Creative reading.

It's amazing how a book, a good book, can be such a powerful and fun tool for a learning experience.

Usually, when we go to the library, the girls look through the books and put aside those ones that they would like to take home. And I would go through the shelves to see what's out there interesting for ME to read to them. I love books. I am a bookworm. But with such an abundance of trashy books nowadays, it's been taking me sometime in the library to pick something worth reading. And when I happen to stumble upon a "published jewel" my heart sings.

As I've been picking the books at random and now know quite a few that we really liked with my girls, I decided to start making a book list. It will be a great way to let Ivana practice writing "with a purpose". It will help us find that particular book that we've enjoyed should we want to use it for a reference or simply re-read it once again. Also, it will help me to look back at what we were reading with my two oldest when our youngest will be ready for a quality literature.

Among the most recent treasures is the book by Peter Sis, "Starry Messenger". In this amazing book Peter Sis uses his artistic talent to give us an extraordinary view of the life of Galileo Galilei. The illustrations are very detailed and just breathtaking. Sis tells the story in the language as simple as a fairy tale, adding Galileo's own words, written more than 350 years ago but still resonant with truth.

We have read the book a couple of times during this week. Then we used it for an imaginary play. We drew, color, cut out and hung the stars, the Moon and the Sun all over our summer room. We pretended the paper rolls were our telescopes and we were Galileos. We were "observing the sky" and "making notes".

In the beginning of June there will be an annual book sale at a local library. I'll be there before the sunrise, hoping to get good books for a bargain price...