Fact or Fable??

This book has been sitting on the window seat next to our kitchen table for a week now - and if it's kept my kids' interest so much that they want to use it almost every time we sit down for a meal, then I thought it was worth sharing.

I picked this up at a used book store for $1.00 -- and come to find out it is out of print and a fairly sought after book! Who knew? The illustrations are just beautiful and drew me into the book. We sat down with it one day and I just thought I would read for fun to my kids. The first thing we talked about was what is a FACT and what is a FABLE -- then I launched right into the book.

I can't tell you how many times my children have wanted to quiz me, their dad, their babysitter - they even quizzed grandma on the phone about various facts and fables! I would like to show my kids the illustrator's website because she gives a lot of information about herself when she was a child. It turns out her grandmother was also an accomplished artist as well.

Back to the book --- here are some of the FACTS or FABLES:

Fish climb trees.

You can tell the temperature by a cricket's chirps.

Red makes bulls angry.

Elephants are afraid of mice.

Snakes always "charm" their prey.

Camels store water in their humps.

A porcupine shoots its quills.

You would be surprised how many of these adults miss! I'm not going to tell you the answers. You'll just have to get this book at your local library to find out the answers! It's worth looking for, because your children will enjoy it!

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Great Children's Read

Over the past year, we have been reading a great series of books - The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. My daughter had received the first book as a gift for her birthday last year. I can't say enough how much we have enjoyed reading these books together! I read them aloud to my nine year old because they are quite advanced - the vocabulary is wonderful (I always keep a dictionary on hand when we read). The first book is simply The Mysterious Benedict Society, and there are two additional books in the series, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey and The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Prisoner's Dillemma.

The books are purely for fun for us; they aren't a part of any curriculum. I would classify them as fantasy and/or mystery. The stories center around Mr. Benedict, a brilliant elderly man who suffers from narcolepsy. His trusty sidekick is Number Two, who makes sure she is with him at all times (in case he falls asleep!) He has issued a challenge in the newspaper for "gifted children looking for special opportunities". The children that respond are all such fun and quirky characters. Once the children are selected the "Mysterious Benedict Society" is born, the books then are based on their adventures. Each book contains many word puzzles which, interestingly enough, my daughter picked up and solved much quicker than I did!

I think my daughter loves the books because the children are such strong characters, each with their own very definite thoughts and ideas. And, they solve mysteries with little or no help from adults. My daughter will tell you her favorite character is Constance Contraire - a young girl who is highly intelligent, but very small. She rides piggy back most of the time just to keep up. Her attitude is pretty funny! At the end of the first book the reader finds out a hilarious truth about Constance. If I told you, it would spoil it for you.

If you want to learn more about the books, just poke around at the link I gave you earlier - the website is so well done and has lots of activities for kids to print and do online. If your children have some favorite "fluff" reads now, can you leave me a comment a tell me what they are? We're always looking for new reads to put on the shelf!
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Rules to Live By

Here's a list of eleven little "gems". I love them, and I'll tell you where they came from afterwards...

1. Friends come in all shapes and sizes.
2. Being free is the greatest gift.
3. Treat others as you want be treated.
4. An idea is not always enough.
5. Do not try to be something you are not.
6. Slow and steady wins the race.
7. When faced with danger, make wise choices.
8. Be proud of who you are.
9. Do not pretend to be someone you are not.
10. Common sense is greater than beauty.
11. Always prepare today for tomorrow.

These all came from a book I picked up a while ago - The Rabbit and the Turtle - Aesop's fables retold and illustrated by Eric Carle

Aren't these all principles our children should be learning? Yet it sometimes seems that the simplest of courtesies and common sense are lacking in our society today. When my son pulled this out of the bookshelf today and asked me to read to him, I did. We just read the first four fables (they are only a page each). I read the fable, and then he would read the moral to me. And yes, even a five year old could restate them to me and the importance in our lives.

I especially liked the GMan's answer to #4 : "An idea is not always enough". I asked him what it would have been like if he had the IDEA to play tball, but then we never did anything about it... mom never signed you up - dad never took you out to buy you the gear you needed, etc... He said, "Then my idea never would have come true". My sweet, sweet boy.

I think I've just found the perfect copywork for our first week of school! I'll post some pics next week as we're working on that.
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