Book reviews and recommendations...

I thought I would share a few of the books we have been enjoying recently...

We just finished reading A Bear Called Paddington as our bedtime story. Tyler really loved this story about a silly bear. His favorite part was when Paddington was trying to perform a magic show and he smashed Mr. Curry's watch with a hammer... only he forgot to read the instructions through, which would have told him to have a spare watch before doing the trick. Oops! I enjoyed reading this with Tyler as well, it really brought back memories of my childhood when I was reading this very same book.

Tyler read a couple of Reader books as part of our Toad Study...

First up was Frog and Toad Are Friends. His favorite part was when Toad came out of the water wearing his bathing suit. He also giggled over Toad trying to come up with a story to tell Frog when he was sick... he tried everything, including standing on his head and banging his head on the wall! Tyler loved this one so much that I went ahead and got him a couple of the other books in the series... Days with Frog and Toad and Frog and Toad Together. They just arrived today, so he can't wait to dig into them later.

He also read Toad Makes a Road. His favorite part of this one was the very end when the truck came down his road with all of his friends in it.

As for me... I am plugging away at Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series. I'm almost finished with Volume 1, Home Education. I am really getting a lot out of this book. It pertains so much to regular life as well as school life. I am looking forward to moving on to Volume 2, Parents and Children. It may take a long time for me to get through all 6 volumes, but I have a feeling it will be worth it!! Charlotte Mason was so wise... so wise.

I am also reading Watchers at the Pond as part of a book club on one of the Yahoo groups that I belong to. This book is simply amazing! It is a glimpse into pond life that you could never get elsewhere. From the skies to the land to the pond itself... and all year round. Since we got our microscope we have developed an interest in pond life. This book is teaching me a lot of what I need to know to help Tyler learn about the amazing things that go on in and around a pond. I highly recommend this book.

I recently acquired a copy of Drawing with Children. I have just started with this book, but it looks promising. Tyler struggles with drawing and gets a bit intimidated when I ask him to draw things. I am hoping that by doing some of the exercises in this book he will become more confident. He has a wonderful imagination.

I've also been flipping through Project Wild and Aquatic Project Wild. These two books have some wonderful nature activities and experiments in them. I think I will be referring to these quite often in the coming years.

Another one worth mentioning for nature activities and experiments is Botany for All Ages. Lots of great ideas in that one as well.

I think that's all we have on the burner right now. I will let you know if we find any other winners in our search for great reading material! Also if you have any suggestions please fell free to comment here or email me. I have been trolling the blogosphere for book reviews and recommendations... I would love it if a few would come right to me!!

P.S.
Don't forget about PaperBackSwap.com when you're looking for books. I have found a lot of great books there... in fact most of our little library is from there! Its fun and its recycling too!