I have very mixed feelings about celebrating Thanksgiving, but we’ll save that for another post. What I do love is a day to focus on being grateful. Here are some Thanksgiving picture books:
An Awesome Book of Thanks
Over the River and Through the Wood: A Holiday Adventure
Thank You, Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving at Our House
You may also like:
Getting and Spending, We Lay Waste Our Powers
Love, Stargirl (2007) by Jerry Spinelli
This sequel to Jerry Spinelli’s award-winning, Stargirl, follows the free-thinking, homeschooled teen on her adventures in a new town. The book is written in a diary/letter format by date, and chronicles a year of Stargirl’s life. She befriends unlikely people, much like Pollyanna or Amelie, and changes their lives for the better, just by being herself. Stargirl’s spirit and love of life are bound to rub off on the reader, as well.
Here are some activities/thoughts to extend learning based on this book (Spoilers included!):
–Dootsie struggles to understand the concept of April Fool’s jokes. Research the background of this “holiday” and come up with some fun and harmless jokes you might play next April 1st.
–This book is written as a long letter to Leo, but it manages to tell the story of Stargirl in the process. Write an extended letter to a friend that helps tell part of your story.
–Betty Lou has a night-blooming cereus in her yard. Research this incredible plant and see if you can find a cutting of one to start your own cereus.
–Research the Northern Mockingbird and its eating habits.
–Stargirl’s town hosts an annual “Blobfest.” Research this 1950s movie and, if you’re feeling ‘brave,’ rent it too. Based on this information, do some Internet research to see if you can figure out the town this book is based on.
–Stargirl practices meditation. Find someone who practices meditating and ask him/her about it. People meditate in very different ways. Read about some of them, and then give it a try for yourself.
–Stargirl’s dad is a milkman. Although this seems like an old-fashioned concept, there are still milk deliveries to this day. Research the history of milk deliveries, the modes of transportation used, milk chutes, and what types of products were/are delivered. Why would milk delivery make more sense than buying it from the store?
–Margie’s Donut shop is featured throughout the book. Have you ever tried making your own donuts? Look up a recipe, and give it a try!
–Alvina and Dootsie become like little sisters to Stargirl. The Big Brother/Big Sister organization actually has a program that matches teenagers or adults with “little” brothers or sisters. Contact your local chapter to find out if it is something you’d be interested in.
–When Stargirl sees Perry in the library, he is reading “Ondine.” Read this play and think about why Spinelli may have chosen this to include in the book.
–Research the equinoxes and solstices. Do they always occur on the same dates? Think about Stargirl’s relationship with the passage of time and why it seems appropriate that her solstice calendar is important to her but clocks are not.
–Create your own solstice calendar, or, at least, hold a celebration for one.
–What do you think Enchanted Hill looked like? Draw a picture that shows the calendar or the celebration.
–Betty Lou is afraid to go out of her house. What is the name for this fear? Research the causes of this phobia and how it might be overcome.
The Secret Garden (1911) by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I am absolutely in love with this classic children’s story! I know many movie renditions have been made, and I’m sure they are full of lovely garden footage, but I just stick to the book and my imagination.
I’m realizing I have a theme in the books I love, whereby a young (usually orphaned) girl moves to a new place and helps others find their happiness. The big difference in this one, of course, is that Mary Lennox does not begin the story as a happy-go-lucky girl; she, too, goes through a transformation. I love watching how four of the story’s characters experience a reawakening, just as the garden is doing the same. It reaffirms life and all that is good.
When I read this book, I feel like I can actually breathe in the fresh garden air and feel the wind of the Moor on my face. This book helps me take deep, renewing breaths. It makes me want to garden and play outside more. I read this book at least once a year, and I find a deep, new appreciation for life every time I do.
Some suggested activities/further learning: (Spoilers included!)
–Draw pictures or create another form of art to show what you think the secret garden looked like before Mary’s discovery and at the end of the story.
–Use clay or other materials to create what you think the key to the “secret garden” might look like.
–Many flowers and plants are mentioned in this book. Research one of them and see if it will grow in your climate. Try growing a mini-garden.
–Martha brings Mary a skipping rope. Use a jumprope you have or make one for yourself and practice skipping rope. Do you know any songs to skip to?
–Mary is fascinated by Martha and Dickon’s “Yorkshire talk.” Research this accent and see if you can find any movies where actors speak “Yorkshire.” Try it for yourself.
–The book describes some of the rooms and hallways of Misselthwaite Manor; draw a floor plan based on what you read.
–Many of the characters in The Secret Garden change their outlooks on life. The book describes how these “inside” transformations effect the characters’ outward appearances, as well. Draw a before and after picture of either Mary, Colin, Mr. Craven, or Ben Weatherstaff.
–One of Mary’s new friends is a robin bird. Research the European robin. What does it eat? Where does it live? How is it different from the American robin?
You may also enjoy:
There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather
A Year Down Yonder (2000)
by Richard Peck
In this sequel to A Long Way from Chicago, Mary Alice, now age 15, returns to Grandma Dowdel’s. This time she is there for a year during the recession of 1937 that left her mom and dad unable to take care of her. The book is once again set into seven (and a bonus) stories that include the wacky adventures of this fiesty, headstrong, and, yes, though she wouldn’t admit it, loving grandma.
Just as fantastic as the first book, and with the Newbery Medal beside its name, A Year Down Yonder is a must-read. The division of stories makes it great for read-alouds or a before-bed story.
A Time Apart (1999)
by Diane Stanley
When 13-year old Ginny finds out her mom has cancer, she also finds out she’ll be spending her summer with a dad she barely knows. Not only that, she’ll be heading from Texas to England where her dad is a professor heading an Iron Age project. Ginny is plopped in the middle of this experiment, living and breathing life as an Iron Age girl would have. Along with a small group of families and couples, Ginny must give up the luxuries of modern life to become a participant on this farm.
Diane Stanley is the author of one of my favorite books, Bella at Midnight. A Time Apart is definitely an enjoyable and interesting read. Since I usually gravitate towards “lighter” books, it was different for me to read something discussing a serious illness and a strained father/daughter relationship. There wasn’t anything too horribly depressing or dramatic, just a touch more reality than I typically read in my light-hearted children’s books.
Apparently, there was a 1970s early “reality show,” where participants did live on an Iron Age farm similar to the one discussed in the book. I’m excited to watch and read more about that.