Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Book Reviews from Master The Art of Reading participants Skin by Ted Dekker: If you like to read unpredictable mysteries, this book is for you. It's a bit on the bizarre side, but a good read. Whatever it takes by Richard and Rebecca DuFour: This book analyzes for award-winning schools to determine solutions to the problem: "What do you do with kids who aren't learning?" Easy read. REader is able to pick up strategies to use inthe classroom. Ideas are repeated from time to time. Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan: Very disturbing but interesting. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: It's difficult to believe that this novel is just a work of fiction, not a true story. From beginning to end I was captivated and transported to the world of a young girl on an extraordinary journey to become one of the Geisha in Japanese history. E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton: E is for Evidence keeps pace with the rest of Sue Grafton's alphabet mystseries and heroine Kinsey Milhone does not disappoint, and always gets to the bottom of the mystery for better (and in most cases) for worse. 3:26:01 PM     Summer Reading for Kids Even though it's summertime and school is out, that doesn't mean that all learning has to come to a halt. I'm a believer in summer vacation as a time to have loads of fun, loaf around a bit, and get into some unstructured learning. We grownups tend to overlook it, but all sorts of interesting things are growing and crawling around the yard to explore. Summer is also a great time to read. I'm not talking about textbooks (unless you're into that kind of thing). Reading with your little kids and encouraging the big ones to read, opens whole new worlds of imagination and discovery. We read to our kids every day, and this summer my 8-year-old reads to me every day. We also participate in summer reading activities at our local library - I bet your library has programs too. Even though she's a good reader, I still read to my 8-year-old at bed time when she's sleepy. Now we're reading Shel Silverstein's "Falling Up." Shel Silverstein is one of my favorite authors. I think his books are a fun and imaginative way to introduce kids to poetry...and I love to read them too. What are your favorites? What do your kids love to read? Maybe your kid is ready to work on writing and illustrating his/her own book. Why not? Maybe you've got a great author living under your own roof. - Joanne [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 3:13:25 PM

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