Comments (1)

By Mom Unplugged, October 18, 2007 8:57 pm

I was astonished to discover that this book was first published in 1906. The language (translated from the original German), although formal, does not feel 100 years-old!

This simple story follows mother nature and “the root-children,” tiny flower fairy-like tots, as they prepare for spring. We then watch the children dance and play all summer long until the cold fall winds send them back down under the earth for their winter’s sleep.

Younger children will enjoy the lovely art-nouveau illustrations while older ones will want to hear the peaceful story over and over. My 5 and 7 year-old frequently ask for this book!

Waldorf families will appreciate the “cycle of nature” theme.

Comments (4)

By Mom Unplugged, June 21, 2007 6:59 am

I am always on the look-out for good books of activities that I don’t have time to do with my kids. One day…when the baby is a little older…not that I am wishing her precious babyhood away! But, I digress.

I stumbled upon this one at Amazon and I really like it! It is Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children by Carol Petrash. Here is a quote from the back cover: “This book is “filled with hands-on nature crafts and seasonal activities to enhance environmental awareness. The activities are carefully written and beautifully illustrated. Children play with the elements of earth, air, and water. They develop a respect for nature, for the earth and for all living creatures. they experience the awe and wonder of the world around them.”

While this may be quite an ambitious description of the book, I can tell you from a Mom’s (rather than a publisher’s) perspective, that it is a really cool book. Will it instantly turn my children into little green protectors of Mother Earth? Maybe not. But I do firmly believe that the more children learn about nature, the more respect they will have for it. Teaching children early on to appreciate the beauty of life and nature can only help the planet in the long run.

One of the things I really like about this book, and what sets it apart from other similar books that I have seen, is that the chapters are organized by season. Plus, each season has subsections: The Whole Earth Home and Classroom, Bringing Nature In: The Season’s Garden, Bringing Nature In: Seasonal Crafts, and Supplying the Missing Links. This makes it easy to find projects that are seasonally appropriate.

The “Supplying the Missing Links” idea is another feature which sets this book apart from other “nature crafts” books. The introduction describes this as providing “activities that will allow the children to connect a product which they often use and usually purchase in a store with the source and process from which it comes. The aim is that they will then have a subtle understanding of their strong connections with and dependence on the Earth and an experience of making things for themselves.”

I love this concept! My children are always asking me where things come from, and these projects can actually teach them a little bit about some of it. One of the more ambitious projects in this category is: “From Wheat to Bread” (no, Mom doesn’t go to Safeway for a bag of flour, the kids thresh and grind wheat themselves, then bake their homemade flour into bread).

Wow! I thought I was being “crunchy-frontier-mom” when I, on very rare occasion, bake bread from scratch without my machine. Now the bar is raised! If we do this experiment (not that wheat on the stalk will be easy to come by where I live - especially for a non A-lister like me), will the kids expect me to make my own flour every time I feel domestic enough to make bread? Hmm…could be a dangerous precedent to set, but cool idea nonetheless!

There is a similar project with Indian Corn (we can probably get that here): string necklaces of corn kernels, grind the corn and make corn bread, use the husks to make corn husk dolls, then grate the cobs to make a corn cob powder for play cooking. How about learning about wool, apples, pumpkins, and butter?

If you don’t have the time or ambition to make your own flour, then you will be happy to find other, more manageable projects here too. Some examples: FALL - leaf banners, leaf crowns, nature’s people, lanterns. WINTER - pine cone bird feeders, tissue paper transparencies, finger knitting, yarn dolls. SPRING - wind wands, pinwheels, kites, dish gardens, pressed flower cards. SUMMER - shooting star streamer balls, walnut boats, butterfly crowns, parachute people, paper birds.

I really love this book. Anyone who wants to unplug their children and tune them into nature needs this book. I know that any Waldorf or homeschooling family would love it too. Please check it out, I think you will be pleased!

Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, June 5, 2007 8:31 pm

Jamichael Henterly’s sweet illustrations in this book are so lovely and detailed, you could spend quite a time studying them! The rhyming text is minimal but very pretty (Rose Fyleman wrote it in 1918!).

This is a simple book that teaches children the value of kindness. The fairy goes to the market four times. Each time she buys an animal, which she enjoys for a while then sets free; or once a lovely “winter gown” which she enjoys for a while then gives to a cold frog. The final illustration depicts the fairy surrounded by the four animals that she helped / set free.

I just stumbled upon this by accident at Amazon while searching for a fourth book for a 4-for-3 promotion order. It was a lovely find!

Comments (0)

By Mom Unplugged, May 16, 2007 2:04 pm

I have just started straightening out my garden, so this seems an appropriate book to feature today.

This is a simple book about the “life-cycle” of a vegetable garden. We follow a family and their garden through the seasons beginning with their eager springtime anticipation of the last frost, and ending with fall canning and the wait for next year’s garden. There is a certain comfort in this book as we follow the rhythm of the seasons, knowing that next year all will be the same.

The illustrations appear to be in colored pencil and are a nice complement to the simple happenings in the garden.

Comments (0)

By Mom Unplugged, May 2, 2007 3:06 pm

I believe that this is originally a Dutch story. The Apple Cake tells the tale of an old woman who, wishing to make an apple cake, sets off to the market with a basket of plums in the hopes of trading them for some apples.

The narrative follows the woman and her encounters on the way to the market. The kind lady trades her plums, and eventually other items, in order to help people she meets along the way. Of course, just when you think she will never get her apples, she makes a final trade for some apples!

Would she have gotten the apples if she had not been so kind to strangers? What would have happened to the strangers and their predicaments if the woman had not gone to the market that day?

Children learn the importance of kindness and generosity, as well as the power of positive karma! The story is a bit convoluted for really little children, but ages three or four and up should enjoy it immensely. I also love the pretty pastel illustrations. There is even a recipe on the back for a delicious-sounding apple cake. A “Kids Cook Night” idea perhaps?