Friday Book Review: Circle of Seasons

This is an absolutely gorgeous book by Gerda Muller called, "Circle of Seasons". It is currently out of print, but was originally published in the Netherlands as four separate books (one per season). The board books are available at many waldorf bookstores, as well as amazon (see links).

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

The books are beautifully illustrated with just few words, allowing the imagination of the parent and children to tell many different stories from the gorgeous pictures. And there is always something new to discover. It is easy to get lost in these pages and I would have loved to have known about these when my girls were toddlers. Highly recommended books for little ones! A few of these pictures can give you the idea better than my words could :D

These books (or "Circle of Seasons", if you can find a used copy) would be wonderful to have on your permanent bookshelf for generations of appreciation. They help usher in the seasons and add a wonderful sense of rhythm to our children's lives!

Book Rec's Galore - And the Winner Is...SURPISE Additional Winners!!!!

The Winner of the Sunflower Maiden is...

Nature Nest!!!!

who loves "The Jungle Book"

CONGRATS!!!!

But WAIT! That's not all...

I pulled the name this morning because each of my girls wanted to pull it and I didn't know how to choose who would pull...so, after I drew the winner of the Sunflower Maiden, each of the twins drew one name...

And as a SURPRISE - I am going to giveaway a lovely needle felted pumpkin for your nature table! The winners are:

Moment to Moment

and

Forest-Dweller!

They recommend "Grandfather Twilight" and the "Tiptoes Lightly" series

Congrats to all of you and thank you to everyone who entered! I especially appreciated all the wonderful book recs and will post them below, in alphabetical order!

Happy schooling and stay tuned for another giveaway in the near future!

Hugs!

Now for the book recommendations - and this officially kicks off a return to my "Friday Book Reviews" with these book recs from some awesome mommas!:

"A Donsey of Gnomes"
"Ain't Gonna Paint No More!"
"Alaska's Three Bears"
"Alice in Wonderland" (2 recs)
"All The World" by Liz Garton Scanlon
"Arabian Nights"
"At The Back of the North Wind"
"B is for Betsy" and the others in the series (a fav for a 2nd grader)
Beatrix Potter books
"Beezus and Ramona"
"Beware of the Frog" by William Bee
"Brambly Hedge" books
"Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss
"Christina Katerina and The Box"
"Circle Dogs"
"Country mouse ~ City mouse" by Jan Brett
"Dr. Doolittle"
"Elmer" by David McKee
Elsa Beskow books
"Farmer Boy"
"Five Children & It"
"Goodnight Moon"
"Grandfather Twilight"
"Hansel and Gretel"
"Harriet You'll Drive Me Wild!"
"Heidi" (2 recs)
"Homer Price" by Robert McCloskey
"I Will Hold You Til You Sleep"
"Jenny and the Cat Club"
"Jenny Linsky" stories by Esther Averill (incl. Jenny & the Cat Club above)
"Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver" by Michael Ende (spec. rec for Grade 2)
"Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (5 recs!)
"Little House in the Big Woods"
"Mary Poppins"
"Milly-Molly-Mandy" series (3 recs)
"Miss Hickory"
"Mr. Popper's Penguins"
"Mrs. Piggle Wiggle" books (3 recs)
"My Father's Dragon"
"No Flying in the House" by Betty Brock (2 recs!)
"On the Banks of Plum Creek"
Otfried Preußler books (great for Grade 2)
"Over the Rainbow Bridge"
"Patapuck" (French)
"Peter in Blueberry Land" by Elsa Beskow
"Pico the Gnome"
"Pippi Longstocking" by Astrid Lindgren (3 recs)
"Poule Plumette"
"Stuart Little"
"The Amazing Mr Blunden" by Antonia Barber (also published as "The Ghosts")
"'The B Book"
"The Blue Fairy Book"
"The Bobbsey Twins" series
"The Boxcar Children" series
"The Circle of Days" by Reeve Lindbergh (*this ties into St. Francis for Saints block)
"The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew"
"The Hotel Cat"
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret"
"The Jungle Book"
"The Magic Faraway Tree" books by Enid Blyton
"The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate DiCamillo
"The Mitten" by Jan Brett
"The Narnia Chronicles" series from C.S.Lewis
"The Paddington" book series
"The Red Fairy Book"
"The Sun Seed" by Jan Schubert
"The Surprise Doll"
"The Swiss Family Robinson"
"The tales of King Arthur"
"The Tales of Tiptoes Lightly" by Reg Down (4 recs)
"The Twits" by Dahl
"The Wind in the Willows"
"There's a Possum in the House"
"Twig"
"You Can Do Anything Daddy"
"When I was Young in the Mountains"
"Where the Wild Things Are"
"Wild Child" by Lynn Plourde
"Winne the Pooh" (3 recs)

Comments from the original post can be found here.

Friday Book Review: Elizabeti's Doll

"Elizabeti's Doll" by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, illustrated by Christy Hale, is a marvelous treasure for little girls. This book received an Ezra Jack Keats Book Award. It is the debut work of Stuve-Bodeen, based on her experiences in the Peace Corps.

The summary of "Elizabeti's Doll" found on the inside cover states,

"When a young Tanzanian girl gets a new baby brother, she finds a rock, which she names Eva, and makes it her baby doll."

What a much needed book this is, in today's over commercialized world! It surrounds the basic need of young children to imitate their world around them and the sky is the limit with imagination. In the waldorf way, Elizabeti observes her mother caring for her new baby brother and decides she needs a baby of her very own. She looks to find her special baby in nature, finding a stick - but when she tries to hug it, it pokes her. Then she spots a perfectly shaped rock and picks it up. It is smooth, hugable, and just about the right weight. She names her rock Eva and from that moment on, Eva is her baby.

Her friend, Rahaili, visits and laughs when she sees that Elizabeti has a rock for a doll - yet Rahaili has no doll either and finds her own rock to love, which she names Malucey.

While doing her chores, Elizabeti must put Eva down to gather water from the village well. When she returns and they begin to make a fire to cook rice in the water, Elizabeti can't find Eva! Momma and even Elizabeti's sister, Pendo, bring her different rocks, but none of them are Eva.

When a sad Elizabeti goes to help Pendo make the rice, she suddenly spots Eva on the fire pit! Momma rolls Eva out from the pit and although she's a bit dirty, Eva is just fine!

Elizabeti lovingly cleans up Eva and at night, sings her a lullaby before drifting off to sleep...

I love that this book gives a taste of other cultures. I love that it encompasses the universal language of children and brings awareness to so much, while saying so very little. It is wholesome, humble, and simple. The illustrations are peaceful, serene and beautiful.

"Elizabeti's Doll" has been a favorite of our girls for a few years now. There are a few more books now in the series, which we haven't read, but this has inspired me to check them out from the local library!

Enjoy and Happy July!

Friday Book Review: What's Hiding in There?

"What's Hiding in There?" by the very talented Daniela Drescher is a wonderful book for preschool on up. It's only 7 double spread pages of lift-the flaps, but the art work is absolutely stunning and the wonder the kids have at lifting the flaps to reveal the surprise is so precious!

The book is a series of vignettes centered around nature, wildlife, and "wee folk" (fairies, elves, etc). It is written with a series of questions which encourage children to lift the flaps to find the hidden object.

Here are a couple of the 2 page spreads...


This book is put out by Floris Books and just about anything Floris puts out is fantastic. Ms. Drescher has numerous books available, many of which can be seen at waldorf book stores.

If you have a younger child full of wonder, I bet they would love this book! I have seen some of her postcards at the Waldorf Toys online shop, but know shipping is outrageous to the States. Has anyone seen them locally or within the US/Canada, by chance?

Friday Book Review: One Morning in Maine

This Caldecott Honor Book by Robert McCloskey was first published in 1952 and for those fans of "Blueberries for Sal" (review to come in a couple of weeks), you will happily note that Sal's character continues in this book, though she is a bit older now, and has a younger sister named Jane!

"One Morning in Maine" is a sweet and rich book by the famed author Robert McCloskey; many of his books being considered classics. The book begins,

"One morning in Maine, Sal woke up..."

Sal is so excited that today is the day she gets to go to Bucky's Harbor with her father. She quickly gets dressed and runs down the hall, just in time to help her little sister Jane into her robe and slippers. A wonderful, kind sister, Sal helps Jane brush her teeth - when she suddenly feels a tooth wiggling in her own mouth!!!!

Sal rushes to her mom to show her, afraid she will no longer get to go to Bucky's Harbor with Daddy. She's relieved to hear that she can still go and Mommy and Daddy went through this, too, when they were young. Mother tells Sal that she can make a secret wish and that when her tooth falls out, it just might come true!

Sal heads outside and helps her father dig clams for lunch. Along the way, she shouts her news to a fish hawk, a loon, and a seal. She excitedly shows Daddy her loose tooth and tells him that she is making a secret wish.

Sal helps her father dig and they chat about the animals she saw and whether or not they have teeth, when Sal discovers her tooth has fallen out and she doesn't know where it is! After much searching with no luck, Sal decides she will make her wish when her next tooth falls out. In the meantime, she finds a gull's feather and wonders if the gulls put their dropped feathers under their pillows and make secret wishes. She decides to make her wish on the feather instead.

Back at home, Mother takes the clams while Daddy, Sal and Jane get into the boat. The motor doesn't work, so Daddy rows to Buck's Harbor where they get the motor fixed and then head to the store. Several people in town hear Sal's exciting news and Mr. Condon, the shop owner, surprises Sal with just what she wished for - a chocolate ice cream cone! Jane gets a vanilla cone and they happily head back to the boat and back to Mom, who has fresh clam chowder just waiting for them for lunch!

This sweet book makes a timely read for Grade 1, or even Kindy aged little ones who have their own very first loose tooth. In McCloskey's usual way, the illustrations are black and white, simple, yet charming. His stories flow effortlessly and cover basic moments of everyday life with such natural realism, yet he captures the interest of children and adults every time.

McCloskey has several other refreshing books available. Most can be found at the library. Amazon also carries many of the paperbacks in their 4-for-3 promotion (buy four specially marked and only pay for three of them).

Happy tooth wiggling to all the little ones out there and happy exploring to all others who are enjoying beachtime and boating this spring and summer!

Friday Book Review: Around the Oak

This week, I wanted to review this gorgeous book by the famed Gerda Muller, called "Around the Oak". Muller is the author of the gorgeous pictorial seasonal series found here.

"Around the Oak" is a story about two cousins (Caroline and Ben) who go to visit their cousin, Nick, who lives in the middle of a lush forest. His father, a forest ranger, and Aunt Vera, inspire the children to venture into the forest to learn all about life there. The story takes place over four seasons and centers around a very old, special oak tree.

It begins in the Fall (making this book a wonderful seasonal read each school year)...


The children hike to the giant oak, climb the tree and discover wildlife there. Realizing this, they decide to make a shelter on the ground to observe the wildlife unseen.

They notice the changes that take place day to day and learn to pick chanterelles. They plant trees and immerse themselves in the realm of nature, learning through observation and direct participation.

The children return in Winter and cross country ski to visit their beloved Oak. They encounter some screech owls who are nesting in the tree, as well as observe a marten chasing a squirrel.

The children find Uncle Hank, the forest ranger, with a tree doctor, analyzing the trees and identifying the sick ones that will be cut down. They learn that pollution makes trees sick through acid rain.

In the Spring, the cousins return on their spring vacation and are overwhelmed by the budding flowers and trees. They note the acorns and chestnuts (fruits) that develop from flowers. They take an evening walk with Uncle Hank in search of wildlife and observe several in their natural habitat. They learn to respect nature and keep a respectful distance from the wild animals. At the Oak, they spot badger tracks and sit very still, being rewarded by a couple of animals who come to the watering hole to drink (a fox and a family of deer).

Ben comes home last and showcases his nature collection, complete with classifications.

In late summer, the children return for another visit and notice the early change of some of the leaves. They discuss the cycle of life of the oak tree.

They decide to give their Oak Tree a 300 year old b-day party!

After this, the story pretty much ends and Muller provides various tidbits of information about how sunlight helps trees grow, gaging the age of a tree, tiny insects, birds, leaves...

plants...

and animals...

The story ends on the birthday page with Caroline singing softly to the tree...

"Happy birthday, dear oak tree...

I hope you live another hundred

years."

This book is currently out of print, but might be found in your local library or can be purchased used. After checking it out a couple of years ago, I decided it was one we wanted on our shelves and found a nice used copy. I like to read it to the girls seasonally. As a reviewer mentioned, the story alone would probably not hold as much interest for the children, but is actually used as a vehicle to take children along the journey of learning about nature from a book - certainly not as profound or everlasting as learning directly from nature, but a nice place to start or revisit after those nature hikes. Since we're wrapping up our combined lower case letters/nature studies block II, I thought it befitting to review this book today!

The illustrations are gorgeous, as seen above and very captivating! This is a nice book to go through for inspiration and for reinforcing knowledge most of your little ones probably already know :D though their hands on exploration!

Enjoy!

Friday Book Review: The Flowers' Festival

First published in Sweden in 1914, "The Flowers' Festival" by Elsa Beskow was translated to English and published by Floris Books in 1991.

Ms. Beskow is immensely popular with Waldorf homeschoolers largely due to her focus on nature, *wholistic* writing style, and connection with the elementals. She is wildly imaginative and her gentle stories nourish our children's beings.

"The Flowers' Festival" is a sweet story about a little girl named Lisa, who lives with her grandmother in a cottage at the edge of a wood. The two are surrounded by a beautiful garden full of flowers, vegetables, and meadows. On the day of the Midsummer Dance, Grandmother leaves Lisa for a short time. Lisa gets to spend her midsummer with the many flowers she had planted while her grandmother tidied up their cottage.

Soon, Lisa notices that the flowers seem different somehow, almost as if they are trying to talk to her. She hears a sweet voice call her name, looks up, and meets the Midsummer Fairy who tells her about the party the flowers have on this special day and that they want Lisa to come, too! The Midsummer Fairy places poppy-juice onto Lisa's closed eyelids so that she becomes invisible (so as not to frighten the flowers).

The festival begins. The remainder of the book consists of meeting several lovely characters from all sorts of plant life - flowers, vegetables, even weeds. There is a bit of a scuffle between the flowers/vegetables and the weeds, until they work it all out. For the festival, they all gather round and tell sweet short stories, until they eventually fall asleep to the sound of a singing frog.

Lisa, too, falls asleep and her grandmother lovingly carries her into the cottage and that is the end!

This is a wonderful read to celebrate Midsummer! My girls particularly enjoyed the beautiful illustrations and the short stories told by the various birds, who were the storytellers.

Very sweet book - which also comes in a mini-edition (though I'm not sure if the text is the same or modified)! This review is for the full-size version of this classic book :D

Friday Book Review: William's Doll

This is "William's Doll by Chalotte Zolotow. It was written in 1972 during a time when boys were to be only boys and to give such a lad a doll would surely lead to softening, which was utterly undesirable. This book beautifully shows the importance of little boys owning and loving dolls.

Ironically, my own husband was given a baby doll by his mom when his little sister was born in 1972. When Grandpa saw that doll, he threw it out - declaring it inappropriate for a boy to have a doll! If only Tony's mom gave him a copy of this book...

The story of "William's Doll" begins with this illustration and these opening words:


William is obsessed with having his own doll to love. He watches a neighborhood girl dote on her doll and wishes for one he could call his very own.

However, his brother and the neighborhood boys make fun of him and call him a "creep" and a "sissy". His dad gets him a basketball instead.

William plays with the basketball and gets quite good at it, but he still wishes for the doll. So his father gets him an electric train instead. And William has fun with it, but it still doesn't stop his desire to have a doll and just isn't the same thing, no matter how William tries to make it so.


One day, Grandmother comes to visit.

And William shows her how well he can play basketball and shoot the ball through the hoop. He shows her his train and they watch it together. And then they go for a walk. On the walk, he reveals to her that what he really wanted was a doll. He tells Grandmother that the kids make fun of him and his dad doesn't want him to get one.

"Nonsense," said his grandmother.

She takes him right to the store and he picks out a beautiful doll with long eyelashes and a long white dress with a bonnet. William absolutely loves it.

When his father sees it, he gets upset. Grandmother wisely tells him that William needs it...

"to hug and to cradle and to take to the park so that when he's a father like you, he'll know how to take care of his baby and feed him and love him and bring him the things he wants, like a doll so that he can practice being a father."

Well said, Grandmother! I cry every time I read this book...

I had taken this book out from the library when my girls were just four years old. I read it to them and when it was finished, Elena quietly took it from me, thumbed through the pages, pretending to read it and then tucked it in her arms as she laid down on her pillow and went to sleep. She loved this book so much that she slept with it every night until we had to return it to the library. Of course, I promptly bought a copy to give to her with an inscription that recounted this story and the intention so that when she's a mommy someday, she can read it to her baby...

I really love "William's Doll" and I think it has a really important place on the bookshelves of many families. I find it very Waldorfy, as it clearly follows the need that waldorf education recognizes that little boys need dolls to love, too. There is no gender separation with waldorf toys.

The one thing I do need to mention is that if you are reading to a young child, you might want to change the words "creep" and "sissy" or maybe even omit that part. Or not read it at all to boys who are not *aware* of the misconception that boys *shouldn't* play with dolls, until (if and when) they are suddenly bombarded with that. BUT if you have a son who has been on the receiving end of being made fun of or told that only girls play with dolls, then this book is a must read. Perhaps it is a must read to all parents (especially dads who have issues with boys having dolls). In any case, we cherish this book for the powerful message it holds - the recognition of the importance of imitation and how very natural it is to learn to nurture and love this way. I remember playing with my dolls, even when I was much older, and probably considered *too old* to do so; yet, holding my dolls in my arms and loving them, dreaming of the day when I'd be a real mommy - and I feel that that started me on the road to attachment parenting. I really believe that. :D

So give "William's Doll" a read through and maybe it will find a special place on your family bookshelf, as well!

Friday Book Review: The Springs of Joy

This week's book review is "The Springs of Joy" by Tasha Tudor. While it is currently out of print, it might be at your local library. As of this writing, Alibris has some used copies for a nice price (this one for $1.99).

Like Tudor's other work, this one shines with breathtaking illustrations of a bygone era that many of us are striving to bring back in our modern world. It is not a storybook at all, but rather an inspirational collection of quotes and sayings from some of the world's most gifted writers (Twain, Hugo, Wordsworth, Emerson, Thoreau, Wilde, Whitman, Shaw, Poe, Blake, Stevenson, etc, etc) coupled with her rich illustrations. Many focus on character development and in her usual style, nature and animals abound (including lots of corgis, for those corgi lovers out there :D)

The copy of this book was a gift to me from my parents in 1981 and I am proud to say, was autographed by the amazing Ms. Tudor when she came to town for a book signing...

Here are but a few examples of the beauty of this lovely book...

Click on each picture to enlarge...

There's not much more to say on it as it entirely speaks for itself...It is a book that I will proudly share someday with my grandchildren and then gift to one of them.

Happy early May Day!