The Light At Tern Rock

The Light At Tern Rock by Julia L. Sauer (Scholastic, Inc., 1951).

An oldie but a goodie. The Light At Tern Rock gives an insider's view into the loneliness and isolation of a woman and young boy as they spend Christmas working at the lighthouse.

Though old, as far as technology and such goes, this book tells a great story about a young boy who is promised that he will be home for Christmas - but he is not. Old fashioned ink illustrations give voice to the setting and emotions of the story.

Quick read, suitable for elementary readers and those in love with lighthouses. It made me feel and want to experience the dedication and harsh conditions necessary for working at a lighthouse.

Thumbs up.

Natural Consequences

The Ladybug and Other Insects by Pascale de Bourgoing, Gallimard Jeunesse and Sylvie Perols (A First Discovery Book, 1991)

The Very Grouchy Ladybug (by Eric Carle)

That's it. Aphids are destroying some of my plants, especially the used-to-be beautiful flowers.



I'm going au natural. Marched down to the nursery and bought 1500 ladybugs. Give or take. Hah! That'll show them who's boss. $9.99 per container. Let's see, that works out to about... $.0067 cents each. What a deal!

Special directions are to water garden first. Let drip. AFTER sundown, release 1/3 of the ladybugs. (Easier said than done, as ALL want to be first out - 1500 voices yelling, "Let me out of here!"). I chilled mine first in the fridge to slow them down. Did not last long.

Put ladybugs at the base of the plants, as they will climb up. If they are released after sundown, they will not immediately fly away.

I actually read and followed the directions. Today, I saw 1/3 of my ladybugs. Busy on the ugly flowers, munching away on the vermin who set out to ugli-fy my plants.



Mission appears to be accomplished.

Skip a day. Add the next 1/3 of the ladybugs. Skip a day. Add the last 1/3. Slowly, slowly, I am building up a ladybug colony. This is exciting. I want to see some tiny yellow eggs and then some larva crawling around. Yes.

But while I'm waiting, maybe I'll check out two great ladybug books. The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle is a fiction gem. I believe about 1499 of the ladybugs in my container were grouchy. Now only about 599 are grouchy. Carle's book is loads of fun for kids and adults.

A wonderful nonfiction fact filled treasure is The Ladybug and Other Insects. The photographs are great, as well as the information garnered to help me on my quest for eradicating the plant leeches in my garden.

In Progress

Seriously. I have so many books and magazines and other 'reading' endeavors half begun. I have high hopes of finishing them all (with the goal of beginning even more reading projects).

Currently, partially through Little Women (a free classic on my Kindle). Started This Present Darkness (Frank Peretti), which I think I have read in the past. I have Paris to the Moon partially started, but will have to go back to the beginning to remember what is going on in the novel. Almost done with the Book of Acts (Bible) and ready to go back and read about Joseph in the Old Testament. Started The Best Cat Ever, but couldn't really get into, which means I may give it one more try to see if it clicks. If not, it's hasta la vista baby - going on the book exchange web site. About half way done with Streams in the Desert (can only read one page a day, as it's a devotional). I would be in the middle of the June Missions Mosaic, except, again, I have misplaced the current month's issue. I have May and I have July, but June has jumped my ship of stacked and readable goods. Just finished Good Housekeeping. The July issue of Martha arrived yesterday, and it looks good. Making good headway through Classroom Management (for a class I'm taking). That is not it. But I'm embarrassed to say how many more reading projects I have lined up...

C'est tres normal for me. I LOVE reading. I LOVE words and plays on words. Written texts draw me in. Zip. I'm there. I once had my administrator say, as we were discussing one of my text oriented students, "Look at that poster. Now either you look at it and notice the pictures, or you notice the words."

I always notice the words first. That's my label. Text oriented.

I have it. My new career goal is to be a professional reader. Yes. I like that idea. Any ideas how to start that one and actually get paid for it?

Guess I'll have to read up on it.

Yay! Just found the June Missions Mosaic. Right here on my desk. Better get busy.

Frankie Works the Night Shift

Frankie Works the Night Shift by Lisa Westberg Peters (Greenwillow Books, 2010).




I just discovered this fabulous book! If you love cats, children, and enticing illustrations, this is definitely for you. Even if you only slightly enjoy the above, you will have a fun time reading Frankie Works the Night Shift.

Frankie (aka night watch cat at a hardware store) is on the prowl. Part adventure, part comedy, part counting book, this must have book was loved by my current audience of 6 year-olds.



I shall be hunting this book down for my own library. I know two grandbabies and many, many future students who will love Frankie as I do.