Homeschool Discoveries

We took a trip to the “big library” (aka the downtown Minneapolis Central Library) this past Saturday.  Despite being less than 15 minutes from our house, it still seems like a big undertaking to get there and parking is not free, so we end up going just a couple times per year.  Every trip there is a real treat because of the vast selection of books available to us!

I’ve had a hard time lately feeling inspired by the picture book selection at our regular neighborhood library branch.  I’m sure there are still plenty of gems to be discovered, but I feel like I keep seeing a lot of the same old books.   With a selection of many thousands of children’s books, it wasn’t hard to find something new at Minneapolis Central!

One of our favorite finds from this library trip is If Waffles Were Like Boys by Charise Mericle Harper and Scott Magoon.   The title caught my eye as I was browsing the stacks, and I brought it home without much of a glance at the contents.   It  turned out to be delightful! We read on the first pair of pages, “If Waffles were like boys…breakfast would be a battlefield.”   Mr. E started laughing in a nearly-uncontrollable way at the sight of the fighting waffles, and didn’t stop until the book was over.  Then we read the book again!   Any boy (or any mom of a boy!) will relate and probably enjoy the various scenes showing everyday-life objects coming alive in all the ways boys love to play.

We also really liked A Place for Zero by Angeline Sparagna LaPresti.  Mr. K picked this one off the shelf.  We told him the title, and he remembered it long enough to ask for it by name a couple days later!  Zero is a number living in a land of mostly digits 1 through 9 (and, it seems, a “plus”, a “multiplication” and an infinity.”   The other numbers can all play “add-em-up,” but poor Zero doesn’t add up to anything, so he’s left out.  He needs to go on a quest and find his life’s purpose! This was a cute and even heartwarming book, as zero learns all the things that make him special.  There’s even cute baby zeros (since that’s what you get when you multiply by zero, of course!).   The boys loved it too, asking for me to read it again right after I finished the first reading.  I spied them flipping through this book several times throughout the day.

Here a few more quick takes on some of the books we’ve been enjoying this week:

Pickles. Please by Andy Meyer.  Maybe you’ve heard of  “Pinkalicious”? Pickles, Please is for the “picklicious” crowd.   Alec loves pickles so much, but no one else understands — until he goes to the pickle factory!

The Day Roy Riegels Ran the Wrong Way by Dan Gutman is a football tale based on a true story with a great lesson — It’s okay to make mistakes — even big ones!

My Chincoteague Pony by Susan Jeffers is one I picked out for Miss M because I thought she would enjoy this sweet story of a girl who wants a pony of her own.  If you have a horse-lover who is too young for Misty of Chincoteague or a bit older reader who still appreciates a good picture book, this story might be a good fit.

Welcome to Monster Town by Ryan Heshka.  We found this title at our neighborhood library branch a few weeks ago.  We have “visited” Monster Town many times in this clever story where “Frank N. Stein, master electrician, appears shockingly good at his work,” and monster children ride the “ghoul bus.”  A great story for kids that like monsters (and puns).

{Photo Credit}

Visit Read-Aloud Thursday @ Hope is the Word for more great read-aloud suggestions!