I Once Was A Monkey...

Every now and then we bring home a book from the library that just captivates my children's attention.   Over the weekend we stopped to pick up a book  we had reserved from our local library.   I always look through the Story of The World Activity guide and reserve books suggested for upcoming chapters.   To tell you the truth, I had forgotten about reserving this book, so it was like getting a present when it was available.

I Once Was A Monkey: Stories Buddah Told contains five stories from Buddha's famous fables, Jataka Tales (or birth stories).  In each story, a bit of wisdom is conveyed from Buddah to a group of animals  listening to him in a cave.  The tales were originally told to Buddah's disciples to help spread his teachings.    Each tale begins with a different incarnation of Buddah (which in itself led to some great discussion with my children) and ends with a message of peace, attentiveness, tolerance or respect.


The illustrations are beautiful, and alternate between black and white and color, to denote when new stories begin and end.  

One of the reasons I love The Story of The World so much is the  broad view of history it gives my children.  It exposes them to many religions, viewpoints, and doesn't shelter them from a whole lot.   Some people do not use Story of The World for these reasons, but they are the reasons I DID choose this history spine.  Even my six year old could articulate to me that we, as Christians, don't believe you "come back as something different" after you die.  Now he knows, however, that Buddhists do have this belief.  

In addition to this wonderful book, we are also finishing Caddie Woodlawn this week.  What is your current read?   I'm happily linking with Amy today!      

Have You Read The Book of Beasts?

The Read-Aloud Thursday book is taken directly from Amy, at Hope is The Word.  (Read her post about it here.)  I am starting to rely on Amy for her book suggestions, and when she blogged about The Book of Beasts a while back, I ordered it immediately! (only $5.99!) 


The copy we received appears to have one of the less common covers, and I love it!  It also has a different illustrator than more common versions (Annabel Spenceley drew the pictures in this version.).  The story, written in 1900, has a charm and appeal that I can't quite describe.  



This is the story of Lionel, a small boy who, to his great surprise, is made king. He's delighted to discover the palace library - and one book in particular, "The Book of Beasts", but when he opens its pages, he is not prepared for the magic that is unleashed!
(Synopsis taken from Goodreads.com)

 It is one of those books that will be read again and again in our home... they just can't enough of the Manticora and the Hippogriff!  

We thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I'm thankful to Amy for bringing it to my attention.  What is your favorite read-aloud?  Each Thursday Amy hosts Read-Aloud Thursday, where you can see what lots of people are reading to their children.  It's my favorite blogging day of the week!    

Read-Aloud Thursday: Wisconsin and The Whipping Boy!

It's read-aloud Thursday...probably my favorite blogging day of the week!   I received a beautiful book last weekend at a luncheon with the ladies from Apologia.   Sarah Clarkson's book, Read for the Heart, is a must have for your library - it will help you choose Christian read-alouds for your family.  I have just spent a few minutes going through the book, but I've already reserved several books from the library I found out about through Sarah!  The Homeschool Village did a wonderful interview with Sarah on their blog earlier this week.  You'll want to read it - such a lovely example of what a homeschool graduate is accomplishing!  

I'm finding more and more that I need guidance choosing the books we read.  There are so many good books out there, but I just want to read the BEST.   When you think about it, we have our children for such a short time.  I want to make their education COUNT by providing them with the most beautiful, thought-provoking literature possible!  

This week's installment of Read Aloud Thursday features our favorite picture and chapter book of the week.  Enjoy!

Earlier this week I posted about the beginning of our 50 State Study.   I looked for books about the state of Wisconsin (our state this week) and we found this excellent book, which we fortunately could get on reserve at our local library.  The Legend of Wisconsin is a legend about the Giant Hare, Nanabush, and how Wisconsin got many of its natural features. We found ourselves going to the map to see the Great Lakes that surround Wisconsin and also looking up pictures natural Wisconsin.    We thoroughly enjoyed this book; it was a good supplement to our state study.   

We also listened to a book on CD over the past week - The Whipping Boy.  If you've never listened to/read this short Newberry Award book by Sid Fleischman, you really should. Prince Horace is spoiled rotten and there is a rule in the kingdom that it is unlawful to spank the prince.  So, instead of spanking him, they bring in a "Whipping Boy" to receive the spankings!  From the get-go this outraged my children, and the rest of the book keeps their attention just as well!     The bratty prince and his whipping boy change places after getting mixed up with some shady characters, and the story continues! 

  

As always, I enjoying linking to Amy at Hope is The Word for Read-Aloud Thursday!