favorite books for preschoolers

One of the reasons Charlotte Mason's ideas about homeschooling appeal to me so strongly so far is because of her emphasis on "living books."  I (think I) have always shared this desire to enrich our little ones' lives with quality literature, vibrantly illustrated and full of ideas!  Anyway, a few years ago I shared some of our favorite baby/toddler books, and we've certainly found new favorites as our children have gotten bigger.  I figured it was about time for an update.  :)   Here are our top 5 titles/authors/series:

1.  Robert McCloskey

We love his award-winning stories, written in the 1940's and thereabouts.  In my limited understanding--because apparently I need to read Charlotte Mason's 6 volumes on education, *gulp*--in my limited understanding, McCloskey's works are quintessential Charlotte Mason books.  They are full of ideas, no fluff, no twaddle.  And somehow he brilliantly illustrated them with just pencil/charcoal and paper!  You learn science through a story without even meaning to.  :)   The best thing is that these are all at the library, too.  Our favorites are Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine (Gemma's current favorite), and Make Way for Ducklings (we've been to see the duck monument in Boston's public gardens!).

2.  The Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik

Gemma loved the Little Bear books so much that we had her three-year-old birthday was all about Little Bear.  :)  Now, Ruthie has taken a fancy to them, which just tickles my heart!  We love the sweet, simple illustrations and precious stories.  Although they are actually written as early readers, the stories are fully accessible even to two and three year olds, so I'm glad we didn't wait.  Our favorites of the series are the original Little Bear and Little Bear's Friend, but there are three or four others that we've found at the library, too!

3.  The Little Black Pony books by Walter Farley

Along the same lines, this series is also an early reader series, with simple short sentences and big type.  But Gemma just loves these books, and I'm happy to see her interest branching out beyond princesses now and then.  :)  My mom introduced these to her, because they were her own favorites as a child.  The boy and his pony have a real back-and-forth friendship, and these books are full of ideas and great, realistic illustrations.

4.  Little Red Riding Hood by Trina Schart Hyman

I look for classic fairy tales at our local library somewhat regularly, as part of our little ones' cultural education, I guess!  This one takes the cake.  Every page is an artistic masterpiece in my opinion (and I do believe illustrations are what Hyman is most known for).  We also appreciated that the story seemed pretty original.  I haven't read "the" original Little Red Riding Hood, but we've found that some retellings soften the story line a bit for modern readers.  In this version, Little Red does get eaten by the wolf, yet rescued alive by the woodcutter, and the story closes declaring that she learned an important lesson about obedience.

5.  The Jonathan Mark books by Jacqueline Sibley

Of all this list, these books will probably be the hardest to find.  They were published in Britain in the 1970's and are now out of print!  We were introduced to them on a Lord's Day in Northern Ireland, and once we started reading, Gemma wanted to read all six or eight that our hostess had in one sitting!  After some ebay-watching, John managed to find three for her for Christmas that weren't insanely expensive, as most are.  So, what we love about them:  the sweet narrative of four-year-old Jonathan Mark as he goes about his normal days, asking big questions and learning about the greatness of God.  He does normal four-year-old things, like going to the doctor and the park, and spending a week at Granny's house.  Although they're full of child-level theology, they're much richer  in story than simple moral tales, which is why we like them so much.

Honorable mentions:  The Very Fairy Princess series by Julie Andrews (yes, that one) and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.  Disney stands ready to saturate our little girls with stories of grown-up princesses dressed in alluring ball gowns with a strong tendency toward falling in love at first sight--or first kiss, or first dance.  This series, on the other hand, gives our princess-crazed daughters (i.e. Gemma) a relatable princess-crazed little girl who deals with little girl "problems" in the context of a healthy family.  Gerry's enthusiasm and honesty are winsome, and Gemma loves these books.  My only complaint is that the illustrations are sketchy almost to the point of being sloppy, and the talk of "a sparkly feeling inside telling me it's true" is a bit mystical and silly, so I usually edit that as I read.

As far as Bible stories go, we now also have a copy of the ever-popular Jesus Storybook Bible . . . but the Big Picture Story Bible is still our favorite, and still the only one we just read straight through without modifying words or editorializing.   It's still the most freshly illustrated story Bible I've encountered, too.

That about does it! As I read more on Ambleside online and Simply Charlotte Mason, it's great to compare their extensive reading lists for preschoolers. Any favorites of yours that I'm missing?

On Thrifting

I'm not as skilled at thrifting as either of Gemma's two Grandmas, but I still get excited about my successes. :)

This time, I found several Bible story books from the Arch Books series and a Karen Katz lift-the-flap book.  Gemma Grace loves Where is Baby's Belly Button?, also by Karen Katz, so I thought she'd like this one as well.  It is probably a good thing that I had only a small amount of cash with me, since there were probably well nigh a dozen other Arch Bible story books to be had!

I also found Gemma a corduroy Ralph Lauren jumper for next winter.  :)  God provides!

Our Favorite Books

**Edit, April 2015:  here's an updated list of our favorite books for preschoolers!**

If you could only pick “five brilliantly written and illustrated children’s books” to keep on your bookshelf, what would you choose?  

That's the question put to us by yesterday's post at ylcf.org, and I thought I'd answer.  :)  Plus, they're giving away a $10 Amazon gift card as an incentive, and I already know what I would spend it on . . . you have to read on to find out.  :)

As a novice Mom, I feel a bit inadequate to make an all-time list of all children's books.  I'm picking five that we own and love, and, truly, if we could only keep five, we'd keep these!

1.  My Little Word Book by Roger Priddy.  This is Gemma's favorite book to "read" in the car.  It's all simple pictures accompanied by their words, and she loves it!  She once stayed happy flipping through this book for an entire hour on a car trip!  Her cousin has the same book, and is actually on his second copy because the first one fell apart.  :)

2.  Eloise Wilkin Stories by Golden Books.  Oh. oh.  This is my favorite of Gemma's books, and it's also her favorite one to read together.  Actually, it may be tied with My Little Word Book for Gemma's favorite to read independently, but with its rippable pages, I don't usually let her have it to herself.  When we're sitting in her rocking chair with this book nearby, she will often whine and reach for it until I start reading!

When my mom-in-law gave me this book before Gemma was born, I was ecstatic.  It has We Help Mommy and Baby Dear!  I grew up hearing my mother read Little Golden Books to me, and this collection contains nine, including some of my favorites.  Now, this is one of my favorite baby gifts to give.  :)  (And you can often find it at Marshalls, by the by!)

Gemma Grace has loved this book ever since I started reading to her when she was four months old, and I think it's because of the pictures.  Eloise Wilkin's illustrations are equal to none.  She simply knows how to draw babies, with their chubby little arms and wispy bangs.  The stories themselves are sweet and family-oriented, as you might expect stories written in the 1950s and 60s to be.  And in spite of my trying to protect it from damage, we are already on our second copy. :)

One of the books included is the My Little Golden Book about God, and though in some ways it is sweet and true, in other ways its theology is lacking, which brings me to book #3 . . . 

3.  The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm and Gail Schoonmaker.  It's a children's Bible with big pictures, right?  Yes, but that's not entirely where its title comes from.  As I first read through this book with Gemma over the course of several weeks, I was surprised by a few things.  The prophet Daniel is mentioned, but not the story of the lion's den . . . ?  That seemed strange, until I realized that this book was the children's version of what we were learning in my adult Sunday School class:  God's salvation plan throughout the Scriptures.  Following the fall of Adam and Eve, the entire history of the world is the giant story of God preparing His special people for His special place where they will be ruled by Jesus, His forever King.  

In the interest of following this theme of God's covenantal dealings with His people throughout history, this book leaves out some of the more popular Bible stories told to children, like the account of Daniel in the lion's den.  But I believe that it seeks to compensate for the common misunderstanding that the Bible's primary purpose is to provide children with character role-models.  To view the Bible as simply a collection of moral tales is tragically wrong. 

The illustrations are brilliant and fresh--for one, Adam and Eve come alive as real people instead of just the naked version of the famous farmer couple, with long hair instead of a bun and bushes instead of a pitch fork.  You can even see some family resemblances between Abraham and the Israelites generations later.  :)

4.  Read Aloud Bible Stories by Ella K. Lindvall and H. Kent Puckett.  This series of books fills in some of the story gaps left by The Big Picture Story Bible, and it does so with simple, captivating pictures and vocabulary which even toddlers can understand.  We actually only have volume 2, but we certainly would be happy to add to our collection (*cough, cough*).  :)

[edit: Oh, I wanted to add that one thing we really like about this series is how they treat pictures of Jesus.  Puckett gives the reader a visual of Jesus in a white robe to make Him stand out from the crowd without ever showing His face.  I truly appreciate the illustrator's mindfulness about the 2nd commandment in this respect!  The Big Picture Story Bible is not as careful.]

5.  The Olivia books by Ian Falconer.  Sometimes I think these books are just for Mom.  :)  My little one is too young to smile at the antics of Olivia the pig, who is such a precocious version of an ordinary little girl in such a funny looking pig-body.  :)  Someday she will appreciate them, though . . . I hope.  For now, we read the board book version of the original Olivia book together along with Olivia Counts, which is a sweet and fun way to learn the numbers 1-10 with illustrations which are very easy on the eyes.  

So . . . what are some of your favorite children's books?

Yay for Garage Sales!

Garage sale-ing has been what my mom and I do together for years. No one else in the immediate family seems to like them as much as we do. When we were in New York recently, we went out once for a short time, but I still found some fun things!

This fun cast-iron piece, to match the loose bird theme in our living room,


and some new books for Gemma!

Liking STWTF!

After a healthy critiquing of Janet Tamaro's So that's what they're for!, I thought I should share some things I really LIKE about her book so far! It is very informative, easy-to-read and she explains things in a way which make them make sense. Back when I was in chapter 8, though, I noted some quotations which I really liked. Chapter 8 is called "Getting Some Sleep (Some What?)." :-)

p. 145-146 "Dr. Jay Gordon puts it a bit more succinctly: 'If your goal in life is to get your sleep, you made a mistake about nine months ago.' . . . Infants don't sleep the way we do, and we shouldn't expect them to, any more than we should expect them to walk and talk when they're born."

p. 146 "At 6 months, babies are physiologically able to sleep through the night without food--that doesn't mean they will. . . . "

p. 147 "They are waking you up not to bug you, but because they are hungry and need to be fed."

I suppose it's easy for me to take these thoughts in stride since I haven't lived the months of sleep-deprivation yet. Still, the prospect makes me think of some of the things Jesus said, like in Matthew 10:42

"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."

And John 15:13
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

Surely, laying aside our sleep for the sake of a helpless little one is a huge way we can demonstrate this kind of Christ-like love. And if we ever lose sight of why we're doing it in the first place, we can try to remember this final thing which Tamaro said:

p. 148 "Some of the most 'difficult' babies grow up to be some of the brightest, most creative people."

:-)

That's All They're For?

This post should perhaps be rated PG. Just thought you might like to know ahead of time. :-)

Yesterday, I received So that's what they're for! by Janet Tamaro in the mail, thanks to paperbackswap! It's supposed to be a humorous and helpful book on breastfeeding, and I've heard it highly recommended. As cute as the title is, however, John and I both bristled a little at it. Breastfeeding may be the long-underrated best way to give a baby complete nutrition and then some, but surely that's not the exclusive, or perhaps even the primary, purpose of breasts, right?

Last night after reading the prefacing remarks and getting almost through chapter 1, some of our early suspicions were confimed. Tamaro discusses how breastfeeding fell out of fashion in the middle of the last century when formula companies convinced America that their product was superior to God's product (hee hee). But she goes on to say that "they [breasts] were no longer needed to feed babies, so they went out and got jobs in commercials and Playboy. Now, we're so used to seeing breasts tap-dancing and lounging around, we have a hard time remembering what they were for in the first place! But the way we feel about breasts is simply our perception of their function" (p. 6).

Really? Were breasts really over-sexualized simply as a result of women no longer breastfeeding? Tamaro tries to support this assertion by recounting an incident where Muslim women covered up their heads but not their breasts in the presence of men. What she's assuming is that all cultures are equal, and I will venture to say, controversially perhaps, that this is simply not true.

As a side note, my mom traveled to Asia as a single young woman and learned a lot about breastfeeding there just by being around women who were doing it. She married my dad in the early 80's before all the research on the excellence of breastfeeding had taken place, but because of her visual experience in Asia (and because they had no other real financial choice!), she successfully gave my siblings and me that wonderful gift of mother's milk. I'm thankful for the role that the Asian women played in her life!

Still, I was reading a discussion board lately where one girl pointed out what the Bible has to say about breasts. Yes, there are beautiful references to mothers nursing their little ones, but there are also passages like Proverbs 5 and the entire Song of Solomon.

"Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. As a loving hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; Be exhilarated always with her love." (Proverbs 5:18-19)

There's no way that breasts were merely over-sexualized in recent times by a culture which forgot what they were for. Breasts are inherently sexual. The Bible says so! And that's why I believe, as the same girl pointed out, that we ought to be concerned about modesty during breastfeeding. (I look forward to breastfeeding in public with the beautiful cover which my friend Debbie made me!) To be abundantly clear, I don't believe that women should concern themselves with modesty in breastfeeding simply because that's the way our culture has become, and we ought to be sensitive to others. I believe that all cultures at all times should practice this kind of modesty because of what the Bible clearly teaches.

Guys I've talked to would agree. One claimed that he had figured out that breasts were awesome on his own by about fourth grade. :-) I don't have too much more to say about cultures not being inherently equal, but let me just ask one question: would Tamaro wish for American women to be treated by men as strictly as Muslim women are treated by men in their countries? We have the freedom to vote, travel freely, speak our opinions in mixed company, and to show our faces, to name only a few. Undoubtedly Tamaro was not arguing that Americans should adopt Muslim culture, save in respect to its openness toward breastfeeding. But do we really want to be taking our cultural cues from a society where women are not allowed to show their faces? No, I believe that years of sin and false religion darken more than hearts; they can darken entire cultures.

Still, I am looking forward to finishing So that's what they're for! and expecting it to be truly helpful in practical ways. I'm thankful that the research on breastfeeding has been done, that our culture is growing more supportive of it, and I'm excited about learning how to bless our little girl with perfect nourishment just as my mother blessed me!

On Reading Jane Austen as an Adult

Senior Year of College

Anyone who knows me well probably knows what a Jane Austen fan I am.  :-)  It all started in eighth grade when Pride and Prejudice was one of my reading books.  While I thoroughly enjoyed it, it wasn't until a year or two later when I saw the 1996 BBC movie version (the really long one!) that I started becoming obsessed.   Mom wasn't into Austen herself; she'd chosen the book from a recommended list or something, so I thought I was basically alone in my reveries.  

Then I got to college, where Mr. Darcy was the most popular man on the hall during intervisitation.  It was thrilling to meet so many girls who shared my excitement, and through the discovery of the Republic of Pemberley website, I found hours of distraction from homework awaiting me.  At some point, I found a lot of Pride and Prejudice graphics, etc. on the internet and completely Austen-ized my laptop with P&P wallpapers, screensavers, icons, pointers, and sounds.  (I set "Other way Mr. Collins!" as my error beep, and it eventually drove me nutty when I was struggling with a Mathematica assignment!)  I read more of her novels over the summers and borrowed DVD adaptations from our campus library for Friday nights.  I tried to trim my straw hat to make it like a Regency-era bonnet, and started sewing a dress and apron in Regency style.  And, of course, I longed more than ever to be married to a dashing young man.

Through all of this, Mom helped me with my sewing projects and bought me some of the movies for Christmas.  But she also included some wise warnings.  "Life isn't really like that, you know."  While most of me bucked back, I know, I know!  Otherwise, I wouldn't be in college right now.  I'd be married!  And my future husband doesn't have to own a huge estate in England; he just has to be godly!, part of me saw deeper into what she was saying.  I looked back on my freshman year and realized that some of my "Darcy-mania" had been sinful idolatry.  Even at the time, I realized that I spent way too much time thinking about Jane Austen every day. 

As life changed, my fervor subsided.  Now, I believe, I understand Mom's concerns more than I did before.  How realistic is it for a young woman to get even one unanticipated marriage proposal?  Yet for Jane Austen's characters, it is something of a regular occurrence.  Of course, every single book is a romance which ends with a wedding, and in real life, the wedding is just the beginning!  Real young women today can't (and shouldn't!) spend all their time drawing, playing the piano, walking across the countryside and and going on journeys.  They have a lot to prepare for in their lives ahead!  

Mom was also one of the few people I know who openly didn't like Elizabeth Bennett.  She thought that Elizabeth was pert where she should have been respectful.  It's interesting to note how many of Austen's heroines have very weak, silly parents, where they have parents in the picture at all.  Elizabeth, Emma, Elinor Dashwood, and Anne Elliot, at least, are all portrayed as much more sensible than the parents they have and much more aware of what is good for themselves. 

Granted, none of the novels are truly bad.  In very general terms, every book's rogue comes to personal misery in time and marriage is exalted.  The heroines themselves often learn character-lessons by their own mistakes.  Compared with the popular literature being written today, Jane Austen is probably quite harmless.  Still, for an obsessed reader like me, there was the very real danger of being influenced by my heroine friends.  In a girls' group discussion about books at our church's recent youth retreat, the mom who was leading warned her listeners not to let themselves lie on their pillows at night and fantasize about heroes from any book, Austen included. 

And so, I remain a fan, but mostly a fan who still prefers the Regency style of dress and decorating above most others.  I have much bigger things to occupy my mind now.  :-) I know from experience that real romance is better than what one reads about.  And, in a way, it's a relief to be on the post-wedding side of the story--the side that Jane Austen herself never saw.

Book Review: Womanly Dominion

When I first heard that Pastor Mark Chanski had written a companion book to his Manly Dominion called Womanly Dominion, I thought he had gone too far.  Wasn't dominion all about manliness?  Wasn't womanhood all about a gentle and quiet spirit?  Admittedly, I had little interest in reading it.  But then, I had the privilege of hearing Pastor Chanski preach on the topics of his two recent books at a conference.  All the conferees were given copies of his books, so I did read Womanly Dominion and found that I had things to learn!

Yes, womanhood is all about a gentle and quiet spirit, but the creation mandate to subdue and rule over the earth (Genesis 1:28) was given to both the man and the woman.  Using the imagery of a soccer team, Pastor Chanski emphasizes that as long as we are careful to "play our position" as outlined in the Scripture, we, too, are to subdue and rule the part of the world to which we are called. 

I liked how, early in his discussion of dominion in general, Pastor Chanski emphasized that God saw it as good when man did such things as lasso and train a horse to carry him around, or cut down trees and make planks and build houses.  We are stewards of this earth, yes, but we are also called to rule the earth, and we are certainly not trespassers here.  Later, he recalls examples of dominion-minded women in particular from the past and present, recounting the fitting boldness of John Bunyan's wife Elizabeth, Thomas Edison's mother, and his own wife, Dianne. 

As the book continues, it gets more and more practical.  Pastor Chanski speaks to women in all stations--single and married, with and without children--and exhorts us as to how we might take dominion in our own lives.  For example, he exhorts mothers to rule over the media their children absorb, from what they can access on the internet, to the music in their ipods, to the library books they bring home.   

Should a woman be an athlete?  Toward the end, he speaks to some controversial questions with great skill, presenting a balanced spectrum of relevant Scripture to the reader before drawing final conclusions.  And he uses these questions to further exhort us practically (e.g.  Running track may be consistent with your daughter's femininity, but the immodest track uniforms may not be).

Pastor Chanski's writing style is very lively and engaging, making his book an enjoyable read.  I wasn't terribly fond of the cover and noticed some errors the copy editor must have missed, but these will undoubtedly be caught if there is a second printing.  He does deal tastefully with the "eros" type of love between a wife and her husband and deliberately does not sugar-coat some of the dangers mothers are to shield their little ones from in today's world.  Because of these aspects, I would highly recommend it to women and mature older teens. 

For most of us, our calling may not be so public and exciting (at first glance) as our husbands' callings, but we can leave this book inspired, and with his lifting theme echoing in our minds:  The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.

On The Merits of (Almost) Free Books

Stepping Heavenward
Lasting Love
Love is the Greatest
Taking Charge of Your Fertility
Flat Belly Diet
Created to be his Help Meet
Let me be a Woman
For Women Only

These are all the titles I could recall when I started making a list of all the books I've accumulated from paperbackswap.com.  Maybe you've heard of this website randomly; I did a couple of times before I opened an account with them and thought perhaps some others would like to join in! 

Basically, paperbackswap organizes the swapping of books of all forms (not just paperbacks) around the country.  It's entirely free to make an account and post books!  Once a book you post is requested, you mail it to the requester and earn a credit to request a book you want.  It turns out that the only cost involved is what it costs you to mail your books (at media rate, of course) to the people who request them.  Of course, you have the option of marking "I cannot mail this book" when a book of yours is requested, but the whole idea behind the system is to get rid of books you don't want and start getting books that you do.

I opened my account when my parents were cleaning out their bookshelves about a year and a half ago.  They had about ten books they were planning to donate to good will, but I figured I'd give this a try.  One of the perks of being a new member is that once you post ten books, you automatically get two credits!  That's how I was able to request Let Me Be a Woman and For Women Only.  To my surprise, requests for my books started showing up in my e-mail almost immediately!  Since then, well, you see what has happened. 

When John and I got married, we realized that we had duplicate copies of three or four books, so I posted them, as well.  Really, you can be as involved or uninvolved in the site as you wish.  It's just fun to have a credit or two on my account for when I hear a book recommended that the library probably doesn't have or that I'll want to keep for a while. 

"Wish List" is one of my favorite features of the site.  If you search for a book that nobody has, you can add it to your Wish List and when someone posts it, you automatically get an e-mail notification before it's viewable to everyone else.  If a lot of people have wished for the same book, the site lets you know where you are in line and when they estimate that it will be available for you.  Gracias, paperbackswap! 

On Reading

I received a letter a few days ago from a dear friend, Theresa.  She has two small children and encouraged me thus,



I pray that God will grant you this opportunity [motherhood] in His perfect time and plan for your life.  I would encourage you to relish the time God has granted you and John together as "just the two of you," and I would encourage you to read.  I find little time to read now, and there seem to be no end of edifying books available.




Her sweet words came at a fitting time . . . I think I'll participate in the books blog carnival hosted by ylcf.org in the weeks ahead.