Friday’s Vintage Find::The Dragons of Blueland by Ruth Stiles Gannett

I mentioned in my review of Elmer and the Dragon that all I needed to do to complete the series with my girls was to happen upon the third book, The Dragons of Blueland.  I did just that in some of my bookish ramblings the past few months, either at my library’s wonderful used bookstore or […]

Elmer and the Dragon

My girls and I finished our second chapter book of the month on Monday during our post-lunch read-aloud time.  I wanted to share briefly about this book here at Hope Is the Word because this is a great chapter book for preschoolers.  Elmer and the Dragon is the sequel to My Father’s Dragon (read my […]

Book Review–My Father’s Dragon

Title:  My Father’s Dragon Author:  Ruth Stiles Gannett Illustrator:  Ruth Chrisman Gannett Publisher:  Random House Pages:  87 ISBN:  0394890485 I think this book might replace Charlotte’s Web as my favorite read-aloud to date!  Now I am in no way suggesting that this book could possibly take the place of E.B. White’s masterpiece in the canon […]

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

We just finished reading The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner yesterday.  This was the first time I’d ever read it, and I confess I picked it up because I assumed it was a mystery (based on the word mystery being appended to “Boxcar Children” in the series that grew out of it).  Since I […]

Friday’s Vintage Find:: The Story About Ping (and some Go-Alongs and an Art Activity, too)

The Story About Ping probably doesn’t need much of an introduction, but I wanted to share a few of the books we read and an activity we did in relation to this story.  For those who are unfamiliar with this classic tale, it’s Marjorie Flack’s story of a little duck named Ping who lives with his large family […]

Chinese New Year

When I read about the Chinese New Year contest that Jimmie‘s hosting, I thought this week would be the perfect time to take a break from the human body study we’ve been working on for the past three or four weeks (and which I hope to post about in the near future) and add another […]

Read Aloud Thursday::Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

Are there certain books in your life that you associate with certain places because that’s where you were when you read them?  Maybe it happened because someone special read you that book, and you’ll always associate that book with that person and place, for example.  This is but one of the memories and associations I want […]

Author Spotlight: Carmen Agra Deedy

When I was asked by Carmen Agra Deedy’s publicist to participate in a blog tour next week for her new book, I almost shouted “yes” loud enough to be heard in Atlanta.  You see, I have been privileged to sit under her storytelling three times in the past few years, and each time has been a joy.  I […]

Read Aloud Thursday

Isn’t it strange how children often love something that we have no idea that they’ll actually like? (Actually, one would think I’d be used to that by now.)  I picked up Below by Nina Crews because I thought it looked like a fun concept book.  Despite my copious training and reading on gender roles, I didn’t think […]

Friday’s Vintage Find::Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets AND a Field Trip!

We have been slowly working our way through Before Five in a Row, doing the suggested activities as I see fit.  However, when I attended a homeschooling conference a few weeks ago, I found volume one of Five in a Row and four or five of the suggested picture books at the used book sale, […]