Today begins the second running of the incredibly addictive Haiku Buckaroo contest hosted by Leslie at My Mommy’s Place.  Take a moment to do a little happy dance if you’d like, I’ll wait… or maybe I’ll dance with you. :)  Besides the opportunity to achieve Haiku Buckaroo-dom there are great prizes to be won including a copy of Me, Myself & Bob from yours truly.  Will and I just finished reading this outstanding book and I want to tell you all about it but Monday evening is date night at the Simple household so I must spend the bulk of the day chasing dust bunnies and turning our somewhat eclectic home into something more suburbia…. something that won’t frighten away the sitter.

spit, polish, scrub, clean

tidy children and the house

See?  We are normal.

Silly Tilly’s Valentine by Lillian Hoban

Our Cat Cuddles by Gervase Phinn (I’ll give you one guess who picked that one out. :)  Cute rhymes with a surprise ending.)

Hands Can by Cheryl Willis Hudson (Brother (age 3) loved this one. Sister (ripe old age 6) thought it was “stupid.”)

Yoshi’s Feast by Kimiko Kajikawa (a Japanese fable of sorts - excellent illustrations)

The New Girl…and Me by Jacqui Robbins (Sister really liked this one… mostly because it had a lizard in it.)

I tried to get Sister to dictate another summary for us but it was like pulling teeth so I interviewed Brother instead.  He chose Our Cat Cuddles for the discussion.

Mom: Why did you like this book?

Brother:  Because I like many different cats.  Just like the blue one and the pink one.

Mom: What happens in this book? What is this story about?

Brother:  nothing

Mom: Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about this book? 

Brother:  Yes, it’s because the crocodile eats the dad.

I decided to stop there because while there is a dad in the book he does not get eaten by a crocodile.  He does not get eaten by anything but especially not by the crocodile which is NOT in the book.

This week we also read several of the Mr. Men books including Mr. Tickle which came highly recommended.  (Thanks a lot, Leslie… I think.) We read these over and over and over …. ad nauseam.

And finally, I finished the Tales of Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card.  There are six books in the series and I’ve been trying to read one each week.  It was rather rejuvenating taking a little time each day or so to read something totally irrelevent to my life.  Now I’m on the prowl for a new work of fiction to help me escape from reality.  Any suggestions?

We discovered a number of fun books this week.  Sister almost exclusively picked out books with cats on the cover.  Brother agreed to leave the library puzzles long enough to choose his own books this week but, not surprisingly, did not have a theme.  What do you expect from a three year old?  I’ve included the list at the bottom … after Sister’s comments on her favorites.

My first favorite book is Castaway Cats by Lisa Wheeler.  I like this book because I love cats.  I even have a cat of my own. This book is all about cats who are stranded on an island.  They thought about returning to their old land so they tried to make a boat.  They didn’t work together much so they did not make a boat.  They fighted and fighted and fighted about which way was the best and at the end of the day the Tabby cat suggested that they should work together.  So they made a plan tomorrow they would make a boat the next day all together.  So they did and the kittens, there were seven kittens, they found some cans.  All the cats helped with driftwood that would float to make a boat and when they were finished all the cats were very tired.  All the kittens were asleep and the tabby rubbed an eye.  I don’t know why.  But they had made a perfect boat.  The kittens wanted to stay at the island.  Then the tomcat Mittens said, ‘We’re staying!  We’re staying!”  And then they stayed forever.  The End.

My second favorite book is No More Water in the Tub! by Tedd Arnold. 

What we read:

A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown (Sister was rather disappointed that despite the cat on the cover this story has nothing to do with cats.)

Beware the Mare by Jessie Haas (a chapter book and a mystery of sorts)

Castaway Cats by Lisa Wheeler (the favorite from above)

Desmond and the Naughty Bugs by Linda Ashman (my favorite, very well written)

Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round by Teri Sloat

Little Lions by Jim Arnosky (more great artwork from Arnosky)

No More Water in the Tub! by Tedd Arnold (my second favorite, surprise ending)

P.J. & Puppy by Cathryn Falwell (a potty book - I slipped this one in.)

To market! To market! by Anushka Ravishankar (This was a great starter for a discussion on the culture of India.  Excellent illustrations.)

Rabbit Ears by Amber Stewart

Wilbur’s Space Machine by Lorna Balian (somewhat confusing play on the word “space”)

When Cats Dream by Dav Pilkey (sweet story, engaging illustrations)

Most Monday’s we visit the library and replenish our book supply.  The children own plenty of books and, because I seem to have little self-control in this area, add to their collection all the time.  Still it is good for us to get out of the house and in the cooler months what better place to go than the library.  Here’s what we chose last week.

The Tenth Good Thing About Barney - Judith Viorst (Barney is a pet cat who has died.  Sweet story and a gentle introduction to little ones on the concept of death.)

Coyote Raid in Cactus Canyon - Jim Arnosky (Sister seems especially drawn to books by this author.  The illustrations are simple but accurate and the story follows suit.)

When Grandma Almost Fell Off the Mountain & Other Stories - Barbara Ann Porte (The title implies this will be a collection of short stories but in fact it is a grandmother’s rambling account of one summer vacation from her childhood.)

Curious George Gets a Medal - H. A. Rey

Imagine You Are a Crocodile - Karen Wallace (Similar tone to the Arnosky story above)

Sector 7 - David Wiesner (no words in this one - excellent illustrations)

Baboon - Kate Banks (good bedtime story)

Enzo the Wonderfish - Cathy Wilcox (Brother didn’t catch the humor here but Sister thought it was a hoot.)

The Ant and the Elephant - Bill Peet (It has a moral… kind of.)

I am hoping to record our choices each week and perhaps get the children to comment on the ones they especially like.  What are you reading with your children?  Have you read any of these?  What did you think?  We welcome your comments.

Over the last week or so, Brother has spent a large amount of his time here in this box castle/train/car/hideout/boat/etc…

Commercialism would have us believe that only the “bad” parent deprives her children of the biggest/best/newest toy or gadget but one look at Brother playing happily in his box convinces me that this is simply not so.

We recently received as a gift this lovely story and I am reminded even more of the power of imagination.

*edited to correct a grammatical error

but I am taking a bloggy hiatus.  I’ve been reading books like The 4-Hour Work Week, playing Candyland and Hi Ho Cherry-O!, considering the value of the Best Cities for Young Professionals and contemplating the meaning of life.  And let me tell you, all that busy-ness takes it out of a person.  I’ll be back sometime next week….. unless of course I find some answers before then.  Until that day - a quote to tide you over.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

–Albert Einstein

Sister has maintained for quite some time that when she grows up she will own a horse and a carriage and will give away free ice cream.  How nice to have a dream.  …

Prompted by the last page of Dora’s “What Will I Be” book, Brother aspires to be a train engineer or a train.  He hasn’t decided yet.

My sweet love got a degree in Psychology because, you know, that’s required for computer programming. …. Actually, he does know others in his field who also have Psychology degrees so maybe it really is required, hmm. 

Personally, I am so glad to (almost) have a degree in Children’s Theatre/Early Childhood Education because how could I possibly be a mom without all that book learnin’.

The older I get the more I am certain, experience is worth far more than any other kind of education.  For today, a quote by  - well, I don’t know who it’s by but it’s a good quote anyway.

Training means learning the rules.  Experience means learning the exceptions.

Happy Sunday to you!

Inspired by our favorite book of the week (Herman and Marguerite - An Earth Story) and because I promised something interesting today.

The rings on an earthworm’s body help it wriggle forward and backward.  (Like many of us, I have rings of my own, unfortunately they wriggle up and down and are not as useful.)

Worms breath through their skins much like fish and can live submerged in water for a time.  (Today I am wishing I could breath through my skin.  Did you know that someone with a cold expells about a gallon of mucus daily?  Sorry… gross and off-topic… back to the worms)

Worms don’t have ears but they can feel vibrations.  (I can’t feel vibrations but like most moms I can feel the sound of silence.  You know… “the kid’s have been quiet way too long” kind of silence.)

Worm’s don’t need eyes because they live and work in the dark earth.  (Mother’s need two sets of eyes - one in front and one in the back of our heads- because we live and work in the presence of children.)

A worm can grow a new head or tail if it loses one.  (Boy, wouldn’t that be a useful skill.)

The earthworm is like us in that its body uses blood to deliver food and oxygen to its muscles and organs.  Unlike us, however, a worm has five pairs of hearts.  (Any mom will tell you that her one heart holds enough love for all.)

For more interesting tidbits on worms check out these resources:

• The Worm Woman’s Website
• Worm Facts
• NIEHS Kid’s Pages
• Discovery Kids

Hmm - here’s one written a few weeks ago but never published…..can you tell I’m doing blog cleanup today?

We chose Superdog by Caralyn Buehner, Mark Buehner as one of our books this week.  The premise, that anyone can be a hero with hard work and determination, is a good one and I am glad we found it but we did not expect the imaginings it would spark.

On Thanksgiving while Will and Uncle B were talking Brother swooped in with a blanket draped across his back, proudly proclaiming, “I Superdog!”  A few minutes later he returned sans cape and when questioned declared, “I not Superdog, I kitty.” *pause* “ROAR!  Hee hee, I loud.”

Apparently, it’s a story even cats like.

#12 “Read ‘The Night Before Christmas’ or some other Christmas tale.  Somehow this story seemed longer when I was a child, hmm.  We have the Mary Englebreit version which has lovely, whimsical illustrations.

#13 “Play Dreidel“  Because we are not Jewish this was not a game we had ever played before but I was inspired by a display at Border’s (some marketing person somewhere is smiling at this) and purchased not only a “paint your own dreidel kit” but a cutie, little “how to play” book and two bundles of “gelt” (gold ‘coins’ with chocolate inside).  Sister spent the day designing and painting our dreidel so when Will got home we would be ready to play.  After supper, I divided the gelt between the four of us while Will read the instruction book and went over the symbols and meanings. ×  (Nun - nothing happens), ×’ (Gimel - the spinner takes all), ×” (Hei - the spinner takes half), ש (Shin - the spinner puts one in).  It is a remarkably simple game but still we were very surprised when after only a couple of turns around the table Brother began correctly identifying the symbols.  His favorite phrase of the evening? “Brother got Gimel!” … and he did 90% of the time…. uncanny.  After several rounds I redistributed the gelt and completely surpised Sister by revealing the chocolate.  We will most definitely do this one again.