A brief and incomplete primer on the American Revolution

A couple weeks ago I got on the library's catalogue system and began hoarding all the great 4th of July books to my holds account. I came home later with a bunch of fantastic stories. Plus a few others from our home library have been floating around the house since we got really behind in our American history studies and are just now finishing our book (How Our Nation Began). The beautiful irony about this and one of the reasons I love homeschooling is that by getting off-track with so many side tangents in American history, we inadvertantly delayed getting to the climax--the American Revolution-- until this week! How timely and wonderful is that?!

At any rate, the kids are eating up this history and I'm happy to let them explore all the great titles we have and borrowed from the library.

So our favorite books so far are the D'Aulaire biographies of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin but we have a couple other non-fiction books worth mentioning too. One of the most pleasant surprises has been found in the great purchase I made of Farmer George Plants a Nation. Biographical picture books just might be my favorite genre since they add so much depth to meaningful learning in a child's brain. And Farmer George is a treat. Not many words are spent talking about our first president's glory days as a soldier or his political dealings. Instead the book focuses on the much lesser known accomplishments of this man as a farmer and entrepreneur; he really did have a brilliant mind! We also have a funny little book called Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?which offers a great and historically accurate perspective on the Revolution from the other side of the Atlantic. Then there's Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biographywhich isn't as fascinating as Farmer George but it does offer an important look at an important man whose ideas still shape our world.

In addition to these are the myriad of books related to celebrating the Fourth itself. Star Spangled Banner books, Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land (great illustrations), America the Beautifuland the like. This topic is ripe with good books.

This Fourth of July, my children will be playing lawn games, eating hot dogs and apple pie, watching fireworks and hopefully having a small sense of wonder at just how it is that our nation began...

World History in 284 Pages

This was going to be called "Library Pick of the Week" since it really is my pick of the week but it deserves more gravitas than that and I plan on buying it before next fall. E.H. Gombrich's A Little History of the Worldis superb. This book will be our spine for history studies for the next few years. Some compare it to Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the Worldin that both tell history from the narrative style for what it is: a story. I have considered using SOTW for our history with the kids many times, but for some reason it never "felt" perfect (Yes I confess; she who praises logic and reason so often resorts to plain old gut feelings.) for our particular family, though it may be a great fit for others. Perhaps it's the rumors that after the first or second volume there are inaccuracies and blatant biases against Catholic history. Perhaps it's the daunting activity books or other curricula-like materials that accompany the text. I don't know. I just know that I never appreciated history as a child and I want to avoid that for my kids. History is so fascinating! And when it's told in an interesting, NON-textbook way, I think even the most school-weary child can't help but be drawn in.

That's what A Little History of the World offers. It's a story (not a curriculum), told in a brilliant, engaging, child-friendly way. Gombrich was an Austrian man and history (from Ancient Egypt up through World War II) is written from that perspective. (He also has The Story of Art which I'm eager to explore too.) Yet, even if it's never read to children (I'd say age 7 is a great start), adults will be able to appreciate it. I think it's an ideal approach for our purposes as I plan on teaching history next year using many, many living books. There is so much history to be told that every single "plan" and textbook in the world will have gaps. As a homeschooling mother, this gives me great peace knowing that ALL education models--public, private, or home-- contain gaps; there is simply no way to learn all there is to know about human history. So using Connecting with History (about which I'm very excited!) as our guide to books and activities, we'll also bring in Gombrich's book as the central overview of any period we may be studying prior to exploring all the tangents and trails that interest us during that time. I also learned that there is a Little History of the World on CD!!!which I think could be a great alternative for some people who want to listen to it in the car or who want to let their children listen to the chapter while Mama is doing dishes or helping Billy-Bob with Calculus.

*Disclaimer: the very first chapter in this book talks with primitive man and Neanderthal-types. I'm quite comfortable with my own theories of evolution but if this topic offends you, it is a chapter easily skipped and certainly should not act as a deterrent to the rest of the book!

"There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories. "-Ursula K. LeGuin

On sentiments and fathers

I am one of those readers who does not particularly appreciate books about sentiments. When I read a story to a child, I want it to be a story... not a eulogy about how much I love the child or how special he is. While I can readily admit that certain "sentiment books" can be well written and nicely illustrated, I tend to find the genre itself to be saccharine and contrived. Children don't-- or at least shouldn't-- need books to feel like they are special in your eyes, or that they are loved. One book on which I stand against the crowd is the very popular Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (Do note that for the sake of charity, I do NOT link books that I myself would not buy.) This is one of those books that is on a ton of bookshelves across America, whether or not the parents are bibliozealots or not. It is the only children's book I've ever seen on Amazon that has over 1000 (by and large positive) reviews. I'm not sure what it is about it. People just seem to love the message of this book: mom loves little boy unconditionally as he grows up. The final moments are when the tables get turned and the boy (now a full sized man) is holding his elderly mother in the rocking chair. So not only is there a lack of a real plot, I also struggle with one of the pages in particular. The mother, at one point, crawls up a ladder to her grown man son's bedroom to hold and love him while he is sleeping. I find this rather creepy. There are other sentiment books that I don't particularly like either. I do however have more tolerance for books which at least have some interesting elements to add to the story, as is the case in The Runaway Bunny where at least the illustrations are fun and imaginative.

So with Father's Day just around the corner, it would be easy to find a few sappy 'I Love Daddy" books to recommend that fall into the sentimental category. Instead, let's discuss a few books that have good fatherly messages or figures without being quite so overt about it.

Anatole and the Toyshop by Eve Titus. I'm always willing to give a plug to the Anatole books; we love him around here. And in this particular story, Anatole gets to shine as the hero who saves his family from a tyrranical shop owner. Family is the ends; courage is the means.
Pop's Bridge by C.F. Payne gets double points for being based on history. (I love that.) In this book a boy admires his hardworking dad as he helps to build the Golden Gate Bridge. The sacrifices of men are noted and laborers of all kinds are celebrated in the end. Kids today don't often get to see their fathers doing meaningful work. Back in the pioneer days, children worked alongside fathers out in the fields or in the stables. Since the industrial revolution, the actual sight of men at work is removed from most kids. So when dad gets home, often all they see is him lazing about on the couch or glued in front of a T.V. or somesuch. Not exactly images that inspire virtues of strength, commitment, sacrifice and integrity in young people. (Now this is a topic for another time, another blog... but while I have you reading here, if you'd like to explore this idea further see the excellent, short book Successful Fathers: The Subtle but Powerful Ways Fathers Mold Their Children's Characters.)
Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley was mentioned before in a thrifting thread. It's been a good addition to our home library. Piccolo becomes a reluctant adoptive father to two spritely little kittens. After spending a lot of time trying to dodge them; their disappearance causes him concern and he finally embraces his role as papa and teacher. I suspect I'll be mentioning this one last time in a future post when I write about my favorite books to use as curriculum units. (The glories of Venice are in top form here.)
If: A Father's Advice to his Son. Now I'm breaking all the rules on this one. Not only is this a "sentiment book" of sorts, and it doesn't have a whole lot to do with fathers specifically, it's a book I've not even SEEN in real life yet! I stumbled on it one day on Amazon.com. This is the famous poem by Rudyard Kipling (whose pedigree speaks for itself) illustrated with photographs by Charles R. Smith Jr. I am a tremendous fan of this poem. It will be one of the longer poems my boys are forced to memorize and I hope its message sticks with them. If you're not familiar with "If", I'll post it here for your good pleasure. Drink it up, then force the koolaid on your kids too. As it is, I just found out that it's in our library system so I've just put a hold on it for further perusal.

If

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

The Gray

In the world of children's authors, there exists gray. I dislike gray, desperately. Why can't it be black or white? There are a couple authors who I know to avoid. Then there are those who attract me like a bear to honey. Then there are a couple of gray authors who produce superb literature one day... and hogwash the next.

They frustrate me deeply.

Two authors I would love to unequivocally recommend are Charlotte Zolotow and Jane Yolen. They have wonderful books... but I can't automatically grab something off the shelf from them anymore ever since discovering some blemishes in their authored works.

Charlotte Zolotow is an award-winning and rightfully praised author on so many lists. She created such gems as The Seashore Book and the beautiful When The Wind Stops. She has a way with words especially in describing the natural world in a gentle, lyrical way. Then we picked up a book by her called The White Marble at a garage sale once. It started out fine, about a new friendship between a boy and a girl. But then the language got a little too beautiful. Maybe it wasn't even her intent, but the sentiments that came across in this book turned very intimate and almost sensual at some points. I was glad I read it to myself before introducing it to the boys. I think they would've felt confused. That said, all it takes is one bad publication for my red flags to be up with an author. So while we'll check out some Charlotte Zolotow books, I can not include her on my quick, safe author list.

Then there's the example of Jane Yolen. Her name is popular in the children's literature world; she's written over 300 books!!! People compare her to Hans Christian Andersen or Aesop sometimes! And we LOVE some of her books. Our favorites include the haunting Owl Moon, the inspirational Emperor and the Kite, and the now-classic How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? We thought that Jane Yolen was good to go. Until we read Encounter.

Encounter is the story of white men coming to America as told from the perspective of a young Native American boy. Now, I'm not one to claim that the whole "Columbus discovered America" bit was all peaches and cream and that happy, chubby Thanksgiving scenes were the norm. I know better, and I teach my kids better. We discuss how the "discovery" was bittersweet, the conflicts with the natives, some of the ways Europeans took advantage of the situation. But Yolen's book is really over the top with the whole thing. The little boy talking in first person is at first scared, and describes how he senses the corrupt, evil intentions of these pale people. The pictures show surly, ugly white men with greed in their eyes. The boy gets kidnapped but manages to escape to tell the story of how much he regrets white people ruining his land. Now come on, I'm not proud of all of America's history... but I'm not sorry we came here. And this book seems to want to lay a guilt complex on every white American and a dose of racism against us in the eyes of every minority American. It's a bunch of hogwash. And it has made me very leery of Jane Yolen now.

So those are just a couple examples of "gray" authors. They are part of the reason why parents need to be especially vigilant to what kinds of words, stories and messages are being imparted to our children. We would be naive to think that all of children's books are meant in good fun without any kind of underlying motive whatsoever. Still, it ought to be easier to identify "bad" books... which is why it's so frustrating when the bad gets easily mixed in by authors from whom we've come to expect good. Guard your heart and guard your mind, and guard especially the minds and hearts of children who are unable to do so themselves.

****************

EDITED TO ADD: Thank you to Rachael for pointing out her disappointment with Patricia Polacco when she checked out "In Our Mothers' House." I had no idea.... Polacco was on my safe authors' list!!! But I can't recommend her 100% anymore because some of the content of her books run contrary to the value system I'm trying to hold my family up to... a great pity though. Patricia Polacco has some real gems and I'd encourage you not to write her off totally. Just be selective and thorough when evaluating her books.

Library pick of the week

I mentioned this book in my Top 10 list for spring, but we don't actually own it. Yet. After going through the library books that we've gotten this week, it looks like pretty standard fare (except for the fact that this branch had a Tin Tin book that the boys haven't read yet... so that was exciting. But Tin Tin really does deserve his own post.) so I'm going to have to choose this as our book of the week. I need to just buy it already as we've checked out this (and it's companion An Egg Is Quiet) enough times to convince me that there really is long-term relationship possibility here that needs to be assessed. The boys have loved finding which seeds we recognized in this book and are eager to identify monocots and dicots now. I had some old navy beans from last week's soup that we covered in a wet paper towel and put them in a plastic baggy to see what would happen. A few days later, they began sprouting and shell shedding and now are ready to plant. Probably the easiest and most beginner-friendly science experiment ever. So without further ado, I can not recommend enough A Seed Is Sleepy.

Overcoming Reading Resistance

Rachael asks what can be done to help her daughter love story time. Some kids are just wiggle worms and don't like sitting still and reading books... and this can be very disheartening to mamas who want to raise up little readers. Rachael did mention that her little one did love Richard Scarry (good taste that one!) so there is hope! Stick to what she's interested in for now. Some other ideas that may help:

Don't mandate sitting still. Allow her to draw or color or even jump around while you read... she still may be listening.

Read during snack or lunch time! I think this is one of the best ways to "force" listening among squirrely children. Two year olds can be strapped in a high chair and older kids have to sit at the table to eat. You can read and show pictures, librarian-style during this time.

Lunch time is a great time to introduce stories that are longer and with fewer pictures since the kids are preoccupied with their food, they will generally sit still and just listen to what's going on. I made special "tea time" for fairy tale (the old, picture-less, non-PC kind) reading with my boys. The stories are rich and the vocabulary tough but I literally sweetened the deal by making muffins or somesuch, put a dollop of honey in their tea and read while they sipped and nibbled. I'm sure a significant percentage of what I read went right over their heads, but I think it's important to challenge them and get them familiar with rich language and tough vocabulary words.

Another place where children have to be naturally still is in bed. Night-time reading next to their bedsides is a fantastic habit to get into, and it makes for warm memories as a bonus.

Consider books on CD. Go for a long car ride and pop in a book on CD to start instilling the habit of attention. Soon, you can transfer this habit to home during 'quiet time.' Five year olds are old enough for beginning chapter books like Charlotte's Web or James and the Giant Peach.

You can check out picture books at the library that have a CD accompaniment. The great thing about this is that many children who don't read yet like to flip the pages at the special "page flipping" sound so they are attentively listening for that.

Don't be afraid to deviate from the story line. I used to substitute the names of my kids into the story as the protagonists, maybe adding in a sibling or friend also, and they loved hearing books about themselves.

Talk about what you are reading. Ask her what she'd do in such and such situation or what part of the picture she likes best. Try to mimic some of the artwork. Play 'finding' games with rich illustrations.

Try letting her work some beeswax in her hands while you read. Beeswax is pretty tough before it gets warmed up in little hands so it'll take some of her fidgety energy out while she's trying to mold it. If it proves too frustrating, just go to a basic clay or playdough.

Get some beautiful, wordless books (e.g. Tuesday or Anno's Counting Book) and see if she is receptive to just talking about the pages or even better, telling the story herself.

Create a lovely space for reading. Consider refashioning a closet into a reading nook or using some creative pipes, boards or framing materials to hang cloth over. If you make a space inviting enough... kid appealing enough... they'll want to be there: "If you build it, they will read."

Same thing goes for book display. Most of our books live on the shelf. Select seasonal and library books are placed in beautiful baskets around the house. We've been known to employ the rain gutter system too; get something forward facing at least! For resistant readers, you have to put a little extra effort into marketing! But it is worth it!

Most of all, don't give up! Even if you feel like your efforts are in vain and she's getting nothing out of it, she is! She's hearing stories (don't let the frustration drip out of your voice!) and lovely language and will be all the better for it. If you need some reconvincing on the importance and value of reading aloud to children, check out Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud Handbook. This book is incredibly important for parents to read. While I don't agree with 100% of his book recommendations, the information and statistics in this book are very, very good. They will make a big impact on you and help you feel better about your goals when read-aloud time seems useless.

how to make a bibliozealot

Finishing up the afternoon dishes I noticed the quiet in the house... never a good sign around here. I wiped my hands and immediately set off to investigate. I found a sight to warm my bibliozealous heart... the children on a Dr. Seuss binge in the front yard:

Thrifting Gems

I got seriously lucky last week at Goodwill. The Goodwills around here have a price of 79 cents on all children's books (note, this is NOT true of Goodwills everywhere unfortunately), whether it's a ripped up Elmo's ABC book or a pristine collectible. While the store seems to have someone on staff who knows how to gouge prices on clothing depending on the brand, it seems they count all childrens' books as equal... much to their own ignorance... and a fact upon which I am happy to capitalize. As it is, for $6.32 I scored 8 great books. The Tomie De Paola book you see was a quarter at the "Friends of the Library" book sale last week.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I normally wouldn't have taken the time to purchase this beloved classic because it's so readily available at the library and at thrift stores. But this particular copy is an old, hard copy with divine illustrations and a dust jacket that makes it worthy of prominent display on the shelf. It smells like precious old books (once Kindle can nail that, they might win me over). Books of this sort are like deepwater pearls for me.

The Boxcar Children.I've passed up millions of Boxcar Children books because while I think they are fine on the moral compass, they aren't necessarily super high quality literature that I'm dying for my children to read. But many children love series like these and I don't mind if a child of mine gets hooked on these benign books. I bought it that day because it was a mint condition hard copy of the first book in the series... and I had just read a blurb about The Boxcar Children earlier that same day from an (adult) book I'm enjoying right now.

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. We have a ton of Christmas books in our home because we tend to slow school WAY down during Advent and focus on liturgical activities and lots of good reading. Some years, I wrap up all our Christmas books and the kids open them one each day... so I like to invest in quality Christmas stories... and this is a lovely one. Same reason I bought Tomie De Paola's "Country Angel Christmas" up there.

The Sign of the Seahorse: A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts. All the goodness we can expect from Graeme Base. I'm not familiar with this particular story yet, but the copy was mint and we've loved everything else we've seen from Base thus far!

Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley. I love when children's stories show a strong sense of place or culture and this one highlights Venice at its best. Not only is the book in excellent shape, but it was on my wish list. This book may be elaborated upon more greatly in a future post about best books around which to design a curriculum.

The Vikings... I couldn't find author information on this offhand and it's disappeared into the folds of a child's blankets for now, so fascinating it is. The book offers great visuals about real Viking artifacts and art and stories, it's a great supplement to our Vikings study (which we finished last fall and won't revisit for a few years, but still...)

Ollie's Ski Trip by Elsa Beskow. Now I just got done ranting about how Beskow books NEVER make it to the second-hand world but I was proved wrong as I found one of her titles for the first time EVER! Little Ollie sets out on skis and runs into Old Man Winter who's trying to keep the Spring Thaw lady away... what a great find!

Finally, Little Rose of Sharon by Nan Gurley. This is a sublime little book, one of the best analogies on Christ I've ever seen in children's literature. It's a story of sacrifice and love and absolutely great Easter timing. I am VERY happy to own it!

"Good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.”

Japan

I'm not sure when I became the consultant for friends who'd ask "Do you have any recommendations for ____" but honestly, it's feeding my ego: this pretended children's librarian authority. As it were, Lindsay is doing "origami week" with her little ones and asked if I had any books to recommend that reflected Japanese culture. Here are my picks:

Crow Boy by Taro Yashima is the first that comes to mind. It's a super tale about a boy being different... but valuable. Japanese culture is written all over this book. We've used this book as a spine to build an entire Japanese unit on once.
Right after that, I thought of Yoko's Paper Cranes by Rosemary Wells. Not only does this actually show the delights of origami, it's a sweet story about grandparents and a grandchild staying connected, no matter the countries (or states, in Lindsay's case) between them.
Then there's the classic Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say. It's a fascinating and beautiful story of the plight of an immigrant and would be appropriate for older children as well as younger. Allen Say has a number of other beautiful books relating to Japanese culture as well.
Little Oh by Laura Krauss Melmed might be a perfect fit too. In this one, an origami doll comes to life and goes through all sorts of adventures before parental love wins. I also happen to love the illustrator Jim LaMarche who has done art in many other books I adore.
One on my shelf is The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson. A tale of cleverness, compassion and love. And it shows traditional Japanese culture on every page.
Then, I saw this book on Amazon.com, Fold Me a Poem by Kristine George. I've not had a chance to review it yet, but it looks absolutely lovely and perfect for a week of origami or Japanese culture study...
Of course I wouldn't let this opportunity to go by without also putting in a plug for the wonderful, essential Children Just Like Me book. Anybody who does any kind of social studies work with children ought to have a copy. My children love to compare and contrast their own lives to those of children all over the world and this book makes that information very visual and accessible to them.

So there's that. There are many more books based in Japan out there, but these are the main ones I know of that are great books, lovely and worthwhile... which after-all should be exactly what we strive for now, shouldn't it?