By the Rivers of Brooklyn by Trudy Morgan-Cole

The first book I read by Trudy Morgan-Cole was Esther: A Story or Courage and I absolutely loved it.  By the Rivers of Brooklyn is only the second book by her that I've read, and while it is nothing like the first, I thoroughly enjoyed it too.

I am a big fan of historical fiction, and, being a proud Newfoundlander, I especially like finding a good historical fiction book that is based in Newfoundland, or about Newfoundlanders.  In By the Rivers of Brooklyn, Trudy Morgan Cole tells the story of three generations with Newfoundland roots, starting in 1924.  The story concentrates mainly on the women, with the men being mostly in the background.  It tells about how many family members had to leave Newfoundland for work and how some never did come back to stay.

The story starts with a girl searching for the illusive trunk in the attic that holds information about her family history.  I think it's something we all do in one way or another.  She never does find the "trunk" but there is a scene near the end of the book that does tie back to the opening scene in a really neat way.

Though totally different from the first book I read by Trudy Morgan Cole, this book, like the first, has left me wanting to read more of her work.

A Time to Surrender by Sally John and Gary Smalley

I didn't realize when I picked it up from the library, but A Time to Surrender is actually the third book in the Safe Harbor series by Sally John and Gary Smalley.  I really enjoyed the book and will be keeping on eye out for the other two.

This is my first book by Sally John, but I have read other books by Gary Smalley, both ones he wrote on his own and ones he co-authored.  The fact that he co-authored this book was part of the draw for me, but I will also be looking for more books by Sally John in the future.  I enjoyed the writing style, as well as the content.

This book spoke to me on so many levels.  Characters are struggling with their relationships with one another and with God.  I could relate to many of the struggles.  I learned a lot from their struggles.  One interesting point of view is the military wife that is not sure how she feels about being a military wife.  While I can't relate in any way to being a military wive, I do have friends that are military wives and I had never thought before about some of the struggles they way face.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

Look Who Lives in the Arctic by Alan Baker

I absolutely love this book!  The design of this book is so great!  Look Who Lives in the Arctic is a great book for a study on the Arctic, specifically arctic animals.  It is engaging enough for a preschooler but can be used to prompt further learning for an elementary student.  One site gives it a reading level of ages 4-8.

Apparently this is one of 4 books in a series of "Look Who Lives In" books, with there being one about the Desert, the Ocean, and the Rainforest.  I will definitely be trying to get my hands on the others.

Perfect Snow by Barbara Reid and our plasticine pictures

The Golden Goose is the first book by Barbara Reid that I read and noticed her amazing plasticine illustrations.  That sent me on a search for more books by her.  The search eventually led me to Perfect Snow, a book little one and I really enjoyed.  The illustrations in the book are amazing!


While talking to Little One about how amazing the illustrations were and the fact that they were made with plasticine, which is something like playdough, I thought that it would be fun to try our hand at making pictures with playdough.  I decided to try to find out more about Barbara Reid and her illustrations and a google search lead me to Barbara Reid's website - what a great find!  I was thrilled to discover that she had videos showing how to make plasticine pictures.  The girls and I watched the videos and were even more excited about trying it for ourselves.

I didn't have any plasticine so I decided to make playdough, using this cooked playdoh recipe from a friend, and try it with that.  Here's what we created:

Little One's creation (age 4)

Mom's creation 

Sis's creation (age 17)

We had fun and were pretty pleased with our creations but we wanted to give plasticine a try so we made a trip to the local dollar store and got some Crayola Modeling Clay.  The modeling clay was much better to work with.  Here's what we created with it:

I printed off the picture and Little One filled it in with plasticine.  We only had four colors but I did some mixing to get other colors.

Little One drew a picture of her doll and then filled it in with plasticine

Sis did this beautiful scenery from her head.  It's a row boat in the water on a sunset evening and there's a moose almost up on the shore.

I pointed out the Barbara Reid books to our librarian and suggested doing a Barbara Reid themed story hour and having the children make plasticine pictures.  It went over quite well!  Here's what Little One made at the event:

I see many more hours spent enjoying Barbara Reid books and playing with plasticine in our house in the future.

On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Found this book while perusing the shelves at our local library and thought it might make an interesting read.  I can't decide if I was right or not.  It was kind of interesting, but kind of boring too.  It is classed as a children's book and is a good example of diary entries.  I could see using it to introduce children to the idea of keeping diaries.

I thought it was going to be interesting because I had been a fan Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series but I should have known that it wasn't going to be the same.  There's quite a difference in novel writing and diary writing.  It was kind of interesting to read about what life was like for them in the 1894 during their travels but there really wasn't anything exciting about it.  Then again, it is a diary, not a novel.

So, I did kind of enjoy On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 by Laura Ingalls Wilder, but it's not a book I would likely recommend to anyone looking for an interesting book to read.

What Will the Weather Be? by Linda DeWitt

Little One and I really enjoyed What Will the Weather Be?.  It is a great way to introduce weather concepts.  There is a lot of material packed into the little book and we will need to revisit it many times to wrap our heads around it all but we loved it so much that revisiting it will not be a chore.  I'm definitely adding it to my science resource list for the next few years.

Nursery Rhymes of Newfoundland and Labrador by Robin McGrath

I picked up this book during a recent visit to our local library thinking that it might be a book I could share with my little one.  In light of that, I found this quote from the introduction interesting: "Contrary to popular belief, nursery rhymes are not written by or for children - they are generally part of the adult world and are co-opted by children who appreciate their simplicity or are merely fascinated by the enigmatic sound of the words."   While there are rhymes in Nursery Rhymes of Newfoundland and Labrador that I would share with little one there are some that I wouldn't and I'm glad I decided to read it myself before sharing it with her.

Robin McGrath did not actually write the poems in the book but she did compile and edit them.  There is a fair bit of history packed into the rhymes and I found it interesting to read.  I like the addition of the notes at the end of the book, though I would have preferred the notes actually included by the rhymes they are about. The notes make the rhymes more meaningful.

Made in Canada by Mary Graham Bonner

Came across this book while browsing the art section of our local library.  It's an old book, published in 1953, but I really enjoyed it.  There was a lot of history packed in the book.  It was very interesting to read about, and see pictures of, artwork of first nations people as well as settlers.  I have a bunch of notes made of things I want to research and learn more about.

I want to know more about  Sis-hu-lk, also known as Francis Baptiste, a member of the Okanagan First People's nation.  In the book I learned that he won a bronze star in 1936 from the Royal Drawing Society of London for his artwork titled "Canadian nativity".  From the 1940 page of the Drawing on Identity: Inkameep Dayschool and Art site I discovered that he also won a gold medal for his contribution to Canadian culture and that in 1940 he started signing his work with his Indian name.  You can see pictures of him and some of his other work sprinkled throughout An Inkameep Photo Album.

I'd also like to know more about Francois Baillairge, who Mary Bonner says is Canada's foremost woodcarver and sculptor.  I found an online gallery displaying some of Francois Baillairge's work.

And that's just some of the things I want to learn more about.  I am very glad that I picked up this book.  I'd love to own it.

One is Canada by Maxine Trottier

I just finished reading One is Canada to Little One.  I did not particularly enjoying reading the book but Little One was quite smitten by the illustrations.

The book was illustrated by Bill Slavin and we were part way in the book when Little One exclaimed "He is a good drawer!  Who drew the pictures?"  She is 4, remember, and I was a bit shocked with this exclamation.  I hadn't noticed the pictures at all.  I turned to the front of the book and told her the illustrators name and continued reading the book, but I kept getting interrupted with her exclamations about how great the pictures were.  At one point she exclaimed, "I have to tell him he's a good drawer."  :)  I think I'm going to have to look for more books illustrated by Bill Slavin.

Maxine Trottier, though not born a Canadian, became a Canadian citizen in 1974.  She lives in my home province, Newfoundland and Labrador.  I skimmed a list of her books and I will be making a point of checking out more of them.

This book caught my eye during our recent library visit because it is a Canadian book and it is a book about numbers.  I've been making a conscious effort to expose Little One to numbers and math concepts lately because it's something I haven't really put much effort into so far.  As I said earlier, however, I did not enjoying reading the book.  After reading it I read on the inside flap of the dust cover on the book that it is "a rhythmical read-aloud".  It may just be me, but I didn't find it rhythmical at all. Having said that, however, I do think I will go back to this book again.  There is a lot of history and geography wrapped up in this picture book.  It would make a great jumping off point for further learning.

This book counts towards the following reading challenges:  Canadian Authors Challenge, Newfoundland Authors, and Young Readers Challenge

Eyewitness Weather by Brian Cosgrove

This is the first book I've read to count towards the Science Book Challenge.  Eyewitness Weather is a Dorling Kindersley book.  I definitely want to use this book later as part of little one's science learning.  On the Amazon site the School Library Journal suggests it is a great resource for grades 5-8.  I love all the pictures and explanations of the different weather instruments used throughout the years.  It's history and science all wrapped up together.  A great resource!

Sarah's Song by Karen Kingsbury

I've read, and enjoyed, books by Karen Kingsbury before so I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed Sarah's Song by Karen Kingsbury.  I picked the book from the shelves of our local library because it was a nice, small, thin book.  :)

I didn't know it, but Sarah's Song is a part of Kingsbury's Red Gloves collection and is actually a Christmas themed story.  I love the idea of this series and will be reading more of them.  I'm not sure if I'm going to wait to read them during the Christmas season or not.  Kingsbury suggests that they make great read alouds during the 12 days of Christmas, and I really like that thought, but I'm not sure I can wait until then before I read another.  :)

This book counts for the Support Your Local Library and the 2nd Reading challenges.

Fish 'n' Ships by Ed Smith

Ed Smith is a local author that has written a number of books, but I had never read any of his books.  I had, however, read his column.  He writes a weekly column that is published in our local newspaper, as well as a number of other newspapers in our province.  I enjoy the humor and style of writing in his column so I thought it was about time I tried one of his books.

Fish 'n' Ships is the book I chose to try first and I really, really enjoyed it. The sub title for the book is "A brief twisted history of Newfoundland...sort of" and that's just what it is.  I learned a lot about the history of our province through the book, but I also laughed a lot.

This book counts towards the Support Your Local Authors, Newfoundland Authors, Canadian Authors, and Support Your Local Library challenges.

The Story Girl by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Inspired by three reading challenges.   - a Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge, a Canadian Authors Challenge and an E-Book Reading Challenge - I decided to read The Story Girl by Lucy Maud Montgomery through the ReadPrint site. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  I just love Montgomery's writing.  I had read her Anne stories as a teen and also read them to my children, but I hadn't read anything else by her.  When I came across the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading challenge I decided to see what other books she had written and was thrilled to find a number of her books available through the ReadPrint site.  I did, however, wonder how much I would enjoy reading it online.  I needn't have worried.  I wasn't far into the first chapter before I was captivated by Montgomery's writing yet again.  I really should have taken note of some of the great sayings in the book, because there are many, but I didn't want to take the time out of my reading to record them.  I was too lost in the world Montgomery created in her writing. 

I would say I will be reading more books from the ReadPrint site.  The Reading Mode available on the site makes reading on line a real pleasure, at least for me, and there are so many great classics available on the site.

The Preacher's Kid by Elmer W. Vaters

This book caught my attention when I was perusing the shelves of a used book store recently and I had to buy it.  After I had read it I mentioned it to my dad and wondered if he had read it.  Turns out he has a copy of the book that was given to him by the author.

The Preacher's Kid is an autobiography by Elmer W. Vaters, the son of one of the "founding fathers" of the Pentecostal denomination in Newfoundland and Labrador.  I was drawn to the book because I am a Newfoundlander and I was looking for books written by Newfoundlanders, but also because I was born and raised Pentecostal and I was interested in reading more about the history of the Pentecostal leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador.

My dad and Elmer Vaters had something in common - they were both preacher's kids.  From my reading of the book that seems to be about where the similarities end.  Well, let me rethink that.  I think they probably also have similar feelings about the disassembling of the denominational school boards a few years back.

I have mixed feelings about the book.  I don't think it is particularly well written and it was not at all what I expected.  I expected to read more about how his life was affected by the fact that he was a preacher's kid, and there is some of that there, but not as much as I expected.  I enjoyed the book for the glimpse of history in the book, especially about Joey Smallwood and about the school systems in Newfoundland and Labrador. It has sparked an interest in me to read more books that will give me first hand glimpses of our history.  It really is so much more interesting to read about history in books such as this rather than in text books.

Hooked Mats of Newfoundland and Labrador: Beauty Born of Necessity

This is the my first book for the Art History Reading Challenge.  Hooked Mats of Newfoundland and Labrador: Beauty Born of Necessity was compiled by The Rug Hooking Guild of Newfoundland and Labrador.  The book gives a bit of the history of mat hooking in Newfoundland and Labrador, but the bulk of the book is pictures of hooked mats, along with the stories behind the mats.  Some of the mats are quite beautiful and the book has stirred an interest in me to learn more about the craft.

Unashamed by Francine Rivers

"Rahab.  A woman with a past to whom God gave a future."  Taken from the back cover, this is what the book is about.  The front cover says it is a novella, and as such it is a quick read, but it is a packed read.  It is well worth the time it will take you to read it.  It gives a very clear picture of the mercy of God and gives a whole new appreciation of the story of the fall of Jericho.

Unashamed fits in the 2nd Reading Challenge, because Francine River is an author I really loved in the past and I wanted to read more by her.  It also fits the Biblical Fiction Challenge as it tells the story of Rahab from Joshua 2-6.

The Dangerous Voyage by Gilbert Morris

The Dangerous Voyage, by Gilbert Morris, is book #1 in The Time Navigators fiction series, written especially for preteens (ages 11-14). In the series Danny and Dixie travel back in time and experience "unforgettable moments in history". In The Dangerous Voyage they are transported back to 1620 in England and they explore the Mayflower.

I found this book on my book shelf last week and decided to re-read it because it fit the requirements for a couple of reading challenges I am participating in - the First in a Series Challenge and also the Young Readers Challenge

I remember buying the book for my children to read after I had read many of the books in Morris' House of Winslow series.  I really enjoyed Winslow's writing and was thrilled to check out his writing for children. Also, as a homeschooling mother, I was always looking to squeeze all the learning I could out of a book and the fact that these books had an historical element to them made them more appealing.

If you are interested in seeing the books in each series you can check out Gilbert Morris' page on Fantastic Fiction. I think that both of these series can be used as additional reading for pleasure in an American history learning unit, the Time Navigator series for younger readers and the House of Winslow series for older readers. Children could be encouraged to record mentions of historical events and people and use this as jump of points for further study. While reading the book this time around I was wondering how it compared to the first book in the House of Winslow series and I wished I had it on my shelves to do the comparing.

I am not a fan of the whole sci-fiction travel in time concept, but I do see how it can be fun for children and it can help them to see things from a different perspective.

I already quoted one passage for the book in my Admit You Need Him post and I'd like to end with another one:

"Are you sure you want the truth?" Dixie asked. "Or do you just want to prove what you already have decided to believe?"

A Fun Contest and Another Reading Challenge

Trudy Morgan Cole has turned her 2009 Top Ten favorite books list into a fun contest.  She doesn't actually name the books but gives you hints to help you figure out what they are, and she's going to select 5 winners from the correct entries she recieves before  January 6.  I just finished searching her blog and finding the answers.  Along the way I also found some books to add to my list of possibilities. Give it a try and see how much fun it is.

I know I've already signed up for an over abundance of reading challenges but I have one more to add to my list.

100 books a month challenge - Now before you call to have me committed let me explain.  This challenge is to read Children's books. To meet it I merely have to read at least 3 books a day for 20 days of the month and 4 books for the other 10 days.  Rereads count.  Shouldn't be a problem.  My little one loves to be read to and we can easily read 3 or 4 or more books a day.

To be perfectly truthful, the thing that really drew me to this challenge was reading what inspired the challenge.  The lady is attempting to read through the children's section of her local library.  I like that idea!  So while I'm saying I'm going to attempt to read 100 children's books a month my real goal is to read through the children's section of our library. Maybe I should call this the Reading through the Children's Section of your local library challenge.  :)

2010 Reading Challenges

I love challenges.  I don't always totally complete challenges that I take on but figure that it is better to try and fail than to not try at all.  If I at least try I may accomplish something, but if I don't try anything then I am sure to accomplish nothing.  I'd rather accomplish something than nothing. With that thought in mind I have decided to take on the following Reading Challenges in 2010.  It seems like a lot but in reality there will be a whole lot of overlapping.  All books will fit in at least two challenges, and most will fit in a lot more than that.

2010 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge - Plain and simple - read at least one book a week for the whole year.  I will be looking for very thin books.  :)

Reading Through the Seasons 2010 Challenge - Read one book for each season with the season word in the title.  Pretty simple.

Flashback Challenge - The challenge is to reread books you've already read but it includes a mini challenge to read at least one book from your childhood, one from high school, and one from adulthood.  I think I can manage that.

1st in a Series Challenge - I love reading books in a series!  I'll be attempting to read at least three books that are firsts in a series.  Now to find some interesting sounding series.  Hmmmm...

2nd Reading Challenge - At first I thought this was the same as the Flashback challenge but it's totally different.  For this challenge you read either a second book in a series or a second book by the same author.  Once again I'm aiming for at least three books.

Wish I'd Read That Challenge - There are a few books I can think of that I wish I had read so I figure this one will be easy.  I'm aiming for at least three books that fit this challenge.

E-books Reading Challenge - I know that some of the books that I wish I had read are available as e-books so this one should be easy. Once again I'm aiming for at least three.

Read the Book See the Movie Challenge - The kids and I have done this a lot over the years, and loved it!  In our experience the movie very really measures up to the book.  There are lots more out there that we haven't done yet, or we may just redo one or more.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - I love historical fiction!  Had to join this one.  I'm sure I can manage at least three, if not more.

The Art History Reading Challenge - I love art and I've been wanting to learn more so that I could add more to our home learning.  The minimum for this challenge is just three books so I figure I can manage that.

Science Book Challenge - Not my favorite kind of reading but necessary for our home learning so I'm going to do my best to do at least three non-fiction science/nature themed books.

Support Your Local Authors Challenge - This is simply a challenge to read local authors.  It's something I'd like to put more effort in to.  I know there are a few people in our community that have written books and I should make the effort to read them.  This is a perpetual challenge and there are no minimum requirements

Canadian Authors Challenge - I want to make a conscious effort to read more Canadian authors and was planning on starting a challenge to do so until I came across this one.  The challenge is to read a minimum of three books by Canadian Authors.

2010 Reading Challenge - Newfoundland Authors - This is a challenge I issued myself because I want to make a conscious effort to read more Newfoundland authors.  I haven't see a goal of a certain number but will simple see how many I've managed to read by the end of the year.

Christian Non-Fiction Challenge 2010 - I like the idea of this challenge but I'm not sure I will manage to read as many as required.  The challenge is to read ten or more.  I'm going to make a conscious effort to read as many as I can fit in whether I reach the ten or not.

Biblical Fiction Challenge 2010 - The challenge is to read at least six fiction books based on stories or characters from the Bible.  I like those kind of books so I will attempt to include some of them in my reading list, though I'm not sure I'll manage to read six.  I guess we'll see.

The Christy Awards Reading Challenge - I wanted to include more Christian authors in my reading and this challenge will help with that.  The challenge is to read at least three books that have won a Christy Award.  Lists are available on the site.

Young Readers Reading Challenge -I will definitely be reading some children's books to my four year old so this one is a must.  Must read a minimum of 12 for the challenge but I will read more than that.  I will be keeping a list to see how many we have actually read by the end of the year.

Young Adult Reading Challenge - The challenge is to read at least 12 young adult novels.  I'm hoping to find some to recommend to my young adults.

Take Another Chance Challenge - This is a list of 12 very different challenges to find books books to read in "unusual or random ways".  You only have to do three to participate.  Ones I'm thinking about using are: #1: read an author who has the same initials, same first name, same last name, or exact same name as you; #3 read a book that is on a provided list of 100 best books, I'm thinking of choosing from either the Mystery or Non-Fiction list; #4 read a book that won a literary award; #11 read two authors from the same family

2010 Genre Book Challenge - There are no minimums for this one, basically just a list of different genres to encourage people to read different genres.  I'm going to see how many I can cover.

2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge - I like this challenge.  I'm hoping to get most of my books from my local library so this one should be easy.  Minimum is 25 books.

Throughout the year I will be posting about books I read and reporting on how I am doing in the different challenges.  I'd love to hear from you if I should happen to inspire you to take on any of these challenges, or if you have already signed up for any of them.

2010 Reading Challenge - Newfoundland Authors

I've searched high and low but I can't find a challenge to read Newfoundland Authors in 2010, so I've decided to issue my own challenge. :)

Newfoundland and Labrador is my home province. I love it. I know there are a number of authors from Newfoundland and Labrador and I've read some of them. To be perfectly honest, I haven't always enjoyed books written by Newfoundlanders. I have read a few that I've liked, but the ones I haven't especially liked are more numerous. I think it is a matter of my own taste in books rather than a reflection of the quality of our writers. I don't especially like books that are full of crude language and questionable behavior and many of the books that I've found by Newfoundlanders seem to have both. Regardless of that, however, I want to make an effort to read more books by Newfoundlanders in 2010. I'm hoping I'll find more that I actually enjoy. I am not going to set a goal of a particular number, just going to see how many I've actually read by the end of the year.

If you are interested, you are welcome to join me in this challenge. I haven't a clue about the wonderful Mr. Linky that I've seen on other pages for people to use in joining challenges. If I happen to learn I will add it to this post, but at least for now you can simply leave a comment on this post letting me know that you are planning on joining the challenge. If you should happen to write reviews of the Newfoundland authors books that you read, I'd love for you to share links to those, too, throughout the year.

To help myself and anyone else that might be interested in this challenge, I will make a post in the near future with a list of Newfoundland authors and books. If you have authors or books that could be added to the list, feel free to tell me about them in a comment on this post.