Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

Aaron selected this book himself. He found it on one of our bookshelves and told me, "I know which chapter book I want to read next."

I'm pretty sure it was the doughnuts on the cover that enticed him. That boy is nothing if not his father's child.

So we read it. And it was one of those books that had to be accompanied by a lot of explanations.

Homer lives in the small town of Centerburg. His father owns a tourist camp [insert explanation] and a filling station [insert explanation]. Homer helps out a lot, but he also likes to build radios [insert explanation]. Homer's Uncle Ulysses owns a diner and loves labor-saving gadgets [insert explanation], which is how the ill-fated doughnut machine comes to be.  Besides catching robbers with his pet skunk and helping out the Super-Duper, Homer is fascinated with Michael Murphy's musical mouse trap and the cookie-cutter housing development going up [insert explanation]. For being such a small town, Centerburg is not the least bit short on excitement.

Even with all the things they didn't understand, Aaron and Maxwell still really liked this book (and I say, as long as they're enjoying it, it's not a bad thing to get to expand the ol' vocabulary). Unfortunately, the last chapter was definitely our least favorite, and combined with the long break we took in the middle of it to read Billy Miller, it just felt like it ended on a bit of a bad note. (I guess we just don't have much of an interest in a new housing development built in honor of old Uncle Ezekiel, nor in celebrating one hundred and fifty years of Centerburg progress. That chapter required so many explanations, I was doing more explaining than reading. Plus, there was just no way for it to compete with a chapter about dozens of doughnuts rolling non-stop down a chute.)

The illustrations are delightful. This is Robert McCloskey after all. Would you expect anything less? Since I can't seem to talk enough about the doughnut chapter, I'll also tell you that I would love to get prints of some of the pictures from that chapter and hang them in our future library someday. The piles and piles and piles of doughnuts are just too much for this doughnut-loving family to handle.

However, speaking of the illustrations, do you want to know what galled me the most about this book? In the first chapter, the one where Homer has a pet skunk named Aroma and uses her to catch a band of robbers, it repeatedly says that there are four robbers and every picture shows four of them. Every picture but one. In the picture of all of them in the same bed, there are unaccountably five robbers. Five! It makes no sense. I have gone back through the chapter in search of who the fifth person could possibly be, but it appears that Robert McCloskey simply made a mistake. How does this happen? He wrote the chapter! He illustrated all the other pictures correctly! What would make him add a fifth person in one picture? Maybe he did it on purpose to drive readers like me crazy.

With Henry Huggins, Billy Miller, and now Homer Price, I feel like we've been on a small-town, average-kid, simple-adventures kick. It's been wonderful. I love the example that all three of these fictional boys have been to my own boys. They are kind but curious, sensitive but rambunctious, obedient but creative. Expect to see many more similar books from us in the future.

Learning with Lentil

One of my great internal debates over the last year has been about whether or not to put Aaron into a real preschool. Since he will be in kindergarten next year (unless I hold him back...another internal debate...), I thought it would probably be good for him to be in a more structured setting with more kids. Preschool is definitely the norm around here, and I felt a lot of pressure from the other moms to sign him up. There are many good ones in our area, but most of them are completely out of our price range. I did put him on the waiting list at one of the high schools, and I probably would have had him go except that I didn't hear that he was in the class until last week, and by that time, we'd made other plans, and it seemed like it was going to be a hassle to have him go. And really, there are going to be enough hassles in the future as the boys grow older and get involved with more things, so why choose it right now? We were already involved in the little preschool co-op I mentioned a few days ago, and it was going great and offering just the right amount of learning, socialization, and fun. Plus, I didn't know it when we started, but I actually LOVE planning and teaching, so it's good for me, too.

Aaron's little group consists of four children: two boys and two girls, ranging in age from 3.5 to 4.5. We have been using the curriculum, Five in a Row as a basis.

For those unfamiliar with it, Five in a Row uses children's literature as the framework for learning (sounds like something I would like, yes?). Each week, a different book is featured, and everything (science, geography, math, vocabulary, art, music, etc.) is taken from the book. It really is incredible. I think you don't realize how much there is to talk about and learn from just one simple book until you begin to dissect it. Want to see what I mean? Last week, it was my turn to teach, and we used Lentil by Robert McCloskey.

First, we read the book. The story is about a boy named Lentil who has a dream of making music, but he cannot sing, and he cannot pucker his lips enough to whistle. So he buys a harmonica, and in no time at all, he is quite fluent. Meanwhile, the town of Alta, Ohio is gearing up for a big welcome for Colonel Carter, a wealthy former citizen who donated the money for most of the buildings. It's a big deal...there will be a band and a speech from the mayor. Everyone is excited except for Old Sneep, who has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. The morning of Colonel Carter's arrival, everyone gathers at the train station. Old Sneep sits above everyone sucking on a lemon. The slurping and the sucking makes everyone, including all of the band members, pucker up. The only one spared is Lentil because, remember?, he doesn't know how to pucker. So he saves the day by playing his harmonica.

(I will say that when I first read this story many months ago, the whole puckering thing seemed unrealistic, but now, I absolutely love it. Sometimes that happens with re-readings.)

After reading the story, we went into the kitchen for a taste test. The lemon/puckering in the story was the perfect lead-in to talking about the four (easily recognizable) tastes: sour, sweet, bitter and salty. Each child had four different things to taste at his/her seat: a lemon, sugar water, unsweetened chocolate, and salt water.

 

After each item was tasted, I asked the children which taste they thought it was and then recorded it on this chart:

The thing about this age group is that if one says one thing, everyone else goes along with it. I think they were all surprised that the chocolate did not taste good. And they all loved the lemons! No puckering from them; I had to cut more wedges so they could suck on them some more.

After tasting, we hand-squeezed the lemons (not the ones we'd been sucking on), and made lemonade. I think the kids were amazed with how difficult it is to squeeze out lemon juice. It was also a good lesson in how we can change the taste of something by adding sugar.

We then moved onto music. I had purchased harmonicas at the dollar store for everyone with the idea that we would learn the values of quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes and play them on the harmonicas. Unfortunately, the dollar store lived up to its cheapness, and the harmonicas hardly worked at all. Very disappointing.

Since the story takes place in a small fictional town in Ohio, it was the perfect opportunity to talk about the United States. I gave them a blank map of the United States and had them find and color both Utah and Ohio.

One thing that has been very difficult for Aaron to understand is how he can live in Salt Lake City and Utah and the United States. So we did this little activity to help conceptualize it:

On the smallest circle, they drew a picture of their house, then their city, state, country and world on each bigger circle. Each time we moved to the next thing, I would say something like, "Is your state bigger or smaller than your city," and they would shout, "Bigger!" So even if they still don't understand it perfectly, I think it definitely helped.

Then we had a snack, and they all declared their homemade lemonade to be the best lemonade they'd ever tasted.

The illustrations in the book are done with charcoal (I meant to take a picture of them, but you can go here for a few examples.) I thought it would be fun for the children to experience a new art medium, so I purchased some sticks of charcoal. They thought it was the greatest thing ever. I didn't see a whole lot of beautiful art produced, and I had no idea how messy it would be, but I think it was a good experience.

The idea of Five in a Row is that you read the book and do a correlating activity for five days in a row (hence, the name). Where we only do preschool one day a week, it makes it so that you don't get to cover a lot of material. For example, with this particular story, we didn't even get to learn about acoustics/sound waves, fractions, instruments, patriotism, or small-town America in the first half of the 20th century. That's what I mean...it's amazing all of the ideas that come from one story. I love it.

P.S. Besides the manual, there are many great resources online. My favorite is Delightful Learning.

KidPages: Three Great Stories

I'll be the first to admit that while I love reading out loud to my boys, I'm not particularly fond of long books...long meaning more than two sentences per page. I'd rather read five short books than one long one. There are a few reasons for this.

1. I feel like I'm trapped if I read a long story. Of course I have to finish it, but what if Bradley decides to have a melt down in the middle of it? Then I have to read for another ten minutes with a fussy baby. Short books give me flexibility.
2. Lame writing, lame plots. Does anyone else feel like there is an overabundance of poorly written picture books containing more than their fair share of words and pages? Of course there are lame short books, too, but they are more easily endured.
3. A lot of the longer books have more mature themes that my boys don't understand yet (i.e., dealing with bullies or divorced parents, etc.).

So when I come across a longer picture book that not only holds the interests of Aaron and Max but my interest as well, I know I've scored big time.

I now present to you three just such books:

1. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Robert McCloskey's stories are practically legend. I'm sure you grew up on them and probably your parents before you, and maybe even your grandparents before that. They're now being passed onto the fourth generation of kids and still holding strong. And why? Because they are great stories.

In Blueberries for Sal, Sal and her mom spend a day filling their buckets with blueberries. It scores points right off the bat with Aaron and Max because (1) they love blueberries and (2) they can't imagine anything more fun than picking them right off the bush. Heaven.

But then, things get even more exciting when a black bear and her cub wind up on the same hill, and somehow the cub and Sal switch places and start following the wrong moms. Aaron has lately been obsessed with bears (he is firmly set on a grizzly bear cake for his fourth birthday), but then there are also the elements of humor (Little Bear is following Sal's mom! How silly!) and suspense (what will happen when the moms find out they're being followed by the wrong children?).

This is actually one of Robert McCloskey's shorter works (if you're feeling especially long-winded, make sure to check out Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man...you'll feel like you went on a vacation in Maine), but even it takes a good ten minutes. But it's well worth every one of those minutes.

2. Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
I honestly was not sure about this one when I first picked it up (many months ago). Mike read it to the boys before I did, and he loved it. Always a good sign. And after I read it, I had to agree; it was a keeper.

This story encourages kids to use their imaginations. It is about a siamese cat who pretends he's a chihuahua. He goes on a wild adventure (all within the safe confines of his bedroom closet) to the land of Mexico where he must help save the chimichangas from the evil bumblebee, Alfredo Buzzito. Isn't that what every good story should do? Take you to a new and exciting place, somewhere you've never been before?

Besides that, this story offers the opportunity to use some fun accents. I'm not as good as Mike, but even I think it's fun to say "serious beez-ness" and "Holy Guacamole!"

Skippyjon Jones has many more adventures in later books. So far, I haven't been as impressed, but I think I've only tried the outer space one.

I thought it might be a little too long for Max, my two-year-old. But  during a recent re-reading, just as we got to the climax, he shouted out, "What's going to happen?! WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?!" And I knew we'd struck gold.

3. Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
So I'm somewhat reluctant to recommend this one because I've only read it once. Yes, once. Why did I pick this one to write about when there are so many other great stories out there that have stood the test of dozens of re-readings? Well, because sometimes first impressions are authentic and real and long-lasting, and I have a feeling it will be so with this book. And also, because this is my blog, and I want to review it even if I've only read it once.

Flat Stanley is flat because a bulletin board fell on him in the middle of the night. Rather a dramatic beginning but with the result that for most of the story, Stanley is only half an inch thick. Being flat has its perks (like being able to slide under doors or be mailed to California for a vacation), but its greatest advantage is made manifest after several valuable paintings have been stolen from the museum. Suddenly, Stanley has a great idea...

From creativity and ingenuity to danger and intrigue, this book has all of the makings of a good story. During my first and only reading, the plot carried me along, and I wanted to find out how Stanley was going to catch the art thieves.

I've yet to make mention of the illustrations in any of these three books. Usually it is the pictures that pull me into children's stories (we refer to them as picture books after all), but in the cases of these three, it was the words that grabbed me first. That said, I do love Robert McCloskey's art; I would happily frame and hang it in my children's bedroom. It is simplistic yet detailed. As for Skippyjon Jones and Flat Stanley, I would say that the illustrations perfectly complement their stories, and really, you can't ask for more than that.

So if you're in the mood for a nice, long story but have no desire to read Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon or Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (those are real titles, btw), then try out one of these great books.