Black Dog by Pamela Allen, 1991. Penguin Books. Ages 5-8. Picture Book.
What do you do when your best friend forgets about you? What do you do when you’ve let your best friend down? This story urges you to continue to hope and to love.
Christina and her black dog are the best of friends. They live together on their own in the
forest, doing things that dog and humans do- they play and become each other’s best companion.
However, one winter’s day, Christina thinks she spies a strange, beautiful blue bird in a tree. This
‘bird’ fills her thoughts so much so that she presses her face against the window pane daily, waiting for it to emerge.
The vision fills her dreams. In her fascination with this elusive bird, Christina forgets her very
best friend, black dog, who waits in vain for her to play with him and be attentive to him again.
In a desperate attempt to win back her love, black dog embarks on a most dangerous task: he
will be the blue bird his beloved friend so desires.
Christina learns that friendship is costly and fragile. The story ends on a hopeful note , as she
returns to black dog.
A wonderfully poignant story ( yet another one by Pamela ) to explore faithfulness , friendship with a reminder
not to take those whom we love for […]
Filed under: Exploring children's picture books on July 30th, 2007 | No Comments »
When Joy was littler, we used to watch storms together from the balcony door of our flat. The balcony overlooked a large pond, which made lightning streaking across the dark evening sky look more spectacular than ever. We would sing that rhyme-song, “I hear thunder” or sometimes we’d just stand and watch. I taught […]
Filed under: Exploring Science on July 24th, 2007 | No Comments »
This is one dirty thing to make! Smog , particularly ground-level ozone and airborne particles, is harmful to living things. Making this experiment is a handy way to kickstart a discussion about pollution and
conservation.
Smog is a concoction of tiny water droplets in air and carbon dioxide. This results in a foul
atmosphere.
This is how you can make smog:
-Cut a strip of paper, fold it, then twist it.
-With some foil, make a jar cover. Then put that aside.
Now you need to make the foil really cold. You can do that by placing some ice cubes on it.
-Wet the jar so that its walls are damp.
-Light one end of the paper strip, drop it into the jar.
-Seal the mouth of the jar with the cold foil. Keep the ice cubes on top of the foil.
Ask your child what she can see in the jar.
Ask her what happened. You could ask questions like:
-What happened to the water on the sides of the jar ? You could ask leading questions like:
“What happens to water when it is heated up?
( turns to vapour.)
- What happens to vapour when it is cold? ( It condenses and becomes water/ droplets) So ,
what happened to the water vapour in the jar when it met the cold air ( from the foil)?
-Can you think of times when you have seen this?
Mist actually forms in the jar. It forms when warm air meets cold air. In the absence of moving
air, fog is formed.
Filed under: Exploring Science on July 20th, 2007 | No Comments »
“The Seven Chinese Brothers” by Margaret Mahy, Illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng, 1990. Scholastic Publications. Picture Book. Ages 6-9.
This is a tale of seven Chinese brothers who use their unusual individual abilities to outwit the tyrannical Chinese emperor, Ch’in Shih Huang. Hungry for fame and power, the emperor conscripts labourers from the peasantry to build […]
Filed under: Exploring children's picture books on July 18th, 2007 | No Comments »
A chameleon is able to see in different directions at the same time. This enables it to ‘multitask’- watch for predators and look for food. As a mom, I can think of times when I wish I had eyes like that - watch the toddler and keep an eye on the frying pan, watch the […]
Filed under: Exploring Science on July 17th, 2007 | No Comments »
Before you decide to throw out your old stockings, restrain yourself. They come in handy for this simple ‘gardening’ activity.
Fill an old nylon stocking with compost ( soil-lest). Make a knot at the opening. Now you’ve got a head, somewhat. Use some markers and draw in a face. Plant grass seed on top of the […]
Filed under: Exploring Science on July 14th, 2007 | No Comments »
