Week 3_PRABE #2

This week the girls and I started a new book. We were debating between The Hunger Games and Island of the Blue Dolphins. The library was out of the former, so we didn't have to flip a coin to decide after all. After reading the synopsis (I've never read the book before), I was concerned that some of the story might feel too intense for the youngest (5 years old). The story begins with a description of the island and its inhabitants. There are descriptions of the people's way of life; the type of food they hunt and gather, how and where their village is situated, etc. The conflict begins when a ship appears on the horizon and strangers come to hunt the otter that live in the surrounding waters. Through suspicion and spying, each group keeps strict tabs on the other. The last we read, the main character, Karana, watched the men of her village fighting with the outsiders and in the end, her father, the chief, laid dead on the beach.

My daughters were well engaged in the chapters. I was wondering if the subject matter would feel too simple, slow and old-fashioned for them. They have recently read much more modern accounts full of action. The fight and the death, while sad, were handled with a minimum of gore or gratuitous descriptions of the violence, so my youngest was not terribly shaken up by it. The girls loved the descriptions of the island and the animals. I think they will enjoy this book. It is a simple and quick read so far.

5/22/11 - 25 min
5/24/11 - 40 min
5/25/11 - 35 min

Week 2_PRABE #1

This week we read a version of Shakespeare's  A Midsummer Night's Dream. My daughter asked that we read it because of a previous series of books mentioned Titania and Oberon and she was intrigued and wanted to hear more about them. We found this version of the story in our local thrift store and it was perfect for relating Shakespeare to a young person. It kept many of the more famous lines from the original play while relating the entire story in a more modern tongue and with extended explanations as to what was going on. While I wondered if it would be too confusing for her, with all of the going back and forth and different people falling in love with others, etc., but she was quite acute at keeping it all straight. Her favorite part was the play that Nick Bottom and the others put on at the end, Pyramus and Thisbe. I don't know that she "got" a lot of the humor, but she enjoyed Puck and the mix ups that he caused. We followed up the book by renting the movie this weekend. The movie included all Shakespearean dialog, but having read and discussed the book prior, she was able to keep up with the storyline.