Xapa to the World

Tag: picture books

  • 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 .

  • FIAR Vol. 1 – The Glorious Flight

    FIAR Vol. 1 – The Glorious Flight

    I’m going to be very honest and let you know that I totally dropped the ball on the FIAR posts at this point. It’s been 3 years since we did this study and so I am going to have to revise the format of the lesson reviews as I have forgotten many details and I didn’t keep digital notes.

    This book was a lot of fun to read and we really enjoyed learning the technical and geographical notes in the books. My son is pretty engineer-minded and he loves learning about different vehicles and the mechanics of it all.

    Social Studies

    I found a video of a man and his kid flying across the English Channel which was a lot of fun. We also went through these books on France to see landmarks, culture, and food.

    Math

    Teaching Roman Numerals at this young age was a bit tricky, but these lessons are more just setting out a buffet and introducing concepts. Neither kid was a reader at this point, but my then 5 year old loves numbers! To know there could be a “secret code” to mean numbers was a fun project.

    Science

    Science and technology was definitely the highlight with this book. We looked through lots of books on flight and airplanes. We also went to the nearby Museum of the US Air Force to see some of these planes in person – including a model of the Bleriot flyer! That was a special treat.

    Additional Books:

    Ok, do not sleep on The Adventures of John Jeffries. These kind of niche non-fiction picture books are golden resources! These two men attempt to cross the English Channel in a balloon and go through the science of getting lift and then coming down at the right time – even peeing off the side and disrobing to a point to lose excess weight.

    We also looked at the story of Icarus who flew too close to the sun. Our primary curriculum (now) is Story of the World and so we revisited this particular story just this last year.

    I did not choose a poem this week. My husband took a week of vacation, so we had plans to do some things throughout the week and I wanted to give us more time with him.

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

    Complete Booklist:

    Find the full list on and .

  • FIAR Vol. 1 – A Pair of Red Clogs

    FIAR Vol. 1 – A Pair of Red Clogs

    Our library didn’t have this book in their registry, but they ordered it for me to have on hand. What a place! I thought the text might be a little long and involved for my littles, but they have been very interested in the story. It doesn’t hurt that I have a strong connection to Japan, having lived there for a year back in 2008 to teach English with a church. I have also made it a point to take the kids to the only true Japanese restaurant that is local and familiarize them with the food, culture, and language.

    Can I share something funny? You get spam calls a lot, right? I get them all the time and I got tired of answering them just to have them start rattling them off whatever pitch they have. So, about a year ago, I started answering my phone in Japanese if I didn’t recognize the number. It’s been a very fun and beautiful thing. They have no idea what to make of it. And, bonus, my kiddos often holler out, “konnichiwa!” whenever my phone rings. It has only backfired a couple times when it’s a doctor’s office or some other official call. Usually they laugh with me when I explain what is going on.

    Social Studies

    I love seeing pictures of Japan in these books and reading familiar words – testing out my katakana (one of the syllabaries) again. [My 5 yr old pointed to a “conbini” (convenient store) sign and asked what it said. I sounded out the katakana and realized it was “ta-ba-ko” (cigarettes).] I remember very little wildlife when I was living there beyond birds and insects, except when I was out in the country or visiting Hiroshima. But the kids were delighted with the pictures of snow monkeys in the hot springs.

    Art

    The crafts in this book are so fun and neat! We are looking forward to trying some others throughout, but I think we will do the Japanese-style tie-dye this time around. Simple supply lists and cultural tie-ins without appropriation for the win!

    Math

    This book was a little over our level as we have barely handled our numbers and counting and small grouping problems. This book asked us to practice subtracting and adding double-digit numbers. I would have done it a little differently, had I taken the time to read the book ahead (mom win!).

    Science

    We have read “Boy, Were We Wrong About the Weather!” once before, but it’s always a good time to revisit a book. For better or for worse, the 3 year old’s takeaway was to go through the house saying, “Boy, were we wrong!” to just about everything happening. I loved learning about meteorology when I was younger and I’m still fascinated with weather. I met a local weather man celebrity when I was a kid through Girl Scouts and it made a big impression on me.

    Additional Books:

    “Red Sky at Night” was a very easy read, but the illustrations are beautiful and picking through the sayings made us have to take our time. This book is filled with phrases used to “predict” the weather. At the back of the book, the author lists all the phrases and shares a brief explanation and whether it’s accurate or not. I read a few phrases I had forgotten hearing from my grandparents!

    These books were super sweet stories, and all over the interests. Niki Nakayama is a biography of a professional Japanese-American chef. Natsumi’s Song of Summer is about cousins sharing a love of insects. And Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin is about a little girl wanting to carry the legacy of her ojichan (grandpa), a concert violinist. Another favorite book centering Japanese culture was “Ojichan’s Gift” also by Chieri Uegaki but we didn’t reread it this time around.

    Here is a fun poem I found for this week. Even more special, my mom shared that she had memorized this poem when she was in 1st grade:

    Who has seen the wind?
    Neither I nor you:
    But when the leaves hang trembling,
    The wind is passing through.

    Who has seen the wind?
    Neither you nor I:
    But when the trees bow down their heads,
    The wind is passing by.

    “Who Has Seen the Wind?” Christina Rossetti

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

    Complete Book List:

    Find this list on or .