Umm Nassim, this is for you :)

I know I said that I am not a library person but what is one to do when there are no decent second-hand bookstores (this is the one thing I miss about Pakistan!) and one’s kids read more than one can afford? I got premium membership for Ms M and I and with lil Bear’s membership, we get to borrow 20 books at a time!

I don’t have time to write out reviews/summaries yet – in shaa Allah soon – but these are some books we have enjoyed:

Fiction… some with lovely illustrations!

• Abbie in Stitches by Cynthia Cotten (author), Beth Peck (illustrator)
• Bottled Sunshine by Andrea Spalding (author), Ruth Ohi (illustrator)
• Different Just Like Me by Lori Mitchell (author)
• Dolphin Boy by Michael Morpurgo (author), Michael Foreman (illustrator)
• Finding Joy by Marion Coste (author), Yong Chen (illustrator)
• Kamishibai Man by Allen Say
• Katie’s Wish by Barbara Shook Hazen (author), Emily Arnold McCully (illustrator)
• Martha by Gennady Spirin
• On My Way to Buy Eggs by Chih-Yuan Chen
• Speak English for Us, Marisol! by Karen English (author), Enrique O. Sanchez (illustrator)
• Stranger in the Mirror by Allen Say
• The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco
• The Falling Flowers by Jennifer B. Reed (author), Dick Cole (illustrator)
• The Gardener by Sarah Stewart (author), David Small (illustrator)
• The Memory String by Eve Bunting (author), Ted Rand (illustrator)
• The Prince of Butterflies by Bruce Coville (author), John Clapp (illustrator)
• The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo (author), Mary GrandPre (illustrator)
• The Silver Swan by Michael Morpurgo (author), Christian Birmingham (illustrator)
• The Snow Bear by Miriam Moss (author), Maggie Kneen (illustrator)
• The Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination by Jimmy Liao (author)
• The Yellow Leaf by Hasan Terani (author), Mahasti Mir (illustrator)
• Waiting for May by Janet Morgan Stoeke
• Wake Up, City! by Alvin Tresselt (author), Carolyn Ewing (illustrator)

Learning about Other Cultures

• Child’s Day: Bongani’s Day by Gisele Wulfsohn
• Child’s Day: In a Vietnamese City by Jim Holmes & Tom Morgan
• Child’s Day: In an Egyptian City by Khaled Eldash & Dalia Khattab
• Child’s Day: Iina Marja’s Day (From Dawn to Dusk) by Jaako Alatalo
• Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Ancient Egypt by Joanna Cole (author), Bruce Degen (illustrator)
• Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Imperial China by Joanna Cole (author), Bruce Degen (illustrator)
• Letters from Around the World: France by Teresa Fisher (author)
• Letters from Around the World: Spain by Cath Senker
• Letters from Around the World: Pakistan by David Cumming
• Letters from Around the World: Costa Rica by Patrick Cunningham & Sue Cunningham
• Letters from Around the World: Greece by David Cumming
• Letters from Around the World: Canada by Andy Orchard & Clare Orchard

Science
We’re doing birds now that we are done with mammals (well, just about…).

• Birds: Nature’s Magnificent Flying Machines by Caroline Arnold (author), Patricia J. Wynne (illustrator)
• DK Guide to Birds by Ben Morgan
• Penguins by Lynn M Stone

Books both Ms M & Bear liked

• Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by John Butler
• Honey Baby Sugar Child by Alice Faye Duncan (author), Susan Keeter (illustrator)
• I Love You Just the Way You Are (Bartholomew & George) by Virginia Miller
• Little Bunny’s Bedtime! by Jane Johnson (author), Gaby Hansen (illustrator)
• You’re All My Favourites by Sam McBratney

1. The Nine Lives of Montezuma by Michael Morpurgo
This chronicles the life of Montezuma, a ginger tom with a white patch on his throat. He has to fight for his life from the outset – as a newborn, he survives despite attacks from a barn owl, the attempts of a farmer to drown his siblings and abandonment from his neglectful mother. He is rescued by the farmer’s son, Matthew, and becomes a permanent and much-loved fixture in the household.

What follows are the many brushes Monty has with death. First, he gets his head stuck in a tin before hurling up a tree and falling in a pond. Then, he becomes involved in a violent fight with the farm dog, Sam, over Sunday roast left-overs. Next, he is stranded in a snowdrift and a brutal fight with a rival tom. He watches over Matthew who grows up and takes over the farm. But all creatures must face death and Montezuma dies, leaving behind fond memories…

2. Under the Hawthorne Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna
I discovered this gem quite by accident and almost gave it a miss. I bought it for a mere 50 rupees (SG$1!!). This award-winning novel deals with the the Great Irish Famine that ravaged Ireland in the 1840s. The story centres around the O’Driscolls, the average Irish family who are tenant farmers, dependent on potatoes as their main source of food. Tragedy strikes in the form of “the Blight” – a disease that destroys the potato crops – and what ensues is extensive starvation.

Eily (who is 12), Michael (10) and Peggy (7) O’Driscoll have coped with heartbreak upon heartbreak. Their parents left to find work but have gone missing and their baby sister Bridget is dead and buried under the hawthorne tree. Their village is devastated and farmers are being evicted by the landowners. Surrounded by disaster and the threat of being sent to the workhouse, the children are determined to survive and stay together.

Armed with nothing but courage and love, they embark on a perilous journey across Ireland to find their great-aunts, Nano and Lena, whom they have only heard about in their mother’s stories. The children sleep in the open and forage for food in the wild and in the farms of dead tenants. They are confronted with death at every turn. They see bodies of those who died with no one to mourn or pray over them and they see the living dead – those so traumatised that they are but shells of their former selves.

When the O’Driscoll children arrive in Ballycarbery, they see the ships loaded with food bound for England. It is a painful and bitter pill to swallow – the landlords were making money while their countrymen were falling dead from starvation. And indeed, that is the irony of those horrific years – it was only the potato crop that failed; wheat, oats and meat were in excellent supply but they were shipped out to England. It is said that a million and a half people died during these dark years and another million emigrated.

Read about how Eily, Michael and Peggy push every fibre of their being to stay alive and find a better home. This book is part of a trilogy – the other books in the series are Wildflower Girl and Fields of Home. I haven’t read these, but if you have tell me about them! The book has also been made into a film and study guides are available at O’Brien Press.

Update: We found Wildflower Girl in a little bookshop in Islamabad! It is good… review later in shaa Allah…

3. The Akimbo books by Alexander McCall-Smith
Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe was educated there and in Scotland. A Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, he is a best-selling author of adults’ books but proves that he is equally adept with younger audiences. I was told about his books by a fellow homeschooler who adores books. We went on a hunt and were rewarded with a box set that was in perfect condition!

The set features Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo and the Lions and Akimbo and the Crocodile Man. (There is another book out there Akimbo and the Snakes that we have not read, so if you see it, give me a shout OK?)*

Akimbo is a young, adventurous African boy who lives in a large game reserve where his father is a head ranger. He is passionate about animal conservation and goes through great lengths to protect them. In Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo helps to bring down an elephant poaching ring. In Akimbo and the Lions, he helps to raise a lion cub and becomes attached to it. However he knows that Simba belongs in the wild. It is a heartbreaking moment when he releases Simba. (Oh how Ms M cried!) In Akimbo and the Crocodile Man, our resourceful friend is given the chance to accompany John the Crocodile man who is doing research on a batch of crocodiles. During a trip, John is attacked by an angry croc. It is a race against time as Akimbo braves dangerous waters to get help for his friend. Ms M loved the bit where Akimbo hotwires a truck, drives it and barely misses crashing into a tree!

I loved this series just as much as Ms M did. The descriptions are simple and yet incredibly detailed and will transport you to the beautiful African continent. We finished each book in one sitting and liked the charming black and white illustrations by Peter Bailey. I’d recommend this for both boys and girls who are getting into chapter books.

* Update: We have read Akimbo and the Snakes – nice stuff!

OK more in Part 3 – kids are hankering for breakfast!

Stories of the Prophets by Ibn Kathir (on-going)

Malcolm X : A Fire Burning Brightly by Walter Dean Myers & Leonard Jenkins
Pompeii: The Day A City Was Buried by Melanie & Christopher Rice (DK)
Usborne’s Enclyclopedia of World History (on-going)
Voyages of Discovery – Viking Explorers by Luidi Prunetti (McGraw-Hill) (on-going)

Animal Talk from Singing Birds & Fireflies by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Australia The Gift by Steve Parish
Fire! (DK)
Kangaroos & Marsupials by Lionel Bender
Koala Kate Talks Ablout Koalas by Denise Burt
Longman’s Inquizitive books: Bushfire
Longman’s Inquizitive books: The Desert Gallery
On The Trail from Animal Tracks & Traces by Kathleen V Kudlinksi
People & Animals: Work & Leisure by Barry Silkstone
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: Amazing Magnetism
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: Expedition Down Under
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Giant Germ
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Truth about Bats
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: The Wild Whale Watch
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: Twister Trouble
Travelling Through Time (DK)

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Bargain for Frances by Russel Hoban & Lillian Hoban
Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping by Peggy Parish & Lynn Sweat
Best Friends for Frances by Russel Hoban & Lillian Hoban
Beryl’s Box by Lisa Taylor & Penny Dann
Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban & Garth Williams
Bread & Jam for Frances by Russel Hoban & Lillian Hoban
Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel
Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel
Koala Lou by Mem Fox
Miss Lily’s Fabulous Pink Feather Boa by Margaret Wild & Kerry Argent
Mom Can’t See Me by Sally Hobart Alexander
Possum Magic by Mem Fox
The Gold Coin by Alma Flor Ada
The Pudding Like a Night on the Sea by Ann Cameron

DK Readers
Beastly Tales
Dinosaur Detectives
Disasters At Sea
Free At Last: The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Horse Show
Outback Adventure: Australian Vacation
The Story of Anne Frank
The Story of Muhammed Ali
Zeppelin