October Traditions: Chick Lit, Songs, Activities

Absolute Favorite Halloween/Fall Book List

It's Fall!, Linda Glaser 0761313427
Ox-Cart Man, Donald Hall 0590422421
The Teeny Tiny Woman, retold by Jane O'Conner 0394883209

Big Pumpkin, Erica Silverman 0590477609

The Headless Horseman, adapted by Natalie Standiford 0679812415

Picking Apples and Pumpkins, Amy and Richard Hutchings 0590484567

Piggie Pie!, Margie Palatini 0395866189

Georgie, Robert Bright 0590421263

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Charles M. Schulz 068984607X

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, Stan and Jan Berenstain 679804625

The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin 0679808477

The Berenstain Bears Go to School 679815295

Squirrels, Brian Wildsmith 0590204408
When Autumn Comes, Robert Maass 0590968254  So many wonderful memories reading this to my three children every autumn!

I've never met a kid (big or little), who didn't love these carols and chants!

Halloween Carols

Great Pumpkin is Coming to Town

(be sure to sing in a shriek, grown, howl, and moan as you sing those words!)

Oh, you better not shriek

You better not groan

You better not howl

You better not moan

Great Pumpkin is coming to town.

He's gonna find out

From folks that he meets

Who deserves tricks

And who deserves treats

Great Pumpkin is coming to town

He'll search in every pumpkin patch

Haunted houses far and near

To see if you've been spreading gloom

Or bringing lots of cheer

Oh, you better not shriek

You better not groan

You better not howl

You better not moan

Great Pumpkin is coming to town.

Deck the Patch

Deck the patch with orange and black

Fa la la la la, la la la la

Take along your goody sack

Fa la la la la, la la la la

Don we now our gay apparel

Fa la la la la, la la la la

Troll the ancient pumpkin carol

Fa la la la la, la la la la

See the Great One rise before us

Fa la la la la, la la la la

As we sing the pumpkin chorus

Fa la la la la, la la la la

Follow him as he ascends

Fa la la la la , la la la la

Join with true Great Pumpkin friends

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

~Finger Plays or Chants~

Five Little Goblins On a Halloween Night 

Five little goblins on a Halloween night

Made a very, very spooky site

The first one danced on his tippy-tip-toes

The next one tumbled and bumped his nose

Then the next one jumped high up in the air 

The next one sang a Halloween song

Five goblins played the whole night long.

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate

(hold up fingers for pumpkins)

The first one said, "Oh my!  It's getting late." 

 The second one said, "There are witches in the air."  

The third one said, "But we don't care."  

The fourth one said, "It's Halloween fun."  

The fifth one said, "Let's run, and run, and run!"  

Then ooooooh went the wind

And out went the lights (clap hands to the word "out")

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (roll arms)

On a Dark, Dark Night 
(Get quieter and quieter, then shout "GHOST!")

On a dark, dark, night

In a dark, dark wood

In a dark, dark house

In a dark, dark room

In a dark, dark cupboard

On a dark, dark shelf

In a dark, dark box

There was a 

GHOST!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin

Pumpkin, pumpkin

Sitting on a wall (have children sit down)

Pumpkin, pumpkin

Tip and fall (have children tip over)

Pumpkin, pumpkin 

Rolling down the street (child rolls on floor)

Pumpkin, pumpkin

Trick or Treat!!!

Three Little Witches 
(sung to "Ten Little Indians," use fingers for numbers)

One little, Two little, Three little witches,

Fly over haystacks, fly over ditches,

Sliding down moonbeams without any hitches,

Hay Ho Halloween's here.

Big-Time Scary Activity!
Because I love her art and especially because autumn is so dear to my heart, one of my all-time favorite books is Susan Branches' Autumn from the Heart of the Home. Here is a hilarious excerpt from this book (that everyone should own!):  

...my favorite fright night took place at a Girl Scout Halloween party when I was about 11.  We were seated in a half-circle out in the garage with a leader at each end & the storyteller facing us in the middle.  There were towels placed in our laps & all the lights were turned off.  Mrs. Johnson (obviously a sick person, just like my dad) began to tell us about a dark and stormy night when a man named John Brown, who lived just up the street, was murdered by an escaped convict.  She did this in a slow, low voice.  "They never found Mr. Brown's body" (she told us in that pitch-dark garage), "only pieces of it buried all over town.  We're going to identify the body tonight and bring it back together so the ghost of Mr. Brown can stop wandering the neighborhood late at night knocking on doors."  (Right then she KNOCK-KNOCKED on a piece of wood!)  "Brrrr," she said, and then she told us, "Here are the remains of John Brown" and began passing his body parts down the line.  "First they found one of his ears" (and in the dark we felt a dried apricot); "And then, his nose" (a cold raw chicken wing); "now here are his brains" (a bowl with wet squishy tomatoes). "They found both eyeballs" (two large, cold peeled grapes) ~THIS IS THE ONE THAT ALMOST DID ME IN, BUT IT GOT WORSE WHEN SHE SAID, "And here's his liver," which was a hunk of raw liver (no bowl) passed down the line.  ...  "They found his hair too" (a piece of wet fur) and "here's his hand" (a latex glove filled w/ice-cold mud) and last but not least, "here are the worms that ate the rest of him" (a bowl of overcooked spaghetti, cut up and dressed with a little veg. oil).  Then she said, "That's all we found...now, repeat after me:  On Halloween night-  the banshee howls-now poor John Brown- is wrapped in towels-  GOODNIGHT, JOHN!"  We jumped out of our socks when they suddenly struck matches to relight he pumpkins, but soon were laughing again and off we went to bob for apples, throats parched from all the SCREAMING!

As October ends, most of the branches are bare.  We see more sky.  ~Gladys Taber

Can You Tell October is My Favorite Month of The Year?

Clove-Studded Fruit

"Aunt Eliza had brought Ma a large red apple stuck full of cloves.  How good it smelled!  And it would not spoil, for so many cloves would keep it sound and sweet."  Little House In The Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House In The Big Woods is my most favorite of the Little House books.  I love the descriptions given of daily pioneer life.  Clove apples are a very simple craft to make with children.  They don't have to make a pattern at all, but some will want to and they smell wonderful!  They also taste very good too (after cloves have been removed).  I found a small bottle of cloves for little more than a dollar at the local store, though they can be quite costly--I had to shop around.  The number of cloves per child can be limited if necessary.  Handi-wipes would be good to have on hand since the fruit is very juicy.

Press the sharp point of each clove into the apple.  Push it in until only the head of the clove shows.  you may need a toothpick to help you get started.  Continue until the whole apple is covered with cloves, (you can limit the amount of cloves if necessary).  To display your apple, place it on a dish or in a bowl out of direct sunlight.  You can also make clove oranges and clove lemons the same way you make clove apples.  These taste great in hot cider!  (instructions from My Little House Party Crafts Book, ISBN 0439060052)

Our family hosted a Library Story Time and we did this fun craft.  To see the lesson plan go to my Christmas Traditions, part 3 post.

Star Spangled Shelf Paper

We used the "Star Spangled Shelf Paper" to edge the table.

I was always impressed with Laura Ingalls Wilder's mama.  No matter how many places that husband of hers drug her out to, she would try to dress it up a little--even a sod house which was normally considered very temporary housing.  In one book, Laura describes her mom making her own shelf edging to make the shelves a little more attractive.  I thought this would make a nice decoration for our dessert table at our Achievement Days Country Fair.  Here's how to do it:
I used packaging paper and taped pieces of paper together as I needed to.  Then you fold the strip of paper into 1/2-inch accordion pleats.  Cut out half a star.  A star cookie cutter or printing off a star from the computer and using it as a pattern by folding it in half would work.  I also gave the according fold a scalloped look so it looked lacy.  Carefully unfold the paper and smooth it out.  Fold the edge with the stars down so that the stars hang down over the edge of the shelf.  Secure the paper on the shelf with pieces of tape if you want to.

Pioneer Rag Dolls

Christen and Elise's Rag Dolls

"But Laura was the happiest of all.  Laura had a rag doll.  She was a beautiful doll.  She had a face of white cloth with black button eyes.  A black pencil had made her eyebrows, and her cheeks and her mouth were red with the ink made from pokeberries.  Her hair was black yarn that had been knit and raveled, so that it was curly.  She had little red flannel stockings and little black cloth gaiters for shoes, and her dress was pretty pink and blue calico."

When we were studying about pioneers in our homeschool, we checked out so many books from the various local libraries.  I found one book (unfortunately I didn't keep the source), that had crafts for kids.  I remember the cover of the book had the cutest plates made from woven bread dough clay colorfully painted with flowers also made from the bread dough clay.  Inside were the instructions to make these dolls.  The girls were able to make the bowls and they did a great job, but I had to help them make the dolls.

I was in the process of taking pictures of their dolls for this post when Elise fondly reminisced how I had let the girls design their own dolls.  They chose the hair color and eye color.  Christen added a shawl from the scrap bag and fastened it with a pin from her Grandma Rosie.  I designed the little dresses myself keeping them very simple with tiny pin tucks at the neck.

My 15 yr. old son saw these dolls yesterday and rudely proclaimed them ugly :(  I said they were of a "primitive design" and were supposed to look like this!  In fact I followed the picture in the book freehand exactly as shown.  I've always thought they were very sweet and similar to Laura's doll, Charlotte, as described in Little House in the Big Woods, Chapter 4.  (I just remembered that my mom made a bunch of these simple rag dolls for a Relief Society fund raiser when I was a little girl)!

Basically, draw a doll figure on packaging paper or freezer paper, then cut out fabric.  (The pattern includes the head and the body, separately).  You stuff the head through the neck opening of the head, and the body through the neck opening of the body.  Once stuffed, sew head and neck together with a whip stitch.  (I used a 1/2 inch seam).  A knitting needle helped to push the stuffing into the arms and legs, etc. (Becoming Martha has a great rag doll tutorial that would work just as well probably!)

I used yarn in the desired color looping it around about a foot-wide piece of cardboard until it was enough to make a wig.  I carefully slipped the yarn off of the cardboard and used the sewing machine to make a seam down the middle of the yarn.  Fabric glue is applied to the head to keep the hair onto the doll's head. I used fabric paints to carefully paint a face (lightly sketch it out in pencil first).

I made the dress slightly bigger than the doll's pattern and sewed it together basically the same as the doll's but leaving the bottom of the dress and sleeves open and hemming neck, arms, and sleeves.  Even for a novice sewer like me, it was fairly quick and easy and the girls and I were happy with the results since they looked very much like the picture in the book.

Pioneer Chick Lit

Here are my favorite pioneer books:

Little House Series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder ISBN 0590488146
My Little House Crafts Book, ISBN 0439059585
Kirsten, An American Girl: 1854, ISBN 0937295760
Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan ISBN 0618062416
Pioneer Days, by David C. King ISBN 0439259398

This one isn't exactly about pioneers, but describes in an entertaining way what life at the turn-of-the-century was like and has become a favorite of mine.  I especially like the recipes at the end of the book.
Memory of a Large Christmas, Lillian Smith ISBN 0393000389

Children's Pioneer Recipes

A simple Pioneer Day celebration involving children and families, could revolve around pioneer stories and pioneer recipes prepared for tasting. While people are sharing pioneer stories, the children could pass around a jar of cream and shake it. Butter could be made ahead to insure that there would be enough ready to spread on whole wheat bread (or saltine crackers).

Some people disliked the job of churning so much that they invented a dog-driven churn! An ideal way to show children how long and hard adults and children had to work to make butter in the olden days would be to demonstrate an actual butter churn. A good description of churning butter is found in Chapter Two of Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

Baby food jars could be used for each child to churn their own butter. Fill each jar 2/3 full of refrigerated heavy cream (not light or half-and-half...it must be heavy!). Fasten jars securely. Shake up and down vigorously. While shaking, or churning, sit in a circle and talk about where the cream came from, and how in the olden days cream would rise to the top of a bottle of milk.

To pass the time while churning, children often used to recite this traditional chant: "Come, butter, come! Come, butter, come! (Peter) standing at the gate. Waiting for a butter cake...Come, butter, come!" Go around the circle, give each child a turn to substitute his or her name in the chant.

After about 10 minutes of shaking, the children will notice a change--no more sounds of sloshing cream inside the jar! At this point, what they have made is whipped cream! Encourage them to keep shaking...in just another minute or two, a round ball, surrounded by liquid, will begin to form inside the jar. This round ball is the butter, and the liquid is buttermilk.

Children should then drain off the water into a cup--some adventurous children may enjoy drinking the rich buttermilk. If you find you have more cream than you need for each child's butter jar, use the extra to fill a larger jar 2/3 full, and proceed as above, but stop the process when you reach the whipped cream stage. Serve with fresh berries and a bit of sugar.
"The Olden Days" ("Science World," November 5, 1993)

Homemade Butter

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon sour cream

pinch of salt, optional

Put both creams into a jar with a tight-fitting lid; shake vigorously.  After a lump of butter forms (about 15 minutes), pour off the remaining liquid (whey).  Place the butter on a plate and press it gently with a spoon to remove the remaining liquid.  If desired, sprinkle with salt.

Navoo Ginger Cookies

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup water

1 egg

3-1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, oil, and water.  Beat in the egg.  In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  Add the dry mixture in three parts to the wet mixture, stirring well after each addition.  Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and place them on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.

Johnnycake

(A favorite dish of the Prophet Joseph Smith)

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon molasses

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.  Blend this mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing just enough to combine.  Put the batter into a greased 8 inch square pan.  Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Serve hot with Homemade Butter.

Old-fashioned Pickles

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 large cucumber

1 cup vinegar

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of pepper

Put the onion slices into a one-quart glass jar that has a lid.  With a fork, scrape down the length of the cucumber; repeat, going all around it.  Slice the cucumber and add it to the jar.  Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl, then pour into the jar.  Cover the jar and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.  

"Kitchen Krafts," Friend, July 1993

Book Review: Sarah, Plain and Tall

ISBN 0618062416

At the height of homeschooling where all three were being taught in our home by me, I became very passionate that all of my associations with children, whether homeschool, Girl Scouts or children's church activities be given my best efforts.  In this environment, it was really easy to take each activity and plan it as carefully as I would a homeschool lesson. 

Many would probably feel that doing a book review with 16, 8-11 year old girls as a weekly church activity would be going above and beyond.  However, I was familiar with a really good resource (listed below) that I was using with my older children to study Newbery Award winning books (I'm picky about these because some are just down-right depressing!)  This made planning a series of book-review activities relatively painless.  Not all the girls were on board, however, since reading was involved.  This book could be read in one sitting by an 11 yr. old.  The younger girls and their moms were more receptive!  

We actually did the above pictured chapter review and I think we watched the movie.  The book was covered over 3-4 weeks.  You may not be able to do all the activities in a weekly environment--I chose the ones that would fit our group of girls the best.  But homeschoolers and teachers of this age-group might want to try all of the activities.  I also highly recommend the Kirsten series and teacher's guide.  My younger daughter and I really enjoyed doing these activities together.

Kirsten 1854 Teacher's Guide to Six Books About Pioneer America, Peg Hall 1562472364

Teaching With Favorite Newbery Books, Lori Licciardo-Musso ISBN 0590019759

CopyCat Magazine Little House Unit

Little House Dioramas made from grocery paper sacks.

This was probably the most enjoyable and  memorable unit of study my children and I did while homeschooling.  History is probably my favorite subject, especially American History.  I was overjoyed when I found this Jan/Feb 96 CopyCat Magazine unit on the Little House series because I loved to watch the show in the 1970s as a little girl and read the books that my grandmother would buy me each birthday.  I couldn't wait to share these books with my children and read them all over again together.  In celebration of Pioneer Day this month (July 24th), I'm sharing this CopyCat unit here and at my regular blog for CopyCat fans (http://homemakersjournal.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/copycat-little-house-adventure/)!

Sod house replica made a few yrs. later.

Pioneer Day Toy

I kick off my month-long celebration of Pioneer Day (July 24th) by sharing a boredom-buster fun activity for children.  It's a thaumotrope--thauma, a Greek word meaning wonder or miracle.  Thaumotrope toys predated television and radio and though it was generally a simple toy, it could provide much entertainment.  This toy reminds me of an art lesson that is commonly used with children where a drawing is given "life" through the appearance of motion.  This would be a good beginner art lesson (not to mention science) as well as a fascinating Pioneer Day toy for boys and girls to play with.  This comes from a favorite homeschool or teacher resource:  Pioneer Days, by David C. King (ISBN 0439259398)

Native American Culture Activities for Kids

Any time I can include food in teaching I try to do it--so here's my attempt.  This is so wonderful to eat. When I lived out west (Colorado and Utah) they served something similar to this (a yeast bread) and called it scones.  It was served with honey butter.

Fry Bread
Vegetable oil for frying
1 c. self-rising flour
1/2 c. hot water
In a heavy skillet, heat about 1/2-inch vegetable oil over medium-high heat.  In a medium bowl, combine flour and hot water.  Blend well.  (Mixture will be sticky.)  Turn out on a lightly floured surface.  Turn once to coat with flour.  Knead dough until smooth, about 10 turns.  Roll out to about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut into squares.  Stretch each square slightly.  Fry to light golden brown on one side.  Turn and brown on other side. Makes 6 to 8 fry breads.

Two Favorites from My Library:
The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush (0590447068), retold and illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Indian Legends Unit
Legend of the Indian Paintbrush Lesson
About the Book

The First Dog (0590994433), written and illustrated by Jan Brett
Book-Related Activities
Teaching with Jan Brett Books

The shown badge (top) was left over from a Girl Scout Activity Day long-since over when I became the troop leader.  I decided to do a Native American homeschool unit with my three children to use up the leftover badges.  We often went to the Kolomoki Mounds State Park in nearby Blakely, Georgia so our interest in Native American history was already peaked.

They have camping facilities, but we mostly liked to go to their museum which featured an open mound.  My kids liked it so much they made their own replica of the inside of an Native American mound.

One of the activities for our badge was to make a Native American musical instrument.  So we made drums and drew "Indian-like" drawings on them.

The kids enjoyed making tepees--instructions are included in the unit below.

Go to http://homemakersjournal.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/native-american-culture-activities-for-kids/ to find the appendix to this unit.

Chick Lit for July

I love anything of Jan Brett's, but Comet's Nine Lives (ISBN 0590109723) definitely evokes a summer vacation feel--plus I love cats!
Comet Coloring Page
Nautical Flags
Summer Bookmarks
Sailor's Bracelet

Sending your little critters off to Scout camp this summer?  Prepare them by reading:
Little Critter at Scout Camp (0307126293) by Mercer Mayer, and The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest by Stan and Jan Berenstain (0394805658)

For something patriotic, Across America, I Love You (0439235901), by Christine Loomis and beautifully illustrated by Kate Kiesler is a panoramic view of our beautiful country.

Homeschoolers (and other conscientious parents) might include the following books by Jean Fritz for kid-friendly historical accounts of our country's founding fathers:

Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? 0590412000
Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? 0590412027
Where was Patrick Henry On the 29th of May? (my ancestor!) 059041206X
What's the Big Idea Ben Franklin? 0590412051
Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? 0590412035
(Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman)

My favorite Values-Based books are by Stan and Jan Berenstain:
The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed (0394873319), Get in a Fight (0394851323), The Golden Rule (0310712475), and my favorite--Forget Their Manners (679860347).


Go to my post, Chick Lit, for more books to read to and with children.

Chick Lit

I live in gratitude to my parents for initiating me--and as early as I begged for it, without keeping me waiting--into knowledge of the word, into reading and spelling, by way of the alphabet.  They taught it to me at home in time for me to begin to read before starting school.  My love for the alphabet, which endures, grew out of reciting it but, before that, out of seeing the letters on the page.  In my own story books, before I could read them for myself I fell in love with various winding, enchanted-looking initials drawn by Walter Crane at the head of fairy tales.  In "Once upon a time," an "o" had a rabbit running it as a treadmill, his feet upon flowers.  When the day came years later for me to see the Book of Kells, all the wizardry of letter, initial, and word swept over me a thousand times, and the illumination, the gold, seemed a part of the world's beauty and holiness that had been there from the start.  ~Eudora Welty

Summertime is a great time to go to the Library and join their reading program.  If you aren't going to read with your kids now, when are you?  Make it fun--and buy the books you really love to start your own home library.  Be sure to teach children the proper way to treat and store books.  Click here for wonderful summer "Family Reading Activities" ideas from the Friend, May 2005 31.  
Listed are books that YOU read to your child!!!  They are a small list of our family's home library.  Learn to read to your children--it will improve your own reading skills, (just ask my husband who read nightly to our children: Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Charlotte's Webb, The Secret Garden, etc. and the kids' favorite story books).  Be sure to read a book before you read to the kids so you are familiar enough to use funny voices, etc.  The ISBN number is given after the book and author so that they can easily be found online or at bookstores.  I recommend Goodreads.
Summer Fun Ideas:   Late-night Reading Bookworms and night owls unite in this special literary treat.  Give your kids a flashlight and let them stay awake later than usual to read in the dark.  They'll start looking forward to bedtime, plus they'll get in some extra reading time.  Try ten minutes on weeknights and longer (or unlimited) time on Fridays.
Starting a Personal Library Scour yard sales and used-book sales and find about 50 books, then buy a date stamp and ink pad (washable), and purchase book pockets and book cards (the local teacher's store sells them individually or by the packet). Children will spend hours checking out books and hosting story time at the new "neighborhood library." 
A list of My Collection of Children's Literature to Read to a Child includes:
Preschool First books to read to little ones because they are repetitive and help your child predict what is next which helps them learn to read:

• Big Red Barn, Margaret Wise Brown 0694006246
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle (Caldecott Award) 0805017445
• The Very Busy Spider, Eric Carle 0590937111
• The Napping House, Audrey Wood/Don Wood 0152014179
• The Caterpiller and the Polliwog, Jack Kent 9780671662813
• Pig Pig Gets a Job, David McPhail 0525446192
• Frederick, Leo Lionni (Caldecott Award) 0394810406
• The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown 0064430189
• Goodnight Moon, 0064430170
• Leo the Late Bloomer, Robert Kraus 0590622706

Early Childhood

• One-Minute Bedtime Stories, by Shari Lewis 0385152922
• The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider Fingerplays and Action Rhymes, Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson 0688108059 Great for teachers of young children--especially nursery
• Hedgie's Surprise, Jan Brett 0439224098
• Gingerbread Baby 0439137454
• Town Mouse, Country Mouse 059022297X
• Chrysanthemum, Kevin Henkes 0688147321
• Chester's Way 0590440179
• Julius, the Baby of the World 0590108964
• Shelia Rae, the Brave 059046406X
• Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak 0060254920
• George Shrinks, William Joyce 059045031X
• Imogene's Antlers, David Small 0590420267
• Hooway for Wodney Wat, Helen Lester 061821612X
• Hazel's Amazing Mother, Rosemary Wells 0590234005
• Five Minutes' Peace, Jill Murphy 0590443895
• Just Go To Bed, Mercer Mayer 0307119408 BEST BOOK EVER!  Love Little Critter
• Just Me and My Dad 3350081839
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter 051705079X
• The Tale of Benjamin Bunny 0517050803
• The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck 0517050773
• Bread and Jam for Francis, by Russell Hoban, illust. by Lillian Hoban 0590478435
• A Baby Sister for Frances 0590478451
• A Birthday for Frances 0590486918
• Best Friends for Frances 059047846X
• Frog and Toad Are Friends, Arnold Lobel, 0590045296
• Frog and Toad All Year 0590312073
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst 0590421441
• Miss Nelson is Missing, James Marshall 0590118773
• Red Riding Hood 0590449915
• The Bremen Town Musicians, Hans Wilhelm 0590447963
• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, by A. Wolf, as told to Jon Scieszka 0590443577

Primary Grades

• Little House series, Laura Ingalls Wilder (winner of five Newbery Awards)
• Little House Theater Kit, Douglas Love 0439132320
• The World of Little House, Carolyn Strom Collins and Christina Wyss Eriksson 059022798X
• The Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook, Eugenia Garson 0439048842
• Memory of a Large Christmas, Lillian Smith 0393000389
• The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg 0590998099 (Caldecott Award)
• Jumanji 0395304482
• The Widow's Broom 0590475436
• The Story of The Walnut Tree, by Don H. Staheli (about Pres. Hinkley) This is on the Friend Link above
• Sarah Morton's Day, A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, Kate Waters 0590474006
• Molly's Craft Book, The American Girls Collection 156247118X
• Molly's Cook Book 1562471171
• Samantha's Cook Book 1562471147
• The American Girls Party Book 1562476777

Intermediate Grades

• Laura's Album (my personal favorite), William Anderson 0439062977
• The Time Machine, H.G. Wells 0816728739
• The Wind in the Willows, Home Sweet Home, Kenneth Grahame 1562933647
• D'Aulaires' Greek Myths, 0440406943
• Swan Lake, Margot Fonteyn (Parents' Choice Honors) 0152006001

Anthologies

• The Hutchinson Treasury of Children's Literature, Alison Sage 0091761441
• Favorite Poems for Children, Holly Pell McConnaughy 156619055X

Other Homemaker's Journal Posts with Book Lists

• Easter
• Summer and Patriotic
• Autumn and Thanksgiving
• Winter and Christmas

Take The Pledge

“The Library of Congress has 27,000,000 volumes.  If you were to read a book a week for 70 years, that would be roughly 3,500 books.  What does that tell you?  Don’t waste any time reading the wrong things, watching the wrong shows, visiting the wrong websites…there’s just not time for that.”  ~Joe J. Christensen  
Would you be interesting?  Read.  Would you know the best thoughts of the greatest people?  Read.  Would you know the earth and its peoples?  Read.  Would you know the gospel of Jesus Christ?  Read.  And with all your reading follow the advice of the wise Abbe Diment who said that we mustn't be content with reading good books; life is too short; we must read only the best.  ~Marba C. Josephson