How I Fell In Love with a Rat (and a Cockroach)



 

I recently read the Gregor The Overlander series. These are some of the best books I have read in a long time! They are by an author you may have heard of, if you read a little known book called The Hunger Games. Her name is Suzanne Collins. I was a little scared to read these books because of my deep, deep love of The Hunger Games, but I was very happy I took the plunge!

 

 

 

You may think this series is for boys because of the boy in the title, but I promise girls will love this just as much as the boys! Gregor is the main character, but there are many female and creature characters. My two favorite characters are the rat Ripred and the cockroach Temp. They are two very unusual creatures, but they both have a heart of gold. You love Temp right away because of his care for Gregor's little sister Boots. You despise Ripred in the beginning, but grow to love him as the series continues, I did anyway! He's an underdog character, my favorite type. I love characters that you don't know what to make of them. Are they nice or are they mean? They grow on you as you get to know them throughout the books.

 

The first book is where Gregor and his sister Boots fall down their laundry vent into the Underland world. In each story after that they have a different challenge to accomplish. In one they save their Dad, who has been missing for years. In another they save the Underworld from a deadly virus. Along the way they meet the many different creatures that make up the Underworld. There are people, bats, rats, cockroaches, spiders, mice and many more. I forgot to mention that all of the creatures are giant sized! They use the bats to get around in the Underland.



I don't think Pie Pie is quite old enough to read this series on her own yet. You have to make your own decisions about when the time is right for your kids to read certain books. We are planning on reading them together after we finish the Harry Potter series.

Don't worry if you are a grown-up, you can join in the adventure of Gregor too!
Young or young-at-heart, I feel these are books anyone can enjoy. They are filled with adventure, mystery, love, suspense and humor.
You may just find you have fallen in love with a rat too!

P.S. I want to say thank you to my friend Nola for suggesting this series to me!

Pants Loves the Library

Pants loves to pretend.

 Her recent favorite is playing library.

She brought a ton of books down from her room and set them up just like the real library.

 

 

We had a librarian to scan the books for us. She was Tweety the canary.

We had to check the books out and then read them. 

 

 

She even had a puzzle set up for you to work on in her library.

I guess you could say we have a definite love for books at our house!

In Be-Tween the Pages of a Great Book

I started reading tween books for my daughter,

but I have continued to read them because I love them!

In the beginning of my search for great tween books I thought there weren't any good books left. Boy, was I wrong. I have found some great books to read.

  

The first book I am sharing today is A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin. My daughter loves animals, so I decided to give this book a try. It is written from the perspective of a wonderful female dog named Squirrel. It starts from when she is born and goes all the way to the end of her long life. She learns how to live on her own in any place she lays her head at night. I love how this story ends with her finding the perfect owner and place to call home. I just found another book in this series about the brother of Squirrel. His name is Bone. I am very excited to read his adventure too!

The second book I would like to share is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. When I borrowed this book from the library, my first thought was how is the book going to live up to it's title! I did love that little white bunny with the red suit on the cover, so I went ahead and borrowed the book. I had also recently read another book by this author that I didn't particularly like. It just goes to show just because you don't like one book by an author doesn't mean you won't like one of their other books.
This rabbit's journey WAS truly miraculous. I loved every word in this book. From his first owner to his last. He spends some time in the ocean, riding the rails with a hobo and even gets all spruced up in a fancy doll shop. He learns how to love and be loved all along his journey! This book is a favorite of mine!
I only have two books for you today, but if you would like to see my first post about Tween books just look right here.
 

Devour a Tween Book!

I decided to do a rewrite on this post. I was a bit too quick with the first one and decided that this angle would be a bit more fun!

For Breakfast might I recommend a good helping of Katie Kazoo by Nancy Krulik. These books are a fabulous way to start your day! Every book gives you a chance to see life through another person's view. In the first book of the series Katie wishes she could be anyone but herself. She gets her wish and, as the series continues with the help of the magic wind she transforms into a colorful mix of other people. 

  Instead of a cup of coffee or tea I suggest you pour yourself a cup of The Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne. The adventures you find inside will give you a wonderful pick-me-up! Jack and Annie travel to many different places in search of exotic items. You will find yourself rescuing Pandas in China or riding on the back of a Unicorn to name just a few!

 

For Lunch you might want to take a bite out of The Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson. These stories are all about Behind-the-Scenes Disney. Five kids along with some other helpers are chosen to guard the Disney Kingdom from the Overtakers. The Overtakers are Disney Villains who basically want to take over the World. The Kingdom Keepers job is to keep the magical balance between good and evil.

For Dinner I offer you a mouth watering Trilogy called The Wednesday Tales by Jon Berkeley. This is a story of a boy named Miles who befriends a Song Angel named Little. In the first book the two friends work together to rescue Little's friend Silverpoint. In the second book they are trying to find a Tiger Egg. In the third book they have to figure out how to use the Tiger Egg to save Miles's Dad. You will definitely want all three helping of this satisfying tale!

 

 If you have a sweet tooth a great Dessert is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. This dessert may look too big, but it is a light and tasty treat! There are 284 illustrations in this book and the pictures are essential to the story. This book is all about a boy who makes a fabulous discovery and finds himself a new family in the unfolding of his adventures. 

Any of these books would also make a great read-a-loud. I love sharing in the fun as my girls discover delicious new books to read!

Please feel free to share any books your tween likes to read!



More Books

I read most of these books a little while ago, but I haven't had a chance to post them on here. My current reads are Christmassy. There are certain books I love to read this time of year. Perhaps I will get to share them in a later post. Anyway, here are some of my recent reads on Nikki's List of Books!

 

Watership Down

by Richard Adams

This book is a great adventure story. It's about a group of male rabbits trying to find a new home. They have lots of trials in the search and when they do find a home, they realize there is no female rabbits. They decide they need some women, so the dangers start all over again. My favorite rabbit in the book is Bigwig. He is a tough fighter and knows what he wants. This is now my favorite in Nikki's List of Books. I would recommend this book to everyone!

 

The Catcher in the Rye

by J.D. Salinger

This book is a story where you are basically thrown into the brain of a 15 year old boy, who is on his own, over the course of a couple of days. He sets off from school and heads to New York. A lot of unusual events happen. He drinks and smokes and does other things you would expect him to do on his own. The ending is rather abrupt as well. It was an interesting read. If you like a lot of curse words, you would love this book. I'd put it on your maybe list.

 

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This book is a love story. It was a rough start, but it gets very good. I actually started the book, put it down, read another book and came back to this book. The second time it was much better. I really got into the mysterious Gatsby. It's set in the 20's, so there are lots of fabulous parties. These parties are all planned with the hopes of reuniting with a lost love. Will the Great Gatsby find his love? I recommend this book to everyone.

 

What should I read next?

Referred Reading

This book was given to me a while ago to read and I never quite got a chance. I thought now would be a good time to give it a read! This book is called Blink of an Eye and it is by Ted Dekker. I have seen some of the movies based on his books, so I was fairly certain this would be a good story, and I was right!

 

 

This is a very suspenseful story. It is about a man who has a special gift of seeing the future. It is not just one future either. I'll let the book explain that idea to you. This man is on a mission to save a girl he doesn't even originally know, They get to know each other as he uses his gift to save their lives. There is a LOT more to this story. I would highly recommend this story to any and everyone! It has suspense, action and some mushy stuff too!

Thanks to my good friend Pam for the referral!

Referred Reading

I recently posted about a list of books that I want to read. Just so everyone knows this is My List. I made this list up all on my own in my head. I don't know why, it's just something I want to do. Well, anyway, I asked for some ideas for books to read too. You can never have too many books to read! One of my friends referred this book to me. If anyone else has any suggestions feel free to give them as well. You can post them in the comments on my blog or on one of my Facebook pages.

 

Flowers For Algernon

by Daniel Keyes

 



This book is a happy and sad story. It is about a man and a mouse. A mouse named Algernon. This story is written in journal form, which I personally love. This book tells the story of a man with very low intelligence who is given the opportunity to have very high intelligence. Unfortunately things do not always go as planned. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but I enjoyed it. (There are some parts in it that I know some of my friends would not like.)

I just want to say thank you to my friend Michael for referring this book to me!

Expanding My Options

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to read! I love to read lots of different kinds of books, even kids' books. There are, however, a lot of books that I haven't read. I decided to take a chance and read some "Literature". I have a list in my head of what I want to try. Here are reviews of some of them I have read so far. I don't give away too much in case you want to read them yourself.

 

Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

This is a strange story. It starts out interesting with a group of young boys stranded on a deserted island. I love a good survival story! As the story continues it just gets crazier and crazier! I really sympathized with Piggy and was sad when his glasses broke. This book was okay. I kind of skimmed the end because it got so weird.

 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

This is  a story about a young girl growing up in the South. The time period was when everyone did not share equal rights, especially in that part of our country. This story was very well written and a favorite in my list so far. I would definitely recommend this book!

 

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

This story was set in the 1930's right after the Great Depression. Even though this book is a very sad tale, I really liked it. I don't know a whole lot about that time period in our history and I thought it was educational. The characters in the story were very real. They did the best they could with what they had. The ending was a bit strange, but I would recommend this book.

 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

This is a very unusual story. It was kind of confusing, but I enjoyed the crazy ride. You are just dropped into this girl's life and have to catch up with what is going on. I enjoyed this story, but there was one part I had to put the book down and take a couple of deep breaths. It was a bit overwhelming. After a moment I could continue reading. If you like bizarre books, read this one!

 

I have also currently tried two Jane Austen books. I'm not sure I am going to get through a whole one of those. I will try again soon. Right now I'm reading Watership Down. Gotta love the bunnies!

 

Feel free to give me some suggestions if you have a favorite book you want me to read!

 

 

Tiaras for Everyone!

"I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics; even if they aren't pretty, or smart, or young. They're still princesses. All of us. Didn't your father ever tell you that? Didn't he?"

-A Little Princess-



If your father never told you that you are a princess, I am here to tell you that you ARE! Anyone who is a child of God, the King of Kings, is a princess. If you haven't worn your tiara in quite some time, now is the time to dust it off and wear it with pride!

Right now I am reading a fabulous book called Raising A Modern-Day Princess by Pam Farrel and Doreen Hanna. I recommend it to anyone who is raising a girl. It is all about teaching a young woman how to grow into the princess that they truly are. There is also a book called Becoming a Modern-Day Princess by the same authors for your daughter to read too. I will be looking into that for my girls a little later. The books for the daughters are geared for someone a little bit older than Pie Pie.

I had the pleasure of enjoying a Princess's Sweet Sixteen this past weekend.

 It was very uplifting to see my friend putting together a special event for her daughter.

 Girls need these milestone events so they can understand their worth to God and us.

I look forward to celebrating many special events with my daughters as they grow into young ladies.

Don't forget you are growing too! We need to learn everyday so we can be the best Moms we can be to our daughters and sons!

"For you must teach others those thing you and many others have heard me speak about. Teach these great truths to trustworthy men and women who will, in turn, pass them on to others.

-2 Timothy 2:2-

P.S. There is also a book for boys called Raising A Modern-Day Knight by Robert Lewis. I have not read this book because I do not have any boys. There are so many good books about girls written that I focus on those. If I have a boy one day then you will get some reviews about those books! I hope you understand. There is so many books, so little time!

Hide and Found

I have been trying to hide lately. From a lot of things in general, but also from something specific. Sometimes you can hide and the problem goes away. In my situation, even I knew, my problem was not going away. I knew eventually I was going to have to come out and face it.

You may be wondering what my problem is and I am willing to share it with you. Vacation Bible School! (Since I was willing to share my problem with you, will you be willing to pray for me!) You may be thinking didn't you tackle this last year and find success in the end! If you need proof of this check out this post. (If you're just curious you can check it out too!) Maybe I need to read it a couple times as well.
For some reason I have gotten it into my thought process that I just couldn't do it this year! It just wasn't going to happen as far as I was concerned.  I didn't pick up my supplies. I even went as far as skipping church! I had forgotten that I can't do Vacation Bible School..........ALONE! I need God to help me during this difficult time.
Check out the theme verse for Vacation Bible School this year! I guess God was trying to get my attention all along!

I have recently been gifted by God with some amazing books! I love books and I feel God helps you find the right books to read when you need them. The first is actually a Bible study by Chip Ingram called The Invisible War.


It comes with a DVD as well. My husband and I are working through this study with our good friends. In the third session, Chip Ingram talks about putting on the Belt of Truth. I have not been utilizing this important tool with the thinking that I had to run Vacation Bible School alone. The truth is God runs the program, I help Him!
Another book that has greatly helped me is Water Into Wine by Kelly Minter.



It is all about Jesus's first miracle. (If you would like to read about this miracle in the Bible you can find it in John 2:2-11.) I knew of this story, but have never really thought about it before. The servants had such faith. They filled up the jars to the brim with water, drew water out of the jars and served it to the Master of the Banquet. Along the way it miraculously turned into the best wine ever! I'm not sure I'd be willing to do that. What if nothing happened? How embarrassed would I be if all the Master of the Banquet got was water? They did what they were told to do by Jesus and they were rewarded by being part of His first miracle. It really made me think, I just have to do what I am asked and able to do. It is God's job to turn our water into wine. We can't be perfect and do everything exactly right. We are to do what God asks, He will make it amazing!
So, am I still anxious? I would be lying if I didn't say, Yes. I just have to keep telling myself the truth.
I can't do this without God!
 I CAN do this with God!

Pie Pie's First Book Report

This is also a sneak peek at our Top Chef Project:

Donuts!
This book report along with a couple others will be a part of our finished project in March.

 

I want to make sure everyone can read what Pie Pie wrote so I'm going to type the summary and opinion out for you.

This book is about: a doughnut named Arnie. Arnie does not know that he is food. Mr. Bing tries to eat him. Instead of eating him they find something better for both of them.

I liked this book because in the end Arnie becomes a doughnut-dog. I like dogs. 

We really enjoyed the illustrations in this book. The pictures were very funny and there was doughnuts all over the pages. This is a fun book that will be enjoyed by everyone!

More Doughnut Fun to Come! 

P.S. I am linking up with Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

Books, Books...We Love Books!

I haven't had much to write about lately. Instead we have been reading a lot! Here is just a few of the books we have been reading recently.

My Books:

Slightly Bad Girls of The Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs. This is a great book about women from the Bible. It is actually part of a series and they are all a good read. I like to read about flawed women God has used for good in His Kingdom. I feel I can relate and fit right in with them.

Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry  by Doug Fields. The second book I'm reading is to help me prepare for directing V.B.S this year. I saw it in my Church library and borrowed it. It was pretty interesting. Any leadership advice I can get is very helpful.

To Live is Christ by Beth Moore. I'm still working on this one, but Beth Moore is always a good read!

I have also recently fell in love with Patsy Clairmont and her books! She is hilarious and has overcome a lot in her life. If you haven't read any books by her you should give her a chance. You won't regret it!

School Reading:

We are learning about Donuts for a Lighthouse Co-Op project. The Donut Chef  by Bob Staake is a very funny book about two donut chefs who compete to see who makes the best donuts. In the end they realize that simple is best!

Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. We are reading this for our out-loud reading time during school. I found this book at Christmastime while I was shopping with a friend. We happened to go in a bookstore and I started to look at the Medal Winner books. I came across this book. I felt the NEED to read it with Pie Pie.  I have no idea why, I just had to read it! I borrowed it from the library. Pie Pie wasn't happy at first, but we have fallen in love with the little twig lady with a hickory nut head!

Pie Pie and Pants' Books:

Pie Pie has gotten very into The Magic Tree House Books by Mary Pope Osborne. She has enjoyed them for a while, but now has plans to read them all in order! She even read one in about half an hour one day!

We have always loved Jan Brett and her books. Now that Pants is getting older we are reading them again with her. We are also enjoying some of her new ones she has written recently.

Have you read any good books lately?

Let us know!

P.S. I linked up with a new blog I am following! The blog is in my blog list called Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

Advent

The time of Advent is here! Advent refers to the coming or arrival of Jesus Christ. During the season of Advent we celebrate the first coming of Christ. There are many different way to celebrate or remember at this time of year. I'm going to share a couple today and more as we get closer to Christmas. We are going to try to do something special each day to remind us why we celebrate Christmas.

1. We started a couple weeks ago by getting some special candles. Scent is a big part of any experience for me. I love to find a yummy smelling candle to make my house smell good!We went to the Yankee Candle store and took our time smelling all the candles until we picked the perfect one!

2. We set up our Advent Wreath. All you need is a wreath, candle holders and candles. You light one candle each Sunday starting on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The fifth candle is lit on Christmas Eve. We like to sing songs and read scripture while the candle or candles are lit. A good book to read is Christ in Christmas A Family Advent Celebration. (There are various authors for this book.)

3. We made Glitter Bells with different names of God on them. We hung them up as a reminder to why we are celebrating. Pants really enjoyed this craft.  Pie Pie got into it a little later.

4. We set up our Nativity. Pants and Pie Pie were especially excited to get this out. We only get it out at Christmas Time. I got a Fisher Price set when Pie Pie was little. I love it because the girls can play with it and act out the story. I would also like to get a special Nativity just for me! I've seen some very beautiful ones. Maybe next year!

Webkinz, gotta love them!




5. I have wrapped some Christmas books. I plan on letting the girls each open one occasionally to read before bed. These are not new and some are from the library. I just thought it would be a fun surprise! We'll see if it is! It's definitely not going to happen every night. That would be fifty books I would have to wrap! 


More ideas to come!
How do you keep Christ in Christmas!