Gabriela’s Book Picks (age 5)

If you’d like to read my intro to these posts of my children’s favorite books or if you’d like to see Isaac’s book picks, click HERE. Moriah's book picks can be viewed HERE.

Nearly every book is Gabriela’s favorite, so narrowing it down was quite a task.  We went through books I’ve read aloud to her and came up with nearly 40, I think!  I spread them out on the floor and had her choose her favorites, one at a time.  I couldn’t get her to pick just 10, so I allowed her 25.  These are listed in the order she chose them.

1.  Prayer for a Child (Rachel Field)—This is an older Caldecott Medal winner and also one of the Before Five in a Row books.  We just read this book last week.

2.  Yellow Ball (Molly Bang)—Another BFIAR book.  This has been a steady favorite of Gabriela’s all year.

3.  The Big Green Pocketbook (Candice Ransom)—Another BFIAR book, this one has the same illustrator as the If You Give a Mouse… books.

4.  We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Michael Rosen)—It’s no surprise to me that Gabriela chose most of her BFIAR books as favorites; after all, we read each one for five days straight!

5.  Kitten’s Adventure (Michele Coxon)—This is one of our British acquisitions.  We love Coxon’s beautifully illustrated cat books!

6.  Flora’s Blanket (Debi Gliori)—I believe Gabriela really identifies with this book, because she has a special blanket of her own that she’s very attached to.

7.  The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats)—This is another book that BFIAR uses.  We read it a few weeks ago.

8.  Blueberries for Sal (Robert McCloskey)—This beloved Caldecott Honor book is also on the BFIAR list.  I remember my own mother reading it to me, so it’s also one of my favorites.

9.  Play with Me (Marie Hall Ets)—Another Caldecott Honor and another BFIAR book!

10.  Ten Rosy Roses (Eve Merriam)—There are two reasons why Gabriela loves this book.  1) The last time we visited my favorite used book store in America, I allowed Gabriela to choose any book she wanted, and I bought it just for her.  This book was her choice.  2) Her middle name is Rose, and this story is about rosy roses.

11.  Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?—Yes, this is a BFIAR book, and although we own several Jesse Bear books, this one is her favorite.

12.  Pretzel (Margret Rey)—Written by the same author as Curious George, this is a sweet story about a very long dachshund. 

13.  Katy and the Big Snow (Virginia Lee Burton)—This book is a classic!  Gabriela loves tracing Katy’s path through the town.

14.  If You Give a Cat a Cupcake (Laura Numeroff)—Numeroff is a favorite author in our family, but the cat one is Gabriela’s favorite…because it’s a cat.

15.  The Little Rabbit (Judy Dunn)—This is a recently-read BFIAR book.  Gabriela still hasn’t forgotten the rabbit’s name (as I had), and she especially loves the fact that Buttercup’s babies are named after the days of the week.

16.  The Runaway Bunny (Margaret Wise Brown)—Gabriela can practically read this BFIAR book on her own, just from memory.

17.  There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Simms Taback)—This book won a Caldecott Honor award.  Gabriela likes it because it’s funny.

18.  That Pesky Rat (Lauren Child)—One of our British books, this book won the Smarties Book Prize.  It’s quite funny.

19.  If You Give a Pig a Party (Laura Numeroff)—We have several of Numeroff’s books.  This one is Gabriela’s second favorite.

20.  The Three Little Kittens (Jane Chambless-Rigie, illustrator)—This is just the well-known nursery rhyme, but the pictures are very sweet in this version.

21.  Lucille (Arnold Lobel)—This is the funny story of a horse and the farmer’s wife who tries to make a “lady” out of her.

22.  Angus Lost (Marjorie Flack)—Another BFIAR book.  Gabriela loves any book with cute animals.

23.  Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown)—This has been a favorite of all 3 of my kids, and yes, it’s used in BFIAR.

24.  I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Pie (Alison Jackson)—Similar to the other I Know an Old Lady book, this ones has a Thanksgiving theme.  It’s her favorite Thanksgiving story.

25.  Fox on a Box—This is an Usborne phonics reader.  Gabriela loves the cute Usborne books, particularly the ones with the yellow ducky on every page.  This book is her favorite Usborne.

I'm linking this post to "The Children's Bookshelf" at What Do We Do all Day?

History Boxes

A few days ago, I came up with a brilliant idea.  Now, it’s highly possible that someone else has already come up with this idea.  After looking it up on the internet, I discovered that a number of museums and historical organizations do something similar.

My idea is history boxes.  They would be just like continent boxes, only about history.  I have continent boxes, and I love finding neat things to put in them.  This past week, my family and I took a trip to London for our Easter holidays.  While there, we visited Chartwell, the home of Sir Winston Churchill.  In the gift shop I discovered something I had to have.  Here it is:

There were several to choose from, so I’ll have to save my money and watch for them when we go places.  Here’s what I got inside the packet:

Isaac is studying World War 2 right now, so I thought it would be perfect to have these replicas of WW2-era paper items.  That’s when the idea struck me.  People are always saying that students learn a lot from history by examining primary sources, including journals, documents, artifacts, and photographs.  Unless you are visiting a museum to see the actual sources, most of these sources would have to be reproductions.  Being a museum junkie, I have been in a LOT of museum shops, and I am pretty confident I can find enough replica items to fill my own history boxes.

Of course, this is just an idea.  I haven’t actually done this yet; after all, I just thought of it.  My mind is rolling, though.  I could make history boxes for different topics including:  Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Middle Ages, Colonial America, Civil War, WW1 and WW2, the 1950s…the list could go on and on.  Depending on what items you find, boxes could be based on general historical time periods or specific events.  In England, I have access to plenty of replica artifacts and documents for ancient Roman history, medieval history, the Victorian era, and more—I’ve seen them in gift shops when visiting British Roman sites, castles, and other historic places.  I have visited Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia as well as several US Civil War battlegrounds.  I bought a few replica items at the time, so I already have a good start there.  I love history almost as much as geography, so I feel excited about my new venture!

I had these ideas rolling around in my head the next few days of our trip as we visited the British Museum and the Churchill War Rooms, both in London.  Unfortunately, I was low on money by this time.  Many of the replica items at the British Museum were too expensive, so I ended up with 2 postcards (pictured below).  The one on the left is pottery from Ancient Greece, and the one on the right is from Ancient Egypt.  Well, it’s a start anyway.

I picked up a few more WW2 items at the Churchill War Rooms, including several postcards (the Churchill portrait postcard was purchased at Chartwell), a replica newspaper and a reproduction tag like the ones they put on children evacuees.  Some of the postcards are reproductions of posters people would have seen around England during the war.

Do you know of any website or blog that has featured some type of history boxes?  I couldn’t find any myself, but if they’re out there, I’d love to see someone else’s ideas.  If your mind starts rolling like mine did, please share any ideas I didn’t mention—I’d love to hear your thoughts!

These are the museums/organizations I found online that rent out history boxes to area schools:

NC Museum of History—History-in-a-Box kits

Washington State Historical Society—History Boxes

History Boxes—This one is in Yorkshire, England

If I do manage to get some boxes together, I’ll post an update.

I'm linking this post to "History and Geography" at All Things Beautiful.