Unforseen Side Effects of an Expensive Education

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, I had the opportunity to spend 6 years of my life pursuing advanced degrees in English. This is an opportunity for which I am grateful--and for which I am still making monthly payments. Upon the completion of said degrees, I chose to make a career shift. Now I stay home with my children. Despite the inherent challenges, I love it. However, early on I encountered an unexpected problem: while reading books to my young daughter I had to repeatedly suppress the urge to make edits to the texts with a Sharpie. I am grateful for my daughter's love of books, but after being nearly driven to distraction several times by the repeated reading of books I couldn't stand, I started making lists. I noted various authors and titles that I could read over and over without being overcome with the urge to poke out my eyes. Now, with this blog, I endeavor to share these eye-poke-less (in my opinion) books with my other Mom and Dad friends. Hopefully this will help to make story time more enjoyable for everyone. Perhaps it will even save you from finding yourself spinning a web of white lies in order to cover up the fact that you hid that one book you couldn't stand to read even one more time under the couch...

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Franklin's Thanksgiving


By Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark

A seasonal favorite, this story is helpful for children whose extended family does not live close by, or for those whose usual traditions are changing. Franklin deals with the disappointment of learning that his grandparents will not join them for Thanksgiving, and then he and his family discover that new traditions can be just as enjoyable as old ones and that friends and neighbors can be family too. The illustrations in the Franklin books are so full that they give parents something new to look at even after they have memorized the story from multiple readings.
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