scrounge: /skrounj/ informal verb: to actively seek [books] from any available source
My children found The Mousehole Cat at the library, and I ended up enjoying it more than I expected to. It is a bit too wordy for toddlers, but tells a charming story of a cat named Mowzer who inhabits a small fishing village in England.
Mowzer's "pet," a fisherman named Tom, feeds her all kinds of fish dishes throughout the week, and takes good care of her. But one day, a storm has raged for so long that the village has been without fish and is in desperate need of food, and Tom decides he must go out in his boat and brave The Great Storm-Cat.
The entire story is written from the perspective of Mowzer, who sees the wind as a giant cat paw swiping at the entrance to their harbor. She goes out with Tom in hopes of helping him to calm this powerful cat.
While I had a bit of trouble pronouncing all the names of the different fish dishes, we enjoyed this sweet story, and certainly any cat lover would as well.
Scrounged From: Our local library
Format: Paperback
Author: Antonia Barber
Illustrator: Nicola Bayley
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: None
Wolf Story was originally published in 1947, but feels timeless in its portrayal of a five-year-old boy named Michael who is always asking his father to tell him a story. That story -- about a hungry wolf named Waldo who is after a many-colored hen named Rainbow -- takes on a life of its own and becomes a "story within a story" as bits and pieces of it are told before bedtimes and on road trips by Michael's father.
Michael is reminiscent of many five-year-olds in that he wants to have input into the story, and doesn't want to let his father get away with ending it too soon. Michael's father is patient and creative, with an occasional sarcastic streak.
I wouldn't have minded if the story of Waldo the wolf had gone on a bit longer, but as the ending shows, the best stories never really end. This book is a great length for young children who are just getting old enough for chapter books, but older children would probably enjoy it just as well.
Scrounged From: Amazon
Format: Hardcover
Author: William McCleery
Illustrator: Warren Chappell
Pages: 82
Content Advisory: One swear word, and a bit of cartoonish violence including bats and guns (no death).
The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature has been a very enjoyable and informative read for us. Our four-year-old has asked to read it many times now, after we read it for pre-K.
This book is actually three "books" combined. The first section is the Almanac, which introduces children to the concept of a "year," and all the different changes that take place over the course of it, from major holidays such as New Year's, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving, to seasons and the way the weather changes in each one, and explanations of major weather events like thunderstorms, wind, and snow.
The second section is the Nature Guide. This gives an overview of all the different kinds of life on our planet, as well as non-living things like rocks and other geographical features. From fish to mammals to plants and insects, the bears (with Papa as tour guide) experience a little bit of just about everything!
The last section is the Science Fair, which I found to be a bit more detailed than the others, but still just as fun. We learn about simple machines, matter (including the three states of solid, liquid, and gas), and energy. Included are a few easy science experiments that children and adults can do at home to help demonstrate some of these ideas.
Even though it's instructive, the book manages to rhyme well in each section, which adds to the fun of reading.
Scrounged From: Amazon (used)
Format: Paperback
Authors/Illustrators: Stan and Jan Berenstain
Pages: 192
Content Advisory: None
Book Scrounger's note: The following is a guest review by Doug, a.k.a. Professor Puzzler.
The Story of Ruby Bridges is a children's book which tells the story of the desegregation of William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. The story focuses primarily on Ruby's bravery, her faith, and her desire to find forgiveness for the mobs of angry people who wanted to stop her from attending the school.
Speaking of the mobs, author Robert Coles does an excellent job of describing the troubles that Ruby faced, at an age-appropriate level for a children's book. He speaks of angry mobs, and shouting, and protest signs, and of people wanting to hurt Ruby, but avoids discussing any of the specifics of the threats she faced. I liked this choice on the author's part, as it gives parents the freedom to discuss the more vicious aspects of the story when they feel it is most appropriate for their own children.
Robert Coles was probably best suited of anyone to write this book, as he was the child psychiatrist who met weekly with Ruby during her first year at Frantz Elementary. His work with Ruby led him, eventually, to write a book titled Children of Crisis: A Study of Courage and Fear, which he eventually developed into a series of books that won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.
Of course, any children's book is dependent not just on the author, but also on the illustrator; an illustrator can make or break a book. In this case, George Ford is an integral part of making this book a success. The illustrations are beautiful, with great use of light, shadow and coloration to draw attention to the focus of the book -- Ruby herself. Whether she is sitting alone in a classroom, with her family at church, or dwarfed by an angry mob and the marshals protecting her, it is always Ruby that captures your eye.
Scrounged From: Our local library
Format: Hardcover
Author: Robert Coles
Illustrator: George Ford
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: Thematic elements, as described above.
The Usborne Book of Living Long Ago is one of my favorite Usborne books from my childhood. Well, we actually had it as individual books, and we didn't have the fourth section, so I was even more excited to see a version where they're all together. I don't know whether this was ever used in my schooling or not -- it probably was, but what I remember most is finding it/them on the bookshelf as an older child and going back to it over and over again, looking at all the interesting tidbits.
In typical Usborne illustrations (lots of detail and explanations), we get to explore history through the lens of four basic issues that everyone has had to find solutions for throughout time (and very different ones, as we see): food, clothes, houses, and transportation. Each section is presented chronologically, from the earliest known people groups, to Egyptians, and Roman, Medieval, and Victorian times, among others, ending with (almost) modern day. It was always fun to compare and contrast the different time periods and find the same time period in each book to get a fuller picture of what life was like.
Scrounged From: HomeschoolClassifieds.com (Sonlight Core A)
Format: Paperback
Authors: Felicity Brooks and Helen Edom
Illustrators: Teri Smith
Pages: 96
Content Advisory: None
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