Time to Explore
It's finally spring! I want to explore the other type of spring! My 'hubby' and I headed to the beach last week, but. . . it wasn't beach weather. . . so, we explored several natural Florida springs. We began in St. Augustine where the 'World Famous Fountain of Youth' resides. (It's really a historic landmark honoring the arrival of Ponce de Leon in 1513, but that's for another day.) I took a drink from the fountain - loaded with minerals - and am still waiting for magical results (never might be a good word to use). The highlight of the visit was the white peacock.
Book Reviews for Kids
My two granddaughters recommended the following two series.
The Lemonade War Series by Jacqueline Davies was recommended by the fifth grader.
The Lemonade War (first in the series) introduces Jesse and Evan. Evan is in fourth grade and his very smart sister, Jesse, is skipping a grade and will be in the same classroom come September. Evan sets up a lemonade stand, but excludes Jesse. It explodes into a war. . . the winner take all.
There are four other books in the series: The Lemonade Crime; The Bell Bandit; The Candy Smash; and The Magic Trap. The books deal with difficult issues, such as divorce, bullying, autism, and dementia, in a straight forward - yet gentle manner. I highly recommend this series for the middle grade reader and am pleased that my granddaughter discovered it.
My third grade granddaughter discovered the My Weird School series by Dan Gutman. Miss Daisy is Crazy is the first book of the series. Miss Daisy is a second grade teacher who cleverly comes up with an idea of getting her class to read a million pages so they can rent the school for one night and turn it into a video arcade. This is just one example of the ways Miss Daisy finds ways of convincing her class that they are coming up with great ideas for 'teaching' her how to read and do math. 
The first series has twenty books promising to delight beginning to middle grade readers. In Dan Gutman's second series (twelve books), the Weird School Daze, A.J. and his classmates move up to third grade with more classroom humor (particularly directed at boys). His most recent is My Weirder School Series (2011 - 2013) - fourteen books. The third grade dilemmas continue as funny things happen. These series are easy to understand and build up confidence at a comfortable reading level.
In My BackYard
As I sit beside the pond in my backyard, I reflect on the sparking clear fresh water springs we observed in Florida. I want to end with the words of Margaret Ross Tolbert who dived in the Florida fresh springs and painted them for over thirty years.
In her book, AquiFERious, she writes, ". . .the continuous flow of water gives the impression that the springs . . . are eternal, perpetual. But many are in danger of disappearing in our lifetime. . . .The demands of a growing population, combined with a poor water management policy have accelerated their decline."
I challenge you to cherish the beauty while it exists.
Joan Bock
Until next time. . . . .
