you who may be interested.  You can go to this site to view 40 complete episodes of Mister Roger's Neighborhood.  The public broadcasting stations where we've been have stopped showing the program so I'm glad to know that we can still view them online.

Welcome Fall

Today was an outdoor painting, leaf finding, library hunting, book reading, story listening, peach-pie eating, under-blanket cuddling, silly face-making, toe tickling, belly laughing, good-night kissing day!

Only used the camera for the first thing...so, that's all I have to share in the line of visuals. You'll have to use your imagination for the others! (smile)

Very excited about the turning of Autumn.  It's my very favorite time of year.  For some many reasons.  Hope your day was as eventful, or uneventful, as you'd hoped!

Much warmth to you!

Ending the Summer

Today has been a rather lazy day for us.  We haven't moved to any particular schedule.  Lay in the bed talking this morning.  Tickling, cuddling, laughing.  While we listened to part of George & the Giant Peach, I fixed a late breakfast.  We thumbed through photo albums.  As the children played, I was able to catch up with a dear friend on the phone.

We then talked about what we'd like to do for our last day in summer.  We spent time remembering all the things we've been able to do during this one--not everything we wanted--but more than the average!

We've spent the afternoon/evening outside.  Running and playing.  Watching leaves fall.  Watching the humming birds and butterflies.  Listening to the birds sing.  We decided to make some pizza. While it cooked the kids ate some ice cream/popsicles--something we haven't done a lot of this summer.  It was nice.  As the sun set, we talked about how we'd celebrate the beginnings of Autumn, my favorite season!  We have plans to go to the library, do some painting, identify some leaves, be outside.  I'm going to see what else we can add to our add to make it a 'little more' special.

Here are some shots of our afternoon and evening....

How did you enjoy the last day of summer?

Book Sharing Monday

We're getting back in the swing of things.  Have several good books to share.  Finally settled on this one: Anna's Table by Eve Bunting.  Eve Bunting is fast becoming a favorite author.  All the books we're read of hers are just wonderful!!

This one is no different.  It's about a little girl who loves collecting things from nature.  Her aunt knows this and gave her a special table to house all her treasures.  The stories shares what she's found and what she imagines it was like before she claimed it.

Pretty Girl loved this, as she a collector as well.  We're making plans to get our own nature table for her new room.

It's a lovely book with vivid pictures.  We think you'll enjoy this book too!

Happy Reading!

Tuesday

We had another full day.  I'm worn out now.  Typing and monitoring bathtime!  It's almost the bedtime hour--YAY!!!  Bedtime, glorious bedtime!!!

Here's a little of our day....

Our Official First Day Back

I was hoping to have already had this day, but, alas, life has continued to happen.  And, that's been ok with us! :D

After I got up, meditated and took a mile walk/run alone (very excited to have this time to MYSELF every morning)!  We got together for devotion and group meditation, then cleaned up and got ready for breakfast.  I've been wanting to have a better rhythm to our day.  We've definitely been 'freestyling' most of the Spring and Summer months.  They kids need it, heck, I need it too!

After breakfast, we did some chores, brushed teeth and got dressed.  We did some 'sit down' activities.  Since it's Monday we did our 'Money Monday' lesson and got started with some basic addition, patterns & matching (eldest, middle, youngest, in that order).  While Pretty Girl practice her hand writing, Sweetie Pie and The Boy got to choose what art activity they wanted to start on and complete. After writing we read, then Pretty Girl read to me (I love that she can read!). 

To break up the day, I decided to take another walk/run with the kids this time, a shorter route (I got a mile and a half in today).  We ran an errand then got back for lunch.  They had free time outside.  I read from the book we're reading right now, The Wind in the Willows, then they had a quite time where they could choose something quiet to do as they listened to stories on tape.

We then went to the library and spent a few hours looking at books.  We got the limit of 50 so we can get in our 100 Books a Month for this month (starting a bit later).  While they're getting ready for bed, I'm typing this and plan to read to them once again before we end our day.

I have to say that for a first day, today went REALLY well.  I tried to fill it with enough things so that there wasn't a whole lot of time for them to fuss and agrue with each other (does anyone else have this problem?!).  There was still time for them to be, for us to talk and share our ideas.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.

(I've been away for a good bit of time.  I'm doing my best to past through your blogs and catch up with what's been going on with you.  I'm feeling refreshed and ready for the coming change to Autumn.  There's a lot of good energy flowing here!  Hope you each have been well while I've been away.  Talk with you soon!)