Our Favorite Author...

is Lois Lowry!

It all started last summer. We began a family Book Club where I chose a book and reserved multiple copies from the library. Bill would read aloud as we all followed along. The girls shared a copy with me and I would show them where we were in the story. Paige had the official "bookmark" job and often we would read on the porch by candlelight and flashlight in our jammies with the fireflies lighting up around us.

So, I picked up The Willoughby's by Lois Lowry. It was a new release and sounded different. Parents wanting to get rid of their kids?! Well by chapter 2 we were all hooked, not an evening could go by without reading this. The vocabulary kept us on our toes and the craziness of the eccentric family was hilarious. We loved the ending and still refer to the Willoughby's to this day. I'd say they have made an impression!

Lindy and Paige are using the Sonlight Curriculum, loosely. We are following the literature and the next read aloud was Gooney Bird Greene also by Lois Lowry. Little did I know what a gem we were starting. Gooney is a rather eccentric second grader who is new at school. She loves to be the center of attention for everything. She finds her place in the class by being the best storyteller. Before I know it Gooney is teaching the class (and my girls!) about story writing. You need a beginning, a middle, and an end. It really helps if you add a suddenly, for a little suspense Gooney explains.

We were hooked! Walking through the library I saw out of the corner of my eye Gooney Bird the Fabulous. The girls were literally squealing that there was another Gooney book. She is such a lovable character, and character she is. We started reading the book when I realized that we were reading the third book and missed the second. I quickly reserved the second book, Gooney Bird and the Room Mother.

Back to Gooney the Fabulous. Gooney teaches the class about fables and creates a class project for each student to write their own fable with an animal starting with the first letter of their name. Guess what we will be doing at the end of the month?? I have Kyle and Ethan reading them too so they know what we are doing. I am going to do a unit study on Fables, Fairy Tales, Legends and Myths. Since we already know the basics from book one Lindy reminded me all we need is a suddenly and we are set to write our fables. She has already chosen a ladybug to represent her L name.

Two days ago we started Gooney Bird and the Room Mother. I could hardly wait to see what we would learn from Gooney this time! Grab your dictionary girls, Gooney has quite the vocabulary and is keeping the class on their toes using their new dictionaries to learn the definitions. Having not done much dictionary work, we had just done a basic alphabetizing worksheet days before. They understood the concept thank goodness because we need the adult dictionary for these words. So while the "class" in the book is looking up the word so are we. Then we read to see if we have the same definition as the story. All the while looking for a room mother when no one wants to be one. I have to admit (don't tell the girls) I had to peak at the end and see who the mysterious INCOGNITO (one of our words) room mother was. I have not done that since I was a kid!

What more can a homeschooling mom want? Great books that are entertaining, funny, and teach. Teach a subject like literature, vocabulary, resource skills, and writing. That is an unusual find. I feel like we have opened a huge treasure chest of ideas.

We have grown quite attached to Gooney and are looking forward to Gooney Bird is so Absurd this spring. Can't wait to see what we will learn from her next! Thank you Lois Lowry for your creative wisdom, it is greatly appreciated.