Volcano!

Nothing makes Mom look cool, while not costing a penny, like the old baking-soda-and-vinegar trick (assuming you already have baking soda and vinegar in your kitchen.) This one actually cost me a whopping $2, because I found a volcano kit at a yard sale last week (it's New Mexico - we have yard sales in January.) It has been good for hours of business, because first we had to build it:

 



 

Oh, and then read the instructions.

 

 

And paint it.

 

serious work!

 

And then place the dinosaurs. Because.

 

 

Then comes the exciting part! A little baking soda...

 

 

a little vinegar..

 

 

a lot of excitement!

 

 

And, if your children are weird, some vinegar-sniffing at the end. I guess his sinuses will be clear.

 

 

Review of Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

978-054-764-5704

 

It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises. The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?

 

A LOT is going on in this book. Just about every fairy tale you have ever read gets woven in, many of them in passing mentions - a golden ball in a well, women speaking in snakes, a giant who swallowed the sun. There are also a multitude of characters. In addition to the seven sisters, a couple brothers, parents, and the prince, we have two fairy godmothers, spouses of some of the sisters, a king, a few other fey individuals, friends, soldiers, and servants - many of whom, in another book, would have served only to muddy the waters, but somehow Kontis manages to bring us just shy of confused.

 

You definitely want to pay attention while you are reading, but personally I found all the interwoven details to be intriguing rather than confusing. A reader who did not devour every one of Lang's fairy tale tomes as a child will be missing out on a bit, but will enjoy this very delightful story just the same.

 

A few things aren't quite explained - or maybe I missed them! Mentioning some would cause spoilers, but here's a minor bit - what were the instructions Rumbold gave  regarding the moneylenders? What did they have to do with anything??? None of that detracted from the story for me, but did serve to remind me this is her first novel. And gads, if I had to keep track of as many threads as she did in writing this, I'd probably forget whole characters! I am definitely looking forward to future works by Kontis.

Pineapple Lime Chicken

I don't have step by step pctures for this one, because I wasn't sure what I was making until I was done! It sure did turn out yummy, though, so here's the quickie recipe:

 

1. Put a teensy bit of oil in a pan and add however many chicken breasts you want to cook. Sprinkle with garlic salt or garlic pepper and brown nicely on all sides. Resist the urge to stop and eat hem right here because they smell SO good.

 

2. Whil hose are browning, open a can of pineapple slices and spread the slices on a broiler pan (save the juice in the can). Broil on low until they are as brown as you like them.

 

3. To the can of juice, add soy sauce, lime juice, and honey to the proportions you prefer, until you have a can full of liquid. I have been on a lime juice kick, so I added a LOT of that. Give it a quick stir so the honey doesn't stick to the can, then...

 

4. Dump it all in with the chicken breasts. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cover. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, 20-30 minutes.

 

5. You didn't forget about the pineapple rings like I did, did you? Quick, rescue them! Lay them on the tops of the chicklen breasts, cover again, and simmer another 5 minutes.

 

Yum!

 

 

Serve over rice, or with steamed or stir-fried veggies.

Two New Read-Alouds

Both of these are from Lerner, and we have been enjoying them at home. Both have a great sing-songy rhyme pattern that will make them perfect for some future read-alouds at the library, too!

 

Hippospotamus by Jeanne Willis

Illustrated by Tony Ross

978-146-770-3161

 

There's a spotamus on hippo's bottomus! Her friends try to diagnose and treat her, with increasingly hilarious results. Finally, a boy wanders by and solves the mystery with a satisfying "Ewwwwwwwwww!" moment. The rhymes are just tongue-twistery enough to make reading it aloud a fun challenge, and kids will love the made-up words. Even with only one human in the book, the colors and facial expressions of the illustrations screamed Tony Ross, which may be part of the draw for my Little Princess fan club at home.

 

Oopsy, Teacher! by Stephanie Calmenson

illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa

978-076-135-8947

 

Poor Mr. Bungles is having one of those days, and when his ill-timed sneeze gives the class hamster a chance to escape, the whole class jumps in to help. The wonderfully rhythmic rhymes put the last word on a subsequent page, allowing students the chance to guess and yell that word out. S. had a great time with that, and even L. flabbergasted me by guessing two! (Have I mentioned he is 18 months old? My children frighten me.) Yoshikawa's vibrant illustrations and fun little touches had both C. and S. leaning in to check them out.

 

The first is from Anderson Press, and the second from Carolrhoda Books, both a part of Lerner Publishing Group, so you can order them both from the same spot. Or, come check them out here at the library - as soon as I can tear them away from my kiddos!



A is for...

S. is learning about the letter "A", and I have all sorts of fun coloring pages.

 

 

Unfortunately, S. is not big on coloring. A little too sedentary for her, I think. I tried agreeing to color with her, and got the above result: see the dot towards the lower left with a little bit of blue in it? That's how much she colored while I did everything else.

 

That's okay, though, there are plenty of more tactile ways to explore letter shapes, and what better way to start than with food?

 

I had one tube of crescent rolls left in the fridge, so I cut those into strips, and she built capital As with them.

 

 

As you can see, L. wanted to get in on this, so we gave him the scraps, and he happily mushed them around with fingers and spoons.

 

 

One we had our letter shapes, we brushed them with butter,

 

 

and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

 

 

Then L. discovered the brown sugar lumps, and of course, had to taste one.

 

 

That meant S. had to taste one.

 

 

And soon they were shoving them in their mouths as fast as they could.

 

 

I can't really blame them, can you?

 

 

Finally, the letters were coated enough to go into the oven for a few minutes,

 

 

and, voila! A tasty treat to have with supper tonight.

 

 

 

Yes, I know, I can't stop seeing the name "Ava" either.

Just to See if This Will Work...

...since Blogger is not leting me download videos from my camera or computer right now...

Review of Fang Girl by Helen Keeble

I didn't pick this one up for a while, because the title and cover screamed "cheesy", and I wasn't in the mood for cheesy.

978-006-208-2251

review copy from HarperCollinsPublishers

After Girl of Nightmares, however, cheesy seemed like a nice change, and I was right - unapologetically cheesy, but also darn near hysterical. I mean, let's face it; if vampires were real, and I were to become one, this is the kind of vampire I would be:

 

(upon discovering that she has vampiric superspeed) "...I was having too much fun running to stop now. I quickened my pace, and it was as easy as shifting gears on a bicycle. When I looked down at my feet, they were flickering over the ground almost too fast to see, and -

I ran straight into the wooden fence at the end of the field.

 There were many, many bits I had to read out loud to M., and several snorts of laughter that I tried to explain and failed (mild spoiler alert):

 

Me: "Her goldfish just ate a bird."

M: "What? How does...what...wait, she turned her fish into a vampire...fish?"

Me: "No, her mother did."

M: "Her mother is a vampire, too?"

Me: "Nope."

M: "?????"

 

The basic plotline: Jane (please don't use her first name) knew a lot about vampires - read all the books, wrote some fanfic herself, was even a star blogger on fanggirl.com. She's not an idiot, though - she didn't believe vampires were actually real. Until she woke up in a coffin.

Now she has to find her sire - which may or may not be a good idea - and ditch the studly vampire hunter - which also may or may not be a good idea - and convince her family to chill out (what? of course she went home, that's where her clothes are) - probably not possible - and sort out the good and bad guys in the crazy world of vampire politics. Oh, and then there's the evil undead goldfish.

 

We end just right for a series (I do hope this is a series), with some things neatly wrapped up, and some problems still to solve. Plenty of laughs, enjoyable characters, fun plot twists (did not see the father reveal coming!) Perfect fun read, can't wait to see the next one!