Hansel and Gretel

Linking with the Kid Lit Blog Hop

This blog is about Amanda’s books and more, so it’s time I shared another post about her world of books. Since Amanda is my fourth child, she’s been blessed with books and toys from her brother and sisters and even books from my childhood. A couple of weeks ago, she asked me to read one of mine to her called Hansel and Gretel. It’s from a series of classic storybooks by Derrydale Publishers, retold by Kay Brown and Illustrated by Gerry Embleton. As you can see by the photograph that I took of this old book of mine, the illustrator has quite a unique talent for whimsical drawings with attention to detail.

The original Hansel and Gretel is a well-known German fairytale written by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. The English version I have is very interesting to read, but too long for Amanda, so I told it to her in a lot less words. She asked questions along the way, which I answered. The story had her intrigued.

A couple of days later we went to McDonalds in another town to meet up with our children’s godparents. They have a daughter named Esmari who is a year older than Amanda. Both girls got a Happy Meal. Amanda’s one came with a Gretel doll dressed in traditional German clothes. How cool is that! Her friend got Cinderella.

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Horse Stories - Part 1

Last night, when I told Amanda that I’d read to her in bed she said, “Yeah! I’m the luckiest!” That brought a smile to my face, but also a twinge of guilt. In truth, I should read to her more often, but I’m often leaving her to read to herself or I get one of her sisters to read to her.

The book she picked out this night was Black Beauty, re-told by Beryl Johnston and published by Grandreams Ltd. I read to her an even shorter version of it, often summarizing whole parts. She asked a few questions along the way.

Once the story was over, she “read” it back to me. This is part of her routine. In her mind, we’re taking turns. I first read to her and then it’s her turn to “read” to me. Sometimes I would rather she didn’t, because I want to get away and do something else. However, allowing her to tell the story again in her own words is a very important step in learning. According to Charlotte Mason (1842 - 1923), this is the "Act of Knowing."

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