Wednesday
Dec142011

Book reviews

For the sake of keeping this blog dedicated to our homeschooling journey, and this section of the blog dedicated to resources used on that quest, I have removed all of my personal book reviews to my Blogger site Finding Time for Proust. Calvin's reviews will remain here, as well as any reviews I have written for resources we've used or books we've read together or for the purpose of homeschooling. If you are looking for my personal book reviews, or the reviews that I write for Book List, I hope you will join me at Finding Time for Proust.

Friday
Dec092011

Weekly book shelf 12/9

Reading to himself:

This is another classic that probably needs no introduction, other than to say that it differs in many areas from the movie, and is in fact much, much better. This is a re-read for Calvin. I read the entire series (14 original books) aloud to him last year and he still loves it.

 


Reading aloud: 

(continued) Ester discovers an 11,000 year old artifact that becomes a porthole, sending her back to the time when that artifact, a spearhead, was used. Ultimately she learns a respect for the artifacts and history left from which we can learn about those who came before. Calvin and I are both enjoying this book.

Friday
Dec022011

Weekly book shelf 12/2

Read as a family:

I'm sure this classic needs no description or introduction, but...a boy goes to bed awaiting Christmas morning, and awakes to the Polar Express pulling up outside his house. Once on board, he and a number of other children are whisked away to Santa's home.

This turns out to be a great companion book for BBC's Walking with Cave Men. Though it's not strictly a children's book, Calvin will pour over it for hours.

 

 

Reading to himself:

This might be a sacrilege, but I'm fond neither of this book, nor of this series. My feeling about the novel itself is just personal preference, but my issues with the Great Illustrated Classics series are more general, and twofold. First, the illustrations are a mid-century noir heavy line style of art. That's the style in every novel in this series regardless of subject matter, and it rarely fits. My second problem with the series is that the books aren't just abridged, the writing style is severely dumbed down. I gave this to Calvin to read in preparation for going to see the stage production next week, but had I planned ahead and started ealrier, I would have just read the original aloud. He enjoyed it fine, though.

Reading together:

(continued) Ester discovers an 11,000 year old artifact that becomes a porthole, sending her back to the time when that artifact, a spearhead, was used. Ultimately she learns a respect for the artifacts and history left from which we can learn about those who came before. Calvin and I are both enjoying this book.

Friday
Nov252011

Weekly book shelf 11/25

Reading to himself:

Beautifully illustrated and written, First Painter tells the story of a young Ice Age girl who believes herself responsible, as Dream Catcher, for bringing life saving rain to her droughted clan. This was an age, we suppose, when art was born of faith driven need, and Lasky does a wonderful job of bringing that time to life. Enjoyable for both children and adults.

Reading together:

Ester, a young girl, discovers an 11,000 year old artifact that becomes a porthole, sending her back to the time when that artifact, a spearhead, was used. During her time spend with the Ice Age clan in Texas she learns about their subsistance way of life, their ways of interacting with each other, and somehard lessons about death, all while seeking a way to get back to her normal time period. This opportunity eventually comes thanks to the spiritual elders at the large multi-clan gathering. Ultimately, Esther learns a respect for the artifacts and history left from which we can learn about those who came before. Calvin and I are both enjoying this book.

Tuesday
Nov222011

Journal entry—human evolution and migration