How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

Making a trip to an apple orchard at this time of year is a fun family event.  We also enjoy reading How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, by Marjorie Priceman, as a part of autumn.  If you and your child haven’t read this book yet, you’re in for a real treat.  The humor of the situation of a market being closed leads to a trip around the world to find ingredients to make an apple pie.  Various modes of transportation are used as each country is visited, adding to the creative fun.

Taking a picture walk through this book can increase a child’s anticipation of listening to and/or reading the text.  The maps on the inside cover add to the enjoyment of being able to track the progress of discovering the ingredients in other countries.

We used the recipe in the book and enjoyed eating the apple pie we made.  If you’re looking for some ideas for an apple tasting party, the author has included those on the back cover.  This great book provides a great reading experience!  Enjoy!

Question Collection:

*What was your favorite country that was visited?

*Which mode of transportation was your favorite?

*Which part of the book was the funniest to you?

Polar Lands

Polar Lands, by Margaret Hynes, is a good choice to introduce more nonfiction in your young child’s library. Children can learn more about the polar lands and the animals who inhabit it.  The animal photographs enhance the text and encourage discussion.  Vocabulary words at the bottom of each page can be used to further language development.  It’s fun for beginning readers to find the vocabulary words in the text above the definition.  We also enjoyed the maps at the beginning.  This is a book that we enjoy reading and viewing for more information.  We hope you enjoy it!

Question Collection:

*Where is the Arctic region? Antarctica?

*Why do some polar animals migrate?

*What are three new words you learned?

Dear Polar Bear...

Dear Polar Bear, by Barry Ablett, is a fun, fictional book that teaches children lots of information about bears.   Polar Bear writes to his various friends (other bears) around the world with his problems, and his friend, Postman Penguin, delivers his letters.  The envelopes are addressed to each friend with factual information about the bear’s habitat.  Each friend responds with a letter containing a solution.  Children have fun opening the letters to find out what the friend has sent. 

Children learn more about bears and their habitats while having fun listening to or reading this book.  In addition, the inside cover is illustrated with a world map showing each bear’s location. There is also much to be learned about friendship.  A surprise ending shows how much the other bears care about Polar Bear!  It’s a fun, heart-warming story to share with your children. 

Question Collection:

*Which kind of bear is your favorite?

*Which gift surprised you the most?

*What would you send to Polar Bear?