Thursday, December 17, 2009

What We're Reading Dec. 17

Today I am hosting “What We are Reading This Week” for the Well Read Child; so please comment or include a link in the comments to your blog post about what you are reading this week.

At the beginning of 2009, I decided to help the Elf to keep a record of all the books she would read this year. This was due largely to the fact that she had received twenty-plus books for Christmas and had read most of them by the end of January!

We started recording the details of what she was reading in an Excel doc.; the title, author, illustrator, whether it was fiction, non-fiction, picture book, and the month in which she read it.

Now, looking over that Excel doc. as we close in on the end of 2009, I see that she has read 121 books. Most of them have been fiction chapter books, from the Rainbow Fairies and Puppy Place to the Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series. Picture books were down in consumption from last year, numbering only 13. She has read some of her favourite books twice; Kenneth Oppel’s Silverwing series, for instance. Those books were the first three on her list in January 2009 and now, they are being revisited this month, this week.

This week, we did look at a picture book together; Nutcracker Noel by Kate McMullen and illustrated by Jim McMullen. A charming story of a young girl who dreams of dancing in the Nutcracker ballet and how she deals with disappointment by becoming the best tree ever!

At work this week, the theme is Red. To the children in my care, I read, Red Is Best. It has long been one of my best loved books for toddlers and preschoolers. Below is a short review I had previously written for it.

Red Is Best
by Kathy Stinson
Art by Robin Baird Lewis
Annick Press Ltd. Copywrite 1982
ISBN 0-920236-24-3 (bound)
ISBN 0-920236-26-X 9pbk)

Kelly’s mom just “doesn’t understand about red”.

Stinson gets it though. She thoroughly captures a young child’s affinity for all things “favourite”, and in this case, obviously, red! Any one who has ever known a preschooler will definitely relate.

And Kelly, well, she possesses the wisdom that all small children do… she instinctively knows that “juice tastes better in the red cup” and that she can “jump higher in (her) red stockings”. We could all learn from following these types of instincts. Some things just make us feel better and it is good to acknowledge this and surround ourselves in these comforts, whatever they may be.


I’m off now to slip into my deep purple chenille bath robe.
I relax best in my deep purple chenille bathrobe.

6 comments:

Mary Lynn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary Lynn said...

Oops...I think I messed up the links in my first attempt at posting a comment.

Second try:

With Jamie, we've been reading What do Wheels Do All Day and Jingle Bells Christmas, which is a Backyardigans Christmas book he loves.

With Hana, we've been alternating between reading Runaway Ralph and reading Pearl the Cloud Fairy, which is part of the Rainbow Magic Weather Fairies series.

Brimful Curiosities said...

This week we read about snowmen and, of course, created one of our own. Brimful Curiosities - Snowmen at Christmas

Kathy Stinson said...

Hi Om Mama. Lovely to see that my first book remains one of your favourites to read with children in your care. And I think it's brilliant that you're keeping a record of the books your daughter is reading. I wish I had done that for my kids (now in their thirties). I wish I'd done it for myself. :-)

I hope some of my books for older readers (yes I have books for 8 year olds + too) will make it onto your daughter's list in 2010.

Happy reading to you both!

Om Mama said...

Imagine neglecting your blog for 2 weeks only to check in and find that Kathy Stinson herself has dropped by to comment!! How honoured am I?

Thank you Kathy! I have read many of your picture books and I will certainly check out your chapter books for my girl... I think she would be interested in the Pebble Creek Series. By the way, I did start a record of the books I read this year too. No where near the amount my 8 yr old accomplished!

Mary Lynn ~ Those all look like great books. The Fairy books are favourites of my girl too. Daisy Meadows name appeared 14 times on her list in 2009!

Brimful Curiosities ~ I love the Snowmen at Christmas!! Aren't the illustrations great?

Stacy (Mama-Om) said...

Thanks for coming by and commenting on my blog. I've enjoyed visiting yours. Of course, Red Is Best caught my attention. My son's favorite color has always been red!

Best,
Stacy