Monday, February 15, 2016

Life and Books

Life is like the tide with ebb and flow. Some weeks are restful with not much going on and others are chock full of busy and interesting events. This past week was one of those busy weeks. Emily attended not one, but two pizza birthday parties. We also attended Cook Book Club where the theme was casseroles. She chose to make our family's version of goulash and I made bread pudding out of a box of stale yeast donuts. I wasn't sure how well bread pudding would go across, but much to my surprise, the dish was empty when I went to retrieve it.


In addition, I had a book signing at a local store downtown. My friend Connie, who owns the local Avon store Connie's Place, hosted a children's day resplendent with balloons, face painting, and a cookie decorating station run by Emily. While the children waited their turn to have their faces painted, I read to them from Quack and Daisy.


During our school week, we started a new unit in Social Studies about going West. Emily was pretty excited about the fact that I found a fun online game called Wetward Trail for her to play. So it only seemed appropriate to read a book from my library pile called Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails by the esteemed blue board creator at the SCBWI, Verla Kay.

Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails

Told in beautifully flowing rhyme, the story follows a family of three on their long journey west. Through hardships including foul weather, rocky mountains, and parched land, they forged on until they found their own promise land. Although this book is over fifteen years old, it is well worth the search.

Another great book about traveling west is a book titled, Apples To Oregon - Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains, that I reviewed two years ago.  Apples to Oregon is a terribly funny story of the pioneers traveling there and the cargo they brought. Even the title is funny claiming to be slightly true. So if you want a bit of history told in a fun manner, you really need to check out this realistic fictional piece!

Apples to Oregon

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Drop by the Literacy Musings Monday blog hop where you will find other great literary blogs. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, the sequels, Return To Fern Valley,  and Cooking In Fern Valley, along with my very first picture book, Quack and Daisy! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 




10 comments:

  1. Thank you for this nice mention of Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails, Aileen. :-) This is definitely a favorite of the books I've written. It just recently went out of print, but I think there are still some copies available to order online and of course, people can always get a copy from me directly by sending me an email. verlakay7@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are most welcome. I really enjoyed this book :0)

      Delete
  2. Everything sounds like so much fun. Learning should be fun. Thanks for sharing! Visiting from Literacy Musing Mondays.
    Tina from Amanda's Books and More
    http://abooksandmore.blogspot.co.za/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are correct Miss Christina. Learning should be fun and I do my best to incorporate as much fun as possible. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  3. Sounds like some fun books! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We loved Apples to Oregon but I had never heard of Covered Wagons Bumpy Trails. Happy to have another book to add to our list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad I could be of help and thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. I look forward to reading these titles you've recommended. They would fit perfectly with a history lesson for pioneers and Manifest Destiny. I am featuring your post on The Bloggers Spotlight Link-up on Thursday. I really enjoyed your style of writing and for sharing it with the Link-up last week. I hope to see you there ☺.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Miss Rachael. I'm so glad you enjoyed this post!

      Delete