Restoration Place

Favorite Picture Books ~ Bill Peet

We're on a Bill Peet kick here lately. We've loved him for years, but right now we just can't get enough of his zany, happy stories and captivating cartoon illustrations.

Peet's books are written with either prose or clever rhymes:

     The blue-snouted Twumps feed entirely on weeds,

     And along with the weeds they swallow the seeds.

     Eating seeds causes weeds to sprout on their backs,

     Till they look very much like walking haystacks.

     When a mother Twump has young ones to raise,

     Her weed-covered back is where they all graze.

     Of all the odd creatures, you won't find another

     Who supports its young as both fodder and mother.

     (No Such Things)

We're sorry if you've been to our local library and find the Bill Peet section fairly empty. We did that a couple days ago and intend to keep them for the full six weeks. We do own some, many of which were bought with glee off the library sale shelf last spring. They're all excellent, library-bound copies, sure to last through children and grandchildren.

Sometimes a child will take a huge pile of Peet books and disappear for an hour. More often than not, though, I'm the one with the huge pile, children crowding for a place on the couch to listen to the "Peet-fest." Guess I don't have a photo of that.

Ben loves the illustrations. Since spending time with Peet, he's been noticing how houses and buildings have faces and he's been drawing them, too.

The Terrestria Chronicles: The Sword, The Ring, and the Parchment

Since finishing Pilgrim's Progress recently, we needed something else to fill in the gap in our morning stack. I checked around and found excitement for The Terrestria Chronicles.

The Terrestria Chronicles is a seven-book series written by Ed Dunlop and published by Dunlop Ministries. Dunlop's site says the allegory series "...was written with a three-fold purpose: to honor Jesus Christ as King, to challenge young readers to love and serve Him, and to teach them to guard their hearts for Him. The focus of the series is always on the King."

The first book in the series is The Sword, the Ring, and the Parchment:

 

We just finished reading chapter five, and we're hooked. Though the writing feels a little forced at times with its wordiness and ornamental descriptions, it's a compelling story. We plan to read the entire series.

The children are eagerly creating picture narrations as I read aloud each morning, though there are a few coloring pages available. We haven't used them yet, but as soon as I remember to I'll print them out.

 

 

 

Ben's detailed picture.

I've got The Quest for Seven Castles and The Search for Everyman, books two and three of three of the series, already waiting on a shelf. But we're going to take it slowly and savor the journey.

Resource ~ A Child's Geography Volume II: Explore the Holy Land

This summer we're going to be slowly working our way through A Child's Geography, Volume II: Explore the Holy Land. Perhaps you're already familiar with the authors through their lovely and inspiring blogs: Ann Voskamp of Holy Experience and Tonia Peckover of Study in Brown.

We enjoyed A Child's Geography Volume I: Explore His Earth three years ago when my children were 8, 6, 4, and a tag-a-long 1, and they still remember so much about what we learned. My now 9-year-old still asks if we can "please do the atmosphere layers in a jar project again, Mom!" Hmmm...guess I really should get around to it, already.

The volume will take us on a tour of six countries: Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, at a pace of about one country every two weeks. We will adjust our pace, as needed, as we have lots of interests to pursue this summer. We might not even finish the entire volume this summer, and that's ok, too.

We'll keep you updated on our "travels" and share go-along resources as we go. We begin next week. First up: Turkey.

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I originally thought I might follow Serendipity's Tour of Continents and Cultures, which dovetails with both volumes of A Child's Geography, begins with Africa, and provides lots of helpful resources, links, and recommended books, but we spent a lot of time on Africa not so long ago, and the children are eager to learn more about the Middle East right away. I urge you to take a look at what the ladies at Serendipity have put together and generously share with the rest of us--especially if you want to begin a tour of the continents with Africa. I may just have to come back to Serendipity's plans in a year or so, and take the journey with my younger two children.

The Book Thing of Baltimore ~ Local Outing

I finally made it to The Book Thing in Baltimore after hearing about it, reading about it, and thinking about it for several years. Today was the day of action.

In the Saturday afternoon traffic of this gorgeous 72 degree F day, it took me about an hour to get there, door to door, but it was easy to find and very much worth the trip.

The approximately 150,000 titles are organized by subject, such as History, Children's, Classics, Mathematics, Christian, Fiction, Family, Education, and so on, and they are all free, free, free! Yes: free!

The books are not alphabetized by author in their respective sections, but I wasn't expecting them to be. It's not really the place to search for a specific title/author, anyways. It's more like a treasure hunt.

The Book Thing welcomes donations of books. They are especially in need of quality children's books, evidenced by the few that were available in the bins on the floor, and the many ecstatic children gathering them up by the handful. I plan to take a big boxful next time I visit.

The Book Thing wants you to take away as many books as you want. In fact, they strongly encourage you to...

While I browsed, I was treated to the breeze flowing through the open doors, and the pealing bells of St. John's Episcopal Church across the street:

I must say that I did feel a twinge of guilt as I left with my small armload of treasures without paying. Something about it didn't feel quite right. Especially since I feel I scored big:

The stack, from the top:

The Shack by William P. Young. Looked to have never been read. I tried to read a borrowed copy a few months ago, and couldn't get through what I thought were the first few badly written pages. I even told friends I couldn't read it, but there it was, free. And some of my friends said they were greatly impacted by the book. So I guess I'll try again. Or pass it on to someone else who wants to read it.

Field Guide to the Piedmont: The Natural Habitats of America's Most Lived-in Region, from New York City to Montgomery, Alabama by Michael A. Godfrey. This was marked with Book Crossing stickers, so I registered my finding of the book and made a journal entry.

Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling. A 1964 edition with lovely illustrations by Charles McCurry:

The Graphic Bible: From Genesis to Revelation in Animated Maps & Charts
by Lewis Browne, 1929. We'll use this book in our home education, probably daily:

The real score, though, is this Van Loon's Geography: The Story of the World We Live In by Hendrik Willem van Loon. It's a 1932 (seventh printing) edition, inscribed by the apparent one-time owner, John H. McQuilkin, Midshipman, U.S. Navy:

 

I already own a copy of this book, but it's not nearly as large and beautiful. I will treasure and use this book frequently with my children. Does taking this particularly good copy when I already have a perfectly acceptable one make me a selfish hoarder? I don't know. I hope not. I do know that I would gladly pass on my other copy. ~grin~

I'll be going back to The Book Thing soon...with a good selection of children's books to donate, and my eyes peeled for new treasures.

A Few Moments for Mama Refreshment

I had to pause in the middle of this day to have a few minutes to myself. It was very necessary. Twenty minutes of tea and a few pages of a new book to savor and I was much better.

Ok. Back to the rest of the day.

Picture Narrations ~ Little Pilgrim's Progress: Christiana's Journey

We're still slowly working our way through Little Pilgrim's Progress along with the rest of our Morning Stack. Yesterday, I read Chapter 57: The Man with the Straws. The children drew picture narrations, as I was reading, like they usually do.

The reading was particularly poignant. In this chapter, Christiana, her siblings, and friend, Mercy, have stopped at the house of the Interpreter. After the children have all rested, the Interpreter takes them through his house to show them some special things.

One of them was a room featuring the man with straws:

After this, the old man brought his little visitors into a dull, dark room, where  a miserable-looking man was working busily. The floor of the room was covered with straws and sticks, and the man held a rake in his hand, with which he was collecting all the rubbish into a heap. He did not look up when the Interpreter opened the door, and he seemed to care for nothing but his sticks and straws.

"What is he collecting them for?" asked Matthew. "He thinks they are very precious," replied the Interpreter. "He has been serving the Wicked Prince for a long time, and he believes that some day, in the midst of these useless straws, he will find a wonderful treasure. The King is sorry for him and every day He sends a messenger to offer him a golden crown instead of straws." (176)

We pondered the image for a few moments, and the girls began to make a drawing of something they had heard in the reading. The boys drew, too, but they focused on things not related to the reading. That was ok with me, as they had already given great verbal narrations.

 

Blue, the cat, thinks these drawings offer the best seat in the house:

 

Angels holding golden crowns and smiling:

Ben drew Larry Boy and the Angry Eyebrow. Jacob's drawing can't be found:

 

I keep our 1891 version of Pilgrim's Progress in our morning stack so I can read portions of text that match our Little Pilgrim's Progress reading, or to show the beautiful pen and ink illustrations (I make a point of not showing the corresponding illustration before our reading as it may interfere with the younger children's drawings. I want them to be able to imagine for themselves the part of the reading that most impresses them):

 

By the way, I've found an abundant supply of these beautiful copies of Pilgrim's Progress in used and out-of-print bookstores. My copy was only $20.

Here's the man with straws in our 1891 copy:

After the reading and the time of drawing, I was thrilled with our discussion about the man with straws.

I continue to marvel at how good books, read slowly and lived with over time, impact the children's hearts and mind. They really are being nourished daily with "loving, right, and noble ideas" (Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children Vol. II, 228). It gives me such joy to be a part of that process!

Good Queen Bess ~ We Have a Winner!

All the names of those who said they were interested in the book are folded up and dropped in a jar, then swished and mixed by 4-year-old Ben:

Ben should have had a nap, and does not want his picture taken, especially if "you're gonna put it on your blog, Mom!" Ok, I say, I will try not to show your face on the blog. Please just reach in and choose a piece of paper, ok?

The winner is Heather at An Untraditional Home! Congrats, Heather!

This was so much fun! I love the idea of passing along a good book to another home educating family. I'm going to be purging more of my shelves. I already know of several more books...

Christmas with Anne of Green Gables: Local Outing

Maggie and I enjoyed a Christmas with Anne of Green Gables program at our library Monday evening.

If you're a fan of L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables, you know how thrilled we were to be able to take part in the event.

The librarians created a table display of L.M. Montgomery's books, biographies, and guidebooks to the world of Anne of Green Gables:

 

 

The parlor games and crafts were all designed to help us experience Christmas traditions as Anne herself and those of the Victorian era might have experienced it.

There were several crafting stations set up and we rotated through all of them:

 

 

  

 

Shhh...don't tell Maggie, but I'm planning to get her a set of the first three Anne of Green Gables videos for Christmas. We keep trying to borrow them from the library to watch them and they never seem to be on the shelf. Then we can have an Anne of Green Gables fest whenever we like!

"Things to Buy Instead of Curriculum" ~ Melissa Wiley's Classic List

If you haven't yet tapped into Melissa Wiley's "Things to Buy Instead of Curriculum" then you need to click over there, read her brief reviews, and decide what to buy instead of yet another unused education resource (don't look at me--ahem--I'm purging my shelves of all that stuff).

Wiley's list is a great resource for families--whether you home educate or not.

Sonlight Box Day Follow-Up ~ Joyous Book Glut

I know you're wondering what happened on Box Day last week. Here's a wordless follow-up: