Amy

Baseball season has begun, and so our boys chose to step up to the mound with this month’s book choice.  They read “Shoeless Joe & Me” by Dan Gutman.

As always, we began inside by summarizing and talking about the book.  While the boys aren’t usually particularly loquacious, they surprised me this month.  The book is about the fixing of the World Series in 1919 and Shoeless Joe Jackson’s part therein.  The boys compared this scandal to current drug scandals, brought up whether gambling is moral even if legal, wanted to know about steroids, and other issues related to the game.  What a discussion!

 

Then we moved on to baseball cards.  Each boy had brought a collection, and they were eager to check them out, although they didn’t all value the same types of cards.

Next we made our own peanut-free version of CrackerJack.  It was yummy stuff!

 

While the CrackerJack set up, the boys designed their own baseball cards …

 

and showed them off a bit …

 

before deciding that all of this talk of baseball necessitated a game.

 

Of course, all of that running around made them hungry, and so we broke out our CrackerJack.

So if you’re looking for a good baseball book this season, you won’t go wrong with Shoeless Joe & Me.  Just be prepared to grab some friends and go play afterwards – you won’t be able to resist the crack of the bat.

What are your kids’ favorite springtime reads?

The weather has finally improved a bit here in the Carolinas, and so our book club moved outdoors for a grand adventure in the style of Peggy Parrish’s Pirate Island Adventure.

 

 

After discussing the book and its characters, each child created his own shield.

 

 

While they were drying, the boys began solving puzzles in the hopes of finding a great treasure.

 

They got really into this and worked hard to decipher the clues and figure out the meaning of each one.  They really showed great teamwork!

 

 

After being stumped on one for quite a while, they finally decided it must be buried under the playset and started to dig – and lo and behold, they found a gold-wrapped chocolate treasure!

 

 

The boys worked together to divvy the treasure fairly, even sharing with the girls, before heading off to play in the sunshine.

 

 

Doesn’t my little warrior look fierce?

 

What are you kids reading this month?

Would you eat a worm?

Would you eat 15 worms?

That’s the question our boys answered this month at book club, when we discussed How to Eat Fried Worms. 

This book was the perfect one to follow Shoeless Joe and Me, last month’s book club selection.  We again discussed gambling – what it was, whether it’s okay, and inflation amounts from 1973, when this book was originally published.

 

 

Then I asked the boys if they would be willing to eat a worm.  Each one developed his own recipe for doing so – some more willingly than others.  One was quite adamant that while it was fun to make a worm recipe, he would never actually eat a worm.

Then we moved into the kitchen.

 

 

Where worm eating became a reality. 

 

 

I prepared each worm as the boys requested.  Of course, these weren’t real worms, but concoctions of Jell-O, cream, and a few other ingredients carefully shaped.

 

The boys weren’t quite so brave when faced with a pile of real worms.  Although My Little Man talked a big story of wormy ketchup and pepper, he didn’t really want to try it.

 

After one courageous kid tried the worms and declared them to be good, the others gradually tried them, too, and soon they were quite boisterous again …

 

 

Until I brought out the real crickets.  

An adventurous mom had ordered these from Amazon for us.  Who knew you could get bugs in such a variety of flavors?  The first boy to try a worm carefully read the ingredient list and then opened the bacon and cheese flavored box of crickets.  He declared them to be “crunchy” and ate all but three.

Nobody else would try them.

Can’t say that I blame them.

 

 

Then we moved on to worm science.  We read a short non-fiction book about the body parts and benefits of worms to the environment and prepared to make our own worm houses.  Each boy had his own jar to layer with gravel and then soil.

 

Then we broke out my dirt shovel and dug for worms.  We found enough for each boy to have a few in his jar.  

In the few days since book club, My Little Man has watched his worms carefully.  He keeps them covered, since we learned that light can paralyze them, but he lifts the paper a few times each day to study the jar and watch for worm tunnels.

Who knew that worms could be so fascinating?

So – would YOU eat a worm?

 

First, we got a few nails set into the wood.  After donning goggles and getting hammers, the boys were allowed to pound in that round of nails.  We kept doing this until they had secured the bottom and four sides of their trunk.

 

 

Then the kind dad helped them add hinges and a latch with the power drill.  My Little Man was happy to help hold the box still!

 

 

He is very proud of his finished product!

 

All during the school year last year, My Little Man watched his big sister have fun with her book club friends, and he wanted to have one, too.  In fact, he asked to start his own club more than once – and I always answered the same way:  You can have your own book club when you can read a chapter book.

 

Well, last spring, he picked up a fictional dinosaur chapter book and put it down after reading the first six chapters to me.  Then we knew it was time.  

 

This week My Little Man got together with a few of his friends to have fun with The Boxcar Children’s The Chocolate Sundae Mystery.  

 

We started out by summarizing the story and then reading Ebenezer Bleezer.  It’s such a funny poem!  The boys each invented their own crazy flavor and drew pictures of them.

 

 

Then we headed off to the kitchen to make our own ice cream – for real.  They mixed up a batch of super rich chocolate ice cream to put into a countertop churn, and then each boy made his own batch of Freezer Bag Ice Cream.  

 

 

We tucked the icy bags into satchels and sent the boys outside to churn their ice cream on bikes and scooters.  It worked pretty well, and they were able to burn off some energy while they worked.

 

When both varieties were done, they came inside and created their own sundaes like Benny did in the book.  I think they liked this part a lot – and they declared the ice cream to be yummy.

We never could tell which they liked better, though – the vanilla or the chocolate.  

Which would you prefer?

  

This month both book clubs read Arther & The Poetry Contest.  This simple chapter book is about the contest that Arthur and his friends start with a friend to decide who writes the best poetry – and the loser will have to join the poetry club for a whole year.  A cartoon version of Jack Prelutzsky officiates the contest.

 

Poetry might not sound like much fun, but when you’re willing to be silly with it, it’s fantastic – and these kids were definitely willing to be silly.

 

 

The kids brought their favorite poetry to share – if they had any – and then we talked about a few different kinds of poetry.  I read a few examples of each type, and then the kids wrote their own.

 

Some of them really got into this part.  They illustrated and rhymed, and the girls even stood on the couch to read, while the rest of them sat in the ‘audience’ section of the floor and applauded after each poem.

 

 

 

We decided that pudding was most exciting with toppings, so everyone brought his own and shared.  Gummy bears and marshmallows make for very popular pudding toppings!

 

 Then, of course, we sampled our work.  The girls preferred to mix the homemade vanilla and boxed chocolate together …

While the boys mostly wanted to eat chocolate.  Either way, I saw some awesome pudding creations.  

And some pretty rockin’ poetry, too.

Are your kids fans of poetry?

I’m a bit behind in sharing this book club event with you, but we had a great time exploring Jigsaw Jones’ Valentine Mystery together.