The RAHK Report for 1/21/18

The Read-at-Home Kids Report is my weekly round-up of the books my kids are reading. Here's what Miss Muffet (age 4), Bo Peep (age 2) and Jumping Joan (3 months) have enjoyed this past week!

• The Wonderful Farm by Marcel Ayme, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
  We read the second chapter this week, which involves a wily fox who leads the farm's chickens, as well as Delphine and Marinette, to fall for a series of lies that land them in a lot of trouble. After finishing the chapter,we talked about how the fox pretended to be friendly even though he wasn't really. We don't talk a lot about "stranger danger" in our family, but I did take the opportunity to reinforce what we do teach, which is that you can talk to people you don't know, but you must never go anywhere with them, even if they come across as very friendly. (Though it was not planned, I think this was way more effective than just reading a book about safety.) Miss Muffet also made the connection that the fox reminded her of the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve. Then she took out her fox mask and sat down and read One Fine Day.  This coming week, we'll be reading Chapter 3, The Mean Gander. 
• Peter and the Wolf illustrated by Erna Voigt
  After the success of sharing Amahl and the Night Visitors with Miss Muffet, I decided to also introduce Peter and the Wolf. I found an album (on YouTube) which had the music but no narration, and then we alternated reading pages in the book and listening to the music. It was a little hard to tell when to stop and start the music, especially once the plot really gets going, but the music for each character's main theme is printed in the book so that helped somewhat. When we finished the book, we watched the Disney cartoon (it was not as good as I remembered at all) and then listened to the David Bowie version, which he narrates accompanied by the Philadelphia Orchestra. 
• Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley, illustrated by Helen Stone
  We had a mild snowfall this week, so when I was looking for a science book to read with Miss Muffet, I decided to use this one since it was timely. After we read the book, I brought in what little snow I could scoop up from outside our garage door, and she played with it in a bowl and looked at it through a magnifying glass. The biggest lesson Miss Muffet took away from the book is that "snow is good for people."
• Eclipse: Darkness in Daytime by Franklyn M. Branley, illustrated by Donald Crews
  My husband brought this home from the library, and I was excited to find a Donald Crews book I'd never seen. Miss Muffet liked the fact that the text refers specifically to the August 21, 2017 eclipse which was 40 years away at the time of the book's publication, and she also liked using a penny as the book suggests to mimic an eclipse by covering something in the distance with the coin.
• D'Aulaires' Book of Greek MythsMy husband is reading this with Miss Muffet. She is enjoying the stories but she keeps reminding me that "Really, there is only one God."
• The Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook by Eugenia Garson
  Miss Muffet is still reading Little House on the Prairie, and this week, she read the scene which mentions the song "Old Dan Tucker." Though Bo Peep is not reading Little House, she latched right onto the song along with her sister and now they can frequently be heard giving a rousing rendition of the chorus, with great emphasis on the line "nothing left but a piece of squash."

• Stories and Fun for the Very YoungBo Peep has been obsessed with a few pages from this book this week. Her favorite is the two-page spread for the song A You're Adorable (the full version of which she doesn't seem to realize she actually has in a board book). She also keeps asking me to read every label on another spread featuring a toddler (drawn by Claire Vulliamy who does the drawings for Babybug magazine's Kim and Carrots stories) and her clothes.
• The Three Bears by Byron Barton
  Bo Peep has been carrying this book around the house for days. We've read it a few times and she loves to chime in every time Goldilocks decides that something is "juuuust right."
• The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz
  Bo Peep can now sing this entire book from memory. If we don't sing along, she stops and reminds us to join in.
• Peek-a-Boo by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
  I read this to Jumping Joan more for the rhythm than anything else, and she loved it. She's really starting to coo and babble a lot in response to anyone talking or singing with her, and she reacted very strongly to his book. 
• Sassy: Baby SeesThis book has been around since Miss Muffet was a newborn. It has a mirror on its last page, so I propped it up for Jumping Joan to look at during tummy time, and she was chattering away to her reflection for a good ten minutes!