Rain, Rain, Go Away!

As luck would have it, it's raining. And it's supposed to rain for the rest of the week. So instead of visiting the botanical gardens this week, let's do it next week!

For this week, I think we'll read "13 Words" by Lemony Snicket. I don't know the story behind this book, but I have a feeling it may have been one of those "I dare you to try and write a book that includes these 13 words" sorts of things. So we'll make our own books - collage style with cut up magazine pictures! - and tell the stories making sure to use certain words. It's late notice, but we'll plan on playing with this book tomorrow (Wednesday, the 13th). If you want to join us, let me know!

The Best Intentions and a Field Trip

Well, this summer is just full of good intentions! I haven't been as diligent at planning our summer book club as I wanted to be, but the sunny summer days have been so rare this year we've been taking advantage of every opportunity to throw responsibility out the window.

We did have some fun with "Moo Who?" - we looked for rhymes and puns and learned the meaning of onomatopoeia (say it three times really fast!).

We've also discovered some great books at the library that I want to explore even more than the ones on our first list. A couple of new favorites:

"13 Words" by Lemony Snicket
"A Sick Day for Amos McGee" by Philip C. Stead

This week I think we'll read "Planting a Rainbow" by Lois Ehlert and take a trip to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens to see if we can find all the colors of the rainbow! Leave a comment or e-mail me if you're interested in joining us!

Moo Who?

This is it! School is over and, despite the weather, summer has begun!

Before I get on with our first book, though: Because of our town library's summer reading program schedule, our little group's meeting day will change after this week. We'll still do Thursday, the 23rd this week, but look for a schedule change coming up.

We'll kick off our group reading with "Moo Who?" by Margie Palatini. I hadn't read this one before this week, so I wasn't sure exactly what I'd discover. And while it's not exactly my personal style, it's a funny little book with kid-appeal and some good potential for fun. We'll have some fun with wordplay with this book, and we'll do some art to illustrate the story and then try to retell the story by putting our illustrations together in sequence.

If you want to join us, we'll meet at around 10:30 a.m. Let me know if you want to come and I'll get you the details on where!

Welcome!

Welcome to our summer reading blog!

This blog started out as an idea to help my kindergartener keep in touch with school friends over the summer and have some fun with reading as well. Since summer schedules are busy I figured a blog would be a good way to keep in touch with anyone who's interested. I'll be posting a new book and a short description of what we'll be doing to make it fun every week. Let me know if you'd like to join us!

For now, here's a lineup of the first few books we'll be exploring:

June 23: Moo Who? by Margie Talatini
June 30: Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
July 7: Quiet in the Garden by Aliki
July 14: When Everybody Wore a Hat by William Steig
July 21: Old Bear by Kevin Henkes
July 28: The Snake - a Very Long Story by Bernard Waber
August 4: An Egg is Quiet by Diana Hutts Aston
August 11: Find a new book together and review it for the rest of us!
August 18: Young Amelia Earhart: A Dream to Fly by Sarah Alcott

This list is not set in stone! I may change it if another fabulous book comes my way. Always, if you have ideas on books or activities I'd love to hear them!