The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a story about secrets. David Henry, a doctor, delivers his own twins in a snowstorm. One of them is neurotypical, the other has Down Syndrome. He makes a split second decision to give his daughter to the nurse and have her take her to an institution. Caroline Gill, the nurse, cannot part with the baby and moves away to raise her as her own.

I enjoyed this book, and appreciated the author's style and her way with description. I think she developed the characters well and I sympathized with all of them. This story carried with it a melancholy feeling that was difficult to shake off after I'd put the book down - similar for me to books like She's Come Undone and The Lovely Bones, almost downright depressing. It was well written and centered around an interesting premise, but overrun with sadness.


View all my reviews.

Once Upon a Potty -- Girl by Alona Frankel

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
We got this book, along with a potty chair, for Christmas. It is a delightful little story about a girl who learns to use a potty, and our daughter enjoys listening to it. I would highly recommend it - and there is also a boy's version!


View all my reviews.

Santa came to our house!

Bree didn't quite understand the whole Santa Claus thing yet, but she sure was excited to come down the stairs and find a wagon full of gifts!

soccer star?

Small, but mighty. That's our Bree. So when we heard about a local soccer club with classes starting for kids ages 18-24 months, we decided to check it out. L'il Kickers is just down the road from her daycare, and the 5:30pm class works great. We especially like it this time of year because it is too cold to take her to the park, and this way she gets to run around and burn off some of her excess energy!

My favorite thing about soccer is that it is teaching her to listen to directions in a group setting. The coaches are young and energetic. Her favorite part of the hour are the bubbles and the parachute time. She doesn't do too bad kicking the ball, either! We've been to three classes, and she participates more and more. The coaches told us that if she isn't interested in something or walks away from the group to let her be until she decides to come back for the activity. Low-key, I like that. We'll start up again in January!

haiku

Teachers know about Jack Prelutsky. He's a poet and we know it. Most of his books are humorous, similar to Shel Silverstein, and are a lot of fun to read to a class. I have a new favorite book of his called If Not For the Cat, recommended by my amazing library friend Jonie.


This book is full of haikus about animals, which are cleverly written as riddles. The kids and I have fun reading them and guessing what animal the poem is about. Here's one:

If not for the cat
and the scarcity of cheese
I could be content.

What is it? A mouse of course! I challenged my students to write some of their own. The first time I taught Haiku writing to second graders I thought, "Oh they'll be short and therefore easy." Boy was I wrong. Trying to get the right amount of syllables is tricky. Here is a sample - see if you can guess the animals.

1. We are black and white
males warm the eggs on their feet
fish are what we eat

2. Most of us are pets
when we are happy we purr
pupils are not round

3. I hatch from an egg
that is buried in the sand
I could be a pet

And here's one of mine:

Tall and blonde am I
towering above the plains
with an agile tongue

Want to try?

send a holiday e-card for a great cause

I'm a fan of Robeez - children's shoes that are super cute and functional, albeit a little expensive. Recently I received an e-mail from the company offering to donate $250,000 worth of footwear to children in need this holiday season. They are donating $5 for each card you send, and $25 if you share it on your blog. Check it out by clicking here.

another reason to love my school

When I left for work this morning it was snowing lightly. Flakes continued to fall throughout the day, and all district employees got an e-mail from our superintendent stating that the district was not going to close early but that once the kids were dismissed, we were to leave as well. Not a big deal, it really didn't seem to be that bad out, but I took his advice and walked out the front door a little after 4pm.

When I did, I saw a kindergarten teacher scraping the ice off of my windshield.

"What are you, the windshield fairy?" I asked. She laughed and said she wasn't sure if we all had good scrapers or not, and since hers was good, she wanted to help out. (She did have a huge fancy scraper.) She did my front and back windows and moved on to another car across the way. Seconds later, I was climbing into my car when our crossing guard also came by with his scraper. He said he was already cold, so he set to work on all of my side windows! Turns out he had been doing other cars in the lot, too.

I love my school!

breaking dawn

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sigh - I finished this book last night and now have to find something else to read. Something about these books makes for a perfect escape. It is so easy to get lost in Meyer's world and forget about whatever else is on your mind.


View all my reviews.