Busy, Birthdays, and Books

This past week found me very busy schooling, taking my mom to an eye appointment, and getting ready for not one, but two birthday parties. Why was I planning two birthday parties for my daughter you ask. Simply because circumstances dictated it. My daughter has a friend in the neighborhood whom she adores, but who is two years younger then all of her other friends. She also has two local friends who don't know any of her schools friends, and she has one school friend who eats gluten free. 

 

Are you following so far? Emily really wanted to have chocolate cake for her birthday, but that wouldn't work for the gluten free friend. She also didn't know how well her younger friend would get along with the large group of older girls, especially when she wouldn't know any of them and they would all know each other.

So, I hosted a small cozy birthday party on Friday for our neighbor and the other two local girls. We ordered pizza, had cake, had ice-cream, and had party punch. The girls all played, had a fabulous time, and we didn't have to worry about who could eat what. 

On Saturday we had the big, loud, and rambunctious party which included her cousin, the girls from her former class, and girls from her current home-school class. We played bingo and hot potato. We had an ice-cream sundae bar with tons of toppings including gluten free cookies. And, they played hide and seek all over the house.

Therefore, when I looked through my pile of books to decide what to review this week, I decided to read A Tale of Two Beasts in honor of two parties. This book wasn't quite what I expected, but it was a wonderful read. The authors premise is that every story has two sides, and then there is the truth. The book is actually split into two parts to go with this premise. The first half of the story is told from the point of view of a girl, and the second half is told from the point of view of a beast. Each has a different perspective which makes this book fun, entertaining, and perfect for discussion with children. It seems to only be available used on Amazon, but it is showing up on B&N although there is no cover photo. Either way, it is worth the search.

In addition to parties and  beasts, there was a whole lot of snow going on in parts of the country. I know many of my East coast friends were being hammered with the storm of the year. This prompted me to read a second book called Perfect Snow in honor of the situation. It is the story of two boys who are excited to see it has snowed out although not enough to cause school to be canceled. They eagerly await recess, but what they do with the snow is totally different. In the end, they combine their passions and create a frigid good time for all the children .

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me 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 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.

Birthdays and Black History

Because of all the snow and cold we've had of late, we had to cancel Emily's birthday party and reschedule it for a later date. After much waiting, we were finally able to celebrate this past weekend. Normally I make some kind of a fancy cake or cupcakes for the occasion, but this year I opted for the easy route and bought cupcakes.

I was a good mother, however, and did have crafts and party games prepared for her Lisa Frank theme. The kids all decorated treat bags, played Lisa Frank Bingo which I made at Eslactivities, guessed how many candy kisses were in a mason jar, tried to remember what twelve items were in a box they viewed for six seconds, and played hot potato.

The party was great! The birthday celebration successfully accomplished, I was free to celebrate black history month with two very interesting books. Although both books were fictitious, they were based on historical events that actually occurred in many places.

The first book I read was Ruth And The Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey. It is the story of a young girl named Ruth who is traveling with her parents from Chicago to Rural Alabama in the 1950's to visit her grandmother. Many times they stop for gas, food, or an overnight stay and are turned away because they are negroes. Finally they stop at a gas station where the kindly attendant sells them a Green Book. The Green Book shows them friendly gas stations, hotels, and restaurants that serve traveling persons of color.

I can only imagine the frustration, anger, and feelings of helplessness those families of the fifties felt, and although my family is white, I want Emily to know of the struggles and unfairness suffered by others. It is my hope, that by sharing with her stories such as Ruth And The Green Book, she will learn to treat people with respect no matter what color they might be.

The second book I read was Light In The Darkness by Lisa Cline-Ransome. It is the story of how slaves learned to read in secret. This tale is of a girl named Rosa and her mother who must sneak out at night and walk far into the forest. Their destination__ deep pits hidden by sticks and twigs where a learned slave would pass on his knowledge of letters and words. The danger of being caught by patrols or being beaten if the master found out they knew their letters did not deter Rosa from seeking out the light that knowledge would surely bring.

Both of these books are excellent representations of  darker parts of our American history. Both of these books are excellent choices for celebrating Black History Month. And both of these books are good reminders of  the indomitable spirit of persecuted persons who fought against the odds.

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, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.