Peter Rabbit

Have I mentioned that our family loves to read together? Oh, only about 100 times? Well, it's true, and you often talk about things that you're passionate about. I want to instill in my children a love of reading and a love of learning, and there's no better way than to do it with them. Involve them. Because of that, we were pleased to receive 2 books--How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea and Peter Rabbit's Birthday--to review from Kinder Cottage Publishing. 

Kinder Cottage Publishing was created in 2012 by a couple, Howard and Ann, who desire that their children grow up with a love of literature, history, culture, and Christian faith. They offer products that help other parents educate and give their children that same love. Books like the Peter Rabbit series, the Wizard of Oz series, an original series about the 10 mist influential people in the history of England, and even books written by Howard's mother are some of the rich products they offer. 

As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I was able to choose 2 books from the Peter Rabbit collection:

1.    The Tale of Peter Rabbit 
2.    Peter Rabbit at the Farm  
3.    Peter Rabbit's Christmas 

4.    How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea 

5.    Peter Rabbit Goes A-Vising
6.    Peter Rabbit's Easter
7.    Peter Rabbit's Birthday
8.    When Peter Rabbit Went to School
9.    Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy
10.  Peter Rabbit and Jack the Jumper

While we do own the entire series for our Kindle, we've read only a couple of them, as of yet, with the kids. They are a bit familiar with the character of Peter Rabbit, but without beig familiar with all the stories, they don't have favorites. I chose books that I assumed they would choose: number 4 (Went to Sea) and 7 (Birthday). 

I think most people are familiar with Peter Rabbit, or at least have heard the name. He's a little bunny who lives with his mother and 3 sisters in a sand bank under the roots of a fir tree at the edge of a big wood near Mr. McGregor's garden. His sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, are good little bunnies, but Peter is mischievous and always getting into trouble. As we read these stories, there were multiple references made to our own little "Peter Rabbit", a.k.a. our 2-year-old Tyler. He, too, is mischievous and always getting into trouble! That connection made silly Peter even more endearing to my little ones.  

How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea starts off with Peter eating too much, forgetting his mother's request, and getting punished. All within the first few pages! He was a naughty little rabbit, indeed. Then, Peter does the one thing his mother told him not to do: play near the brook. His good sisters tried to stop him, but he had made up his mind. The adventures takes him on a wild ride where he meets interesting creatures--Grandaddy whale, Old Man Shark, Johnny Crab, Gruff Old Sword-Fish. It was his experience with Sammie Sea Gull that had him worried though. Peter tricks him and makes it home to his family again.    

Peter may have learned his lesson about being a pirate at sea, but that experience did not stop him from being a mischievous boy. Peter Rabbit's Birthday is a day of celebration, but he just can't seem to stay out of trouble. He finds himself covered in flour, soaking wet, and almost missing his own party. He meets many friends throughout the book and even makes a couple new ones. By the end of the day, he was "such a polite and beautifully behaved little rabbit." But don't worry, in the morning, I'm sure, he rose with mischief in his eyes once again. 

Though Peter is a naughty boy and constantly disobeying, he is a loveable rabbit. My kids laughed at his antics and groaned when he made another poor decision. The stories opened up discussions about how it's so important to obey your parents. Kids don't always understand the dangers in life or why parents make certain rules. It's our responsibility to protect these little lives we've been entrusted with. They're not going to understand it all now, but they do need to understand the importance of obedience. No, they're not going to get caught by Mr. McGregor and turned into a stew, nor are they going to get their fluffy, white tails bitten by a crab, but they will experience other struggles through life. Peter Rabbit is a good example of what not to do.

These hardcover books are 5x7 and are perfect for little hands. They are strong, well-made, and the prefect size. There are illustrations throughout the book: text on the left-hand side of the page, pictures on the right. Kids love being able to visually see the story, so I appreciated that aspect. These are the 1917 versions of Henry Altemus Company editions, except for a few revised out-dated words (like velocipede). Each book costs $4.00 or you can purchase the entire collection for $30.00. The books are ideal for ages 3-9.

If you want to pass on the love of Peter Rabbit, these books are for you.



You can read more reviews of all the Peter Rabbit books from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Frog & Toad

We are a big literature family. Our schooling consists mostly of reading books and hands-on projects. That's why I was so excited to be reviewing the Frog and Toad Together study e-guide from Progeny Press.

Progeny Press is a Christian company owned by Michael and Rebecca Gilleland. It is their mission to "teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!" They offer more than 100 study guides for classic, popular, and award-winning books. The guides are designed to help students better understand and enjoy literature by getting them to think through the themes and ideas written in the stories. The study guides are available in three formats: a physical book, a CD with a PDF ebook, and a downloadable PDF file.

 

Since my oldest child is 8, I chose a book from the lower elementary (K-3rd grade) section: Frog and Toad Together. My husband and I both enjoyed the Frog and Toad books when we were kids. I still have a couple of them from my childhood, and we've since gotten the others for our kids to read, as well. We even have the entire collection on audio, read by Arnold Lobel himself, and listen to them often. My little ones love hearing these short stories about friendship. Though the two characters are blatantly opposite at time--Frog being the optimist and Toad being the pessimist--their friendship unites them and takes them on many adventures.  

The study guide is broken down according to the chapters, or stories, in the book.

1. A List
2. The Garden
3. Cookies
4. Dragons and Giants
5. The Dream

The first part of each section begins with questions about the story: why did toad make a list? why would it be bad for Frog and Toad to eat the whole bowl of cookies at one time? do you think Toad told Frog about his dream? Not only do the questions get the student to review the story, but they also get him to think deeper, to put himself into the story and make decisions.

Within the questions section are Bible verses that compliment the lessons in the stories. The verses are written out in the guide itself, but because a different version from what we read is used, we opted to pull out a KJV and read directly from the Bible. There are also questions that accompany the Bible verses and reinforce the value of friendship.

The kiddos and I would cuddle up together on the couch to read the stories and answer the questions aloud. I find that this read-aloud time helps all the children to hear different ideas and gives me the opportunity to ask more questions and to encourage deeper thought. While they greatly enjoyed this time, they especially loved the parts that followed: the projects!

There are some written activities, like a Venn diagram, word search, and making their very own "list of things to do," but there are many hands-on projects, as well. There's a recipe for making cookies, and art project for drawing your own dream bubble, and painting pictures with watercolors. The highlight, though, was planting seeds, just like Toad did in "The Garden." There are two different seed projects--one to practice vowel sounds, and one to compare circumstances--and we did both. The kids enjoyed going to the store, picking out the seeds, and planting them all on their own. They thought it was so funny that we even read and played music for one set of seeds to determine if they grew better than their non-artistic counterparts! (Spoiler Alert: they grew faster in the beginning, but only 2 of the seeds grew, whereas all 4 seeds grew from the left-alone cup.) 

Honestly, I have nothing bad to say about this study guide, not even a slight suggestion for improvement. The kids and I enjoyed the stories, the question and discussion time, and all the projects. I love how the guides incorporate the Bible and point the readers back to Christ. This study has taken some of our favorite stories and has given them deeper meaning. Whenever you can apply a lesson, rather than just hear about it, it's much more likely to make a lasting difference.  

This study e-guide costs $11.99, and you can view a sample on their site. If your kids are younger than the lower elementary age, don't worry, Progeny Press offers study guides through the high school level, as well. We enjoyed this review and look forward to using another study guide from Progeny Press in the future.


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To read more reviews of this study guide or to check out one of the many others, head to the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.