* Botany in a Day - Thomas J Elpel

This article has been relocated to Loving Nature's Garden.

3 Classic Reads for Animal Lovers

I find myself coming back again and again to read classic books, books I read many years ago. Below are three books I highly recommend for the animal-lover in you, or the animal-lover in your life.

#1 - My Family and Other Animals
Reading Gerald Durrell's classic book as a teen had me longing for a life far from school with the freedom to explore island nature. Gerald's family are hilarious eccentrics who leave a dreary life in England to escape to Corfu. The descriptions of all the characters in this book and the events brought on by the animals in Gerald's little zoo never fail to make me smile. I'm pretty fond of The Maggenpies, the puppies called Widdle and Puke, and the mother scorpion who one day escapes onto the lunch table to cause mayhem amongst family and dinner guests. It's a great read for anyone with a love of animals and a taste for human eccentricities.
Find My Family and Other Animals at Amazon.com.

#2 - All Creatures Great and Small
James Herriot was a young, unsuspecting and inexperienced vet who arrived one day in Yorkshire, England ready to be interviewed for his first position, only to discover that his eccentric future-boss Siegfried wasn't even at home. Despite the hardships of being a farm vet in the Yorkshire Dales, James finds that there are many compensations, including the wonderful people and the fresh open aired countryside. As in the previous book, you really feel like you are visiting the author's place and seeing things through his eyes. Look out though, the Yorkshire Dales might capture your heart, like they did mine!
Find All Creatures Great and Small at Amazon.com

#3 - Your Recommendation
Try as I might, I couldn't think of just one more book to recommend. I have memories of many more wonderful reads, but the above two are the only animal books which have remained in my book collection for several decades. I'm always open to discover a new favorite book. What is your favorite nature or animal read? Which book do you come back to?

If you liked this you might like:

• Kids Science books for Spring.
• Natural Science Foundation.
• Five lazy ways to compost - part 2 - worms.
  

Book Give Away - Usborne Young Naturalist

This week I am giving away one copy of the Usborne Guide book, Young Naturalist.

For a review of this book please visit Loving Nature's Garden.

Why Homebaked Bread is a Necessity

Sometimes it's funny how you learn things. For instance, I recently discovered that while 2 members of my family love mushy food, the other two won't be satisfied with a meal unless it contains something chewy. Now, people may have a vision of homeschooling as an idyllic lifestyle, you know, mom, dad and the kids all living in perfect harmony, learning together around the kitchen table. Let me tell you though, when all 4 members of your family effectively work from home as well as living and sleeping there you have to be good at compromise. It's a daily necessity for getting through both lunch and dinner together without some kind of meltdown.

In our home freshly baked bread, or more often, so far, biscuits, is a kind of glue that keeps us together, or maybe it's grease to keep us running smoothly. Either way, I serve it with soup or stew and we have both mush and something to chew on. It leads to happy homeschoolers and a happy family :-) You know, there's a reason why baking bread is the number 1 item on Julie's 10 Point Bluffers Guide to Being a Homeschool Supermom. And I'm pretty sure it applies equally to being a non-homeschooling supermom. The only problem is making something baked in time for lunch while juggling things like blog writing and homeschool support tasks. Should you be game for the challenge though, I do have a few suggestions.

I tend to subscribe to the theory that variety is the spice of life. There are tons of fine recipes available on the web, but I still think it's better to have a tried and true book you can pull off the shelf when you're ready to dig into the flour pot. It wouldn't be enough for me to master making one kind of bread, therefore "Flour Cooking Naturally" has been my bread bible. I only use two other books for bread-like baking. One of them is a Betty Crocker booklet which I got for 10 cents at a garage sale and the other explains how to make tortillas.

Early on in my years of independent living I somehow acquired a small set of essential cookery books which have followed me everywhere. It's a plan I'd recommend. Using this book you can learn the secrets of everything from hot cross buns and crumpets to Danish pastries, bannocks, rye crispbread and challah. It covers every kind of basic cake and biscuit, puddings, all sorts of pastries and even homemade pasta. More impressively, every recipe I've tried has worked! Just be aware that since this book was published in London all recipes are given in weights rather than volume measures so you'll either need a set of scales or a conversion chart.

Just in case purchasing a British book for the economical sum of $0.40 cents doesn't appeal, or you just can't wait to get started, here are some learning links related to baking bread and biscuits:

• My favorite biscuit recipe uses oil rather than shortening. What could be better? When the main part of your meal is a bean soup, you need something with some fat to fill you up. An oil-based biscuit is ideal and much healthier. I make mine with olive oil, salt, pepper and some Italian herb mix. Here's the secret to healthy, fluffy biscuits. There are many ideas for using biscuits at BettyCrocker.com. I'd just substitute the oil-based recipe for the Bisquick mix she suggests.
  
• How does an engineer write recipes? Find out how to cook the engineers' way and make cornbread. Now, I'm not talking about high-tech or using a lot of grease! This recipe format makes SO much sense to me. I've never quite mastered the art of understanding recipes, which means I usually read my book over and over and over to make sure I get it right. I'm not an engineer, but I still like it!
• Like many people I've tried wholewheat bread recipes and ended up with a brick-like result. At Smitten Kitchen I found a recipe for a light, wheat bread. I'm willing to give it a try once more. Deb over there even claims to bewitch breads!
• Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies has been writing about soup and bread and she just wrote about the book pictured at the top of this page "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". It worked for her and now I just have to check it out! I had found it at Amazon.com when I was looking around for a bread picture today. I read the first few pages online and was really intrigued. It goes on my wishlist. In fact I'm off to check my library for it in just a moment.
• Not everyone has the luxury of being home with the chance to make their own bread. I know that many enjoy bread from in-store bakeries. For my family this is not a choice - we have a member with peanut allergy and in-store bakeries are just a risk we can't take. I highly recommend the Farm to Market bread company. It's not much use to you unless you're in the Kansas City area, but their bread is really great. Don't expect it to last more than one meal though because it's much too delicious! They have some recipes at their website which you could use with your own home-made bread, or in-store baked if that works better for you.
• There are plenty places to read the story of bread online. Here is a pretty detailed history of bread making for those who like to read. For the more visual you can watch a bread story slide show.
• Here's a Flowerpot Bread recipe for cooking with your kids. I'd never heard of bread clay, but I found a recipe and it sounds like a fun craft project. Personally I think it's about all store-bought, sliced white bread is good for, but maybe your kids would disagree!

May all your loaves be edible :-)

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day at Amazon.com - you can read the first few pages online. Flour Cooking Naturally is available used - it contains a wealth of wheat based recipes from many countries. Bread machines are wonderful if you have the space and funds.

Alice by John Fullerton from Ballads of Bairnhood

I have a very special book - Ballads of Bairnhood, edited by Robert Ford. First published in 1894 and reprinted in 1913. It was passed to me from my mother's side of the family. Although the binding of my copy is a little worse for wear, almost all of the pages are fresh and clean. I can tell which poems were favorites with my ancestors, for those pages bear the marks of loving hands. Many of the poems relate to the loss of little ones, and many others are written in the Scots dialect and might make no sense to most of my readers. I've therefore chosen to share with you tonight, a poem that, while not one of my favorites, is enjoyable and hopefully understandable to any parent.

ALICE.

Where the sunshine lingers long,
Where the birds sing merry lays,
Where the brook the ferns among
Slowly steals, there Alice strays,
Culling here and there a flower
Blooming in the greenwood bower.

There is sunshine in her face
Brighter far than in the skies;
As I gaze, it's light I trace
Beaming in her deep blue eyes;
There's a song within her heart -
May that glad song ne'er depart.

Happy, free from grief and care;
O'er the meadows fair she roams,
Breathing fresher, purer air
Than to pent up city comes:
Seeing sights that pleasure bring -
Butterflies and birds a-wing.

John Fullerton

Brought to you in association with Amazon.com - lots of poetry and Scottish stuff.

Children's Party Cooking

Children's Party Cooking and other related books at Amazon.com
On my kitchen bookshelf are several cookbooks that have stood the test of time. In the days before video games (for my kids, but not necessarily for the rest of the world) a favorite activity in our house was to peruse the beautiful, colored, photos in cookery books. Pictured on the left is Children's Party Cooking, one of our favorites, which I was rather astounded to find at Amazon.com. I mean, this book was published in the UK in 1993, yet there a good number of copies listed for sale used on Amazon.com here in the good ol' USA.

I'm not necessarily recommending that you rush off and get yourself a copy of this book. For sure, it is a fun book. What I want to alert you to is the power of the imagination that comes with a book like this. We have several other cookery books that have been favorites for just as long. What's different about this book, it's secret if you like, is that kids tend to be fascinated by both attractive food and birthday parties. Combining them in a book allows a child to create dreams. With most of the other cookery books I can think of, a child just dreams of a meal. A party daydream is MUCH more fun! I'm pretty sure that women's magazine editors tap into the same thing when they publish meal ideas for Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. They're not just selling you a vision of food, but allowing you to create in your imagination a wonderful family occasion. Whether or not the real occasion will resemble the fantasy one is beside the point from the publisher's point of view. After all, if they hooked you, you bought!

Well, while I'm at it, I may as well give you the two for one deal here. Delia Smith's Christmas is quite possibly the adult equivalent. It's a little pricey, but both of the above books contain tried and true British recipes, with mouthwatering colored photos - at least all the recipes I've tried worked just fine - if that is any comfort. Of course you could save yourself a few bucks by reading cookery blogs and recipe websites and get almost the same experience. Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but to me sitting back with a book, my imagination, and a cup of tea is somehow rather different than browsing the web. It's also much nicer to get excited and take a book to mom, hubby, daughter, friend etc than to yell out, "Hey, I found this great recipe, come on over to the computer and see it!"

May all of your party planning be a fun escape for you!

In association with Amazon.com - home of the Kindle.

The Birds and the Bees

Over at Amazon.com you can find this book used for $0.01.
Just for Janet over at 32-akre wood, I thought we should talk about the Birds and the Bees today. I don't mean the kind with wings, which I do dearly love, but the awkward question kind that kids are prone to ask while standing at the supermarket checkout. Why do they choose that precise moment? I even have the answer to that! Just so you know, this article is PG - no references to body parts will be made, unless you include feet. Update, update, I did mention the word womb. Read on...

Thankfully for Janet The Queen popped the question in the secure environment of home. Unfortunately for Janet she just wasn't very prepared. Not that I'm criticizing because she did manage to field the question when it was passed off to her by the Mountain Man. Well done Janet, but so that you can be prepared for the future, because of course these kind of questions have boomerang capabilities, let's get some ways to handle this down pat so that you can be a star instead of a fish with your mouth open! I'm treading on wobbly territory here so let's hope I don't dig myself a hole, or end up with my foot in my mouth, so to speak. Just so you know, this article is PG. Um... is there a parrot around here, I think I said that already.

The book pictured above is one that made it onto my bookshelf way back when my eldest was an innocent 5 year old or so. Imagine that, I actually planned ahead! But is this book any good and what does it contain? Would I recommend it? For me, I count this book in the parental reassurance category. Like the books on how to play all kinds of games with your baby, it's a book that seemed like it should belong in my home. I mean, every parent needs one of these so that they'll know what to do. Right? Whether or not you read it or use it is kind of irrelevant. It's there in the way that an emergency supply of large bandages is. The chances are that if you need it you'll be too busy calling in the emergency services, or your frantically struggling unprepared brain cells in this case, to go and pick up any book. Get it, read it, you'll know what kinds of questions kids ask, you'll know what parents are supposed to say at each and every age and then you can proceed to immediately forget all the details and fly by the seat of your pants when little Johnny pops the question. I mean, parental self-help books are great, but who actually remembers all that stuff you're supposed to do when they actually need to use it? Certainly not me! I promise I am going to tell you why kids ask at the supermarket checkout. If you're still reading, so far so good!

On to what I do actually recommend to prevent those awkward moments. This is where I realize that I have an overactive imagination. Pictured on your left is See Inside Your Body, a fantastic, flap-ridden Usborne book that arguably every family should have a copy of. But wait a minute, where did the picture of baby inside mom go to? I was convinced it was in there. I checked every page, I even read the contents: your amazing body; eating and excreting; breathing air; pumping blood; bones and muscles; brain power; the senses; drinking and peeing; body words. No, absolutely NO reference to the reproductive system, not even in the body words. Well, what about The Usborne Complete Book of the Human Body? Surely that contains graphic images. Well, actually no, it doesn't. There is one double page spread entitled conception and birth which shows no body parts. It does talk about how the man and woman get together in a very tasteful and factual way - "they fit together" and the names of various organs are in that section. Then there's a double page spread on babies in The Usborne Internet Linked Children's Encyclopedia, which has a few drawings of disembodied wombs, 4 sentences about birth, one of which is "It makes the mother tired.", and 5 sentences about making a baby, with no organs described or named. Tasteful is the order of the day and I'm not sure these would be enough to give The Queen the information she needs to prevent further questions.

What I'm trying to say here is that personally, like Janet, I've found simple and factual to be the best approach. Having a book around the house which shows some basics may prevent questions in the first place, or at least give a parent the few sentences they need and provide a safe environment for conversation. I took another look at Amazon.com and Where Do Babies Come From?, a Dorling Kindersley book, might fit the bill if you want a book that is solely focused on this topic. If you really tell some truth and don't say "from under a cabbage leaf", or "the stork brings babies", the chances are your kids will be grossed out. But I can assure you, they don't seem to be in any way damaged by it. Something simple like "the man and the woman get together and make a baby, which grows inside the mom's womb and when the baby is big enough it comes out a special passageway", seemed to work for us. Come to think of it, I'm sure I did learn something from that book pictured way up at the top. It was to ask first where the question came from so that you understand what the child really is asking. It's helpful to make the answer as short as possible, either that or start into a long discussion that goes something like this, "Well, I'm really glad you asked that. First of all the man and woman must get to know each other, to know that they get along together...", if you're lucky little Mary's eyes will glaze over as she foresees a long lecture which will require more of her attention than she is prepared to give right at that point. When she beats a hasty retreat you can head for the bookshelf and start frantically studying for the next time she tests you.

And why do kids ask awkward questions at supermarket checkouts? Have you ever read the front pages of the magazines on display there? They are real vocabulary builders. And if your kid chooses that awkward moment, it's OK to say, "I really want to answer your question, but let's do it later because I'm busy packing groceries right now." The trick is to be like a boy scout and be prepared. You've read this article so, well done, now you've got it covered.

By the way, I'd be happy to field any questions, read your funny stories, or answer more questions about any of the above books. If you have a story you want me to link to let me know.

From my readers:

• Alison of Everyday Best recommends It's So Amazing. You can see in an inside view by following the link, or pop over to this other homeschooling Alison's blog if you want to leave her a question.
• Kat recommends Golden Book How We are Born, which appears to be out of print. Amazon.com have a few used copies available through their marketplace. Check the comments if you want more details of why Kat likes this book.

Brought to you by your independent educational consultant with Usborne Books at Home - home of a choice of over 1,300, wonderful, engaging, colorful books kids love to read. And in association with Amazon.com, with parenting books to answer all your questions.

Baby Dad

The Father's Almanac at Amazon.com
Once upon a time Handyman Hubby was a baby dad. He'd never changed a diaper, never bounced a baby, and didn't know how to play roughhouse. Sixteen years after purchasing The Father's Almanac, I looked up today in search of a favorite book to write about and saw this book still on my shelf. I guess that's some kind of testament - unless you believe that I've never, ever thrown a book out. Now, that's not a polite accusation! There may be a grain, or even a boulder, of truth in it, but I do actually take a lot of time over choosing what gets on my bookshelf in the first place :-)

Maybe I actually bought this book for me, or at least because I thought it was full of the kind of "baby dad" I'd like to have in my home. Just as I was starting to write this article Handyman Hubby chanced by my desk and looked to see what I was doing. When I told him that this book was the reason and source of the roughhousing that has been a favorite dad/kid interaction in our home since Artist Girl and Game Boy were tiny, he was surprised. Well, there is a lot more to this book than roughhousing safely, though I have to say that for me it was worth the price just for that alone.

Checking Amazon.com to see how many people who view this item actually purchase it, you'll see a figure of 55%. I can't say why 1/2 the people end up choosing something else, but I can give you a few gems from this book. And if you know someone who will be a father shortly, or who has a young child, you just might give this book a check.

First up, there's good practical advice about getting involved in pregnancy and in birth choices, with words of advice on such diverse things as back rubs, trial runs and emergency delivery. Moving on, the man in question will learn about bonding, celebrating, and big adjustments. Baby dad can learn how to do the football hold and how to build a hip baby seat (men just aren't endowed that way)! Moms to be will be reassured to know that dads will get an explanation on diaper changing, burping, and on comforting criers. I think all of that is great and as I read through this book again, I realize how much of that we did use. However, I think my favorite part of this book is all the little projects it details from old-fashioned simple toys like clacker blocks, and spinning tops to sleds, musical nails and a bouncing swing.

This book really is a complete pre-birth to preschool guide for an involved dad and would serve as a pretty complete preschool curriculum for either parent, or for both parents.

By the way, I do also own the equivalent Mother's Almanac, but it's not one of my favorite books and I shouldn't really give it shelf space. The Father's Almanac IMO is better organized, nicely indexed, and considerably more fun!!

Do you have a favorite baby advice book on your bookshelf, a favorite dad and kid activity, or a favorite dad and baby story to share. Let me know and I'll give you a link.

I have the most awesome readers who have amazing partners:

• Janet of 32-Acre Wood reports that Mountain Man was a great baby dad. He stepped up to the plate and changed all her first's diapers after she was in bed due to a C-section.
  

Homeschooling Elementary

Nebel's Elementary Education at Amazon.com
If you were to ask me to recommend just one reference book to guide you through homeschooling the elementary years I'd recommend Nebel's Elementary Education. Keep reading and I'll tell you why.

I started out homeschooling when my daughter was due to enter 5th grade and I bought "What Your 5th Grader Needs to Know". However, I could not read that book without feeling overwhelmed and questioning the way it dictates what a child at a certain age should be learning. That approach makes no sense to me - kids are not all ready for the same facts at the same age, never mind the fact that in my mind homeschooling, especially in the elementary years, is really not about learning facts! Needless to say at that point I just headed off from books that attempted to explain what I should do educationally with my daughter and made my own path.

A couple of years later an experienced homeschool parent recommended Nebel's Elementary Education to me. She told me that it contains everything you need to know to homeschool your kids through the elementary years. Well, that sounded like a bit of a stretch, but I was intrigued enough and the price was right enough for me to get myself a copy.

So what exactly is in this book? Here is a quote from the introduction, "Nebel's Elementary Education's beginning lessons in all subject areas are designed to tie into" a child's existing knowledge or experience "and build on it incrementally and systematically. All lessons begin by first drawing students' attention to be cognizant of what they already know or have experienced and then guiding them to make further observations through demonstrations , hands-on activities, or real-life explorations. Finally they are drawn, through interactive discussion, to integrate the new lesson with the prior knowledge or experience and thus expand their structure or understanding." In other words we're helping kids to learn and build on their knowledge through observing and interacting with the world around them!

Well, I could write all morning about this book and barely cover a fraction of it. However, it's time to get to homeschooling for the day. If you are curious be sure to leave me a comment or question. You can also read a review at About.com and see more of what it's about at Castlemoyle.com.

Homeschoolers' Guide to the Galaxy is an Amazon.com associate site. See more books on homeschooling elementary at Amazon.com.

For Literacy - got books?

Information about this bookcase.
This is something you'll never see in my house, except on moving day. Once a book comes into my house it rarely leaves. You might say I'm a book collector, which means I'm of necessity a collector of bookcases. I'm a firm believer that you can't grow kids into readers without growing a collection of books (and bookcases)!

I'm always fascinated by what others have on their bookshelves. Invite me to your house, leave me alone in a room with a bookcase, I'd be busy for hours. In fact I'd like to spy on your bookshelves. I want to know how many bookshelves you have and what you have on there. What kind of books do you collect? Handyman Hubby collects the following: business and management; programming; DIY; action, science fiction and fantasy paperbacks. Didn't you just learn something about him there?

So, how many bookshelves or bookcases do you have and what's on there? Maybe you even have a bookshelf tie. Guess what's on mine if you like. Hey, I'd love to, but I can't, give away a free bookcase to one lucky winner who guesses right, if only I had one to spare! Know anyone who'd donate one to me? Sorry, we'll just have to be happy with the joy of sharing information instead. I AM however going to search out a bookcase design/plan for all my fellow booklovers who might like to build a bookcase. Leave a comment and let me know about your books, bookshelves and bookcases and I'll give you a link.

From my readers:

• Renae has seven overflowing bookshelves. It sounds like she is a bookworm!
• Deborah has nice new bookshelves, but no self-help book on book addiction! Got one of those?
• I'm trying not to be jealous of Jeanne from At A Hen's Pace. She just got NINE new bookcases from IKEA. Oh boy, I've planned out exactly the ones I'd like for our master bedroom, but I can't stomach the cost of shipping and our closest store is too far away to justify the time, gas and hotel.