The End of A Season

This past Saturday was the end of a season__ the end of the farmer's market. I had an amazing time managing the market this year. I met some great new people I would never have met otherwise, I sold lots of baked goods and earned enough money to have my 1940's glider refinished, and Emily had a blast selling magnets and hanging out with her friend Katie.

Unfortunately, our last day was cold, rainy, and very, very windy. But I can't complain because despite all of that, I had a great sales day, the dj was fabulous and added a dimension of excitement, and we shared our venue with the chili cook-off which turned out to be a tasty addition. It was anything but boring!

And although the title of the first book I read was Meet the Dullards (Extra Boring Edition), the book was like my last market day and was anything but dull. The Dullard parents are dull and want their children to be dull, but page after page shows the Dullard children breaking the dull tradition in the most thrilling ways. They read books, they play outside, and they even join the circus. No matter how hard the parents try to keep their children dull,  like when they order vanilla ice cream without a cone and without the vanilla, the children always manage to have some fun when their parents aren't looking. This is the type of book that is so ridiculous you just have to laugh. You might even laugh out loud.  

The second book I read was Meanwhile Back at the Ranch and it too was anything but dull. It was a hilarious tall tale about a rich widow who inherited a ranch in Texas where everything is bigger. Even the widow's problems were bigger when every unmarried man for  miles around showed up in order to propose marriage. Some creative solutions and a wonderful chef named Charlie eventually lead to a very happy wedding.

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.

An Arctic Dream and A Really Tall Tale!

As we head into the last week of February, I look around and still see great piles of snow. This, of course, means lots of shoveling, lots of warm fires, lots of soup, and lots of seeds for our outside friends.

It also means a winter book and a really tall tale! The winter book I chose  to review is titled Polar Skater, and although it dates back to 2004, you can still get it through Bargain Books on Barnes and Noble's site for only $1.99. Quite thrifty for a book worthy of four to six year olds.

If you chose to read, Polar Skater, you will dream with a young girl who longs for a pair of skates. Once obtained, the true dreaming begins as she leaves the crowds behind and skates with the beasts of the arctic. An audience of seals, whales, snow geese and such, help her to embrace the freedom skating brings until it is time to once again join those she left behind on her skating journey.

The tall tale I chose,  an extreme tale if you wish, was about the ever so famous Pecos Bill. This particular story called Pecos Bill Tames A Colossal Cyclone, granted us insight into Pecos Bill's unfortunate ousting from his family's wagon and his subsequent rescue by a wolf pack. An emotion filled reunion with one of his long lost brothers, his training as a cowboy, and his wild ride on a cyclone are sure to further thrill the reader. And  the explanation of how the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon came to be, might even elicit a chuckle or two from the adult readers.

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, and the soon to be released Cooking In Fern Valley (fall 2015)! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.