Book Review – Little Star, by Anthony DeStefano

Recently, author Anthony DeStefano sent me a copy of his newest book, Little Star. 

When I first received it and flipped through the pages I enjoyed the story, but wasn’t sure how M would react to it.  Little Star is ignored by the other, bigger stars, and he is sad.  My tender-hearted boy is normally made very sad by things like this.  And Little Star burns so brightly on Christmas Eve night as baby Jesus is born, that he finally gets the attention of the other stars, but it’s only because they are concerned that he will burn himself out (another thing I thought M might find sad or scary).

On Christmas morning Little Star is indeed gray and almost all burned out. 

As many of you know we have had several losses this year – the death of a dog (not ours, but one M was firmly attached to and loved), the death of a great-grandma, an uncle, and a family friend – and too often this past year, death has been the topic of conversation in our home and on the mind of our sweet little boy.  I had hoped to spare him the experience of losing someone he loves for a few years, but the lesson came in a flood of losses and has been a bit more than any of us can handle well.

So, I was worried about what kind of effect this story would have on M in light of this past year, and what, at times, has been his obsession with sadness and death. 

He was very sad for Little Star when he was ignored by the other stars, and his eyes got a little teary when Little Star burned himself out.  BUT.  But, the ending of the book was beautiful and somehow it was exactly what M needed to hear, and obviously met some need for understanding within him. 

Little Star does burn out, but he is not gone.  He had such an important job to do and he did it so well, keeping baby Jesus warm with his light all night, that he will always be remembered as the most important star ever.  Giving one’s life, and light, for God and something important is never sad or meaningless, but is a wonderful thing to do, and something that is greatly rewarded.

I’m not sure exactly how M internalized this message, but it obviously struck a chord with him.  He wanted to read it “again” and “again”, something he hasn’t asked for much since he was a toddler.  Since he has been able to talk, he’s told everyone that his favorite book ever is Corduroy, by Don Freeman.  Now he says he has a new favorite – Little Star!  Coming from M, that is high praise, and definitely a recommendation of this sweet book. :)

I received a free copy of this book in return for writing a review about it.  This did not influence my opinion, and I was not obligated to write a positive review.  We honestly love this book! :)

We also loved his book, This Little Prayer of Mine:

Have a beautiful day! :)

 

Learning by Heart – weeks 8 and 9

“The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom”
– Henry Ward Beecher

Fancy shot of our first Advent candle :)

My camera broke halfway through week 8, and since I was behind in my posts anyway, I decided to combine the past two weeks into one post.  Believe me, it didn’t take long for me to go buy another camera (I HAVE to have a camera!), but anything we did that wasn’t captured in a photo has completely escaped my memory.  I KNOW we did things on those days without a camera, but I have no idea what they are!  Besides, it’s not much fun to post about an activity without a picture to accompany it, right?

{ M is 4 years old }

SHELF ACTIVITIES:

For December I’m sticking with easy and fun activities.  Some of them are just plain fun with not much learning involved.  We’ll get hardcore preschool again after the holidays are over. ;)  (That is totally a joke, btw.)

I set out an Advent wreath craft for M, with glitter foam pieces, glitter snowflake stickers, green cardstock, and sequins.  No shot of the activity beforehand, but here it is finished: He really enjoyed making it!

Counting – I set out our number cards and a gumball machine (Dollar Tree!) full of wooden beads.  M loves this little gumball machine and I knew it would help grab his attention.  It’s the first thing he went for the morning it was out.  He set out the number cards in order, then worked the gumball machine to get beads out and counted them onto the cards:

A new puzzle:

Sewing with yarn on a piece of cotton fabric -  I have to smile to myself when I put things like this out for him.  He LOVES doing this kind of thing, but I don’t kid myself that his interest will last.  Someday he will get the idea that this isn’t a very manly sort of activity. :)  But it is great fine motor skill work and really, it’s important for boys to know how to use a needle and thread too!

This was sort of a review and catch up week, so M did a cut and paste sheet for the soft /g/ sound to put in his ABC book.  Somehow G escaped us as we were going through the first few letters of the alphabet.  

Play dough cooties -  I’ve been seeing a lot of people use Mr. Potato Head objects with play dough.  It is such a great idea!  Unfortunately the only Mr. Potato Head we have is in our camper, about an hour away.  So I grabbed the pieces from our Cooties game, and M made a lot of fun little sillies:

Play dough number mats 11 – 20 – with some leftover fall-colored play dough (gotta get that Christmas play dough made!):

Pipeline Game pieces – for fine motor work:

Extra Activities:

A lot of shoveling has been going on…

And a lot of snowman-making…See the tiny snowman beside M?  He made this one all by himself, and used MY GLOVES for hands, hee hee. :)  It’s a very sweet little snowman.

And one day M made a pulley system with the fridge door handle.  He didn’t know it was a pulley, but it was!  After I told him that it was a pulley and that in real life they use them to lift heavy objects, he was awfully proud of himself for inventing it. :)  And we did some on-the-spot learning about pulleys!

Hey!  You are looking at the pulley,
not the ugly kitchen flooring, right?!

I’m linking this post up to Preschool Corner, Friday Wrap-up, and Weekly Wrap-Up; be sure to check them out!

Have a beautiful day! :)