Nick+F

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Mrs. Palmieri recommends...

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December 6, 2015 Dear Nick,

As Christmas approaches, I often like to reread some favorite holiday themed books from my own childhood. When I was your age and a little younger, I loved to read __The Little House on the Prairie__ series. These wonderful stories are from the childhood of the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, as she grew up in the late 1800s in places like Wisconsin, Kansas, and eventually the Dakota Territory (today South Dakota). This time of year can be so busy and crazy and I always enjoy seeing how simple this pioneer family made their holidays. Sometimes we get so caught up in "buy, buy, buy" or " I want" that I really like reading these descriptions of the simple food and presents that they had and the happy holiday they created as a result. Here is a quote from fifth book in the series called, By the Shores of Silver Lake. Chapter 19 "Christmas Eve"-

"It had snowed all day and soft, large flakes were still falling. The winds were quiet so that snow lay deep on the ground, and Pa took the shovel with him when he went do the evening chores. "Well, it's a white Christmas," he said  "Yes, and we're all here and all well, so it's a merry one," said Ma  The surveyors' house was full of secret. Mary had knitted new, warm socks for Pa's Christmas present. Laura had made him a necktie from a piece of silk that she found in Ma's scrap bag. Together in the attic, she and Carrie had made an apron for Ma from on of the calico curtains that had hung in the shanty. In the scrap bag they found a piece of fine, white muslin; Laura had cut a small square from it, and secretly Mary had hemmed the square with her fine stitches and made a handkerchief for Ma. They put it in the apron pocket. Then they wrapped the apron in tissue paper and hidden it under the quilt blocks in Mary's box."

Descriptions like these really help me imagine what it would have been like to make gifts like Laura and her sisters did. Life was very different then. ***But when you read the descriptions of the family making and eating their meals and celebrating, it makes you as teh reader feel like maybe life isn't that different after all.

When I want to read these books, I usually pull out my little paperback set of all the books that I bought in book order when I was a student teacher. I was recently excited to discover __A Little House Christmas Treasury: Festive Holiday Stories__ was published. This is one book that contains all of the holiday stories from the author's different books. Perfect!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family.

Your friend, Mrs. P

September 10, 2015 Dear Nick,,

I am so excited to be sharing __Silverwing__ with you this year as a read aloud. This is definitely one of my all time favorite books, which is probably why I can’t imagine starting a school year without sharing it with my class. *The genre of this book is definitely fantasy since I don’t believe that bats and owls have wars or detailed adventures together. I also consider this to be a genre of my own invention- called Animal Adventure. I love the character Shade; he’s one of my all time favorites. *If I could talk to Shade, I would ask him if he thinks it was worth it to break the law and see the sun, especially after what happens to his colony as a result. What do you think of __Silverwing__ so far?

Your friend in reading,

Mrs. Palmieri J