Art Series: Arnold's Extraordinary Art Museum

I have to admit, when I first opened this book I thought...okay.. what kind of a weird little art book is this?  So I read it through, and then read it again because it intrigued in it's in weirdness. It's weirdness turned into a quirky way of  presenting different forms of art and ended up really intriguing
me.  I think it will intrigue you too.

 You might be asking, what makes this book quirky?

Well, it's done in a comic book format, it's a lovely hardcover book with great colour throughout from front to back.  The characters are a tad unusual, but they all have a great attitude and they all work with each other.

Arnold puts on an art show for his friends.   He is the collector and curator of the art museum, who wants to share his art collection with his friends.   He leads them on a marvelous adventure and they all learn much.

 Imagine if you could go to an art museum where you actually have to experience the art yourself.. like crawling through a tunnel to get to a Japanese tea room?  What if you learned how fascinating the colour blue was and how hard it was to prefect it?

Could you see a urinal as a piece of art?  Find it interesting to learn why ultramarine was used so often in pictures of the Madonna?  What about seeing the shadows or spaces of objects as the intrigue of artists?   I learned so much from this book, it was very neat.

At the close of the book, images of the actual art used and where they are found is depicted.   Some of the pieces were quite interesting, some more so after the reasoning behind them was given.

 It was so interesting to learn more about the different forms that art can take and some of the history and thought that go on behind them.  There is more to art than what you can just see.

I do have to tell you that I used this book with my art class....and they were delighted.  This book really resonated with my art students.   Check out the art project they came up.  :)

They started with circles and exploring that space, then someone got the bright idea of exploring what they can do with their hands, and then ...what if we mixed colours together and swirled them around, and what if we drop lids upside and ... it kinda went on and on from there.   It was a great finish off for our art class as the students had learned to work together and feed off each others ideas.  

 Arnold's Extraordinary Art Museum

Written/Illustrated by:
Catherine Ingram and Jim Stoten

Published by: Laurence King

Size: 10.1 x 12.06 ·

64 pages
Ages 7 and up

Reviewed For: Raincoast Books.


Amazon affiliate links are provided for your ease of finding this quirky book.  It doesn't affect your bottom line and blesses my heart more than you know.  :)   No pressure, but if you are intrigued by the book, get it!  Links are below.
 Amazon.ca: Arnold's Extraordinary Art Museum

Amazon.com: Arnold's Extraordinary Art Museum

Great Books for Middle School

I don't know about you, but finding good books for middle school in kinda important, to that end, I've been keeping my eyes and ears open for good books for my lad.

So I've been collecting book titles (as well as going through my own books from that age)  ... go figure.. I kept a bunch of them!!!   Moved them more times than I aught to have but there yeah go, a well loved book is just that eh?   First I will start with what have read, and/or what I have here.

Books Read or In Progress

Just finished this one: The Wolf Keepers... wow!!!   What a fantastic book this is that Raincoast Books provided me... just fantastic.   One troubled lad, a busy girl, a zookeeper and a bunch of wolves.  The wolves are dying... mysterious happenings are going on at night... and before you know.. trouble looms.   OH.. I want to tell you more but then there would be huge spoiler alerts!!!
Just go.. get it..read it.   I will assume that you will enjoy it as much as the lad and I did.  We enjoyed it so much that some nights we read TWO chapters!!!!

 
The Seeker of the Lost Cities... we have just finished book two of these series... hubby has read ahead to book four... we are looking for the audio of book three to continue our adventures.  Sophie is such a real character, and the plot is thickening between the council, the black swan, and the other group.   We are getting more on pins and needles about what is going to happen next.  Dex is such an interesting character and Keith (and the shiny silvery Alicorn) make us laugh, and all the other characters, so real and alive and you are just drawn in deeper.

 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

The lad and I finished this gem off last month, and it was a good read that brought out all kinds of thoughts and emotions.   Good characters development, a look into some of the realities of history all within a fictional context .





The Rangers Apprentice... we finished the audio up to book 10, but the lad is wanting to read the book for himself before we continue the series... so we are needing to be patient.  I bought the audios for book 11 and 12 as I WAS NOT being patient and have told him to HURRY UP so that we can all listen to it together.




What is he reading right now?   The Warrior Cat Series by Erin Hunter.  LOVES THIS series... I can't tell you how much cat-loving boy enjoys this series... he's one book into the second series (reading them in the order of the history not in the order of writing) and is talking about how we need to buy ALL the books that we currently don't have.  I'll buy them if you can't afford to okay mom?

 


I am currently reading through Miss Peregrine home for peculiar children to see if I'll let the lad read it or not.  I found the movie a tad alarming and the book just odd to read through, so the jury is still out on that.  Hubby wants to read it and if he likes it, it will be passed down to the lad.

Before I forget.. The Unwanteds.  Great series that we are both reading and listening to.   Alex and Aaron...Mr. Today and Secretary, Simba, Florence and the squirrleycorns.. interesting characters that are well developed.

Fablehaven.   oh my fablehaven... captured our thoughts and feelings and made us angry and happy and ever so pleased, and worried at times too... but it all comes good in the end.   Great series..  Brandon Mull...

 The Beyonders , another great series that we have enjoyed.   By the same author.  Smaller series at three books. We will be finding more by this author and reading them.


The Harry Potter series.. audio and written.  We like them all.. ONLY I haven't yet read or listened to The Cursed Child.  I leafed through it and it is written like a play so I'm left feeling a bit skeptical about it.   Anyone read it?   Was it any good???

Books from my younger years:
The Bronze Bow: one of the next books I'll be reading with him.

The Wrinkle in Time series.    I have long remembered these books and how they made me think.  I still wonder about the "X'd out"... I want my lad to like these books and enjoy them, I suspect I'll be reading them with him one of these days.

 The Narnia Series... we've read through the first two books but keep getting distracted.. once the new
year hits we'll get back on track again with book three.  Mind.. we are slightly frustrated as we lent out one of the books and it's disappeared so our set is incomplete.   It's frustrating because we had TWO full series and got rid of one because of our impending move only to be left with one incomplete series.   ARGH.


Books Already Planned that are New:

•  Maze Runner
•  The Brotherband Series is a spin-off of The Ranger's Apprentice-so looking forward to reading/listening to this new series.
•  The  Eragon series

Books Recommended:

• Through the looking glass, 
• The giver series.
•  Micheal Vey series by Evans
• Steelheart, Firefight and Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
• The Five Kingdoms by Brandon Mull
• Edgar Rice Burroughs - Tarzan series, Mars series, Venus series
• Maze Runner
•  Tuesdays at the Castle
•  The Series of Unfortunate Events
•  The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by (starts with the Alchemist.)
• The Bartemaeus trilogy
• Firefly Hollow

Can you think of any that I missed?  Let me know in the comments below and I will add them.  :)

Sunday Sermon: Saviour, God With Us

Hymns

Come thou long-expected Jesus

Joy to the world

It came upon the midnight clear

As with gladness men of old

O come, o come Emmanuel

Ere zij God (Glory to God)

The first Noel

Hymns in italics are linked to posts talking about the history or the author of the hymn.

 

Review: It's Snowing in Hawaii

Just so you know, Affiliate links may be used in this post.  They bless my family. Thank you.

It was funny last night, hubby was looking at my pile of review books and said "It's snowing in Hawaii?"   And I said yes, he said that was funny because apparently.. it's snowing in Hawaii.  :)   So what better time than to bring you a really fun picture book for children called It's Snowing In Hawaii.

Mike Guardia has written a cute book.. sorry but that's what it is.  It's cute.
It answers the question.. what would happen if it snowed in Hawaii.  

And just what might happen?

 You might have bobsled teams, and snowmobilers, bear skins hula skirts, icicles in the palm trees and snowboarders on Diamond Head.

This book is cute and clever, introducing many typical Hawaiian culture pieces in a funny way.   Could Snowmobiles really be driven by the surfers in order to plow the beach?   Would the college football game be turned into a massive snowball fight?

It's fun, it's easy, it's has great illustrations to share with your children.

Perhaps we should all go ice-fishing in Kahuna Bay.  :)  

This is Mike Guardia's first childrens book.   I think he did a great job making an easy book to read with fun rhymes, great illustrations, and interesting way to learn about the cultural icons of the State of Hawaii.   Give it a go won't you?    

 
Written by: Mike Guardia
Illustrated by: Melanie Stephens
Publisher: Willow Clubhouse Books
Pages: 14 pages
Type: Children's picture book
Style: Hardcover
Private Review for Mike Guardia



Where can you find this great book?   You could check out your local bookstore, or get it online.

 Amazon.ca: It's Snowing In Hawaii

Amazon.com: It's Snowing in Hawaii

God's Job, Not Mine

    [15] “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, [16] therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. [17] I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”
(Ezekiel 25:15-17 ESV)

 The Lord has already called to account the Moabites, the Ammonites and the folks from Edom and Seir.  Now it is the turn to the Philistines.

The Philistines have long been the enemy of the Israelites and God says because they "acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity," that he will correct their behaviour.   He will cut them off, he will destroy them, he will execute his vengeance upon them with wrathful rebukes.   WHY?    So they will know that HE IS THE LORD.

That's what it always seems to come down to eh?

The need for the Lord to protect his people from the wrath of others... and to show them that HE is the Lord God.  None other.   

Their need for vengeance, their pettiness, their whatevers it might be against his people is NOTHING compared to the fact that HE is Lord God.  ONLY HE.

Makes me think eh?
About me and my stuff...how if someone does wrong against me sometimes all I want to do is get back at them (I see the same in my lad which helps me see what it looks like in me).

BUT that is not our job.

It isn't.

Vengeance is all the hands of our Lord and God.  HIS hands, not mine. 

He knows the heart of the person who hurt me and knows the full story.   It's in his hands to monitor and wreak vengeance if it is justified.  

My job is just to get on with being who God has called me to be... one seeking after his perfection.  One who draws other people into the joy of knowing who the Lord God is.   How does getting revenge fit into that?   It doesn't really.

This passage just helps cement that notion into my head.   It's God's job not mine, and when the time is right, he will mete out the vengeance that is required.  But he won't do it to make ME look good.  He will do it so that folks know that HE is God.   This is what it all comes down to ... the earth and it's peoples needing to know that God is .... GOD.   Lord of all. 

Find the rest of my devotional series on Ezekiel. 

Hymn Study: As With Gladness Men of Old

 William Dix is the author to this lovely Christmas Hymn. His father was a surgeon as well as a minor English Poet. He lived 1837-1898.

William Chatterton Dix, born in England,  was a marine insurance salesmen who loved to write hymns, writing more than 40 over the course of his life.   Some of his more well-known hymns include: What Child is This and Alleluia!  Sing to Jesus.

Mr. Dix wrote hymns for children, Christmas and Easter for the most part.  

It is said that he wrote this hymn on Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, while sick in bed.  (source)

Lyrics

"As with Gladness Men of Old"
1. As with gladness men of old
Did the guiding star behold;
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward, beaming bright,
So, most gracious Lord, may we
Evermore be led by Thee!

2. As with joyful steps they sped,
Savior, to Thy lowly bed,
There to bend the knee before
Thee whom heaven and earth adore,
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy-seat!

3. As they offered gifts most rare
At Thy cradle, rude and bare,
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin's alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King!

4. Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And when earthly things are past.
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

5. In the heavenly country bright
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down.
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!

RHM School Week Reviewed

So this week, was better than last week health wise WOOT WOOT!!!   Getting tuckered still happens but I last longer than I did last week.  :)

Schooling happened quickly this week oh my the lad was just on fire.   Most days he had his basics done before 1000 a.m. (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday)

Oh.. on Tuesday though, no schooling done.  He spent the day with a friend while hubby and I spent the day in Port Huron.  I had a package on gears delivered to the SCC down there (Free stateside shipping) and so went to hobby lobby, the fishing store, the outdoor store and a few other places.  Hubby came home with a new target for arrow practice and I picked up a few STEM activities for the lad.

We didn't do much more than the basics this week though he did work on his book three days this week rather than one.

Wednesday we did the Foodbank and the lad managed to get his schooling done and help me too.  Which was really nice. 

Today we made this:

Review: the Christmas Angel Project

A group of women, held together by the love of member.  She dies, leaving behind a group devastated by her loss.   Will they stick together or will the group dissolve?


Abby, Belinda, Cassidy, Grace and Louisa were five good friends who helped each other and enjoyed each others company.   Abby called her friends her "four angels" and when she passed away she left behind Christmas gifts... one angel for each of her friends.

Her friends chose to form "The Christmas Angel Project", where they anonymously chose to help a variety of individuals... art therapy, pet care, fashion shows and more.

A simple gift... an angel with a scripture verse, changed the lives of four women forever.

It was a simple quiet read with smiles of delight as these four women reached out and learned and trusted God and grew more into the people God was calling them to be.

It's a simple feel-good book that might inspire some to try something different in their own lives and to rely on God to see them through.

Written by: Melody Carlson
Published by: Revell
Pages: 167
Type: fiction, Christian

Reviewed for: Nuts about Books

Where can you find it?

Amazon.ca: The Christmas Angel Project 

Amazon.com: The Christmas Angel Project

Now????

This word, admittedly, has me feeling a bit flummoxed.  What do I do with the word now????   So what do I do when I'm flummoxed... let the lines and thoughts flow through my head and see where they take me.

Now?

Says a lad when asked to do something

NOW?

Can it wait?

Does it have to be done at this exact moment

or can it wait?

It's a good question.

A question I've been needing to ponder.

As I recover from being ill

for so very long.

The question I need to ask is

Can it wait?

Does it have to be done NOW???

And often the answer is no.

It doesn't have to done RIGHT NOW.

but

sometimes

It does.

And then when just simply does it.

Whether it's convenient

Or exhausting

Or desired.

Sometimes

the laundry MUST be done

Sometimes

Food MUST be cooked.

Sometimes

Hugs must be given.

Sometimes

One boy child needs a DQ Blizzard for

being ever so very helpful.

Sometimes

Now is 

NOW!

And that brings me to five minutes. 

That actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  :)

Funny how that works... and it often does for these FUN five minute word prompt posts that are brought our way by Dear Miss Kate.   Today the word prompt is now.

So why not hop in and join us.   Just write for five minutes, link up and then encourage those who have gone on before.  :)

Edom is warned for their revenge

Continuing my studies in Ezekiel 25, today we do the next few verses.   Verses 1-7, and verses 8-11.

    [12] “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them, [13] therefore thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. [14] And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.
(Ezekiel 25:12-14 ESV)

 So far, each land/people group that God is correcting has been so for a different reason.  Edom is being disciplined because she "acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended in taking vengeance on them."

You know that saying... Vengeance is Mine Says the Lord.

I think it holds true eh?   We shouldn't be in the business of handling vengeance.  We don't know the whole story behind things anyways.     Each situation in life has it's own subplots.  There is no way we can truly know them all. 

BUT the fact is this.  Edom acted out in vengeance against the Lord's people, therefore the Lord will stretch out his hand against them and make is a desolate place.   Its people and animals cut off.   He will do this by using the people of Israel.

I find it interesting in these verses that God doesn't add "so they will know that I am the Lord".    I wonder why they are not here.   He has the people of Israel act out his anger and wrath upon Edom because they sought vengeance on his people.   This is as far as these verses take God's discipline.
 

Field Trip: Niagara Falls

In the Summer we took our international student to see Niagara Falls.  It was one of those sites that he mentioned that he wanted to see while in Canada.  He was from France and was a nice young man.  We were quite pleased to host him.

We walked up and down and took quite a few pictures, I'll have to show you a few of them.  Here's one where I made the boys line up for a photo to show that YES we were there.  :)

As promised, our view of the falls

The day was hot, and we had seen the Hornblower go up and down a few times, one 16 year smiled and nodded yes please, and one 11 year begged to on the boat.  I wasn't keen on it, but hey... if you are there you might as well right?   It was a long walk up but off we went.

It was so much fun watching the boys.  They both went to the front of the boat and leaned over and got splashed and just filled with grins.  SO WORTH IT!!!   :)

I suspect we'll go again next summer with a student if the Lord so wills.  Depends on where we are and what we'll be doing at that time.   Perhaps we'll do the zipline (at least the boys and dad) when we go.  :)

Days of December - Decorations

When I saw this word prompt on the Homeschool Review Crew's Instagram and it made me think of my tree decorations and how I wanted to share with you some of my favourties.

Moab and Seir corrected for wrong assumption

Continuing my studies in Ezekiel 25, today we do the next few verses.

    [8] “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab and Seir said, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ [9] therefore I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim. [10] I will give it along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, [11] and I will execute judgments upon Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
(Ezekiel 25:8-11 ESV)

Do you remember that yesterday the Ammonites were disciplined for laughing at the Israelites for beginning disciplined by God for their scandolous ways before the Lord.   The Lord wanted the Ammonites to know that he is the Lord God.

Today we find Moab and Seir the object of God's attention. Again, the Lord God wants these people to know that "I am the Lord."

Why is Moab and Seir being disciplined?   Because they didn't see that Israel was different than the other nations around them.  They said "Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations".   So just like Ammon was given over to the peoples of the East, so will Moab and Seir.

How does this apply to me?
Moab and Seir said things that were untrue about Israel (at least they should have been untrue.   They should have been seen as a special people of God. 

So how am I seen?   Will I cause people to make false assumptions about me or will I stand out as one of God's own?

What do you see in this passage?

Art Series: Art Lab for Kids

Welcome Wren to my blog today!!!   Yes, she is a total sweetheart to help me out with my art series.  She's going to be talking about a wonderful book called Art Lab of Kids by Susan Schwake.   You will normally find Wren (and her sister) blogging at FinchnWren.

How do you approach art in your home or homeschool? Are you a naturally talented artist yourself, for whom art creation just flows out? Or, are you someone who would love to teach art but have no ideas of where or how to start? Let me encourage you, if you fit into this last category: it’s much easier than you imagine! Even if you are not a trained artist, you really can teach the subject of art to your own children. There are so many books and resources available today to help you along in this. I’d like to share a very well-rounded book to help you in this journey: Susan Schwake’s ART LAB FOR KIDS. I refer to this book all the time for both our own homeschool art, and for the art class I teach in our local homeschool coop. What a resource!

 

ART LAB FOR KIDS is subtitled “52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media.” Practically, that means you could take one adventure per week and have a year’s worth of art to do in your homeschool! Ms. Schwake’s book contains practical, step-by-step instructions, lots of photos, and pictures of completed artworks so that the artist (or mom) understands exactly how to teach and create each project. The author also provides a great resource list of recommended media in the first section, explaining how different ones work and can be used. She is an artist and art teacher with 20 years’ experience, so she brings both the ability to clearly teach and a huge depth of art idea resources to the reader.

ART LAB FOR KIDS has sections which cover the following:

• How to use the book and how to create art with others
• Drawing (ink, scribble, pastels, crayon, and more)
• Painting (miniature, Fauvist, charcoal, watercolor, tempera, etc.)
• Printmaking (silkscreen, stencil, cardboard relief, gelatin, and more)
• Paper (stamps, tissue, torn-paper, Pop Art, vellum…)
• Mixed Media (charcoal/watercolor, photos, watercolor and pencil, portraits, batik…)

While I think that ART LAB FOR KIDS would be ideal used as a curriculum, I have personally just read through it many times and selected specific art projects to teach, based on what my students were learning or what we found most interesting. Some projects we thoroughly enjoyed completing were painting an enlarged tiny section of a painting on a small square; “Painting in the Style of...,” and “Text as Texture.” And that’s only a fraction of the projects offered in this book. We’re looking forward to painting on tiny pieces of wood; reverse landscapes; gelatin monoprinting; and many more!

 

I recommend this book for anyone who’d like to go deeper into the world of artmaking, or art teaching, in a variety of art styles. These vivid, fascinating projects will keep you busy for hours and hours, happily creating!

Enjoy!

Wren from FinchnWren.

You can find this book through my affiliate links (helping to support this blog).

Amazon.ca

Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages

Amazon.com

Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages (Lab Series)

Linked up here:

Do not mock my people

 Do you ever find it interesting how the Lord can be full of wrath for how Israel is acting and yet doesn't allow others to poke fun at his chosen people?

Today the Lord is angry with Ammon because they rejoiced over the Lord's punishment of her.

He's very clear isn't he?

"Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile.....Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel."   BECAUSE you laughed at my people.....you shall be punished.

God is not only a jealous God in how he is worshipped (he's the only one who should be worshipped).  He's also jealous for his people.  

He is indeed so angry with the Ammonites that he will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you.   And why will he do this?

For the exact same reason he disciplines The house of Israel.

So they will know that HE IS LORD GOD.  

That's what God wants the peoples of the earth to know.  Whether they are his chosen own or just generic folks... he wants them to know that he is the LORD GOD.   Even here in Ezekiel you find God's global concern for the world.   He wants everyone to know him as Lord God.