Saturday, October 4, 2008

One Good Book Package


The first package for the One Good Book Swap arrived at my house this week! My bloggy friend Val signed her two children up for the swap. I partnered her son with me asking for a book and package for my 4th graders at school. They are struggling readers who need to learn that reading can be fun. Well, Val and her son have certainly helped with that! They sent not just one book but 25 books!!!! They included Captain Underpants, Ricky Ricotta and Goosebumps which are all favorites of my fourth graders. They just finished up state testing on Friday so they don't know about this wonderful package yet! They are going to be so excited on Monday!!!
Also included in the package was a bookmark project, flower pins, a honeybee snack recipe, bee cupcake toppers, a bee fingerprint art project and my favorite a bee finger puppet. My school teaches the students to be respectful, be responsible and be safe. We have a bee as a mascot. Val had asked about the mascot and designed the package around it.
She wrote "Something I learned years ago is that bees are an enigma. They are not built anatomically correct for flight. It is a mystery as to why they can actually fly. Maybe they can inspire your class to reach new heights of achievement this year." That really touched me! Inspiration is something my students could certainly use. Thank you for this wonderful and inspiring package, I know the kids are going to love it!
Val included books for Nature Girl and this amazing acorn and squirrel she made. When I saw this set on her blog, I loved it and knew Nature Girl would love something like this! Val sent it for Nature Girl. It was love at fist sight!!!! Squirrely and his acorn house went to school with Nature Girl for show and tell on Friday. Really it's so cool, the top comes off the acorn and the squirrel nests inside. You can see better pictures here on Val's blog. Val is sooo talented! I love her amigurumi creations. Check out her blog to see some of the other amazing amigurumi things she has made. I needed to learn how to make some of these amazing amigurumi creations.
This amigurumi bee finger puppet was buzzing around the house tickling Nature Girl and causing lots of laughs. He also became great friends with Squirrely. Alas the bee will be flying to school where I'll be using him in the preschool class. One of our class jobs is the busy bee. The busy bee helps with calendar time and classroom errands. The bee puppet will fit in perfectly with our preschool routine. (Note: Nature Girl is eating a strawberry Twizzler in the picture. She just saw the picture and said what's that? Twizzlers are her favorite candy.)
Thank you Val and Ripstick Boy for the book package!!! I can't thank you enough. I'm very excited about creating the package for Ripstick boy. While I wait for the book to arrive I'm working on a few goodies for the package. I hope everyone else is having fun with the book swap. I can't wait to see what everyone creates!