Book Review: The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong

Book Description:

Why do the storks no longer come to the little Dutch fishing village of Shora to nest? It was Lina, one of the six schoolchildren who first asked the question, and she set the others to wondering. And sometimes when you begin to wonder, you begin to make things happen. So the children set out to bring the storks back to Shora. The force of their vision put the whole village to work until at last the dream began to come true.

My thoughts:
We are slowly working our way through our additional reading list for the year. Since we had read a lot of fantasy lately and I needed a change of genres,  I picked The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong.  The Wheel on the School does start our a little slow laying the groundwork for finding a wheel for the school, but as new characters are added the story quickly becomes interesting and by the end you are totally engrossed in the story. This is not only is the story about finding a wheel so that Shora might attract storks, but it is a story of friendship, family, and whaat can happen when everyone works together.

At the beginning of the story the village and people of Shora seem old and mean and honestly kind of boring. Definitely not a place where a child would want to grow up at. But as the children begin to notice that they don't have any storks in their village they begin to ask questions and to befriend many people in the village and everyone works together to bring storks to Shora. The story builds into a very exciting and suspenseful climax and leaves the reader just a little disappointed when the book ends.

My kids really enjoyed this read, more so than Along Came a Dog, which we read last year. The Wheel on the School is an exciting, funny, and 'feel good' story. Highly recommended!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Letters From Home by Kristina McMorris

All things considered, and painful though it would be, Liz accepted what she needed to do. Eyes squeezed shut, heart crumbling, she said good-by to Morgan for good. p. 193

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - November 7-11, 2011

All finished!

In my life this week…
I had another busy week.

Destini had celebrated her birthday on Tuesday. We took her our to eat at Famous Dave's, then Shade and I had to attend a minister's meeting, so we pushed the actual celebration to Wednesday evening.

Wednesday evening we had Destini's Birthday celebrations. Her grandparents and two friends were able to come and celebrate with us. We had cake and ice cream and a lot of fun!
Friday evening we went over to a friend's house for dinner and a fun evening of playing Rook.

These activities of course were added on top of all the usual things I do...shopping, piano lessons, errands, working at my library bookstore, etc.

In our homeschool this week...
We are closing in on the end of our first term so some of the books being read are coming to an end.

Caleb finished up his devotional reading book and he finally finished his free reading book, The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3) by J.R.R. Tolkien. He started The Dragon and the Raven by G.A. Henty.

Destini and Chantry finished Exploring Creation with Zoology I: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. Apologia's Elementary Science are big hit in our household!

Chantry (and I) finished reading Leonardo da Vinci by Diane Stanley for his biography selection.

My favorite thing this week was…
Celebrating Destini's birthday and spending time with friends.

Things I’m working on…
I'll admit I'm a terrible procrastinator!  It is imperative that I work on Caleb's science plans and planning out Term 2 for the kids.

I’m reading…


I’m cooking…
Please note: I made two D*rn Good Chocolate Cakes with Martha's Chocolate Icing both recipes from Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor. One was  Destini's birthday cake which I topped with cut up pieces of Twix candy.

I’m grateful for…
My daughter who is turning into a beautiful young lady and for time spent with friends.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

This is how we found the little girl who insists she doesn't need a nap!



Birthday cake!!

See what others are doing over at The Homeschool Chick.

Happy Birthday, Destini!

Destini,

You have blessed our lives for 12 wonderful years!

Mom & Dad

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page

•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



The Crocodile's Last Embrace: A Jade del Cameron Mystery by Suzanne Arruda

Clipped to the paper was a newspaper obituary for David Worthy. And on the paper were written the words: 

Why did you let me die?           p. 18

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: October 31 - November 4, 2011

Taking a break to rake the leaves.

In my life this week…
Wow! Life happened!!!! The beginning of the week went pretty well. I attended my homeschool mom's meeting and had a great time.

I knew that Thursday was going to be tough, since Delani was going in to get cavities in her mouth filled. To do this they were going to put her to sleep with anaesthesia. So Thursday came and we made it to the dentist office without a big hassle with her not eating breakfast. After her procedure is when it became difficult. It took quite a while for the anaesthesia to wear off and for her to finally feel like eating. Of course, everything was a BIG deal all evening long.

Then life got more exciting...She woke up Friday morning with all the complaints of a bladder infection. So off we went to the doctor's office to get that checked out. Ughhh! I definitely was emotionally drained by Friday evening.

In our homeschool this week…
We kept on track for the first part of the week, but our Thursday and Friday routine took a nose dive.

We did get to Caleb's class for writing. He interviewed his Papa and wrote out his interview for his assignment. Next week he is going to write it into a story.

One of Destini and Chantry's literature selections is The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. My kids are dying to find out how the the story ends, but we still have 2 weeks left to read in it!
They are begging and pleading for me to read more. I've got them right where I want them (insert evil chuckle here)!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
When life happens, go with the flow!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Besides the dentist office and doctor's office...
On Monday we were able to take our nature walk. We were going to work on drawings, but it started raining and we ended up being completely soaked!!! It required going home right away and changing our clothes. I went to put my coat on the next day and it was still wet! We never did get any drawing done.

After Delani's doctor's appointment on Friday, we headed to Caleb's writing class.

Things I’m working on…
Here is what I need to work on:
-Next term's schedules
-making a dress for Delani and a skirt for Destini for our upcoming Christmas picture
-cleaning my craft table off in my room

I’m reading…

I am really enjoying One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp, even though it is taken me awhile to get through This is a book to savor and let sink in deep.

I’m grateful for…
the strength of the Lord to lean upon.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Pictures of fall leaves and the river that I captured on our nature walk right before the rain.

See what others are doing over at The Homeschool Chick.

Book Review: Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers

Book Description:

From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. This classic series tells the story of the world's most beloved nanny, who brings enchantment and excitement with her everywhere she goes. Featuring the charming original cover art by Mary Shepard, these new editions are sure to delight readers of all ages.

It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins. Who else but Mary Poppins can slide up banisters, pull an entire armchair out of an empty carpetbag, and make a dose of medicine taste like delicious lime-juice cordial? A day with Mary Poppins is a day of magic and make-believe come to life!

My thoughts:

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers was on our free read list from last year, but Destini pleaded with me to skip it. She had remembered the listening to the audio when her older brother had listened to it several years ago and thought that Mary Poppins was mean. So I obliged--until we attended Mary Poppins on Broadway earlier this summer. I brought home our own personal copy of Mary Poppins as a souvenir and told Destini we were going to read it and see how it compared with the show. With summer vacation and a trip to my parents it was a couple of months before we were able to get to it.

The book Mary Poppins does not resemble the Disney film nor the Broadway Musical very closely at all. Mary Poppins is strict and brisk in her manners. She is also very concerned about her appearance. She does take the children on some funny, some weird, and some hilarious escapades, but when they are finished she acts like they never happened. This leaves the children confused, but through all of this they seem to love her and are very disappointed when the west wind blows her away.

So what is the charm in Mary Poppins? The magical adventures are fun and you can't help but like Jane, Michael and the twins.  Mary Poppins herself is not that loveable and takes some getting used to. After we finished the book, Destini's first question was if we were going to read the next book, Mary Poppins Comes Back. She still feels the Mary Poppins isn't very nice, but she is curious to know what will happen next. I am curious to know just to see if story elements from Mary Poppins Comes Back are in the film or the Broadway show. Kind of weird, I know, but that just really interests me!

Overall, I don't think that Mary Poppins is a must read, but I don't think it is a waste of time either. There are pros (all the fun magical incidents) and cons (Mary Poppin's briskness).  Hopefully, we will be able to continue the series just to see how things turn out and have a more definite opinion on Mary Poppins!

See what other's are reading aloud over at Hope Is the Word.