The Polar Express

We read this as another audio book, this time with Liam Neeson narrating for us. This movie also fell flat when we tried to watch it a year or two ago. Not enough happening for a full-length movie? Maybe we just like Chris Van Allsburg's books more than his films.

Rachel was our designated page-turner for this audio book. There were no page-turn cues, but she did a great job following along.
Main character: The boy
Setting: The train
Here's what happened: The children whent (went) to the North pole.
My favorite part: When Santa gave him the bell










Audrey loves to play with our wooden train set, which we keep on a play table in our living room. She likes to take the tracks apart and assemble them over and over again like a giant puzzle.
Main character: The little boy
Setting: North Pole
What happened: Little boy went on the train; he was going to find Santa. He found Santa. Santa gave him a present.
My favorite part: When the train brought the boy home.

Jumanji

I found an original art page from this Chris Van Allburg book for sale online. The asking price: $160,000. Wow. If you can't afford the original, my kids will sell you their art, below.

Rachel excelled on her art for this report. I love her monkeys. She rarely refers to the book when creating her pictures.
Main character: Judy and Peter
Setting: Their house
Here's what happened: Judy and Peter found a game. They played it, and it was real!
My favorite part: When the monkeys came!






Audrey refused to watch the movie when it came on TV several months ago. Too scary, she said.
Main character: The kids, Peter and Judy.
Setting: The house
What happened: The animals were in the house because the kids were playing a game.
My favorite part: When the lion got his head stuck under the bed.

Madeline's Rescue

We found some Caldecott books in the audio section of the library! The girls loved following along and turning the pages in the book as we listened to the story. However, I was troubled that the narrarator kept pronouncing the girl's name like Mad-e-lynn. Surely the opening rhyme tells us that it's a long i: Mad-e-line.

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline."

Rachel doesn't remember, but I used to read the Madeline books to her when she was a baby. I loved the rhythm of the lines.
Main character: Madeline
Setting: The house in Paris
Here's what happened: Madeline fond (found) a dog that saved her live (life)
My favorite part: When the dog came back.











Audrey tried desperately to draw the dog's puppies. There are lots more scratched-out scribbles that I cropped out of her drawing here.
Main character: The little girl
Setting: In an old house in Paris
What happened: The girl slipped and fell. The dog saved her. She got to keep the dog, but the old woman said "Skat!" She got the dog back.
My favorite part: When the dog got puppies

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

We're determining setting can be tricky since the story does not always tell us. We must use the pictures to find clues. Next time we go the library, we're going to look for a book on eco-regions, so we can learn the differences between forests and plains and deserts and mountains.

Rachel had read this book before and was very excited about re-reading it. But the art segment of the journal was challenging: "Horses are hard to draw!"
Main character: The girl
Setting: Villege (village) and forest
Here's what happened: The girl tryed (tried) to liv (live) with the wiled (wild) horse.
My favorite part: When she turned into a horse.















Audrey had a hard time with this journal entry. She couldn't remember the girl's name. We never learned her name.
Main character: The girl
Setting: Flat land
What happened: The girl took a nap. There was a storm. The horses ran and got tired. The wild stallion said she could stay.
My favorite part: When the girl met the stallion. There was a rainbow after the rain.

The Funny Little Woman

Another folk tale, this one retold by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent, gave us a very rich story with lots of fun components. I noticed the girls tended to give the same answers for their journals when we they filled them out at the same time. For this book, I separated when it was journal time and got better responses.

Rachel focused on the middle and the climax of the story.
Main character: The funny little woman.
Setting: Monsters' houes (houses)
Here's what happened: She had to macke (make) dumplelngs (dumplings) for the monsters.
My favorite part: When the monsters dranck (drank) the sea water.










Audrey preferred the beginning of the story, and drew a mountain of dumplings on the woman's table. She wanted me to know they weren't in the story but would "look good as a decoration."

Main character: The little woman
Setting: Japan
What happened: There was a hole. It got bigger. The woman fell in the hole. She chased her dumpling.
My favorite part: When the hole got bigger and she said, "My dumpling! My dumpling!"

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

This folk tale was Audrey's choice (probably because it had animals in it). We learned that folk tales have a special place in the children's non-fiction section of the library. This book turned out to be more complex than I had anticipated. In the same progressive style of The Farmer in the Dell or The Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly, this fable leads us through a dizzying domino effect that shows all actions have consequences.

Here is Rachel's take on the book by Verna Aardema and Leo and Diane Dillon:
Main character: The forest anamils (animals).
Setting: Jugle (Jungle)
Here's what happened: The anamiles (animals) were mad because the mosquitoes were buzzing in people's ears. SLAPP! Mosquitoes buzz in people's ears because they want someone to talk to.
My favorite part: When the mosquito told a lie to the iguana.





Audrey, a fan of slapstick, loved the sound effects we inserted when the modern-day mosquito met his demise at the end of the book.

Main character: Mosquito
Setting: In the Wild
What happened: The animals got mad at the mosquito.
My favorite part: They POW'ed the mosquito -- I mean they slapped it.

Day one: Can we sustain the enthusiasm?

"Mom! Mom! MOM! The poster came!"

Yesterday, the quest began. When the girls crashed through the door after school, Rachel handed me the Caldecott-winner poster and wanted to know when we could go to the library. We spent a half-hour examining the poster while we waited for 2-year-old sister, Miranda, to wake up from her nap.

We picked out which books we had read before. Only three for me, two for Rachel and one for Audrey. What a surprise! I had imagined that these books would have been integrated more into our pop culture, like Curious George or Dr. Seuss. "Madeline" was there, as was "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Jumanji," so some have been made the jump to other media.

Next, we tried to pick out which books were fiction and which were non-fiction. A few non-fiction were quick to spot ("Abraham Lincoln," "Animals From the Bible"), but others kept us guessing.

We decided to mark the books on our poster with stickers, as we read each one and complete our journal entries. (I suspect the girls woke up their sister when I went to hunt the stickers, so they could hasten our trip to the library.)

The poster was a huge hit. It is such as strong visual -- it is the key to making this project so special for the girls. Thank you, Mrs. Lack, for giving us the idea and for finding this gorgeous poster for us.

Perma-Bound makes these posters each year. This one must be brand-new because when we took the poster with us to the public library, the librarian wanted one too! Pictured is the 2009 poster from the Perma-Bound website. Ours must be 2010.

-- Mom