Arts, Crafts, and Book Reports

My son had to read a book and complete a book report.  Not just any book report, mind you.  A book report that involved something other than writing.  He had to take a plastic pumpkin, and make it look like a character from his book! 

Oh the horror! 

At least that is what I said.  A book report is relatively easy at the first grade level, with minimal insight required.  Zane can do those in his sleep, unless he didn't read the book, which sometimes happens.  But a book report that involves actual craftiness?  Zoinks!  I believe that I've mentioned my poor crafting abilities.

But Zane picked The Monster at the End of This Book, and that helped tremendously. It's one of the best children's books ever written, in my opinion, so Zane and I have read it quite a bit.  We discussed the "inner" aspects of the character of Grover for a bit, vs. the "outer" aspects, such as fur color.  Zane wrote his thoughts down in typical report format.  Then we got to work. 

We got a plastic pumpkin from the store, and about a yard of blue fleece.  I wrapped up the pumpkin in the blue fleece.  I'd like to be able to say that I did some actual math and figured out the circumference of the pumpkin and cut everything just so.  That would be lying, however.  Instead, I bunched up everything at the top, secured it with twine, and then started hacking off bits of blue until I decided it was decent. 

Zane went with his dad to the crafts store to pick up the rest, including some black felt, googly eyes and a pink pom pom for the nose.  And Voila! Grover is born.  Of course he's just a head, so likely he'd be terrified, but still...not bad.

I hope that we get an A.

Review: The Monster At The End of This Book

This is one of my very favoritest children's books, although I didn't discover it until I was an adult. I bought this book in my twenties, anticipating the fun I would have reading it to my children someday.

This book was meant to be read aloud, and you don't have to have a funny sounding voice, but you will need to overact in some parts to 'sell' the story. My husband made an extra special effort to imitate Grover's voice from the Sesame Street television show, but I used my own voice and Zane was still entertained.

The main character of the book is "lovable, furry, old Grover", a very familiar sight to kids and adults who watch(ed) Sesame Street. Grover has a problem: he is very anxious and fearful about something, and he needs the reader's help to avoid having to face what is scaring him. I like how the book "invites" the reader into the story. Grover is very serious in asking the person reading the book not to turn any pages. I appreciated Grover's many attempts to prevent the reader from turning pages as well as his comments regarding the resulting mess.

The book is funny and endearing and wonderful, and as you get to the last page there is a chance to talk to your child about things that might make them anxious or afraid. Talking about what scares them with a parent can help a child 'face' their fears in a safe manner, and I like that.