Madeline will be forever loved by children
everywhere for her spunkiness! This is the first
in the series, and, I think, the best! "Twelve
little girls in two straight lines, the smallest
one was Madeline..." If you haven't heard of
Madeline, let a child introduce this lively
redhead to you...you'll never be the same! I
think these books are also great for introducing
a bit of geography & maybe foreign culture,
since Madeline lives in Paris.
I
really like this book because it introduces a
new culture to kids. It's a story of a native
child and mother. (I'm not sure if eskimo or
inuit, there are differences, I'm told...I'll
have to look into it...) The child wants to know
the age-old question "Do you love me?" The
mother responds with answers that are specific
to their culture, which introduces children to
terms they may have never heard before. Very
good for cultural awareness. And the pictures
are beautiful, full of love.
I
got this book to review from
Dawn Publications. I have to be honest that
I really didn't enjoy it at first. The
illustrations are not my favorite, and I just
couldn't get into the story of evolution in it
immediately...perhaps it was starting at the end
of the series that was the problem for me...or
maybe just not being too interested in evolution
at the time. At any rate, a couple years later,
I was looking for books on the topic and came
across this series again. It was recommended to
me by some mamas on the
Secular Charlotte Mason yahoogroup. At that
time, I checked out the first 2 books of the
series from the library and dug out my copy of
book 3. Well let me tell you now that I HIGHLY
recommend this entire series! It takes what is a
very complex and potentially boring story (for
little ones or those without a head for this
sort of stuff), and makes it absolutely engaging
and fascinating! I especially love the timeline
that runs on the top of most every page, helping
you to keep track of where you are in history.
And, as with seemingly all Dawn Publications
books...there are book recommendations and other
resources for more info at the back of these
books! So if you're looking for a great intro
into evolution for your children...check out
this entire series! After getting turned onto
this series finally I did go out and purchase a
copy of the first 2 in the series,
Born With a Bang and
From Lava to Life, which I find to be great
additions to our expanding homeschool library!
Christmas in Italy! Strega Nona is everyone's
grandma, and is trying to prepare Christmas
dinner for the town...but one thing after
another goes wrong. I love Tomie DePaola books,
they have an old world charm to them...a peek
into a different culture and time.
Also check out
anything by Tomie Depaola, including all the
other Strega Nona books!
This
is an adorable book I received for review from
the author. I had already reviewed some of his
music
here, and he asked for me to take a look at
this children's book he'd written as well. SOOOO
CUTE!! It tells the story of a caterpillar who
desperately wants to fly. He asks for help from
many animals, to no avail. Of course we know the
end. Miller becomes a butterfly and does indeed
fly. The lesson here is to not give up on your
dreams. The illustrations are just adorable and
this is a very sweet book!
This is a really neat book about a kooky grandma
who seems to be an Australian Dr. Doolittle. I
really like that this book exposes kids to a lot
of species of animals that are prob'ly not
familiar to them. It also has really neat
pictures!
I
never knew Maya Angelou did kid's books until I
stumbled across this one...and it's GREAT! It's
about a little girl from South Africa. The
entire book is full of very colorful & lively
photographs, illustrating beautifully what daily
living is like for a S. African child. I love
exposing kids to other cultures, & this book
succeeds in that beautifully!
