library pick of the week

we finally made it to the library! all 5 of us :) it was a tad tricky, to say the least. dad had an appointment at the doctor's office and he wasn't able to drive home, so i took all the kids to the library to kill time. everyone behaved. at first. stinkerbell has been displaced from the stroller, so she is learning where she needs to be. my desire is that the middle two hold on to the stroller bar, and the oldest walks beside his sister in case she tries to wander and i have my eyes elsewhere.

i never thought i would count to three tracking heads so many times in one hour.

we made it into the library after several reminders of where to return to, and i think the child that had the hardest time was the oldest! he is so used to being next to me with his hand on the stroller that he kept displacing his sister! we will get it i am sure...

after we got in, we had to stop and look at the immense doll house in the lobby area. then on to the books. each child randomly picks 2 books to look at while at a table while i browse the audio titles and grab a few readers and picture books off the shelf. as i was reading one of the selections to the kids, the baby decided to wake up early for his noontime feeding and screamed his head off until we reached the van, where he promptly fell asleep. nothing like trying to make a quick exit from the library while checking out books (did i mention i had forgotten my library card and had to go to the counter to do this?), counting heads, pushing a stroller, holding a screaming one-month old and dodging the looks from other patrons that clearly say "you have too many children...are they all yours?"

(note to self: check out the library books as soon as they are picked out, before attempting to read to the children, just in case someone explodes and you need to make a fast departure.)

on to the purpose of this post...

this time, surprisingly, my daughter picked out an amazing living book that we are going to develop a unit study around this summer. i may even purchase this one for my own shelves, it was so good!!

That Book Woman is a great introduction to the Pack Horse Library Project that was founded in the 1930's as part of the Works Progress Administration. Unit study ideas were flowing through my head as daddy read the story to bonobo. pack horse librarians, the Appalachians, the Depression, seasons, love for reading, selfless service, concept of bartering, so many themes run throughout this book. the illustrations composed of pastel chalk, watercolor, and ink are beautiful! and the story line had me wiping a few tears at the end.

truly a living book!