Learning Through Literature: Picture Books About Mexico

We begin our learning time each day with a book.  I try to choose stories that encourage learning with materials on the shelf.  Recently, we have been traveling through Mexico and I found a TON of books from Mexico on our library shelves.  Some were better then others.  

                                                                                                                

Adelita by Tomie dePaola was, by far, our favorite of the stories.  This is a Mexican Cinderella Story with a fair bit of Spanish language mixed into the book.  The story line is really fun! 

The Old Man & His Door by Gary Soto is an adorable little tale about a man who doesn't listen to his wife.  In the end, he finds out why he should be sure to pay attention to what she is saying.  But, as the story progresses, you see his kind spirit and his willingness to help others. 

                                                                            

Look What Came from Mexico by Miles Harvey did an excellent job of informing us of things from and about Mexico without boring us in the process.  Just enough info, lots of nice pictures, and not terribly long.  

Tomas and the Library Lady, by Pat Mora, had a neat story to tell about Mexican migrant workers.  It is based on a true story. 

Marimba! Animals from A to Z and Uno, Dos, Tres; One, Two, Three both by Pat Mora were cute books with a little Spanish language.  

P is for Pinata by Tony Johnson was okay.  It had a lot of information, but honestly it was just a tad too much information.  If you choose this one with little people, don't plan to read it all in one setting.  

Snapshots from the Wedding by Gary Soto and Book Fiesta! by Pat Mora were both cute, but I wouldn't recommend them.

I would, however, continue to recommend  Nine Days to Christmas by Marie Hall Ets as my very favorite picture book about Mexico and its culture.  You can read about the lesson we did back at Christmas in this blog post. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our recent book list!

God Bless,

We're linking up {our first time!}

North America Continent Box: Mexico

We are currently on a trip through North America.  Last month, we stopped in Canada.  This week, we are heading through Mexico.  Yes, we skipped the US-we will be back!

Here are all the new items that I added to the North America Continent Box.

We will start off with a Sombrero that I found in the party section of Hobby Lobby.  Yes, it's a little small, but it fits in the box!

This dress was a gift a friend brought back from Mexico for me when I was 5 years old!  It's still such a beautiful dress.  Fits Mini Cooper pretty well, too!

The little Pinata was also from the Hobby Lobby party section.

The silver and tuquoise bracelet was a gift from my sister when she when on a mission's trip years ago.  It was hand-made by Mexican women.  The chili pepper is an old salt shaker from my kitchen.  The Temple of Inscriptions is part of the World Landmark's Toob (Hobby Lobby).  And, the mustaches were also from the Hobby Lobby party isle.  Lots of fun with those!!

The donkey Pinata transporting a chili pepper, Temple of Inscriptions, and the Canadian Cowboy, LOL!!

Checking out all the stairs on the Temple of Inscriptions.

No clue what was going on here, but it was funny.

One evening, I played a bunch of Mexican music including Viva Mexico, the national anthem.

We had a ton of fun dancing around to the music!

However, the mustaches have been the favorite by far!  We've also been reading a ton of books, which will get their own post.

So glad you stopped by!  Gracias and God Bless!

We're linking up!

North America Continent Box: First Stop Canada

We are finally taking off on our around the world tour.  We started with North America.  For the most part, we will be just touching on each of the countries, but since I used to live in Canada I wanted to spend a little extra time visiting.

Here are the few items so far in the continent box.  For now, we've just got one box.  I'm leaning towards making bags like Mariann on Counting Coconuts, and then just putting them in one box.  But, for now we only have North America so I don't need to worry just yet.

Our small offerings include some photos pulled from a National Geographic (really just fillers until I have more objects), a mug from my childhood home, a cowboy that reminds me of the Calgary Stampede, and my birth coins.

The really nice thing about the coins of Canada, is that (like many countries) they have pictures of important Canadian things.  There is a picture of the Queen, a picture of a beaver, a caribou, the Canadian coat of arms, the maple leaf, etc, so we were able to talk about the symbols of Canada without having one of every single item.  As I find more things to put in the box, I will add them.  I lived there before loonies and toonies so I don't have any of those :).

I found out our library had a very SAD selection of books on Canada.  I have ordered more, but we just got our card and I didn't realize that it takes at least 4-6 weeks to get a book.  One thing I do miss about big city living :(.  These were the best I could find given the criteria I was working with.

Paddle to the Sea has been our night time read aloud.  It is a GREAT book!  Absolutely love following Paddle's trip down the river and to the sea.  We are about 1/2 way through and we are all enjoying it.  Recommend this one!!

Z is for Zamboni was a fun way to talk about the favorite sport of hockey.  My children have not really watched any hockey, so it was interesting to talk about how you play the sport.

Ulaq and the Northern Lights was cute.  Not terribly moving, but a nice way to introduce the legends of the Northern Lights.  Afterwards we watched this National Geographic video of the lights.

Canada Lynx was okay, but the pictures were great!  The kids really enjoyed thinking of what a huge cat would look like.  They wanted one for a pet.  After reading the story, we checked out the Canadian Kid's National Geographic page and explored the many animals in Canada.

And, how can we study Canada without hearing the national anthem?

I hope you enjoyed your first stop on our tour. Thanks for stopping by!!

God Bless,

We're linking up:

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