Banned Books

Happy Banned Books Week.

Read a Banned Book.

The most frequently challenged books of 1990-2005

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Although we have read many, we have made a pact to try read all the books on the list. Join us in this challenge.

Quiet, Restful Day

We had a great day bowling with friends yesterday. Musa is getting to be quite the bowler. It helps him maintain his focus. He has good form when he concentrates and always says he has a lot of fun. I need to take them more often.

                                               

We had a quiet day today. It has finally cooled of a little outside. The mornings and evening are cooler, but still turning on the AC in the afternoons. We watched a couple movies. Read some Hawaiin folk tales and a story about a selfish giant. Retta is fascinated with giants. She believes there is one living in our woods. She is semi scared of them, but also very intrigued. 

                                               

We watered our fall garden. I have a second round of tomatoes, green beans, green peppers. I also have radishes, lettuce and kale. It has been nice to have such an extended growing season. I haven't decided if I am going to can applesause this year. Might let it go.

Retta played for an hour in the trampoline, creating a new game that included 5 plastic baseballs, 1 plastic baseball bat, the trampoline with net and herself. It involved bouncing while hitting the balls with the bat. The goal was to not let any of the balls hit you as they rolled around. I asked her, "If a ball hits you does that mean you lose?" She replied, "No, I have 300 hundred tries. On 301 I lose."

Life is good when you make the rules......

             

 

100 reasons to Homeschool

Reason # 34:

A friend told me this today and I have to share.

Her and her children were recently attending a class during "homeschool days" at a Science Center. The teacher asked the kids, "What do you do if you come across a word and you don't know the meaning?"

A young elementary aged student raised his hand and said, "Look for a Latin or Greek root."

.....out of the mouths of homeschooled children!!

Aloha

Yesterday we celebrated our first culture day in our Cooking around the World series. (Musa had chosen Hawaii) Musa chose his recipe's and spent the night before preparing his dishes. A homeschooling buddy of ours just finished Hulu dance lessons, so we invited her over to teach us some moves. It turned out to be a pot luck of sorts...the food was great, the music fun, and the company superb.

Musa's menu included BQ pork sandwiches topped with Hawaiian coleslaw, crab-potato salad and coconut/macadamia nut dessert bars. We prepared the pork the night before in the crock-pot and when we awoke and tried it, we realized we had suffered our first menu disaster. The only thing we can think of is that Musa salted the pork, and then I salted the pork, not realizing that it had been done. The result was a pot of VERY salty inedible pork. We thought fast and decided that hot dogs were pork and quickly changed the menu to Hawaiian Hot Dogs with coleslaw. Our friends brought mango salsa and sweet potato/coconut pudding...when served warm is the ultimate comfort food. The coconut/macadamia bars were sinful. Musa is a great cook.

We started our day with fun and play and then Sarah gave us all a Hulu lesson. She was a fabulous teacher, we all learned so much. Musa was a great sport and took the lessons very seriously. Doesn't he look marvelous in his grass skirt?

During our feast we watched the movie Stitch has a Glitch. (Lilo and Stitch 2). We were hoping for Blue Hawaii, but couldn't find a copy anywhere. Although there is a touch of Elvis in the Lilo movies, it just wasn't quite the same.

                                                

It was a suberb day.

Musa has also done quite a bit of reading about Hawaii. We were fascinated to know that although there are 18 commonly accepted islands, if you count all the islands there are 130. Amazing.

We had fun learning Pidgin.  (Pidgin here in Hawaii is a sort of Hawaiian Slang-lish and not the Pidgin language spoken in the deep south Pacific Islands. A culture lies behind Hawaiian Pidgin. It seems to rub off on those who stay for any length of time. There are many, especially in the country areas and outer islands that only talk "da kine" true Hawaiian Pidgin)

Musa has long been fascinated with flags from the states and around the world so he made a cool Hawaiian flag. The corner of the flag is a replica of the Union Jack flag of Britain, honoring their long relationship with Britain.

The only thing left is an actual trip to Hawaii..........

 

 

              

Musa Rocks

Musa changed the oil on my truck!!! He handled it with just a little oversight from Dad. He didn't even mind the greasy hands! Yay!

He was a little worried that he may have forgotten something, and was pleased when I returned from a test drive without a problem.

What a kid. Does his own laundry, cooks like a chef, knows how to change oil and isn't afraid to learn the hulu.....that story will be posted tomorrow.

                   

Healing Arts

We were awaken at about 4 am when the power went out. We did not regain power until about 11 am. (a surge problem) It really got us thinking about all the people affected by hurricanes and disasters and how trying it gets when the lights go out. A few hours were enough for us and it really impacted the kids when they realized how long the power has been out in some of these hard hit areas. We tryed to imagine all those evacuees that had been in their cars for 12-20 hours, just trying to get away, not to mention, WHERE DID ALL THESE PEOPLE GO TO THE BATHROOM? With carloads of small children! Man, it leaves me speechless.  It was 95-101 degrees in most of those areas. We really felt sad for everyone going through this.

We decided to turn to art. Art Heals. Retta wanted to make something out of our nature collections from yesterday. Our library is decorated with different suns from many different cultures. We decided to make a sun picture. Retta said, "Suns are bright and bright makes people happy, if we make a sun from nature and put a crystal in the middle everything will be happy."

So we set to work. We used some embellishments that were not from nature, but most everything came from the Earth. When we finished Retta decided she wanted to make a picture that would make everyone "giggle with glee." So she set to work....several hours later, Googaly, Boogaly Giggly was born. We are so happy with our creations we are going to spring for some nice frames. They will allways be a reminder of the year of the hurricanes.

                                        

Musa worked on some beading projects. He says he feels frustrated that he can't do more to help the hurricane victims. We had a long talk...he came up with some great ideas. He is thinking some more before he makes a final decision. He is thinking about trying to adopt an animal, or maybe working on a few projects to raise some money to donate. He is worried that if everyone gives all their money to Katrina/Rita/? (god forbid) that no one will give to the local people that are already hungry. He thought about giving some food to the local food banks. He has decided to immerse himself in the playstation tonight, to have fun, less worry.

Musa cooked dinner since the artists were tired. He made a fabulous salad and raviolis. He even helped clean up before and after dinner.  Retta made strawberry milkshakes for dessert. What a crew.

                                         

First Day of Autumn

Here we are on the first day of Autumn, playing in the sprinkler. It was just so warm today.

We did do our traditional walk around the yard looking for signs of autumn, and although we did find many, it got so warm we decided to resume our summer activities.

We found some beautiful bright yellow leaves that Retta is pressing. We hope to turn them into a large sun collage for my collection in our library. We will be sure to post a picture of the end result.

                       Happy Autumn Everyone

                            

 

 

 

Mysteries and Websites

Inbetween bouncing episodes, we have been having fun with some new websites. Thought I would pass on the fun.

Sodaplay.com 

Musa and Retta both have had hours of fun with the soda constuctor. Some of the contraptions they have invented have been so amazing. Be careful with this one...it is extremely addicting.

Writebackwards.com

Musa is so into codes, I knew he would like this one. He wrote a backward letter to Tyrus and just thinks he is so slick. Don't be surprised if you all get letters in the mail soon.

Mandala

This one is a blast. Retta and I have had so much fun. It is in a foreign language, but is self explanatory. The more you play the more you will realize the potential. We decided this one needs New Age music playing while you draw.

CountryReports.org

               

This is my favorite. A very minimal subscription rate gives you beautifully organized, up to date information about countries. I especially love the culture and recipe section. This is a great tool for our Cooking Around the World plan.

 

Musa picked up and Nancy Drew computer game at the library yesterday and he has been playing it non-stop since. He is determined to figure out all the mysteries.

                                                   

Trampoline

                        WE BOUGHT A TRAMPOLINE!!!!

                                 FUN FUN FUN FUN

We have done nothing but bounce for two days. It is so hard for me to watch and not be able to jump. I always wanted a trampoline...I finally get one....and I have to just sit and watch.  I did drag my crippled body onto it, reclined onto one side and had Musa gently jump around me. Made me laugh.

It makes me smile to be outside watching the kids jumping and gigling without a care, and watch the local school bus pull up and let the school kids off, heavy backpacks and all.

What a great life.

Musa has researched and choosen his Hawaiin menu. We are planning on cooking on Thursday.

Well...back to bouncing.

                                                  

John Holt Moment #2

Recently I picked up a package of plastic, magnetic, alphabet letters, in a clearance bin. This is a small set of lowercase letters.

I placed them all on the refrigerator when the kids were out of the room and didn't say a word. As the kids came in and noticed them they were surprised and each spelled their names. They asked me why I put them there and I answered that I liked all the diferent colors and thought they looked pretty on the frig.

They have been there about 3 weeks now and it is simply amazing how many times they have stopped to spell things with these letters.

Retta started with putting random letters together and asking what she had spelled. I would simply try my best to sound out her words and say nothing else. She then started asking how to spell certain words. Each time she did this she retained spelling of the word and now spells it independently. (I just realized as I am writing this she is in the kitchen making letter patterns, "all the green ones here...all the blue ones here..)

Musa has also been frequently spotted at the refrigerator spelling words. I always know if he has been there by the words left behind...war, skate, much, money, rap, love, king!

We had our good friends over for fun and frolick Tuesday, and Sarah (6) was also quite intrigued with these letters. She kept coming back in the kitchen playing (spelling) with them.

I am going to buy a few more packages.

John Holt was a genius. This is just the type of thing he writes about. Very similar to the number chart. Fascinating to watch this natural learning unfold.

                                          

Drawing Music

We decided to draw music today. We drew Heavy Metal, Rap, Opera and Bollywood.

I asked Retta why she wrote Heavy Backwards and Metal all mixed up on her drawing. She said, "That music made my brain all mixed up." Too funny. Musa chose these words to describe his Heavy Metal drawing: blood, crime, loud, bad, guitar. I chose the following words: owie, hurt, loud, shaking, storms.

We had never heard Bollywood music before so that was an experience in and of itself. I thought it was interesting that Opera music brought up images of food and hunger for both Retta and Musa. I also loved that Rap made Musa think of girls.

Everything makes Musa think of girls these days.

How do you draw Opera? Rap?

                                            

Pea Green Soup

Retta made a big crock pot of ham and green pea soup this morning. She loves chopping the lettuce and celery, it makes her feel very grown up. If she continues at this rate, I should be able to turn over all of the cooking duties by age eight. Yippee.

Today's cooking adventure led to a reminder of the joke that has been passed down for generations.

Q. Whadya have for breakfast?  A. Pea green soup.........

You remember don't you? I remember my Mom telling me one day in the kitchen of the Culligan House in Laurel, Montana. I thought is was the funniest thing I had ever heard.

No generation gap here...Retta and Musa have been laughing themselves silly with it all morning. Can't wait for dinner tonight!

                                                   

Charolette's Web

We have a new house guest. We found this lovely lady on the inside of a double pane window in our kitchen. There is a small slit in the outer window that allows insects to crawl in, but they can't enter the house. Great insect viewer!

She has weaved a very beautiful web that is not visible in the picture. We have identified her as an Golden Orb Garden Spider. We watched her for weeks as she would snare her victims and eat them. She seemed to have a huge appetite.

One day we noticed she was all curled up and hardly moving. We figured she must be dying. Then we noticed a HUGE egg sac in the corner. (see second picture) Retta commented that she was just like the spider in the movie Charolette's web, "She is just tired from making that big egg sac." I wasn't so sure, she looked pretty close to dead.

The next day she was gone and we assumed she had crawled out the window and died. Then a few days later she was back. She looks as good as new and is back up on her web. (assuming of course it is the same spider) We now wait anxiously for the emergence of all the little spiderlings. I have to empahasize how pleased I am that the the window is tightly sealed to the inside.

I added a picture of another window in the house that contains a purse web spider. It is hard to tell in the picture, the webs are an intricate set of tunnels. The spider sits in the bottom of the tunnel and jumps out and snatches his prey.

We will let you know when the babies arrrive!

    

Habitat success

We spent the morning outside checking on our existing habitat huts and building some new.

As we added some new bark and fresh water to one of our toad habitats, two little toads hopped out from behind the shelter. How exciting. Retta is sure she saw them smiling.

We started building our snake habitat. We got the base of the structure done, but had to give it up because it is just to darn hot outside. It is so humid it is hard to breathe. Gez, we are so ready for fall.

                                                  

Poverty

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

Nelson Mandela

Chef Musa, Chef Retta

Musa and Retta have been wanting to expand their cooking skills and do more meal cooking instead of the usual cookies and desserts. They each purchased their own "chef kits." They both have a plastic tub filled with the necessities for cooking: utensils, cutting boards, spatulas, wire wisks...

We reorgainized the kitchen to make ingredients and pots and pans more kid accessible.

The first dinner that they made was bacon and whole grain pancakes. It was so tasty. I sat back and read a book while the kids cooked. Very cool.

We decided that we will cook our way around the world. With the Food Network and the Travel Channel at our fingertips, not to mention the internet and the library, we should have fun. Musa chose Hawaii as his first location and Retta chose Spain. We will be sure to share recipes and experiences as we travel.

                              

Off we go.....