Little Homesteader: A Summer Treasury of Recipes, Crafts, and Wisdom, by Angela Ferraro-Fanning, Anneliesdraws (Illustrations)

 

School's almost out for the summer? How long before your kids are bored? Out of ideas to keep them busy and, hopefully, learning? This book is for you.

I love these bright, colorful books. To be honest, they had me from the beginning with their comment "We print our books on trash." What a delight to see a book publisher not just mouth environmental concerns but actually take steps to recycle and reuse. Many of the ideas in the book focus on the same idea, recycling a tin can into a fun, unique water sprinkler, for instance, or how to save the seeds from a tomato you eat to plant. All ideas are delightfully illustrated and feature a boy and girl of different races having fun together. There's even a cute pup that pops up here and there. 

One of the things I particularly liked, well, once I tired of enjoying the artwork, was that the author doesn't just tell you that you should recycle, she explains what that means. All too often adults assume children understand, so these simple definitions were a nice touch. In addition, materials needed for each activity are nicely set apart from the directions, ensuring children won't get halfway through an activity and realize they've forgotten something. The former teacher in me appreciated that.

What was my favorite activity? That's a tough question because they all sounded interesting and could easily be expanded upon or tweaked. I definitely found the idea of "companion planting" intriguing, maybe because I tend to be hopeless at growing things. Cooperation and working together is apparently as important in the plant world as the human world and certain plants help nourish and protect each other. Corn, squash, and beans are the examples given here but it might be interesting for older children to research what other plants grow well together, not via books but by talking to experienced growers, another possible expansion of the basic idea. Interviewing and formulating good questions would be an expanded benefit, for instance, for this and some of the other ideas. It even reminds us to stay hydrated, which is important to all, people, animals, and plants.

That said, the kid in me wanted to run right out and try to make a bubble wand and blow some bubbles. What kid, heck, adult, doesn't enjoy bubbles? The other idea that appealed to me because it could be made so special was how to create a unique, possible memorable picnic blanket. I could envision that being pulled out year after year and added to by children and later shared with their own children as a sort of memory blanket. Yep, lots of fun ideas inside this adorable little treasury of ideas to keep our children busy and making memories. 

Thanks #NetGalley and #QuartoPublishingGroup - #IvyKids for this fun book of ideas. Living in Alaska where the Summer Solstice is basically a day of endless daylight, that cake sounds appetizing.