Catching up with Story Time Mondays

With everything else going on, I haven't written about Story Time Mondays for a while. Here's a recap of recent highlights.

For Women's History Month in March I read America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle by David A. Adler. The kids loved this story. Maybe because she failed the first time she tried to swim the English Channel, but tried again and then succeeded. Or maybe it was the riveting illustrations. I don't know, but I do know that each of the three Mondays since I read it, a child has specifically asked for it, a sure sign that it made an impact.


Having had such success with a non-fiction book, I decided to try Children Just Like Me by Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley. It was another big hit. Each two-page spread features a child from a different county. The child "speaks" to the reader, telling about his/her life; what their home is like, what they eat, how they go to school, what they like to do for fun. This text is accompanied by clear and colorful photographs and the layout of the text and images is fun. In the front of the book is a map with a photo of each child in or next to their country, so we went on a "round the world tour" stopping to visit about half of the children in the book. The students were fascinated.



The next week things were getting tough outside of work, and all I could handle was something easy and fun; what better than Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman? This story of how Officer Buckle collected and then presented safety tips to bored school children was one of Paul's favorites when he was younger. When Gloria, a dog, starts to accompany Officer Buckle on his school trips, he suddenly finds that the children love his presentations. He doesn't realize for a long time that it's because Gloria is acting them out when he isn't looking. When he does find out -- well, I won't give the ending away!



This Monday was the last before Easter, so I read Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit. I always think of Peter as the Easter Bunny, even though I know he isn't, and made sure the kids knew that he isn't. But he sure looks like the Easter Bunny and the story takes place in the spring, so this time of year is a great time to read it.

I love the contrast between Peter, who is "naughty" and immediately does exactly what his mother tells him not to do, and his sisters, Flopsy, Mopsey, and Cottontail, who are "good little bunnies" and do exactly what they are told to do. Who has a great adventure but pays for it by losing his clothes and being sick that night? And who has a calm, peaceful day and a pleasant night, but no adventure? And which is better? And does it depend on the day?