Xapa to the World

Tag: picture books

  • FIAR Vol. 1 – The Clown of God

    FIAR Vol. 1 – The Clown of God

    Part of my family has strong Italian heritage and I’m always happy to find ways to connect the kids back to that part of my ancestry. While we are not Catholic, this was a sweet book about an orphan in Italy, gifted a skill with the question of will he remember the one who gifted that skill to him or spend it all for his own glory?

    Tomie is a favorite storyteller and illustrator for us, especially his Italian-themed books like Strega Nona. We have read several of his other books too, depicting predominantly Catholic folk stories from other cultures – these we take with a grain of salt as he is stepping out of his cultural heritage to tell those stories. When that happens, I try my best to find another telling of the story by someone from that culture – it may sound daunting but there are so many children’s books these days with such a diversity of culture and writers!

    Social Studies

    These are all the books we used to address the variety of topics under the Social Studies category – language, geography, the Renaissance, orphans, and occupations. At this point, the kids want to be an electrician and a babysitter. The Renaissance and Meet Samantha were over my kids’ abilities, but they would be excellent reads for older kids.

    Art

    There is such artistry in designing and building bridges! This book was a good intro to bridge engineering and we even tried building our own with blocks and lincoln logs.

    I also found a video on YouTube for kids to learn to juggle. We discovered that we are not coordinated enough (but maybe just at this time).

    Science (Aging)

    I will gladly create a list of picture books we’ve come across which deal with aging loved ones and grief. It is such a delicate subject for children and they can come up with some difficult questions. Tomie wrote this book based on his own grandmothers. We’ve even stumbled on books dealing with the death of a pet.

    Disclaimer: This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.

    Complete Booklist:

    Find the full list on or .

  • FIAR Vol. 1 – Cranberry Thanksgiving

    FIAR Vol. 1 – Cranberry Thanksgiving

    This book is a sweet lesson in judging others and community. We timed this right before Thanksgiving so we were well in the mindset of gratitude and inclusion and extending kindness to others. The kids loved the character of Mr. Whiskers – isn’t that just the way with kids? They often gravitate to those who adults might write-off and can see a bit of goodness in them when others just see bristle.

    I found a great video on YouTube, showing how cranberries are grown and harvested these days. We talk a lot about how different foods we eat grow – things that grow in the dirt, on top the grown (leaves and stems), from shrubs or bushes, and from trees. But cranberries defy all these! The plants need to be waterlogged and that definitely makes it easier to harvest because these plants naturally grow by boggy waterways where the berries can fall off the plant and float downstream to find new places to take root and grow. The way seeds spread is so fascinating!

    Social Studies

    This book was handy to learn more about the state of Massachusetts. When we get into the United States part of our historical studies, I plan to go through each state in order of admission. Years ago, I invested in a series of activity books Highlights published of each US state and I’ve managed to keep them pristine up to this point. I’m just as surprised as you are.

    There are many options for picture books on Thanksgiving and some day I will create a list of books I recommend for children. This one seemed to match up well with the main picture book. I include some others in the full list below.

    Math

    Baking is an excellent way to learn about volume and measurements. My kiddos were still too young to be much help, but as an introductory lesson, this book was enough.

    Science

    We see their shells and have collected our share when at the beach, but the creatures that build and live inside them are fascinating! I also found some YouTube videos of clamdiggers. One by Saltyhead right at 19 minutes. And another by The Fisherman Magazine, just over 7 minutes long. It’s neat to see the specialized tools made for certain tasks and jobs.

    Other Books

    Disclaimer: This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.

    Find the complete list on and .

  • FIAR Vol 1. – Madeline

    FIAR Vol 1. – Madeline

    A classic, a favorite, my 3 year old in particular loved this book. We also have a couple of the old shows on DVD and watched those throughout the week. It was fun to continue a visit in France and have further reminders of landmarks in Paris, in particular. The Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower are the first landmarks my kids have learned and can say where they are located, which does my heart proud!

    Social Studies

    Up, Up and Away is a fantastic book of cut-out silhouette art and very pleasing to the eye as you travel throughout the city of Paris. I highly recommend this one as there are such amazing details throughout for the kids to discover.

    Art

    When I think of art, of course I think of Italy and THEN, I think of France! And there is no shortage of picture books demonstrating that reputation. At this age, we’re not memorizing artists and techniques, but it is great fun to watch my kids incorporate some of the styles into their own artwork or to recognize it out in the wild.

    Additional Books

    Hidden Hope is a book about the German occupation in France during WWII. You should use your own judgment, of course, as to the readiness of your child to a difficult topic. My kids were very interested in the idea of toys being used as a secret keeper.

    Happy to find another book about flying to incorporate as well as this amazing little story of a postman who collected rocks on his route and built himself a palace. Our imaginations were lit up!

    For this week’s poem, I chose a simple French song that I grew up learning, “Frère Jacques.”

    Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
    Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
    Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
    Din, din, don. Din, din, don.

    Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
    Brother John. Brother John.
    Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
    Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

    Disclaimer: This site uses some affiliate links. This costs you nothing, but helps supplement our homeschooling costs.

    Complete Booklist:

    Find the complete list on or .