Caitlyn’s new activity this year is book club. A local homeschool mom has organized a club for 4th-6th graders using the Arrow guides from Brave Writer. Caitlyn loves reading, and she was on board to give this a try.
She really liked the first book, A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snickett. She even read it twice to be prepared for the meeting, and took good notes on all the bad things that happened in the book. We also used the new poster that I made:
She was nervous about the first meeting, but I think she enjoyed it while she was there. She participated by answering questions, and responding to other kid’s thoughts on the book.
The group also painted eye rocks, to keep or hide around town (because that is a thing right now).
– Cricket loves her Berenstain Bear books and this was no exception. I liked the “Joy of Giving” focus, but I’m struggling with balancing the Santa stuff.
– Cricket loved this one, I think again because it focused on animals. This book also offered a basic counting lesson. I really liked that the animals were telling the story of the birth of Jesus, and the real reason for the season.
– This is the closest story I have found to reading the actual nativity story out of the bible. Cricket was familiar with the terms and story from our Truth in Tinsel studies this year, and she enjoyed the pictures.
– This book is probably best suited for a preschooler, the story is very simplified. Cricket wasn’t very drawn in by this one, but I liked it’s illustrations.
– Cricket was not interested in this book by looking at the cover, but I convinced her to let me read it anyway. That was a good thing, since she really enjoyed the book. I think it was nice to have something “magical” about Christmas that was still Christ focused. 
– I reviewed this book last year for Thomas Nelson, and I still really love it. It is a great companion to our Truth in Tinsel activities. It is a wonderful retelling of the Christmas story in children’s words and terms.
– I think this is my favorite Christmas Nativity book so far. It just does such a good job of telling THE story of Christmas to a child. I’m so happy Mimi added this one to our collection. 
– Cricket loved this book, because it had all of her favorite animals in it. She loved reading about the animals Christmas celebration, and I would recommend it to any little animal lovers. 
– This was a cute twist on a Santa style Christmas story. We both loved that it was all about penguins, a favorite in our house. 
– The Poky Little Puppy was one of my favorite books as a child, and my mom got this for me a few years ago. It’s a cute little story, and Cricket enjoyed it because it was about a dog.
– Cricket really liked this story about the littlest angels and how they helped prepare for the Christmas celebration in heaven. I thought it was odd that a Christmas book set in heaven contained Saint Nicholas, but only eluded to Jesus. 
– I think this was Cricket’s favorite so far based on her retelling, but she read this one with Daddy (and it’s new) so I don’t have thoughts on it yet.
– This was a little long for Cricket, and not a Magic Treehouse book. So I summarized once she started losing interest. 
– This was a perfect book for Cricket. It had enough about Egypt to be meaningful, but was also a storybook. She loved all the clues and the way it allowed her to also be an investigator.
– This book was a great math and seasonal add on. It reinforced the backwards counting we have been working on and Cricket enjoyed it. 
– If you have been following our blog you probably already know that I have a huge Jack and Annie fan on my hands, but this was her favorite story yet. I think the kids riding on the dolphins pushed it over the edge! We have been talking about submarines and pretending to go undersea ever since we read this one. 
– This was an interesting story about a villages beliefs and how and why their people are housed the way that they are. It also led to a discussion about our beliefs, since they were not worshiping as Christians. 
– Cricket did not want to READ this entire book, but I read the headline for each letter. We discussed the pictures and I read more of the ones that she was interested in. 
– This was a rhyming style Thanksgiving book and both Cricket and my husband thought it was silly (I’m not sure if they meant that as a positive or a negative though). 
and 
. My daughter has really enjoyed these books and a highly recommend them for some basic math concepts and just a good book. Cricket really enjoyed the dance in Bug Dance! 
– This was a great comparison and contrast style story written from a young girl’s view point. It was an excellent way to introduce the Masai and their culture. 
– This was a folk tale style story about well bringing the rain to the Kapiti Plain. It ended up being a stretch for Cricket to follow what seemed to be a realistic tale into the folk style of things. I also felt the ever growing yet completely repetitious tale was monotonous. 
by Ree Drummond – I ADORED this book. The basset hound was absolutely adorable as a character and the drawings were excellent. Cricket enjoyed the story as well, and I would personally love to add this book to our personal collection. 
– This is not so much a story book as an experience or activity book. Cricket loves to look at the flashlight pictures though and talk about the images. It’s a fantastic concept. 
– As I have said before Cricket is in love with the Magic Tree House books, and we were thrilled to finally get our hands on book number 7. I am always impressed with how well Cricket keeps up with the story, how engaged she is when we are reading, and her insight into the books. Cricket really liked the wooly mammoth in this book and other elements of the ice age tale. 
