Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley

Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror
by Chris Priestley
copyright 2007

Back Cover:
Sitting inside a cold and creaky old house, hidden away in a wood of barren trees, young Edward can’t get enough of his uncle Montague’s strange and spooky stories. But as each tale unfolds, it becomes clear that something sinister is in the air. Do Uncle Montague’s creepy tales have something – or someone – in common?

First Sentence:
The way to Uncle Montague’s house lay through a small wood.

I came across this book while reading a review post from Carl of Stainless Steal Droppings. His post convinced me that this book would be a great read aloud book for me with my girls – ED (age 12) and EJ (age 10).

Tales of Terror did prove to be a terrific read aloud. The pace was perfect as this book contained individual stories which were told to Edgar by his Uncle Montague. Each story (chapter) quickly gained our attention, interest and held us with the a bit of a creepy and eerie atmosphere.

While I did find the stories a bit creepy and spooky they were not scary. For my children, the stories were perfect. EJ was the most interested reader in our group. She held onto each story and would read ahead on her own. She feels that “the book is really good. The stories were kind-of scary with good illustrations.” ED who is our resident “I like horror/scary type books” reader did not find the stories scary at all. She listened to each read aloud with interest but beyond that would not pick the book up on her own.

Overall, Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror is our favorite middle-school aged October read.
EJ wants to read this book yearly. I suspect we will.

Rating: 4.5 /5 stars

Other Reviews
Stainless Steal Dropping – check out Carl’s post. His review does this book far greater justice than mine.
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

Other Stuff
Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
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An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Author Event: Sarah Dunant

About Sarah Dunant (taken from the Sarah Dunant website)
Sarah Dunant is the author of the international bestseller The Birth of Venus, which has received major worldwide acclaim and In the Company of the Courtesan. With the publication of Sacred Hearts, she rounds out a Renaissance trilogy bringing voice to the lives of three different women in three different historical contexts. Sarah Dunant’s tireless research has resulted in vivid reconstructions of womens’ secret histories in the characters of a Florentine Noblewoman, a Venetian Courtesan and with Sacred Hearts the spellbinding and fascinating lives of the Sisters of Santa Caterina.

Her earlier novels include three Hannah Wolfe crime thrillers, as well asSnowstorms in a Hot Climate, Transgressions, and Mapping the Edge, all three of which are available as Random House Trade Paperbacks. She has two daughters, and lives in London and Florence.

On Monday, October 26th, Sarah Dunant made a stop on her tour in my area.
As it turned out, I did not have to work on Monday (I usually work Mondays) and was able to attend the luncheon that was hosted by The Book Stall.

I am so glad that my Mom and I were able to attend. (My Mom is in the photo with me)
The food was delicious and Ms. Dunant’s talk with us was absolutely fantastic. This event was with a small group-there were 10 attendees. At first, I thought that this was a bit small. However, when Ms. Dunant was able to pull her chair up to our table and talk with us as if we all knew each other, I was thankful for the small group.

Ms. Dunant shared with us her love for Florence, Italy in the renaissance time. She shared about how she came about questioning, “Where were the woman in the 15-16th century Florence?” There were so many great things happening yet we only hear of the wonderful things that happened and were created by men. Surly, there were women who were artistic, musically inclined, fabulous writers, intelligent, etc. “Where were they?” She shared that once she started questioning she decided to find the answer. This is how she started her research about the women of the 15-16th century Florence. She detailed to us what was expected of women during this time frame and what they could achieve or not achieve due to society standards, belief and culture. I found her information to be incredibly insightful. We, the attendees, then were able to ask Ms. Dunant questions. The Q&A period was lovely, easy going and comfortable. It truly felt like we were all sitting around chatting with a friend.

Ms. Dunant has gained my admiration. The work she has put into her research is amazing-she will fill and average of 7 notebooks with her research for the one book she is writing. What amazes me most is how seamlessly she is able to bring in all the historical facts and detail into her stories. I am in awe.

Okay, remember several posts back when I said that I am not an autograph hound? Well, it seems that I may need to change that a bit. Yep, I got Ms. Dunant’s autograph on two of the three books that I own. What I did not get was a picture. Why? Well, the setting was so intimate that I felt hesitant about asking for a photo. In retrospect, I should have gone for the photo. Oh well…the experience is etched in my memory.

This was my second author event hosted by The Book Stall.
The first event was with Diana Gabaldon.
I enjoyed both events greatly so I am thinking that I will attend more in the future. Yes, I think I am now a Book Stall Author Event junkie! *smile*

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
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An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Out Of The Mouth Of Babes

Last Monday, Oct. 26th, we (“I”, “G” and I) were laying on our bed watching some cartoon on Boom TV. One of the commercials during the program had something to do with snowboarding. Just to put things a bit more in context. Older brother Benji skateboards and snowboards. Both “I” and “G” are well aware of Benji’s x-game sporting activities.

Okay…on with the story. During the snowboard commercial “I” exclaimed over and over again - “Snowboard, Snowboard.” Well…his word for snowboard. When “I” repeats a word over again with a certain tone it usually means he wants it. Sometimes he will even say “wanone” over and over again as well.
”G” does not miss a beat and proclaims to “I”… “NO Iaiah. Snowboard bad for you. You get hurt need band-aid.” She says this to him in complete earnest.
“I”, as usual, ignored her comment and continued with his proclamation that he wants a snowboard and went on to say… “Snowboard garage.” (both words said in his approximation).

The moment was very amusing. “I” showing his “no fear” personality and “G” showing her concern for her brother. This had me thinking, what will these two be like when they are older? I am thinking, this moment may have given me a tiny insight. “I” seems like he will be wanting to try his hand in sports that give a sense of exhilaration with speed, etc. “G” will be the conservative presence in his life, warning him of the dangers and showing her concern for his safety.
It will be interesting to see if this part of their relationship pans out.

Regardless, that moment on Monday was priceless.

Wondrous Words Wednesday: Oct. 28th

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog.
This is where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading.
Feel free to join in the fun by going to Bermudaonion's Weblog - Wondrous Words Wednesday. Check out other participants words, post a link to your words.

My words have come from a book that I am currently reading:

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant .
I am currently reading Sacred Hearts and am finding the read to be absorbing. The writing has a sense of peace, calmness and strength while at the same time there is a sense of turbulent water underneath the surface. A thought provoking book.

Recalcitrant- [ri-kal-si-truh nt] adjective Date: circa 1835-1845

1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.

2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate.

Such was the diplomatic acumen of Santa Caterina’s current abbess-though what she might do with this recalcitrant young spirit was yet to be seen. p.14

Indefatigable- [in-di-fat-i-guh-buh l] adjective Date: 1580-90

incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue; untiring.

The convent’s indefatigable novice mistress, Suora Umiliana, is of the opinion that each new batch is worse than the last, more selfish and more prone to the vanities of life. p. 10

Reticence – [ret-uh-suh nt] adjective Date: 1825-35

1.disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved.

2.reluctant or restrained.

She nods slowly, clearly unsure how much to tell. It is a reticence Zuana remembers well. In the early days, the horror of incarceration could make her suspicious of even the simplest intercessions and kindnesses. p. 53

As with most words I read, I am able to figure out the meaning through context. I, however, find it fun to look up the word to see if my definition through context is correct.
How about you? Do you like to look up words to see if you are correct with your context definition? What wondrous words have you found in your reading?

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
You could win:
An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Two For The Dough by Janet Evanovich

Two For The Dough
by Janet Evanovich
copyright 1996

Challenge: Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge

Back Cover:
Now Stephanie's back, armed with attitude -- not to mention stun guns, defense sprays, killer flashlights, and her trusty .38, Stephanie is after a new bail jumper, Kenny Mancuso, a boy from Trenton's burg. He's fresh out of the army, suspiciously wealthy, and he's just shot his best friend.
With her bounty hunter pal Ranger stepping in occasionally to advise her, Stephanie staggers knee deep in corpses and caskets as she traipses through back streets, dark alleys, and funeral parlors.

First Sentence:
I knew Ranger was beside me because I could see his earring gleaming in the moonlight.

Once again, I was entertained by the story of Stephanie Plum.
I like Stephanie for the same reasons I liked her in One for the Money.
She is a down-to-earth girl who is fumbling through life. She has grit, guts and determination.
Stephanie is not alone in delivering a great story as the full cast of characters add humor and interesting story twists.

Grandma Mazur is a hoot. She adds some much needed comedy relief (if you will). I continue to like Joe Morelli and wonder why Stephanie still continues to harbor ill thoughts of Joe. I get the whole sexual tension thing but if this banter between them continues much longer I think I will go a bit nutty. I can see that Ranger is going to add into this romantic mix but I am thinking that I will not have much patience for that twist.

The story was entertaining, hilarious and fun to read. Yet, I do not feel too much change in storyline growth has occurred from book one . I was a bit dissatisfied that Stephanie has not moved forward in her bounty hunting skills or with her relationship with Joe.

Since I like Stephanie, Grandma Mazur and Joe as much as I do, I will continue reading the Stephanie Plum books. With that said, I am not certain I will make it through the whole series if I do not start to see some character and storyline growth relatively soon.

Overall, Two for the Dough was a entertaining, hilarious, fun and quick read.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
You could win:
An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Teaser Tuesdays: Oct. 27 – Sacred Hearts

TEASER TUESDAYS hosted by Should Be Reading
asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

My Teasers: from lines 11-15

“Why don’t we save the rest for another day?”
”No.” The girl shakes her head fiercely. “No, no, I want to go on.”
“You are not cold?”
”I’m not going back inside,” she says again, sharply. “If I am to be buried alive, I want at least to see the shape of my coffin.”

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, page 42 (ARC copy)

Take a look at Teaser Tuesdays to participate and to check out for more teasers.

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
You could win:
An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Classroom Read: The Sign of the Beaver

The Sign of the Beaver
by Elizabeth George Speare
Dell Publishing Company - 1993

Back Cover:
When his father returns East to collect the rest of the family, 13-year-old Matt is left alone to guard his family's newly built homestead. One day, Matt is brutally stung when he robs a bee tree for honey. He returns to consciousness to discover that his many stings have been treated by an old Native American and his grandson. Matt offers his only book as thanks, but the old man instead asks Matt to teach his grandson Attean to read. Both boys are suspicious, but Attean comes each day for his lesson. In the mornings, Matt tries to entice Attean with tales from Robinson Crusoe, while in the afternoons, Attean teaches Matt about wilderness survival and Native American culture. The boys become friends in spite of themselves, and their inevitable parting is a moving tribute to the ability of shared experience to overcome prejudice.

This book was read by EJ as part of her classroom read for school.
One of the wonderful things that I like about her teacher is how he handles literature with his students. He has his class read books and then complete a “book contract”.
The contract involves the students to choose the following options:
A. Take a test and complete one project
B. Complete two projects.

EJ chose to complete two projects. Her project was to write a report about rabbits and to make spear utilizing the details about the spear that was given in the book.

EJ’s Thoughts (age 10):

I thought The Sign of the Beaver was a good story.
Short and sweet, I liked the adventure and Attean’s dog.
My favorite scene was when they killed the bear.

Her projects:

If this book along with idea of an contract sounds familiar, well, because it is.
Last year, ED had the same teacher as EJ. Take a look here if you would like to see what ED did for her The Sign of the Beaver project.

What Are You Reading On Mondays? Oct. 26

What Are You Reading On Mondays?

is a fun weekly event hosted by J. Kaye’s Book Blog . For this meme, participants post about books completed last week, currently reading and plan to read for this coming week.

Check out J.Kaye’s Blog to see what others are reading.

I have realized that my blog reading time has decreased. Well, it has decreased on the computer. I still read blog posts but is done via my phone. Commenting is a whole other area. I can comment via my phone but it is a little more difficult. Why not then just read my blogs on the computer? Reading via my phone is far more convenient and does not tie me down to one spot. I am finding that with “G” home by herself, I need to move around more, do far more things with her as well.
However, I love to comment and miss that portion of my blog reading. So, I am coming up with a plan to allow me to do so. Hopefully, I will have my plan in place by end of this week.

Last week:

Evermore by Alyson Noel- I had a great time reading this book with Annie of Reading,Writing & Ranting. We discussed this book via Twitter. The book itself, well… the review is to come.

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich – I enjoyed reading more of Stephanie Plum. I now want to know what will come in book three. (review to come)

Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley – This has been an October read aloud with ED (age 12) and EJ (age 10). The girls and I enjoyed these tales. (review to come)

Currently Reading:

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant – I realized on Wednesday, last week, that I am going to see Sarah Dunant at an author event today (Monday). Whoa…I needed to read this book, as that was my plan for which I forgot. How am I liking this book so far? I am liking it very much.

Up Next:

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby – This book was put on hold to enable me to start my reading of Sacred Hearts.
I am reading this book based on the recommendation of my BBAW Interview Swap partner – Francesco ofFiefdom. Francesco said, “Read High Fidelity if you want a slice of modern life, with honest characters, love, obsession, hilarity, and really cool music.”

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati – I look forward to starting this read. Can you guess my interest in this book is piqued?

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange – This book is on my Everything Jane Austen Challenge. It has been sitting on my piano for over a month. High time I start reading the book.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis – EJ and I are still making our way through The Chronicles of Narnia. We do enjoy this series but it seems that other books have been calling our name as well. I will be “reading” this book via the Focus On The Family audiobook.

What are you reading this week?

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
You could win:
An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

A Dance Through Time by Lynn Kurland

A Dance Through Time
by Lynn Kurland
copyright 1996

Back Cover:
The haunting voice of Scottish laird James McLeod summons writer Elizabeth Smith through time to 1311 Scotland. James forbids women at his keep. So he is rather surprised when Elizabeth is deposited in his care, though care isn't what he gives her when they first meet. Lynn Kurland excited readers with her memorable debut novel, Stardust of Yesterday, and her talents shine through again in this delightful time-travel tale of adventure and love.

First Sentence:
"Come to me."

I like time-travel stories so I was looking forward to this read.

Overall, I liked the characters of Elizabeth and Jamie. Before meeting one another, their lives were in chaos and their living conditions reflected the chaos. They had the usual romance element issues which worked pretty good for their story. They are both strong-willed individuals whom played off of each other very well.
Their relationship worked for me.

While I did not understand the author's concept of time-travel, the rules, if-you-will, I did enjoy Elizabeth's travel back to 1311 Scotland where she meets Jamie. Their life and conditions in 1311 Scotland was intriguing. I would not call this story a historical romance necessarily as for the historic part was lacking beyond the immediate setting. Even so, the Keep life was interesting. With that said, the time-travel continued to confound me. It did not make any sense. The fact that the time-travel did not seem to have steadfast rules dragged the story down, for me.
I will say, the first half of the book was very enjoyable. The first-part of the second half was good as long as I let go of my need for time-travel rules. The last part of the book is where the author lost me. Again, it was the whole darn need for time-travel rules with some sense and order.

This story was an enjoyable read but it did fall a bit short.

Ultimately, A Dance Through Time was an entertaining read.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Apple Printing Tree and Open Ended Art

A few weeks back I focused on the apple theme with “G”.
We read several books and did a few art projects.

Apple Printing Tree was fun and easy. I cut a couple apples in half, placed a craft stick into the half. The stick made the stamping with the apple far easier for “G”.
We first talked about the colors of an apple tree-the color of the trunk, leaves and apples. A terrific extension with this activity was having “G” name the colors she wanted to use. We also counted the how many paint colors we had, how many apples she stamped, how many apples were on the table.
“G” loved the idea of using her foot for the tree trunk.
She had great fun stamping the apples onto her tree.

After our Apple Printing Tree, “G” made an apple tree using her fingers to stamp apples.

She then went all out with Open Ended Art. I let her stamp and paint away until her heart was content. She stamped, painted, used one color at a time, mixed colors and even utilized what she thinks as the most perfect canvas, her body.

This week, I plan on using very small pumpkins for more stamping fun. Instead of a tree, we will make a pumpkin vine. Of course, Open Ended Art time will be apart of this stamping activity.

What fun art projects, Open Ended or not, have you done with your child?

Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Ballad
by Maggie Stiefvater
copyright 2009

Back Cover:
In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

My Letter to Ballad

Dear Ballad,

Oh Ballad, Ballad, Ballad. You have woven me around your finger even when I was unsettled and not sure I wanted to like you as much as I do.

From your first lines, your creator's magical prose spun around in my head, weaved and sung so that I could not put you down.
I was used to being the hunter. If I saw something I wanted, I stalked it, smelled it, made it mine. By "it" I mean "him", of course.

I found myself flipping though your pages wanting to know what will come of James, Dee and Nuala. I found myself caught up in the life of James and the magical world of the Fae. My dear Ballad, you sister-book Lament sung to me, captured me and held me and you have done the same.

In case you did not know, I adored James in Lament but with you I found that I cared for him far greater. Dear sweet and conniving Ballad you have forever endeared James to my heart. You endeared him with his sharp wit, vulnerability, compassion and loyalty.

Dee looked up at me and dropped her hand. There were no tears on her face, but they'd left evidence of themselves in her red eyes. "Psycho babe", I said softly, "What are you doing her in this fearful country that is the men's dorm?"

You showed me James for the cool teenager that he is. You showed me his smarts, talent and courage.

"I hadn't read Hamlet, but I was on good terms with Shakespeare. No fanboy stuff or secret handshakes or anything like that. But if we passed each other in the hallway, we'd probably nod at each other."

"We are discussing." I looked back to Dee, whose eyes darted between me and Linnet. "We were talking about the real-world implications of the lack of communication between Hamlet and Opehlia and what an ass-face Hamlet was for keeping Opehlia in the dark about what he was thinking."

Dear Ballad, I am going to tell you, James is a boy that would make a fabulous friend/boyfriend. He has a great sense of self even when he has his moments of feeling out of place. James, simply put, is amazing. I thank you, Ballad, for bringing James into my fictional world.

I have to tell you Ballad, I am a bit disappointed with you.
“Why?”, you may be asking. Well, Ballad, I wanted to shake Deirdre. You gotta understand, I loved her in Lament. She tore at my heart. With you Ballad, she was suffering. I know, I know, she had a terrible time in Lament. I am thinking she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Seriously, I do. I wanted to scream out to Dee and say, "How could you not stop and think of James?" " Dee, James is your best-friend and you are throwing him away!" "Dee, he is hurting. Help him." "Dee, I know you are going through a hard time but wake-up and get out of your self-centric world!" "Oh Dee, you are so stupid, stupid, stupid!" However, my dear Ballad, I could not scream at her. She would not have listened to me. Oh yes, I wanted more for Dee but do understand why she is where she is.

Another thing Ballad, you gave me Nuala. I have to tell you, I am thinking that I do not like Nuala all that much. In the beginning, no way, for sure she was not liked by me. I will give you, she has the same smart-ass tone that James has for which I did find appealing but still…
As your story goes on, well, I liked her a bit more. Seriously though Ballad, she is all wrong for James. Don't you see that? Oh yeah, she gets James' attention for which I wanted to scream at him to go the other way. Yes, she does some compassionate things. It just that, I do not know, A fae is a fae and well...Nuala is not for James. But Ballad, are you trying to tell me she is the right "human" for James? I am not getting the change that has occurred in her. Am I being too harsh? Maybe I am. *shrug* Yes, maybe I am because if you separated Nuala from James I may have liked her better. For me, I am not liking her with James even though some tough decisions were thrown her way and those decisions she did make, well, I did respect. Yet, she just seems all wrong for him. But you know what? Her story was well told. I was fascinated and intrigued. She has guts and courage. She can care.
But no...I still do not like her much. *shrug*

One more thing Ballad, I am ever so pleased with Sullivan. He is a great character to banter with James. Sullivan has an amazing way about him. He has made sacrifices and he wants what is best. I very much liked his presence in your story. I so wonder what will really become of him and how he will play out in the future.

Back to you Ballad.
I cannot say this enough, you captured me with your creator's magical writing. I loved your fantasy and fae elements. You were ever so intriguing. I started reading the first page and did not close the book until your story had ended. I was left with a sigh and an impression that James will be good and that Dee has a future once she works through some heavy issues. James and Dee as a couple, who knows? Who will be for James? Not sure.
Regardless, James stands and is the better for it. James is a wonderful character.

Yes Ballad, I was riveted to your pages and I am satisfied.

Thank you Ballad.
Your creator did a fabulous job.
I give you a rating of 4.75/5 stars.

Sincerely,
Deanna

P.S. – If you are curious about my feelings in regard to your sister-book Lament, you can read my review here.

P.P.S. – If you would like to read other’s reviews, you can look at Book Reviews by Jess, The Story Siren, Page Turners,

P.P.P.S – Oh, you say you would like to read some other cool stuff? Take a look at Maggie Stiefvater’s blog and at Ballad’s Playlist.

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
You could win:
An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Teaser Tuesday: Oct 20 - Evermore

TEASER TUESDAYS hosted by Should Be Reading asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

My Teasers:

By the time I get to English, I’m giddy, nervous, sweaty palmed, and anxious as Riley accused me of being. But when I see Damen talking to Stacia, I add paranoid to the already long list.

”Um, excuse me,” I say, blocked by Damen’s gloriously long legs, which are taking the place of her usual booby trap.
But he just ignores me and remains perched on her desk, and I watch as he reaches behind her ear, and comes away with a rosebud.

Evermore by Alyson Noel, page 60

Take a look at Teaser Tuesdays to participate and to check out for more teasers.

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
You could win:
An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Favorite Kids’ Choice October Read-Aloud with “I” and “G”

The following post is a re-post from last October.
I decided on this re-post because this book, Pumpkin Soup, still remains their favorite read-aloud for the season.
They still love the illustrations but, this year, the storyline has now gained their attention.
It is fabulous to see the growth in understanding, anticipating and the following along with the story from last year to this year.
One other note, “I’s” favorite illustration from last year still remains his favorite this year. Also, “G” (age 3) is much more into this book this year vs. last year. She loves the story and can tell me what is going to happen next.

Pumpkin Soup
by Helen Cooper

Pumpkin Soup is a story that encourages cooperation, flexibility, forgiveness and celebration of individual strengths amongst friends while Cat, Squirrel and Duck make Pumpkin Soup.

Not only is the storyline entertaining the illustrations are fabulous!
A delightful book!

For “I” – who is 5 – reading books has been an activity that he has slowly added to the list of things he will tolerate. Books are not his favorite thing. Let me rephrase that, the stories are not his favorite. He does not hang on to the storyline as it really does not appeal to him. What does draw him into stories are the illustrations! A book is a hit with “I” if there is an illustration that captures his attention. If that occurs then Wham! He is so willing to have that book “read” to him. He does not like to “talk” about the story nor will he “answer” questions about the story. What he will do is “talk” about the illustrations and “answer” questions about illustrations.

Yep, illustrations…great illustrations are a must for this wonderful boy!

(update 2009: “I” , age 6, will now follow a simple storyline with greater interest than last year. Still, illustrations are what will draw him into the story first and foremost.)

Pumpkin Soup pulled “I” in and kept his attention. Why?
The illustrations are full of action, colorful and *loud*.
Yes indeed, this is a book to read over and over again…well not as much as Hedgie Blasts Off! but nevertheless…. A Hit!

(Update 2009: Hedgie Blasts Off! still remains one of “I’s” favorite books)

“I’s” favorite illustration.

This illustration elicited laughter from “I” and “G”.
They loved “talking” about this page.

This. is .the. illustration. for . “I”!

Yes indeed! Pumpkin Soup is a delightful book!

Mom-Musings Blog Note:
This month on Mom-Musings …
You could win:
An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon (signed copy) - Ends Oct 30th...check this post for details

Elizabeth… 12 years…

Elizabeth, my third child and second daughter, turned twelve years old on September 11, 2009.

I look at her and honestly can feel how the time has flown by. I remember her birth, I remember her spunky, tenacious, go getting girl, compassionate and caring nature that encompassed her in those early years of 5 and under.
I remember thinking, “My God, this girl is active!”.

I look at her now, not much has changed in her basic personality as she still remains all that I described above. What has changed is that her traits are maturing. She is growing stronger in her compassion, caring nature. She is learning how to let loose her spunk and tenaciousness and when to hold it back. Sparks of creative and ideas constantly flow within this child’s brain.
The Lord has blessed us!

Grandma made the cake per Elizabeth’s design request.
Thanks Grandma!

The following writing I found laying around last month. This was written by Elizabeth this past summer 2009.
I think this sums Elizabeth up quite well.

Elizabeth
lighthearted, trustworthy, observant
sister of Ben, Evie, Elliana, Isaiah and Grace
lover of music, art, and zebras
who feels strongly about friendship, peace and vegetarianism.

Diana
who needs suggestions, knowledge, friends
who gives options, love, and friendship
who fears heights, bridges, and death
who would like to see Japan
A resident of …..

Here are some pictures that represents Elizabeth’s quirky side of life…

We pray Elizabeth will continue down this wonderful path that the Lord has set her on. That she will continue to make good decisions in life.

She is loved by us, very much!