Dawn Bonnevie

Maddie Makes a Mess

2010-05-02T00:22:00.006-04:00

In honor of Free Comic Books Day, here is a Maddie comic.
Click on each page to see it bigger.
Warning: preschool humor!

Pair of Picture Pie Charts 2nd edition

2010-03-27T09:42:00.004-04:00

Math is for installing lightning rods.

Math is for using a good stain remover on your laundry.

Math is for fun with pie charts.

Author Visit with Jeannie Brett

2010-03-19T19:23:00.017-04:00

Maine is home to many beautiful wild animals.
Maine is also home to author and illustrator Jeannie Brett.
Jeannie recently treated her young Maine readers to a visit and signing at Nonesuch Books in South Portland, where she read her newest work of art, Little Maine, a board book featuring riddles about Maine animals. Guests listened to Jeannie read, answered the riddles together, then colored birds and added them to a big felt moose. Jeannie also treated everyone to an illustration demonstration! Here is a short video of Jeannie drawing Maine animals.

Check out Jeannie's web site!
www.jeanniebrett.com
Little Maine is the first of a series of board books published by Sleeping Bear Press.

Lost and Found

2010-03-17T20:25:00.014-04:00

Have you ever lost anything?
Did you find it?
This is what usually happens to me!

1. lose expensive item
2. realize a week later that you've lost expensive item
3. look for item
4. wait one hour
5. look for item

6. try to remember when item became lost
7. try to re-create steps of when item was lost
8. look for item
9. get annoyed
10. give up

11. consider buying new item
12. refuse to buy new item
13. look for item
14. insist item must be around somewhere
15. look for item

16. give up
17. order new item
18. keep looking for lost item anyway
19. new item arrives in mail
20. find lost item

Has anyone seen my

?

Blue Shaker (fiction)

2010-03-13T18:22:00.009-05:00

“Pass the corn, please.”
Kami passed the corn.
“How was school?” asked Dad.
“Fine,” said Kami.
“Boy, everyone is so talkative tonight!” laughed Mom.
“Just tired, Mom. Pass the salt, James,” said Kami.
“More like bored,” complained James as he grabbed the salt shaker and started to hand it to Kami. Instead of handing it to her he decided to slide it across the table, hard.
The lighthouse-shaped salt shaker slid, then tipped, then spun and flew off the table. It crashed to the floor, breaking and spilling salt in an arc across the tile.
No one moved. “James, just because family dinner isn’t exciting enough for you is no reason to break things,” said Dad.
“I didn’t mean to, Dad! Seriously, it’s just an old salt shaker! Of a lighthouse, for cryin’ out loud. We live a thousand miles from an ocean! ” He got up from the table to clean up the broken pieces.
“Stop,” said Mom, “Everyone just stop. James, I’ll get that in a minute. Sit down. I want to tell you something.”
“Great, a lecture,” said James.
Dad raised his hand and started to bring it down as a fist onto the table.
“No,” said Mom, “Not a lecture. A story.” Everyone waited.
“My grandmother gave me these shakers when I visited her in Maine when I was ten. She died the next year.” Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Sorry, Mom,” mumbled James.
“It’s okay, James. I’m not really sentimental about stuff. It’s just stuff. It’s just that you reminded me of a story.” She pushed her plate away and leaned forward against the table.
“Grandmother collected salt and pepper shakers. She had a tall glass cabinet full of them. I loved how different they all were. Some were identical pairs, like these lighthouses. Some were things that go together, like a horse and a cart.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She never put salt and pepper in the collection shakers. Anyway, the shakers we always used at the table were very plain. The salt was in a blue bottle and the pepper was in a red bottle.” She twisted her napkin.
“Looks like no one’s hungry anymore,” said Mom.
“I’m going to collect salt and pepper shakers,” said Kami. Mom smiled.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Kami, but there’s more to the story. When your uncle and I were really little, about four years old, Grandmother babysat us while my mother was at work. We had this little game. Uncle Will liked pepper on everything. He’d sing 'I’m a red sh-shake-er!' Looking back, I think he put up with pepper on his food just so he could use the red shaker. He loved the color red.”
Mom took a sip of her water then continued. “So, I was the blue shaker. I couldn’t let him out-do me, so I’d dance around, shouting 'I’m a blue shaker, shaker, shaker!' We’d pretend the salt and pepper were talking to each other.”

“That is so lame, Mom,” said James.
“Is not!” answered Kami.
“Well, we were little,” said Mom, “One day the blue shaker fell and broke. I cried and cried. Grandmother tried to calm me down, but I was inconsolable. She said I could choose a set from her collection, but I wanted to be a blue shaker. It was like the blue shaker was me, broken on the floor, and my brother was still on the table, without me.”
Dad reached over and held Mom’s hand. She smiled.
“But it was just a salt shaker, right Mom, not you,” said Kami.
“Right, Kami. And we’re a family. James, you are more important to me than that lighthouse.”
Dad squeezed Mom’s hand and said, “But there’s a piece of you inside that will always be a blue shaker.”
James got up from the table and picked up the broken lighthouse. “I’ll glue it back together, Mom.”
“Yeah,” said Kami, “Or the pepper lighthouse will be lonely.”

Think About It: Octopuses (non-fiction article)

2010-02-28T08:21:00.043-05:00

***This article is mostly true.
Four sentences are NOT TRUE.***
Read, think, and research to find out the truth about octopuses.

Octopuses are an ocean animal belonging to the cephalopod group of invertebrates. They live most commonly in warm ocean water and are bottom-dwellers. Octopuses eat crayfish, crabs, and mollusks.
The octopus body is soft and has eight arms with rows of suckers. Octopuses use several strategies for protection, including camouflage, ink squirting, losing an arm, and biting with their strong beak.
Octopuses use their arms for a wide variety of tasks. They are intelligent animals, able to learn by watching the behavior of other octopuses.
An octopus behavior recently reported is an amazing ability to use coconuts as a tool for survival.

Scientists working in Indonesia have observed Veined Octopuses carrying empty coconut shells to hide in.
These octopuses crawl to a coconut tree at night to choose a coconut of a useful size. They then use their strong arms to crack the coconut shell against a rock. The octopus carries the two shell halves under its body, walking as if on stilts. A Veined Octopus will keep the same coconut shell until the shell is no longer of a useful size.

The Veined Octopus joins other tree-climbing octopuses, such as the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.

Use these sources, along with others, to decide which four sentences are false:
(You HAVE TO check out the first link! It's GREAT!)
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/Hiding-in-a-Coconut.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Wild-Things-201002.html?c=y&page=2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphioctopus_marginatus
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/octopus-facts-for-kids.html
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(09)01914-9?large_figure=true#app2
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_tree_octopus

Pair of Picture Pie Charts

2010-02-19T11:04:00.008-05:00

Math is for staying out of roads.

Math is for wearing helmets.

Math is for having fun with pie charts.
Come back another day for a new pair of pie charts.

Snow Fun

2010-02-17T16:12:00.012-05:00

Do you recognize any of these characters?

The side of our shed looks friendlier...for now!

A Whole Nother Story (book review)

2010-02-15T15:36:00.005-05:00

This is a very funny book. And it's humorous, too, in case by 'funny' you thought I meant 'odd'. In both cases you would be correct.

Here is some advice: you should keep a box of tissues handy while reading this book. Because when you laugh yourself to tears you wouldn't want to use your socks, particularly if you've named them Steve.

Not to mislead you, this story does involve some danger and misfortune, otherwise the spies and secret agents would feel irrelevant.

Without giving anything away, I will let you know the ending is quite satisfying, and not just because you've reached the last page and can say "Well, that's done."

So, if you want to enjoy an entertaining story, or want to change your name and need some suggestions, read this book.

story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup
illustrations by Jeffrey Stewart Timmins

Have a Heart

2010-02-13T13:54:00.004-05:00

When you
...share a laugh
...share a joke
lend an ear
lend a hand
...return a favor
...return a smile
give some time
give some care
...show some joy
...show some love

Then you
have a heart...and...have a friend

<3 Dawn

Name Games (activity)

2010-02-09T07:10:00.013-05:00

I've posted before that I think names are fun to think about.
Sometimes names have interesting meanings.

So, I am reading A Whole Nother Story (very funny, by the way).
Names are a big part of this story. If you read the book, you'll see what I mean.

This book inspired me to have a little fun with names today.
Can you tell what all these names have in common?

Megan Trump
Bella Ursa Tate
Lilly Olive Long
Quinn Thompson
Opal Marie Good
Beth Fran Ford
Ben Brett Quigley
Owen Johnson
Isaac Caleb Umpire

Check out the pictures below to see the answers.

(their initials all say/ mean something :)
You can click on a picture to see it larger.
Do YOUR initials say something?
Do some artwork with your name!

Alliteration Day!

2010-02-05T10:41:00.005-05:00

Today is an alliteration!
My first graders discovered that today is:

Friday, February fifth!
All three words begin with the same letter.

We figured out how many days that is possible in a year.

Can you figure it out??
How many times will it happen in 2010?

PBS Kids Writing Contest!

2010-02-03T17:43:00.009-05:00

Calling all kindergarten, first, second, and third grade writers!

You can enter this contest. Yeah, there are prizes, but it's the fun of writing a good story that matters.

Go to this site for more information and to hear last year's winning stories:

http://pbskids.org/writerscontest/

this picture: Sam types his story

It's About Time (a one act play/ comedy of errors)

2010-01-31T19:01:00.015-05:00

Cast: Reporter (R) Writer (W)

Scene: Bookstore

R: Tell me about your book.
W: It’s about time.

R: I’m sorry I was late! So, how does your story begin?
W: ‘We’re all out of time.’

R: We just started! Could you explain the major conflict in this book?
W: Time is wasting away.

R: I couldn’t agree more, so how about if you just answer the questions!
What is the most important theme?
W: We can make time.

R: It’s about time!
W: Exactly.

R: Well, good, now we're getting somewhere. What is the title?
W: Take Your Time

R: I was done the question. Just tell the title.
W: That was the title.

R: What was the title?
W: Take Your Time.

R: Right, well, Can you tell me where the story happens?
W: In another time and place.

R: Well, so much for setting. How do the characters try to resolve the problem?
W: Stop the clock!!

R: Wow! It must be such a gift to be hit with inspiration!
W: There's no time like the present.

R: Okay then…Do the characters' actions resolve the problem?
W: That was a waste of time.

R: Well, thank you anyway. Is there a lesson to be learned here?
W: Better luck next time.

R: I don't think so, but I hope you hit the big time just the same.
W: It’s about time.

Supersister (book review)

2010-01-24T16:33:00.013-05:00

Supersister is a book about a girl who can do things herself.
She is brave! She is helpful!
And her best work is yet to come.
Read Supersister to find out why!
This is a super book!

This is a picture of the author, Beth Cadena, reading Supersister
at a signing at Borders in South Portland, Maine. Guests at the signing made their own super masks. Thanks, Beth! We love your book!

Little Poem for Haiti

2010-01-22T22:20:00.005-05:00

Thousands of hearts are but one,
Beating the rhythm of love.
As the gift is sung
It sends a sound
To those in pain and strife.

Thousands of hearts are but one,
Seeking the music of hope.
When the song is done
It tells the truth
It is life, it is life, it is life.

Reading Resolutions

2010-01-21T06:22:00.004-05:00

The new year is three weeks old. Did you make New Year's resolutions?
A resolution is a promise. Many people make resolutions to eat healthier, be kinder, or do more volunteer work. Those are just a few examples, but people can make any kind of resolution they want.

Why not have a reading resolution!
You could promise yourself to read more comics, more magazines, more chapter books, or whatever you feel is important to you.

Here is a reading resolution project that is important to many people.
The project is called People of Color Reading Challenge.
One of the best things about reading is you get to meet lots of different people. This project will help you meet all kinds of interesting people!

To do the challenge, go to the website by clicking this picture. It is an adult site, so ask a grown up for permission and help.
On the website you promise yourself to read books by and/or about people of color. That's it!
There are lists of titles on the website to help you find books, but most of these books are for teens or older.
You don't have to read the books that are listed, though.
I happen to have, right on my desk right now, a great picture book with a character of color .
It is Not Norman by Kelly Bennett. Great book!
I hope this reading resolution comes true for you!

Wall of Wisdom

2010-01-18T21:16:00.004-05:00

No Wall of Wisdom would be complete without a picture of
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The link below has lots of great information and pictures that you can use to add to (or start) your own wall of wisdom.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/

What is your favorite quote from Dr. King?
Write it down and hang it up!

clip art from free-stock-photos.com

Kids Can Do It Update

2010-01-15T17:15:00.005-05:00

Gabrielle Fuller, age 8 from North Carolina
and
Isabella Penola, age 12 from New York
have won a writing contest!
They won Mrs.P.com's "Be a Famous Writer" contest.

Their stories will be made into a video, which you can see on www.Mrs.P.com in March. Powell's Books is giving them a gift certificate to its bookstore.
Gabrille and Isabella will also get a copy of their story as a real book.
Gabrielle's story is called "Pretty Princess and Funky Frog."
Isabella's book is called "Spattered Mud and Crushed Petals."

Congratulations to these two young writers!

You can enter Mrs.P.com's writing contest in September. Start writing!

Book Collections (project)

2010-01-13T20:37:00.005-05:00

You probably know what kinds of books you like. Do you like mysteries or adventures? Do you like books about snakes or horses? When you go to a library or a bookstore, you probably look for books that you like. If so, then you already know what kind of book collections you have, or would like to have.
Maybe you collect books from a certain series or books by the same author. You might like fairy tales and have several that would make a collection. I have a collection of Christmas books and buy a new one every December. I also collect cat picture books, and picture books about Japan (here are some in this picture).
You might discover that you have a book collection you didn't know you have!
Look through the books in your house and see if some of them go together (are similar in some way). You could display them like a bookstore would and play 'bookstore'. Get a date stamp and cards and play 'librarian'! Or you could just put similar books together on the shelf.
The next time you buy books, which collection would you like to add to, or what kind of collection would you like to start? Make a list of books you would like to look for.
The kinds of book collections you have tell a lot about you!

Winter Acrostic (poetry)

2010-01-06T13:41:00.010-05:00

An acrostic is a poem that usually begins each line with a letter so that the beginning letters spell a word going down.
You don't have to worry about rhyming, just have fun!
How would you write an accrostic with the words WINTER NIGHTS?

Windows are lit
In the
Neighbors' houses,
Though it's the dark
Everyone
Remembers.

No one minds being
Inside when the
Gnawing cold
Hunts
The frozen
Shadows outside.

Also Known As Harper (book review)

2009-12-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Harper is good at writing poetry.
She is also good at noticing things about people.
If you read this book you will know a lot more about people, and maybe more about poetry, too. The poetry is important to Harper, but it's the people in this story that matters most.
While this story is sad, it will make you glad for having the people you love in your life. You might even feel like writing poetry. I hope you do both.

Cali Girl

2009-12-29T11:05:00.005-05:00

This is my cat, Cali, which is short for 'calico', which is a kind of cat. I adopted Cali from a shelter when she was eight years old. I discovered that when a camera is pointing at her she does this trick. We have no idea how she learned it or why she does it. Since she does it all the time, and it's very cute, I will post a new video next month.

Have you ever seen a cat do this?
Does your pet do an interesting trick?

I love my Cali Girl!

Meet Maddie

2009-12-28T20:03:00.002-05:00

This is Maddie.
She has a bow in her hair.

quick quote

2009-12-16T20:05:00.010-05:00

Do you know which book this quote is from?

"Olive was surprised it was so easy to fly."

This is an easy one!
Click on the words 'quick quote' above to see the answer.

White Socks (fiction)

2009-12-07T22:40:00.009-05:00

White Socks

The car ran out of gas again today. That’s why we’re staying in this shelter tonight. It’s just for one night, though. Mom said my Uncle George in Ohio will send some money.

She must be reading my thoughts, because she says, again, “Uncle George will send money.” She says it like saying it will make it true.
Then she says, “Go wash up for bed, Ben, but don’t talk to anyone in the men’s room…and be quick.”

She worries about me too much. I’m ten, and I know how to take care of myself. We’ve had this problem with restrooms for a few years. When I was little, she took me into the women’s room, but of course that won’t work now. Technically, my dad took me into the men’s room, mom told me, when I was potty training. But I don’t remember that. Or, him.

I take my toothbrush and soap to the men’s room. There’s an old man with a scruffy face staring into the mirror, rubbing his whiskers like he’s thinking hard about something. He looks kind of sketchy, so I stand sort of near a guy that looks like dad material.

“Here, son,” he says, “have some toothpaste.” He explains that a donation of travel-size toothpastes came in today. I accept the toothpaste and check under the cap for a seal. I brush quickly while the guy lectures me on the best way to brush. I leave before he tries to adopt me.

Back at our room, Mom is talking to a lady about whether we left our car in a safe place. That seems like a pointless conversation. Like we had a choice where to leave the car. I crawl under the itchy green blanket on my cot and hope this place isn’t too noisy. Someone in the next room coughs a lot. I’m glad there aren’t any crying babies. I can hear sirens in the distance, and the wind rattling the window. What I really want to hear is sleigh bells. Because tonight is Christmas Eve.

I know I probably won’t get any presents. We’ve had tough times for a while. Well, really since my dad died of cancer when I was three. It has only been extra bad since mom lost her job and couldn’t pay the rent. There’s always hope, though. Santa has a hard time finding kids in shelters, but I’ve been especially good, for Mom. So, I go to sleep as quickly as I can.

I dream about my cat, Socks. It’s a lame name, but honestly, he does look like he’s wearing socks. He’s all black except for his white feet. Santa brought Socks when I was five. He’s my best friend, and I dream about him every night. Tonight in my dream he’s chasing after a string I pull along the kitchen floor. He pounces on it with those sock feet then I pick him up and snuggle him. He tucks his head under my chin and purrs. He is nothing but softness and warmness. Suddenly he is crying. He is trapped in the neighbor’s window searching for me and calling for me to come get him.

I cry out and wake myself up. I look over to the next cot to see if I have woken my mom. Luckily, she is still sleeping. If she had woken, she would have said, for the hundredth time, “Ten-year-olds shouldn’t be homeless. You’re too young to know so much about heartbreak.” It takes a long time to get back to sleep.

Mornings come early in shelters. The last one sent everyone out at 6:00 am. Mom is shaking me, so I think we’re heading out, probably to see if our car is still there, and maybe to get some money from Uncle George, whoever that is.
“Ben,” she says, “Santa came! He’s here, in the lobby! Let’s go see, maybe he brought something.” She says that last part carefully. I know by now she means Santa might not know we’re here. Since, we got here late last night.

I put on my shoes and we go down to the lobby. Everyone has some sort of new item that stands out against all the old, used, and dirty. A little girl, about 6, has a little plastic doll and an even littler boy has a truck. The guy who gave me toothpaste has a striped hat and gloves.

Santa turns around and looks at me with a surprised face. I know right away he’s just a Santa’s helper. His beard is fake and his buttons are done up wrong. The fake Santa goes to his beat-up Toyota out front and comes back with a package.
He pats me on the shoulder a little too hard, hands me the package and says, “Sorry, Dude. Merry Christmas.”

Inside the package is a 3-pack of boys’ white socks, size medium. The toothpaste guy says, “Man, that stinks. No kid wants socks for Christmas! I’ll take ‘em if you don’t want ‘em.”
The lady Mom was talking to last night starts a loud argument with him. I give a pair to the little boy with the truck, since he isn’t wearing any and his sneakers are holey. Mom is crying, and I tell her, “Mom, it’s okay, I like the socks, really.”

I want the lady to stop arguing with toothpaste guy, so I give him a pair, although I doubt they’d fit. Then she starts arguing with me to take them back. I tell her, “No, it’s perfect, see? I still have a pair for me.”

I sit down on the floor to prove it. I pull off my shoes and old socks. The bare tile is cold. Everyone is watching me like they’ve never seen someone get socks for Christmas.

The new socks feel like heaven. They’re soft and cushy. The whiteness reminds me of laundry and something about home. I look at my white feet and all of a sudden I know something.

I’ve heard the saying about knowing something is going to happen, knowing it in your heart. But, I think I know it in my feet, too. I know it is true with all of me. Everyone is still looking at me. I look at Mom and say, “I think we’re going home.”

My throat is too choked up to say it out loud, but I think it. “I’ll be there soon, Socks. I’ll get you home soon.”

Finn Throws a Fit! (book review)

2009-11-30T22:14:00.003-05:00

Sometimes you're just in a bad mood. No one knows why Finn has a huge, wild tantrum. He just does. The author and illustrator do a really good job of showing Finn's feelings in this book. Readers of this book will be happy to know that bad moods go away, like sunny days after a storm. Yes, Finn does throw a fit, and it's doosie, but he gets over it, and that will make you feel better.
written by David Elliot, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

I wonder...

2009-11-22T07:59:00.004-05:00

I wonder...
I wonder if adding antifreeze to the glass-making process would stop my car's windshield from frosting over.

Why?

2009-10-20T21:53:00.003-04:00

Why is BIG shorter than LITTLE
and LITTLE longer than BIG?

Why do we say "let's put ON a show"
but "don't show OFF"?

Why are moths attracted to lights if they
are night creatures?

Why is w called "double-u"
when it really is a "double-v"?

I don't know, beats me, good question, good night!

Boredom Buster Box (project)

2009-10-03T09:36:00.010-04:00

Game #2

* You can play this game by yourself or with others.
* Open your Boredom Buster Box and take out one item.
* Either choose an item you like, or choose one without looking.
* Decide if players will be timed or not.
* Now name 10 things in the room that begin with the same letter as the item you chose.

I chose a wheel:
1. window 2. wrench
3. wall 4. Windex
5. welcome mat 6. watermelon
7. wheat bread 8. wires
9. wood 10.white (fridge)
Can you guess what room I am in?
OK, number 10 gave it away!

Come back again for more games!
See the September 13, 2009 post for directions for making a Boredom Buster Box and game #1.

Build-Your-Brain: Word of the Week

2009-09-29T22:36:00.003-04:00

GLOBULAR

pronounced: "GLOB-yah-ler" or "GLOBE-yah-ler"

shaped like a round ball, a sphere, or the globe
or
something made of sphere shapes
or
something that is found worldwide.

Charlie Brown has a very globular head. If you draw continents on his head, you could use it as a globe.

Meet Maddie

2009-09-21T19:50:00.002-04:00

This is Maddie.
She has 3 teeth.

Wall of Wisdom

2009-09-16T20:16:00.011-04:00

"Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words can never hurt me."

Well, actually, words can hurt a lot. Sure, maybe words can't break a bone, but words are powerful things.

Brett Westcott and Cameron Brown realized they could make the world a better place with the power of words. They do it for free, too.

Brett and Cameron stand on a sidewalk at Purdue University for two hours every Wednesday. They give out compliments to people walking by. The nice things they say to people make the people feel noticed and happy. So many people enjoyed the compliments, that they started calling Brett and Cameron "The Compliment Guys".

A hero is someone who uses power for good. Now, more people at their school want to be kind, too. Paul Shepard, who works at their school, says Brett and Cameron make him want to be a better person. The Compliment Guys sound like 'heros' to me.

Maybe they can teach all of us the power of kind words.
Maybe kids will soon be saying:

"Doctors and nurses may heal my bones,
but words can save my soul."

Okay, it doesn't rhyme, but you get the idea!

Comment with the kind words you said to someone today!

sources:
Hometown Heros, The Compliment Guys, by Maria W. Aldrich
and
http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/x/2009a/090313ComplimentGuys2.html
Purdue News Service photo/ Andrew Hancock

Boredom Buster Box (project)

2009-09-13T10:21:00.015-04:00

MATERIALS NEEDED:
* a small box
(A little metal box like the ones that mints are sold in works well.)
* lots of little items that will fit into the box
(The box in this picture has twenty things in it!)
* paper and pencils

DIRECTIONS FOR GAME #1:
* the first player chooses items from the box and lays them out for everyone to see.
(choose fewer items for younger children, more for older children or for more players.)
* everyone except player one closes their eyes while player one removes an item.
* player two tries to tell what the missing item is
* player one congratulates player two and returns the item
* player two now removes an item while player one closes thier eyes.

variation:
* player one does not return the item after player two names it
* player three (or more) closes their eyes while player two removes an item
* player three now names items 1 and 2 that are missing
* continue this pattern for as many players in the game

variation:
* player one lays out 10 items and gives everyone a few minutes to look them over
* everyone except player one closes their eyes while player one removes five items
* everyone except player one writes the names of the five missing items onto a piece of paper
* the player with the most correct 'wins' the chance to choose items for the next round

Print these directions and put them in your box.
This is a great game to play at a restaurant or anywhere else that you have to wait. Check back for more ways to use your Boredom Buster Box.

Autumn Acrostic (poetry)

2009-09-13T09:28:00.009-04:00

An acrostic is a poem that usually begins each line with a letter so that the beginning letters spell a word going down.
You don't have to worry about rhyming, just have fun!
How would you write an accrostic with the words AUTUMN DAYS?

Apples, red and sweet,
Up in the
Trees and crunching leaves
Under
My feet, fall is
Nature's lullaby.

Drowsy bees
And honking geese, autumn
Your song will too
Soon be done.

Stone Face at Harvard Mine (personal narrative)

2009-09-08T21:55:00.006-04:00

It was a good thing I bought new mud boots. It had been raining for several weeks, so I knew I would need them on our hike up to the Harvard Mine. Harvard Mine is at the top of a mountain in Maine. My two sons, Nathan and Sam, and my mother and I like to go rockhounding there at least once a year. It is a beautiful hike and we love looking for gems. We would also stop at Perham's, a jewelry store and museum near the mines. The Perham family owns the mines and lets people rock hunt there for free. They were always friendly when we visited, and would help us identify our finds.

This time was a special trip, as it was also the day Perham's was closing forever. Perham's had been in business for ninety years and was famous around here. Many people were sad to see them close their shop, and came to visit the mines for what might be the last time. The trail to Harvard Mine was busy that day, but not everyone prepared for the hike as well as we had.

Some parts of the trail were more like a stream. Sections of the trail were a foot deep with mud. Other parts were dry, but mud boots were definately needed. Many people we saw were wearing only flip flops or rubber clogs. "Are they crazy?" we would say after we passed them, watching them pull their feet out of the mud. We had been up to the mines many times before. We knew what to expect.

We had to stop and rest often, because my mother was getting tired easily. It was a steep trail in places, and we were carrying hammers and chisels in our backpacks along with water and a snack. We also needed to stop so Nathan and Sam could fix their socks. Their socks kept slouching down off their feet and bunching up in the toes of their boots.

As my mother rested and my boys fixed their socks, I looked around at the woods and the piles of boulders spilling down the hillside. Suddendly something caught my eye. I climbed over huge rocks to get a closer look and pulled myself up the hill by grabbing onto small trees. It was just a bunch of rocks, but they looked like a face!

I called Nathan and Sam to come see. They scrambled up and were as amazed as I
was. We took pictures and pretended to talk to him. "See my new boots?" "Are you enjoying all the visitors today?" "We might never come here again."

The rest of the hike was just as wet and tiring. We stopped to take more pictures and to examine and collect rock specimens. At the top of the mountain we enjoyed the company of the other rockhounders and had our snack. We cracked rocks in half with the chisels and "ooohhhed" and "aahhed". I even found a baby snake that we admired for a while. As usual, our backpacks were heavier on the way down, but we were happy with our selections.

When we came to the spot with the rock face again, we took one last look. To think that all these years that we have been coming here, that face was sitting there in the woods all along, watching. We didn't think anyone else had ever noticed it, since it was pretty well blocked by trees. How sad to think that we found it on what might be the last day to hike here, if the Perhams sell the property.

Back at the van, I pulled off my muddy boots and wondered if others would think the rock looks like a face. I tossed all our boots in the back of the van and thought perhaps we saw the face because we needed to. It seems that sometimes we find things at just the right time.

If the mines remain open to visitors, we will now have a new addition to our traditional hike. If not, then we got to say goodbye in a very interesting and unique way. And maybe, just maybe, the mountain was saying goodbye to us. Or maybe he was giving us the boot.

Starfish (non-fiction)

2009-09-07T22:33:00.004-04:00

Starfish are an ocean animal. They are not a fish. The correct name for starfish is sea stars.
Sea stars live on the ocean floor near the shore and can be found in all oceans of the world.
There are about 2,000 kinds of sea stars, and many of them have 5 arms. Some kinds have more than five arms.
Sea stars have spiny skin to protect themselves. They can also lose an arm to keep a predator from eating their entire body.
They have tube feet all over their underside which they use to walk and to pry open shells. Sea stars eat the meat from inside shell animals.
To read more about sea stars, visit the sites below.
sources:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/starfish.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/interesting-facts-about-starfish.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/echinoderm/Seastarprintout.shtml

Me With You (book review)

2009-08-28T10:09:00.003-04:00

This short rhyming story is about a young girl and her grandpa and the things they like to do together. It is a very sweet story that makes you want to call your grandpa! The colorful pictures are beautiful and perfectly match the gentleness of the story.

Story by Kristy Dempsey and art (pictured here) by Christopher Denise

Wall of Wisdom

2009-08-26T18:35:00.006-04:00

Today is Wednesday so I will tell you about one of my favorite clippings on our family wall of wisdom. It shows a Harley Davidson motorcycle with a biker dude sitting on it. He is 59 years old and has a beard and long hair. He's wearing jeans, sunglasses and a Harley Davidson t-shirt and skull cap. He is also holding a quilt he made. Yes, that's right, a quilt. I tore this story out of my quilting magazine because I like the way this biker dude, nicknamed Biker-Dude, is also an artist.
His real name is Butch Myers and he learned quilting to help him quit smoking. This is different picture of Biker-Dude.

There are many things I like about Biker-Dude's story. Not only did he learn how to quilt, but he also designs his own. He didn't give up on his goal. He was in really poor health and found a way to get better. His story shows that you are never too old to learn something new. You might find yourself learning something totally different than what you thought. He had the courage to do something that others might make fun of him for. It is even cool that quilt has almost the same letters as quit.
What I like best, the biggest reason Biker-Dude is on our wall of wisdom, is that it shows you can't judge a book by its cover. Would you see a rough-looking Harley rider and guess that he designs quilts? You don't know a person just by looking at them.

go to www.allpeoplequilt.com/206 to read about Butch.
go to www.lilcountryshoppe.com to see his designs (click on the Biker-Dude link)
photo from allpeoplequilt.com

Build-Your-Brain: Word of the Week

2009-08-25T08:04:00.003-04:00

CACOPHONY

pronounced: "kuh-KOF-uh-nee"
or
"kah-KOF-uh-nee"

loud, unpleasant, confusing sounds

The cacophony in the crowded lunchroom at school gave me a headache. I was glad when Mr. Jones asked everyone to quiet down.

Meet Maddie

2009-08-24T22:38:00.006-04:00

This is Maddie.
She is one (and a half).

Picking Yellow (fiction)

2009-08-22T00:14:00.009-04:00

Dad parked the van in the Home Depot parking lot and we all climbed out and dashed through the rain to get inside before we got soaked.
I lifted Annie and Charlie, my four-year-old twin sister and brother, into the double seat section of the big orange racing car cart. My seven-year-old brother, Ethan, climbed into the merchandise section.
“Stay on your bottom,” I reminded him.
He answered back, “You’re not the boss of me, Hannah Banana!” I ignored that.
“Orange!” said Annie, “Let’s paint your room orange!”
“Ugh, no!” said Dad and I. We laughed. She sure likes those carts.
“Hannah, you can go look at the paint. We’ll be in the garden area,” said Dad.
I was glad to go look at paint alone. It had been raining for five days straight and I was really tired of my siblings. I was also glad mom stayed home while we went out. She was tired from being sick so much.
I always liked looking at the little colored cards, all neatly arranged, that showed the paint color choices. So many choices.
I studied the cards for a while. I could never decide. Dad said whatever I picked, I would have to like it for the next six years, until I left for college. I finally took a card with ‘clear sky blue’ and a card with ‘fresh cut grass’ then went to find my family.
It wasn’t hard to find them. I could hear Annie and Charlie chanting, “Yell-ow, yell-ow, yell-ow!” from three isles away.
Dad was putting yellow potted lilies into the cart and the twins cheered. “Ethan,” he said, “You need to get out of the cart now. What color flowers do you want to get mom?”
“I want yellow, too,” he mumbled, climbing out of the cart.
Annie called him a copy cat, but Dad put some yellow marigolds into the cart. I knew I wanted to get mom some miniature roses. Since it looked like the thing to do, I picked yellow.
On the way to the checkout lanes I showed everyone my paint color cards. Dad said green walls would probably not be a good idea, since my carpet is green. “Clear sky blue sure sounds good, though!” he said.
“Does color have a sound?” asked Charlie.
“No, stupid!” said Ethan.
We all just looked at him. He stared at the flowers, scowling like it was our fault he was grumpy.
Suddenly Ethan’s eyes widened. He picked a rose right off one of the plants. “Oh!” he said.
I was about to scold him, but Dad said, “What is it, Ethan?”
“Hannah should paint her walls blue, and paint yellow flowers all around, like a garden. Then it will be like her carpet is grass, and we could go look at her room when we get tired of too much rain, and in the winter we can remember mom’s birthday garden.”
Annie and Charlie chanted “gar-den, gar-den, gar-den!”
I liked his idea so much I gave him a big bear hug. He smiled.
We bought enough blue to paint my ceiling blue too, a small can of green for the stems, and a can of sunshine yellow for the flowers.
The rain had stopped. As we walked to the van, the sun began to poke through the clouds. My heart felt warm and happy and I knew we made the right choice.

by Dawn Bonnevie copyright 2009

Wall of Wisdom

2009-08-19T09:55:00.003-04:00

The Wall of Wisdom is in my laundry room.
When someone finds a saying or story that is wise, we hang it up there for everyone to read.

Come back next Wednesday to read something from our family wall of wisdom!

Build-Your-Brain: Word of the Week

2009-08-18T22:23:00.004-04:00

ALGOLOGY

pronounced: "al-GOLL-uh-jee"

Do you know that green slimy stuff on rocks at the beach or on the sides of a dirty fish tank? It's a plant called algae.
Learning about algae is called algology.

Jim said, "Hey, this rock has more algae than that rock."
Sara said, "Boy, Jim, you sure are good at algology."

Meet Maddie

2009-08-17T10:22:00.005-04:00

This is Maddie.
She likes cats.

Go Play!

2009-08-15T09:02:00.009-04:00

Maybe you can't have a snowball fight in summer, but if you use your pretending skills, you could try. You don't need mittens, either! Well, you could wear mittens if you want, to make the pretending more real. If it is just way too hot to play outside today where you are, or if it has been raining for days, here is a fun, easy, cheap game.
Get a stack of newspapers and give each person an equal share. Each person also needs a large shopping bag that can stand open.
Crumple each sheet of newspaper into a tight ball and fill your bag with paper 'snowballs'.
When everyone is ready....snowball fight!

What else can you do with your snowballs?
Bury each other!
Here is another idea:
Pile them on a towel, have each person hold a corner, and on the count of three throw the snowballs up into the air.
When you are done playing, make the cleanup a game too. First person to fill their bag is champion.
If you used paper shopping bags, you can roll the top down and make a paper snowman!
Decorate you 'paperman' and enjoy his company as long as you'd like, he won't melt!
Happy playing!
(Remember to put all your snow into the recycling when you are done.)

Perfectly Arugula (book review)

2009-08-14T20:12:00.003-04:00

Arugula is a hedgehog who likes everything to be perfect. But she finds out perfect isn't always much fun. Find out how Arugula learns her lesson!
This is a fun book to read, with lots of speech bubbles. Look for it at your bookstore or library.

Story and artwork (pictured here)by Sarah Diller

Mother Goose Character Riddle (poetry)

2009-08-14T08:01:00.002-04:00

Now it's time to go to sleep,
Tomorrow I will find my sheep.

If home if where they want to be,
I guess they will come back to me.

Which Mother Goose character is this?

Kids Can Do It Update

2009-08-13T09:30:00.005-04:00

Happy Thursday!
Time for a Kids Can Do It update:

**Sam (age 7) can swim in the deep end of the pool without help or a float/ lifejacket**

Way to go Sam! Let's hear a cheer for Sam!

Would you like to be on a Kids Can Do It update?
Send an email to dawnbonnevie@gmail.com telling about what you can do.
Remember to get your parents okay first and use your first name and age only.
(no last name, address, phone numbers, etc.)

Wall of Wisdom

2009-08-12T15:01:00.003-04:00

Come back next Wednesday to find out more about the Wall of Wisdom!

Build-your-Brain: Word of the Week

2009-08-11T10:26:00.005-04:00

FARCEUR

pronounced: "far-SIR"

A person who is funny, likes to tell jokes, or writes funny stories. Sometimes called 'a class clown'.

Mr. Wilson said that Jack could be a farceur during recess, but not in the middle of math class.

A comedian needs to be a good farceur (writer of jokes).

Are you a farceur?

Green Day (fiction)

2009-07-31T21:24:00.006-04:00

Bryant slid open the hallway closet door and peered inside. His sister had told him to get the green bags for Mom.
"I don't see any green bags, Mom!" he hollered to her in the kitchen.
"I need the shopping bags, Honey," she hollered back, "but they aren't green."
"Becka said they're green," he mumbled to himself. He found the blue canvas bags with the white rope handles. They reminded him of the sails on Grampa's boat, except the bags said GO GREEN on the side.
On the way to the grocery store Bryant felt like he was on Grampa's boat. A sudden thunderstorm made the ride rough as Mom drove around deep puddles. Trucks splashed waves onto the windows.
"Mom," Becka said, "Bryant looks a little seasick."
"You do look a little green, Honey," she said. "We'll be there soon."
At the grocery store, Bryant went straight to the restrooms and checked his face in the mirror.
"Mom, my face isn't green at all," he said when he came out of the restroom.
"I'm glad," said Mom, "but saying you looked green meant you looked sick."
He thought for a minute then asked, "Then why do the shopping bags say GO GREEN on them?"
Mom laughed and said, "That kind of green means something that is good for Earth. The bags help us make less trash."
"Oh," said Bryant. "Hey, look! I see my favorite kind of green. Pistachio ice cream!"
Mom smiled and put a carton of ice cream in the cart. "Grampa likes that kind,
too, and he's coming over later."
In the checkout line, Mom said to Becka, "I forgot some greens, can you go grab some please?"
"But, Mom," said Bryant, "we got brocolli, peas, and pistachio ice cream. Isn't that enough greens?"
"Wow!" said Mom, "We are having a green day, aren't we? Greens means leafy vegetables, like lettuce."
"When Grampa comes, I'm going to tell him about the green day, and share my ice cream with him," he said.
"Good idea," said Mom as she opened her purse. "Here, you can give the cashier some greenbacks!" and handed him several twenty dollar bills.
"Gee," said Bryant, "Green sure is a busy color!"

Rain Haiku (poetry)

2009-07-01T22:15:00.011-04:00

A haiku is a 3-line poem that has 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the next, and 5 in the last. It usually does not rhyme. Haiku traditionally tells something about nature, but modern haiku doesn’t have to.
I’ll bet you can tell what the weather has been like where I live!

Rain, rain for two weeks
come again some other day
but not tomorrow
**
Rain dripped all the day
And the day before, before
Please, we ask, no more

**
The beach is lonely
Can we go swimming in rain?
Yes, just don’t get wet
**
Rain takes many forms
Drizzle, pouring, cats-and-dogs
Sometimes just too much
**
Puddles for jumping
Wetness where we try to walk
Wet feet, not so fun

**
Clouds pour down their rain
We begin to feel like ducks
Quacking and splashing

**
I always thought it would be really convenient if it only rained at night.
My grandfather had a favorite joke that we could go swimming as long as we didn’t get wet, although he never was referring to rain!
Cats-and-dogs is an idiom that means heavy rain.

Now, it's your turn! Haiku is easy. Don't worry about being 'right', just have fun!

Paper Hog (personal essay)

2009-06-21T10:22:00.004-04:00

Paper is a hot commodity in my house. Some families complain about the phone hog, or the bathroom hog. My younger son is the paper hog. He draws on it, cuts it, glues it, or otherwise uses it all up. As a teacher and writer, I like paper too. After all, books are made of paper.
Of course, my younger son and I aren’t the only paper users in the house. My older son needs paper for homework and other urgent reasons, such as writing down game codes and friends’ phone numbers. My husband is the list-maker. You name it, he has made a list for it. My husband, actually, is the paper hoarder. He buys packages of notepads and hides them. I kid you not.
Everyone in the family knows where to find the good paper. It’s in the computer printer. The older son, however, is happy with the backs of old mail taken from the recycling box. He would probably even use old paper for his homework if he had a choice on that. My husband, like I said, has his own paper. That leaves me and the paper hog.
His need for paper must be genetic. I clearly remember my grandmother telling me, yet again, I could only have one piece of paper per visit. She worked for a paper mill and had whole reams of 12-by-18 white glossy paper in the bottom of the china cabinet in the dining room. She was a generous woman, and had plenty of paper. The one page limit was set because I was, you guessed it, a paper hog.
How could I deny my son the joy and endless possibilities of a new piece of paper? I can’t. I am proud that he is inspired by a blank page, and as a parent I must encourage him. Hiding a paper stash, as my husband does, doesn’t work. I’m ready to give in before he even asks. I can only blame myself when I go on a frantic search for paper at 11 pm the night before a due date.
Maybe in some families the members bargain over the remote control or last can of soda. Between my younger son and I, it’s the last piece of paper in the printer tray. So, to editors at the book publishers I would say this: handle with care. That paper my story is printed on may hold more value than you think. Sure, writers pour their heart and soul into their work and the end result comes at the price of sweat and tears, but have you haggled with a preschooler lately?
Not that it has ever happened, but if I am extra tired, or distracted, the next story I send to a publisher might have a bonus story on the back. My favorite? A house drawn with crayon and “MOMDADSAMNATE” written in the sky by a four-year old writer-in-training. Now, that’s a great story.
Did I mention he likes envelopes, too?

Rockhounding Around (non-fiction, geology)

2009-06-07T10:33:00.004-04:00

Have you ever heard of a hound dog? A hound is a dog that is good at sniffing for things. A rock hound is a person who hunts for rocks, but they don't sniff to find them! Have you ever found a rock that you decided was interesting? If you have, then you might be a rock hound too.
Anyone can be a rock hound. All you need to do is like rocks, and like looking for rocks. A rock hound needs a place to explore. You can look in your own backyard or neighborhood. Most of the time it is okay to collect rocks at a beach or park. Just remember to ask first, especially before looking on someone else’s property.
If you belong to a whole family of rock hounds, you could go to more places to look for rocks together. There are even places to go rock hunting where you can find unusual gems and minerals. Search the internet for rock hunting places in your state. You could also buy rocks at rock and minerals shows. Buying rocks skips the hunting part, though, which some rock hounds would say leaves out the most fun.
You don’t need any fancy gear to be a rock hound, but if you are going to dig you might want some useful things. A shovel, work gloves, and a bucket for you rocks would come in handy. If you want to break apart rocks with a rock hammer, then you will need safety glasses. A book about rocks and minerals will be helpful if you want to know what you’ve found. Remember to dress for the weather and use sun block.
Rock hounds are proud of their collections. You could put your rocks in a shoebox, on a shelf, or in clear plastic containers. Many rock hounds like to label their rocks by what kind they are, the date they were found, and where they were found. You will probably have a favorite kind of rock and could group certain kinds of rocks together. How you want to show off your collection is up to you.
If you want to tell people you are a rock hound, be ready to explain that you like looking for rocks. Be sure to tell them you can’t sniff for rocks like a hound dog though!

Maddie Too (baby story)

2009-05-29T22:53:00.028-04:00

Mommy cooks dinner,
Meg sets the table…
and Maddie, too.

Mommy washes the dishes,
Meg dries them…
and Maddie, too.

Mommy paints up high,
Meg paints down low…
and Maddie, too.

Mommy plants flowers,
Meg pulls weeds…
and Maddie, too.

Mommy knits,
Meg learns…
and Maddie, too.

Mommy reads,
Meg writes…
and Maddie, too.

Mommy kisses,
Meg hugs…
and Maddie, too.

Make a Good Luck/ Wishing Kit (project)

2009-05-22T22:33:00.010-04:00

Making a wish on a birthday candle is a fun tradition. There are lots of other wishing tricks. Have you ever made a wish on a star, or when blowing dandelion seeds fluff? Other wishing traditions use things that you hold, such as a penny or a wishbone, to make the wish on.
There are many traditional good luck symbols as well. Some examples of good luck symbols are horseshoes, ladybugs, four-leaf clovers, pigs, goldfish, elephants, and acorns. The penny and star are used for both wishing and for good luck.

Here is a simple and fun project to celebrate wishing and good luck:
* Use a box of any kind. The size, and type of box, doesn’t matter. You could write on the box and decorate it if you want.
*Research wishing and good luck for more ideas of things to collect. Ask friends and family members about their favorite wishing and good luck traditions. There are even websites to search.
*Find items to represent as many wishing and good luck ideas as you’d like. You could find things such as little toy plastic pigs, ladybug necklaces, and four-leaf clover pins just about anywhere, but a good place to look is at discount stores and yard sales. The items do not need to be the real thing, either. For example, scrapbooking and craft stores have huge selections of stickers that might have the symbols you’d like to collect. You could simply print pictures from a website, or just draw them yourself.
*Put all your good luck and wishing symbols in your box.
*Since it is a collection (like rocks or shells), you could write the history and/ or directions for each symbol to put with the items.
*When you feel like you need a little extra luck, or need to make a wish, get out your collection! You could write your wish on a slip of paper and put it in the box to soak up all the good luck!

Of course, whether or not you believe your kit will really work is up to you. Either way, it is an easy, fun, and interesting collection to work on.
Good luck and best wishes!

Finding Purple (fiction)

2009-05-17T09:20:00.003-04:00

“This apple is red. And juicy and sweet,” my friend Sara said.
“My banana is yellow, and mushy, and peels,” I answered.
“Keep going,” said my mom.
We were in the back seat of the car riding back from the beach.
Mom gave us the snacks because we were tired of the long drive.
“Keep going where?” I asked.
“Sara said three things about her apple, and she started with a color, then you did the same thing. Keep going! See how many things and colors you can say”
I looked out the window.
“The grass is green. And it’s growing and tickly,” I said. “Your turn, Sara!”
“The sky is blue and high, and empty,” she said.
Then I did brown for the telephone poles and she did yellow for the sun.
I did black for the road and she did white for a house.
Pretty soon we had named every color we could find except purple. It was my turn.
Sara asked my mom, “Are we almost home yet?”
I kept looking for purple.
Sara asked my mom if we there yet again.
Mom said, “Let’s all look for purple together. Are any of the beach toys purple?”
“No,” I said.
“How about the towels?”
“No,” Sara and I both said together, “Jinx!” we laughed.
We looked at signs, other cars and trucks, and even gardens. No purple.
We were so busy looking for purple that we didn’t even notice we were on my street.
When we pulled into the driveway, my mom said, “After you help unpack the car you can go look for purple in the house.” Sara and I groaned.
We all climbed out of the car and Mom started laughing.
“What’s funny?” I asked.
“Look,” she said, pointing to her purple flip-flops. “Purple helped us get home!”
“What do you mean?” Sara asked.
“Well,” explained Mom, “I told you to keep going. Your color game helped us handle the long drive, and my purple flip flops were on the gas pedal.”
She went into the house, laughing at her own joke.
“I don’t get it,” said Sara.
“It is funny that we looked so long for purple and it was right there the whole time,” I said, “But not ‘ha-ha’ funny.”
“Yeah, grown-ups,” Sara said rolling her eyes.
We brought the stuff in the house and Sara asked my mom, “Is it dinner yet?”

Goodbye Barney (personal narrative, cats)

2009-05-12T22:46:00.002-04:00

Barney was a skinny, tiny kitten. He was a soft tan color with lighter tan stripes. He was also a wild, naughty thing. Even as a teeny six-week-old kitten, people would take one look at his eyes and say, “Oh, he’s going to be trouble!”
And trouble he was. We only had Barney for one year, and in that one year he managed to destroy the wallpaper, shred seven or eight stuffed animals, leave tears down the window screens, and break all the Christmas ornaments. I didn’t want to let him be an outside cat; we lived too close to the road. But Barney had more energy than our little apartment could hold. So we let him outside where he could run and climb and be his wild self.
For all the trouble he was, he made up for it in love. He was a friendly, sociable cat, with people and other cats as well. Our landlords owned a house up front, by the road. Behind their house was a small yard with lots of huge old pine trees. Then our apartment was at the back end of the yard. Another family lived in an apartment in back of us. Everyone knew Barney, even the other cats.
The people laughed at Barney’s wild antics, but the cats did not find him amusing. The people living behind us had three cats that avoided Barney’s ploys for attention. Our landlords had two cats, Puddles and Duffy. Puddles would have nothing to do with Barney. Duffy was a big, old, cranky orange tom-cat. He was eighteen years old, preferred to be left alone, and was set in his ways. Duffy was the boss, and the other cats knew it.
Of all the cats to accept Barney, it was Duffy.
It was something to watch those two together. Old man Duffy would rest in the pine needles in the sunshine, with skinny, little crazy Barney pouncing on his tail. Not once did Duffy swat at Barney. In fact, the more Barney pounced on his tail, the more Duffy seemed to swing his tail around. Our landlords chuckled. “Barney follows Duffy everywhere!” they’d say. Barney was like the over-active young child, and Duffy was the tolerant, patient grampa.
One weekend in the summer that Barney turned one, my husband and I went camping. Our landlords took care of Barney while we were away. I enjoyed the trip, but was looking forward to seeing my Barney. On the way home I had an uneasy feeling.
When we pulled into the driveway our landlords were waiting in the driveway. I knew something was wrong. I started to go up our stairs to go into the apartment and turned around to look at my husband. The landlords were speaking to him. He walked toward me and I knew. Barney had been killed in the road.
I cried and cried. Everyone was kind, but I wanted to be alone. I went behind the back apartment where there was a picnic table and sat on the top and buried my head in my crossed arms on my knees. Suddenly I felt something soft rub up against me. It was Duffy. “Oh, Duffy,” I said, “You lost a friend, too.” He sat with me for only a minute, then walked away.
My landlords later told me an interesting thing about Duffy. They said he was afraid of the apartment buildings. They said there was a certain point in the yard between their house and our building that he would not cross. They said Duffy must have loved Barney, because in eighteen years they had only seen Duffy go anywhere near the apartments once. And that one time was the day he helped me say goodbye to Barney.
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We moved soon after, but not too far away. Every time I drove by, I would look for Duffy, sitting on his porch, all alone. I would whisper as I passed, “Thank you Duffy.”
Duffy has long since passed away, at the old cat-age of twenty two. I can’t think of Barney, or look at a picture of him, without also thinking of his friend. Some animals leave a special mark on your heart, no matter how short of a time you knew them. Goodbye doesn’t mean forgotten.

copyright 2009 Dawn Bonnevie

Otto Grows Down (Book Review)

2009-05-04T20:47:00.009-04:00

Do you have a younger brother or sister? Sometimes it can be hard to share your parents' attention with a younger sibling. This story is about a boy who wishes he didn't have a little sister. Have you ever made a wish like that? Otto finds out what might happen if that wish came true. Even though it sounds like serious stuff, this is a very funny book! I hope that you agree with what Otto decides in the end. You will have to read it to find out!
To find out more about this story and its author go to
www.ottogrowsdown.com

Story by Michael Sussman, art (pictured here) by Scott Magoon

Mother Goose Character Riddle (poetry)

2009-05-02T17:47:00.003-04:00

Where is Thumbkin? Where is Thumbkin?
In my pie! In my pie!
I was good for Christmas,
I got lots of presents.
Who am I? Who am I?

Can you guess the Mother Goose character who is singing this riddle?

Sneezin' Season (poetry, allergies)

2009-04-24T06:10:00.007-04:00

One, Two,
ah.. ah.. AH.. AH.. CHOOO!

Three, four,
Why is my nose so sore?

Five, six,
Then suddenly, it clicks.

Seven, eight,
It's pollen; that's just great!

Nine, ten,
My allergies, again!

Spring Cleaning (fiction, family life)

2009-04-22T08:32:00.005-04:00

It was Saturday. Not just any Saturday. It was the first Saturday that it hadn't rained in a month. And it was spring. Time for baseball!
“Can I go over Ryan’s house today?” I asked my mom.
She said, “No, Ben.” I had to help with spring cleaning.
“How about if I pitch a clean sweep at Ryan’s house?”
She just scowled. She has no sense of humor.
We started with the yard, since it was so sunny out. Mom trimmed branches and I piled them up by the street curb. Dad raked and my little brother Jack picked up the little rocks off the yard that the snow plow pushed there.
After a couple hours of that, we worked on the garage. While Mom and dad moved stuff out of the way, Jack and I swept the greasy, grimy floor.
When it was almost lunchtime, Mom said that Jack could be done, since he was only eight. I wanted to be done, too. Ryan wanted to practice pitching.
“Mom," I asked, "Can I go to Ryan’s after lunch?”
She looked at me, and my clothes, and sighed. I just knew she was going to give me one more chore.
“Yes, Ben” she said, “But I have one more spring cleaning job for you.”
I knew she was going to say that.
“Please take an April shower!”
Okay, I guess she has a little sense of humor!

copyright 2009 Dawn Bonnevie

What's in a name? Part Three (non-fiction, names)

2009-04-20T20:19:00.004-04:00

Sometimes life is full of coincidences. Two things will happen together by accident, but it feels like the two things were supposed to happen together.
This morning I wrote a post here about names. This afternoon my family and I went to visit my sister and her husband. We talked about names all afternoon! We did not talk about this blog at all, though.
Can you guess why we talked about names? My sister is having a baby! I was so excited to find out! When people find out about a new baby on the way, one question they ask the parents-to-be is what names they are thinking of.
My sister wants to name the baby Annie if it is a girl. Annie was my grandmother's name. There is a good chance the baby might have curly red hair. If she has curly red hair, her name will not be Annie. Search 'Annie the Musical' online and you will see why not.
I am happy for my sister and her husband, and look forward to meeting our new family member. I'm sure the baby will have a name that is choosen carefully, and that is perfectly right for him or her.
Today was a good day for thinking about names.

What's in a name? Part Two (non-fiction, names)

2009-04-20T10:23:00.005-04:00

If you read the post titled What's in a name? (at the top in green)then you know my name means 'beginning of a good life'. Here is another interesting thing about my name. It rhymes! My middle name is Marie. Dawn Marie Bonnevie is like a tiny poem. Dawn rhymes with the 'Bon' and Marie rhymes with the 'vie'. It might not sound like a rhyme where you live, though. That is because people in different places pronounce (say) words differently. For example, many people in New York do not think 'dog' and 'frog' rhyme.
Do you have a name that rhymes? What does your name mean? Ask you parents how they choose your name. It is fun to look in baby books to see what names mean. You could start a name collection. Look in phone books, on signs, and online for interesting names and write them in a notebook.
Some names just sound funny. Some names repeat, like William Williams, or Peter Peters. Some names are real people who have the same name as a character. There is a dentist named Charlie Brown that lives near me. Characters in books often have funny names because the author could make up whatever name they wanted! You can make up names, too!