Sometimes our library visits unearth surprising gems.
Awhile back, in an effort to stem the tide of Cars and cars and other tricked-out-merchandising paper collections otherwise labeled as "children's books" (I can't pretend to call them children's literature) that
The book is based on a true story about a little girl living with her mother in post-World War II Europe who needs a winter coat. There's no money or supplies, so Mom gets really creative and tenacious and they end up figuring out how to get a new coat in stages using barter to provide payment. A farmer's sheep provides the wool, and he gets Grandfather's watch. A spinner who spins the wool with an old spinning wheel gets a lamp. They dye the wool red themselves with lingonberries they pick in the depth of summer, and then a weaver weaves the red wool into cloth and gets a garnet necklace. Then Anna and her mother visit the tailor, who measures her for her coat, works his magic, and produces a lovely red coat in exchange for a teapot. Then Anna and her mother invite the farmer, spinner, weaver, and tailor over for a Christmas party--the happiest one they've had in years. And at the end, Anna goes to visit the sheep to thank them for their wool.
Simple story, this; not so simple lessons (beyond the hypnotic step process that seems to enthrall all young children). Lobel's frontispiece illustration is of a war-torn city. P wondered why it looked the way it looked, and I had to explain to a three-year-old, in the simplest way I could, what war is and what happens during war. I think I told him that wars happen when groups of people fight over places or people or things and ideas, and lots of people get hurt and places get destroyed. It's ugly. Sometimes it's necessary, but always it's ugly. And this is why I found myself loving this story--because even though war is ugly, and the aftermath can be brutally difficult--not that we Americans generally know anything about this, but I digress--people can band together for simple moments of joy and thanks for life even after losing practically everything, including loved ones. A wool coat, and the people who help make it for a little girl, can inspire hope.
When Anna's first waiting for the sheep to grow their wool so it can be sheared in the springtime, she and her mother go to visit them almost every Sunday. At that first Christmas, she adorns their simple heads with paper chains and sings carols to them. At the end of the book, when she's wearing her red coat and visiting the sheep again, P started saying that Anna must have sung "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" to them. He was more right than he knew. "Peace on Earth and Mercy mild; God and sinners reconciled." What a fitting reminder.
2 comments:
That book is one on Five in a Row book list. I would highly recommend reading the books on the Before Five in a Row book list for boys your age, you don't have to do all the activities, but the books are excellent. Some of them are out of print and we were unable to get them through the MN library system, but you might have better luck where you live. Personally I would skip If Jesus Came to my House.
The way we do library now is I put some recommended books on hold so they are ready when I go to the library and don't have to search for them while helping the boys. The boys each get to check out two books of their own choice. Most times I can handle reading their book once and putting it in the pile to go back to the library and then we read my books several times before they go back to the library. Recently they were reciting lines from a book about the United States from a book that we read a few times like you would recite lines from a movie. I say let their little minds soak up the knowledge now!
Thanks so much for this, Ewe! Any recommendations from homeschooling moms are so appreciated--esp. when you've been doing it for awhile! We'll definitely look for the list and see what we can find.
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