Simply Fun

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but this year I took over as the manager of our local farm market. It is a volunteer position, and even though I don't get paid, I derive great pleasure from the job. I love being a part of my community, I love setting up a table and offering my baked goods, and I'd like to think that by coordinating this event I help others enjoy being a part of our community as well.

 
When the market started, I invited a local resident to join us and play her dulcimer. Saturday was one of the days she honored us with her presence, and she even brought a friend and fellow dulcimer player. Her husband is also pretty amazing; he makes clacker dolls. Now for those of  you who aren't familiar with clacker dolls, they are wooden jointed dolls like marionettes that you clack on top of a wooden board. The snapping of the board  makes the dolls look like they are dancing. Emily and her friend Katie demonstrated the dolls dancing skills for the customers and had a great time doing so.

 

 
Normally, I try to read books that somehow tie into what I have done in the past week, but this time, the only real connection between what I did and what I read was the fact that it was all simply fun. So what did I read, you ask? Well, I happened to read two books, each about dogs.
 
The first was called Sherman Crunchley by Laura Numeroff. Sherman was in line to be the next chief of police when his father retired, but Sherman didn't really like being a policeman. Sherman's true love was creating great hats to wear, but he had a dilemma. Sherman could not say no. The story leads the reader on a fun journey as Sherman tries to find a way to say no to his father.

 
The second book I read was Smick by Doreen Cronin the author of Click, Clack, Moo. It is a very simple book for the very young that introduces them to Smick the dog. This book uses very few words to convey its message and the repetition will have the wee ones enjoying every page. It reminded me a lot of Emily's and My favorite beginner books in the Biscuit series.
 

 
Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. 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 sequel, Return To Fern Valley, the soon to be released Cooking In Fern Valley (fall 2015) and my very first picture book, Quack and Daisy! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.