Friday, November 7, 2008

I Am Grateful For . . .


November is the month of Thanksgiving. A month when we look around us and feel grateful for all that we have. In keeping with that sentiment and in participating in tallgrassworship's November challenge, we Wormers thought we would share our gratitude with fellow bookworms both in word (each of us will write a post on books for which we are grateful) and in deed (look out for several book giveaways every remaining Sunday this month).

Here's mine:

I am grateful for books.

All books. I've devoured more than my share since I was a fourth grader busted for staying up all night reading Little Women. I've since moved on to other categories of books, including the ecologically relevant ones littering our side bar, but I find myself particularly grateful these days to a different sort of book. Ones that help teach my children a new, better way of life. That demonstrate clearly the path. And that reconnect them with the cycle of life.

Here are a couple of my favorites for the fall:


Red Are the Apples by Marc Harshman is a beautifully illustrated book that explores the seasonal harvest on a farm, complete with free ranging chickens and a frisky cat. The book takes the fruits and vegetables from plant to bottle (cider) and even has a page about canning. What's not to love?




Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell cleverly illustrates the life cycle of a pumpkin - from Jack O Lantern, to a composted pumpkin with a few extra seeds, to plant, to pumpkin, to, well, Jack again. This is a favorite of my boys took a page from the book and, this year, put their Jack O Lanterns under the orange tree and check on them daily for signs of change.


'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey is a fun book about children who visit turkeys at the farm and then spirit them away for a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone is thankful - "the turkeys the most." Recommended for vegetarians as this one drives my carnivorous husband nuts. ;-)


That's my list. What are you grateful for? Check back each week to see what books other Wormers hold near and dear to their hearts.

3 comments:

Joyce said...

I love that you were busted for reading "Little Women"!
A book I'm thankful I read as a child was "Swiss Family Robinson". While it was written before anyone was thinking much about the environment, it's great for learning about the idea of self-sufficiency. It's wildly romantic in it's take on living on a deserted island, but, hey, kids love that kind of dreaming!
Another one was "Girl of the Limberlost", which was written by a woman who was an entymologist. It takes place at a time when lumber companies were harvesting the hardwood forests of northern Indiana, and really shows what we lost in the world of butterflies and moths. Again, a very old-fashioned book, but certainly no more so than "Little Women". It also gives girls an interest in science.

Donna said...

I get to do my post in a couple weeks, so I won't spill the beans on what book I'll feature (OK, I actually haven't decided, yet!).

I read Little Women when I was ten, and in Guatemala. Through circumstances too long to explain, my suitcase got soaked. My strongest memory of the book is taking it out of my suitcase and squeezing the water out of it into a bowl. I liked the book, I think, but what I remember is how much water it absorbed!

Going Crunchy said...

Oooh, I love this! I can't wait to look up a few of these. Thanks for the title selections.