I thought in honor of my sister Holly’s recent bundle of joy and to announce the upcoming arrival of baby #3 for my family I thought I would review Baby on the Way by William Sears, Martha Sears and Christie Watts Kelley. I used this book with my oldest when we were expecting baby #2 and I really liked it. It’s my favorite so far in explaining to children what happens when you get a new sibling. Rather then focus on sibling jealousy, which is often an issue with a new baby, this book focuses on the child being an older brother or sister and what they can do to be part of this experience. From the first page.

When a new baby grows inside your mommy, her isn’t the only thing that is changing and growing. You are growing up – becoming an older brother or sister.

I love telling my children that they are becoming an older brother or sister, my 6 year old just beams. We really like the side boxes entitled What You Can Do and Answers for the Very Curious. The first gives suggestions as to what the new older brother or sister can do such as looking at pictures of when they were a baby, drawing pictures of what the baby might look like and going with mom on some her doctor or midwife visits so they can listen to the heartbeat. The second gives some brief explanations for those children who want more details and it explains things in an age appropriate way.  In addition I think it helps prepare children for the time mom spends away when the baby comes by explaining that it’s hard work so she will need to go to the hospital and you get to go somewhere else or someone will come stay with you.

One of things I appreciate most about this book really helped my first daughter adjust to baby number 2. Of course we did deal with the jealousy issue, but it help to give her an explanation and she felt more involved in the process. I believe it would be a much harder transition for her without this book.

What books have you found helpful to prepare older siblings for a new baby?

This post is part of nonfiction Monday hosted by In Need of Chocolate.

Another favorite picture is of a caterpillar that resembles a snake. We spent several minutes on that page. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a high quality book about such beautiful creatures and butterflies and moths.

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday hosted by Rasco from RIF. Check out some of the other great titles.

Sequel to “The Circuit” (which I haven’t read)

My husband picked out this book for me- and I have to say, I wasn’t exactly attracted to the cover and probably wouldn’t have picked it out for myself, but I’m so glad he picked it, because I really enjoyed reading it. A biographical history of the amazing author of La Mariposa (one of my original reviews), Breaking Through documents the struggles of Fransisco’s family as they are deported and then readmitted to America. The humiliation of being taken out of school by immigration officials and the discomfort of the long journey to the border were palpable.

Jimenez documents his experiences as an immigrant, first illegal and finally legal. Fransisco and his brother face prejudice and hard work with determination. When told that he could easily pass for white, or say he is from Spain and thus escape the difficulties of being treated as a Mexican, Fransisco courageously replies that he is proud to be Mexican and has no reason to hide his heritage. The story reminded me of the stories of many people I met while we lived in Quincy, Washington- a small farming town with a large immigrant-worker population. Jimenez truly broke out of the poverty cycle and has done amazing things for himself, his family, and his friends. Have you ever put off reading a book because of the cover? Thank goodness I can’t resist a good book put right in front of me, because this one is worth the time and effort, even though I don’t like the cover.

We are excited to be hosting this week and for today Cari reviewed Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley by Sally M. Walker. A wonderful book full of adventure and intrigue about the first successful submarine attack and later the recovery of the submarine upon it’s discovery in August of 2009. Lots of appeal for science, history or math buffs! A great read for older children – I used it in my 8th grade U.S. History class. Holly reviewed My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary. A follow-up to A Girl From Yamhill, the first autobiography of Beverly Cleary. Both are great books for middle readers and above who identified with any of Beverly’s many lovable quirky characters- Ramona, Beezus, Henry and Ribsy, etc. I wish I’d had these books for a few English papers I had to do once upon a time.

Nonfiction Monday Links!

Cari at Bookscoops reviewed Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley

Heidi Bee Roemer reviewed Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator at the Wild About Nature blog

Lori Calabrese Writes writes a nonfiction article, “Big Jobs for Little Stamps,” in the May 2009 issue of Stories for Children Magazine

Jennifer from Little Jean Library reviewed Nic Bishop’s Forest Explorer

In Need of Chocolate reviewed  One Small Square: Seashore

Great Kid Books Celebrate! reviewed Connections Among Cultures by Jan Reynolds

Amanda at A Patchwork of Books reviewed Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming by Jan Reynolds

Shirley at Simple Science reviewed A Raft of Science: Puffins

Wendie Old reviewed What to Do About Alice

Roberta Gibson at Wrapped In Foil reviewed Lizards by Mark O’Shea

Book Brew reviewed Something out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium by Carla Killough McClafferty

Hollybookscoops reviewed My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary

Robin Gaphni at http://thebooknosher.blogspot.com posted Planting the Trees of Kenya.

Lynn at Infantbibliophile reviewed Uncover a Dolphin and A Kaleidopops Book: Oceans both books about dolphins.

Charlotte at Charlotte’s Library reviewed Come to the Castle!

I absolutely love this book! Imagine, a secret weapon so new and dangerous that many of the first several people who tried to use it died. Knowing this would you be willing to risk your life for such a weapon? This is what George Dixon did when he led a crew on the Civil War submarine, the H.L. Hunley a submarine of the Confederate States of America to sink a United States ship. Tragically, they never made it home and the submarine was discovered in August of 2000. Sally M. Walker painstakingly interviewed researchers, submarine veterans and combed through thousands of records in creating the book. Beautiful colored photographs and charts of the submarine help reader’s understand the text and help the reader feel like they are on board the submarine. In addition, an extensive glossary of terms and logical explanations of archeological research and its risks and rewards, help the reader learn more about this fascinating piece of history.

Walker accurately depicts the innovation and bravery of the Hunley’s makers and crew using both primary and secondary sources. This excellent book engages readers with a love of science, math, history, archeology and even modern forensics science. When I taught the Civil War I had students read a book from this era that and this was one of the few picture books I would allow my 8th graders to read – it is amazing! I highly recommend it.

What’s the scariest thing you have ever done or what would you be willing to risk your life for? For me I would definitely risk my life to save my family and I might even risk my life to teach reading – if I lived somewhere were it wasn’t allowed – like educating women in some areas of the world. It’s easy for me to say that because I am allowed to read, and teaching reading is not illegal where I live. I like to think that I that passionate about reading and promoting literacy so I hope I would.

This review is part of Nonfiction Monday, which we are hosting! If you would like to participate click on our Nonfiction Monday Post.

Beverly’s life was filled with grueling realities during the depression. Scraping the bottom of the barrel to find enough money to attend college and then, once graduated, trying to find a job, when so few were to be had. The amount of work that she put into college and some of the ridiculous expectations were fun to learn about. In order to graduate from junior college she had to compose an original tap dance. Refusing would have cost her her diploma. Thank goodness we don’t have rules like that anymore!

Beverly is a great inspiration for the things we can accomplish when we pick a path and work hard to get across the finish line. Beverly has done so many amazing things in her life working as a librarian and in book stores and finally in creating wonderful stories that speak to the mischievous little stinkers inside each of us. I enjoyed the pictures sprinkled throughout the book. Beverly Cleary is one of my literary heroes! I highly recommend this for older (as in middle school and above) fans of Cleary’s.

First off the illustrations by Tom Novak are very cute and fun in a cartoon style and my daughter really likes them, which is always a plus. Jan first starts the book off with an explanation of what touching is – when two things come together. She then moves onto feelings – happy, sad, angry, scared and explains that different kinds of feelings help us understand different kinds of touching. I love that she defines good touching with – hugs, kisses, cuddling high fives, etc and what bad touching is kicking hitting, pushing, shoving, etc. I like this because I think using bad touch to teach about sexual abuse is confusing to children. Sex is not bad in of itself, its when an adult or older person sexually abuses a child that makes it bad. She then introduces a third kind of touching – secret touching.

Next she takes some time to explain to kids (and adults) what special parts are by name, using the correct terminology and pointed out to the reader that adults often get those purple faces when we talk about special parts and sometimes people use silly names.

First, while we are growing up. we keep those parts of our bodies very special and private. When we keep things special and private, that means we don’t share them with our friends, our neighbors or…for instance, the people at the supermarket.

and I love this explanation too

Remember, we don’t cover those parts because they are silly or ugly or nasty. We cover them and keep them private because they are special and like no other part of our body.

and particularly this phrase

The second reason that sharing of those parts is such a big deal is that grown-ups need to spend a lot of time thinking about who the special person will be that they decide to share their bodies with.

Jan explains in a very simple way what secrets are and that some are okay and others are not. Secret touching is not okay and

It happens when an older or bigger person touches a child’s special parts and makes it a secret . . . SECRET TOUCHING IS NOT OKAY FOR KIDS because kids have a right to keep those very wonderful parts of their bodies special and private, so that when they grow up and want to share those parts with someone special, it will be a terrific thing.

In addition to all this Jan Hindman goes through exceptions of when it would be okay for a grown-up to touch a child’s special parts – like going to the doctor, bathing and changing a diaper. Those are okay because they are not secrets and because sometimes grown-ups need to make sure you are healthy and a baby needs cleaning after she poops her pants. (And the illustrations here are hilarious Dad changing a diaper with clothespin on his nose, my daughter laughed!) After each of the scenarios for when it would be okay to have someone touch your special parts she asks the kid “is that a touching secret”? And the kid gets to answer by touching a red yes or a green no. My daughter really liked that part because it asked her to touch something, which is what the book is about and I liked it because I could help clarify for her when it would be okay for someone to touch her special parts.

Continuing Jan talks more about secret touching, why it’s wrong and who you could tell if it happens (police, teacher, parent, counselor, etc) and that a child has the right to say “NO” and to tell someone if it does happen.

I highly recommend this A Very Touching Book for kids ages 4-9. Now that said I know of a few friends who would appreciate knowing this about the book 1) there are cartoon illustrations with naked people, which I think they are tastefully done (kids are curious knowing the names of all their parts and what the opposite sex looks like is just part of growing up, it’s usually grown-ups who are uncomfortable with it) 2) we don’t keep this book with all the children books where any kid could read it (really I respect parent’s rights to determine how, when and what they to teach their children about this topic). It’s in a special spot for books like this in my room. We pull it out very few months or so and both my and my husband have read it with her and whenever she asks to look at the book we read it together.  3) There is a scene where a kid gets dirty over at grandpa and grandma’s house so he gets in the shower with grandpa and it’s okay touching because grandpa is helping him to get clean. For me this was not okay as too many abuse situations occur like this so I skip it and other reviewers have said the same thing.

Jan Hindman passed away in September 2007 to learn more about her and her other book There is No Sex Fairy go to the Hindman Foundation. For some other great resources on sexually abuse visit Stop It Now.

*Statistics from FAQ About Child Abuse – Stop It Now

This review is part of Non-Fiction Monday hosted by Anastacia Suen at Picture Book of the Day.

Matthew Henson is one of America’s unsung heroes. Henson is self-educated son of sharecroppers who sets out on his own at the ripe old age of 13!!! He works as a cabin boy and sailor on several ships and travels the world. Eventually, his love for adventure gets him a job with Robert Peary, whose main goal in life was be the first human to reach the North Pole. These two men shared the same passion – to reach the north pole. It took years to accomplish their goal, which was finally achieved on April 6, 1909 just over a hundred years ago.

Without Matthew Henson, Peary would never had made it and you could say the same of Peary. Matthew was very adept at learning the Inuit language and survival techniques, which one more than one occasion saved their lives. Peary was regarded as a hero and awarded prestigious medals, money and a promotion to Rear Admiral in the Navy. Congress even passed  a resolution thanking Peary for his exploration and achievement. Not one of these awards ever mention Matthew Henson because he was African American and most people considered him to Peary’s man servant as opposed to fellow explorer. After Henson’s death, with the help of African American professor Dr. S. Allen Counter, Matthew Henson was later recognized as the co-discoverer of the North pole.

I thought this book was well written and I loved the primary source photographs throughout the book. Lots of great references including a reference to another book for children called Matthew Henson: Co-Discover of the North Pole by Laura Baskes Litwin. I’ll have to check it out. One of my favorite pictures is in the afterword where Matthew Henson at the age of 81 reads to a child from comic book series detailing Henson’s adventure entitled Negro Heroes. I would recommend this book for ages 8 and up and would make an excellent classroom resource on American History and exploration.

“Did you order this for me?!?”

“No, it’s mine, I love mongooses.”

“It’s mine, right, Mom?”

“Is it mine? Is it mine? Is it mine?!?!?!?”

“It’s for all of us. We will all read it together.”

(collective sigh and rolling eyes)

“Oh-kay.”

So, we all read it together and the verdict is in. This is one of their favorite books. Who would have thought that Mongooses would top the list of popular subjects in our house?

Mongoose is not for the squeemish as it shows pictures of scorpions, cobras and other creepy creatures. Many of them in the process of being devoured by Mongooses. There is blood. Lots of dripping, oozing blood. Nasty! No wonder it was such a hit!

Mongooses are amazing creatures who eat a remarkable variety of things from bugs (think Timon on Lion King) to snakes, rats and birds. I was sure within the first few pages that we had hit upon the solution for Cari’s varmint problem. Sadly, Janet informs us that it’s illegal to bring Mongooses to the United States. Sorry, Cari. You’ll just have to get a cat I guess.

Thanks Janet, for some fun bed time reading. It took us a couple of nights to get through because there is so much great information. We’re definitely going to be checking out more Halfmann books!

“You got to understand,” said Connie Johnson, a pitcher in the Negro Leagues and later in the major leagues. “He was like Babe Ruth to us, but he was our Babe Ruth.”

When teams were integrated, in 1947, Satchel was 40 years old and determined to continue playing. Satchel played baseball until retirement at age 59 saying he liked keeping busy and didn’t want to rust. A truly inspiring player, Satchel was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

“Don’t Look back,” he often said. “Something might be gaining on you.”

Our whole family enjoyed the colorful illustrations, and excellent history of Satchel’s amazing career. We are baseball lovers in our home, and as baseball season gets underway, we wanted to pay tribute to this great baseball player who played an integral part in the history of our nation’s top past time. If you have t-ballers or rookies, and even older players, they will enjoy getting a little history lesson disguised as a great story about a great player. I highly recommend this story!