Little Elephants » Reading & Writing

Maggie Reviews: WEREling, by Steve Feasey

Veronique Christensen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:43:07 +0000

Maggie is eleven years old and an avid reader. She’s offered to share her favorites here.

I thought Wereling was absolutely spectacular. It was full of action and adventure. The only warning I have to readers is that the Irish man, Tom says hell a lot.

It’s about a fourteen year old boy named Trey. When an odd man comes to his orphanage claiming to be his uncle he becomes suspicious. The one question nagging him the most is who is friend and who is foe?

I thought all the characters were great and that they all had great personalities that fit them perfectly. I would rate this book five out of five. I am a fiction lover though so this book is perfect for anyone who loves fiction. I thought the plot was very good and it left me begging for more.

I recommend this book for 5^th grade and up. This is just a sort of personal fancy of mine but I really liked the fact that the author put an excerpt of the story on the front cover. It shows a moment of action and drama, perfect for people who take a book off its shelf and judge it by its cover. As another personal thought, I think that this book would be good in a trilogy. This book makes the top-ten book list for me and I hope there’s a sequel.

Disclosure: Wereling was sent to us by the publisher.

Learning French and Danish

Veronique Christensen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:00:34 +0000

I have a confession. I feel incredibly guilty that Tomas and I haven’t taught our kids French or Danish. We have so many friends who have done an amazing job of raising multi-ligual kids, and we just have excuse after excuse. My latest theory is that we each spoke our mother tongues with our families, but neither of us ever lived in our home lands.

This summer we spent a whopping five weeks in Europe, most of it in Denmark, but we did have a side trip to my Mom in Brittany (north western region of France, we have our own flag and everything… but that’s another post). Before we left, we went mad posting the names for things all over the house to familiarize the kids with the languages, but Tor (who is soon to be four!) messed with our grand plans by moving our post-its around (fridge became table, chairs turned into walls… you get the picture).

The good news is that we had fun with the language experiment, but what really helped, with Danish at least, was all the friends the kids made while in Denmark. In the beginning their new friends would struggle to communicate in English, which they all learned in school, but as the weeks went on I would hear the new friends teaching Danish to my three. It was awesome.

Are you a multi-ligual family? Any advice on how to re-boot our efforts over here so we don’t lose the progress that was made over the summer? I’d love to hear your tips!

Mothers’ Day

Veronique Christensen — Sun, 10 May 2009 05:30:08 +0000

On the back of this card there is copper
this will intrigue the eye of a shopper.

on the front of this card there is silver
this will definitely bewilder.

however these things are as common as mold
for to me you are as precious as gold.

{Poem by Maggie and flower pot by Bjørn. Yes, I did cry}

Bjørn’s comic book creations

Veronique Christensen — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:25:29 +0000

Bjørn takes such pride in the fact that his father is an author and illustrator & positively oozes with it when he tells you about Tomas’ books; so it’s no surprise, really, that he’s taken to writing and illustrating his own.

It’s fun to see the planning he puts into them, the thought he puts into his story lines and character development (or lack of thought, depending on his frame of mind!). It’s also a treat to pick out the influences on his work: the disco floor is lifted directly from his Club Penguin house.

I made a simple word template for Bjørn to use so he doesn’t have to draw in the cells each and every time, and so that I’d have a clean margin to bind his books, but Tomas informed me this is unnecessary since the cells should be different heights & widths. You can tell who the real artists are in the family, eh?

Hairplanes & Bathing Soup

Veronique Christensen — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:54:07 +0000

Can I really have been so out of my blog groove that I failed to share this most wonderful thing? Tomas has completed his second children’s book, and it is really lovely.

When Bjørn was younger he had the funniest kidisms (like liking to wear his Bathing Soup instead of a suit) — Tomas has captured some of them here and will get you smiling with his silly interpretations of Bjørn’s world.

The books are available for purchase on Lulu.com where they are self-published for now (know of an amazing agent?). We’ve also posted a full preview of the book online which you are welcome to click through and share as much as you’d like.

Here’s the link to preview & buy Tomas’ books: http://surfeit.com/hairplanes

Slow days of summer

Veronique Christensen — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:59:06 +0000

We are slowly settling into the slower pace of summer, and I am doing my best to keep it from getting frenzied. A tough balancing act, I tell you.

Our local library has a great reading program for kids where they each sign up and commit to reading a certain number of books, and at the end of the summer they’ll win prizes. Miss M signed on for fifty books, and B is up for thirty. It’s just a week into it and they are both well on their way to their goals. She with mostly Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Norse myths. He with Franklin, Dr Seuss, and anything Pokemon. We’ve been visiting at least twice a week, and I’ve also been letting them pick out movies which is a Big Treat for these guys.

Right next to our main library are the community gardens — they are stunning this summer! Full to bursting with color and wonderful smells. One plot-keeps has even created an outdoor room complete with green and growing "walls" — it’s incredible, though we haven’t dared to enter for fear or trespassing. We’re hopeful to show up one day when they are at "home". Just outside the gardens is a lovely apricot tree that is dripping with fruit this year. Sometimes I have to question myself… am I taking the kids to get books, or am I secretly hoping the apricots will finally be ready for my greedy fingers to pluck?

I ~~sometimes~~ often regret having let our plot go when I was pregnant with the Little Guy, but I know it was that one thing too many that makes everything else suffer.

In addition to our little Library Camp, we’ve been getting to the pool pretty much daily, and I’m organizing weekly get-togethers at local parks and events for everyone and anyone who’d like to join us. I think in my fear of over-scheduling our summer, and my worries about this stupid job hunt, I’ve been over-cautious with my scheduling, but for now it’s working (and I’m afraid to jinx it).

How’s your summer coming along?

Over 41 books recommended for and by 2nd & 3rd graders

Veronique Christensen — Mon, 14 May 2007 21:35:47 +0000

Maggie is in a very special school where the classes are mixed-age. She is a Third Grader in a classroom equally divided by 2nd and 3rd grade boys & girls. Late last semester one of the kids discovered a love for reading and wanted to share with his friends. His incredible mom was generous enough to volunteer to facilitate a book club for the class. Anyone who wanted to join in, could. By the end I think just about all of the kids got into it, and gave up their lunch hours here and there to meet up (as did the mom — did I remember to mention how great she is?).

Now that the school year is winding down, they have come up with their list of favorite reads so that their classmates could discover new books over the summer. Books specifically recommended by kids like them.

What’s not to love?

I thought my readers would enjoy taking a peek at their list, and perhaps find some inspiration for their kids’ summer reading — way more interesting than some generic list a mega-corp thinks they should read. At least that’s my way of thinking…

The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Caroline Funke
The Trumpet of the Swan, by E. B. White
Stuart Little, by E. B. White
Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread, by Kate Dicamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, by Robert C. O’Brien
Seven Professors of the Far North, by John Fardell
Flight of the Silver Turtle, by John Fardell
The Navigator, by Eoin Mcnamee
Island of the Aunts, by Eva Ibbotson
The Star of Kazan, by Eva Ibbotson
The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg
Matilda, by Roald Dahl
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
The Doll People, by Ann Matthews Martin, Laura Godwin, Brian Selznick, and Ann M. Martin
Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie
Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome
The Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell
The Prince of the Pond: Otherwise Known as De Fawg Pin, by Donna Jo Napoli
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall

BOOKS IN A SERIES

Harry Potter
The Dragon Circle
Spiderwick Chronicles
Edge Chronicles (the first 3) (Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell)
So You Want to be a Wizard Series (Diane Duane)
The New Prophecy Warrior Series (Erin Hunter)
Guardians of Ga’hoole (Kathryn Lasky)
Babymouse 1-5 (Jennifer & Matthew Holm)
Nancy Drew
Charlie Bone (Jenny Nimmo)
Septimus Heap (Magyk.. – Angie Sage)
Akiko (Marck Crilley)
The Mismantle Chronicles
Pixie Tricks
Dealing with Dragons

A book about feelings

Veronique Christensen — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:55:12 +0000

Last week when she was all bummed with me for handing her crafts to do on her own, Miss M made this book for her baby brother. I’d given her a Klutz book-making kit.

Clam I stupid?

Veronique Christensen — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:31:19 +0000

A collaborative story, written by Tomas (age 40) and Mohawk Boy (age 6).

She heard a twig snap.
On the tree.
"Maybe it’s my brother," sister thought.
But it was her brother’s snapping clams.
They were giant clams and they were coming to get her!
So she yelled "Mom! Brother’s snapping clams are chasing me again!"
A clam snapped, and got her by the leg.
And then it dide.
Her leg was broken, but she stumbled on.
With her broken leg.
"Who am I?" she thought.
Am I stupid?

Petit Musée

Veronique Christensen — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:07:58 +0000

Petit Musée
by Alain Le Saux, Gregoire Solotareff
[The edition I've linked to here is in Spanish and English]

Little T is sixteen (!) months old now and is just starting to explore books. In a big way. My very favorite book to read to him is one I picked up at a museum near Nice last winter. It is a word book where the images are taken from the great artists of Europe and America: Van Gogh, Goya, Picasso, Manet, etc.

On the opposite page from the image you find the words along with the artist’s name, and what museum the piece is displayed in. The picture on the cover is "un petit garçon" — a little boy.

I had grand plans of *doing things right* with him, and teaching him French from the start. I hadn’t done this with my older two, and it causes me just a little bit of guilt. As will happen with Grand Plans, real life happened and I found that I did a terrible job of following through. When we read this book together, I tend to tell him the English words for what we are looking at.

Our copy is something I know I will treasure for a long time, and enjoy thumbing through even without a babe on my lap.