Bonnie Ferrante's Blog, page 8

This book is suitable for middle-grade to early young adult. This will be a favorite with readers who love fantasy and unusual female heroes. Laura is a big girl who has been bullied since childhood about her size. Her family moves to a new town and enrolls her in a different school to give her … Continue reading Laura Monster Crusher by Wesley King. Book Review.

If you can crochet without a pattern or glue scraps of fabric, you can make beautiful upholstered furniture with your child. For more pictures and detailed instructions, watch the video here. Have your child glue craft sticks in a log cabin pattern for the seat. The square should be about 4  X 4 inches wide … Continue reading Upholstered Crocheted Chair – Part Three of the Dollhouse Series

If you can crochet without a pattern or glue scraps of fabric, you can make beautiful upholstered furniture with your child. Have your child glue craft sticks in a log cabin pattern for the seat. The square should be about 4  X 4 inches wide and deep and 2 inches high. Have your child make … Continue reading Upholstered Chair – Part Three of the Dollhouse Series

This is an older version of marble works. I bought a newer one to expand the set and found out the pieces aren’t compatible. There are several cool and intricate sets out there now but I’m just going to talk about the basics. Durability 5 stars The first set lasted an entire generation. I even brought … Continue reading Grand Prix Marble Works – Toy Review

This part textbook part picture book would be an excellent addition to a French Immersion or Core French classroom. It would also be wonderful for a parent to share with a child who is learning French. While it tells the story a group of children building a sandcastle and a little snail declaring himself king … Continue reading Bonjour! Let’s Learn French by Judy Martialay. Book Review.

The deeper the dollhouse and the fewer windows, the darker the interior. Here are some ideas for lighting up the rooms that your child can do with you. Purchase strings of LED mini lights. As they become more common, the price is dropping. Tape them to the ceilings. Only under total adult supervision should flood … Continue reading Lighting (without electrical skills) – Part Two of the Dollhouse Series

Durability 3 stars The tree houses made  of somewhat brittle plastic. dropping the tree or some of the pieces onto a hard tile floor could damage them.   Play quality There are tons of little engaging pieces that will delight lovers of miniatures. There are nooks and crannies and numerous ways to adjust the furniture. The Calico Critters … Continue reading Calico Critters Adventure Tree House – Toy Review

This book follows the typical style for Robert Munsch of silliness and repetitive phrases. The thing I loved about it was that it takes place in the  Canadian North, in a community similar to many around Thunder Bay. It starts off in such a familiar way that it made me laugh out loud. Helen gets … Continue reading Blackflies by Robert Munsch. Illustrated by Jay Odjick. Book Review.

There’s no need for hammer or nails or saw, just a trip to the dollar store. Your child can help with some or all of the construction depending on her age. Assign a large work area where the dollhouse can be left in progress for several days. Trying to do it in one day is … Continue reading Building (without carpentry skills) – Part One of the Dollhouse Series

In this high-tech era, the simple joy of playing cards is often overlooked. Cards can teach numeracy, addition, sequence, pattern, probability, remembering location, and matching. As well, children practice taking turns, following rules, accepting loss and win with grace, patience, hand-eye coordination, and social interaction. Families make more eye contact with each other than they … Continue reading Card Holder and Shuffler – Toy Reviews