Eleanor Says...Magic Tree House Edition V

I started this feature in order to not only give children's books more time and space, but to hear from a child about the very books they should (or should not) be reading. Eleanor often pretends to be blogging on her own 'laptop' and I thought this would be a fun way to combine the two things I love most: my daughter, and books.

While I try not to blog too much while Eleanor and I are both home, she knows that I write about books I love and loathe, and that I have a blog. I asked if she would like to tell people what she thinks of kids' books, and if we could put her ideas on my blog too. She liked this idea a lot. I explained to Eleanor what the star-rating means, and that she can say anything she thinks about the book, that nothing is wrong; she can talk about things she did or did not like, as well as how the story made her feel. She now asks as soon as we finish a book if we can talk and write about it.

Here are Eleanor's thoughts on a few of our recent reads, straight out of her six-year-old brain:

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Mom says: This is actually my least favorite of all we’ve read so far, which is a bummer because I like reading about pirates.

Eleanor says: I liked when the pirates put Jack and Annie on the ship because they wouldn’t tell the pirates where the treasure was. But they couldn’t tell the pirates because they didn’t know. The cabin was stinky. Annie found the whale. Seeing Morgan was awesome, because we got to see how they met (Mom note: we’ve read the books out of order). Mommy and I thought Morgan helped them on their trips and we were right. Morgan was the pteranodon, and the knight and the cat and the parrot. She kept them safe. We know they will have more adventures.

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Eleanor says: I liked when the two boys gave Annie and Jack the message they carved. The message was about having hope. I would have been totally scared in the earthquake. Annie and Jack were scared but they still wanted to help, so they gave the two boys their shoes. Annie fell in a hole in the earthquake, but Jack helped her by bringing bricks for her to stack so she could get out. I would be so scared of the fire burning up all my books. This was a good story.

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Eleanor says: I liked learning about how the mummies got put into tombs. There was a funeral procession. First they went the Beautiful House. Then they went to the pyramid. The pyramids and tombs got robbed by tomb robbers. The tomb robbers got beaten and they died if they got caught. They wanted to steal the mummy treasures. I also learned how the mummies get wrapped. It looks like toilet paper, but it is strips of linen. It took a long time to make the body into a mummy. I think this is a good book to teach kids about ancient Egypt. I learned a lot.

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Eleanor says: The Ice Age people isn’t have electricity so they had to use fire to see. When lightning struck it might have started fires. Neanderthals skulls were bigger than ours and it’s forehead was down to its eyes. Homo sapient like us, our teeth show better and don’t stick out like Neanderthals. Our eyes are bigger. The Cro-Magnon people made instruments and forts with animal tusks, skulls, fur, and with branches. I learned a lot, like how they put drawings on their cage walls. We learned about sabertooths, they were big. The people drew pictures of animals on the face walls. I liked this book. I learned new stuff about the ice age.

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Eleanor says: Five stars because I love the ship so much and I missed it really much. I love learning about Titanic. It’s my favorite ship. I was sad when it sank, because so many people died. The people didn’t have to die but there were not enough lifeboats. That was not the people’s fault. The owners didn’t put enough lifeboats on. My mom likes to sing me the Titanic song and it gets too noisy. She sings it too loud and is so dramatic. This is a good book for kids to learn about Titanic. There is a lot of information.

Eleanor Reads: T. rex

I know, I know. Just a couple weeks ago I started posting my fave guest blogger reviews - book reviews by my daughter. Since then, she has decided she would also like to read books and teach people about all her favorite topics. In all of the reads, it is her first time through the book. All commentary is also her own. Hope you enjoy this new little segment from Eleanor!

(Let me know if the video doesn't show up/play!)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eleanor Says: The T. rex ate meat and we are meat and dinosaurs are meat. The T. rex would've eaten us if we were in that time. This is a good book to start learning about the T. rex. They were so huge. I love the T. rex, it is one of my favorite dinosaurs.

Eleanor Says...Magic Tree House Edition IV

I started this feature in order to not only give children's books more time and space, but to hear from a child about the very books they should (or should not) be reading. Eleanor often pretends to be blogging on her own 'laptop' and I thought this would be a fun way to combine the two things I love most: my daughter, and books.

While I try not to blog too much while Eleanor and I are both home, she knows that I write about books I love and loathe, and that I have a blog. I asked if she would like to tell people what she thinks of kids' books, and if we could put her ideas on my blog too. She liked this idea a lot. I explained to Eleanor what the star-rating means, and that she can say anything she thinks about the book, that nothing is wrong; she can talk about things she did or did not like, as well as how the story made her feel. She now asks as soon as we finish a book if we can talk and write about it.

Here are Eleanor's thoughts on a few of our recent reads, straight out of her six-year-old brain:

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Eleanor Says: It made me really sad when the Titanic sank. But I am glad when Jack and Annie got saved by Teddy. It would have been scary to be on the ship and it makes me sad. I liked when Jack and Annie helped the girls and her brother.

Momma Says: It bothers me to no end that the ship was constantly referred to as 'the Titanic' and not simply 'Titanic'. Also, I would give this one five stars. Because, Titanic.

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Eleanor Says: I didn't like the saber tooth because it almost killed them. He looked slobbery on the cover. There was a blizzard and Jack and Annie were cold. They found coats in the cave of the family. I would make a snowman and have a snowball fight with my mom. They didn't have time to do that because the saber tooth wanted to eat them and they also had to find an M thing to break the spell on Morgan. I wouldn't want to live in a cave like the Cro-Magnon people because it would be dirty and there might be spiders living in there.

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Eleanor Says: The rain forest is intimidating because the vampire bats come out at night and suck blood. I wouldn't want to be in the rain forest at night with the bats. Jack and Annie didn't want to be there either. They tried to leave without the M thing, but couldn't find the Pennsylvania book. The monkey helped them by giving them a mango. I would like to talk to animals like Annie does. She knows what they are saying. I can speak cat. I would talk to the jaguar. Actually, I wouldn't because it would eat me.

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Eleanor Says: I really like books about ancient Egypt. The word ancient is weird. The cat helped Jack and Annie. The mummy was creepy because you could see part of Queen Hutepi's bones. Jack and Annie helped the queen's ghost find the way to the Book of the Dead. She needed it so she could go to the dead place. Jack and Annie got lost. The cat helped them get out of the pyramid.

Momma Says: By far one of Eleanor's favorites so far. She is on such an ancient Egypt kick and I love it, because it is one of my favorite topics too. I also love the complimentary non-fiction texts that go along with so many of the books in this series. We have a review coming up for the companion to this one soon!

New Feature...Eleanor READS!: Triceratops

I know, I know. Just a couple weeks ago I started posting my fave guest blogger reviews - book reviews by my daughter. Since then, she has decided she would also like to read books and teach people about all her favorite topics. In all of the reads, it is her first time through the book. All commentary is also her own. Hope you enjoy this new little segment from Eleanor! (And I really wish I could remember what we were giggling about before she started reading!)

(Let me know if the video doesn't show up/play!)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Eleanor Says: I learned about the triceratops. I learned that its head was huge, maybe bigger than me! I wish I could see a triceratops. They ate plants. It had between 400 and 800 teeth. I would not like to brush that many teeth. I bet the triceratops babies were cute. The triceratops is one of my favorites.

Eleanor Says...Magic Tree House Edition III

I started this feature in order to not only give children's books more time and space, but to hear from a child about the very books they should (or should not) be reading. Eleanor often pretends to be blogging on her own 'laptop' and I thought this would be a fun way to combine the two things I love most: my daughter, and books.

While I try not to blog too much while Eleanor and I are both home, she knows that I write about books I love and loathe, and that I have a blog. I asked if she would like to tell people what she thinks of kids' books, and if we could put her ideas on my blog too. She liked this idea a lot. I explained to Eleanor what the star-rating means, and that she can say anything she thinks about the book, that nothing is wrong; she can talk about things she did or did not like, as well as how the story made her feel. She now asks as soon as we finish a book if we can talk and write about it.

Here are Eleanor's thoughts on a few of our recent reads, straight out of her five year old brain:

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Eleanor Says: I liked when Annie pretended to be a soldier. It made me sad that girls could not go to the Olympics. I loved Pegasus. I like how he rescued them.

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Eleanor Says: I liked when the polar bears were sliding on their bellies. The Arctic was super duper cold, colder than you could imagine. It was very nice for the seal hunter to help Annie and Jack. It was scary when the ice started to crack, but the momma polar bear kept them safe.

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Eleanor Says: I did not like when many people got killed. This happened in the real war, not in the book. It makes me sad and uncomfortable. I did like when Jack and Annie taked care of the soldiers, and met John, their ancestor. They didn't know he was their ancestor until they got home. Jack also told an old man who used to be a slave that in the future, African-American kids would grow up and be doctors and teachers and many kinds of jobs. He gave the man hope.

Mom says: I am so glad that this book did not shy away from the cause of the Civil War. Slavery was the cause, states' rights to have slaves. Don't ever let anyone ever tell you differently!

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Eleanor Says: Jack and Annie went to the moon and that is why it is called Midnight on the Moon. I did not like when they fell because it was dumb and they couldn't get up. They needed help. The mysterious person helped them. They did not know him. The moon was astonishing, because we saw pictures of what the moon looks like. I like that they didn't need a rocket ship to get to the moon because they went in the tree house. it was funny when Annie drove the moon buggy and Jack was scared. I want to drive a moon buggy.

Eleanor Says...Magic Tree House Edition II

I started this feature in order to not only give children's books more time and space, but to hear from a child about the very books they should (or should not) be reading. Eleanor often pretends to be blogging on her own 'laptop' and I thought this would be a fun way to combine the two things I love most: my daughter, and books.

While I try not to blog too much while Eleanor and I are both home, she knows that I write about books I love and loathe, and that I have a blog. I asked if she would like to tell people what she thinks of kids' books, and if we could put her ideas on my blog too. She liked this idea a lot. I explained to Eleanor what the star-rating means, and that she can say anything she thinks about the book, that nothing is wrong; she can talk about things she did or did not like, as well as how the story made her feel. She now asks as soon as we finish a book if we can talk and write about it.

Here are Eleanor's thoughts on a few of our recent reads, straight out of her five year old brain:

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Eleanor Says: I did not like the tornado because it almost killed them. I liked that Jeb was mean at first but then they became friends. If you want to become friends with someone, be nice and say hi. And then if you see each other a lot more times you might become friends. Jack and Annie and Jeb became friends.

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Eleanor Says: They were freaking out because of the big wave. It came from the ocean because of the earthquake. They were safe. I didn't like when they laughed at Jack. I liked when they were all happy and friends again at the end. They told their story of everything they did with a hula dance.

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Eleanor Says: It was funny when the gorillas played with Jack and Annie. I didn't like when Jack scared Bu-Bu. I liked when they all played together. Big Guy was happy, he patted Jack on the head after Jack scared the black leopard away.

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Eleanor Says: I liked it because Otis and Olive helped Jack and Annie. They helped them since they got kicked out of the game. They helped them with secret shortcuts. I didn't like when the not nice people said mean things to Jackie Robinson.

New Feature! Eleanor Says...Magic Tree House Edition I

In a statement that will surprise no one...Eleanor and I have been reading a TON this summer. She is super into the Magic Tree House books right now and I love them because they give her examples of adventurous, independent kids (who are marginally bratty and whiny in the first couple books, but thankfully that changes quickly). I also love the non-fiction titles that go with them to give kiddos more information about people, places, and events that have most interested them, while still being very kid-friendly.

While I try not to blog too much while Eleanor and I could be doing things like, you know, reading and playing games and building giant forts that take up our entire living room (this is seriously a thing, as I type this post right now), she knows that I write about books I love and loathe, and that I have a blog. I asked if she would like to tell people what she thinks of kids' books, and if we could put her ideas on my blog too and she said yes. We've already been typing up very brief reviews on Goodreads, with Eleanor dictating what she did and did not like in the books we have read so far, and this is the perfect time to let her be part of this blog too. I explained to Eleanor what the star-rating means, and that she can say things she did or did not like in the book, as well as how parts of the story made her feel. She liked the idea and now asks me as soon as we finish a book if we can talk and write about it.

Here are Eleanor's thoughts on a few of our recent reads, straight out of her five year old brain:

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Eleanor Says: It was like a tree house that you only play in, except this one is different because it is magic and you can point to the picture and go there. I liked when the t. rex almost ate them because I like Scotty (Mom edit: the dinosaur currently on display at the Durham is Scotty, I have mentioned this a time or two before...). 

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Eleanor Says: I liked that the knight helped Annie and Jack escape. I just liked all of it.

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Eleanor Says: I liked this book because it was funny. I like when Annie snuck and took the bear. She saved him. The crowd was cheering, then it was silent.

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Eleanor Says: I love this book very much. They go to Pompeii. Pompeii was by a volcano that exploded. Pompeii got buried in ash. Some people lived and some people died. Jack and Annie had to run so fast to get away as quick as a flash.