Fun With Family

Too Far Away To Touch

By Leslea Newman

Illustrated by Catherine Stock

I really enjoyed this book, and I am not ashamed to admit that it brought a few tears to my eyes. It was a very touching book about a young girl learning how important it is to cherish family while they are still here.

Zoe is a young girl who loves when her Uncle Leonard comes over to take her on an adventure. She always loves playing tricks on him when he comes to pick her up. She wanted to inform her uncle he was loosing his marbles while she held two in her hand, but he was wearing a hat when he came over. Uncle Leonard wasn't taking Zoe to the museum or the zoo, but instead to the planetarium. After seeing the show, Zoe wished she could see real stars. She lived in New York, so the stars were almost impossible to see from her house. After the show, Uncle Leonard took Zoe to get food. She asked him to take off his hat because she wanted to play her trick. When he took it off, she realized a lot of his hair was gone. She asked if he was sick and he said that he was sick but that he was doing well that day. When Zoe and Uncle Leonard got home, he surprised her by putting glow in the dark stars on the roof of her bedroom. It was a long time before Uncle Leonard came to pick up Zoe for an adventure again. But when he did, he brought Nathan, and they all went out to sea side where they could see the stars. When Nathan went back to the car to try to find more blankets, Uncle Leonard informed Zoe that he was very sick. She asked if he was going to die and he said yes. She asked where he would be going after he died. He told her that he would be too far away to touch just like the stars.

 This book does talk about AIDS, which may not be something young kid's parents have discussed with them, so this book may be hard to use with the younger kids. However, most kids have sadly had to deal with losing someone to disease making it a very relate able book. Also, every kid has that one relative that they love to spend time with, so you could take a positive spin on the book. You could have the kids discuss what they do when they spend time with a favorite relative.

LOVED This Book!!

Bea and Mr. Jones

Story and Pictures by Amy Schwartz

Beatrice is tired of going to kindergarten and playing all of the games. Mr. Jones is tired of catching the 7:45 and laughing at all of his bosses bad jokes. At this point, Bea and Mr. Jones decide to switch places for the day. Bea gets on the train and sits with her father's business associate Harvey, and he explains that they have a busy day ahead of them. When they arrive at work, Harvey sends out a memo to the office stating that Bea will be replacing Mr. Jones for the day. When Mr. Jones arrives at kindergarten, he gives Miss Seymour a note excusing Bea from school and informing her that Mr. Jones will be participating in class for the day. Mr Jones loved all the games, and he was an excellent snack monitor because he didn't spill the milk.  He also was able to help get kids unstuck from the trees. Bsck in the office, Bea sent her secratary home for the day and loved all of the bosses jokes. She was also able to help come up with a jingle for the cracker account, and received a promotion at the end of the day. Mr. Jones and Bea decided to permanently switch places. Bea became the president of toy sales and Mr. Jones became a star student.

This was such a cute book, and would be great to use in a classroom. I used it for my read aloud, and the kids absolutely loved it. They all wanted to tell me what their parents did at their jobs and share their experiences when they went with their parents to work. There are many open ended questions you could use with this book that would get kids thinking and sharing their ideas. I also really liked the illustrations. The whole book is in black and white, but the pictures still helped get the story line across.

I was looking online for a picture to add to the blog when I came across a great lesson plan you could use with younger kids. Here is the link to the lesson plan:

http://www.bcpss.org/bbcswebdav/institution/CURRICULUM/Early%20Learning/School%20Year%202011-2012/Kindergarten%20Literacy%20Curriculum/Kindergarten%20Unit%203/Kindergarten%20Unit%203%20Reading/Read%20Aloud%20Templates/Unit%203-%20Bea%20and%20Mr.%20Jones.pdf

Fall Is In The Air!!

Pumpkins

By: Jacqueline Farmer

Illustrated by: Phyllis Limbacher Tildes

This book was adorable, and would be perfect to use in younger classrooms. The book talks about several different kinds of pumpkins and how they are most often used. It shares how other cultures use pumpkins on holidays and in every day life. The book talks about how pumpkins are grown and how many farmers grow in a year. My favorite part of this book was the two stories on why pumpkins are used on Halloween. It then goes into how to carve a pumpkin with the help of an adult and the different foods you can make with the insides of a pumpkin. It gives several different pumpkin recipes in the back, and the translation of pumpkin in many different languages.

PUMKIN

Italy - zucca (ZOOK-ka)

Japan -  kabocha (kah-boh-cha)

Mexico - calabaza (kah-lah-BAH-sa)

Russia - tykva (TEEK-va)

China - nangua (NAHN-gwah)

Germany - Kurbis (KYEER-bis)

Turkey - balkabagi (BAHL-kah-bah)

France - citrouille (sit-ROO-yuh)

Iran - kadu tanbal (KA-doo TAN-bal)

The Netherlands - pompoen (pom-PEHN)

Sweden - pumpa (POOM-pa)

Brazil - abobora (ah-BOH-boo-rah)

I really enjoyed reading through this book, and it would be great  to use to teach history of other cultures or cook food with pumpkins. I think young kids would really be able to get into this book if you make it interactive.

How to carve a pumpkin video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7MJcTY2kfw