Children's Book Monday ~ Finally!

I've been wanting to participate in Elise's Children's Book Monday for a long time, and never seem to be able to get a post up on time. This week I'm trying the scheduled post feature to see if perhaps that will do the trick. :) Elise always posts about the most delightful books, and I usually go straight from her blog to our library website to reserve them. :)

Ever since reading The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry, we've been checking out picture books from the library by illustrated by various children's book illustrators for art appreciation and inspiration. It's been neat to watch the children develop an awareness of different artistic styles through seeing the individual styles of the artists. We've discussed creativity and uniqueness as well as different art techniques and media. The children have been really stimulated then to create their own art inspired by the illustrators.

One of our favorite illustrators recently has been Lois Ehlert. Ehlert uses mixed media illustrations in her books that are just fabulous. Market Day is one we enjoyed recently...

This book is truly "a feast of folk art from around the world." You can see a preview with more detail here.

Grab a stack of Ehlert's books for double enjoyment...pore over them for the stories and illustrations, and then have some creative fun "doing art". (And for more inspiration, do a Google Image Search for Lois Ehlert...lots of neat artwork and ideas!)

Gift of Grace Blog Tour

Imagine yourself a typical teenager of today, with your cell phone and Ipod, going to high school and looking toward college.  With almost no warning, you are suddenly whisked away to an Old Order Amish community, with no electricity, telephones, or automobiles.

New Zondervan author Amy Clipston explores that premise in the first book of her "Kauffman Amish Bakery Series."  After receiving an advance copy of A Gift of Grace from BlogTourSpot.com to review for this week's blog tour, I can't wait for the second installment!    

When Rebecca Kauffman's "English" sister and brother-in-law are killed in a traffic accident, Rebecca's two teenaged nieces come to live with her in her Lancaster County Amish community . Unable to have children of their own, Rebecca and her husband Daniel now have an "instant family".  While one sister acclimates quickly to the Old Order culture, the other rebels at the unwelcome restrictions.  Rebecca finds herself torn between abiding by her sister's wishes that the girls be raised in the culture she rejected and her husband's insistance that the girls will never fit in and in fact threaten the Kauffman's place in the community.  

Rebecca's struggle to honor her sister's memory and provide a loving home for her nieces in the face of her husband's strong disapproval is heart-wrenching.  The way Clipston chose to resolve that struggle was not what I expected...and I liked that.  At times in Christian fiction...even good Christian fiction...the ending is rather predictable.  It was a pleasant surprise to find I didn't have this one figured out from the start. :)  

Clipston writes about difficult issues and emotions without coming across as "heavy".   When God's will and our plans collide, the results are often painful, but A Gift of Grace spotlights the hope that comes when we stop fighting His plan, and instead embrace it.  Clipston says, " Sometimes we may be convinced God has forgotten us or that what we’re experiencing isn’t part of His plan. However, things may not go the way we’d hoped, but God is always in control.  "  She speaks as one who has experienced trials...her family is currently awaiting her husband's second kidney transplant, about which she says, "God has been teaching me a whole lot about having patience and giving my burdens up to Him... It’s been a very long and difficult road with my husband’s illness, but prayer and faith have been my companions."

For more reviews of A Gift of Grace, visit the other participants in the Blog Tour Spot tour.  

Booking Through Thursday...

I thought this week's Booking Through Thursday question was interesting...

Here’s the question:

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…

1. Are you currently reading more than one book?
2. If so, how many books are you currently reading?
3. Is this normal for you?
4. Where do you keep your current reads?

As I've mentioned before, I tend to read my non-fiction in "stacks".   Here are my answers:

1. Yes.

2. One fiction, and a whole stack of non-fiction.  

3. Yes.   I always seem to have a stack of non-fiction I'm working my way through, and at least one fiction book.   The fiction book is almost always bedtime reading.  Usually I breeze through them in a few days at most; the odd thing about my current reading is that I have been trying to finish my fiction book (The Edge of Recall, by Kristen Heitzman) for *weeks*.    It's slow going when you keep falling asleep after a page and a half!  

4. Current fiction book is on my nightstand.  Current non-fiction is *supposed* to be on a shelf on my desk.  However, my desk is presently a sea of chaos, and my "stack" at this point has outgrown my desk. ;-)   Oh...and I almost always have a book or two in my bag...in the words of one of my favorite "Pieces of Flair" on Facebook, "Always carry a book...you never know when you will need it."  There is nothing worse than being stuck in a drive-thru, or waiting for someone in the van, and having nothing to read! :)

Here's my current non-fiction "stack":

Do you read more than one book at a time?  What are you reading right now?  I'd love to hear...leave me a comment!  To see more, visit the Booking Through Thursday site.  

Booking Through Thursday...Goldilocks

I happened upon this week's *Booking Through Thursday* question, and although I've never participated before, I decided I had to participate in this one...it made me laugh. :-D The question from the BTT site is this:

"Okay, so the other day, a friend was commenting on my monthly reading list and asked when I found the time to read. In the ensuing discussion, she described herself as a “goldilocks” when it comes to reading–she needs to have everything juuuuuust right to be able to focus. This caught my attention because, first, I thought that was a charming way of describing the condition, but, two, while we’ve talked about our reading habits, this is an interesting wrinkle. I’d never really thought about it that way.

So, this is my question to you–are you a Goldilocks kind of reader?

Do you need the light just right, the background noise just so loud but not too loud, the chair just right, the distractions at a minimum?

Or can you open a book at any time and dip right in, whether it’s for twenty seconds, while waiting for the kettle to boil, or indefinitely, like while waiting interminably at the hospital–as long as the book is open in front of your nose, you’re happy to read?"

I am *definitely* the latter. My parents used to laugh because I would walk around the house with my book in front of my nose, reading as I walked down the hall. I was devastated when I had sinus surgery in the summer between my 3rd and 4th grade years and for some reason was never able to read in the car again without getting carsick. To this day, I will keep a book in the van to read in case I get stuck in traffic or have to wait in a drive through line. I read while waiting for things to boil on the stove, while drying my hair, and if I'm on hold on the phone. And I guess it is a good thing...these days, if I were a *Goldilocks Reader*, I probably wouldn't ever get anything read. :)

What about you? Are you a *Goldilocks Reader*? Or a *Have book, will travel* reader?

Show and Tell Friday

Is there anything more exciting than a box full of books?? Last night when I picked up the kids at J's house, she sent home a box of books her children had outgrown. This morning has been like Christmas...the kids have been exclaiming over first one book and then another:
"Oh, wow, look, Mom!"
"Check this out!"
"Oh, I can't wait to read this!" (heard several times from my sometimes reluctant reader :))
*I* can't wait to read them, either...I'm having trouble deciding what to read first. I'm just really glad we had already planned an extra-long reading session this morning!



See what others are excited about today at There's No Place Like Home .