Throwback Thursday - Marbles

Did you have marbles when you were a child?   I did.  Even as a little girl, I was always very visually oriented, and I loved the glass marbles with variations of color and design.  I remember flicking them around a bit but not really playing games with them as much.  I collected them in a jar and just enjoyed how pretty they were.   If you played with marbles, what types of games did you play?   (A nice link with some info on old fashioned marble games here:  LandofMarbles.)  I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Wordless Wednesday - Saint Bernard Puppies Vintage Postcard

Found at Birdhouse Books: Vintage Dog Postcards

Book Review and Giveaway - Crow Made a Friend by Margaret Peot

Synopsis:

• Series: I Like to Read
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (August 10, 2015)

Try, try again is the lesson Crow teaches beginning readers in this picture book reader. Crow was all alone. But like all crows, he was very clever. Using autumn leaves for wings, sticks for the body and a crab apple for the head, Crow made a friend! But winter winds blew in, destroying his creation. Undaunted, Crow fashioned another bird friend out of snow but could not prevent it from melting in the warm spring sun. Alone again, Crow heard the caw, caw, caw of a real, live bird. Together they built a nest and by summer, Crow had a family. This warm, satisfying story, celebrates perseverance and ingenuity.

Links for more info about CROW MADE A FRIEND

Crow paper doll craft | Author’s Website | Activity Sheets

Purchase Links

Amazon | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble

My Review

Crow Made a Friend is an especially lovely picture book for children.  It tells the story of Crow, who wants a friend.  He tries to make a bird out of twigs, but it blows away.  He makes a bird of snow, but it melts.  Finally he meets another bird, makes a friend, and then makes a family.

This is a short picture book.  It would be wonderful for a story time read aloud (i.e. for a preschool unit on birds), and it also would be a good book for a beginning reader.

The illustrations are vivid and beautiful, and they add much to the story.

I am a former preschool teacher, have a small online children's bookstore, and love children's books.  This book is exceptional in both the lovely, uplifting story and the beautiful illustrations.  I cannot recommend it highly enough for a home or school library. 

About Margaret Peot

Margaret is an artist, writer and costume painter. Margaret has two new books out in 2015, Stencil Craft (F&W) and an early reader picture book, Crow Made a Friend (Holiday House). Margaret’s book Inkblot: Drip, Splat and Squish Your Way to Creativity (Boyds Mills 2011) was awarded a Eureka! Silver Medal for non-fiction children’s books. She is also the author of The Successful Artist’s Career Guide (F&W 2012), Alternative Art Journals (F&W 2012), and Make Your Mark (Chronicle Books, 2004), voted one of Library Journal’s best how-to books of 2004.

An avid believer that art making can be for everyone, Margaret has presented art workshops with cancer survivors, elders, children, parent and teen groups, writers, nurses and caregivers, at The Creative Center at University Settlement’s Creative Aging conferences, and their Artist-in-Residence Training program, with EngAGE Utah, at Gilda’s Club, The Huntsman Cancer Institute, Operation Exodus in NYC, and at Miami University’s Scripps center with Dr. Like Lokon, and Opening Minds Through Art. 

Connect with Margaret

Website | TheInkBlotBook.com | Facebook | Twitter |

Pinterest (Crow) | Pinterest (Birding) 

Giveaway

One lucky winner will receive a copy of the book (U.S. only).  Winner will need to respond to email notification within 48 hours.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

I received this book from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Did You Know Tuesday: Hula Hoops

What?  Don't you hula hoop while vacuuming?  It's my favorite way to exercise while doing housework!   (Not really, but it does look like fun.)

Hula hoops - I think we all played with them as kids.  They are such a simple toy, but lots of fun, especially outdoors in summer.  

I was surprised to learn that hula hoops have been around since ancient times in Greece.  In the 1300s they came to Great Britain.  Later when British sailors travelled to the Hawaiian Islands, they saw hula dancers, and invented the phrase "hula hoop" for this toy.

The hula hoop toy as we know it was invented in 1958 by Arthur K. "Spud" Melin and Richard Knerr.  Hula hoops were a tremendous hit with children and teens, and over twenty million hula hoops sold in just six months. They were made by Wham-O toys and originally sold for just $1.98.

Shoop Shoop hula hoops, introduced in 1965, made noise when you played with them.  Originally this came from little walnut shell pieces, which were later replaced with BBs.  I loved Shoop Shoop hula hoops as a little girl!  Below, you'll find a vintage ad for this toy:

I've often thought that it would be fun to have a hula hoop again for exercise.  I wonder if I would still be able to hula hoop.  How about you -- do you remember this toy?  Any memories to share?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

Music Monday - "Hummingbird" by Seals and Crofts (1972)

This is a song that does not appear on oldies radio or classic rock stations often - even on SiriusXM radio.  I was in the car with a friend this weekend and it came on and we both got totally quiet to listen ... it is that type of song.  "Hummingbird" was on Seals and Crofts' 1972 album, Summer Breeze.   I love how quiet and delicate it is - like a hummingbird.  Let me know if you remember this song ... and if you like it too.