Favorite Quotes

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."
— Emilie Buchwald

“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
-- Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Boston Inspired Reads

My husband and I are planning a week long trip to Boston at the end of the summer.  During my research for the trip, I discovered several children's books that are set in the great city of Boston.






First, we have the classic Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey.  The image shown here is the audio version.  Winner of the 1942 Caldecott Medal, this is the story of a mallard family trying to find the perfect home in the Boston Public Garden.  We are planning on visiting the duck statues there (shown below). Homeschool Share has a great BINGO game available along with several other fun and educational activities. There is a fun art project available from Scholastic. There are lots of activity ideas available from Live Oak Media. Wondersome StoryTime provides a great plan for a wonderful storytime or circle time lesson plan.  And for all you preschool teachers, Hubbard's Cupboard has a great duck/egg unit that incorporates this great book.




















Another book I discovered, was The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, which has also been made into a movie. This is the story of a swan who was born without a voice and learns to play a trumpet to create a voice.  After reading this story we will be sure to check out the Swan Boat Rides when we are in the Boston area. The Internet is full of great teaching or storytime activities that go along with this book. ABC Teach has lots of printables that go along with this book. Multinomah Library provides a discussion guide to use with elementary students. Ethemes provides a list of links for additional activity suggestions.















The third Boston related children's book is Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, which was also made into a movie.  This book is the 1944 Newbery Medal winner and is about the events in Boston leading up to the Revolution. On this Teacher Cyberguide, they provide all sorts of activity suggestions that go along with this award winning title. EdHelper also has a great literature unit available. Teacher Vision has a reader's theater script that would be a great addition to any program or unit on this book.

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