Imogene's Antlers by David Small

Imogene woke up one Thursday morning with antlers! Getting dressed was difficult and getting downstairs was worse because she got her antlers caught in the chandelier. Her mother fainted. The doctor came and the school principal, but no one knew what caused this. Her brother after consulting an encyclopedia declared that she had become a miniature elk! The kitchen maid and the cook used her antlers to dry towels and feed doughnuts (hooked on the antlers) to feed the birds. Her mother called a milliner to make a hat to hide the antlers. It was an an eventful day.

The next morning - no antlers! The family was delighted to see her back to normal. Until she came into the room....now, she has a peacock tail!

Every child I've ever read this to has wanted to speculate out loud about what it would be like to have antlers or an enormous peacock tail. I read it in one class that had my grandson in it. When I mentioned it to his father, my son said, "Mom, you remember Ms C. my Elementary teacher? She would have had us write a story about what happened next." So I pass that suggestion on.

The Bones of Fred McFee

The Bones of Fred McFee is a poem written by Eve Bunting. Fred McFee is a plastic skeleton that the two children in the book have brought back from the Harvest Fair. They hung him up in their sycamore tree and "our skeleton dances the the dance of the dead, there in our sycamore tree." Strange things begin to happen, "our rooster used to crow all day,...now the rooster's gone and the hens won't lay..."

They decide to let Fred McFee stay in the sycamore tree until Halloween. The dog howls the night of Halloween and when the children get up the next day - " The morning's bright and filled with light,but where is Fred McFee?"
The see a rectangular mound in front of the sycamore tree and think they know what it is - but, who put it there?

This book has been requested by lower Elementary children who have heard it the year before. My experience is that it's best to read it first -with no pictures- as a poem, so the children can hear the rhythm. Then having gotten the overview, read it page by page with pictures. Children love this book and so do I.

First Post

Originally, I had wanted to catalog my children's books. Then I would know what to look for when I was looking for books on Egypt, for example. Then I realized that creating a blog would enable me to do the same thing without having to learn to create a database!

Also, creating a blog allows me to put in more information about the book and reminds me of children's reactions that I might forget. Doing this in a blog also lets other people have the information - and I love sharing information!