Wolves

We are learning about wolves this week.  Some of the books we have read so far are:

• Wolves by Duncan Searl
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf retold by B.G. Hennessy
• The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Bob Hartman
• Big Wolf and Little Wolf by Nadine Brun-Cosme and Olivier Tallec

We also brainstormed to come up with all of the fairy tales we know that have big bad wolves in them.  This led to a discussion about why wolves have been perceived as "bad" animals and how they are endangered.

C and R also made paper bag wolf puppets.  We used the puppets to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.

 Don't tell me you have never seen a purple and pink wolf!  R would have it no other way!

 I also made some yummy wolf paws for C and R to enjoy.  I was inspired by Gourmet Mom on the Go's idea for dinosaur claws.  I covered Nutter Butters with melted chocolate and then added cashews for the claws.  These were so good!

Stay tuned for more wolf books and activities!

Javelinas and another Cowboy

Do you remember my post about The Gingerbread Cowboy?  I wrote that the gingerbread cowboy was chased by javelinas and noted that I had never heard of javelinas before.  Well, now my children and I are quite familiar with these interesting creatures.  Javelinas are relatives of swine, but not true pigs, and they are also related to the hippopotamus.  They are very bristly (as the author notes, "very hairy on the chinny-chin-chin").  Before I knew better (thanks Karen), I was calling them javelinas with an English "j" sound at the beginning, but obviously the word is Spanish so the initial sound is "h".

This week we read, The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell.  This book is a southwestern version of The Three Little Pigs. The setting for this story is actually the vicinity of the Tohono O'Odham Reservation near Tucson, Arizona, but the author notes that the setting could really be almost any dry southwestern area where javelinas, coyotes, tumbleweeds, cacti, and adobe houses are found - which includes parts of Texas. 

We also enjoyed Bubba, The Cowboy Prince, A Fractured Texas Tale by Helen Ketteman.  This book is a parody of  Cinderella and is set in Texas.  The fairy godmother is a cow, and the hero, named Bubba, is the stepson of a wicked rancher.  He wants to go to the ball to dance with Miz Lurleen, but he smells like cattle and has nothing to wear.  You can just imagine what happens next.  My favorite line from the book is said by Miz Lurleen, "There goes another ten-dollar Stetson on a five-cent head."  How funny is that?  Does anyone really say that in Texas?  I hope so.  This book is a fun read, the illustrations are great, and I tried my best to read it with a Texas accent - ha, now that is hysterical! 

I really enjoy reading different versions of fairy tales.