Turtles, Habitats & a Magic Paint Brush

I could not think of a more original title to this post, so I summarized three of the early reader books we have enjoyed this week.  Kind of creates an interesting title, doesn't it?  In keeping with our animal books, we have been reading One Tiny Turtle, by Nicola Davies:

The girls loved this.  We haven't yet, but I hope to do some painting of turtles and of some of the illustrations from the books.  The drawings are great and I love how much the girls learn about turtles while Catherine practices her reading!

Another fun book about animals is Even an Octopus Needs a Home, by Irene Kelley:

This book covers a lot of different habitats which animals live in: from a coral reef, to an ant hill, to a polar ice cap.  The illustrations are great and we were able to have a lot of interesting discussions about differences among animals.  This book is a little deeper than an introduction to habitats, with quite a bit of details.

One book which came with our Georgia Cyber Academy curriculum that the children loved is called Tye May and the Magic Brush by Molly Bang.  This is a little more than an "easy reader" and still a bit challenging for Catherine.  I read it to her a few times before she was able to read it to me.  Great practice!  But, the girls both loved the story.

It tells the story of a Chinese orphan girl named Tye May.  She wants to paint but is too poor to own a brush (enter a discussion about poverty with my girls, who own at least two dozen paint brushes).  In the middle of the night a mysterious woman gives her a paint brush, but warns her to be careful with it.  She begins to paint with it the next day.

Everything she paints with the magic brush comes to life, which has some positive, and negative, consequences.  The girls loved this book!  We have been doing a lot of painting lately.  Now, every time the girls paint, they talk about what would happen if their paintings came to life.  I love blending different subjects together ... art and reading!