We are continuing our study on the oceans and I wanted to share this particular book with you today. "The Voyager's Stone: The Adventures of a Message-Carrying Bottle Adrift on the Ocean Sea" is written by Robert Kraske and illustrated by Brian Floca. It is a work of fiction, but has so many pockets of information about the ocean, that it was perfect for our study. This is a long picture book, so it appealed more to my 2 older children (10 & 12 yr old) than to my 5 yr old.
The story is of the message-carrying bottle making its voyage from the Caribbean where it first started its journey, sent by a young boy while on his vacation.
If you enjoyed reading Paddle-to-the-Sea, you will appreciate this one I think too.
"All that afternoon, the bottle called Voyager drifted in shallow water near the island. A small squid came to investigate. It extended a fifteen-inch-long arm and touched the bottle's neck. The bottle slid down a wave, and the startled squid jetted away, its arms trailing behind."
We have so many participants now to Book Sharing Monday! Welcome everyone! I am so glad to see my little idea grow every week!
I just discovered podcasts a few days ago.
You might be wondering why I added a photo of Orion with this post, but it is related to the podcasts!
I walk our puppy every morning and every evening, for close to one hour each time. Most of the time I am by myself with him, and so I have gotten into the habit of bringing Adrienne's ipod with me and listening to music.
I noticed a few days ago a series of podcasts on Harmony Fine Arts blog, downloaded it and listened during one of our walks. I also found out about Creative Mom Podcasts. I enjoyed both, but I thought, there has to be a lot more to choose from out there!
I am curious and interested in finding out what your favourite podcasts are and if you can share some links for podcasts about home schooling, teaching our children, or being creative...anything that is interesting really! Maybe there is a podcast about history or science that you would recommend..
About music..I haven't really thought much about music for myself over the last few years. I have given more focus to the music that my children listen to and to music connected to our homeschooling (classical music for example).
I have tried the free selections from Starbucks, those little cards with a code for a free download on itunes. Some of them have been nice surprises. I have never been too picky with music, even growing up, I enjoyed a wide variety of music, but I just haven't given much thought about it over the last decade!
Again, I am curious to know what is on your mp3 player? What do you enjoy listening to, just for yourself?
"Approaching thirty-three hundred feet..."
"Exploring the Deep, Dark Sea" by Gail Gibbons was a great addition for our ocean unit study that we have been doing.
"William The Curious: Knight of the Water Lilies" written and illustrated by Charles Santore is a wonderful fairy tale with a modern twist. I chose this book because of the illustrations but we all ended up loving the story.
The summary on the book jacket explains the story perfectly, so I am going to share it with you instead of trying to put it in my words..I am blaming the high humidity for my lack of inspiration! It's only 9 AM and the temperature is 24 degrees Celsius, but with the humidity it
is 32!
"Absolute perfection. That's what the Queen of the Land of Far and Wide insists on. Why, she even orders her minions to move mountains and change the colours of the forest. But she is never satisfied. When she decrees that all imperfect things in her castle must be thrown out the window, it's not long before the lovely lily-blanketed moat below becomes a slimy junk pile. However, the Queen doesn't realize what her quest for perfection has done, and no one dares tell her...except for one very small, very brave frog named William. This is his story."
Here is a quote from the story:
"When everyone was assembled, she announced: "I have decided that everything in the castle must be absolutely perfect! You must find each thing that is worn or broken or faded. When you find a cloth with even one broken thread, or a jewel that doesn't glitter enough, or a vase or statue with even the tiniest chip on it, throw it out of the nearest window at once! This is the new castle law."
"Sweet Treats" by Williams-Sonoma has "25 delicious recipes that kids can cook". You can try lemon bars, chocolate truffles, and peanut butter bars. We made the rocky road fudge..yummy!
There is a "frozen wonders" section that has strawberry ice cream recipe, truffle-mint ice cream cake, and watermelon ice pops.
Andre's favourite section is the "favourite beverages" one. He has made the ice cream soda, root beer float and sherbet float!
A fun and delicious cookbook for the young cook!!
