changes, changes

Changes, Changes, originally published in 1971, is one of Nate’s current favorite reads.  It was illustrated by Pat Hutchins whose work you might remember in Rosie’s Walk.  The funny thing is we first saw a short film made based on this story on a Scholastic video collection we bought years ago.  Fast forward to me finding the book online recently and Nate delightfully discovering the “book version” of the film and reading it over and over again.  The theme of the book is adapting to change and it’s executed very cleverly.  The little wooden couple in the story are contently living in their wooden block abode when disaster strikes and it catches fire one day.  Quickly thinking on their feet, they convert their house into a fire truck to put out the fire!  But eventually all the water from their fire hose creates a small flood—what will they do next?

 Here’s a link to the film version of the book, if anyone’s curious to see it!

gravity

Gravity.  It’s what keeps us on the ground.  Gravity is a whimsical and fantastically illustrated book by Jason Chin that makes the mysterious force of gravity accessible to children.  There’s a great explanation about how gravity works at the back of the book that parents can read and discuss with their young scientists.  Hear Jason Chin speak about the process he went through creating this book on Politics & Prose.

valentine animal envelopes

We made these Valentine Animal Envelopes recently (idea and original post by Mer Mag).

white roasted chocolate sundaes for valentine's day

We’re gearing up for Valentine’s Day with these roasted white chocolate sundaes on The Land of Nod’s blog today.

heart-shaped pies

Milk chocolate and strawberry jam heart-shaped pies that I made during Super Bowl yesterday.  Thanks to Hello, Wonderful for the inspiration.  During the game, Avery kept referring to each team by their 3-letter abbreviation at the bottom of the screen next to their score.  E.g., “Daddy, how’s DEN doing?”