Book Review: The Forgotten Door

A child falls from a Utopian planet onto a selfish, war-loving, greedy Earth. And that’s just the first page. This story manages to suspend throughout. Its science fiction undertones, however, should not be a deterrent for the young reader (8 to 12) who may not regularly be drawn to this genre. Beneath the U.F.O.s and supernatural powers, Alexander Key manages to take a small valley and create a microcosm of the world, replete with ethical dilemmas and characters representing good and evil. Like Key’s other books, the children and a few trusted adults are the heroes, open-minded and wise, while most of the remaining characters (especially those in authority) come across like backwards buffoons. The book may be nearly four decades old, but the message will still ring true for readers today.

Paint Brushes Recalled

I know when I was responsible for buying for my centers or family child care, Discount School Supply often saved the day with their low prices. And I loved the BioColor line of art supplies. Some of you out there are probably like me, and if so be aware that some of their paint brushes have been recalled because of high lead paint content.

Three Men in a Tub Art

For nursery rhyme week, one of the art projects that you can complete goes with the nursery rhyme "Three Men in a Tub."

First you're going to want either white construction paper or light blue construction paper. If you choose white then you can use other pieces of construction paper to represent the ocean and the sky or you can have the children use crayons or colored pencils or markers to add these touches.

Second you're going to want to either cut some brown "tubs." You may not know this, but the tub that is in the rhyme is actually more like half a whiskey barrel rather than an actual bathtub.

Now, you can have each child place their hand on the larger piece of construction paper and you can trace around it or if they're older they can trace around themselves -- but don't trace around the whole hand. You only want to trace around the three middle fingers.

The children can then glue the boat on top of the fingers, letting the top stick out just a bit since these represent each of the three men. They can then decorate their fingers with happy faces and hats or hair if they wish. And of course, they can add bits of construction paper or drawing to represent the ocean and sky.

Here's my 5 second sketch of horrendousness, but it should look something like this: