A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Books for Upper Elementary

Review: Curious Constructions

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Do you think a building could be designed like a basket, or that a secret base could be built into a snow bank?   How about going to the bathroom over the ocean?   What if you wanted to explore natural architecture like the Great Barrier Reef?   Man-made, or found in creation, Curious Constructions can be found all over the world. 

So why would you have a building built to look like a huge basket?
What is the reasoning for a giant steel door sticking out of the snow?
How long can it take to build one church?
Questions about the pyramids?
Want to know more about Desert Breath?

All these questions and more are answered in this marvellous book.  50 interesting constuctions from places like Puerto Rico, Egypt, the USA, England and France and even up to outer space.

Each construction is discussed over a two page spread with a large picture on one side and a good deal of information on the other side. 

 This was a dry academic read, humour was readily apparent throughout.  Good bite-sized facts to delight and intrigue…. in fact I’d love to walk around that basket building!  

Honestly.. this a neat book that Michael Hearst has put together.   Matt Johnstone’s illustrations bring it all to life.   I learned about different types of bridges, the world’s biggest skate ramp, science machines, underwater restaurants, and lego constructions.  There is so much information in here to delight not only your 8-12 year olds, but to delight you as well.  🙂

 

Title: Curious Constructions: A Peculiar Portfolio of Fifty Fascinating Structures 
Author: Michael Hearst
Illustrator: Matt Johnstone
Series: Uncommon Compendiums
Pages: 104
Age Range: 8 a-12
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Reviewed for Raincoast Books

Where can you find it?
 Amazon.ca: Curious Constructions

Amazon.com: Curious Constructions: A Peculiar Portfolio of Fifty Fascinating Structures  

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Art Book Series; How to Draw

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Every artist can use a bit a help in learning how to draw, particularly images that can be difficult.  How to Draw, 21 lessons in 48 pages.  All you need to get you well started on your artistic journey. 

I have to admit, I have a couple of books in this series.   How to Paint and How to Draw. But today I want to talk to you about the How to Draw book.  🙂

As I mentioned early, 21 lessons are included in this book, lessons that cover how to draw a variety of animals and vehicles, 8 lessons focus on various aspects of the human body, the remaining four lessons focus on cartoons.

One of the things I like is how the drawings look like they are in perspective, and directions are very clear about why you want to draw certain shapes to suit the object you are trying to draw, like a large plant eating dinosaur would have block-like limbs to hold him up, whereas an dinosaur built to run would have angular limbs and more circles where their joints would be. 

Drawing a horse would use bigger circles and triangles with straight lines joining them.  And cat would be circles, small squares and triangle eyes.   It’s neat to watch it all come together, smoothing out the lines to form the sleek animals one sees around them.

I have been told that drawing people is hard (and coming from someone who draws stick figure people I believe it).   So having eight pages of different ways to draw people is an important part to have in a book.

How would you draw a football player?

But if you learn to draw the lines and the circles so that you can fill in the rest, don’t you think it would make it easier to draw a person?   I look at these drawings and I think… even “I” could learn how to do that!   What do you think?   Could you learn to do that too?

How to Draw
Author: Helen Webster
Pages: 48
Type: Art Book, softcover
Publisher: Capella
Series: How to

Where to find:
Amazon.ca: How to Draw

Amazon.com: How to Draw

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Art Book Series: Discover Great Paintings – A Child’s Book of Art

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 Do you want your children to understand the great artists?  Or even just to know how to look at some of the great paintings done?   Discover Great Paintings will teach you how to unpack these great pieces of artwork so you can discuss them well.

The first chapter in this book teaches a person how to look at art work.
Questions to ask, details to look at and facts about the artist.
The next 13 chapters unpack 13 different pieces of art work, helping the reader to understand them and learn the questions to ask about any artwork you can find. 

Learn to understand the colours, textures, emotions, shapes presented.

As you can see different elements are pulled out of the painting and discussed.

The facts about each painting are drawn out .. such as the castle belongs to a king, skulls show the dragon has been a danger, the princess wants to be saved, and the dragon is a symbol for evil (whereas the cross on the shield is a symbol for good). 

Learn the facts behind the scenes

Remember details about the artist:

 Learn how to look at art work, see everything you can in the paintings you see.  Be aware of all the great questions you can ask of an artist of the work that they do.  Or that you can ask of yourself if the artist is no longer living.  There is more in a piece of art then you might think eh!  🙂

Discover Great Paintings: A child’s book of art
Author: Lucy Micklethwait
Publisher: Firefly Books
32 pages.
Type: Hardcover
Art Book

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Review: Fish Girl

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A graphic novel by David Wiesner and Danno Jo Napoli, where a young mermaid learns there is more to life than where she is living, finding friendship, learning her true history, seeing the depth of love in others.  This is a real coming to age story that should delight and amuse: Fish Girl. 

About the Authors: 
David Wiesner is internationally renowned for his visual storytelling and has won the Caldecott Medal three times-for Tuesday, The Three Pigs, and Flotsam -the second person in history to do so. He is also the recipient of three Caldecott Honors, for Free Fall, Sector 7, and Mr. Wuffles . He lives near Philadelphia with his family.
Donna
Jo Napoli is a distinguished academic in the field of linguistics and
teaches at Swarthmore College. She is also the author of more than
eighty books for young readers. 

Book Synopsis: 
Fish Girl lives in an aquarium where she is the main attraction.  The owner claims to be Neptune and says he controls her, the last of her kind.  Life isn’t all bad but Fish Girl is seeing there is more to the world. She’s learned to be fearful of humans until she meets a girl who is nice to her.  Life changes, and this book is the story of that change. 

My Thoughts: 
Great story.   Seriously.  I liked it.   Seeing Fish Girl blossoming.  It was so nice.  

The graphics are nicely done.  Not all dark and graphic novelish…but clean, clear images, with nice colour.   Some of the images were full page which made a nice contrast to all the boxes.

The writing wasn’t hard to read, but nicely sized lettering that you didn’t need to squint to read well. 🙂

Fish Girl
Authors: David Wiesner and Danno Jo Napoli
Illustrator: David Wiesner
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 192
Ages 10-12 years
Style: Graphic Novel, softcover
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.

Where to find:
 Amazon.ca: Fish Girl

Amazon.com: Fish Girl

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Art Book Series: 1-2-3 Draw

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 Today I have a book from my own collection. 1-2-3 Draw, a  neat coil bound book that teaches the student how to draw a variety of objects. 

One of the things I like about this book is how it LIES FLAT.  Oh heavens, too many art books don’t which means you need to weight down the book in order to use it effectively.   Having a coil ring art book makes it easy to display if showing a classroom or to lie flat as you learn.

Five sections to choose from including: wild animals, dinosaurs, farm animals, knights/castles and vehicles.

It’s a book of simple line drawings, walking the student through a series of circles and lines to help them accomplish their drawings.  Learning the technique for one animal, object or person will help them learn how to do it for others.

Followed by inspiration on how to put it all together.   Each section ended with a picture of how you might put it all together.  

Not only that, as you learned to draw an animal, object or item, you were given a brief spot of information about it.

 All in all a good book to learn how to draw different things.  The only thing my son and I dislike is that some of the animals are a bit disproportionate (legs being too long for the body), but that is easy enough to fix eh?  🙂

 1-2-3 Draw: Super Fun Stuff
 Author: Freddie Levin
Publisher: Peel Productions, Inc.

Five books in one

 
 
Where to Find it?
Amazon.ca: 1-2-3 Draw Super Fun Stuff: 5 Books in One

Amazon.com: 1-2-3 Draw Super Fun Stuff: 5 Books in One

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!

©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time

Books Read in March

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The
Homeschool Review Crew does word prompts for Instagram fun, I think
it’s great to have these words prompts for doing quick posts.  🙂   I
find them fun as sometimes it surprises me where my brain goes.  🙂   The word for today is Books. 

Since I haven’t done my books read for the month I thought I’d do that up today.    I know I know, hardly innovative eh?  You’ll cope I think?

Books that I read just for me.

 Fledgling

I loved this book so much I went out and got the second book in the series before I even finished the first one.  

A great series about a lad who crosses two cultures and is not accepted in either one.  He meets a dragon and his life is forever changed.

The second book Avian is just as good.  🙂  Now to read Traitor and then Immortal…  I have to know how it all ends  .. I just have to know!!!!

Hubby and I just finished listening to  Balanced on the Blade’s Edge. 

I love the story aspect…it’s actually quite fascinating.  I’d rather not have the romance aspect to it as I find that I dislike that aspect in books now, but the story behind the romance has me hooked.  I want to know how the crisis will be worked through.    

Her second book I am liking more as the romance part isn’t quite as in my face.  “Deathmaker” It is called.   Definitely a fantasy type series of books, with powers of magic, dragons of old, and fear of magic rampant.

Books Reading with my Lad (in progress or finished)

We have been working through story of the world for quite a while.   I expect we’ll be done this book by the end of the month as we are in the last 1/5th of it.

We’ve learned a whole lot reading through this series.

The Natural World.

We’ve learned about all sorts of animals and natural phenomena.   
Trees, rainforests, critters of all sorts.

Currently we are in the midst of learning all sorts of fascinating facts about birds.

It will be a spell before we are done this book though.

A Wind in the Door
I loved this book as a child and it stuck with me forever.  

I could hardly wait for my lad to get old enough to share it with him.

He LOVED it.  And often begged me to keep reading through it.  

He was as sad as I was at the end when Progo died. “BUT MOM!!!  HE can’t die!!!”   What love will do eh?

Canada’s Natives Long Ago.

This book contains stories from early Canadians…both natives and early explorers.   We’re learning lots and being amazed often.   

We just finished reading a section about a young explorer trying to cross a river where the current was so strong it bent a tree FOUR FEET in diameter in half!   Can you imagine it?   They gave up trying to cross the river.

We continue to read through “Getting to Know Nature’s Children”.  This month we are learning about the grouse, last month we learned about otters and the red fox.   There are two animals in each book.

The lad continues to enjoy this series and as long as he does, we’ll keep reading through them.   

 

Irish Chain

I can’t say what a great book this is that we are reading.  I would call this a living book about a disaster in Canadian history.. devastated the town and harbor.  Killed 1000’s of people.   The lad and I are captivated by the story of Rose and her strength that she didn’t even know she had.   She lost so much…and yet..her family and her memories remained strong.

If you can…read this book.  It’s a good one.

Books Read for the Purpose of Reviewing Them.

Amazing Animal Adventure.   This was a GREAT seek and find book on biomes located throughout the world.

War Plan Red.    This was simply a fun review to do and I learned so much about the history between Canada and the United States. 

Found – Psalm 23.   A book for young children, a simple, gentle look at Psalm 23 and how the good shepherd cares for us. 

Let’s Explore…Mountain.   Want to learn about different mountains throughout the world?   Text plus activities to educate and entertain.  

 

The Kid from Diamond Street.   A story of women’s baseball, which focuses on Edith Houghton.   A very interesting book.   A meaty picture book that I enjoyed. 

A Dog in a Cave.   This was a somewhat different book that I enjoyed none the less.  Less about evolution and more about how two species can influence the development of the other. 

Really Woolly Easter Blessings.  A board board for the youngest children, to teach about Easter with Verse and prayer.

Three Middle School Books: I love you Michael Collins (Learning about the forgotten astronaut through the eyes of a young girl struggling with growing up and family issues), Ten: A soccer Story (a young soccer fan who works to make her dreams come true) and The Journey to Dragon Island (a light fantasy).  

 

 Books in process.

My son continues to read through the Erin Hunter “warrior cats” series, last I heard he was on the fourth series.   He has also started Shepherd, Potter, Spy…and Star Namer. 

I am currently reading: “Voyage to the Magical North” and “Head First”.   Also will be finishing book two, and hopefully book three of the Dragonrider Chronicles.  🙂

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©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Art Series: Darth Vadar and Family, coloring book

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Most of the colouring books I do on this blog are for adults, but today I have a book geared at the younger set…. particularly those youngsters who like Darth Vadar and the different characters from Star Wars.    Jeffrey Brown has put together a colouring book called Darth Vadar and Family.

Do you like Star Wars?   Are you children lovers of this long-running series?
I have to admit, I like watching the movies though I am not a die-hard fanatic.  🙂

Both my son and husband have a firm fondness for this series and frequently rewatch the movies.   I am just delighted they have a movie interest to share in common.

In this colouring book, Jeffrey Brown combines normal family life with the characters and life of the Star Wars movies.

What do you think?    Would it be fun to go sledding with Star Wars Characters, or share a hot cocoa with Darth Vadar himself?

Or go
engage in a spot of friendly fishing…who knows who will catch the
biggest one…as long as they don’t use the light saber on the poor
fish.

Each page is one sided, which prevents bleed through, and if carefully done, would tear out to make for great refrigerator art.  (if the pages were perforated it would make tear out easier).

I appreciate that this book has simpler drawings that children can colour in, they can imagine (and laugh about) the idea of Darth Vadar playing the role of dad.  Or Chewbacca being one of the kids or heading up into a tree fort with one the Ewoks.

It’s a fun, fanciful approach to using Star Wars Characters.   It will appeal to some or … if they are like my lad .. “BUT MOM!!!   Chewbacca would never do anything with Darth Vadar!!!!!”   So depending on what your child(ren) are like, this may or may not be the colouring book for you.

One of the small gems of this book is on the inside front cover when Mr. Brown gives the reader a “Darth Vadar drawing lesson”.

Darth Vadar and Family, a coloring book.
Author/cartoonist: Jeffrey Brown
Pages: 96
Age range – 5 and up

Reviewed for: Raincoast books

Amazon.com: Darth Vader and Family Coloring Book

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you!