Too Many Books? Never!

Too Many Books?  Can't Be!

          We're a busy group.  We like to build, to paint, to mess around with Play-doh.  Another classic, truly classic, on-going activity for Kitah Gimmel is  . . .our books!

     The morning begins with some independent "reading."  We investigate what's in our class Library.  The books change with the seasons.  Will we see Sukkot books there now?  You bet!

     Sometimes we interact with a buddy or two while we're reading.  Sometimes we choose to go it alone, while still hanging-out next to our friends.  (This reminds me of my husband and myself on a Sunday morning, reading the local newspaper!)

     Sometimes we swap our books with our friends, so everyone has a turn to experience each of the books.

     We bring books to the table, too.  

     Or we stretch out on our big rug, with plenty of room to look through two or three books in a single sitting.  We're able to focus on a story while our friends play.  Sometimes they join us . . .and sometimes we join them.

     The Morahs share a story, or two or three, during Snack and Lunch.  One of the girls needed to leave for a minute to go to the bathroom.  "Wait," she said, "I'll be right back!"  She didn't want to miss a second of the story.

    Our visitors read to us, too.  Here, Asher's Meema reads a book to us while Ash pays close attention. Eli L's mom read to us one morning.  Morah Susan's friend, Morah Mindy, shared one of Morah Susan's favorite books, Shofy and Blowfy, right before Rosh Hashannah.

Morah Estee usually shares three stories during Lunch!  

(Above, Morah Susan uses a bear prop to tell a Rosh Hashannah story about the apple.  (L) more story-telling props about the apple, (R) Three fall-related stories, with a squirrel puppet.

     (As an aside, I'd like to mention that there's almost nothing better than juvenile literature, even for an adult.  There's a lot to learn from the simplest of stories.  The Kitah Gimmel children felt the tension in The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House when Mama Nut scolded the children for being poor listeners.  Was there still love?  You bet!   The story ended on a happy, and very loving, note.
     My new favorite (or one of my many new favorites!) is actually an old book, Earl the Squirrel by Don Freeman.  You may know this writer/illustrator as the author of the classics Corduroy the Bear, Norman the Doorman, MopTop and Dandelion.  I just discovered Earl recently; it was published posthumously, much later than Freeman's other books.  The squirrel Earl learns to appreciate himself, accomplish a task and make his mommy proud . . .an inspiring lesson for any age group. Hip, hip, hooray for kids' books!)

Morah Susan, with Morah Estee and Morah Jainea, and the book lovers of Kitah Gimmel