Looking for Moose

I know we are only in the beginning of October, but I am already super excited and preparing for Emily's and my trip to the Central Massachusetts Children's Book Festival in Gardner Massachusetts November 12th. Last year we took this trip, and we decided this year it would once again be a girls only trip. This time, however, we are taking a few extra days to stop at Hershey Pennsylvania. We are going to stay at the Hershey Lodge which has an indoor water park. We are going to visit Hershey World and learn about chocolate. And if we have time, we might even visit Zoo America. This is the perfect stop since we just studied about the history of chocolate and the history of Milton Hershey.

 

Last year when we made this trip we saw numerous moose crossing signs and although we kept a sharp eye out for moose, we didn't see any. So when I was at the library picking out books last week and I saw a book titled The Invisible Moose, I thought about our upcoming trip and hoped that maybe this year we will see a moose in person. I also thought about my friend Lisa who has two great children's books featuring moose. You see where I'm going with this don't you? And of course you are correct. this weeks reviews are all books featuring moose.

The first book I read and mentioned above, The Invisible Moose, was surprisingly sweet. It was the story of a shy moose trying to gain enough courage to speak to a lovely girl moose. Unfortunately by the time he  gathered that courage and started a conversation a very bad trapper captured her and carted her off to New York City. With the help of a wise owl, Moose traveled to the city and rescued his new love. I don't want to give too  much away so I won't say more, but I am sure kids will love this interesting story.

The second book I read, Moose On The Loose, reminded me of a song by Ozmotli that has the same name. The book was a very silly rhyming story of a missing moose. Every page added another person to help in the search and another rhyming animal they had seen in addition to the moose. Besides a moose on the loose, there was also a chartreuse caboose involved. This book is quite old but definitely worth seeing if your library has a copy; unfortunately I couldn't find a cover photo.

And finally, this post brings me back to the moose books I mentioned by my friend Lisa. I first met Lisa in 2011 at the Sandstone Book Expo where we were signing copies of our books. Her book at the time was a fabulous memoir called My Hero, My Ding about the special relationship between her and her grandfather. Lisa turned out to be a funny, warm, and witty person and I feel blessed to have made her acquaintance. Since that day, I have learned many things about Lisa. She is a teacher from Chicago, she is a talented writer, and she has a penchant for collecting moose. Did I say a penchant? Perhaps obsession is more like it. What ever you call it, that collection is what inspired her to write The Moose at the Manger. So if you like to Christmas shop a little early, I would recommend you check this book. Then you too, can share Muse the Moose's journey as he looses his family, worships at the manger, and finds his family once again. Even if you don't have children who might enjoy this book, snatch up one or two copies for all the moose lovers you know.

Her other moose book, Mark the Missing Moose, was born out of a family friend's tragedy, a suicide to be exact. Both the mother of the deceased and Lisa recognized the need to let children know that they can and should talk about anything bothering them no matter how painful or difficult. Lisa gently and beautifully tells the story of a young boy who recognizes that opening up and letting others in really helps.

 
Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musing Monday Link Up where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

Christmas Is On It's Way...

Wow. Can you believe Christmas is just a few weeks away. Actually, this whole year just seems to have flown by quite rapidly. This past Sunday, Emily performed in her Christmas Pageant where she had a special part as one of the tap dancing wisemen. The show was spectacular and the only downside was that she wasn't feeling well that day. Blessedly, she didn't throw up until the very end of the program.

I simply cleaned up the floor in front of the bathroom, rinsed her off, and gave her a jacket to wear in lieu of her shirt. That's how we tough moms roll. We left immediately and missed the Christmas cookies, but I told her we would have plenty of cookies at our house once I started baking.

Now that her program is finished and I don't have to haul her to practices, I can actually relax for the next two weeks. Baking and reading will be the highlight of my weeks. And speaking of reading, my Monday post wouldn't be complete without a book review or two.

Since Christmas is quickly approaching and winter is setting in, I went with the Christmas/Winter theme when choosing my latest round of books. The first book I read was called One Mitten. The cover was so adorable, I just had to take this book home and find out what was inside. And, I wasn't disappointed. One Mitten is the story of a girl who has only one mitten who shares with us all of the things you can do with just one mitten until she accidentally finds the lost matching mitten. The story then continues by sharing what a girl can do with two mittens, and finally ends with more mittens and a friend. A perfect book for children five to eight and a reminder of what fun winter can be.

 

The second book I read was The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey,. and I almost cried at the beauty of this story. Jonathan Toomey is know to all the town folk as gloomy Toomey. Unbeknownst to them, Jonathan has lived through a calamity that has caused him unbearable grief. That is until the widow McDowell and her son once again show him the joy of Christmas. I am definitely going to add this to my list of best ever Christmas stories!

 

 

 

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 sequel, Return To Fern Valley! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Give Them A Hand - They're Wearing Two Hats!

 

Last week was a great experience as we headed into week two of our homeschooling journey. We even managed to fit some unexpected fraction practice in when Emily made Amish Sugar Cookies as her contribution for Cook Book Club last Tuesday. As she placed the balls of dough deliciously rolled in cinnamon and sugar onto the baking tray, I told her there would always be three rows of four on the tray. After she quickly calculated that there would be twelve balls on the tray and had actually placed six, I asked her what fraction she could make. She came up with 6/12 and we discussed how that was equal to 1/2 when reduced. She added three more yummy balls of dough and I asked her what fraction that would be.

I was completely taken by surprise when she answered 3/4. Of course that was correct, but I was expecting the answer of 9/12. When I asked her how she came to that conclusion she told me, "I saw a pie in my head Mommy. And three of the four pieces were in the pan so it had to be 3/4." I was wowed. She had looked at the dough, had seen that three of the four rows we talked about were filled in, and had come up with a fraction. Next, we needed 3/4 a teaspoon of cream of tartar. Unfortunately, there is no 3/4 of a teaspoon; so she figured out that she could use the 1/4 teaspoon three times to equal three fourths. I was excited because we were able to make math fun. Not the strange mean, mode, median math that no one ever uses, but practical math one uses use every day in real life.

 

 

While I truly love being able to spend so much time with Emily and being able to instruct her in her daily lessons, I still respect those great teachers in the school system that love children and work hard to make learning fun. Teachers that go beyond just showing up for the job. Many of the teachers that I am proud to call my friends are also children's authors. Wearing two hats, that of author and teacher, is definitely going beyond the call of duty in my opinion. So please give a sincere round of applause to these fine folks below and take some time to check out the books they have lovingly created.

Lisa Tortorello is a teacher in Chicago and has written two books for children. The first is The Moose at the Manger a unique telling of the nativity tale, and the second is Mark the Missing Moose a story of sharing grief and not keeping it bottled up inside.

Laura Eckroat is a teacher in Fort Worth and has written four books for children. Her first book Life of Bud is the story of life and death and all that is in-between as perceived by a tree bud. Her second book, and my favorite is A Simpler time. It is the story of slowing down and appreciating the simple things. Her third book, Went Out For a Donut and Came Back With A Muffin, is the story of her rescue dog Muffin. And finally, What's In The Corner - A Muffin Tale.

 

 

 

Judi Cheshire is a teacher in Pipe Creek, Texas who has written My Finny, Fin, Fin which is a wonderful retelling of The Three Little Pigs done with dolphins and a big bad shark.

 

 

 

 

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 sequel, Return To Fern Valley! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.