Exploring Perspective, Watercolors, and Balancing with the Poppins Book Nook

Welcome to the May edition of Poppins Book Nook! 

I am so excited to be a part of this great book club again this year. Won't you join me for a year of book related fun.

This month's theme was: Caldecott Medal Books    

I stopped by the library earlier this month and picked up a bunch of Caldecott medal winning books. I really wasn't sure at first how I was going to approach this month's theme. I figured, no matter what we decided to do, we could spend some time looking at these award winning books. In case you are unsure what the Caldecott Medal recognizes, as I was, I thought I would share the terms that I found on the Association for Library Service for Children site. It states, "The Medal shall be awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published by an American publisher in the United States in English during the preceding year."

I decided we could have some fun reading two books that had a similar theme.

Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully is a fictional account that "began as a biography of real-life daredevil Blondin. But the author changed her mind to accommodate the tree-climbing child and risk-taking adult she was and is." Mirette is the daughter of the boardinghouse owner where the Great Bellini has been surreptitiously staying. She discovers that he is a tightrope walker, but does not know that he was famous in his day. He refuses to teach her, so she teaches herself, until one day he discovers her skill and she becomes his protege.  Eventually we learn why he no longer wire-walks and didn't want to teach her. She finally teaches him courage once again. 

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein tells the true account of Philippe Petit who walked between the Twin Towers in Manhattan, NYC on August 7th, 1974. We discover that Philippe was a street performer who had once walked between the steeples of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, his home city. Now living in NYC, he watched the Twin Towers being built and decided he wanted to walk between them. With the help of friends, he placed the wire under the cover of darkness so he could illegally perform his stunt. He eventually is arrested, though the police were not able to do so until he came off the wire. He remained on the wire for almost an hour performing. 

Though we read both books together a couple of times, we focused more on Mirette on the High Wire.  However, Philippe Petit's actions did fit in well with our lessons on wisdom and foolishness. Plus it was exciting to learn that this event took place when I was a year and a half old and was living in Queens NYC, but had never heard of it. We also loved that two pages unfolded to give the feeling of how big this feat was.

I discovered a book called 450 More Story S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s for the Primary Grades by Shirley C. Raines which helped me come up with ideas for activities to go with Mirette on the High Wire. 

We learned a bit about perspective by looking at the different angles used for the high wire illustrations. 

The book was illustrated with lovely watercolor paintings, so we took some time to create our own, starting with figuring out which angle to draw our tightrope. We then painted our own tightrope walker and added in details.

Harold just enjoyed painting.

Here is Amelia's finished painting.

And here is mine. I will have to add Tabitha's picture when I find it. It appears to have grown legs of its own and performed its own feat, one of disappearing.

When we went on our field trip to the PA Grand Canyon, an opportunity presented itself for the children to work on their balancing skills.

Don't worry, it is no longer a working railway, in fact, there is only a small section of track remaining. 

Even daddy joined in.

Mommy tried, but with my foot problems, I needed help to walk just a few steps. Plus, my balance has NEVER been good.

Don't forget to check out what the other Poppins Book Nook co-hosts have been up to this month. Then, don't forget to link up your own posts! Lastly, enter the Bring a Caldecott Honor Book to Life Giveaway.

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - ABC Creative Learning - As We Walk Along the Road - Brain Power Boy - Chestnut Grove Academy - Embracing Destiny - Every Bed of Roses - Farm Fresh Adventures - Growing in God's Grace - Kathys Cluttered Mind - My Bright Firefly - Peakle Pie - Preschool Powol Packets - Pray Species - SAHM I am - Stir The Wonder - Sunny Day Family - Sweet Silly Sara - Teach Beside Me - To the Moon and Back - Tots and Me - Tree Valley Academy - Witty Hoots

 

Bring a Caldecott Honor Book to Life Giveaway! Why not have some fun crafting your way through some pretty yarn fun crafts while bringing a Caldecott Honor Book to life this month in the Poppins Book Nook! Every month this group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that ties in with our theme for the month. This month one lucky entrant will win the Bring a Caldecott Honor Book to Life Giveaway. The winner will enjoy two fun Caldecott Honor Book themed learning items. The two items that they will win is the Extra Yarn storybook by author Mac Barnett and a fun Yarn Craft kit by Alex Toys. So let’s all get to reading to Bring a Caldecott Honor Book to Life this month with the Poppins Book Nook!

Entrants must be 18 years or older and reside in a country that receives U.S. Postal mail. This giveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who is owner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook. By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the PromoSimple terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom's disclosures found here {http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/disclosures/}.  Just enter the PromoSimple below to win:

Come and find out more information about Poppins Book Nook at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, on Facebook and on Pinterest.

Clip Art by Melon Headz