Books of the Week – June 4, 2011

The Little Engine that Could, by Watty Piper:
I remember loving this story as a child, and was a bit disappointed when M picked a version with newer illustrations.  However, after reading this a couple of times the new illustrations grew on me, and M definitely loves them.  He also fell in love with the story, and I hear him occasionally saying “I think I can, I think I can” as he rides his bike. :)

Shark Vs. Train, by Chris Barton:I first learned of this book when reading this excellent post over at Little Sprout Books.  It sounded like one M would like, so we picked it up at a recent trip to the library.  This book has really sparked his imagination, he loves to look through it on his own and think about the outcomes of a variety of situations.   

The Turtle and the Hippopotamus, by Kate Banks:This is a cute rebus story, something M has not had a lot of exposure too.  He enjoyed this, but I think having to remember what he was supposed to say for each symbol as we went along kept him from really enjoying the story.  The story is super-cute, so if you get this one, I’d suggest reading the story in the normal way the first time through, then trying it rebus-style.

Shrinking Mouse, by Pat Hutchins:We adore almost all of Pat Hutchins’ books.  The illustrations appeal to me, and I think to M too.  This book is all about perspective – how objects farther away look small, and nearby objects look large.  This has led to some great conversations and games in our family. :)

Read about more children’s books at these link-ups:

Have a beautiful day! :)

Craft Time – Ascension of the Lord

Today is the 40th day of Easter (which is a 50 day season), and marks the end of the 40 days that Jesus spent on Earth after His resurrection.  This is the day He ascended into heaven! 
This morning M and I read the Bible story about the ascension and then did a quick craft to make it more memorable.  The craft was inspired by this post at Catholic Icing – I just changed it up a little bit.

Supplies:

 Look at the supplies, not the messy art table!

Paper or styrofoam cup, yarn, needle, hole punch, markers, cotton balls, glue, cardstock sun shape, and a small picture of Jesus.  You could use a magazine cutting of Jesus glued to cardstock or find a picture online.  We shrunk a coloring book picture on our scanner and printed it out on cardstock.  You want your Jesus picture to be small enough to “hide” inside the cup.
Steps:
1. Color your cup blue, and color your sun and picture of Jesus.
2. Glue cotton balls around the top and bottom of your cup. 
3. Punch a hole at the top and bottom of your sun, and a hole above Jesus’ head (we glued on an extra strip of cardstock to the back of Jesus so there was room for a hole above his head).
4. Thread your yarn through the holes in the sun, down through the bottom of the cup (we used an embroidery needle to thread the yarn through the cup), and through the hole above Jesus’ head.   
5. Tie a loop above the sun, large enough to hand on a door knob, if you wish.
6. Tie a knot where the yarn goes through the cup, so it rests on the outside of the cup.
7. Tie a knot through the hole above Jesus.
There you go!  You can pull the sun to make Jesus “rise” into the sky and be hidden behind the clouds:
 
Cute, simple, and fun to play with! :)

Have a beautiful day! :)