Thursday Book Rec: The Silver Bowl

I am an admitted book worm, constantly on the lookout for new ones, both for the kids and myself. There's no better love you can inspire in children than the desire to read, but again, I am thousand-percent biased. A book can take you anywhere and let you be anyone you want to be- how does it get any better than that??

This is one in a series of posts spotlighting books we picked up and absolutely loved! Most of these can be appreciated by just about any age, and I say this because I love them just as much as the kids do. I hope you do, too!

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Title & Author: 

The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley

What It's About:

It's a story about an unfortunate girl named Molly who lives in the kingdom of Westria and is sent away by her tyrant of a father to work as a scullery maid in the royal family's castle. The only thing worse for Molly than the realization that the terrifying visions she sees always come eerily true and witnessing the apparent curse on the royal family, is the fact that the priceless silver bowl she is charged to care for warms to her touch and commands her to listen and watch as it warns her of danger through the visions it chooses to share with her.


Now, she has an extra secret to keep to avoid being labeled as "mad" and ending up with no job and no roof over her head, or worse- being sent back to her father who has promised no good will come of her return. In order to accomplish what she feels she must do, she must quickly learn who she can trust and who she cannot. If she makes the wrong choice, it could mean her life and the life of the young prince Alaric. The fate of the entire kingdom of Westria also rests on her shoulders; one wrong move and all will be lost.


    

My Thoughts:

I discovered after reading it that it's one in a three-part series and like most books we find, I picked this one up on a whim. It was on the "New" shelf in the library and to be honest, the only thing I love more than books themselves is NEW, never-been-read-before books. The title drew me in and I'm so glad we decided to give it a try. I did have to do a little editing when I was reading due to the cruel nature of some of the characters and of course, I always edit when it comes to the grown-up concept of love and romantic relationships (NOTE: In my opinion, my 4 & 6 year olds should enjoy their childhoods, not be bombarded by ooey-gooey lovey-dovey stories all over the place. They'll have time for that later when they're ready for a healthy, committed marital relationship but right now, there's more to life than smooching and crushes. Enough with the heavy and back to the book...).


The author did a miraculous job of getting us to develop a strong connection with the characters, especially Molly. The suspense throughout the book killed us every second we were not reading. My kids asked for it excitedly every night before bed time and honestly, I couldn't wait to get back to it at the end of every day, either. It's definitely a real page-turner. For now, we're anxiously awaiting the follow-up books.

¡ Leemos! Do You Read To Your Kids?

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

                                     -Emilie Buchwald

Do you read to your kids? I do. I have every night since they were born. Well, almost every night- life happens sometimes and our droopy eyelids from a busy day don't always hold long enough to get to "The End". We started off when my oldest was a baby and have continued on since then. Three books was the count when we started but now that the books we enjoy have so many more words, we've cut it back to two. Since my oldest can read now, she picks a book that's easy for her to read and she reads one book to us, then I read the other one. This was actually part of the process I used to teach her to read.

"Your kid could read a thousand books, but the ones they read with you give them the best chance at success. Read with your child."

          - Tiki Barber, Today Correspondent, NBC Sports

Although our personal collection's pretty interesting, we get most of our books from the library and keep them on their own separate "Library Shelf". We have always made the library a weekly trip, a standing date of sorts, when they can pick out and bring home whatever they want. (If you find a good library, they have a nice little play area inside and fantastic story times complete with crafts.) Really, it feels like a shopping spree and the high comes from not having to spend a dime. My youngest even asked me the other day if she could "buy" the book at the counter. I sent her three-year-old self up by herself with her library card in hand and the book of her choice and she checked it out on her own. I love the Howard County librarians (shout out!!), they humored her all the way and made her feel like a big girl but were secretly tickled pink. Gosh, I love those ladies. Anyway, I digress...

"The greatest gift is a passion for reading"

                                                         

                                 -Elizabeth Hardwick

If you haven't made this a part of your routine, think about working it in. It doesn't have to be a lot of time or reading. Even just one book a night is beneficial. Among other things, it's great bonding time for you and the kids and it's a wonderful transition to help them wind down at night- when the books come out in my house, they know it's time for bed. When we pull out our chapter books, they lay in bed with the lights dimmed to listen and visualize what's going on in the story while I read. Story time at night is a sacred time in our house and there are so many reasons to make it the same in yours. If you haven't yet, just give it a try. I'm sure you'll love it.

Some informative links to check out (taken from the The More You Know website):
Childhood 101 Blog: Literacy Spot
http://childhood101.com/category/read/literacy-spot/

http://www.rif.org/
Find ideas for fun activities that will get your child excited about reading. 

http://www.funbrain.com/brain/ReadingBrain/ReadingBrain.html
Mad libs and ongoing stories for kids.

http://www.primarygames.com/reading.htm
Numerous games for children to help develop their reading, writing, spelling and vocabulary skills.

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/
Website about poetry for kids. Read, write, rhyme and play anything having to do with poetry.