This week, Amy reads The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, an interpretation of a Plains Indians legend written and illustrated by Paul Goble, and published by Simon & Schuster. This book won the Caldecott Medal in 1979. This is a lovely folktale about a girl who is separated from her family in a storm and carried away by a herd of wild horses. When she awakes, she meets the leader of all the horses, who invites her to live among … Read More

Amy reads the second part of the 1953 Newbery Medal winner Secret of the Andes, by Ann Nolan Clark, published by Puffin. Cusi has returned to his hidden valley home, but the glimpse of a wider world has left him wanting more. Meanwhile, Chuto begins to teach Cusi the duties of a llama herder–but also something more, a duty that Cusi doesn’t yet fully understand. Just who is his guardian, and why do the two of them live in such … Read More

Amy reads Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers, by Kathi Appelt, illustrations by Joy Fisher Hein, and published by HarperCollins. This is a short illustrated biography of “Lady Bird” Johnson, the first truly famous First Lady in the modern sense. One of the things she’s most remembered for is her project of highway beautification—she believed that reducing advertising, keeping roads and streets clean, and planting flowers along stretches of highway would improve Americans’ quality of life. After the reading, Amy will show … Read More

This week, we’re reading the second and final part of the award-winning book The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros and published by Vintage. In this part of the story, we see more of the darker side of life in an impoverished community, and especially the struggles of women who are both figuratively and sometimes literally kept locked up by their circumstances–and the men in their lives. Esperanza vows that she will leave Mango Street someday, but will it … Read More

This week, Amy demonstrates how to make a sharp-beaked eagle with a single sheet of paper. Perfect for patriotic decorations, or making a diorama of the Battle of Five Armies, or just admiring on their own. (This post was intended to appear on Saturday, October 31 but did not, due to technical difficulties. We apologize for any inconvenience.)

Amy reads the first part of the 1953 Newbery Medal winner Secret of the Andes, by Ann Nolan Clark, published by Puffin. Cusi has lived his whole life in a secluded valley in the Peruvian highlands, tending llamas with his guardian Chuto. But Cusi is now old enough to learn the traditions of his ancestors, and he and Chuto depart on a journey.